AN: To karen potter 97- Gracias estoy feliz de que te haya gustado saludos (sorry if this is wrong, I used google translate!)

To Bookwyrm- That's fair. I gave Tony two options and then went for the more unlikely one by far. In my defense, when has Tony ever done something likely? and I'm sorry if it came off like he just happened to drop into the room with the weapons, I didn't mean it like that, he was probably in the vents for a few hours before he came across that room (which is how he knew roughly where the control room was), it just seemed like less time to him because of adrenaline and fear, those things are like miracle drugs. I should've made that clearer, that's my fault. I didn't think about Clint and Natasha that way, I've just seen how they both are with kids and they were obvious choices to be caretakers for me, but you make an excellent point, and that would certainly factor in to how much Tony trusts them. I'm sorry that Steve came off as patronizing, again that's my fault, I meant him to be more along the lines of awkwardly trying to protect Tony because he protects people all the time and doesn't know how to interact with Tony, but my writing was bad with that. I'm not quite sure how to right Steve, to be honest, but I'm trying. Hulk is showing up soon, I'm not spoiling anything ;). And you're welcome, I was super excited to write this.

To Me And Not You 1001- You and me both!

To Nightwing5 and Iron Lady- Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope you keep enjoying it too, the next two chapters are going to be so much FUN! :D

"Bruce. Brucie-bear, c'mon, that's it. Don't go green on me big guy." He could hear Tony talking to him softly, nearly overwhelmed by the angry and hurt roaring of the Other Guy in the back of his head, but he managed to swallow down both his nausea and the urge to let go with a broken groan, bringing his hands up to massage his pulsing temples. He realized his hands were trembling, and very quickly put together the symptoms. Of course he had been sedated - why wouldn't he be? They wouldn't want the Other Guy making an appearance and putting a very literal dent in their plans.

He had to swallow down another wave of vomit as bad memories were dredged up.

"Bruce?" Tony asked quietly, and he was surprised to hear how small his friend's voice sounded. "Are you alright? I don't know what they were using, but I stopped it..."

"Yeah," he croaked out, licking his dry lips, deciding to wait a moment before trying to pry his eyes open. "I'm good. Thanks Tones."

"No problem, Brucie. The others are holding down the fort for us outside. Think you can stand?"

"Give me a moment," he muttered, taking a couple deep breaths and trying to get control of himself before opening his eyes. As he expected, vision was blurry and the little light there was in the room should've been arrested for assault. He blinked several times, rubbing his eyes and face, before slowly trying to lever himself up. Tony grabbed his arm, trying to help, and Bruce smiled at his friend. "How long was I out?"

"Not sure. I don't know how long I was out. But since I woke up, it's been at least a few hours - four or five maybe? Eye-patch should be on his way." Bruce nodded, placing his feet on solid ground and trying to determine if he had enough balance to stand or not. He glanced over at Tony, who was still holding his arm, watching as his friend stared at the growing bruise in the crook of his arm. "Sorry," Tony finally mumbled. "My hands were shaking when I took the IV out." Bruce waved him off.

"It's no big deal, Tones. The Other Guy will have it healed in no time." He took in his friend, seeing how he sat with one leg curled under him while the other dangled off the edge of the cheap cot they were resting on, his ankle swollen like a tennis ball. How his unencased wrist was also swollen, bruised; how he was trembling and clearly exhausted; how most of the blood covering the now small form wasn't his, but some of it was.

"Your pupils are all out of wack," Tony pointed out bluntly as he searched Bruce's face in concern, and Bruce couldn't help but smile wryly at his friend.

"It's just the sedatives. It should go away soon. I'm fine Tony, really."

"Have you ever been fine?"

"That's a question for another day. Have you?"

They both fell silent as Bruce stood, shaking the weakness out of his limbs. Tony watched for a moment before raising his arms in the universal gesture for 'up', and Bruce obliged without thinking about it. It was a habit he and Natasha had gotten into over the past few days, and according to Steve they were the only two Tony allowed to do it, although he let Thor carry him on his shoulders. The hallway outside was silent, so Bruce assumed the others were waiting for them, only stopping to adjust his grip before stepping out.

"Banner," Steve greeted with a nod, while Clint gave him a grin and Natasha smiled slightly. "Here, let me have him." The captain reached out for Tony and Bruce felt a small hand tighten almost imperceptibly on his sleeve, and realized his friend wasn't comfortable with their captain right now.

"He's alright here," Bruce responded. "Besides, you need two hands to fight and I won't be any help." Tony sighed silently, laying his head on Bruce's shoulder and pressing his face into his neck. Bruce was warmed by the thought that his friend trusted him so much - he knew how hard things like contact and comfort were for Tony. Steve frowned but nodded grudgingly. "I assume we know where Thor is?"

"Iron Ass's got the map memorized," Clint quipped, and Bruce could feel Tony's chest shake with laughter.

"He's almost out of it though," Natasha added quietly.

"Nap time?" Bruce teased lightly, glancing down to see Tony's pout.

"I'm not a child."

"Technically, you are."

"Was he ever not?" Natasha joked with a grin, and Tony pouted harder.

"Alright," Steve interrupted, no-nonsense as always. "Let's find Thor and get out of here."

"Are you sure you want to carry me?" Tony whispered, and Bruce could hear the insecurity that he only displayed when the two were alone, late in the lab.

"Of course," he answered softly. "There's no way I'm letting you mess up that ankle more than you already have." Tony laughed again and nodded, shifting slightly.

"That's fair. It hurts like a bitch."

"I'll bet. Directions?"

Tony quietly led them, first to the room where their weapons were kept, which was still unlocked from when the genius had apparently raided it, and then to a room he swore held Thor. Bruce was surprised by how few people they encountered. He was starting to wonder just who these people were. Tony was dozing on his shoulder by the time Natasha had gotten the door open, and the rest of the team did not take the sight within well.

Thor was tied to a chair, being pumped full of sedatives and attached to a machine which looked suspiciously like something out of War Games, twitching and growling. His teammates froze, except for Tony, who squirmed out of Bruce's grip and limped into the room, tearing wires from the machine and carefully pulling out the IV before climbing into Thor's lap, tapping at his face.

"Thor? Point break? C'mon, goldilocks, none of us could lift Mjolnir for you. If you don't wake up she'll be stuck here, and you know how she sulks. In fact, how did they move her in the first place? Did you carry her for them?" Thor's eyes snapped open and Tony flinched back slightly before breaking into a smile. "Point break! Are you okay? That was some high voltage going through you, man, I bet it hurt."

"I am fine, young friend," Thor breathed after a moment, clenching and unclenching his fists. "'Tis nothing I could not withstand. It did not hurt as much as it shocked me." Tony blinked before breaking into a grin.

"Is that a pun? Thor, you did a funny!" Thor grinned back and Bruce felt a smile twitch at his lips while Steve shook his head.

"The machine was simply incapacitating, not painful," Thor answered, and Tony nodded thoughtfully, his eyes lighting up.

"Given what they were doing with Cap, I bet they were trying to see how much you could withstand."

"Interesting," Bruce muttered, knowing he and Tony had what Clint referred to as the 'mad glint' in their eyes. "I always assumed Mjolnir was the one which channeled the storms..."

"Focus," Steve interrupted before Thor could reply, the edge of a laugh on his voice.

"Aye," Thor answered grimly. "We must not remain here, friends." He flexed before yanking free of his chains, making Tony jump again, and wrapping the genius in a tight hug. "I feared for you, my shield-brother."

"I'm alright, Thor." His voice came out slightly muffled, his face pressed against the warrior's chest. "Is that why you left Mjolnir?"

"Guys, we've got incoming," Clint muttered as he grabbed an arrow, fluidly notching it, Natasha checking her guns.

"Banner, with Stark," Steve ordered, full Captain America mode engaged. "Thor, we might need you. You up for it?"

"Of course, Captain." Thor stood, steady as always, and handed Tony to Bruce, holding his hand out and summoning Mjolnir with several crashes as the hammer busted her way through walls. Bruce held the genius close and rubbed his back as he flinched and shrank down at the noises, resisting the urge to flinch himself as he retreated farther into the room, now able to hear the pounding of boots and clinking of weapons.

"You know," he said softly to Tony, trying to distract both of them, "you could have just turned the machine off."

"I could have," Tony answered. "But it wouldn't have been enough."

And that was something others didn't see about Tony often enough: how fiercely protective and caring he was about the people he accepted into his life. Bruce smiled wryly, turning away from the open door, knowing neither he nor Tony needed to witness the battle - hearing it was bad enough for both of them.

"They regrouped," Natasha muttered, wishing the team had their comms. Shouting over the sounds of battle was exhausting and inefficient.

"Yeah, but not fast enough. The whole team is together now, they know they can't take us on," Clint responded, rolling his injured shoulder with a wince, trying to loosen it.

"Maybe, maybe not," Steve interrupted, adjusting his shield and glancing over his teammates. "They managed to get us all here and keep us incapacitated. They've got to have some sort of backup plan. Let's just hope it doesn't work." They looked at him grimly.

"Fury should be here soon either way," Natasha informed them, stretching, watching detached as the first set of boots rounded the corner ahead. "This isn't the worst situation we've been in. We can handle it."

"Right. Okay, Thor, you and I are in front. Widow and Hawkeye are already injured, they don't need any more hand-to-hand, so try not to let them get past you. Hawkeye, Widow, take shots when you have them. Don't do anything stupid."

"He means you," Natasha said, quirking the corner of her lip and glancing at Clint, who gasped in mock offense.

"I never do anything stupid."

Tony was pale. He had started to tremble. Bruce didn't like that. The Other Guy really didn't like that. He was staring at something just past Bruce's shoulder, his eyes wide, and Bruce thought that was the first time he had ever seen Tony afraid. Sad, panicked, depressed, angry, happy, he'd seen all of those.

"Bruce!" he cried split seconds before the gunshot rang out and pain ripped through Bruce's shoulder, making both of them scream, one with fear and one with pure rage. Tony scrambled back as Bruce grew, whipped around, and bitch-slapped the man who shot him so hard into the wall there were cracks. Hulk roared angrily, snarled at Clint (who was standing apologetically next to the door, apparently having let the man slip past in the first place), grabbed the now unconscious (or more likely dead) man and began to use him as a club. The battle, if it could be called that instead of a massacre, was over in five minutes, and Tony was hiding behind Steve's legs and shield, peeking out at Hulk.

"Jolly green?" he asked quietly, edging out as Hulk dropped his makeshift weapon. Steve put a hand on his shoulder but he shook it off with a look. "You alright, big guy?" Hulk turned to look at him before grabbing him and picking him up, sniffing at him. Tony smiled, although he didn't look all that happy, waving to the others to stand down. "What's up? Do I need a shower?"

"Not Tin Man," Hulk growled, glaring at him. The genius felt himself grow cold, confusion and fear racing through him.

"What?" he asked numbly, staring at his friend.

"Not Tin Man. Not Tony!" The giant roared and tightened his fist, making the billionaire gasp, and then he was flung, too shocked to even shout, Thor sidestepping and kneeling to catch him tightly against a broad chest. Didn't mean it didn't hurt, and damn, he was crying again, those were definitely tears, he really needed to reinforce his floodgates with some steel and titanium.

The others were trying to calm the Hulk, Natasha muttering lullabies while Clint and Steve took up battle positions.

"Hulk, that is Tony," Steve insisted while Hulk shook his head viciously, snarling and glaring at the boy. Tony felt his blood freeze in his chest, for the first time feeling fear strike through him at the sight of his friend's alter-ego. The monster roared furiously, drowning out all other sounds as Fury and Hill rounded the corner with a team of agents and Tony stared, wondering what was going to happen to him next.