"Matty! A quick word!" Tony shouted as he wandered through the common area
Matthew grabbed the coffee he's been making and hurried to catch up to him, he hadn't even stopped walking to be sure Matthew had heard.
"Whats up Tony?" He ask finally catching up to him at the door of his huge lab.
"Where's Vicky at?" Tony started, innocently enough, leading him inside the room.
"Off with Bree somewhere. Catching up, girl stuff" Matthew explained
"Uh huh uh huh. So…."
Matthew interrupted with a sigh, "Get to the point."
He supposed it was only a matter of time before Tony wanted to talk to him, and they'd been in New York for a week and half.
Tony looked at the him hard and nodded. "I thought, after being gone so long and getting married to someone else she'd be better."
"Believe it or not she is," Matthew answered.
Tony shot him a disbelieving look.
"I mean it Tony. She's come along way. She had a hard time right after our wedding. I think she thought she was abandoning him some how. But it's so much better now. It was hard on her to see him last night. But she'll be ok again. I'll help her through this."
Tony shook his head. "Why do you put up with it? Her being so hung up on Bruce?"
Matthew paused and thought a moment. "Victoria is the most important person in my world, Tony. Her past helped to form her into who she is now, and Bruce was an important part of that past."
Tony paused too, then asked somewhat sharply, "And if she leaves you? and goes back to him? After that speech I hate to ask it, but we both know it might happen."
Matthew sighed, knowing it could most definitely happen again. "Then she does. But I won't go down without a fight. I know that he's your best friend, Tony, but he messed her up bad. And he will very likely run again after the 1st blush of their relationship starts to fade. And when he does, I'll be waiting."
Tony nodded his head and turned away. Matthew, having known Tony for a while now, understood that as his dismissal.
"I'll get it!" Victoria announced and put down her wine glass. There had been a knock at Bree's door and she was busy with the twins.
"Bruce!" She gasped, her smile of welcome fading as she saw his face.
"Victoria, what are you doing here?" Bruce asked, surprised.
"Catching up with old friends, And you?" The alcohol was making her bold, her tone bordering on rude.
"The same. I have know Bree for a lot longer than you."
"Well, I'll just go let her know you're here then!" Victoria snapped
"Wait," Bruce said, grabbing her arm to stop her.
"Dont you touch me Bruce Banner!" Victoria exclaimed, shaking herself free.
"Can we at least talk about this!" Bruce asked.
"What's to say Bruce!"
"I dont think you have any idea how much I've missed you," Bruce explained in barely more than a whisper.
"How much you missed me! OK, fine! What do you want to know!" The effects of the wine loosened her tongue and she couldn't stop herself. He wanted to talk, fine she'd talk.
"Do you want to know how long I waited for you! Then they sent Natasha! Her of all people! To tell me you took off again. I pretended I didn't care but I cried for months! Months, Bruce! What else?! Do you want to hear how hard I made it for Matthew? How that I strung him along for a year, just in case you showed back up! Do you want to hear about the panic attack I nearly had when he proposed? Or how I cried on my wedding day!? Because now if you even came back it would be too late!"
Bruce started back at her, his anger rising. "If I recall, you're the one that left 1st, both times. Not me!"
"Oh, Banner." Victoria shook her head sadly. "You may not have physically packed up your bags and left. But by the time I did you were long gone."
Bruce galred back. And Victoria matched him. "Relax, will you please Bruce. Haven't you learned how to control yourself in the 3 years I've been gone?"
Bruce inhaled deeply. "I never left you. I made mistakes."
"Natasha Romanov was a bit more then a mistake."
"I never slept with her," Bruce desperately tried to explain.
"I almost wish you had!" Victoria exploded. "I might have gotten over it if it were just sex! No, what you did was much worse. We had been together for 2 years at the point, and you went to another woman for emotional support. After all we had been through, do you have any idea how deeply that hurt?"
Her tearful explanation brought Bruce up short. He opened his mouth to offer some kind of explanation, when Bree came back into the room and he heard footsteps coming down the hall.
"We heard yelling…" Matthew explained as he and Tony came up to the door. He took one look at his teary eyed wife and turned on Bruce
"Bruce," Bree interjected with a deadly cold tone. "I think you need to go back to your room for the night. Matthew can take care of his wife from here."
Bruce looked up at his old friend, her husband now standing by her side. He turned to face an angry Matthew standing by Victoria's side as she resolutely fought back her tears.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled.
Victoria looked up with eyes narrowed and said nothing.
Bruce began to mumble a second apology. He stopped himself, nodded his head, and let Tony lead him back to his rooms.
