Dawn was just beginning when Bruce woke up, too cold to remain unconscious any longer. His nose was stopped up, and his throat ached just slightly, but that wasn't as concerning as trying to piece together his scattered memories. It always took him a couple of minutes to gather them, knitting them into a patchwork of occurrences. Sometimes, the Other Guy even offered helpful hints as to his activities while Bruce was forced out of consciousness. It was a rarity, but he always appreciated it when it did happen.

Rubbing his bare arms to create some warmth—his shirt had shredded during the transformation, as had his pants—he tried to recollect the day before. He'd been working with Tony; that was obvious. He'd run into the forest for a reason he couldn't remember, a reason which would come to him in a moment.

A flash of green filled his vision, quick glimpses provided by the Other Guy himself. Rolling his eyes when the images, he snorted at the Other Guy's true intentions. He was basically bragging about how obedient he'd been, only throwing a few trees around and staying in the same spot the entire time. Look at what a good monster I am!

Sighing, he thought to himself, not sure whether he could be heard, You know, the fact that you still broke out tells me you're not a good monster. Not surprisingly, there was no response; he was probably recovering from the exertion of breaking into Bruce's mind. He'd be back within fifteen minutes, without a doubt.

Okay, what else? He'd been in the labs with Tony… Yeah, he got that part. And then, Tony had been… weird. Ah, yes, now he remembered the panic attack. It took Bruce a couple more seconds to recall the trigger, and by that point, he already remembered the earth-shattering kiss.

Oh god what have I done? Now he felt sick, and he actually had to double over for a moment. No, no, no! Why didn't I stop him?! he thought, frantically pulling at his curls. Oh, yeah, right, because you're in love with him. Idiot.

Forcing himself to stand to his feet and take deep breaths, he began walking in the direction he remembered coming from, very conscious of his lack of clothing.

This is going to create too many questions that I can't answer, he fretted. There was no way he was going to threaten Tony and Pepper by telling them his greatest secret. But there was no way around the majority of inevitable questions, especially the one regarding his missing clothing.

Why should I care? he thought. He was losing Tony either way. From the looks of it, without knowing what really was going on, it looked as if Bruce had played the playboy, stealing his love and kisses before running off with them, a thief in the night. Without telling the horrible truth, forgiveness was out of the question.

If he was in Tony's shoes, he wouldn't forgive himself either.

As the sinking dread weighted down his shoulders, he realized he was at the house. Moving quickly, praying that Tony had no paparazzi stalking in the bushes, he got to the door as quickly as he could, closing it behind him.

Welcome, Doctor Banner, JARVIS announced at his entrance, startling him half to death.

"Jesus, JARVIS!" he said, louder than he intended. Of course he then froze, listening carefully for approaching footsteps.

You must hurry, Doctor Banner, the AI urged, Mister Stark was alerted by your arrival. I had Dummy bring down some of your clothes and place them to your left. I suggest you change quickly.

"How did you—" Bruce began to ask, but decided against it, not sure he wanted the answer. Of course JARVIS would know; he should've already expected that. Taking the jeans and shirt and pulling them on as quickly as humanly possible without falling, Bruce somehow managed to be presentable when Tony made it downstairs.

Immediately, Bruce noted Tony's bloodshot eyes, most likely caused from crying or drinking. However, when he spoke, the latter idea was immediately scratched out. There was no way he could be drunk and talk that steadily. "Bruce, you need to start explaining yourself."

"I can't," Bruce confessed, closing his eyes, ashamed that he couldn't do more.

"Why must you always keep secrets?" Tony demanded, keeping his voice controlled and level, but not enough to keep his hurt from seeping into his tone. "You know almost everything about me, but I don't even know anything about you childhood. How can I even try a committed relationship with you when I barely know anything about you?"

He was going to try a relationship? A real relationship? Bruce blinked, amazed that the playboy was willing to change his lifestyle just for him!

No, but Tony was right. It couldn't work with all of these secrets, and there was no way Bruce would tell. "Then you shouldn't try," he said, trying ot keep his voice cold and emotionless.

Unfortunately, Tony heard something in his voice that he couldn't keep out. "But you want to," he said, stepping forward, cautious and calculated. "You want a relationship, but refuse to allow it. Why is that, Doctor Banner?"

Bruce didn't know what to say. He wanted so desperately to release everything that had been bubbling in his lungs for so long, almost to the point he felt like he couldn't breathe. He somehow had to find enough words to repair their friendship, and only that. That's all he needed to be satisfied.

"It's not safe," he blurted before he meant so speak. Tony flinched, and Bruce realized how it sounded. "Not like that! I think you're a safe person… ish." After all, Tony did have his moments.

Snorting at the last little bit, he asked, "So what is it, then?" Despite looking somewhat irritated by Bruce's running away stunt a couple hours ago, he did seem excited that Bruce was opening up to him, even if it was leading toward rejection.

Shaking his head, Bruce tried to think of the vaguest way to express his problems without coming off like a serial killer who was trying to hide his past. So far, there was only one response that would be less creepy, so he decided to go with it. "Bad things always seem to happen to the people I become too close to, especially if we move too fast in our relationship."

Bruce could tell Tony's mind was trying to calculate whether he was lying or not; he had his scientist expression on. Finally, after thinking for a while, he asked, "You're not a target for a murderer, are you?"

"No!" He said, somewhat pleased that Tony assumed he was a target, not the actual murderer. Even though he kind of was.

"Good," Tony said. "I don't want an untimely death in the peak of my fame."

"Not everyone dies," he pointed out, "but they end up getting at least injured. It's like I have a curse." A big, ugly, green curse.

"You're not cursed," Tony protested, reaching forward to grasp Bruce's hand. He should've flinched away, but he couldn't. "There's no way someone as caring as you could be cursed! You are as caring as Pepper, and she's the most caring person I know. I mean, people don't put up with me very easily; you need to be some kind of angel to handle me."

Feeling a lump growing in his throat, he said, "Sadly, I'm pretty sure I'm cursed."

"Is that why you ran?" Tony asked tenderly, a loving tone that Bruce had never heard from his mouth before. "You ran because you thought you were cursed and I would be harmed?"

Because you were almost killed he wanted to say, but he couldn't. Instead, he only nodded.

"Oh, Bruce," Tony said sadly, just looking at him with pity. "I'm not stupid; I know there's more going on than you're saying. I mean, you ran off and came back in different clothes. There's no way something's not going on. But, regardless, I still want you." His hand shifted to Bruce's face as he froze, and he cradled his cheek. Tony wants me, Bruce thought in awe, finding it impossible to believe that someone would want him, in spite of all the lies and secrets.

Now holding Bruce's face in both hands, he asked, "What about this? What if I took things slow? You said it got bad if we moved slow, right?"

"Tony, I don't think that will—"

Bruce was cut off by lips on his, drowing out his voice altogether. But, before Bruce could even slightly panic, Tony let him go.

"Hear me out, okay?" he asked. "You want this, I want this, but we both have reasons why this could be a bad idea. You have reasons that you can't tell me, and I'm horrible with serious relationships. If we took things slow, at whatever pace you want, and you remind me to behave from time to time, we could potentially have a great romance going. And, if it's becoming dangerous for either of us, we pull the plug. How does that sound."

There were so many reasons why this could be a bad idea. Eventually, something would happen to cause their relationship to blow up in the face; it was inevitable. But, Bruce was desperate. He wanted the deal; he wanted to try a relationship with Tony and hopefully have it work. He just wanted Tony so badly. In the end, he decided it was a risk he was willing to take, especially if he could call it off if the Other Guy became too dangerous. "Fine," he agreed, "we can try it slow."

"Good!" Tony chirped, dragging their faces together for another quick kiss.

And, to Bruce's amazement, the Other Guy still didn't respond.

[Was that an okay-ish resolution to that specific problem? I can't tell... But I am very glad people are enjoying this!]