Hi there. Umm... This is my first (published) story, so, yeah. I was listening to a song called Your Guardian Angel (by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus if anyone's interested) and this popped into my head. The verses below are from that song.
I own nothing except for the grammatical mistakes and typos.
Rated T because of their kiss. If it's an inappropriate rating someone please tell me and I'll change it to what's more suitable. Thanks!
Now please, read the story :)
I'll be there for you
Tony Stark is not in love. At all. Nope. Except… maybe he is. Those dark curls, here and there covering the brown (and sometimes green) eyes, that shy smile… Tony just can't stop looking at him. He glances anytime he can, but tries so hard to hide it from Bruce. Don't get him started on the way Bruce talks – the voice, the words themselves…
Yeah. Maybe he really is in love. He just can't admit it to himself. And if he can't admit it to himself, how could he admit to Bruce? Ol' Bruce Banner, his teammate, his Science Bro, his best friend. Tony Stark doesn't deserve someone as awesome and brilliant as Bruce Banner, anyway.
- A -
After the successful mission, Tony thinks they can finally go home. He needs some time to think about his plan. He's going to invite Bruce to the café down the street from the tower. They're going to drink tea (Bruce) and coffee (Tony).
They're going to talk like they usually do. They're going to talk about things like their experiments and about things that happened recently and about the weather… Ok, maybe not the weather. And then he's going to tell Bruce that he loves him.
His daydreaming is interrupted by one Steve Rogers, saying they all have to go to the debriefing. Damn you Steve. I was actually thinking about important things instead of me for once.
- A -
The debriefing is fun since he got to sit right next to Bruce and they could chat quietly while Fury was giving them the 'Please less property damage next time' talk for the umpteenth time.
Or at least, he was trying to give them the 'Please less property damage next time' talk. Tony kept interrupting every time he mentioned the Hulk, and would deflect Fury's arguments with saying things like 'the Hulk saves a lot of people with what he does' and 'not all property damage is from the Hulk' ("Seriously, didn't you guys see the villains blowing up a building just for fun – the Hulk doesn't do that, so why are you taking it out on him?")
When the debriefing is over, though, things become a bit stressful for Tony. He knows his plan is the best one he can come up with, so there's no use in stalling. He set his mind to the new mission: invite Bruce to go out with him.
He was already standing right next to him, he just needed to reach out with his hand, and touch his shoulder, and Bruce would turn around, and he would look at Tony with those beautiful eyes of his, and Tony would ask him out, and -
The sirens went off, meaning the Avengers had work to do. Again. He has to wait till the end of the mission to finally invite Bruce out. Damn you hellicarrier and your poor timing!
- A -
Of course it's a bomber. Of course they figure it out a bit late: they catch the guy and when they see he only has blueprints for a bomb and some explosive powder left from a bomb, they finally put it together. There's a bomb somewhere nearby.
Tony finds it quite quickly (the guy was so clumsy, he didn't even hide it properly) and Bruce runs up to help him defuse the bomb. They open it up and they see the timer quickly approaching the ten second mark. Tony grabs it, turns it around to see where the wires are, but they're too late.
The bomb explodes right in their faces. Bruce (now the Hulk) gets blown through the wall while Tony (thankfully in his armor) hits a main beam and of fucking course the suit gets dented and he just knows he broke at least two ribs.
He tells J.A.R.V.I.S to scan the environment and to check if Bruce is ok. When he's informed that, yes, the Hulk is alright, Tony allows himself a moment of dizziness (he probably has a mild concussion, too, but he doesn't really care at the moment) before finally getting up.
He has to find the Hulk and calm him down to check if Bruce is really ok.
- A -
It isn't that hard to locate a shouting angry green giant. Tony takes off his helmet and tries to talk to him and it works, the Hulk is starting to calm down. He shrinks and becomes a bit less green and thank god we made those expanding and shrinking pants, so he doesn't have to be naked right now and he's finally Bruce again. But he looks exhausted, so he just lies there on the ground. Tony sees he's battling with sleep and he can't help but feel bad for him.
He himself got hurt, but Bruce didn't. The Hulk came out just in time. Tony knows it hurt. And maybe it still hurts, he doesn't know - he hasn't asked yet.
He comes closer and he hears it – something is moving above Bruce. Tony looks up and sees a rod which is just about to fall. It's just about to fall… on Bruce. On Bruce who is still lying on the floor. And he would be hurt again. And Tony just can't have that.
- A -
Captain America has better hearing than everyone else because of the super soldier serum, but he could've been half-deaf and he would still hear the explosion that blasts apart the building where Tony and Bruce are.
He's very tense, but then he sees the Hulk out of the building and not a minute later, Iron man flies after him to calm him down. He's relieved that they're ok, but they're going to hear it from him later.
He isn't prepared for the ear-ripping scream of a familiar voice. They left the bomber to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were with them and he along with Black Widow, Hawkeye and Thor ran towards the sound.
- A -
Tony is looking into the most beautiful eyes he has ever seen. Except this time they're filled with fear. With fear for him.
"W-why would you d-do this? For me of all people?" Bruce asks, his voice shaking.
Tony just smiles, the pain from the hole in his chest too great for him to breathe properly, let alone talk. He also keeps his mouth closed because he doesn't want to spit blood all over Bruce's beautiful face.
He can barely keep himself up, high enough above Bruce so the rod (which broke through his armor and his muscles and his ribs and his lungs and maybe brushed the side of the Arc Reactor) doesn't touch Bruce's chest.
Just when he thinks his hands are about to fail him, there are other hands holding him and lifting him away. It's Steve. He's the one moving him away from Bruce.
The paramedics finally arrive and they have to pull the rod out of Tony's chest so they can get him on the gurney. Bruce catches up and still looks terrified. He keeps looking at Tony like why did you do that and you shouldn't have done that and I'm not worth it and again Why?
Tony gathers all of the strength he has left and smiles weakly.
"Luv y'…" is all he can say and then his eyes start to close. No matter what they do to try to get his attention, it doesn't work. His eyelids made up their mind and they're closing. But just before they close, Tony can see something light up in Bruce's eyes and he realizes, he didn't get to invite him out, but he still told him what he wanted to.
And at the same time he managed to save Bruce from hurting.
- A -
When Tony opens his eyes, all he can see is a big blob of white. He remembers telling J.A.R.V.I.S. to send Bruce a few lines he remembered from a song, if he'll want to know why Tony did what he did.
I will never let you fall,
I'll stand up with you forever.
I'll be there for you through it all -
Even if saving you sends me to heaven…
He still doesn't know where he is, when a gentle hand carefully grabs his own. He looks to the side and he can see those beautiful eyes again. He isn't sure if he's actually dead or not.
"So, did it send you to heaven?"
It's a familiar voice, but he can't connect it with a face. He does connect it with the eyes, though, and he slowly smiles.
"You're here. With me. If this isn't heaven, then I don't know what is."
Bruce smiles.
"I agree." He moves, so that their faces are just an inch apart.
They kiss.
The end.
If you liked it, please R&R, if you didn't like it, please R&R - basically, I don't know if it's good and I could really use some feedback!
Thanks for reading!