Agent Schaefer sighed and leaned back in his black swivel office chair. He had shed his coat, rolled up the sleeves to his white button down and loosened his black tie. His usually neat brown hair was disheveled and he was on his fifth cup of coffee.

“Agent Schaefer?”

He turned quickly at the sound of the young female voice at the door. “Agent Lynch,” he said calmly. “Vat are you doing here so late?”

She blushed ever so slightly and gently pulled on the hem of her shirt. “I was working on some paperwork and saw that you were still running tests in the lab,” she smiled lightly and looked down at the floor as if she was embarrassed. “I would’ve felt bad if I just left you here in this big ol’ building by yourself.”

“Vell, I appreciate your company, but I voudn’t vant you to miss out on important sleeping time.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” she said with more courage than before. “Maybe you could lose sleep with me.”

Agent Schaefer stared at her in confusion. It wasn’t until she started to unbutton her blouse that her words really sunk in. “Oh,” he said, blushing.

“Would you like to lose sleep with me, Agent Schaefer?” she asked with a wink.

“I…uh…I still have to check on ze lab tests,” he muttered as he tried to get around her. “I voudn’t vant to lose all ze important data.”

“Don’t worry,” she said seductively as she blocked his path. “I’ll give you some different data to work on.”

She let her blouse slip off her slender frame and leaned forward to undo his belt buckle.

“Oh, nein!” he shouted in fear.

“What’s a matter, Agent Schaefer? New to this?”

“I…uh…yes, I mean...no…I just…”

Agent Lynch leaned forward to kiss him only to have Agent Schaefer place one finger on her lips to stop her. “I like you, Agent Lynch, but not like zis. I like you as a coverker.”

The woman glared at the German agent and slipped her blouse back on. “Very well,” she practically spat at him. “Your tests are done,anyway.”

****
Bruce paced around the waiting room, expecting the doctor to come in any minute to tell him what was happening with Natasha.

“Bruce, relax,” Brooke said as she patted the chair next to her. “Sit down and take a nap or something. Someone will wake you up if the doc comes back.”

“I don’t think that’s-”

“You, ass, chair, now.” she emphasized.

Bruce rolled his eyes and sat down, feel overwhelmingly tired. “Tell Loki to stop working a sleeping spell. If I fall asleep on my own, then so be it.”

Brooke glanced over at Loki and gave him a quick hand signal. Loki sighed and picked up a magazine. Once he started to leaf through it, Bruce felt less tired and more physically exhausted. He had been up for nearly twelve hours now with no word on his friend.

The doctor’s eyes slowly slid shut as he entered dream land.

****

“How long has he been sleeping?” Tony asked as he entered the waiting room.

“A couple of hours,” Brooke replied. “We told him we’d wake him up if the doctor came back with any kind of news.”

Clint stood up and walked over to the coffee machine. “Why haven’t they said anything yet? Do you think they’re prolonging the inevitable?”

Loki shook his head. “I doubt it. If she were dying, they would’ve said something.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“I’m the god of lies and deceit,” he said bluntly. “Withholding information is a form of lying. I would’ve felt a surge of power or…something.”

“’Or something?’ Loki, you don’t sound so sure about that.”

“I know a lie when I see it. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but I just know.”

“My brother is right,” Thor added. “He’s always had an affinity with the works of deceit.”

“Guys?” Pamplemousse said quietly. “What’s wrong with Bruce?”

Everyone looked over to see Bruce shaking in his sleep.

****

Bruce woke up in his own bed, even though he didn’t quite remember how he got there. The room was still dark, but with what light he had, he could easily make out Pamplemousse’s silhouette lying next to him. He smiled and stretched, his hand brushing the pillow her head was on. The cloth was wet, probably from her tears.

Bruce shook it off and walked into the attached bathroom. He turned on the light and his eyes locked on his reflection.

Whatever clothing remained on his body was in shreds, a sight he was used to after surrendering to the ‘Other Guy.’ But what shocked him more was the blood. Bruce was covered almost head to toe in blood.

He looked down at the hand that touched Pamplemousse’s pillow. That hand was covered in fresher blood than the rest of his body. That meant that the blood was not his.

The good doctor turned and ran back into the bedroom and threw on the light. There, covered in crimson liquid, was a broken Pamplemousse lying on his bed. He screamed in fear, anger, and hatred. The one person that he had truly cared about, truly loved, he killed without even realizing it.

He could feel his skin crawling, like it usually did when he transformed into the Hulk. He let out one more scream before feeling a pair of ghost hands pulling him back into reality.

****

Bruce woke with start, which made Brooke jump. “Whoa, brosiden! Cool your tits!” She exclaimed loudly. Then, with a more calm tone she continued. “It’s just me. It looked like you were having some kind of fit, so we woke you up.”

Bruce sighed and slumped back in the chair, looking more worn than he had when he fell asleep. “It’s okay,” he said shakily. “I’m fine.”

“Lies,” Loki said without looking up from the copy of Tiger Beat in his hand.

Bruce glared at the god from across the waiting room. “Thanks, jerk.”

“Anytime,” he replied. “Did you know that Jelena may be ending? It’s sad, really. They go so well together.”

“Loki,” Tony started. “Are you actually-”

“Sixty-one percent of people actually want them to stay together!”

“Brother, enough with this nonsense!”

“But, Thor, it’s Jelena…”

“Goddamn it, is that the stupid relationship name for Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez?” Brooke asked with an irritated tone.

“Well, yes.”

Brooke threw her head back and exclaimed a fairly loud sound of displeasure. “I fucking hate them!”

Pamplemousse raised a hand shyly. “I think they’re cute together…”

Brooke gave a quick glare and opened her mouth to speak, only to have Loki interrupt. “Oo! I could win One Direction’s love!”

****

Natasha woke up on the floor. Why she was there, she wasn’t sure. From where she was lying, she could see white tennis shoes and festive scrub bottoms. She must’ve been in the hospital after her attack. What she couldn’t wrap her head around was the fact that the nurse wasn’t making any effort to try and get her off the floor.

“Anna,” said a male voice. Natasha turned and looked at the doctor coming into the room. “How’s our patient doing?”

“Still comatose, I’m afraid. Her vitals are fairly normal though.”

“I’m not comatose,” Natasha said, a little offended. “I’m on the floor.”

The doctor sighed. “So I have nothing new to tell her friends.” He shook his head and grabbed the chart.

“You could tell them that you just let me lie helplessly on the floor.”

“Has she had her medication yet?”

“Yes, she has,” the nurse, Anna, replied.

Natasha finally found the strength to stand. “Okay, guys. Joke’s over now.”

The doctor looked at Nat and sighed. “Poor thing. She didn’t even see it coming.”

Then, he walked through her to the bed side.

She spun around and looked where the doctor was standing. She could barely breath as she stared at herself, lying on the hospital bed.

“I…I’m having an out-of-body experience.”