I do not own any of the characters present. They belong to Marvel. This was written purely for fun. Also, there are several references to the 2008 film "The Incredible Hulk" in here.


"Look, I'm just reporting what I know," Tony sighed into the communicator in his Iron Man helmet. He was slowly pacing in front of the holding cell, unconsciously aware that his movements matched the Hulk's. His faceplate was lifted and he glanced from time to time at the massive green man inside the glass and metal cage. "He looks like he has a headache."

"And what do you expect me to do with that information?" Nick Fury asked on the other end of the communicator. "I'm not going to walk into that cell with a bottle of Aspirin and a glass of water, expecting him to take his proper dosage."

"Don't be absurd, Director," Tony scoffed. "The Hulk would never take anything from you. He's angry, not stupid."

He grinned when the Hulk snorted in agreement.

"Anyway…" Steve's voice piped into their conversation before it could escalate. "He's not even that angry right now, Director Fury," he explained carefully. "I think Tony is right; something's wrong. He should have turned back into Dr. Banner by now."

Tony smirked; he could hardly believe that he had the self-righteous super soldier on his side against the man in charge. "And I think that headache has something to do with it," he reiterated. "I don't know what to do about it either; I just think it's odd."

"And how are we to know the Hulk doesn't always have a headache?" Fury questioned. "He's too busy destroying things to really reflect on some mild ache in his head—"

"This isn't just 'some mild ache,' Fury," Tony shot back. His eyes fell upon the Hulk, who had paused again with a grunt of pain. The enormous green man let out a snarl and punched the metal wall in frustration before he started pacing once more. "It's something more…I just don't know what."

"Well, until you find out what," Fury began, "just keep him calm. He has to turn back into Banner sometime or another. Keep your eye on him, if it'll make you feel better." With that, the director ended his transmission.

The line was silent for a long moment. Right when Tony was about to cut communication, he heard Steve speak up again. "Natasha, you there?"

"Of course," came the cool answer from the Black Widow.

Tony let out a snort of a laugh. "She's always there, Cap. Always lingering in the corners like the spider she is—"

"Natasha," Steve interrupted quickly, "you mentioned earlier that Dr. Banner had seemed distracted during the meeting. What else did you notice?"

Another hiss of pain sounded from the cage. The metal-clad man turned and looked at the Hulk, his brow furrowing. These…whatever was going on seemed to be increasing in frequency. He didn't know what it meant, but he had a bad feeling about it. "Go on, Natasha. We know you were watching him."

If she had been in the room with him, he knew he would have received a death glare. He heard the assassin draw a breath of air in before she spoke. "I didn't actually start watching him until he kind of gasped. His eyes had this distant look in them, like he wasn't focused on anything, and he trembled for a couple of seconds. A few minutes later, he started to transform."

"Hmm…" Steve hummed on his end of the line, musing over the agent's narrative. "Tony, you were with Dr. Banner before the meeting. Anything seem off?"

"Nope," Tony answered, his eyes still locked on the green man within the cage. "He wasn't any different than normal." He paused for a moment before thinking aloud. "So whatever happened, if anything really did happen, occurred during the meeting. Natasha, can you get a copy of the security feed from the conference room? Maybe the cameras caught something."

"On it. I'll have Clint and Thor look at it with me. Care to join us, Cap?" Natasha asked.

There was a throaty sound of agreement. "Right, I'll be there soon. Tony, I guess you should just stay with the Hulk," Steve said, sounding resigned. "If we find something, we'll let you know. For now, I guess just keep him calm. Hopefully he'll change back soon."

"I'm not holding my breath, Cap," Tony muttered after the line went dead.


Bruce could feel the clenched fists at his sides trembling, but it was not from rage. He swallowed the lump in his throat and he stared down at the darkened ground with despondent eyes. Self-loathing and inadequacy battled within him for purchase. He kept his gaze lowered as he saw the latest memory fade into the gloom from the corner of his eye.

"So not only did you bring this monster upon yourself by your own hand," Loki began, his voice carrying through the darkness to engulf the physicist, "but you cannot even get rid of it?"

Inadequacy quickly won the fight within him. His eyes remained on the floor as his arms slowly came upward to wrap around himself nervously. "There's only so much I can do with second-hand equipment while on the run from the army," he whispered in his own lackluster defense.

A huff of air that was probably a patronizing laugh sounded from Loki. "You have all of this power, and yet you wish to rid yourself of it?"

"It's power I cannot control," the scientist replied. "I don't enjoy hurting people like you do, Loki."

"A part of you must enjoy hurting people," the demigod insisted. "Why else would the creature wish so fervently to harm? There must be some underlying desire in you that wants to hurt others."

Bruce curled into himself slightly, shaking his head and closing his eyes. "Y-You're wrong," he breathed in a tight voice. "I want to help people. I've been doing good in the world. I—"

"Do you honestly believe you can atone for all of the harm you have done, all of the pain you have caused?" Loki inquired in mild disbelief, sounding almost disgusted. "You are a deluded creature, but even you cannot believe that a few acts of kindness will wash away the sins of your past…wash away what you truly are."

The barbed words cut deep into the doctor's psyche. 'I can try,' was the answer on his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud. He wanted to believe, he wanted so hard to believe that what he did now could at least start to chisel away all of the wrongs he had done in the past. No matter what he did, though, he would always have to live with what he and the other guy had done to the world. How many things he had destroyed…how many people he had hurt and killed… He felt himself curl more tightly into himself and a tremble coursed through him.

"You're a monster," Bruce murmured quietly.

The soft accusation was answered by a bitter snort of a laugh. "We have that in common, at least," was the quiet response, sounding more like it was meant to remain unspoken.

It hadn't been just what Loki said, but the tone of self-loathing and hatred that made Bruce turn and look at him. He felt his brow furrow, and for the life of him, he did not know why he suddenly felt sorry for his torturer.

That was until he remembered something.

A memory from his first stay aboard the helicarrier materialized from the gloom. He found himself staring at Thor as the words echoed into being:

"He's adopted."

On the edge of his vision, he saw Loki turn sharply away from the image as it disappeared. Bruce glanced over at the demigod, simply watching him and keeping silent.

The silence lingered for a bit longer before Loki turned and shot Bruce a look that made the physicist flinch. The demigod smirked, but his smile held nothing but hostility. "It would seem that my dear brother has been telling tales of me," he spat venomously.

"That's really all he said," Bruce said softly without looking away. He hesitated before continuing. "…you're not really an Asgardian, are you?"

The smirk turned downright malicious. "I am a king," he said in a low, vicious voice.

"Not of Asgard," Bruce replied almost easily, but very quietly. He knew he would regret making the demigod angry, but he pressed on. "Do we really have that in common? Are we both really beasts pretending otherwise?"

He let out a yelp when a fist came out of nowhere, striking him in the side of the head. His shoulders were the first thing to hit the ground, the back of his head following soon after as it struck the phantom floor with a sharp crack. He remained where he was once he skidded to a stop, wondering vaguely if he now had a concussion. He opened his eyes and blinked cautiously. There was nothing to check to see if his vision was doubled with, so with a soft groan, he rolled over onto his side. His eyes fell upon a blurred pair of Lokis standing aside.

"I don't pretend," came a sharply articulated voice from somewhere behind him.

Bruce twitched minutely and watched the double of the demigod flicker before the illusion vanished. He blinked slowly and drew a breath. "And yet you use illusions?"

The silence that followed the short reply was brief and frightening. Footsteps suddenly sounded as the demigod stormed up to the man lying prone on the ground. The doctor drew a startled and shuddering breath in as rough hands grabbed the front of his jacket. His vision continued to swim while he was twisted and suddenly face-to-face with Loki. He tried to focus on what he could only assume were the snarling features of the demigod.

"You delude yourself into believing you are a man," Loki said in a low whisper, staring down into the scientist's bleary eyes. "This…illusion, this façade that you call 'Doctor Bruce Banner' is nothing more than that: an illusion. You are nothing more than the shell for that green monster that lurks in a body that you call your own."

While the demigod continued to rant, a very dull feeling began to refill some of that emptiness that burrowed deep into the doctor's core. He didn't recognize the sensation for a long moment; when it finally hit him, he carefully schooled his features and did his damnedest to regulate everything he could within his control. He hoped against hope that this wasn't a trick by the God of Mischief, but as he continued to stare up at the demigod, he knew Loki was too agitated to be doing anything like this to him now.

"Therein lies the stark difference between us, beast," Loki finally spat as he threw the scientist back down to the ground.

Bruce's mind rapidly played out a plan, his brain finally moving past the fear and panic to work with the fullest capacities he was accustomed to. If he failed, he would still be stuck in this situation, with possibly a really angry demigod. Should he succeed, however…

As soon as Loki had begun to manipulate him, Bruce had surrendered the control over his emotions he always strived to keep. Memories he kept buried deep for no one else to see were suddenly thrown out into the open. It was almost sensory overload, trying to deal with these things that he only truly reflected on in his darkest moments. He had lost control when he became emotionally involved.

It seemed to also be true for Loki.

Bruce really didn't want to do this, but he needed to know what was happening in reality. He needed Loki to lose his hold over his mind. If even for a second, he needed to see. Maybe he could get help. He couldn't fight this alone; he had been dealing with this alone for so long, and he had lost that fight the day he decided to pull that trigger. He couldn't…he just couldn't face this much of his past alone…not again.

He needed help. If possibly reaching out to reality meant sacrificing himself here, then so be it.

Drawing a fortifying breath, Bruce slowly rolled over to where he could look up at the demigod. Their eyes met, and Bruce held the icy glare. "You're right," the doctor began quietly. "I am the shell to a monster. But you…" His eyes darkened. "Your shell? I don't know what you hide behind it, but you, Loki, brother of Thor, are a monster."

Bruce lifted himself to his feet and held his ground, staring straight at the increasingly infuriated demigod. Even as he spoke, he could feel that anger, the feeling he had been trying desperately to cure since his accident, returning. It wasn't complete, and despite how much he normally hated it, it was familiar and he gladly welcomed it.

He tried to keep his face neutral and his voice calm. "I hide something I can't control inside of me, something that does nothing, knows nothing, but destruction. But I am not like that," he said heatedly, his hand coming to his chest for emphasis. "I know what he can do; I live with the consequences of his actions. But you," he pointed at the demigod while he took a defiant step forward, "you willingly do what you do. You enjoy the pain you cause others."

The presence of the Hulk increased again. There would be no way he could transform, but it could be enough to… He hated that he knew just how to hurt this obviously hurting being before him, but he needed to make sure the people he worked alongside, the people the other guy fought beside, his teammates, his friends, were safe from the furious wrath of his other half that Loki had unleashed.

A horrible guilt gnawed at him as he willingly recalled the rest of that memory from his interaction with the God of Thunder aboard the helicarrier. "Your brother…" he trailed off quietly as the image of the Asgardian materialized from the darkness.

Despite how bitter Loki was and despite how hostile he seemed toward his brother, the doctor knew he obviously still had some sort of tenderness he kept hidden from the seeing world. Why else would the demigod allow himself to loosen his control over his victim? No matter how much he tried to distance himself from his adoptive family, Bruce could tell there was a sore spot there, one that the demigod could not hide behind his acts of violence.

It almost sickened him that he was exploiting it.

As his own voice began sarcastically announcing that the demigod really grows on a person, Bruce hung his head. He didn't want to see the look on Loki's face. As he knew the vision shifted to Thor, speaking in defense of his misguided brother, he took a small step back.

It pained him when he felt his connection with his other half unexpectedly return. He drew a small breath and closed his eyes, swallowing the feelings of guilt as he concentrated on calling upon the Hulk.


Tony had thought Fury had only been joking when he had made the offer to Loki about having a magazine to keep himself occupied while he was being held in the cage before the invasion. It was with great surprise that he actually found a small bin of magazines hidden in the room. He had rummaged through it and pulled out a few of the more promising looking scientific ones. With a few in hand, he returned to his seat in front of the holding tank, where within the Hulk was pacing around the small space at a slow speed.

Clint, Natasha, Thor, and Steve had found nothing on the security feed, but something still nagged at Tony. His teammates were also starting to catch onto the weird vibes from this situation, even if they had reached a dead end in figuring out what was going on. Tony resolved to sit with the big guy until they had Bruce back. It had been nearly three hours since the transformation, and for almost two of those hours, the big guy had been relatively calm. Bruce should have come back by now. Tony didn't understand why he hadn't, and no matter how many times his teammates tried to reassure him that Bruce would transform back to himself soon, Tony couldn't share their optimism. Something was wrong, and it irritated him to know that he couldn't find the answer without Bruce.

So instead, the iron-clad man continued to keep his very one-sided conversation with the enormous green man within the cage going, which mostly consisted of him making comments on the articles he was browsing through.

Tony flipped the page and glanced at the title. "Hey," he called. When the Hulk glanced over at him, Tony turned the magazine around to show him. "Just found an article on quantum mechanics and quantum decoherence. D'you think Bruce would be interested in it?"

The Hulk thought for a moment before he nodded. As Tony marked the page, he continued to pace.

Tony began to skim the article. A grin appeared on his face when he realized the Hulk would be right. "Good call, Big Guy. He'll have a field day with this." He looked up.

His brow furrowed slightly when he saw the Hulk standing completely still, turned at just an angle to where Tony couldn't see his eyes. "Big Guy?" he asked.

"Puny god."

Tony pushed aside the magazines and immediately rose to his feet. "Come again?" he questioned as he moved toward the glass, his eyes trained on the massive green man inside.

The Hulk turned and looked straight at Tony. Tony's eyes widened when he saw a mixture of brown intermingled with the brilliant green irises. "Puny god," he rumbled again as he came forward and knelt down to be eye-level with the iron-clad man beyond the glass.

"Puny god?" Tony echoed, his eyes never straying from the strange display of the caged being's eyes. "What puny god?"

A flash of pain crossed the Hulk's face. He let out a sharp snarl and gripped his head, but when his eyes returned to Tony, he found more brown than green in the man's irises. A very vague look of panic appeared on the Hulk's face, which was an expression Tony had never seen before from the big guy.

Tony found himself unable to look away. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn… His eyes narrowed slightly and he unconsciously tilted his head slightly. "…Bruce?" he breathed.

"Hulk smash puny god before," the green man continued hurriedly, sounding like he was having terrible difficulty with speech. He pressed a massive index finger against the glass, pointing at Tony. "Holes in metal man's ground. Puny god. Puny god."

"Puny god…" Tony repeated quietly. His eyes widened in realization. "Puny god! You smashed him during the invasion!"

The caged being nodded, looking relieved that he was understood.

"What about the puny god, Bruce?" Tony pressed urgently. He unconsciously put his gauntlet over where the giant green finger was placed against the glass. "What about him?"

"Banner—" Another flash of pain crossed his face and he grimaced, his brown and green eyes slamming shut. "Puny god—" His massive hands shot to the sides of his head and he let out a roar. When his eyes opened again, they were blazing green and filled with endless rage.

The Hulk threw a giant green fist at the glass where Tony's hand still rested. A shockwave shot up Tony's arm and he retracted the limb with a hiss of pain. As he began to shake his arm to will away the jarred sensation, the Hulk began rampaging around the cell again. The air was suddenly thick with the sounds of enraged roars, the thunk-ing of knuckles colliding with the walls of his cage, and cracking as the glass walls began to give way to his furious might.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tony tried to yell over the noise. He lifted an arm and smashed his metal hand against the glass, creating a sound that stood out above the clamor. "Calm down!"

The Hulk slammed his fist against the glass and took a few deep, heavy breaths. He leaned forward and rested his forearm against the glass, his eyes shut tight and his teeth clenched.

At the sound of metallic footsteps approaching, green eyes snapped open and he let out a sharp biting snarl at the iron-clad man.

"That's it," Tony said, undeterred by the Hulk's aggression. "Deep breaths. That's it."

Tony came to a stop in front of the massive green man. He could still see the rage in his eyes, but it was now intermingled with what looked to be frustration and something else he couldn't hope to identify.

After a few moments of listening to the Hulk's steadying breathing, Tony was going to break the silence, but the Hulk beat him to it. "Can't help," he rumbled. His eyes slipped shut and he shook his head. "Banner…" His mouth drew back in a grimace and he growled low in his throat. "Can't help."

As the Hulk cringed again and lifted his free hand to the side of his head, Tony spoke. "Where's Banner, Big Guy?"

The Hulk opened his eyes and pressed his index finger to the side of his head.

Tony drew a cautious breath before pressing forward. He had a horrible feeling about the answer to his next question, but he vocalized it regardless; he needed to know. "And the puny god?"

The frustration in the brilliant green eyes tripled as the Hulk jabbed his finger against his temple a few times.

A wave of dread quickly overwhelmed Tony's body. He felt his eyes widen and his jaw go slack. He had no way, no idea, how to explain it, but he was assured beyond the shadow of a doubt that what the Hulk had informed him of was true. Somehow or another, the demigod they had fought two months ago had gotten inside Bruce's head. Suddenly the transformation during the conference made sense. That must have been when Loki had infiltrated Bruce's mind. The scientist's constant and vigilant control was snapped, resulting in the Hulk. He didn't want to begin speculating why the big guy was so aggressive or why he would cringe from time to time or why he was pacing around anxiously, but he could imagine reasons for the behaviors.

He suddenly wanted to punch something.

Tony shook himself from his musings and stared up at the Hulk. "No…no, Big Guy, you've helped. You've helped plenty," he said almost distractedly. He laid his hand upon the glass again. "Now it's our turn; let us—the rest of the team—help him. Help you."

As the Hulk eyed the metal hand against the window, Tony's mind continued to race. He didn't know for certain what he could do, given where Loki was currently imprisoned. A soft smile spread across his face when a green hand pressed against the glass where his hand was currently resting. He might not be able to stop Loki himself, but he knew a god who could.


The doctor drew a shuddering breath as his eyes snapped open. He flinched when his eyes immediately met with a pair of furious greens, not half a foot from his. He realized the demigod had one hand wrapped around the back of his neck in a bruising grip while the other was somewhere above his field of vision. He very clearly felt a thumb pressed harshly against his forehead, between his eyes. He had no idea how long he had been standing there or how long it had taken Loki to break him from his trance, but he knew it was long enough to concern the demigod.

"What did you do?" Loki demanded in a vicious snarl.

Bruce hadn't the slightest idea. He had a very clouded memory, but he didn't know if it was real or just the desperate imaginings of a desperate man. He shook his head and tried to back away, groping for something to say.

Loki's fingernails dug into the back of his neck and his other hand gripped violently at his greying hair, immediately halting any backward movement from the scientist in his grasp. If it was at all possible, the demigod looked even angrier now. "You contacted the monster." There was no inflection of inquiry in his voice.

Both of their eyes shot to the side when a very murky image began to appear. Through the haze, they found the Hulk looking at his reflection in a pane of glass. The fog was terrible and all noises were muffled beyond recognition.

When the clouded vision shifted, Bruce felt his panic begin to drain from his body. The Hulk was in the holding cell aboard the helicarrier; they had managed to get him there before the transformation was complete.

The image continued to turn before it came to a rest upon a blurred Iron Man. He could almost make out Tony's face, realizing belatedly that the suit's helmet was nowhere in sight. Tony was staring up at the Hulk, given the angle of the vision. The angle shifted as his other half apparently came forward and knelt down.

Bruce drew a hissing breath in as Loki's grip tightened around his neck and hair. The two saw Tony's mouth move, but the words were lost in the fog.

"Have you any idea what the monster said?" Loki demanded without tearing his eyes away from the clouded memory.

Bruce didn't reply; he was just as absorbed in the vision as the demigod.

There was a brief darkness, but when the image returned, the sight of Tony was a little clearer. They still did not have audio, but whatever conversation the iron-clad man and the green goliath were having had sparked a look of recognition and urgency in Tony's eyes.

"What did you tell him?" the demigod implored again.

"I don't know," Bruce answered in a voice just above a whisper.

The memory suddenly clouded and darkness swallowed the image, leaving the scientist and the demigod in silence. Loki immediately threw the doctor away from him. Bruce stumbled a few paces back, but managed to keep his footing. The two stared at each other, one with eyes that could kill and the other filled with mild fright.

That mild fright turned into full-blown fear when the demigod smiled. A slender hand arose to casually brush through Loki's hair as he took a step back. "It would seem I have underestimated you, Doctor Banner," the God of Mischief said at length. "This obviously calls for a much stronger spell."

Bruce felt his brow furrow and his eyes narrow minutely. "Why didn't you use a stronger spell in the first place?" he asked in spite of himself as he watched the demigod turn his body just slightly.

"I am privy to my secrets, beast," Loki replied with ease and mild distraction. He splayed his hands away from his body. The black environment around them suddenly flashed a bright shade of green. "The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for you."

As the green began to fade into black, Bruce felt that hollowness from before overwhelm him. In the blink of an eye, all of his energy felt like it was sapped from his body. He felt his legs buckle and he collapsed to his knees. It was like he had just returned to this body after a particularly rough Hulk rampage; he wanted nothing more than the gentle embrace of unconsciousness to take him to oblivion. He fought the pull of slumber and looked up at Loki.

The God of Mischief stared down at him, looking vaguely amused. He clasped his hands behind his back and began to stroll around the man on his knees in a wide circle. "And to think up until now I was being kind to you," he disclosed with a sigh, sounding pseudo-hurt.

'That was kindness?' Bruce thought to himself, sounding panicked even in his mind. He resolved to keep his mouth shut and his head cleared. His eyes stared straight into the darkness as Loki disappeared beyond his peripheral vision and moved somewhere behind him.

A shiver ran up his spine when he heard the demigod chuckle to himself. "How is Betty Ross these days?"

As a tremor shook through Bruce's body, the darkness exploded into hundreds of sounds and images of her face, some radiant with smiles and others flushed with fear. Bruce's eyes darted from one face to the next, his heart feeling like it was about to break. He found the last memory he had before his accident; Betty looking on in caution as the piece of machinery drifted into his field of vision. He found the memory of visiting her in the hospital after the incident, after the Hulk—after he hurt her. He found the memory of their reunion on the bridge on that rainy night a few years ago, her eyes locked on him in joyous disbelief. The hazy memory of her staring up at him in the empty field on that campus, fires burning in the background. The clouded memory of her guiding him by his giant green hand back into a cave. The murky memory of her staring out of that destroyed helicopter in Harlem.

The clear memory of her staring up at him, right before he could snap the Abomination's neck, looking up at him in shock and despair.

Bruce let out a noise that was a borderline sob as his eyes slipped tightly shut. He bowed his head, hardly feeling the trembling over his feelings of heartache.

A hum of interest sounded from somewhere to his left. Bruce drew what was meant to be a fortifying breath before he glanced over at the demigod. He found Loki studying the memory of his beloved Betty, unconscious in the hospital bed and heavily bandaged. As a lump of sorrow lodged itself in his throat, the rest of the images and sounds vanished until just the image of the hospital room and the beeping of the heart monitor was left to fill the gloom. The beeping echoed through the darkness, reaching into every crevice in his head until he could focus on only the terrible memory of the aftermath of his first transformation. Betty…his Betty…his fault…all his fault…

Bruce hung his head again and allowed his eyes to close once more. Even with his eyes closed, he could still see her battered face perfectly in his mind, just like he always could. A familiar tightness made itself known in his chest, a horrible combination of heartbreak and guilt that traveled through him until it enveloped him completely. The beeping of the heart monitor continued. Loki was silent, and the beeping never stopped.


A/N: Sorry for the delay! This chapter was a doozy to write. Thank you again for all of the lovely reviews, story alerts, and favorites! It means so much to me that this story is getting as much attention as it is. You guys are great.

I actually really love the 2008 flick "The Incredible Hulk." I'd say it's probably my favorite of the movies that came before "The Avengers."

I'm thinking there will be two more chapters, but there could be three. I don't know yet.

Thank you so much for reading! Feedback is always welcome!