Author Note

Another Avengers fic, as I received such a positive response for the last one's I thought I should write more Bruce feels. Just a quick note that although I am from England I try to use American words/spellings in my stories because I know a lot of the people reading this are from the USA, so forgive me if a few English words slip in unintentionally. Don't forget to let me know what you think, enjoy.

Shattered

As sleep left him, Bruce Banner reluctantly began to wake from a deep slumber.

The feeling of gentle warmth of the side of his face and the sound of a loud voice eased him into a state of consciousness. He furrowed his brows in confusion as he slowly opened his eyes, releasing a pained groan when bright sunlight temporarily blinded him, causing him to squint heavily.

He promptly rolled over onto his front and buried his face deeply into the plump, soft pillow beneath his head in an attempt to block out the unwanted light. He closed his eyes, willing for sleep to claim him once more. Bruce shifted against the silky bed sheets covering him and pulled them over his head, nuzzling deeper into the fabric; feeling content and completely comfortable.

Another loud noise caused him to cover his ears is discontent.

'Dr Banner?'

Was that a voice calling his name? It was difficult to tell when he felt so drowsy, each one of his senses were reacting slower than normal and his head felt like it was full of cotton wool, making everything too fuzzy for his tired brain to comprehend.

'Dr Banner I must insist you awaken sir,' a familiar British accent reached his ears.

The physicist sighed in mild annoyance as he slowly began to awaken more fully, recognising the voice that interrupted him from his well needed rest.

So someone had been calling his name; he'd hoped that it had been a figment of his imagination.

'-m awake' he mumbled, sitting up he propped himself up on one elbow and rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hand.

'My apologies for disturbing you Dr Banner, but I must inform you that director Fury has called for a debriefing at Shield headquarters within the next hour and the presence of all Avengers is required,' Jarvis informed him.

'What time is it?' Bruce asked, yawed loudly.

'The time is 8:15am sir,' the AI answered in his usual articulate tone.

Banner groaned pitifully and crawled back into bed, pulling the duvet over his head.

'Just five more minutes…' he pleaded, childishly.

'I'm afraid that if you do not get out of bed Dr Banner, I will be forced to operate alarm protocol 58 sir, as suggested by Mr Stark.'

Bruce whined.

The last time he didn't get out of bed, Tony had decided to turn on all the water sprinklers in Bruce's apartment. Needless to say the scientist didn't appreciate his room being turned into a swimming pool and being doused in water so early in the morning. Unsurprising Bruce had been very wet and extremely annoyed; everyone kept their distance that day.

It was a miracle he hadn't transformed.

He decided to get up before he could experience what other creative ways the billionaire had come up with to make him get out of bed.

It took a great deal of effort for the scientist to remove himself from the cosy cocoon of bed sheets he was currently nestled in. Swivelling his legs over the side of the bed, he slowly pushed himself to his feet and stretched his arms above his head, arching his back like a cat; wincing at the feeling of popping and aching joints.

Bruce leisurely shuffled towards the ensuite bathroom connected to his bedroom, screwing up his face in displeasure at the unpleasant feeling of his bare feet on the cold tiled floor.

Closing the door behind him, he stripped himself of his pyjama bottoms and turned on the shower before stepping beneath the warm cascade of water. He sighed in content as the temperature began to sooth his aching body. Banner began rolling his neck and shoulders in small circles, trying to ease the terrible stiffness in his body that he had obtained from the weeks strenuous activities.

The Avengers had been called out by Fury to assist shield multiple times in the past week, dealing with anything from terrorist attacks to destructive robots. He'd been forced to hulk out four times in one week had barley slept more than a few hours.

Now he was paying the consequences.

He felt utterly shattered.

His body hurt, everything ached and all he wanted to do was sleep; but it seemed that the world was determined to keep him from doing so and keep him awake for as long as possible. Every time he'd tried to get some shut eye he'd been disturbed for one reason or another and it was begging to get frustrating.

The few hours sleep he had managed to obtain had little effect on him at all, transforming zapped so much energy out of him it wasn't unusual for the scientist to sleep for at least 48 hours afterwards; necessary for his body to recover from the strain of a full body transformation. Unfortunately he hadn't managed to sleep off the exhaustion and he felt worse for it; physically and mentally.

The thought of sitting through yet another longwinded, unnecessary meeting nearly brought the physicist to tears.

Bruce's eyes began to droop heavily and he shook his head to try and make himself feel more alert. He quickly rinsed the shampoo from his hair and finished up his shower before he could accidentally drown himself in his sleep.

After towel drying his hair he threw on a pair of cream chinos and a loose fitting purple button up shirt, rolling the sleeves to his elbows. When he was fully dressed he grabbed a comb from the cabinet in the bathroom and began combing his hair, checking his reflection in the mirror as he did so.

He looked awful.

His face was considerably paler than usual, making his grey tinged hair stand out more considerably. It looked as if all the colour had been washed out of him accept for the dark smudges beneath his brown eyes that made him look weary and haunted.

Accepting that his appearance was unlikely to dramatically improve any time soon, the scientist decided that he looked somewhat presentable and exited his large, spacious apartment, heading straight for the elevator. There was no way he would be using the stairs today, unless Tony had miraculously built in a slide overnight. Bruce mused internally, he was surprised he hadn't already built one when the tower was refurbished, the man was a big child at heart after all.

'Which floor do you require Dr Banner?' Jarvis piped up as he stepped into the confined space.

'Kitchen please.'

He headed toward the shared kitchen facility in the hope that someone had already made breakfast, he could of course use his own facilities but he wasn't sure that his brain was functioning enough to let him make food without causing any accidents. The doors clicked shut and the lift began to whir to life. Banner leaned against the metal wall behind him and closed his eyes momentarily, the vibrations and movement making him feel lethargic. After a short moment the lift came to a halt, causing the Doctor to jerk awake.

'Floor 37; kitchen and services,' the AI informed as the doors opened with a click.

'Thanks,' he mumbled, stumbling out of the elevator.

Almost instantly the moment he stepped out into the hallway his head began to pound. He could hear a group of voices in the distance bickering loudly; increasing in volume the closer he walked. He rubbed his temples as he turned corner into the kitchen, hoping that the noise would die down upon his arrival when suddenly a loud crash made him flinch considerably.

'Butterfingers what are you doing?!' Tony shrieked from his seat at the island in the middle of the room. He was dressed in his usual casual attire, a black Sabbath t-shirt and a pair of tight fitting black pants, his hair was slightly dishevelled from where he'd undoubtedly been running his fingers through it.

A robot was at the sink in the corner of the room, surrounded by bits of broken porcelain, clutching a wet scrubbing brush. He turned around and made a whirring noise as his creator scolded him.

'Geez your such a klutz you know that?' he grimaced, 'what did I tell you about handling breakables?' he huffed.

The robot whirred again and looked down at the floor, analysing the mess it had created.

'Why are you by the sink anyway? Get away from there before you fry your circuit board block head.'

Butterfingers dropped the brush and turned on his wheels to face the inventor, but was unable to move as bits of ceramic became embedded in his joints. The machine beeped, looking up at the billionaire helplessly.

Stark gave a heavy sigh as he rose from his stool, carefully tiptoeing over the clutter.

'I swear your worse than a child, c'mere let me see your joints.'

Natasha and Clint sat side by side, both dressed in their usual standard shield issued attire, smirking as they watched Stark interact with his creation; quickly becoming frustrated as Butterfingers jittered and jerked around.

'Stay still damn it, stop moving!'

'Maybe if you treated your machines with some respect Stark, they might actually listen to you once in a while.' Steve spoke up, giving the man a pointedly look as he placed a large stack of freshly made pancakes in the centre of the table, being careful not to dirty his clean white and blue checked shirt.

'Yeah? Well maybe if you shut up Captain Jackass and let me concentrate I coul- OW! God damn it Butterfingers!' the billionaire's jibe at Steve was cut short as he let out a cry of pain when the bot unexpectedly lurched forwards, running over the man's foot.

'Man of iron, your metal companion is most amusing!' Thor boomed, finishing a large mouthful of Pop-tart.

Stark growled moodily as he hopped around on one foot, clutching the other with one hand in an attempt to ease the throbbing.

'Go find Dummy and help him finish cleaning my desk, try not to break anything else ok?' he ordered sternly, picking up the scrubbing brush from the floor, he threw it at the bot, smirking childishly when it made contact and bounced.

'Go on shoo!' he exclaimed.

Butterfingers bleeped in understanding and disappeared around the corner as he exited the room.

'Jarvis keep an eye on him would ya? And watch Dummy too, you're officially on bot-sitting duty today,' he ordered, picking up the sharp remnants of a broken plate carefully and dumping them in the trash.

'Very well sir, it would be my pleasure,' the AI answered, 'Am I to assume that bad behaviour will result in a timeout?' Jarvis questioned sardonically.

'Oh haha, very funny Jarvis,' Stark grunted, retaking his seat he began sipping at a hot cup of coffee.

'Thank you sir, I try my best.'

The man was about to respond when he caught a glimpse of purple out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and spotted Bruce in the corner of the room.

'Brucey! Morning sunshine, was wondering when you'd show up' he grinned.

The rest of the team turned to see the Doctor standing a few feet away, looking very lost with a bewildered look on his face, and clearly trying to get his head around the disorder he'd just witnessed.

So much for having a quiet breakfast, Bruce thought glumly.

There was a chorus of greetings from the team; he nodded in acknowledgement before hesitantly making his way over to join them, taking the last empty seat next to Tony. He sat silently, vaguely observing the conversation around him.

'Friends, this breakfast feast is truly delightful!' the Asgardian bellowed happily, 'Alas I am full!'

'I'm not surprised; you've managed to finish eight boxes of pop tarts by yourself, that's quite an achievement,' Romanoff eyed his empty plate jadedly.

'Dude, you and Steve should totally have an eating contest,' Clint proclaimed with a humoured look on his face. 'I wanna see who barfs first.'

'Hey good idea! Waddya say cap, you in?' Tony agreed, grinning enthusiastically.

Steve frowned, clearly displeased with the suggestion.

'Absolutely no-'

'Friend Steve, I would be honoured if you would battle me in such a quest!' the demi god cried, his deep voice left Bruce's delicate ears ringing.

'Guys inside voices please…' he whimpered, clutching his head.

'My apologies friend Banner, it was not my intention to cause you such discomfort,' the blond apologised solemnly.

Bruce waved a hand dismissively.

Suddenly a hot cup of tea was placed in front of him; Bruce clutched the mug with both hands and took a small sip, sighing in content at the pleasant warmth.

'Thanks.'

He looked up to see the blond super solider standing in front of him.

'Hungry Dr Banner?' Steve inquired, 'there's plenty to go around,' he nodded toward to huge stack of pancakes on the counter, thoroughly drenched in butter and sweet sticky syrup.

The physicist felt nauseous staring at the plate of food, his stomach churned and he looked away; feeling very queasy. Suddenly his appetite was lost.

'No, thank you.'

He forced a small, polite smile before taking another sip of tea, grateful for the calming effect it had on his insides.

He picked up the days paper from the side, and pulled his glasses out of his top pocket, sliding them onto his nose and began flicking through the pages idly, trying to take his mind off the sickness he felt. Around him, everyone continued to eat, chatting amongst themselves as he scanned through random news articles.

He wasn't even two pages in when his concentration began to falter.

Every word on the page slowly began to blur, he rubbed his eyes, trying to wipe away the tiredness but it had no effect. Try as he might, he just couldn't concentrate. He was pretty sure he'd read the same paragraph at least four times now but he couldn't recall a single word of it.

How exasperating.

He pushed the paper aside and folded up his glasses, rubbing at the sides of his head.

He needed a kick start, something to wake him up and get him moving again.

It was at times like this when he was feeling really drained that he craved a strong cup up of coffee. He envied those around him; it had been years since he'd touched the stuff. A large dose of caffeine would undoubtedly wake him up.

It was so tempting to give in a reach for a mug of the strong, brown substance, but he knew that he couldn't.

After all, caffeine and stimulants didn't bode well with his big, green alter ego. No matter how teasing the smell was, it wouldn't break his resolve.

But on days like this it was extremely testing.

'-isnt that right Bruce?'

It was only when he felt a light jab to the shoulder he realised he must have been staring into space.

'Bruce?'

The dark haired billionaire beside him waved a hand in front of his face, poking his shoulder with the end of a spoon.

'Brucey? Hello, earth to green bean are you receiving me?'

He looked up wearily and blinked a few times, squinting heavily; urging himself to focus on the engineer.

'Sorry did you say something?' he slurred, sleepily.

'Gee big guy, you really drifted off there,' Stark spoke around a mouthful toast. 'Were you out partying last night? Cause you look like you have one hell of a hang over.'

Banner smiled sheepishly.

'No, Your voice just makes me feel drowsy,' he joked lightly, forcing himself to finish the rest of his tea before it went cold.

Stark pouted childishly, holding a hand over his heart.

'Oh Bruce your words wound me,' he sniffed, 'I thought we were friends.'

'Who'd wanna be friends with an asshole like you?' Clint joked, smirking as he prodded a pancake with his fork.

'Shut up bird brain, or I'll stick that fork right up your- OW!' the billionaire yelped as Natasha's booted foot collided with his leg under the table.

She smiled innocently.

'Oops.'

'I swear if that leaves a bruise, I'm doubling your rent,' he huffed, rubbing his leg tenderly.

Steve raised a brow in confusion.

'But we don't pay rent…'

'Yeah well you will if Spidey here keeps bruising me.'

'What is this rent you speak of?' Thor asked, looking puzzled.

'It's – you know what? Never mind, just don't kick me again,' he glared, draining the contents of his mug he glanced at his lab partner thoughtfully. 'Hey maybe you should give Bruce a kick, it might wake him up a little,' he teased, mistaking the doctor's dishevelled appearance for standard, morning weariness.

'Hmmm?' the doctor looked up when he heard his name, clearly not following the conversation.

'We keeping you awake big guy?' Tony teased, eyeing the man's sleepy expression.

'Sorry...' he mumbled, letting out a yawn.

'You look beat doc' Clint affirmed, taking in the man's fatigued appearance.

'Yeah, did Steve drug your tea?' Tony joked, raising a brow at the Captain in mock suspicion; he nudged the physicist with his elbow. 'I bet old eye patch paid him to do it, I'm telling you Bruce it's the innocent ones you gotta watch out for.'

'I did no such thing!' Rogers spluttered, turning a light shade of pink.

'Speaking of Fury we should get going, you know he doesn't like to be kept waiting,' Romanoff spoke, pushing back her chair she raised to her feet and poked Clint sharply in the back of the neck.

The archer groaned unenthusiastically, ignoring the dirty look the redhead sent his way.

'Urghh do we have to?'

'My thoughts exactly! I say we don't go, all those in agreement raise your hand' Stark held up a hand, looking at the others expectedly. Everyone sent him a questioning looking, choosing not to copy his gesture; everyone accept Bruce who was still staring off into space.

'Really? No one, oh my god; Bruce wake up! You're supposed to be backing me up!' he whined, shaking the physicist playfully by the shoulder. The scientist didn't even look up, still clutching his head that felt like it might explode at any second, trying to ease away the horrible feeling of an oncoming headache.

'We are going Stark, whether you like it or not.' the female assassin glared at him long and hard.

'But mom I don't wanna go to school!' the mechanic moaned. Steve rolled his eyes at Starks familiar childish attitude.

'We're going Tony.' Steve stated firmly, rising to his feet.

'I say we stay here, then when he comes looking for us we turn the lights off and pretend we're not home.'

Steve grabbed Tony firmly by the arm, pulling him out of his chair.

'Hey watch it!'

'Come friend Stark! We must grace comrade Fury with our presence!' Thor bellowed eagerly.

'Nooooo!' the billionaire wailed, clutching the table tightly.

'Stop acting like a child,' Steve snapped, tugging harder.

Stark didn't move, keeping his grip firmly on the table.

'You'll never take me alive!' he declared.

Bruce frowned at Tony's antics, his head ached right down to the skull. He groaned as he reluctantly stood, not noticing the concerned look Thor sent his way as he wobbled slightly, quickly steadying himself on the corner of the table. Today was going to be testing, he could feel it.

Was one day of peace too much to ask for?

Thor opened his mouth as if to voice his concern, but was interrupted when Clint piped up loudly.

'Stark If you don't let go of the table, I'm calling Pepper,' the archer threatened.

'You wouldn't…'

'Wanna bet?' Barton challenged, stepping closer towards Stark, Steve was still tugging at his arm.

'You don't have her number' Stark smirked triumphantly, confused when Clint's grin widened.

'Jarvis? Call Miss Potts please.'

Tony's face paled.

'As you wish Agent Barton,' the AI responded.

'No! Jarvis don't do it!' the billionaire pleaded, a feeling of dread swept through him as he remembered the last angry call between them, he was sure Peppers shrieking had permanently damaged one of his ears. Her yelling left his ears ringing for weeks, it was horrible and he did not wish to repeat the experience.

'Calling Miss Potts,' Jarvis ignored his creator and suddenly a dialling tone sounded.

'No stop! I'll go; Jarvis hang up right now!' he spluttered, unpeeling his fingers from the table he jumped up.

'Call disconnected.'

'Traitor!' Stark barked, glaring at the back of Barton's head as he left the room, cackling to himself. Concern forgotten, Thor and the others followed suit; leaving Bruce and Tony lagging behind.

'Jarvis daddy's having big words with you later' he growled, moodily.

'As you wish sir.'

Stark glanced at Bruce and let out a heavy, aggravated sigh before walking up to him and patting him on the back. Bruce teetered slightly under the unexpected force but just managed to keep his footing, unfortunately Stark didn't seem to notice.

'Well come on big guy, let's get this crap over with, when we get back I got a feeling I'm gonna need a strong drink.'

Bruce groaned internally, slowly following his lab partner out of the room, dragging his feet heavily as he teetered on the edge of exhaustion. He hoped the meeting didn't last too long.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could stay awake.