Conversation 5 - Opposition

Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers

It was like watching two male lions circle one another only there were more raised voices, hands waving and a lot of wild gesturing at one another. Steve tried to make himself heard while Bucky tried to get his own opinion in and it was altogether unproductive for both of them. Of all the people to find the whole thing amusing, Bruce was probably the least likely to come to mind. He did, though, find it highly amusing to watch the two men trying to shout over each other. Based on what he could catch, here and there, it had something to do with something that Tony had said to Bucky, that Steve had either overheard or Bucky had told Steve, that Steve hadn't found at all amusing. The scientist chuckled in to his mug of tea, shaking his head as he continued to watch the two of them pacing this way and that.

Bruce wondered if they'd even noticed that they had an audience as he sat calmly in one of the overstuffed armchairs off to the side. Now and then one of the men would pace around the glass coffee table, passing within a few feet of him, but it hadn't stopped their arguing. Normally Bucky noticed everything; it was hard not to notice how he took stock of every room that he entered and looked for exits, places to put his back to a wall, safety. This time, however, whatever had worked the two men up was obviously clouding his ability to notice his surroundings. Or maybe he just hadn't deemed Bruce a threat. That was a mistake.

The voices stopped suddenly though the sound of heavy breathing could be heard as the two men stood facing one another, arms folded defensively across their chests. Was it finally over? Internally, the Hulk hoped that it was over because the noise had disturbed him and Banner felt the giant straining at his very tight leash. He, the green menace reminded Bruce, could stop all of the noise and yelling if they weren't capable. No, there was no point in it; the soldiers appeared to be subsiding in their argument and that meant that maybe it was finally over.

"So…" Bruce couldn't help his grin as both men whipped around to see him sitting near them "Anything I can help with?"

Bucky's arms folded more tightly about himself and he glanced out the floor to ceiling windows, occupying himself with the view in order to regain his composure. His voice deep and gravelly when he finally replied with, "Can't even talk ta him right now without him freaking out."

The 'him' in question was undoubtedly Steve who immediately opened his mouth to start arguing again. Whatever he'd been about to say died on his lips as Bruce held up a hand, waving him back. He wasn't really interested in what they'd been arguing about; it wasn't his business after all. Still, if they were going to start shouting again, it was better to diffuse the situation by intervening than to ignore it. He had no doubt that it would continue to erode his calm if it went on and that was something no one wanted. Amusement aside, the two men had powerful lungs and their voices carried. Maybe that was why none of the others had come in; not wanting to get involved.

"No." The o drawn out as Bruce swirled the tea in his mug and glanced down at the leaves before looking back up at Bucky. "You're definitely not doing any talking at the moment. In fact, if your goal was to wake up the house…well, good job?"

It wasn't even dark out and Bruce doubted that anyone in the house was actually asleep at the moment but if it made the two men stop yelling then that was all that mattered. Tony might be but that was because he had no sense of time, especially not with Pepper gone. He would work all hours of the night in his workshop and then sleep the morning away unless he had a meeting. Sometimes the meeting didn't even matter enough to get him out of bed; it was a terrible habit. Bruce had tried breaking him of it but to no avail. No, if Tony were asleep he more than likely would have been alerted by FRIDAY to the fight and come running. After all, super powered humans damaging furniture was high on the list of DO NOT rules. They'd put that one in to effect after the Loki shaped hole the Hulk had put in the penthouse floor. To be fair, Loki had deserved it and if the Hulk smirked inwardly at that memory, well who could blame him?

"Now, granted, I only caught about a third of what you were both shouting at each other," The tea swirled again as Bruce looked down, acting as nonchalant as he could manage, "but the problem seems to stem from something Tony said or did that Steve didn't like but Bucky thinks is amusing. Does that sound about right?" His brows rose together, looking between the two men for confirmation. When they hesitantly nodded, he continued. "And since we all know that Tony is always saying and doing things that Steve," His hand held up to forestall Steve's protest, "and others, yes, I know, dislike. I fail to see what the problem is. Normally, you're pretty good about brushing these things off by now, Steve."

Steve drew a breath in, steadying himself or perhaps preparing for another long argument. If Bruce hadn't been faced with both of them, he might have rolled his eyes, but as it was he just sat forward in his chair and waited to see what was said. Obviously, there was something here that he was missing if it had upset Steve this much. They, the entire team, had noticed when Bucky began spending a lot of time down in Tony's workshop. Natasha, who had wandered down in the guise of getting a piece of her equipment fixed, had informed them that mostly Bucky seemed to watch television while Stark worked. Sometimes Bucky would blurt out random facts or just whatever was on his mind, but she'd assured them all that it seemed perfectly harmless. In other words, it wasn't a big deal and everyone should relax about it. No world domination was being plotted and Tony hadn't gone in to the torture business.

"I went down to the shop to see if Bucky wanted to get lunch with me; I don't see him in the kitchen much anymore because someone started stocking the fridge in the workshop." Someone being FRIDAY or even Tony but that shouldn't matter much other than Steve's heavy emphasis on the word. "They're all hunched over one of Tony's worktables with all the blue lights and holograms out talking over some schematic of this tiny …thing. I didn't think anything of it, but they were so excited and I guess FRIDAY didn't announce me coming in so I got close enough that I could hear them." Steve's hands were moving, waving emphatically every few words. "They're talking about mind control, Bruce. Mind. Control. And how HYDRA could have done it better. Tony was showing Bucky implants and giving him the pros and cons of the various types that could be created."

Bruce's mug had stopped halfway to his lips, head tilting lightly as he considered that a moment. It definitely sounded like a conversation that shouldn't be had though admittedly he was now wondering what implants Tony had found or created on the fly. Not for mind control, of course, but his mind was already moving to the implications for neo-cortical stimulation in medical situations; seizures, etc. That wasn't the answer Steve was looking for so it was swallowed along with the now lukewarm tea and set aside for discussion with Tony later. He needed to focus on what was happening now, to reason through it before answering. Steve had, for the moment, at least stopped ranting long enough for Bruce to get his bearings in the conversation. For his part, Bucky was looking rather put out that he hadn't had his say yet, but at least the man was keeping quiet. That was good; patience was always good.

"Well, yes, okay…on the surface that sounds…really bad." Bruce murmured watching Steve nod his head emphatically while gesturing wildly at Bucky. The scientist's hand came up, stopping whatever was about to come out of Steve's mouth. "Barnes, did…did Tony force you to have this conversation?" His mug set aside and glasses removed so that they could be cleaned. "I guess, really, how did this start, exactly?"

Bucky shrugged lightly, hands splayed out in front of him as his arms unfolded. "I asked Star-…Tony why they used a knock off electric chair. It was a couple days ago. You know, after he and I talked and he started letting me sit down in the shop."

Uh. Huh. Bruce cleaned his glasses again for good measure before sliding them back on his nose, head lifting. No, really, he could see how that conversation could have happened. Was it healthy? He wasn't really that kind of doctor and while the tiny voice said no, the larger voice thought it didn't matter; what was healthy for one person was a bad coping mechanism for another. If it made Barnes feel better to talk about what happened even if that talk was questions about experimental brain washing techniques, then who was he to judge?

"It made it more horrible…made them more horrible." Bucky continued, his shoulders lifting and falling. "I mean…this implant T-Star…Tony…" He was still struggling to use the engineer's name when speaking to others, but it was coming along. "Anyway, this implant sounds like its way more effective and humane. If…well, if you can call that humane, which I guess you can't? No, no, you can't. But, the point is, it made it all more horrible…that they did that ta me…like that…in that chair."

There was a strangled noise from somewhere nearby and Steve actually had one of his hands in his hair, tugging on the very short strands. This was not a conversation that the man wanted to have. He definitely didn't want Bucky having this conversation with other people in the tower. Wasn't it bad enough that he was talking to Tony about it? The entire argument had been about how unhealthy these conversations were and how Bucky shouldn't let Tony drag him in to them. They didn't need to, Bucky didn't need to, dwell on what had happened and the torture he had gone through. They needed to forget, to move on.

"Well," Bruce's nose had scrunched, "you have to remember that technology wasn't available, you know? I mean, HYDRA didn't have that technology. Don't get me wrong…" He waved a hand at Bucky's arm. "They had some pretty advanced science, but implants, at least in the brain, while people have conceived of them for decades, are relatively new for use. I really think that if you're going to understand it, you need to look back to mental health techniques from around the time period you went missing."

"Yeah, but…they were still using it a few years ago…" Bucky hedged, rubbing the back of his neck with his flesh hand, squeezing lightly.

Bruce shrugged. "It worked, why change it?" And perhaps that was an insensitive thing to say but it was the truth from what he could see. "They couldn't know that changing your programming wouldn't have other adverse effects. Or that you wouldn't break out of it; you already were if the files on the number of times they reset you are any indication."

Another strangled noise filled the room and Bruce realized, abruptly, that he was supposed to be helping sort out why conversations about mind control and torture with Tony weren't healthy. Oh. Right. His eyes flickered over to Steve who had turned three shades paler than normal. He could switch track and go on about how unhealthy it was to talk about this subject but to be honest, Bruce was now considering the implications of the technology for other uses. His hand moved over his chin before eyes lifted to Steve, watching the man gear up to start arguing with the two of them.

"It's just sick…talking about this…with…with him…" The soldier's hands were flapping toward Bucky, again, with those same uncertain erratic movements. "How can you sit here and calmly talk about this, Bruce? How is this okay? I expect this kind of thing from Tony, but you too?"

Et tu, Brute; that was the expression lining Steve's face. He had fully expected that Bruce would fall on his side of this. They all seemed to forget that Bruce wasn't that kind of doctor. He wasn't a therapist and while he did have medical training, that wasn't what he'd strictly gone to school for. Of course something like this would catch his interest, though maybe now was a bad time.

"Shouting wasn't working, Steve. A calm, rational discussion doesn't seem to be bothering Barnes, so I don't see a reason not to have it." Bruce picked his mug up from the side table; the tea had gone cold and he sighed inwardly before pushing up, straightening his clothes out. As long as it didn't appear to be overly disturbing the ex-assassin, there shouldn't be a problem having the discussion. "The fact is, we can't and shouldn't avoid these discussions because they make us uncomfortable. Again, I'm not that type of doctor, but my opinion is that it would just make Barnes feel ashamed of what happened if we all tried to hide it. And quite frankly, I think that's worse."

Tea; he just needed to get across the room and down the hallway to the kitchen and there would be tea. Well, tea and hopefully less discussions about what may or may not be going through the minds of super soldiers and assassins. There were footsteps behind him and Bruce looked heavenward in a plea for patience that he didn't particularly feel at the moment but desperately needed. The kitchen was devoid of any life which was good, though Bruce thought he'd heard a clatter of movement and had stepped a bit more heavily to alert whoever it might be. They, whoever they were, were gone, escaping the awkward conversation. The scent of coffee lingered heavily which gave the scientist a good idea of who it might have been.

"But…it's…" Steve floundered for words a moment, standing in the open space of the kitchen while Barnes leaned against the breakfast counter. "We can't move on if we keep talking about. And talking about it like this just…brings it all up again."

"For who? You or for Barnes? Because, no offense, Steve, but this isn't about you. It's about him." He turned to point at Bucky, glad the man had followed, before turning back to fill the kettle. "If he feels like this is what he needs or is okay with it, who are you to say he can't? There isn't any moving on. I mean, I don't know what you're expecting here, that we just all forget it? Barnes isn't going to. Do you think Natasha or Clint forget?"

"That's not the point, Dr. Banner."

Oh, now he was Dr. Banner; this was devolving quickly. Bucky's hands had clenched on the counter in front of him, his head ducked and loose hair falling about his face to mask it. Bruce began to count backwards from twenty, trying to calm down the raging which was building inside. He heard the Hulk chuckle and it was a chilling sound. The mug was rinsed out and perhaps sat on the counter a bit harder than he'd intended; the sound echoed through the kitchen.

"Yes, Steve, it is the point. This isn't your choice. What Barnes wants to talk about with whom Barnes wants to talk is his business. If he chooses to tell you, fine, but he's not a child. He doesn't need you to babysit him." His head ducked as he waited for the water to boil; it was taking forever. Or was that just a trick of the mind? Never had he been so happy to hear the kettle start whistling. "So, Barnes gets to talk about what Barnes wants to talk about. And you either be the best friend you keep boasting about and support him or …well, quite frankly, shut up."

Bruce turned around, his tea steeping as he glanced between both men. Steam was rising off of the cup bringing with it the aroma of the leaves he'd used. That was calming, that felt good, but he definitely needed to get out of this situation. Steve had that stubborn look and well, he couldn't say that Barnes looked any less stubborn. They would have to work this out because there was very little doubt that the fight was far from over.

"You should be happy he's talking to someone. Not too long ago, we couldn't get him to do more than grunt at most of us. This is an improvement. Now…excuse me, I have an experiment running." An excuse, yes, because obviously he didn't or Bruce wouldn't have been sitting downstairs enjoying his tea. He could feel the weight of the silence as he breezed out of the kitchen heading for the elevator, leaving the two men to sort their problems out on their own. He'd done his best, hadn't he? Okay, maybe he'd sided with Barnes a little. Steve could be, at times, unreasonable especially when it came to his friend; a shudder when through Bruce's frame when he remembered just how unreasonable Steve could be about Bucky.

"Barnes," Bruce called back down the hallway, knowing they could hear him. "Come see me when you get a chance. I want to talk to you more about that implant you were looking at, make sure you understand how it's different."

The elevator doors slid open when they got to the floor and Bruce stepped in, letting them close behind him. Whatever happened now, he'd already opened that door. Barnes might not come see him, but maybe he would and maybe they'd talk. If nothing else, it would be nice to have another person around. He contemplated this though it was pushed aside after Bruce settled back in to his lab space.

-End-