Work Text:
Bruce was piling scrambled eggs onto his plate as he watched Steve devour an enormous stack of pancakes and Clint attack a plate of bacon.
It had been a strangely uneventful week – no calls to assemble or meetings with SHIELD – so he had been able to bury himself in his lab for the past few days and get a lot of work done. At a certain point he realized he was hungry and went up to the communal kitchen to find that it was actually breakfast time, and Steve and Clint were making breakfast.
Bruce took a bite. “This is great, guys. Thanks.” The other two nodded at him, their mouths full.
After a moment, Tony ambled into the kitchen and made a beeline for the coffeemaker. In a rumpled t-shirt and jeans, his eyes tired, he looked like he hadn’t slept in a while either.
“Hey Tony, want some eggs?” Bruce asked.
The engineer shook his head, lifting his mug to his mouth and drinking gratefully. “No. Gotta get back to work.” Tony let out a groan and his free hand went to his back. A pained grimace crossed his features.
Steve looked over at him. “Your back bothering you? You should go to the spa on the 34th floor. The guy that works there – Kevin? He’s great.”
Tony looked at Steve, but just took another sip of coffee, something strange behind his eyes.
“I went last week. He told me you paid to move him here from Malibu. Said you used to be his best client. You should go back.”
“Yeah,” Tony said. “He is the best. Maybe I’ll do that.”
Steve nodded and went back to attacking his pancakes, but Bruce caught the look on Tony’s face before he turned and made for the door. Bruce could read his friend pretty well by now, and could see that Tony was dissembling.
Bruce turned back to his eggs, thinking. In the six months that Bruce had been living at the tower, he’d spent a lot of time with Tony. A lot of sleepless nights working together and sometimes just keeping each other company.
Tony often worked in tank tops and made endless jokes, flirting with everyone. He was certainly not modest, but Bruce realized that he had never seen the genius without a t-shirt except the one time Tony had asked for his help in upgrading the reactor.
Tony wouldn’t let most people even see the reactor, much less get their hands near it. Tony definitely wouldn’t be going for a massage. Bruce was sure he had been one of Kevin’s best clients – before Afghanistan. He had probably moved the guy to the tower spa so that his teammates and employees would have the best there was.
Even though Tony wouldn’t be making use of it.
Though, Bruce thought, Tony did let Bruce touch him. After that movie night when Tony used him as a pillow, Tony had actually started a habit of falling asleep on Bruce, and Bruce, to his embarrassment, returned the favor a couple of times, passing out from exhaustion after a battle and waking on the Quinjet to find himself propped against Tony’s warm shoulder.
Tony did let Bruce get close to him. So maybe Bruce could help him out. Tony had done so much for him, and he wanted to give him something back.
Bruce finished up his eggs, then grabbed a blueberry muffin and headed down to Tony’s workshop. He found Tony sitting on a stool in the middle of the room, sipping his coffee and working on several screens at once. The scientist walked over to him, trying for casual.
“Hey. I brought you a muffin.” Tony looked up at him and nodded in approval as Bruce put the muffin down on the worktable in front of him.
“Thanks.” Tony put his coffee down and grabbed the muffin up, picking at it.
“You know, if your back is really bothering you, I’m not a professional but I’ve picked up a lot of good techniques in my travels. I could give you a massage. It could help with the pain, and would be better than overdoing it with painkillers.”
Tony gave Bruce a strange look. “I – uh- “ It was a sign of how much pain he was in, Bruce thought, that he didn’t jump straight to making a joke or a come on. His eyes flicked away, then back to Bruce, and Bruce could see a million thoughts passing through that brain.
“You just look like you’re really hurting. I want to help you out.”
“Yeah. Ok.” Tony’s face finally relaxed a bit. “That’d be good. Since last night it’s just really fucking killing me.” He took a bite of muffin, then swallowed and joked, “I trust you Doc.”
Bruce smiled at that. Tony was the only one who trusted him in all his forms.
“So how do you-?”
“I can set up a massage table down in my yoga studio. Give me an hour and meet me there.”
“Sounds like a plan.” As Bruce left the workshop, he noticed that Tony was now hungrily munching on the muffin.
* * *
As one could get everything and anything in Stark Tower, Bruce had a padded massage table sent up to his yoga studio, and at JARVIS’ suggestion, cut out a section of the padding where the arc reactor would rest when Tony was lying on his stomach, to avoid compressing his chest and lungs.
By the time he set up a playlist and had JARVIS dim the lights a bit, Tony was knocking on the door.
The engineer had showered and changed into a clean t-shirt and sweatpants. He came in and Bruce was surprised to see he was a bit nervous. Then Tony’s face changed to a smile as he listened to the music playing.
“Credence Clearwater Revival? Really? I expected-“
“Some new-agey crap?” Bruce smiled back. He was lining up some massage oil and checking on the number of clean towels, just to have something to do, give Tony a moment to relax.
Tony chuckled. “Yeah, actually. But this is good. I like it.”
“Good. So, I guess you remember how this works. You wanna strip down to your boxers and lie face down on the table we can get started.”
Tony’s eyes flicked to the table, cataloging the space made for the reactor. He nodded. “Sure. But if I’m face down how can I get my happy ending?” he winked. Bruce was glad to see him joking again.
The scientist went into the bathroom to wash his hands; he’d already done it but he wanted to give Tony a moment to get comfortable. Tony was making himself vulnerable here, in a different way than when he fell asleep on Bruce or talked about his nightmares in the middle of the night. Bruce didn’t want to push him in any way.
He walked back out into the studio to find Tony stretched out on his stomach. He gently laid a hand on Tony’s shoulder, to let him know he was there.
“Is it ok? JARVIS gave me the exact measurements for the reactor.” Bruce put some sandalwood oil on his hands and rubbed them to warm them a bit. He was always warm from the radiation, but it was a habit.
“It’s good. Go ahead, do your worst.” He heard a smile in Tony’s voice.
Bruce’s eyes were drawn to the scars on Tony’s back; he couldn’t help it. They both had a lot of scars, but this was the first time he’d ever had a chance to look closely at Tony’s back, and his eyes fell on one that looked too familiar.
Crossing Tony’s lower back was a thin line that ended in a squarish shape. That looked like a belt buckle.
Bruce only realized that his fingers were gently touching Tony’s skin, tracing the scar, when Tony let out a small cough.
“Oh shit! Sorry. Sorry!” Bruce jumped backwards. “I didn’t mean, I didn’t…”
Tony twisted to look at Bruce, propping himself up on his hands. “It’s ok. It’s ok Bruce. Are you…ok?” Tony’s gaze was serious. Following Tony’s gaze to his own hands Bruce looked down and realized that his hands were shaking.
He shouldn’t have done that, crossed that line, but he had the same scar. The same. He didn’t know it had been that bad for Tony too.
Tony lifted his arm, his hand reaching out for Bruce. “Com’ere.” His eyes were piercing, seeing everything Bruce didn’t want him to know.
He stepped forward and let Tony take his wrist, gently, just a soft, reassuring touch. Bruce took a deep breath.
“I’m – I’m sorry. It’s just, I have the same scars.”
“Yeah,” Tony looked down at their hands, speaking softly. “I know you get it. I know. It’s ok. Uh….Howard Stark had a lot more in common with Brian Banner than people know. He just had a lot of money to hide behind.”
Howard Stark. Not “dad” or even “my father.” Bruce did that too. Even in his thoughts the man was “Brian Banner”, to distance him as far as possible from Bruce.
“You know,” Tony continued, “I don’t even remember what that one’s from. Why he was so pissed at me that time.”
“Sometimes they don’t need a reason,” Bruce found himself whispering. He didn’t know why, but he felt safe with Tony. He’d never talked to anyone about this stuff. “I think my existence was the reason he was mad most of the time.”
Tony’s eyes moved up and met Bruce’s. It was a strange moment of silence between them, the things they’d said thickening the air.
“Well, it’s a requirement, I think, for the superhero gig. A shitty childhood.” Tony gave him a small smile.
Bruce cleared his throat. “Seems like it. God, I’m supposed to be making you feel better, not worse.”
“Still can. I’m ready for your magic fingers when you are.” Tony gave his small smile, so different from the flashy grins he usually showed the world. Bruce found himself smiling back and relaxing a little.
Tony let go of Bruce’s arm and lay back down on the table. Bruce took a few more deep breaths to center himself, then tried to speak normally. “Yeah. Can you show me the spot that hurts the most?”
“Yeah, uh-“ Tony moved his hand to the lower right of his back. “Here.” Bruce felt the knots in the tight muscle. “Oh, that’s it. There.”
“I’ll start with your neck and spine first, then move on to loosen up that spot.”
Tony gave a grunt of agreement. Bruce started by massaging his neck and gradually felt Tony relaxing under his hands. He was silent, but it was a calm silence. After easing the tension in Tony’s neck, Bruce worked his fingers across Tony’s scalp until Tony was practically purring.
“You are really good at this. I should hire you to replace Kevin.”
“No, I’m exclusive. Just for the team,” Bruce moved down to loosen up Tony’s spine, his fingers digging into the tight muscles.
“The team? You gonna cheat on me to get your hands all over Cap’s pecs? Or Clint’s booty?”
Bruce laughed at that. “Don’t worry, you’re my only client so far.”
“Good. Keep it that way. I get jealous you know. I don’t share easily.”
He knew Tony was joking, but it still sent warmth through Bruce’s chest. As Bruce dug his fingers into the trouble spot, Tony let out a pained huff.
“It’s probably gonna hurt more before it starts to feel better.” Bruce kept working, Tony’s skin warm under his fingers. Tony’s trust in him evident in the way Tony lay there relaxed.
“Do what you gotta do. I can handle pain.” It wasn’t posturing, Tony stated it matter-of-factly. Another thing that Bruce could understand. Though it made the warmth in his chest dissipate and a tightness take its place.
After that Bruce concentrated on the massage, and though here and there Tony let out another huff, the muscles started relaxing. It was working. At a certain point Tony even started humming along with the music. Compared to how Tony must have felt that morning, Bruce considered it a big win.
“Ok, I think that’s good for today. You should probably let me work on you a couple more times, to really help the pain.”
“Yes doctor. Schedule me in.” Tony’s voice was a bit muffled, but Bruce could hear the strain had left it. Tony was relaxed.
“I’ll be back in a sec.” Bruce went to use the bathroom, and when he came back, he found Tony laying in the same position, very still. Stepping closer, he heard Tony snoring. Tony was asleep, lying comfortably on the massage table.
Bruce smiled and took a seat a stool in the corner of the room. He had JARVIS bring up the results of his latest experiment on his tablet. He would work for a while and let Tony sleep as long as he needed to.
* * *
Tony slept for more than two hours. Bruce was lost in his research, and startled at Tony’s voice.
“Hey. How long was I out?” Bruce turned and saw Tony sitting up, rubbing his face.
“A couple of hours. I think you needed the sleep. How does your back feel?”
Tony stretched a bit. “Definitely better than this morning. Thanks.”
“No problem. Whenever you want.”
Tony’s eyes flicked away a moment. “You know, it’s not an insult.”
“What?” Bruce got up and picked up a towel, moving over to Tony. He gestured to Tony’s back and Tony nodded, so Bruce quickly wiped the massage oil from his skin.
“That I tend to fall asleep around you.”
“I know.” Bruce handed Tony his t-shirt and Tony slipped it over his head.
“It’s that – it’s … I feel comfortable around you. You make me feel calmer.”
Bruce huffed in surprise. “I think you are the only person in the entire world that has ever said that to me.”
Tony hopped down from the table and pulled on his sweatpants. His eyes moved to Bruce’s, open and warm.
“It’s true though.”
“I know what you mean. It’s the same for me.”
There was another weird moment of silence, then Tony spoke. “J, what time is it? What’s my schedule like this afternoon?”
“It is 12:52 pm. Your schedule is surprisingly clear this afternoon. You finished your latest S.I. project a day ahead of time.”
“Really? Great. So,” he seemed to gather himself. “Lunch. You hungry? Let me buy you some pizza. Let’s go out. I can pay you for your good work in pizza.”
“Sure. That sounds good.” Tony was joking, talking, eating, planning on leaving the tower for a while.
Yes, Bruce had helped. He had made some difference, no matter how little.