"Sir, may I suggest retiring for the night. You have a meeting tomorrow morning." JARVIS's English accent filled the previously silent room.
Tony thought about it. He'd been in the lab for five hours now without so much as a toilet break. It was coming up on three a.m.
"Fine," he puffed. Pepper would creatively torture and kill him if he was sleeping in the meeting at six the next morning. He stood up and dragged himself out of the lab and down the dim hall. Tony was walking past Bruce's room when he heard a vague sob and a cluster of sniffing.
Bruce? Tony began to worry.
He knocked on the door before entering abruptly. Bruce was sitting on the edge of his bed with his knees hugged to his chest, eyes red and weary.
"Tony?" Bruce's voice was hoarse from crying.
"Why are you crying?" Tony supposed that the answer was kind of obvious, but comforting was not his strong point. He never really was a people person.
"Why?" Bruce began, "I hone-estly don't know what to say." Bruce let his feet slide down the touch the floor.
Shit. Sad and confused Bruce? Tony just stared for a minute, contemplating cliché phrases he could use; they were all stupid.
"Just the first thing you think of, Bruce," he eventually said. Bruce continued to hold back sobs and clear tears from his eyes.
"I just... it seems so pointless. My research. Friendships..." Bruce eyes looked far away, "My life."
Tony felt his chest constrict. What's he trying to say?
"I don't feel like going to th-the lab you freaking built for me." A slightly angry look came over Bruce's face. "Tony. Do you know how many pe-people the Other Guy has killed?" He began sobbing loudly again. "I don't think I can..."
Tony's mind went blank as he swore his heart split into shreds. Bruce doesn't feel he deserves his lab? He quickly made his way over to the physicist and, not stopping to think, hugged Bruce tightly. At first, Bruce had tensed up and sobbed slightly harder, but he quickly melted into the hug and leant his chin on the mechanics shoulder.
With each of Bruce's heartbreaking sobs, Tony considered what Bruce had said.
"Bruce," Tony said, pulling back and holding Bruce shoulders. "I'm gunna be honest here. I know Hulk has killed people, but you didn't have control over him then. You had absolutely no way of stopping him." Bruce dropped his head at Tony's words. "No! You dare drop your head one more time and I swear! Nobody's better than you, Banner! Stop telling yourself that." The physicist raised his head ever so slightly to look Tony in the eye, his own spilling tears everywhere. Tony wasn't sure what he was crying for now.
"Come here." Tony sighed, pulling Bruce into his crushing hug.
The sobs were spilling readily now, Bruce's shoulders shaking harder than before, his body slumping against Tony's.
"Seriously, why're you crying?"
Bruce sniffed and attempted to form a sentence. "I do-n't know. I just can-can't stop."
"Tell you what, big guy. I'm getting bunk beds in my lab, and we're gunna stay in there from now on." Tony announced.
Tony wasn't to laugh or cry at Bruce's half chuckle-half sob."I think I'll b-be okay on my o-wn, Ton-"
Tony shushed him. "No. You're staying with me. That's final." He couldn't help but smile when the doctor lifted his head to look and Tony and properly smile.
"Fine."