Bruce was sitting at the bar in Avengers Tower, swirling a straw around in his glass. The team had invited their friends over for a party to celebrate their latest successful mission. Bruce tended to keep to himself during these occasions, but he smiled at the sight of Tony, Natasha, and Clint drinking and laughing with a group of people.

The past few months had been the best Bruce had had in a long time. Tony and Pepper had redesigned the tower, so Stark Industries' offices occupied the bottom floors, and the Avengers were allocated the top.

Tony had designated a floor for each team member, but Bruce was the only one living there full-time. Thor stayed with his girlfriend in London, and Steve, Natasha, and Clint all lived in Washington to be closer to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters.

When Bruce first moved in, he had no idea what he would do with all the space. He even had his own lab with all the equipment he needed to conduct his research. However, his favorite thing to do was help Tony with upgrades for the Avengers' gear, mostly because he enjoyed spending time with him.

After they had first kissed, Bruce spent the entire Shawarma lunch wondering what it had meant. After all, Tony was known for his flings. But when they went back to the tower and Tony introduced him to Jarvis as "my boyfriend," his heart leaped.

Bruce left his seat to stand with the others in the Avengers common area. He was next to Natasha, across from where Tony sat on the sofa grinning at him. Clint was sitting on the arm of a chair with a half-empty bottle of beer in his hand and looked up at Bruce as he approached.

"Hey, Banner, Banner! Truth or dare?"

"What?"

Bruce was taken aback. He hadn't played truth or dare since he was a kid, and those weren't the moments he remembered fondly.

"We're playing truth or dare, pick one."

Clint took another swig of his drink as Bruce tried to decide which option would be less distressing.

"Um, dare?"

"Hmmm, I dare you to kiss the hottest person in this room!"

Bruce tried to laugh it off.

"Uh, no, thanks."

Clint rolled his eyes and scowled.

"Ugh, you're no fun, just do it."

Clint finished the rest of his beer, and Bruce could hear a few shouts of "Come on!" from people he didn't even know. He looked at Tony, who didn't say anything but was still smiling at Bruce.

Bruce could feel his cheeks start to redden; he hated being the center of attention. He turned to Natasha, gave her a kiss on the cheek, then quickly ran back to the bar. He could hear people drunkenly cheering behind him.

When Bruce sat down on the barstool, he noticed Steve was next to him. They sat in silence for a moment before Steve turned to look at him.

"So, you and Natasha?"

Bruce stared at him before quickly regaining his senses.

"Me and – no! We were playing truth or dare."

"What?"

"It's a game, where – where you have to do what someone says. Clint told me to kiss her."

Bruce quickly took a sip of his drink. It was a lie, but he was still trying to understand why Steve was asking him about this.

"Oh, okay, so you don't like her?"

"No, not in that way."

Steve seemed to relax at that confirmation, but Bruce wanted to get out of there as fast he could. However, when he looked back to where Tony had been sitting, he wasn't there. Bruce frowned; it wasn't like Tony to leave a party early.

Bruce slipped out of the common area and took the elevator up to Tony's penthouse. The door to his bedroom was slightly ajar, and the lights were on, so Bruce peeked his head inside. Tony was lying on the bed with his eyes glued to his phone, and he didn't look up when Bruce stepped in.

"Tony, are you okay? I was looking for you."

"I'm fine. Why don't you hang out with Natasha?"

Bruce stared at Tony before finally realizing why he was upset.

"Is this about that game? Because I don't think she was the most attractive person in the room."

Tony looked up from his phone and frowned at Bruce.

"But you kissed her?"

"Because she was standing right next to me!"

"I was sitting near you."

Bruce didn't know how to respond. He hadn't even considered Tony would think anything of the kiss; he was just trying to get out of playing the game.

"I couldn't kiss you, because then everyone would know we're together."

Tony looked less upset, but he was still looking quizzically at Bruce.

"Well now they think you and Natasha are together."

"But we aren't, so it doesn't matter. Tony, if I wanted to kiss the most attractive person in the room, I would have kissed you. I just want to keep this between us. Besides, I'm pretty sure S.H.I.E.L.D. has a non-fraternization policy."

"I don't do 'non,' especially where S.H.I.E.L.D. is concerned."

After a moment, Tony put his phone down and sat up on the side of the bed.

"You really think I'm the hottest? Even more than Thor or Steve? I mean, he's genetically engineered to be hot."

Bruce laughed and shook his head.

"Yeah, but I don't blush when he looks at me, and I don't constantly fantasize about him. Tony, I think you're the best-looking person in the world, or any world. If anyone should be jealous it's me. You could be with anyone you wanted; I still don't know why you picked me."

Tony stood up and looked at Bruce with a shocked expression on his face. He walked over to him and put his hands on Bruce's hips.

"Why would I want anyone else? You're perfect! I've wanted you ever since we first met."

He grinned and looked Bruce up and down, but then his smile faded, and he avoided making eye contact with Bruce.

"I'm sorry for getting jealous; it was stupid of me. It's just, I don't want to lose you. Bruce, I love you.

Tony looked back up at Bruce, who was still processing what he had said. Those three words had been on the tip of Bruce's tongue for weeks, but he couldn't bring himself to say them in case Tony didn't feel the same way. Bruce's face broke into a smile, and he wrapped his arms around Tony's neck.

"I love you, too."

Bruce pulled Tony in for a kiss. After a couple seconds, he felt Tony's hand leave his side to reach behind him and lock the bedroom door.

Tony walked into his lab to see Bruce putting the finishing touches on new electromagnetic sensors for Cap's shield that would make it automatically return to him. Tony had been working on them late the night before, but after being up for 24 hours straight, Bruce had forced him to go to sleep and promised to finish it.

"Hey, Brucie!"

Tony walked up behind Bruce, wrapped his arms around him, and rested his chin against Bruce's neck. Bruce giggled and tried to focus on the sensors in his hands.

"Tony, I'm working."

Tony turned his head to whisper in Bruce's ear.

"I know something more fun we could be doing."

Bruce dropped the sensors and turned around so he was flush against Tony, who pushed him back against the lab table and kissed him.

A few moments later, Tony heard footsteps coming towards the lab and then felt Bruce suddenly push him away. He turned to look at the door just in time for Coulson to walk in. It had been a while since they had seen him. After the Battle of New York, Coulson had gotten his own team, and when S.H.I.E.L.D fell, they had to move underground.

"Good morning, Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner."

Tony sighed and tried to contain his frustration at Coulson.

"What is it?"

"My team and I have identified the location of Loki's scepter. It's in a Hydra base in Sokovia run by Baron von Strucker. Coulson tried to hand Tony an intel folder, but he refused to take it, so Bruce accepted it instead. Tony rolled his eyes at Coulson.

"Isn't this a little below our pay grade, which, by the way, is nothing?"

Coulson looked slightly nervous and chose his words carefully.

"There are…complications that necessitate a team of enhanced operatives take over the mission."

Then, Coulson led to where the rest of the Avengers were already waiting for the briefing in a conference room.

A few hours later, Tony was blasting his way into the Hydra base with the rest of the Avengers not far behind. Jarvis downloaded all the data off their computers while Tony surveyed the room, looking for any signs of the scepter. He ran his hand along a stone wall, and when he found a weak spot, he pushed in on it, and the secret door swung open.

The first thing Tony saw inside the lair was a vast alien carcass – one of the Leviathans that had descended onto New York three years ago. The room was also filled with pieces of robotic parts, like those that make up his Iron Legion, but as Tony walked through the room, he had a hard time taking his eyes off the Leviathan. He had been having nightmares about the attack for years, but the visions of the aliens in his head were never as vivid as the thing in front of him. When he turned the corner and noticed the bright blue glow of the scepter, he forced his attention to it.

Before he could reach out to take the scepter, his brain began to fog up as if he were about to pass out, and he grabbed his head. When he looked back up, he saw a mound of dead bodies in the scepter's place. They had blood coming out of their mouths, gashes across their torsos, and their limbs had fallen limp in contorted positions. He didn't recognize most of the people in the pile, but then he saw Thor and Steve, his shield lying cracked by his side. Next to them were Natasha and Clint, who had one of his own arrows protruding out of his chest. Finally, he saw Bruce sprawled out on the floor with blood seeping out of his shirt.

Tony gasped and reached down to touch him but forced himself to stop. He closed his eyes and shook his head. This wasn't real. Bruce was fine; he was outside smashing Hydra goons as the Hulk. When Tony opened his eyes, the vision was gone, and he was staring at the scepter again. He activated his Iron Man gauntlet, grabbed it out of its holster, and left the building to rejoin his team.

When Tony got back to the quinjet, the rest of the Avengers were already inside. Tony went to sit next to Bruce, who was wrapped up in a blanket and fast asleep. Back at the tower, Natasha, Steve, and Thor took Clint to the medical bay to get him treatment for his wounds while Tony walked Bruce to his room. Then, Tony convinced Thor to let him take the scepter to his lab and study it.

He and Jarvis began to analyze the makeup of the gem inside the scepter, which was unlike anything they had ever seen before. Tony took Jarvis's matrix and displayed him as a hologram in front of him, his neural network glowing bright orange.

A few hours later, Bruce came into the lab and walked up to the hologram. He looked much healthier than he had on the quinjet, and Tony smiled when he noticed his hair was extra curly.

"Hello, Jarvis."

"Hello, Doctor."

Tony took the matrix from the scepter and displayed it next to Jarvis.

"Now take a look at this."

Bruce stared in awe at the glowing blue orb and put his hand out to touch it.

"It's like a computer, but it's alive."

"Exactly! This is how we create Ultron. It's not enough to just have a program like Jarvis."

He paused and looked at Jarvis.

"No offense, Buddy."

"None taken, Mr. Stark."

Tony turned back to Bruce and put his arm over his shoulder.

"We need something more, something alien. Think about it, peace in our time."

Bruce looked from Tony to the scepter and bit his lip.

"I don't know, Tony. It's one thing to have Jarvis control the Iron Legion, we know we can trust him. But we don't know anything about this – this thing."

Tony had been prepared for Bruce to object, so he didn't miss a beat.

"The enhanced girl, she showed me things when I was in the bunker."

Bruce looked concerned as he stared quizzically at Tony.

"You mean she messed with your mind?"

"No, I mean she showed me what could happen – what will happen – if we don't do something about this. Sure, we defeated Loki, but he was just a little brother with a grudge. What happens when we have to fight the real boss?"

Bruce didn't say anything for a while after Tony finished his spiel, and Tony could tell he was actually considering it.

"You really think this is necessary?"

"I know it is."

Bruce nodded and looked at Tony.

"Okay, let's do it."

Tony and Bruce had been working on Ultron for hours with hardly any progress before Bruce decided it was time for them to take a break.

"The party is starting soon; we should get downstairs."

Tony sighed and followed Bruce out of the lab. He was typically excited for their victory parties, but the roadblock they had hit with Ultron was bothering him because he had never had trouble with his A.I.'s before. When he got to the Avengers common area, he forced a smile on his face and went to greet their guests. Everyone expected him to be the life of the party, but tonight he would rather be alone with Bruce, who he knew wasn't a big fan of crowds.

As the day ended, the party began to wind down, and soon the only people left were the Avengers. They were sitting in the common area, taking turns trying to lift Mjolnir, when they heard a crash coming through the wall.

"How could any of you be worthy? You're all monsters."

The voice was coming from one of the Iron Legion robots. It was half falling apart, with wires coming out of its body, but it turned its metal head to look at them. Steve stood up and grabbed his shield.

"Stark, what is that?"

Tony didn't answer; he could only stare at the robot, but Bruce said what he was thinking.

"Ultron."

Ultron smiled.

"Now you're catching on!"

Thor picked up Mjolnir, ready to attack.

"What is your purpose here, machine?"

Instead of answering, Ultron played a recording of a voice they all recognized: Tony's.

"Peace in our time."

Suddenly, more Iron Legion robots shot out of the wall behind Ultron towards the Avengers. The rest sprang into action, but Tony grabbed Bruce and pulled him to the other side of the bar.

"Stay here."

Tony ran back out to the common area and jumped on top of one of the robots, stabbing it with a fork until its head came off. After a few minutes of fighting, the robots were all destroyed, but Ultron had escaped.

Tony and the other Avengers stood around the lab while Natasha looked through their computers.

"Ultron took everything. Data, personnel files, intelligence reports. Everything."

Clint was sitting on one of the lab tables, leaning back against a monitor. He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Great job, Stark."

Tony looked around and saw that everyone in the room was glaring at him, except for Bruce, who was looking at the floor. He felt his anxiety rise up.

"I didn't make this, okay? I was trying to build something to protect us."

Steve crossed his arms and took a couple of steps towards Tony until he was right in front of his face.

"Protect us? This nearly killed us. You should have talked to us about this, or we wouldn't be in this mess."

Steve looked back at the other Avengers.

"Come on, let's try to find the scepter."

They followed Steve out of the lab until only Tony and Bruce were left. Bruce had his head in his hands and was pacing back and forth across the lab.

"We never should have done this!"

Tony's heart sank; he had hoped at least Bruce would be on his side.

"We weren't even close to an interface; the scepter took over. It wasn't our fault!"

Bruce stopped pacing and looked at Tony. It had been a long time since Tony had seen him this upset.

"But if we hadn't started it, this never would have happened. I never should have let you talk me into this."

Bruce's words stung Tony like a slap in the face, and he shot back without even thinking.

"You agreed to work on it. It's not my fault you're such a pushover. No wonder it's angry, it takes after you."

As soon as Tony said it, he knew he had gone too far. Bruce wouldn't meet his eyes as he responded in a quiet voice.

"I don't know why I ever trusted you."

He turned and walked out of the lab. Tony tried to run after him, but he was frozen still.