Chapter 3

Bruce quickly got used to the fact that where Tony went, Russell followed. Somewhere about day four, the two of them – man and...tiny Dalek – had shown up in his lab and Russell had been hovering a full foot above the ground. Clearly Tony had turned the power up.

'What, exactly, is powering that thing?' Bruce hesitated to ask.

'What do you think? Palladium may be poisonous to me, but it isn't to Russell. A mini arc reactor will power him until the end of time.'

'Wonderful,' Bruce said; because it was what Tony wanted to hear and because it stood in for his actual response of 'what the hell were you thinking?'

'So, it – he, flies, shoots out pot lights and talks?'

Tony shrugged. 'Well that's pretty much all a real Dalek can do anyways.'

They both suitably ignored the use of the word 'real' in that sentence.

'He responds to voice commands; shouts when you poke him; can follow me around; and knows to stay away from Romanoff. I think that's a pretty big achievement.'

'Even small babies know to stay away from Natasha,' the doctor comment dryly. Hell, even the Other Guy knew to stay away from her most of the time.

'Yeah, that was an image I didn't need,' Tony wrinkled his face like he'd just eaten something particularly unappetising.

Bruce changed the topic. 'When is Pepper back?'

The billionaire-genius-playboy-philanthropist brightened immediately. 'Tonight. There was some delay at a meeting or something in Seattle...I wasn't listening. She'll be back for a late dinner. I specifically heard her use the word 'dinner',' he concluded, looking inordinately proud that he had managed to get that much out of the conversation with his girlfriend.

'I can cook. It's been a while since we did proper meal together. You know, all of us.'

It was true. In fact, it was probably the last time Thor was on Earth, but since he wasn't around, they'd have to make do with the rest of them. Besides, taking Thor out of the mix made cooking a lot less of a chore, mostly because it involved cooking enough for each person and not enough for an army.

'Hey, Pep likes curry. You need anything? I can run to the store.'

There was a very long pause at that.

Bruce blinked.

'Or, send someone to the store,' Tony corrected. 'Or Happy can drive you to the store.'

'Happy went with Pepper,' Bruce explained patiently.

Tony looked confused. 'Did he? I swore he drove me to that meeting with Fury a few days...oh, no, that was last week. Never mind. I didn't go to the meeting with Fury on Tuesday.'

'EXTERMINATE!' Russell shouted.

Bruce blinked again. 'Did you programme him to shout whenever you mentioned Fury's name?'

Tony had the grace not to answer the rhetorical question.

'I'll run out to the store in a bit. There's that international supermarket a few blocks away. I think I can manage that on my own,' the doctor assured him.

'Course you can!' Tony said, a little too loudly. 'It's just...you know...recognition and all that. Cameras flashing. It's not good. I mean, I like it, but not sure the Big Green is really into all that fanfare stuff.'

Bruce rose from his desk, walking passed Tony and – though he wouldn't admit it – giving Russell a good foot of extra space. 'I can manage shopping. I'll wear sunglasses and a hat if it makes you feel better.'

'Or I could come with?' Tony asked. It sounded like part suggestion, part question and part hopeful.

'You really are bored these days, aren't you? No minions in R&D to terrorise? Senators to annoy? SHIELD systems to hack?'

Tony levelled him a sharp look. 'It's three in the afternoon Bruce. How long, exactly, do you think it takes me to do all of that?'

Which didn't need an answer either.

'Right. Grocery shopping it is.' He turned around at the door to see the smile on Tony's face. 'But you are not bringing Russell.'

The smile disappeared. 'Why not?'

But Bruce had already disappeared through the lab's door.

No. More. Please.