This doesn't really get much further than the last chapter but I wanted to emphasize Bruce's acceptance without getting too far into my idea for the next chapter - because I think I've got the rest of this story planned out now, even if it's not written x Please read and review xx
Bruce knows what it is like to be hunted. He knows that particular feeling all too well. He knows what it is like to feel like a monster, more so than any of the others in the team. They all have blood on their hands but Natasha, Clint, Steve, Thor have chosen that. They may not have chosen the path but they have chosen to fight. Indeed Steve had wanted to fight so desperately that he'd resorted to forgery and participating in untested science experiments, no matter how well the test went. Bruce merely wakes up to find out that the red on his ledger has doubled.
But Tony has been forced to do that as well. He hadn't known any better - any other life. Even Natasha had had some semblance of a life before the Red Room and knew what she was doing was wrong. Tony hadn't known any different. Bruce had known differently - but the Other Guy didn't seem to.
Bruce had never really known why he'd gotten on best with the most volatile and outrageous member of their team. After all, it wasn't great for keeping calm and stable. Perhaps the Other Guy could sense their shared history, even before Bruce had. Sometimes the Hulk was like a small child, still learning and throwing tantrums, and other times he seemed more intuitive than any of them - trusting Tony being only the first example.
Because Bruce and Tony were the same. They had red on their ledgers that would never be wiped out.
Because they would never be able to gain control of the inner animal. They don't know how to.
He supposes this is why they get on so well.
Bruce doesn't have many friends.
He doesn't have many people who understand him, either.
And when he finds someone who fits into both categories, god help someone who tried to hurt them. Unless it was for his own safety, Bruce would never willingly abandon Tony. Nor would the Hulk.
And both Tony and Bruce can sense that in the other.
It is for that reason that Bruce doesn't push Tony when his childhood secrets begin to unravel. Bruce understands what it is to be hunted, to be trapped. He would never willingly foist those feelings on a friend, particularly not one apparently already so experienced in the matter. He is curious, of course he's curious, but when Tony says no it is enough for him. It has to be. He won't lose his friend over a matter as small as his inquisitiveness.
He knows that most of the team will respect Tony's privacy. The only one that he is even slightly worried about is Steve and when they are all sat underneath Stark (Avengers) Tower and even the Captain doesn't seem inclined to push, he knows that, maybe, they might just be alright.
And they might just be better.
They all have their secrets.
But maybe they won't be so secret anymore - not with each other.
And maybe they'll all be okay with that.
Bruce is surprised he is.
He's even more surprised that the Other Guy is as well.
After the silent half an hour the team goes back up into the main tower, leaving them with no evidence that the tunnels even exist. Bruce doesn't fully understand why Tony would willingly do that to himself, torture himself by building Stark Tower here, but he knows that at least one of the others does understand so everything is alright.
As the lift ascends they do nothing more than meet each other's eyes and share long looks but they leave that lift closer than they've ever been.
Bruce only hopes Fury won't notice the difference.
(Of course he will. But he can hope.)
He can't believe that SHIELD doesn't already know about this - after all he knows how hard it is to hide from the government, but it seems Tony's learnt to hide every faucet of himself since he was born so even the government should be easier than hiding this kind of thing from Pepper.
The Avengers are more than a team now, an idea held together by lies and some bloodstained cards tossed on a table. They are a family.
And they protect their own.
It has almost been unanimously decided that they will not speak with Tony about it, that they will wait for him to bring the subject of his past up. He might never do that.
Despite whether or not Tony chooses to open up to them the changes in their team dynamics ate visible - they are all just that little bit more sympathetic, understanding.
Fury can tell right from when they enter the room when he calls the biweekly Avengers meeting. Those are supposed to be so that Fury can keep them updated with anything that's happening, but even Steve knows it is just one of Fury's ways to keep an eye on them.
He calls them out on the change straight away, knowing that neither of the spies (that he knows of) will tolerate his attempts to manipulate them. "What's happened?"
Clint and Natasha's faces harden very slightly, almost imperceptibly. Thor attempts obliviousness. Tony doesn't shift at all, not giving anything away. In that way he beats even Natasha and Clint with his skills and suddenly doesn't find it so hard to believe that SHIELD knows nothing about this. Steve though, darts his eyes to the Director and then away again, even though nothing shows on his face.
"Captain?" Fury immediately goes for Steve, knowing Steve's hatred of lying to authority, particularly SHIELD. Bruce supposes it's something that comes from the 40s, the inability to lie to your superiors and the inability to confront them as well because right now all Bruce wants to do is shake Fury and ask how he couldn't have noticed what was going on in the Stark household. Dear god, he'd worked with Howard. Surely someone had cared enough to look beyond appearances.
"Nothing's happened." Steve didn't sounded particularly convincing, not even to Bruce, never mind Fury.
The Director looked ready to interrogate them further but was interrupted by the wailing of an alarm and Hill's voice over the intercom from the bridge.
"We have a situation in New York. I repeat we have a situation. We appear to have to rogue giant frogs."
Tony cackled.
Fury's eye twitched.
"I repeat we have rogue giant frogs loose in New York."
Fury scowled and waved a hand at them. "Deal with this. Then debriefing."
Bruce left the room thinking both about what was going to happen involving Tony's secret and Fury and who would make giant frogs, never mind set them on New York?
Would New York get any weirder? (He ignores the fact that it is easier to get angry than normal becuase he is too busy imagining the kind of childhood Tony had and comparing it to his own.)
The answer is yes. Thankfully none of them were hurt, but the giant frogs exploded into purple slime and the press got photos of Thor attempting to ride one.
Some serious publicity stunts were needed.
Tony would probably organise a charity ball or something to make up for it, particularly considering that they were all in perfect condition for one.
Bruce could already picture the suit Tony would force him in to.
He shuddered.
But maybe that was price of friendship - exploding frogs and monkey suits. And maybe Tony was learning that as well.
Or maybe it was just part of being a superhero. Sometimes it sucked.
Smiling, Bruce looked over to find Thor covered in purple gunk and Tony smirking with something soft around his eyes and Clint poking Natasha in the ribs and hiding behind Steve when she turned to retaliate.
They would all be fine in the end.