A/N: Welcome to my story. Be prepared for some interesting things.

First off, I want you to be aware that the Avengers still happened, just without the Hulk. There's no garuntees he'll be in here at ALL but Bruce will be of course. I've made him younger, a senior high school student. Everything else you can learn as you go, but I hope you like it. Bruce is also somewhat OoC, but... well, you can let me know.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything except the plot of this fic. All rights to Marvel, those lucky bastards.

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After an uneventful fly around New York, there was absolutely nothing to do.

Only a streak of red and gold could be seen as Ironman sped through the air, using the spare time to test-drive his new suit. The propulsion on his last boots had been perfect, as most things he made were, but this one needed some work. He had added another property to the suits makeup, so it was a little heavier, but he could withstand more heat with the resilient metal. The paint had only just dried when he called for it, and then he was shooting out the window in a shower of bullet-proof glass. This heavier suit needed more power for sustained flight, and it was a little bit more bulky than he was used to.

"Okay, Jarvis, give me another 10 percent."

The suit obliged with a small 'ping' and he was going even faster, through the clouds and impossibly higher. Tony watched the numbers flash across the screen, zoning in on the coordinates and making a mental note of the temperature and height at the same time. He knew the suit was good with heat, but how was it with cold?

"Sir, the suit is at 90 percent power capacity."

Well, that was certainly a lot of power for only an hour flight. "Okay, give me half the core power to the thrusters." The robot obeyed him without question, unusually quiet compared to his normal, cheeky narrative. The light on Ironman's chest dimmed imperceptibly, and the fire from his boots extended a few inches. Higher and higher he climbed into the sky, murmuring commands and straining to go faster and faster.

"Sir, might I suggest returning home to recalibrate?"

Before Tony could answer one of the boots spluttered and exploded off his leg, propelling him in the opposite direction with a force. "Jarvis, cut the power down 60 percent," he shouted, putting his hands out and steadying himself with a spurt of blue power. Sufficiently stabilized, he sighed and looked down at the water and the ripples caused by the boot. Ah, damn.

"Sir, Miss Potts is on the line."

Tony nodded and let a smile quirk his lips, already flying towards home. "Sure, put her on." A screen appeared in front of his face and the disgruntled image of Pepper showed up. Sometimes he wished he didn't have high definition, just so he couldn't see her scowl. "Hey Potts, how're y-"

"Tony, what are you doing?" She was shuffling some papers and glaring at the screen, a fine eyebrow raised. Uh-oh, what had he done now? Or perhaps not done… "Just taking the suit out for a test run, you know," he shrugged, waving at some people in an airplane as he zoomed on by, "trying to see the resistance to temperature change." She seemed to accept his answer in stride, but her sigh was exasperated. "You know you have that charity meeting today."

Oh, right. He knew he'd forgotten something.

Instead, "Oh, was that today?"

Pepper had signed him up for a charity thing. He was going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder and teach some snot-nosed brat for the next month. Some sort of mentorship thing; all the money would go to the citizens who'd lost things in the last big fight on New York. Something about aliens and Asgardian Gods and magical staffs. The usual, as far as Tony was concerned. He didn't really see why it was such a big deal, but with Steve off doing humanitarian work Pepper had decided it was the least he could do. After everything was said and done, Thor and taken Loki off to their own planet or whatever, and there really wasn't much to say for Clint and Natasha. They sort of disappeared, but Tony figured they were fucking each other's brains out somewhere. It was high time the Hawk and got some and high time they both got rid of the tension there. Anyway, to do his part Pepper signed him up for a mentorship program. Hell, Tony wouldn't have been surprised if the whole thing was her idea.

"Yes, it's today. In ten minutes. Tony, I swear to God if you're not there I'm going to smack you."

"Oh, should I break out the ball gag and paddle?"

"Tony!"

"I'm just kidding Pep, don't worry. I'll be there."

"Okay, okay," she was flushing now, still not used to his offhand comments after all these years, "just make sure you make it on time. They won't wait for you."

"Yes they will."

With that said and done, Tony hung up before receiving a reply, twisting his way through two buildings and scaring a flock of pigeons into flight. Damned birds, more like rats with wings, really. He swerved through the city and grinned at the gasps of awe and the 'hey, it's Ironman!'s all the way home. He entered through the shattered window and enjoyed the sound of glass being crushed under his weight. At least until he remembered the lack of coverage on his foot.

"Jesus, sweet mother of-" he clamped a metal hand down on his face and hopped one-legged to the couch, where he lifted the face plate and collapsed. Small shards of glass poked out of the bottom of his foot, but so accustomed to pain he was merely irritated. He was about to call Pepper when he realized she would be at the mentorship auction. He didn't trust any of his machines to do it for him either; he was redoing their code because one of them had fritzed last week and he didn't know why. Most of the coding was the same for all of them, so if one screwed up they were all bound for it. So more work for him; not that he minded it really. In fact he fucking loved it.

But he doubted very much that Pepper would believe his lateness was due to picking fragments of glass out of his foot. Glaring at his foot, he hobbled downstairs to his haven; his workshop.

His Nirvana.

It would only take about an hour, and as he got Jarvis to remove the remaining suit pieces from his person, he smiled. Surely, it could wait that long.

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"Bruce, I swear to god, you better be on time!"

"I will! Stop yelling at me!"

Glaring at his bedroom door, the teenager scowled and slammed it shut, turning and kicking his bed post out of anger. The wooden frame creaked and then collapsed, the concrete brick he used to support it slipping out from beneath the stub where the leg had once been. He kicked that one out a few months ago.

Like a balloon with a hole poked in it, Bruce deflated and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. Really, he didn't see what her deal with. It wasn't like she had been signed up for this without permission. It wasn't like her name was going to be in newspapers everywhere, getting unwanted attention from the media.

He didn't even like Tony Stark.

The fact of the matter was he was a genius, but he knew it and he flaunted it. It just wasn't right, the way he went around sleeping with people and saving the world and being otherworldly handsome. Okay, so maybe some of it was jealousy. But Bruce knew he was a genius too, and he didn't scream it at the world as loud as he could. Well, sometimes he screamed, but never because he wanted people to hear him. Mostly it was a lack of control thing, and lack of control was exactly what got him into this situation.

Since he could remember he'd been in and out of orphanages and foster homes alike. Either they couldn't handle him, or he couldn't handle them. For a long time he'd been on the run, but the police found him and dragged him back. He'd been in this home the longest with his step parents, Rachel and Clyde. They pretended to love him, but he very much doubted the sincerity. Back to the point, with different homes came different schools, and it took a long time to convince every one how smart he was. It didn't matter if he showed up for the classes; give him the textbook and everything was fine. He was exempt from exams when he was around for them, and he did his own studies on the side.

Mostly gamma radiation, it was somewhat of a specialty.

The school had taken notice of his smarts and put him in a special program. He was now taking university level courses, and he was writing his own books besides. As much as Bruce loved his work, he hated his life. People talked to him like he was a kid, and took control of things he wanted to be in control of. It didn't help his anger problems, and he became quite violent sometimes. He nearly hit Rachel once, and Clyde went ballistic. It was probably why he didn't trust him anymore.

But now, he had supposedly just 'won' a draw to be mentored by Tony Stark, or Ironman. Nobody just wins that kind of thing. The university was going to pay a pretty penny to get him this mentorship though, and if it meant access to equipment that the school wouldn't give him otherwise, then that meant Bruce was in. It didn't mean he had to like how it happened, though. People signing him up for things without asking first. Fuck no.

With a sigh, he pulled his shirt over his head, stopping to glance at himself in the full length mirror. He was lean and muscled, the slight definition of abs indenting his smooth skin. Eyebrows knitting together, he scowled at his reflection and tossed his shirt at the mirror, making it wobble. He hated how he looked; he didn't even work out. But his figure always gave people the wrong impression. To call him anti-social was only a fragment of what he was, really.

"It's not like he's going to be on time, either..." he muttered darkly, glaring at a science book on his bed. Tony Stark was on the front, his trademark smirk and mischievous gleam in his eyes. Bruce grabbed the charcoal suit from his closet and put it on quickly, sitting on the bed and tying his shoes. Outside Clyde honked the horn.

"You coming Bruce?!"

Oh yeah, he exited his bedroom, I'm coming alright.

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Pepper glared at Tony as he landed, the mask on his suit lifting with a gentle hiss of air. He grinned at her charmingly, and with a single command the suit detached itself from his body. "Miss Potts, good to see you. You look beautiful, by the way," he slipped a hand around her waist, kissing her temple. She smelled like strawberries.

"Thanks, you look great too." She rolled her eyes, but leaned against him and pecked the corner of his mouth. Regardless of their lack of relationship, they remained close. What didn't work in the past shouldn't have an effect of what could happen in the future. And besides all that, they were both content to love each other in the non-romantic way.

She lead him into the next room and then hallway, her black heels clicking against the tile floor. "They waited for you," she said as they entered a larger hall, with clusters of tables and the hushed murmur of guests. Tony grinned and ruffled her hair, making her grimace as he headed towards the podium.

"Of course they did."

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A/N: The next chapters will be longer, I always do the first one smaller just so you guys have a taste. Sorry for Clyde and Rachel; they won't play a huge part in all this, but enough of one that they were worth mentioning.

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