Natasha followed the dumpy little man farther and farther into the ancient Egyptian crypt as the sloping walls of the pyramid opened up into several rooms. There was the briefest second where she realized something was wrong and then it was too late. Her vision went black and the portly little man let her fall to the floor in a heap.

"As you may know," Nick Fury started with a huff knowing this was going to end with him seeing green, "Captain America and Black Widow are on private assignments that concern the security of this realm. As of seven o'clock last night Black Widow has missed three check ins with the base."

Banner's pacing stopped as he walked strongly and firmly up to the desk that separated Fury from the other Avengers and their team. "I asked where Natasha was two nights ago." he said calmly.

"And I told you, you didn't need to know." Fury responded evenly.

"Well now she's missing so I'd say that means I god damn needed to know." He boomed making the whole room go deathly still.

"Mr. Banner if you please we need to get this organized so that we can have the best chance of finding her." Fury tried to reason.

"I've had enough of your bull shit Fury. Tell me where Natasha is." Bruce said his breathing getting heavier and more labored.

"Dr. Banner..." Fury began but was quickly cut off.

"No! Tell me where Natasha is now!" Bruce shouted eyes going green slamming a ham sized fist onto the glass table and cracking it.

"Miss Romanoff was last reported to have entered Keops pyramid in Cairo Egypt, but Doctor Banner you must understand the power she was after was one of the infinity stones it is highly danger..."

"I don't care." Bruce said flatly on his way out the door. He marched straight into the hanger bay yelling down one of the pilots as he seated himself in the back of one of the many jets and programed the location into the plane's navigation. He didn't give a damn how dangerous it was. He was going to get his Natasha back, because now he knew who he was without her, and no one liked the Other Guy when he was mad.

Fury ground his teeth as he registered the hanger bay opening and a plane launching. "Do we go after him director?" Sam asked raising his eyebrow.

"Not alone. Call the Avengers... all of them."

"I won't call Barton." Wanda said flatly.

"It's Natasha. He'll come either way." Fury said dubiously.

"So what we need Thor, Tony, Clint and Steve?" Rhodes ticked off on his fingers.

"No, leave Steve, Wanda, and Thor out of this. If Thor's right we'll have enough on our hands without bringing more powers into this fight. Natural talent and mech skills only." Fury commanded leaving the others dubious.

Natasha woke chained to a wall by her bloody wrist. "Good morning Black Widow." The same portly man said smiling at her from a metal chair across the room. An odd headdress like that of the ancient Pharaohs sat before him a gleaming red stone imbedded in the forehead. Natasha groaned, she had found the infinity stone, only it had found her first.

"Now just think how perfect it is that you came to visit. I need your husband for just a few moments if you don't mine." The plump man sniveled.

"Not married." Natasha choked out through her parched mouth.

"Hm, no? I would have though by now... after everything you've been though? He seems like he would be such a traditional man... but I suppose... no not even he can see through everything you've done."

"Well you know Steve." Natasha brushed it off hoping that her public work with the Super Soldier had helped to keep her real love life a secret.

The man laughed a wet kind of noise that made Natasha want to cough for him and said, "Yes, charming I'm sure, but less fun I think when he's all riled up."

Natasha, deciding she was better off silent then wandering down this path of questioning asked, "So, which infinity stone is that?"

"Ah bright child... it is the Strength Stone my dear, not that that knowledge will do you any good once I have your little... Friend here. It allows me to absorb anyone's power and well, as you know, he really is something special isn't he?" The toad of a man asked with another wet laugh before turning and leaving her to bleed onto the wall from where her cuffs cut into her. The only thing Natasha could think was... crap... before something stuck her from the back of the head and she blacked out once more.

Bruce Banner's breathing was slow and regulated, his eyes were closed and his nostrils flared with every breath as the classical music in his headphones attempted to block out the world. He knew the rest of the avengers were probably right behind him, he even felt a little guilty for having threatened the concerned pilot with the other guy when questioned whether or not he had permission to take the jet, but at the moment he really couldn't bring himself to care. The longer Bruce sat in the plane the closer and closer to the surface the Other Guy got. Damn Fury for not telling him where Natasha was when he had asked the first time. Damn Steve for not telling him they were leaving when it became clear to him Natasha would not. For that matter damn Natasha for not telling him herself.

For every part of him that was aware it was childish for her not to have told him there were two telling him that he had treated her like a child by dismissing her the way he had and could hardly have expected any different. The only thing that kept him calm enough to stay in his natural form all the way to the city of Cairo was knowing that it was Natasha that had been taken. She knew how to take care of herself and was the most slippery and cunning person he had ever met. If anyone could get themselves out of this it was she.

The plane landed a few hundred yards from the pyramid in question and Bruce cracked the emergency hatch and jumped out before the jets were powered down enough for the exit ramp's security lock to disengage. Bruce was contemplating going green now and just ripping the whole damn structure into rubble, but the risk of Natasha being hurt in the process and the lack of popularity he would earn by destroying one of the wonders of the world convinced him to stay human for now.

He had to slither around the entrance in an attempt to avoid the guards and was somewhat confused when he was sure they had seen him several times and yet the did not react. Making his way inside anyway he followed the winding paths into a set of chambers filled with a mix of modern and ancient technologies and artifacts. Before him along the left side of the first smaller chamber Natasha was chained to a metal chair that was bolted into the hard rock floor at every foot. Her red hair was smeared with dust, sweat, and something that looked distinctly like blood as her head hung unmoving on her neck.

Bruce couldn't hold back the soft breath of "Tasha" that slipped from his worried lips. Quiet though his utterance had been and unconscious though she had seemed Natasha's head shot up and strained on her neck as she attempted to look at him.

"No" she said a look of terror on her face, but her cry was straggled and there was an audible wheeze in her breath that made Bruce's medical experience kick in. He leapt towards her to help her remove what ever was restricting her airway only to be grabbed from behind.

"Bruce don't change! Relax!" Natasha screamed before her airway was cut off completely. She watched as two men roughly dragged Bruce to kneel in front of where Natasha was now being gagged by one of her captors.

"Not too tight," Instructed the portly man from the passage that lead into the larger chamber, "I want him to be able to hear her scream and she will scream." He promised.

Natasha snorted disbelievingly at him taking her eyes off Bruce's only long enough to roll them in exasperation with her captor. She knew that her facade would only help keep Bruce calm for so long, but she also knew that the Avengers couldn't be far behind. She was unsure that this man could be bested once he got the Hulk's powers, but he was no more than a man without them.

"Wellcome Dr. Banner, I am so sorry to have had to bring you in this way, it is quite impolite of me considering I plan on having you stay for a while, as my guest of course. You have something I need, but I can assure you that as soon as I have it your little lady friend here is all yours. Send her home, keep her here with you, I don't much care, although I must say you really could have fallen in love with some one a little less... challenging, she has been a bit of a pain in my behind since joining me yesterday."

"What do you want?" Bruce wanted to know as he knelt six feet from Natasha's chair watching as a thug whispered in her ear, caressing her neck and collarbone with a finger as he roughly gagged her. She was breathing deep and evenly and blinking languidly at him as if they were relaxing on the couch together back at the tower an odd island of calm in this hostile environment.

"Why the Hulk of course." The little toad man said with a moist laugh.

"Are you aware you have walking pneumonia?" Bruce asked thoughtfully as if he hadn't even heard the man's desire.

The man laughed wetly again, "One of the side effects, worth it though, I assure you. You see the poor man who's strength I currently hold had a bit of an issue with his lungs, something about being seven foot eight inches and over four hundred pounds of solid muscle. I can dead lift over a ton though, quite shocking for someone my size no? This stone truly is a wonder, but after I have the Hulk's power I won't need him anymore now will I?"

"I suppose not." Bruce said fighting to keep the calm that he saw in Natasha's eyes. "You won't be able to control him." Bruce tried to explain. "He's a side effect just like that cough, except he'll take over and leave you with nothing."

"And here I thought you were supposed to be smart Doctor." the man clucked shaking his head in mock disappointment, "I take only physical attributes from those who's powers I wear. I won't develop your... illness of the mind that prevents you from controlling him."

Bruce's laugh was almost genuine, "Illness of the mind? You mistake the mind from the brain and the brain is physical."

Well then I guess we'll just have to see won't we Dr. Banner. Eugene, the girl if you please?"

Natasha couldn't hold back a snort of humor, really the torturer's name was Eugene? "Laugh while you can little sparrow, because I'm about to clip your wings." Said a deep rumbling voice form behind her. When he came into view she did laugh through her gag, he was the most stereotypical bad horror movie torturer she had ever seen. He was tall and large with an extra layer of fat over decent muscles to make him look stronger than he was, his hair was matted and dirty, but was once blond. He was missing teeth and had a pock marked face probably from a disease as a child. He war a dirty t-shirt and jeans with a butcher's apron over it that was blood stained and worn as were his leather gloves. In his hand however was quite possibly the least intimidating torture weapon she had ever seen; a pair of tweezers summed the outfit up truly comical in his large hand.

"Eugene, I thought I told you no more theatrics." The frog man fussed stomping his foot and turning red around the edges.

"Sorry boss." Eugene said in a tone akin to a child denied sweets. Eugene set the tweezers down and turned to face Natasha, he used a large filthy palm to squish her bruised face this way and that inspecting her. He stepped back as it to leave her, but whirled back around with all of his force to slap her across the face. Her nose bled, but didn't break as her head snapped around so hard she got whiplash. She had known it was coming and relaxed attempting to rotate away from it, but she had underestimated his strength. She coughed and blood ran down the back of her throat and her vision cleared enough to see Bruce purple with rage struggling against both his captors and the other guy fighting to get out.

She shook her head at him trying to tell him she was fine the best she could, but she knew if this kept up he would loose control.

"Hurry up Eugene. If Dr. Banner knows she's here the Avengers might by now to. Kill her if you have to." The man demanded.

Eugene looked a little sadly at Natasha as the portly man lowered the headdress with the stone in it onto his head. With a shrug Eugene clasped a ham like hand all the way around Natasha's throat and squeezed. Natasha sputtered, heaved, spasmed a little and then relaxed as her body went through the compulsory instincts related to asphyxiation at lightning speed before her mind took over and she relaxed into the killing hold with a sort of cold awareness that he was killing her.

She listened as the breathing on the other side of Eugene became less human and more like a stampeding bull as spots began to appear in her vision. The frog man cackled wetly and reached out to touch the back of the Hulk's leg as he leapt forwards taring Eugene off of Natasha and flinging him aside.

Natasha coughed and sputtered as the breath rushed back into her. Bruce looked about ready to rip the chair that bound her to pieces so she jingled the cuffs that bound her hands behind her back and he ripped them apart like paper. She grappled with her gag for a few seconds as the Hulk looked around snorting at things.

"Easy big guy. I'm alright." Natasha said reaching out to him as the little frog man behind the hulk began to laugh. "Ok Big Guy, can you come back to me now? I need you to calm down."

The Hulk was angry however, and wasn't ready to be calmed. Leaning over he picked up Eugene and threw him across the room only to have the frog man leap up and grab him out of the air before he could hit the far wall. "You're coming with me." He said grabbing Natasha up with strength that could only be the Hulks and dragging her into a glass cage in the middle of the larger room beyond. He chained her to yet another chair and gagged her once more. The hulk cam barreling after them only to have the frog man grab him and throw him into the ground.

They fought for several minutes neither gaining the advantage, but it was clear that the infinity stone kept the task from wearing on the smaller man as the hulk struggled. Eventually after much grunting and rumbling the smaller man managed to pin the hulk to the ground.

In the moments of silence that followed Eugene cam to look in on Natasha where she sat trapped in her cage. "She's kinda pretty, you sure we can't just keep her boss?" he asked eyeing her.

"And do what with her?" The man panted still struggling to keep the hulk subdued under him, "She's the worlds best spy, we'd be dead within the hour."

"secong" Natasha tried to say through her gag.

"What?" frog man asked.

"Second best." The hulk ground out in his gravely voice shaking his huge green head.

"Second?" The man said confused.

"That's right mother fucker." Nick Fury said from the chamber's entrance a rocket launcher resting on one shoulder and half of he Avengers behind him weapons drawn.