Coming Out 2013-2014
“No, no, no,” Bruce says, spinning on his lab stool to grab another piece of data, tossing it to Tony. “That is the protein responsible for the instability. I’d bet my next paycheck on it.”
Tony grabs the holographic molecule and, with an expansive motion, expands it. “Forget the paycheck, I’ll bet you a blowjob.”
“Giving or receiving?” Bruce asks with a wry grin.
“Mmm,” Tony murmurs. “Neither would be a hardship.”
Bruce snorts. “You know I’m not entirely safe, right?”
“Fine, we’ll continue being cautious if you’re right,” Tony says. “But you’ve seen the results. Your semen is perfectly safe and free from gamma radiation.”
Bruce doesn’t argue, because he’s done the tests himself. Saliva and semen are safe; blood isn’t. It’s probably a good thing that neither of them is interested in hurting the other, even during sex. Tony gets hurt enough as Iron Man, even inside the suit, and Bruce won’t take on the risk of the Other Guy making an appearance if he’s hurt.
Besides, Bruce doesn’t mind giving under the circumstances.
“I don’t mind wearing a condom,” Bruce points out.
Tony makes a face. “I’m not interested in the taste of latex, thanks. I remember what you taste like, and I’d like to make my own comparisons to the new and improved version.”
Bruce feels himself blush. “I’d hardly say I’m improved.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Big Guy,” Tony murmurs, turning from the data to Bruce, reaching him out and pulling him closer. “Like a fine wine, you only get better with age.”
Bruce rolls his eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”
Tony brushes a hand over the front of Bruce’s pants. “That suggests otherwise.”
Bruce doesn’t feel as though he has any other choice but to shut Tony up with a kiss. They try to keep such displays for Tony’s bedroom—or Bruce’s, since they haven’t officially moved in together—mostly because they’d never get any work done otherwise.
Also, they’re not quite ready to tell anyone the truth of their relationship.
Still, Bruce hasn’t gotten used to having someone who wants to touch him, who knows about the Other Guy and not only doesn’t care, but likes him even more. It’s all too easy to lose himself in Tony’s kiss for long moments at a time.
When he hears a throat being cleared, Bruce jumps back as though he’d been burned, although he immediately feels bad about it. He’s been hiding this part of himself for far too long for the habit to die easily.
Tony grabs on to Bruce’s shirt, preventing him from moving too far away, and he turns to face the doorway. Pepper is standing there, her eyebrows raised, her expression unreadable—at least to Bruce.
“Can I help you?” Tony asks.
She sighs. “No. I just thought—you’ve been working all day, and Jarvis said that neither of you had eaten. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You didn’t,” Bruce hastens to assure her, feeling incredibly awkward. “It’s, um, it’s—”
“What Bruce is trying to say is that we’re together, and he realizes that this could get very awkward, but since we’re working very hard to save your life, maybe you could give us a little leeway.”
His tone is defiant, but Bruce knows Tony well enough to hear the undercurrent of vulnerability, and Bruce suspects that Tony has no idea how to keep Pepper as a friend now that she knows how quickly they’ve leapt back into their relationship.
Bruce wants to assure her that nothing had happened until she’d broken up with Tony, but he knows it won’t do any good.
Pepper shakes her head. “Do you think I didn’t know, Tony?”
Bruce isn’t quite sure what she knew, but Tony looks abashed. “No,” he admits. “I just—”
Pepper holds up a hand. “Why don’t I call for dinner?”
Tony nods. “Thanks.”
“One hour, or I’ll tell Jarvis to chase you out and not let you back inside again,” Pepper instructs.
Bruce sighs as the door slides shut behind her. “Well, this isn’t awkward at all.”
Tony’s still staring at the door. “I loved her, you know.”
“I know,” Bruce says miserably. “I’m sorry.”
“No, hey, none of that,” Tony quickly says, turning to face Bruce. “We gave it a good try, and it didn’t work out. One of these days, Pepper will find somebody who worships her like the goddess she is. And that person will make her the center of their world, like she deserves.”
Bruce rests his hands on Tony’s shoulders. “What about you?”
“I have someone who speaks my language, who knows me better than anyone, who’s seen me at my best, and my worst,” Tony replies.
Bruce swallows heavily. “So do I.”
“It’s going to take time, but Pepper and I will work things out,” Tony promises. “We go back a long way, and we’ll be fine. You and me? We’re epic, Bruce.”
Bruce presses his forehead against Tony’s. “Yeah, we are. I don’t have to join you guys for dinner.”
“Yes, you do,” Tony argues. “Because Pepper is still the CEO of Stark Industries, and you guys are going to have to get to know each other eventually. I’d like it if you got along.”
“Okay,” Bruce agrees. “I’ll try.”
“That’s all I ask,” Tony says, and pulls him in for another kiss.
Bruce eventually breaks it off. “We have a job to do. We have to save Pepper.”
Tony turns back to the data, and he huffs. “Damn, you’re right.”
“Told you,” Bruce says.
Tony shoots him a grin. “I guess I have to get used to not being right all the time.”
“Face it, I keep you sharp,” Bruce replies.
“I’ve missed you,” Tony says sincerely.
Bruce rests his hand on the back of Tony’s neck. “Yeah. Me, too.”
When they finally emerge from the lab, just under the time limit Pepper had given, they have the answers they need to save Pepper, and they can take a break for long enough to get something to eat.
And after a long silence, where Pepper just stares at them, she finally says, “You know, Bruce, Tony never did give me the full story on how you two met. I’d like to hear your side of things.”
Bruce feels himself relax, and he takes the peace offering. “I’m happy to.”
~~~~~
They never really talk about how they’re going to come out. Pepper knows, of course, and they’re not trying to hide it, but they’re also not taking out an ad in the New York Times to advertise their relationship. Pepper seems okay with it, at least as much as she can be.
Tony thinks that it probably makes things a little easier on her to know just how long Tony’s been in love with Bruce. It’s not something new; it’s something very, very old, something that she had no chance of competing with, especially once she took herself out of the running.
For his part, Tony is grateful that Pepper is being so gracious, although she’s been spending a lot of time elsewhere now that they’ve fixed her.
Tony focuses on work, and ropes Bruce into as many projects as he can, and even though they have their own things to do, they work out of the same lab unless they can’t.
He feels starved for Bruce’s presence, wanting to soak up every moment he can. Even on nights when they don’t have sex, he’s grateful to sleep in the same bed. Sometimes, they spread out with plenty of space between them. Sometimes, Tony tucks himself behind Bruce and presses his nose against the back of his neck. Sometimes, Bruce sprawls over Tony, weighting him down.
Tony doesn’t mind at all.
And they move slowly, because Bruce is cautious, and he doesn’t want Tony hurt, and so they’re careful. They use condoms and dental dams, and they are slow and gentle, and Tony is incredibly patient.
Tony is so patient he’s pretty sure no one would even recognize him, other than Bruce.
But Tony has been waiting for Bruce for twenty years now, and he fucking loves the guy, and he wants to fuck this guy, and he’s okay with taking the time to get there.
So, no, Tony’s not necessarily in a hurry to have the rest of the team find out about them. He wants to cement their relationship; to be sure Bruce isn’t going to run again, to be sure that Bruce stays with him.
In all honesty, Tony is waiting for Bruce to make the first move, and since he doesn’t they keep things under wraps without even trying.
They’re used to it, and Tony is okay with it, and so they just do their thing.
That is, they do their own thing until Bruce gets hurt while they’re out with the rest of the team.
Tony hadn’t thought Bruce could be hurt, is the thing.
They get the call while they’re working together out of Bruce’s lab. Bruce is running some tests that require the gamma imager Tony bought for him, and Tony is working on the next iteration of the suit, as usual.
Fury’s face showed upon the large monitor on one wall. “We have a problem. We need you and Banner on site. Barton will pick you two up.”
“I don’t need a pick up,” Tony replies. “Just tell me where I need to be.”
Fury frowns. “We can fill you in while you’re in the air.”
“Jarvis will take care of that,” Tony says. “I’ll be fully connected via the suit.”
Bruce winces, although he doesn’t say anything until Fury grumbles a goodbye and shuts down the connection. “Are you sure?”
“Sure about what?” Tony asks, saving his work, and beginning to head out of the lab and for the elevator. While the armor can come to him anywhere, he’d rather be able to take off from the roof than stomp through the halls of the Tower in the armor.
Bruce grimaces and follows him. “Tony, they’re going to find out.”
Once they reach the penthouse, Tony walks out onto the roof, with Bruce at his heels, and he makes an abrupt gesture, knowing that the suit will come to him. “Find out about what?”
“About us?” Bruce prompts.
“Do you really mind?”
Bruce shrugs. “I just—I don’t know. No.”
The rest of the armor slots into place around him. “You don’t sound all that certain.”
“You’re going to take a lot of flak,” Bruce points out. “They’re probably going to think you’re insane. I’m sure they already do, since you’re letting me stay here.”
Tony catches the helmet before it can cover his head. “Bruce, I’m only going to say this once, but everybody else can go fuck themselves, okay? This isn’t twenty years ago. Pepper’s running Stark Industries, and I’m just the CTO. I’m fucking Iron Man. If the team has a problem with it, then we don’t have to be a part of the team.”
“They need you,” Bruce counters.
Tony wishes he weren’t encased in armor right now, because he wants to run his hand through Bruce’s hair, and he can’t. “They need you, too, and so do I. But if you want to wait, and if you don’t want to come on this mission, you can stay here.”
Bruce scrubs his hands over his face. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just—I don’t know. Never mind. If you’re okay with it, then so am I.”
Tony leans in for a hard kiss, and then he puts his helmet on. “See you on site.”
“Well, you’ll probably see the Other Guy,” Bruce counters, and he stays on the roof as Tony takes off.
Jarvis feeds Tony the information as he’s flying toward Chicago, which is apparently the city that the most recent villain has decided to attack. The news says the guy has a suit of armor two stories tall, and that he’s been destroying property and shooting people. There’s no word yet on why he’s doing any of those things, or what he wants, if anything.
In Tony’s experience, the villain always wants something, even if it’s not immediately obvious what that might be. All Tony cares about right now is that someone else has a suit of armor, and is using it to terrorize a city. That always pisses him off.
Tony beats the Quinjet there, and he finds the giant robot near the Navy Pier, which is bad news, because there are a lot of civilians in the area. “We’re definitely going to need the Hulk, guys. This guy is about twice his size.”
“Wait for us, Tony!” Steve orders. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
Tony spots a group of about a dozen kids hiding around the corner of a building with the bad guy bearing down on them. “I can’t wait, Cap. I’ve got a group of kids here who are going to be in the line of fire in about thirty seconds.”
“We’re two minutes out,” Barton replies, sounding frustrated.
“I’ll get the kids, and you guys get here as soon as you can,” Tony replies, and lands, putting himself between the group of kids and the bad guy—who looks like he’s wearing a version of the Mark 1, only less even less elegant. Apparently, he’s of the same school of thought as Obadiah had been, thinking that bigger is better, and giving absolutely no thought to style.
But he wants the guy’s focus on him, and he glances over his shoulder to see the kids staring at him. “Run. I’ll keep him from coming after you.” When they don’t move, Tony orders, “Run now.”
One of the older girls in the group, who looks about thirteen, starts to herd them away, staying out of the bad guy’s line of sight.
“Hey, asshole! That suit you’ve got looks like a kindergartener made it!” Tony shouts.
The suit turns, the eyeholes glowing red, and fires at him without saying anything. Tony dodges it easily, but judging from the crater left in the ground, he’s packing some major firepower. It’s probably a good idea to not get hit.
He’s big, but not fast, which means Tony can fly circles around him, firing his repulsors, and keeping the bad guy off-balance and occupied.
Of course, that means he’s also getting pretty frustrated by his inability to pin Tony down, and he manages to get in a lucky strike with a flailing arm, knocking Tony to the ground.
He’s trying to pick himself up when he hears the Hulk roar, and Tony sits up in time to see the Hulk fling himself at the robot.
Natasha hadn’t accompanied them, as they don’t need her skills for this, so it’s just Barton and Steve, and they’re both working on clearing the area of civilians, apparently deciding to let the Hulk and Tony deal with the bad guy.
And then the robot hit Hulk square in the chest, actually knocking him down, and the bad guy fires some new kind of weapon, the beam blue-green this time, and it hits the Hulk in the chest.
The Hulk lets out a cry of pain, and he shrinks down to Bruce’s form, but the beam doesn’t let up, and Tony abruptly realizes that Bruce isn’t moving, and the Hulk isn’t going to come back to protect him.
“Bruce!” Tony calls, and he puts on a burst of speed, hitting the robot in the back and causing the beam of the weapon to turn aside, away from Bruce. “Cap! I need some help here!”
Steve comes running up, grabbing Bruce under his arms. “Can you handle this?”
“Just get him out of here,” Tony snarls. “Make sure he’s okay.”
Barton says, “We’ve cleared most of the civilians from the area. What can I do?”
“Got any of those exploding arrows?” Tony asks. “I think I’ve identified a couple of weak spots.”
“Just tell me where,” Barton replies.
Tony calls out directions even as he looses a couple of small missiles that target the joints of the knees. He’s fairly certain that their mad scientist is somewhere in the chest area of the armor. Barton’s arrows hit the neck joint and both elbows nearly simultaneously.
And then Tony puts out a blast from the arc reactor aimed squarely at the robot’s chest, and it explodes.
Tony waits just long enough to be sure that the robot is not going to move again, and he says, “Do me a favor and check to see if he’s dead. I need to check on Bruce. Cap, where are you guys?”
“SHIELD is bringing in the medics,” Steve replies and then gives brief directions. “We’re not sure what that thing did, but Bruce is still unconscious.”
Tony probably shouldn’t have blown the thing up, because he might have been able to figure out what the guy had done to Bruce, or had Natasha interrogate him.
Steve is kneeling when Tony reaches them, Bruce cradled against his chest, probably to keep him off the bare ground. With a though, the suit opens, and Tony steps out. “I’ve got him.”
“It’s really okay, Tony,” Steve replies. “I don’t mind.”
“I said, I’ve got him,” Tony insists. “You can go help Barton.”
Some unknown emotion flickers across Steve’s face, and he says, “Okay, sure. I get it.”
Tony doesn’t care what Steve does or doesn’t get. He gets Bruce propped against his chest, half in his lap, and he presses his lips to Bruce’s temple. Bruce’s skin is a little cool to the touch, but a quick check shows that his pulse, while very slow, is still steady.
Tony clutches him tighter and takes a deep breath.
“Are you sure you’re okay here?” Steve asks, his tone gentle. “I can stay.”
“I’m fine,” Tony insists, but fear is swamping him.
“I’ll stay here until the medics arrive anyway,” Steve says. “Barton says he has things under control on his end. Looks like at least one person got blown up along with that suit.”
Tony honestly doesn’t care.
The SHIELD medics arrive a few minutes later, and they take over, putting Bruce onto a gurney and loading him into a van. It’s pretty clear that they’re not sure what to do with him.
“You could go with him,” Steve suggests.
Tony shakes his head. “No, I need—I need to know what he did to Bruce, just in case…” He trails off, unable to think about the worst-case scenario. “Do we know where he was hiding out?”
Steve nods. “We can head there now. Tony—”
“Save it for the debrief, Cap,” Tony says, and feels his panic lessen as his armor encloses him. “We have work to do right now.”
~~~~~
Bruce wakes slowly, every muscle aching, his mouth dry, and his eyelids feeling as though they’ve been glued shut. He groans and feels a familiar hand card through his hair.
“Easy,” Tony cautions. “You got hit pretty hard.”
“Wh—” He coughs.
Tony presses a straw to his lips, and Bruce drinks thirstily. “Go slow,” Tony advises. “You’ve been unconscious for a couple of days.”
Bruce finally manages to open his eyes, and he can see how exhausted Tony is. His beard is shaggy, and there are dark circles under his eyes. “What happened?”
“He had a weapon that drains a person’s life force. If it had hit anyone else, they’d be dead,” Tony says quietly. “It might have actually managed to kill you if he’d had enough time.”
“Good thing he used it on me instead of someone else then,” Bruce says.
Tony sets the glass of water on the table next to the bed, and takes Bruce’s hand in his. “Don’t say that.”
“I’m not dead, am I?” Bruce asks, although he doesn’t say that he feels half-dead. “I survived, and someone else probably wouldn’t have. You wouldn’t have.”
Tony gives him a long, hard look. “I just got you back, Bruce. I can’t lose you again.”
“You won’t,” Bruce promises recklessly. “You won’t. Hey, come here, huh? You need to sleep.”
“I can’t sleep without you,” Tony says stubbornly.
“So? Get over here. We can squeeze in. We’ve done it before.”
Tony doesn’t need further convincing. He toes off his shoes, and Bruce turns on his side, scooting to the edge of the mattress. Only by squeezing together tightly, Tony’s back to Bruce’s front, do they manage to make it work.
“You should probably eat something,” Tony mutters. “You have to be hungry.”
“I hurt too much to be hungry,” Bruce admits.
“I’m hurting you,” Tony protests.
The heat from Tony’s body is easing his sore muscles, and he says as much. “We both need this, so shut up and go to sleep.”
“People are going to talk,” Tony murmurs.
“Let them talk,” Bruce replies.
He falls asleep like that, his nose pressed to the back of Tony’s neck, and he knows that he’ll never get enough of this.
Bruce wakes when he hears a throat being cleared, and he cracks open an eyelid to see Steve standing there.
“It’s good you got him to sleep,” Steve says softly. “He hasn’t left your side since we brought you in.”
Bruce smiles. “Yeah, well. He knows I’d do the same for him.” Tony sleeps on, and Bruce asks, “Are you okay with this?”
Steve shrugs. “As long as it doesn’t interfere out in the field, I don’t care. And—I’m glad you have such a good friend.”
“I’ve known him since I was fifteen,” Bruce says quietly.
Steve shakes his head. “Well, that explains a lot. You feeling any better?”
Bruce tightens his hold on Tony. “Getting there.”
“Get some rest,” Steve advises. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
Bruce smiles as Steve leaves, and then he presses his face into Tony’s back.
By the time the doctors release Bruce the following day, word has spread through SHIELD headquarters, and there are more than a few people who give them strange looks as Bruce limps out, Tony hovering at his side.
“Are you sure you don’t need a wheelchair?” Tony asks.
“I’m stiff and sore, but I’m not dying,” Bruce insists. “Stop hovering. People are staring.”
“Let ‘em stare,” Tony replies. “I have a hot boyfriend. They’re just jealous.”
Suddenly, Fury’s in the middle of their path, and Bruce definitely does not want to do this now.
“Can’t this wait?” Tony snaps. “I want to get him home.”
“I want to know how you managed to keep your relationship secret for almost three decades,” Fury rumbles.
Tony shrugs. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Fury holds up an old photograph, and Bruce blinks. It’s a photo of the two of them holding the first place trophy between them. Bruce barely recognizes himself, but he remembers how Tony looked; he remembers how it had felt to win.
Tony snatches the photograph out of Fury’s hand. “That’s a good picture of us. I hadn’t seen this one before.”
“I didn’t even know they’d taken a photograph,” Bruce says mildly. “But it is a good picture.”
“Thanks for this,” Tony says cheerfully. “We’ll be going home now.”
Fury sighs. “I hope you have a speedy recovery, Dr. Banner. Let me know when the wedding will take place.”
Tony rolls his eyes expressively, and Bruce shakes his head, but doesn’t say anything. It’s not until they’re in the back of Tony’s limo that Tony says, “You know, we could.”
“We could what?” Bruce asks, leaning his head back, already exhausted. He’d forgotten how it feels to come out of a long sickness, and he could have done without the reminder.
“We could get married.”
Bruce rolls his head to look at Tony. “Seriously?”
“There is seriously no one else I would rather spend the rest of my life with,” Tony replies, and Bruce can see how sincere he is.
Bruce smiles. “Yeah. I mean, me too. I just—didn’t think you’d want to get married.”
“Granted, it’s partly a giant posthumous fuck you to Obie, but I want to know that if you ever get hurt again, I have the legal right to be there, and vice versa,” Tony replies. “I want the world to know that if they want you, they have to come through me first.”
Bruce fumbles for Tony’s hand and holds on tightly. “I guess it makes sense, right?”
Tony raises his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“You and me,” Bruce says. “Always.”
And Tony pulls him in for a long, heated kiss that holds all the echoes of the past, and all the promises of the future.