Blue eyes.
Brown hair.
A touch.
A kiss.
A bed.
A hug.
A caress.
Faded, green arms.
Green muscles.
A white light…
As Bruce opened his maroon eyes and looked around his room, he was grateful that he still remained in his usual form after the nightmares he faced last night. There was always torment at every turn for him, but over the past week, the dreams turned into nightmares. And he was afraid to say that perhaps, those nightmares were epiphanies.
He walked into the hallway and took the elevator towards the kitchen. "Good morning, Dr. Banner," the eloquent AI enthused, almost surprising Bruce, as he leant towards the mirror in a sleepy haze.
"Huh – oh, hello Jarvis." He looked hastily at his reflection. He knew he couldn't afford to hold his reflection's gaze for too long. Or was that even my reflection, Banner thought.
"Might I warn you that Miss Romanoff and Mr Barton are currently present downstairs with Mr Stark, Doctor?"
Bruce immediately pressed the button to return back up to the previous floor. "Is that so? Well, I'd prefer to have a shower first then."
"Without proceeding to have your morning coffee first?"
Bruce gave a subtle smile before biting the inside of his cheek nervously. "Yes, Jarvis. "
In the lounge area, Tony continued to amuse himself at the expense of others feelings. It was in his nature to do so. He had been rambling on about how Natasha and Clint looked like a couple. Clint did not care whatsoever; he knew Tony was only doing this to satisfy his own ego. And then later, if anyone questioned Tony's ability to co-operate with others, he would play the 'Without me, you guys wouldn't even talk to each other, let alone be the Avengers' card. Clint had to admit, that would be slightly true.
Meanwhile Natasha gently eyeballed him, knowing well that he was not going to give up on this unless he received a reaction. Doesn't he get me by now, she thought. He was not going to drop this act. She cleared her throat and blurted sarcastically, "Yes, Clint and I have sex 3 times a day. Oh, and don't forget the suits Clint! We love leather. We have whips and swings. Oh, we have the whole deal going on. I love punishing people."
Silence. A chuckle rumbled from Clint's throat. Followed by Tony's loud laughter. "Kinky. Nice." He exclaimed, giving a sarcastic wink. Silence broken. She rolled her eyes dramatically then flashed one of her cheesy grins. I can't believe I'm actually doing this.
"You know, it's Bruce's birthday tomorrow." Tony said with a mischievous grin.
Clint and Natasha traded looks. They stared at Tony. "Well, if you want Avengers HQ, being completely destroyed again, be my guest," Clint mused, throwing his hands in the air.
"Oh c'mon, it'll be great. He's always stuck in that goddamn lab. Let him have some fun, guys."
They sighed.
"Guys?"
They sighed deeply.
"We can bring a few people down here, and we'll bring some of his friends arou-"
"What friends?" Natasha interrupted coldly.
"Which friends of his do you know? He stays out of contact with people for a reason. Just leave it alone."
"Yeah," Clint agreed, "Plus, he's not too fond of surprises."
Tony smiled. "Pffft. Whatever. We need to lighten up in here."
Natasha was tempted to get up from her seat, and walk towards the elevator. She was getting irritated with this routine. Fury told the Avengers to stay close after the Chitauri attack, but it never worked out. The closest they kept in contact to was Tony. 1 year on after their big debut, meetings would be less serious, and he'd raise the issue of "Who hit the headlines in TMZ this week?" It infuriated her, but she hated the idea that she let him get to her. Wiping the annoyance from her exterior was something she could easily do; it was the case of not getting annoyed by him that irritated her.
"I need to go over this briefing that Fury's got for us," she looked directly at Tony, "if that's alright with you."
Tony clapped his hands together and readjusted his position in his seat. "Yeah, whatever you say." He winked at her again.
"Jarvis, where's Banner?"
"He's currently in the elevator, on his way down, Mister Stark," the AI responded calmly.
The elevator doors opened, and Bruce emerged with grey slacks and a black shirt. He nodded at Clint and Natasha.
"Mister Barton, Miss Romanoff. Is everything good?" he asked calmly as he walked towards the kettle.
Pepper emerged from the elevators seconds later, with a warm smile on her face. "That's okay, Dr Banner, I can make you something." Bruce looked up surprised and pushed his glasses up his nose nervously. "Thank you, Pepper."
She smiled again. "Coffee?" He nodded meekly. "Isn't it always?"
He walked towards the lounge area and sat next to Tony. Tony grinned, and gave him a playful punch. "Had a goodnight's sleep?" Bruce flashed a subtle smile. "Yep."
"Here's your coffee," Pepper said cheerily, "I'll put it here." She placed it on the coffee table. "Thanks." He said awkwardly.
Clint leaned forward towards the coffee table, opening a black file on the desk. "So anyway, Fury said in SHIELD's data labs, they picked up high traces of gamma radiation," he turned to Bruce, "in Harlem."
Bruce frowned. "So I was supposed to have caused that? It's been about… nearly 3 years since I went there."
"We're not assuming you're the cause of it, Bruce. However, we know you do have some knowledge of that area, and once you did have an incident there, did you not?" Natasha interrupted.
Bruce curled his lips. "Yes. But the Other Guy wasn't the only thing down there that emitted high levels of Gamma Radiation at the time."
Tony turned towards Bruce. "You mean, that experiment Ross had right? "
Bruce nodded. "Yep. A soldier was given a solution that contained my blood," he looked at his hands momentarily, "the formula in my blood that makes me what I am. The guy wanted to be a Super Soldier. And General Ross was still hell bent on having an army of them. So he gave it to him, in a series of doses. And he became an… abomination, I guess."
Natasha nodded. "Do you know of any chemicals or anything radioactive substances that they used to stop this 'abomination' thing from happening?"
Bruce twisted his lips and entwined his hands. "No. They just sent me out there."
Clint stood up. "Well then. Fury just wanted you guys to know about this."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Alright guys, we'll see you soon then." Natasha shot him a look.
Tony winked. Clint and Natasha walked into the elevator.
Bruce stared deeply at his reflection in the glass coffee table. The memories. It was all flooding back. Coming back to haunt him perhaps? He could hear the roaring in his head get slightly louder. He put it off. No, not now. I have to do this away from here.