Banner wandered down the long, quiet hallway towards his office. Usually busy with various operatives and scientists, the area seemed completely deserted. He peeked his head into one of the rooms but the lights were off and it was empty. Sighing, he figured maybe he'd lost track of time (again) and it was probably just later than he thought. They must have all gone home for the day, he shrugged to himself. The Scientist continued down the hallway, finally arriving at his lab; His sanctuary, his one quiet place. It was the one room where he didn't have to worry about that other side, the darker (and slightly more green version) of himself. Pulling the key card from his lab coat, he held it up to the glass door.
"Authorization please."
"Banner, Bruce." He said with a small sigh, eager to finish his coffee and get back to examining that specimen. They had just uncovered a life form frozen in a cube of ice, after checking a large amount of radiation coming from the North Pole.
"Access Denied. Authorization please." The ominous voice repeated.
Banner frowned. Maybe he hadn't spoken loud enough? He did have a habit of being a "mumbler."
"Banner, Bruce." He said a bit on edge.
"Access Denied. Authorization please."
"I said, BAN-NER, BRU-CE." He annunciated every syllable in his name, something deep inside him beginning to stir. The voice responded as it had before and the door remained locked.
"This stupid door." The Scientist cursed the unknown female voice as he repeated his name several more times, all with the same (or no) result. Banner looked around the abandoned hallway suspiciously. This had to be some sick joke. His mind immediately thought of Stark and the team. He was always finding some way to get under his skin. Didn't they know he had important things to do with his day? Just because they could afford to goof off in between missions didn't mean he could. Besides, someone had to put those tax-payer dollars to good use. Thinking outside of the box, Banner decided to change his approach.
"Bastard." He said, holding his key to the door.
"Access denied. Authorization Please."
"Pussy? Lil bitch? Hulk? Mother fu—" he stopped himself suddenly with a sigh. "This is ridiculous." He frowned at the door, pulling on the handle in frustration.
Banner finally relented. The door wasn't going to open without his authorization and someone had obviously changed his "name." Thus he was locked out. He glanced down the hall but there was still no sign of anyone. Even after hours there was at least a janitor or something wandering around…
Walking towards the main deck he peeked into more empty rooms, getting an eery feeling. What if something had happened? He started to jog down the hallways, getting lost in the maze of quiet. Finally getting an idea, he decided to check the one place that was guaranteed to have at least one person. The lunch room. He jogged up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
What if there wasn't anyone there? What was he going to do? Who could have hijacked an entire ship without his knowledge? Who would be ruthless enough to attack the Avengers on their day off? The Scientist' mind began to race as he thought of all the possible scenarios and logical explanations.
Banner exited the stairwell and spotted the lunchroom door at the other end of the hallway. Suddenly the lights began to flicker before eventually turning off, leaving him in total darkness. "What the—" he muttered under his breath, stopping dead in his tracks. His heart began to race. Where was everyone? He balled his hands into fists as he took a few cautious steps closer. It was so quiet his pulse began to pound in his ears. His other self was growing more antsy but Banner fought against it. It was fine, everything was going to be fine.
The door grew closer and closer until he could finally reach the handle. The Scientist took a deep breath, hesitating before turning the knob.
"This is silly. Why am I getting so worked up about this? Just turn the stupid handle Banner." He said out loud, trying to find the courage. Seconds passed before finally the Scientist pushed the door open. The room was silent and the lights were all off. It was just as he feared. These lights were never off and it was always busy no matter how late the hour.
There was a brief seconds pause before the room erupted in a loud "Surprise!" Banner jumped backwards, his eyes wide with fright. The lights flicked on and people jumped from their hiding places. Captain America beamed and gave Banner a stern pat on the back. Stark was laughing with Clint and Thor, moving to join their scared colleague. Even Black Widow appeared from thin air and gave Banner a small kiss on the cheek.
"What in Gods name—" The Scientist said angrily, looking at the people. It seemed they had managed to fit an entire ship's worth of people in that tiny room. The feelings in his stomach began to grow stronger as he fought against his green self.
"Tony told us it's your birthday so we decided to throw you a surprise party!" The Captain said with a chuckle, giving Stark a friendly shove.
"We even got a sweet ass cake!" Hawkeye piped up as he took a forkful into his mouth. Other scientists came up to the shocked Banner, shaking his hand and patting him on the back.
Banner's face fell as he felt the feelings rise from his stomach and into his throat. It was too late. He'd tried so desperately to contain it but the warmth spread over his entire body. He began to shake, letting out a loud yell. His lab coat ripped to pieces as the man's skin began to change colour. The people backed away as Banner disappeared, swallowed by this massive green thing.
"Its. Not. Even. My. Birthday!" The hulk yelled angrily, making fists and smashing one against the wall. The room became dead silent. Hawkeye slowly lowered the fork from his mouth in shock.
Thor looked to the Captain, "I do not understand what this "birthday" is." He whispered quietly.
"Well this is the last time we try and throw you a party." Stark said, hiding a small smirk.