Bruce breathed in deeply, trying to soothe his screaming mind. The Other Guy was pushing against his mental walls, hard, and he could feel a headache coming on. The headaches weren't as bad as they used to be; now it was a soft throb rather than a splitting migraine.

He glanced at his watch; two-thirty. He closed and rubbed his eyes again, images from the nightmare still lingering. They were the worst after a stressful day, or in this case, week. Whenever one villain or group went down, another seemed more than happy to take its place. With a soft chuckle, he recalled the lines from some movie or another Tony had forced the team to watch: I feel like the maid. I just cleaned up this mess; could you keep it clean for five minutes?

He needed air before he could fall back asleep again, that much was for certain. Slipping out from under the covers (seriously, he had an enormous bed), he made his way out of his room and through the halls to the staircase. Tony had an elevator that went to the top story, but Bruce preferred the stairs; a little exercise never hurt anyone. His room was on the second to top floor, something he became thankful for. The roof had become his escape many times, the cool night air helping to clear his mind.

The door opened, and Bruce breathed in deeply, feeling the Other Guy begin to settle down a bit. It had rained earlier that night, and the moist scent was calming. Walking over to the edge, he sat down, letting his legs dangle off the side.

"I think if I did that, I'd be too afraid of falling."

The voice startled him, and as he turned he silently berated himself. He must be more out of it than usual; sensing people was a specialty of his. Steve Rogers greeted his vision, wearing a white t-shirt and sweats and sitting in what looked like a lawn chair off to the side.

Bruce smiled his signature half-smile. "It helps if you know you're invincible; at this height, I doubt I'd get a bruise," he finished, peering thoughtfully over the edge.

"Well, that makes one of us," Rogers replied, smirking a bit. His face changed when he saw the cautious look return to the scientist's eyes.

Bruce spoke up before he could say anything. "I'm sorry if I interrupted you, Captain. I didn't realize anyone else came up here." With a last glance, he pulled himself up and headed for the staircase. He had almost reached the door when Steve's voice stopped him.

"You get nightmares too, eh?"

Bruce turned back slowly, studying the man. Rogers wasn't looking at him, opting instead to study the patterns of light sprawling beyond the tower. "Sometimes," he admitted, not moving from where he stood.

"The night air always seemed to help mine as well. Especially if it rained recently. Something about that smell just always seems to put me at ease," the man said softly. He then turned and looked at the scientist. "Are they from changing?"

At Bruce's uncomfortable look, Steve raised his hands. "I'm not trying to pry, Doctor. If you don't feel comfortable talking about it, I can understand. I simply want to get to know you better."

"Why?" Bruce hadn't meant to sound accusatory or rude with his question, but even to his own ears it sounded a bit harsh.

Steve ignored the bite in the man's voice. "Because I have not been acting like the leader I should have been. Instead of accepting you and trying to integrate you into the group, I alienated you with the others. I did not understand what you… could do, and in turn I feared it. I feared you," he added, nodding towards Banner. "And that was wrong. Consider this my apology."

Bruce was taken aback by the man's straight-forward honesty, and said as much. Steve laughed.

"I find that being straight forward is for the best most times. I'm a soldier, not a diplomat; I don't have the patience to beat around the bush. I'd rather get to the point of the conversation," he explained.

"It's appreciated," remarked Bruce, smiling back.

Steve nodded to the side of the roof entrance. "There's a couple more chairs back there. I wouldn't mind at all if you joined me."

Bruce looked. Sure enough, another two lawn chairs rested behind the roof access. "You get a lot of company?"

Steve shrugged. "Tony, from time to time. We'll sit up here and share a drink, talk about anything but Howard, and eventually he'll leave. We never talk about anything important; I think he prefers that."

Banner nodded. He knew that, even though he had achieved the ranks of Rhody in terms of friendship, Tony wasn't at all open to talking about his feelings or fears. The fact that he was willing to sit and drink with the Captain was enormous testament to the amount the two men had reconciled, and how much Tony now trusted Steve.

He sat, and they were in a comfortable silence for a long while. Bruce felt his eyelids getting heavy, but before he accidentally fell asleep on the roof, a noise from the elevator roused him. Tony walked out, carrying two glasses of whatever alcoholic drink happened to be his favorite this week. When he saw Bruce, he stopped.

"Huh. Should've brought the whole bottle," he muttered, staring at the scientist.

"No need; drinking isn't a great idea for me. Lowers my tolerance," said Bruce, grinning slightly as Steve chuckled. Tony smirked, and then handed one drink to Rogers as the scientist stood. "Actually, I was just falling asleep. See you two in the morning," he said, nodding at both men, before glancing at Tony. "Maybe afternoon. Oh, and thanks," he added, turning to Rogers. The man simply nodded, smiling at Bruce as he disappeared through the door.

"Bruce is… a good man." He said quietly after Banner had left.

"Told ya," muttered Tony, sipping his drink. "Alright. I've got one for you. Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth."

"Tony, if you're going to choose something, make it one that the media hasn't beaten to a pulp already."

"Rogers, if you asked any kid today, they might know the Babe, and would not have even heard of 'The Georgia Peach'."

"… Really?"