Tony walked towards the living room, holding something in his hand. A piece of paper. It looked old. He found it in Bruce's jacket 'accidentally' in the lab a few hours ago and has been meaning to ask him about it. If only he could find the guy. The living room was the last place he will search before he asked Jarvis where was Bruce. Sure, he would have asked him before, but he wanted to have some fun while searching for his teammate. Seriously, why would Bruce keep something like this in his jacket pocket? Tony knew he shouldn't be asking personal things, but HE was Tony Stark, and Tony Stark always wanted to know everything.
He opened the doors to the living room in Avengers Tower as it is called now. He looked around. There was not even a fly in the damned room. He sighed.
"Jarvis?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Where's Bruce?"
"He's currently in his lab, sir."
Tony slapped himself. Of all the rooms in the tower, why didn't he searched on THAT room? He silently made way towards Bruce lab. Of course, most of the time they share a lab, but sometimes Bruce wanted some time alone to make experiments on how to eliminate the Other Guy. Or at least calm him down. So Tony made space in an unused lab room so Bruce could use it as his own.
Once in front of the lab, the doors opened and he entered. "Hey Big Guy! How're you doing?"
Bruce didn't even bother to look up from his computer screen while he typed away. "Fine, Tony. Just like any other day."
"I've looking for you."
"I've been told."
'Damn. Jarvis surely told him I was searching for him.' Tony thought as he watched the silent man type away some random notes in his computer. "Anyway, I was looking for you because I want to ask you something."
"Spit it out."
"I don't want to spit my saliva all over you." Tony smirked at his stupid pun. Bruce stopped typing just to glare at him. "OK. OK." Finally, he got his attention. "I 'accidentally' found this picture on your jacket. The one you left at my lab. And I had to wonder: Why will Bruce keep a picture of such a sexy chick?"
Bruce grabbed the picture from Tony's hand and put it away inside his pants' pocket. "She's no one you should be wondering about." He resumed his typing.
"Ouch. Don't talk to your science buddy like that. It hurts him…" Tony said with fake sadness.
"Well, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk anything from the past."
"She was an ex-girlfriend, wasn't she? Probably the last?"
Bruce stopped typing and looked at Tony. He said nothing as the billionaire took another seat beside Bruce. "I knew it. Your silence is music for my ears."
Bruce looked away. "Why do you want to know so much?"
"So I can find her and you two will be together forever and ever and then I can be your best man in the wedding. Please don't choose Captain. He should be the flower boy and Natasha will carry the bride dress's tail. Pepper, Jane and Darcy could be bridesmaids. I don't know where Clint fits in all this, probably another best man. And Thor will marry you two! Even though I have to ask him he can do that." Tony said. "Come on, buddy. I just want the… best that's… for you." He stopped as he saw Bruce had hidden his head between his hands. Tony stayed silent, fearing that if he said another word, Bruce will be upset with him. Or the Other Guy might come out. Yeah… that was basically why he knew better than to shut up around Bruce.
They stayed like that for a few more minutes while Tony cursed his loud mouth. He usually didn't care about people except those close to him like Pepper. Bruce was kind of his best friend. Not that he was going to admit that.
"Her name was Betty. Betty Ross." Bruce finally said, but he kept his head hidden.
Tony raised his eyebrow. "Ross? As in General Ross?" He could see a slight shiver in Bruce's skin at the mention of that name. Was that because the room was kind of cold, or did Bruce shiver in slight fear of the name?
"Yes." Bruce turned around to face him. "How did you know?"
"I did sell him a couple of weapons back in the day, you know, before I was kidnapped by the Ten Rings and disappeared three months." Tony did not liked to talk about the Ten Rings, or the Mandarin for that matter. He was glad that he got that arc reactor out of his system. It was a constant remainder of that experience anyway. "I stopped selling weapons to him after I became Iron Man."
Bruce nodded slightly, looking down at the floor.
"What? Are you… scared of the guy?"
Bruce moved uncomfortably in his seat. Again, silence.
"Dude, you can turn into a nine foot green smashing monster thanks to Gamma radiation and YOU are afraid of a simple general with a gun that can't even harm you? You have serious issues if that's the case…"
Bruce sighed. "The guy has been stalking my ass for almost eighth years now. He tried to experiment on me like if I was a lab rat and he has convinced the government that because I used a government experiment on me, my body belongs to them. He tried to kill me several times, he's obsessed." He hid his head again between his hands. "Anyone will be afraid of someone like that."
Tony kept looking at him. His face was expressionless.
"And the worst of all, he tried to get me away from… her."
Even if his face was expressionless, Tony felt sorry for the guy. "You wanted to marry her." He stated.
"Shut up."
"OK, sorry. What happened?"
Bruce took his time to answer. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "She… she was a doctor. Like me. We met in a lab where I was working with Gamma radiation. He was the daughter of General Ross, and he didn't even liked me even before the accident." He took a deep breath. "I worshipped the ground she walked on. She was beautiful and full of life. We became a couple even if the general did not approve of it. She never listened to him anyway." He chuckled at the statement. "But then, THAT happened. And it was never the same. Certain things happened and well, I ran away. I just wanted to protect her and before I knew it, I was the army's number one target."
Tony keep looking at him. He would die if he had to stay away from Pepper just to protect her.
"It stayed like that for a couple of years." Bruce continued as he closed his eyes and remembered. "Me running away to different countries and all. That's how I learned different languages. We have encountered a few times, but it was never under the best circumstances. I think you know the rest of the story."
Tony looked thoughtful for a moment. "We can still find her if you want."
"No."
"Why? Are you still trying to protect her?"
"Ross does not take his eye of his daughter for a second. Not now that I appeared in the news saving New York from an alien invasion as a certain big ugly green monster he dislikes to death."
"She's an adult."
"And the daughter of the general."
"Have you even tried to talk to her?"
Bruce sighed. "I don't want to repeat the same story all over again." He said. "I just want her to marry some guy worthy of her. Someone that can give her the kids she wants. Someone that the general doesn't dislike. That way, they can live happy. And forget about me."
"Come on, don't be so hard on yourself."
"I'm serious, Tony. You don't even know the half of it." Bruce returned to face the computer screen. "Will you just go? I don't want to talk about this." His voice sounded strange. Tony stood up. He could see Bruce's watery eyes as he put on his glasses again.
"Alright. I'll leave you alone."
"Thank you."
"But I still want to be your best man when you marry someday." Tony smirked, trying to enlighten the mood.
"I don't think I'll ever marry, Tony."
"Awww… Well, now that I know her name…"
"Tony…" Bruce said frustrated. His heart monitor started beeping.
"Ok. Just kidding." Tony said a little worried. "Just don't Hulk out on me, will you?"
"I won't if you leave."
"Alright, well, see you in the morning."
And Tony left. Bruce heart monitor stopped as he calmed down. He took out the picture he shoved in his pocket earlier. "I hope you're alright." He said to himself as he shoved the picture back into the pocket. "I really do…"