Vital Communication Chapter 23
Disclaimer – this verse, same as the first. I own nothing that is Avengers. Just the plot, and my original characters. PS – there shouldn't be any significant trigger warnings for this one. There's frank discussion of MPD/DID, so if that's a thing, I'll note it (where the discussion actually happens). I am basing my information off what's available on the internet. I am not a doctor, or therapist; nor do I have this illness. If you do, you have my eternal empathy.
Bruce met Tony the next morning, near the elevator, bag in hand. Tony was pacing before the doors.
"Okay JARVIS, I've go the upgrade packet, and the boys are loaded in the van. What else am I forgetting?" Tony spoke with the AI.
"Ms. Potts knows?" JARVIS quickly prompted.
"Yeah, called her last night. Groceries get ordered?" Tony follows a series of thoughts as they occur to him, still pacing.
"Yes sir. Delivery is expected at 1pm today," JARVIS informs him.
"Oh, morning Bruce. Ready to head out?" Tony whirled in his pacing pattern, and sees the physicist approaching quietly.
"Yep, just need to figure out breakfast," Bruce admitted. He'd not been up long, and barely had time to pack. His duffel was full though, and he'd discovered a nice, black leather messenger bag for a tablet, and a few reference books, that had mysteriously appeared on the note covered desk in his room the night before.
"We can grab something on the way. It's only about 2.5 hours away, so we have plenty of time," Tony happily informed him, a bright smile on his face.
"We're taking the bots?" Bruce queried, having heard that mention when he arrived.
"Yep. They'll be something of a help for the upgrades I'll need to do. Feel up to doing some physical tech work?" Tony explained. The offer was intriguing to Bruce, who was feeling a bit twitchy. He nodded acceptance of the plan, a half smile on his face.
"JARVIS, what did I do with the reels of CAT6 and fiber-optics? And the wall crawler I built to pull wire?" Tony asked the AI.
"Already packed, sir. Butterfingers took care of it this morning for you." JARVIS now sounded vaguely exasperated, that had Bruce holding back an embarrassing case of the giggles.
"All right. That's all I can think of. We ready?" Tony sighed.
"I'm ready," Bruce responded, with a smile.
"Whenever you are sir. The vehicle is ready, and the boys are onboard," JARVIS chimed in. The two scientists walked into the elevator and rode the car to the lower garage that hadn't seen a visit from Hulk. Bruce tensed as they passed the level they'd destroyed.
"Hey, chill. I told you it didn't matter. Those cars are easily replaced. I don't give a damn about them. How many cars can I drive anyway?" Tony was flippant, but serious, noticing the tension thrumming through his friend.
Bruce huffed through his nose, but refrained from comment. He only relaxed a little in the remaining interval.
They got to the garage and Tony led the way to the Transit* that held the 3 robots and several boxes. Tony pulled out and used the keyless fob to unlock the doors and start the engine. Bruce pulled open a side door and found a spot to stash his duffel, keeping the messenger bag with him. He then closed that door and opened the passenger door to climb in. The trio of robots in the cargo area trilled happily at seeing him.
"Hi guys. What an adventure, huh?" Bruce chuckled, turning to look at them. Dummy waves its pincher at Bruce, and You and Butterfingers just chirp a happy scale of notes. The reaction from the bots ratchets up a few notches when Tony gets in.
"All right boys! Daddy's finally ready to go. All strapped in?" Tony laughed. He looked at Bruce, clearly indicating the physicist was included in the question.
"Sure," Bruce returned, snapping the seat belt on. The bots make a series of noises Tony interprets as agreement. He's still the only one who can correctly understand their various noises, but Bruce expects that, given that he created them.
"Onward then," Tony said, putting the van in gear and heading out.
Once on the road, Tony eyed Bruce, who sat quietly, watching the city drift by his window.
"So, Big Guy..." Tony tentatively started. He wasn't sure Bruce would be receptive to the subject matter he had in mind.
"Yes Tony? Or shall I start calling you 'Little Guy'?" Bruce grinned, a much freer expression than had crossed his face in recent weeks.
Tony chuckled, "Whatever you want." But I'd like to hear other words he thought to himself, hoping he wasn't blushing.
"What did you want to ask, Tony?" Bruce prompted, looking at Tony before returning his gaze back to the passing landscape.
DID Discussion Begins
"Ever hear of a thing called DID?" Tony got straight to the point, mentally crossing his fingers this wasn't going to end up a huge land mine and blow up in his face.
"Dissociative Identity Disorder? Yeah, heard about it, used to be Multiple Personality Disorder," Bruce knows where Tony is suddenly probing. He doesn't know whether to let Tony ramble, or just come out with it.
'Tell,' Hulk prompts, just as Tony is opening his mouth to start rambling.
"Tony," Bruce stops him. Tony flickers his gaze to Bruce for a split second, before returning his attention to the road and traffic around him. He stayed silent, passing control of the conversation firmly over to Bruce.
Bruce sighed. "I've never told anyone this. No one," he said, quietly and not a little nervous. He pulled his glasses off, and rubbed his face before pocketing the glasses. He didn't need focus for this. Tilting his head to rest against the back of the seat, he went on, "After the Gamma incident, I didn't know what had brought the Other Guy to the forefront. Because of my history, the possibility of there being another personality here," he tapped his head with a finger before dropping that hand back in his lap, clenched tight with the other. "Was incredibly high. In MPD, you usually deal with someone who complains of black outs, lost time, and so on. I didn't have many of those symptoms before the incident, after, there were many until I figured it out. Then, it was when I was attempting control during meditation that we talked for the first time. He claimed his name, and we argued." Bruce closed his eyes on that memory. Hulk huffed in the back of his mind, not quite angry, but still upset at the memories brought up by the discussion.
When Bruce opened his eyes again, they were swirling brown and green. Tony couldn't directly see the alteration as Bruce refused to turn and look at him.
"And now?" Tony asked softly. He knew this wasn't an easy conversation, and that Bruce's childhood was rougher than his own.
"Now we have something of an agreement, Tin Man," Bruce/Hulk intoned. Hulk's presence always deepened Bruce's voice, made it rougher than normal. It was hard on his throat sometimes.
"Huh. Calling me Tin Man means Hulk's around. Should have caught that at Hudson. Hi Hulk, any requests for breakfast?" Tony put the data points together. It wasn't a hard leap of logic.
"Omelet, Tin Man. Bruce and Hulk, friends now," was the last thing Hulk said before retreating back to the mindspace. Bruce coughed a little, clearing his throat from it's abuse, and smiled a half smile that Tony could see. "Yeah, friends is a good analogy. And breakfast would be good, right about now," he agreed. His eyes slowly calmed back to their normal, sparkling brown.
"Sure, Green Bean. JARVIS, what's nearby?" Tony asked the ever present AI.
End DID Discussion
"There is a diner 0.2 miles on the left, sir," JARVIS replied quickly, having anticipated the question.
"Good, we'll stop there," Tony maneuvered the van through traffic and into the parking lot of the 50's style diner JARVIS had indicated. The two men got out and Tony looked at his robots. "Stay put boys, don't attract any attention. Especially you, Dummy! No Butterfingers, not right now. Oh here, take the keys you stupid things. J, make sure the van is safe. C'mon Bruce, I need coffee. This up with the sun is for shit," Tony had given Dummy and Butterfingers his key rings before clapping Bruce on the nearest shoulder. Bruce laughed, heart a little lighter.
Breakfast had them discussing one of Bruce's projects for clean water. They weren't avoiding or side stepping the 1 ton, green elephant, they just didn't want to talk about it with strangers around. Bruce had 2 overstuffed omelets that oozed with cheese and veggies, along with juice and coffee. Tony had pancakes and scrambled and all the coffee he could stand. The waitress had to make 2 extra pots.
Ninety minutes later, they were back on the road, after a minor surprise for Bruce.
"You don't need the keys or fob for this vehicle, do you?" he asked, as they approached the van. The door locks popped as soon as Tony was within 5 feet, and the engine turned over at 2 feet. Tony just grinned, baring his teeth, and opened the driver's door to slide into the seat.
"Why am I surprised, this is you," Bruce chuckled as he also got back into the van.
"And I'm awesome, admit it!" Tony crowed, putting the van in gear, and heading back out on the road. Bruce laughed, for once, an open, free sound. It made Tony's heart soar.
For the rest of the trip, they discussed the latest innovations in science, picking apart a dozen theories, lambasting the outlandish ideas, and bemoaning discoveries they wished were theirs. Neither really wanted to get into the whys of DID, especially in Bruce's case. Soon, they pulled up at a tall, wrought iron gate emblazoned with a pair of stylized, gilt, Old English 'S's on the leaves. Tony uncovered a biolock scanner and pressed his left hand to the red lit panel for it to scan. When the panel went green, the gate clanked open on rusty hinges.
"Have to add gate care to the list," Tony mused, driving through as soon as there was room.
They unloaded the van, and let the bots loose to open the house. Tony went for the basement where he'd put the node for JARVIS to start the upgrades. Bruce found the lab, and began to trundle in the various boxes Tony had put in the van.
Two hours later, Tony finds Bruce sitting in drawing room, looking out over the backyard.
"Well?" Tony queried from the doorway. He leaned against the doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest, just below the arc in his chest.
"It's huge, this place. And the memories," Bruce shook his head before continuing, "But we'll make it into a better place. When do you want to start, and where?" Bruce had been focused on the overgrown yard, but turned to Tony to ask his question.
"Right after lunch. Pizza's been ordered, but we can see what rooms are available now, if you want?" Tony responded, not really reacting to the comment about memories. He offered the physicist his hand to stand, and led him out of the drawing room. He had an idea of where he wanted Bruce to stay, but knew it would be a hard sell. It was, in his mind, the perfect room for both aspects of the man beside him, but convincing Bruce, or for that matter, Hulk, would take some delicacy instead of Tony's usual 'bull in the china shop' methods.
"C'mon, I've got this idea," he started, tugging on Bruce's hand. It's a warm and calloused hand, Bruce's. Calloused from long years of hard, manual labor when he'd been trying to hide from the Army. Tony wonders what it would feel like to have that hand lightly caressing his body, and has to hold back a sudden surge of desire for the man ambling beside him. It's not time yet. This will be a long stalk before the capture, he's sure of it.
"All right, Tony! What's going through your mind now?" Bruce let himself be guided out of the drawing room, and out to the stairs to go up to the top most floor. He's keenly aware of the point of contact their entwined hands make. Tony hadn't let go since Bruce had stood, and the warmth was crawling up Bruce's arm and into his chest to lodge somewhere in the vicinity of his heart.
AN: * - the vehicle is a Ford Transit Connect, in black. No windows on the back side.