The short begins with Bruce Banner, now going under the alias of Donald Blake (Yes, I know this is Thor's alter ego, but it does not seem as though they plan to use it very soon in the MCU), working at a medical center in downtown Dallas. Everything seems normal. Patients are in and out as usual. The UPS is dropping off packages to employees (Maybe throw a Stan Lee cameo as the UPS driver? Maybe?). Same old, same old. But suddenly, everything changes. His attention is drawn to the television in the waiting room lobby. He watches in complete shock as he witnesses SHIELD's demise. The three helicarriers are destroyed, taking the majority of SHIELD and SHIELD's resources with them.
Later that night, still in shock over what had happened, Bruce begins to head home. He is driving over an interstate when suddenly, a SHIELD swat van rams into the side of his vehicle. Bruce begins to rage out, and even begins to bulk up, just as he is sedated. He slowly blacks out.
When Bruce finally awakens, he finds himself in a high-tech SHIELD prison facility, and that he is a prisoner.
"Hey!" Bruce yells out, "Hey! I want to talk to whoever is in charge here!"
Bruce waits, but finds no response.
"Hey!" He yells, a bit angrier this time.
Again, there is no response.
"You might as well save your breath, Mr. Green. No one is going to respond to your question." A voice finally says.
Bruce stands and places his hands on the indestructible glass door of his cell, looking up and down the corridor for the source of the voice, "Who is that? Where are you?"
"Well, I'm most certainly not out there." The voice chuckles before being thrown into a horrible coughing fit.
"I asked you a question." Bruce says, louder this time, so that the source of the voice may hear the question over his own echoing cough.
"I am--" The man is cut off by a cough. He clears his throat before finally continuing. "I am an old friend, Mr. Green. I suppose that there is a possibility that you don't remember me personally, but I am willing to bet that you remember that night. The night we almost had a cure."
Bruce is silent as he attempts to recall that blurred night. The memory had been suppressed for quite a long while.
"Perhaps I could give you a clue." The man says, "You might remember me best as Mr. Blue."
At the mention of the name, the memories begin flooding back. Emil Blonskey, the "cure", General Ross, Betty Ross, and--
"Samuel Sterns...." Bruce says quietly, "I read the S.H.I.E.L.D. report while on the Helicarrier...you were reported deceased...."
"To any S.H.I.E.L.D. agent under level 7 clearance, I am." Sterns replies.
"Where are we? What is this place?"
"A S.H.I.E.L.D. prison in Africa. I don't know the technical name, but--"
"Wait, a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison?" Bruce cuts Dr. Sterns off short, "Why would S.H.I.E.L.D. arrest me, I didn't do anythin--"
"Placing you under custody was not S.H.I.E.L.D.'s doing. Mr. Green, as I was attempting to explain to you before you so rudely cut me off." Sterns says, slightly aggravated.
Bruce sighs before calmly replying, "Continue."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised, Mr. Green. By the terrorist group known as HYDRA."
"That's impossible. HYDRA was disbanded immediately after World War II ended." Bruce remarks, a confused expression on his face.
"According to S.H.I.E.L.D., they were. But you see, S.H.I.E.L.D. has this funny habit of lying."
Bruce stands and begins pacing around his cell, pinching the bridge of his nose as he does, trying to calm himself. Trying to control the other guy who was now fighting to be released. They remain quiet for quite a while before Sterns finally speaks up.
"There is no need to contemplate on how to escape this facility." He says calmly.
"And why not? Are we just supposed to sit here like--like caged animals? We didn't do anything! They have no right, nor reason, to keep us here!"
"Do not fret, Mr. Green." He chuckles, "We are not being held here. Not much longer. It was never their plan to keep us here."
"Then why the hell was I taken under custody in Dallas? So that they could bring me here and then just set me free?" Bruce says angrily.
"No, they brought you here because I asked them too." Sterns replies.
Bruce begins to say something, but before he can, a voice with a German accent comes on over the loudspeaker.
"Hello Prisoners, I am Baron Von Strucker, director of HYDRA. I am pleased to announce that everyone in this facility has been cleared of all their crimes and are free to leave whenever they please. Thank-you for your cooperation."
The loudspeaker shuts down and all the cell doors are opened. All the prisoners trample over each other, attempting to be the first to exit the facility and enter the outside world. As Bruce steps out of his cell and begins heading to the nearest exit, he feels a hand land on his shoulder. Bruce pauses and turns, seeing that the hand belonged to no other than Samuel Sterns. Bruce looks in shock at Sterns, whose head is large and deformed, topped of with a slight green tint to his skin.
"Come Bruce...." Sterns says, removing his hand from Bruce's shoulder, "Follow the Leader."