Hurt Little Bruce and Insecure Ant Dad
Scott had struggled with the idea of taking care of someone else after After the strain on his relationship with his own daughter due to his own mistakes in the past. He felt like he would never be good enough to care for anyone. While his relationship with Cassie had gotten better he still didn't feel like he could ever be a truly good dad. It wasn't like Maggie let him do much than visit his daughter. It was his own fault, it was for the best. He wasn't responsible enough. This all change when one day at the avengers' tower, he had some tech he had stolen from some criminals that he could never find the owners to in the past. Bruce had been very interested in this hidden tech and he thought why not show it the genius.
It seemed like Bruce was no where to be found. No one had seen him all day ether. Going back to his unofficial office Scott waited. After a couple minutes he started to notice a small sound of sniffling. When you spend a lot of your time as a very tiny tiny man it starts effecting you. Even when you're not as big as a ant. You start to notice things like quiet sounds. Following the sound of small whimpers he was in front of the closet. In his Bruce form he was only one inch shorter than Scott, which meant that this closet clearly wouldn't be comfortable for the genius to be hiding in. Why would he be hiding anyway... but who else could it be...
Opening the door slowly he revealed a curled up Bruce. The man was hugging his knees with one arm covering his mouth from making too much sound with the other, big fat tears rolling down his face. “Hey there lil guy” The words just slipped out as he bent down. In that moment the adult man didn't really seem like that, he looked like a scared child. The other man slowly opened his eyes still shaking like a leaf. “'ott?” He questioned softly rubbing his eye with the back of the hand that was covering his mouth. Scott tried not to stare at the drool cover hand too much. “Yea Bruce it's just Scott you're okay” The other superhero said slowly bringing his hand closer, Bruce flinched ever so slightly but leaned into the gentle petting on his cheek. “There's no need for tears little one you're okay now” The words came out so naturally it was like he was a total different person
“I scawed” Bruce whispered scooting closer to Scott until he was almost on his lap, he placed his tired head on the other man's chest. “Why are you scared little one?” His voice stayed gentle and calm in order to keep from trigger the Hulk on accident. “Daddy huwt mommy and she no get up, buh buh big boys duh cwy, emotions bad... it huwts peeple.... buh buh I can't stop... I can't stop these tears” Bruce whispered as his body shook tears soaking though Scott's shirt. “Emotions aren't bad, sweetie. Sometimes we show them in ways that hurt others. But, that's not the emotions fault.” He said bringing Bruce into a hug, he winced, but then returned the embrace. “'M ah broken monstah” The upset man sobbed wrapping his arms and legs around his new source of comfort. “No you're not you're just a hurt little boy aren't you?” The ex-criminal ran his fingers in messy black hair.
After what felt like hours but was more likely 30 minutes filled with consoling words, gentle back rubs, and some rocking, Bruce seemed to returning to his normal self. His face became bright red and he squirmed a little, but Scott didn't let go, though he didn't force Bruce to stay. “How are you feeling?” He asked softly “Better... thank you” It was clear the scientist was more than just embarrassed. “Has that happen before?” Scott questioned making sure to keep a sweet tone in order not to upset the man. With a shy nod Bruce open and shut his mouth a couple times before finally speaking. “Sometimes... sometimes it's like... like 'm that that same f-f-four year old that that would have probably died if if mommy didn't didn't come in. I I I still remember it all every time he hurt mommy and and all the meen words and him k-killing her. And and and I protected him I protected dah monster and and and” Bruce started to sob again going back into the hug.
“Hey buddy you're okay now” Scott cooed gently. Poor guy. He didn't know Bruce had such a messed up childhood. He couldn't help but see Bruce as this poor kid who needed someone, anyone to be there for him. “Maybe I can help? Maybe you need this-” “No! It's nah normal! I duh wanna be like dis” He shouted before covering his mouth and flinching back. Scott ran his hand gently against the other man's back. “It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. Who cares about normal? We're super heroes we aren't meant to be normal. Maybe we can take this and help you? Maybe if you had someone there for you, you could start to heal? Then it won't be so scary when it happens” Ant man suggested in a tone you would use for children. “W-Who wou-would wanna... wanna do dat for... for a mon-” Being sent a warning look Bruce stopped “for a guy like me” He corrected before his head was ruffled “Good boy, and I will. Whenever you feel like you're that 4 year old again. You can call me” Suddenly Scott had his phone, how did the man even get it? Being a ex criminal did give him a set of skills. Bruce curiously watched as this man he didn't know that well messed with his phone. Finally he showed Bruce “I'm your first contact, A that way if your distress all you need to do is click the very first contact” Scott explained
Over the next few days Bruce seemed to be keeping his distance from Scott, he was probably still embarrassed and adjusting to someone else knowing about his regression episodes. But, that was okay. He'll just get ready to be the best caretaker he could be when the man needed him. He decided to pick up a couple toys. Since Bruce was always smart he made sure to pick up some toys that would really interest him mentally even if they weren't purely made for 4 year olds. He saw an adorable stuffed gray aunt with small wings. It made Scott think about Ant-thony. Though he also ended up picking out a green stuffed elephant that reminded him of the Hulk, just in case Brucey didn't like the plush ant. He also picked up some crayons and coloring books sippy cups, plastic utensils and plastic plates. Scott wanted to do his best to help the poor man. He just hoped that Bruce would let him in.
2 weeks later while he was working on some projects he got a call, it was from “Brucey” as he had put Hulk's contact as. “Hello Scott talking” He quickly said picking up the phone as fast as he could. “'ott are you... are you busy?” Bruce said sounding like he was on the edge of tears. “Not at all Caterpillar. Where are you and I'll pick you up. We can go to Baskin Robbins, if you want” Hearing some sniffling on the other line there was silence before a small giggle “Uh huh dat bee nice” There was some more giggling caused by the bug pun. “I'll buzz over as fast as I can”
Bruce was being shy, he stared at the ground while they were in line and when Scott asked him what flavor he just shrugged hugging his arm. In the end he picked green tea and vanilla ice cream since he knew that Bruce normally liked. Turned out that Brucey didn't so much, so he ended up eating most of the green tea ice cream while the well behaved “toddler” happily ate the vanilla part. Once the ice cream was done, he didn't have to wipe Bruce's face like a real 4 year old because he was a neat eater. Scott excitedly took him to his car.
“I got you something” Technically he got Bruce many things “I thought you would like some toys for when you're little. Most of them are at my place right now, but I thought you might like a buddy” Scott babbled nervously before pulling out the stuffed ant, right away Bruce giggled before blushing and hiding his face in his hands. “You didn't haveta get me anything. I duh need toys” He mumbled shyly “But I wanted to, do you like him? I know not everyone likes ants so if you prefer there's an toy elephant you might like more” The new caretaker informed trying to make sure Bruce didn't feel force to like this stuffed animal. “I love it thank you!” Bruce grabbed the toy before shyly hugging his new caretaker.
It was all new to both them, but they would figure it out together.