"Bruce," Tony stated, staring at the display with a furrowed brow. His eyes flitting over the screen, taking in every line of data. "You are a damn genius of the highest caliber and you know I do not say that lightly."
"I'm surprised you'd say it at all," Steve declared, never looking up from his sketch pad as he sprawled on the sofa in the corner of Tony's lab. Stark glared over his shoulder but Steve seemed unconcerned, his pencil continuing to scratch across the paper.
"He has a point, you are a narcissist," Bruce offered with an apologetic shrug. Betty covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her laughter. She leaned into the opposite side of the workbench, her eyes mirroring Tony's as she read the screen backward.
"This is..." Tony's voice trailed off and Bruce edged into his shoulder eagerly.
"This can work," Bruce insisted. "I've run the numbers and there's a good probability that this treatment could entirely reverse the gamma mutation."
"What? About... sixty-five..."
"Sixty-seven point three percent," Bruce replied, handing over his tablet, Tony only glanced at the figures marginally as he watched the data scrolling by on the display.
"Bruce, I think," Betty began hesitantly but Tony held up his hand cutting her off and she fell silent, glaring between them with an irritated frown.
"There's just one thing," Tony added pensively. Bruce gave him a nod that he was listening.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Tony demanded rounding on him.
"Thank you," Betty declared smugly, she turned away in an elegant sweep, her heels clicking sharply across the floor as she moved back to one of the other work benches, throwing a withering look at Bruce over her shoulder. He ducked his head uncertainly, avoiding eye contact with her before squaring his shoulders and turning back to Tony
"Tony, this could work," He stated seriously.
"Or it could turn you into a drooling moron," Tony snapped. "If this goes wrong, even slightly the brain damage could be sever!"
"It's a nominal risk," Bruce assured.
"How nominal?" Steve asked, looking up from his drawing for the first time but his question wasn't directed at any of the scientists in the room.
"Thirty-seven point two six percent recurring, Captain," JARVIS replied.
"Nominal," Steve stated blandly, returning his attention to his drawing with a humorless quirk of his lips.
"When did you learn to hold your own in Genius Candy Land?" Tony asked incredulously, his shoulders rolling back defensively as his brow furrowed.
"I could always hold my own," Steve shrugged, pausing to sharpen a pencil with a few neat flicks of his wrist. "I spent most of my down time during the war in your father's lab. You've just assumed that I'm an idiot because my information is 70 years out of date." Tony gaped at him as Bruce bit his lip to keep from snickering.
"I'm starting to see what Darcy meant when she said I was pledging Delta Tesla Chi," Betty sighed, her fingers flicking over the display at her chosen workstation as she rested her chin in her palm. Steve let out a snort of amusement.
"Did you just get that reference?" Tony asked in bewilderment. Steve shot him a condescending look. "Because I'm not even sure I got that reference."
"Blame Clint," Betty advised wearily, pulling up Bruce's figures and running simulations with an increasingly disgusted expression.
"That's kind of the default setting around here," Tony stated offhandedly "Blame Clint, it's a safe assumption."
"That's only because it's usually his fault," Steve observed. Tony nodded in agreement, poking at one of Betty's simulations as it appeared on his display and pulling a repulsed face as if he'd just stepped in something slimy.
"Tony, look," Bruce negotiated. "I know there are risks."
"Are we still on this?" Tony asked with a scowl. "Because I was pretty sure I completely deflected attention away from this stupidity."
"I'm willing to take the chance!" Bruce insisted, his expression pleading.
"I'm not willing to let you!" Tony snapped back, his face contorting in a pained expression. "This is desperation, Bruce, and ok, I have no room to talk on that topic. But this is completely unnecessary desperation!"
"Tony, stop shouting at him," Steve stated mildly.
"Why?!" Tony demanded angrily, rounding on the super soldier. "because I'll make him upset and he'll Hulk out and destroy half the lab? Don't make me laugh!"
"No," Betty answered, sending a mild glare at him. "Because his blood pressure is too low and your winding him up is going to make him light headed." She waved a hand in Bruce's direction and Tony turned back to him, taking a good hard look at him. Betty was right, Bruce was showing obvious signs of strain. There were dark circles around his slightly bloodshot eyes and his skin was pale, even more so than usual. Tony's face screwed up in a frown and he grasped hold of Bruce's arm, steering him gently onto one of the stools.
"JARVIS, what are his vitals?" Tony demanded, turning his attention back to his display and clearing it to make room for the new data.
"Tony!" Bruce protested with a groan.
"All within acceptable treatment parameters, sir," JARVIS answered. "However body temperature, heart rate, respiration and blood pressure are showing a marked decrease over the last dosage six hours ago."
"When was the last time you slept?" Tony asked seriously. Bruce rolled his eyes but didn't answer.
"Approximately thirty hours ago, sir," JARVIS suppled.
"Traitor," Bruce sighed.
"We talked about this," Tony gave him a scolding look. "you can't exhaust yourself like you're used to doing, not until we get the dosage correct."
"Will you stop changing the subject!" Bruce demanded, his brow creasing in frustration. "This is the first real breakthrough I've made in a cure, Tony, you can't just dismiss it out of hand!"
"The medication we have you on is working," Tony insisted, his tone much more calm now as he pinned Bruce with piercing eyes. "It's not a perfect solution but you said it was taking the edge off. And we're making progress on a long term control. What you're proposing here is a last ditch effort to destroy a monster at any cost."
"Isn't that what," Bruce began but Tony cut him off.
"Back me up here, Cap," he stated, turning to glance in Steve's direction. Steve closed his sketchbook, slowly swinging his feet onto the floor and crossing the lab to lean on the workbench beside them with a pained expression.
"Bruce you need to look at some of the tapes," He said softly. Bruce shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"Bruce," Steve paused a long moment attempting to make eye contact. "You're not a monster, you're not out of control. You've never once failed to follow my orders in the field."
"God knows he can't say that about me," Tony rolled his eyes. Steve shot him an irritated look.
"That's... not me," Bruce insisted desperately.
"You can spin it however you want," Tony assured. "I've got no business telling anyone how to deal with their issues. But that doesn't change the facts. Any time I've asked the Big Guy to stand down he has, the same goes for Clint."
"Natasha and Thor," Bruce began.
"Thor can handle it," Steve answered tersely. "And I honestly think that's part of the issue. You can't hurt Thor and both of you know it, so the Hulk doesn't have a problem roughing him up a little. It's like boys tussling, he doesn't take it personally."
"I swear he enjoys it," Tony sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Natasha," Bruce interrupted again.
"That was one time," Tony threw his hands in the air. "You were in a damn explosion, anyone would freak out and lash out irrationally if they woke up in the middle of that."
"Bruce, you're not expendable," Steve insisted. "I realize you want a safety net, to know you're not going to hurt any of us, but if the choice is your life or our bumps and bruises then I'll risk the scrapes. All of us would."
"You need to give us more time to work on this," Tony added. "Just... trust us on this for right now. We're going to find a solution that doesn't force me to be the only person around here I can have an intelligent conversation with."
"I'm going to try not to take that personally, Tony," Betty stated sweetly, her eyes still on the display in front of her.
"Love you too, darling!" Tony grinned at her. Bruce gave him a withering look, tensing as Steve's hand settled gently on his shoulder.
"Oh my god, Tony!" Pepper chose that moment to appear in the doorway of the lab, her brow furrowed in irritation. "Can I not leave you alone for five minutes?"
"Um, you left at six this morning," Tony replied giving her a snarky look as her heels clicked across the floor. "This is what, ten?"
"Why aren't you ready for the investor's meeting?" She asked in exasperation. "You promised you'd be ready." Without a word Steve swept Tony's suit jacket off of the back of one of the lab stools and held it out so that Tony could shrug into it.
"I am, ready," Tony insisted straightening his cuffs as Steve draped his tie around his neck. "Don't I look ready to you?" Pepper stared at them mutely for a moment as Steve maneuvered Tony to face him, taking up the ends of his tie. Tony wagged his eyebrows suggestively at Pepper and her eyes narrowed.
"Steve, what are you doing?" she questioned, frowning.
"A four-in-hand?" he asked hesitantly as he tied off Tony's tie, his cheeks coloring slightly. "I can't quite get the hang of a Windsor."
"At least you got something out of the Army," Tony shrugged, adjusting his tie at his throat with a satisfied smirk.
"Steven Rogers, why are you fetching and carrying for Tony?" Pepper demanded sternly and both Steve and Tony winced.
"Why does she remind me of my mother?" Steve mumbled under his breath, leaning a half inch closer to Tony.
"Don't move a muscle," Tony whispered back warningly, staring at Pepper blankly. "She'll pounce if she detects movement."
"Tony!" Pepper growled.
"You were the one who refused to let me interview any new PA's!" Tony defended, rocking on his heels uneasily as if he were uncomfortable in his own skin. "You said no more women should be subjected to me. And I can't fend for myself, I'm irresponsible! I can't even dress myself! You know that better than anyone!"
"You can't remember where you put anything either," Steve pointed out, handing him his tablet. "Figures on the new medical division."
"You did not..." Pepper took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders before turning on Tony with her most disapproving expression. "Tell me you did not coerce Captain America into being your PA!"
"When you say it like that..." Tony gave her an uncomfortable look as Bruce struggled not to laugh.
"He didn't coerce me, Pepper," Steve interrupted. "I volunteered. None of us were that comfortable with the idea of a stranger here... for obvious reasons, and I have a lot of down time I don't know what to do with anyway."
"Tell me you're paying him for putting up with you," Pepper glared daggers at Tony.
"See I told you she'd kill me if I didn't put you on salary," Tony stated smugly, turing to Steve.
"It's just an awful lot of money for a part time job," Steve shook his head. "I mean, Pepper runs your company, all I have to do is make sure you eat and change clothes occasionally and I'd do that anyway."
"How is this my life?" Pepper sighed in bewilderment. "How long has this been going on?"
"Couple of weeks?" Tony asked with a shrug.
"Six weeks this Thursday," Steve replied.
"That explains why you've been so startlingly well organized this month," Pepper declared pragmatically. "You're a very good PA, Mr. Rogers." Steve blushed slightly.
"I really just wanted to help out," Steve admitted. "You and Tony welcomed us into your home, I don't mind making things a little easier for both of you. And this way you don't have to worry about any law suits."
"I really resent that!" Tony declared defensively as Pepper stared at them both with an inscrutable expression. "I am not that bad!"
"You kind of are," Bruce pointed out. "We have documentation to prove it."
"We have Natasha to prove it," Steve added, his ears turning red as Tony scowled at him and Bruce nodded in agreement. Pepper rubbed her forehead with her fingers.
"Investors meeting," she reminded finally, her hand making a graceful wave at the door.
"Going!" Tony nodded, hurrying past her and then turning to back out of the room, flashing Steve a licentious grin as she followed. "You can take the rest of the afternoon off honey!" He gave Pepper an innocent look before beating a hasty retreat as she turned back to find both Steve and Bruce snickering.
"Steve, I'll tell you what I always tell those who work closely with Mr. Stark," she said with a sigh.
"Don't wear anything that accentuates your back side?" Bruce asked helpfully. Steve choked but Pepper seemed unamused.
"If you should ever feel that Mr. Stark's comments or actions have taken on a level of inappropriateness you're uncomfortable with," She stated without emotion. "Please make me aware of the situation immediately and directly. STARK Industries does not tolerate the mistreatment of any of its people."
"Pepper I don't think..."
"Also, it would be spectacularly unwise of you to allow yourself to be seduced by him," She added seriously. Steve blinked at her in stunned silence as Bruce folded in on himself, his shoulder's shaking.
"I..." Steve waffled for a long moment before gulping audibly. "Yes Ma'am." He nodded finally. Pepper gave him a warm smile before turning back toward the door.
"Good luck, Mr. Rogers!" she called, disappearing down the hall.
"Did she just imply..." Steve asked hesitantly.
"Bruce will be happy to explain it all to you," Betty assured with a teasing smirk as her hands brushed gently over Bruce's shoulder's. He tilted his head to look up at her with an affronted expression as she ran her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck. "Just as soon as he gets some sleep."
"Just to be clear," Bruce sighed. "My choices are unconsciousness or sex ed?" Betty nodded firmly and he rolled his eyes, pushing off the stool and heading for the door.
"I'm locking down your lab for the next six hours!" She called after him smugly. "And don't think you can hack though, I'm going to have Jane do it!" Steve was pretty sure he could hear Bruce swearing under his breath but he at least made an effort to hide his smile rather than adding insult to injury by laughing outright. Betty shook her head, turning back to Tony's lab bench.
"You didn't have much to say," Steve observed, collecting a few magazines that were littering Tony's desk.
"Bruce knew what I'd say," Betty shrugged lightly, collecting her tablet and copying Bruce's data to her private server. "That's why he went to Tony for help."
"He thought Tony would be more likely to support him?" Steve asked in surprise. It didn't really seem likely to him. Of all of them Tony was probably the most protective of Bruce.
"Tony's a risk taker by nature," Betty explained, giving him a thin smile. "Sometimes he latches onto an idea and he can't let go of it. I think Bruce was counting on him being too intrigued to completely consider the risks."
"Tony likes risk," Steve acknowledged. He stared at the magazine he was absently straightening. Tony was on most of the covers, Steve was on two of them. His fingers brushed the cover of Scientific America with Tony and Bruce standing back to back and he smiled. "He just likes Bruce more."
"It's nice to see," Betty nodded in agreement. "nice to know he has people on his side now."
"Bruce means a lot to all of us," Steve added meeting her gaze.
"I'm getting the Shovel Speech from Captain America?" Betty asked, a grin sweeping over her face. She set aside her tablet, crossing the lab to lean over the workbench, resting her chin in her hand. "This is going to be good. I have to warn you though, I already got one from Tony."
"I..." Steve blinked at her blankly for a long moment. "I was going to say I wish we could make him see that."
"Well that's disappointing," Betty pouted lightly.
"Shovel speech?" Steve asked warily. Betty seems to consider him for a long moment as if she were choosing her words with particular care.
"Did you ever go out with a friend's kid sister?" she asked curiously.
"I didn't have that many friends," Steve admitted, blushing slightly. "and most girls wouldn't have stepped out with me if I was the last man on earth." Betty eyed him with a calculating expression that made his ears turn pink.
"I'm trying to figure out how that much charm didn't make up for just about anything," she admitted. Steve's blush deepened.
"I was really scrawny," he confessed, looking away.
"I'm going to need documentation for that," she declared seriously. She bit back a laugh at Steve's uncomfortable expression, rounding the lab bench to sit on the stool Bruce had vacated. "A shovel speech is when older siblings or close friends of the person you're dating explain to you that they'll bury you if you ever hurt them." Steve gaped at her in horror, which was really just too funny for Betty not to snicker.
"Wait!" Steve sputtered, his brain catching up with the information. "Did Tony threaten to..."
"Tony Stark would never threaten anyone's life if he didn't mean to follow up on it," Betty assured, reaching out to pat his arm soothingly. "He did make it perfectly clear that if I hurt Bruce I'd never be published again. Ever." Steve stared at her in silence for at least a solid minute.
"I'm thinking that threatening to use the shovel would actually be kinder," He declared finally.
"It would definitely be the end of my career," she nodded in agreement. "A fate worse than death."
"And Bruce thinks he's the dangerous one," Steve cringed.
"It's hard for him," Betty admitted hesitantly. "He can't remember more than snatches of what happens after he turns. And he always seems to remember the worst. He does't see himself as anything but a mindless monster."
"But that's not true," Steve pointed out. "You know it's not. We've all seen the Hulk in action. He knows who we are, he makes tactical decisions, he trusts Tony and Clint enough to put their safety over his own!"
"I'm not the one you have to convince," Betty said sadly. Steve nodded with a sigh.
"Do you know why he won't watch the tapes?" Steve asked, meeting her gaze with a worried frown.
"After the accident," Betty paused, biting her lip. "Someone caught some footage of the Hulk on a camcorder trying to escape from my father. Nothing much, it was poor quality, he hurled a car though a wall. All the TV stations picked it up. When Bruce saw it... let's just say that taken out of context it was... terrifying."
"So that's all he sees," Steve reasoned. "the violent destruction, not the desperation behind it."
"I can't help but blame my father," she admitted. "He's only ever antagonized Bruce, tortured him, pushed him to the point that he can't do anything but lash out in order to survive. Bruce can't look objectively at it, can't see the good in it."
"You can?" Steve asked a little disbelievingly. He'd be the first in line to defend Bruce as anything but a monster, well perhaps the second considering how quickly Tony could rise to his friend's defense. But there was a moment at the start of every battle where Steve really truly regretted asking Bruce to join in, regretted asking the other man to put himself through something that so clearly left him tortured. He wasn't sure he could see the good in it himself.
"If you'd known him," Betty paused, looking at Steve for a long moment. Finally she smiled sadly. "He had a horrible temper, he'd never take it out on anyone but he had no problem taking it out on things, or even himself. He was a brilliant scientist but he never handled failure well. Setbacks could be nightmarish. I can remember more than once standing outside his lab unwilling to go in until he'd reigned in his outburst. He'd never do that now, allow himself to let his anger get the better of him. In a way the Hulk has been the making of him as a man." Steve considered her words, struggling to wrap his head around them. He couldn't even picture the Bruce he knew with a violent temper, a younger more impassioned man with the same face taking his frustrations out on unsuspecting lab equipment. That wasn't his teammate, his friend.
"So," Betty gave him a coy smile. "Why are you really working as Tony's PA?" Steve balked at the question, gaping at her in surprise. His cheeks flushed and he looked away as she let out a playful laugh.
"He won't call for backup," Steve answered softly. Betty frowned slightly and Steve drew in a steadying breath, glancing at her shyly. "They all have... things. To be fair, I do too. But Thor's trying to assimilate, and even though Natasha doesn't trust easily she tries to put that aside in the field. And now that Clint's recovered and Coulson's back with us he's doing better too. And Bruce..." Betty nodded in agreement. Bruce was better, he at least wasn't running. He was trying to rely on this makeshift little family they'd stitched together over old movies and take out and game nights. He didn't always do well at it but he was trying.
"Tony won't call for backup," Steve repeated. "He's there if any of us call, a lot of the time he's there before I even get a chance to. He spends extra time in the lab developing equipment to keep us safe. But he won't ask for help out in the field. And I don't know if it's because he doesn't trust us to have his back or because he's just been on his own so long he doesn't know how to ask."
"So you're trying to prove to him that you can be trusted to look out for him?" Betty asked with a gentle smile. Steve nodded.
"I think he might," he bit his lip, looking at his feet. "I think maybe he's been let down so many times that he's afraid to ask, because he doesn't want to be disappointed again. But he trusts Pepper, and even though he's a little scared of her, he kind of trusts Natasha too."
"So you'll tie his tie for him until he realizes you'll have his back?" Betty asked in amusement.
"If I have to," Steve nodded. Betty gave him a look he'd come to associate over the years with scientists and petri dishes, or engineers and alien technology, depending on the century.
"Bruce is right," she declared finally. "You're not heroic. You're just stubborn to the point of ridiculousness."
"That's fair," Steve admitted.
"Is that the serum?" she asked curiously.
"No I was always this stupid," Steve shook his head. Betty laughed, slipping off the stool to give his arm a squeeze.
"Good," She declared, brushing a kiss on his cheek. Steve's face flushed scarlet and Betty stifled a giggle. "I don't know about Tony, but I'm very, very glad you have Bruce's back." She moved off back toward the workbench to collect her tablet and Steve let out a sigh, watching her from the corner of his eye. She paused in the doorway, turing back to him.
"Steve, how old are you?" she asked with a frown.
"I'm," he paused a moment not sure how to answer and she gave him a soft smile. "Twenty-nine." She shook her head
"And the only grown-up in the bunch," she sighed as he frowned. "I know you'll look out for them. Let them look out for you too, all right?"
"Yes ma'am," he nodded before he could stop himself. Betty gave him a teasing smile before turing down the hall toward her lab.
"Jane, can you do me a favor?" she called out as she disappeared down the corridor.
Steve let out a huff of air, collecting the last of the magazines and opening the desk drawer. He paused, his eye falling on its contents. On the top of the stack of miscellaneous clippings and memorabilia was a copy of the Saturday Evening post, all of the Avengers meticulously reproduced on the cover in oils. Steve smiled softly, drawing the copy from the drawer as he set the others aside. His fingers lightly traced the image of Natasha in quarter profile, her fiery hair hiding most of her face. Clint covered her with his drawn bow which looked much more antique than the one he actually used. The Iron Man armor soared into the air over them bearing more resemblance to comics from the forties than the actual article. Thor, with raised hammer ,and the Hulk loomed behind them. To one side Steve appeared in his military uniform, bearing his old shield.
He smiled. It reminded him a lot of the world he'd left behind but for once that didn't hurt as much as it had. He looked at the caption at the bottom.
Captain's Commandos.
It seemed fitting somehow. he gingerly stowed the magazines in the drawer, leaving the Post on the top.
"JARVIS, keep things tidy for Tony," Steve called as he headed out the door.
"As always, sir," JARVIS replied. Steve grinned, he had the rest of the afternoon off.
Author's Note:
This story is part of a series called "Coulson Lives but the Avengers Might be the Death of him." The full list of stories and their chronological order can be found on my profile page