SPOILERS FOR AOU TRAILER.
This is all Red Tigress' and VLeRoux's fault. And the new trailer, of course. They pointed out to me that the detail was not that there was Hulkbuster armour, but that Tony had prepared enough to have created the Hulkbuster armour. And so, this.
Bruce woke up in much the same way as he always did when the other guy took over – maybe a little more stiff than normal but then, he hadn't expected the change and that always made it worse. The first thought in his mind was 'did I hurt anyone?' swiftly followed by 'is the team okay?'
There were arms around him, soothing and warm, but it took him several moments to focus tired eyes on Natasha, her red hair dancing limply in the breeze. She was dusty and dishevelled, but apparently unhurt – relief crashed through Bruce. Of all of the team, Natasha and Clint were the ones most likely to not be walking away from an encounter with the other guy, and the knowledge pained him every time he thought about it.
"Nat," he tried, his voice croaking as he tried to swallow away the dust and grit.
She startled a little, her thoughts clearly elsewhere but looked down at him with a gentle smile that was so unlike the hardened exterior she hid behind when amongst others. "Back with us? How are you feeling?"
"The team?" It was always the same exchange of questions, whether Bruce was alright and who had suffered the brunt of the Hulk's rage.
Something in Natasha's eyes went ice cold, and Bruce wanted to flinch away from the unfamiliar chill, but the assassin's voice was steady when she replied, "No one was hurt. A bit of property damage and they'll need to resurface a few roads, but nothing major."
That was… a surprise actually. The heaviness of his head normally meant that it had been a particularly violent outburst, and that meant damage. And yet, Natasha was saying that no one was hurt?
"But, how…?" He started, then stopped as Nat's head snapped up, listening to the shouting that had suddenly started up somewhere behind Bruce's line of vision. Disorientated and feeling just a little bit sick, the doctor made very little effort to listen in to what was being said, only really paying attention when he heard the familiar whine of Tony's repulsors starting up and blasting away.
Bruce twisted, trying to see, but all his muscles hurt and he abandoned the attempt. "Was that Tony?" He asked, recapturing Natasha's attention. "Where's he going?"
"Back to the tower," she told him shortly, shifting so that she could pull him to a standing position, one hand on the blanket she must have wrapped around him. There was a quiet anger in his frame that Bruce couldn't understand. Not for the first time, he wished he could remember what happened when he lost control.
Steve and Hawkeye were stood a little way off, the source of the shouting most likely. They both looked as tense as Natasha and Bruce felt worry shooting like ice down his spine as he struggled to catch up with whatever it was he had missed. As they approached, Steve looked up and gave him a tight nod, his face bleak but it was obviously not directed at him.
Bruce's gaze flicked between them before he decided to just ask. "What's happened? Why is everyone so upset?" He looked around them in sudden panic. "Is Thor-?"
"Thor's fine, Doctor," the Captain reassured quickly, forcing a strained smile. "We're all alright."
"Then what's going on?"
Clint flashed him a smooth smile that might have been convincing if Bruce wasn't always suspicious. "Just a little worn out Bruce, really. Everyone's okay."
Bruce wanted to scream at them, wanted to demand answers, but he knew that it would get him nowhere. He was talking to three of the few people on the planet who were A) not afraid of him and B) completely immune to all forms of persuasion. He might as well yell at a brick wall.
He hummed as though in agreement and tugged the blanket tighter around his shoulders, looking thoughtfully in the direction Tony must have headed off to. That was strange in itself – Tony usually stuck around until Bruce woke up unless there was something desperately pressing that he had to leave for. Well, Tony wouldn't keep a secret from Bruce for long, at least. Maybe he could find his answers elsewhere.
It turned out that Tony most definitely could keep secrets from Bruce – apparently without even trying. All he had to do was avoid the doctor at every possible opportunity including team meetings and mealtimes. It would have been impressive if it hadn't been so incredibly annoying.
What made it worse was that the team seemed determined to aid Tony in his sudden reclusion, distracting Bruce whenever he made to seek out the engineer himself. Whenever Tony was even mentioned, they all went a little tense and tight around the eyes, as though the very thought of him nearby put them in great discomfort and Bruce still didn't understand.
He'd still not remembered much of his loss of control – flashes of shattering stone, bright blue skies – but he knew that something must have happened to cause this. It could be all his fault and he wouldn't even know it.
Determined, and unwilling to be dissuaded, Bruce finally made his way down into the lab, forcing his way in before Tony had any funny ideas about locking him out. His sudden appearance startled Tony badly, and it gave Bruce the time to fully take in the state of his friend.
Tony looked tired – exhausted – and one of his eyes was rimmed with a deep black bruise that was painful just to look at. His hair was a mess around his face and the clothes he was wearing didn't look as though they'd been changed for a few days.
"Tony, what-" he began, and then stopped, clamping down on the sudden swell of rage at the back of his throat. He would remain in control. He needed to have this goddamn conversation and the other guy was not going to stop him.
"Bruce, are you alright?" Tony was on his feet now, hesitating to approach which was so unlike Tony. "You're looking a little pale."
"I'm fine," the doctor forced out. "I wanted to talk to you."
Tony looked like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world but he smiled and gestured to a seat. "Sure. Sit down."
"I'm not ill, Tony," Bruce joked lightly, feeling the tightness in his muscles receding. "You don't have to treat me like an invalid."
"Just being polite to a guest. Stay standing if you're so determined."
Relaxing at Tony's growing ease, Bruce settled himself into the offered chair just to be contrary. "So. Care to tell me what's going on between you and the rest of the team?"
Tony's calm evaporated in a moment. "Nothing at all. Why?"
"I'm not blind Tony. Or stupid. I'm your friend, aren't I?" Bruce tried, trying to play for sympathy.
It seemed to work a little, Tony's defensiveness dropping into a twisted, wounded expression that made Bruce's heart hurt. "Of course you are! Look it – It's not – It doesn't matter, alright?"
Bruce had never heard Tony tripping over his words like he was now, so uncertain and hesitant. He had the innate ability to believe he was in the right at all times, and when it was proven that he wasn't, he immediately went to fix the problem. This was not a Tony he knew. "Since I woke up, everyone on the team has been acting strangely, and no one is willing to tell me why. I think it matters."
"Steve and I had a disagreement," Tony admitted after a moment of loaded silence. "It'll pass eventually. Don't worry about it."
"You and Steve have never agreed on anything. Why is it so important now?"
Tony just shook his head, biting his lip a little. He looked away, avoiding Bruce's eyes, before he spoke again. "It's not important. It really doesn't matter Bruce. Please don't – Just leave it."
There was something in his voice, something like desperation, that stopped Bruce from replying. He spent another long moment just looking at his friend, at a man who looked like even his bones had grown weary of remaining strong, and nodded slowly. He wasn't going to push when Tony looked half a step away from breaking. Instead he was going to smile, shrug and offer to help with his most recent project.
The tension continued to pervade the tower and Bruce did his best to pretend that it wasn't even there, only deigning to acknowledge it when someone suggested a reason that he shouldn't go down to the lab to see Tony.
The engineer had all but sealed himself in there. No one apart from Bruce – and Pepper when she visited between business trips – seemed to want to see him anyway and it was clear that Tony knew it. Hiding himself seemed more like an act to spare them his presence than the other way around. The whole thing was utterly ridiculous – how could you continue to live with a man who you apparently couldn't stand, not give a reason for it, and all the while reaping all the benefits of his hospitality without so much as a thank you? Bruce was continually having to breathe heavily just to stop the fog descending over his eyes.
As for Bruce and Tony's relationship, well, that was possibly the strangest of them all. They'd always gotten along, right from the moment they met. That remained the same, as it no doubt always would; it was fundamental. The change was subtle, contained almost entirely in the silences between words, but obvious to Bruce none the less, and painful with every moment: Tony was acting as if he was terribly grateful. As if every moment he spent with Bruce at his side was a gift for which he must be thankful, lest it be ripped from his hands. It was agonising to watch.
It was almost three weeks after everything began, that Bruce was finally given the pieces to complete the puzzle.
He was in the lab with Tony, milling around whilst Tony ran a calculation Bruce hadn't a hope of understanding – electrical engineering was out of his field – when he stumbled across one of Tony's StarkPads. He touched the screen accidently, fingers brushing across it as he cleared some papers up, but it automatically started playing the video that had been loaded up.
It was him. Well, it was the other guy, and he looked furious. The picture was grainy, as though taken from a bystander's mobile phone, but it was very clearly the Hulk facing off against a huge, hulking mass of red and gold metal. For a moment, Bruce was utterly confused – Iron Man's armour was not that big, but then it suddenly made sense. It was Iron Man's armour, just not the sort he was used to.
No doubt it was a great feat of engineering, a real marvel, but all Bruce could see was a weapon built specifically designed to take him down. And it was built by his best friend.
Across the room, Tony had gone rigid when he heard the first few sounds of the video, recognising them instantly. He'd watched that video so many times, analysing it for future reference even as he hated himself for it, and now Bruce could see it too. Could see how Tony had betrayed him.
Bruce turned to look at him, meeting his gaze dead on, and Tony's heart dropped straight into his shoes at the utter heartbreak tearing across his friend's face. It wouldn't matter what his reasons, Bruce wasn't going to care. No one had cared. He'd screamed them in Steve's face and the Captain hadn't taken the slightest bit of notice, too busy telling him how worthless he was if he was so ready to turn on his teammates that he'd planned it.
"Bruce-" He started, because he had to at least try but-
"Don't. Don't try and explain yourself," Bruce ordered, holding up a shaking hand. "I don't want to hear it."
With that, the doctor headed for the door, letting it close behind him with a soft thump and crumbling the last of Tony's strength with it. He'd spent the last few weeks treasuring every moment of Bruce's company, knowing that any day could be his last – he wasn't as prepared for it as he thought.
It didn't matter, in the end, what the team thought of him. To start with, they'd all thought he was an egotistical jackass, and eventually they'd realised their error and made their apologies. Tony had pretended that it never bothered him, and he could almost convince himself that it was the truth. Bruce was different. Bruce was his friend.
And yet when Tony had tried to explain himself, to show his loyalty, Bruce hadn't wanted to hear it. Neither had Steve. Natasha had just straight up punched him in the face.
Because in the end, of course Tony hadn't wanted to make that armour. He would always think the best of Bruce and nothing in the world could ever change that, no matter what happened. SHIELD, however, thought of things a little differently. When Fury had come to him asking for a method to reliably bring down the Hulk, Tony had flat out refused.
Until.
Fury had told him in no uncertain terms that SHIELD were never going to allow Bruce to wander the world unhindered unless they had a contingency plan to bring him down should the need ever arise. Without a new, bigger, better suit, Bruce was never going to be able to live in peace. So Tony had obliged, poured time and funding into a new suit that had enough strength to keep the Hulk occupied until Bruce was back in control. The engineering part of him was proud with how well his new creation had worked, even while the other side of him was sickened at having raised weapons against his teammate.
If they were still teammates, of course. He'd seen the betrayal in Bruce's eyes – it would only be so long before that turned to hatred, just like it had with the others.
'Pull yourself together Stark,' he thought to himself fiercely. 'You tried to tell them. They didn't want to hear it.'
It didn't settle the cold stones in the pit of his stomach, or make his teammates' glares hurt any less. But he couldn't worry about them, about any of it. Ultron was still out there, people were still in danger; he had work to do.
Blame Red and Vee.