A/N: Wow... just wow. I really can't believe how well received 'Covered' was...Like seriously thank you all so much. I know it was originally meant to be a one shot but my plot bunny, who is an annoying little bastard, decided he wanted a companion piece to show the reciprocal feelings. So yeah... enjoy.
Disclaimer: They are not mine... but oh the fun if they were.
Warnings: Some violence, Tony's potty mouth. A teeny bit of OOC insanity...
Mutual:
Tony Stark had never considered himself to be a realist.
In fact as he was often told by Pepper, Bruce and just about anyone he came into contact with he was about as far from a realist as it was possible to be. He was constantly stuck or rather pretended to be stuck in his own little world of being Tony Stark that rather conveniently revolved around him but to those who knew him well enough knew otherwise. He was filled to the brim with sarcasm, charm and bravado that the world in general took at face value and Tony let them, if they couldn't be bothered to look beneath the facade then they weren't worth his time. Obviously there were a few people who had seen beneath the exterior but they kept the information of what Tony Stark was really like close to their breast and the billionaire appreciated that more than he would ever tell them.
Because certain pre-tenses had to be upheld even when it involved the love of your life/ science-bro/ team-mates.
Couldn't have them getting complacent now could he?
When Fury called an emergency meeting to debrief them for a mission and he swanned in twenty minutes late with a slight odour of stale alcohol no one batted an eye already used to his flamboyant act, they merely nodded and in a few cases smiled at the billionaire just happy that he'd shown up at all.
The meeting had been dull and tedious and in retrospect Tony really should have paid more attention to what was being said, it probably would have saved him a lot of hassle in the long run but when you've had little to no sleep and Fury's voice was nothing but a monotonous drone it was hard to focus on anything. So there was nothing he could do about that particular point at the present time he was just going to have to grin and bear it... and complain like only Tony Stark could.
"Really was it necessary for us to go out into the middle of fuck-know's-where?"
The entire team rolled their eyes apparently waiting for the outburst; Steve took control of the situation and narrowed his eyes clearly not in the mood for the other mans antics.
"If you'd been paying attention in the brief Stark rather than playing with that god awful contraption you call a cell-phone you'd know exactly why we're needed out here. So quit the whining, it's not good for morale."
Tony pouted and crossed his arms across his chest, quickly slipping back into his defence mechanism.
"Bruuuuce, Steve's being mean to me."
The physicist coughed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Tony, Steve does have a point. We thought you were okay with this, you didn't put up any complaints in the meeting."
Damn Bruce and his damned logic.
"Of course I'm okay with this, who wouldn't be okay with going back to a country that nearly killed me last time."
His tone was light and joking and his grin was easy going but the mirth didn't quite reach his eyes, something only Bruce noticed and it caused him to frown. He gave his friend a long hard stare trying to fathom out what was going through the infamous Stark brain but Bruce was drawing a big fat blank, which was rather surprisingly an unusual occurrence. He could usually read Tony pretty well but at the moment he was gleaming nothing from the billionaire and it was worrying.
"Tony?"
"I'm fine Bruce; really, I'm just still half asleep."
The physicist didn't believe him for a second but he didn't have a chance to argue as Barton chose that moment to announce that they had arrived at the rendezvous and that it was time to suit up, Bruce mentally cursed hoping that this wasn't an omen of things to come.
-Iamalinebreak-
Things had gone to hell very quickly, as they were coming in to land the quinjet a barrage of StarlTech missiles had assaulted them and if it hadn't been for Barton's quick manoeuvring they would have been checking out a lot faster than any of them intended. Tony had launched himself from the back of the jet in an uncharacteristic fit of anger, blinded by his guilt and utterly ready to kick some ass.
How dare these scum bags use his weapons.
He flew about drawing the fire away from the landing jet and rather efficiently (And somewhat vindictively) destroying any that crossed his path or even remotely made it into his line of sight. His vision was a red haze of fury and fear and all he could focus on was destroy, destroy, destroy the purpose was driving him, making him forget about everything and everyone. He could definitely see why the Hulk favoured this state of mind, it was liberating to not care and just smash stuff up.
"...ark.."
"...Stark..."
"STARK!"
The screeching in his ear finally drew Tony's attention away from the destruction and he suddenly remembered where he was and who he was with. Growling he replied.
"Heidi-ho there Capsicle, what can I do you for?"
Steve's voice blared around the inside of the Iron Man helmet.
"Are you insane Stark? Stand Down! There are civilians down there!"
Well didn't that just fucking rain on his parade? He knew he should care but he really didn't, this place was bringing out the worst in him and it was taking all the restraint he had not to just go batshit on the entire area as he seriously doubted that there were any true civilians down in the small mountain village.
"Do you hear me Stark! Stand down."
A voice in the back of Tony's head (That sounded suspiciously like Pepper) was telling him that Steve was right and this was just a factor of his PTSD rearing its ugly head and that if he didn't stop now he'd regret it later but the dark, angry haze clouding his mind was making it very hard to think straight. He needed to stop and take stock before he continued and that was exactly what he did, he stopped midair in attempt to clear his head.
This turned out to be costly.
He thought he'd hit all the anti-aircraft guns but apparently he'd been wrong because the second he stopped moving a round hit him square in the chest sending him careening into one of the many mountain gorges. He fell hard and fast crashing through the rock and into what appeared to be a burned out husk of a room, the shouts and screams of his team echoing through his ears. It took a few minutes for most of the suits systems to come back online but even with them restored Tony found he couldn't move, he was pinned beneath a giant boulder that wasn't looking like it was going to move anytime soon with or without the suits help. Sighing he decided to scope out his surroundings.
"JARVIS floodlights if you please."
The room was immediately illuminated in bright white light and Tony felt his breath catch in his throat and his head spin unpleasantly as he took in his surroundings.
No... No way...
The billionaire just stared in shock, of all the places in this godforsaken country for him to land he would have to land here.
The burnt out shell of the workshop he'd been incarcerated in was spread before him like some foul dream the stench of death and decay permeating the air. Slowly and entirely against his will Tony could feel the panic starting to rise through his body, he needed to get out of here right this fucking second. In a vain hope the billionaire tried the coms, shutting off the bright lights.
"This is Stark here, I need some help."
It was a testament to just how desperate he was to escape that he flat out asked for help instead of inserting a quick sarcastic quip. But it was to no avail Tony got nothing but static in return, he was alone..
Or so he thought.
From somewhere beyond the ruins of the door Tony could hear voices and they weren't the happy go lucky kind he'd been hoping to hear. No, they were more like the 'Lets kill the bastards gate crashing our party slowly and painfully.' Tony tried the coms again even though he knew it was a futile endeavour and tried to keep his breathing even. The panic that had started to rise now felt like a tsunami inside him, ready to overwhelm and consume his very being. He hated feeling so fucking weak but this place pushed all of his freak out buttons and it didn't help that the voices were getting closer.
Finally a group of men emerged through the ruined doorway all dressed in linen robes and sporting automatic weapons that Tony recognised as his own design. He felt sick to his stomach watching them parade around with something he had created and loathed himself for living behind the rose tinted glasses for far too long, no matter how hard he tried destruction and death would always be his legacy. The men moved hesitantly into the room guns at the ready and the tallest of the mob uttered something in a language Tony didn't understand, the others nodded and fanned out around the room.
"JARVIS how much power does the suit currently have?"
"Currently running on twelve percent Sir. The crash damaged the Arc reactor and a vast majority of the internal circuitry."
Well wasn't that peachy.
"Do I have enough for the repulsors to work?"
The AI seemed to pause for a second.
"Yes Sir but it isn't advised, the repulsors were damaged and will likely backfire if used."
Fuck even better, he was defenceless and any moment now one of the goons was going to notice him...
"Yahām̐ para!*"
And now he was in a whole heap of steaming shit.
The goons quickly came to the source of the shouting and the man frantically pointed in Tony's direction. The tall man that had given out the orders smiled grimly and walked toward him, gun cocked on his hip. The finally came face to visor and the white clad man pointed the gun at the sputtering Arc reactor.
"Mr. Stark, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
The accent was thick but the English was perfectly spoken, Tony raised an eyebrow even though the other man couldn't see it.
"I can assure you the feeling isn't mutual."
The man laughed loudly.
"Ah, the famous Stark wit, the tales of it are legendary along with your penchant for destruction and love of death."
Stark winced at the somewhat unfair assessment but knew he would not readily change the man's mind, he was well aware that his former reputation was still very well known among the people of these lands.
"No comeback? Pity I was hoping for more but now Mr. Stark I am going to kill you and then your fellow 'Avengers'."
Like the time he flew into the portal with a nuke strapped to his back his life flashed before his eyes and Tony found it somewhat ironic that it wasn't going to be at the hands of a crazed alien but his own creation that he would find his demise. He heard the safety on the gun click and stared down the barrel of the assault rifle which was still pointed squarely at his chest plate, at such close range it was very likely that the armour piercing bullet he suspected to be inside would rip through the suit. He closed his eyes fully prepared to accept his fate, knowing that no one was coming to catch him this time, he was alone.
A roar of fury pierced the air and the room suddenly became dark as the hole Tony had made when he'd fell through the ceiling was covered up for the briefest of moments before the whole thing caved in revealing a very large, very very angry Hulk.
Stark had never been so happy to see his friend in all his life and he swore if they made it out of this in one piece (and the odds were improving every second according to JARVIS) he was going to have Banner become his Vice-CEO at Stark Industries or something, he seriously owed him for this one. The green behemoth roared causing the whole room to shake arms outstretched and ready to do battle and those either brave or stupid enough to try their luck against the Hulk opened fire.
The bullets ricocheted off the green muscles and the Hulk swung his giant arms swatting the men out of the way. Tony watched as the giant smashed his way through the enemy, only moving a few steps from his landing spot and it was in that moment the billionaire realised that wasn't moving far for a reason.
He was protecting Tony.
In the enclosed space it was quite likely that one of the stray bullets would ricochet off the green meanie and hit him instead, by staying close he was lowering the probability but was increasing the length of the fight exponentionally. The men were spreading out and surrounding the Hulk and concentrating their fire and Tony could see the discomfort on the giants face but remained steadfastly by the downed Iron Man's side.
"Hulk, you gotta move buddy. We're gonna be here forever otherwise."
There was a grunt from the giant and he turned to Stark acid green eyes flaring annoyance. With a roar he grabbed hold of the boulder pinning Tony in place and flung it at the men who had regrouped on the other side of the room. It rolled along the floor and collided with the goons sending them flying like human skittles and unsurprisingly none of them got back up. Stark breathed a sigh of relief and gingerly attempted to move but as soon as even moved a little the Hulk spun around and fixed him with a piercing glare and for the briefest moment he thought the giant was going to attack.
"Uh... Hulk buddy..."
The eyes narrowed further.
"Metal-man idiot."
Tony admittedly did a double take at this and for the first time in a long time found himself speechless, by the Hulk of all people.
"We team, we cover."
The billionaire's mind flew back to several weeks ago when Ross had invaded the tower and the subsequent conversation he'd had with Bruce afterwards, apparently the Hulk had heard his words as well and had taken them to heart as much as Banner had. He knew he shouldn't be surprised by this but knowing and actually being confronted by the truth were two entirely different things and it warmed Tony's heart a little although he would never admit it even under pain of death.
Staring at his science-Bro's alter-ego Tony felt a genuine smile across his features.
"Yeah... That's right buddy. We cover."
He couldn't wait to tell Bruce about this one.
~End~
*This literally means 'over here!' in Hindi.
A/N: Meh... Not entirely happy with this but it'll do for now. Reviews are appreciated.
Also I am looking for prompts if anyone has any suggestions.
Smaell out *Salutes*