Wow, look at this! An Avengers fic! What is this madness?

Okay, so I'm aware that the last time I posted an Avengers fic was over a year ago. This fic was actually started forever ago, then it fell to the wayside. I found it in the depths of my computer recently and figured why the hell not finish it? Due to how long ago I started this fic, it completely disregards Iron Man 3. Also, all of the science in here is pretty much bullshit derived from my minor knowledge of chemistry.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers.

Tony Stark was walking home from the bar he had been frequenting for the past week in the rain. It wasn't a very pleasant time for a stroll, but Happy was visiting family and it was only two blocks away from Stark Tower, so it wasn't like the walk was very long. Tony could manage.

As he neared the tower, he saw a man slumped against a building. Poor guy, he thought as he walked past the figure. He gave the man a sympathetic smile and tossed a small bill in his direction. Then he continued walking-

Wait. Back up. Take another look. Oh God, was that Bruce?!

"Bruce?" Tony asked, kneeling next to the man he thought was potentially his friend. Upon closer examination he realized it was Bruce. How he had gotten there was anyone's guess, but it was him.

"Bruce, buddy? Are you okay?" Tony took his friend's face in his hands and found that, despite the cold and the rain, Bruce's face was hot. Especially his forehead. "What the hell are you doing out here?" Tony asked rhetorically. It was obvious that his friend wouldn't answer; he was slipping in and out of consciousness alarmingly. Tony suddenly remembered a conversation he had had with Bruce before he had moved out of the tower. They had somehow gotten on the topic of medicine, and Tony had asked how Bruce felt comfortable treating people in third world countries. What if he got sick and the Hulk came out? What would a sick Hulk be like? Bruce's reply? "I don't get sick. I haven't gotten sick since the experiment. I can treat contagious diseases without having to worry."

So, if Bruce didn't get sick, then why was he half-conscious outside of Stark Tower, running a fever high enough to make a significant appearance in 39 degree weather? Something had to be at work, something big. And if it had already gotten one of the Avengers down for the count, it might have been going for more.

But Tony wasn't worrying about that as he lifted Bruce in a fireman's carry and walked the last few yards to the front door of Stark Tower. All he was worrying about was his friend and what had happened to him. Tony entered the building and harshly told JARVIS to inform Pepper of Bruce and his condition, then went to the elevator and rose to the floor with the bedroom Bruce had used before he left Stark Tower. Tony had kept the room in the same condition it had been in when Bruce left, not changing a single thing, in case he returned. He gently lay Bruce down on the bed, hoping he could do something - anything - to help. After all, he did have an obligation to help a friend in need. Especially one he had such strong feelings for.

Tony pushed that thought out of his mind and allowed another thought, this one meaningless, to fill his brain.

I wonder what a sick Hulk would be like…

23 hours earlier…

It was somewhere between ten and eleven at night - probably closer to eleven - and Bruce Banner was completely exhausted. As in the fall-asleep-standing-up sort of exhausted. It was a little early to be feeling like that, he knew, but nightmares had plagued his mind the night before and made it impossible for him to sleep. He had been having that issue for a few days and had gotten into a pattern: he wouldn't sleep for around thirty-six hours, then he would collapse with exhaustion and be free from nightmares. He realized it was probably unhealthy, but he wouldn't stop doing it. It worked well enough, though looking in the mirror told him the bags under his eyes were more prominent. The around five hours of sleep that he would end up getting weren't in a good ratio to the thirty-six hours of staying awake, but it was the only way to keep the nightmares away. It was worth it, really. The terrible visions that he had when he closed his eyes were too horrible to bear, and if the cost of avoiding them was his health, then so be it.

A knock came on Bruce's door, startling him. Who would be calling at this time of night? he grumbled mentally. His first thought was that it had to be a patient and he instantly felt bad for what he had thought. He went up to the door and opened it, forcing a smile to his face.

"Hey, what's-"

Bruce's voice was cut off abruptly as a needle was jabbed into his arm.

He was unconscious before the Hulk could come out.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Pepper cried as she entered the room. Tony looked up in surprise; he had almost forgotten he had told JARVIS to call for her. "Tony, what did you do?"

"Me?" Tony demanded, looking at Pepper with an affronted face. "Why did you expect I did something?"

"Well, normally this sort of stuff is your fault," Pepper replied unabashedly. "So if you didn't do it, what happened?"

"No idea. I just found Bruce outside, running a fever. I think he must have been trying to get here or something and just didn't make it."

"Why would he come here if he just had a fever?" Pepper asked, confused and maybe a little confrontational, though that might have just been Tony's imagination. He looked up from where he was dabbing a cold washcloth on Bruce's face, just missing the hastily-controlled glare on Pepper's face.

"Because he can't get a fever," he replied offhandedly. Pepper looked at him strangely.

"If he can't get a fever, then how does he have one now?"

"That, my dear Pepper, is the question." Tony went to give Pepper a quick kiss, not thinking, but she pulled away. Tony must have been more drunk than he had realized, as he had forgotten the reason he had gone to the bar in the first place. He and Pepper had broken up. It hadn't been a big thing. The two of them had mutually agreed that the relationship hadn't been working. They had decided - together! - that they needed to split up.

And then Tony had gone off, gotten drunk, gone back to Stark Tower, and cried himself to sleep. JARVIS had been very annoyed at his complaining about how Pepper was "the best thing that ever happened to him" and "life would never be the same again" and had thus locked his door until he had been completely sober the next morning. It had led to a few events that Tony would swear to his dying day never happened. Even if JARVIS hadn't let him delete the evidence.

Sometimes, Tony wished he hadn't programmed his A.I. to be so damn like him.

Anyway, the break-up was the reason that Tony had found the little bar a few blocks away. After he and Pepper had split, he had left the Tower on foot and stumbled upon the little place. It was run by a man who was willing to keep quiet about Tony Stark being there for $500 a night, in addition to Tony's fairly-hefty tab, which barely made a dent in one of his thousands of bank accounts, and there was normally almost no one else there. It was, in short, pretty much a perfect place.

And, if he hadn't been walking home from it, he probably wouldn't have noticed Bruce, so that was another reason why the bar was amazing. The thought occurred to Tony that an anonymous donation to the place would probably help fix it up a lot, thus helping the bar and, by extension, himself. He would get on that as soon as Bruce was better.

Speaking of which, getting a doctor for Bruce would probably be a good idea. It couldn't be a normal doctor, and Tony was loath to bring SHIELD into this. If the patient were anyone else, Tony would have called Bruce for help, but considering the circumstances… Well, obviously that wouldn't work. So Tony would have to find someone else. Unfortunately, he didn't actually know many doctors.

"Hey, Pep?" Tony asked, turning back towards Pepper. Maybe Pepper knows a good doctor. "Do you…"

His voice trailed off as he realized Pepper was no where to be seen. "JARVIS, when did Pepper leave, where did she go, and why?"

"Sir, Miss Potts left approximately a minute ago. She is currently in the elevator on her way to her office. She said that she had paperwork to do, but you were not listening."

"Pepper left because of paperwork?" Tony couldn't help but feel some bubbling rage at that. "She left Bruce lying here with a high fever, clearly unnatural, because she had paperwork?"

"Miss Potts stated that she had to keep the company afloat if you were planning on spending all of your time with Dr. Banner, sir," JARVIS replied, his voice sounding almost cautious.

"Keep an eye on Bruce, JARVIS," Tony snapped. "Alert me if anything changes."

"Yes, sir. And where are you going, if I may ask?"

"To go see Pepper," Tony replied in a dark tone. He marched out of the bedroom angrily, heading for Pepper's office on the tenth floor. A part of his mind told him that maybe there was a good reason she left, but he ignored it. She left Bruce. She just up and left when their friend needed help desperately.

The elevator came to a stop at the tenth floor and Tony exited it in a huff. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why Pepper hadn't stayed to help Bruce. Sure, she didn't know him all that well - he had only stayed in Stark Tower for two weeks and that had been almost a month ago - but still! Bruce was one of the nicest people Tony had ever met, and he couldn't imagine a reason that Pepper could possibly dislike him.

Tony reached the door and yanked it open harshly. Pepper looked up, phone against her ear. "Hey, can I call you back?" she asked whoever she was speaking with as she took in the furious expression on Tony's face. The person on the other line must have agreed, as Pepper hung up the phone and put it on her desk. She fixed Tony with a harsh glare.

"Finally remembered I exist?" she asked in a voice laden with sarcasm. Tony had no idea what she meant by that, but he ignored it.

"You have paperwork, I heard?" he asked in a falsely neutral tone. "Must be pretty important if you would abandon our friend for it."

"Your friend," Pepper corrected. "Not ours. Yours."

"You honestly don't like Bruce?" Tony asked, confused. How could someone not like Bruce? He legitimately didn't get it. "Why not?"

"Why not?" Pepper's voice was low an dangerous. "Why not? Maybe because he wrecked our relationship, Tony!"

"What?" Tony didn't have the same controlled voice Pepper did; he was flat-out yelling. "How can you say that Bruce wrecked our relationship! He wasn't even here when we broke up!"

"But he's the reason," Pepper practically hissed. "You wanted to break up with me because of him!"

"Why would Bruce have any bearing on my relationship with you?" Tony shot back.

"Because you're in love with him!"

19 hours earlier…

When Bruce finally came to, he was tied to a chair in an unfamiliar place. And so, understandably, he panicked. But not for himself.

"You don't know what you're doing," he desperately told the man in the doorway, who turned around at the sound of his voice. "Please. I don't want to hurt anyone. Just let me go and then nothing bad will happen."

The guard laughed, and the sound sent chills down Bruce's spine. "Oh, Dr. Banner. You don't think we know who you are?" The voice was low and deceptively calm. "We know all about you and your…condition. We know why you're afraid."

"But we're not." This voice was different. The door opened and the light almost blinded Bruce. "You fear the monster. Why? It is your best weapon, your guardian."

"It's a killer," Bruce replied in a voice that was as controlled as he could make it. "You don't understand."

"Oh, I think I do." The figure came into the light and Bruce squinted in an attempt to see it. When he did get a good look, he gasped.

"You! But I thought…"

"You thought your precious SHIELD got rid of me. Well, surprise, doctor, but they didn't."

"You don't know what you're dealing with," Bruce tried again, desperate. The man before him smiled.

"I have been exposed to the radiation you have. I had the samples of blood and you stole them!"

"They were samples of my blood!" Bruce yelled back.

"I cloned them!" The man's voice was high and almost hysterical. "They were mine!" Slowly the man calmed. "You stole my life's work. I'll just have to start again. And my first subject, Dr. Banner, will be you."

When JARVIS informed Tony that Bruce had awoken, Tony jerked upright from his chair and stumbled, still half asleep, to the elevator. "Has he said anything, JARVIS?" Tony asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"No, sir. He seems to be trying to control his heart rate."

"How fast is it?" Tony asked, wondering if he should get Pepper out.

"One hundred fifty beats per minute and slowing, sir."

The rate wasn't fast enough to cause a change, so Tony didn't alert Pepper. He shifted in the elevator, which seemed to be moving very slowly. "Can't this thing move any faster?"

"The elevator is already moving at one hundred percent capacity, sir."

"Can you get that higher?"

There was a pause, then, "If I cut the lights in the elevator, sir, I can reroute the energy to get the power to one hundred twenty percent. It would be unwise to make the elevator go faster than that."

"Do it," Tony instructed. The elevator went dark, the only light now coming from the arc reactor in Tony's chest, and picked up speed. "And remind me to figure out how to make a faster elevator."

"Yes, sir."

As the elevator went faster, Tony shifted his weight from side to side, wishing he could go faster than the already heightened speed. He wondered how Bruce would be when he got there. Confused, probably. Maybe a little scared. Thankful, happy to see Tony… The doors opened and Tony went to Bruce's door. He was delighted to have him back. He opened the door, ready for a heartfelt reunion.

The last thing he expected to happen was for Bruce to panic and try and get as far away from him as possible the second he saw him. But that's what he did.

"Please, no," Bruce begged, sliding away as much as he could. "Please, I'm sorry for what I did but please, don't do this to me! I shouldn't have destroyed your samples. I know. Just please, give me a rest."

Throughout all the begging and pleading, Tony was silent and stock-still. The answer as to why Bruce was saying that to him was obvious: he was delusional. But if he was acting like that, then what the hell had happened to him?

"Bruce?" Tony finally asked softly, finding his voice. "Bruce, it's me. Tony."

"Please, stop," Bruce whispered, tears in his eyes. "Just a short break. That's all I'm asking for. One day. Please."

"Bruce, you're in Stark Tower. You're safe. It's me, Tony. Everything's okay."

Apparently, somewhere in Bruce's mind, Tony's words were being heard. But the fever took them and warped them into something terrible. Bruce gasped in horror.

"No! No, you can't! Just experiment on me. I'm sorry. Just leave him alone, please. If you do anything to the arc reactor, Tony will die. Just experiment on me and leave him alone."

"Bruce, please, calm down. I'm right here. No one is trying to mess with the reactor and no one is going to experiment on you anymore. I swear to you. You're safe."

"No, please! Please, don't do this. I'm sorry for what I did, but don't drag Tony into this! Leave him alone, please!"

"Bruce, calm down! You're safe, I'm safe, we're all safe. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again." Cautiously, Tony went up to Bruce once he could see his words were having no effect, ignoring the way Bruce flinched and tried to pull away from him, and wrapped his arms around him. At first, Bruce freaked out and desperately attempted to escape the embrace. Tony racked his brains for a way to let him know it wasn't whoever tortured him, then an idea popped into his head. He grabbed Bruce's hand and placed it over his arc reactor. Abruptly, Bruce stopped struggling.

"T-Tony?" he stuttered, blinking and looking back at Tony. His eyes cleared and he looked relieved.

"He said he was going to go after you. I couldn't let him. I couldn't let him hurt you. He didn't get you, did he?"

"Who did this to you?" Tony asked, wrapping an arm around Bruce's shoulders. "Who was it?"

"He calls himself 'the Leader' now. I asked him for help and he took my blood. I destroyed the samples."

"What's his name, Bruce? I can stop him from ever hurting you again if you tell me his name."

"Sterns. Samuel Sterns. He's going to kill me, Tony. He tried his compounds out on me and he said…"

"What did he say, Bruce?" Tony demanded, seeing Bruce's eyes were losing lucidity.

"He said his research was…on fire."

With that, Bruce drifted back into unconsciousness as Tony felt panic claw at his chest. He put a hand on Bruce's forehead.

It had gotten hotter.

Whatever Sterns had injected him with, it was burning him up from the inside out.

11 hours earlier…

Bruce was eight hours into his torture from Sterns. He wasn't sure what he had been injected with so far, but his right arm was alternately burning or icy cold where the many needle marks were. He felt as if Thor was tap dancing on his head with Mjölnir, and it wasn't a good feeling at all. For the moment, Sterns - or as he preferred to be called, "the Leader" - was gone, but Bruce knew he would be returning before too long. He had left a few times, but he always came back. However, most of the times, Bruce was not as coherent as he currently was. But now, he could think. Meaning he could spend this time constructively.

That is, looking for an escape.

The pain in his arm was distracting, but Bruce forced himself to work through it. He looked around the small room he was in. There was a table - far out of his reach, of course - full of the compounds Sterns had been injecting into him, and a door was across from him, probably about ten feet away from where he was bound to a chair. He couldn't call on the Hulk even if he wanted to; the first injection he had been given was one to suppress the surge of emotion that would cause him to transform. And he had gotten to the point where he was trying to bring out the monster, just to escape. He still cared about the innocent people near him and he didn't want to hurt any of them, but he was getting dangerously close to disregarding them in favor of him getting away from Sterns. Anyway, he had guessed that he would only be able to transform for a short amount of time before he would pass out and thus turn back to himself, so there probably would be few, if any, innocent people caught in the crossfire. At which point he would need to get help. And that was where his plans fell apart, because he had no idea where to go.

His first thought would be SHIELD, but the fact that Sterns was free in the first place made him a little wary of trusting the organization that was supposed to have dealt with him. His next thought was one of the Avengers, but which one? Thor was in Asgard and thus very unavailable, Steve had decided to travel around the U.S. to get used to the way it was compared to how it had been seventy years ago, and no one knew where Clint and Natasha had gone. The only option was…Tony.

Of course! It was a testament to the crippling pain Bruce was feeling that he hadn't thought of him first. His self-proclaimed "best friend" would definitely help him out. And Tony had the money and the resources to help him figure out what Sterns had injected into him, in case it was dangerous, and-

But what if Sterns followed him?

The thought terrified Bruce. If he was followed, then he would be putting Tony in danger. And that was simply unacceptable. He couldn't do that to his friend, one of the few true friends he still had. He had to protect Tony, even if he hurt himself in the process.

No matter what happened to him, he had to keep his best friend from harm.

As Sterns reentered the room with a new box, probably full of syringes, Bruce resolved not to go to Tony unless there was no danger to him.

After all, he couldn't hurt his best friend.

Tony had gotten three calls from Fury and two from Pepper, but he had ignored all five to continue working in the lab, trying to figure out what exactly this "Leader" person had injected Bruce with and how to counteract it. He had taken a sample of his blood to analyze it, but so far, the four things he had found in the blood wouldn't cause the reaction that was occurring. There had to be at least one more-

"Tony!"

"Holy shit, Pepper!" Tony yelled, almost dropping the sample he held. "How the hell did you…"

"I have clearance to get in here, remember? I can go in your lab if I want, and when you ignore two calls and seven texts, then I need to talk to you. If you're in your lab, I go in."

"Seven texts?" Tony asked, surprised. He knew about the two calls, but he hadn't noticed the texts.

"That's not the point. The point is that you have work to do, and you can't just hole yourself up in here-"

"Bruce is dying," Tony interrupted. Pepper's voice trailed off and her eyes went wide. "Unless I can figure out how to counteract the things he was injected with, he is going to die a very painful death. So you need to leave me alone so I can do that!" Tony was aware of the fact that his voice was getting slightly hysterical, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Pepper looked at him, then down at the clipboard she had brought in with her.

"I guess I'll tell everyone you're taking the day off," Pepper finally decided.

"Thank you," Tony replied, then he returned his attention to the lab table in front of him. He needed to isolate more compounds in Bruce's blood, and fast. "JARVIS, can you find anything else?" he asked sharply, a bit more sharply than he meant to. The A.I. didn't seem to take offense, but then again, the machine had been made by Tony. Chances were that JARVIS would find a way to make Tony regret his tone, but it would be in a subtle way when he least expected it. At the moment, he didn't really care. "JARVIS! Anything?"

"No, sir, I have not-" Mid-sentence, the voice stopped abruptly. "Sir? You ought to see this."

"What is it, JARVIS?" Tony asked frantically, kicking the leg of the desk he was currently sitting at so his chair would wheel over to the biggest monitor screen. In response, the A.I. showed an image of Bruce's blood, magnified so they could see the individual cells.

"Holy shit," Tony breathed. He watched in horror and a slight bit of awe as something literally burned one of Bruce's red blood cells. "What the hell is that, JARVIS?" he asked in a slightly awestruck voice.

"I am not sure, sir. I believe it to be a compound of some sort, but some of the materials inside it are not within my database."

"Not in your- JARVIS, I swear, if you're messing with me…"

"I am not 'messing with you,' sir. There are some parts of this compound that I believe were created by Sterns himself. I could analyze them and perhaps figure out what they are, but I assume you would prefer I find a compound to negate the effects of this one."

"Yeah. What do we know is in there?" Tony asked, moving over to a desk more suited to this sort of work. He had actually bought all of the equipment he was currently using for Bruce, on the off chance that he would return. He wanted him to have a state-of-the-art lab to work on finding a cure for the Hulk, if that was what he really wanted, or find a way to control the Hulk, if Tony got his way. Hulk had saved his life; he didn't particularly want to see it gone. But if that was what Bruce wanted, it was really his friend's decision in the end and Tony wouldn't argue with it.

"Many acidic compounds seem to be in this, including concentrated amounts of sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and carbonic acid," JARVIS stated. "I would suggest creating an injection of the respective conjugate base of each acid and using it to neutralize the compound. That should stop the effects on Dr. Banner's blood."

"Wait," Tony asked, freezing mid-motion. "Bruce has three very strong acids traveling through his bloodstream and he's not dead?"

"He will be soon if you do not counteract their effects," JARVIS almost snapped back. Tony was shocked by the A.I.'s tone, but he needed the harshness to get him thinking straight again.

"Alright. So we need to get sulfate hydroxide, chloride hydroxide, and carbonate hydroxide. Do I have those?"

"Yes, sir. In your lab two floors below this one." Tony stood and sprinted for the stairs instead of the elevator; it seemed faster in times like this one. He reached the lab and ran to the supply cabinet. "Sir, Dr. Banner's temperature seems to be increasing-"

"Mute!" Tony snapped, not wanting to know how much closer his best friend was to dying. JARVIS's voice cut off abruptly. Quickly, Tony tore through the cabinet, trying to find the proper bases. It probably only took about a minute to find sulfate, chloride, and carbonate hydroxide, but it seemed to take much longer. When the three bottles were cradled to his chest, Tony went back up the stairs. When he reached the lab, he dumped them on the table.

"JARVIS, unmute. What do I do now?"

"Create an injection with ten milliliters of each base, sir," the A.I. replied. Tony tore through the drawers until he found a graduated cylinder, then he carefully measured out ten milliliters of each base and then poured them into a common beaker. After a moment, he found a syringe big enough to hold all of the liquid and he prepared it.

"Is this it? Now I just inject this into Bruce?" he asked JARVIS frantically.

"Yes, sir. It should work." Normally, Tony would ask for the margin of error, but here, he really didn't want to know. Instead, he raced to Bruce's room six floors below and flung the door open.

Bruce was still, deadly still. Quickly, Tony checked for a pulse. It was there; slow, but there. And without another moment of pause, Tony stabbed the needle into Bruce's arm and emptied the contents into his bloodstream.

"How long before it's done its work?" Tony asked.

"A few minutes, sir," JARVIS promptly responded. Tony took a deep breath, wove his fingers through Bruce's unresponsive ones, and settled down to wait.

3 hours ago…

Sterns had left about two hours ago, and Bruce's guard looked ready to fall asleep. If any time would've been good to escape, it would have been right then. Finally ready to put his plan into action, the plan he had spent the last seven hours developing and editing, Bruce closed his eyes and tried to call on the Hulk.

It was hard. The suppressors Sterns had given him were doing their jobs. But Bruce could feel their bonds slipping away. Sterns hadn't reinjected him with more, and the drugs from about seventeen hours ago was wearing off. Sterns was being sloppy. Bruce hoped it wasn't a trap.

Within a few minutes, he had gotten to a strange mix of himself and the Hulk. He managed to break the ropes tying him to the chair in that state, then he smashed the chair down on his guard's head before allowing his body to relax and return to normal. He had never been in that "hybrid" state before; it felt very strange. He still had his own thoughts, but at the same time he could feel what his alter-ego was thinking. Surprisingly, the Hulk was concerned for Bruce's welfare and seemed perfectly willing to recede if it would help them escape. Bruce put it down to survival instinct, but maybe it was more. Maybe the Hulk really wasn't the mindless beast Bruce had always assumed he was. Maybe he could understand that Bruce needed to be the one in control.

Bruce stumbled out of the room, feeling like he might collapse any minute. He was going to go to Tony. He had to. There was no other option. He would just have to be careful. Once he got to Tony, he could warn him, and he would be safe. Tony was a multi-billionaire and a powerful superhero; he could protect himself from Sterns.

Bruce made his way out of the building he was being held in without encountering a single person. He expected to have to find some way of contacting Tony when he got outside, but then he looked around in confusion. It looked to be evening, perhaps seven or eight. In front of Bruce was not the vacant area in the middle of Canada where he had been before Sterns captured him. Instead, Bruce faced the Manhattan skyline, and in clear view, right in the middle, was Stark Tower. This was better than Bruce could have dared hope for, to be that close to Tony and thus his salvation. He looked around to make sure Sterns was nowhere nearby before beginning to walk towards the heart of the city. People avoided him slightly and he could only imagine how terrible he looked. He definitely wouldn't be out of place among the large homeless population New York City had to offer. But it was better to be avoided than to be sought out anyway, or at least Bruce found it that way, so he didn't mind much as he picked his way through the crowds, every step bringing him closer to Tony.

When Bruce finally got within sight of Stark Tower, he could see Tony walking away from it. He wanted to call out to him, but his voice only came out as a croak when he tried. He knew there was no way he could catch up to him; Bruce felt close to collapsing. His entire body felt hot and he didn't know how much longer he could stay conscious. Rather than trying to get into Stark Tower, which would undeniably cause a scene, Bruce made it to a building next door and slumped against the wall. He hoped Tony would recognize him when he returned from wherever he had gone off to. Bruce doubted he would be conscious enough to catch his attention.

Feeling the heat throughout his body rise, despite the chill in the air and the rain that was beginning to fall, Bruce slipped into unconsciousness.

"Sir?" JARVIS said softly. It had been nearly five minutes since Tony had injected the chemicals into Bruce's bloodstream, and so far there had been no visible effect. "Sir, I believe Dr. Banner's temperature is decreasing."

"What?" Tony demanded, jerking upright and scrutinizing Bruce. Now that he looked, there was a bit of a difference. Bruce's face was no longer quite so pale, and his eyes weren't moving quite as erratically behind the closed lids.

"Dr. Banner's temperature had decreased by one-point-seven degrees. It seems to be dropping steadily."

"How long before he's back at normal temperature?" Tony demanded.

"Around three minutes, sir," JARVIS replied. Tony let out a giant sigh of relief. Bruce was going to make it. He was going to be okay. "Sir, Dr. Banner seems to be on the brink of recovering consciousness."

"Thanks, JARVIS," Tony replied. He had noticed that himself: a bit of restlessness in the previously still hands, Bruce's breaths quickening a little as he pulled himself out of sleep. "Alert me when Bruce's temperature is back to normal."

"Yes, sir."

"And thanks, JARVIS," Tony added.

"I live to serve, sir," JARVIS replied. Tony shrugged.

"Yeah, but I don't thank you enough," he replied. He was about to say something else, though what he wasn't quite sure - probably something sappy about how JARVIS was the only family that never left him, or how JARVIS was the one he could count on when everyone else had betrayed him - but Tony's heartfelt confession was cut off from a groan from the bed. Bruce was slowly opening his eyes.

"Bruce!" Tony exclaimed. Bruce moaned.

"Not so loud, please," he begged softly. "I feel like someone just hit me in the head with a sledgehammer."

"Oh, sorry," Tony replied, his voice much quieter. "Other than that, how do you feel?"

"Um…hot," Bruce replied after a moment to think. "Like I-" Suddenly, Bruce's face went as pale as the sheet beneath him. "Sterns," he breathed.

"You're safe," Tony assured Bruce quickly. "I've researched Sterns, JARVIS has been instructed to see him as an enemy and alert me if he sees him anywhere near the building, and I'm ready to call SHIELD if you want me to."

"No SHIELD," Bruce told Tony. "They were supposed to take him into custody last time. I don't trust them."

"Good, cause neither do I," Tony replied. "So what happened?"

"Can we talk about this tomorrow?" Bruce requested, looking pitifully up at Tony. "I really don't wanna do this right now."

"Of course not," Tony replied quickly. "Do you wanna sleep?"

"That would be great," Bruce replied, smiling shyly. "And thanks, Tony."

"Sir, Dr. Banner's temperature has returned to normal," JARVIS chimed in. Tony grinned.

"It was nothing, doc," he replied. Bruce smiled slightly again, looking unsure of the expression. Tony had hardly ever seen him truly smile, and he was going to cherish this moment. Quickly, he ducked out of the room, telling JARVIS to keep surveillance on Bruce, just in case, and went to his own bedroom. He was freaking exhausted. And now that Bruce was okay, maybe Tony could get some sleep.

Present day…

When Bruce awoke, the clock by his side told him it was three in the morning. "I assume Tony's sleeping?" he asked the empty room.

"Correct, sir," JARVIS replied. "And may I say I am very happy to see you well again?"

"Thanks, JARVIS," Bruce replied. "Um, how exactly did I get well again?"

"Mr. Stark managed to nullify the immediate effects of the serum with which Mr. Sterns injected you. We will need to run further tests to make sure there are no further adverse effects, but for now, you should be safe."

"I knew I could count on Tony," Bruce murmured, his lip curling in the tiniest hint of a smile.

"He was very worried about your welfare," JARVIS added. Bruce shrugged.

"He'd do the same thing for any friend."

"With all due respect, I'm not entirely certain that's true," JARVIS replied. "And I thought it might interest you to know that Mr. Stark and Miss Potts are no longer in a romantic relationship."

"W-why would I be interested to know that?" Bruce stuttered. The news most definitely did not make his heart skip a beat. Why would it do that? Bruce didn't care either way. Not at all.

Bruce was also really bad at lying to himself.

"I don't know, sir, but I thought I would tell you anyway." JARVIS sounded incredibly sarcastic. Bruce wondered if the program was made to be that way or if it was an unfortunate side-effect of being with Tony 24/7. He would bet the latter. Then again, if anyone were going to make their A.I. talk back to them, it would be Tony.

"Shall I inform Mr. Stark that you're awake?" JARVIS asked. Bruce jumped.

"Oh, yeah, that would probably be a good idea," he replied. After a brief pause, he added, "Tony was really that worried about me?"

"I can show you security footage of him trying to save you, if you don't believe me," JARVIS suggested. Bruce shook his head.

"That…that's not necessary. But…you really think he cares for me as, you know, more than a friend?"

"Yes, I do, sir," JARVIS replied. "And before you ask, I am not programmed to be able to lie."

"I wasn't going to accuse you of lying," Bruce mumbled, although he had been about to ask that. He took a deep breath. "JARVIS, where's Tony?"

"On his way to your room, Dr. Banner. He started on his way immediately after I told him you were awake."

"Oh." Bruce wasn't quite sure what to do. He felt like a teenager again, trying to impress his crush. He was being ridiculous; both he and Tony were grown men. But Bruce couldn't help it anyway.

"Mr. Stark is requesting permission to enter, Dr. Banner," JARVIS told Bruce.

"Let him in," Bruce replied automatically. The door swung open and Tony flew in like a tornado.

"Are you okay? How are you feeling? You're not in any pain, are you? You don't feel hot or anything, right?"

"Tony, I'm fine," Bruce told his friend, a smile spreading across his lips. Tony took a deep breath, then nodded.

"Oh. Okay. Good."

"JARVIS said you still had to run some tests, but that I was probably fine," Bruce added. Tony nodded again.

"Yeah. Some of the stuff Sterns put in you seems to be stuff he created himself, so we'll have to figure out what it is, but I think I've neutralized all of the dangerous stuff."

"Good," Bruce replied. There was an awkward silence for a moment. "So, what are we going to do about Sterns?"

"I'll go after him," Tony replied. There was unexpected savagery in his voice. "He needs to be brought to justice."

"Shouldn't you just get SHIELD?" Bruce asked. Tony shook his head.

"I don't trust them. And you said you didn't either, last night." Bruce took a moment to think about it, then remembered that yes, he had said that, hadn't he? And it was true; he really didn't trust SHIELD in this case. They were supposed to have had Sterns in custody. They obviously hadn't done that very well. Bruce trusted Tony far more, at least when it came to Sterns. And on most other things too, to be honest. Tony was far more trustworthy than the vague, yet menacing way in which SHIELD seemed to operate.

"So what are you going to do?" Bruce asked. Tony shrugged.

"I'll find Sterns and I'll get him put in custody or something," he replied. "I'll figure out the details later. Right now, you tell me how you're feeling."

"Um…fine," Bruce replied, a little thrown by the sudden topic change.

"You sure?" Tony asked. "Cause you had a lot of shit in your bloodstream. You still do have a lot of shit in your bloodstream. If anything feels weird, you need to tell me so I can fix it. Like, right now."

"Tony, we went through this. I'm fine."

"You sure?" Tony asked. He looked scared and almost young. "Cause there could be something you're missing. Or…or maybe you just don't feel anything yet, but the chemicals are doing something weird. I don't know. But-"

"Tony, calm down," Bruce interrupted. "I'm okay. It's fine. You've saved the day." The last sentence was said with a wry little smile. Tony didn't seem to find it amusing.

"Bruce, this is serious. Things can still go seriously wrong."

"Calm down, Tony," Bruce repeated. "It's okay. It's over."

"But what if I screwed up?" Tony demanded. Bruce sensed they were getting to the root of the problem. "What if I did something wrong and I didn't fix the problem? What if I only made it worse?"

"You didn't," Bruce contradicted. "I'm going to be fine, Tony. It's okay."

"But what if-"

Suddenly, Bruce grabbed Tony by the front of his shirt and pulled him towards him, smashing their lips together. Tony's eyes widened in surprise and Bruce felt horror wash over him. He let go of Tony instantly. JARVIS had been wrong, it seemed.

"I-I'm sorry. I thought… I mean, I…"

"Why the hell did you stop?" Tony asked. That had not been what Bruce was expecting.

"W-what?"

"Why did you stop kissing me?" Tony asked. Bruce wasn't quite sure what was going on.

"I… I thought you…"

"Cause that was possibly the best kiss I've ever had," Tony added. "And it ended far too soon."

As Tony pulled Bruce in for another soft kiss, Bruce felt warmth wash over his body. It seemed JARVIS had been right.