OMG I AM LIKE DYING RIGHT NOW! YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND! I HAVE REVEIWS! THANK YOU SO MUCH! So, you all thought that he should go to Bruce first. I can see it. Ok, well here comes the plot, and hopefully longer chapters!

Also I am going to make references to IronMan2, but I don't have access to that movie (aka not on Netflix On Demand, grr), so I am going to go by memory. IF I GET SOMETHING WRONG TELL ME!

I was Googleing pictures of Bruce for research and this popped up on Google. Lookit. Giggle. It's totally worth the three seconds, and it completely sums up the ScienceBros.

/post/spoilers-tony-stark-the-avengers-bruce-banner-just-in-case-the-avengers-spoilers/22573998143

oOo

Tony was in his workshop/lab/place-of-creation when it happened again. A small shot of something shot from his chest to the rest of his body like….well the only thing that he could compare it to was when Pepper touched the edge of the Reactor housing with the copper wire. So in short, it hurt. A lot. He tucked his chin into his chest and stared down at the steady glow of what was keeping him alive. It looked normal, but appearances can be deceiving. Hell, take Bruce Banner for example. He is the last guy you would peg for having a mean green rage machine living under his skin.

He blew out a long breath when he thought of Bruce. That man was quickly becoming his best friend. Bruce could hold an intelligent conversation, Tony could bounce ideas off of him, and he never got mad (thank God) at Tony's rather biting sense of humor. Tony could talk to the man. But, even after all that Bruce had done to earn Tony's trust, Bruce still knew next to nothing about the Arc Reactor. He knew it was keeping Tony alive, and that it powered the Iron Man suit, and that letting the light go out was a very bad thing, but other than that, nothing. Tony needed to tell the rest of the team, he knew that, but he really didn't want to. All of the other Avengers had something that made them stronger, even Bruce will admit that the Other Guy is an asset to the team, but Tony had a friggin' pacemaker. He couldn't face the looks of pity from them, especially Captain Underpants.

A bolt of fire ran through his chest again, stronger this time, and he gasped. Fuck. He could feel his heart jolt a tiny bit, and it was NOT GOOD. Now he was just angry. Couldn't the damn thing give him a break? "JARVIS, run full scan. I want heartbeat, blood pressure, the works. Also check the Reactor for deficiencies."

"Running diagnostics now, Sir."

"Thanks, JARV. Butterfingers, hand me the thingy on the- not that- the oth- dammit, that one!" The robot meekly gave him the miniscule screwdriver he asked for, and then peeked over Tony's shoulder as if to see what he was working on. Tony moved the joint of the Mark VI boot, feeling it flex smoothly, but then with a little catch near the end of the range of motion. He began to work again, with a happier heart. This was something he could tackle, touch, see the problems, and fix them. It was good that he had something that he could fix. JARVIS pinged on again soon after he reassembled the ankle of the suit "Sir, diagnostics are finished."

"Talk to me. What did you find?"

"The Arc Reactor is functioning normally, at 87% capacity. You have elevated heartbeat, blood pressure 86 over 53. Temperature is normal; the slight perspiration is psychological in origin."

Sigh. "Alright JARVIS. Keep track of all my vital signs for today. I want a record if it happens again. Call Bruce, see if he's busy."

"Yes, sir."

Tony started to clean the mess of red and gold armor and shiny instruments off of his desk. JARVIS spoke again, "Dr. Banner is heading to the lab now, Sir."

"Thank you JARVIS. Tell him it's no hurry." JARVIS agreed again, and pinged off. Tony went to the small kitchen he had set up in the lab, and made one cup of coffee for him, and a cup of Bruce's favorite Earl Grey tea. The doors to the lab swooshed open as Bruce walked in. He looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes, his button down rumpled like he slept in it, and hair a bit tousled. "How can I help you Tony?" he smiled at the billionaire's back, frowned a little bit at the green Hulk mug that Tony pressed into his hand.

Tony smirked at the look on the physicist's face. "Just wanted to talk for a while. Maybe you could look at the designs for the Mark VII?" The pair of brilliant minds settled down in chairs nursing their respective mugs for a long quiet moment. Bruce set his tea down and grabbed the Mark VI's left gauntlet, flexing the joints and rotating the wrist. "I don't think that's all you wanted."

"How could you tell?"

"I'm good at reading people." they sat in easy silence for a while, waiting for Tony to speak up.

"What do you know about my Arc Reactor?"

oOo

A good hour later, Bruce sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Wow. That technology…I just can't believe you built it in a cave. How did you implant it? What kind of medical equipment did they have? Antibiotics? Anesthesia?"

Tony's face tightened at the memories that were coming back. "Hold him down!" Saw buzzing. Men shouting in languages. Hands all over him. Then, pain. Pain. PAIN! STOP PLEASE!—He shook his head sending those memories back to the dark corner of his mind where they belonged. "They didn't have any of that, doc. They put it in when I was awake."

Bruce's eyes flashed green and he put a hand over his face as he shuddered and tried to control his anger. Tony set empty Iron Man mug down carefully, and reached toward Bruce "Hey, big guy. You OK?"

Bruce took a long breath and let it out. "I'm fine, Tony. But you aren't. I can see it now. PTSD?"

Tony hesitated, and then said, "Yeah, it was kinda rough for the first couple of months. Pepper was great. She's the only reason I was able to function. Still don't like water though."

"Water?" Bruce asked, "Why would water bother you?"

Shit, Tony thought, said too much. Well, might as well bare your whole soul. Dumbass. "Uh…yeah, see they wanted me to build them some Jericho missiles. I didn't. Cue waterboarding." Tony tried to talk calmly, with his trademark flippant tone, but the memories were coming back. Stop- can't breath- gonna die- Help! Yinsen! Please HELP ME! STOP!

Bruce was shuddering again. He fought back the Other Guy, who was rearing to go destroy anyone who wanted to do that to his friend. After a long tense moment, he calmed and regained control of himself. Tenuous control, but control nonetheless. "I see. So why are you telling me all of this? I appreciate it, don't get me wrong. But why?"

"Well, I almost died when…Obie stole the reactor. I need someone who knows about it, and could replace it if I was, like, unconscious or something. Pepper used to help me out, but she's not going to be there on missions."

Bruce nodded. "Smart. But what if I'm…not there at the moment?"

"You mean all Hulked out?" At Bruce's look he sighed, "Good point. I'm going to talk to the rest of the team about it, I just don—FUCK!" Tony swore and grabbed at his chest, curling in on himself in a futile attempt to protect himself. The fire was racing again and it was worse this time. He heard Bruce rush over, shaking his shoulder, yelling "Tony? TONY? What is it?" Tony drew in a long breath as the fire abated, and gasped out "Fine- m'fine. Just- give me- second." He uncurled from the ball he was in, and gave Bruce a snarky smile. "See? Completely fine."

Bruce's eyes were frantic, "What the hell was that, Tony? Is it the reactor? Do I need to get a new one?"

"No! No, my reactor's working, but…"

Bruce crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "But what?"

"This just started happening today. This was the third time. I don't- I have no idea what's causing this thing. It just-"

Bruce cut him off before Tony could really start to ramble, which was a sure sign he was upset. "Whatever it is, we'll find it and fix it." Pictures of Tony with a car battery hooked up to his chest, Tony being tortured, Tony gasping with no reactor because Obadiah took it, Tony being poisoned by the thing keeping him alive flashed through his head, and he had to calm down again. It would do Tony no good to have the Other Guy make an appearance in his lab.

Tony gave Bruce a relieved smile, "Thanks, Bruce." Then Tony smirked "Now get out of my lab. I have things of importance to get done today, thanks."

Bruce rolled his eyes. Same old Tony. Annoying-as-hell Tony. "OK, just make sure you come up for dinner tonight. Thor and Jane are coming over, so the whole team will be here." Bruce left the lab, after giving Dum-E and Butterfingers pats on their robotic arms. I hope.

oOo

Good? Bad? Ugly? So horrendous that you want to toss your laptop on funeral pyre and give it Last Rites? TELL ME PLEASE!

Also, I'm going to insert something about Tony finding the Avengers Fanfiction. I am going to feature some slashy ones, mostly to embarrass them. Suggestions wanted. Focus on non-cannon, like Stony, Stanner, IronFrost, whatever you would call Steve/Clint (Stint?) You get the picture.

REVIEW NOTES!

Cheerfully Cynical: I am so glad I could make you laugh! I love this plot too, and the big powwow is coming up, maybe not for another two chapters though.

Piperijanay Alexandria: Thanks! I don't think he is going to want to tell them, but he's going to be forced to and pout like a two-year-old.

Kittymitten: He's going to do that too.

A: Request granted! Lol

Anonymous: I concur!

ZeDancingHobbit: I LOVE YOU TOO SO MUCH! I love whump, it's like, my favorite. I'm a fanfiction sadist. I take the people I love and go, "How can I make them suffer today?" I'm so messed up lol

.Socks: Thank you! Seeing as this is my first published fic, I really was terrified that I would get reviews like "You suck. Please leave." You made my day!

Pegasi1: Here you go sweetie! A bit of plot motion for you!

You know you wanna be Kate!