AN: Sorry for the wait! Thank you for continuing to read this story! It'll get happier, I promise!

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Again, own nothing.


Shame greeted him at every turn, on the faces of the busy airport staff, and the tourists flooding through the terminals. He kept his eyes locked on Gate number 78, and breathed out deeply. He knew exactly what he was doing, and by now, Bruce was used to running. He was sitting at the Bangkok airport, and had been for the last 7 hours, as much as he hated it, but anything was better than being near Tony. It was getting impossible to even think about him, and it was starting to eat Bruce alive. He had already decided on his location, remote, untraceable. The phone would be shut off, all ties with his former self severed, and he wouldn't have to see mention of Tony Stark in the press, or encounter Stark weapons. Bruce Banner was planning a Tony Stark detox, one that would ensure his path to recovery, until he felt able enough to go back to the Avengers. As if on cue, his phone rang, reminding him of the painful reality- that he wasn't away from Tony, not yet. He didn't find the call surprising, due to yesterday's events, and he bet that Pepper planned to give him an update on Tony's health. Bruce picked up the phone, scared to let himself think of Tony.

He recalled the phone call as he attempted to read in the dim light. He sucked in a hot breath of air, the humidity and thickness of it something his lungs still hadn't accustomed to. He would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about Tony Stark for a month. At least, he thought, after that phone call with Pepper he hadn't spoken to anyone. Not since Bangkok had he stopped to pity himself, or to think about others. He didn't matter in the grande scheme of things, he thought, rereading the same line. The floor he slept on was giving him back pains and though he missed the comfort of a bed, or even his guest room in the Stark Tower, ( if he let himself think about it) he knew, he was doing better here. His detox was working.

Most called the Hulk an illness, but Bruce knew the truth. His true ailment was Tony Stark, and he planned to purge himself of the virus. He had started to get better, and had reclaimed part of himself, no longer the shadow of the man called Bruce Banner. He had gotten away from the man who could make him break down, lose his intelligence and all sight of himself. It was problematic too, because Tony made his loose his calm, and that just happened to endanger civilians and friends alike. He hadn't heard from anyone in the Avengers, and he liked it that way. He knew, because of the sporadic dreams, and nights of insomnia that visited him, that he was no where near over Tony Stark.

He had buried himself in his work, he read every book available to him, and then started writing the ones that hadn't been. If he kept his head down, his glasses on and the possibility of an attack far away, he would be able to find himself. Maybe then, he could get over Tony Stark and get back to being part of the best team he'd ever known, one that specialized in aliens, and welcomed his insecurities.

He had been getting better, but that was before Tony Stark almost died.


Sometimes he didn't know what made him more tired- the 13 hour work days he inflicted on himself, writing his thesis or if it was keeping his mind distracted from Tony Stark. Only when he lay down in bed did his thoughts slow down long enough for the billionaire to make an appearance. Usually he kept the insomnia away with sleeping pills, but he still couldn't stop the dreams, no matter what he tried. He stayed away from all media, tv or print, not wanting to catch a whiff of what any of the Avengers had been doing in the last 30 days, least of all Iron Man. It had been hard enough to stay away from all methods of communication, to leave the trace of his last life behind, and even change his name, but he knew it was a necessary precaution. Still he knew that just because he had severed all ties with them, didn't mean they didn't know where he was.

He was on the way to the market, hoping to find more aid for the rudimentary medical practice he was able to run out of his lodgings- a nearby farm house. One of the local children rushed past him to a group of others, crowding around a stall. He paid no attention to their conversation, until he heard the name Tony Stark, identifiable in any language. The boy was speaking rapid French, and Bruce was resisting the urge to evesdrop. He approached the boys against his better judgement and broke the one rule he had; promising not to actively seek out any information regarding Tony Stark. This had to be an exception, he justified, for unless his French had deceived him, the word accident had sprung up a few times.

"Vincent, what are you talking about?" he asked. The youth turned to him and offered him a wide grin, before explaining the gossip.

"Tony Stark is a superhero!" he started, and another youth called behind him, seconding the statement.

"Why?" Bruce asked, unaware that his words were coming out through an awkward laugh. It had been so long since he'd let himself speak of Tony at all. "Because he's Iron Man?"

"NO" Vincent gasped, "He went diving off cliffs the day after a motorcycle accident! He just took the medicine and left!" Vincent grinned, before adding "I wish I was as strong as that." Before he knew it, the boys were shouting out names of the Avengers and getting ready to play a game about aliens and superheroes. Much like the real team, everyone was fighting over Tony Stark. He moved away from their game, sick of how quickly and easily he had broked his rule. He forced himself to pay little attention the gossip, assuring himself that Tony had a reckless nature, and that the press loved to exaggerate. He tried to assure himself that Tony would not control his emotions any longer, or even take hold of his thoughts.

He didn't let himself worry until he came home to Natasha and Clint in his home a few days later. He wasn't surprised they had kept tabs on him and his travels through Africa, and it was wise for them to corner him in in the small city in the Union of the Comoros. Even he couldn't ignore the gravity with which they appeared, and he knew almost immediately that his seclusion had come to an end. Still, he would try to fight it for a while longer, not sure if he was ready to be submerged into a world of superheros, super dramatic team members, and anything to do with Tony just quite yet.

"I'm not coming back, they need me here," not for a while, he thought under his breath. Natasha didn't meet his gaze, whether too afraid to tell him the news, or strangely interested in the rug under their feet

"We're missing half our team," Clint said, not mistaking sentiment for a number of bodies.

"I'm hardly half"

"Nice ego, Banner, but Stark's bailed too," Clint grumbled in response. The sounds from a nearby market, a dozen voices broke into the silence between them as Bruce breathed out.

"I'm not ready," he said, looking to Natasha for help, but the pattern of the rug dominated her attention.

"We're not giving you a choice, Banner," Clint responded, rising. He breathed in the air and looked around the room lazily, out the window to the busy street below.

"So you're going to force me to be a hero? Let's see how well the other guy takes that" Bruce responded dryly. Clint breathed out, planting hands on his hips, he rotated from the window.

"Sorry to cut your little vacation short-"

"I'm not coming back," Bruce reiterated. He could tell in their countenance, that there was something they weren't saying, that the high stakes were making Clint more adamant in his views, and harsher.

"Look I don't know what the hell is going on between you and Rogers, and that's your own damn business, but you're dragging our name through the mud-"

"I've resigned,"

"Jesus Christ Banner, we've had three Class 4 situations in the last month and your personal drama can take a backseat, you're not more important than the rest of the universe,"

"I never said I was, and I know you can handle it without me,"

"Not without Stark though,"

"Unless you've forgotten, I don't answer for him, I don't think anyone ever could, so talk to him if you want him back on the Avengers, I never told him to leave," Bruce explained in a steady tone. Being in their presence was making him think of Tony, and he felt as if he was a drug addict, relapsing. If he wasn't careful, within 5 minutes he would start saying his name again, which he had avoided for a month. Soon, he would even be thinking about Tony and then his heart would seem to crack under the weight of missing him.

"It's better this way," he promised, and even though he wasn't meant to be on the boat to Nzwani until 7, he grabbed his bag, ready to make a run for it. He hoped that they would respect his privacy this time, and that everyone would give up the dream of him being a hero, because that clearly wasn't going to happen. There was a reason he had picked the third smallest region in Africa after all.

"Tony tried to kill himself" Natasha's voice sounded foreign, but perhaps that was because he hadn't heard her speak for a month.

"I heard about the motorcycle accident," Bruce omitted, wishing it wasn't true. Natasha's expression confirmed his worst wishes.

"Nothing compared to what he's been doing this month. Do you know about the heroin?" Natasha commented, and he knew she was only telling him the the start of Tony's problems.

"No, I didn't" Bruce replied honestly, feeling as if the floor was going to give out under him. " But he would never-"he started, but he was flooded with a sudden memory of holding a gun to himself, of tears streaming down his face as he pulled the trigger.

Bruce turned back around, unable to breathe, every moment lingered and he looked to Natasha, then Clint and tried to read what they weren't saying. Each fluent in a number of languages, they could communicate now even without words. The bag fell from his hands and he felt cliche, and broken and as if all his intelligence had just abandoned him. This had never been about getting him to come home, it had been about getting Tony to come home. Later he would blame the heat, the smell of spices rising up over the clothes line that hit him with the sudden desire to faint. Breathing didn't come easily, and the dizziness was getting to him. Shaking his head wasn't helping things, but thankfully the denial only lasted a few seconds.

"Where is he?" his voice came out broken, but he pushed past the fear, because no conversation had ever been more important in his whole life.

"He's in a hospital a few hours from here, he was found yesterday, we came as soon as we heard, I'm surprised he didn't get himself kidnapped and held for ransom," she paused, leaving her anger behind before she continued. "He's been an hour away from you for a week, Malawi" she added, as if the subtle irony of the fact would make this easier to swallow. His knees buckled and he barely had time to grab the table to steady himself. He sat in a nearby chair and ignored the dizziness, the urge to throw up and focused on Natasha instead.

"Bruce, this past month Tony's been in the hospital four times, he's been all over Asia and Europe and Africa doing one crazy stunt after the next-"

"He went cliff diving the day after a motorcycle accident, his system still full of painkillers."

"I heard about that" Bruce admitted, "I thought it was just colorful gossip"

"No need to embellish anything in that story" Natasha commented, dryly.

"And he entered the cage of death in Australia with no protection, half drunk-" Clint added in awe as if Tony's recent spectacles amused and disturbed him.

"You came here to bring me to him?" he asked, picking that question over thousands others. Natasha nodded, solemn. He didn't ask about the damage, he would see that for himself soon enough.

"I said we should have opened with it, but-" Clint stopped, his smile fading as he met Bruce's gaze. "Tony will be fine, he just needs to get home, and to stop this behavior," Clint pointed out.

"We need to leave now," he responded, finally finding his feet. Purpose billowed over him and he met Natasha's gaze, hard. He wanted to say thank you, to squeeze her hand and make sure she knew how much this meant to him, how important this was to him. It could wait until he had seen Tony.


The memories only had a chance to come back because Tony was sober, for the first time in over a month. It was the sour, alcoholic smell of disinfectant that woke him. He tried to slip back into a sleep, hoping to wade off the memories for a while longer. Pain shot up his arm, and then he realized that was the least of it. The rest of his body burned with pain, as if he hadn't allowed himself to slow down to realize how much he had hurt himself. His motorcylce injuries still ached, he was covered with dozens of bruises he didn't remember contracting, and his mind felt as if it had been lit on fire. He knew he hadn't eaten for what seemed like days, and the ceiling started swirling above him. He clenched his eyes shut in an attempt to let the vertigo pass, counting. The ceiling was stoic when he opened them back up, and at first he thought it was a trick of the light. Either that, or Bruce Banner was at his bed side, in the foreign hospital.

"Bruce?" he asked slowly, realizing he was in a cold sweat. The light was blinding, like in any hospital and though he couldn't remember what continent he was in, he could tell by the smell of anesthetic and the fluorescent lights that he was in a sick bed. Tony knew there was little hope of concealing his identity, he almost found himself caring if the press got wind of his whereabouts.

"Morphine" he requested feebly.

"Not until the drugs are out of your system, Mr. Stark " a passing Doctor responded, his accent thick with and accent Tony was too tired to try to place. Tony nodded slowly, remembering; how had heroin been a good idea?

"A drink then?" he asked, hoping that when he closed his eyes sleep would cover him over like a blanket. Instead he couldn't escape the memories, most notably, how he had broken up with Pepper Potts and Steve Rogers in the same conversation. Then, he fell unconscious.

Bruce brushed the hair back from Tony's face and watched his slow breathing, distraught that Tony was in so much pain. Bruce had kept quiet, ignoring the impulse to respond to Tony's requests. Hearing his own name from Tony's delirious state almost subsided the intense anger he held for himself. He would have time to pity and hate himself later, he knew, but first he needed Tony to heal. He would forever hate himself if he Hulked out and was the cause of more pain for Tony. He knew his own turmoil was nothing compared to Tony's pain. The sound of a door clicking shut signaled Natasha's arrival and he didn't bother moving his hand away from Tony's face. Secrets get you killed, Bruce thought darkly and he wondered why he had ever been this stupid. Tony had been the one to accept all of his secrets, and he knew that this one should have been no different. He also knew that regret wouldn't make Tony Stark better, so there was no use dwelling. Natasha sat beside him, fingers trailing over his shoulder as she pressed her hand into the tense muscle of his neck. She gave a comforting squeeze before abandoning all touch.

"It's going to be alright," she said. Even if Tony would soon be ok, Bruce found himself doubting that he ever would be. His self loathing was a toxin,aimed with possessing him, like bile rising up with no end in sight until it took over his whole body. Nothing helped his emotional distress and he shuddered suddenly to think of who he had become. He should have felt like this after Pepper, after causing Tony pain, but maybe he hadn't been himself until he had seen Tony in pieces. It was a harsh enough wake up call to remind Bruce of the only things that actually mattered in his life.

"I'm so sorry" he whispered into the air, wishing Tony could hear him, but secreltly wishing he wouldn't. All his mistakes dominated his memory, and he knew that he was responsible for Pepper, Steve and Tony's pain. He remembered, with a guilty pit in his stomach, the last phone call he had before getting on the plane to Comoros.

He had expected Pepper to give him an update on Tony's drinking, and to perhaps tell him that Tony had made a rash decision to stay in Bangkok. Instead, he was greeted with a suddenly confrontational tone, one full of so much annoyance and pain he could practically taste it over the line.

"I left Tony" she supplied, instead of responding to his inquiry about her health.

"You were still dating?" Bruce asked, his shock off the charts. He swore under his breath and fumbled over himself to apologize.

"Pepper...I'm so sorry, I had no idea...I just...I'm so sorry..I didn't know."

" You shouldn't have told me either way Bruce!" Pepper scolded.

" I know, I'm sorry, I'm a mess lately, and I keep screwing things up"

"Bruce why the hell did you tell me?" she asked, straining to hide her sobbing.

"Pepper, I'm sorry! God,I shouldn't have...I just..I saw them kiss and you asked me what brought on the drinking and Steve saw me and followed me, and left him, but maybe I'm wrong! We know Tony, he's a playboy, maybe it's not like that-"

"You and I both know that's wishful thinking" she cut across angrily, sniveling in the silence.

" Pepper-" but he stopped, listening to her cry.

"You'll be fine, you know. You're incredibly strong"

"I don't think he can handle it right now. " Pepper confessed, amidst tears. "He's been a wreck lately"

"Believe me, he'll be fine" He assured, to convince himself as well.

" I feel awful" he said, hoping she would believe him. Of course he had no idea that he would be a catalyst for Tony Stark's darkest days.

"There's nothing you can do, its fine"

"Pepper, honestly I should have never- I wasn't thinking, I was trying to let you know and make sure his drinking wasn't out of control"

"You know, the world might benefit more if you were selfish sometimes" she commented, even though she only knew the tip of the iceberg. Her words resounded in his head and he went over all the events that had happened between them, wondering what could have been, if only.

"I'll keep that in mind" he promised.

"I just thought you should know-" Pepper started, but the tears got the better of her again and she hung up the phone without another word.

He felt sick just thinking about it. If he had only taken her advice then, he could have rushed back to Tony and avoided the month that would forever live in their memory as 'Tony's Month Out of Control'. He had felt awful then, responsibile for three people's emotional misery, his own not included, with no knowledge of the events that were to come.

Though Bruce's superpowers didn't lie in mind reading, he had a feeling he knew what Natasha was thinking. Recently, the tests had come back and the amount of heroin in Tony's system had been frighteningly high. He knew though, as well as she did that they would never know. If Tony had tried to kill himself, he might never say. Perhaps he had been chasing a thrill, or been completely reckless. Somehow, Bruce didn't want to know, he couldn't stand feeling worse or more responsible for this.

"It's my fault," he made out slowly. Natasha knew better than to say anything to the contrary. She nodded and followed his gaze to Tony's face.

"He's getting better," even though it didn't look like it.

"Even trying to order drinks" Bruce added, with a weak laugh.

The bruise that took over the side of Tony's face was the least of his problems, even as it was the size of a melon, greenish grey in the fluorescent lighting of the foreign hospital. It was as if Tony's face had morphed into green alien like skin. Bruce vaguely recalled being a hero, fighting monsters of the same shade, but all that was suddenly dim against this harsh reality. He wasn't that person anymore, and he was too close to an attack to focus on anything but the wounds that covered Tony. Whose shallow breathing was keeping Bruce in one piece, for now, but the second he left the hospital he knew he would explode. He just had to make Tony Stark get onto the track to recovery first.

"Will you stay?" she asked, as if reading his mind. He shook his head, focusing on the oxygen mask and half dozen wires attached to Tony's frail frame. He counted the broken ribs, the still healing gash from the motorcycle accident weeks before. He let his eyes trail over the spot where the tiger had scratched Tony, when he had been drunk on Safari. Bruce looked away before he realized how much damage had actually been done in past 30 days.

"If I hadn't left him in Bangkok-" he forced himself to stop. No point in reliving what had happened a month ago. Natasha wondered if he was about to break down into tears in front of her, but he was done with self pitying. Anger was waiting on a precipice, ready to possess him.

There was no mystery to the trigger of the attack. The second he left the hospital grounds, it possessed him, and he relished the anger. The outlet of emotions took over him and his glasses crunched under the weight of the giant green leg. He screamed into the night, and natives of the small village would never know what had happened. The monster would be talked about for weeks but the mystery of the strange beast would never be solved. Only Bruce would know the truth; that lately, he had been more of a monster than the Hulk had ever been.


It really wasn't fair how vivid the memory came back to Tony, he thought sourly as the exact layout of the hotel room and every word came back to him, crystal clear. Tony would have thought that he'd had enough alcohol in the last month to permanently repress that particular memory. He was lucky he survived the recent adventure, but not so lucky as to forget. Not for the first time in a month he felt horrible, as if he was about to be sick. He called out blindly for a scotch, memories overlapping. Bars in Australia, Chinese opium dens, experimental drugs in the South of Loas, the hospital in Belarus after the motorcycle accident all meshed together until he actually believed he was back in one of the many hotels, at the bar ordering a scotch.

He was paralyzed by the pain, and the adventures of the last month flashed at them, inciting nothing but self shame. Each expedition was more reckless than the last, and he'd spent a month trying to forget every detail of his own life, living as if he could die at any moment, not really caring if he did.

"Morphine!" he shouted, begging for something to faze out the memories haunting him, but he would not be so lucky, he had to be human. He had to remember, and he couldn't run from himself anymore.

Steve stared at him, his judgement obvious. It made him feel horrible, but it was nothing compared to the rant Pepper was giving him on the phone.

"Ok! Stop!-" Tony started, but Steve was watching him, almost as Hawkeye would, he thought humorously, but no one would see the funny side.

"I'm not sorry" he said, and he could read the confusion on Steve's features, wondering if Tony's words were meant for him.

"And I'm not going to say you didn't know what you were getting into, this is how I am, I'm a liar" he continued, locking eyes with Steve now. " and I will hurt you and I don't love either of you, I don't want to be with either of you"

"Tony you're sabotaging yourself, we can talk about this, please-" Pepper's tears almost made him rethink his words, but he just continued on, harsher.

"No. It's over" a thousand other words passed through his mind, the truth you deserve better, I don't deserve anyone, but instead he hung up.

"Tony" whatever Steve was about to say, Tony knew he didn't want to hear it.

"Don't bother, super soldier-" Tony was already formulating a dozen insults that would ensure that Steve never looked at him with anything but malice ever again, but Steve spoke before he could say even one.

"You're out of control, you're not being yourself"

"Cuz you know me so well?" Tony retorted. "Why do you all expect so much from me?" Tony asked, childishly. Steve didn't buy the tantrum, or indulge it with a compliment, instead he rose slowly, breathing out.

"When you find out who you are, again, come find me"

"What you'll wait for me or some poetic nonsense?" Tony attacked, judgement in his every movement.

"If you ask me to, yes" Steve's sincerity was breathtaking, but Tony didn't let himself dwell on it.

"Because I'm so worth it?" Tony spat back, malice hovering over his tone, like an evil beast ready to take over his spirit.

"There's no one like you" Steve admitted, borrowing the words Bruce had told him hours before.

"Spare yourself the trouble, Pepper and I will probably sort this out, you're the temptation at a party, the obstacle to true love or whatever that is" Tony lied through his teeth, not caring how much hurt he caused.

"Not to mention you're really not my type,it'd be fun and all, but a lot of hassle, and in the end, just a hot mess, yes, you're hot, but so are a billion other people on the planet, and I'm a playboy like you said, I don't settle, so let's not complicate things anymore by making the mistake of you know hooking up. Instead, lets try to go back to being a team, if we even work as that," Tony responded, pocketing his phone from where it sat on the nightstand table. In just ten minutes he would decide to leave the Avengers for a month, for the prospect of more exciting, life threatening thrills around the world.

"Have a nice life," he mocked a salute and left the room before Steve could say another word.

Tony groaned against the pain and opened his eyes, realizing he had been able to sleep. He focused first on her red hair, then his gaze hovered over her chest. She slapped him in the shoulder, hard and he refocused on her eyes. Pain dizzied him for a few seconds and he groaned, just realizing how much of him ached and was covered in bruises.

"So you're not a mirage" Tony retorted, knowing that Natasha would never put up with him. She was real then, not some kinky sex dream brought on by a withdrawal from the hard drugs.

"I've heard" she responded, looking around the now dimly lit hospital room. She found herself thinking that Bruce should be here, as Tony has finally found consciousness long enough to talk about something other than morphine or Scotch. But, Bruce already had three incidents in the week that Tony had been in the hospital, and Natasha knew as well as Bruce did, that he had to get away as soon as possible. Bruce needed to get over his self pitying, self loathing act, she thought, and she knew and he needed distance from the cause of his distress.

"Where am I?" Tony croaked, as she handed him a cup. His lips were cracking and parched, and he tasted the blood as he swallowed the tepid water.

"Does it matter? I'm taking you home"

"Why you?" Tony asked numbly. He wondered if he should mention that he had started hallucinating Bruce Banner caressing his face, waiting by his bed side and whispering I love yous, you'll get betters and I'm sorrys.

"Pepper doesn't want to see you" Natasha shrugged, omitting the real question.

"Well, I cant this weekend; scuba diving off the coast of Zingaro, maybe next."

"You want to explain to me how you've fractured our team and broken three hearts in one month?"

"I'm in pain, give a guy a few days to recover"

"I'd be happy to make that pain worse" she threatened, looming a fist over his shoulder.

"Three? I had no idea you felt about me that way" he winked.

"Cut the wit, stark"

"Worried how Barton will react?" She breathed out, rolling her eyes before she put on a fake smile and leaned towards him.

"You've been here a week, you're still not look that great, he won't see you as much of a threat"

"I'll make an effort to get better for you,"

"Maybe I should upgrade then," she batted her eyelashes and he managed to smirk through the pain. "So the next time you try to kill yourself I'll really be the widow,"

"Just take me home," he grumbled, wishing that he could fall unconscious and avoid this conversation.


"Well isn't this a fun little party?" Tony asked, as his eyes glazed over the faces of the people in front of him. The press got him at the airport, and in the short expanse of road between his car and the tower.

One sleepless night back in his old home, he wasn't surprised to find someone ( maybe Pepper, or Natasha or even Rhodey) had emptied his collection of booze. The detox was harder than he had anticipated, but the hospital had handled the worst of it. He had been woken by Jarvis that morning,and notified of visitors in his penthouse, whom he hadn't expected on his second day back in New York.

"Tony, this is an intervention," Pepper's voice broke the silence, but there was a different tone in her voice. One that held submerged anger, and he could tell that she wasn't over him, in the way her eyes never met his, and in the quivering of her hand. He wondered if she could tell the same about him, but would never ask.

"I can see that, Pepper," Tony responded. "Don't you think it's a bit unnecessary?" Redundant, impossible,outdated, cliche and bound to fail, he thought of adding, but Pepper continued.

"Tony, all of us are here because we love you-" Pepper tried, but her voice broke at the word and her eyes flew to the view outside of the windows.

"Really, all of you?" Tony asked, coming towards them, nitpicking at words. "Do you love me, Steve?" Tony asked in mockery, surprised that the super soldier had even made the cut.

"You need to come back to the Avengers," Steve responded. He had no intention of saying I love you, or anything affectionate to Tony after Bangkok, and his tone reflected as much. Tony smiled as if he had a secret, nodding before he approached Bruce.

"And you, Bruce, do you love me? Because I haven't seen you for months, you disappeared off the face of the planet, helping people, how f**cking heroic of you, abandon your best friend, I was in the hospital for a week, where were you?" He had confined the visions in the hospital to being just that, hallucinations. Wishing Bruce had been there with him had made him realize all over again how much Bruce had let him down. Bruce didn't deserve Tony's niceties, he thought threateningly, and missing Bruce was something Tony just would not do. He had already intentionally hurt himself enough this month, after all.

Bruce blinked in response to the accusation, but it didn't matter, because he had blamed himself enough already. Also he had decided that once they were alone, he would tell Tony everything. Natasha cut in, saving Bruce from a respoe in front of everyone.

"We're here because you tried to kill yourself."

"Apt assessment, agent, but it's not like anyone would really miss me, I'm volatile, remember, don't play well with others? Now you can all pick up your feel good badges and clap yourselves on the back, you've tried to help a delinquent, job well done, hurry along home,"

"We're not leaving, Tony, not until we talk to you about this!" Pepper pushed.

"You're spinning out of control," Rhodey pointed out.

"I suppose you all have beautiful heartfelt letters for me?" Tony asked, sitting on a stool with a false grin. "Well come on, I haven't got all day, Surfing with Sharks near Perth in a few hours," he added with a flair, lying to get them the hell out of his house.

"Just tell us what's going on," Steve tried.

"Why so you can fix it? Get me to see a shrink? Ok, here," he mimed pulling names out of a hat, tossing invisible slips of paper at each person as he spoke.

"There, have daddy issues, and you Rhodey, you can have, extreme vanity, and you Pepper, you know, you can have...lets see...yeah...pent up aggression, and Natasha, you can add being forced to work with a bunch of ungrateful superheroes to the list, throw in withdrawal from booze and drugs to the mix, and you...what was your name again? You don't get jack shit, Bruce, because you haven't been here, tough luck, best friendship over, intervention finished," he clapped his hands clean.

"Now get out," he hopped of the chair. If they wouldn't leave, he would.

"We're staying with you until you get better," It was Natasha who pushed, unamused by Tony's show.

"Don't have room for all of you," Tony responded, wanting them to see the lie.

"I'll stay" Bruce said suddenly. "You need someone to take care of you"

"What, because we're suddenly friends again? Don't you hate me or something? Too in love with your precious Steve even to talk to me anymore? You had to pick the spandex wearing one over me, didn't you?"

"ENOUGH!" Steve shouted suddenly. "This is about the three of us, and Bruce is right, I'm staying too"

"Big surprise there," Tony commented, turning his back to the crowd, he started raiding his cupboards for any trace of alcohol. Even listerine would do at this point.

"Tony this is serious" Steve pointed out.

"I guess a threesome is off the table then, Captain?" Tony joked.

"Tony, we have to sort this out," Steve said, ignoring the flush that sped to his cheeks.

"You can all go home, knowing you've wasted my time," Tony said.

"We're staying, you can't change our minds," Steve responded.

"Even if it takes weeks," Bruce agreed.

"I better not hear you screwing" he said gruffly before as elevator doors closed, with him inside.


[tbc]

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know of any mistakes, in plot, grammer or characterizations. Your feedback means the world to me!