Running Wild.

Chapter 3

Three Weeks Later.

Bruce pulled the bill of his cap further forward trying to hide as much of his face as he possibly could, he knew there was only so much he could do to remain anonymous in the rapidly interconnecting world but he'd take every precaution to remain off the grid permanently. Sometimes it really was the little things that made the biggest difference; a fact Tony...

He stopped his train of thought dead as guilt and pain seared his heart.

There was no Tony anymore, no Avengers, all thanks to him.

Bruce's eyes burned with angry unshed tears feeling completely wretched and utterly alone. He'd brought this on himself, he'd warned them something like this could happen but they hadn't listened and they'd paid the dearest price for their ignorance. The 'I told you so' lingering in the back of his mind did little to lessen the sting, especially since there was no longer any one to say it to.

Monster laughed softly and mockingly in his mental space twisting the knife in just that little bit more, pushing him closer and closer to edge of his sanity. Hulk had been a bad enough mental room-mate but Monster was almost unbearable so much so he almost missed the big green guys constant pushing to be free. Monster wouldn't push for control, he didn't need to he'd already gotten what he wanted and knew that the next time Bruce transformed it was quite likely he wouldn't have the mental strength to change back. So instead he just attacked his mental barriers, wearing the physicist down slowly but surely; waiting for the inevitable to happen.

And Bruce didn't know how much longer he would be able to hold out.

Sighing he dragged a dirt encrusted hand over his face grimacing at the tacky feeling against his skin. Now was not the time to be thinking about that, he had more important things to worry about; like finding a drink before he fell into a dehydrated stupor. The heat was the best and simultaneously the worst thing in working in places like this. Picking himself up he headed to the nearby bar in order to hopefully find some refreshment for his parched mouth that wasn't beer.

The bar was everything Bruce had expected, hot and dusty with very little natural light coming in through the slatted windows, the smell of sweat and stale ale lingering in the air. It was sparsely populated with what looked like a few regular patrons and in the background there was the faint drone of an old analogue television; crackling due to the poor signal. He took a seat on one of the bar stools trying not to wince when it creaked loudly under his weight, clearly not one that was used often.

"What will it be friend?" The bar-tender asked in a still, bored tone.

"Um... Soda if you have it; if not a water please."

The tender rolled his eyes but went to get Bruce's order regardless, he returned moments later with a cooled bottle of water and an immaculately clean glass. Bruce paid and took a long swig of the water almost sighing at the cool relief before pouring the rest into the glass in front of him. He sat silently and sipped the rest of his water slowly trying to work out his next move.

He was safe for the moment, well as safe as he could make himself but that didn't mean that there weren't people looking for him. He was pretty sure SHIELD were probably out after him but so far he'd seen neither hide nor hair of them so he assumed that meant that they'd hadn't quite caught on to him yet. If they had, well he was sure he'd already be locked up in a facility drugged to the eyeballs never again to see the light of day; Bruce tried not to shudder at that thought. So for the moment it was fine to hide out here and try and make a little movney so he could move on without having to worry where his next meal was coming from. Luckily they didn't question you too much as long as you proved to be a reasonably competent worker and didn't mind the conditions, something the physicist was eternally grateful for even if it repulsed him slightly.

He was just about to take another sip of his drink when a figure careened into him, knocking him from the stool and sending his glass of water flying through the air.

"Mira por donde vas idiota!" The man garbled is Spanish, clearly drunk out of his mind.

"Lo siento." Bruce murmured back, hoping his apology would pierce the man's alcohol addled brain.

No such luck, clearly the man was looking for a fight. Just marvellous.

"Usted lo sientes? ¿De qué tienes un coño? Sé un hombre y pedir disculpas a mi cara !"

Bruce winced as the man grabbed hold of him and dragged him up from the ground and forced himself to take a deep breath, he couldn't afford to lose control, not now.

"Le dije que lo sentía. Parar esto ahora antes de que te arrepientas." Bruce spoke very slowly and carefully.

The man stared for a second and then just laughed in Bruce's face, the stale stench of alcohol washing over the physicists face and making him want to gag. Then without warning and far quicker than Bruce would have thought him able in such a state he drew his fist back and slammed it full force into Bruce's jaw sending him crashing to the ground.

"Coño de mierda." The man spat before kicking Bruce in the ribs a few times and literally spitting on him.

On the floor the other man was gasping in deep breaths trying to fight back the pain and the wave of pure hatred that erupted through him. He could feel Monster baying for blood and it was getting harder and harder to keep the thing at bay. There was another volley of kicks that had Bruce crying out in agony but the man didn't stop, instead joking with a few of the other men around the bar. They didn't look particularly impressed by the display but they didn't move to stop the man by any means either too afraid or too indifferent to get themselves involved. Finally the assault stopped and the man picked up a pint of beer and clumsily poured it over the prone Bruce muttering the word 'patético' under his breath.

Patético

Pathetic.

Pathetic little monster.

Bruce was suddenly hyper aware of his surroundings as his Father's words whispered in his ear, the smell of alcohol all around him, the pain radiating through his body; it was like he was a child again at the tender mercies of Brian Banner. He was no longer in that bar in the middle of nowhere, he was back in his family home witnessing the murder of his mother and his mental defences began to crumblinge.

'Oh god, oh god no, please help me, please, make it stop.'

Monster grinned slyly in the back of his mind and gladly answered his plea.

Bruce felt the burn of the transformation starting and it jolted him back to his senses but it was already far too late, he had given the monster roiling inside him the inch he needed and now it was ready to take the whole mile. Turning red-tinted irises at the men in the bar he managed to growl out a single word before the transformation consumed him completely.

"OUT!"

The bar emptied in the blink of an eye as a shrill roar pierced the air.

"For fucks sake can you guys please hurry up!?"

The two figures across from him glared balefully but otherwise ignored him continued setting up the complicated looking equipment.

"How's it going?" The voice was tired and weary.

"Slow.. " It came out as a growl "... but it's to be expected since y'know were in the middle of fucking nowhere. Honestly I swear I am going to fucking handcuff Banner to his bed when this is all over."

There was a snort of laughter from the earpiece, breaking through the static.

"I'm sure that's not the only reason you want to handcuff Banner?" The crackly voice echoed over the comms.

"I'm choosing to ignore that comment."

"Ignoring me doesn't make it any less true." The comm shot back.

"Uh, guys hate to interrupt but I think we got a hit here." A new voice that was female joined the conversation.

"Well hell." The first voice muttered.

Monster laughed shrilly as his claws rippinged through the flimsy ramshackle that someone called a home, people scurrying like frightened rodents out of any avaliableavailable exit. Finally stupid puny Banner had slipped up and now he was free once again and this time he intended on remaining so.

He leapt through the air and crashed through another building, sending it crumpling to the ground like wet tissue paper and stood amid the wreckage brushing off the debris like it was nothing. The fools had brought this upon themselves by attacking puny Banner and he intended to show them the error of their ways.

With extreme prejudice.

Monster sniffed the air trying to scent out any trace of their blood and grinned sadistically when he caught a whiff of it on the breeze. He once again took to the air following the acrid smell of radioactive blood mingled with alcohol; crushing roof after roof as he stalked his prey across the shanty town.

He landed with an almighty crash sending up a cloud of dust into the air. Across the small courtyard the man who had beaten Banner in the bar stumbled backwards pulling a firearm from the back of his pants. His aim was sloppy with drunkenness and the first few shots whizzed past Monster not even grazing him.

"Diablo! DIABLO!" The man screamed, tripping over his feet and falling to the floor.

He took a few more potshots, some of which actually hit their mark but Monster just shrugged them off like insects and slowly moved toward the man.

"Lo siento, lo siento... " The man mumbled and the smell of urine hit the air.

Monster's grin turned savage as he towered over the man and he drew back a taloned arm.

"PAtéTiCo." He spat venomously.

There was a vacuum of sound and then a massive explosion erupted from nowhere. Monster was sent flying by the blast, the sound of claws scraping along concrete like nails down a chalkboard as it scrabbled to gain some footing; screeching loudly at the interruption. As the dust began to settle the creature blinked blood red eyes it's hackle rising as a familiar, impossible figure came into view.

"Did you miss me?" Taunted the electronically enhanced voice of Iron Man.

"ImPosSiBLe!" Monster screamed, tearing up chunks of the ground as it flexed it's claws in enraged disbelief.

"Nope, just highly improbable and this time I'm more than ready to deal with you. So are you going to do this the easy way and give us Bruce back..." He lifted his arm the whine of the repulsors charging clearly audible "... Or the hard way? Either is good for me because regardless I am getting what I want."

Monster shifted it's whole body, shaking of the remnants of the last attack with little effort and readied itself to strike.

"FooLISh LitTLe MaN!"

There was a bored, exasperated sigh from the armour.

"The hard way... Somehow I thought that was going to be the case."

There was a second long whihir and then the repulsor fired, hitting Monster square in the face, throwing his head back with a roar as the armour shot into the air, darting like a firefly around the creatures head.

"Come on big boy, show me what you got."

Monster lashed out but Iron Man was too fast for him to catch. Shrieking in anger it leapt after the glittering metal man determined to finish what he'd begun weeks ago aboard the helicarrier and adamant that his prey wouldn't be as lucky this time. Although Monster still wasn't entirely sure how the man had been so lucky the first time; either way it didn't matter it was just another opportunity to break Banner.

The two of them flew over the slums Iron Man making the shanty houses rattle as he passed and Monster causing the very ground to quake beneath him as he leapt and crashed back down to earth.

"Iron Man status." A familiar authorative voice called over the comm.

"I'm headed your way Cap, tell me that everything is ready."

"Everything is ready, I just hope this plan of yours will work." There was a hint of doubt in his voice.

There was a derisive snort from within the armour "Puh-lease, of course this will work, I thought of it."

"I hope for all our sakes you're right." Was the ominous reply. "Good luck Tony."

The silence that followed was heavy, both members of the conversation knowing just how true those words were. This was their only chance to get this right, to save their friend because if they didn't SHIELD would take matters into their own hands and that did not bode well for one Bruce Banner and that was something heTony would not allow to happen.

Tony could see the rendezvous point and the HUD lit up with schematics and information. It looked as if everything was in order and the team had set everything up right. They had been busy these last few weeks after their supposed demise, tracking Bruce across the country while at the same time trying to find a way to get rid of the monster that had overtaken their friend. Tony had spent hours pouring over Bruce's notes in the old burned out lab in New Mexico and come to realise the sheer scale of the man's brilliance. Not that he hadn't already known it but it was amazing to have physical proof of it.

It made him yearn for those days back in the lab.

He cut the thrusters to half as he approached the drop point, immediately the warning sensors blamed as Monster caught up behind him. There was a moment of perfect stillness before there was the thud of heavy impact and the two of them went tumbling to the ground. Iron Man managed to turn in Monster's grip staring deep into those, piercing, insane red eyes and just before the impact with the ground aimed a repulsor blast at the ground to soften the landing. There was an almighty crash and Tony felt some of the armour plates crumple but the integrity had held at least for the moment.

The sound of heavy, savage breathing reverberated around the inside of his helmet and Tony felt his breath catch in his throat.

"MiNE... mINe tO DesTRoy."

Time seemed to slow to a halt as Monster dragged it's claws down along the armour, the grating sound of metal peeling away from an exoskeleton sending shudders through the billionaire's body. Tony took a deep breath and braced himself.

"NOW!"

It was as if a switch had been flicked as everything roared into life. Without even being able to see it Tony could hear the telltale twang of Clint's bow string and the dull 'thunk' of the specialised arrows hitting their mark. Of Natasha dancing around the fearsome monster all deadly accuracy and grace; fixing the couplings in place and of Steve's voice, steady and sure telling them all to get clear.

Tony felt the surge of energy as it hit Monster and ran through where they were joined, felt as it began to leech out the creature sat on top of him and into the specially designed panels that Bruce had come up with. Monster reared back and screamed in pain, curses lighting up the air as it roared and bucked trying to break free of the gamma vacuum but it was already too late; the excess radiation that had created him was being syphoned off. Slowly the billionaire could feel the shift back to Bruce happen, the weight on his back slowly decreasing until it literally felt like nothing at all.

"Cap, what's the sitch?" He asked over the comm.

"Banner's back but he isn't moving. I can't tell from this distance."

Tony ever so slowly and carefully extracted himself from underneath Bruce's limp form. Steve was right, the man wasn't moving and much to the billionaire's horror he wasn't breathing either. He felt his heart twist painfully behind the Arc reactor, unbidden tears springing to his eyes in his grief. It had always been a possibility that this would happen, the delicate balance of radiation flowing through Bruce keeping him alive; if they didn't syphon enough then Monster would remain, too much and well... He had the proof in front of him.

He'd never gotten to tell the man he cared about him too, hell maybe even loved him just a little bit.

He slid back the face plate unashamed at the sorrow plastered across his features.

"Iron Man report." Steve's voice echoed over the comm.

"He's gone Cap."

There was a tense moment that seemed to encompass the whole of time and space.

"We're on our way."

The team congregated on the two scientists all looking equally sorrowful and distraught, Tony mostly ignored them preferring to mental beat himself up over miscalculating so immensely.

"Tony..." Natasha. He ignored her even though he knew it was a bad idea.

"No Tony... Look!" Clint. Didn't the birdbrain know when to leave him alone? He didn't want to look at his fuck up.

"Tony... Tony he's alive!" Steve and boy did that catch his attention.

The billionaire's head shot up and sure enough there was a shallow rising and falling of Bruce's chest. A strangled noise, one Tony wasn't exactly proud of, escaped his throat and slumped in relief the tension visibly leaving his frame.

Everything was going to be ok.

Bruce awoke to bright white light.

He felt sore and disjointed, the usual side effects of a Hulk out and slowly the memories trickled back in dribs and drabs.

The bar.

The man.

Monster.

Bruce shot up in his bed ignoring his protesting muscles in a full on panic. Oh God, what had he done?

"Woah, Hey there Big Guy, take it easy. You're safe, no one got hurt and you're safe."

Through the haze of sheer panic Bruce heard the voice talking to him, his mind clutching to the familiarity but it was impossible, he'd let Monster kill Tony. Did that mean he was dead?

"Bruce, Bruce look at me please. You're freaking me out."

Almost as if dreading what he was going to see Bruce slowly rose his head to find that familiar face staring back at him.

"Am I... Am I... Dead?"

Tony's heart broke a little at the question, at how broken Bruce sounded asking it. It was something he never wanted to experience again.

"Nope buddy, you and I are both very much alive." He pinched Bruce on the arm as if to affirm that fact.

The physicist's face twisted into a look of shock and then seemed to crumple in on itself as he shook his head vigorously.

"No, you can't be... Monster, he showed me... He crushed..." Bruce's fingers traced across the faint glow of the arc reactor. "No... this isn't real, it can't be..."

Tony could see them man beginning to panic again and grabbed on to his trembling hand, squeezing it tightly between his own.

"Bruce, we're here... It's real."

He brushed his lips across the cold knuckles and watched as the physicist froze, the scepticism on his face finally starting to melt away.

"But... How?"

Tony couldn't stop the grin from crossing his face if he tried.

"That was all you... You saved us..." He elaborated as Bruce's eyebrows shot into his hairline "... The teleporter, the one you designed, I kind of pilfered one... Had it stowed on the Quinjet and well managed to get it up and running before the crash. Had to use the arc reactor to power it so there was a bit of sticky moment there but no harm no foul..."

There was a second before Tony realised that he wasn't talking any longer and that the man in front of him was right in front of his face and shaking him hard.

"You crazy, insane, suicidal, fantastic, brilliant man... You, I just... I can't... "

Tony took advantage of his babbling and leaned forward to draw him into a hug, holding him tight in his grasp.

"Right back at you by the way. So how are you feeling?"

Bruce furrowed his brow, aside from feeling achy and sore he felt normal; the constant pressure behind his eyes was gone and the familiar grumbling of the Hulk could be heard in the back of his mind.

Monster, Monster was gone.

"What did you do?" He asked in wonderment.

Tony's grin brightened to megawatt proportions, a pure genius smile.

"Well after Sitwell filled us in with what happened at your old lab we sort of figured out that it was the over exposure that had created Monster, sooooo after raiding the lab we found away to syphon off the excess radiation a kind of gamma vacuum but there was the chance that it could kill you in the process..." Tony's face darkened slightly "We had to take the chance Bruce, I almost didn't but we knew that you'd rather..."

Bruce looked a little stricken but nodded in response "I'd rather be dead than trapped inside that creature. You did the right thing Tony. The gamma vacuum was a brilliant idea and it worked, I'm still here."

The billionaire was the one who looked stricken this time, his fingers drumming a nervous tattoo on his thigh.

"I thought it hadn't, I thought we'd drained too much and... you weren't breathing."

"What's important is that I am now." Bruce said, not allowing the other man to wallow in regret over nothing.

The two of them sat in silence mulling over their thoughts.

"Bruce...?"

"Yeah."

"Why was Monster so fixated on me?"

Bruce flushed and looked as if he was going to deflect the question but then apparently decided to take a leaf out of Tony's book and throw caution to the wind.

"I thought that would have been obvious."

"Well it kinda was... just wanted time hear it from the horses mouth so to speak..." Tony replied sincerely.

"So this... it doesn't change things? I mean obviously it changes things but y'know..."

"For the record you are adorable when flustered and no I am not about to turn into a fucking dick because I found out my science bro likes me in a more than friendly way. Furthermore on the topic of dicks I am all for mine and yours getting better acquainted at some point in the very near future."

The physicist sputtered at the bluntness of Tony's words his face going an interesting shade of puce.

"W-what?"

"What I'm saying Big Guy is that I think I feel the same way... maybe not as strong as you at least not yet but there is definitely something there and I want to see where it leads.."

Bruce's mouth fell open into an 'O' of surprise and for a heartbeat the billionaire thought he may have overstepped his bounds, that was until the other man lunged forward and sealed their lips together.

"Ugh my eyes! I did not need to see that."

They sprang apart looking exactly like a pair of kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar. In the doorway Clint looked completely unrepentant and was smirking broadly. Tony flipped him off while Bruce studied his hands intently unwilling to meet the archers eye. Unfazed Clint walked into the room and flopped down into a chair beside Tony, making himself comfortable.

"So other than you two finally growing a pair what have I missed because Nat is going to want details; especially since she's in charge of the betting pool and I do not envy her right now because I'm sure Hill had today and she is going to be unbearably smug."

Tony glared but the physicist smiled gently after all that had happened these people had stood beside him, brought him back from the brink and beyond. He couldn't repay them for that faith and fortitude but he would do what he could like he always did; to honour; to atone and maybe just maybe one day he'd be worthy of them.

But until that day he would defend them until his last breath.

And pray that nothing like this ever happened again.

~The End~

A/N: Ugh I'm so Sorry this took since long.

Spanish translations: Mira por donde vas idiota! Watch where you are idiot.

Lo Siento I'm sorry

Usted lo sientes? ¿De qué tienes un coño? Sé un hombre y pedir disculpas a mi cara ! You're Sorry? What are you a pussy? Apologize like a man.

Le dije que lo sentía. Parar esto ahora antes de que te arrepientas. I said I was Sorry. Stop this before you regret it.

Coño de mierda Fucking pussy

Diablo Devil