Radioactive Truth

Nevada

A jet touches down at the facility with Nanomech on its tail. Ben had followed the military convoy for a few hours before they finally reached their destination. "Well, look what we have here." In the distance, Ben saw a large building in the middle of the desert shaped like a cube.

An unconscious Absorbing Man aka Carl "Crusher" Creel, was wheeled in a protective chamber led by various security members. It was a relief that the guy didn't die. The next cart to come out of the cargo bay has a large platform with four metal pillars. Each pillar held a thick chain all connected to the shackles of the being locked in the middle: Bruce Banner.

Nanomech focused his eye lens on him. Bruce looked so defeated. "Sheesh. Why don't they gag his mouth too."

Azmuth chimed in. "I am detecting numerous sources of Gamma Radiation from the facility."

Nanomech nodded. Still microscopic size, he landed on Bruce's cart before the entrance doors closed behind them. As they made their way through the facility, Ben slightly shocked by the diversity of their prisoners. 'Who knew Gamma Radiation had this effect on people."

Later

A blond man was taking a blood sample from a restrained Banner. "You have to believe me, Bruce. With the resources I have here, I will find a cure for you."

"Leonard, don't." Bruce shook his head. "I stopped trying to cure the Hulk a long time ago. I reached out to him. There's a place in this world for the Hulk, but this isn't it."

Leonard placed the blood sample in a metal case. He sighed. "I'm not going to give up, Bruce, even if you have."

As he walked out of the room, the man in purple from the desert walked in. Seeing Bruce's current state, he raised a brow.

Bruce noticed his expression. "Let me guess. You thought I'd be bigger?"

"Funny." Hawkeye placed both hands behind his back. "The Hulk- he's a monster, right? I mean, that's what they told us. That's what everyone thinks. Military and SHIELD have been chasing him for years. He's caused untold destruction. He's a monster."

Bruce glared at him. "What do you think?"

"Why did the Hulk save that ship? I don't know anything about that dinosaur thing that helped after, but the Hulk could've just escaped." Hawkeye sounded unsure of himself. "I saw it. He had a way out, but he saved my crew instead. Why?"

"You're a SHIELD agent, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Maybe the question you should be asking is what SHIELD and the Hulkbusters want the Hulk for. Open your eyes. Look around this place. Look at the monsters here. Do you really think the Cube is a jail? And now they have samples of my blood- the Hulk's blood. You think they want to cure me? They don't. They want to make more of me."

Hawkeye wasn't sure how to respond. On one hand, this man was accusing the military of crimes against humanity. On the other hand, the evidence seemed to be pointing that direction. He nodded at Bruce before locking his cell.

Banner sighed. It's been a while since he's been captured. He was about to drift into his own thoughts until he heard someone speak.

"Psst. Hey."

Bruce raised his head in alert and looked around his cell for the source. "Hello? Who's there?" he called out.

A passing guard walked to his cell. "Quite in there!" He continued to do his rounds after Bruce shut up.

The voice came back. "Keep it down. It's enough that they think you're a menace, we don't need them thinking that you're crazy."

"You didn't answer my question," he whispered back. "Who are you? Where are you?" Bruce continued to look around."

"It's me the guy from the Desert. We fought off those shady government guys together."

"Humungousaur?"

"Yes, but not really. You can call me Nanomech. As for where I am, I'm currently inside your ear."

Bruce went wide-eyed. He attempted to reach his ear only to remember that his arms and legs were restrained. "What?" Thinking for a second, he remembered reading an article about a scientist in the states working on shrinking technology. 'Is this guy connected to him?' "How did you get through? We went through numerous security scanners."

Nanomech shrugged. "It helps when you can shrink to a size they can't detect."

Bruce gave up. "So, why are you here?"

"What, you thought that I'd just leave you here to rot or be part of some mad scientist experiment?"

Banner sighed. "I don't want other people involved with my problems. They just keep getting hurt in the end."

"You sound like that happens a lot. You wanna talk about it?"

"No, not really."

"Are you sure? If anything, I can start first. Technically, I'm an alien."

Bruce paused. "You can't be serious?"

"Not joking. I'm been around the galaxy a few times. How else can you me being a dinosaur and now being in your ear?"

"Science does say that there's a high probability of alien life in the universe."

"And it's thanks to science that I can do what I do?"

"And you're on Earth because?"

"An alien can't hang out with the locals? If anything, I help you guys out from time to time. Take your situation before for instance."

After hearing Nanomech's likely true story, Bruce decided to inform him of his situation to an extent. "To put it plainly, I was a scientist working on a Gamma Bomb for the US military. Due to an accident, I turn into to the Hulk when under intense stress."

Nanomech nodded. "Fighting with Hulk, I can tell he's not a bad guy. That agent in purple seems to think so too."

"Yeah, but not a lot of people think the same way." Bruce looked downcast. "They see the Hulk as a weapon they can control and recreate for their agenda. The Hulk just wants to live without getting hunted down. I've been on the run for a long time."

"You miss someone, don't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I've seen that look on a dragon looking alien." He could feel Bruce's skepticism. "Don't ask. Anyways, he's been held captive by a fanatical group for over a thousand years, the entire time trying to kill him. When I got his translator and his ship, he wanted nothing more than to kill all of them for revenge."

Bruce was surprised that another being withstood a thousand years of what is essentially torture. Revenge seemed completely reasonable. "Did he?"

Nanomech shook his head. "He almost did, but I simply blocked his way."

"And it worked?" Bruce didn't seem convinced. 'All that anger and rage turned away?'

"I understood why he was angry. Those people stole from him. Kept him from his home, his family. He even mentioned a baby."

Bruce felt a few stabs in his heart as his mind drifted to happier times. He missed her.

"I could have turned into Humongousaur or another alien, but I didn't. I was a human, like you."

'Wait, he's human? Is he some alien-human hybrid?' Bruce saved that thought for later. "Considering you're here to tell the tale, you obviously survived."

"Thing is, he didn't have the heart to hurt me. He's not a monster. He's a mapmaker. He's a man who just wants to go home."

"I see where you're going with this." Bruce sighed. "There is someone I left behind. I'm sure she misses me just as much as I miss her." A brunette figure lingered in his head.

Nanomech nodded appreciatively. "That's the stuff. So, are we just going to stay here or what?"

Banner looked past his cell to the other prisoners and scientists. "Sorry, Nanomech. I can't leave. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"There's more going on here that I need to know. I can't leave this unfinished."

"So, you want me to just leave and probably never see you again?"

"Not exactly." Bruce checked to make sure the guards were far enough away. "If you really are here to help me, then I have a favor to ask."

"What do you need?"

"During my time on the run, I've spent a lot of time researching a cure for my condition. These research notes are stored in caches that only I know about. If they get in the wrong hands, there's no telling what could happen."

"They are that important, huh. Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I need to know if I can trust you. As an alien, you're the fourth person I can trust my condition with."

"Fourth? You really have a limited circle of friends if you're trusting me."

"If you hadn't noticed, I'm very far from them and without contact with the outside world."

"Good point."

"As I said before, I wanted to limit my contact with others. The head officers here will likely interrogate me on my research first hand. I won't give anything to them, but they have already started investigating my previous hideouts. I need you to find those notes and destroy them."

Nanomech smirked. "Save the world from a possible gamma weapons arms race? That I can do. Where do I start?"

Later

Finishing his chat with Banner and recording his locations, Nanomech flew out of the cell. "Azmuth, can you believe that they would lock up these guys just to get more power?"

The Omnitrix Azmuth replied back. "After the many years that I have experienced, no, I am not. I have seen civilizations fall due to their own hubris. I'm afraid that the Earth may become one of them."

Nanomech smirked. "Not if we have anything to say about it."

"Before we leave, Benjamin, could you take us to the nearest computer terminal. I will admit that I have not spent much time researching the effects of Gamma radiation. In light of recent developments, I would like to see what they have discovered. Hopefully, we can keep them from destroying themselves."

"Sounds fine to me." It took a while before Ben could reach the lab area. He had to tag along the scientists to get past security. Reaching the lab, Nanomech, went inside one of several terminals. Azmuth took over from there. While this base had state of the art security software, it had nothing on Galvan Quantum computing. With the data recovered, Nanomech made his exit out of the facility.

Outside

Nanomech waited behind the front entrance for the next person to walk through. When they did, he was greeted to the sight of the Purple Archer from before unconscious and restrained. "Whoa. What happened here?" he whispered to himself.

One of the superior officers spoke to his subordinates. "Remember Black Widow's orders. We are to take him to the Vault and in solitary. She will personally interrogate the man. The next prisoner transfer is tomorrow, "

Nanomech didn't understand the situation enough. The archer seemed okay when he was talking to Bruce. He ended up shrugging it off for later. Flying through the Nevada desert, Ben needed to make his way to New York. After a few kilometers, he realized that he forgot something. "Where did I park my car again?"