AN: I just want to thank everyone for the wonderful and over whelming response from the last chapter. It meant so much to me, thank you to every single person who reviewed, you're all awesome.

Chapter Twelve

Bruce had gone up to the penthouse for this 'meeting' with Shadow, he'd already spoken to Fury that morning and had a pad of standard interview questions with him, but Tony clearly wasn't expecting him yet, because he had his back to him and was listening to loud music.

Bruce snuck up behind Tony, the man was not aware that he was there inches from him, Bruce was chuckling quietly to himself as an idea popped into his head.

Tony had a heavy pair of headphones on, synced to some device or another apparently as there were no wires attached, bopping his head along to music, singing loudly and off key, "OH DID YOU KNOW THAT JUNKYARD SLAVE ISN'T EVEN OLD ENOUGH TO SHAVE BUT HE CAN USE THE FORCE THEY SAY-"

Bruce put his hand on Tony's shoulder and the man nearly very literally jumped out of his skin, screaming like a girl, throwing the headphones off his head and gripping his arc reactor in an overly dramatic fashion.

"WHAT ARE YOU, A NINJA? DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT!" shouted Tony, panting slightly, gripping his chest.

Bruce snickered "I wasn't trying to sneak up on you, it just sorta happened."

"Well don't do it again," said Tony, "you're going to give me a coronary."

"What were you listening to, Weird Al?" asked Bruce.

"Yeah," said Tony, "how'd you know?"

"You were doing something," said Bruce, a little smirk dancing across his lips, "I think it was supposed to be singing, but I don't think it was in any key the rest of the world are familiar with."

"Philistine," said Tony, "see if I take you to karaoke night now after that comment."

"I'm heart broken," said Bruce, then he held out the data pad he'd been carrying to Tony, "Here, brought you the standard shield interview questions."

"Might as well keep it," said Tony, putting his hand on Bruce's shoulder and guiding him over to the arm chairs, "you're staying."

"Oh, no," said Bruce, "come on, Tony, I think you'll be lucky if this guy shows up at all. You saw how twitchy he was around me, I really don't think I'll be helping the situation."

Tony pushed on Bruce's shoulders, forcing him to sit in one of the arm chairs, "Which is precisely why I want you here," he said, "it's a lot harder for people to construct lies when they're nervous."

"I'm not happy that I'm being used like an attack dog here, Tony," said Bruce.

"You're not an attack dog," he said, "more of a sign that says, 'Beware, angry puppy with bad teeth inside' and you're such a cute puppy too."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," said Bruce, "I'm still not happy."

"Change of subject," said Tony, "what did Fury say?"

"Usual," said Bruce, "use our best judgement, if it's all good, probation, otherwise SHIELD will try and pick them up with minimal fuss."

"Well at least Fury can now see that I was right and he was wrong and that I could find them on my own and didn't need Tasha's help," said Tony, "though I like that he trusts our judgement on this, it makes me feel like a grown up. Not as dumb as he looks that Fury."

"Technically, you didn't find them, they landed on us by accident," said Bruce, "but, actually it's my judgement he wants, but, hey, I, trust your opinion on this."

"Stupid, one eyed, fussy bastard," said Tony, "what does he know anyway?"

"What time is he due?" asked Bruce, wanting to change the subject before Tony got too grouchy.

"Three thirty," said Tony, "I told Jarvis to direct him up as soon as the door bell goes."

"There's a door bell on Avengers tower?" said Bruce.

"A proverbial door bell," said Tony, "his name is Darren and he is one of the lobby guards."

"Sir," said the computer, breaking into the conversation, "you wished to know when it was three thirty precisely."

"Thank you, Jarvis," said Tony, confirming it by looking at his wrist watch, "not that I think that any second now we're going to have Darren calling us-"

Tony had stopped mid sentence, and Bruce turned his head to look in the direction he was staring, out of the windows, onto the platform. He saw Spider-man swing over the top, cutting his web rope somehow mid-swing, and he and Shadow dropped a few feet onto the platform, exchanging a look with one another, or at least that's what Bruce guessed they were doing since one was masked the other masked and hooded.

"I thought you said it was just going to be the older brother," said Bruce, his eyes still on the platform.

"It was supposed to be," said Tony, "maybe they changed their minds."

Bruce watched Shadow place a hand on his brothers back and nodded at him, and they both walked silently towards the door, Jarvis sliding it open for them. Tony beckoned them forward, but they stayed cautiously close to the doorway. Bruce could feel Shadow's eyes burning onto him, even though he couldn't see them.

"This will be a lot easier if you come in and sit down," said Tony.

"We're fine over here," said Shadow.

"I'm sorry," said Tony, "where are my manners? I'm Tony Stark," he rose from his seat, Bruce tried to pull him back, but Tony shuck his hand, "owner of Stark Industries, Iron Man, this is my colleague Doctor Bruce Banner, co-owner of Avengers tower here, physicist, genius, sugar junkie, occasional huge, green, rage monster."

Bruce knew what Tony was doing. It was impossible to not love him for it.

"What Tony is trying to impress upon you, somewhat clumsily," said Bruce, "is that you're safe here, I'm not about to Hulk out on you."

"We're fine over here," said Shadow, his arm protectively on his brothers shoulder.

Bruce had noticed the younger of the two was walking with a soft limp, probably from the injury acquired the previous night, his eyes scanned down the leg and noted a tear in the shin of the Spider-man outfit, seeing white beneath where there was clearly a bandage.

"Would either of you like a drink?" said Tony.

He walked casually across the room and around the bar, Bruce heard the sound of the fridge door opening and then closing and Tony brought four small water bottles to the coffee table between the armchairs, and opening one for himself.

"Come on guys, we're not going to bite," said Tony.

"He might," said Shadow, indicating his head at Bruce.

Bruce had come to expect from people, he took it in his stride as much as he could, he had a monster inside of him, he thought that Tony was the only person in the world who really understood him. However Tony was sometimes too understanding, as Bruce glanced at him, and he was scowling.

"What have you got against him?" said Tony, "What the fuck has he ever done to you?"

"Tony…" said Bruce.

"We used to live in Harlem," said Spider-man, speaking for the first time, Bruce noted how young he sounded, and swallowed a hard knot of guilt in his throat.

"I should go," said Bruce trying to stand.

"You should stay," said Tony, putting his hand on his shoulder and pushing him back into his seat. "That wasn't Bruce."

"All the same," said Shadow.

"All right then," said Tony, picking up the data pad, "let's get on with the questions shall we? They're pretty standard stuff, we'd just like to determine whether or not we think you pose a threat to the general public or not."

Bruce swallowed another hard knot as he noticed that comment drew a glare in his direction from Shadow.

"What are your names?" asked Tony.

Shadow pointed at himself, "Shadow," he pointed at his brother, "Spider-man."

"What are your real names?" asked Tony.

"None of your business," said Shadow.

"Are you brothers?" asked Tony.

"You already know the answer to that," said the older of the two.

"What's with the accents?" asked Tony.

That appeared to throw them for a second, the younger one piped up, "What do you mean?"

"Well, he's British," said Tony, pointing to Shadow, "and you're American," he pointed to Spider-man, "how does that work?"

"We have different mothers," said Spider-man.

"And your father?" asked Tony.

"He's dead," said Spider-man, "my mother too."

"And your mother?" said Tony, looking to Shadow now.

"She lives," said Shadow.

"So you moved here to look after your little brother?" asked Tony, still staring at Shadow. "Why wouldn't you bring him to you?"

"I've done my best to protect him," said Shadow, "my brother is famous for his moments of bull-headed stubbornness."

"You know what I think?" said Tony, "I think you guys have inherited something from your father, something that makes you both fast and agile. You, tall, dark and broody, were quite happy keeping your head down and just getting on with things, until Junior here, decided he wanted to join the spandex club, so he's going out there and putting himself in danger and he won't stop, and it's forcing you to have to go out there and chase after him to make sure he doesn't get his ass killed. Last night gave you a bit of a scare, didn't it? Muggers is more your thing right? Car thieves, maybe the occasional street thug, or convenience store robber? Last night was the first time either of you got really hurt, so right now you're both on super defensive mode and you can't see that we're just trying to help you here. But I got news for you, guys, that was just the first time, you keep going out there, one of you is probably going to get killed, and it's probably going to be the little bug there, because you're the stronger one aren't you? You're older, you're stronger, and you had to give something major up to stay here and look after him, and it's eating you alive and making you resentful. How'm I doing? You can stop me any time."

"What are you?" asked Spider-man, "Sherlock Holmes?"

"Never been much of a boxer," said Tony. "Look, fuck SHIELD," he tossed the data pad onto the arm chair, "Fuck SHIELD and fuck the standard interview questions. I think you two clowns are just guys who wanted to help people and now you're in way over your heads because now you've got bigger guys, meaner guys than us wanting to know what you're all about so I'm going to cut you a break."

"You're going to leave us alone?" asked Spider-man.

"I'm going to put you on probation," said Tony, "three months. We keep a close eye on you for three months, you don't cause any major trouble, we'll pass it onto the bigger guys that you're not going to cause any problems."

"So, what, you're going to follow us about everywhere for three months?" asked Spider-man.

"No, we have lives," said Tony, "I got room, you two move your base of operations here, work and live out of the tower."

"No," they both said in unison.

"He can't," said Shadow.

"Why?" asked Tony with a smirk, "does he have to get up early for school?"

The two remained silent.

Tony's smirk dropped.

"He's still in school isn't he?" said Tony, incredulously, pointing to Spider-man, but looking at Shadow, "just how old is your kid brother?"

"Hey, I'm not a kid," said Spider-man.

"Shut up," said Shadow.

"I'm guessing 15," said Tony.

"I'm 17!" said Spider-man.

Shadow brought a hand up to the forehead which was masked by his hood, "Moron," he said.

"Am I going to have to get social services involved here?" said Tony.

"I can look after myself," said Spider-man.

"I can't have a 17 year old kid hanging around my tower, going to school during the day and trying to be a masked vigilante at night," said Tony, "I'll get done!"

"Then do not force us to stay here," said Shadow, "we're perfectly fine where we are, keep observing us, as no doubt you have been, from a distance."

"If I do that," said Tony, "all that will happen is that SHIELD will think I haven't done my job and they'll send one of their agents to come track you down and take you to their headquarters."

"Look, you won't be under lock and key," said Bruce, "the tower will be open, but we need to know you're not using your downtime to try and take over the world."

Tony turned his head to face Bruce, "Yeah, but the kid presents a problem, I might have to get Fury to bring these guys in anyway, there could be all sorts of legal issues here."

"There is no need for that," said Shadow, "I will stay here. He has to go to school, I will make sure he has alterative accommodation."

"What? No!" said Spider-man, looking to his older brother.

Bruce's heart broke a little for him with the tone in his voice, he was glad he couldn't see his expression.

"It will be fine," said Shadow, "you can stay with your aunt. She will take care of you."

"No!" said Spider-man, "No, I don't want you to have to stay here. I want you to stay with me, Puck."

He must have realised what he had said straight away, because he immediately dropped his head, and the grimace on his older brothers face looked furious.

"So, Puck is it?" said Tony.

Bruce groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, the boy had slipped up, and Tony wasn't about to let that bit of information go under the radar.

"You wanted this!" said Shadow, ignoring Tony completely for his brother, "You wanted to play at being a super hero, so this is what we're going to have to do. You go stay with your aunt, I will stay here, it's done now, end of discussion, red card."

"But…"

"Red card situation, end of conversation," said Shadow.

The little one clenched his fists, fuming, then he launched himself at his brother, wrapping his arms tightly around him, and then Shadow slowly put his arms around his brother, hugging him.

Tony and Bruce exchanged a look, tensions between the brothers were high, but it was obvious they loved each other. Tony cleared his throat, the hug ended.

"So what's the plan here, Wayne and Garth?" asked Tony.

Shadow held a hand on his brothers shoulder, "I will return here tomorrow night for this, probation, I will need a day to make arrangements for him and to gather his things."

"That sounds reasonable to me," said Tony, "Bruce?"

"Yeah, that sounds fine," said Bruce, standing cautiously, "but… could I…?" he paused where he stood as they both flinched and Shadow put himself between his brother and Bruce, "please," he continued, "I'm a doctor, let me take a look at his leg."

"It's fine," said Shadow, "it's healing."

"It might be broken," said Bruce, "let me…"

"It's not broken," said Shadow, "it's healing."

"You can't know that," said Bruce, "please, let me just make sure it's ok, that there's no infection, let me dress it properly, please."

"Just… let him look, bro," said Spider-man, putting his hand on his brothers shoulder, "you can be right there to make sure he doesn't hurt me."

"Come down to the medical floor when you're ready," said Bruce, "I'll be waiting."

He turned his back on the brothers and then pressed the elevator button, he stepped inside and hit the button for the medical floor without looking back until he heard the doors close.

If the brothers had been living in Harlem at the time that the Other Guy broke it, then Bruce really couldn't blame either of them for being as twitchy as they were around him, but he hoped, perhaps, taking a look at the younger brothers leg and doing his best to fix it might go a little way towards showing them that Bruce himself was not a bad person.

He stepped off the elevator when it reached medical floor and went over to the closest bay bed, opening up the curtains, he put on a set of gloves and started prepping a tray, filling it with bandages, gauze, dressings, sterile wipes, everything he thought he might need. He only had to wait fifteen minutes when the elevator pinged

The brothers stepped off the elevator, not they had to move more than a few steps, but Bruce could see how badly the boy, and he really was just a boy, was limping, his brother keeping his hand on his back in order to support him.

"If you could hop up on here," said Bruce, indicating to the bed, "I'll take a look at your leg."

The boy limped over, his brother making careful steps behind him, until they reached the bed, Bruce took a step back and the boy hopped up and propped up his leg. Without being asked, his brother pulled off the boot which blended into his costume so well, Bruce hadn't even realised it wasn't all one piece. He set it to one side and moved a strap which was around the bottom of the boys foot, keeping the leg part in place to stop it from riding it up, then very carefully, rolled the leg up to the knee and moved to his opposite side of the bed, away from Bruce.

Bruce stepped forward, the wrappings around the boys calf weren't badly done, but he knew he could improve them. He took a pair of scissors from his tray and carefully cut them off, pulling them away and very gently lifting off a sterile dressing. He frowned deeply and looked up at Shadow.

"This is not fine," he said.

"It will heal," said Shadow.

Bruce took a probe from the tray and very carefully inspected the wound, shaking his head, he put his hand on the back of the calf and squeezed, "Does this hurt?" he asked.

"No," said Spider-man, shaking his head, "the front hurts, but the bone's ok, really."

"Wiggle your toes for me?" said Bruce.

The boy complied.

Bruce opened a drawer and pulled out a syringe and a bottle of a mild local aesthetic, he removed the syringe from its sterile packaging and began to fill it, "I'm going to give you a shot so I can stitch this," said Bruce, "I'm no plastic surgeon, though, so I'm afraid it's going to scar."

"That's ok," said Spider-man, "chicks dig scars."

Bruce laughed at that, then tapped the side of the syringe and them carefully injected the boys leg, hearing him suck in a breath. Bruce looked back at Shadow, giving him another frown, "You should have taken him to a hospital," he said, "normally you only see this kind of damage from compound fractures."

"Please just help him so that we may leave," said Shadow.

"Of course I'm going to help him," said Bruce, "but if you're supposed to be looking after him, then you're supposed to take him to a doctor when he's hurt. If this got infected it could have been really serious."

Bruce threaded a needled and stitched up the wound, he placed a new sterile dressing on top and wrapped a new bandage properly around it. He moved his tray to one side to begin clearing away and Shadow pulled the leg back down on his brothers outfit and helped him put his boot back on.

"I would say you should stay off that for a few days," said Bruce, "but I think it would be a plea falling on deaf ears."

"Sure would, Doc," said Spider-man, shuffling off the bed, testing his foot on the ground, "thanks, you did a great job."

"If anything like this happens again," said Bruce, "to either of you, then come to me if you can't go to a hospital, I'll do my best to fix it up."

"We'll be fine," said Spider-man, "but thanks for the offer, Doc." He limped over to a window and opened it, pointing his arm towards it and looking at Shadow, "After you?"

"No, I insist," said Shadow, "after you, please."

The boy jumped up and leapt out of the window, and Shadow took a run and jumped out after him. Bruce could not stop himself from running to the window and looking out, seeing Shadow clinging onto his brothers back as they swung from building to building, moving across the city.

"There was a perfectly good door," said Bruce.