Bruce's dream.
Wrists struggled, but were strapped down. So was his chest. A large nylon strap lashed tightly across, constricting his breathing. His voice was stifled. He was unable to scream, unable to get away. The men around him were faceless. Their voices without feeling, without life. He was nothing to them. He was a project. Helplessly he watched as needles slipped under his skin. Green clouded all his vision, but he remained immobile, at their mercy. Inside his mind he could hear the roars, but nothing changed. There was a burning all over his skull as though electrical currents were searing all across it.
A voice called him "it".
A severe pain shot up his spine.
Bruce's eyes snapped open.
Slowly he sat up in his bed. Each second as he rose gave him a slight comfort. He was not a captive, not a project. Sweat dripped from his face and it sprayed off his lips with each breath that he heaved. The smell in his room was off. He looked down.
"Shit."
His bed was soaked in urine. He threw off his covers and got up. In the bathroom the cool tiles felt good under his feet. He turned the taps on in the shower, took off his clothes, then stepped into the chamber. The water was soothing. He took steady breaths. He began to feel clean. It was a dream.
But it had felt so real. The feelings of being an object of experiment caused him to shudder. Bruce turned the water to cold. He had to freeze that feeling. He had to kill it.
In a lab.
Tony had been waiting for Bruce for 30 minutes. That was too long. Bruce always arrived when he said he would arrive. Tony allowed himself to finish his 3rd cup of coffee before he went to wake Banner up. It was almost 9am.
A few minutes later he was outside Bruce's door. After a good minute of knocking, Tony rolled his eyes.
"Javis, unlock the door."
"Sir, I'm not sure Dr. Banner would appreciate-"
"Javis." Tony stated his name impatiently.
"Yes sir."
It was his tower. At least that was his very immature trump card. Whatever, he thought. This was a desperate situation. Banner was late for a science appointment.
The lock clicked.
"Thank you." Tony said as he strolled into Dr. Banner's huge lab. The door to his living quarters (too big to be an "apartment") were at the far end of the lab (and it was far). Tony pushed open the door.
"Banner?" he called as he walked into Bruce's room. "Wake up, Doctor."
Tony stopped short. The bathroom door was open so he could see in. The shower was on. Under the stream sat Bruce, shivering.
"Bruce!"
Tony rushed in, grabbing a towel off a rack. He quickly turned off the water and the sound of running water that had filled the chamber was replaced with the sound of Bruce's chattering teeth. Tony knelt next to Bruce and wrapped the towel around his shoulders. He got back up and went to get more towels. Tony returned promptly with 2 of them.
"Bruce, can you hear me?"
Bruce's eyes were shut, but he responded.
"Y-y-yes.
"How long have you been in here?"
"I d-d-on't kn-o-ow."
Tony didn't press the issue. It could wait.
"Come on."
He helped his shivering friend to his feet and led him from the shower.
"Can you dry yourself?"
Bruce nodded through the clattering of his teeth. He took one of the towels in his shaking hands and wrapped it around his waist. Tony handed him the other one. Fiercely Bruce toweled off his head and pulled the other towel more tightly around his shoulders. Tony went into Bruce's closet and drawers and come out again with something for him to wear.
"Put these on." He said, handing the clothes over. Tony took back the towels as they were handed to him. When Bruce was clothed and a few degrees warmer, he looked at Tony awkwardly. Tony was concerned but did not know exactly how to communicate that concern.
"You should go back to bed." He said.
"Yeah." was all Bruce said.
"Ok well... I'll be in the lab one floor up all day. I hope to see you." Tony said.
Bruce nodded, stilled feeling incredibly embarrassed. He just wanted Tony to leave.
"Later." Tony said and left.
As Tony stood up the elevator he felt a little shaken.
"That was weird."
"Yes sir."
"Jarvis, I want you to monitor Dr. Banner's vitals and let me know if anything gets too high or too low."
"Again Sir, I can't imagine the doctor would appreciate the intrusion."
"Just do it, Jarvis."
"Yes sir."
Tony didn't get nearly as much work completed as he had hoped. He was highly distracted by the thought of the morning's strange incident. Tony just wanted to be assured that Bruce was alright. It took a lot not to just go back up there and ask him about it. But Tony really felt that Bruce would come, that he was fine.
Bruce did go back to sleep, but only after he got his bedding into the washer. He was too tired to give any worry to the state of his mattress, so he just laid down on the floor and drifted off for a few hours. When he finally awoke, the last thing he wanted was to show his face in Tony's lab. However, Tony had been nothing but a friend to him since the minute they shook hands. He owed Stark at least his presence after putting him through the morning's little drama. Bruce let out a sigh and left his bedroom.
"Hey." Bruce said sheepishly as he entered the lab.
"You made it." Tony said happily as he turned around.
Bruce just wanted to get to work alongside Tony, but he couldn't quite manage to get himself moving. He stood awkwardly.
"Tony I-"
He had Stark's full attention.
"I'm sorry about this morning."
"Are you ok?" Tony asked, ignoring the apology entirely.
Bruce nodded. "Yeah, I just-"
Tony put up a hand.
"You know I'm curious, but you don't have to tell me anything because you think you owe me, Banner."
Bruce knew it, but he realized as he had begun to speak, that he wanted to talk to Tony. It had been such a long time since he had a friend, since he even had the option of talking to another person about anything whether he wanted that or not.
"No, it's fine." Bruce assured him. "I want to."
Tony nodded. "Alright."
"It's just..." Bruce began. "I had a nightmare. They were doing tests on me and I couldn't get away. The other guy wouldn't come, like they had subdued him or something. When I woke up I felt awful and I needed a shower. I got in, then I turned it cold to clear my head. I didn't want to sleep again any time soon so I just sat down and tried to clear my head some more. I guess I lost track of time and got sleepy again. ...I'm sorry. I never would have wanted you to find me like that."
Tony shook his head. "Oh come on, Banner! I don't care. I'm glad you're fine."
Bruce looked at the floor. "Thanks"
"Bruce."
He looked back up at Tony.
"They'll never do run tests or experiment on you."
Bruce shrugged as he walked over to the computers.
"I hope you're right."
Tony clapped him on the shoulder. "You've got a lot more people in your corner than you did when you were running."
Bruce smiled.
That, thankfully, was true.
"And they aren't just people".
"And besides," Tony added as he turned back to his previous task, "They would never get past the big guy anyway."