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WE DO NOT OWN MARVEL OR ITS CHARACTERS, BUT IF WE DID, ALL HELL WOULD BREAK LOOSE.

Chapter 10 - The Incredible Hulk

"Bruce!" Tony called after the man. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Happy had the case in his hand within five seconds. Tony ran in after the man trying to find him. It was hard considering his height. Spotting people spreading abruptly Tony ran to follow him. He stopped dead in tracks as soon as he heard the roar. "Oh, Fuck!"

He stopped and opened the case putting on the suit. As soon as the masked flipped down he was flying over the crowd to the bathroom. Unlike everyone else, Tom Sanders was standing by the door. Reporters. They're so stupid. "Happy"

Hearing his name being called on his phone he ran inside. "Yes, sir?"

"Get everybody out of here. But this man," he said pointing to Sanders "Bring to the garage at the Tower. Do not let him out your sight."

Happy nodded and cuffed the man to him with the cuffs that were meant for the case with the suit. "Come on we should probably go."

With that Tony blasted the door open and flew into the bathroom. He immediately saw the Hulk sized hole in the ceiling. It was obvious Bruce had tried very hard not to be seen. Well, I guess we get that test run we wanted. Tony flew through the hole to see the large green monster on the roof. He was scared shitless, but he wasn't about to let Bruce do something he'd regret so easily. He raised the mask so he could speak. "Hey big guy, first of all let me say thanks for saving me last time we met. Second, how bout we keep this as quiet as possible and with as little damage as possible."

He didn't know why he was talking to the Hulk like this, but it seemed better than just trying to shoot at him and piss him off. The suit could take a lot of things, but it could only handle so much Hulk thrashing. One punch and he could be dead.

The Hulk quickly turned around towards the sound of the voice. He recognized the man as a friend and lowered his arm so he wouldn't punch him automatically out of habit. He let out a huff to the man's first comment; he had done what Banner asked that time. Even if he was a friend, he had no real reason to save the man for other than getting a chance at a good smashing. Right now, he only obliged the second because there was nothing that he overly wanted to smash currently other than the annoying reporters that wouldn't leave him alone if he went down to the entrance.

"Hulk want to be left alone," he snorted. "Reporters and cameras bother Hulk." The green giant was talking more than he had ever before. There was more though process and not just mindless rage.

"Well in all honesty, they bother the hell out of me too. But they're just trying to make a living. How 'bout you calm down, and I'll get you out of here. We can fly away and they would be able to really take a lot of pictures," he said this, but to do that he had to have the Hulk become Bruce, and that was probably not on his agenda. On the upside, it seemed like the treatments were working.

"Tom Sanders, will be at the Tower soon. Wouldn't you love a crack at him? However, I can't fly with you, since you're so large..." he trailed hoping he wouldn't piss off the giant green not-so rage monster.

"Hulk not leaving yet! Hulk get home his way!" he snapped at the Iron Avenger with a growl. The gamma monster leaped from the top of the building, passed over a couple more before landing on the roof a block away. He kept repeating the process until he was at the Avengers' Tower balcony where he landed with a loud thud, shaking the ground underneath him.

The rest of the Avengers were up on the same floor, staring at the Hulk through the window. They had received the signal that Banner had lost control and they went up to the briefing room to see if they could track the man down. To their surprise, they saw his signature get closer and closer to the Tower and thus, landed in front of them.

Tony followed the Hulk trying to beat him there. He called Happy's phone. "Happy, stay away until I give you a call."

"All right." Happy took the man to a McDonalds near there. Mainly because fancy food always comes in too small portions.

Tony landed next to the Hulk lifting his mask. "Hi guys, no need to worry I've got this under control. Big guy here is being very reasonable."

It was half way true, it wasn't in his control, but it was relatively controlled, and the Hulk was being fairly reasonable. He hadn't destroyed anything yet, which was always a plus. "So, uh, big guy. Any particular thing you want to do? Can I get you a drink?"

"Want to be left alone," he grumbled, feeling irritated to have to repeat himself. They walked inside getting glances of 'what in the hell happened' from everyone at the table. The Hulk started to head for the elevator when a god at the table piped up.

"WHY DON'T YOU JOIN US? WE SHALL DRINK IN MERRIMENT! UNLESS YOU CANNOT ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE FROM THE MIGHTY THOR," Thor bellowed. He saw Stark's drink idea a good way to try and calm down the creature. At least enough to get him to sleep and hopefully get Banner to revert back to normal.

The Hulk snorted at the idea and turned around. "It's on, goldilocks," he said with a sneer. There was still a grudge he held for getting tossed around on the helicarrier, even if he got his revenge by punching the man across the room while he wasn't paying attention.

"I'll get my good tequila, and jager," Stark said going to his bar. He was grateful Thor caught on so quick. Bringing a couple large bottles of the drinks and a few large mugs, he set them out so they could begin. Hopefully, Thor could out drink the man.

Rogers looked at them in bewilderment. They wanted to get the beast drunk? That would just make him less rational and more likely to kill them all. He was going to say something, before it hit him. They were trying to make him sleep. He felt so stupid. "I'll get in on this." Usually it was against Rogers code to drink, but this time it was for the safety of the people in New York.

Natasha stood shaking her head. "Well you boys have fun then I'm going to contact Fury, about the guests that need to be talked to."

"I don't feel like grilling anymore, think I'll go with her," Hawkeye said following Natasha to the elevator. As much as he'd love to see all of them get drunk off their asses, he didn't want to get killed over it.

"I HOPE YOU HAVE A HEFTY STOCK, MAN OF IRON, THIS WILL TRULY BE A BATTLE OF THE AGES," Thor said accepting a mug, pouring a drink for all of them. He passed them around with an eager eye, he hadn't been out matched in a drinking contest yet and he wasn't planning on getting a defeat that night. "MAY THE BEST MAN WIN!" the man screamed as he downed the glass jager he poured for himself, slamming it on the table.

The Hulk drank the tequila in one swift gulp. It would take a lot more than that to bring him down so easily. He was rather enjoying the puny human's and god's attempt at trying to best him, but it would only be a matter of time.

"Don't worry Thor, I have a very good stock." Tony watched the men as they began. He had decided to ref. Though he was a good drinker, he couldn't keep up with the other men without killing himself. He kept pouring drinks as they sucked them down.

The Captain kept up with the other men. "This stuff is disgusting," he said before sucking down another glass. He was impressed by Tony's ability to keep up with them all in pouring. This was probably something he had done before.

"What? Can't keep it down Flagman?" Hulk snickered with a confident glint in his eyes. He grinned as he let out a large belch that even Thor couldn't compete with. At one point, he got tired of Stark having to fill his glass and just took the bottle from the man, downing it in seconds. He let out a sigh of air once he finished it off. His head was starting to become woozy, but there was no way he was going to back down.

"WAHAHA! THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" Thor exclaimed as he took the Hulk's example and took one of the alcoholic bottles. He finished it off in a little longer than the Hulk, but that was due to different body dimensions and the Hulk was considerably larger.

"I can handle a hell of a lot more than you!" he said grabbing a bottle and chugging the awful tasting liquid. It burned his throat as it went down, but he refused to choke in front of these men. He was a real man he would not be emasculated in front of them.

"Well if that's the case I'll get some more bottles," Tony said going behind the bar and grabbing one of his crates of alcohol.

The Hulk downed another three bottles while waiting for the Iron Avenger to return. Switching from jager to the tequila that was scattered about, his breath was become haggard, but he was still determined to see this through. There was going to be nothing less that goldilocks' defeat at his hands.

"HA! KEEP UP FRIENDS! NO MIDGARDIAN SHALL BEST ME!" The god was keeping up, matching the Hulk from practice on Asgard. He was getting quite the match, by the sixth bottle of the strong liquor he was starting to feel the alcohol take its toll.

The Cap was a bit slower, but he was keeping up with them. Due to his accelerated metabolism the alcohol wasn't even touching him. He smiled as he heard the Hulk's breathing. He chugged another bottle down, now used to the burn in his throat. He hoped the Hulk would soon turn into Bruce, because he had to piss like a racehorse.

Tony kept bringing bottle upon bottle of liquor. He prayed that Hulk would be done soon, because this floor's bar was almost cleaned out, he'd have to go to the next floor and bring up more. He decided to see how everyone was feeling. "So, anyone starting to feel a buzz?"

"I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. IS THERE AN INSECT NEARBY?" Thor asked, confused from the Midgardian lingo. He didn't think too hard on the matter and went straight back to finishing off the bottle he had in his hand.

"BWAHAHAHA!" the Hulk started cackling. The god's ignorance was enough to set the giant man off with the amount of alcohol he consumed. Even with his giant body mass, it wasn't accustomed to having alcohol in its system. So the Hulk had gotten drunk, only a bottle or two shy from half a dozen combinations of tequila and jager.

"Thor, he's asking you if you're beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol. By the sound of it Hulk really is," the captain said after finishing another bottle. "I'm not feeling a thing. Though I really have to pee."

Tony smiled when he heard the Hulk laugh. Finally, the beast was drunk. It had taken long enough. "Hulk, I have more down stairs if you'll help me carry it." Tony wanted to lead him to his and Bruce's bedroom. He hoped the beast would fall asleep on the bed in there, but worst case scenario he was able to lock the beast in the room.

"Hulk not drunk!" he said very defensively, getting up in the captain's face. The giant green monster looked as if he was ready to brawl before Stark suggested more things to drink. He let out a huff of air through his nose and backed away to follow the metal man. Hulk entered the elevator first, which made it nearly impossible for Iron Man to squeeze in with him. There was virtually no room for the both of them, but the door managed to close as Stark's back was pressed against the Hulk's torso. The close proximity making the beast emit a low growling sound.

"Sorry big guy, I'll get away as soon as we're at the floor," Tony said not wanting to upset the beast. He pressed the button and JARVIS quickly took them to the floor with the high tech bed room. As soon as the doors opened, Tony was out of the enclosed space and led the beast to the room. He hadn't been lying there was more to drink there, but he wasn't going to let the beast be where he could do damage. "What do you say to cracking a few of these open before going up to see the other guys?"

The Hulk snorted in amusement at another human trying to challenge him. Or at least what he perceived as a challenge. The opened the crate without effort and tossed the nail ridden board across the room. He picked a random bottle from the bunch and opened the liquor and downed it slower than he had upstairs. This one was actually starting to hurt him in his endeavors, without realizing that it had a higher proof than the other bottles he seamlessly went through.

Tony smiled watching the Hulk guzzle his special stash. This was some of the strongest alcohol he could find. He saved these for when he was really, really depressed. Tony poured himself a small glass and sipped at it as he secretly entered the code into his phone to lock down the room. He would be able to get out through his special escape hatch, but he prayed the beast would fall asleep before he realized they were locked in. Tony sat in one of the computer chairs. "This is my special stash. My best tasting stuff. So enjoy it. I'm trying to quit. As you can see, I'm not very successful."

The door closed with a locking sound after a period of rest within the room. There was no warning, and even in his drunken state the Hulk could figure out that it probably wasn't beneficial to him. The monster let a growl from discomfort and scrutinized the man sipping at his drink in the corner. He asked, slightly slurred, "Why door close?"

"It's an automatic thing. Since I don't usually come to bed alone, I prefer my privacy," It was only half a lie. It wasn't automatic, but he didn't normally go to bed alone and he definitely enjoyed his privacy with Bruce. Especially since the man would probably Hulk out if someone walked in when they were in the middle of relations. "It's kind of a turn off if someone walks by and sees me in the middle of having sex."

"With Banner," the Hulk said with an angry in his voice at the mention of the name. He had been on the verge of coming out before while in their acts. So fucking close, but somehow the man in the corner managed to make Bruce suppress him from coming out. That was enough to make him want to smash the man's head in at that point. However, he was seeing two heads and he was still having at the case of liquor at his feet.

"Oh, so you do know about his relationship with me. Well, I never really get to have sex with him. Only fool around, but I'm sure you know of that," Tony said a bit irritated, the alcohol was actually starting to get to his head a bit, and now he was mouthing off to the large man. "I got to be honest. I love Bruce, and I'm actually liking you a bit, but cock blocking me is really not cool. It's been over two months since I've had sex and it's getting annoying. So if you don't mind letting me enjoy myself with my boyfriend just once."

"Metal man keep stopping Hulk from coming out! Hulk SMASH Metal man!" the Hulk roared, enraged at how obvious the man didn't want him to come out. The Hulk wanted Banner gone so he could have his body.

The beast slammed his drink on the ground, glass shards exploding across the room. He ran to charge for the Iron Avenger, but the room was spinning too fast at the sudden movement. There were four Starks in front of him and he went for the one on the right, smashing his skull right into the Hulk proof wall. He collapsed onto his back at the impact, the combination of the head trauma and alcohol knocking him out cold.

Soon enough, the giant green unconscious rage monster on the floor of the room morphed back into the half-naked Bruce Banner. His pants had amazingly survived the transformation, but were of course way too big for the small man now and only laid on top of his lower body. Not that the man cared much, he was still out, finally resting, presumably peacefully.

Tony was ready to fly away when the Hulk began to yell, but seeing the beast run so off course he didn't move. It amazed him that the Hulk had managed to knock himself out like that. A small smile graced his lips as he saw his Banner return to him. He removed the way too large pants from Banner and put the man in the bed. "E=MC^2"

With that the room deactivated and Tony walked out the door. As he walked he called Happy. "Happy please bring Mr. Sanders to the parking garage."

"Already there."

"Good, I'll be down in a moment," he said before hanging up to call Rogers and Thor to let them know the plan had worked and thanked them. Once he got to the garage his mask flipped down and he flew towards the reporter. He lifted the man up by the color of his shirt. "Happy, uncuff yourself. I'm going to need full motion."

Happy did as told and removed the cuffs from the man. Tony held the man up higher now that he had more leverage. "You will tell me everything you saw right now."

"I-I have no idea what's going on! One moment I'm in the stall taking a dump, I come out to see your boyfriend. The next thing I knew, he throws me out of the room and locks the door on me! Hell, it was freaky! His eyes changed colours for some reason! All I wanted was a private interview and then I heard this giant roar. Then there was you flying to the scene. Why don't you tell me what really went on!" Tom said while struggling to hold on. He was gripping at Iron Man's arm as it held him by the collar of his suit. "This is nuts! You can't do this!"

"Keep talking science to me Tony...," Bruce moaned as he rolled over on the bed. His head felt like it had been run over by a bulldozer and his stomach was no better off. He stumbled to the bathroom to unattractively stick his head in the toilet and relieve his pained stomach. He got up and washed his face, trying to figure out what in the hell happened to make him feel this sick after his Hulk out. Walking out of the bathroom, he got his answer; empty bottles of liquor littered the floor along with broken glass. He also spotted his stretched out pants and riffled through them to find his ID card.

Banner's head was still pounding, but the need to figure out that Tony was alright was more important. There definitely looked like there was a confrontation in the room and he'd be damned if he hurt his partner.

"JARVIS, where's Tony?" he asked going into the play boy's closet. He needed something to wear if he was going to leave the room to find the man, and fiddling around with his normal dress shirts wasn't appealing to him right now.

"He's in the basement, sir. He's integrating a young man by the name of Tom Sanders."

"Oh...right," he said remembering his last moments of himself before the Hulk out. Bruce quickly threw on an Aerosmith tee shirt he found and a pair of Stark's jeans, both too large, but a belt too care of the problem. The doctor pocketed his ID card before heading to the elevator. Soon enough, there was Iron Man holding up the poor journalist by the cuff of his tux.

"If I can't do it, then why am I doing it?" he asked smugly. This man pissed him off. Even after telling the man Bruce preferred to be left alone he was going to try and prey on him when Tony wasn't around. "You are going to forget everything you saw and heard understand? If you so much as think about telling someone I will show you what this suit can really do."

"That's enough Mr. Stark," came the stern voice of Nick Fury as he got out his car walked with Natasha and Clint. The one eyed man watched as Stark literally dropped Sanders. He nodded to Natasha and she walked over to the man injecting him with a strange liquid. "When he wakes up he won't be able to remember the last few hours. The next time something like this happens instead of threatening someone, let me handle it. Though there shouldn't be a next time."

Natasha dragged the sleeping man with her as she tossed him into the car Fury had just gotten out of. Fury got into the car riding away with the reporter. "In all honesty, I think you handled that well, though if you really wanted to keep him quiet you should have killed him."

"Heh, don't think he has it in him," Barton said teasing the man. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a figure coming out of the elevator. Most people wouldn't have been able to identify from their range, but that's what separated Clint from others. "Looks like Jade Jaws went to sleep and your boyfriend came out to play Shell Head. Why don't you do something nice for a change and help the poor man out."

Bruce wandered barefoot into the garage. He was having a hard time standing straight, but Tony caught him once he stumbled into his arms. Not as comfortable as the real thing, but the sturdy suit was enough to keep him up off the floor. "What did I miss?" Banner asked weakly.

Ignoring Clint's comment, Tony raised the mask so he could smile at Bruce. Tony lifted the man off the floor taking him into the elevator. "I'll tell you once you're back in bed." Looking at the man's attire his smile grew "I must say you look absolutely fabulous in my clothes. You should wear them more often, just with less pants."

When they reached their floor Tony took the man to the bedroom and laid Bruce in the bed. It appeared JARVIS had sent Dummy up to clean up the glass, which he had done a good job of. "You freaked out at the press invasion and Hulked out, it seems the treatments have been working well. Nothing was broken, and he only took a swing at me once when I pissed him off, but he was so drunk he missed and knocked himself out. I'll be right back, don't pass out before I get back."

Quickly Stark went to his lab to have JARVIS take off the suit. Once that was finished he went back to the room and began removing his tux as he spoke. "I think you handled the whole situation well. No one got hurt and there was only minor damage."

"A drunk Hulk would explain why my head is going to explode currently," Bruce said resting his head on a pillow while Stark was leaving. His stomach was only feeling slightly better than that from having some of its contents been forcibly removed. He had nearly fallen asleep there when Stark showed up again. The doctor let out a sigh of relief to the information.

"Thank god," he said covering his eyes with his arm. His body was giving out and he didn't even feel like he had the energy to take off Stark's clothes himself. He rested quietly, thinking of what could have gone worse. But he remembered his promise to himself the day he first came to the Tower. How if he was in anyway shape or form of going to hurt anyone, he'd leave. He had broken the promise already by crushing the man's feelings by trying to keep it, but now this was where his real concerned lied: in the other guy. If he can't control it, how is he going to prevent himself from harming Tony in the future. The man had already said that he did lash out at the man. It's a miracle that Stark was even standing after that attack.

"Tony, I'm so so sorry," his voice cracking slightly. He was terrified that everything had turned to that over his inability to control himself.

After he had stripped down to his boxers, Tony went into his drawer and pulled out two aspirin. He handed them to the man and gave him a light kiss to the forehead. He began undressing the man starting with his shirt. He removed the man's pants tossing all the clothes on the floor. Though he was being a good boyfriend and taking care of the man, it didn't keep him from taking a nice look at the tired man's nude body.

"Why are you apologizing? No one was hurt. We got to test our work. I even got a chance to talk to the other guy. He has a very booming laugh, and burps that put Thor to shame."

He chuckled a bit remembering the scene. He went to the other side of the bed and laid down. He pulled the man into his arms so he could lay on his chest. Trying to calm the man down he stroked the man's hair gently and rubbed his back. "In all honesty I had fun tonight. I really enjoyed getting to dance you. I'd like to do that again sometime."

"Thank you," Bruce whispered into Stark's chest. He wrapped his arms around the man's torso, softly holding onto Stark's soft skin. His head was still pounding, and sleep was sounding to be fantastic at the moment. He closed his eyes and fell asleep on Tony's chest for the first time. Normally, they would spoon for the night, Banner looking away from Tony, too embarrassed to face him. But right now, after the entire night and Tony still could make him feel right, it felt more welcoming and safer to sleep towards the man, rather than away.

"Anytime, Bruce. Anytime," he said closing his eyes. He could feel the man's breath on his chest. It was warm and shallow. It was a comforting feeling as Tony slowly drifted off to sleep.