A/N: Soooo I finally got around to updating, enjoy!

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Chapter Four: Can you say Awkward.

The three of them spent the majority of the day in the lab only stopping for short periods to eat and refill on beverages and only generally at Pepper's insistence. Bruce predominantly worked on the problem choosing to ignore Tony for the most part, which the billionaire replied in kind by fiddling with some of his projects (hell he wasn't going to try and draw blood from that stone until after he'd figured it out for himself) after introducing Pepper or should that be reintroducing Pepper to the bots.

In hindsight that probably was not one of the greatest ideas Tony had ever had.

The bots had adored Pepper right from the get go (which Tony was totally not envious of in the slightest) even if the youngster had initially been a little wary of them. Of course all it had taken to break the ice had been a welding torch, a fire extinguisher and a particularly over zealous DUM-E and Pepper had found her new best friend. The billionaire might have been a little more appreciative of the situation if he didn't have a ruined prototype and would probably be cleaning extinguisher foam out of his ears for a week but he suppose he could forgive it for the look of pure mischievous joy on Pepper's face. He didn't often see her older counterpart look so carefree.

That particular incident also had the added benefit that Bruce was at least somewhat acknowledging his existence again, with a wry smile and a smothered laugh which could only be a good thing.

Eventually though Pepper's manic child energy ran out and she crashed out on one of the comfy couches hidden at the back of the lab, the bots circled around her like a pack of metallic guard dogs. It would have been kinda funny if the bots hadn't looked so oddly menacing. The other side effect of this was that he and Bruce were now alone in the lab.

Perhaps it was time to draw the blood from the stone?

He turned to Bruce who was still hunched over a microscope peering down at the samples of Pepper's blood and stopped, how on earth was he supposed to approach this?

He was saved from actually having to do anything by a knock on the glass panels that made up the entrance to the lab. Both men whirled around to see a smirking Natasha standing with her arms crossed nodding her head at the locked door. Tony rolled his eyes, Nat could pretty much get into any part of the tower she wanted lockdown or not (as this morning had proved) if she was showing a modicum of respect for procedure now it meant something was up.

"JARVIS let Charlotte in."

From across the lab Bruce snorted quietly and shot Tony a small, apologetic smile.

The door to the lab swung open and Natasha sauntered in with what could only be described as an evil smirk on her face.

"I thought I best ask this time, didn't want to walk in on anything that was going to scar me again."

Tony felt the back of his neck heat up with embarrassment and he felt oddly annoyed by her insinuation that anything that he and Bruce chose to do would be scarring. Especially Bruce because goddamn the man was actually pretty damn wholesome all the time and why was he getting so offended on Bruce's behalf? He was about to open his mouth and say something he would probably regret but he felt a hand on his shoulder and it stopped him dead.

Bruce was stood beside him and Tony could see the red tinge of embarrassment on his cheeks, it made him want to slap Natasha for some reason.

"I'm sorry Agent Romanoff, we'll try not to offend your delicate sensibilities in the future."

The words were scathing and sarcastic but the billionaire could hear the uncertainty and self-hatred behind the words and it made his heart ache. Bruce deserved better than to be made to feel like shit over something so silly and it caused Tony's protective instinct to flare up. The hand on his shoulder tightened and Tony turned his gaze toward the other man.

He looked so sad.

Like he didn't deserve anything good, like home or friends or love and yeah Tony might be reading a lot into a single expression but Bruce was his friend, his science bro and he deserved the best of everything even if things were kinda awkward between them at the moment.

He would honestly give Bruce the whole damn world if he could.

Natasha's gaze darted between them, a thoughtful look on her face but whatever the spy was thinking she clearly wasn't planning on sharing. Instead she gave a demure shrug looking completely unfazed by the whole exchange.

"Don't worry about it Doctor, I've seen far worse in my time. Anyway Steve sent me down, dinner is ready and he's not taking no for an answer, attendance is mandatory for everyone."

Tony groaned at that, stupid Cap wanting to make sure everyone was OK, the caring asshole and beside him Bruce just shook his head in amused exasperation.

"We'll be right up after we've woken up Pepper." Bruce answered, releasing Tony's shoulder and the billionaire could have sworn his shoulder burned where Bruce had been touching him.

Natasha seemed to accept this answer and turned on her heel heading back in the direction she came from, leaving the two men alone. Almost as soon as she'd left Bruce seemed to retreat back into himself and backed away from Tony like he couldn't trust himself not to do something stupid again. It's not as if Tony was completely innocent either, he'd started the whole thing off by licking Bruce's cheek but he honestly had no idea how to bridge the gap that was forming between them.

It hurt more than he cared to admit. Things had always been so easy between them even at the beginning when they'd barely known each other and the more Tony learnt about the physicist the more he knew he wanted to keep the guy around, despite his breath taking anger management problems.

Gah! Why were emotions so hard? This was why he generally stuck to robots. No stupid over the top touchy feely shit.

He wished grown up Pepper was here, she was so fucking good at dealing with his fucked up emotions and telling him what the hell was going on in his head. Tony turned his gaze to the back of the lab and the tiny bundle of person laying across the old chemical stained couch and felt his heart ache a bit with longing. It wasn't the kids fault that he couldn't act like a regular, normal person and he had no right blaming her for something that was in no way, shape or form her fault but still he could do with some of those wise words of wisdom right now. Or failing that, a good kick up the ass.

The billionaire watched as Bruce gently shook the child awake, amidst what Tony could only assume were disdainful glares from the bots. He was also pretty sure that if he'd been the one to wake Pepper then he would have ended up with more that just a slightly miffed look, the damn traitors. Pepper batted away Bruce's hand and turned over onto her side and Tony could just see the look of amused exasperation on his face. The one he'd used so many times when dealing with Tony.

Once again his heart ached but this time it was for Bruce not Pepper, he was so damn good with kids and the billionaire knew that he would have been a fantastic father if given the chance, it was so sad that no one probably ever would. He continued to watch as the physicist managed to coerce the girl to get up and quickly wash her face and hands before waking over to where Tony was standing.

"I think we're all about ready to head up, I was just explaining to Virginia that we aren't the only people who live here and that we occasionally get together to have dinner."

Tony looked down at the child, who was clinging to Bruce's leg like a life preserver and looking as if she was about to be dragged to the gallows. He offered her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and tousled her hair, smiling when she squeaked in indignation and tried to shoo his hand away.

"You got nothing to be worried about squirt, they'll love you."

Pepper's expression lightened and Tony counted that as a win.

"You really think so?" She asked tentatively twisting her foot around like every clichéd child character ever.

"Kiddo if they don't love you I'll eat one of my very expensive hats."

This earned him a small giggle from Pepper and a small, warm smile from Bruce, fuck yeah he could do this parenting shit.

"Pinkie promise?" Pepper asked holding out her finger

Tony was utterly floored by the display of trust and for a moment the billionaire just completely panicked, totally unsure what the hell he should do. Years of practice ensured that he didn't actually show the panic but it certainly was there. After a moments hesitation he linked his pinkie with Pepper's and shook it gently, feeling something twist in his chest. As a child Tony would have given anything to have that kind of trust in someone, Jarvis had been amazing but Tony had tried not to let himself get too close knowing that he could be dismissed on a whim.

"Pinkie promise..." He parroted, trying to force down the lump in his throat.

Pepper was overjoyed and moved from Bruce to latch herself onto Tony, squeezing as tight as she could around his middle before running to the elevator. Tony smiled a little stunned and caught Bruce's gaze, the other man seemingly more relaxed than he had been in hours. Relaxed was a good look on the physicist and it radiated off of him like a wave, calming everything it touched.

"I think you're her favourite." Bruce teased and moved toward the elevator.

"Please, I'm everyone's favourite." The billionaire shot back.

Bruce let out that dry, quiet chuckle again and Tony felt his stomach flip in an odd way.

"Of course you are Tony." He quips in return, voice full of sarcasm.

The billionaire can't help but grin a bit at the snark but the thought lingers in his head. While he might be everyone else's favourite, Bruce was his favourite and he wondered if the other man would have a problem with that considering how badly today had gone at points. He shrugged and pushed the thought aside as he stepped into the elevator, an Avengers dinner really wasn't the best place to be distracted.

~End Chapter 4~

A/N: Gah, this was so hard to write T_T I hope it was at least coherent. The poor boys, so damn clueless or in denial.

Opinions on this piece are really appreciated.