AN: So I read an article somewhere about Mark Ruffalo getting a brain tumor and keeping it a secret and that kind of inspired this. I feel like that is a very Bruce Banner-like thing he would do. This is just a short Science boyfriends one-shot because they are my OTP. There is a mention of past M-preg. This is my first Avengers fic that I've completed and I have a lot more I'm working on so hopefully I can publish one soon! So tell me what you think! This will probably stay a one shot unless I get some fantastic idea to continue. But I'd rather finish the other stories I'm working on first.

Also I'm probably not going to write anymore Big Time Rush fics after the current one for all those that follow me. I had like 10 different stories planned but I really don't have the inspiration for that anymore. It's pretty much just going to be Avengers for now.


"Please tell me what was so dam important that I had to wake Kate from her nap and come all the way here is a helicopter?" Tony asked barging through the doors after Coulson where he was met with Nick Fury standing in the lobby of S.H.I.E.L.D's medical facility. In his arms, his daughter, who he had given birth to a little over two months prior, slept.

"This better be good." Tony mumbled to himself. For weeks he had be sleep deprived, his daughter keeping him up most nights. Tony was relieved to finally have a calm afternoon where he was alone in the tower to relax while Kate took an exceptionally long nap. For once, he appreciated the silence and was enjoying it. Until he got an incoming call from Coulson informing him that a van was on it's way to bring Tony to S.H.I.E.L.D. When Tony tried to argue saying no one was there to watch Kate and he couldn't, Coulson still demanded, saying it was absolutely urgent. With Pepper out of town and the rest of the team occupied otherwise, Tony reluctantly woke his daughter up and brought her with him.

"Phil can you take her to the nursery please?" Fury asked calmly. It was unusual for Tony to see Fury without his black trench coat and ear piece but Tony didn't comment on his casual wear.

Coulson silently nodded and gently took the sleeping baby from Tony's arms. "And now you're taking my daughter from me. Why are we in medical? No one's on a mission right now. No one should be hurt. Clint,T asha and Steve are all here training newbies I thought and Bruce...Bruce said he was stopping by here for one reason or another. He actually didn't tell me why..."

"That's why I need to talk to you Tony." Nick fury said gesturing to a chair along the wall.

Clint, Natasha and Steve had just finished training. The trio left the training wing and were headed through the lobby to go back to the tower when Clint stopped and got the other two members of the groups attention. "Why is Coulson taking Tony to medical?"

The pair noticed to agent escorting Tony through the lobby. Steve spoke up and mentioned. "I thought I saw Bruce here this morning..."

"Oh god." Natasha murmured terrified. Natasha never said anything to anyone per Bruce's' request but a month before she went to find Bruce in his lab and she found him on this knees with his forehead on the ground, clutching his head in pain. She remembers running over to him and put a hand on his back.

"Bruce talk to me." She demanded, concerned for her friend. When he didn't respond she demanded "Jarvis call 911."

"No don't." Bruce said slowly sitting upright. "It's fine. Jarvis, override activated. Don't show this to anyone."

"As usual, sir."

"Bruce what is happening?" Natasha asked.

"Nothing. I'm just not feeling well ok? I'm going to lay down for a while." He said getting up off the ground.

Natasha helped him up but she didn't believe him.

"Natasha please just let it go. And don't tell Tony." He begged.

Natasha promised she wouldn't but swore to watch out for Bruce.

"Please be ok, Bruce." And took off towards medical with a very confused Clint and Steve in tow.

The pair caught up with Natasha in Medical to find Tony outright refusing to agree to Fury's suggestion of sitting.

"Why am I here?" He said glancing over his shoulder at the rest of the team, looking alive and well.

"We should talk privately." he said, glaring at the three Avengers behind Tony.

"No whatever it is they can hear it too. They're family." Tony informed Fury.

Nick Fury sighed. He need to get on with it and say it. He'd fought in so many wars but the position he was placed in now was the hardest thing he'd ever faced.

"Four months ago, Bruce came to medical after a battle claiming of unbearable migraines, specifically after Hulking out. Medical did a cat scan to find a tumor in his brain." Fury informed Tony.

The three Avengers behind Tony gasped or cursed under their breath but Tony just stood speechless, his heart pounding and his legs about to collapse. "He was informed that it would more that likely kill him within a year if it wasn't taken care of but at the same time, the surgery to remove it was high risk. The doctors told him the sooner they operated the better, but Bruce requested to wait. He told me he was going to wait till after Kate was born to tell you and decide what to do. The doctor's gave him medication and painkillers to manage but he was still in pain frequently. Bruce came in today to request more pain killers when he collapsed. This was 45 minutes ago." Fury explained with a heavy heart.

By now Tony had big fat wet tears running down his face and was being held up almost entirely by Clint and Steve.

"Why would he not tell me this?" Tony said angrily, his voice shaking.

"He wanted to protect you. The tumor had grown too big for his body to keep functioning the way it has. His only chance to live now is to have it removed. No other treatment has worked. The reason we called you here today is because we need your consent to operate on him. He's no longer in a place to make decisions and he won't be for a very long time." Nick repeated what the doctors told him.

"Let the bastard die!" Tony shouted, lunging forward. Clint and Steve kept a firm hold on Tony's arm, not allowing him to go anywhere. "He lied to me. He lied to me and now he's going to die leaving me alone with our daughter to raise all by myself only cuz he was too selfish to tell me the truth. Why wouldn't he tell me this? I-I can't do anything without him. I need him. Oh god." Tony rambled on in near hysterics, sinking to his knees. Clint and Steve let go of him arms, allowing him to fall.

"Tony." Clint said softly, placing one hand on the billionaire's back. "You need to answer him. Every second counts at this point."

Tony looked up at Fury. "Whatever it takes, you save him. How ever much money, any doctor, any medicine or treatment, anything I will take care of it, just don't let him die! I can't lose him."

Fury nodded at the nurse standing by the door who then ran into the back. "He's already prepped for surgery. They'll take him in now. I promise you they will do everything they can to make sure he makes it out alive." He handed Steve a clipboard with a stack of papers for Tony to sign, knowing it was going to be a minute before he was able to properly fill them out.


The soft consistent beeping in the background is what brought Bruce out of his slumber and back to reality. His eyes still shut tight, he tried to get a read on the world around him. Any memory he had was fuzzy, nothing really making sense. He figured out he was in the hospital pretty easily but he kept asking himself "Why?". The Hulk prevented him from getting hurt at all, he was immune to most sickness, so why was he laying on scratchy hospital sheets?

"Come on Bruce." He heard his boyfriend whispering in the distance. "Please come back to me. I know you can."

He obeyed Tony's request and slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head to the side to see a very tired Tony sitting next to the bed. Carefully avoiding the IVs, Tony was gently holding his hand.

Tony gave a weak smile to Bruce. Bruce still couldn't remember what happened but the fact that Tony was next to him made everything ok. His eyelids dropped shut and he fell back into the pillow, regaining his strength. Once he felt a little more human, he opened his eye and scanned the room. The constant beeping of the heart monitor is what woke him up, he deduced. He also became painfully aware of the oxygen mask strapped to his face when he tried to open his mouth to speak.

"Just leave it on." Tony said when Bruce awkwardly lifted his wired hand up to his face. "So were you planning on telling me about your brain tumor or were you just going to wait until it got too big and you passed out and had to have emergency brain surgery...oh wait. Huh? Well what do you know. Apparently it's the second option."

Bruce froze when Tony informed him of this. Brain surgery. The tumor. He remembered standing in S.H.I.E.L.D medical begging for more painkillers as he listen to the middle-aged brunette doctor lecture him about, well he couldn't remember at the point because the pain was unbearable. He never got the medication in the end. He only remembers his vision blurring and the world tilting and everything going black.

Oh god.

Bruce reached brought his hand up to run his fingers through his hair like the always does when he stressed but something was missing. Bruce ran his hand across his bald head were his hair should have been.

Tony chuckled. "I'm sorry baby. They had to shave it do surgery. Only half though. Not all of it. I actually don't think it looks too bad. You kinda have a Skrillix look going on. I like it. You should keep it like that for a while."

While Tony rambled Bruce could see tears well up in Tony's eyes. Tony finally paused from his useless one-sided conversation when the first tear fell. "Please never do that again Bruce. I was so scared. So scared I'm going to lose you. I need you. I cant do this without you."

Bruce tried to reach up with his left hand only to struggle to lift it and close his fingers. Frustrated he let his left hand fall and grabbed the mask on his face with his right hand. Awkwardly he managed to pull the mask off, ignoring Tony's disapproving look. "I'm sorry." He whispered hoarsely meeting his boyfriends gaze.

"I love you." Tony said picking Bruce's hand up and rubbing it.

"You should leave me." Bruce said softly, breaking eye contact with Tony and looking away.

"Do you want to sleep? I'll give you some quiet." Tony suggested.

"No. Tony. You need to leave me. You have Kate to take care of. You don't need to be worrying about me too. You should find someone that will take care of you, not drag you down. You don't deserve this." Bruce whispered.

"Never. Bruce Banner don't you ever think I would do that. When we started this thing we made a promise that we would be there for each other no matter what. You were there for me my entire pregnancy, through all the shit I went through." Tony said remembering the hard 9 months he went through carrying his daughter. It had been a difficult pregnancy from the beginning and the doctors were worried nether of them would make it. But damm if Bruce wasn't willing to go to the ends of the earth to make sure both Tony and their daughter were ok. Thinking back through the past couple months especially before Kate was born, Tony could almost understand why Bruce chose to keep his tumor a secret from Tony. Because of his heart condition with the Arc reactor, he was labeled high-risk from the beginning. After quiet a few complications and scares Tony was ordered on bed rest for the last 3 months, forcing Bruce to care for Tony the entire time and deal with all the stress that came with it. Tony remembers how scared shitless he was that something was going to happen to his daughter. And how Bruce was there every time calming him down, making sure he didn't stress himself out too much.

Now was his chance to pay Bruce back.

"I will never leave you." He stated simply, breaking out of his brief moments of thought.

"It's going to be a long time before I am back on my feet." And Bruce meant this quiet literally.

"I know what to doctors said. The physical therapy that is going to take a long time to get you back to normal. I know. Whatever you need, I'm going to be there the whole time." Tony assured him.

"I love you Tony." Bruce said "Thank you."

Tony got out of his chair and pulled back the blanket to Bruce's bed, sliding under the covers with him. Tony sat up against the pillows and allowed Bruce to lay against his chest.

"I love you too." Tony said as Bruce closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


AN: Tell me how you like it! I hope you think it was alright. I just love Science Boyfriends so much. They are so cute together, I needed to write something.

ahhh I don't know how I like this at all...