Bruce was lying face down on the engine room floor as searing pain shot through his body. He could hear alarms blaring through the helicarrier and the faint footsteps of agents rushing around the bridge above him. He clenched his fists and tried to calm his heart rate, but he could feel himself starting to lose control.
Tony had fallen a few feet away but had managed to free himself from the collapsed pillars and crawl over to Bruce. He put his hand on Bruce's back and leaned over to look him in the eyes.
"Bruce, Bruce! You're alright, you're okay, just breathe for me."
Tony's voice was shaking, and he was using his other hand to shield Bruce and himself from the falling debris. Bruce's heart was still racing, but the feeling of Tony's hand brought his mind back to reality just as the Other Guy was about to take over.
He took a couple of seconds to breathe and then pushed himself up, leaning against Tony to steady himself. Bruce brushed himself off before remembering the computer that had been blown apart.
"I – yes, I'm fine. Tony, the Tesseract – it's at Stark Tower."
Tony's eyes widened, but before he could respond, they heard Fury's voice in their ears.
"Stark, Barton hit a turbine. We need it fixed."
Tony and Bruce ran out of the engine room up to the main deck as what was left of the lab floor began to cave in. Tony already had his phone out to activate his Iron Man suit but turned to look at Bruce.
"Stay here, I'll be right back."
As Bruce watched Tony leave, a wave of fear came over him. He had just narrowly escaped an appearance of the Other Guy, and the helicarrier was still falling out of the sky.
Then, Bruce saw Agent Coulson rushing through the passageway towards him, carrying what looked like a giant gun.
"Dr. Banner! Oh, I'm glad you're still you!"
Bruce eyed the gun suspiciously.
"What's that?"
"Specialized weapon, made from the Destroyer. The only way we'll be able to take out an Asgardian is with Asgardian technology."
Bruce followed Coulson to the detention center, where they came upon Thor banging his hammer against the cage's wall from the inside. Loki was standing at the control panel, about to press a large red button, when Coulson aimed the weapon at him.
"Move away, please."
Loki grinned at Coulson but moved his hand away from the button.
"Is this supposed to be threatening, mortal?"
Then he turned his focus to Bruce, who was standing frozen with fear behind Coulson.
"I see you brought the beast with you as well. Unfortunately, he isn't of much use to either of us in that form."
Loki smirked and put his hand back tauntingly over the control panel. Coulson released the safety on the weapon, and it glowed orange.
"I don't think you want to find out what this does."
But before they could find out what it did, the outline of the Loki standing before them began to shimmer and disappear. Then, he reappeared next to Bruce, holding the scepter and thrusting it towards Coulson's back.
"No!"
Bruce snapped out of his shock and leaped between Loki and Coulson. He felt the sharp spear tear through his stomach, and then everything went black.
When Bruce woke up, he was lying naked in a pile of rubble. His hand went to his stomach, but where he knew there should be a gaping hole, there wasn't even a scar. The feelings of fear and guilt that Bruce hadn't experienced in over a year rose up inside him. He had tried so hard to contain the Other Guy, but now he had just destroyed a building and possibly the helicarrier as well.
Bruce shook his head and tried to push out the thoughts of what could have happened after he transformed. It was too much to even consider that he had hurt Thor or Coulson. Or Tony.
Bruce sheepishly accepted clothes from a security guard who had seen him fall. He was grateful that the guard didn't ask too many questions and even let Bruce take his motorcycle. As Bruce rode across the George Washington Bridge, he could see a blue portal opening above Stark Tower. Aliens were swooping into the streets below, and even without his glasses, he could see the red and orange flashes of Tony's suit. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders; at least Tony was okay.
When Bruce got to the tower, Tony and the rest of the team were standing in a circle. This included Agent Barton, who Bruce presumed had been freed from his mind control. When Tony saw Bruce, he lifted up his helmet and ran towards him.
"Bruce, I knew you'd come back! I was so worried when I heard you Hulked-out. After the Hulk chased Loki away, they tried to calm him down, but it didn't work. And Agent said you saved his life!"
Bruce smiled despite the situation they were in.
"I'm just happy you're all okay."
"Well, I did almost faceplant on the sidewalk, but we're holding up pretty well. We could use your help, though."
Bruce looked at the crumbling buildings around them. The aliens were still swarming out of the portal, and a long, Leviathan-like creature was flying up the street towards them. Bruce looked at Tony and nodded. Then he turned to face the beast and let the Hulk take over.
Tony let go of the nuke and felt Earth's gravity pull him back through the portal before he passed out. When he opened his eyes, he was lying on the ground and could see his teammates standing over him. Tony tried to lift his head, but his fatigue and the suit's weight kept him down.
"Urgh, what happened?"
Natasha was standing to one side of him, holding Loki's scepter.
"You just carried a nuke through a portal and would have died if the Hulk hadn't caught you."
She looked over at the Hulk, who was standing on Tony's other side. He looked relatively calm now that the threat had been vanquished.
Steve and Clint were both smiling at Tony, but Thor was staring intently up at Stark Tower. He didn't look at all like a warrior who had just won a battle. He turned back to the group and sighed.
"I will give Loki to Agent Coulson for safekeeping, then we can have our victory feast."
Steve helped Tony to his feet and gave him a "well done" pat on his back. After Thor had gotten Loki chained and gagged, he, Steve, Natasha, and Clint went to meet Coulson in the lobby, while Tony offered to wait with the Hulk until he turned back into Bruce.
The Hulk was roaming around the room, occasionally grunting and looking for more aliens to pummel. Tony took off his suit and looked up at him.
"Hey, Big Guy, there's no more fighting. Why don't you let Bruce come back?"
The Hulk turned to look at Tony and growled.
"No Banner, Hulk hate Banner!"
Tony didn't flinch and strolled past him to sit on the one sofa that wasn't covered in rubble. He crossed his arms and frowned at the Hulk.
"Why? Banner is great! I like both of you. Well, not in the same way, but you both saved my life!"
He snarled and punched his hand through one of the crumbling walls in frustration.
"Hulk save Metal Man, Hulk like Metal Man. Banner like Tony, Hulk not like Tony!"
"You don't like me because Bruce likes me? That doesn't seem fair. Why can't we all just get along? I think you'd like Bruce if you got to know him. He's smart, and kind, and he's got really nice hair.
Tony grinned, but the Hulk shook his head violently.
"Banner puny, Hulk strong!"
"Maybe he is, but that's my type. You are very strong though, and you did a great job out there! We probably would all be kneeling to Loki if it weren't for you."
The Hulk let out a roar of laughter that shook the whole building.
"Puny god gone!"
"Yep, no more worrying about him! But we'll have a lot more bad guys to fight later, and you'll need to be rested up for that."
The Hulk grunted and slammed his feet to show that he had enough energy to fight off a whole other alien invasion.
"Hulk not tired."
"I know, but it's still nice to relax sometimes. Why don't you sit here with me?"
Tony got off the sofa to sit on the floor next to where the Hulk was standing and patted the carpet beside him. The Hulk stared at Tony for a moment before plopping himself down, making the already weakened floor almost give way.
Tony leaned against the Hulk and tried to wrap his arm around his massive torso. Soon he had closed his eyes and was shrinking in size. The green hue faded away, and then Tony had his arm around Bruce Banner.
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty."
Bruce blinked open his eyes and sat up. It was the second time that day he had woken up like this, but at least this time, Bruce had transformed willingly. He looked around and saw that he was lying in the middle of Stark Tower, wrapped up in a blanket and his now too big pants. Tony had his arm around Bruce and was helping him up.
"What happened? Are the aliens gone?"
"Yep, Thor et al. are dealing with Loki, and then we're going to get Shawarma."
Bruce looked around the room, taking in the crumbling ceiling, broken windows, and Loki-shaped holes in the floor, and winced.
"Oh, god. Did I do this?"
"Some of it, but don't worry, I was planning on redecorating anyway. Come on, let's get you some clothes to wear.
Bruce wrapped the blanket tightly around himself as Tony walked him to the bedroom.
"Pick out anything you like, I'll be in the living room."
Bruce looked around the walk-in closet. There must have been hundreds of t-shirts, pants, shoes, and accessories, and nothing looked like it cost less than $500. Bruce didn't think he had owned this many clothes in his life, much less at one time.
He felt a little guilty taking Tony's clothes after almost destroying his tower, but he picked out a yellow button-down shirt and the loosest fitting pants he could find. When he came back to the living room, Tony smiled and looked him up and down.
"You look good."
Bruce looked at the ground and tried not to blush.
"Well, they're your clothes."
Tony motioned for him to sit on the sofa next to him. Bruce was so tired from his transformation he could have fallen asleep right there. But Tony was rubbing his goatee, and his brows were furrowed. He looked apprehensive like he was trying to decide if he should say something, and Bruce started to wonder if maybe he didn't like that Bruce was sitting so close to him on the sofa.
"Bruce, can I ask you something? Before, when we were all in the lab, you said something about, about trying to kill yourself."
Tony ended the statement uneasily, and Bruce shifted uncomfortably. With everything that had happened, he had almost forgotten about his outburst back on the helicarrier, and he had hoped everyone else had, too. He had never imagined he would tell anyone about that day, but he had been so upset he just blurted it out.
"Yeah, that was, it was a long time ago. I should have known it wouldn't work."
Bruce tried to brush it off, but when he looked at Tony, Tony was staring into his eyes and seemed even more concerned.
"But, why?"
Bruce frowned. The "why" never seemed like it needed rationalizing to himself.
"I guess, I felt like it would never go away. The pain, the guilt, the feeling like I was worthless and caused more harm than good. I felt like I had a duty to rid the world of the Hulk, of me."
Bruce tapered off at the end and only then became aware that he had just let out his most intimate thoughts to Tony. Tony looked shocked with his mouth open, and Bruce began to feel guilty for burdening him with this.
"Bruce, you're not worthless. You're amazing, and a genius, and the most caring person I've ever met. And you saved my life, twice! Please don't try to hurt yourself again."
Bruce didn't know how to respond. He had never opened up to anyone like this, but he had opened up to Tony and upset him.
"Nothing would happen if I did. I literally can't die."
It was a lame response, and it didn't make Tony feel any better. He turned his body, so he was half kneeling on the sofa and facing Bruce.
"I know, but it still hurts me to think you still feel that way. That you don't know how much I, how much I need you. Please stay, Bruce. With me, with the team, I don't want to you to go."
Bruce sat quietly for a moment. Before he had agreed to leave Kolkata with Natasha, he had promised himself he would return as soon as the mission was complete. But working with Tony in the lab and hearing him say things like that made Bruce happier than he had been in four years. He bit his lip and turned back to look at Tony.
"I'll stay."
Tony's face broke into a smile, and Bruce smiled back. All the stress from the last few days had dissipated, and all Bruce felt was pure joy at the prospect of having a home here.
Tony had been gazing into Bruce's eyes, but then he let his eyes fall to Bruce's lips and put his hand to his cheek. Bruce leaned in, and the next thing he knew, Tony's mouth was on his, and he was kissing Tony back.
Thor, Steve, Natasha, and Clint were waiting in the lobby of Stark Tower. They had handed Loki off to Coulson for the time being so that they would be free to get Shawarma for lunch. Fury had been annoyed that they were shirking their duties onto S.H.I.E.L.D., especially because Thor wouldn't allow them to take Loki into custody permanently. But Coulson had convinced him that it was important for the newly formed Avengers to have "team bonding time."
Clint was pacing around the lobby, looking only slightly less annoyed than when he had found out Thor wasn't going to let him shoot Loki's eyes out with an arrow.
"When are we gonna eat? Being mind controlled takes a lot out of you."
Natasha smiled; she was glad to have her best friend back, even if his ordeal hadn't changed him.
"I'll see if Tony has gotten Bruce back yet."
Natasha took the elevator up to the top floor where they had left Tony and the Hulk. The elevator probably wasn't the safest, seeing as the building was falling apart, but she certainly wasn't taking the stairs after the day she had had.
When Natasha turned the corner to the penthouse living room, she quickly backed up out of view. Tony and Bruce were making out on the sofa, with Bruce's arms around Tony's waist and Tony's hands in Bruce's hair. Natasha smiled to herself as she stood around the corner. Then, she slammed her feet on the floor and casually called out to them.
"Tony, Dr. Banner, are you ready for Shawarma?"
When Natasha reentered the room, Tony and Bruce were standing awkwardly in front of the sofa. Bruce was running his fingers through his hair and smiling sheepishly while Tony was grinning from ear to ear.
"Yes, I'm starved!"
Bruce nodded in agreement, and they followed Natasha down to the lobby to join their teammates for a well-deserved victory celebration.