A/N 1) It's loosely edited because it's late (good job me) and also it's Amber's birthday! Yay (Yesterday... Basically I posted this chapter yesterday on Ao3, so copy and pasting the author's notes doesn't make much sense)

2) My wrist has really been bothering me, but my PT doctor gave my this handy wrist brace thing that sort of corrects ulnar deviation when on, so that's always good. Please keep in mind that there are still some days where I literally can not type with my left hand. Thank you! ^-^

Bruce wakes not very soundly.

He wakes to Colonel Rhodes shouting through the thick glass walls of the lab.

Cutting through his initial confusion, is worry. If Rhodes is shouting at Tony loud enough to wake Bruce, something is definitely wrong. He sits up in an instant.

"Bruce! Bruce," Anyone with half a brain could hear the relief in his voice. "Bruce, you gotta open this door, or wake up Tones, you gotta do something, man."

Giving his sleeves an extra push down, he gets himself to the door. But it won't open. Looking up he sees pure fear in the Colonel's eyes.

"I-I can't- it won't open," Bruce stamers, Rhodes' fear matching his own now.

"You have to wake up Tones, then." He starts, "I can't do anything, none of my override codes are working, and, and I can't, Friday won't listen to me - I got nothin'!"

It clicks, and Bruce is a bit disappointed in himself that he didn't make the connection earlier. To be fair, he hasn't exactly been at the top of his game lately. "Blackout protocol." He mumbles to himself.

"What?"

"No wonder the override codes didn't work," He continues mumbling, while racing over to his friend, unconscious and surrounded by at least twenty empty or smashed bottles. "Tony. Tony!" Bruce shouts, face contorting in the God awful stench of different types of alcohol all mixed together.

Taking in all of the bottles around him, Bruce again yells, "Tony! Tony c'mon you gotta wake up." Shaking the engineer's shoulder, panic races through him, and Banner feels the other guy stir up in his gut.

Instinctively he tried to push the Hulk down, until he realizes the benefit.

The Hulk could be the way to get the door open. Er, break it down.

Turning toward the panicked man Bruce warns, "Colonel Rhodes, you may want to take a step back." Ignoring Rhodes' questions, Bruce stows his jacket underneath the nearest desk. Because dammit, he loves that garment, and would rather not have it torn to shreds.

Then, with a few thoughts of 'Tony's in trouble', Bruce feels the familiar pain of his body stretching to inhuman sizes - and then nothing.

When Bruce wakes for the second time that day, awareness comes slowly.

Regaining consciousness on a soft mattress is something new. Especially after the soreness of a Hulk-out.

"Doctor Banner," A voice that sounds painfully similar to JARVIS says, "Doctor Banner, are you awake?"

Opening his eyes, Bruce is greeted with a strange sight. "You're red. Your skin is red. Red and silver." The doctor rubs his eyes to make sure he's seeing this correctly. "Why are you red and silver?" He attempts to clarify.

"I am not human."

Well at least he's (it's?) honest. "Um, oh. What are you then?"

"I am a creation of Tony Stark. My name is Vision." He answers, and Bruce understands.

"Oh. Oh. You're Vision."

Accompanied with a look of confusion, Vision agrees, "Yes, that is what I said. Are you feeling quite alright, Doctor Banner?"

"Call me Bruce, and yeah I'm fine - where's Tony? Is he, he, I saw all the bottles, and ohhh God," Stopping himself, Bruce reminds himself to take a few deep breath before he's full on hyperventilating.

"He is in the next room over and woke thirty minutes ago. He is in mild distress." Vision easily supplies.

Bruce moves to get up, before realizing that he's stark naked underneath the blanket. "Are there any clothes, or uh, a jacket, or…?"

Pointing to a chair Vision states, "There are clothes here, and Tony requested that your jacket was also brought up. It was placed next to the clothes."

"Thanks. Thank you." I'm gonna change now, so, uh," Bruce hopes Vision gets the picture.

Luckily he does. "I'm sure we'll meet soon again, Bruce." He notes, and then walks out of the room. Via wall.

Bruce stares at the section of the wall in awe before pulling himself together and putting on the clothes. The doctor is eager enough to make sure Tony's alright that he doesn't realize that the wounds on his arms didn't disappear from the Hulk-out.

He softly knocks on the door before letting himself into Tony's room, other hand fumbling with the cuffs of the jacket. Bruce was planning on asking the other man if he was alright, or what happened, but instead his mouth blurts out,

"You're a fucking idiot, Tony."

The engineer flinches for a millisecond and then easily composes himself. "Hey there, Brucie Bear. Nothing I haven't heard before."

Feeling his face heat up, Bruce harshly closes the door and clarifies, "You're a fucking idiot. This is, it's, it- God Tony! Why the hell would you do that! Friday couldn't do a goddamn thing, because of your 'protocol', and then I hate to wake up to you unconscious in a pile of glass and liquor!"

Feeling a bit dizzy, Bruce sits himself down on a chair and scoots it up next to Tony's side, cautious of the IV snaking out of his arm.

Quieting down, the biologist continues, "Why, Tony? Why would you do that?"

Devoid of humor, Tony replies, "Because it's what I do. I drink, Bruce, or did you not get the memo? Everyone else in the world knows. Or did you think that I was different. What? Take a sabbatical for a couple of fucking years, and now Tony Stark is magically fixed? Huh? That's how you think it's gonna be?" He tries to sit up in bed, but Bruce quickly stops him.

Rubbing his face, Bruce mutters, "Sorry. I just," a pregnant pause echos in the quiet room before the interrupting, "Got scared from it." Awkwardly clearing his throat Bruce questions, "How much, ah, how much did you drink?"

Shrugging the other man replies, "Dunno. Enough. Er, it would've been if they didn't pump my stomach."

"That's not healthy, Tony."

Sneering, Stark growls, "You know, I remember hearing those exact words not twenty-fucking-four hours ago,"

Wincing Bruce tries to interject, but with no avail.

"And perhaps you didn't get the picture when I yelled at you the first time. It doesn't matter. I'm Tony Fucking Stark, so it doesn't matter. I've been drinking since I was a kid, and it's not like I'm gonna stop now. Besides, you're in no position to hassle me around."

Biting his lip, the doctor chalks up his friend's irritable mood to the previous night. "Tony, I'm just worried at this point. You can't keep doing this."

"You've been here for hours, Bruce, hours! The hell would you know about what I can or can't do."

To reply, Bruce just swallows.

As if just realizing what he's said, Tony lightly slams his head into the pillow and groans. "Oh God, Bruce. What the fuck is wrong with me. Can't even talk to my friend anymore. What's next?" Both of the men understand this as an apology.

Struggling to comfort his friend, Bruce simply replies, "It's okay, Tony. I'm okay. You're okay." They sit in a (less than) comfortable silence before Bruce questions, "When's the last time you talked with someone."

"Uh, right now?"

"No, I mean, really talked with someone, like- Nevermind, you know what I mean. Like with Pepper, or Rhodey? Hell, even Friday?"

Tony shrugs nonchalantly, as if the biologist asked about the weather.

"Tony."

"What do you know about the Civil War? Not, not the American one, but you know, the one that happened a month ago."

Slightly taken aback, Bruce replies, "I mean, some? Not much really. Most people left, and then you were reported gone for a few days, and then that's all?"

Tony snorts and says, "Yeah, that's basically the gist. But," He starts, "That's obviously not all. Natasha double crossed me, and I mean, I shouldn't even be surprised at this point. 'Happens every other time anyway. And then I recruited this new guy, well not guy, kid, really, the spider-ling, oh God, poor thing would fangirl over you."

Bruce chuckles a bit at that, in turn making Tony smile too.

"And Germany happened, Rhodey, Rhodey, he," A shiver runs through his frame, and Bruce notices how thin and weak he looks in the bed. "He, uh, fell."

"Fell?" Bruce prompts.

"Yeah, and I couldn't go fast enough to save him-"

"Not your fault." Bruce interrupts.

Giving him a look Tony replies, "I didn't say it was."

"Mmm, you basically did, and you were thinking it."

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Was too."

"Was not- oh for God's sake, Tony."

Tony gives a childish grin, and continues. "Anyway, and then some interesting shit happened, and then I went on a vacation to Siberia, fun-cation, really, with Steve and Bucky, and we got in a bit of a disagreement, and that's all. All caught up?"

Tony can tell that Bruce definitely doesn't feel all caught up, but he's nice enough to not push.

"So uh," The engineer starts, "What happened? I mean, last night. Rhodey refuses to tell me and gives me disapproving glares, and Friday was shut off, so you're the last baring witness. And Pepp's off in California doing something, man I hope it's important."

"Well, I can't help much. Rhodes is probably your only witness."

"Nope."

"What?"

"Vis told me that you were in the room next to me. We're in the med bay. So spill, Banner. What the hell happened and how the fuck did you end up in the med bay?"

Scratching his head in discomfort Bruce quietly answers, "Well, as you know the lab was on lockdown, so-"

"Yep, yep, fast forward, Jolly Rancher,"

"The Hulk broke the glass to get you out." Bruce abruptly states, not bothering to sugar coat it. "Sorry," He adds, "I don't know what he did or didn't destroy in the process."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

Tony shakes his head, "No, not shit about the lab. Shit to you." Bruce smiles. What a sentence. The engineer continues, "Sorry about the Hulking-out. That's, ah, definitely my bad. I know you try to avoid the other guy as much as possible."

Scooting a bit closer to the bed Bruce says, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, it was my conscious decision to Hulk out,"

"Doesn't help." Tony declares, much to Bruce's dismay.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Outside of the cameras and the media, Tony's still a snarky guy, but he's exhausted, and no one other than Bruce is around him, so he doesn't bother with the entertaining.

After a minute or so of listening to the overhead fan, Tony asks, "Could you find me a tablet?"

Curiosity washing over him Bruce inquires, "Why's that?"

"Gonna go update the Blackout Protocol codes. Make a maximum amount of time," Tony expands. "Or after a certain amount of time a mandatory vocal consent."

Nodding Bruce turns to go out of the door before asking, "Oh! Did you ever turn off the protocol in the lab from last… night? Wait what time is it? There aren't any windows in this place," The last bit, mostly a mutter to himself.

"One: Yes, a few minutes after I woke up. Two: It's ten in the morning, happy Monday. And three:," A devilish grin spreads across the engineer's face while he says, "Fri, open the windows in this room."

Instantly, the wall seems to dissipate into a clean sheet of glass that takes up most of the back wall. Tony strains his neck to look out the window from the bed, and nods. "Works beautifully, doesn't it? And from the outside it just looks like more wall."

Chuckling Banner notes, "You never do things normally, do you? Are blinds beneath you?"

With mock seriousness Tony nods. "Oh yes. Ever since that fateful day in… June, yeah I've sworn to never ever use blinds again."

"Oh man."

Grinning Tony says, "Oh c'mon, Brucie, you love it."

"Sure." He replies, but he's also grinning. Fondly shaking his head, Bruce gets back on track. "Okay so I'm gonna go," He makes a gesture with his hands, "Gonna go get your tablet. Or I guess a tablet. I suppose all of these are yours.

Giving him a thumbs up Tony says, "Yep! Thank you, Brucie! You're my favorite! Get me the one in my room pleaseeee!"

With one last eye roll the scientist leaves the room and heads to Tony's room. Or at least the floor that he remembered that had Tony's room.

Surprising him, the door opened without any resistance and he practically trots over to the bed, which looks exactly how Tony Stark's bed would look.

Sheets are thrown to the ground, as well as one of the pillows. On top of the fitted sheet lays hundreds of metal parts, accompanied by a few screwdrivers and - goddamnit - a blowtorch. Laying on top of the pillow is the tablet.

Bruce picks up the tablet and takes the blowtorch off of the bed. Seriously, Tony's going to get himself killed this via fiery explosion.

As the biologist turns to leave, he glances at the nightstand. On it, is an orange pill bottle, and the shittiest flip phone Bruce has ever seen, not unlike the one Tony gave him all those moons ago when he left for Asia.

It's not the flip phone that bothers him though.

The biologist picks up the bottle in curiosity, surprised at the weight.

"Friday?" Bruce asks, suddenly very cautious.

"How can I assist you, Doctor Banner?"

"Is Rhodes in the building right now?"

"Yes, Colonel Rhodes is currently in the kitchen on the sixteenth floor. Would you like me to relay a message to him?" Friday asks, no doubt learning what people's intentions are.

Blinking a few times Bruce replies, "No, that's alright. Thanks." He adds.

"It's my pleasure, Doctor Banner."

Stuffing the pill bottle in his large jacket pocket and holding the tablet underneath his arm, Bruce hurries off to the kitchen.

Rhodes instantly sees him when Bruce almost stumbles in. "Hey, Bruce. It's good to see you up and about, after last night. Is everything alright?" He asks, noticing the confused face on the scientist.

Cutting right to the chase Bruce asks, "When was the last time Tony refilled his medication?"

"Uh," Rhodey murmurs, thinking back, not bothering to question how Bruce knows Tony's been taking meds. "Two and a half, no, three weeks ago? I think,"

Taking the pill bottle out of his pocket Bruce eyes it and says, "So that's why there are… still, what? Thirty pills left in here?"

"Son of a bitch."

Bruce nods. "My thoughts exactly."

Setting down his coffee with enough force to crack a normal countertop (but still no match to a Stark one) Rhodey stands up and heads to the elevator, only slightly wincing in his braces.

Bruce wordlessly follows him, fingers unintentionally picking at his cuticles.

"Can I see it?"

"What?" Bruce replies, pulling out of his thoughts.

"The bottle," Rhodes clarifies. "Can I see the bottle."

Handing it over, Bruce says, "Yeah. Sure."

While squinting at the tiny writing on the side, Rhodes mutters another "Son of a Bitch." and holds the bottle with enough force Bruce is worried it's going to shatter.

As soon as the elevator 'dings!' The Colonel marches out with an intimidation that shouldn't be possible for someone that was diagnosed with paralyzation weeks ago.

"Tones!" Rhodey shouts into the hallway, making his way to the room.

Bruce bites his lip in anxiety, drawing a bit of blood.

They both turn into the room, but Rhodes stomps all of the way up to the bed, while Bruce stays at the doorway, awkwardly pulling at the jacket's seams.

"Want to explain this?" Rhodes asks, mocking innocence, holding up the bottle?"

Swallowing Tony asks, "What do you mean?"

Nearly growling, Rhodes replies, "Oh, I think you know what I mean. Your last refill was three weeks ago, so you feel like telling me why the goddamn bottle is full?!"

Bruce involuntarily curls on himself, even though he logically knows that the yelling is not directed at him.

Quietly, Tony mutters, "To be fair, it's full minus one. I took one of them."

Throwing his hands up in the air and losing a bit of balance, Rhodes says, "Oh yeah that's great. Fucking fabulous, Tony. You took one. Single. Pill."

"C'mon Rhodey, it's not like that," Tony tries, but immediately gets shut down by his elder.

"'Not like that'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Anxiety creeping up like a mouse, Bruce sets the tablet on a chair near the door and quickly exists the floor. As he heads down the hallway he can hear Rhodey chastising the other man.

Stepping into the elevator, Friday asks, "Where to, Doctor Banner?"

"...Uh," Bruce has no idea where to go. It's not like he's halfway comfortable with anything around him, and he doesn't know where he's restricted either. Pepper is out, so he doesn't have anyone else to guide him around either. Except that's not quite true.

"Take me to where Vision is."

"Certainly, Doctor Banner."

A few floors later (because that's how you measure things in the Stark Tower) Bruce steps out into what looks like a simple apartment. It looks horrendously out of place compared to the rest of the futuristic components of the tower.

"Vision?" Bruce calls out tentatively, to the open air.

Floating out from a wall - dammit, Tony was wrong, it doesn't get any easier - Vision calls, "Bruce?"

"Uh, yeah." Was the elegant response. "I just… Do you live here?'

Vision nods and replies, "Yes, well, as I don't need to perform functions as most humans do, I still live here." He pauses before adding, "Ideally, it would be shared by Wanda."

"Maximoff?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, the 'Civil War' has put a bit of a crinkle in our relationship."

Oh boy does Bruce know about unforeseen crinkles in relationships. "Ah. That's unfortunate. It'll work out though, I'm sure."

Sighing sadly Vision replies, "I do hope so." With a slight turn of his head, Vision questions, "Are you feeling alright, Bruce?"

Taken aback, the biologist awkwardly answers, "Yes?"

"You look rather faint. Perhaps you'd like to sit down?"

Blinking a few times Bruce replies, "Sure? I mean, yeah. Yeah, sitting down sounds good." He shuffles over to the nearest chair, all while picking at his thumbs, squinting a bit when he peels off a good part of a cuticle and feels the blood begin to pool. To make matters worse, Vision comes over and look straight at him for a steady six seconds before Bruce has to question, "Um, why are you staring at me?"

Looking apologetic Vision answers, "I was diagnosing your problem. Are you feeling lethargic?"

Okay, Tony was definitely wrong. It was going to take a lot of time to get used to Vision. "Um, I mean maybe? It's not anything bad, by any means,"

Vision nods a bit before beginning a staring contest at the wall.

Bruce looks at the wall and Vision, and then the wall again, just to make sure he's not missing anything.

Causing Bruce to flinch, Vision suddenly turns to him and announces, "You haven't eaten anything in quite some time, and you have recently woken up after becoming the Hulk. You are dehydrated and in desperate need of sugars and proteins. Wait here, I will return shortly."

With that, Vision floats off into the ceiling this time, and Bruce is left dumbstruck with his own devices. Looking down at his thumb he awkwardly dabs the small pool of blood with the corner of cuff of the jacket, not caring about the hygiene. The jacket has seen much worse than a few drops of blood.

This time, when Vision comes back, he takes the elevator.

Bruce will never understand this being.

Vision sits down next to Bruce with a glass of orange juice and two protein bars. He holds them out and Bruce takes the orange juice.

The biologist takes tentative sips, having not tasted orange juice for, well, probably around a decade at this point. He forgot how damn sweet it is.

"Is it okay?" Vision asks, visibly concerned.

Bruce nods in between sips, not realizing until now how thirsty he was until now.

"Please," The being starts, holding out a protein bar. "Eat too. You must be very hungry. Have you eaten since you arrived from Alaska?"

Bruce shakes his head, taking a protein bar from Vision's grasp.

Looking genuinely surprised, Vision exclaims, "Well you must need a full meal then! Especially after your Hulk-out."

Instead of agreeing, Bruce questions, "How do you know that I get low blood sugar after a Hulk-out?"

"I have the available memories of JARVIS, and the knowledge of Friday, along with my own will to learn more. Using that, along with a bit of deduction, I believe that you need extra ailment to stay healthy. And with the new information of the lack of food, I am certain that you need to eat.

"I believe there is extra leftovers in the fridge. Would you like for me to fetch them?"

Bruce easily shakes his head. After barely eating in his 'sabbatical', as Tony called it, he's in no mood to stuff himself now.

Vision doesn't look the happiest about it, but he doesn't push. "Will you at least finish the glass of juice and the protein bars?"

"Yeah." Bruce agrees, and gets a small smile from Vision.

The doctor east and sips his drink in silence, when Vision asks him, "Would you like a band-aid?"

"What?"

"Your thumb is bleeding, but barely. I believe that calls for a band-aid." Vision simply states.

"Oh. Sure. But I mean, you don't have to, it's not a necessary thing, but if you want to, I'm not gonna stop you," Bruce rambles on, until he makes a conscious effort to shut up.

Vision leaves without a word, and comes back, through the fucking wall again, carrying a container of band-aids.

Silently, Bruce takes on and sticks it on his thumb, rubbing the sticky parts for good measure.

The two men, er, man and being, sit together, neither of them wanting to start a conversation. Eventually Friday speaks up, making Bruce jump a bit.

"Doctor Banner, Boss is requesting your presence."

"Okay." Bruce quietly answers, and then turns to Vision. "Well, uh, duty calls."

Vision agrees, "It does. I will see you later. Please consider eating more, Bruce." He adds, worry creeping up in his voice.

As he leaves through the elevator, Bruce says, "I will. Thanks, Vision."

"My pleasure."

When he steps in the elevator he heavily leans on the wall, pressure building behind his eyes. Absentmindedly he rubs at his temples, thinking about some aspirin.

Friday leads him to the room in the med bay, although Bruce is already understanding the maze that's the Stark Tower.

When he comes back to the room, Tony looks a bit better, but definitely more annoyed. Rhodes sits in the chair the Banner used to occupy, looking absolutely pissed.

"Heyyy, Brucie Bear." Tony notes his presence, drawing out the 'hey' for much too long.

"Hey Tony. Rhodes." Bruce says, nodding to both.

Not wasting any time, the Colonel starts, "Tony has agreed-" the mentioned party gives a huff at the 'agreed' part, but Rhodes still continues, "agreed that he would 'get help remembering to take his medication' from you."

Bruce nods, satisfied. "That sounds good. I'd love to help."

From the bed, Tony mutters something along the lines of "not a child", but Rhodes sends him a dirty look which shuts him up.

Evidently done with reprimanding Tony, Rhodes pats his friend's knee and declares, "Right. I'm going to go locate and throw out all of the alcohol in this fucking tower."

Tony immediately argues. "What? No! Aww, c'mon Rhodey. I'll do better."

Sternly, Rhodes retaliates, "No more chances, Tones. That's what you said last time, and look where that got you."

Bruce interjects, "'Last time'?"

"Doesn't matter." Tony replies before Rhodes can say anything.

Sighing, the Colonel says, "I gave you a chance, Tones, and this morning you fucked up, so no more chances, understand?" Tony grumbles, and like a stern parent, Rhodey asks again, "Do you understand? I'm not letting you take any more chances, 'specially 'cause my damn override codes don't work anymore." Pausing to give the engineer another disapproving look, Rhodes adds, "Once you feel better we're having a very important conversation about that." He turns to leave, before smirking and saying, "Oh by the way, I've limitted your lab time to ten hours a day. Love you honey bear!" He yells, after already exiting the room, not giving Tony time to complain about the lab.

"What?! No! Noooooo! No, no, no, no, that is not- you have crossed a line, Rhodey!" Huffing, Tony faces his fellow scientist, and opens his mouth to complain, before taking in his complexity. "Brucie?"

Shaking his head to rid the dizziness Bruce replies, "Uh, Yeah?"

"You're looking a bit pale there, big guy. Are you feeling alright?"

The smaller man nods and leans against the wall. "Peachy. How are you feeling though? You probably need something to eat. No, definitely need something to eat. After all of those drinks," Bruce notes, about to turn around to find a kitchen.

"Wait," Tony says, sitting up in the bed with a wince. "I'm fine. Vision stopped by before you woke up and got me some easy foods. Gotta love 'em crackers, right?"

Bruce tries to give a lazy grin, and settles himself against the wall again.

Both of the scientists stare at each other, guilt eating away respectfully. Tony speaks first, "Bruce, seriously. Sit down, before you fall down. I've seen ghosts with more color than you." The billionaire adds a Tony Stark Grin (trademark) and Bruce sits down in the chair next to Tony's bed.

Well, 'sit' is a strong word. 'Collapse' may suit the situation better.

With a mock serious face Tony pulls out the container of crackers and asks with absolutely no emotion, "Crackers?" He then takes one himself and puts it in his mouth, chewing as slowly and loudly as he can, determined to get some smile out of his friend.

Once the cracker becomes a disgusting paste in his mouth, Tony finally swallows it and asks, "C'mon Brucie Bear. What's up? Now I'm starting to think you're actually a ghost."

Rather than replying, Bruce stares straight at Tony, a sleepy confusion causing him to blink slowly.

"Bruce?" The engineer snaps a finger near his nose. "Brucie? Banner? Doctor Banner? Big green? Jolly green? Jolly rancher? Green apple jolly rancher?" Running out of nicknames, Tony is forced to show his concern like a normal human being. "Bruce! Answer me? What's happening?" Mutely, Tony remembers that Bruce sometimes had silent panic attacks, but no other symptoms were showing.

"Tony?" The doctor finally asks, sounding small and quiet, making Tony want to get out of the bed and hug him.

"Yeah, it's just me. What's, er, are you okay?"

"Tony," Bruce says again, panic seeping in. "Tony, my, my arms." He states, staring beneath the jacket, out of Tony's view.

The engineer nearly shoots out of bed, IV line pulling at his arms and shoves down the sleeves of the jacket. But it looks the same to Tony. The same medical grade stitches and the same perfectly parallel cuts. Not knowing what he's supposed to be looking for, Tony asks, "What's wrong Bruce?"

"My arms," He repeats, trailing off, breathing quickening a bit.

Gulping, Tony tries, "Bruce, remember? You, you, ah, cut yourself? In Alaska?"

The biologist nods, and mutters, "No, no, no, I know. It's just, I, I,"

Worried from the stutters, Tony lightly cups his friend's face and says, "Hey? Bruce, it's okay. You're okay. Remember, I'm gonna get you through this, yeah? Hey now, don't look at your arms. Look at me, my charming face. C'mon."

Finally staring into Tony's eyes, the engineer sees pure worry in his friend's eyes. "Bruce?"

"They can't, they can't be here. Tony, Tony, they can't be here!"

"Okay, Brucie Bear, you need to get your breathing a bit slower, okay? Take some deep breaths and explain what you mean. Can you do that for me?"

The doctor takes some gulps of air, before looking even more panicky than before, and says again, "They can't be there, Tony."

"I know, I know Bruce, okay?" He soothes, even though he doesn't actually know why Bruce is convinced they can't be there. Pulling the jacket sleeves back over his arms so Bruce can't see the incisions, Tony asks, "Friday, call Rhodey down here please."

"Okay, Boss." Friday's voice comes out, devoid of emotion, even though JARVIS would've conveyed emotion- Tony stops his thoughts of JARVIS and focuses again on Bruce. "Okay, Brucie, I'm gonna need you to expand a bit, okay? We're both scientists, and you have to expand on your ideas and data, alright?" He asks, trying from a logical standpoint.

Bruce's face pales a bit more, if it's possible, and his fear is starting to make Tony himself anxious. "It can't be there," Bruce mutters again, and Tony pulls the other man onto the bed, hoping it will help.

"We're gonna breathe, together now, okay? Some nice soothing breaths." Tony can feel his own heartbeat accelerating and his friend's worry, and tries to hug him closer.

They breathe for a minute or two, Bruce occasionally muttering how the cuts can't be there. Each time Tony replies with an equally quiet, "It's okay," or "I understand," until Rhodes arrives.

"Tony?" The Colonel asks, seeing the biologist squished against his friend, breathing shallow and erratic.

Not wanting to disturb his friend, Tony mouths to Rhodes, "Help" before lightly playing with the curls on the other scientist's head.

Rhodes grab's the water Tony drank out of when he awoke, and coaxes Bruce to take some sips out of it.

"Hey Bruce?" Rhodes asks, using the most calm voice Tony has ever heard. "You want to tell us what's going on in that noggin of yours?"

Banner looks up, and he looks terrified. He's grabbing and rubbing the sheets so hard that his knuckles turn red, then white, and Tony awkwardly pulls his hands off and holds them instead.

The biologist looks up at Tony and shakily whispers, "They can't, they can't be there."

"I know, Brucie, I know."

"They shouldn't be there," Bruce says this time, and Tony counts it as progress.

Prompting him, Tony gently asks, "Why shouldn't they be there, Bruce?"

"Because," Bruce starts, squeezing on Tony's hand in fear. "Because I became the Hulk. They, they, they shouldn't last."

All of the air leaves Tony's limited lungs, and he looks up to Rhodey, who's looking back at Tony with the same realization.

In typical Stark fashion, Tony mutters, "Fuck."

A/N Finally hit my chapter goal of 5000+ words. Yay!

Reviewing makes me smile and I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts!

And to make up for posting this a day late on this website, I'll give you guys a sneak peak of next chapter- Our favorite Spiderling meets Bruce (and slightly fangirls over him)