Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In the town of Manchester, Alabama, SHIELD director Maria Hill is growing frustrated on SHIELD's attempt to search for the Hulk. Her colleague Phil Coulson suggests that she abandon this task for a moment so they can focus on their current mission. Suddenly, Maria is approached by Bruce Banner who knows she has been looking for him. He sits down and pulls something out of his duffel bag. It's a strange cylindrical device. Before he tells her what it is, he talks about his condition. After one last attempt of trying to cure himself of being the Hulk, Bruce Banner has come to the conclusion that he cannot be cured. However, after the war between the Avengers and the X-Men, he realized how much of an asset the Hulk was. However, it was Tony Stark who came up with a solution to solve the crisis at hand, this angers Banner. He has been spending his time reflecting on his life and while the Reed Richards and Tony Starks of the world will be remembered for their contributions to science, he will always be remembered for smashing things as the Hulk. He has decided that he has had enough and wants to use his time as Bruce Banner more productively. He tells her that he has invented special contact lenses that give him a HUD display of his emotional state so he can keep track of the factors that trigger a transformation into the Hulk. He explains that he wants to focus his Banner time creating and inventing new things as a way of making up for all the damage that the Hulk has caused.

Getting back on point, he tells Maria that the device in front of them is a new water purification system that can clean out all waterborne diseases from drinking water within five years. He wants to create a new invention each week but needs the resources. He explains that while he could have gone to China or Latveria, he wanted to make his offer to SHIELD and the United States first. He asks her to set him up with the best lab possible and research assistants so he can get to work. Maria questions why she should do this for him. Banner admits that she could have him shot in the head at any time. However, he has a trump card for her: A stack of documents that can damage the United States tremendously. He explains that if anything should happen to him, a confidant will disseminate that information unless he contacts them each day at an appointed time. He then continues his pitch to Hill: He tells her that while they get Banner to use his inventive genius, they can also use the Hulk as a weapon to point at global threats that SHIELD tackles.

To prove his point, he offers a trial run, telling her that he knows that they are in town to try and apprehend the Mad Thinker who has been developing a weapon of mass destruction in the area. He tells her that their plan is a suicide run unless they use the Hulk. As they go outside, he asks Maria if she will take him up his offer. In response she strikes him over the head with a board she picks up off the ground, triggering a transformation into the Hulk. Not far away, the Mad Thinker is putting the final touches on a massive robot. He knows that SHIELD intends to raid his hideout and has prepared for them. However, he is caught completely off guard when the Hulk comes crashing in through the building. The Hulk plows through the robot guards as the Mad Thinker enters the robot he is constructing. He tries to blast the gamma-spawned monster with its weapons systems that are powerful enough to liquefy metal. However, as he increases the power of the weapon to match the Hulk's growing strength, the Thinker is horrified to discover that the Hulk's upper strength level is incalculable. It's then that the Hulk gets close enough to rip the robot in half. In the resulting explosion, the warehouse collapses on them.

In the aftermath of the battle, Maria Hill sends her agents who manage to recover the Mad Thinker and apprehend him. They also find Bruce Banner among the rubble. Impressed by the display, Maria Hill tells Banner that he is hired. She helps him up and tells him to come with her to fill out the paperwork. Banner tells her that she won't regret it.

Recurring Characters

Hulk, SHIELD (Maria Hill, Phil Coulson), Mad Thinker

Continuity Notes

• Bruce Banner mentions the Hulk's role in the war between the Avengers and the X-Men which primarily took place in Avengers vs. X-Men #0-12.