Hello beauties!

So, I've read quite a few Tony/Bruce stories, and most of the time, if the two are sneaking around, its always Bruce being the mistress which, I see the appeal for. But I got to thinking, what if the roles were reversed? So tada! Here's some complicated, hurt/comfort love and romance for ya'll. :)

Bruce was woken by the deafening startle of the phone ringing and Tony swearing under his breath.

"Hello?" He asked as he shifted his weight in bed, lying on his back, using his free hand to scratch at the stubble on his throat. Beside him, Tony huffed a bit angrily and stretched out on his stomach, the Arc reactor peeking out and flooding the sheets with a bright, mellowed light as he drew up on his elbows and let his head droop. Bruce was trying to listen to the woman talking sadly on the line but was getting distracted as he heard his partner crack every vertebra in his spine by rolling his body in two fluid movements, languid and tired as his forehead rested on Bruce's shoulder, shamelessly eavesdropping, ready to count the lies.

"Bruce, you've been at Stark Tower for two days, when are you returning home?" Betty sounded cautious and at the end of her nerves, almost guarding herself for the same answer Bruce always gave her.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. wants these plans finished by the end of the month; we've been pulling all-nighters just so I can come home earlier than expected."

Lie Number One- Fury hadn't given them any work to do after the cleanup of Loki's little shenanigan.

Lie Number Two- There was no dead line; Bruce could go home whenever he wanted.

"Oh…" Betty let the phrase just pass as a sigh; as if she wanted to say something, but knew it wasn't going to change a thing. Tony kissed Bruce's bare shoulder lightly in the silence. "Is everything going good? I mean, I know you're busy with work but you're doing what you love right? It's worth it?" And Tony knows she's really asking, 'Is it worth never seeing me, and leading me on, and missing out on our family?' but if Bruce understands that, then he covers it well with his smile and soft breathing.

"It's great here. Mr. Stark really keeps the nicest equipment, it's refreshing to work in a lab without people being weary of every step I take. You know I have an awful sweet tooth and this place truly is candy land." He chuckled and Betty matched it fairly real enough. "But you should be getting to bed, you have students to teach."

"Yea cell theory isn't going to lecture itself." Her glittery giggle was interrupted with a yawn that contagiously made Bruce do the same, Tony following suit. "Good night sweet heart, I love you."

There was a pause, and Tony stiffened as he waited for Bruce's reply, nipping lightly at the soft underside of his throat to remind Bruce to answer, carefully. "Good night, Betty." He said with a sweet gasp and ended the call, giving Tony a warning glare.

"Mr. Stark is my father, my name is Tony." He interjected darkly, utter disdain dripping from his voice. "You know I hate when people call me Mr. Stark."

As if to silent apologize, Bruce brought his hand up and caught Tony's cheek, holding his gaze. "I know… I'm sorry. It's just, the more professional she thinks we are the better. It's safer that way." The billionaire grumbled something and brought his weight to bare down on Bruce fully, the Arc reactor cool and thrumming against Bruce's skin as his fingers trailed up to feel in in the renewed darkness.

"Yea, yea whatever. Still, she sounds like she's slowly catching on. She's a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them." A beat of silence before, "If you want things professional between us I could file papers for our sexual excursions, even get someone to notarize it." The joke was ill placed and rudely spoken, and Bruce had a feeling Tony deserved to say it, but he still wasn't in the mood for it, not right now.

"Must you act like a jealous girlfriend?" he asked, as he caught the glint in Tony's eyes.

"Must she keep calling you like a nagging wife?" He countered, rising up to make himself appear larger, as if to puff up his feathers. "You've only been here for two days and she's called four times. Doesn't she trust you?"

"Well, apparently not and really, she shouldn't since I am having an affair." Oh, and there was Bruce's first truth of the night.

This was all just an affair.

He felt like the two of them were standing on separate ends of the Earth suddenly, looking down at the other and loathing every fiber of their being. For a split second, he thought Tony might throw him out of the bed.

"Stop that." The billionaire chided and kissed at Bruce with a subtle passion, like solving a problem. "Don't call me just an affair and don't think you're doing anything wrong, and don't think you're running back home. You're mine for the weekend." Another kiss, drawn out and almost as soft ad gentle as if it was their first. "You promised."

And as Bruce kissed him back, the only sound in the room was the rustle of the covers, the slight spring of the mattress as they moved and the awful echo of something fragile, like a soul or a heart maybe, breaking.

Sooo? How do ya'll like it? Don't worry there will be more, if you guys like the idea and want more, that is. :)

What's next? Steamy sex? Anger? That awful morning after? A lovely, "forget about it" shower? More of the team? More Pepper or Betty, what? TELL ME! I write to please my readers! So give your opinion!

Your loyal and excited writer,

Castion-and-Clockwork