The Book of life
A Minor Interruption
I do not own Marvel or the avengers (Coulson would never have been made into a chicken skewer by Loki if I did!)
"Are you sure" Bruce said nervously removing his wire framed glasses and cleaning them with the hem of his shirt for the third time that evening.
"It's a giant world war two war plane Brucie I'm pretty sure I'd know if I was there or not" Tony snapped back rather harshly.
He knew he was being a tad unfair to Jolly Green, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. After all it was him who was stuck god knows how many feet under water with just his suit and a tiny metal box. And for what? To find a dead man who had been the bane of his existence since he made his first circuit board. He still remembered showing it proudly to Howard, for the man to turn back to his stupid maps "I'm busy Tony can't you see I've almost figured out where he landed you stupid boy"
Tony grinned bitterly 'You were only off by about 200 miles old man' but he dropped his grin just as quickly. The idea that Captain freakin America was going to cure Bruce when he couldn't, was just the cherry on top of this shitty year, although to be fair he hadn't wanted to cure Bruce to begin with. So here he was in this stupid suit water all around him 'just one little crack and it's over, just like Afghanistan Tony'. The little alarms were going of inside his head he could practically feel the icy water seeping into his suit, weighing him down forcing its way into his nose his mouth smothering him until-.
"Tony your heart rate is off the charts" Bruce's concerned voice broke in "everything alright"
"Someone is forgetting their doctorate isn't in medicine" he snarked back
"A fact you conveniently forget every time you get a life-threatening injury" Bruce's steady voice was practically dripping with sarcasm.
Tony smiled a real smile behind his visor getting lost in their banter. He could do this, of course he could, it was for Bruce. Bruce who still held every piece of equipment Tony gave him so tightly his knuckles turned white, terrified it was going to be taken off him. No amount of coaxing or pep-talks could convince the broken man that he was valued as a member of the team by himself, not just as the hulks vessel. General Ross and even SHIELD to some extent had seen to that.
Tony knew the man fully expected to be thrown out as soon a he'd found his cure, his persistence in searching it out despite this view was one to be admired. Tony, however, had no intentions of ever letting the man who had saved his life out of his sight. He'd prove it to Bruce when the time came, he showed far too much promise as his science bro to just disappear back into a life of forced exile and self loathing. Tony's thoughts unwillingly flickered to Pepper and Rhodes, and besides loyalty like Bruce's was so hard to come by these days
"Touché Brucie, you better get everyone rounded up its show time in fifteen minutes."
Bruce grinned slightly as he watched Tony's heart rate steadily decrease to rest at 90 beats per minute on the hologram. He knew it was unfair of him to ask Tony this favor. Quite frankly, he was amazed the man had agreed, but at the same time he wasn't. The man had a heart of gold under that arc reactor if anyone bothered to look.
He replaced his glasses carefully and scanned the room. The common room of Avengers tower had been transformed into a war room of sorts. All extraneous furniture had been moved out of the room and a floor to ceiling hologram had been erected in the center surrounded by couches. Natasha lay sprawled out on one of them her slim athletic arms resting gently under her head, her leg was wrapped in a pink plaster cast. She'd appeared with the injury a few days ago, simply replying "Confidential" to anyone who asked much to Tony's annoyance. His mature response to being denied an explanation was to dye her cast a deep hot pinK. Let's just say he was lucky Natasha was injured. Clint had defended his partners honor beautifully by decorating Tony's suit with My Little Pony stickers. Criminals and newscasters alike had a field day with the Iron Princess as he'd been dubbed
"Where's Clint and Darcy?" he questioned the red-head. The loudmouth scientist-wrangler having spent the last three months in a dusty library researching a certain lost hero deserved to be there for his unveiling. "He and Darcy went to Mama Johnson's for ice cream, they'll be here in a minute." She replied tiredly. Bruce was about to mention her haggard appearance when Tony's voice cut in over Jarvis's speaker.
"Ice cream? I'm sailing the deep murky ocean possibly to my death! And Legolas decides now's the time to get the munchies"
What can I say he got fed up hearing you hum AC-DC's greatest hits on repeat" she deadpanned "and the ice creams for me"
"Craving Ice cream are we, is there a baby Merida we should know about?"
Simultaneously, the metal elevator door slid open and a female voice called out "Who's preggers?" Darcy emerged in grey sweatpants, holding two tubs of ice cream, her hair was pulled up in a bun and she wore a t-shirt sporting the hashtags #HulkForPresident #SaveOurJollyGreen. Oh, he was so not touching that topic with a ten-foot barge pole. When he'd informed the group of his plan to synthesis a cure the brunette had been less than impressed to say the least.
"Natasha's having a spider baby" Tony sang and Bruce jumped in his seat when he heard a curse and a crash emanating from the elevator "YOUR WHAT" Clint's incredulous voice shouted and he practically sprinted into the room.
"what part of spider baby was ambiguous" Tony questioned seeming genuinely baffled "it does whatever a spider baby does". Bruce tried not to laugh as the archer sat down on the foot of the couch looking at his partner in what could only be described as mute horror. Natasha for her part looked downright murderous "Oh go kiss a jellyfish stark" she ground out turning to Clint "I'm not pregnant bird-brain so close your mouth, give me my cookie dough, and no one gets hurt"
"Oh, someone's experiencing their first mood swing" tony said joyfully "don't be alarmed its perfec-"
"Shut up Stark!" the assassins shouted together.
"On that lovely note, we're here boys and girls"
Everyone leaned forward in their seats and Bruce felt a weight settle beside him as Darcy wordlessly passed a tub of mint green to him in what was clearly a themed peace offering, her eyes were glued to the hologram in front of them. It was a giant wall of ice stretching as far as the eye could see and encased in it was a massive looming black shape that could only be the Hydra bomber they were looking for. "Oh my god" Bruce heard Clint murmur into Natasha's hair, the archer was grinning in excitement. The Ice had protected the plane from the elements, trapping it in time. Darcy let up out a whoop of enthusiasm and shook him "We did it Bruce! We actually did it." He wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders a relieved smile breaking out on his face.
"Don't get your hopes up kiddos, if the Captain was clever he may have thrown himself clear." The thought quickly sobered them up, this wasn't a museum exhibit, this was somebody's graveyard. "Well only one way to find out I suppose" Tony's arm came into view the laser pointed and ready to start cutting.
"Stop!". Tony powered down the arm in the hologram and everyone turned to face a straight-faced Agent Phil Coulson stepping calmly out of the elevator "eh security breech" Stark said redundantly.
"By order of SHIELD you are requested to stand down and you Iron man are expected to report to the Helicarrier it is currently headed to your location".
Authors note
Well its 500 words shorter than id promised but considering i wrote it in two hours between exams i'm pretty happy. I hope you enjoy it to!
The next installment should be in by the 30th of December and be a lot longer (fingers crossed).
Now for the warnings list
Possible slash (Because, I don't control who my fictional characters want to date apparently)
mentions of domestic abuse, child abuse (fairly non graphic)
Bullying
Main-ish Character death (not one of the avengers)
possibly more i haven't thought of yet :)
Hopefully this doesn't put anyone off, if anyone needs any more information don't hesitate to ask
Hope you Enjoy! Casually taking over the World