Chapter 5
Bruce's nerves were shot. He was surprised he hadn't Hulked out yet.
He kept along the halls of the building, a com in his ear to keep in contact with the others. Normally he was meant to stay behind for a code green but this time around they wanted him along to scout the building.
Clint had helped him get in, giving him a foot up into a high window. Being the guy who could summon an indestructible monster at will if things went sideways had its perks.
The Avengers were 89% sure that this was the Merchant of Death's main hideout and not some place he was laying low and could easily escape from if they turned up. Bruce was to go inside, check out what was going on, if Tony Stark was anywhere in the building and if there were any electronic gadgets or bots. Anything that indicated that a villainous genius lived there.
"Anything, Banner?" Steve's voice spoke in his ear.
Bruce shook his head before remembering Steve couldn't see him. "Nothing yet. I'll let you know."
Steve was silent and Bruce kept sneaking along. He wasn't very good at sneaking, he realized. Twice he'd banged his foot on the edge of the wall when turning corners. This place seemed like an endless spiral of hallways.
He found some stairs that led down and walked down them, glancing around warily.
His mouth dropped open.
The room was huge. It was filled with half finished projects, piles of blueprints spread on five different workbenches, a control panel equipped with numerous buttons that did who knows what. There were shelves that reached the ceiling stocked with weapons, armor and machine contraptions Bruce didn't recognize. There were at least three welding stations set up, one section of science equipment, even a kitchen.
And robots were everywhere.
He tried to duck down but one bot had already seen him. It had a clawed hand which it...waved at him?
Bruce blinked, slowly waving back. The bot seemed to take pleasure in this, making happy beeping noises as he rolled over to him. Bruce scrambled back but the robot didn't move to hurt him, instead beeping more.
He looked around, sure now that this was Ironmans hideout. But then, where was he?
That's when he noticed the couch at the other side of the room and on it was a still figure. Bruce slowly walked over, the bots paying him no mind as he reached the man.
Tony Stark was fast asleep it seemed, eyes closed, curled in a tight ball. A blanket covered him haphazardly which Bruce guessed one of the bots put on him.
It didn't seem fair to call the Avengers when the man was asleep and couldn't even defend himself but this wasn't about right and wrong, Bruce knew. They were the good guys and Tony was the bad guy. Simple as that.
...right?
He shook his head, reaching up to touch the ear piece and let the other Avengers know Stark was here.
"Please, don't, Mr Banner."
Bruce had to muffle a shout of surprise as he whipped around, trying to locate the source of the voice that had just spoken but saw no one. "W-who-?"
"My name is Jarvis," the vaguely British voice said. "I am Tony Stark's AI."
"Artificial Intelligence?" Bruce said in amazement.
"Indeed, Mr Banner. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you not to call for the Avengers or else more extreme measures will have to be taken to ensure your silence," the AI stated.
Bruce swallowed. "E-extreme measures?"
"Yes, Mr Banner. I assure you they won't harm you but it will cut all contact you currently have with the Avengers and alert Sir to your presence," Jarvis explained simply.
"Oh," Bruce said, breathing out a sigh of relief. He did not want to get the other guy involved in this. "That's...that's good. But, why haven't you alerted, um, Stark?"
"Up until this point you have not been hostile or made any intention to harm Sir," Jarvis replied calmly.
"Why wouldn't you just wake him up?" Bruce said, looking over Tony's sleeping form.
There was a hesitant pause. "Sir has not been sleeping well. I thought he could use the rest."
Bruce bit his lip, knowing exactly what the AI meant. Even asleep, Tony looked exhausted. There were dark circles under the genius' eyes, likely from many sleepless nights.
"Why hasn't he been sleeping?" Bruce asked, knowing full well that the AI had no reason to tell him anything. But curiosity got the better of him.
There was an even longer pause this time around before Jarvis spoke again, more hesitantly. "Sir has trouble sleeping even on good nights. His mind keeps him up at night, always thinking of new inventions and projects. But lately he's been more distracted and pressured."
"Pressured?" Bruce questioned.
"That information is classified," Jarvis said firmly.
"Okay," Bruce breathed. "So, someone is threatening him. Got it."
Jarvis was silent.
Bruce sighed, chewing at his lip as he tried to decide what to do. He could tell the Avengers but Jarvis would cut his contact with them if he tried or he could leave and say he saw nothing.
But it wasn't like Tony was really doing anything bad. He was only sleeping. And by the looks of him, he definitely needed it.
The robot before came over, beeping curiously as it whirled its claw at Bruce as if trying to figure out why he was still there.
Bruce was trying to figure that out himself.
Unfortunately, the beeping noise woke Tony who mumbled and blinked his eyes open. Bruce grimaced as those golden brown eyes found his and went wide. Tony yelped as if he had been struck by a pin and sat up, almost toppling off the couch when he did if Bruce hadn't steadied him with his hands on the geniuses chest, just below the arc reactor.
Bruce flinched when he felt the outline of Tony's ribs beneath his shirt. Didn't Tony eat?
Bruce's guess was no.
"You okay?" Bruce asked before thinking how dumb a question that probably was.
Tony blinked at him, uncomprehendingly. "I'm sorry, what?"
Bruce huffed out a breath. "Just...you had a bit of a fright there."
"Yeah, well," Tony moved away from Bruce's gentle hold, crossing his arms protectively over his chest. "Not everyday I wake up with a dude standing over me."
Bruce opened his mouth before closing it. He wasn't sure how to respond to that.
Tony quirked a smile at Bruce's look. "It's fine. I'll be honest, it's not even the first time. Nor probably even the last."
Bruce shook his head, trying to clear it and failing spectacularly. "I just...I didn't mean to...wake you or anything-"
"I figured," Tony said with a shrug. "Harder to arrest a guy when he's conscious and able to fight back."
"No, I didn't...I wasn't-" Bruce stuttered, making a fool of himself.
"I'm glad it's you though," Tony continued as if he didn't hear him.
"You...you are?" Bruce said, confused. Most would run screaming in the other direction if they heard Bruce Banner was coming to see them. No one wanted to accidentally make him angry.
"Absolutely. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled," Tony stated cheerfully. Bruce was surprised a villain even knew that about him. "And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
Bruce had nearly no words for that. "T-thanks?"
Tony grinned easily. "So, you gonna call your friends?"
"I—" Bruce swallowed. "You're AI said I wouldn't be able to. He said he'd cut communication with them if I tried."
"He...oh," Tony frowned slightly. "Jarvis, why'd you say that?"
"You needed the rest, Sir," Jarvis replied curtly.
Tony pulled a face. Bruce found it kind of adorable. "Yeah, well, I'm fine. Got plenty of sleep just then so—"
"You don't look it," Bruce said, wishing his mouth would shut up. "You look exhausted."
"And that's your concern why?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow challengingly.
"Because it's not a fair fight if the Avengers come in and try to take you under arrest," Bruce said after a moment. "You look like your minutes away from dropping off again."
Tony huffed, clearing disagreeing but didn't say so. "Why would you care what a fair fight is? Half the time they don't even let you fight because of the Hulk."
"Because the Hulk is a lot more dangerous than most of them. He gets out of control," Bruce said defensively. "It's safer I don't fight."
"And yet, you're the one who was sent in here," Tony said cockily.
"Do you even understand how we see you?" Bruce asked, gesturing around the workshop. "All this? This is what we're afraid of. You're a literal genius who uses that genius for bad. You could cause so much damage if you wanted to but you don't. That's the only reason we haven't tried harder to put you behind bars."
"What has that got to do with anything?" Tony asked warily.
"They see you as more of a threat than the Hulk and that's saying something," Bruce admitted.
"I don't need an ego boost," Tony mumbled though he didn't look smug in the least. He looked almost...sad. "Look, you should just leave. I've got bigger problems at the moment and it would be easier if for all of you if just left without the Avengers getting involved."
"Bigger problems. And by that you mean the person threatening you," Bruce said, noticing Tony's flinch. "Which means there's a bigger threat than you."
"There isn't any bigger threat," Tony growled. "No one is threatening me. Now get lost."
Bruce didn't move. "Why don't you make me?"
Tony stared at him before smiling cooly. "You don't want me to, trust me."
"And you don't want to make me angry," Bruce said simply. "Tell what the bigger threat is. The Avengers could help."
"It doesn't matter who it is or what it is," Tony grumbled though he refused to look at Bruce. "I'll deal with it myself. I don't need anyone. Especially not a bunch of heroes."
Bruce let out a slow breath. "Fine," he said eventually before searching his pockets and pulling out a card and held it out. "This is my card. It has my number on it. If you want to call, for anything, then you can."
Tony raised an eyebrow as he took the card. "You do know I already know your number, right? I'm a master hacker."
Bruce smiled. "Just being safe. Get some sleep, Tony."
"I don't need sleep!" Tony protested as Bruce turned and walked away. Bruce only chuckled, counting on the AI to get Tony to sleep.
Tony didn't stop Bruce from leaving, knowing he wouldn't say a word to the Avengers. He looked down at the card in his hand and bit his lip.