"Is S.H.I.E.L.D. built on water?" Banner asked, looking out the window.
At that moment, he and Noah were in the cockpit of a Quinjet, flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Having accepted Nick Fury's invitation to come to the Helicarrier, a S.H.I.E.L.D. transport picked them up the following day. When the Quinjet landed on the platform near Noah's mansion, Banner had already been brought from the island base to avoid revealing its location.
Clint Barton, known as Hawkeye, was piloting the Quinjet. This time, he wasn't under the control of Loki's scepter, as he had been in the original timeline.
"Honestly, the confined space of a ship, and with so many people... I don't think it's the best idea," Banner murmured, tearing his gaze away from the window. He was already feeling anxious at the thought that, if he lost control and transformed into the Hulk, he could endanger everyone around them, and they wouldn't even be able to escape.
Only Noah and Barton heard these words. The latter paused to consider. He had seen recordings of Banner's transformation into the Hulk—it was a true monster, and he wasn't sure he could handle it. Perhaps with specialized arrows, but even that wasn't a guarantee of success.
"Don't worry, Banner. Even if you transform into the Hulk again, I can bring you back," Noah said calmly, scrolling through something on his phone.
"Haha, right," Banner chuckled, remembering how Noah had already brought him back to normal several times with his unusual abilities. This calmed him down slightly.
"By the way, Noah, are you really going in that?" he asked, looking appraisingly at Noah's casual attire.
Noah wore ordinary clothes, without any battle armor, which surprised him a bit. He had always assumed that Noah, as the Storm Swordsman, tried to conceal his identity, unlike Iron Man.
"Of course not. I'll put on the armor when we get closer. And speaking of which, we're almost there," he remarked, pointing towards a barely visible dark silhouette in the distance—the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, developed in secret and capable of flight. That's where they were heading.
Noah casually pressed a button on his bracelet, and in an instant, his body was covered by the nanosuit. Banner looked forward, trying to get a better view of the Helicarrier, but saw nothing. When he looked back, he noticed Noah was already clad in his armor, which startled him slightly.
As the Quinjet rapidly approached its destination, the Helicarrier gradually came into clearer view. Soldiers with weapons at the ready could be seen patrolling the deck, which made Banner slightly nervous—he started fidgeting with his fingers.
Thanks to Barton's skillful piloting, the Quinjet landed smoothly on the deck.
"We've arrived, gentlemen," Clint said, flipping switches on the dashboard, and turned to his passengers.
"Let's go, Banner," Noah was the first to rise and approach the slowly opening door. Banner stood beside him, and together they stepped onto the Helicarrier's deck.
At first glance, everything looked like a typical military vessel: soldiers patrolled the area, fighter jets were lined up on the deck, secured by chains, and personnel attended to various tasks.
Noah's appearance in his armor attracted the attention of many on deck. They had barely disembarked from the Quinjet when another transport landed nearby.
Banner looked at the arriving Quinjet, anticipating who would emerge from it. And indeed, two men stepped out. One of them was a tall, well-built blond. He immediately recognized him from archival photos and museum exhibits.
Having disembarked, the two men approached them. Accompanying Captain America was his devoted fan, Agent Coulson, who enthusiastically took on the task of escorting Steve. He had brought along his collection of rare trading cards, hoping to get them signed.
When Coulson asked for an autograph, Rogers was surprised—he had already signed cards previously. To which the agent replied that back then, he hadn't had the complete collection, and these cards were limited edition, so it would be great to get all of them signed at once. Rogers readily agreed. He already had the cards in his pocket and intended to sign them later when he had the time.
"Hello, Dr. Banner... and, ahem, Storm Swordsman," Steve greeted them, slightly flustered.
Before the meeting, they had reviewed the dossiers provided by Nick Fury and knew about their new allies. Rogers knew about Banner's past, about his work on recreating the super-soldier serum—the same one used on him 70 years ago. Banner's other persona—the Hulk—also left a lasting impression on him.
"Hello, Captain," Banner extended his hand for a handshake.
"Don't call me that, just Steve," Rogers replied, shaking his hand. Then he turned to Noah and extended his hand as well.
"Call me Lee," Noah said with a smile.
"Alright, Lee."
Noah then turned his gaze to Coulson.
"Glad to see you here, Lee," the agent said, unable to hide his joy.
"Of course, I couldn't miss this event."
After a brief conversation, Hawkeye joined them, having finished his tasks aboard the Quinjet.
"Alright, gentlemen, enough chitchat, let's go inside. Otherwise, it will be difficult to breathe here soon," Barton said, looking at everyone.
Banner and Rogers exchanged puzzled glances, not understanding what he meant. Suddenly, the roar of engines echoed around the Helicarrier.
Vwoom!
They walked towards the edge of the deck and noticed people quickly moving inside the ship. The deck vibrated slightly, and as they approached the edge, they saw the reason for the noise: massive whirlpools formed beneath the ship's bow and stern. Four gigantic propellers slowly rose from the water, rotating and creating sprays of water and powerful gusts of wind.
"Oh no, being in the air is probably even worse than being on the water," Banner said, licking his lips and shielding his face from the wind with his hand.