The Hulk smashed his way through the forest and, after a massive leap, landed with enough force to shake the surrounding area like a miniature earthquake. He let out a roar of frustration and his huge arms reached towards the sky as his fists clenched with the anger that flowed through him.

"Oooh, that's perfect! Hold that pose right there, please," cried a soft, but delighted, voice nearby. The Hulk froze, but his head whipped around and his dark green eyes narrowed in suspicion when he saw a puny human female sitting up against a tree with a sketch pad in her lap. "I came out here to draw the Hooked-winged Doxie Limpets that are native to this forest for a magizoology book that my friend Rolf and I are writing," she continued to explain dreamily as if unaware of the danger he posed while she also absentmindedly used her pencil-like art quill to brush a strand of long blonde hair out of her eyes. Then the woman smiled brightly up at him before she looked back down to her pad as her pencil practically flew over the page while she sketched earnestly. "They are not very interesting, though. They don't even fly. All they do is hop around a little," she continued in a casual tone. "You, however, make a much more fascinating subject."

The Hulk paused. She thought he was fascinating? And did she just smile at him? It must be a trick…or diversion…something designed to catch him off guard so that he…or that puny doctor inside of him…could be captured…or worse. That thought brought him back to himself and he growled, a low warning sound, before he started to take a step towards her.

"No!" she said simply – without any fear in her voice whatsoever. "Please don't move. I want to catch those lovely muscular ripples down your arms in just the right light." Despite himself, the Hulk found that he had again stopped moving in surprise at the apparent meaning of her words.

"Hulk look…good?" he asked incredulously.

"Oh yes!" she replied enthusiastically as she paused sketching just long enough to push that wayward strand of hair out of her face again. She then laid the pad down on the ground in front of her and smoothly moved from a sitting position to one where she lounged on her stomach while her feet kicked cheerfully in the air above her. "Ah…that's better," she sighed in happy comfort. Her pencil soon raced across the paper again, though, even as she continued to speak. "At any rate, your form is quite impressive, you know. Your lines are mesmerizing…and green has always been my one of my favorite colors– even though the pesky Nargles are quite attracted to it, as well."

This time, despite the perpetual anger that simmered under his surface, the Hulk could feel the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk of satisfaction at her complimentary, albeit a bit confusing, description of him…and he made a point to stay where he was until she was finished with her drawing.

"Come and see," she offered afterwards. She rolled back into a sitting position again and patted the grass on the ground next to her in an invitation for him to join her. The Hulk paused, confused again by the woman's seemingly utter lack of concern about her safety around him. Nobody ever wanted to be around the Hulk – not even Banner's puny friends. They wanted him to come out and fight when they needed him, but then they always wanted him to leave as soon as possible after he was finished smashing. Just the thought of how they treated him as some sort of necessary inconvenience made him want to smash some more! In fact, that was why he was out here now. He had managed to escape them for the time being. However, he had no doubt that the annoying talkative man in the flying suit would find him soon. Even though the doctor seemed to like that one, the Hulk often found that he would not mind smashing him a little - just to make him be quiet for a while.

However, the woman smiled up at him again and the Hulk forgot all about Banner, Stark, and the others. Instead, he gave in to the unusual pull he felt towards her as he plopped his big green body down on the ground on the spot she had indicated – and dwarfed the delicate little blonde next to him in the process. However, she did not seem to care and she did not try to move further away, either. In fact, she just smiled even more as she leaned closer against his arm in order to better hold the sketch pad up high enough so that he could see the final product.

Even though he knew that she had been drawing him, he still looked down at the picture with surprise. "Hulk!" he exclaimed with uncharacteristic delight as he saw her flattering depiction of him: tall, strong, and muscular with a slight smirk on his lips and surprisingly intelligent eyes. The Hulk might have severe anger issues and a limited vocabulary after a transformation, but he still shared a keen mind with the doctor. Nobody else ever seemed to realize that, however - not even his fellow Avengers. The resentment he felt because of the oversight was just another reason why he always wanted to smash everything. However, the way that she had captured the look in the illustrated Hulk's eyes proved that somehow the little female had indeed noticed that he was more than just brawn. He looked back down at her and spoke the best words of gratitude and appreciation that he could summon up while in this body. "Good picture!" he said sincerely and nodded his big head for emphasis.

The woman beamed up at him in happiness. "Oh, I am so glad that you like it!" she cried. "Would you like a copy to keep for yourself?" The Hulk looked confused since there was only one picture there…and they were in the middle of the woods with none of those copy machines or computer scanners that Banner often used while working.

The woman saw his look of confusion and giggled a little as she reached up to pat his cheek affectionately. "Watch!" she admonished as she removed a long thin stick from the loose bun of hair that was piled on the back of her head. The Hulk then observed, completely mesmerized by the sight, as the waves of blonde hair gently tumbled down to the woman's shoulders. He found that he wanted to touch it to see if it was as soft as it looked, but his attention was soon diverted from the surprisingly pleasant thought by the movements she made when she waved her stick over the paper. However, it was not until she whispered, "Geminio," and suddenly there were two identical copies of the picture laying on the grass in front of them, that the Hulk finally understood what had happened.

"Magic!" he growled and alarm bells when off in his head as he remembered Loki. In one fluid motion, he jumped to his feet and towered over the woman. "Magic…bad!" he exclaimed…and even though the memory of his past experiences and the instincts of his current body tried to tell him to smash her immediately, he paused. He put that big brain of his to work instead as he thought about their interactions so far, and he quickly came to the conclusion that the little woman was no threat to him. In fact, she even seemed to like him. His decision to put down his fists and step back was justified when she stood up herself and moved even closer to him.

"No!" she replied and shook her head earnestly as she looked up at him with her wide and expressive blue eyes. She shook her head as she placed her hand on his large forearm. "Not all magic is bad…or dark. See?" she asked beseechingly as she tapped her stick…her wand…on one of the pictures again. This time, however, the pencil drawing became infused with brilliant color. With another tap, the illustrated Hulk began to move realistically across the page – until it stopped to do a little dance – one that looked suspiciously like the Macarena. She giggled at the sight and even the Hulk gave a little sniggering laugh. At the lighthearted action, the big green man dropped his guard and he was alarmed when he immediately felt the residual anger start to drain from him. He knew that meant his transformation back into the doctor was near and he looked at the little woman…whom he now knew to be a witch…a good witch…with regret.

"It's alright," she replied softly. "I know that you are more than you seem…just like me…and I know that we will see each other again." With those reassuringly words, she reached for one of his big hands with both of her small ones. "My name is Luna, by the way," she added.

"Hulk like Luna" he said as he lifted his free hand and used one large finger to gently push her wayward hair out of her eyes this time himself and found that it was indeed as soft as he suspected. "Puny Banner will like Luna, too" he added and nodded with absolute conviction at the thought.

"Oh, Hulk, I like you, too!" she exclaimed warmly, "I'm sure that I will like your other side, as well. I look forward to meeting him." She stretched up her arms to him, and when the big green man instinctively leaned down towards her, she wrapped them around him as far as they would fit and gave him a warm kiss on his cheek. "The Wrackspurts are gathering around you, so I know that means we have to say goodbye for now," she whispered as she pulled away reluctantly.

He nodded, even though he felt a bit bewildered…Wrackspurts? He could not pursue the question, however, because after her affectionate farewell, his driving anger was completely spent and there was nothing to hold him…or his body…in that place any longer. He found that he could not even say anything else as he staggered a few steps away before he fell…and that was all he knew for some time.

…

When Bruce regained consciousness, he found that he was lying on a soft blanket under a tree with his clothes fully intact…and Iron Man stood over him.

"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty," a semi-mechanical voice said as the faceplate opened to reveal Tony. "I've been looking everywhere for you since the Hulk took off hours ago with his panties in a wad!"

"W…what happened?" Bruce muttered, still a bit disoriented.

"You tell me!" Tony replied and shrugged the shoulders of his Iron Man suit. The motion triggered a response and the suit proceeded to fold up on itself and away from his body - leaving Tony standing there in his original clothes. "I just found you like this…stretched out like a sultan waiting for his harem girl…and these were next to you." He handed Bruce two sheets of paper with an unusual style and thickness. One had a very lifelike drawing of the Hulk on it. The other had a more cartoon-like picture of a pretty and cheerful blonde witch – complete with hat and broomstick. That one also included a little message written at the bottom in a very distinctive flowing feminine script:

Remember, we are both more than we seem…and that is a very good thing!
You will be in my thoughts until we meet again.
Love,
Luna

"Luna," Bruce whispered as the name spoke to something inside of him. His eyes closed automatically as the memories of the meeting between the Hulk and the delicate blonde witch then played across the back of his eyelids like a movie. He realized, with quite a bit of amazement, that not only had she charmed the Hulk so much that it actually triggered his transformation back into a man, but that she was also sad to see him go.

"Well?" his companion asked, barely containing his curiosity, when Bruce opened his eyes again.

The doctor reached up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. "Apparently, while I was out, the Hulk met a girl…a woman…a pretty one…with some unusual talents," he answered haltingly. He was not sure how to explain the quirky little witch who was able to see past the surface of the Hulk so easily…and who actually seemed to understand…and even more incredible than that…like…what she saw there!

Tony just grinned widely. "That is what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed and joyfully rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "I want details!"

"Not like that!" Bruce's face reddened immediately at his friend's crass implication. He knew that Tony's mind had set up a permanent residence in the gutter, but he did not want him to think about Luna in such a way. Even though he had technically never met her, Bruce already knew from the Hulk's memories that she was too special for that. "She was…well…" he paused to try to think of the best way to describe her. All of a sudden it came to him… "She was simply magical!"

…

Even though he would have rather kept Luna's existence to himself, Bruce knew better than to do so. Who knew what the SHIELD Director would do if he learned that Bruce purposely withheld such potentially important information? Whatever it was, it would not be good! Therefore, during his debriefing, Bruce told the entire truth about the unusual meeting in the forest. Consequently, he was a bit shocked by the complete lack of surprise shown by Fury. In fact, the man just rolled his one good eye at the mention of the witch.

"Them again!" he muttered darkly before he turned his full attention back to Banner. "Does Stark know?" was all that he asked. At Bruce's nod, the Director just sighed heavily. "No use trying to keep it a secret from the others then, but it goes no farther than the Avengers. Understand? The team was on a Need to Know basis, anyways, so consider yourself informed." Despite his confusion, Bruce nodded quickly in agreement. Fury saw his look, though, and took uncharacteristic pity on him when he explained further.

"Believe it or not, the Magicals are our allies and they have discreetly helped us out in the past. Didn't you ever wondered how the damn Chitauri were kept contained within the city limits while you fought them…and who knows what kind of trouble the Hulk might have caused out there on his own if your witch friend had not intercepted him? At any rate, the Magicals like to keep to themselves…and they get a bit…jumpy…and reactive…when others find out about them. Even SHIELD is not officially aware of their existence, if you know what I mean, just a few of us have that privilege. Therefore, if you like your memories intact and unmodified, make sure that you and your friends keep this information to yourselves – especially if you meet up with this Luna again." With that bit of sound advice, he sent Bruce on his way with instructions to "send that pain-in-the-ass Stark to me." There was no doubt that Fury's intention was to impart the same warning to Tony.