Bruce Banner (And Tony)
Peter managed to score a job at a dingy dive bar across town as a glorified janitor. The place was run down, dirty, and full of skeevy personalities. His job consisted of cleaning up after guests on the floor and in the bathrooms (It’s gag-worthy).
The manager is a heavy set older man who agreed to pay him under the table. Peter’s extremely underpaid, he knows that, but he’ll take any cash he can get. The man sets off his spider-sense, but he doesn’t have the privilege of looking for a better job, so he’s stuck here.
All in all, it’s sketchy.
He’s working long hours for practically nothing, but it gets him more food than he’s had in weeks, so he’s grateful.
It also keeps him occupied. It’s by far the most disgusting thing he’s ever had to do, and he’s had the guts of aliens sprayed over his body, but at least it’s something to do. Without a job, he was spending his day sitting against a wall, waiting for time to pass.
The customers are weird, too. They’re all in their thirties to forties, armed to the teeth with various knives and handguns. They ignore him for the most part, which he’s happy about, but it doesn’t make him feel any better about being there.
Their conversations turn to whispers when he walks past.
They’re getting close to Christmas, New York only getting busier and colder as tourists come by to experience the holidays in the city. A few non-natives come by the bar thinking they found a rare spot, only to be turned away by the bouncer who’s not actually a bouncer.
If Peter was actually all there, he would’ve noticed how weird it is that the bouncer only lets in a set roster of people. But he’s not, he’s still constantly hungry and tired, so it flies over his head.
One particularly cold night, he’s scrubbing down the linoleum tiles in the bathroom, holding his breath as often as possible, when a loud crash sounds from outside.
His spider-sense buzzes in the back of his mind, letting him know to be wary. He hears loud shouts and the crashing of chairs. The whirring of metal reaches his ears, something familiar that sits on the tip of his tongue.
More shouting and the sound of flesh hitting flesh. A large explosion rattles the building, forcing Peter to take cover in a nasty stall.
The loud voices stop and the building devolves into silence. Two distinct voices come from outside the room, talking casually. Peter creeps out of the bathroom stall towards the door.
He slowly opens it and peeks out into the bar. It’s a mess. There’s wood chunks everywhere, blast marks across the ceiling, and black charring covers the room. Standing in the center of the mess are two figures, looking down at the prone forms of the bar manager and his assistant.
Peter- lacking self-preservation- opens the door wider. He walks out silently, taking a better look at the situation before him. One of the men standing turns slightly and Peter gets a glimpse at his face.
Shaggy hair, square glasses, a nervous look on his face.
Bruce fucking Banner.
Peter almost faints right then and there. Bruce Banner is standing in the middle of the destroyed dive bar he works at. Obviously something was happening behind the scenes that Peter didn’t know about, or else two Avengers wouldn’t be here.
The other man Peter now recognizes as Tony Stark.
He looks up at the ceiling, throwing up his hands, closing his eyes and asking what he did to deserve this.
The two men are still oblivious to Peter’s presence. If Peter was a normal person, he would’ve snuck out through the back and run like hell.
But Peter has never been normal for a single second of his life.
“Y’know, I don’t think this new decor will bring in any more customers.” Peter calls out.
The two men whirl around, hands raised in defense. Bruce looks confused when he sees Peter, but Tony’s eyes widen in shock.
“Peter?” The man asks incredulously.
Bruce recognizes his name, “This is Peter?”
Peter, starstruck, asks “Bruce Banner knows who I am?”
Tony shakes his head violently, like he’s trying to decide if Peter is actually standing in front of him. Peter half expects him to start rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
“Parker, what the hell are you doing here?” Tony asks.
Peter shrugs, “I work here, sorta. But I get the feeling that the whole dive bar schtick was a front for something else.”
“No kidding.” Tony responds, walking closer to Peter.
“I knew the pay was too good to be true.” Peter says sarcastically.
Tony huffs a laugh, placing his hands on Peter’s shoulders, “Yeah, I bet they paid you plenty.”
“Practically nothing, actually.” Peter smiles.
Bruce walks closer, making Peter’s heart beat faster. He can feel his cheeks getting pinker with the intensity of his blush. This man is literally his science idol, sue him.
“You’re right, in any sense,” Tony says, “The bar was a front for a drug ring.”
Peter grimaces. Yikes. How he managed to miss that, he doesn’t know. Maybe he should listen to his spider-sense more closely.
“What are you doing working in a place like this?” Bruce asks from behind Tony.
Peter blushes red, “Uh- I’m, like, homeless and um, this is the only place that would pay me under the table.”
Tony seems to notice his nervousness and gives him a weird look. Bruce only nods, oblivious to the boy’s awestruck look.
“That’s unfortunate.” Bruce says.
Peter smiles sheepishly. Tony looks between them and lets out a bark of laughter.
“You a fan of the hulk or something, kid?” Tony asks.
That gets Bruce’s attention. His eyes darted back to Peter nervously, watching him for a reaction.
“Um,” Peter starts, turning to Bruce, “I mean the hulk is cool, I guess, but I used to read all your academic journals when I was a kid. Your research on photoelectron collisions and their effect on light detection is fascinating. It could mean the conservation of energy for cities suffering from light pollution across the country! And you have seven PhD’s, which is totally insane, um, me and my friend used to read about you all the time, Dr. Banner sir.”
Bruce looks incredibly taken aback, but also extremely impressed, “You read my academic articles? Aren’t you, like, fifteen?”
Peter nods enthusiastically, “Yeah! I mean I don’t have access to them anymore, but I used to read them all the time in elementary and middle school.”
Tony is absolutely beaming down at Peter, his smile showing every tooth in this mouth. Peter can see the gears working in both of their brains.
“Sorry,” Peter says, “I just think you’re super cool, Dr. Banner sir.”
Bruce waves him off, looking pleased, “Bruce, Peter, please.”
“I physically don’t think I can do that Dr. Banner.” Peter says, giving the man a cheesy smile.
Tony laughs, swinging his arm around Peter’s shoulder. The man is warm, really warm, and Peter leans deeper into the touch. Tony seems to notice this and squeezes him tighter.
Bruce’s comm goes off. Peter can’t hear what they’re saying, but he knows someone is talking.
“We have to go,” Bruce says, “Steve found another organization on the East side.”
Tony rolls his eyes, but detaches himself from Peter, who only mourns the warmth a tiny bit. He turns to Peter, “Are you gonna be okay?”
Peter nods, “Yeah, I’ve saved up a lot of the money, so I’ll be okay for a week or two.”
That doesn’t seem to appease the men the way Peter had hoped. He sees their eyebrows furrow with worry.
Bruce says, “Well, if you ever want to read any of my annotated journals, come by the tower.”
And if Peter wasn’t about to faint before, he is now. He just got a personal invitation from Bruce Banner himself to look at the man’s actual, written on, academic writings. He’ll never take the offer, of course, but the fact that it was given to him at all is enough to make him lose his breath.
It’s also a very obvious ploy to bring Peter to the tower.
“I’ll take that into account, thank you so much Dr. Banner.” Peter responds.
Tony smiles, clapping him on the shoulder. Bruce gives him a wave and walks out of the restaurant.
“You take that offer seriously, yeah? Anytime you need anything, come to the tower. It feels like we practically know everything about you at this point.” Tony says softly.
Peter laughs, “Just a series of crazy coincidences.”
Tony raises his eyebrow, stepping back and into his Iron suit. Peter’s jaw drops in awe as he watches the suit cover the man’s body. So cool.
“Is it?” Tony asks, walking over to the men on the floor and picking them up.
He gives Peter one last look and flies away.
Peter looks around at the ruined bar.
Looks like he has to find another job. Shit.
—--------------------
“Bruce met the kid.” Tony says when they regroup in the middle of the street in Manhattan.
His friends turn to him, then to Bruce, interested.
“What the hell happened that the kid was in the same area as you two?” Sam asks, crossing his arms.
“He was working at the dive bar where the drug ring was. He had no clue that it was front- well, actually, he made a joke about it being a front, so he might have known and just ignored it.” Tony explains.
Steve raises a brow, “Why would he ignore it and not go to the police?”
Tony shrugs, “Kid needs money. I get it.”
Surprisingly, Steve just shrugs, moving to stand next to Natasha and Bucky who are tying up a couple of the criminals.
“Was Bruce hulked out?” Clint asks.
Bruce rolls his eyes, turning away. Tony laughs, “No, in fact, when Bruce acknowledged the kid, Peter turned completely red and started fidgeting.”
Sam laughs, “What, does he really love the hulk?”
“Nope, he loves Bruce Banner. The kid started rambling about his academic journals and photoelectron collisions.” Tony points at Bruce, who blushes lightly.
“Ah, so he is a little Einstein, huh?” Clint says.
“Oh, I bet Tony loved that.” Natasha adds, looking at the man in question.
Tony rolls his eyes, smiling, “I am, slightly, more interested. The kid read those journals when he was, like, ten. What kid does that for fun?”
Bucky huffs a laugh, “Peter.”
“Well, we offered him the tower in case he needs anything, but I doubt he’ll take it.” Tony says, watching as the police pull up next to them.
Bruce tunes most of the conversation out, thinking back to the small, mousy-haired, boy in the bar. He can’t say he expected to have a fan of Bruce Banner, not the hulk, but he’s pleasantly surprised.
Bruce Banner is a problem solver. Peter Parker isn’t a problem, but the situation he’s in is.
So he’s going to solve it.