Bruce feared it wasn't the best idea considering yesterday's incident, but he strongly wished to confront Tony.
"Dr. Banner, good morning," JARVIS greeted upon the guest's entry into the tower.
"Good morning, Jarvis," Bruce gleefully announced. "Is Tony open for company today?"
"He is having breakfast as we speak. I will take you to him," the computer program offered.
"I'd appreciate that," Bruce nodded as he entered the nearest elevator. "Is he alone now?"
"Currently, yes, but I believe Ms. Potts will be visiting within the hour."
"Sounds like he's a popular guy," Bruce assumed as the elevator ascended. The twin doors soon opened and he stepped out into a wide open room quite familiar to him. He walked along the sleek floors and stopped to admire two six-foot long craters in the floor that vaguely resembled the human form.
"You like that?" Tony sauntered away from the bar with a shot glass in hand.
Bruce turned to find his friend wearing a worn Metallica shirt with jeans. He assumed that the tiny glass he held wasn't for orange juice. "Are you ever filling those in?"
"Nah," Tony smirked. "Good memories."
"A bit of a safety hazard, don't you think?"
"I plan to rope it off-don't worry. You want waffles?" he quickly offered, turning to walk back to the bar.
"I'm fine, but thank you."
"So what brings you here?" Tony leaned forward over a marble counter and took a bite of his breakfast.
Bruce joined him before the bar, running his finger's along the counter's beveled edge. "I decided that you can scan me."
Tony's eyes lit up, revealing his inner child.
"I was thinking… We should find a cure."
His smile fell. "It's not easy being green?"
Bruce's knuckles lightly knocked the marble. "I'd like to find the cure as a favour to someone I know."
Tony's fork clinked against his plate. "Betty Ross?" He looked the doctor straight in the eyes.
"I…" Bruce broke the intimidating stare to look at his shoes. "She's been trying for years to help me out. I just don't want those efforts to be in vain."
"So you're cool with being the party monster?" he prodded.
Bruce shook his head. "No. This is for both of us."
Tony slowly chewed another bite of food. He then swallowed and nodded. "Let's see what we're working with."
"It was nothing more than a bar brawl," Natasha informed her boss as she sat before his desk. "Banner kept it together, so no casualties and no damages."
Nick Fury glanced from the assassin to the incident report in his hands. "We're still being charged on these medical bills. Can you explain this charge for a tetanus shot?"
Natasha smiled to herself. "That's a lecture for Barton," she confirmed.
He rolled his eye and set the papers next to his keyboard. "I'm not you people's goddamned babysitter," he grumbled.
Natasha was next to roll her eyes. "Want me to drag him in?"
"I can handle it. We're finished here, Romanoff."
Natasha remained seated, arms folded across her chest. "Before I leave, there's one last thing. Dr. Banner," she stated. "He's not keen on being on call."
Nick shook his head. "I've had my eye on him for years. He's an asset. One I'm not willing to give up."
"Push him and you know what will happen," she taunted.
"Which is why I don't want to push him. Dr. Banner needs to learn control. Once he does, his life will be a hell of a lot easier."
"I suggested yoga," Natasha continued. "Said that didn't work out for him."
"He'll find something," Nick promised. "Hasn't he seen his fans yet?" he wondered.
"I don't think so." Natasha sighed. "He was hard on himself last night. I don't think that'll be enough."
Nick brought his attention to his computer screen. "Then help him out. Unless you want me putting someone else in charge of that."
Natasha saw this coming, so she willingly accepted. She was always taught to conquer her fears, and currently, the Hulk reigned superior on that list. The Black Widow hadn't been so shaken since she was smack in the middle of a bombing incident. She made it out of that crumbling building by the skin of her teeth with a broken leg and bruised ribs to show for it. Call her motives for helping the doctor selfish, but helping him would mean preventing any future Hulk-outs, thus killing two birds with one stone.
"He's a good man," Nick droned as he skimmed his e-mails. "It's always the good ones that end up suffering the most." His eye briefly flickered to Natasha.
"The radiation is sourced within your bone marrow," JARVIS began to explain. "I also detected high blood pressure. If anger triggers a transition, I will be eager to explore the workings of your brain during a physical transformation."
Bruce clenched the front of his button-up shirt. "I'd rather not have to do that…"
"Jarvis!" Tony snapped. "Elevate levels on monitor B starting in the amygdala," he ordered. "Show us if that's where the magic starts." A screen to Tony's left flickered on, displaying a circulatory model of Bruce's body.
"Might I suggest developing a high-functioning Zeolite?" JARVIS inquired.
"We tried that," Bruce murmured, eyes on the monitor. His scan's heart rate increased as radiation levels spiked. The result ended in a flat line, followed by a flashing red "warning" sign across the screen.
"I've got an idea." Tony exited from the hypothetical scan. "Jarvis, pull up any data recorded from the fight regarding Hulk."
"I have twenty-six minutes of available footage." The program pulled up several various video files. "Analyzing brain activity as we speak."
"Thank you," Tony proudly hummed.
A clip of Bruce ready to transform presented itself to their attention. The data was quickly composited into a new model, complete with Bruce's vitals and inner workings as his transformation progressed.
"There! That was it!" Tony excitedly pointed at the screen just as Bruce's shirt began to tear. "You had control that moment-there's gotta be a secret!"
Bruce kept his eyes glued to the floor as he fidgeted with his hands. "I had my share of pent up anger that day. Releasing it was easy, but trust me, Tony, I can't keep holding in my anger like I did that day." Bruce feared that that would result in him changing and never turning back.
"Jarvis, how about we do a replay. Focus only on brain functions," Tony instructed.
The program fulfilled its duty, narrating the play-by-play. "Increased function of the amygdala is generating an increase in radiation activity."
"We could remove bone marrow little by little…Jarvis, find us a list of all available donors."
"I cannot, Sir," JARVIS apologized. "The Doctor's marrow has been completely affected. A match isn't an option."
"Then let's go back to the Zeolites idea."
"Given something that powerful can be manufactured," Bruce interrupted. He turned away as Tony proceeded to rattle off ideas. As he wandered towards what he assumed to be a fraction of Tony's car collection, he had a strong urge to give yoga another try. Finding a cure was only going to distract Tony from his personal work, not to mention wasting the genius' time. Bruce wasn't worth all that effort.
"But I make do with what I've got going for me."
"Hey, Tony!" Bruce called out.
Natasha was in the midst of busy work when her phone began to buzz. She reached for the device to her left and answered with a casual "hello."
"Natasha."
She could practically feel Bruce's smile. "Doctor. I hope all is well."
"It is, actually," he admitted. "I saw Tony today." Bruce made himself comfortable on his living room sofa.
"You sound chipper," she noted. "I take it he wasn't being difficult."
"No, not at all," Bruce promised with a light laugh. "It, uh… Things didn't exactly work out as planned. Finding a cure seems tedious. Not that I doubt Tony and his technology," he added. "It's just that I've spent years trying to solve this…" His eyes rested on a picture of him and Betty fixed to the wall by the TV. "I don't want to burden Tony." He got up and approached the frame. The picture was held firmly in place by a persistent hook fully intended to perform its job. "And, well, I figured I'd give yoga another try." He carefully set the frame face down on his TV's platform.
"Sounds fun," Natasha encouraged. "Need a partner?"
Bruce shook his head and chuckled as he padded around his apartment. "No. Thank you, but no. You don't get to see me making an ass of myself."
"Way to ruin my day, Banner!" she sarcastically commented with a snort.
"Maybe once I get used to it. If I get used to it."
"Just find a quiet place," Natasha reassured him. "Hide out at Stark's."
"I intend to do just that," he smiled and waited on her to respond, but she was quiet. "So... I'll let you go, Natasha."
"Call me if you need anything."
"I will. Thank you." He ended the call and decided to see what the internet had to offer on yoga.
His first day of attempted meditation resulted in a failure, courtesy of Tony interrupting and asking for advice on a nanochip. As a well-mannered man, Bruce couldn't say no. Not to mention, he enjoyed working in a touch-screen based lab full of the latest technology.
Day two was a repeat of day one with an added bonus of dinner.
On his third intended yoga day, Tony made a breakthrough with a hologram and forced Bruce to watch a simulated demonstration. Needless to say, Bruce was enthralled. So enthralled that he ended up staying well into the morning hours until Tony's nanochip was functional.
Bruce stayed in and slept in his own bed for a majority of day four. By that point, he figured going to Tony's wasn't going to get his own research completed. After a late three pm breakfast, he began scrolling through his laptop's music library. He ignored the classic rock and outdated pop collections until he singled out a playlist of jazz and classical composers. Bruce let a Mozart piece play while he proceeded to lie down on his couch. He closed his eyes and rested a hand on his stomach as he focused on his breathing. A violin's gentle singing helped him find his center as his breathing slowed. If only reaching this place was so easy under stress. As the music continued, the cogs in his mind created a new hypothesis: If Bruce Banner is under stress, can music help calm him?
He stayed in his quiet place for the remainder of the song until his phone began to ring. Bruce sat up with a quiet groan and picked the phone up from the coffee table.
Tony.
"Hello," he answered.
"Banner," the fellow scientist countered. "Drinks tonight. You, me, Barton, Romanoff." It wasn't so much a question as it was an order.
Bruce took a moment to stretch his torso. "Sure, Tony. What time?"
"Now. C'mon, I've got a treat for ya!"
Bruce was starting to think that tonight would be good to test his music and stress theory. Not that Tony was bound to cause all of his potential stress. "I'll be there in half an hour."
"Gentlemen." Tony boldly hopped up onto his glass coffee table. "Romanoff," he added, winking as Natasha raised her bottle of beer to him. "Allow me to demonstrate the latest in Stark technology."
"Just Stark?" Bruce teased as he sipped his wine.
"You're pushing it, Banner." Tony waved a warning finger at his colleague. He whipped his phone out from his back pocket and held it up for his three guests to see. Clint leaned over to whisper something to Natasha, but he ignored it, refusing to put his show on hold any further. "This app right here is the future for Iron Man. So pay attention, Katniss." He pressed a button and outstretched his free arm. An awkward silence occurred, but was soon broken by Clint's stifled chuckles.
"At least this isn't your first disappointment, Stark," Natasha promised. "Probably won't be your last, either."
Bruce set his glass down on the coffee table and gave Tony a concerned look. "The demo worked just fine, wh-"
Tony held up a silencing finger while his right hand remained outstretched.
"Sir, incoming in eight seconds," JARVIS warned. "Seven… Six…"
Heads turned as a flash of red burst through the room's entryway. The blur darted straight at Tony, but no one dared warn him to look out-no one even had time to register what was happening.
"Woah!" Tony's weight shifted back as a glossy hotrod red hand fixed itself to his arm.
"Shit!" Clint laughed as he gawked over the sight.
"An app that attacks Stark?" Natasha playfully guessed. "I'll take one."
"It's a homing device, soon to work with an entire suit," Tony smugly remarked.
"I'll give you twenty bucks if you make one for arrows," Clint swore.
Bruce rose from his seat as Tony stepped down from the table. "You had me worried for a second."
Tony shrugged as he showed off his armored hand. "I'll need to tweak the timing."
"How far can the signal reach?"
"So far, two-hundred and forty feet."
Bruce smiled as he checked the statistics on Tony's phone. "I'm really happy for you, Tony. This is impressive!" And it never would have happened if his time was invested into finding him a cure…
Natasha walked alongside Bruce after Tony's ego trip was over and done with. Clint had his car, but Natasha and Bruce turned down his free ride offer. "You seemed a little upset towards the end of the show," Natasha noticed.
"I did?" Bruce gave her a small smile.
"On the inside."
"Are you in my head now?" he laughed, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Maybe," she slyly hinted. They stopped at a crosswalk and grew quiet as the timer ticked down. "It was the look in your eyes," Natasha admitted once they were given the go-ahead to walk.
Bruce kept his eyes forward with each step. "I was disappointed in what could've been."
Natasha eyed him curiously.
"If I was selfish, Tony wouldn't have had any work to show us tonight."
"So you're the reason I had to sit through my fourth Stark Expo this year?"
Bruce turned to her with a chuckle. "Stark Expo is my second Christmas."
"I figured as much," Natasha winked. "So how goes the yoga?"
"About that…" Bruce's voice wavered. "Tony had me a little distracted, so today was my only real relaxing day."
"Sounds like it didn't go too well."
"I wouldn't call it a fail," he shrugged. "I feel like music could play a role in helping calm the other guy."
"Music, huh?"
"But I'll try yoga again. Hopefully tomorrow," he added.
Natasha stopped at a corner, bringing Bruce to a halt, as well. "Don't get distracted, Banner."
"I'll do my best," he vowed. "This is your street, I take it? Goodnight, Natasha."
"Night, Bruce." With a final smile, she turned and confidently strode down a streetlamp-lit path.
He watched her for a moment, then resumed his own short walk home.