Chapter Fourteen - Decisions
Title: Calling a Truce: Decisions
Authors: destinyawakened and mjls
Rating: pg-13
words: 6800
Pairings/Characters: Tony Stark/Bruce Wayne, Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan
Summary: Tony is faced with a decision he's not quite sure he can make. Bruce tries to help him see reason.
Warnings: spoilers for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man, and spoilers for Marvel comics' Civil War
Disclaimer: We don't own or claim to own the characters or settings, the books mentioned or make any money.
A/N: Moves a little quick,but dwelling too long in this was going to end up depressing.
Song: Apologize - One Republic
Parts: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen |
The 'Civil War' was one big mess. That's all Bruce could describe it as. The mutants were thankfully neutral and so the battle was merely between the superheroes in the DC area and the actual fifty states of America. Tony was on the law's side, claiming that every masked person needed to register so that the government could keep a tab on the dangers outside the walls of the buildings. Heroes turned evil or were being taken over by evil beings every day (in Tony's case, almost every hour if he wasn't careful). It was only natural that if they had a registration law for guns, there would also be one for superpowers and masks. At least then they could easily find out who it was that did something wrong. If, for example, a building was put on fire and witnesses claimed to have seen a masked crusader around at the time of ignition, the government and police could easily find said crusader by accessing the data base on superpowers and interrogate the necessary people.
Of course, not everyone had access to these files. Only high level security people were allowed to look into the list. Tony was careful with this, after all, these were the hidden identities of his friends that were put in his hands. If this list came out in public, it would be a disaster. So it was put on the highest security, only people with the right clearance (that you had to get from Tony himself) were allowed to take a look at it. Tony did background checks on everyone around him, to know who he could trust with the hidden identities and who he couldn't even rely on to do a simple task. So was S.H.I.E.L.D easily divided in two teams, the ones that worked along side Tony on the Registration Act and the ones that dealt with all the other nuisances Tony and the rest didn't have time for.
Captain America however, was being a pain in the ass to Tony Stark during the whole ordeal. He claimed that the Registration Act was against all his basic principles. To him, masked people were the ones that risked their lives for the country every day of the week and those had to stay above everything. Masked heroes have been a part of this country for as long as anyone could remember, that was true, but this was also no longer the 1940's and Steve seemed to be a bit stuck in the rules that were important back then. He just couldn't deal with the rule of superheroes being taken care of by the government and properly trained and actually being paid for the good job they were doing. According to Steve, the job superheroes were doing wasn't just a job, it was something they felt they had the need to do and you couldn't paste an actual price on that. Captain America opposed that the mandatory federal registration of all super-powered beings is an erosion of civil liberties for the superhero community.
With Steve on the other side of the community, Tony was left alone to stride for the superheroes who actually accepted the registration. It took a lot of convincing, but in the end, the cheers from the people ringing in their ears when they were saved were enough for several of the important heroes. This was what they were fighting for. So the people would believe in them again, trust them again to take care of their safety.
Not that much would change with the registration act. In the end, the only thing that would really change was that the kids, the amateurs and the sociopaths were getting weeded out, superheroes were going to be trained from a young age to prevent anything wrong happening with their powers and they would actually get the recognition they deserved for their hard work. Only positive things came out of it, yet the rebels didn't see it that way. Tony kept telling everyone that the secret identities were on the level of national security and not everyone would get the access to the list with a click of Tony's fingers. He was the only one in the world at this point that could give out the security code to access it. The moment you had one fault on your record, even if it was just a DIU or anything else, you weren't in the run to ever get the code. Tony was that careful on the whole thing. People argued with him about the DIU thing, considering Tony himself drinks but he shot back with Extremis safe guarding everything when he's intoxicated and nothing can get out of his head if he's not in control of his own body. In other words, he was probably the safest person around to keep the codes.
Sadly enough, even the media was against the registration act at times, especially after the news leaked out that a hero had gotten hurt or worse yet, killed, while he was out of the costume because he had been against or for the registration act. Violence was running high in the cities and with the war tearing apart the superheroes that used to take care of all those little things, more people were left in the dark because no one dared to save them in fear of being caught by S.H.I.E.L.D. or attacked by rebel supporters. Things were worse than ever, especially in New York, where all the bad guys had decided to take advantage of the situation to weaken the superhero community even further.
Bruce started to become Tony's number one person that was at his side at all times, now that he had chosen a side -- the right side. Dick was doing better, but had to be rolled around in a wheel chair for a while, which Tim didn't seem to mind helping with (even going as far as racing Dick with the other teens in the ward). Bruce, was wary at first to be seen so public with Tony on this cause, but he wasn't about to let Tony do this by himself, not after seeing how it was already tearing him apart to lose all his friends to the other side. If Tony appreciated having him around, he didn't show it. Bruce barely saw Tony outside from the interviews the man gave and some quick glances of him running from one side of the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters to the other. More than often, Bruce was found in Tony's office, taking care of all the little things that had to do with the registration so that Tony didn't have to worry about those and he could concentrate on the bigger things.
The media was having a heyday with the fact that Bruce Wayne was suddenly coming off smarter than he originally lead a lot of people to believe. It caused a lot of controversy and speculations, along with rumors about on why Bruce cared so much about a Superhuman Registration Act. When asked, he simply said he was tired of of not knowing who blame or thank anymore. A lot of people asked if Batman was one he was hoping would come forward; Bruce always smiled and walked away.
So far Bruce hadn't needed to register and he hadn't needed to unmask and he hoped it stayed that way. Tony promised him that Gotham still didn't fall under S.H.I.E.L.D jurisdiction and so, Batman nor Superman (who was in Metropolis and so also not under S.H.I.E.L.D jurisdiction) would not have to sign up. Even if the UN was trying to get the registration act world wide, so far they only managed to get it in the jurisdiction of S.H.I.E.L.D and not further. Which pleased Bruce and relieved Tony for he knew how much it weighed on Bruce to keep Batman a secret. Even the media in Gotham had started talking about the registration act and got a lot of protest from the locals. A lot of them claimed that Batman deserved the neutrality and was right to refuse to pick a side. It made it all more clear that Batman was only there to protect his city and nothing more. But it was clear that Bruce being with Tony all the time, that the Batman kept appearing less and less. According to a quote from a Gotham news paper, James Gordon claimed that it was because of the registration act. Others claimed it was because whatever reason they could come up with at the time of the interview. But it always lead to the fact that Batman was trying to keep a low profile from S.H.I.E.L.D.
----
For once, Bruce was dozing off in a chair on the balcony of the Penthouse Tony had bought in New York to be closer to the situations as they arrived. A free day they hadn't had in weeks. Tony was leaning against the rails, watching Bruce intently.
"Nice having a day where nothing is going on, nothing that can't wait a few hours..." Bruce said.
"Don't jinx it," Tony scrunched up his nose, "there is a lot going on, just nothing that requires our attention at the moment."
Tony was, as usual nowadays, downloading and scanning every possible data feed into Extremis and so keeping himself up to date while he rested. Extremis scanned all the images, video footage and news reels for anything that might be interesting. Even the police scanner was being watched by Tony, in case anything would come up that required Iron Man's (and sometimes Batman's) help. The side effect of Extremis was that Tony's pupils would turn completely black and sometimes, when Bruce did notice it, it would make him shake Tony out of it, telling him about it. It scared Bruce to see Tony stare at him with pitch-black eyes during a conversation but knew that Tony was capable of handling Extremis and all it's consequences.
News reels poured in Tony's head as if he was drinking water, they left as soon as he got all the necessary information out of them and new data came in every second. Updates from soldiers, commands and requests that Tony ignored, useless police feeds, it was all in his head and every time Bruce realized this, he had to admit he was in awe with how Tony was keeping up. Quite literally, the man could hear every thing you said, even if he was in mid-flight somewhere on the other side of the world. It was impressive and yet, the people out on the streets, the ones that believed in Tony, felt more safe and secure knowing that they were being watched and protected. Tony would never use Extremis for his own advantages. It was all for the public and Bruce knew that. Tony had admitted to using Extremis to spy on Bruce once in a while because he was too busy for a call or a text.
Not that it bothered Bruce, not when Tony knew everything about him and there wasn't anything to hide. Tony being able to almost track where Bruce was at all times -- provided Bruce was near a satellite or the like -- was almost comforting. Comforting that was until Bruce really stopped to think of his privacy... But in a time like the one they were trying to battle through, it seemed frivolous to fret about it. It was Tony, after all, and not someone Bruce had anything to keep secrets from.
"It's almost too quiet," Bruce sighed, remembering the day some weeks past when Gotham was still and unmoving and Bruce let his guard down. He didn't pay the price for that... Dick did. Bruce looked up at Tony knowingly.
That stillness again, like the world was coming to slow stop for a brief moment before the inevitably bad happened. Bruce instinctively looked down at his cell phone sitting on the arm of his chair, to be sure the boys or Alfred hadn't called. They were back in Gotham, where most things were still neutral and the only threat was the man that had beaten Dick senseless,but no one had seen him since that night. During this time -- during the down time that rarely existed -- Bruce took what moments he could to research and look for the man who had beaten Dick. There were very little clues, little to off of and in the end and after a few months, Tony convinced Bruce to let it go for a while. When the SRA went through finally and everyone was under control, they could easily find the man. Bruce didn't like it, he didn't like not being in control and being to able to seek out his own justice. But he promised Tony and so far Tony had come up clean on his end. Bruce would wait, for now.
"The storm is approaching, some would say," Tony added.
"Yes," Bruce commented, rubbing his thumb over the screen on his phone.
Tony fell silent again and bowed his head to stare at the floor but only seconds later, the man looked alarmed and stormed out of the room. Bruce looked up from his phone and the last thing he saw was Tony's back disappearing behind the door before the man decided to follow Tony to see what he was up too. If Tony didn't say it, it either meant it was something unexpected or serious and Bruce wasn't going to let Tony deal with those on his own.
"Tony?" he called out as he entered the penthouse, trying to find where he had gone. "Is... Is everything okay?"
"Yes...yes everything is alright Bruce. Nothing to worry about.." Tony looked frantic as he shrugged on his suit really quickly and threw away his sweatpants and MIT sweater, "I mean, no, Happy is taken to the hospital with extensive internal injuries..."
Tony's face was riddled with grief and guilt, he felt responsible for what happened to his personal bodyguard and driver but most importantly, to his friend. Bruce wasn't going to bother to change out of his jeans and t-shirt, the wait would be too long and he knew Tony wouldn't think twice about leaving him behind. And Bruce wasn't going to allow Tony, who had been there for him during Dick's fiasco, to be do this alone.
"Tony, I am so sorry..." Bruce said, trying to find the right sentiments, but this was never his strong suit. Bruce tried to reach out a hand to at least let Tony know he was there for him.
"I'm sure he'll be alright...yes, he's a strong person, he'll be just...fine," Tony blinked and then looked up at Bruce with a fake hopeful smile on his lips.
"You don't sound reassuring," Bruce said as he followed Tony with his eyes around the room as the man put on his last shoe and started for the door. "I'm coming with you." Bruce followed him out.
"The current report on him doesn't look good, that's for sure," Tony muttered as he got in the elevator, sped it up with Extremis just a bit and almost ran towards his car with Bruce following closely. Bruce got into the passenger side and glanced at how much of a wreck Tony Stark had become during this war, and just how much more the outcome of this situation was only going to make things worse.
But Bruce didn't have any encouraging words, because Tony knew better than to believe them. He had all the stats he needed in his head and Bruce didn't, it would be lying. Instead, Bruce merely reached over and squeezed Tony's shoulder, to let him know that he was there if he chose to talk about it, or just to be. On the way to the hospital, they must've broken several speed limits but Tony didn't care, as long as he got to the hospital on time. At one moment, Tony was gripping on the wheel so hard that his knuckles turned pale white and Tony had actually almost driven against something (if Bruce hadn't yelled for Tony to turn to the left on time, they would've). Once they did, they were immediately lead towards the back of the building and so brought up to the room Happy was staying in.
Bruce let Tony have his moment, staying just outside the door. Happy was Tony's friend and a mere acquaintance to Bruce; he was only there to be what Tony needed him to be. The only one Bruce felt worse for was Pepper, who was the only family(they had married a few months prior) the bodyguard had left and she knew how this happened and why. The thing that bothered him the most was that it happened during a celebration of Pepper and Happy's wedding. They were celebrating their happiness, why had anyone want to break that apart? Hurt Pepper who had probably been smiling brightly and laughing with Happy's jokes.Tony was going to get more backslash from this, so much was certain. Now that civilians were getting hurt by the rebels, people were going to come out on the streets more and more to let their voice be heard.
Bruce stood with his back to the wall, hands in his pockets, waiting. The door had shut behind Tony and he couldn't heard a sound. He hoped, beyond hope that Happy would make it through. But Bruce was sure it wouldn't make a difference, not by the way Tony sounded earlier. Minutes later Pepper Potts walked out in a rush, not even stopping (as she usually would) to greet Bruce. He simply tried to offer her a reassuring smile, but she only looked at him sadly and walked away. Bruce wondered what had happened. Tony, came out seconds later with a grim expression on his face.
"They're going to pay for this," the man gritted between his teeth, turning his hands in fists and looking ready to hit a wall.
"Tony..." Bruce said as softly as he could, looking over at him from his place at the wall. He wasn't sure what kind of company or comfort Tony would be willing to have just now.
"I don't care why they did it. This was a personal attack and they are going to pay for this. I want this bastard found and I want him to know how it feels to see someone you care about get hurt."
Bruce pushed himself away from the wall and placed his hands on Tony's shoulder, looking him in the eye. "We'll find them," he said, knowing the exact feeling Tony was having, the desperate need to just make some vengeance. As much as Tony was hurting, Bruce hoped that he would come to his senses before he found who did this to Happy Hogan -- before he let it all loose and actually killed the responsible.
Tony glared at thin air and then stalked down the hallway, in search for the doctor. He made sure Happy would get the best treatment money could buy and then left the hospital in a huff, almost attacking one of the reporters that was standing outside in the hopes to get a glimpse of Tony and Bruce. Bruce walks paces behind Tony, hands in his pockets as Tony slowly began pushing him away as well. This was what Tony didn't want, for them to be parted by this war and yet it was there and there wasn't much Bruce felt he had control over to fix it.
Bruce couldn't fix anything and he knew that.
---
"Pepper is devastated of course, thankfully she was unharmed considering Happy protected her," Tony's voice was monotone and dull, as if all the life had been sucked out of him. It was all because of the war, losing friends, dealing with pressure and many politicians. It was bringing Tony down. It surprised Bruce every second that Tony hadn't fainted yet because the lack of energy or food in his stomach. He had barely eaten since this war started and it was visible on his frame. His cheekbones were more visible every day and Bruce hoped that after this was all over, Tony was going to start eating again. If not, he would have to get Alfred on that.
"It was supposed to be a joyful evening, their anniversary, a celebration. Then all of the sudden, bam, they get threatened to be killed because they're on my side of the war. Happy is in that vegetative state because he was protecting what he thought was the right choice for this war. He was protecting my point of view, not his. Never his. If it all depended on Happy, he would've run away with Pepper and stayed out of this mess. It's my fault he was threatened and fell down all those stories."
Bruce opened his mouth to say something, something that might help Tony feel better about his, but really, what could he say that would make losing a friend any less devastating. Bruce sighed, staring at Tony and watching his features. He'd already told Tony one too many times how very sorry he was about the loss; it seemed repetitive to do it again.
"Now, let's talk about something else. You have lost weight," Tony narrowed his eyes and poked his index finger in Bruce's chest, "I don't like it."
Bruce shook his head. "Running around the nation with Tony Stark will do that," he said matter-of-factly, trying not to draw a lot of attention to it. With his helping Tony find the person that killed Happy and trying to find the man that beat Dick almost to death (not to mention nightly routines in Gotham when possible), Bruce didn't have a lot of time to worry himself over little things like sleeping much or eating. Probably like Tony.
"Nonsense, I eat loads of cheeseburgers. It's something else isn't it, cupcake?"
Bruce knew that was a lie. Even if Tony loved cheeseburgers and could eat them all day, even he hadn't the time to eat them every time he had a small break. Something always came up and interrupted him. He couldn't even make it from the meeting room to his office (which was just on the other side of the hall) without someone asking for his attention.
"Something else?" Bruce questioned. There wasn't a lot of things, if anything at all, Tony didn't know he was doing that he had to be worried about. "Worried about you, how all this is impacting you... but besides that and the usual, there isn't anything else."
"You shouldn't be worried about me Bruce. I can handle all of this just fine. I'm always alright remember?"
Bruce sighed, looking away from Tony. "Sure," he said, wanting to address the distance that had been created between them since Happy got in the coma -- well since before that, but this made it all worse.
"Listen Bruce, it'll be all over soon," Tony placed his hands on Bruce's shoulders and looked the man in the eye, "I promise you."
The promise was sealed with a long passionate kiss but Bruce couldn't help but feel detached from the man in front of him. They needed more time for themselves, away from this war and away from all this misery that seemed to surround and define them now. God knows how much they needed a break from everything. From Batman, from Iron Man, from S.H.I.E.L.D. even from the judging people on the street.
"But when is soon, Tony? When more people die unjustly?" Bruce asked as Tony pulled back from their kiss. Bruce placed his hands on Tony's arms, holding him so that he couldn't break away. He knew they couldn't just end this war, their opposing side needed to do that and it didn't seem too likely any time soon. Bruce didn't expect Tony to answer the question.
Tony blinked, letting these words sink in as he took a shuddering breath and looked away from Bruce's pleading eyes. He wanted to rest, he was so tired of everything right now. Sleep would do him some good. The world however didn't stand still and neither did Tony Stark's agenda apparently. There was always something going on. Tony missed those nights where he would wake up next to Bruce and find himself snuggling closer to his lover. It seemed so long ago since he had been able to do just that.
"You're running yourself thin," Bruce whispered to Tony. "And we're..." he sighed, "we're not as close as we were before all this started. I'm almost afraid of what this war has cost us." He motioned between him and Tony.
"I miss you, even if you're right behind me. It's not the same. I promised I wouldn't let you go and I won't but this has been a rough time for both of us, I know," Tony sighed, "I promise you, the moment this is all over, and for our sakes, I hope it's soon, I won't let you leave my side or bed again for a good few days. If not weeks. I'll make it up to you. I swear."
Bruce placed his forehead against Tony, gazing deep into his eyes. "I know, I trust you. I just pray nothing else happens." Even if Bruce had a horrible feeling that there was at least one more huge, awful event that was going to happen, going to break Tony -- break them. He kept hopeful, for both of them.
"The registration is the law now Bruce. We'll get those rebels soon and make them see that we're on the right end this time. Even if it's against their beliefs," Tony smiled, the bags under his eyes were huge and the man swayed on his legs whenever he didn't walk for a while, as if his body was actually trying to fall asleep while standing up. Bruce just hoped everything would calm down a bit so Tony could finally get some well-deserved sleep. God knows how much the man needed it at this point.
Bruce only knew so much as to what actually happened to the rebels -- the other side of the war -- when they were hunted, caught and taken to a special prison Tony and Reed had created. Tony escorted everyone there himself, trying to make them see reason and telling them this wasn't him doing it because he thought it would be fun, he tried to convince them that his side was right. Which it was if you had the right point of view. Several people shared Steve's point of view however, just because they liked him or because they stood what he stood for. For his own sanity, and not wanting to risk actually changing his own mind again, Bruce didn't ask a lot of details on where the rebels were kept of where the prison was located. Bruce didn't know a lot that Tony did know, even he wasn't on the list of people that were allowed to see the list of the identities, which meant something considering Bruce and Tony were inseparable. Hopefully the rebels would get smart and just register. It would cause Tony less stress and Bruce to be less worried about his lover's personal health.
"Why don't we go out tonight? Just the two of us?" Tony smiled, starting to play with Bruce's tie.
"Where do you want to go?" Bruce asked, watching Tony carefully; mostly enjoying whatever contact he could with him.
"Somewhere where no one will actually bother us. How about our private beach?" Tony smiled, "back in Malibu. Private jet can leave any time we want. No one knows we're there, we can drink champagne, go swimming in the sea. Just the two of us."
Bruce saw just how much Tony needed this, the weariness in his eyes etching into Bruce's. And Bruce would be lying to himself if he said he didn't need the time, too. He'd take what he could. "That..." Bruce said as he nodded, a smiling slipping across his lips slowly, "that sounds perfect."
"Of course if you'd rather stay home here in New York," Tony said weary, "we could always just lay in bed together and ignore the outside world."
Bruce let his arms slip around Tony's waist, pulling him close. "We'll do whatever you want. As long as you're there, it won't matter."
Tony smiled tiredly and kissed Bruce on the lips. "Staying home it is then. I'm sure you'll agree on the fact that we're both too tired to actually fly to Malibu right now."
Bruce placed his right hand on Tony's face, fingers splayed around to the back of his head and neck. "Mhm," Bruce mumbled, parting his lips against Tony's, kissing him slowly at first, letting them sync together. It had been... weeks since Bruce had a moment like this with Tony. Tony placed his hand in the middle of Bruce's chest and pushed the man towards the couch, lowering him down and crawling on top of him without ever breaking the kiss. Bruce lifted up his head to deepen the kiss as Tony's hand moved from his chest to the side of his neck and stayed there, keeping Bruce in place.
Bruce slid his hands down to Tony's hips, finding the waistband of his pants and slowly working his shirt tails loose as he continued to kiss Tony slowly, not wanting to rush this. His fingers find their way up Tony's shirt, touching the smoothness of his skin, pulling him down closer. Bruce could feel himself already getting too excited; just the thought of Tony above him panting and having his way with him made Bruce want the other man more.
Tony moved his mouth down Bruce's jaw and got his free hand to crawl under the man's shirt. He felt the scars on Bruce's torso under his fingertips but ignored them once he reached Bruce's neck in his trail of kisses. Bruce felt his breathing hitch, craning his neck back to allow Tony more access. Tony moved his hand from under Bruce's shirt and sat up, breaking the kiss to start opening the buttons of the shirt. Bruce looked up at Tony, gazing at him as he focused on each tiny button and when he finished Bruce reached up and dragged Tony' head down to his again, forcing his tongue into the other man's mouth.
Growling, Tony moved his hands over Bruce's chest before he started kissing his way down, leaving small bite marks wherever he felt like it. Bruce ran his fingers into Tony's hair, pulling gently as Tony left his mark on him, giving a grunt at the pain -- nothing new for him, he actually liked it.
Tony groaned, stopped for a few seconds but then continued what he was doing, Bruce didn't question it as he was too busy trying not to pull Tony up and have his way with him. Bruce pulled on Tony's hair to bring him to face height again and then let go and started to unbutton Tony's pants, kissing his neck and shoulder as he did. Bruce moved started to push Tony's pants down around his hips, kissing a soft trail to his ear, letting out a heavy breath that sent a cascade of goosebumps across Tony's skin.
Grunting, Tony ran his fingers through Bruce's hair and pulled the man away from him for a few seconds to stare into Bruce's eyes. Bruce looked into Tony's eyes, only the expression of love, lust and need on his face, but let Tony have the control. Tony pecked Bruce's lips and rested his forehead to Bruce's.
"Pepper's been trying to call me for 5 minutes now." Tony sighed, "she's insisting that I pick up. Saying it's urgent."
Bruce just smirked at him knowingly. "Maybe you should take it. I'll still be here in ten minutes."
"Knowing her, she'll probably want me to come over to the hospital again. Steal me away from you," Tony winced and then pouted, clearly not happy with his sexy-time being interrupted.
Bruce placed a hand on Tony's neck, bring his lips to the other side and started to leave little kisses along his jaw. "Just take the call right here and I'll keep things going. You won't be able to leave. I won't let you."
"Mhm," Tony muttered as he went silent again and Bruce saw his pupils turn slightly darker. Bruce continued his trail of kisses down Tony's, his other arm tightly around his waist. He hoped it wouldn't take long, and most of all hoped it wasn't too important.
Tony moved his arm around so it was laying over Bruce's shoulders and pulled him closer, throwing his head back a little bit as he enjoyed the soft touches of Bruce's lips upon his skin. He didn't say anything, as everything that was going on in his head was currently more important to focus on. Yet, the small gesture of actually still touching Bruce and moving around made Bruce feel like Tony was appreciating the distraction from everything that was being told to him in the conversation with Pepper.
Not letting the moment get ahead of him, Bruce kept everything slow and easy, soft and unnerving. He had a feeling that Tony was going to end up either too upset to finish or storm out again just like every other time they tried to get something done. With the War it was like that and Bruce had come to accept it. The longer Tony went between responses to Bruce's touches and gestures, the less Bruce kept doing, until finally he stopped completely, looking Tony over and waiting for what he knew was coming.
"She wants me to come to the hospital," Tony shook his head out of his messed up thoughts and looked at Bruce, stroking his cheek with his free hand, "alone."
----
"His color's better don't you think?"
"Uh-huh, yeah..."
"Happy squeezed my hand yesterday. I told him I loved him and he squeezed my hand. Doctor Wyatt said it was just a reflex but I don't think so. I think he can hear me. You can hear me, can't you baby?" Pepper looked down at Happy and sighed sadly.
Seeing her husband laying on the bed with all these machines around him and hooked up to his fragile body was a strain on both her and Tony. Tony couldn't even stand to watch the body of his former bodyguard, fearing that he might finally crack down and god knows how much he tried to prevent that from happening right now. Seeing that Pepper looked tired, Tony suggested they'd go and get a coffee. Pepper agreed, seeing how hard Tony was trying not to let his walls crash. But in the end, the dinner conversation just ended up being Tony not eating and explaining to Pepper how he knew Happy was alright because he was tapped into the neuro unit's video and he was actually monitoring Happy's life-support system.
She tried to convince Tony to shut down the system, knowing that he could and it would be better for Happy himself too. It would be 'a blessing', she said. The machinery could 'malfunction' and nobody would ever know if it was an accident or if Tony really did it. That was her reasoning. Tony still saw it as murder however and kept refusing to shut down the machines that were the only thing that kept his friend alive. The rock he had been supporting on for the whole Registration business would be gone and Tony wasn't sure if he could handle dealing with that too.
"Please Tony. Even if he wakes up, it's not a life he wanted to lead. He told me himself he'd rather die than become like that man. Being fed and taken care off, not even being able to move his own body because he was just a shell. No one would ever know."
"No."
"Tony. No one would know."
"But I would."
----
Bruce had gone back to Gotham to check on the boys and Alfred. So much time away and so much public limelight with Tony had made things difficult on his household. He arrived though to find that everything was running smoothly -- Dick was near full recovery and Tim with thriving in school. Alfred said things had been quiet, which was just how Bruce wanted it to be. He couldn't cut himself into two pieces to be in Gotham as Batman and be with Tony as Bruce Wayne. Thank goodness his city had started to look up for a change.
As Bruce settled in on the couch for a moment, to catch a quick nap if possible, he heard the ding of the elevator. He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at the shaft doors as it reached the top. Obviously someone who knew Bruce's security code and it wasn't Alfred or the boys, they were already at home It had to be Tony. And sure enough, as the doors opened, a rather distraught and unkempt Tony Stark stalked out. He didn't make any eye contact with Bruce and started for the mini bar in the living room. Bruce quickly stood, catching Tony's arm and pulling him back and around, forcing him to look Bruce in the eye.
"Tony," Bruce asked softly at first; "what's going on?"
Tony's eyes were glistering with un-shed tears as he sipped a scotch he had managed to pour before Bruce got to him. He didn't say anything in reply until he turned around again to refill his glass, "Pepper wants me to shut down Happy's machines with Extremis."
Bruce furrowed his brow. "Why? There's still a chance he'd make a full recovery, isn't there?"
"Barely none. He'd live as a vegetable," Tony grumbled.
Bruce slipped his hand into Tony's free one. "That's not living," he whispered.
"It's still murder," Tony pursed his lips together and held the glass in his hand so tight his knuckles turned white.
"What's murder is keeping him on those machines when he should be dying naturally. Pepper obviously knows what Happy would have wanted, maybe you should listen," Bruce tried to explain sympathetically. He wasn't sure Tony would get it, being to clouded by personal judgment.
"I don't want to lose him," Tony admitted.
"He won't be your friend anymore if he stays in the state he's in," Bruce said softly, placing his hand on Tony's face to bring his attention to Bruce's eyes. "I wouldn't want to do it either, Tony. But who else is going to give Happy what he deserves?"
"He deserved to have a normal night with Pepper, to be alright. This is not what he deserved," Tony muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.
"No, it's not," Bruce replied sternly, "but given the unfortunate situation, don't you think he'd rather not live life that wasn't really worth living anymore? He can't even move, let alone think or eat for himself. What would Happy want, Tony?"
"Happy doesn't want to live like that, or so he told Pepper," Tony whispered, sinking down to sit on the floor and his head resting on his knees.
"Pepper wouldn't lie to you, not about that, not ever," Bruce soothed, kneeling down next to Tony, a hand on his back. "One way or another, whether you do it or she does by power of attorney, it'll happen at some point. In a way, he's already gone, Tony. That machine is just keeping him breathing."
"I'm not sure if I could handle actually doing it, Bruce," Tony gritted his teeth, "another death on my hands. Happy's of all people."
As much as Bruce was more than the kind of person to try everything before in inevitable happened, he knew there was nothing left for Happy Hogan. Bruce also knew that for Tony this wouldn't be easy -- it never was. "There's always helping Pepper in getting the doctors to do it. Doesn't have to be by your hands alone, or at all."
"Pepper asked me to do it when nobody's there, or when she alone is. So his death wouldn't be something stared upon and noted down by doctors who don't actually care about him."
It was clear to Bruce he wasn't getting through to Tony; two drinks down, grief and guilt were already setting in. "Tony..." Bruce sighed, sitting down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and holding him closer. "Whatever decision you make on this, I'm sure it will be the right one."
Authors: destinyawakened and mjls
Rating: pg-13
words: 6800
Pairings/Characters: Tony Stark/Bruce Wayne, Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan
Summary: Tony is faced with a decision he's not quite sure he can make. Bruce tries to help him see reason.
Warnings: spoilers for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man, and spoilers for Marvel comics' Civil War
Disclaimer: We don't own or claim to own the characters or settings, the books mentioned or make any money.
A/N: Moves a little quick,but dwelling too long in this was going to end up depressing.
Song: Apologize - One Republic
Parts: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen |
The 'Civil War' was one big mess. That's all Bruce could describe it as. The mutants were thankfully neutral and so the battle was merely between the superheroes in the DC area and the actual fifty states of America. Tony was on the law's side, claiming that every masked person needed to register so that the government could keep a tab on the dangers outside the walls of the buildings. Heroes turned evil or were being taken over by evil beings every day (in Tony's case, almost every hour if he wasn't careful). It was only natural that if they had a registration law for guns, there would also be one for superpowers and masks. At least then they could easily find out who it was that did something wrong. If, for example, a building was put on fire and witnesses claimed to have seen a masked crusader around at the time of ignition, the government and police could easily find said crusader by accessing the data base on superpowers and interrogate the necessary people.
Of course, not everyone had access to these files. Only high level security people were allowed to look into the list. Tony was careful with this, after all, these were the hidden identities of his friends that were put in his hands. If this list came out in public, it would be a disaster. So it was put on the highest security, only people with the right clearance (that you had to get from Tony himself) were allowed to take a look at it. Tony did background checks on everyone around him, to know who he could trust with the hidden identities and who he couldn't even rely on to do a simple task. So was S.H.I.E.L.D easily divided in two teams, the ones that worked along side Tony on the Registration Act and the ones that dealt with all the other nuisances Tony and the rest didn't have time for.
Captain America however, was being a pain in the ass to Tony Stark during the whole ordeal. He claimed that the Registration Act was against all his basic principles. To him, masked people were the ones that risked their lives for the country every day of the week and those had to stay above everything. Masked heroes have been a part of this country for as long as anyone could remember, that was true, but this was also no longer the 1940's and Steve seemed to be a bit stuck in the rules that were important back then. He just couldn't deal with the rule of superheroes being taken care of by the government and properly trained and actually being paid for the good job they were doing. According to Steve, the job superheroes were doing wasn't just a job, it was something they felt they had the need to do and you couldn't paste an actual price on that. Captain America opposed that the mandatory federal registration of all super-powered beings is an erosion of civil liberties for the superhero community.
With Steve on the other side of the community, Tony was left alone to stride for the superheroes who actually accepted the registration. It took a lot of convincing, but in the end, the cheers from the people ringing in their ears when they were saved were enough for several of the important heroes. This was what they were fighting for. So the people would believe in them again, trust them again to take care of their safety.
Not that much would change with the registration act. In the end, the only thing that would really change was that the kids, the amateurs and the sociopaths were getting weeded out, superheroes were going to be trained from a young age to prevent anything wrong happening with their powers and they would actually get the recognition they deserved for their hard work. Only positive things came out of it, yet the rebels didn't see it that way. Tony kept telling everyone that the secret identities were on the level of national security and not everyone would get the access to the list with a click of Tony's fingers. He was the only one in the world at this point that could give out the security code to access it. The moment you had one fault on your record, even if it was just a DIU or anything else, you weren't in the run to ever get the code. Tony was that careful on the whole thing. People argued with him about the DIU thing, considering Tony himself drinks but he shot back with Extremis safe guarding everything when he's intoxicated and nothing can get out of his head if he's not in control of his own body. In other words, he was probably the safest person around to keep the codes.
Sadly enough, even the media was against the registration act at times, especially after the news leaked out that a hero had gotten hurt or worse yet, killed, while he was out of the costume because he had been against or for the registration act. Violence was running high in the cities and with the war tearing apart the superheroes that used to take care of all those little things, more people were left in the dark because no one dared to save them in fear of being caught by S.H.I.E.L.D. or attacked by rebel supporters. Things were worse than ever, especially in New York, where all the bad guys had decided to take advantage of the situation to weaken the superhero community even further.
Bruce started to become Tony's number one person that was at his side at all times, now that he had chosen a side -- the right side. Dick was doing better, but had to be rolled around in a wheel chair for a while, which Tim didn't seem to mind helping with (even going as far as racing Dick with the other teens in the ward). Bruce, was wary at first to be seen so public with Tony on this cause, but he wasn't about to let Tony do this by himself, not after seeing how it was already tearing him apart to lose all his friends to the other side. If Tony appreciated having him around, he didn't show it. Bruce barely saw Tony outside from the interviews the man gave and some quick glances of him running from one side of the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters to the other. More than often, Bruce was found in Tony's office, taking care of all the little things that had to do with the registration so that Tony didn't have to worry about those and he could concentrate on the bigger things.
The media was having a heyday with the fact that Bruce Wayne was suddenly coming off smarter than he originally lead a lot of people to believe. It caused a lot of controversy and speculations, along with rumors about on why Bruce cared so much about a Superhuman Registration Act. When asked, he simply said he was tired of of not knowing who blame or thank anymore. A lot of people asked if Batman was one he was hoping would come forward; Bruce always smiled and walked away.
So far Bruce hadn't needed to register and he hadn't needed to unmask and he hoped it stayed that way. Tony promised him that Gotham still didn't fall under S.H.I.E.L.D jurisdiction and so, Batman nor Superman (who was in Metropolis and so also not under S.H.I.E.L.D jurisdiction) would not have to sign up. Even if the UN was trying to get the registration act world wide, so far they only managed to get it in the jurisdiction of S.H.I.E.L.D and not further. Which pleased Bruce and relieved Tony for he knew how much it weighed on Bruce to keep Batman a secret. Even the media in Gotham had started talking about the registration act and got a lot of protest from the locals. A lot of them claimed that Batman deserved the neutrality and was right to refuse to pick a side. It made it all more clear that Batman was only there to protect his city and nothing more. But it was clear that Bruce being with Tony all the time, that the Batman kept appearing less and less. According to a quote from a Gotham news paper, James Gordon claimed that it was because of the registration act. Others claimed it was because whatever reason they could come up with at the time of the interview. But it always lead to the fact that Batman was trying to keep a low profile from S.H.I.E.L.D.
----
For once, Bruce was dozing off in a chair on the balcony of the Penthouse Tony had bought in New York to be closer to the situations as they arrived. A free day they hadn't had in weeks. Tony was leaning against the rails, watching Bruce intently.
"Nice having a day where nothing is going on, nothing that can't wait a few hours..." Bruce said.
"Don't jinx it," Tony scrunched up his nose, "there is a lot going on, just nothing that requires our attention at the moment."
Tony was, as usual nowadays, downloading and scanning every possible data feed into Extremis and so keeping himself up to date while he rested. Extremis scanned all the images, video footage and news reels for anything that might be interesting. Even the police scanner was being watched by Tony, in case anything would come up that required Iron Man's (and sometimes Batman's) help. The side effect of Extremis was that Tony's pupils would turn completely black and sometimes, when Bruce did notice it, it would make him shake Tony out of it, telling him about it. It scared Bruce to see Tony stare at him with pitch-black eyes during a conversation but knew that Tony was capable of handling Extremis and all it's consequences.
News reels poured in Tony's head as if he was drinking water, they left as soon as he got all the necessary information out of them and new data came in every second. Updates from soldiers, commands and requests that Tony ignored, useless police feeds, it was all in his head and every time Bruce realized this, he had to admit he was in awe with how Tony was keeping up. Quite literally, the man could hear every thing you said, even if he was in mid-flight somewhere on the other side of the world. It was impressive and yet, the people out on the streets, the ones that believed in Tony, felt more safe and secure knowing that they were being watched and protected. Tony would never use Extremis for his own advantages. It was all for the public and Bruce knew that. Tony had admitted to using Extremis to spy on Bruce once in a while because he was too busy for a call or a text.
Not that it bothered Bruce, not when Tony knew everything about him and there wasn't anything to hide. Tony being able to almost track where Bruce was at all times -- provided Bruce was near a satellite or the like -- was almost comforting. Comforting that was until Bruce really stopped to think of his privacy... But in a time like the one they were trying to battle through, it seemed frivolous to fret about it. It was Tony, after all, and not someone Bruce had anything to keep secrets from.
"It's almost too quiet," Bruce sighed, remembering the day some weeks past when Gotham was still and unmoving and Bruce let his guard down. He didn't pay the price for that... Dick did. Bruce looked up at Tony knowingly.
That stillness again, like the world was coming to slow stop for a brief moment before the inevitably bad happened. Bruce instinctively looked down at his cell phone sitting on the arm of his chair, to be sure the boys or Alfred hadn't called. They were back in Gotham, where most things were still neutral and the only threat was the man that had beaten Dick senseless,but no one had seen him since that night. During this time -- during the down time that rarely existed -- Bruce took what moments he could to research and look for the man who had beaten Dick. There were very little clues, little to off of and in the end and after a few months, Tony convinced Bruce to let it go for a while. When the SRA went through finally and everyone was under control, they could easily find the man. Bruce didn't like it, he didn't like not being in control and being to able to seek out his own justice. But he promised Tony and so far Tony had come up clean on his end. Bruce would wait, for now.
"The storm is approaching, some would say," Tony added.
"Yes," Bruce commented, rubbing his thumb over the screen on his phone.
Tony fell silent again and bowed his head to stare at the floor but only seconds later, the man looked alarmed and stormed out of the room. Bruce looked up from his phone and the last thing he saw was Tony's back disappearing behind the door before the man decided to follow Tony to see what he was up too. If Tony didn't say it, it either meant it was something unexpected or serious and Bruce wasn't going to let Tony deal with those on his own.
"Tony?" he called out as he entered the penthouse, trying to find where he had gone. "Is... Is everything okay?"
"Yes...yes everything is alright Bruce. Nothing to worry about.." Tony looked frantic as he shrugged on his suit really quickly and threw away his sweatpants and MIT sweater, "I mean, no, Happy is taken to the hospital with extensive internal injuries..."
Tony's face was riddled with grief and guilt, he felt responsible for what happened to his personal bodyguard and driver but most importantly, to his friend. Bruce wasn't going to bother to change out of his jeans and t-shirt, the wait would be too long and he knew Tony wouldn't think twice about leaving him behind. And Bruce wasn't going to allow Tony, who had been there for him during Dick's fiasco, to be do this alone.
"Tony, I am so sorry..." Bruce said, trying to find the right sentiments, but this was never his strong suit. Bruce tried to reach out a hand to at least let Tony know he was there for him.
"I'm sure he'll be alright...yes, he's a strong person, he'll be just...fine," Tony blinked and then looked up at Bruce with a fake hopeful smile on his lips.
"You don't sound reassuring," Bruce said as he followed Tony with his eyes around the room as the man put on his last shoe and started for the door. "I'm coming with you." Bruce followed him out.
"The current report on him doesn't look good, that's for sure," Tony muttered as he got in the elevator, sped it up with Extremis just a bit and almost ran towards his car with Bruce following closely. Bruce got into the passenger side and glanced at how much of a wreck Tony Stark had become during this war, and just how much more the outcome of this situation was only going to make things worse.
But Bruce didn't have any encouraging words, because Tony knew better than to believe them. He had all the stats he needed in his head and Bruce didn't, it would be lying. Instead, Bruce merely reached over and squeezed Tony's shoulder, to let him know that he was there if he chose to talk about it, or just to be. On the way to the hospital, they must've broken several speed limits but Tony didn't care, as long as he got to the hospital on time. At one moment, Tony was gripping on the wheel so hard that his knuckles turned pale white and Tony had actually almost driven against something (if Bruce hadn't yelled for Tony to turn to the left on time, they would've). Once they did, they were immediately lead towards the back of the building and so brought up to the room Happy was staying in.
Bruce let Tony have his moment, staying just outside the door. Happy was Tony's friend and a mere acquaintance to Bruce; he was only there to be what Tony needed him to be. The only one Bruce felt worse for was Pepper, who was the only family(they had married a few months prior) the bodyguard had left and she knew how this happened and why. The thing that bothered him the most was that it happened during a celebration of Pepper and Happy's wedding. They were celebrating their happiness, why had anyone want to break that apart? Hurt Pepper who had probably been smiling brightly and laughing with Happy's jokes.Tony was going to get more backslash from this, so much was certain. Now that civilians were getting hurt by the rebels, people were going to come out on the streets more and more to let their voice be heard.
Bruce stood with his back to the wall, hands in his pockets, waiting. The door had shut behind Tony and he couldn't heard a sound. He hoped, beyond hope that Happy would make it through. But Bruce was sure it wouldn't make a difference, not by the way Tony sounded earlier. Minutes later Pepper Potts walked out in a rush, not even stopping (as she usually would) to greet Bruce. He simply tried to offer her a reassuring smile, but she only looked at him sadly and walked away. Bruce wondered what had happened. Tony, came out seconds later with a grim expression on his face.
"They're going to pay for this," the man gritted between his teeth, turning his hands in fists and looking ready to hit a wall.
"Tony..." Bruce said as softly as he could, looking over at him from his place at the wall. He wasn't sure what kind of company or comfort Tony would be willing to have just now.
"I don't care why they did it. This was a personal attack and they are going to pay for this. I want this bastard found and I want him to know how it feels to see someone you care about get hurt."
Bruce pushed himself away from the wall and placed his hands on Tony's shoulder, looking him in the eye. "We'll find them," he said, knowing the exact feeling Tony was having, the desperate need to just make some vengeance. As much as Tony was hurting, Bruce hoped that he would come to his senses before he found who did this to Happy Hogan -- before he let it all loose and actually killed the responsible.
Tony glared at thin air and then stalked down the hallway, in search for the doctor. He made sure Happy would get the best treatment money could buy and then left the hospital in a huff, almost attacking one of the reporters that was standing outside in the hopes to get a glimpse of Tony and Bruce. Bruce walks paces behind Tony, hands in his pockets as Tony slowly began pushing him away as well. This was what Tony didn't want, for them to be parted by this war and yet it was there and there wasn't much Bruce felt he had control over to fix it.
Bruce couldn't fix anything and he knew that.
---
"Pepper is devastated of course, thankfully she was unharmed considering Happy protected her," Tony's voice was monotone and dull, as if all the life had been sucked out of him. It was all because of the war, losing friends, dealing with pressure and many politicians. It was bringing Tony down. It surprised Bruce every second that Tony hadn't fainted yet because the lack of energy or food in his stomach. He had barely eaten since this war started and it was visible on his frame. His cheekbones were more visible every day and Bruce hoped that after this was all over, Tony was going to start eating again. If not, he would have to get Alfred on that.
"It was supposed to be a joyful evening, their anniversary, a celebration. Then all of the sudden, bam, they get threatened to be killed because they're on my side of the war. Happy is in that vegetative state because he was protecting what he thought was the right choice for this war. He was protecting my point of view, not his. Never his. If it all depended on Happy, he would've run away with Pepper and stayed out of this mess. It's my fault he was threatened and fell down all those stories."
Bruce opened his mouth to say something, something that might help Tony feel better about his, but really, what could he say that would make losing a friend any less devastating. Bruce sighed, staring at Tony and watching his features. He'd already told Tony one too many times how very sorry he was about the loss; it seemed repetitive to do it again.
"Now, let's talk about something else. You have lost weight," Tony narrowed his eyes and poked his index finger in Bruce's chest, "I don't like it."
Bruce shook his head. "Running around the nation with Tony Stark will do that," he said matter-of-factly, trying not to draw a lot of attention to it. With his helping Tony find the person that killed Happy and trying to find the man that beat Dick almost to death (not to mention nightly routines in Gotham when possible), Bruce didn't have a lot of time to worry himself over little things like sleeping much or eating. Probably like Tony.
"Nonsense, I eat loads of cheeseburgers. It's something else isn't it, cupcake?"
Bruce knew that was a lie. Even if Tony loved cheeseburgers and could eat them all day, even he hadn't the time to eat them every time he had a small break. Something always came up and interrupted him. He couldn't even make it from the meeting room to his office (which was just on the other side of the hall) without someone asking for his attention.
"Something else?" Bruce questioned. There wasn't a lot of things, if anything at all, Tony didn't know he was doing that he had to be worried about. "Worried about you, how all this is impacting you... but besides that and the usual, there isn't anything else."
"You shouldn't be worried about me Bruce. I can handle all of this just fine. I'm always alright remember?"
Bruce sighed, looking away from Tony. "Sure," he said, wanting to address the distance that had been created between them since Happy got in the coma -- well since before that, but this made it all worse.
"Listen Bruce, it'll be all over soon," Tony placed his hands on Bruce's shoulders and looked the man in the eye, "I promise you."
The promise was sealed with a long passionate kiss but Bruce couldn't help but feel detached from the man in front of him. They needed more time for themselves, away from this war and away from all this misery that seemed to surround and define them now. God knows how much they needed a break from everything. From Batman, from Iron Man, from S.H.I.E.L.D. even from the judging people on the street.
"But when is soon, Tony? When more people die unjustly?" Bruce asked as Tony pulled back from their kiss. Bruce placed his hands on Tony's arms, holding him so that he couldn't break away. He knew they couldn't just end this war, their opposing side needed to do that and it didn't seem too likely any time soon. Bruce didn't expect Tony to answer the question.
Tony blinked, letting these words sink in as he took a shuddering breath and looked away from Bruce's pleading eyes. He wanted to rest, he was so tired of everything right now. Sleep would do him some good. The world however didn't stand still and neither did Tony Stark's agenda apparently. There was always something going on. Tony missed those nights where he would wake up next to Bruce and find himself snuggling closer to his lover. It seemed so long ago since he had been able to do just that.
"You're running yourself thin," Bruce whispered to Tony. "And we're..." he sighed, "we're not as close as we were before all this started. I'm almost afraid of what this war has cost us." He motioned between him and Tony.
"I miss you, even if you're right behind me. It's not the same. I promised I wouldn't let you go and I won't but this has been a rough time for both of us, I know," Tony sighed, "I promise you, the moment this is all over, and for our sakes, I hope it's soon, I won't let you leave my side or bed again for a good few days. If not weeks. I'll make it up to you. I swear."
Bruce placed his forehead against Tony, gazing deep into his eyes. "I know, I trust you. I just pray nothing else happens." Even if Bruce had a horrible feeling that there was at least one more huge, awful event that was going to happen, going to break Tony -- break them. He kept hopeful, for both of them.
"The registration is the law now Bruce. We'll get those rebels soon and make them see that we're on the right end this time. Even if it's against their beliefs," Tony smiled, the bags under his eyes were huge and the man swayed on his legs whenever he didn't walk for a while, as if his body was actually trying to fall asleep while standing up. Bruce just hoped everything would calm down a bit so Tony could finally get some well-deserved sleep. God knows how much the man needed it at this point.
Bruce only knew so much as to what actually happened to the rebels -- the other side of the war -- when they were hunted, caught and taken to a special prison Tony and Reed had created. Tony escorted everyone there himself, trying to make them see reason and telling them this wasn't him doing it because he thought it would be fun, he tried to convince them that his side was right. Which it was if you had the right point of view. Several people shared Steve's point of view however, just because they liked him or because they stood what he stood for. For his own sanity, and not wanting to risk actually changing his own mind again, Bruce didn't ask a lot of details on where the rebels were kept of where the prison was located. Bruce didn't know a lot that Tony did know, even he wasn't on the list of people that were allowed to see the list of the identities, which meant something considering Bruce and Tony were inseparable. Hopefully the rebels would get smart and just register. It would cause Tony less stress and Bruce to be less worried about his lover's personal health.
"Why don't we go out tonight? Just the two of us?" Tony smiled, starting to play with Bruce's tie.
"Where do you want to go?" Bruce asked, watching Tony carefully; mostly enjoying whatever contact he could with him.
"Somewhere where no one will actually bother us. How about our private beach?" Tony smiled, "back in Malibu. Private jet can leave any time we want. No one knows we're there, we can drink champagne, go swimming in the sea. Just the two of us."
Bruce saw just how much Tony needed this, the weariness in his eyes etching into Bruce's. And Bruce would be lying to himself if he said he didn't need the time, too. He'd take what he could. "That..." Bruce said as he nodded, a smiling slipping across his lips slowly, "that sounds perfect."
"Of course if you'd rather stay home here in New York," Tony said weary, "we could always just lay in bed together and ignore the outside world."
Bruce let his arms slip around Tony's waist, pulling him close. "We'll do whatever you want. As long as you're there, it won't matter."
Tony smiled tiredly and kissed Bruce on the lips. "Staying home it is then. I'm sure you'll agree on the fact that we're both too tired to actually fly to Malibu right now."
Bruce placed his right hand on Tony's face, fingers splayed around to the back of his head and neck. "Mhm," Bruce mumbled, parting his lips against Tony's, kissing him slowly at first, letting them sync together. It had been... weeks since Bruce had a moment like this with Tony. Tony placed his hand in the middle of Bruce's chest and pushed the man towards the couch, lowering him down and crawling on top of him without ever breaking the kiss. Bruce lifted up his head to deepen the kiss as Tony's hand moved from his chest to the side of his neck and stayed there, keeping Bruce in place.
Bruce slid his hands down to Tony's hips, finding the waistband of his pants and slowly working his shirt tails loose as he continued to kiss Tony slowly, not wanting to rush this. His fingers find their way up Tony's shirt, touching the smoothness of his skin, pulling him down closer. Bruce could feel himself already getting too excited; just the thought of Tony above him panting and having his way with him made Bruce want the other man more.
Tony moved his mouth down Bruce's jaw and got his free hand to crawl under the man's shirt. He felt the scars on Bruce's torso under his fingertips but ignored them once he reached Bruce's neck in his trail of kisses. Bruce felt his breathing hitch, craning his neck back to allow Tony more access. Tony moved his hand from under Bruce's shirt and sat up, breaking the kiss to start opening the buttons of the shirt. Bruce looked up at Tony, gazing at him as he focused on each tiny button and when he finished Bruce reached up and dragged Tony' head down to his again, forcing his tongue into the other man's mouth.
Growling, Tony moved his hands over Bruce's chest before he started kissing his way down, leaving small bite marks wherever he felt like it. Bruce ran his fingers into Tony's hair, pulling gently as Tony left his mark on him, giving a grunt at the pain -- nothing new for him, he actually liked it.
Tony groaned, stopped for a few seconds but then continued what he was doing, Bruce didn't question it as he was too busy trying not to pull Tony up and have his way with him. Bruce pulled on Tony's hair to bring him to face height again and then let go and started to unbutton Tony's pants, kissing his neck and shoulder as he did. Bruce moved started to push Tony's pants down around his hips, kissing a soft trail to his ear, letting out a heavy breath that sent a cascade of goosebumps across Tony's skin.
Grunting, Tony ran his fingers through Bruce's hair and pulled the man away from him for a few seconds to stare into Bruce's eyes. Bruce looked into Tony's eyes, only the expression of love, lust and need on his face, but let Tony have the control. Tony pecked Bruce's lips and rested his forehead to Bruce's.
"Pepper's been trying to call me for 5 minutes now." Tony sighed, "she's insisting that I pick up. Saying it's urgent."
Bruce just smirked at him knowingly. "Maybe you should take it. I'll still be here in ten minutes."
"Knowing her, she'll probably want me to come over to the hospital again. Steal me away from you," Tony winced and then pouted, clearly not happy with his sexy-time being interrupted.
Bruce placed a hand on Tony's neck, bring his lips to the other side and started to leave little kisses along his jaw. "Just take the call right here and I'll keep things going. You won't be able to leave. I won't let you."
"Mhm," Tony muttered as he went silent again and Bruce saw his pupils turn slightly darker. Bruce continued his trail of kisses down Tony's, his other arm tightly around his waist. He hoped it wouldn't take long, and most of all hoped it wasn't too important.
Tony moved his arm around so it was laying over Bruce's shoulders and pulled him closer, throwing his head back a little bit as he enjoyed the soft touches of Bruce's lips upon his skin. He didn't say anything, as everything that was going on in his head was currently more important to focus on. Yet, the small gesture of actually still touching Bruce and moving around made Bruce feel like Tony was appreciating the distraction from everything that was being told to him in the conversation with Pepper.
Not letting the moment get ahead of him, Bruce kept everything slow and easy, soft and unnerving. He had a feeling that Tony was going to end up either too upset to finish or storm out again just like every other time they tried to get something done. With the War it was like that and Bruce had come to accept it. The longer Tony went between responses to Bruce's touches and gestures, the less Bruce kept doing, until finally he stopped completely, looking Tony over and waiting for what he knew was coming.
"She wants me to come to the hospital," Tony shook his head out of his messed up thoughts and looked at Bruce, stroking his cheek with his free hand, "alone."
----
"His color's better don't you think?"
"Uh-huh, yeah..."
"Happy squeezed my hand yesterday. I told him I loved him and he squeezed my hand. Doctor Wyatt said it was just a reflex but I don't think so. I think he can hear me. You can hear me, can't you baby?" Pepper looked down at Happy and sighed sadly.
Seeing her husband laying on the bed with all these machines around him and hooked up to his fragile body was a strain on both her and Tony. Tony couldn't even stand to watch the body of his former bodyguard, fearing that he might finally crack down and god knows how much he tried to prevent that from happening right now. Seeing that Pepper looked tired, Tony suggested they'd go and get a coffee. Pepper agreed, seeing how hard Tony was trying not to let his walls crash. But in the end, the dinner conversation just ended up being Tony not eating and explaining to Pepper how he knew Happy was alright because he was tapped into the neuro unit's video and he was actually monitoring Happy's life-support system.
She tried to convince Tony to shut down the system, knowing that he could and it would be better for Happy himself too. It would be 'a blessing', she said. The machinery could 'malfunction' and nobody would ever know if it was an accident or if Tony really did it. That was her reasoning. Tony still saw it as murder however and kept refusing to shut down the machines that were the only thing that kept his friend alive. The rock he had been supporting on for the whole Registration business would be gone and Tony wasn't sure if he could handle dealing with that too.
"Please Tony. Even if he wakes up, it's not a life he wanted to lead. He told me himself he'd rather die than become like that man. Being fed and taken care off, not even being able to move his own body because he was just a shell. No one would ever know."
"No."
"Tony. No one would know."
"But I would."
----
Bruce had gone back to Gotham to check on the boys and Alfred. So much time away and so much public limelight with Tony had made things difficult on his household. He arrived though to find that everything was running smoothly -- Dick was near full recovery and Tim with thriving in school. Alfred said things had been quiet, which was just how Bruce wanted it to be. He couldn't cut himself into two pieces to be in Gotham as Batman and be with Tony as Bruce Wayne. Thank goodness his city had started to look up for a change.
As Bruce settled in on the couch for a moment, to catch a quick nap if possible, he heard the ding of the elevator. He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at the shaft doors as it reached the top. Obviously someone who knew Bruce's security code and it wasn't Alfred or the boys, they were already at home It had to be Tony. And sure enough, as the doors opened, a rather distraught and unkempt Tony Stark stalked out. He didn't make any eye contact with Bruce and started for the mini bar in the living room. Bruce quickly stood, catching Tony's arm and pulling him back and around, forcing him to look Bruce in the eye.
"Tony," Bruce asked softly at first; "what's going on?"
Tony's eyes were glistering with un-shed tears as he sipped a scotch he had managed to pour before Bruce got to him. He didn't say anything in reply until he turned around again to refill his glass, "Pepper wants me to shut down Happy's machines with Extremis."
Bruce furrowed his brow. "Why? There's still a chance he'd make a full recovery, isn't there?"
"Barely none. He'd live as a vegetable," Tony grumbled.
Bruce slipped his hand into Tony's free one. "That's not living," he whispered.
"It's still murder," Tony pursed his lips together and held the glass in his hand so tight his knuckles turned white.
"What's murder is keeping him on those machines when he should be dying naturally. Pepper obviously knows what Happy would have wanted, maybe you should listen," Bruce tried to explain sympathetically. He wasn't sure Tony would get it, being to clouded by personal judgment.
"I don't want to lose him," Tony admitted.
"He won't be your friend anymore if he stays in the state he's in," Bruce said softly, placing his hand on Tony's face to bring his attention to Bruce's eyes. "I wouldn't want to do it either, Tony. But who else is going to give Happy what he deserves?"
"He deserved to have a normal night with Pepper, to be alright. This is not what he deserved," Tony muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.
"No, it's not," Bruce replied sternly, "but given the unfortunate situation, don't you think he'd rather not live life that wasn't really worth living anymore? He can't even move, let alone think or eat for himself. What would Happy want, Tony?"
"Happy doesn't want to live like that, or so he told Pepper," Tony whispered, sinking down to sit on the floor and his head resting on his knees.
"Pepper wouldn't lie to you, not about that, not ever," Bruce soothed, kneeling down next to Tony, a hand on his back. "One way or another, whether you do it or she does by power of attorney, it'll happen at some point. In a way, he's already gone, Tony. That machine is just keeping him breathing."
"I'm not sure if I could handle actually doing it, Bruce," Tony gritted his teeth, "another death on my hands. Happy's of all people."
As much as Bruce was more than the kind of person to try everything before in inevitable happened, he knew there was nothing left for Happy Hogan. Bruce also knew that for Tony this wouldn't be easy -- it never was. "There's always helping Pepper in getting the doctors to do it. Doesn't have to be by your hands alone, or at all."
"Pepper asked me to do it when nobody's there, or when she alone is. So his death wouldn't be something stared upon and noted down by doctors who don't actually care about him."
It was clear to Bruce he wasn't getting through to Tony; two drinks down, grief and guilt were already setting in. "Tony..." Bruce sighed, sitting down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and holding him closer. "Whatever decision you make on this, I'm sure it will be the right one."