Finally, finally I'm back. Or at least I think I am. And I came bearing this small fic. The first I've been able to finish for a while now. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to update/post more regularly from now on. *cross fingers*This is just my second time writing these two, this time staying in the friendship path, so let me know what you think!

Title: That I Never Said We Are.

Summary: Bruce was frankly a graceless idiot when it came to talk about emotions and feelings. Tony royally sucked at the whole comfort crap.

Huh... Maybe it was a good thing they were together in this mess.

Warnings: None.

Disclaimer: I don't owe The Dark Knight trilogy, Iron Man or any of its characters. Sadly.

OoOoO

Tony parked, shutting off the engine of the Lamborghini. Bruce's Lamborghini.

The Lamborghini wasn't as flashy and sexy as his Audi, but he had to admit the car wasn't half bad. Besides, he looked damn good in it.

He kind of owed Jeeves big time for letting him borrow it. He knew for a fact Bruce wouldn't have let him drive it any time soon, but after some persuasion and maybe just a tiny bit of whining Jeeves had lent him the car for a little bit.

That was a big achievement, really. Because while it was true the whole Iron Man thing had earned him some points with the butler, that did not mean he liked Tony all that much. Or that he approved of the on-again off-again almost-but-not-quite friendship Bruce and he had somehow managed to keep over the years.

Tony couldn't blame him, really. He wasn't the kind of person you'd want your sort-of-son/charge to be near to. Bad influence and all that jazz.

He and Bruce had first met when they were kids, both of his parents still alive, and Tony had no clue why or how exactly they had put up with each other for as long as they had.

He wasn't even sure Bruce liked him. Or if he liked Bruce, for that matter. They had spent years without talking at all, and even more so without seeing each other and just as easily had slid back into their odd relationship every time they met again.

It was insane. It was... comfortable.

Tony rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, reaching for the bottle of scotch he had placed safety on the passenger side. There was something definitely wrong with this city, Tony just knew it. He never thought shit like that in Malibu, or anywhere else for that matter. There was something weird about this dark and shadowy hell hole.

Shoving the keys into his pocket after closing the door of his borrowed car, Tony looked around the desolate shipping yard owned by Wayne Enterprise.

This wasn't his first time visiting the place, of course. Tony invited himself and had gladly pestered his 'friend' until Bruce agreed to give him the very exclusive and very secret tour around the Bat's new lair.

The place was nothing like the cave under Wayne Manor-which he had visited too, obviously-. At all. They were perhaps total opposites one from the other, but what strike him the most was the lighting; this place was way too bright while the actual Batcave was dark and shadowy.

It was a very odd contrast.

And he was getting way out of topic here. There was a reason he was in Gotham right now, naturally. Even without a huge kick-ass party where he could make one of his famous striking apparitions at, or some boring business meeting Pepper had roped him into attending.

A call from Jeeves was the reason for his sudden appearance in Gotham.

It was the butler's silent disapproval and at times forced politeness toward him what was to blame for the mind-blowing effect the call had had on Tony, but once the initial shock had passed, he realized the call shouldn't have thrown him off like that.

Honestly, Bruce-the real Bruce Wayne-wasn't exactly what you would call a friendly guy. There was only a handful of people who truly knew Bruce and kind of understood him. And while Tony wasn't delusional enough to think he had unveiled the mystery that was Bruce Wayne's mind, or that he was a somewhat suitable person to turn to regarding any kind of personal or emotional crap, Tony had to admit he was Jeeves' least worst option.

Well, shit. They were all screwed.

The first option to deal with this should have been Jeeves himself. The butler had raised Bruce, after all. And it was exactly because of that that there was no one else who understood quite so well just how exactly Bruce's mind worked, and who could read under Bruce's masterfully crafted masks and half-truths. And Tony had no doubt the poor man had tried to do just that; struggling to get Bruce to stop sulking for at least five minutes.

Perhaps the butler was too close to the whole mess to be of much help.

Next on the list was Lucius Fox; a quite brilliant man, co-responsible for the success of Wayne Enterprise and the mastermind behind the Bat's cool toys- or, at least, the man who made possible Bruce's crazy ideas. But then again, as far as Tony knew, Bruce's relationship with Lucius was more of an employer-employee than a personal one. So yeah, he wasn't really an option.

Then, there was Rachel Dawes. Bruce's first and best friend since they were kids. And yeah, their relationship hadn't been all sunshine and roses after Bruce came back from the death and Batman came into the mix, but that wasn't the reason Jeeves hadn't called her. The reason was that she was part of the problem. Or more like she was the problem.

Bottle safely tucked under his arm, Tony walked ahead and stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary red cargo container. Of course, as with anything where the Bat was involved, nothing was what it seemed.

Tony opened it with the key Jeeves had given him, stepping in and closing it behind himself.

The whole mess was, according to what Jeeves told him that Rachel had gone to the penthouse to talk to Bruce a couple of days ago and told him she was 'thinking' about seeing her boss, and Gotham's new D.A. Harvey Dent in a romantic way. Even though, as far as Tony remembered, Bruce was under the impression she would be waiting for him, once Batman was out of the picture.

Which was total bullshit, if you asked him.

Whoever thought the Bat's job would be done in a couple of years and things would just magically go back to what they were before he showed up was very much insane and in need of some very urgent reality check.

His free hand shoved into his pocket, Tony waited as the lift went down slowly. He wondered what had made Rachel finally set things straight with Bruce. If she had finally understood that the man she loved didn't exist anymore. That Bruce had changed and would never be the person he was before his parents' murder, or before Batman. Or if she had just simply realized that the Bat's work would never be done and so Bruce would never be capable of fully put him aside.

Tony didn't know her well enough to make a fair bet, but he damn well hoped it was the former.

The lift finally came to a stop and Tony's eyes went straight to the Tumbler, parked to his left. Tony had seen it before; he even had a chance to take a closer look-no touching because Bruce was a jerk-. Still, the sight that presented was very much impressive. Too bad the big bad Bat was such a party pooper and hadn't let him drive it even once. It was such a shame, really. That badass car-tank surely could run like a champ.

Tearing his eyes away from the Tumbler, they finally came to rest on Bruce, sitting before the large bank of monitors, his stiff back to him.

"What are you doing here?" Bruce questioned without turning around, a soft growl in his voice.

Tony took off his sunglasses, folding and shoving them in his pocket. With a smirk, he started walking toward Bruce.

"Well, you know, there was this very boring meeting Peeper wanted me to be at." It wasn't a lie exactly. There was a meeting. Only said meeting wasn't important enough for Peeper to even bother trying to make him go. "So I guess you could say I'm a runaway; taking shelter in this dull, dark city."

Tony pulled the empty chair to Bruce's right closer, sinking into it with a sigh.

Bruce snorted, turning his head to look at Tony now that he was at his side. "What about that?" He asked, nodding to the bottle Tony was holding.

"Oh, I imagine you didn't have any of the good stuff down here and I so happen to have this extra bottle somewhere. So, I brought it over to share with you."

Leaning back in his chair Tony flashed Bruce a grin, gaze sweeping over the desk.

Bruce looked at Tony, an inquiring eyebrow arched.

"Got any glasses around? I kinda forgot about them." Tony paused a moment, then shrugged. "I guess we can pass the bottle around, like old times."

Bruce rolled his eyes but reached for the already empty small steel vacuum flask Alfred had brought him early filled with coffee. He quickly unscrewed the cap and handed it to Tony without a word.

Tony took it, doing a quick job of opening the bottle and pouring a generous amount of scotch into the cap, almost filling it to the rim.

After handing the cap back to Bruce, Tony took a swig from the bottle. He knew for a fact Bruce wouldn't be drinking more than one glass. He never did. It didn't matter. More for him anyway.

"So," Tony started, watching Bruce take a sip of scotch. "Got any new Bat toys you need a renowned genius to take a look at? Bet I can give you some good piece of advice to improve them."

Bruce gave Tony an annoyed look before rolling his eyes, just like he always did when Tony offered to lend a hand in anything Bat-related. But just the same, Bruce's lips twitched and there was a faint gleam that hadn't been in his hazel eyes a moment ago.

Bruce was frankly a graceless idiot when it came to talk about emotions and feelings. Tony royally sucked at the whole comfort crap.

Huh ... Maybe it was a good thing they were together in this mess.

OoOoO

a/n: So yeah, this started as a small piece with Tony being a good sort-of-good-friend and going to cheer up Bruce about the whole Rachel/Harvey thing, but somewhere along the way become a musing/rant about my personal head canon of just how oddly awesome a friendship between these two would be. *shrug* I'm just happy I finally was able to finish something.

This is unbetaed and I'm not a native speaker so I hope there aren't too many mistakes (feel free to point them out, please!) Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and please let me know what you think!

The title was taken from the song "Carry On" by FUN.