It was their first mission in over two months, and everyone was on edge. Even Tony sat in silence as they made their way to a secluded region of South America. The quinjet was fast, and below them the land whizzed by in technicolor flashes. Out of all of them, Bruce was by far the most nervous. It had been so long; five missions, if he wanted to get technical, since they'd needed the other guy to make an appearance. He'd gone over seven months without incident. Unfortunately, they knew very little about the situation, and, because of that, it was unknown whether or not there would be a code green.
It seemed like both only minutes and many hours before they reached their destination; mostly open land, a few gatherings of trees, and three medium sized cities within eyesight from their location in the sky. Bruce's breath hitched, a wave of uneasiness washing over his entire being. They'd been told that, from what shield could tell, there would be few if any human casualties. That there wasn't anyone close enough to be brought into the fight. Well, the man thought bitterly, shield might want to update their map system. The jet touched down a few hundred feet away from the line abandoned building that housed their opponents, and the team - sans Bruce - marched onward. At least for now, the scientist could watch from the safety of the quinjet.
It turned out to be much worse than what any of them expected. They'd been told it would be a small group of Hydra thugs, who had been sent to recruit more members. It turned out to be a training facility. Under the facade of a rundown building was a high tech, solid steel hydra base. These were no thugs; these were soldiers. While the team fought vigorously, they were heavily outnumbered and to be honest, caught a little off guard. The battle began to stretch out, engulfing the surrounding area. Bruce had stepped out of the quinjet, watching the battle unfold while trying to keep it together. The speaker in his ear carried the team's - his team's panicked and tired voices, calling to each other and to him; no, it's not code green Bruce. Just keep the other guy contained.
It had been going fine, or as fine as possible, until Natasha's frantic screams took over their communications. "Clint! He's been hit! I repeat, agent Barton is down!" panic overtook Bruce, and he suddenly knew he'd lost his inner battle. He managed to let out a strangled "code green," before stumbling forward, grimacing in white hot pain. The scientist collapsed to the rocky ground, hands clawing at its hard surface as his body began to viciously grow. A few pained gasps and groans escaped the fourth five year old, eventually turning into roars as his body metamorphosed, and Robert Bruce Banner was no more.
All he knew was anger. Anger and pain and confusion. It was bright, and for a minute he had to squint to keep his eyes from hurting. Soon enough he could stand its intensity, and was able to stand, letting out a long roar as he did so. His green eyes scanned the area for the threat, and t took virtually no time at all. A wicked grin found its way to his face, and he was off, charging towards the bad men that hurt his friends, and tiny banner. He had one objective; smash the bad guys. Smash everything, if he had to. Nobody hurt his friends and got away with it. As he hurled himself into battle, the hulk continued to let out occasional roars. The bad guys knew to be afraid of him. They were starting to run away. He smashed them before they could make it five feet.
All too soon there were no more bad guys. Nothing left to smash. He was confused, and upset. Hulk wasn't done smashing, wasn't done protecting. But all that was left were scraps. He huffed, kicking at the metal sheets at his feet. His friends were slowly approaching him, and he let out a warning growl. He was not finished. They would not put him to sleep yet. He liked them, but he wouldn't hesitate to smash them too if they got too close. He wouldn't admit he was getting sleepy. The sun was almost gone, and his eyelids tried to pull their way down. It only made him angrier. The spider lady was talking to him, and he turned to her. Hulk growled, but stepped closer anyways. He knew somewhere inside him what was happening, but she had him mesmerized. She held out her hand, and he reached for it. And then he remembered, just a moment too late.
The process of changing back into Bruce was almost always a struggle, no matter how easily he'd slipped into the other guy. As the muscles began to melt away, the hulk stumbled backwards, running away to try and find a sort of privacy. It was the same burning pain that had awoken him, but now it was sending him away once more. His skin rippled as it began to change from the green he knew into a pale color. His groans began to sound more and more human, until a naked Bruce was left in his place, shuddering and collapsing in on himself. It was hard for the team to watch, and oftentimes they all looked away. Whether it was to give Bruce privacy or to keep from shuddering themselves, it was unknown. And perhaps it was better that way.