Vital Communication Chapter 26
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The work to modernize the mansion continued, with the only pauses when Pepper called Tony to deal with some kind of SI work. On one such occasion, he'd had to leave Bruce in the middle of pulling wire in the bedrooms they'd set aside for the team. Bruce continued the job, recruiting You as an assistant, rather than equipment stand, and utilizing the tiny, wall crawling bot Tony had created specifically for this kind of work.
Tony left the room, trying to convince Pepper he wasn't needed for a board meeting.
"Pepper, why do they want me there?" Tony whined, as he turned into the hall. Bruce tuned out the half conversation and went over to grab the next spool of wire to splice in place.
"Yes, You, we're going to finish this room," Bruce told the bot that hovered nearby, and chirped an interrogative. Bruce was coming to understand some of the noises the bots made, usually inferring from the situation when he spoke with them. He hung the spool on one of You's stationary, stubby arms and indicated the section of wall with a hole knocked into the drywall.
Twenty minutes later, Tony returned to that last bedroom, and found Bruce, You, and the little spider bot finishing up the last connections to the house intranet.
"Well, busy beavers while I was away," Tony said, pleased. He was happy that Bruce was making connections with the boys. It was important to him, for some reason he avoided looking at too closely. Though in the quiet moments, that introspection came out and flagged his interactions for intense study.
"We're done with this room. Remind me what we have left?" Bruce replied, wrapping loose wires into caps for safety. As he finished, each wire is tucked back into the wall, where the spider bot takes them and clamps them down to nearby 2 by 4s using a miniature staple gun.
"Hm," Tony said, pulling out his phone, where an app he'd created tracked their progress. "Looks like these rooms are finished. We just need to patch holes and paint. Or call someone in to do that, along with the bathroom refittings and the work on your room." The last was more of a question than statement, making Bruce look intently at Tony, who fidgeted. He had that tendency when he didn't want to address a problem. It was subtle, and mostly visible if he was standing still. Hell, they both twitched and fidgeted a lot.
"What's wrong?" he asked, squatting to put the tools away in the box at his feet. He dropped his gaze, having the distinct feeling that something important had happened.
"Yeah, um. I have to go back to the city. Pepper said I forgot about this one meeting that 'absolutely cannot be rescheduled'. I'm sorry," Tony made the air quotes as he spoke, face closed down. Tony wouldn't look Bruce in the eyes.
'He's lying, why', Bruce wondered to himself. Hulk was oddly quiet, had been for days while they worked companionably. Bruce wasn't sure what that was about, but couldn't take the time to ask.
"Huh. Well, we can go back?" Bruce offered, not really wanting to return to the city just yet. The nightmares had settled a little, gone back to his 'normal ones' of his father and the glow of gamma.
"No, no," Tony shook his head, "Won't work. Someone needs to be here for the work crews." He sighed. Tony had wanted to be there for that, but this was more than a board meeting. Tony continued to fidget, rubbing his hands together, and shifting from side to side.
"Tony," Bruce quietly centers himself to look at him, "This isn't some meeting with the board is it?"
"Well," he began, fingers twitching with nerves, "You're right, it's not." He sighed, one hand going up to rub his scalp. "There's an inquest on the incident." He didn't need to specify which incident. "SHIELD is turning the matter over to civilian authorities, and we've been asked to give depositions," he continued quietly. Bruce deserved the truth, though he had wanted to protect him by attempting to not mention that incident. Or anything associated with it.
"And I'm not required?" Bruce asked, unable to keep the hopeful note out of his voice.
"Pepper managed to get the investigators to hold off for the moment, but it'll be another week, I'm sure," Tony replied, a half smile crossing his lips, but fading quickly.
"Well, best we can hope for. I had better write it down at least. Maybe that will keep them off my back for awhile longer," Bruce said with a sigh. He finished putting the tools away and stood back up. "Alright, I'll stay and keep an eye on the place. When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll be done same day and be back tomorrow night, but who really knows? Could be like a Congressional hearing and go on for days," Tony shrugged, heading out of the room. Bruce slowly followed, considering his next move.
"How about dinner in a little while? I'll write up what I remember, and get started after," Bruce offered, trailing behind Tony, who was heading downstairs.
"Sounds good. Going to make sure JARVIS can use the wiring properly," Tony agreed quickly, latching onto the tiny bit of normal like a dog on a bone.
They split up at the bottom of the stairs, Tony for the lab and Bruce for the kitchen.
Bruce sat at the little prep island and stared at the screen of his tablet. He didn't particularly want to remember the events of his kidnapping and torture, but realized he truly didn't have much choice. Certain aspects had taken on a particular, distant and fuzzy feeling to them, as he attempted to dissociate from the memories. He picked up the rarely used stylus and began writing, attempting to keep his emotions at bay while detailing the events of a few weeks ago.
Thirty minutes later, he felt stretched thin. He tapped an icon in the corner of the tablet, alerting JARVIS.
"Please tell Tony that dinner will be late, if I manage to come back. But I need to get outside, before the kitchen needs remodeling," Bruce spoke to the AI, knowing his message would be passed on. He left the kitchen, and padded to the nearest door leading outside. Once there, he toed off his shoes and stripped off his shirt. Folding it, he dropped it on the loafers and then proceeded out the door, clad only in sweatpants.
He shivered a little with the change of air from climate controlled to summer heat, but quickly adjusted. The pea gravel that constituted a transition shifted beneath his bare feet as he moved away from the brick edifice. A small part of his consciousness remarked on the idea of a patio there before he gave his thoughts over to the Hulk. The transformation rippled through him, enlarging his lean body and altering his skin tone. The sweats ripped along the seams, barely leaving anything to modesty.
Hulk gave a mighty roar, happy to be free once more. He stretched, as though releasing knots in his back, and popping joints. Snorting, he cataloged the odors of this new place, marking it as 'safe' for the time being. He quickly detected the scent they associated with Tony-Tin Man, and turned on the spot to see Tony appear in the recently used doorway, sans metal shell.
"Well, hello Big Guy, long time no see. What brings you out?" Tony was careful, unsure about the situation, and what would have summoned the Hulk.
"Banner. Bad thoughts," the great behemoth growled. His face scrunched up in a frown. Those thoughts echoed, and he really didn't like them.
"Oh, I understand. He was writing something for me. What are you going to do?" Tony asked, watching him.
Hulk huffed, and looked around at the manicured landscape of the backyard. "Explore," he growled, and stumped off, heading for the tree line.
Tony called out, "Hey, wait a sec!" Hulk stopped and looked over one broad, green shoulder, confused at having been stopped.
"Um," Tony shifted nervously, "I haven't had a chance to talk to Bruce about this, but I made something for you. Can you wait just a minute while I get it?"
"Will wait, not long," Hulk grumped, turning back to view the woods at the far end of the manicured lawn.
Tony spun on his heel, and rushed back inside to get to the lab where he'd stashed the GPS locator he managed to create for his teammate. The device resembled a garage door opener on a stretchy strap for Hulk's wrist. It was mixed in a box of miscellaneous hardware he'd packed from the Tower, thinking he'd need it. Digging it out, he called to JARVIS.
"J, turn on the Hulk GPS unit. Seems our boy wants to go walkies."
"At once sir. My optical sensors are inadequate for the kitchen. Is everything all right?"
"Right as rain. I'll be back," Device in hand, Tony shot back up the stairs and across the backyard. "Here Big Guy!" he called to the behemoth impatiently waiting on him.
Hulk turned around to see squishy-Tony running towards him, some kind of strange, tiny box dangling by its straps from his hand. He grunted, surprised. No one ever ran towards Hulk.
'Heh, Tony's special' came the sound of Banner in his head. Banner was right. No one else in Hulk's experience treated them like Tony did. He liked it, liked Tony.
Tony slid to a stop in the grass, not two feet from Hulk. "Here, this gizmo will act as a beacon so I can find you if the team needs you before you come back, or Bruce comes back," he rambled, holding up the black, plastic box and straps.
"How Hulk carry box?" Hulk asked, confused. He never wore anything, but the shredded remains of whatever clothing Banner had worn prior to the transformation. Carrying objects around meant he'd have a lesser chance of adequately protecting themselves.
"These," Tony grabs the straps. "It's Velcro. I know Bruce knows what that is, but it holds without tying or buttons. Just have to wrap it around a wrist or ankle. Did I make this waterproof? Damn, can't remember."
"Tony talks too much. Banner laughing," and he was. Hulk could hear the all too rare sound of Bruce's deep belly laughs as they listened to Tony go on about the odd little device. "Banner say wrist," Hulk said, breaking Tony's patter and holding out his right arm.
"Okay, no problem." Tony wrapped the straps around the thickly muscled wrist, smoothing the Velcro into place. "The red light should stay lit as long as the locator has power. Which, it shouldn't ever run out. Anyway," Tony patted the locator. "This will make it easy for me to find you. The signal is encrypted, which means only JARVIS can track it, not even SHIELD."
"Safe?"
"Yes, as safe as I can make it, which is very safe. Now, feel free to explore the woods. I'll be back in a couple of days." He spoke to Hulk, knowing that he shared intelligence with Bruce, but wasn't as capable of articulating as Bruce was. Telling him it would be days before they saw each other again, allowed for the hope that Bruce would come back before Tony left. He'd sleep better that night if the scruffy doctor was back home.
Hulk nodded and touched the locator gently before he turned and leapt away from Tony and the mansion.
Tony watched him disappear into the horizon before going back into the house. "JARVIS, record a message for Bruce to play when he gets back, but only if I'm not here. Then order Chinese from town for dinner. He'll be in no condition to cook," he spoke quietly, tiredly to his AI. He slumped against the door he just came through. 'When would the hits stop coming?' he wondered. 'When will they get a chance to let their guard down?'
"As you wish, sir," JARVIS responded, just as quiet.