Okay, this came out a lot sooner than I expected! Big thanks to LEPrecon for the review that helped inspire me to finish this just hours after reading it. This has some of the comic book and first movie stuff I mentioned before. Warning: This is slightly darker than the previous chapters.


Chapter 3

Tony Stark/Iron Man

Tony Stark was almost instantly Bruce's favorite of the group. Sure, he first came across as cocky and abrasive, not to mention self-absorbed. But he didn't regard him the way the others did with a mixture of pity and wariness. He teased and poked and acted like a little kid testing his boundaries with a new playmate. He could understand why; he was a curiosity to people like Tony, and Tony sincerely meant no harm by it. It was just his way of trying to understand.

That's why he'd reacted with amusement rather than anger when Tony had poked him with that tool in the lab, trying to see what kind of reaction he'd get. It was almost as if Tony had trusted him to have his problem under control enough to be able to test the waters a bit. And Tony, true to his childish nature, had offered to share his snack when Bruce had impressed him by showing that he'd caught on to Loki's subtle jibe at the Stark Tower. Bruce hadn't known it at the time, but by accepting the blueberry, he'd pretty much agreed unconditionally to be Tony's best friend for the rest of their days. Before he knew it, Tony was inviting him to work, and even live in his tower in New York.

Bruce ended up saying yes, because even though Nick Fury had kept his promise about letting him go on his way, he knew he'd still be watched. He also knew that General Ross was still out there somewhere, possibly waiting for the opportunity to put him in that hole he'd mentioned years before. So he decided that he'd be better off with his new man-child best friend.

It was a good life, having a warm place to sleep, all the food he could eat, and even a special panic room connecting his bedroom to his lab where he could shut himself in if he found himself about to change due to a nightmare or an accident. He really wasn't sure why Tony was doing all that for him, until they talked about his first night there.

"I can't imagine how much this must have cost you." He commented as they worked on some blueprints for a new tower he was planning. "You should have spent that money repairing your tower, or some of the other damage the battle caused in the city."

"What can I say?" Asked Stark with an easygoing grin. "I'm a nice guy. Besides, it's not every day I find someone who can keep up with me and put up with me. Honestly, if you were a girl, Pepper would have some serious competition."

Bruce couldn't help but smile at that.

"Don't let her hear you say that. But seriously, why spend all this money on someone who may just decide to leave at any time?" Tony sobered up a little at his words.

"Because I want you to stay." He paused, looking truly serious. "It's more than just the fact that you and I can have a conversation that's actually up to my standards. I think you and I get each other in a way that none of the others can. I know what it's like to be in a hopeless situation. Only instead of trying to put an end to it, I just tried to forget about it by taking risks and burning money." He gave Bruce a good, hard stare. "Us emotionally damaged geniuses need to stick together. We both need people who actually have our best interests at heart." Bruce took a moment to consider.

"I guess you have a point there." He finally said. Tony, knowing he'd won, gave Bruce a crooked grin.

"And think of it this way; by keeping you happy in your lab and giving you some space to blow off steam, I'm probably saving millions of dollars more than I've spent for all the damage I'm preventing." Bruce grinned back at him.

"Another good point."

And that was that. They'd gone back to their playful banter and there had been no more talk of Bruce leaving, or of Tony spending too much money on him.

Tony had been excited to meet Bruce Banner from the second he'd learned he was actually alive and dealing with a colossal mutation. He'd been especially curious about the mutation part. He couldn't resist commenting on it to see how Bruce would react. In retrospect, that might not have been the best approach, but Bruce hadn't held it against him. His later attempts at provocation had been met with amusement. Tony knew from the start that he had no reason to fear Bruce letting the Hulk out on him.

What did concern him was Bruce's reaction to his genuine attempts at friendship. He seemed so distant and hesitant to accept offers for help. But then, based on what he'd learned about the incident in Harlem, it was understandable. Bruce had reached out to someone who'd turned out to be untrustworthy. The result had been not only the creation of an even more dangerous creature, but a super-powered genius with desires of world conquest. Bruce clearly suffered a great deal of guilt over it.

Tony could relate to that guilt. He could understand living with the knowledge that he was responsible for the deaths of innocent people, no matter how indirectly. Bruce had trusted the wrong person, yes, but Sterns was the one who'd been reckless and irresponsible, resulting in the creation of the creature known in code as 'Abomination.' He'd been so busy when he was young just cranking out whatever new additions he felt like and then running off to do whatever he wanted while a man who he'd trusted more than anyone sent those weapons to kill the people they were meant to protect.

Knowing that, and dealing with the trauma of being captured, nearly dying more than once, and watching the man who'd saved him die to make sure he'd get a second chance at life had taken its toll. Finding out that he was slowly dying from the device keeping him alive hadn't helped either. Still, in the end he'd come out all right, and he wasn't sure the same could be said of his new lab buddy.

He might have overstepped his bounds by comparing Bruce's situation to his own. He did believe that he was right in pointing out the terrible privilege. He was fully dependent on the little machine in his chest. He'd felt already what it felt like to have that machine fail him, if only for a moment. Bruce had survived the gamma exposure by changing, and becoming the Hulk had saved his life. But he'd been saved by something he had no control over. Something that was dangerous and potentially uncontrollable. And his little reactor had never caused him to destroy a city, that much was for sure. While he was dependent on it, had learned and worked to control it, there was never an issue of it controlling him.

He found Bruce surprisingly easy to talk to. While it was true they didn't see each other much outside of the labs (Tony had his company and a girlfriend, and who knew what Bruce did in his spare time) they spoke about many things while they worked. Tony (after a drink or two, admittedly) had spoken of his father.

"I mean, the guy could never compliment anything I did. I guess I just thought that if he wouldn't acknowledge my accomplishments, he'd notice if I did a bunch of crap that would 'reflect badly' on him." Tony tapped on his mini reactor. "He left me a pretty big legacy though, and he believed I was the only one who could figure it out. That must mean something." He looked up from his screen at Bruce, who was listening as he studied something on his own screen. "Your dad ever do anything like that." Bruce looked up to meet his gaze.

"I was adopted when I was ten. My parents were always both really proud of how I did in school. I admit I'm a little glad they didn't live to see me become the Hulk." Tony frowned.

"What about your biological parents?" Bruce shrugged.

"My dad beat up my mom a lot. When I got old enough to question him on it, he started beating me up too. He really didn't like that I was smarter than him. He was a scientist too, and he always had to be right about everything. So it wasn't that I couldn't be good enough, it was that I was too good for his comfort. He had it in his head that I'd overthrow him somehow, and that if he could prove he was stronger than me, it wouldn't matter that I was smarter than him."

Tony didn't know what to say to that. He'd never considered being smart a problem. The conversation had ended for that day, and for the next week or so, Tony didn't hear from Bruce at all. He wondered if asking about Bruce's family had been a mistake. He finally decided to just ask Bruce if there was a problem and, if it was indeed his fault, apologize. He learned from Jarvis that Bruce was in his own private lab, which had been finished a couple of days before.

"Okay, quick question." He said as he strode in. "Did I say something to offend you? Because if I did, it was an accident, but I'm much more clever and obvious about it when I'm trying." Bruce shook his head.

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's just…" He sighed and removed his glasses so he could rub at his eyes. "What we talked about, it got me thinking about some things, and I looked into something that led me to this." He directed Tony's attention to the screen in front of him and pulled up an image of two DNA strands. One, Tony recognized as Bruce's own mutated DNA. The second was very similar, in more ways than one. In addition to obvious radiation induced mutation, there was something else that matched.

"Where did you get that?" He asked, just to confirm his suspicions.

"Brian Banner, my biological father." Bruce jerked his thumb over his shoulder and Tony turned around, almost flinching when he saw the remains of a human being, long dead, in a sealed case on a long table. He looked back at Bruce, unable to voice his question, but Bruce seemed to get it. "I had his remains exhumed. It took a little persuasion to clear it, but Fury pulled through for me. What you said about legacy, it got me wondering. I never fully understood how Betty's serum was enough to save me, but I just assumed it was, and that since the radiation couldn't kill me, it changed me. And that's partly true; it might have killed me if it wasn't for the serum, but it didn't start from scratch. It had a base to work on. Apparently I got my recklessness from my father. He must have experimented on himself with Gamma rays before I was conceived, and he passed along whatever mutation it created in him to me. Whatever he did to himself wasn't enough to cause something like the Hulk, but that, coupled with what I did to myself was." He gave a twisted, joyless grin. "I guess I was really born to be a monster."

"Stop!" Snapped Tony, startling Bruce. "You're not a monster. You don't kill people for fun, or even out of instinct. The Hulk targets things that he perceives as a danger."

"It doesn't change the fact that there are people who could still be alive now if I had just left things alone." Bruce retorted.

"Am I a monster?" Asked Tony. Bruce looked shocked.

"What?"

"Am I a monster?" He repeated. "I spent years designing weapons that took countless lives, and who knows what fraction of them were actually enemy soldiers. Would you not call me a monster just because I don't have green skin and a horrific temper?"

"It's not the same." Argued Bruce.

"Whether it is or not, it doesn't change my mind that you're not a monster. I mean, have you ever deliberately killed someone?"

"No." Admitted Bruce. "But I've come close. And I can't blame all of it on the Hulk."

"What do you mean?" Asked Tony, confused again. Bruce sighed.

"I wasn't the Hulk the first time I killed someone. He didn't even exist yet."

"Who did you kill?" Asked Tony. Bruce didn't answer, he just glanced rapidly at the table. Tony looked at it, then back at him. "You killed your father?" He asked, shocked. Bruce nodded, just looking miserable now. "Why?"

"I told you, he was abusive. Then had had a nervous breakdown and was started hearing voices. Those voices convinced him to kill my mom and come after me, but the police heard the racket and got there before he could finish it. He had me terrified that he'd get off and kill me too if I testified against him, so I lied on the stand. He got off, but got convicted just a few days later because new evidence and a new assault charge came up. He got diagnosed as schizophrenic in prison and got put on medication. Fifteen years later, he was considered reformed and safe as long as he stayed on his meds. He was released into my care." Bruce shook his head sadly.

"What happened then?" Asked Tony, needing to know.

"That first night, he convinced me to take him to my mom's grave. He said he needed to face what he'd done, and I believed him. I'd heard his diagnosis and forgot about the fact that he'd been cruel before he had his first breakdown. I did what he asked, and when we got there, I saw that he hadn't changed one bit. He was still the same bullying narcissist that he always was, pills or not. The real reason for us being there was to remind me what he was capable of if I didn't go with what he wanted. He started pushing me and I didn't think; I just pushed back, hard. He fell backwards and hit his head on Mom's tombstone. I think I was in shock after that. I couldn't handle what I'd done and I just kind of wondered home and passed out on my couch. I woke up to the sound of the police knocking on my door, with no memory of what actually happened. They told me my father had been killed in the cemetery, that they thought it was a mugging gone bad. I think they might have suspected me just as protocol, but when they saw the bruises and how disoriented I was, they figured that Brian must have knocked me out, gone to the cemetery, and encountered some muggers and took whatever he had on him after he was dead. I think they believed that because his wallet was stolen. Someone probably came along and took it after I left, or they might have looked more closely at me."

"Damn." Said Tony. "But if you didn't remember then, how do you know now?" Bruce shrugged.

"I couldn't handle it then, so I blocked it out. But a few years ago, I looked into hypnosis as a way of controlling the Hulk, and it all came back to me." He shook his head. "I'm not proud of what I did, but I admit that I don't regret it either. I know it's horrible, but I don't." He shrugged again. "Maybe it's Karma. He helped ruin my life before I was even born, and I ended his. And now…I thought I'd accepted the fact that I'd never be rid of the Hulk, but it was mostly because of all the destruction caused by my last attempt. But seeing the evidence in front of me like this, knowing that it was never a possibility, that kind of changes my outlook." Tony got past the shock of learning of the killing when he heard the sorrow in Bruce's voice.

"I don't care that you're not sorry. When I was being held hostage by the Ten Rings, I killed everyone I could very deliberately. And I don't regret it either, because it was them or me and they didn't care about who they hurt as long as they got what they wanted. Your dad was just as bad as them, and if there's any possibility that he could have changed into a real monster like Blonsky did, then I'm not sorry he's dead either. And I don't care how many times you say it; I'll never think of you as a monster." With that, he left the lab before Bruce could try and argue again. He didn't stop moving until he was back in his room. Then he spoke.

"Jarvis."

"Sir?"

"Delete any and all recordings of the conversation in the lab. Completely destroy any data, no chance of putting it back together." He ordered.

"Yes, Sir." The computer then followed his command. Good. He wanted no record that anyone could use against Bruce, especially SHIELD. He didn't believe they would lock him up again, but they would probably try to use it to manipulate him if it was possible. He was going to look after his new friend, both by keeping his image safe, and by doing everything he could to prove to Bruce that he wasn't a monster.


I just love the Science Boyfriends! The first Hulk movie actually had a lot more in common with the comics (if Wikipedia is to be trusted), one thing being that Bruce inherited some kind of mutation from his father and killed him at some point, though in a different way. It also showed that Bruce was exposed to the Gamma rays because he was protecting someone else from them, again in a different way. The way Bruce's father died was taken from what I've learned about the comics, with some of my own ideas, though I don't know if it happened pre or post-Hulk. Next will be Thor!