"Iridium, what did they need iridium for?" Bruce asks, looking around the room. He was still nervous about being here. At any moment he could destroy everyone and everything here. He really hoped Fury wasn't lying about why he was there, but he wasn't stupid. He knew he was a threat, and a good spy would take any opportunity to get information on a threat.
"It's a stabilizing agent." The answer comes from behind him. He turns and sees none other than Tony Stark talking quietly with an agent. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD." He walks to Thor and pats him on the shoulder. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." He continues talking, walking towards the crew, not acknowledging the others. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants." He looks to the crew, "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." He covers an eye and looks around "How does Fury do this?"
"He turns," Agent Hill replies, seemingly already tired of Stark. Bruce can't help but be interested in the man. He watches how he moves, how he presents himself. He can't imagine being that confident. Or beautiful. Bruce had always admired Stark. How could he not? The man was a genius, charming, and drop dead gorgeous, and Bruce was a simple man. Stark's voice projecting to address them all grabbed his attention. "Am I the only one who did the reading?"
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Rogers asks.
"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Columb barrier," Bruce says. He makes brief eye contact with Stark as they go back and forth. He enjoyed getting to talk to, and hopefully work with, someone as smart as himself. Bruce had been working alone for so long, he forgot what it was like to bounce ideas off someone else.
"Finally, someone who speaks English." Stark walks over to shake his hand. "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
"Thanks," Bruce responds awkwardly. He's a little surprised that Stark complimented him before Hulk. He fights off a blush.
That night in the lab, the two work together seamlessly. They're practically finishing each other's sentences, knowing what the other is thinking. Bruce can't help but feel a little sad that this will eventually end, and it seems as though Stark agrees, "You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it. It's Candyland." He offers.
"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke...Harlem." Bruce tried to focus on his work and not Stark walking closer to him, but the man is captivating. He's so close, right behind him.
"Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises." Stark pokes him.
"Ow!"
"Nothing?" Stark makes intense eye contact, clearly looking for green in his eyes. Rogers yells at Stark. The two seem to know exactly how to push each other's buttons. He gets a little jealous, seeing Rogers get such an intense reaction out of Stark, and quickly forces the feeling away.
"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Bruce held back an eyeroll. He understands why people are hesitant around him, but just once he wishes someone would trust him.
"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut," Stark says. Bruce can't help a small smile. Maybe he's finally met someone who isn't afraid of setting off The Other Guy. He does his best to ignore Stark and Rogers as they continue to fight, though he's unsuccessful. An argument breaks out amongst the group, then all hell breaks loose.
The next thing Bruce knows, he's in a hole in the ground and a security guard is throwing clothes at him. He gets dressed and makes the worst, or maybe best, decision of his life. He goes straight to the fight. Cap tells him to get angry, which he does with ease. Hours, or maybe minutes, later he's back at the Tower in Stark's torn apart living room. "Mind catching me up? The big guy keeps all his memories locked up."
"We kicked some alien ass, I flew into a wormhole to get rid of a nuke, you caught me in mind air, and then screamed at me to wake me up. You saved my life, Banner," Stark told him.
"Call me Bruce. Banner is so formal. I didn't save your life, Hulk did."
"Well, Bruce, how different are the two of you really? Like there's no connection? Is it like a split personality type deal?"
"Do you ever stop thinking, Stark?"
"Nope, and it's Tony. You're dodging the questions."
"I don't know the answers. I've never really tried to figure it out. I prefer that we just exist separately."
"Well, the only way you're ever going to gain total control is if you embrace the fact that you're not separate. He's part of you," Tony shrugs. Bruce finds himself considering Tony's words. He knows it won't fix anything overnight, but maybe he can try reaching out to Hulk? Maybe there is some sort of connection.
Bruce takes Tony up on the offer to go back to Stark Tower. On the ride, they discuss Tony's plans to rebuild it, and turn it into an Avengers safe haven. Bruce feels a surge of awe, this man had just met all of them and he's planning on housing them. When they arrive at the Tower, Bruce awkwardly follows Tony onto the highest level that isn't destroyed. Tony tells him it used to be a guest suite, but he's using it as his home while he rebuilds. He takes the time to look around and take in the decor. He's pretty sure a professional decorated, it doesn't seem Tony's style. His train of thought is interrupted by the sound of running. He immediately tenses and looks at Tony.
"Daddy!" A little voice yells. Bruce looks down the hall and sees a boy, no more than 4, running down the hall. Tony crouches just in time to catch the boy in his arms.
"Well, hello there, squirt. Are you running away from your Aunt?" Tony asks, picking the boy up and settling him on his hip.
"No," The boy giggles.
"I think you are." Tony tickles the boy, then turns to Bruce. "Bruce, this is my son, Peter. Pete, this is my friend Bruce. He's going to stay with us for a while."
"Hi, Peter." Bruce waved at the boy, getting a wave in return. "How have you managed to hide him form the entire world?"
"Persistence and Pepper," Tony bounced the boy on his hip. "Listen, Pete, I'm going to help Brucey here get settled and then how about me and you start on making dinner. I'm thinking spaghetti."
"Pizza!"
"Pizza? You want to make pizza?" Tony asked, as if it was the most outlandish suggestion he had ever heard. Peter nodded so hard Bruce thought his head was going to fall off. "Alright, little man. Pizza it is. Go play with your Aunt May a little bit longer and I'll come get you." Tony put the boy down and he ran off back where he had come from. He turned to Bruce, a desperate look in his eyes. "Please don't tell anyone about him. Not Cap, not Clint, especially not Fury. No one can know about him."
"Of course, Tony." Bruce held his gaze, hoping his face portrayed the sincerity behind his words. He wouldn't tell a soul about Peter. Hell, he'd keep the boy from Hulk if he could. He was curious to see what kind of father Tony was. Was he like their fathers, whom they had discussed briefly on the drive? Or was he kind and caring? Did he want Peter to follow in his footsteps and take over the business, or would he be happy to let his son make his own path? Bruce found himself imagining scenarios of Tony and Peter. In every single one, Tony was a wonderful father.
"Okay, so, you can stay in this room right here." Tony led him a little further down the hall and opened a door. "Unfortunately, this floor only has two rooms, but we'll manage. Pete and I are going to bunk together. You've got your own bathroom in there. Feel free to settle in and get comfy. When you're ready, come make pizza with us. You'll have a blast." With that, Tony walked away.
Bruce sat on the bed and put his head in his hands. Why he had agreed to stay with Tony, he didn't know. Yes, he did. He was just afraid to admit it. He had a teeny tiny itsy-bitsy crush. Miniscule, really. No bigger than the atoms he studied. But that one tiny little piece of him that was totally infatuated with Stark? It seemed to be winning. Bruce had never really thought much about children, especially after his accident, and he had never considered that he would find good parenting attractive. Now, though, he was a little scared to go cook with Tony and his son. He had to keep his distance if he didn't want this crush to grow. His mind was made up, he was going to wait for them to be done and then he would go have dinner by himself. Good job, Bruce. You're a genius.
"Mister Bruce are you gonna come cook with us?" He looked up to see Peter in his doorway. The kid's head was tilted slightly to the side, his big doe eyes pleading. "Daddy said you were." Well, fuck.
"Sure thing, Peter." Bruce stood up and the little boy smiled and clapped. He ran inside the room and grabbed Bruce's hand, pulling him along. He followed the boy down the hall to where Tony was in the kitchen, pulling out ingredients.
"Daddy! I got Mister Bruce!" Tony looked up and sighed.
"Buddy, I know you're excited to make a new friend, but you can't just drag people out of their rooms." He turned to Bruce, "Sorry about him. He doesn't get to meet new people very often."
"It's not big deal. He's a cute kid. I see he got your charm." Bruce caught what he said after it was already too late. He dropped his head to hide his blush, but he could swear he saw Tony's cheeks redden a little bit out of the corner of his eye.
"Peter Pan, come wash your hands before we start. You too, big man. I know you biology nerds like to get your hands dirty." He gestured to the sink with his head. Bruce watched as Peter got on his step stool to wash his hands, and followed when he was done.
"I'm pretty sure it's the engineers that really get dirty, but I could be wrong."
"I'll show you dirty, Banner." Tony threw a wink his way and Bruce froze. He had managed to forget that he was talking to The Tony Stark. Certified flirt. This crush isn't going to go away.
The night ended with pizza toppings everywhere, including sauce in Peter's hair, lots of giggles, and a pretty damn good pizza. The three of them sat together on the couch and watched Harry Potter while eating. Bruce had never really had a family, and he couldn't help but wonder if this is what it would feel like to have one. Bruce cleaned the kitchen while Tony bathed Peter. When it was time for Peter to go to bed, he ran up to Bruce and hugged him. "Good night, Mister Bruce. Will you still be here tomorrow?"
"I'll be here as long as you want me to, buddy." Bruce crouched and hugged the boy back. Peter cheered and ran back down the hall to his and Tony's room. He sat in the living room and scrolled through Netlix, waiting for something to catch his eye. He didn't notice Tony sit down next to him.
"The kid loves you. I don't know what it is about you, but he is so excited you're here and he's really excited that you're a scientist. He wants to work in the lab with us tomorrow. Don't worry, he won't get in your way. He has his own little desk."
"He has a desk in your lab?"
"Of course, he does. I can't let him work at my desk, there's too many things that can hurt him. J.A.R.V.I.S. lets me know if Pete leaves his area. It's perfectly safe," Tony said, slightly defensive.
"I didn't doubt it was. I just think it's kind of cute you let your son have his own desk in your lab." Bruce handed a stunned Tony the remote and stood up. "I think I'm going to try to sleep. See you in the morning." He walked away, leaving Tony behind to consider his words. He hoped he got the hint, two can play at the flirting game.
Bruce was in the lab, neck deep in research on the vibranium keeping Tony alive. He was still shocked to learn the man had discovered and then made a new element. He heard the lab doors open and looked up to see Tony and Peter walking in. Peter immediately ran over to look at what Bruce was doing. He wasted no time picking the boy up so he could see the screens better. Bruce had been in the middle of comparing vibranium to the adamantium that coated Wolverine's skeleton. Tony set a plate down on a clear area of the desk. "We brought you lunch. Figured you could use it since we hadn't seen you since lunch yesterday."
"Thank you," Bruce glanced at the sandwiches and suddenly realized how hungry he was. He stood Peter carefully on the chair and picked up the plate.
"Watcha working on?" Tony asked, walking around the desk to stand behind Peter.
"Have you ever heard of adamantium?" He watched Tony shake his head. "It's a steel alloy a man named William Stryker developed. It's virtually indestructible. It isn't as durable as vibranium, but it's denser. I'm wondering if you could combine the two to make your suits even stronger, but then you'd risk making them heavier with the adamantium. I want to do more tests to see what the weaknesses of each are. I'm hoping I can get ahold of Cap's shield to do some tests on it with the adamantium." He polished off both sandwiches quickly and accepted the cup of coffee Tony held out to him.
"You want to help me make my suits better?"
"Tony, you almost died in New York. Your suits are fantastic, but they can't withstand everything. And besides, if we can use it for you, we can probably use it for the others. And it's all just a theory anyway, I don't know if it will actually work."
"No one has ever taken an interest in helping with my suits. Pepper thought they were a waste of time and effort."
"Pepper is a businesswoman, not a scientist. I can see how, from her point of view, you could be doing bigger and better things. From my point of view, though, if we can make this work for the Avengers, we can use it in other things for SI. Prosthetics and mobility aids that will last longer and won't get destroyed by air lines, phones that superhumans can use without breaking."
"You're a dream come true, Brucey." Tony flashed him his award-winning smile, and looked more into the work Bruce was doing. Bruce joined him, on the other side of Peter. "The big concern is, would the adamantium make the vibranium weaker?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I want to do some tests. Do you think we could build another particle accelerator? I want to get my hands on some vibranium and I doubt Cap is going to let me potentially ruin his shield."
"I own that shield. It was my dad's property. Technically."
"And would you let me potentially ruin it?"
"Good point. Pete, we're building a particle accelerator."
"Yay!" Peter cheered. "What is that?"
"A big project that you will have very little to do with because it's dangerous. You're going to hang out with May and Ben a lot over the next few days, bud."
Bruce collapsed onto the couch next to Tony. They'd been working nonstop on the particle accelerator for days. How Tony did it by himself the first time, he will never understand. Tony's head fell onto his shoulder. "Brucey Bear, I'm exhausted."
"Take a nap." Bruce relaxed against the couch and slipped an arm around Tony. He wasn't sure when this had started, the casual touching. It had been just little things at first. Their hands brushing against each other, Tony putting his hand on Bruce's shoulder when they were looking over things together, and from there it accelerated. A hand on Bruce's waist when Tony reached past him for the coffee in the morning, leaning against each other while waiting for test results, sitting close together during movies turned into holding hands under the blanket.
"You're warm. Are you always this warm?"
"My body is teeming with gamma radiation. I tend to run a little hot."
"Hot indeed," Tony mumbled. He scooted closer and fell asleep. Bruce followed soon after.
He woke up sometime later to a small body on top of him. "Bruce, wake up." He blinked himself awake and looked at Peter, noticing Tony was no longer by his side. "Daddy told me to tell you it's time for dinner."
"Well thank you kind sir." He scooped Peter up and stood up in one swift motion. "Let's go see what your dad made today."
"Grilled cheese!"
"Grilled cheese? That's someone's favorite, isn't it?"
"Yup! Do you know whose favorite?"
"Pepper?"
"No."
"Happy?"
"Nope."
"Dum-E?"
"No, silly. Dum-E is a robot."
"I give up. Tell me."
"It's mine."
"Oh, it's your favorite how could I ever forget!" Bruce faked a sigh as they walked into the dining room. "I'm sorry, Peter, the lack of hugs I've gotten today has affected my memory."
"You need a hug?"
"A big hug." He chuckled when Peter threw himself against him, wrapping his little arms around his neck. Bruce hugged him back. "Oh thank you. I can feel my memory coming back."
"Daddy! Daddy! I saved Bruce's memory!" He wiggled his way out of Bruce's grasp and ran over to his father.
"You did? Good job, buddy." Tony gave the boy a high-five. "Go sit and we'll eat." Tony shot Bruce a fond look. Those looks had been as common as the touching. Bruce tried not to think about it too much. He didn't want to get his hopes up. His tiny crush had grown into a huge one. He thought about Tony constantly and always wanted to be around him. It was already bad enough; he couldn't risk making it worse by making himself think Tony felt the same.
Bruce woke up to someone opening his door. The clock next to his bed said it was 2 a.m., so it shouldn't be Peter. He tensed, ready to let Hulk take over if he sensed a threat, but relaxed when he saw the light from Tony's arc reactor. "Tony, what's going on? J.A.R.V.I.S. lights to 50% please." When the lights came up, he jumped out of bed and raced towards Tony. The man was hyperventilating and clutching his chest. "Tony, breathe."
"Can't," Tony gasped. Bruce led him into the room and sat him on the bed. He took one of Tony's hands and pressed it against his ribs, breathing deeply.
"Just follow the rhythm of my breathing." They sat like that for a moment, Tony struggling to breathe. "You're safe, Tony. You're in the tower. Just me and Pete here. Breathe, hun." Bruce set his free hand on the side of Tony's face, wiping away a tear. He continued telling Tony where he was and that he was safe until the man calmed down. He let him sit in silence and just breathe for a moment. "You wanna talk about it?"
"New York kinda fucked me up. Getting thrown form my tower. The worm hole. The almost dying. Sometimes it all comes back to me. Usually I can calm myself, or J.A.R.V.I.S. helps, but today felt different. I figured, you saved me then, maybe you could save me now." Tony finally looked up at Bruce, making eye contact.
"I'll always save you, Tony." He pulled the man into a hug. "Always." Tony hugged him back.
"I'm sorry for waking you."
"None of that. You can come to me anytime you feel like that." He paused. "Why don't you try to get some sleep. You can stay in here if you want, that way I'm close if something happens. I can sleep in the chair-"
"I'm not kicking you out of your own bed Bruce."
"Technically it's your bed. I'm just borrowing it."
"Semantics. Anyway, we're adults. We can share a bed. If you're comfortable with it, of course. I just think I might sleep better. If not, though, that's totally cool. I can go back to my room; we can pretend this never happened."
"Tony, it's fine. Let's go to sleep." Bruce climbed into bed and patted the spot next to him. Tony laid down awkwardly. They laid in stiff silence for a minute.
"Fuck it," Tony whispered. Suddenly he was laying half on Bruce, his head on his chest. Bruce let himself smile and wrapped his arms around Tony and held him close. "G'night, Bruce."
"Goodnight, Tony."
"What are we?" Bruce startled at Tony's voice. He looked over at where the man was working on a new trick arrow for Clint.
"I'm sorry?"
"Us. What are we? Cause at this point I don't think we can just call it friends. I sleep in your bed more than my own, we cuddle and hold hands, we have all kinds of physical and verbal affection. Bruce, yesterday I told you that I love you-"
"You were half asleep, and I brought you espresso. I think you would have told Loki you loved him."
"Not the point." He stopped working and finally looked up at Bruce. "Point is, we're definitely more than friends. So, what are we?"
"I don't know. I don't really have experience with this sort of thing. What do you want us to be?"
"Well, I don't like 'boyfriends'. That sounds a little childish and we're middle aged."
"30 is not middle aged but continue." Bruce rolled his eyes fondly.
"You don't know what the middle of our lives is going to be, Brucey Bear."
"You're avoiding the question, Tony."
"Nothing gets by you." He sighed and was a silent for a moment. "What about partners? Lovers? Besties for the resties?"
"I think Rhodey would kill me if I tried to be your bestie. I like partners. Lovers implies that we love each other." He paused. "Do you love me, Tony?"
"Honestly? Yeah. I do. Bruce, the last four months you have put up with the best and worst of me, and we were practically strangers. Of course, I'm a tiny bit in love with you."
"Good. 'Cause I've been a tiny bit in love with you for a while now. Now get over here and kiss me."
"Yes, sir." Tony practically ran to Bruce. He hesitated when he got there, and Bruce took the lead. He bent down slightly and captured Tony's mouth with his own. Maybe rejoining the fight in New York was a good choice, but kissing Tony? That was the best choice Bruce had ever made.