Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the belated update but my computer had a virus and I have to use my sister's laptop until I get it back. I know this is not an excuse but I will try to update as soon is possible and I get my laptop and inspiration back.

Million thanks for all those who reviewed the last chapters. You made my day! I hope you will enjoy this chapter!

Bruce smoothed a hand down his purple colored shirt for what he thought it was the hundred time in a matter of minutes. Ever since they went to the school library, the awkward silence between the two of them became unbearble. As always, he couldn't find the right words to start a conversation and he'd simply watch as the other boy texted on his phone. Probably texting someone about how awkward you are, he thought then shook the thought away.

He never cared what people thought about him. The only people he cared about were his mother and his teachers. Yes, he cared what his teachers thought about him. If they liked him or not, if they thought he was smart or not. The teachers were his second family and most of them considered him as their child as well. It made him feel good to know that he could be around them and considered one of them and not just another student. He was always treated the same way as the teachers and not the students.

'Okay, this is way too awkward,' Tony began as he stuffed his phone back in his jeans pocket. 'We are suppossed to work together and that can't be possible if we're silent the whole time. It'd be a mess. And the last thing I want is to get a low grade at science.'

'You've got a point,' Bruce mumbled, his voice barely audible. He then sighed as he realized how small his voice sounded. He felt intimidated by how direct the other boy was. He wished that he could be that way too.

'Then let's get to the point.' Tony said and clasped his hands together. Before Bruce could speak, Tony took the opportunity to continue speaking, 'I was thinking that we could create a robot. Something useful. That'd impress the jury because usually, people are only showing a piece of paper and get the highest grade. We can create a robot and also do a blueprint and a short text about it.'

Bruce blinked incredulously at the other's words before he found his voice to speak. 'A robot? You realize that to build a robot takes longer than two weeks? Not to mention that we'd need all the materials to create a robot.'

'Are you serious?' Tony let out a seriously amused chuckle. 'Are you an alien?' Noticing Bruce's frown, he picked up his carpet from the nearby table and held it up. 'I'm the son of Howard Stark. Materials and money are not a problem for me. Neither is the time.'

'You plan on asking your father to create a robot for you?' The shorter boy asked, his brows furrowed into a thinking mood.

'No,' Tony shook his head and Bruce could have sworn that he noticed a flash of pain cross the billionaire teenage eyes. 'I can do it myself. I'm actually good at it. It wouldn't be the first time when I created something that other people find hard to do.'

Bruce's eyes darted away from the boy's features as he tried to think. The man had a point. No other child would create a robot and that'd surprise the teachers in a good way. Besides, he'd also get a good grade at science even if he wasn't a student of M.I.T but because he worked on the same project as Tony. With a sigh, he turned his head back to look at the other boy and folded his hands together.

'This sounds tempting but,' Bruce paused enough to take in a deep breath and look fixedly at the boy in front of him. 'I'm not good at mechanics. That means it'll be on you.'

Tony clasped his hands together loudly and looked over at Bruce with a ten million dollars smile written all over his face. 'That's not a problem. It happens that I'm good at it. So, our project would be a robot, right...partner?' With that, Tony held out his hand for a professional hand shake which Bruce accepted immediately.

'That dosen't mean that you are a cop as well, Avery.' Toschi stated with an arched eyebrow at the journalist in front of him. It was the first time he met that journalist. Of course, he had heard about and even read a few of his articles but never met him in person before.

'You are no fun, seriously.' Avery whined and placed a hand over his heart. 'But, of course, I'm not a brainless cop. I'm a journalist. I do something more for living than hiding things from the population.' He said with a small and barely visible grimace.

Toschi rolled his eyes and slipped on his cream colored trench coat. He knew better than getting in a fight with Paul Avery. He heard that the man was terrible when it came to verbal fighting and it was the last thing Toschi wanted. To be on a case with a idiot that wanted to take revenge on him.

'Anyways, we are partners now, right?' Avery said with an arched eyebrow as he held out a hand to shake. Toschi looked down at the man's hand and then back at his face before he nodded and accepted the hand shake.

'Bruce? Earth to Bruce.' Tony said in a obivously faked robot tone as he waved a hand in front of the other's eyes. That was when Bruce snapped out from his own world and focused again on the present. The world where he wasn't David Toschi but Bruce Banner and Tony was far from being a journalist named Paul Avery.

'Sorry, what were you saying?' Bruce finally said as he shook his head to clear his thoughts once again.

'I was saying that we should decide for robot model...' Tony began and waved a hand in the air as he tried to explain Bruce his plans. Thing he didn't know was that Bruce wasn't paying attention to him but to the small voices that were in his mind. The voices that were telling him that he knew Tony Stark long before they even met.