In Sickness and in Health
Avengers Tony x Bruce
Rated M for lime and angst
Bruce and Tony were alone in the tower and taking full advantage of it., since the other Avengers were not expected to be back for a few more hours. They took the opportunity to try a few more places where they usually would have gotten caught despite the hundred plus floors available to the less than fifteen people that frequented the tower. Currently Tony had Bruce pinned to the couch in the main living room. They were engaged in a heated make out session as Tony palmed the other through his pants. Bruce was moaning into the kiss, grinding his hips up into the touch. Tony pulled away and moved down to Bruce's neck so he could hear Bruce moan without being muffled. And moan he did, Bruce was fairly vocal while he had to work to get a sound out of Tony. Bruce could already tell what Tony's plan was and he really didn't care despite how degrading it is to cum in his pants without any direct contact. He was just starting to feel his release approaching when Tony bit a little too hard on his neck. He gasped and pushed him away. He touched the wound and his fingers came away with a little blood. His eyes widened.
"JARVIS, call for an ambulance now" Bruce ordered hurriedly. He quickly got away from Tony knowing that any more contact with his blood would only make it worse. "Go wash out your mouth, hurry" Tony was confused at first until he noticed the blood. He then realized how serious it was. He rushed to the bathroom and cleaned out his mouth as best as he could. Bruce sealed his wound with the super glue he always carried with him and washed his hands in a separate bathroom before rushing to see Tony.
He was deteriorating quickly with the high dose of radiation. Bruce was panicking with tears in his eyes thinking that he could possibly lose the one person he really loves. He was too panicked to remember any of the treatments and he was too afraid to leave Tony's side to go to the lab to get anything to used to help him. By the time the paramedics arrived Tony was vomiting, the liquid in the toilet tinged red by blood. Bruce explained to them that they were dealing with acute gamma radiation poisoning. They took him in the ambulance and Bruce came along instructing them on how to treat him. He had calmed down enough to remember how to take care of him. tony had lost consciousness by the time they arrived at the hospital. Bruce was forced to stay in the waiting room despite his knowledge of the radiation. The doctors knew he was too emotionally attached to Tony to make logical decisions. Instead he called the rest of the Avengers to inform them of what happened. They were all at the hospital with him by the end of the hour. Bruce was crying, rambling about how he messed up and how Tony could die because of this. Natasha was showing her soft side and comforting him while Clint and Thor were trying to lighten the mood by making jokes about Tony and Bruce's relationship and what lead up to the accident, out of earshot of course; which basically meant the opposite side of the building since Thor's booming voice could be heard loud and clear through halls. Steve busied himself with annoying the nurses and doctors by asking for updates on Tony's condition every five minutes. It was a few more hours until they deemed that Tony was stable enough to have visitors. Bruce was the first to go in. He sat down in the chair next to the bed and it was only worse to see him unconscious, hooked up to breathing and feeding tubes, multiple IVs and a heart monitor. He looked lifeless and he couldn't help but beat himself up mentally for putting him in this situation. The rest of the team stood in the hall watching through the doorway but keeping their distance. Bruce held onto Tony's hand and gently kissed the back of it, avoiding the IV port, and held onto it tightly. For the next few days Bruce stayed by his side as much as possible while the others came and went. Tony was in a medically induced coma to help his body recover. Bruce couldn't see the change in his condition while all of the Avengers and the doctors insisted he was getting better. All he saw were the scares, the times when he thought he might lose the love of his life. Tony's heart had stopped twice despite the arc reactor's protection. In these times the metal port holding the glowing power source only got in the way, keeping the doctors from effectively doing CPR and causing burns in the flesh surrounding it when they used the defibrillator. He had a mild seizure that morning and it just terrified Bruce. He hadn't slept at all in those days, he was functioning on caffeine, even though he usually avoided it because it raised his heart rate. Another week passed and they finally allowed Tony to wake up. Bruce cried both tears of joy and sorrow when he saw Tony open his eyes. He was happy that he was alive but now that he was conscious he could see how much pain and discomfort he was in. It broke his heart, shattered it to know it was because of him. Tony still couldn't speak but at least now Bruce could talk to him. Tony would lightly squeeze his hand to reply. Tony stayed in the hospital for the next few weeks. He had sustained substantial damage to many vital organs and some minor temporary damage to his brain. The doctors insisted he would make a complete recovery although Bruce noticed the slur in his speech once the breathing tube was removed. He noticed the signs of mental damage which was sure to last a lifetime despite the doctor's prediction. Bruce had decided that he would wait until Tony made a full recovery then he would leave, disappear like he always did in order to protect him from anything like this from happening again. Tony as well as the other Avengers anticipated this and together would prevent Bruce from running away no matter what it took. By a month after the incident Tony was nearly back to normal, he had to go to a speech therapist to help him speak correctly again and some physical therapy to help him regain the muscle he lost. Bruce stuck around reluctantly but kept his distance from Tony. Tony hated what happened, not because of the physical or mental damage to himself but because he had lost Bruce because of his mistake. The rest of the team saw how miserable Tony was without Bruce. Surprisingly it was Clint that got Bruce to change his mind. His balance between humor and insight is what lured Bruce into the mental trap, forcing him to forgive himself for what happened. Then Tony's perfect timing to seal it with a kiss. Everything was going to be okay promised everyone, like they did from the start but now Bruce believed it, on one condition, no more love bites or bites of any kind between them.
