Author Note

Summary – Bruce just can't sleep. After endless nights spent awake and battling exhaustion, it's up to the rest of the Avengers to help the physicist in any way that they can while he battles a seemingly never ending bout of insomnia. Will Bruce ever fall asleep?

Insomniac

Chapter 1

However hard he tried, Bruce Banner couldn't sleep.

For four days now the doctor had spent his time wandering around the Avengers tower like a ghost, sitting tired eyed in front of movies with his teammates, desperately waiting for sleep to claim him. He hadn't missed the weary glances from the other Avengers every time he stumbled into a room, though it was difficult to tell whether it was real or just a figment of his fatigued imagination.

The endless insomnia had left the physicist flagging, all he wanted to do was curl up into a small ball and get some shut eye, but no matter how long he lay still, cushioned amongst the soft expensive sheets of his bed, sleep just wouldn't come.

The curly haired doctor was currently sat in the kitchen of his apartment, slouched in his seat beneath dim lights wearily with his head resting in his hands. He stared aimlessly at a forgotten luke warm mug of tea on the counter top in front of him. He blinked owlishly as he tried to clear his blurry vision; he knew he had undoubtedly been staring at the same spot for a long period of time. His poor brain was probably shutting down.

He sighed tiredly; inevitably he would just have to play the waiting game. He knew that he couldn't stay awake forever; it was only a matter of time before he collapsed from exhaustion, the only question was when. Sleep deprivation could kill any normal person, but of course Bruce was far from normal. With the gamma radiation in his bloodstream who knew how long he was capable of staying awake for. His record so for insomnia was an impressive 8 days; he had been in the Middle East at the time, he remembered travelling around in the dry desert aimlessly, just waiting to drop.

Bruce groaned pitifully, the thought of being awake any longer was almost too painful and unbearable to think about, both physically and mentally.

The doctor pushed his forgotten mug further across the table and sat up slowly, rolling his head and shoulders in small circles to relieve the aching tension in his muscles. He raised his head unenthusiastically before rubbing his throbbing eyes and squinting heavily at the clock on the wall. He could barely read without his glasses on but he could just make out the fuzzy numbers.

3.25am.

The scientist whined in frustration and allowed himself to sink back into his seat until his head rested upon the cold marble counter top. His head began to throb painfully as he lay still, tired and defeated.

Bruce had been awake for over 96 hours.

It seemed almost impossible.

The seemingly never-ending nights spent awake in fatigue and misery meant that he was starting to lose both his mind and his patience. The doctor had tried almost everything he could think of to help himself relax enough to sleep.

Hours of meditation and yoga had no calming effect at all; instead his failure only increased the frustration he was feeling. Banner spent four hours in the towers training room, spread out on a yoga mat before he decided to throw in the towel of defeat.

He had become so desperate for rest that he had even tried counting sheep; he knew that it was hopeless but tried anyway; he had stopped counting just short of reaching 2000.

A scientist counting sheep, he snorted at the thought; how pathetic.

The desperation left a strong temptation inside of his mind to dose himself with some very strong sedatives or sleeping pills but he knew it was a wasted idea. It would be utterly useless, he could swallow 8 bottles of extra strength sleeping pills and they wouldn't even make him the slightest bit drowsy.

It was at times like this that he really hated having the Hulk inside of him.

The scientist let out a quiet whimper at the back of his throat as the ticking of the clock echoed loudly in his ears, taunting him mockingly. He pictured his team mates in his head, all no doubt soundly asleep without a care in the world. He envied their ability to just switch off whenever they felt the need to recuperate. Sure they all suffered from the occasional restless night's sleep or a nightmare, but never this bad.

Banner would give anything for just a few hours of respite.

He never did sleep well in the days that came after he awoke from a transformation; or a 'hulk out' as Tony liked to call it. He spent so long in an unconscious state that when he finally awoke it was difficult for his body clock to adjust and return to normal. No one really understood that the time spent after 'an incident' just wasn't the same as a good night's sleep.

It wasn't pleasant and resting, it was an unpleasant unconsciousness state, similar the sensation of swimming through a thick drugged haze of pain and fatigue. It allowed him time to rest up and heal his aching muscles but he was never truly asleep.

Not really.

Just laying still, gritting his teeth through the aftermath as the pain slowly sank away. It was like drowning in a sea of deep water, floating on the brink of sleep but never quite able to sink to the bottom.

Even without an incident Bruce was never really much of a sleeper. It was a habit he had picked up after being on the run from the military for so long. He was always high-wired and alert, listening out for noises that weren't there and constantly looking over his shoulder in paranoia.

It was something he couldn't turn off.

Even on the odd occasion he did manage to gain a few precious hours of slumber it never lasted long. Every sleep was always plagued with vicious nightmares; he awoke mere hours later; fidgety and uncomfortable, and if it wasn't the nightmares keeping him awake it was Nick Fury's calls to the summon the team at all ungodly hours.

With a heavy sigh Banner slowly pushed himself up from the table and stretched his limbs, wincing at the popping sound his joints made before slowly dragging himself towards the doorway and over to the private elevator, leaving his cold tea untouched.

He needed help.

The everlasting insomnia had lasted for so long that Bruce wasn't sure he could cope anymore. He couldn't keep waiting to pass out from exhaustion like this, it wasn't fair.

He was pretty certain the he was on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

There was only one thing he could do to keep his mind occupied when he was feeling so terrible. He headed to his comfort zone, the one place in the world where he felt mildly safe and content, somewhere he could work on a way to fix his problem, or just distract himself until he could succumb to unconsciousness.

The place Tony Stark often referred to as 'Candy land.'

It was not unusual for Tony Stark to still be in his workshop so late into the night. It fact it was quite a regular occurrence to find the billionaire tinkering away with mechanic and machinery well into the early hours of the morning. He became so engrossed in his work that the hours just seemed to slip away completely unnoticed.

The billionaire could spent days working before he even realised he'd been awake for so long, he only really noticed when he started to get hunger pangs. He always forgot to eat; mostly he lived on endless supplies of coffee and the occasional cheese burger; that was of course only when Pepper wasn't around to kick him into shape.

'Hey Dummy, hand me that wrench.'

The mechanic was currently remodelling the thrusters for the mark 42, they didn't need replacing but he had found himself bored with nothing to do, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do some minor adjustments.

Stark went to take a large swig of coffee from his branded stark industries mug, only to frown when he noticed it was empty. Dummy waved a wrench under his nose and the playboy stepped back, sighing at the bot.

'No not that one, the other one block head,' he muttered, wiping his greasy hands on his worn jeans.

The bot pivoted to face the large pile of tools on the table top before turning back to face his creator, bleeping and waving his robotic arm.

The playboy sighed before standing from his seat and leaning over his tool box.

'Shoo,' he waved his hands at the bot, 'move over, go and make yourself useful and clean my desk; try not to break anything.' He turned to the other two bots sweeping up a mess of screws in the corner.

'Hey you, butterfingers, go keep an eye on dummy.'

Tony rummaged around in his tool box, throwing wrenches and unwanted tools over his shoulder in frustration.

'Damn it, where did I put you…' he huffed in annoyance.

'Jarvis where's my wrench? He addressed the AI, whilst running a hand through his short, unkempt hair.

'I believe it is currently located in Doctor Banner's Lab sir, and has been so for three weeks.'

'Son of a bitch,' he snapped his fingers, Stark frowned as he tried to recall why on earth he had left it there but his mind drew a blank. He cursed his memory, he was either really tired or his age was finally catching up with him.

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

'Well, don't remember that…'

'I am not surprised sir; you were highly intoxicated at the time.'

Stark snorted before clapping his hands.

'Take me up J!' he called, stepping into his private elevator, he took a moment to stretch out the stiffness in his back and shoulders. 'Ughhh, I want coffee and my wrench, in that order.'

'Yes sir,' The AI's voice echoed in the small space.

His elbow made a loud popping noise, causing him to wince.

'Second thoughts maybe something a little stronger, Jarvis tell me there's a bottle of whiskey there.'

'May I suggest a healthier alternative sir?

'No you may not.'

The elevator doors clicked open and Stark stepped out in front of the lab door.

'Open sesame.'

The doors hissed open and the mechanic stepped forward.

'Ligh-' He called Jarvis to activate the lighting, only to pause when he noticed the bulbs were already illuminated. He was confused, until he saw a shadowed figure sitting across the room and the back of a familiar head of short curly brown hair.

'Bruce!'

He grinned, greeting the scientist enthusiastically.

'You haven't seen my wrench around here have you? Apparently I left it in here when I was drunk.' He scratched his head, still searching for the tool.

The scientist didn't turn to acknowledge his presence but Stark didn't even seem to notice as he continued talking.

'Jarvis, find my wrench, I've got work to do.'

'I believe the tool is 45 degrees to your left sir.'

Stark frowned until he finally laid eyes on the iron wrench, it was on a nearby desk; partially hidden by a small pile of papers and blue prints. He plucked it into his grasp before tucking it carefully into the back pocket of his jeans; he gazed at the blue prints on the table.

'This one of your new projects?' he asked, supressing a yawn; no doubt in a few hours he'd have to give in and finally hit the sack.

'I'm surprised you're still up big guy, didn't really peg you as a night owl.'

The physicist didn't answer.

Stark frowned in confusion before glancing over his shoulder.

It appeared that Bruce hadn't moved at all since he came in.

'Bruce?'

Still no answer.

Tony sighed as he turned on his heel and walked towards the office chair the scientist was hunched in. What he was working on had to be really interesting for him to be so engulfed in his work; either that or he was dosing at his desk.

'You're not asleep are you?' he smirked, 'wouldn't want you hulking out in the morning 'coz you've got a sore neck,' he teased.

The smirk on his face soon faded when on closer inspection he noticed that Bruce was actually awake. He found himself suddenly speechless as he took in the troubling sight of his lab partner.

Bruce was bent forward over the lab table, his head resting heavily in one hand as he appeared to be gazing aimlessly at a blank notebook in front of him, he had a pen gripped in his right hand but it was still and unmoving. Tony was shocked by the large, heavy grey smudges of fatigue resting beneath his eyes.

He looked truly awful.

'Big guy?'

It wasn't until he rested a hand on his shoulder that Tony seemed to startle the other man into awareness.

Banner blinked hazily for a long moment before slowly withdrawing from his dazed state. He looked up at the billionaire, confusion etched onto his face.

'Tony?' he squinted tiredly; blinking owlishly he rubbed his face with the back of his hand.

'You look like you could use some sleep big guy.'

The scientist stared at the mechanic for a long while before furrowing his brows in confusion, it was like the lights were on but no one was home. He clearly hadn't heard the philanthropist trying to talk to him for the past 10 minutes and that was worrying.

'Bruce, talk to me buddy you're scaring me.'

'I can't-' the scientist let out a breathy sigh, 'I can't sleep.'

Banner turned in his chair, now he was facing the light Stark could see just how pale and worn he was. He face was gaunt, the faint edges of his cheek bones looked sharper then he remembered. This was clearly something much more than Bruce losing himself in his work for one night.

'Bruce, listen to me; when was the last time you slept?' Stark spoke slowly and clearly, studying his lab partner as he waited for an answer.

There was a pause as the physicist shifted in his seat, his eyes wandered until he began staring at a random spot on the wall over the billionaires shoulder as he was lost in thought. Tony was about to prompt the man for an answer when Bruce finally met his eyes with a look of defeat.

'Wednesday,' he croaked barley loud enough for the mechanic to hear him.

Tony felt his stomach drop.

Today was Monday.

The geniuses eyes widened in alarm.

'Jarvis, get everyone out of bed right now.'