Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Marvel Studios, Disney, Warner Bros. Entertainment, and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: I'm a little worried about this chapter because it is very dialogue-heavy, but I am satisfied with how it turned out so there's that! The chapter title comes from Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O'Connor.

Also, a slight CW for discussions of previous rape/SA. It's nothing too bad, I don't think, so I'm not sectioning it off like I would otherwise, but just so you know.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Until the next chapter (the last chapter for this particular story, bittersweet feelings there ;-;),

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~the black and gold 'verse~

~black and gold~

~chapter 17: nothing compares 2 u~

"It has been two weeks since the attack of drones built by Hammer Industries in Los Angeles, which killed twenty-seven people and injured over two hundred more. As a reminder to our viewers at home, this attack was stopped by Iron Man and his companion, who was called War Machine by Iron Man, after they confronted Justin Hammer when he was arrested as a co-conspirator and accomplice in the attack. Hammer Industries' company records show that Hammer hired Ivan Vanko after breaking him out of prison for his fight with Iron Man on June 28th at a car-racing event in San Diego. Vanko was responsible for designing the drones in Los Angeles, and was killed during the attack.

"Tony Stark, the CEO of Stark Industries, was also called to Washington DC today for a Senate hearing to answer questions about the Los Angeles attack and the damage sustained during it, Iron Man and War Machine, their connections to him, and the new arc reactor technology which, in several senators' opinions, 'is going to change the world as we know it irrevocably.' But, for more on this, we will go to our leading Washington DC correspondent, Ed Henry. Ed, what can you tell us?"

"Hi, Wolf. Dr. Stark's testimony before the Senate today was nothing short of show-stopping. Dr. Stark testified that, while he does know the identities of Iron Man and War Machine, as they are apparently his employees, this information is classified from even congressional members and he is not at liberty to discuss it. This was news to most of the Senate members who were running this hearing, but it was quickly confirmed by other government officials who were brought in to verify Dr. Stark's statements, although the press were all thrown out of the room for that part of the hearing."

"Did the senators say afterwards which government agency has classified this information?"

"No, they did not. The senators, particularly Senator John Stern from Pennsylvania, wanted to get on with Dr. Stark's testimony, since they had only summoned Stark for today. We were able to get recordings of his testimony following this, some of which we will play for you now, including some testimony by his best friend, Colonel James Rhodes..."

. . .

"...Dr Stark, could we pick up now where we left off? Dr. Stark, please."

"Yes, sir?"

"Can I have your attention?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you or do you not possess two specialized weapons?"

"I do not. Well, it depends on how you define the word 'weapon.'"

"The Iron Man and War Machine weapons?"

"My devices do not fit those descriptions."

"Well...how would you define them?"

"I would define them by defining them as what they are, Senator."

"As?"

"They are high-tech prostheses. That is...that is...that is actually the most apt description I can make of them."

"They are weapons. They are weapons, Dr. Stark."

"Please, if your priority was actually the well-being of the American citizen – "

"My priority is to get the Iron Man and War Machine weapons turned over to the people of the United States of America."

"Well, you can forget all about that. The suits are mine. I made them, and as you have already been told, the identities of the people who are wearing them are none of your business – but even if they were, those people agree with me and the suits are designed to be controlled only by me or them. They are not up for grabs. You can't have them."

"Look, I'm no expert..."

"No, you're not. I am, and that's why you called me here today, isn't it? Or did you have some sort of other purpose intended?"

. . .

"I have before me a complete report on the Iron Man weapon, compiled by Colonel Rhodes. And Colonel, for the record, can you please read page 57, paragraph 4?"

"You're requesting that I read specific selections from my report, Senator?"

"Yes, sir."

"It was my understanding that I was going to be testifying in a much more comprehensive and detailed manner."

"I understand. A lot of things have changed today. So, if you could just read that..."

"You understand that reading a single paragraph out of context does not reflect the summary of my final – "

"Just read it, Colonel. I do. Thank you."

"Very well. 'As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests.' I did, however, go on to summarize that the benefits of Iron Man, and now War Machine, far outweigh these liabilities and that it would be in our interest – "

"That's enough, Colonel – "

" – To fold Iron Man, whoever he is – "

"Colonel Rhodes – "

" – Into the existing chain of command, Senator."

"Iron Man isn't a joiner, like me, but I'm sure he'll consider the role of Secretary of Defense, Senator Stern, if you ask nicely...we can amend the hours a bit, since he is my employee."

. . .

"The point is, you're welcome, I guess."

"For what, Dr. Stark?"

"Because I've made your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. America is going to be secure. You want my property? You can't have it! But I did you a big favor: I've successfully privatized world peace. What more do you want? For now, I tried to play ball with these ass-clowns, and as you can see – "

"[Beep] you, Dr. Stark. [Beep] you, buddy. That's it. We're adjourned. We're adjourned for today."

. . .

"One more thing that I would like to add on to this before we talk about it, Wolf: as you can see in the last clip when he stands up, it does appear that Dr. Stark is pregnant for the sixth time. This was not addressed during the Senate hearing itself, but Pepper Potts, Dr. Stark's private assistant, did put out a statement confirming as much almost immediately afterwards. I'm sure that this puts a dent in the popular theory – a theory that even Ivan Vanko, as we know, believed – that Dr. Stark himself is Iron Man."

"It does appear so, Ed, doesn't it? But we'll get into more on that topic later. For now – "

. . .

"And what do you think about Dr. Stark's pregnancy and the theory that he is Iron Man, Jen?"

"Well, either he is Iron Man or he isn't. At this point, I'm more concerned about the timing of his pregnancy. We all saw today how big his stomach was. It looked like he was a little more than twenty weeks pregnant. Now, granted, this would be Dr. Stark's sixth pregnancy and seventh biological child, but if he really is around twenty weeks pregnant, then that would mean – "

Tony groaned softly as he heard the door to his and Bruce's bedroom back at the Glass House being opened. They'd come back here from the Beach House last week, saying goodbye to Natasha, Malibu, and all of the craziness of the past summer. His testifying before the Senate yesterday – or was it the day before yesterday now? Probably the latter – and the ensuing backlash notwithstanding, he was glad to be back home.

...Of course, there was just one thing – or rather, person, missing.

"...Dick?" he guessed by the sound of the footsteps, as they were much heavier-set than any of the younger kids'. He blearily cracked his eyes open, but that didn't help much, because he wasn't facing the door and he didn't have his glasses on anyways. He started to roll over. "What is – ?"

The owner of the footsteps chuckled. "I'm not our son, Omega."

Tony's eyes flung open. He sat up in bed, grabbing his glasses off of the nightstand and turning on the lamp. "Bruce," he breathed.

His alpha was standing just in front of the door, which he had now closed. He didn't look as bad as he had when he'd come to the military base in Afghanistan after Tony had been rescued – if anything, he looked...good. He was clean-shaven, his hair was about the same as it usually was, and he was dressed in the black sport-wear that he usually wore under the Batman suit.

He did look tired, though. His eyes weren't bloodshot this time, but there were dark circles underneath them.

Bruce smiled. "Hi, Tony."

The omega got to his feet, which wasn't as easy to do as it had been two weeks ago. For some reason, he'd absolutely ballooned in the past two weeks compared to how much he had been showing before, which had contributed to the aforementioned backlash. He had no idea why he had now, of all possible times.

But, that didn't matter. All that mattered was him being able to wrap his arms around Bruce's neck and pull him into a kiss before he could tell him something like "be careful," which his husband was more than willing to reciprocate. It felt great, being able to kiss him again.

It felt like he'd actually come home for the first time since coming back from Afghanistan, now that he didn't have to worry about anybody selling his weapons or trying to get their misplaced revenge.

Bruce was the one to pull away from the kiss. "How are you?" he asked, before his eyes drifted downwards. "And how's the baby?"

"We're both fine. No traces of palladium left," Tony reassured him. He'd already told him about replacing the palladium core with the adamantium one over the phone. But, there was one thing among others that he hadn't told him then when he'd called back at Harley's birthday party, or on Peter's birthday (and not said that he thought he would be coming home in less than a week, but things could change quickly like that, Tony knew now more than ever); he hadn't wanted the kids to overhear before he would've been able to tell Bruce properly. Face-to-face. "She's a girl."

If there was any concern that he could've had – because he had none – about Bruce's view of their youngest because he wasn't the biological sire and the overall circumstances of her conception, it would've flown out the window right then by the way that the alpha's eyes lit up. "A girl?" he repeated.

"Yep," Tony said. He bit his lip. "I'm sorry that I didn't wait. It was just – Dr. Thompkins said that she did the blood test and I didn't think you would mind if I found out without you there, but – "

"I don't. We'll be a bit more even now: five boys and four girls," Bruce spoke, cutting over him and proving his earlier thoughts correct. He crouched down so that he was level with Tony's stomach and cradled it with his hands, before kissing it through the fabric of his shirt. "I'd have wanted you to found out as soon as you could, in case..." He trailed off.

Tony frowned. The continued dancing around the subject about why he had left was not lost on him. "Bruce?"

His husband got back into a standing position. "Can you wait for me to tell you just a bit longer?" he murmured. "I know that I promised I would tell you by the end of the summer, and we are basically there." That was true, as Jason, Lili, Harley, and Peter would be starting school on Monday. "But can you wait until morning?"

Tony glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "It's already two o'clock in the morning," he pointed out.

Bruce chuckled again. "Later in the morning, then."

Tony weighed his choices. He was tired, having just been woken up. "Fine," he decided. He pulled his alpha down for another quick kiss. "I am glad that you're back home, Alpha."

"I am too," Bruce said. He nipped at Tony's ear exactly in the way that he knew he liked. The omega gasped softly. "You should go back to bed. You need the sleep."

"Only if you come with me."

His alpha was more than willing to oblige him. And perhaps this wasn't as romantic as the last time Bruce had come back after being gone for a comparable amount of time (February 2002, at least before Tony had seen that he'd come back with Rebecca). But in their defense of this time, he had come back during the middle of the night, and Tony indeed needed his sleep because of his pregnancy.

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep with Bruce playing the big spoon to his little and his arm slung over his belly. This was a way that they had slept many times before, and it was simply too comfortable, too relaxing.

When he woke up an indeterminable amount of time later, it was to a knock at the door, followed by the door opening. He was allowed only a brief second to enjoy the feeling of rays of sunlight dancing on his eyelids – he and Bruce must've slept in longer than they usually did, good thing that he was still on vacation – before Lili was screeching at the top of her lungs, "Dad! You're back!"

...Well, so much for that.

"Mmph," Bruce grunted as Lili ran over and jumped up onto the bed. He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, squishing her between him and Tony, all the while still being half-asleep. Lili laughed; the sound of footsteps from the hallway made it clear that her siblings weren't too far behind her. "'Morning, princess."

She snuggled up into his side. "'Morning, Daddy. Welcome back."

"Dad! Dad!"

They were swiftly bombarded by the rest of their children. Bruce's eyes grew a little at how big Dick had gotten over the past couple of months, but he took it in stride, not commenting on it at all – a wise choice all around. "When did you get back?" Dick asked him from where he was sitting in the armchair in the room, not wanting to deal with the back pain or some other sort that would come with laying on the bed in the wrong way. He was a that familiar (for Tony) stage in his pregnancy now.

"Around two o'clock last night," Bruce said.

"And you didn't wake us up?" Peter cried.

Dick and Jason shared a look. They both smirked.

Tony pretended that he hadn't seen it. Honestly, his first and most important priority right now was going to the bathroom. He absolutely had to go, especially with the way the baby was kicking right at his bladder. "Kids, how about you go downstairs and check on how Alfred and Rebecca are doing with breakfast?" he suggested lightly.

The kids weren't exactly enthused, but they did as they were told. It gave time for Bruce to change into some better-fitting clothes, since he hadn't changed out of the black sport-wear last night, for Tony to go to the bathroom, and for both of them to brush their teeth and make sure that they were presentable enough.

Alfred and Rebecca must've been up last night when Bruce had come back, because neither of them were surprised to see him. They had a delicious breakfast together which was nice, so nice, after Bruce had been away for so long. As they ate, the kids all told Bruce eagerly about what they had been up to over the summer: when they mentioned the final fight that he and Rhodey had had with Vanko, Bruce glanced at Tony purposefully, to which Tony gave him a sickeningly sweet (and very nervous) smile back. He knew that his husband already had to have known about that stuff.

Three or so hours later, to the point where it was after noon and thus not "morning" anymore, the kids hadn't had enough of their father being back by any stretch, but they were settled enough that Tony knew that he and Bruce could take a break for a little while...if not longer. To talk.

They went downstairs to the Batcave, because it was the easiest way to make sure that they were away from the eager ears of their children. Tony already knew that this wasn't a conversation that their children needed to be listening in on, even Dick; it didn't need to be said. Fortunately, Bruce had renovated part of it a long time ago for a sitting room with comfortable armchairs and everything like from the upstairs, which stood out in comparison to the rest of the decor of the cave. But it was cozy, and it would do the trick for the serious conversation they were going to have.

Tony sat down in one of the armchairs and Bruce pulled up another so that it was facing his. They sat close together, so close that Bruce was able to grab his hands in his. "So, tell me about what you've been up to," he requested casually, as if there was anything casual about this. "I saw some of it on the news, mainly the Los Angeles attack and your hearting at the Senate the day before yesterday."

Despite this being yet another diversion attempt by his husband, Tony humored him. "...Yeah," he replied, wincing. "I figured you did."

"I have to agree with Ed Henry," Bruce said with mild amusement: "you were quite the show-stopper."

"I was only doing what SHIELD told me to do," Tony deflected. "They said being dramatic would take the pressure off of the situation, divert everybody's focus."

"Then I would say it worked," Bruce mused. His expression was remaining fairly serious. "But I wish you hadn't listened to them as much as you did. They shouldn't have been asking you to fight Vanko with you being pregnant. You shouldn't have agreed with them."

"I know," Tony said miserably. There was no point in denying it: he'd fucked up royally this summer in terms of keeping way too many of his promises. "It wasn't like it was completely for nothing. They gave me the tools necessary to figure out this thing." He tapped at the glass of the arc reactor through his shirt. "And...they told me about something else."

Bruce tilted his head. "What?"

Tony decided to rip off the truth like a bandaid. He felt like it was the best method, because there was no use in hiding the truth. "Turns out, Howard wasn't just not my father, he wasn't my sire, either. I did the test myself. We're not biologically related. And he knew. Actually, more than that, he..." He shuddered as he remembered what he had read in the file on his biological father.

He'd known ever since presenting as an omega, if not before then, that Howard was a piece of shit, but he'd never fully realized how monstrous he was. Why SHIELD had kept him around after the stunt that had led to his conception was beyond him.

Tony told Bruce about what he had ready in the file – not only about how he had been conceived, but everything else, too. Bruce listened patiently, making circles with the pad of his thumb on the top of Tony's hand. When Tony was finished, he asked, "How do you feel about all of this?"

The omega laughed wetly, maybe almost hysterically. "I don't know, how am I supposed to feel?" he returned. "I'm...happy that Howard isn't my biological father. What he did was absolutely awful, but at least me and the kids aren't related to him because of that." He sniffled. "And I think it makes sense now why my mamma was the way she was. I mean, Howard insisted that she didn't know what he had done, but I think that she had to have her guesses since I didn't look like him. Ana said that she didn't really go off of the deep end despite her infertility – and Howard's infertility – " that was why Howard had used a sperm donor in the first place, because while he'd found out that Tony's mother could bear a child if she became pregnant, he'd been all but sterile. Funny how he'd never told her that " – until after I was born."

"That wasn't your fault," Bruce reminded him carefully. "You know that she loved you."

"I know," he whispered. "I just can't help but think..."

He shook his head. It was hopeless to dwell on the past. He couldn't change it.

They were both quiet for a while, mulling over everything he had found out and now revealed to the first person besides Rebecca, although he hadn't told her too much about what he had found out about his biological father. Considering everything, it would make things too complicated.

Finally, Bruce inquired, "Do you want to meet – ?"

"No," Tony said immediately. "At least, not – not yet."

His husband frowned. "You know, he could probably help explain your precognitive abilities. And if one of our kids – "

"I know," he rebuked sharply. He inhaled through his nose. "I'm not ready for that. This – it's been a lot to process. First I found out I'm a bastard and then – "

"You're not a bastard, Tony."

He scoffed. "That's what the legal definition is."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, I don't care what the legal definition is. You're still you, regardless of who your father is or what he's done. You're my husband, the love of my life, and the omither of our children. I don't care about anything else." He leaned forwards and kissed Tony, proving his point.

He always knew what Tony was thinking, whether or not he spoke on the insecurities that were bugging him the most.

Tony didn't want to talk about this anymore, however. He was the one to pull away this time, and when he did, he said, "We need to talk about how the kids have been reacting to me being Iron Man and Vanko. Harley was...excited at the prospect that I killed him." Bruce's expression darkened. "I had a talk with him and I think I've got it mostly under control, but I think we need to do something more for all of them. Give them a push in the right direction, see if talking it out more than I already have with them altogether and individually could help better."

"Sounds like a plan," Bruce said.

"And we still need to talk about what you said you would."

He didn't get an immediate response to this. Bruce appeared to be deciding on how he should begin.

"Before I get into it, I need you to remember what I just said about loving you," he started. "That as much as you've chosen me, I've chosen you, and nothing is ever going to change that."

A stab of fear went off in Tony's heart. That was not a good way to begin whatever this was. "Bruce, what – ?"

"Let me get it all out," he requested. He wasn't looking at him anymore. His eyes were casted downwards at their interlocked hands. "I've kept this for so long...I don't know how else to do it:

"Do you remember I've told you that I went to Nepal between my first and second years of college?" At Tony's numb nod, he went on, "I've...not been exactly truthful about what went on during that time. To anyone: you, Alfred, Rebecca, Silena, or Dinah. The person who taught me during the three months that I was there was a man named Ra's al Ghul. He is the leader of a group called the League of Assassins. He's been its leader ever since he first formed it over six hundred years ago."

You would think, after meeting Anahita and her revealing the truth of her existence to him, how she had lived for thousands of years and had even been regarded as a goddess, this wouldn't have been surprising to Tony. But it was. "How?"

Bruce was grim. "A Lazarus Pit, just like the one that Rebecca resurrected me with in Siberia. I'm not sure where his is; to be honest, I wasn't even aware that Ra's has been alive for so long until I was resurrected. He is more knowledgable than probably almost any other person on Earth, in the kind of way that only comes after years and years of training and experience.

"Anyways," he cleared his throat. "Ra's will tell you that the purpose of the League of Assassins is to ensure global balance by eliminating corruption and decadence. I am sure that is what he believes he is doing. But his means of doing this are found in the name: his group kills the people they believe are necessary to kill, and only at his order if they can. They are responsible for many famous deaths over the centuries, and I'm sure they'll be responsible for several more. Ra's is too smart to allow himself and his group to be destroyed.

"When I met Ra's, I didn't know this at first, but he was looking for an heir, someone to take over the League for him once they were trained by him. He's had numerous children over the years, but he never believed that any of them were good enough to take on the role."

"But he decided that you were?" Tony guessed. "Despite only knowing you for three months?"

"Even less than that, really," Bruce revealed. "I initially valued what he was teaching me, but I soon realized that what he was doing was wrong. I played my part for almost the entire summer – and how he never suspected me, I've never known. But he didn't, and before the summer was even over he was offering me the role of his protégé. It came with what he thought was a great boon: the hand of his one and only daughter, Talia al Ghul, in marriage."

Tony gaped at him. The only reason why he wasn't absolutely freaking out on the spot was because...well, Bruce had a point. They were married now. They had children together. It was obvious who he had chosen to be with in the end.

Bruce smiled bitterly at his reaction. "I know. But it's not quite what you are thinking: Talia was eight years old at the time. She hadn't even presented, but Ra's had done a blood test to see what her designation would be. I was horrified when I found out."

He was right: it wasn't like he'd been thinking, and he understood.

"Of course you would be!" Tony attempted to soothe. He couldn't even imagine how Bruce had felt then. Plenty of alphas, especially rich alphas, out there would be nothing short of pleased at getting an omega so young, and the thought made him shudder. That could've easily been his fate, too.

Yet Bruce had never been them.

"I got out of there as soon as I could," Bruce admitted. "I didn't even try to save Talia. She'd already been trained to kill by then. But I should've.

"And I won't lie to you, Tony: that was part of the reason why I arranged for our contract with Howard when I found out he was doing that to you. I didn't want you to suffer from what would happen if – when – the wrong kind of alpha brokered the deal with him..."

He was acting like he was expecting Tony to be offended by this piece of information, but he wasn't. Sure, perhaps it sounded bad at face value. "But you fell in love with me, like you said, and we just celebrated eleven years in May. We have our kids together," the omega replied. He shifted their hands around so that he was holding one of Bruce's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "So I think that is plenty of testimony, Alpha."

Bruce huffed amusedly. "Yes, it is. And you have to understand, when I left Nepal, I thought I had left them behind. I thought that they would never bother me again." He breathed in deeply.

Tony tried to parse his thoughts and where he was going next. "But then they did while I was in Afghanistan?" he offered up.

"Yes...and no," Bruce said slowly. "They did once before that. It was when you were still pregnant with Bea, shortly after the Joker."

. . .

. . .

...Oh.

Oh.

Tony felt his heart rate begin to pick up.

"It was during one of my patrols. Talia came to offer me to be her father's successor again. She said..." The alpha was the most disturbed that Tony had ever seen him. "She said that she wanted me to practice polygamy and for her to be my second spouse and a mother to our children. She made sure to emphasize the our, both ours and her potential ones with me, to try and entice me."

His thoughts racing, going faster than a mile per second, Tony was practically as frozen as a statue.

"I told her 'no.' I didn't – I don't care how good she thought her offer was, the one and only person that there will ever be for me is you. Before our contract, I was convinced that I was never going to get married, never going to have children because it wouldn't have been a good idea with what I was intending to do. You changed that for me. You changed everything for me.

"But she didn't like that answer, in spite of her saying that she also expected it." The left corner of his mouth moved self-depreciatingly. "She told me that 'the House of al Ghul always gets what it wants.' And while I didn't tell you or anyone else about this, I was worried for months – for years – what she would do the next time she appeared. But she never did. And I, unfortunately, let down my guard concerning her and Ra's. Which brings me to six months ago."

Tony didn't know what to say.

He had a feeling that, even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to get the words out. His mouth was practically cemented shut with his fear of what was going to come next.

Bruce closed his eyes. His shoulders raised as he became lost in recounting the memory. "I was in Oman. It was right around the time that Alfred and Rebecca called me and informed me that Dick was – is – pregnant. I'd been given information that someone with a possible lead to you could be found in a night club. I was so desperate, I should've realized it was a trap, but I didn't.

"The man that I was supposed to meet encouraged me to buy a drink. I watched the bartender make it. He shouldn't have been able to spike it. But the next thing that I knew..."

Tony's vision was blurry. Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God...

"Bruce, why didn't you tell me this?" he rasped. "Why didn't you tell me this on the plane ride back to Gotham, or any time since then?"

"I didn't know if it was real," the alpha told him. "It was all so...discombobulated in my mind. I remember Talia, I remember bits and pieces of what she did...but the next morning, when I woke up, I was back in my room at the hotel where I was staying. I wanted to believe that it was a nightmare, but the longer I tried convincing myself of that, I knew that I wasn't sure. That was why I had to leave. I had to find out for sure."

He had the sense that he had to ask to get the answer, for Bruce's sake. "A – and?"

"It took me a while to find her. She and Ra's weren't in Nepal anymore. I had to go to Iran; I found her there. And...she was pregnant, with my child, around the same time as you. She told me that this was what she and her father had decided. Since I was not going to be his successor, but they viewed me as such a 'peak specimen,'" he spat out the term like it was the worst thing he had ever said, "they decided that the best heir for Ra's would be my child. My son.

"I'm sorry, Tony." Bruce pulled his hands away, burying his face in them. "I'm sorry. I should have known better. I should have told you all of this before. But I didn't – there was so much going on after you were found, and after you did what you had to do to come home, I didn't want you to think that I cheated – "

Tony lurched forwards. He launched himself out of his chair and crouched down on the ground in front of Bruce. It was a little bit of hell on his muscles, yes, except he knew that it would be worth it. "Bruce, look at me. Look at me," he requested. He grabbed ahold of his wrists and pulled them away, allowing him to see his husband's face. He was staring back at him. "You didn't cheat on me. You agree that I didn't cheat on you by doing what I had to do, so that term is notapplicable here, either. You were raped. Talia raped you."

He'd never viciously, viciously instantly hated anybody else in his life as he did Talia now. A desire was within him to make her pay for what she had done. Not by killing her, no, that wasn't the justice that he and Bruce stood by rather than vengeance, and he wasn't going to hold what she had done against a child – Bruce's child – and punish them for it along with her. But there were other things that he wanted to do, even if he would have to wait until after she gave birth to do it.

To his husband's child.

"That's not how 'rape' is technically – "

"What did you just tell me about calling myself a 'bastard?'" Tony retorted. "I don't care if United States law says that it's only when you're penetrated. She drugged you! You couldn't consent to have sex with her, and I know that you wouldn't have anyways! As far as I'm concerned, that's rape. And yeah, I wish you would've told me about when she visited you that one time, I'm not exactly happy that you didn't, but this wasn't your fault, Bruce." He repeated that last sentence, softer, "Not your fault."

It was like that was the final crack in the dam. Everything came rushing out.

Bruce broke down into sobs. It was only the second time that Tony had ever seen him crying this hard, the first time being after Harvey had been killed and he'd failed to fully rescue Rachel from the vat of acid after they'd been kidnapped by the Joker.

Unlike then, he wasn't quite sure of what to do. He wasn't quite sure of what he would be allowed to do.

Now it all clicked in his brain why he and Bruce hadn't had sex before he'd gone off this past summer. Why he hadn't wanted to talk about it, whether he'd known for sure what Talia had done to him or not. He could only imagine the shamehe had felt, along with the guilt and the fear of Tony's reaction. It was a common response when someone was sexually assaulted, regardless of their designation.

He settled for pressing his lips to Bruce's knuckles and saying over and over again, in that soft voice that he usually reserved for the kids when they were really upset or sick, "It's not your fault...you have nothing to apologize for...I'm so sorry that she did that to you...I'm sorry that I wasn't there to help you..."

It took a long, long time for Bruce to calm down enough to speak. "If I don't have anything to apologize for this, then you don't either," he said roughly. "You were kidnapped. There wasn't anything that you could've done." A bitter laugh was torn from his lips. "We make quite the pair, don't we?"

Tony snickered himself, a lighter sound to spite the overall situation. "We always have."

Bruce surprisingly pulled him into his lap then, which earned a yelp. He must've sensed that crouching down like he had been was soon going to become too much for him. His alpha kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," he spoke softly. "I've never known what I did to deserve you."

He wasn't going to argue with him that it was really the other way around, not when he was so emotionally charged. "You never had to do anything, Alpha. You've always deserved me."

"That's probably true," Bruce said. "I simply wish this past summer had been more successful. I found Talia, but my plan, as bad as it sounds, was more than that. I wanted to make sure that my child with her wasn't going to be raised the same way that Talia was."

An incredulous noise slipped out of Tony's mouth. "What, were you going to kidnap her?"

He gasped as Bruce winced. "You were," he said. "Bruce, what the – ?"

That wasn't like his husband. He was almost always the one stopping the crime, not causing it.

Although, this was a situation that might've called for unusually exceptional circumstances, that was true.

Bruce spoke over him, "You have to understand, Tony, they're going to make them just like her. The child isn't going to have a chance. They're going to be taught how to kill in a multitude of ways before the age of five. They're going to be taught that killing is a good thing, as long as it is for what Ra's and Talia determine is the right causes. At least, if I ensured that she gave birth here, far away from her or his influence once I got her to go away..."

He hung his head, groaning. "You're right. It was wrong of me to think about doing that. Even if I had been successful, it wouldn't have been that easy afterwards. Ra's and Talia would have done everything to get the child back."

"You wanted to give them a fighting chance," Tony responded, threading his hands through Bruce's hair, including through his grey streak caused by the Lazarus Pit. "I don't think anybody can blame you for that, even if your methods would have been highly unethical and illegal. And I didn't say that you were wrong for thinking it, either."

"Mmph," was Bruce's only response.

Tony chewed on his bottom lip, pondering on everything. "So, what happens now? With your child, I mean?" He wasn'tgoing to say that they were Talia's child upfront. It was the truth, but that wasn't the terminology Bruce was using, and moreover she didn't deserve such respect.

Bruce exhaled. "Talia is going to raise the child. She made it clear that my one and only chance to get them was when I finally found her this past summer, and that I blew it. I could try to find them again, but I believe her. Ra's and Talia have safe-houses all over the world, under so many names and identities they're impossible to count. And I can't sacrifice the children I have here for who knows how long again. But I'm not giving up on them. If there was a chance to arise – "

"You'd take it," Tony finished. "Yeah, I know." He fidgeted, taking his fingers out of Bruce's hair and wringing his hands nervously. "What do you want to do about how you've been processing this? What can I do that I haven't been doing? You've kept this for so long – "

"You don't need to do anything," Bruce interjected, his chest rumbling. "What you always do is enough. I trust you, Tony. I...have been thinking about talking to a therapist – " it shouldn't need to be said that was a first for both of them. While Tony was still hesitant to trust doctors due to how the doctors had treated him after he'd first presented, Bruce wasn't much better than him in that regard when it came to opening up to a professional about his mental health " – but I'm not sure how I'll be able to talk to them without revealing my other identity, and I don't want to do that."

"Understandable," Tony hummed. "Whatever you want to do, I'm here for you."

"You always have been," Bruce returned, as did his smile. "Eleven years we've been married, and the press would say we're one of the most committed couples out there, and yet we're each going to have a child out of wedlock."

"Well, we've never done anything in halves," Tony quipped.

That had the two of them laughing all over again. Except this time, they didn't really stop. They laughed through their tears that came back as well, through their crying and all. They laughed until they couldn't anymore, until neither of them were sitting on the armchairs anymore but laying on the ground instead, side-by-side and with hands intertwined once more. Tony wasn't exactly sure of how they ended up like that, nor was it a comfortable position for him, but those two things were whatever. They didn't matter.

"Whatever happens, we're in this together," he spoke. "Now and forever."

"Always," Bruce echoed.

Word Count: 6,895

Next Chapter Title: sweet child o' mine