One more meeting, one more hour spent in air conditioned, climate-controlled comfort. Leaning back to stretch during the lunchtime intermission, Tony Stark quickly ran through the known agendas for the next six hours in preparation for the balance of his day, grateful for the modern invention of chilled air. Endless meetings went so much more smoothly that way, and he was all about making it go quickly when it came to time spent with people who really didn't like him very much.
Board meetings. Conference calls. Plan check meetings at the factory. Discussion over the latest results from the lab. Omaha, some hours drive away from where they were, seemed like a huge metropolis compared to the sleepy little towns strung along the Nishnabotna River but it was the size and intimacy of the work being carried out that made it necessary for it to be done in these communities. A little bit here, a little bit there. Air conditioning in the cars between locations, air conditioning in the locations, you'd never know what was outside. He'd chosen this location for the willingness to adapt the existing facilities, grateful even. Small towns had their charm, after all.
That, and their proximity to large amounts of gentle, rolling hills. Acres and acres of them. Mostly old farmland, but after being identified by the Initiative, it had all become Hulk Playground, 2.0.
So, Bruce Banner was along. That, plus air conditioned comfort, equaled a reasonably good time.
"Hey, big guy. You okay?"
Rubbing an arm that sported a number of brightly-colored bandages, Bruce checked out the room again before turning his attention back to Tony. "Yeah, sure. I think that's the last of the blood work for a while. Sort of not getting used to it, don't like it much. But."
"You're a good sport. You know that. And stop looking for someone else in the room, it's just us in here."
"Sorry." But still, he continued to fidget. "Really would like to go outside for a while, if we have the time."
Outside had bugs. At the very least. "Can't wait to go play? We'll get a chance at the next stop, we're checking out the final assembly there - can't say I blame you for that. Looking forward to it." Pulling up a holoscreen, Tony loaded the final blueprints for the armor he and Bruce had been working on, nicknamed "Veronika," spinning it around to show the biologist. "Sexy like Amanda Bingson sexy."
Bruce shook his head, soft salt and pepper curls bouncing against the open collar of his shirt. "Nah, that's not what I meant. I mean - go outside just to get outside outside, Tony. 'M tired of all the stale air in these places."
"Stale?" Taking an inquisitive sniff, Tony didn't get anything from it and frowned, puzzled. "Smells like nothing. Perfect nothing."
"That's the point! It smells like the inside of a defrosted refrigerator." His tone of voice taking on the quality of a plaint, Bruce stood up as if he would jump out of his skin if he sat a moment longer.
"Well, now that you put it that way. I guess - "
"Tony. I'm going outside. Lose this - " Standing, Bruce tugged on the suit jacket. "And this." Now, the tie, a quick flip of the silk between his fingers. "And come outside with me. Please?"
"Going native on the natives? I kinda like it."
"Tony - "
Lunch, taken outside then. Sandwiches, cheese mostly. Some peanut butter and jelly (crunchy for Tony, smooth for Bruce) on thick homemade bread with whole pieces of fruit, nicely groomed raw vegetables. Much in keeping with being near farmland, and most of the facilities had their own 'victory gardens' courtesy of Spangles. Hey, it kept a living legend off the street nights. Or days. Take your pick. Steve Rogers, comes by to see what's going on and everyone plants tomatoes. Fine with him. Like one hand washing the other, Banner would come through, scarf up all the fresh produce with that rare smile of his, and Tony learned to love red carrots.
However, Bruce didn't like it when Tony watched him eat too closely, but at times he couldn't help it. If there was one thing Tony liked knowing, it was that his friend had more food to eat than he could put away in one sitting. For himself, constantly nibbling and grazing suited him more. In the hour they dedicated to the meal, Tony knew Bruce had eaten three times as much as he had, not stopping until he couldn't eat another bite and as always, looked up to see Tony watching him, a Cheshire Cat smile on his face. Today, Bruce only blinked owlishly back at him through his glasses, wiping his mouth with a napkin before standing to clear the table.
Then kicked off his shoes, still looking Tony in the eye, quickly divested himself of his socks as well then about-faced and strolled off into the fields abutting the office building.
"What the hell - Banner!"
Looking down, he saw grass, clipped short with stalks set so close together it resembled a plush carpet. And now, with Bruce stomping on it - the smell of it crushed under his feet reached him.
Green, green grass - not freshly mowed, but still pungent and fresh. Breathing even deeper in response, Tony noted Bruce looked over his shoulder at the exact moment the fragrance hit him with a sly look in his eye as if to say 'told you so' as he continued to walk away from him, deeper into the field.
"Come on, Tony. It won't bite," he called back gaily over his shoulder. Shenanigans, the engineer thought to himself. Two can play at that game.
So a second pair of shoes and socks got left by the side of the lawn as Tony followed - promptly, not hurrying - after his friend. Not chasing him, no never.
Dirt. Muddy water, dirt and weeds. The scent of broken stems drying out in the sun. Then, the buzz of a bee? Wasp? Fly? Ugh - what - sailed past his ear, on the way somewhere else and Tony found himself at Bruce's shoulder, almost swatting his friend in error.
Mud, squishing between toes. Ewww. It wasn't that the pants couldn't be cleaned - or replaced, heaven knows - but getting dirty? For no particular reason? Rude.
Eyes closed, hands clasped behind him, Bruce stood quietly with a soft smile of his face, listening intently, nostrils flared wide as he cocked his head. "There you are," he remarked quietly as Tony shifted his feet.
"This had better be water," he said mulishly. But it made Bruce chuckle, raising a finger to his lips.
"Where was the next stop, again?" he asked, bright brown eyes popping open to look towards the horizon.
"Just across the way, see? The converted hanger and silo over there."
"We could walk there, couldn't we."
"Maaaybe."
Huffing a small breath, Bruce closed his eyes again, listening. "I sent everyone home," he said quietly. "Actually, I sent them all a safe distance away. Told them we were going to do some testing."
"Oh no, no no - the Armani won't - HEY!"
Bruce ran away from him. "The Armani won't - but how about the StannerFarb?" he called back. "Let's find out - go suit up?"
Tony barely had time to catch the shirt flung at him before the Other Guy appeared in front of him.
Who did not even turn to look back at him, roared happily at the sky and took off across the field.
"Oh boy." Pulling the phone out of his pocket, Tony thumbed it open. "J - you there? Code Green, my location - scramble a quinjet - and what have we got handy? Mark 43? Send it. Very happy Code Green, but completely without a target to smash, and I have no idea...wait wait wait NO SUIT NO SUIT YOU JERK - "
It was considerably cooler the distance up he'd been tossed. Not thrown. Scooped up in two huge green hands and tossed into free fall like a rag doll being given flying lessons. High up - high enough to wonder how much would end up broken when he landed, and should he aim for his back, his butt or - ?
Then briefly the whoosh of the suit flying up to meet him, assembling around him and then - there! - the smell of chilled, recycled air as the last seals closed and the HUD flickered into life.
The air...stunk, to be blunt. What the hell, Banner -
So, he didn't hit the ground. And he didn't stay completely out of reach. Finding Hulk, Tony watched as he turned to look up at the sound of repulsors spinning up, the expression on Hulk's face changing from indifference to absolute glee.
"Play!" he roared, grabbing two fists full of grass and flung them in Tony's general direction. "Outside!"
"Hey, hey big guy - be nice, that grass didn't do anything to - yie!" Once he finished the course correction to avoid the parts of the field being tossed in his direction, Tony was able to look down to see Hulk fall to his knees, planting his face nearly into the ground itself before spreading his arms wide to get them around as much dirt and grass as he could, slamming the armful of muddy grass into a rough hill in front of him.
Staying aloft seemed a good plan, under the circumstances.
"J - who's enroute with the quin?"
"That would be me, Tony - " Natasha Romanov's dulcet tones, and she didn't sound impressed. The HUD fixed on a small point near the horizon, identified the quinjet with its registration and occupancy. Just Natasha, nobody else. Well, that was something - just the three of us, then. Guess Spangles thought he could sit this one out. "What have you got?"
"I didn't do it! I swear - "
"Nobody said you did," she began. "But I haven't got much more than a change of clothes up here. What happened?"
"Bruce got tired of air conditioning. Or meetings. Maybe even one too many pokes in the arm. You got me."
"Is he building....a fort?"
"Or mudpies. You got me."
He looked up. Saw Iron Man, just out of reach - and grinned. But when Tony backed himself out of the way of a hastily flung green arm, the expression darkened as he tried again. But the attempts didn't connect, and Tony was certain he saw something less than angry in Hulk's eyes, more mischievous and wasn't that scary stuff?
No question, Hulk could grab him if he tried just that much harder, so why hadn't it happened already?
Play.
He saw Iron Man, and it was play time. Period, end of line. Play with me, or I'll plant you in the cornfield.
"Tallie, land that thing out of sight, downwind and come up quietly. Maybe I can wear him out with some world-class keep away. Jarvis, what time is sundown tonight?"
"Quit calling me that," Natasha grumbled into the comm before she complied, the flash of her aircraft briefly visible on Tony's display before she landed in the distance.
"Sir, sundown is in approximately four hours, twelve minutes."
"Then we need to wrap this up before it gets dark and the monsters come out."
Last time he took Banner to a full slate of meetings, good grief. Cabin fever, is that what this was?
Yes, Hulk knew the destination was the hanger at the other end of the open field - he kept looking that way, but then tracked on Tony zipping around his head with a wide-mouthed, roaring smile that both reassured and worried at the same time. "Come on big guy,
boring old field, boring old Iowa, nothing but grass and weeds and bugs! What the heck do you want - "
Vaporizing some mudballs got a flinch of surprise, a cocked head and a grunt. When they were thrown. If they were thrown. Once, Tony thought he saw Hulk sight on him with one of them clasped between both hands, a clear 'maybe I will, maybe I won't' dare on his face.
But it was when he rolled in the mud and grass, getting a thick coat of it all over him before standing up to shake it all off again - that was when Tony really stayed out of reach.
Rolling hills, gentle rolling hills. With a Hulk rolling down most of them. Tony spared a moment to see what had been grown on them last. Soybeans. Glad it hadn't been Angus steers. No trees, nothing higher than your ankle, and everything as green as he was.
Grass angels. Now that you didn't see everyday.
"Yoo-hoo! Maybe they've gotten some rotten tomatoes to throw at me at the next stop - what do you say, big guy? Stuff to throw at me that isn't mud? Mud and grass? Done already, boring! Come on - over this way!"
Made one wish for a beach ball. Heeeeyyyy.... "Hey, you near town? You're landing at the airstrip, right?"
The comm clicked open, the pause before she spoke saying more than any question Natasha might have. "Last time I checked, that was what it was for - yes."
"Stop by the sporting goods store and pick up one of those oversized play balls, the one that's as big as I am? Let's see if we can't keep him busy with one of those - he'll probably love it."
The dead air was dry enough to make jerky. "I'll see if I can find some tiddlywinks in his size while I'm there," she drawled.
"Use your imagination and mad mad combat skills. I'll cover everything. Go nuts."
Four hours and change. Surely, by then he'd be ready to call it a day.
Hulk played chase. He played leap-frog - of a sorts - flying over Tony's head when he landed a few feet away, then crouched down when Hulk launched himself at him. Dug a huge hole and then played in the water that filled it. Well, that explains the mud. For a moment, Tony thought maybe he'd run out of gas when he flopped over on his back, spread eagled and looked up into the sky with a huge, huffed sigh.
But the moment Tony flew over, Hulk spotted him and the game was on again - face split in a huge grin, a loud roar and a huge green fist flailing in the spot he just scooted out of. When he couldn't land a blow on Tony, he roared up at him in frustration. "Oh, you seriously don't think I'm going to stand there and let you catch me, do you? Reckless, not suicidal. Big difference."
The thunk of the ball hitting the ground a short distance away covered the soft whistle of the quinjet as Natasha quickly dropped her cargo out of the open hatch at the rear, letting the backwash push the ball into the line of fire as she pulled away.
It was big, blue and six feet tall.
Perfect.
It lasted seventeen minutes and nine seconds. Jarvis counted. Giving its life with a huge bang as Hulk belly-flopped on top of it, Tony scrambled to figure out what to distract him with next when the decision was taken completely out of his hands.
He spied the quinjet, with Natasha standing on the lowered ramp in the back fifty feet away from them.
And Hulk hated Natasha, and thought even less of quinjets. This was not good.
"Shit!" Before Tony could move to intercept, Hulk had taken one huge leap to land a few steps away from the quinjet, roaring louder every time Natasha moved. So, she went still. Completely, stock still, her hands raised and open at her shoulders.
Hulk stopped dead in his tracks. Looked at Natasha, looking at him. "Hey, big guy," she said. "Hello."
That, he had not expected. Coming up behind him, Tony made sure he remained out of range of a flung arm, but close enough to dart in and grab the red-headed superspy. Who looked a lot less than stealthy at the moment, eyes locked with the Hulk's in what easily could be considered an informal staring contest.
"Sun's finally going down - " Tony, speaking softly right off Hulk's shoulder, got a huge green head whipping around to snarl at him.
"Yeah. Yeah, big guy. Sun's getting real low," Natasha, speaking quietly and calm, brought Hulk's attention back to her. "Real low. Getting time to come inside."
Hulk looked at her. She did nothing but look back at him, golden-green eyes calmly meeting his own. Tony's HUD watched her heart rate spike, but respiration remained steady as a moment passed, then another.
"Want to come in?" It was a gentle voice Natasha used, seductive almost. "You can. Sun's getting real low."
Tony would have made bank Hulk hated Natasha. Bruce made it a policy to be self-effacing around her to the point of letting the floor open up and swallow him whole every chance he got, mortified that he had ever frightened or harmed her. She'd told Tony about the puckish scientist she had met in India, bringing him in to deal with Loki and the Chitauri but after Hulking out aboard the helicarrier, he hadn't thought the rift would ever be mended between them. She, scared - he, ashamed.
It would appear he had been wrong.
Hulk looked at the smaller woman, at her two raised hands and cocked his head. Then reached out one huge hand, and tried to touch her left hand with his index finger. Too large, covering her hand with room to spare at the tip, he pulled back, huffing slightly.
"Easy, big guy," she said softly. "Here. How about this?" Dropping her right hand slowly, Natasha turned her left over to form a cup, extending it. "Can you do that? There - that's right."
Hulk turned his huge hand over, mimicking Natasha who smoothly slipped her hand under his and allowed their hands to touch. Hulk was mesmerized, and Tony found his mouth hanging open as he watched Hulk cock his head as Natasha moved her hand out from under, fingers poised to touch again.
Hulk trilled. Surprised, Natasha's eyebrows climbed into her hairline, but otherwise she remained motionless.
Then she let her hand rest on Hulk's wrist. "Shhh, it's okay. Come on. Sun's getting real low. Okay, big guy? Real low."
Hulk sat down with a thud, then fell over. As quickly as he had appeared, Hulk faded back into Bruce while they watched.
"Holy crap. That is the scariest lullaby I have ever seen, and I had nannies until I was fourteen."
Natasha let herself fall into a squat, resting her weight on one knee as she looked up at him. "You and me both. I'm as surprised as you."
Landing, Tony motioned the suit away with a curt "Off," moving to board the quinjet in search of the thick wool blankets he knew were stored there. Maybe we need to stock some towels too, he added to himself. "You good, Tallie?"
"Dammit, Tony." Yup, she's fine.
Scooping Bruce up to wrap him in the blankets, Tony checked his friend over with gentle, careful hands that quickly got muddy and covered with grass bits. "Come on, Brucie. You in there? Come out, come out wherever you went to - "
The first, full body shiver decided him, however. Grass, dirt, mud and all, Tony picked Bruce up and carried him into the quinjet, finding himself murmuring soft reassurances in spite of himself. Ugh, mud. Ugh, quinjet floor barefoot.
"I's dark," was the first thing he heard Bruce say, then "Where - "
"Our ride's here," Tony answered. "Playtime's over, time to go home. Have fun?"
"Mmm, yeah. Was Natasha - ?"
All brisk efficiency again, the subject of his question strode past him to head back into the cockpit. "Right here, big guy. You had a busy day!"
"Did I - ?"
"NO." The emphatic denial voiced by both of them left Bruce shutting his mouth with an audible snap. "Remember anything?" Tony added, a beat later.
"Just that I wanted to go outside. And I was fed up with waiting for you. And then you followed me - "
Drying out, the mud turned to silty dust, falling to the floor of the quinjet with the blades of grass stuck to it. Tipping Bruce's head with one hand under his chin, Tony looked Bruce over. "Close your eyes for a sec."
Doing as he was bade with a wry expression, Bruce waited as Tony threaded both hands into his hair to shake most of the mud and dirt out of the curls. "I seem to have gotten rather dirty," he said with a curious look in his eye. "And you did not. Does this mean you got to try out Veronika?"
Sighing, Tony pulled back and let Bruce continue removing dirt and blades of grass from his person. "No - no, that's another day. We learned something else, however. Good science. Better, I think."
"And what was better than that?" Examining the backs of his hands, Bruce frowned and shook them hard enough to rattle the joints. "I'd really feel better if we had that whole system online, you know."
Leaning back against a bulkhead, the engineer fished out a tablet and began making notes, shaking his head at the scientist. "Patience, oh verdant one." Checking out the grass that was still coming off, Tony winced. "In more ways that one. The Stannerfarb is a total win, by the way. Check your shorts. No contamination? Right. Second?"
Looking over Bruce into the cockpit to see Natasha's very straight back as she finished the pre-flight checklist, he waited until she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Second, Natasha seems to have hit on something kinda cute and scary. Me, you want to play with like some kind of supertoy. Natasha? Time to come in, it's bedtime. Completely different."
"Like...a lullaby?" Stopping short, Bruce pulled back and looked over at Natasha, who didn't look back, sitting ramrod straight in her pilot's chair, only the looks she gave out of the corner of her eye belying that she was listening at all. "We'd have to see if it was consistent, but I remember - something. Not sure what. Nice."
"Well, good for you," Tony replied. "I hope you appreciate the lovely fragrance you have brought aboard with you, in spite of the quinjet being equipped with the best air scrubbers known on the planet, and I should know."
"M'sorry, Tony." Sitting there with a wool blanket wrapped around him, everything covered in dirt and grass, Bruce looked so woebegone Tony almost laughed, managing to tamp it down to a chuckle.
Stepping forward, he did wrap arms around his friend for a hug, then pulled back to grasp him by the shoulder for a quick shake. "Don't be. This was all my fault, I should have listened more. I kinda like the smell of crushed Iowa farmland in the afternoon. Smells like science."
Bruce headbutted Tony in the chest, just a quick push to get his attention. "Science is stinky."
"Sometimes."
Taking the corporate breath, Tony found his seat and was getting into the groove updating schematics and process notes when he heard Natasha chirp from the cockpit. "I don't know. I think it was kinda cute."
Bruce looked aghast, and it was everything Tony had in him not to burst out in hysterics. "Natasha, sometimes you scare me."
"You don't!" she called back, gaily. "Really, really. You don't."
Shaking his head, Tony only went back to his work. "You two hash it out, I'm going to make Pepper happy with me. Take a nap, big guy. When it's time to get hosed off, we'll let you know."
Pulling the blanket closer about himself, Bruce did as he was bade with a puzzled expression on his face. "She's not afraid of me," he said softly. "Huh."
Tony could have mentioned the two dots of red flaring on Natasha's cheeks at that last, but he decided against it. It was too cute. They both were.
It was better, he decided. Much better. Remembering where the day had begun, he had to laugh at himself.
This was definitely a better way to end a day of meetings, hang the climate-controlled comfort of a conference room. So it smelled of dirt and weeds.
Savor it.