My first Bruce/Tony fic! I don't know how long this is going to be, but I'm thinking at least four or five chapters (hopefully). This is not parallel to the comics, for Jen isn't Bruce's cousin in this fic! I thought it fit better if they weren't related. Anyway, feel free to review (:~A
"I'm thinking Seattle," Tony said with his head cocked to the side, looking at some blueprints in front of him. "I mean, LA would be good but just not anytime soon. They're not ready for change. Maybe spare change, but not this kind of change." Bruce chuckled and took a sip of his coffee. Tony always called him in to help him make decisions, but he never seemed to actually need him. They just liked each other's company.
"Seattle could be good," Bruce shrugged. Tony nodded and scribbled something down on his notepad. His handwriting was only legible to himself, and even then just barely. Tony gave a thoughtful hum then pushed the notepad aside and closed the blueprints.
"Sir, there is a visitor in the lobby," Jarvis announced. "Miss Walters. She said she has come for Doctor Banner." Tony stood up and walked over to a screen hooked up to a camera in the lobby. The woman looked to be in her early twenties, and was dressed in a business suit jacket and skirt, but Tony couldn't make out any significant features.
"Hey Banner, you know any young ladies by the name of Walters?" he asked over his shoulder. Bruce came to join him and peered at the screen.
"I've met many Walters' in my lifetime," the doctor said slowly. "She looks slightly familiar, and, I mean, it doesn't look like she's here to harm anyone." Tony brought a hand up to his neck and sighed.
"Send her up, Jarvis," Stark groaned reluctantly. He turned to Bruce. "Good cop bad cop?"
"How about good cop," he pointed to himself and then Tony, "quiet man in the corner."
"When have I ever been quiet? And judging by that lady's attire I'm to assume you're in some sort of legal trouble, Robert," Tony teased. Bruce hated when Stark whipped out the real-first-name card.
"No, Anthony," the taller man quipped. "And she's not an old girlfriend, either, so don't even go there. It just makes you all sad." Tony feigned offense and made his way over to where they had just been sitting.
The elevator doors opened and the woman stepped hesitantly into the room. She was definitely professional, but her hair was pulled up into a sloppy bun and she was radiating innocence. Her heels added about three inches to her height, and Tony thought that another inch or two wouldn't hurt. She wasn't necessarily vertically gifted like his Bruce was. She wore black-rimmed glasses and shiny gold jewelry.
"Please, come in, Miss...Walters," the billionaire said with a smile, waving her over to where Bruce had just sat down next to him. She followed his invitation and stuck a hand out once she was within arm's reach.
"Jennifer Walters, attorney at law," she introduced herself to the two, giving both a gentle handshake. She sat on a stool across the counter from Tony and Bruce and set her briefcase down on the ground. She unbuttoned her suit jacket and folded her hands on the surface in front of her.
"So, what brings you here today, Miss Lawyer?" Tony asked, rubbing at his stubble. Bruce would probably yell at him to shave later, but the roughness made him feel like a manly man.
"I came to talk to Dr. Banner about some certain issues. Would you mind giving us some privacy?" the young woman asked with a polite smile.
"Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that," Tony smirked. "Besides, anything you can say to Brucie you can say to me. We're basically the same person."
"That's not true in the slightest," Bruce cut in with an apologetic smile. "You can trust him, though. It's probably safer if he's here with me, too. It's hard to explain."
"I understand completely, Dr. Banner," Jennifer stated. Both the men raised their eyebrows; Tony in suspicion and Bruce in surprise. "You see, I'm in a kind of scientific branch of law. And I've studied you and your research extensively, Doctor. Everything you've done is truly incredible."
"Well, I'm glad you think so," Bruce said with a broad smile. Jennifer gave a small nod and continued.
"I based most of my scientific research off of things you had done. I mean, science is my passion and you're a brilliant scientist," she explained. "I only went into law because it's kind of my calling." Tony tried to look interested but kept sneaking glances out the window.
"The reason why I'm here today, Doctor Banner, is regarding your...condition," she added. Tony rolled his eyes.
"It's not a condition, it's a science experiment gone wrong, resulting in mutation from gamma radiation," Tony told her with a scowl. Bruce nudged him with his elbow and mouthed the words 'be nice' to him.
"Oh, yes, I know, I'm terribly sorry for the mistake," Jennifer apologized. Bruce shook his head and made a face as if to say 'ignore him.' "Anyway, Doctor Banner, do you recall being in a small town in New Mexico sometime in 2005?"
"I believe I went there for a convention, yes," he told her after a few seconds of pondering. "Is there something else I should be remembering?"
"Doctor Banner, do you remember anything about a place called La Sevilla Medical Center?" she questioned. The doctor whispered the name to himself a few times and then his eyes widened.
"Jennifer Walters," he said, suddenly remembering something. "I gave blood to you, didn't I?" Jennifer's smile widened as she nodded. Tony squinted at the two of them, for he had no clue was was happening.
"You saved my life," the woman grinned. "If you hadn't been there that week, I wouldn't be here right now." Bruce mirrored her grin and sheepishly looked down at his hands. His face suddenly turned a bit more serious.
"You said that we needed to discuss some...certain issues?" Bruce quoted her statement from earlier. "Are you having complications?"
"You could say that," Miss Walters nodded, looking between Tony and Bruce, playing with her thumbs. "Doctor Banner, all three of us know that your exposure to the gamma radiation happened long before the blood transfusion. I knew it going into the procedure, as did you."
"It's in my bloodstream, the doctors told me there was a possible chance it could carry over," Bruce whispered, growing uneasy. "I didn't think twice because you needed the blood."
"Yes, I did, and you saved my life. That's all that matters here," she told him with a small smile. There was quite a long pause after Bruce took off his glasses. "Doctor, the mutation in your blood carried over to me." Tony crossed his arms over his chest and Bruce remained still, staring at something past Jennifer's head.
"So I've turned you into a monster is what you're saying," Bruce said quietly after a minute and a half of silence.
"If you didn't do what you did I would be dead right now," she reminded him, sensing the tension in his body. Tony put a hand on Bruce's shoulder but he gave him a warning look, and Tony retracted it.
"I've ruined your life," Bruce said to her with pleading eyes. "I've turned you into a ticking time bomb." He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "I've turned you into a despicable creature who'd be better off dead than in this condition."
"Hey, Doctor Banner, I came here for a reason," Jennifer said calmly, standing up as well. "I came here to tell you that you're not alone now."
"I'd rather be dead than living my life knowing I've ruined another's," the scientist said, closing his eyes. His hands gripped the edge of the counter tightly and he shuddered.
"Bruce," Jennifer pleaded, saying his name for the first time. "Please, we can fight this. We can do it together. This is not your fault."
"I've done so much damage myself and now I've brought another one of me into the world," Bruce said through clenched teeth. Tony stood up once he saw Bruce's eyes flash a different color for a brief moment.
"Bruce," Stark said soothingly, running a hand down the other's back.
"Don't touch me," he grumbled. "I truly am a monster."
"Bruce, if you don't fight this then I won't be able to fight it, either," the She-Hulk told him. "You saved my life and that's all that matters."
"What about the part where I've turned you into a giant, green weapon of mass destruction? Doesn't that matter? Doesn't that make you want to kill yourself? I know it made me want to," Bruce snarled. He was hunched over the counter now, staring straight at Jennifer. The woman slowly walked around the counter to him and raised her hands up to show she wasn't going to hurt him.
"Bruce," she tried to soothe him. "We are going to be okay. You can't let him take control of you, okay? I don't care how disgusted you are with yourself, you have to do this for me." Banner stood there with his nostrils flared, breathing heavily. Jennifer reached up to his neck swiftly and pressed her thumb firmly into a certain vein. "Please, Bruce, for me, for you, for Tony. Please fight it."
It took a few minutes of grunting and panting, but Bruce finally calmed down enough to form polite, coherent words and phrases. He told Jennifer it'd be best if she left, but they exchanged contact information to keep in touch with each other. Tony led her to the elevator and accompanied her down to the lobby, where he apologized for the almost incident. She said she completely understood and thought Bruce's reaction was quite acceptable. They exchanged a handshake before Jennifer left the building.
Tony rested his head against the wall of the elevator as he rode back up to the floor Bruce was waiting on. He had never been present when Banner had to resist transformation, and seeing him so vulnerable gave him mixed feelings. He wanted so badly to rush to his side and comfort him, but he had an image to maintain. And that image would eventually make Bruce angry again and they'd end up hurting each other. It couldn't work, but it was going to have to.
When the elevator doors opened, Stark groaned. He saw glass shattered on the floor next to the counter and Bruce pacing back and forth in front of the window.
"What the *hell* are you doing, Banner?" Tony asked, holding his arms out in front of him. The glass he had smashed onto the ground was one of Tony's empty vodka bottles that had been lying around somewhere. "I thought we agreed, no temper tantrums when we're this high off the ground?"
"Enough, okay?" Bruce said sternly. "You're treating this like a joke when it's really not." Tony walked toward the bar and grabbed his suit activation bracelets, clipping them onto his wrists. "I'm not going to hurt you, Stark."
"Yeah, the green in your eyes right now is telling me not to believe that statement," he sighed, waltzing over so he was a few feet away from Bruce. "You can't let this get to you. You're buying me a new bottle of vodka because you let it get to you."
"You don't know what it's like, Tony," Doctor Banner stressed, frowning at Tony. "I mean, I know you used to be the bad guy in a way, what with all your nuclear weapons, but you've never been a *literal* monster like me."
"Will you stop talking about yourself like you're Frankenstein's monster or something?" Tony asked, growing irritated. "It's getting old. You don't have to worry about every little thing that goes wrong in your life." His voice was above the appropriate indoor level, but his face was still almost expressionless.
"Oh, I'm sorry, let me just forget about the fact that I'm constantly one wrong look away from destroying everything around me. Let me just forget about the fact that I've now unleashed a second monster into this world when the first one was never wanted in the first place. The gamma radiation should have killed me and right now I'm kind of wishing it did," Bruce couldn't quite reach Tony's level of sarcasm but the billionaire mentally applauded his efforts. The fact that Bruce was constantly suicidal *killed* Stark on the inside, but being hard on his companion was the only way to achieve anything.
"That's really selfish, you know," the shorter man said. He had a smug look on his face, which Bruce hated. "You want to take away one of the world's greatest scientists just because you can't come to terms with who you are." Tony then looked behind Bruce and saw a couch pillow ripped open on the ground, stuffing spilling out of it.
"Look, I understand that you're angry but there's nothing I can do to stop feeling this way," Bruce said, his volume matching Tony's. This was rare, for his voice never seemed to be able to even travel across a room. "I'm undesirable and even though I've accomplished a lot, it doesn't mean anything."
"You know what I hate about you?" Tony asked, stepping closer to Banner.
"Humor me," the other man said, sliding his hands into his pockets.
"I hate that you hate yourself," Tony told him with a serious expression. "You're like an attention seeking teenaged girl calling herself ugly except you're not looking for attention and you're not ugly."
"But my actions are. Remember Harlem before I got to it? Those were the days," Bruce spat. Tony found it odd that he was so worked up yet he wasn't showing any signs of letting the Other Guy loose. Bruce's top two buttons were undone on his shirt and his glasses were on. This was the obvious sign, for anyone who knew him, that he was feeling relaxed. Tony thought that maybe he had learned from him and was taking comfort in yelling at him. "I can't be sorry for hating myself. If that bothers you, I'll be on the next flight back to Calcutta."
"As if I'd even let you leave my sight in this condition," Tony argued. He wouldn't let him out of his sight in any condition, actually.
"What *condition*?" Bruce asked through clenched teeth. For the first time in his life, Tony Stark was growing tired of an argument.
"Vulnerable wreck condition," Tony replied smugly. He took another step toward Bruce and tilted his head to the side. He brought a hand up to play with the buttons on the other man's shirt and hummed in approval. Bruce was opening his mouth to say something, but Tony didn't want to hear it so he covered the doctor's mouth with his own. Bruce didn't reciprocate, but that's okay because Tony didn't expect him to. When he pulled away from Banner's soft lips, Tony smirked and waggled his eyebrows.
"What was that for?" Bruce asked, taken aback.
"Well," Tony started with a rather long exhale. "I wanted to shut you up. I wanted to know what kind of Chapstick it was I saw you put on earlier. It was a late birthday present." Bruce didn't exactly know how to feel. He wasn't about to complain, but he was questioning his friend's motives.
"Are you taking advantage of me because I'm mad at you?" Bruce asked.
"You're mad at me?" Tony asked, playing dumb. "I thought you were overjoyed with my presence. Truly. Look, Banner, I don't invite you over all the time to help me run my business. I'm a big boy who wears big boy pants."
"And I don't ask to visit just for your R&D labs," Bruce quipped with a smile. Tony had apparently got him either relaxed or annoyed enough to flirt. Stark hadn't seen him flirt since he took him out for drinks and the doctor successfully tried to get a married lawyer's number.
"You do it for my dashing good looks, right?" Tony asked, only half joking. He took his hands off of Bruce, realizing that the sudden closeness may have been making him uncomfortable. Instead, Bruce pulled him back again and pressed their foreheads together gently.
"If that's what you want," the doctor said with a small smile. "Then you keep telling yourself that."
"You've gotten sassy," Tony noted. He jerked his head forward to nip at Bruce's bottom lip. "I've taught you well." Bruce laughed softly before they both allowed a solid minute of comfortable silence.
"I need to fix this," Doctor Banner whispered. The billionaire noted a hint of gruffness in the man's voice, which made him smirk involuntarily. "I know you didn't plan on staying in New York long, but I wanted to use your labs here in the tower to create a cure." They exchanged a knowing glance, as Tony knew exactly what Bruce meant by a 'cure.'
"For your lady friend?" Tony asked, shifting his weight onto his right leg. He still had his forehead pressed against the other man's, which was surprisingly comfortable. Bruce nodded which made both their forehead skin wrinkle. Tony thought that was cute but decided not to vocalize his thoughts and ruin the serious moment. "Well, now that I know exactly how to relax you..."
"Is my attraction to you going to be used as a form of blackmail now, Mr. Stark?" Bruce asked with a playful smile.
"Aha, so you *do* just drop by for my looks," Tony said, taking a step back and pointing at the scientist in front of him. "I feel used. Like a cheap whore after midnight."
"All jokes aside, Tony, will you help me?" Bruce asked. He rubbed his hands together like he was uncomfortable. "I could use a mind like yours."
"Well, it'd be nice knowing that I'm not *just* a pretty face to you," the shorter man shrugged. Bruce took off his glasses and raised an eyebrow. "And I know it'd make you happier than anything, because I know you need to do this for yourself. Of course I'll help. On one condition, though."
"What's that?" Bruce asked hesitantly.
"I get to kiss you whenever I want," Tony smiled. That little shit. Bruce would have protested but he really didn't mind.
"As long as it doesn't interfere with my work," Banner reasoned with a stubborn Tony. He didn't know why he was making such a petty deal, but it was keeping him calm. Surely the thought of kissing Tony again wasn't what was relaxing him. It must have been the endorphins being released from human contact. Yes. Endorphins.
"Deal, my pretty little Monsieur," Tony agreed as he stuck out his hand. Bruce gladly shook it and then stuffed both of his hands into his pants pockets. Tony began to walk toward the elevator. "I'm gonna go call my people in Seattle. Come get me if you need anything." Bruce nodded. "Anything." Tony threw a wink his way before entering the elevator. Bruce wasn't sure of what was going on but he had a feeling his emotions and his new project were not going to work well together.