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Your chin hit your chest again, jolting you somewhat back to wakefulness. For the tenth time. In ten minutes.
Your biggest problem when it came to your period was insomnia; you never got more than three or four hours of sleep a night, starting two days prior to the start and continuing until a day or two after. And your period was always six days long.
Today was day four, meaning it was day six of little or no sleep for you. For the first few days, you could fake more energy and motivation relatively easily, but after the fourth day or so, it got harder. Yesterday and today it caught up with you and you did not bother even trying.
So, there you were, sleep-deprived, trying to make head or tails out of Dr. Banner's scientific notes without drifting off. Trouble was, you could barely keep your eyes open, and you had the whole afternoon ahead.
Your eyelids were so heavy. Maybe you could just rest them for a few minutes........
A hand on your shoulder kept you from face-planting in the pile of notes and reports in front of you and startled you awake.
"....Huh?......Wha...."
"Go lay down, _______."
You blinked blearily up at the person and found Dr. Banner kneeling down beside your chair.
"Bruce - I mean - Dr. Banner..."
"You haven't been sleeping, ________," he stated simply. "Since you aren't withdrawing, I'm guessing not nightmares."
You shook your head. "Just some insomnia."
"Yeah," he nodded sympathetically. "And it happened at almost the exact same time for the last two months." He sent you a knowing look.
You felt yourself blushing in spite of yourself.
"I'm a doctor; I...pick up on these things." He had the grace to look sheepish. "Couch. Go. Get some sleep." He jerked his head toward the remarkably comfortable futon that was in the corner of the lab.
"But...But I have four more hours until I get off!" you sputtered.
"...Well...what I don't tell Fury won't hurt him," Bruce grinned. "Besides, you're no good to me face-planted on your desk. In the future, I'll insist on an hour-nap each afternoon or something so it doesn't reach this point next time."
You opened your mouth to protest, but he laid a gentle finger over your lips, sending you a look so warm it sent tingles from your chest all the way down to your toes and fingertips. "_________, please, go lay down. You need it, Hon."
Finally, you relented. "Okay." Slowly, you rose and shuffled over to the futon, plopping down onto the cushions. Bruce pulled a couple of pillows out from their hiding place under the futon and set them at one end, motioning for you to lay down. You complied with a sigh of relief as your weary head sank into the fluffiness. Warmth engulfed you as Bruce draped a thick afghan over you. Your eyed immediately drifted closed.
"Sweet dreams, Hon," you distantly heard Bruce whisper to you as he tucked the blanket in around your shoulders.
"Tha' twice now you called me 'hon'," you muttered. "Don' let Tony hear...he'll.....ne'er.........let...us live ....it...down.........." You trailed off as your exhaustion overcame your senses and you drifted off.
You did not see Bruce blush brilliantly, or see him kneel beside the futon to tuck a lock of hair away from your slumbering face, or hear him whisper, "Let him hear, Hon."