Chapter Four: The Concert
Title: Calling a Truce: The Concert
Authors: destinyawakened and MJLS
Rating: PG-13
words: 8200
Pairings/Characters: Tony Stark/Bruce Wayne, Pepper Potts, JARVIS, random Oc's that aren't important
Summary: Tony's convinced Bruce to come to Malibu for a Concert... things could go terribly wrong.
Warnings: spoilers for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man
Disclaimer: We don't own or claim to own the characters or settings, the books mentioned or make any money.
Song: If Not For You - Bob Dylan
Parts: One | Two | Three |
Tony Stark had been gone for two days. Bruce found that he actually missed Tony's annoying banter and how he thought he was always right. It was on the second that Tony had called to be sure that Bruce was still going to fly into Malibu for the concert he had invited Bruce to attend with him. Bruce, having not been subjected much more than Bach or Mozart as child, still had no idea who Bob Dylan was. So, the plane trip from Gotham International Airport to Malibu's airport was spent reading the documentary styled biography books he picked up in the airports gift shop before leaving. He even went as far as having Alfred buy one of those iPod things and putting a variety Bob Dylan music on it.
One thing was sure, he wasn't going to land in Malibu being completely oblivious to Bob Dylan and make Tony mock him. This time, he was going to impress the man and prove his own smartness to the child prodigy.
As the plane touched down on the Malibu landing strip, Bruce packed the book into his briefcase, but left the iPod earphones in as he walked down the stairs of the plane on to the tarmac, listening and slightly humming 'Desolation Row', which got him a few odd glances from the flight attendants. He gave each young woman a flirtatious grin and walked towards the two most expensive looking cars on the runway -- a silver Audi R8 and a black Rolls Royce, a few years newer than the one Alfred had parked in the penthouse garage.
"There's my boytoy wonder!!" Tony walked towards Bruce with his arms wide open as the man behind him just leaned against the black car and ignored his boss. Bruce stopped directly in front of Tony and allowed the man to hug him tightly, returning it with a slight pat to Tony's back. Public affection was something Bruce was not quite used to with another man.
"Tony," Bruce greeted, pulling the earphones from his ears and stuffing them into his pants pocket next to the iPod.
"I missed you, my sweet cupcake," Tony looked over Bruce and shook his head at the thin man in front of him, "you lost weight."
Bruce shook his head, shrugging off the comment as if it were nothing. "Not enough time in the day sometimes," he said, sure that Tony would catch the meaning. Sometimes being Batman took more of his time and eating was really the last thing on his list. That's what those nasty protein shakes were for, right?
"Then eat more at night Bwucie-wucie," Tony cooed as he led the man towards the Audi R8 and almost forced him in, claiming Happy was going to take care of the luggage. Bruce slid into the passenger seat, placing his briefcase on the floor at his feet. He looked over at Tony as he sat down in the driver's seat.
"Eating in the suit isn't really advisable. It's not that comfortable," Bruce explained, leaning his head back against the seat; he didn't sleep on the plane and had gone out the night before -- he was running on empty.
"I didn't say you had to eat in the suit. I said you had to eat more at night. Ergo, hinting you need to stop being Batsy Watsy all the frickin' time," once again, Tony seemed to deform a lot of words to the sound of a toddler saying them instead, Bruce didn't know what this was good for.
"Right," Bruce said, sounding a bit annoyed that the tone and usage of words Tony was using. "I'll keep that in mind, Tony."
"By the way you're sometimes taking care of yourself, no wonder people think you don't have one. A mind that is," Tony pointed out, not even a hint of a smile was on his lips, the dead serious look in his eyes was enough to make Bruce feel sort of bad. Then again, it was his life so why did he even care what people thought?
"You can't believe everything you read in tabloids," Bruce replied, avoiding Tony's stare and looking out the window instead, folding his arms over his chest. He didn't feel it was fair to be berated down by the other man. Bruce wasn't stupid, just careful not to let anyone how he really was.
"Oh I don't believe a word they say. I just listen to people at parties and watch you. Great act, the playboy one, but my God, either you really are dumb or you're just a really good actor. I do hope it's the latter darling, for your sake and mine," Tony grinned, "I got a reputation to uphold remember?"
Bruce turned his gaze back to Tony and gave him a rather mischievous smile. "I guess you'll never really know if the latter happens to be the truth. Maybe," Bruce started as he leaned over to whisper into the other man's ear, "I've been acting this whole time." And maybe he could just bug Tony a little the way Tony bugged him. Truth was, how open he was with Tony was not an act, but to make the other billionaire squirm a little to really wonder if Bruce had just pulled an act on him or not, would be well worth it.
Tony squirmed in his seat and glared for a second at Bruce before noting that he didn't exactly want to be pulled over by a cop and trying to explain to him why he had driven off the road with only another man present in his car.
"Nothing to say?" Bruce asked, sitting back straight in his own seat, seeing how he had been able to fluster Tony a bit. After a moment, he continued, not really looking for an answer. "Whatever you see at parties, in the press or even on the television... don't believe it. I know you're smarter than that, Stark."
"Just because I once fucked an actress or two, at the same time even, doesn't mean I can see when someone is acting or not," Tony rolled his eyes and gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter. Bruce held back the urge to laugh, something he had hadn't whole heartily done in a long time, as he watched Tony grow a bit annoyed with him. The tables had turned, it seemed, and Bruce found that rather entertaining. This was a vacation for Bruce, so maybe he could lighten up a little...?
Bruce didn't say anything as he placed his left elbow over the back of the seat and placed his hand on Tony's right shoulder, rubbing his fingers into the man's, now, tense muscles. Tony, feeling the fingers massaging his sore shoulder (a little thanks from one of the criminals he caught last night), relaxed and got a small smile on his lips as he drove on, clearly enjoying Bruce's company and the close proximity of the man.
"I don't care if you've fucked actresses, Tony. I've done the same. You don't have to impress me."
"And here I heard you're still a virgin. Damn there goes my ten bucks," Tony pouted.
"Virgin?" Bruce asked, using that dumbfounded, confused look he so often played up in his facade. "Tony, you have no idea how wrong that is." Bruce lowered his tone a few octaves as he whispered into Tony's ear. He was actually quite enjoying using Tony's own game against him.
"Phew, am I relieved to hear you've been fucked before. I hate deflowering people seriously. Now tell me, it's the butler right? Am I right?" Tony grinned.
Bruce scoffed, "That's just disgusting. Do you know how old he is? I don't even want to think about that." Bruce, even though a bit offended that Tony would even suggest that, knew he wasn't serious. Bruce continued to massage Tony's shoulder, moving his fingers diligently down his arm, moving in small easy circles to loosen the muscle. Even though Bruce was playing, or thought he was, he was finding that he was actually enjoying the closeness with Tony.
"Well, maybe if you're lucky you get to see some of my glorious skin," Tony smirked, "if you're a very good boy that is. Are you a good boy Brucie?"
Well, Bruce was not expecting that response, even though he should have known better -- it being Tony Stark and all. The question caught him off guard, and he felt his heart pound suddenly against his chest. Bruce fingers gripped a little tighter into Tony's arm, having to gain control of himself mentally before answering. Keep to the act, Bruce... but now he was wondering if it was an act at all. "I can be whatever you want me to be."
"Oh, I don't know, I like myself some bad boys, too, cupcake."
Tony drove in the garage and parked the car with much ease, considering the floor was filled with spare parts and Bruce was sure he even saw an unfinished arm of the Iron Man costume on the desk but wasn't sure from the angle he saw it from. The garage looked a bit like his bunker, just messier and more personalized. There was even a fridge against the wall, something Alfred had been nagging about for months now ('just install the bloody thing Master Wayne, it would make it much easier for both my worries and yourself. At least you'd eat something then').
"Welcome to every nerds dream, Brucie boy," Tony grinned as he lead Bruce towards the doors. "Don't mind all the junk, never really do clean up. Now the top floors. They're worth admiring. Know why? Because we got the bedrooms there."
Bruce looked over the garage and then to Tony, smirking. "Oh good, I could really use a nap. Can't say I ever sleep well on airplanes." He pointed to the stairs as if to ask if that was the way up to the first floor. He had completely stopped playing into Tony's hands, proving the point that Tony would really never know when exactly Bruce was 'acting' or not. They headed up the stairs.
"Napping? Now? It's three in the afternoon, Brucie!"
Bruce let out an over exasperated groan, slumping his shoulder. "This is around the time I usually wake up! I can't even believe I'm awake right now. All because I came out here to see you," Bruce said, implying he was rather put out by this.
"I feel special," Tony batted his eyelashes at Bruce who rolled his eyes, annoyed. "That's Pepper, you know her," Tony pointed at his personal assistant sitting on the couch with her laptop and looking rather comfortable to be working. Pepper looked up briefly, and Bruce nodded, but since she was busy, he didn't bother with formalities.
"Uh huh," Bruce mumbled, putting one hand in his pocket while holding his brief case in the other. He knew Tony was stalling for time, trying to make it known that Bruce would not be catching a nap before the concert tonight.
"Oh and if you need anything, just ask it out loud, JARVIS will take care of that. You see, I'm way ahead of you. I don't need an old butler, I got an AI," Tony grinned and proved his point by making JARVIS show a few of his tricks.
Bruce quirk an eyebrow, unimpressed. "As great as, JARVIS, is... I don't trust machines all that much. Artificial intelligence is bound to take over the world one day and enslave humanity." Not that Bruce really believed that, but the look on Tony's face was well worth the comment.
"Stop watching National Geographic, JARVIS has fail safe rules programmed inside of him. Besides, don't forget, I'm the smartest man on the planet, or so they say," Tony bragged, "if they do take over, I'll stop 'em before they hurt your pretty ass. Okay, Brucie?"
"Okay, sure, Tony," Bruce said, putting down his briefcase on the coffee table as well as his iPod that he dug out of his pocket.
"Oooo, you got the latest iPod!" Tony jumped up and grabbed it, immediately going through the songs on it and grinning when he noticed Dylan was the only artist on it. Bruce lunged towards Tony to attempt to grab the music device back, but didn't put too much effort into it, as he didn't want to hurt him. Tony pulled his hand away just quick enough for Bruce not to be able to grab it back.
"Give it back," Bruce growled, grabbing at it again.
"Take it then," Tony kept grinning and held it above his head so Bruce couldn't reach it, and then moving it to his other hand when Bruce tried to grab for it once more. Bruce had a hand on Tony's shoulder, pushing him slightly as he used his left leg to kick -- as gently as possible -- Tony's feet out from under him. Bruce moved on top of Tony, pinning his hand to the floor, causing Tony to drop the iPod. But, Bruce didn't immediately grab for it, a little dazed by their current predicament. He then reached above Tony's head and grabbed the device and pocketed, having to had let go of one of Tony's wrists.
"Thanks," Bruce said in a not so appreciative tone.
"Ooo, harassing me on the first date? Classy Bruce, very classy, don't you think so, too, Pep?"
"Not my business, Mr. Stark," Pepper replied as kept looking at her laptop screen and didn't even shoot a strange glance at the wrestling men on the floor just in front of her. Bruce let go of Tony's other wrist, only straddling the other man now as he thought about getting to his feet, not wanting to make the situation even more awkward. Sure, he'd kissed Tony the other day, but he wasn't sure he wanted it to go further than that. Not to mention how impolite it was to act in such a way in front of Tony's personal assistant.
"It's not the worst thing you caught me doing now is it?" Tony grinned and tried to sit up himself but found himself impossible to do so because Bruce was still on top of him, not really doing anything. So Tony did the only thing that would get the man's attention back to the fact that he was still pinning him down and thrust his hips upwards against Bruce's own. Bruce scrambled of Tony as their hips collided, not at all liking -- or not wanting to like -- the sexual charge it sent through Bruce's groin. He glared at Tony as the he sat up on the floor.
Pepper didn't even acknowledge Tony that time, just kept at her work. Now that was professionalism, if Alfred would've been here,he would've long said something about this situation. Bruce finally got back to his feet, and started to look around. He felt a bit grimy from the four hour plane trip here and really needed to change his suit for the concert that evening.
"Come on, let's finish this tour so we can do something...productive," Tony grabbed Bruce's wrist and dragged him up the stairs and past the waterfall wall (something Bruce admired greatly for a few seconds but Tony didn't allow any stalling after that).
"Productive?" Bruce asked, allowing Tony to drag him around the house. Something told Bruce he should have kept his mouth shut.
"Oh I don't know, I was thinking about getting something to eat but if you prefer staying home and 'napping' as you want to name it. Fine with me darling," Tony's tone suggested that he definitely meant something else with the word 'napping' than Bruce did.
Bruce knew a real 'nap' was never going to happen, so he opted for the food. "Food is fine," he replied. "I do need to change before hand."
"I do hope you didn't bring your spandex, this is not the 80's anymore, Wayne," Tony said as he showed Bruce the guest room, where his luggage (and how it got there so quickly Bruce will never know) was waiting.
"What makes you think I ever wore spandex?" Bruce asked as he opened one of his suitcases to sort through the clothing Alfred packed, since Bruce didn't have time.
"Well, you look like the type to run around in a tight suit, I do hope it wasn't pink..."
"The only spandex I ever wore was when I was seven and my mother bought me one of those Speedo bathing suits," Bruce replied as opened the garment bag instead, deciding he'd just wear another suit tonight; People wore suits to concerts, right?
"I do hope Alfie still got a picture of that," Tony said, hopeful, "but it wasn't pink was it?"
Bruce glared over at Tony as he loosened his tie and shrugged his jacket off. "It was blue. And whatever pictures there might have been were burnt in the fire."
"Well at least your mother isn't to blame for your lack of manliness then," Tony muttered, "and who is stupid enough to burn down his own house anyway?"
Bruce let the first comment slide as he slid off his tie and started to unbutton his shirt. He couldn't help but cringe outwardly at the second comment. "I didn't," Bruce replied.
"Jealous girlfriend? Or boyfriend?" Tony suggested, "and don't mind me while you're undressing, I'll just, you know, stare and talk..."
Bruce gritted his teeth -- this was a conversation he hated having. "Mentor," Bruce said quietly, throwing his shirt off next to his jacket and tie on the bed and then stripped out of his dress slacks. "We didn't exactly see eye-to-eye when I left him in Tibet."
"Ooo, please don't tell me he was old and looked a bit like Alfie because that would've been so fucked up, cupcake," Tony grimaced.
"No," Bruce sighed. "He didn't look it anyway; I never knew his real age." Bruce looked over the suit and decided it wasn't what he wanted to wear, and started to dig through his suit case again, finding a pair of jeans and t-shirt. Trying to ignore most of what Tony was insinuating about Bruce and Ra's, despite how true it was.
"Ooh, fuck buddies were ya?"
"It wasn't like that," Bruce said, even though if he looked back on it now, that was probably the best way to put it. Bruce slid into his jeans, t-shirt in hand and faced Tony.
"You'll need a jacket," Tony noted, pointing at Bruce's bare arms, "and don't worry, we all have a fuck buddy from time to time."
Bruce plundered through the suitcase; thank God Alfred was knew what to pack. Bruce found his leather motorcycle's jacket and zipped the suitcase shut. "At the time, I thought it was more than that," Bruce said, finding himself warming up to Tony again and spilling probably more information than Bruce had even told Alfred on his return to Gotham.
"Oh god, you're the girl in the relationship aren't you? Please don't expect me to buy you flowers because Tony Stark does not do that sentimental crap."
Bruce, for a good twenty seconds, just stared at Tony; maybe it had been a bad idea to say anything, obviously Tony didn't understand after all. "Whatever you want to think, Tony," Bruce said quietly as he pushed past Tony to leave the room.
"I believe a lot, Bruce," Tony stopped Bruce from leaving the room and once again the men found themselves invading each other's personal space, Tony most of all, "I also believe that this...guy...whatever he was to you, clearly fucked you up good, and you know what? I don't like how you dealt with it, locking yourself away..."
Bruce found himself being pushed against the door of the room that Tony closed before he could leave. It was more than just Ra's al Ghul that left Bruce the way he was with people and relationships, but he had never thought to pin point it starting with his now dead mentor. "I don't know what you're talking about..."
"No, you do, but you don't want to admit that I'm right. First your parents dying on you, then your mentor with you seeing him as a sort of father figure, no wonder you're so closed off Brucie boy, you've been betrayed by everyone you trusted, well, almost everyone, your entire life. Even that girl you loved so much was going to marry someone else even if she told you she'd wait for you."
Bruce didn't know how Tony knew about Rachel and he sure didn't know how he could even assume to know what Rachel's plans had been... she was going to wait for Bruce, wasn't she? Bruce didn't know if he was more angry or sad, because a part of him knew that Tony was right about Rachel, and Bruce had always known, but never admitted it to himself. Bruce felt whatever words he wanted to say were caught in his throat, mixture of painful memories and anger welling in him. He just looked at Tony, unable to answer.
"Well I'll take your silence as a 'yes Tony, you were once again right, you are smarter and more attentive to humans than I'll ever be'," Tony nodded, still not moving away from Bruce even though they had not much to say to each other at this point in the conversation. Tony moved a few inches closer and wrapped his arms around Bruce's waist, pulling him in another awkward hug before Tony pulled back again and planted a soft kiss on Bruce's forehead as if to show he actually cared.
Bruce placed his hands gently behind Tony neck, whispering softly, mood changing so suddenly that he couldn't even tell he'd done it himself. "Yes, Tony... you were right." He looked the other man in the eye, and moved in closer so that their lips barely brushed. Whatever Tony did to Bruce, he was starting to like it. He pulled Tony's head forward and kissed him fully on the mouth, working the other man's mouth open with his tongue, hand massaging the back of Tony's neck sensually.
Pushing their bodies against each other, the two men wrestled for the upper strength and moved towards the bed with every small step they took. Tony soon took advantage of the fact that Bruce couldn't see where they were going and pulled the man closer by his shirt before growling and pushing him on the bed, crawling on top of him. Bruce felt his breath knocked out of him briefly as Tony pushed him down on the bed. He quickly grabbed at Tony's face with his hands again, pulling his head down towards his again and kissing him as though he'd not kissed anyone in months.
Tony moaned softly in the kiss and ran his hands through Bruce's hair, trying to get closer to the man than was physically possible. Bruce let his tongue explore the depths of Tony's mouth as he slid his hands up Tony's shirt, feeling the obviously well taken care of skin, smooth under his rough hands. He let his hand glide around Tony's back, pulling him down closer to him, grinding his hips up into the other man's, letting his hand slid down to Tony's ass and grabbing it firmly.
"You like it don't you?" Tony smirked, breaking the kiss for a few seconds, "don't blame you, I got a firm ass after all."
Bruce didn't make a real answer, just an audible 'Hnn' noise as he brought his head up towards Tony's neck and licked a clean stripe from his clavicle to his ear, biting Tony's lobe, and grabbing the other man's ass harder, this time with both hands.
"Might I remind you and your guest Mister Stark that the concert is due to start in an hour and it's a half hour drive towards the venue," JARVIS' voice rang clearly through the grunts and groans coming from the two men.
Bruce was just a little startled by the voice, but could almost not hear it through the sound of his heart pounding in his head. He placed his hands on the outside of Tony's thighs. "Do we really have to go?" Bruce breathed into Tony's ear, knowing already that the answer would be obvious, since Tony made such a stink about taking Bruce to a real concert.
"Depends on you, love," Tony gasped, feeling all the blood rush to his hardening cock instead of his brain where it should be. Bruce let his head fall back against the bed, taking a deep breath; he had come all the way to Malibu for this dumb concert, the least he should do is have something to show for it. Plus, he was sure Tony would still be down for more of this later.
"Well," Bruce started, placing a hand on his chest, staring up at Tony, "maybe we should go..."
-------------
Dressed in their jeans, t-shirts and their leather jackets, Bruce and Tony arrived at the Auditorium for the concert twenty minutes later. Tony had bought the best tickets possible, right down in front where they squished incredibly close together with a bunch of other people. Bruce looked uncomfortable, while Tony had a big, excited grin on his face, obviously entertained by the idea of introducing something entirely new to Bruce. Bruce was starting to get a bad feeling about being there; something just wasn't quite right.
"Next time, I'll take you to a real concert," Tony grinned, "then you can experience the famous mosh pitting!"
Bruce glanced over at Tony as more people started to squish them closer together. "Mosh pitting?" Why did it sound like something you'd do to fruit?
"Yea, you know, mosh pittinnnggg," Tony dragged out the word as if he was trying to explain the word by just pronouncing it longer. Bruce merely raised an eyebrow at Tony, shaking his head slightly to show he still had no idea what the other man was talking about it.
"My god, are you just oblivious or plain stupid?" Tony's right eye narrowed a bit while the other was still wide open.
Bruce wasn't quite paying attention to what Tony was saying anymore, he was scanning the room behind them, that feeling of something sneaking up on him was crawling up the back of his neck. "Uh, well some of us had better things to focus on instead of rock concerts and getting drunk," Bruce replied half heartily.
"Like focusing on how to lose your voice in ten steps by talking gruffy?" Tony retorted.
On most occasions this sort of comment would have warrant an annoyed look from Bruce, but he was really focused or caring about what Tony was saying. There was a slight commotion behind them, and as Bruce tried to push his way back through the crowd to attempt a better look -- and be unsuccessful -- the lights went out completely, and the screams of thousands of people started to pierce though his ears. First thing Bruce found himself doing was scream out Tony's name, just to make sure the man was still there and not just hanging around doing nothing, claiming it was nothing to worry about. The fact that he suddenly saw the distant shine of the arc reactor in the corner of his eye made Bruce feel more relaxed. He made his way back towards Tony, as it being the only light there was then, grabbing his arm.
"Please tell me you have a way of getting to your suit?" Bruce asked, but he was pretty sure of the answer already.
"Um...I left it at home. Considering Bob is an old coot and stuff...didn't think I'd actually need it," Tony replied with a slight smile.
"Wonderful," Bruce replied, letting go of Tony's arm and started to walk back towards the doors that he could vaguely make out as his eyes tried to adjust to the dark. He didn't get two feet from Tony when all the doors suddenly slammed shut, and a single spot light was shone on the stage at the front of the concert all.
"Well what about you mister flying rodent? Don't you got a little trick up your sleeve?" Tony retorted, "you seem like the guy who sleeps with the damn suit on..."
"I trusted that you would be prepared," Bruce spat back at Tony, looking around frantically as a figure appeared on the stage under the light. This wasn't looking good, and Bruce knew enough about Bob Dylan -- now -- to know that was not him coming out to make his appearance. "And getting that suit on a plane is hell.
"I might be the goddamn Iron Man but I still need a good way to drag that suit with me in a portable way. It's not exactly made of spandex..."
Bruce snickered at that as he tried to think through the screams that started up again as the shock of whatever was happening on stage was obviously just making people more panicked. A thick fog from the ceiling was slowly making its way down to the crowd, and having dealt with this sort of thing before, Bruce already knew it wasn't just special effects. He tugged on Tony's shirt to bring his attention to it, and Bruce now wished he had brought along his hidden travel utility belt.
"If you all remain calm," came a female voice from the stage, "this will go a lot smoother."
"Sorry, Cherie, I'm a bit taken tonight!" Tony grinned as he yelled back to the female voice. The fog had lowered further down, and Bruce could already tell it wasn't the usual dry ice kind, this was some sort of... well from the affects, a relaxant. This, or these people, really didn't want a lot of trouble. The woman looked in Tony's direction, but through the darkness she probably couldn't tell who it was. A group of what Bruce guessed to be her thugs walked down the stairs and started to round people up into groups.
"We're placing a bomb here," the woman said, ignoring what Tony had said. "But I don't suppose that soon any of you will really care." Next to Bruce some people had already started to pass out from the gas, and the woman's henchmen were carrying them into a circle in the middle of the concert hall. Bruce couldn't see much past in front of him, only what could be seen by the light of Tony's arc reactor, which wasn't much since his shirt blocked most of the light.
"Well you know, I sort of signed a contract to, you know, care so I actually do!" Tony yelled back, clearly being ignored and not liking it. The woman finally looked at Tony, and motioned for a few of her thugs who forced themselves past Bruce and took Tony by either arm. Bruce reacted quickly and jumped on the back of one of them, only to get thrown off easily as the affects of the gas were making his muscles too relaxed to do much.
"Tony!" Bruce yelled out as the other man was also struggling now against his captors, and Bruce was picked up by two others. Despite the situation, he kept yelling Tony's name in the hope the man would respond but all he heard was a few curses coming from the man towards his captors and a wince every now and then. Clearly it wasn't only Bruce who was feeling the affects of the gas on his body. Some people in crowd had seen Bruce and were starting to riot as well, jumping a few of the thugs but getting thrown back and before Bruce could process the situation further, he heard gunshots and more screaming. He was quickly pulled away from the crowd, and he couldn't see Tony anymore or the light from the reactor.
Worry took over, worry for the man but also for the civilians caught up in this mess. Of all places to take people hostage, a concert of a well-known musician is probably the best, considering the large fan-base. Bruce had to try and stop this, had to do something before it got even more out of hand. He struggled harder against the hands around his arms, briefly pulling away before hearing another gunshot, pain in his shoulder and then a the loud crack to the back of his skull, sending him to his knees before he blacked out.
What felt like seconds later, Bruce woke to a dimly lit room, and being unable to move any of his limbs. His shoulder burned and he remembered getting shot just before being knocked out. He wriggled a little, feeling the tight ropes around his ankles, wrists and chest. He also felt another warm body somewhere near his, but couldn't directly see who it was. It seemed they were tied to a pole of some sort and from what Bruce could make out, in the middle of an abandoned warehouse.
"Well fuck this shit," Tony grumbled and Bruce felt so much more relieved to know he wasn't tied to a civilian.
"Tony?" Bruce called roughly, his voice dry. He tried to move closer to where the voice had come from, scooting along the pole a bit and now able to at least see some of Tony's hair. That was some relief.
"No cupcake, it's Santa," Tony gritted through his teeth, clearly not pleased with the situation.
"Are you okay?" Bruce asked, clearly ignoring the annoyance in Tony's tone. Bruce had learned a long time ago that getting frustrated with situations like this just wouldn't help.
"Well I could use a bit of naked you right now to cheer me up again, otherwise, I'm dandy," even though Bruce couldn't see it, he was sure Tony just rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, well this isn't exactly how I imagined our first time being tied up together to be either," Bruce replied, trying to figure out if he could reach his pant leg from where he was. He usually kept at least a pocket knife hidden on him, and he was hoping that the woman and her thugs hadn't found it -- that was if he could even reach it.
"I'm sorry, I'll make sure I get some handcuffs at hand next time so that the thugs could use them to tie us up together instead of this rope -- sound good?"
"Hm," Bruce grumbled back, not quite paying attention to Tony's sarcasm as he tried to wriggle this fingers towards his tied up feet. This was definitely not working.
"Don't bother, they practically stripped us naked before tying us up. It took me forever to convince them that my arc reactor wasn't a weapon but actually keeping me alive."
Bruce let his head slide back against the pole, letting his hands relax since there was no point now. Tony had been awake this whole time, it seemed. "How long was I out?"
"Couple of hours, I don't know, they took my watch claiming there was a little knife in it, how preposterous, I only equipped it with a little laser beam, that's all..."
Hours, Bruce thought, that's just great. Bruce looked around the area, to see if there was something use, seeing a small dark puddle of liquid coming from where Tony was. "Are you sure you're okay, Tony?"
"I'm dandy," Tony grumbled again, "just a bit fuzzy, s'all..."
"Tony, you're bleeding..." Bruce said in a gentle whisper, aware the other man was probably trying not to worry him. Bruce managed to scoot a little closer, wiggling through the ropes, feeling the burn against his skin, but that didn't really matter as much as seeing if Tony was actually okay.
"That'll be your blood then," Tony said after a few seconds of silence, "Tony stark does not bleed in public or during hostage situations."
Bruce looked at the blood pooling on the other side him that Tony couldn't see, and kept it to himself. This was just a gunshot wound to the shoulder, nothing worse than he'd had before. Tony on the other hand looked to be losing a lot of blood. "Right," Bruce merely agreed with the man. "So, when are they coming back and any idea on how to get out?" Making conversation, while he thought of ways out, himself.
"Last time I just build a suit, in a cave, with a bunch of scraps," Tony muttered, "but I don't see that happening anytime soon right now. Also, two guards at the door outside, and the ones who were supposed to watch us went off to get some food or something, didn't hear them that well..."
"So no one is watching us right now..." Bruce muttered almost under his breath. He knew it wasn't going to be the best idea, but he was sure if he could dislocate his thumb just long enough to get the ropes off his wrists, he could get them out of there. It would hurt, but he didn't want Tony bleeding to death before someone found the time to come rescue them.
"Not for the moment no," Tony sighed, not enjoying the situation one bit and his body was slowly closing down on him too, trying to preserve energy and heal the wound as fast as it could for minimal blood loss.
Bruce heard the strain in Tony and knew if he was going to do this, he'd have to do it quick. He closed his eyes and focused on something else, something less painful, as he bent his thumb to dislocate it and slipped his hands out of the ropes, grunting through the pain as he was able to wiggle his arms free of the ropes, quickly snapping his thumb back into socket and worked the knot free from the rope on his ankles. He scooted over towards Tony.
"Okay, let's get you out," Bruce said as he started for the rope around the other man's wrists.Tony groaned in the background and Bruce started working on Tony's ropes as fast as he could, not being able to bear the fact that his...lover, Bruce supposed, was hurt. Not that Tony could really be called his 'lover' at this point. Bruce finally got the ropes undone and worked on Tony's ankles, wiggling out of the rope around them to loosen it around Tony and went to help him get up. Tony was barely coherent at this point and whispering 'Bruce' under his breath, shaking his head as if he didn't want to be freed from the ropes.
Bruce bent down in front of Tony, to wrap one of his arms over his own shoulder to help him up so they could get out quickly. "Come on, Tony," Bruce whispered, not getting a lot of help on Tony's end.
"Why are you still here?" Tony frowned, his eyesight getting blurry, "get out already and get help instead of worrying your pretty ass off over little old me."
"I'm not leaving you here," Bruce whispered as he hoisted Tony's arm around his shoulder, the other arm around his waist, feeling the ooze of blood trickling from the gunshot wound there. Bruce didn't look at it, didn't want to panic more than he already was. He started to walk, half dragging Tony from the room, as he quickly checked the hallway before slowly walking out of the door, ignoring any cursing that was coming from Tony's mouth.
"Get out Wayne. I mean it," Tony grunted as he knew that Bruce had found the bullet wound in his side. Now of all times, Bruce would definitely not leave him alone, that was for sure. Under his breath, Tony kept cursing when Bruce just kept dragging him along, supporting him and going slow as possible not to hurt Tony as much.
Tony started to stumble and lose control of his legs and Bruce, who could hear the sound of footsteps coming up behind them around the corner, stooped and picked Tony up, cradling him in his arms as he picked up his pace towards the exit sign on the back door of the warehouse.
"I'm not your bitch, Wayne, put me...down," Tony muttered before he finally lost consciousness and let his head roll against Bruce's chest. Bruce ran, the best he could with a grown man in his arms, at the exit door, throwing it open with his bad shoulder and stumbling into the cool night air, and frantically looking around for a payphone. If those thugs had stripped them of everything, that meant their cellphones, too. Bruce rethought that, however, as he saw the search light of a helicopter closing in on their location, stopping long enough for the light to find them.
The light was so bright that Bruce winced and sank to his knees, still cradling Tony in his arms and desperately trying to stop the bullet wound from bleeding. They were both bruised, wounded, bleeding but none of it mattered right now, all Bruce really wanted now was Tony to be safe, for them to be safe. Muttering words of encouragement to a very pale and unconscious Tony, Bruce hoped that the helicopter would land already so they could get the man to safety. Even Tony's breathing and pulse were slowly getting weaker and worried Bruce the most. The rest was a blur, the sound of gunshots from behind him and from in front as the sirens and lights approached and the woman and her thugs were brought down without Bruce even taking a moment to notice, or realize that much time had actually passed. He only really realized anything was happening when the paramedics took Tony from him and another told Bruce to be still as they checked his wounds.
And finally they, with some arguing on Bruce's part, allowed him into the same ambulance as Tony, as they rushed him to the hospital. Tony was being dragged immediately to the operation room the moment they arrived and Bruce took a moment to actually sit down and come to terms with what had all happened over the past few hours he had just shared with Tony.
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It was some hours later before Bruce was allowed to see Tony. He was hooked up to many machines, checking vitals and providing extra oxygen. Bruce was sitting in a chair next to Tony's bedside in the hospital room, grasping onto his hand as if he let go maybe Tony would disappear. However it looked to the nurses and the rest of the hospital staff, Bruce didn't care. Right now what matter what was that he was with Tony and Tony was safe -- even if he was pale and looking on the verge of death itself, Bruce knew he'd be fine.
Bruce stared at Tony's pale features, emotionless and white as a sheet. It made something deep inside of Bruce twist and turn, making the man feel so bad for what happened to Tony but his mind rationalized with him and kept telling him he couldn't have done anything at the time of the events. Still, he felt bad for everything, feeling he was to blame for the bullet wound in Tony's side, the pain the man had to suffer through and hid despite Bruce actually knowing about it.
"Tony," Bruce said softly, bringing the man's hand up to his lips and kissing it softly. He might have thought him annoying at first, but Tony had grown on him rather quickly and he'd do anything just to hear him speak, to know that he was fine.
When the only sound in the room was the steady beeping of the machines instead of Tony babbling about this and that, Bruce sighed and stood up from his chair. Fingers brushed away Tony's black hair from his eyes and Bruce's lips kissed the man's forehead before he started walking out.
"Thank you," Tony's voice said in a hoarse, soft whisper, one that Bruce barely heard but the man was soon back at Tony's bedside, sitting down on the edge of the bed and stroking Tony's hair to let the man know he was there for him. Bruce brushed his fingertips against the side of Tony's face, giving him a weak, but caring, smile.
"Don't talk if it hurts," Bruce whispered, hearing the hoarseness in Tony's voice, directly avoiding the thanks Tony had just given him.
"My tongue works fine," Tony scrunched up his nose and leaned into Bruce's touch, "I thought I told you to leave my sorry ass behind."
Bruce grinned slightly. "And risk getting a lecture from Pepper? I don't think so," Bruce replied, leaning over and kissing Tony's lips softly, speaking against his mouth. "Plus, I'd miss this a little."
Tony leaned into the kiss and tried to lift himself up but winced and fell back against his pillows, one hand pressing against the bullet wound and his face contorted in pain, making Bruce feel even worse. Maybe he should just keep the kissing and other pleasantries until Tony was better.
"Sorry," Bruce murmured, pulling back and helping Tony sit up by putting another pillow behind his head and pushing the bedside button to move the bed into a sitting position.
"For being so goddamn irresistible? I don't think you should be..." Tony said, managing a small smirk.
Bruce returned the smile, at least the other billionaire was still his usual flirty self. "Did you really think I would just leave you in that warehouse?"
"You should've, dragging me along only slowed you down, and it was because of me that we were there in the first place..." Tony looked away from Bruce and clenched his jaw. Bruce took Tony's hand in one of his and let his other hand move Tony's face to look at him again.
"You couldn't have known," Bruce reassured him, gently. "I sure don't blame you. The situation was out of our control. And you didn't hold me back. I've been in far worse situations."
"You got hurt because of me," Tony said sadly, "even after I promised you to keep you safe at all times..."
Bruce dropped the hand from Tony's face and clasped both around Tony's hand. "It's just my shoulder. And I'm still here, aren't I?"
"Be glad it was only your shoulder. It could've been your heart," Tony wasn't going to let Bruce talk this better, because everything Tony said, was the truth. Only 'what if's'.
"But it wasn't!" Bruce said a little louder. "It's still there and even if it had been, I doubt you'd have let me die that way." Bruce smiled, trying to lighten the conversations, but he had a feeling Tony wasn't going to allow that.
"You're too pretty for an arc reactor darling," Tony admitted, "and I'm a mechanic, not a doctor."
"Oh, so if I had been shot in the chest, you would have just let me die? Because I'm 'too pretty' for an arc reactor?" Bruce asked, with a mock-hurt tone, pouting a little.
"I wouldn't've been able to get your bullet out safely without damaging your heart even more, I might have stable hands but again Bruce, but I'm not a doctor. I could kill you in the process."
Bruce let go of Tony's, hands, taking a seat in the chair near the bed and leaning back in it. Obviously the other man had failed to catch the playfulness of the situation. So much for lightening things up. "I know, Tony," Bruce replied, somberly.
"I'm sorry," Tony looked solemnly at his hands and tried not to make eye contact with Bruce.
"Don't be," Bruce said quietly, looking down at his own hands, looking at his still sightly swollen thumb and knowing that one was going to hurt for months; bullet wounds were normal, dislocating his thumb was not something he found he had to do often, if ever. Thank God for those techniques he learned from Ra's... He looked over at Tony again, who was obviously trying hard no to make eye contact. Bruce hated, after all they went through last night, for things to be this way. He stood from the chair and sat back down at Tony's side, running a hand through his thick black hair, softly.
Tony was visibly upset as he leaned into Bruce's touch; this had been a hard ordeal for them to get through, not being able to rely on their other selves to make sure they would be okay but somehow they had managed, minus the wounds and the angst that came with it afterwards. Bruce slipped his shoes off, pulling his legs up onto the bed with Tony, not really caring if anyone was going to yell at him for it or not. He was careful not to touch the wound in Tony's side as he slid his arm under and around Tony's shoulder, not caring that it was his bad arm. He pulled Tony in as close as he could, resting his head on top of Tony's.
"Well this is different," Tony muttered tiredly, falling asleep from the medication being pumped in his veins every second. Bruce allowed the other man to fall asleep against him, holding him closer. Maybe Tony wouldn't remember this after the medication wore off and Bruce wouldn't have to hear about it. Maybe; not likely.
.
Authors: destinyawakened and MJLS
Rating: PG-13
words: 8200
Pairings/Characters: Tony Stark/Bruce Wayne, Pepper Potts, JARVIS, random Oc's that aren't important
Summary: Tony's convinced Bruce to come to Malibu for a Concert... things could go terribly wrong.
Warnings: spoilers for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man
Disclaimer: We don't own or claim to own the characters or settings, the books mentioned or make any money.
Song: If Not For You - Bob Dylan
Parts: One | Two | Three |
Tony Stark had been gone for two days. Bruce found that he actually missed Tony's annoying banter and how he thought he was always right. It was on the second that Tony had called to be sure that Bruce was still going to fly into Malibu for the concert he had invited Bruce to attend with him. Bruce, having not been subjected much more than Bach or Mozart as child, still had no idea who Bob Dylan was. So, the plane trip from Gotham International Airport to Malibu's airport was spent reading the documentary styled biography books he picked up in the airports gift shop before leaving. He even went as far as having Alfred buy one of those iPod things and putting a variety Bob Dylan music on it.
One thing was sure, he wasn't going to land in Malibu being completely oblivious to Bob Dylan and make Tony mock him. This time, he was going to impress the man and prove his own smartness to the child prodigy.
As the plane touched down on the Malibu landing strip, Bruce packed the book into his briefcase, but left the iPod earphones in as he walked down the stairs of the plane on to the tarmac, listening and slightly humming 'Desolation Row', which got him a few odd glances from the flight attendants. He gave each young woman a flirtatious grin and walked towards the two most expensive looking cars on the runway -- a silver Audi R8 and a black Rolls Royce, a few years newer than the one Alfred had parked in the penthouse garage.
"There's my boytoy wonder!!" Tony walked towards Bruce with his arms wide open as the man behind him just leaned against the black car and ignored his boss. Bruce stopped directly in front of Tony and allowed the man to hug him tightly, returning it with a slight pat to Tony's back. Public affection was something Bruce was not quite used to with another man.
"Tony," Bruce greeted, pulling the earphones from his ears and stuffing them into his pants pocket next to the iPod.
"I missed you, my sweet cupcake," Tony looked over Bruce and shook his head at the thin man in front of him, "you lost weight."
Bruce shook his head, shrugging off the comment as if it were nothing. "Not enough time in the day sometimes," he said, sure that Tony would catch the meaning. Sometimes being Batman took more of his time and eating was really the last thing on his list. That's what those nasty protein shakes were for, right?
"Then eat more at night Bwucie-wucie," Tony cooed as he led the man towards the Audi R8 and almost forced him in, claiming Happy was going to take care of the luggage. Bruce slid into the passenger seat, placing his briefcase on the floor at his feet. He looked over at Tony as he sat down in the driver's seat.
"Eating in the suit isn't really advisable. It's not that comfortable," Bruce explained, leaning his head back against the seat; he didn't sleep on the plane and had gone out the night before -- he was running on empty.
"I didn't say you had to eat in the suit. I said you had to eat more at night. Ergo, hinting you need to stop being Batsy Watsy all the frickin' time," once again, Tony seemed to deform a lot of words to the sound of a toddler saying them instead, Bruce didn't know what this was good for.
"Right," Bruce said, sounding a bit annoyed that the tone and usage of words Tony was using. "I'll keep that in mind, Tony."
"By the way you're sometimes taking care of yourself, no wonder people think you don't have one. A mind that is," Tony pointed out, not even a hint of a smile was on his lips, the dead serious look in his eyes was enough to make Bruce feel sort of bad. Then again, it was his life so why did he even care what people thought?
"You can't believe everything you read in tabloids," Bruce replied, avoiding Tony's stare and looking out the window instead, folding his arms over his chest. He didn't feel it was fair to be berated down by the other man. Bruce wasn't stupid, just careful not to let anyone how he really was.
"Oh I don't believe a word they say. I just listen to people at parties and watch you. Great act, the playboy one, but my God, either you really are dumb or you're just a really good actor. I do hope it's the latter darling, for your sake and mine," Tony grinned, "I got a reputation to uphold remember?"
Bruce turned his gaze back to Tony and gave him a rather mischievous smile. "I guess you'll never really know if the latter happens to be the truth. Maybe," Bruce started as he leaned over to whisper into the other man's ear, "I've been acting this whole time." And maybe he could just bug Tony a little the way Tony bugged him. Truth was, how open he was with Tony was not an act, but to make the other billionaire squirm a little to really wonder if Bruce had just pulled an act on him or not, would be well worth it.
Tony squirmed in his seat and glared for a second at Bruce before noting that he didn't exactly want to be pulled over by a cop and trying to explain to him why he had driven off the road with only another man present in his car.
"Nothing to say?" Bruce asked, sitting back straight in his own seat, seeing how he had been able to fluster Tony a bit. After a moment, he continued, not really looking for an answer. "Whatever you see at parties, in the press or even on the television... don't believe it. I know you're smarter than that, Stark."
"Just because I once fucked an actress or two, at the same time even, doesn't mean I can see when someone is acting or not," Tony rolled his eyes and gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter. Bruce held back the urge to laugh, something he had hadn't whole heartily done in a long time, as he watched Tony grow a bit annoyed with him. The tables had turned, it seemed, and Bruce found that rather entertaining. This was a vacation for Bruce, so maybe he could lighten up a little...?
Bruce didn't say anything as he placed his left elbow over the back of the seat and placed his hand on Tony's right shoulder, rubbing his fingers into the man's, now, tense muscles. Tony, feeling the fingers massaging his sore shoulder (a little thanks from one of the criminals he caught last night), relaxed and got a small smile on his lips as he drove on, clearly enjoying Bruce's company and the close proximity of the man.
"I don't care if you've fucked actresses, Tony. I've done the same. You don't have to impress me."
"And here I heard you're still a virgin. Damn there goes my ten bucks," Tony pouted.
"Virgin?" Bruce asked, using that dumbfounded, confused look he so often played up in his facade. "Tony, you have no idea how wrong that is." Bruce lowered his tone a few octaves as he whispered into Tony's ear. He was actually quite enjoying using Tony's own game against him.
"Phew, am I relieved to hear you've been fucked before. I hate deflowering people seriously. Now tell me, it's the butler right? Am I right?" Tony grinned.
Bruce scoffed, "That's just disgusting. Do you know how old he is? I don't even want to think about that." Bruce, even though a bit offended that Tony would even suggest that, knew he wasn't serious. Bruce continued to massage Tony's shoulder, moving his fingers diligently down his arm, moving in small easy circles to loosen the muscle. Even though Bruce was playing, or thought he was, he was finding that he was actually enjoying the closeness with Tony.
"Well, maybe if you're lucky you get to see some of my glorious skin," Tony smirked, "if you're a very good boy that is. Are you a good boy Brucie?"
Well, Bruce was not expecting that response, even though he should have known better -- it being Tony Stark and all. The question caught him off guard, and he felt his heart pound suddenly against his chest. Bruce fingers gripped a little tighter into Tony's arm, having to gain control of himself mentally before answering. Keep to the act, Bruce... but now he was wondering if it was an act at all. "I can be whatever you want me to be."
"Oh, I don't know, I like myself some bad boys, too, cupcake."
Tony drove in the garage and parked the car with much ease, considering the floor was filled with spare parts and Bruce was sure he even saw an unfinished arm of the Iron Man costume on the desk but wasn't sure from the angle he saw it from. The garage looked a bit like his bunker, just messier and more personalized. There was even a fridge against the wall, something Alfred had been nagging about for months now ('just install the bloody thing Master Wayne, it would make it much easier for both my worries and yourself. At least you'd eat something then').
"Welcome to every nerds dream, Brucie boy," Tony grinned as he lead Bruce towards the doors. "Don't mind all the junk, never really do clean up. Now the top floors. They're worth admiring. Know why? Because we got the bedrooms there."
Bruce looked over the garage and then to Tony, smirking. "Oh good, I could really use a nap. Can't say I ever sleep well on airplanes." He pointed to the stairs as if to ask if that was the way up to the first floor. He had completely stopped playing into Tony's hands, proving the point that Tony would really never know when exactly Bruce was 'acting' or not. They headed up the stairs.
"Napping? Now? It's three in the afternoon, Brucie!"
Bruce let out an over exasperated groan, slumping his shoulder. "This is around the time I usually wake up! I can't even believe I'm awake right now. All because I came out here to see you," Bruce said, implying he was rather put out by this.
"I feel special," Tony batted his eyelashes at Bruce who rolled his eyes, annoyed. "That's Pepper, you know her," Tony pointed at his personal assistant sitting on the couch with her laptop and looking rather comfortable to be working. Pepper looked up briefly, and Bruce nodded, but since she was busy, he didn't bother with formalities.
"Uh huh," Bruce mumbled, putting one hand in his pocket while holding his brief case in the other. He knew Tony was stalling for time, trying to make it known that Bruce would not be catching a nap before the concert tonight.
"Oh and if you need anything, just ask it out loud, JARVIS will take care of that. You see, I'm way ahead of you. I don't need an old butler, I got an AI," Tony grinned and proved his point by making JARVIS show a few of his tricks.
Bruce quirk an eyebrow, unimpressed. "As great as, JARVIS, is... I don't trust machines all that much. Artificial intelligence is bound to take over the world one day and enslave humanity." Not that Bruce really believed that, but the look on Tony's face was well worth the comment.
"Stop watching National Geographic, JARVIS has fail safe rules programmed inside of him. Besides, don't forget, I'm the smartest man on the planet, or so they say," Tony bragged, "if they do take over, I'll stop 'em before they hurt your pretty ass. Okay, Brucie?"
"Okay, sure, Tony," Bruce said, putting down his briefcase on the coffee table as well as his iPod that he dug out of his pocket.
"Oooo, you got the latest iPod!" Tony jumped up and grabbed it, immediately going through the songs on it and grinning when he noticed Dylan was the only artist on it. Bruce lunged towards Tony to attempt to grab the music device back, but didn't put too much effort into it, as he didn't want to hurt him. Tony pulled his hand away just quick enough for Bruce not to be able to grab it back.
"Give it back," Bruce growled, grabbing at it again.
"Take it then," Tony kept grinning and held it above his head so Bruce couldn't reach it, and then moving it to his other hand when Bruce tried to grab for it once more. Bruce had a hand on Tony's shoulder, pushing him slightly as he used his left leg to kick -- as gently as possible -- Tony's feet out from under him. Bruce moved on top of Tony, pinning his hand to the floor, causing Tony to drop the iPod. But, Bruce didn't immediately grab for it, a little dazed by their current predicament. He then reached above Tony's head and grabbed the device and pocketed, having to had let go of one of Tony's wrists.
"Thanks," Bruce said in a not so appreciative tone.
"Ooo, harassing me on the first date? Classy Bruce, very classy, don't you think so, too, Pep?"
"Not my business, Mr. Stark," Pepper replied as kept looking at her laptop screen and didn't even shoot a strange glance at the wrestling men on the floor just in front of her. Bruce let go of Tony's other wrist, only straddling the other man now as he thought about getting to his feet, not wanting to make the situation even more awkward. Sure, he'd kissed Tony the other day, but he wasn't sure he wanted it to go further than that. Not to mention how impolite it was to act in such a way in front of Tony's personal assistant.
"It's not the worst thing you caught me doing now is it?" Tony grinned and tried to sit up himself but found himself impossible to do so because Bruce was still on top of him, not really doing anything. So Tony did the only thing that would get the man's attention back to the fact that he was still pinning him down and thrust his hips upwards against Bruce's own. Bruce scrambled of Tony as their hips collided, not at all liking -- or not wanting to like -- the sexual charge it sent through Bruce's groin. He glared at Tony as the he sat up on the floor.
Pepper didn't even acknowledge Tony that time, just kept at her work. Now that was professionalism, if Alfred would've been here,he would've long said something about this situation. Bruce finally got back to his feet, and started to look around. He felt a bit grimy from the four hour plane trip here and really needed to change his suit for the concert that evening.
"Come on, let's finish this tour so we can do something...productive," Tony grabbed Bruce's wrist and dragged him up the stairs and past the waterfall wall (something Bruce admired greatly for a few seconds but Tony didn't allow any stalling after that).
"Productive?" Bruce asked, allowing Tony to drag him around the house. Something told Bruce he should have kept his mouth shut.
"Oh I don't know, I was thinking about getting something to eat but if you prefer staying home and 'napping' as you want to name it. Fine with me darling," Tony's tone suggested that he definitely meant something else with the word 'napping' than Bruce did.
Bruce knew a real 'nap' was never going to happen, so he opted for the food. "Food is fine," he replied. "I do need to change before hand."
"I do hope you didn't bring your spandex, this is not the 80's anymore, Wayne," Tony said as he showed Bruce the guest room, where his luggage (and how it got there so quickly Bruce will never know) was waiting.
"What makes you think I ever wore spandex?" Bruce asked as he opened one of his suitcases to sort through the clothing Alfred packed, since Bruce didn't have time.
"Well, you look like the type to run around in a tight suit, I do hope it wasn't pink..."
"The only spandex I ever wore was when I was seven and my mother bought me one of those Speedo bathing suits," Bruce replied as opened the garment bag instead, deciding he'd just wear another suit tonight; People wore suits to concerts, right?
"I do hope Alfie still got a picture of that," Tony said, hopeful, "but it wasn't pink was it?"
Bruce glared over at Tony as he loosened his tie and shrugged his jacket off. "It was blue. And whatever pictures there might have been were burnt in the fire."
"Well at least your mother isn't to blame for your lack of manliness then," Tony muttered, "and who is stupid enough to burn down his own house anyway?"
Bruce let the first comment slide as he slid off his tie and started to unbutton his shirt. He couldn't help but cringe outwardly at the second comment. "I didn't," Bruce replied.
"Jealous girlfriend? Or boyfriend?" Tony suggested, "and don't mind me while you're undressing, I'll just, you know, stare and talk..."
Bruce gritted his teeth -- this was a conversation he hated having. "Mentor," Bruce said quietly, throwing his shirt off next to his jacket and tie on the bed and then stripped out of his dress slacks. "We didn't exactly see eye-to-eye when I left him in Tibet."
"Ooo, please don't tell me he was old and looked a bit like Alfie because that would've been so fucked up, cupcake," Tony grimaced.
"No," Bruce sighed. "He didn't look it anyway; I never knew his real age." Bruce looked over the suit and decided it wasn't what he wanted to wear, and started to dig through his suit case again, finding a pair of jeans and t-shirt. Trying to ignore most of what Tony was insinuating about Bruce and Ra's, despite how true it was.
"Ooh, fuck buddies were ya?"
"It wasn't like that," Bruce said, even though if he looked back on it now, that was probably the best way to put it. Bruce slid into his jeans, t-shirt in hand and faced Tony.
"You'll need a jacket," Tony noted, pointing at Bruce's bare arms, "and don't worry, we all have a fuck buddy from time to time."
Bruce plundered through the suitcase; thank God Alfred was knew what to pack. Bruce found his leather motorcycle's jacket and zipped the suitcase shut. "At the time, I thought it was more than that," Bruce said, finding himself warming up to Tony again and spilling probably more information than Bruce had even told Alfred on his return to Gotham.
"Oh god, you're the girl in the relationship aren't you? Please don't expect me to buy you flowers because Tony Stark does not do that sentimental crap."
Bruce, for a good twenty seconds, just stared at Tony; maybe it had been a bad idea to say anything, obviously Tony didn't understand after all. "Whatever you want to think, Tony," Bruce said quietly as he pushed past Tony to leave the room.
"I believe a lot, Bruce," Tony stopped Bruce from leaving the room and once again the men found themselves invading each other's personal space, Tony most of all, "I also believe that this...guy...whatever he was to you, clearly fucked you up good, and you know what? I don't like how you dealt with it, locking yourself away..."
Bruce found himself being pushed against the door of the room that Tony closed before he could leave. It was more than just Ra's al Ghul that left Bruce the way he was with people and relationships, but he had never thought to pin point it starting with his now dead mentor. "I don't know what you're talking about..."
"No, you do, but you don't want to admit that I'm right. First your parents dying on you, then your mentor with you seeing him as a sort of father figure, no wonder you're so closed off Brucie boy, you've been betrayed by everyone you trusted, well, almost everyone, your entire life. Even that girl you loved so much was going to marry someone else even if she told you she'd wait for you."
Bruce didn't know how Tony knew about Rachel and he sure didn't know how he could even assume to know what Rachel's plans had been... she was going to wait for Bruce, wasn't she? Bruce didn't know if he was more angry or sad, because a part of him knew that Tony was right about Rachel, and Bruce had always known, but never admitted it to himself. Bruce felt whatever words he wanted to say were caught in his throat, mixture of painful memories and anger welling in him. He just looked at Tony, unable to answer.
"Well I'll take your silence as a 'yes Tony, you were once again right, you are smarter and more attentive to humans than I'll ever be'," Tony nodded, still not moving away from Bruce even though they had not much to say to each other at this point in the conversation. Tony moved a few inches closer and wrapped his arms around Bruce's waist, pulling him in another awkward hug before Tony pulled back again and planted a soft kiss on Bruce's forehead as if to show he actually cared.
Bruce placed his hands gently behind Tony neck, whispering softly, mood changing so suddenly that he couldn't even tell he'd done it himself. "Yes, Tony... you were right." He looked the other man in the eye, and moved in closer so that their lips barely brushed. Whatever Tony did to Bruce, he was starting to like it. He pulled Tony's head forward and kissed him fully on the mouth, working the other man's mouth open with his tongue, hand massaging the back of Tony's neck sensually.
Pushing their bodies against each other, the two men wrestled for the upper strength and moved towards the bed with every small step they took. Tony soon took advantage of the fact that Bruce couldn't see where they were going and pulled the man closer by his shirt before growling and pushing him on the bed, crawling on top of him. Bruce felt his breath knocked out of him briefly as Tony pushed him down on the bed. He quickly grabbed at Tony's face with his hands again, pulling his head down towards his again and kissing him as though he'd not kissed anyone in months.
Tony moaned softly in the kiss and ran his hands through Bruce's hair, trying to get closer to the man than was physically possible. Bruce let his tongue explore the depths of Tony's mouth as he slid his hands up Tony's shirt, feeling the obviously well taken care of skin, smooth under his rough hands. He let his hand glide around Tony's back, pulling him down closer to him, grinding his hips up into the other man's, letting his hand slid down to Tony's ass and grabbing it firmly.
"You like it don't you?" Tony smirked, breaking the kiss for a few seconds, "don't blame you, I got a firm ass after all."
Bruce didn't make a real answer, just an audible 'Hnn' noise as he brought his head up towards Tony's neck and licked a clean stripe from his clavicle to his ear, biting Tony's lobe, and grabbing the other man's ass harder, this time with both hands.
"Might I remind you and your guest Mister Stark that the concert is due to start in an hour and it's a half hour drive towards the venue," JARVIS' voice rang clearly through the grunts and groans coming from the two men.
Bruce was just a little startled by the voice, but could almost not hear it through the sound of his heart pounding in his head. He placed his hands on the outside of Tony's thighs. "Do we really have to go?" Bruce breathed into Tony's ear, knowing already that the answer would be obvious, since Tony made such a stink about taking Bruce to a real concert.
"Depends on you, love," Tony gasped, feeling all the blood rush to his hardening cock instead of his brain where it should be. Bruce let his head fall back against the bed, taking a deep breath; he had come all the way to Malibu for this dumb concert, the least he should do is have something to show for it. Plus, he was sure Tony would still be down for more of this later.
"Well," Bruce started, placing a hand on his chest, staring up at Tony, "maybe we should go..."
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Dressed in their jeans, t-shirts and their leather jackets, Bruce and Tony arrived at the Auditorium for the concert twenty minutes later. Tony had bought the best tickets possible, right down in front where they squished incredibly close together with a bunch of other people. Bruce looked uncomfortable, while Tony had a big, excited grin on his face, obviously entertained by the idea of introducing something entirely new to Bruce. Bruce was starting to get a bad feeling about being there; something just wasn't quite right.
"Next time, I'll take you to a real concert," Tony grinned, "then you can experience the famous mosh pitting!"
Bruce glanced over at Tony as more people started to squish them closer together. "Mosh pitting?" Why did it sound like something you'd do to fruit?
"Yea, you know, mosh pittinnnggg," Tony dragged out the word as if he was trying to explain the word by just pronouncing it longer. Bruce merely raised an eyebrow at Tony, shaking his head slightly to show he still had no idea what the other man was talking about it.
"My god, are you just oblivious or plain stupid?" Tony's right eye narrowed a bit while the other was still wide open.
Bruce wasn't quite paying attention to what Tony was saying anymore, he was scanning the room behind them, that feeling of something sneaking up on him was crawling up the back of his neck. "Uh, well some of us had better things to focus on instead of rock concerts and getting drunk," Bruce replied half heartily.
"Like focusing on how to lose your voice in ten steps by talking gruffy?" Tony retorted.
On most occasions this sort of comment would have warrant an annoyed look from Bruce, but he was really focused or caring about what Tony was saying. There was a slight commotion behind them, and as Bruce tried to push his way back through the crowd to attempt a better look -- and be unsuccessful -- the lights went out completely, and the screams of thousands of people started to pierce though his ears. First thing Bruce found himself doing was scream out Tony's name, just to make sure the man was still there and not just hanging around doing nothing, claiming it was nothing to worry about. The fact that he suddenly saw the distant shine of the arc reactor in the corner of his eye made Bruce feel more relaxed. He made his way back towards Tony, as it being the only light there was then, grabbing his arm.
"Please tell me you have a way of getting to your suit?" Bruce asked, but he was pretty sure of the answer already.
"Um...I left it at home. Considering Bob is an old coot and stuff...didn't think I'd actually need it," Tony replied with a slight smile.
"Wonderful," Bruce replied, letting go of Tony's arm and started to walk back towards the doors that he could vaguely make out as his eyes tried to adjust to the dark. He didn't get two feet from Tony when all the doors suddenly slammed shut, and a single spot light was shone on the stage at the front of the concert all.
"Well what about you mister flying rodent? Don't you got a little trick up your sleeve?" Tony retorted, "you seem like the guy who sleeps with the damn suit on..."
"I trusted that you would be prepared," Bruce spat back at Tony, looking around frantically as a figure appeared on the stage under the light. This wasn't looking good, and Bruce knew enough about Bob Dylan -- now -- to know that was not him coming out to make his appearance. "And getting that suit on a plane is hell.
"I might be the goddamn Iron Man but I still need a good way to drag that suit with me in a portable way. It's not exactly made of spandex..."
Bruce snickered at that as he tried to think through the screams that started up again as the shock of whatever was happening on stage was obviously just making people more panicked. A thick fog from the ceiling was slowly making its way down to the crowd, and having dealt with this sort of thing before, Bruce already knew it wasn't just special effects. He tugged on Tony's shirt to bring his attention to it, and Bruce now wished he had brought along his hidden travel utility belt.
"If you all remain calm," came a female voice from the stage, "this will go a lot smoother."
"Sorry, Cherie, I'm a bit taken tonight!" Tony grinned as he yelled back to the female voice. The fog had lowered further down, and Bruce could already tell it wasn't the usual dry ice kind, this was some sort of... well from the affects, a relaxant. This, or these people, really didn't want a lot of trouble. The woman looked in Tony's direction, but through the darkness she probably couldn't tell who it was. A group of what Bruce guessed to be her thugs walked down the stairs and started to round people up into groups.
"We're placing a bomb here," the woman said, ignoring what Tony had said. "But I don't suppose that soon any of you will really care." Next to Bruce some people had already started to pass out from the gas, and the woman's henchmen were carrying them into a circle in the middle of the concert hall. Bruce couldn't see much past in front of him, only what could be seen by the light of Tony's arc reactor, which wasn't much since his shirt blocked most of the light.
"Well you know, I sort of signed a contract to, you know, care so I actually do!" Tony yelled back, clearly being ignored and not liking it. The woman finally looked at Tony, and motioned for a few of her thugs who forced themselves past Bruce and took Tony by either arm. Bruce reacted quickly and jumped on the back of one of them, only to get thrown off easily as the affects of the gas were making his muscles too relaxed to do much.
"Tony!" Bruce yelled out as the other man was also struggling now against his captors, and Bruce was picked up by two others. Despite the situation, he kept yelling Tony's name in the hope the man would respond but all he heard was a few curses coming from the man towards his captors and a wince every now and then. Clearly it wasn't only Bruce who was feeling the affects of the gas on his body. Some people in crowd had seen Bruce and were starting to riot as well, jumping a few of the thugs but getting thrown back and before Bruce could process the situation further, he heard gunshots and more screaming. He was quickly pulled away from the crowd, and he couldn't see Tony anymore or the light from the reactor.
Worry took over, worry for the man but also for the civilians caught up in this mess. Of all places to take people hostage, a concert of a well-known musician is probably the best, considering the large fan-base. Bruce had to try and stop this, had to do something before it got even more out of hand. He struggled harder against the hands around his arms, briefly pulling away before hearing another gunshot, pain in his shoulder and then a the loud crack to the back of his skull, sending him to his knees before he blacked out.
What felt like seconds later, Bruce woke to a dimly lit room, and being unable to move any of his limbs. His shoulder burned and he remembered getting shot just before being knocked out. He wriggled a little, feeling the tight ropes around his ankles, wrists and chest. He also felt another warm body somewhere near his, but couldn't directly see who it was. It seemed they were tied to a pole of some sort and from what Bruce could make out, in the middle of an abandoned warehouse.
"Well fuck this shit," Tony grumbled and Bruce felt so much more relieved to know he wasn't tied to a civilian.
"Tony?" Bruce called roughly, his voice dry. He tried to move closer to where the voice had come from, scooting along the pole a bit and now able to at least see some of Tony's hair. That was some relief.
"No cupcake, it's Santa," Tony gritted through his teeth, clearly not pleased with the situation.
"Are you okay?" Bruce asked, clearly ignoring the annoyance in Tony's tone. Bruce had learned a long time ago that getting frustrated with situations like this just wouldn't help.
"Well I could use a bit of naked you right now to cheer me up again, otherwise, I'm dandy," even though Bruce couldn't see it, he was sure Tony just rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, well this isn't exactly how I imagined our first time being tied up together to be either," Bruce replied, trying to figure out if he could reach his pant leg from where he was. He usually kept at least a pocket knife hidden on him, and he was hoping that the woman and her thugs hadn't found it -- that was if he could even reach it.
"I'm sorry, I'll make sure I get some handcuffs at hand next time so that the thugs could use them to tie us up together instead of this rope -- sound good?"
"Hm," Bruce grumbled back, not quite paying attention to Tony's sarcasm as he tried to wriggle this fingers towards his tied up feet. This was definitely not working.
"Don't bother, they practically stripped us naked before tying us up. It took me forever to convince them that my arc reactor wasn't a weapon but actually keeping me alive."
Bruce let his head slide back against the pole, letting his hands relax since there was no point now. Tony had been awake this whole time, it seemed. "How long was I out?"
"Couple of hours, I don't know, they took my watch claiming there was a little knife in it, how preposterous, I only equipped it with a little laser beam, that's all..."
Hours, Bruce thought, that's just great. Bruce looked around the area, to see if there was something use, seeing a small dark puddle of liquid coming from where Tony was. "Are you sure you're okay, Tony?"
"I'm dandy," Tony grumbled again, "just a bit fuzzy, s'all..."
"Tony, you're bleeding..." Bruce said in a gentle whisper, aware the other man was probably trying not to worry him. Bruce managed to scoot a little closer, wiggling through the ropes, feeling the burn against his skin, but that didn't really matter as much as seeing if Tony was actually okay.
"That'll be your blood then," Tony said after a few seconds of silence, "Tony stark does not bleed in public or during hostage situations."
Bruce looked at the blood pooling on the other side him that Tony couldn't see, and kept it to himself. This was just a gunshot wound to the shoulder, nothing worse than he'd had before. Tony on the other hand looked to be losing a lot of blood. "Right," Bruce merely agreed with the man. "So, when are they coming back and any idea on how to get out?" Making conversation, while he thought of ways out, himself.
"Last time I just build a suit, in a cave, with a bunch of scraps," Tony muttered, "but I don't see that happening anytime soon right now. Also, two guards at the door outside, and the ones who were supposed to watch us went off to get some food or something, didn't hear them that well..."
"So no one is watching us right now..." Bruce muttered almost under his breath. He knew it wasn't going to be the best idea, but he was sure if he could dislocate his thumb just long enough to get the ropes off his wrists, he could get them out of there. It would hurt, but he didn't want Tony bleeding to death before someone found the time to come rescue them.
"Not for the moment no," Tony sighed, not enjoying the situation one bit and his body was slowly closing down on him too, trying to preserve energy and heal the wound as fast as it could for minimal blood loss.
Bruce heard the strain in Tony and knew if he was going to do this, he'd have to do it quick. He closed his eyes and focused on something else, something less painful, as he bent his thumb to dislocate it and slipped his hands out of the ropes, grunting through the pain as he was able to wiggle his arms free of the ropes, quickly snapping his thumb back into socket and worked the knot free from the rope on his ankles. He scooted over towards Tony.
"Okay, let's get you out," Bruce said as he started for the rope around the other man's wrists.Tony groaned in the background and Bruce started working on Tony's ropes as fast as he could, not being able to bear the fact that his...lover, Bruce supposed, was hurt. Not that Tony could really be called his 'lover' at this point. Bruce finally got the ropes undone and worked on Tony's ankles, wiggling out of the rope around them to loosen it around Tony and went to help him get up. Tony was barely coherent at this point and whispering 'Bruce' under his breath, shaking his head as if he didn't want to be freed from the ropes.
Bruce bent down in front of Tony, to wrap one of his arms over his own shoulder to help him up so they could get out quickly. "Come on, Tony," Bruce whispered, not getting a lot of help on Tony's end.
"Why are you still here?" Tony frowned, his eyesight getting blurry, "get out already and get help instead of worrying your pretty ass off over little old me."
"I'm not leaving you here," Bruce whispered as he hoisted Tony's arm around his shoulder, the other arm around his waist, feeling the ooze of blood trickling from the gunshot wound there. Bruce didn't look at it, didn't want to panic more than he already was. He started to walk, half dragging Tony from the room, as he quickly checked the hallway before slowly walking out of the door, ignoring any cursing that was coming from Tony's mouth.
"Get out Wayne. I mean it," Tony grunted as he knew that Bruce had found the bullet wound in his side. Now of all times, Bruce would definitely not leave him alone, that was for sure. Under his breath, Tony kept cursing when Bruce just kept dragging him along, supporting him and going slow as possible not to hurt Tony as much.
Tony started to stumble and lose control of his legs and Bruce, who could hear the sound of footsteps coming up behind them around the corner, stooped and picked Tony up, cradling him in his arms as he picked up his pace towards the exit sign on the back door of the warehouse.
"I'm not your bitch, Wayne, put me...down," Tony muttered before he finally lost consciousness and let his head roll against Bruce's chest. Bruce ran, the best he could with a grown man in his arms, at the exit door, throwing it open with his bad shoulder and stumbling into the cool night air, and frantically looking around for a payphone. If those thugs had stripped them of everything, that meant their cellphones, too. Bruce rethought that, however, as he saw the search light of a helicopter closing in on their location, stopping long enough for the light to find them.
The light was so bright that Bruce winced and sank to his knees, still cradling Tony in his arms and desperately trying to stop the bullet wound from bleeding. They were both bruised, wounded, bleeding but none of it mattered right now, all Bruce really wanted now was Tony to be safe, for them to be safe. Muttering words of encouragement to a very pale and unconscious Tony, Bruce hoped that the helicopter would land already so they could get the man to safety. Even Tony's breathing and pulse were slowly getting weaker and worried Bruce the most. The rest was a blur, the sound of gunshots from behind him and from in front as the sirens and lights approached and the woman and her thugs were brought down without Bruce even taking a moment to notice, or realize that much time had actually passed. He only really realized anything was happening when the paramedics took Tony from him and another told Bruce to be still as they checked his wounds.
And finally they, with some arguing on Bruce's part, allowed him into the same ambulance as Tony, as they rushed him to the hospital. Tony was being dragged immediately to the operation room the moment they arrived and Bruce took a moment to actually sit down and come to terms with what had all happened over the past few hours he had just shared with Tony.
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It was some hours later before Bruce was allowed to see Tony. He was hooked up to many machines, checking vitals and providing extra oxygen. Bruce was sitting in a chair next to Tony's bedside in the hospital room, grasping onto his hand as if he let go maybe Tony would disappear. However it looked to the nurses and the rest of the hospital staff, Bruce didn't care. Right now what matter what was that he was with Tony and Tony was safe -- even if he was pale and looking on the verge of death itself, Bruce knew he'd be fine.
Bruce stared at Tony's pale features, emotionless and white as a sheet. It made something deep inside of Bruce twist and turn, making the man feel so bad for what happened to Tony but his mind rationalized with him and kept telling him he couldn't have done anything at the time of the events. Still, he felt bad for everything, feeling he was to blame for the bullet wound in Tony's side, the pain the man had to suffer through and hid despite Bruce actually knowing about it.
"Tony," Bruce said softly, bringing the man's hand up to his lips and kissing it softly. He might have thought him annoying at first, but Tony had grown on him rather quickly and he'd do anything just to hear him speak, to know that he was fine.
When the only sound in the room was the steady beeping of the machines instead of Tony babbling about this and that, Bruce sighed and stood up from his chair. Fingers brushed away Tony's black hair from his eyes and Bruce's lips kissed the man's forehead before he started walking out.
"Thank you," Tony's voice said in a hoarse, soft whisper, one that Bruce barely heard but the man was soon back at Tony's bedside, sitting down on the edge of the bed and stroking Tony's hair to let the man know he was there for him. Bruce brushed his fingertips against the side of Tony's face, giving him a weak, but caring, smile.
"Don't talk if it hurts," Bruce whispered, hearing the hoarseness in Tony's voice, directly avoiding the thanks Tony had just given him.
"My tongue works fine," Tony scrunched up his nose and leaned into Bruce's touch, "I thought I told you to leave my sorry ass behind."
Bruce grinned slightly. "And risk getting a lecture from Pepper? I don't think so," Bruce replied, leaning over and kissing Tony's lips softly, speaking against his mouth. "Plus, I'd miss this a little."
Tony leaned into the kiss and tried to lift himself up but winced and fell back against his pillows, one hand pressing against the bullet wound and his face contorted in pain, making Bruce feel even worse. Maybe he should just keep the kissing and other pleasantries until Tony was better.
"Sorry," Bruce murmured, pulling back and helping Tony sit up by putting another pillow behind his head and pushing the bedside button to move the bed into a sitting position.
"For being so goddamn irresistible? I don't think you should be..." Tony said, managing a small smirk.
Bruce returned the smile, at least the other billionaire was still his usual flirty self. "Did you really think I would just leave you in that warehouse?"
"You should've, dragging me along only slowed you down, and it was because of me that we were there in the first place..." Tony looked away from Bruce and clenched his jaw. Bruce took Tony's hand in one of his and let his other hand move Tony's face to look at him again.
"You couldn't have known," Bruce reassured him, gently. "I sure don't blame you. The situation was out of our control. And you didn't hold me back. I've been in far worse situations."
"You got hurt because of me," Tony said sadly, "even after I promised you to keep you safe at all times..."
Bruce dropped the hand from Tony's face and clasped both around Tony's hand. "It's just my shoulder. And I'm still here, aren't I?"
"Be glad it was only your shoulder. It could've been your heart," Tony wasn't going to let Bruce talk this better, because everything Tony said, was the truth. Only 'what if's'.
"But it wasn't!" Bruce said a little louder. "It's still there and even if it had been, I doubt you'd have let me die that way." Bruce smiled, trying to lighten the conversations, but he had a feeling Tony wasn't going to allow that.
"You're too pretty for an arc reactor darling," Tony admitted, "and I'm a mechanic, not a doctor."
"Oh, so if I had been shot in the chest, you would have just let me die? Because I'm 'too pretty' for an arc reactor?" Bruce asked, with a mock-hurt tone, pouting a little.
"I wouldn't've been able to get your bullet out safely without damaging your heart even more, I might have stable hands but again Bruce, but I'm not a doctor. I could kill you in the process."
Bruce let go of Tony's, hands, taking a seat in the chair near the bed and leaning back in it. Obviously the other man had failed to catch the playfulness of the situation. So much for lightening things up. "I know, Tony," Bruce replied, somberly.
"I'm sorry," Tony looked solemnly at his hands and tried not to make eye contact with Bruce.
"Don't be," Bruce said quietly, looking down at his own hands, looking at his still sightly swollen thumb and knowing that one was going to hurt for months; bullet wounds were normal, dislocating his thumb was not something he found he had to do often, if ever. Thank God for those techniques he learned from Ra's... He looked over at Tony again, who was obviously trying hard no to make eye contact. Bruce hated, after all they went through last night, for things to be this way. He stood from the chair and sat back down at Tony's side, running a hand through his thick black hair, softly.
Tony was visibly upset as he leaned into Bruce's touch; this had been a hard ordeal for them to get through, not being able to rely on their other selves to make sure they would be okay but somehow they had managed, minus the wounds and the angst that came with it afterwards. Bruce slipped his shoes off, pulling his legs up onto the bed with Tony, not really caring if anyone was going to yell at him for it or not. He was careful not to touch the wound in Tony's side as he slid his arm under and around Tony's shoulder, not caring that it was his bad arm. He pulled Tony in as close as he could, resting his head on top of Tony's.
"Well this is different," Tony muttered tiredly, falling asleep from the medication being pumped in his veins every second. Bruce allowed the other man to fall asleep against him, holding him closer. Maybe Tony wouldn't remember this after the medication wore off and Bruce wouldn't have to hear about it. Maybe; not likely.
.