Chapter Text
After the Battle of New York, Bruce had found himself eating shawarma with five larger than life heroes and trying – and failing – not to think about the fact that the Hulk had been unleashed on New York City again. Obviously the alternative would have been worse. Had he stood by and watched his new friends fight the alien invaders without intervening more lives would have been lost, more damage would have been done, Tony might not have survived that plummet back through the wormhole. It was as if the other man could read his mind. Tony was snapping his fingers in front of Bruce’s glazed over eyes in an effort to break his train of thought and get his attention.
“So kind of you to join us Dr. Jekyll, I don’t think we’ve got it in us to fight off Hyde if he makes another appearance today,” Tony quipped, “As I was saying if any of you need a place to stay, you’re welcome to head to the tower with me afterwards. Pepper and I will need to work on the plans to reconstruct the damaged floors, but the thing is nearly 100 stories high so I’m sure we’ll be able to find some usable space for you all.”
He let the proposition hang in the air for a moment before winking at Natasha, “What do you say Kim Possible? Katniss?” Clint and Natasha looked at each other, silently conferring. Natasha spoke for the both of them, “We’ve got safe houses all over the world, Tony. It’s a very generous offer, but I don’t think it wise for us to stay in the public eye right now. It’s likely that people will blame us and SHIELD for what happened today; they’ll probably question why spies and assassins were part of the team defending the city.”
Tony let out a sigh and nodded, realizing that she was right, “Your thoughts, Mister Rogers?”
Steve looked uneasy when he replied, “The world just found out I’m back a few days ago, Stark. New York’s my home, but I’d feel vulnerable here with all these eyes on me. I’m thinking I might head upstate for a while, I hear it’s peaceful.”
Thor spoke up next, “Stark, you honor us with your humble invitation. It is evident that you want to care for us, even as we should be caring for you now. You are lucky to be alive, many mortals would not have had the strength to do what you have done today and yet you stand ready to serve again mere hours after your fall from the portal. Perhaps in the days to come I will be able to visit you in your tower, but for now I must return to Asgard. The All Father has bid me to return and I must see that Loki faces punishment equal to his crimes.”
“Can’t argue with that, MC Hammer. Banner, I’m guessing you’re heading back to India? Well the invitation stands either way, if any of you need anything don’t hesitate to get in touch or stop by. I guess we’re a team now, so I’ll do what I can to help if you need it.”
Bruce thought about the years he’d spent running from the Army. He thought about that time in The Bronx. Those years spent hiding out in rural, developing countries had brought him to a level of peace he hadn’t previously known. He came to control the Hulk while helping others and he wouldn’t trade that time for anything, but he wasn’t sure that he could run away and hide again after everything he and the other Avengers, his teammates, had been through during the short time since they’d been brought together. He thought about what it would be like to work in a proper laboratory again, and he was certain that Tony Stark would have a lab in his tower. He interrupted Tony who had now offered to pay to fly any of the Midgardian Avengers to whatever destinations they had in mind, “Actually Tony, I might take you up on that – for a little while at least. If you’re not too busy running a company I’ve got some experiments planned out that I could use some help with.”
The engineer grinned, “Sounds like fun, Green Bean.”
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The first few weeks after the Battle were uneventful for Bruce. He watched as Tony worked – seemingly tirelessly – reconstructing parts of the tower, conducting conference calls with his board of directors, dealing with SHIELD, assisting Damage Control with the efforts to clean up the debris and destruction left over, working on new suits, and doing lab work with himself.
Bruce was equally impressed with Pepper, he figured it must take a very patient woman to put up with Tony Stark and he had been right, but she was also brilliant and after taking a couple of days to process the shock of the invasion, make sure that her boyfriend was okay, and start the tower repair plans she flew back to L.A. to keep a closer eye on Stark Industries. When she left Bruce stared, wide-eyed at Tony and hoped that the expression conveyed just how impressive he thought Ms. Potts was. Stark just sighed, “She’s incredible, I know,” before moving on to the next thing on his infinite to-do list.
And Bruce was content to live in the massive, high-tech tower with his new friend and teammate. They didn’t interact much outside of the lab because Tony was staying so busy. In fact Bruce called into question whether or not the other man was sleeping at all, but he brushed that small worry aside and decided that a genius like Tony Stark ought to know when he needs to rest and that a man as influential as Tony Stark could make the world wait if he needed to take a break before reengaging with it. The physicist didn’t notice the symptoms at first because the presentation of Stark’s symptoms was so very different from his own.