A/N: This was supposed to be from Bruce's POV, but Tony just could not be suppressed. So, more Tony POV. :D
Warnings: Language
Tin Soldiers: Part 2
Weirdly enough, Bruce is not Tony's favorite person on Earth. That honor belongs to Pepper and Rhodey (he's never quite sure who he admires more- Pepper kisses him and that's pretty great, but Rhodey keeps Tony from killing himself doing something stupid, and that's pretty awesome too).
Bruce is, well, Bruce is hard to define. He's been a part of Tony's life longer than anyone else he knows. At this point, Tony isn't even sure who Tony Stark is without Bruce Wayne at his side. So really, Bruce can't be Tony's favorite person, because Bruce is as much a part of who Tony is as Tony himself. (If that makes any sense at all- Tony thinks it does, but Pepper had only stared at him when he tried to explain, so maybe it's actually crazy-talk).
The Avengers don't really get it. But, then, they've never met Bruce so he supposes he can forgive them their ignorance. But, he's hopeful that they'll manage to see past the grumpy prickly exterior to the warm fuzzy (and okay, still pretty grumpy) core of Bruce.
The first time Bruce visits is… an experience.
It's been nearly three months since New York and the sky opening and Loki and- Tony has to force his mind away from those thoughts. It's been three months since it. Bruce hasn't visited but, hell, Gotham has its own shit going on. It always does.
Bruce arrives before the others are up for the day. He's dressed in Armani and sporting the darkest circles under his eyes that Tony has seen since himself in the mirror every morning.
"Late night?" Tony waggles his eyebrows suggestively. Bruce has this weird playboy persona thing going on. The younger man was never one for drinking and partying before he vanished for seven years, but now- now it's like he trying to be all the worst bits of Tony rolled into one amazingly douchebagy package. Tony finds the whole act both upsetting and adorable, not that he'll ever tell Bruce that.
Bruce does not deign to respond beyond a mild glare. He reaches out and snatches Tony's smoothie from the table and drinks. Tony rolls his eyes. He snaps his fingers at DUM-E and the bot starts fumbling with the smoothie making equipment.
Bruce has never been one for long conversations, so they get to work. Tony's not really sure why Bruce thinks this is relaxing. He's just left behind his work in Gotham to come do Tony's work in New York. It's weird, but then, Bruce is weird so Tony guesses it makes a strange sort of sense.
They've worked for a few hours in relative silence (that is to say, Bruce has been mostly quiet and Tony hasn't stopped talking) when the glass door hisses open.
"Tony," Banner says, his face buried in his clipboard, "Something about this reading is-" He looks up and blushes violently.
"I – uh, I didn't realize you had company," he mutters. "I'll come back later."
Tony exchanges an amused glance with Bruce. "This isn't company," Tony gestures to Bruce with a smirk.
"Nope, He hasn't even offered me a drink yet." Bruce smiles at Banner. "Of course, I'm not convinced he offers anyone drinks. He's a terrible host."
Bruce's casual air seems to relax Banner even as Tony's staring at his longtime friend in confusion. When the hell had Bruce learned to be charming? It's downright creepy the way Bruce is smiling- like he doesn't want to punch Banner at all…. Bruce always wants to punch everyone, he's punched Tony more times than Tony cares to think about.
Banner has returned the smile and shuffles his papers so he can step forward and reach out with his right hand, "Bruce Banner," he introduces himself.
Bruce nods, "I've read your work." Banner seems surprised by that. "Bruce Wayne, by the way. It's nice to meet you."
And that's that. Banner seems confused about why Bruce Wayne, who has a greater reputation as an empty headed moron than Tony ever did, would care to spend his time in Tony's lab. But, he doesn't voice those questions and that is enough for Tony.
(He'll never admit it out loud, but he desperately wants all the separate parts of his life to come together and just be happy, dammit.)
Banner stays for nearly an hour. He seems happy to listen to the flow of Bruce and Tony's conversation and only interjects a few times with pointed comments that make both billionaires stop and think for a moment before continuing. It's great.
Bruce is still working his way through the pile of equations Tony had thrust at him when lunch rolls around. Pepper is in China working to secure a trade deal and Happy went along with her (He called it a vacation but Tony was fairly positive he planned to follow Pepper everywhere and bodyguard the hell out of her, Tony was okay with that). So, they venture from the lab and into the main part of the Tower.
The Avengers have been living in the tower for nearly a month now and Tony has finally started to expect their presences. Thor is, of course, still kicking it on Asgard. But, the others sleep in their designated rooms fairly regularly. He has no idea what they get up to during the day but they're at least reliably around at mealtimes.
So, when he and Bruce enter the kitchen it's to Rogers, Romanoff, and Clint all sitting around the large island with sandwiches and chips. There's an empty plate in the sink which Tony takes to mean Banner has already been and gone.
All talk ceases when Bruce follows Tony into the room.
"Awkward," Tony sing-songs. He likes the Avengers just fine, really he does. But, they are far from the most subtle lot.
Bruce jabs him in the back sharply but smiles at the others, "Pleasure," he rumbles in that way too fake voice he uses around everyone but Tony and Alfred, "I'm Bruce."
Romanoff and Clint nod. Of course they already know who Bruce is, Tony thinks almost bitterly, it's not like they left anything in his life a mystery when they- Another jab from Bruce. Right, don't dwell. Of course, Bruce is hardly the one to be dispensing that advice; he's practically the King of Dwell.
Despite his efforts to get caught up on the world, Rogers looks baffled. To his credit, he recovers quickly.
"Steve Rogers." Tony has to stifle a groan when Rogers actually stands to shake Bruce's hand. Ridiculous.
Bruce is Tony's best friend, obviously he knows of Tony's distaste for Rogers because his returning nod is slightly stiff.
"I take it you haven't heard of me?" He asks and the look on his face is so Brucie Wayne that Tony has to stop himself from doing anything past a smirk.
The warmth fades a little from Roger's eyes as he responds, "Well, I've been a little out of the loop, you see."
Clint jumps in with, "Wayne here is the only guy possibly richer than Tony in America." Rogers nods as if that means something to him and goes back to his sandwich. Just like that, Bruce has been summarily dismissed by the Avengers as another of Tony's ilk.
It's infuriating. Tony seethes through his frozen smirk. How dare they dismiss his- his Bruce?
He opens his mouth to tell them exactly where they could shove their lukewarm greeting. The words are stopped by another jab at the center of his back.
Leave it. Bruce's eyes say. Tony doesn't want to. Bruce takes two boxes of Chinese take-out from the fridge and shoves them into Tony's hands and then places a hand on Tony's back. The message is clear and Tony acquiesces. He'll have time to bitch the others out later.
Nothing else happens that day. Bruce and Tony spend the afternoon in the lab and, as afternoon turns to evening, Bruce leaves for Gotham. Tony almost goes upstairs then, almost. He manages to refrain and instead stays in his lab until Pepper returns.
He bitches and complains to her for three hours before she manages to convince him not to quit the team on principle.
(It's near thing.)
Bruce's next few visits don't improve the rest of the Avenger's attitudes towards him. In fact, they seem to have grown slightly colder towards Tony as well (which is completely ridiculous, they were getting along fine before!).
They seem to think that because he's a hero now Tony should be beyond his – how did Natasha put it? Oh yeah, "Beyond the silly little billionaire boys club." Clint had a particularly graphic description of where he'd like to shove the silver spoon Bruce (and Tony) apparently clung to. Rogers, the star spangled boy scout that he is, seems particularly offended by Bruce but he won't tell Tony why. Their reactions almost end any hope of a true friendship with Tony. He can't abide people who dismiss his friends.
Bruce doesn't seem bothered by Rogers' cold demeanor or the snide looks the super-spy twins keep sending him. The truth is, Bruce doesn't seem bothered by much of anything lately and it's starting to really worry Tony. So, Tony tries not to let it annoy him either (he does buy the brand of coffee he knows Natasha hates, and maybe rents raunchy movies to bother Rogers, but hey, he's petty).
At least Banner seems to not actively hate Bruce, which is great. Sometimes, Bruce manages to slip away from the mess that is Wayne Enterprises and they get to spend all day in the lab. Bruce talks to DUM-E like no one else does. The eager-to-please robot nearly falls over himself to greet Bruce when he arrives. Tony hasn't quite figured out how the bot recognizes Bruce. He doesn't have a dedicated space in his memory core for that sort of processing after all. But, that lack doesn't seem to stop DUM-E from practically wriggling with joy as soon as Bruce walks in. It's sickeningly adorable.
Eventually, Tony even manages to not be so annoyed by the others attitude towards Bruce. Sure, it means he's not likely to be their friend anytime soon. That doesn't really matter so long as they can still work together in the field, though, so he's not concerned.
He ignores the niggling feeling in the back of his mind that he's missing something huge and instead pretends everything is okay. It's an old game, one he knows Bruce hates for him to play; pretend long enough, hard enough, and all your problems go away.
Or, at least, that's what Tony pretends.