Disclaimer: Unless you don't recognize them, I don't own them. No money or other profits are being made from this attempt at entertainment.

******

Tony was sitting on the bed in his hotel room - back propped against a wall of pillows, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles - reading one of his favorite technological journals when the call came in from the hospital.

He hadn't stayed waiting for Bruce to awaken at the hospital itself, but it had been a near thing. Only Pepper's determined nagging, combined with his own confused discomfort over why exactly he so strongly felt the need to stay by Bruce's bedside, had gotten him to leave. He had insisted on arranging to be called as soon as Bruce was awake and able to have visitors, however.

"Stark. Oh! He is? That's excellent news. Yes. Absolutely. Thank you for calling. I'll be right down." With that Tony disconnected from the call and set his cell phone on the bed beside him. Leaning over, he picked up the hotel phone and dialed the front desk.

"Yes, this is Tony Stark in room 3501. Could you arrange for a town car to the hotel? Yes, I'll be ready in about twenty minutes. Thanks."

Rising from the bed, he quickly stripped off the sweat pants and ratty MIT t-shirt he had been wearing, replacing them with chocolate pinstriped slacks and a burnt ochre dress shirt. Forgoing a tie, he left the top three buttons of his shirt open. He pulled the jacket that matched his slacks from the closet and threw it over one arm as he left the bedroom, grabbing his phone from the bed on his way to the living room of the suite.

Pepper looked up from where she was sitting on the couch, pouring over something apparently incredibly engrossing on her laptop, when he entered the room.

"The hospital just called. Wayne's awake and accepting guests. I've got a car waiting for us."

Rather than gathering her things in preparation to leave Pepper instead remained seated and regarded Tony with a long, studious gaze.

"Why are you doing this, Tony?"

"What, visiting Wayne? The man did just take a bullet for me, Pepper. I figure wishing him well is the least I can do."

Pepper frowned at him in consternation. "There's more to it than that. I haven't seen you this… I'd almost say obsessive… since you first came back from Afghanistan."

"Look, what do you want me to say? " Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I'm just trying to understand, Tony. It isn't like you to be so concerned with a practical stranger."

"Don't hold back, what do you really think about me?"

"Tony… I didn't mean it like that and you know it. You're a terribly caring and generous man, but you hardly know Wayne."

Tony's arm fell to his side and his eyes turned down to the floor. "I guess…" he paused, then shrugged his shoulders and finished his thought, "I guess I just want to know why."

"Why?" Pepper asked, confused.

"Why Wayne was willing to risk his own life for mine," he explained, looking back up to meet Pepper's inquiring eyes. "You know what kind of guy he is. Nothing he's ever done or said hinted at a person that would be willing to do something like this. It's a mystery, and you know how much I hate not knowing things."

"Is it really so hard to believe that he just didn't want to see someone get shot in front of him again?" Pepper inquired, pursing her lips. "You know what happened to his parents…"

"I just… I can't explain it Pepper," Tony interrupted, shaking his head. "I don't really understand it myself. But something is telling me that I need to find out just why Wayne pushed me out of the way of that bullet. There's something there… something important…"

Pepper's unblinking eyes met his own for a long moment. The sudden clicking of her laptop as she closed it broke their standoff, and she looked down to put on her shoes.

"Right. Let's get going then."

******

The surprise on Wayne's face was obvious to Tony when he burst into the other man's hospital room. Not that he blamed the guy. He'd be surprised to see Wayne visiting him were their positions reversed. Still, there was something gnawing at Tony, insisting that this was too important to just blow off as was his usual m.o. And one thing Tony had learned as he gained experience fighting crime was to trust in his instincts.

Besides, it was kind of fun to fluster Wayne.

"Greetings, Bruce! How are you feeling today? On the good meds, I hope?"

He could practically see the cloud of irritation surrounding Wayne as the other man closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling – counting to ten perhaps? – before replying.

"Tony, what are you doing here?"

Tony affected a wounded look, bringing his right hand up to cover the arc reactor and pouting in what he had been told was a most irresistible manner. "Now is that any way to greet the man who's been loyally standing at your bedside for days? Gotham isn't exactly the most happening of neighborhoods, no offense. I almost died of boredom waiting for you to wake up. And then your heroic sacrifice would have been for nothing."

"Tony…"

"Speaking of," Tony continued, not bothering to listen to whatever it was that Wayne had to say, "perhaps you could answer a question that's been burning up my curiosity the last two days?"

Tony moved closer to the bed. Leaning forward, bracing his hands on the bedside table, he leaned until his face was only inches from Wayne's.

"What the hell were you thinking jumping in front of a bullet like that?!" Tony shouted, not caring who heard him now that he finally had an outlet for the helpless frustration that assailed him whenever he thought of the other man bleeding on the ground from a bullet meant for him. "You're no hero, Bruce. Fuck, you're idea of strenuous activity is probably seeing how many women you can have sex with in one night. I'm the one who's supposed to protect people from the big bad villains of the world."

A cold, emotionless mask slid over Wayne's face, bringing Tony up short as he was hit with a strange sense of déjà vu. He knew the other man wasn't as foppish as rumors would have people believe, but it still was disconcerting to see just how off the rumors were up close. He had to believe it was the drugs that were making the break in Wayne's mask so obvious – even when they had first met the other man hadn't been so transparent.

"Were you wearing armor?" The icy question interrupted Tony's racing thoughts.

"No, but…"

"Then I fail to see how my actions were unnecessary," Wayne shrugged, as if that was the end of the conversation. As if.

"Look, Bruce," Tony verbally stumbled, straightening and taking a step away from the bed, his hands coming up to flutter as he spoke. "It's just... I'm Ironman… I'm not supposed to need to be saved by…"

"By what? By a billionaire playboy?" Bruce asked with a sneer. "Is that it?"

"Of course not! It's just…"

"Are you disgusted by the fact that someone like me saved your life?"

"No! I…"

"Do you hate owing your life to someone so worthless?"

"No, dammit! Would you let me fucking talk!"

"Tony," Bruce once again interrupted, his voice the same toneless calm it had been throughout, "I realize that we don't know each other very well. I'm the first to admit that I'm not even close to being the man my Father was. But if you think I could just stand by and watch while someone was shot in front of me… I'm not that despicable a person."

"Bruce, that's not what I meant…" Tony disputed helplessly, not understanding how the conversation got so far out of his control.

"Good afternoon, Mister Wayne! How are we feeling today?"

Tony would have happily strangled the overly cheerful doctor that interrupted him, shooing him from the room so he could attend to Wayne.