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Disclaimer: I own no characters, storylines or dialogue that comes from Marvel.

Chapter 2: Camaraderie

When Bruce first met Tony Stark, he had been struck by several things. His arrogance. His intelligence. His love of winding up anyone in his vicinity. His sarcasm. But mostly he had been struck by a sense of absolute camaraderie. And that was before Stark had even spoken to him.

When, seconds later, Tony introduced himself, apparently delighted to meet both Dr Banner the scientist and Dr Banner the Hulk, Bruce had been struck by how open he was. The only one with no barrier shooting up at the sight of him.

As the time passed, he was struck by things that were more and more astounding. Stark was the only one out there with a sense of humour about the Other Guy. Stark seemed to consider him an equal. Stark was unafraid of him. Stark trusted him. Stark understood him. Stark was on his side.

And for the first time in years Bruce felt almost comfortable in somebody else's presence. Comfortable enough to relax. To smile. To be in the presence of someone who had as much fun messing with people as he did. (His pretending-to-lose-his-temper-to-see-what-other-people-would-do bit was one of the few good things about his ... condition)

Nobody else on that stupid ship made him feel any more than some kind of unpredictable bomb that they'd rather wasn't there. As if he had chosen to come here and put them all in danger. Stark treated him like a person. Better, in fact, than he treated anyone else.

By the time Stark was poking him in jest, supposedly trying to provoke the Other Guy, Banner felt almost cheerful. He grinned at Tony's wide-eyed face as he watched him closely. And knew that Tony had had no intention of provoking the Other Guy at all. He had been showing that he trusted him. He had been giving them both something to smile about.

Shortly following that, Bruce felt again that sense of camaraderie as both he and Stark had to break Rogers' naivety with a point that they had thought of separately, but that had apparently not caught on to anyone else. He found himself relieved, pleased even, when he found out that Stark was hacking into SHIELD's files. At least he wasn't the only one who distrusted their recruiters.

At that point, the only person he trusted was Tony Stark.

Stark had proceeded to actually try and talk to him about it. About something real. As though he could see Bruce's inner conflicts, could see his pain, could see his fear. And at no point had he stopped eyeing Bruce with admiration, something he gathered was not normal for him. While they didn't entirely agree at the time, Bruce appreciated Tony's point of view. The only positive one he had ever heard where the Other Guy was concerned. He felt oddly safe right there. Safe in the company of the man that nobody else on the ship could stand.

The one thing that made Bruce angry, ironically, was everybody's fear that he would get angry. Had they not feared him so, they would have had less to fear. Again, only Stark seemed to get that. And as such, Stark was the only one who had at no point been the target of Bruce's anger.

Maybe that was why the Hulk had saved him. Someone in the world that had done nothing to anger either of them, and had instead trusted them.

Bruce considered all this as he lay in the bed in one of the many extra rooms (or suites) that Tony had permeating his building. He was exhausted, and should be asleep. But being made welcome here ... being made welcome anywhere made him feel so disoriented that he couldn't relax.

He finally drifted off somewhere around dawn.

What seemed like seconds later, he was awoken by a loud knock on the door.

"Wake up, rise and shine, we're off to bid Reindeer Games farewell!"

Bruce smiled at the sound of Tony's voice, and tried to pry his eyelids apart. He became aware of his door opening, and Tony's voice far closer as he said, "Got you some clothes, and some coffee."

As he spoke, the smell of the coffee reached Bruce's nose and he felt the soft thump of clothing being tossed onto his bed. He managed to open his eyes in time to see a little metal tray pulling back from his bedside table into a contraption in the wall, from where a cup of coffee had been procured.

He turned his eyes to Stark, who conceded, "All right, Jarvis made the coffee. Now let's move, Banner, we don't want to miss the chance to hug and kiss our new bud goodbye, and swap pen pal addresses."

Bruce grinned at that and finally managed to sit up. Frankly, the fact that Stark made him laugh was probably one of his favourite things about him. There weren't many people who shared his sense of humour, although he tended to be more subtle about it than Stark. People appreciated a funny Hulk decidedly less than a funny Iron Man.

"Be ready in ten," he told Stark, who gave him a thumbs-up before strutting out again.

He grabbed the coffee and sipped it gratefully, feeling as calm as he could ever remember feeling. Then he stumbled out of bed and went to the bathroom to splash his face. He peered then into the mirror at his reflection and watched for a bit. He looked tired, but relaxed. When had he last looked relaxed in the mirror? When it wasn't the Other Guy glaring back at him, he usually looked strained and bitter.

After a pause, he moved back into the room and donned the pants and yellow shirt Tony had left him. He could tell that these clothes were expensive and better quality than anything he had ever felt in his life.

Sort of like the camaraderie he felt with the man who was waiting for him in his over-the-top convertible, before he climbed in and they shot off to meet the others.

And all Bruce could think as he grinned over at the bragging Tony Stark was that he liked it.

x x x

TBC