Bruce was exhausted.

It was a plain fact. He had barely stayed awake during Fury's team meeting. He had barely stopped himself from closing his eyes during the big dinner pepper had cooked for the team. The reason he was so tiered was the fact that he had transformed more times I the past two weeks than he had in his entire life. It took all of Bruce not to fall down on his way to breakfast; he doubted that he would make it to the next disaster or sudden attack. A brilliant thing of having to transform into the hulk would be that it was painful, extremely painful. Another advantage to having a hulk was the fact that an undisturbed night was very unlikely, because the hulk had trouble settling down after a transformation. You can see why he was so tired.

He was scared to sleep in though, because the last time he did Tony decided to have a little fun and turn the water sprinklers on in his room. Undoubtedly he was quite angry ad everybody avoided him that day.

So as he made his way to the table for breakfast after another sleepless night he was walking with his eyes closed. Not because the sun was in his eyes. But because it required too much effort to lift his eyelids. It was ok though, because he knew his way to the coffee machine. And that was what mattered right now, getting coffee. It was his number one priority now.

As he entered the kitchen he was greeted by number of cheerful voices, whom he ignored, because he was looking for coffee.

He stretched out a hand to press the button for the strongest coffee that the coffee machine had to offer, but was a bit confused when he found it was not a coffee machine he was touching. Opening his eyes a centimetre to see what was between him and his goal, he saw Thor looking confused and also quite amused to see him pointing a finger at his chest.

"Move." He said weakly. He was starting to get a bit dizzy.

"Bruce, are you ok?" Steve replied, his tone amused. His voice stung Bruce's brain and he couldn't think properly.

"Move." He tried again.

"What's up Bruce?" Tony and Clint had decided to come over and get involved in what was one of their businesses, he thought. He tried not to wince when they spoke.

"Coffee" he murmured closing his eyes again. If he could just get some coffee.

"What's that?" Clint said smirking, thinking his tired state was an act. It really wasn't.

Giving up, he opened his eyes, turning them slightly green and glaring at the three to scare them away, he moved in which he thought was the right direction to the dining room (it was connected to the kitchen), passing a bewildered looking Natasha and Pepper, where he found Thor sitting munching on a slice of toast.

"Hello Dr Banner." He said, trying to keep his voice quiet and failing miserably. He had been warned by Natasha to keep his voice down

"It's Bruce." He replied sitting down on a chair next to him and resting his chin on the tabke in front of him, his eyes gently closing.

"Of course"

"Hey Thor?" he questioned.

"Yes?"

"Do you think you can whisper? Because my head hurts. Badly."

"Sure," he said now amused but whispering. "But you do it too; I don't want to look silly."

Bruce gave a low chuckle, which Thor joined in too. "OK".

"Why does your head hurt?" another whisper arrived in his ear.

"It's nothing" he whispered back.

"It is, otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned it." He shot back, his whisper loudening slightly.

"Not true"

"Is true"

"Not true"

"Is"

"Not"

"Is"

"Not"

"Is"

"I…Not"

"Is"

"Is" Said a very confused Thor.

"Ha!" said Bruce, whispering loudly and excitedly and pointing at Thor triumphantly. He started laughing when he saw the look on Thor's face

Realising what happened, Thor looked at his friend frowning slightly but soon laughing with Bruce. Thor beamed at him, happy that he had cheered him up. He had looked so tired this morning, so down in the dumps. He was tiered, Thor realised. A loud crashing brought him back to the present. He saw Bruce on the floor looking bewildered, and that was it for Thor. He threw his head back, his loud chuckles attracting the rest of the team. Bruce soon joined in, unaware of the eyes that watched them.

IN THE KITCHEN

"What just happened?" said Clint after Bruce left.

"What do you think smart ass, you just pissed off Bruce!" Natasha said, stating the obvious and obviously recovering first.

"Alright what did you do Tony," accused Pepper, her usually warm Brown eyes turning cold and narrowing at her boyfriend. He was such a child at times.

"Me! That's outrageous! Spangles started it!"

All eyes turned to Steve, who was innocently sipping on his hot chocolate. "I didn't do anything! He walked in looking like a zombie, I asked him what was wrong, then you lot came along and started teasing the poor man. If it's anybody's fault its theirs!" he said pointing at Tony and Clint.

"He's Tiered" Pepper said softly, small smile graceing her lips.

"Did you guys see his eyes?" Clint piped.

Clint looked like he was going to go on but before he could say anything they all heard laughing coming from the dining room. Curious, they all followed Natasha into the room ( but not before Toy poured himself a glass of cider, in which Pepper gave him a dirty look for) , stopping and staring at the sight that greeted them, their jaws snapping open (except Natasha, who had the decency to look surprised).

Bruce and Thor were laughing at some kind of joke, but the reason they were all gobsmacked was that Bruce was on the floor laughing. And he was calm. His attitude had changed so much in the past few minutes, it was remarkable. He looked completely at ease with Thor.

A pained gasp caught their attention, and their heads swivelled around to their friends. Bruce was clutching his head, his face screwed up in pain. Thor was kneeling next to him, with a worried look on his face and trying to help him up without causing any more pain.

"Headache" Bruce said simply when he saw them there with concerned looks on their faces. Quickly regaining his composure, Steve went and fetched a glass of water for Bruce, who gratefully took it and gulped it all down, now sitting at the table. "Thanks."

They took it as a sign to back off when Thor gave them the look, (That's what they called it, everybody had their own unique one so it was stupid to make one up for everybody) and they all turned around only to be met with the face of one Director Fury.

"We need you to come in."

He was met with a group of frowns and expressed sighs and some swearing from Mr Starks direction.

"It is a group of robots in Egypt ruining the pyramids and terrorising the locals. Probably Doom trying to prove he can take over the world. Stupid ass madman." He added as he took a swig from the glass of cider Tony had in his hand.

"I realise," He continued, "that this has been the 5th attack on the world this week but the world would greatly appreciate it if you would gt up off of your asses one last time-"

"No." Bruce said smoothly.

"No?" Fury repeated.

"No."

"Dr Banner, we talked about this."

"No, Nick I don't think we have," Bruce replied, ignoring the fact that he just called his boss by his first name. "I can't do this anymore. It hurts too bloody much." And with that he was out of the door, into the elevator and onto the streets, looking for a well-deserved ice cream truck.