In the office of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mental health doctor, Shiller looked at the assessment report in his hand and said to Natasha, who was sat opposite, "Madam, your psychological health assessment report shows no problems and all the indicators are quite normal, indicating that you are mentally well. However, it seems there's a bit of fluctuation in your anxiety levels compared to before. Has anything been troubling you recently?"
"Ah…" Natasha seemed dazed as she responded with a single syllable. The beautiful agent brushed her hair back, turned her eyes back to Shiller and said, "Not really, it has nothing to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. work, but something personal. Is that within your area of responsibility?"
"Any psychological issues of the members involved in the Solar System Development Plan fall within my jurisdiction," Shiller replied. He held the papers in his hand and said to Natasha, "Any communication or conversation you have with a mental health doctor is completely confidential. So, feel free to talk about your private affairs, I am willing to listen."
No obvious emotions appeared on Natasha's face, as if the female agent was still immersed in her work mode, but she seemed to have an unusual trust in Shiller. She lowered her voice and said,
"Recently, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been monitoring the protests on the New York Skyway. In one month alone, over 50 protests of varying sizes have erupted in the outskirts of Brooklyn and the Bronx."
"But shouldn't this fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation?" Shiller took his gaze off the files, put the papers down, leaned back in his chair as if having a private conversation, and asked in a relaxed tone.
"Exactly, it was the Federal Bureau of Investigation that noticed superpower users in the protests, they were reticent to take action, so they contacted S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Are you in charge of these tasks now?" asked Shiller.
"My subordinates," Natasha glanced away, as if she had thought of something, and said, "Or rather, my subordinates' subordinates. There are too many world affairs now, and the protests in some countries, some cities, and some regions are even considered trivial."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is extremely short-staffed and one agent can only dedicate 1/5 of their time to this issue. We are paying attention to it, but haven't started processing it yet. After all, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation there, the situation won't escalate too severely."
"Then why do you say this is your private matter? So far, it should be work-related, right?"
Natasha nodded and her face become more solemn. She pursed her lips gently and said, "Just the day before my psychological assessment, Banner came to me saying a friend of his was injured by the police during a protest in the Bronx."
"Has violent conflict erupted?" Shiller leaned slightly forward, questioning.
"It was more of a shoving incident." The female agent didn't even frown, but smoothly gave a series of information: "The protesters crowded the streets of Bronx, when the local police and FBI agents arrived at the scene, they found a small gang started to loot a local convenience store."
"The police used a Taser gun to subdue the gang leader, but then a young man suddenly rushed up, trying to grab the police's neck. A FBI agent shot at him, but he dodged it. His companion covered him while he fled, but all of them were pinned to the ground within a few seconds."
"They opened fire. Can that still be considered a minor shoving incident?"
"No one was hit," Natasha shook her head and added, "Similar incidents fall into two categories, shoving incidents and bloody incidents. There's no in-between. The difference is whether actual bloodshed was caused after police warning shots. Obviously, there weren't any, so it's considered a shoving incident."
"Is Banner a friend of the young man?"
"Far from it," Natasha shook her head again, "It was the father of one of the accomplices who helped the young man escape. He is the parking lot manager at the community where Banner lives. After his son was caught and charged with six crimes, needing high bail money."
"His father was crying in the security kiosk during his shift and happened to run into Banner coming off duty. You know how Banner is, very considerate, extremely gentle and sensitive, but at the same time, quite introverted, not good at socializing."
"Lately, he's been holed up in the lab and does not understand who should handle this matter. When he came to S.H.I.E.L.D. to find me, he had heard from others that my team was paying attention to this matter. So, he came straight to me."
Shiller also shook his head somewhat helplessly and said, "A serious case of bypassing hierarchy to report, and discussing potentially confidential issues with a personal friend. Oh well, who can blame him? He is Bruce Banner, after all. Every genius scientist is Nick's darling."
Natasha giggled, seemingly catching the deeper joke in Shiller's comment.
But she still reached out to smooth her hair on the forehead, looking somewhat worried, "It's good for superheroes to have compassion, or because they have abundant sympathy, they are superheroes. However, their excessive sympathy hinders rational judgment."
"I described the real situation to Banner, but he still believes that the FBI and the police were wrong. He believes that in dealing with impulsive young people, persuasion should be the first approach. He hopes that everyone can communicate well."