chapter 10

It took Harry but a moment to realize his precarious position, as the great creature's eyes focused on him. Whatever Bruce had become, it was now angry, very angry. Harry gulped as it roared again, suddenly slamming one of its massive fists downwards towards him; he quickly cast a shield charm to deflect the hit, but the creature's sheer power was all too clear as the fist glanced off with a sound like a gong; Harry could feel it in his bones. One hit by that and he'd be toothpaste.

Harry stared, eyes wide, as the green behemoth nursed its fist and snarled at him, flexing its over-sized muscles and bellowing a challenge. Before Bruce could attempt to crush him once more, Harry turned on his heel and with a pop, he vanished.

He reappeared a few hundred feet from the stream in the little hovel Bruce had been living in. He listened to the green behemoth bellowing in protest in the distance as his prey was suddenly taken away. He quickly made his way uphill, keeping an eye on the massive creature as it wrecked trees around itself and cried out its frustration with a booming voice.

"What the bloody hell is it?" Harry muttered and cringed as another pulverizing crack resounded through the forest; the creature smashed everything in its vicinity. "You might've mentioned this, Banner…"

The transformation couldn't be anything Muggle, Harry was certain. Even with computers and other technology far beyond his understanding, he knew that people couldn't be this different. Back in his own world it wouldn't have been considered so unusual, perhaps. Between Animagi, Metamorphmagi and werewolves, he was well aware that wizards and witches could display the most astounding changes to their bodies. This, though, wasn't his world. This one didn't have a magical community; where would something like this come from? Was it like Lycanthropy, a disease? Some strange variation that changed you into something else?

"What kind of crazy place did I end up in anyway?" Harry wondered. Bruce's metamorphosis wasn't magical, perhaps, but certainly not Muggle as he was used to either. It was different, and he had no clue what to even call it. What was he going to do about this mess?

Grasping his wand tightly and pacing, Harry wavered on whether or not he should just sit this out. S.H.I.E.L.D. clearly had some idea about Bruce; this had to be the reason that they were hesitant to approach him in the first place, which he could now understand. They'd shot at him, though.

On the other hand, Fury had been yelling in his head for the past five minutes about violating orders, presumably speaking directly to the man who had shot Bruce in the back. He had enough experience with Aurors being too quick on their draw that he felt some compassion for the guy.

He could leave, Harry considered – with enough apparating he would disappear off S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar, though he'd have to ditch Fury's phone. Still, doing that did mean he called down all sorts of crap on Bruce and then fled without actually doing anything for him in return. They were like the DMLE in a way: Always on the lookout for potential and actual danger, and not always informed enough to distinguish the two. He'd been an Auror for long enough to know that they were doing a job. He also knew that running away from a conflict he helped set up would make him unambiguously a coward. Besides, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents could be in danger.

Harry headed for the distant roars, brandishing his wand as he thought of half a dozen curses he could use. Meanwhile he couldn't help but think back to Hermione's words about his 'saving people thing'. He hated it when she was right.

"You really are a fucking idiot," Barton snapped as he dropped next to Santana, who had paled so much he looked like he was about to faint. "You knew about Banner, what the hell were you thinking? You know that the Director will have your hide for this!" He shook his head as he gingerly glanced over the embankment, his bow ready to fire. He didn't know how far Natasha and Parkers had gotten – they were not within his line of sight, at least.

"They were supposed to work. They should've worked!" Santana said haltingly, his hands barely keeping his gun steady. He looked at Barton, then down at the floor. "I – I'm sorry." He winced as the radio suddenly activated and Fury's voice spoke in his ear. "Yes, sir. I know, sir. I'm sorry, sir…"

"Keep your apologies for base, we need to get out of here first," Barton muttered in discomfort, glancing over the edge again; the green brute seemed a bit disoriented and was smashing his immediate surroundings with impunity. Barton wasn't surprised: He'd seen what this Harry had just done, and it sent chills down his spine. He'd blocked Banner's hit. He'd actually blocked it, somehow. The air had turned to solid titanium in front of him, apparently. The next moment the man had vanished with a twist: he'd teleported right out of the fight. Despite suddenly being hopelessly outgunned, Barton couldn't actually blame him.

"How far is it?" Santana asked shortly, raising a hand to his radio and wincing. "How far is it to get to safety?"

"We're looking at well over two miles," Barton answered with a low voice, sneaking another peek. "It was a necessity to keep our noise levels down and not spook the target, but it's getting awfully annoying now. We can't run in the open, either – with Banner like this, he'll kill anything that moves." He tapped his radio. "Romanoff, Parkers, come in."

"Shhh!" Natasha answered. The signal crackled briefly. "We're closer than you two to its position – don't let it spot us. What can we do? Has anyone seen where Harry went?"

"He's gone," Barton retorted softly. "He teleported away after the first hit. I think the higher-ups are going to love what the man just pulled off, blocking that hulk. We need a distraction – if we want to get back home in one piece, we'll have to make sure that it doesn't notice us. Natasha, how many of those smoke pellets do you have?"

A roar interrupted them as Banner tore a tree from the ground in a single pull, clumps of dirt descending around him as he shook it solidly; instantly he was on the move, barrelling towards Barton; he had only a few moments to take it in and fear for his life when the beast suddenly changed directions mid-stride and slammed downward with the oversized club it had created; the huge log crashed into the soil with incredible power, sand sent flying everywhere as Banner picked up his weapon again. With a roar the weapon rose up again for another strike.

Barton froze as he noticed Natasha and Parkers stumble away from their hideout. It had just been totalled with the last hit and especially the latter was looking pretty messed up with blood clearly visible across his chest; he was also missing his jacket and most of his gear, though he had ammo clasped under his arm and was desperately trying to get it into his gun, shuddering as he was almost squashed by a gigantic fist. Natasha fired bullets directly at the beast's face, though they bounced off without causing any harm.

"Let's go, Santana. You might get your chance to make up for your idiocy," Barton barked, dragging the man upright; he sent an arrow flying as quickly as he could, a second nocked almost immediately and on its way too. It was a long way off, but Barton's aim was good enough; the projectiles smacked directly into the giant green monster's back before they exploded.

The creature was briefly engulfed in a great conflagration; it howled at the sudden attack from behind and it whirled about, ignoring its former targets entirely. Barton didn't have long to consider his shots as the remainder of the creature's club was sent flying in his direction; it crashed into two trees on its way over, embedding itself halfway into the embankment that had been his shelter, cracking straight down the middle under the stress. The creature that was Banner suddenly dashed his way, a snarl on its face and its fist was cocked back for a massive hit.

"No, no, no!" Santana muttered incoherently, spraying the approaching hulk with every tranquilizer shot he had left, only for them to bounce harmlessly off its hide. The man had only a split second to throw himself aside as it whirled past, and barely missed crushing him in a deadly pile-up.

"Head for the helicopter!" Natasha yelled through the radio, approaching from her old position with two pistols drawn and firing at Banner all the way, who seemed to ignore the bullets entirely. He seemed to find them no more annoying than mosquitoes. Barton fired three more arrows as he dragged Santana away, though his aim was slightly off the mark.

"We can't keep this up," Barton shouted as three more explosions were shrugged off with barely a flinch, the shallow cuts torn into the creature's hide vanishing almost instantly, healing at an unnatural speed. "Natasha, smoke."

Banner's alter ego once more shot forward in a roar to smash the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, when three pellets erupted around it and the creature suddenly stopped its charge, gazing around itself with a snarl; besides blocking the view, the smoke in question was a severe irritant to the eyes, and the green ogre took a step back as it raised a hand to its head.

"Go!" Barton commanded the others. Santana followed, haphazardly loading live rounds into his weapon as he ran. Natasha and Parkers quickly caught up, the latter holding one hand to his chest; part of his uniform had been ripped straight off. Judging from the twigs and dead leaves sticking to him he'd been hit by the falling tree rather than Banner, which would doubtlessly have been messier. "Do we have anything else to slow it down?" Barton asked urgently, quickly firing two more arrows into the billowing smoke. He would quickly run out of them if this kept up, as most of the other tips he had were useless on this thing. "Director – how do we stop this thing?"

"We're not going to make it like this!" Santana whispered fearfully, glancing behind himself as he desperately kept up with the others.

"I'm keeping an eye out from the sky. You are in a thickly wooded area, few vehicles nearby can actually be of assistance. The nearest S.H.I.E.L.D. team to you is twenty minutes out. Do what you must."

"Understood," Barton noted, getting three more arrows ready to fire. "We need an exit – the tactic we used will not work again. There's still over a mile to go, and that thing is mad.´

The Banner-creature blasted out of the billowing smoke with a furious howl, its feet thundering across the forest floor at an incredible pace as it ripped up the soil in great clumps; it focused on the foursome and let out a fearsome warcry; the creature was far quicker than any of them and closed in at a tremendous rate. All Barton could do was feel cold dread as it bore down upon them within five seconds; he tried to get a last shot off, to buy some time. He glanced at his quiver for one last arrow…

There was a sudden popping sound, quite nearby, almost obscured by the primal roar of the creature as it prepared to smash. Then an earth-shatteringly loud cacophony rang through the air as if a thousand gongs were struck simultaneously. Barton snapped his hands to his ears as the sound reverberated inside his skull like it was an echo chamber. He blinked, then; before him stood a silhouette with one arm raised. It took him a moment to recognize who had jumped in between them and the monster.

Natasha was the first to speak. "…Harry?"

Harry winced at the impact that the Bruce-creature had made on his Shield Charm, glancing behind him to see that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents seemed to be in one piece. Bruce had been blasted back quite effectively by his spell, a variation that he'd researched early in his Auror career as he remembered Voldemort using it in his duel with Dumbledore; learning from your enemies remained a viable tactic, after all. The Bruce-creature was slowly making his way upright; the hit had done no more than wind the beast, it seemed.

"Is everyone alright?" he yelled, glancing back again.

"…Yes," Natasha confirmed, out of breath. "Why did you…? Didn't you leave?"

Harry smiled self-deprecatingly. "If you'd been a bit quicker on your feet, I would have." He turned to the creature. "Banner, if you're in there, now's a pretty good time to turn back." Harry worriedly noticed that despite firing their guns at the huge beast, not a wound was in sight. How could one possibly win against something like this without magic?

"We have to go," Barton shouted at the three other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. "Let's use this reprieve. Natasha, Parkers – take the right. I'll go along the left with Santana." He turned back, hesitating, glancing between the creature and Harry. "… Can you keep him busy?"

"Go," Harry muttered, narrowing his eyes. "One rescue per customer. Get your asses back to Fury and maybe you can put in a good word for me. I'll take care of this… Hulk."

Harry kept a close eye on the Hulk's actions, and the fact that it was slowly, very slowly, making its way upright didn't fool him. It was planning, perhaps analysing – hardly the actions of a dumb beast. It had met someone who could stop it in mid-attack, and clearly that hadn't happened very often. It paid no mind to the departing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Harry turned his full attention to the giant before him; remarkably intelligent eyes stared at him. It grunted as it made its way upright, slowly approaching Harry who stood his ground.

"If you're in that Hulk, Banner… I don't want to hurt you," Harry tried. "I'll find a way to turn you back, you can believe that much."

The Hulk's fist smashed forward in an instant, and Harry was extremely glad about his Shield Charm as the massive hand glanced off once more. With a roar the Hulk slammed its fists down on the earth in a shocking burst of strength, blasting a great amount of dust into the sky. Harry was almost thrown off his feet by the shock wave, and he backed off, seeking sturdier ground. He glanced back at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents; they were retreating, though not moving very quickly – he'd have to buy more time. The creature slowly started to circle Harry's position, apparently trying to figure out what had stopped it. Harry kept his wand ahead of him, thinking of half a dozen tactics he could use – finally he shrugged and started with the most elementary. "Stupefy!"

The spell hit the Hulk straight on the chest, and it faltered for a moment; after a moment of disorientation though, the concentrated fury was back.

The next attack was far quicker and stronger than any so far and Harry's Shield Charm reverberated as it absorbed the blow. Harry hastily sent two more Stunners, each of which had minor effect, but not nearly what he was used to on people. Considering its recovery time, Harry had no way of casting as many Stunners as he would need to keep the creature down.

"Must be the thick skin, like a giant's," he murmured. As it was about to attack again, Harry sent a wave of blistering fire the creature's way in a huge flare - it barely noticed the assault. The fire burned brightly but was just as quickly doused again as the Hulk's skin had already healed over before it was properly scarred. Severing Charms and Cutting Curses proved somewhat effective, but the great gouges they left behind closed swiftly and with each one the creature got madder, smashing harder and reducing trees and the ground to cinders and rubble. Indeed, if it hadn't been for his Shield Charms, Harry figured he'd have been dead meat for quite a while now.

That healing was a heck of a lot swifter than any Muggle should be capable of, Harry figured. Indeed, it reminded him of the effects of Phoenix' tears. Skin knitting together and burn wounds smoothing out as if they'd never been there, cuts vanishing before his eyes. Harry's usual duelling spells were having about the same effect as throwing snowballs, and it didn't help that Bruce only seemed to have gotten bigger and more muscled, rather than tiring out.

Harry considered using some of the darker spells he knew – the nasty stuff he'd occasionally had to rely on as an Auror, and was disturbingly good at. Thick skin or not, he was pretty sure half of those spells could end up doing irreparable damage the giant green creature, and he felt guilty enough about getting Bruce into this situation in the first place, without compounding it by permanently injuring him. He'd have to use more conventional spells. (He shuddered to think what S.H.I.E.L.D. would think of the contents of his most dangerous arsenal, too. They might just decide to kill him right there.)

Slowly, Harry walked away from the direction that Natasha and the others were heading in, glad to note thanks to his tracking charm, they were practically at their helicopter. He kept his Shield Charm up and lured Bruce along, which proved more difficult than he'd anticipated.

Apparating out came to mind, but he couldn't leave Bruce in this state and have S.H.I.E.L.D. or someone else pick him off. No, this had to be his responsibility.

Strafing around a huge log, to use it as cover, Harry spotted something from the corner of his eye. He turned slightly and found something interesting hanging limply from the branches of one of the fallen trees, alongside a destroyed backpack. It was an earpiece with a small blinking light – one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had to have dropped it. He smiled.

"He saved our lives. He was going to give himself up, too. I think we can give him a little credit, there." Natasha said, and the radio crackled briefly. "I think that backs up my argument. Whatever you can say about him, he's a good guy."

"I concede it is remarkably honourable to save the life of an opponent, though I'd be hesitant to go with such an interpretation of events." Fury frowned. "What can you tell me?"

"Agent Parkers is wounded – he'll have to get to a hospital. Santana's been stitching him up." She coughed. "That guy's kind of miserable right now," she confided. "I think he blames himself."

"He'd better," Fury answered. "We'll discuss the issue on the carrier."

"Should we leave, now?"

Fury didn't answer for a moment, focusing on the satellite images that he was still receiving. The forest was too thick to clearly see what was going on, but occasionally there'd be a flash of green or a massive tree would crash to the ground to indicate what was going on; stranger were flashes of light that briefly illuminated the area, which had no identifiable source.

"We're nearly at the helicopter, what are our orders, sir?"

"Wait it out. Get the chopper above the treeline and check if you can see any more. It's quite possible that Harry will teleport away once you're on board, presuming that he is only keeping Banner busy." Fury said, frowning. "Figure out what else he can do. It seems like we're dealing with quite a bit more than just teleportation. He might be a greater danger than we anticipated."

"I'm flattered, Director."

Fury paused, blinking. He tapped his earpiece. "Who is this?"

"This is Harry, pleased to meet you. Would have liked it to be – hah – under better circumstances." There was a scraping sound, and Fury heard heavy breathing on the other end of the line. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed a large tree collapsing at the same time, on his video image. The voice returned, sounding tired. "Director Fury, is it?"

"How did you get onto this channel?" Fury growled. "It's secure!"

"I would… tell you all the details, but I'm busy. I'm sure… you realize that." The sound cut out for a moment. "I took this ear thingy off the ground; someone dropped it. It probably won't last very long. So … listen." There was another brief silence. "I'll cut to the chase: you have all the details; what's his weakness?"

"Why should I tell a thief and a fugitive anything?" Fury asked sharply, glaring at the screen.

"Bloody hell, I'll give you your phone back, alright? Ah…" Fury glanced at his screen, and for a split second, he saw the huge green bulk of Banner, dashing after a much smaller dot; the great behemoth repeatedly tripped and stumbled. "Just… tell me what I can do to help Banner, and I'll come – speak to you. Without the whole breaking in thing. How does that… sound? I tried to – negotiate with the others, but… things went awry."

Fury frowned. "Harry – that is your name, correct?" He paused, remembering Barton's call: This Harry had just thrown himself in front of Banner and saved the lives of all four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents sent to take him down. "Taking your recent actions into account, I'll consider extending an olive branch… though if you screw with me one more damn time like that stunt on my carrier, you won't see the outside of an isolation cell for the next decade." He shook his head at the destruction on his screen; Banner and Harry left the place a ruin of dead wood and utterly ravaged soil, and more of the huge trees were being felled as he watched. "You're doing the opposite of what works: Rage only empowers him. Banner's transformation is reliant on his emotions – the best thing to do is to get out of the way."

Harry didn't answer for a few moments. When his voice returned, it sounded strangely amused. "He needs anger management? That's it? Well, that's – a bit embarrassing…" The signal dropped. Fury sat back, frowning. It was a matter of seeing whether Harry would honour his word or if he was just messing with S.H.I.E.L.D. again. He briefly wondered if the man took anything seriously.

Saving the lives of the very people that just tried to take you in, though? Fury wondered if he'd actually misjudged the man. And he's promised to give his phone back, too...

Harry threw the strongest Banishing Charm he knew at the Hulk, blasting it back a slight distance, though it gripped the soil solidly with its massive hands and kept position easily. The moment the charm dropped it was attacking again, pummelling Harry around even with the Shield Charm active as the very earth shook and the displacement of air forced him to take steps back and avoid treading into holes and fissures that appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

He had tried quite a few spells, keeping himself as safe as he could with Shield Charms – fire and blunt damage didn't seem to really affect the Hulk much, and his brief attempt at levitating the brute to get rid of its strength advantage was ruined when it managed to get a grip on a nearby tree and rip it from the ground in one pull; dodging the makeshift projectile that nearly crushed him, Harry had to break his spell. It didn't help that the Hulk had figured out that keeping something between himself and Harry's attacks – like a log – was quite effective, so half the curses he sent weren't even hits.

Time for something a little different. Raising his wand like a conductor, Harry concentrated on one of the fields he'd improved in the most since Hogwarts, after finding out his father's specialty: Transfiguration. He wasn't anywhere near Dumbledore's level of mastery, but he liked to think he could pull off some nice tricks, and there was certainly plenty of debris around to use. Twirling his wand in a quick circle, he suddenly pointed it at the dead trees that littered the soil – they writhed and came alive.

"Telekinetic, it has to be,"Fury murmured in the background, and Harry smirked; the Hulk was briefly distracted from trying to find a way around the Shield Charm as branches shot out and wrapped themselves around his legs like vines, a huge trunk ambling its way upright, using three branches as support. The tree trunk struck out with many vine-like tangles, covering the Hulk's fist as the beast tried to free its legs. The only reason it seemed to work at all was that the awkward position hampered the creature's mobility; its muscles were certainly more powerful than the plants. Ripping away one of its hands the Hulk snarled at the massive animated trunk and lashed out: The punch completely ripped apart the tree, but more vine-like branches found their chance and snatched his hand once more.

Harry wiped the sweat from his brow, keeping the spell going with his other hand. Unlike Dumbledore, he didn't have the skill quite yet to maintain such a complex spell, without keeping his mind on it, and it would deteriorate quickly if he didn't. That his opponent was incredibly powerful and aggressive wasn't helping, either. Indeed, every time his agile creepers managed to catch the Hulk's appendages he'd just rip them free again and Harry would have to start over.

Keeping this up would be difficult, Harry realized - he could throw spells all day, but unlike his foe he wasn't getting any more powerful. The creature opposite him seemed only to get madder with every hit, and Fury had claimed it was that very rage that empowered it. Why not get rid of that, then? Before the Hulk had enough time to rip itself away from the animated foliage entirely, Harry dropped his transfiguration spell and focused on another. It was one of the simplest spells he knew, actually: The Cheering Charm. The Hulk bellowed and ripped its arm free, and this time there was no replacement vine to catch it again.

Casting the charms as quickly as possible, Harry stood his ground as the Hulk ripped itself entirely free; it couldn't avoid the half dozen quick-fire spells that met its path, though, and shuddered. For a long moment, the charms didn't seem to be working, but when the Hulk finally turned to Harry, it stopped and blinked in confusion. It seemed indecisive; another Cheering Charm hit it and the corners of its mouth turned up.

Then it laughed.

The deep, hearty chuckle was such an alien sound that Harry stopped and stared. The Hulk sat down, holding its sides, tears of laughter running down its face – it just got louder and louder. Harry rubbed his forehead, staring in embarrassment. He'd been more heavy-handed with the charm than he should have been, it seemed: Bruce had gone way beyond cheer and straight into hysteria.

The attack was too quick for Harry to stop - the Hulk's punch went straight through where his Shield Charm should've been, catching him in the midriff and sending him flying like a rag doll. He slowly rolled to a stop, blinking blearily. He coughed and wheezed, desperately trying to draw in breath as, slowly, feeling returned to his extremities - his wrist hurt from hitting the ground and the back of his head felt like someone had been tapdancing on it. He wondered, briefly, how he'd survived, how that hit hadn't flattened him. He glanced down and saw that, though slightly ruffled, his clothes were effectively untarnished - the answer came to him then and he smirked despite the pain as he painfully made his way upright. The Impervius Charm he'd placed on himself to protect from S.H.I.E.L.D. darts: he'd never removed it. It had repelled one solid hit, not entirely, but enough to survive.

The Hulk still stood in the same place, fist extended, curious expression on its face as it stared at Harry. Slow, steady strides brought it closer, and Harry gulped as he quickly placed another Shield Charm, though he wasn't sure if it would be effective. Staring down on him with a look remarkably devoid of malice, the creature turned away and gazed into the sky. For several moments Harry considered the possibility that the Hulk was debating whether he should kill - then Harry realized with great relief that the beast was slowly shrinking, its brutish features melted back into the familiar face of Bruce Banner who was smiling widely from the barrage of Cheering Charms. Fury was muttering something that Harry barely caught, but it sounded enthusiastic. He idly wondered how many descriptions like 'teleporter' and 'telekinetic' he would be given before they finally settled on something more descriptive. He wondered if they'd end up with wizard.

"Are you alright, now?" Harry asked Bruce as the man groaned softly, the last of the green vanishing from his skin. The man stared at him slightly groggily, blinking slowly. Harry shook him again. "Banner? Bruce? Blimey, I really should've been more careful with that one…"

"I'm – I'm okay," Bruce said, finally, as he slowly recovered, huge grin still stretched on his face. "Did... you do dose me with something? I feel... strange."

"It'll pass." Harry assured, gingerly holding his left wrist away from his body - between that and his ribs, which felt like a freight train had run into them (it was probably about the same amount of force, Harry figured) he was glad the battle was over. "I'll be honest, that thing wasn't quite what I was expecting when you went on about your whole inner darkness." He rubbed his good hand through his hair and smiled. "I guess now I know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is so interested…"

Bruce nodded wearily, staying still for a few seconds, before his eyes snapped open and focused on Harry. "You! You stopped… the other guy. I remember… things. What… what did you do?"

"We'll talk about that later; just keep it to yourself for now," Harry answered evasively, wincing as he turned to glance nervously around the wasteland that their surroundings had been turned into. "We both have our secrets. Right now, we have to get out of here before people come looking for what tore down half a mile of the forest."

Bruce narrowed his eyes. "You can't just shrug me off like that - the other guy chose to stop fighting. What made him stop?" Harry doubted that it had actually been the Cheering Charms that ended the fight; that last hit from the Hulk was stronger than any of them, and it had already been under their influence, then. Pondering on the issue, he glanced around.

He noticed what he was looking for, far in the distance: Barely visible over the horizon was a helicopter. S.H.I.E.L.D. was still keeping an eye on things, then; he wasn't the least bit surprised. Harry was at least happy they weren't shooting at him anymore. He wondered what the inevitable meeting with Director Fury would be like. "Everyone survived, Banner – just be happy about that. We'll..."

"…We'll talk about that later," Bruce filled in with a chuckle; he blinked in consternation. "Are you sure you didn't dose me?"