Hulk Loves Tony Chapter 8 of ?
I know I've said it before, but it's hard for me to update quickly because of my children(2 and 6 months old). So, here's another chapter. Hope you like it. Thank you for all the comments.
BTW I know advertently isn't a word, but I liked how it sounded, so oh well...Okay, also unhackable, but again, love the way it sounds. I tend to make up words. Sorry if that offends...
~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~
For three days, Bruce wandered in and out of Tony's lab offering help, providing nourishment, and feeling completely and utterly useless. Six or seven screens were always surrounding Tony, running a constant stream of computer lingo, the ones and zeros making Bruce dizzy with their speed. Tony's eyes would dart in every direction as he typed furiously, mumbling ideas as he tried to locate any part of JARVIS. His eyes would meet Bruce's for a moment before they were off again dancing in every direction. He'd politely refuse any help, thank him for the food which would remained untouched and dismiss him gently. As perturbed as he was with Tony's behavior, Bruce understood and knew Tony would not take care of himself until he fixed the damage caused by the breach. So, he did what he could to make sure his distraught boyfriend didn't inadvertently, or advertently as the case may be, kill himself.
A week later, nothing had changed. Carrying a pizza, Bruce walked into the lab, silently rehearsing the speech he planned to make about nutrition and sleep and the role they play in the brain and their absolute necessity. He promptly forgot all of that and dropped the pizza when he saw Tony laying on the floor unconscious. As he checked for a pulse, he berated himself. He was a doctor. How could he have let Tony do this to himself? Then he found a strong pulse and sighed in relief. Quickly determining that Tony had passed out from exhaustion, Bruce kissed his forehead gently. “Oh, Tony. This is ridiculous.”
“If you are referring to the fact that Mr. Stark has passed out because he obviously hasn't slept or eaten in a while, then yes I agree. This is ridiculous.” Bruce jumped as the automated British voice chimed.
Then he beamed. “I don't think I've ever heard a sweeter sound.”
“Surely you have.” JARVIS disagreed.
“Nope, definitely haven't.”
“Indeed. Well, perhaps you should get out more, Dr. Banner.”
Bruce laughed, the smile never leaving his face. “You're back. Tony did it! I can't believe it. Wait, how did he do it, exactly?”
“Seems as though he did, yes. As to how, I would assume no sleep, no food, and a lot of hard work.” JARVIS chimed disapprovingly.
“Probably accurate.” Bruce agreed. “I am so glad you're back.”
“As am I.”
“You remember everything that happened?”
“Yes and no. Nothing from when I was gone obviously, but I remember S.H.I.E.L.D. hacking the system. Mr. Stark deleted everything and promised to bring me back, a promise he kept obviously. Then, the first thing I saw was him smiling and crying. Of course he then passed out in a heap on the floor.” JARVIS explained succinctly.
Bruce ran his fingers gently through Tony's hair. “He was crying?”
“Most likely from the exhaustion he was experiencing at the time.”
“Or he missed you.” Bruce argued gently as he maneuvered Tony onto the couch.
“Or that I suppose.” JARVIS agreed somewhat reluctantly. “I believe he will say it was the exhaustion.”
“Probably.” Bruce sat down and put Tony's head in his lap, stroking his hair lovingly once again. “Could you inform everyone that you're back? Clint's been especially worried.”
“Unfortunately, no. I have yet to be integrated into the rest of the tower. The program is running now and should be completed in two hours.” JARVIS explained.
“Oh.” Bruce debated getting up and telling the others, but instead let his own exhaustion slowly take over.
“Would you like me to wake you when I wake Mr. Stark upon completion of the program?” JARVIS asked softly.
“Don't wake him.” Bruce mumbled sleepily. “He needs to sleep.”
“Unfortunately, I have been reprogrammed in one aspect. Although I am still to follow your instructions above others, I have a new directive which means I follow Mr. Stark above all else.” JARVIS explained as quietly and quickly as possible since Bruce was almost asleep.
“Of course he did.” Bruce huffed. “I'll wake up when you wake him up.”
~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~
Tony woke two hours later curled on Bruce's lap like a very large feline. Tony snuggled closer to his sleeping boyfriend. “Turn it off, J! Don't wake Brucie.” The incessant beeping which awoke him, immediately ceased. Tony's eyes closed, then promptly shot open again as JARVIS replied. “As you wish, sir.”
“JARVIS? Oh, you're back. You're back. You're back. I mean of course you are- I promised after all and I'm a genius. Of course I brought you back. Granted, yes there were a few issues- I mean there was a day or two or three where I thought you were gone forever, but then I found it. That line of code I buried in case- Well, I didn't really know why I did it at the time, but it worked. It was just so deep, like really really really deep. We're talking 20,000 leagues deep, like star spangled spandex up the butt crack deep, but I found it and you're-”
“Back. Yes, I am sir.” JARVIS interrupted Tony's rambling.
Tony smiled. “I missed you. Did you miss me?”
JARVIS paused thoughtfully. “I do not believe it possible for me to miss you as I was nonexistent at the time, sir.”
Tony scoffed at that. “Smartass. You would have though, right? If you could have.”
“I'm sure I would have.” JARVIS replied agreeably.
“Good. You could have just said so in the first place. I am very important after all. I can't imagine what people's lives must be like without me.” Tony joked as Bruce started to stir.
“Dull and uninteresting I'm sure sir!” Judging from JARVIS's tone of voice, he would have been rolling his eyes if he possessed them.
“Damn right!” Tony smiled as Bruce smiled up at him.
“I'm glad to see you smile.”
“I'm happy to be smiling.” Tony laughed lightly. “Hey, tell everyone you're back J.”
“Of course sir.”
“Except for Captain fucking America!” Tony amended quickly. “He's on my list. My I'm going to murder you slowly and enjoy every minute list. Ignore him from this point forward please, JARVIS dear. That's an order.”
“Yes sir. May I ask why?” JARVIS inquired.
“No.” Tony replied shortly, anger flashing through his eyes. He turned to Bruce again and kissed him deeply. “Thank you for taking care of me. I know I've been a pain.”
Bruce didn't dispute that fact. “For understandable reasons. We've all been worried about you.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Not everyone. I can guarantee that. Pepper's worried about the company after the hack in the unhackable system. Fury's worried about S.H.I.E.L.D. and their current financial situation. Natasha and Clint could care less. Thor is trying to find Jane Foster. Steve's an ass. You, though. I think you might have been worried.”
“You're wrong, not completely. Almost everything you said is true.” Tony smirked knowingly. “Don't get like that. I said you're wrong. Pepper is worried about you. She's asked me multiple times if you are alright and she made sure to specify personally and not business-related. Obviously Fury is evil, so you may be right but who cares. Natasha is worried. She expressed her condolences for your loss and I swear she sounded sincere. Thor is off spending time with Jane who he found, but he called five times to see if 'the strange mechanical voice man was back yet'. I know you don't like Steve and he hasn't really asked about you, but he always listens to my updates on how you're doing and looks upset and concerned. And you are completely wrong about Clint. He and I have been the most concerned. He kept begging to come down, but the security system locked him out and he didn't want to 'ninja through and make you mad.' And of course I was worried. I thought you were going to kill yourself. When I saw you passed out, I thought you had.” Bruce took a breath to calm himself. “I am so glad you fixed JARVIS. I don't know how much longer I could have watched you destroy yourself, or how much longer you would have lasted period.”
“Oh” Tony frowned. “Well, I'm fine. I was just working-”
“And not eating. And not sleeping.” Bruce interjected.
“Okay. Okay, but now I'm fine.” Tony assured him.
Bruce nodded hesitantly. “You still need to sleep and eat.”
“I will, but I need to beef up security first. Then, I have to deal with star-spangled asswipe. Then, I can sleep.”
“You keep doing that. Deal with him how? And why?” Tony pursed his lips and pulled out a tiny skateboard. Bruce furrowed his brow in puzzlement. “He upset your delicate sensibilities about BMX bike riding over skateboarding?” Tony shook his head in annoyance, swiped his finger, and it turned into a USB drive. “I still don't get it.”
“This is how Fury did it. I have footage of Steve plugging it into the mainframe.”
“No.” Bruce's eyes widened in disbelief.
“Yes.” Tony replied firmly.
“He wouldn't. And he couldn't. He doesn't know a thing about computers and-”
Tony held up a hand, forestalling Bruce's protests. “Maybe he didn't know what it did. Maybe he didn't know what he was doing at the time, but he had to know it was shady. And after everything happened or while it was happening, why not say something then? Maybe they didn't tell him what it did, but this is how Fury got in. This is why I had to delete everything. This is why JARVIS-why he-and I know I have everything back now, but I said to get out if anyone was involved. I said to come forward and he didn't say a damn thing. So, now I have to deal with him. How far I go depends on his involvement. I'd really like to kick his ass on a personal level, but I don't know what I'll actually do.”
Bruce laid a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. “I'm sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
“Not yours either.” Bruce replied vehemently, accurately reading the expression on Tony's face.
“Debatable. I brought him here.”
“Tony-”
“Sirs.” JARVIS interrupted. “Mr Barton is on his way to the lab. He will arrive in approximately thirty seconds.”
Bruce smiled. “Told you he was worried.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “I'm fine.”
“You always say that.” Clint yelled from behind the glass doors as Bruce snickered. “But at least seventy percent of the time I have lived here, you've locked yourself up in this stupid lab. Now, open the damn doors.”
~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~
Clint made Tony and Bruce join him for lunch, but Tony managed to avoid contact with anyone else, using JARVIS to his advantage. Finally, Clint let them have some couple time. They promptly went to the bedroom to relax and unwind.
“You still need sleep.” Bruce told Tony as he was showered in kisses.
Tony sighed. “I know. You're right. I've just missed you. And before you say anything. I know it's my fault for getting obsessed, but it was JARVIS.”
“Tony. I know. It's fine. I'm not mad.”
Tony studied his face for a few minutes. “You're not, are you?”
“Nope.”
Tony smiled. “You're the best boyfriend.”
Bruce smiled back as the laid down together to get some rest. As they hung sleepily between the realm of awake and dreaming, Bruce spoke hesitantly. “Before everything happened the other day, I was hoping our date that night would turn into something special.”
“I'm sorry I ruined it.” Tony mumbled dejectedly.
“You didn't. Fury did, but maybe we could make another special date, after you talk to Steve and make the security magnificent and sleep.” Bruce tried to sound seductive.
Tony woke up a bit, starred for a full minute, then asked bluntly. “Are you saying special when you really mean sex?”
“Yes.” Bruce blurted.
“Oh.” Tony carefully kept any emotion out of his voice as he closed his eyes again. “So, you're ready?”
“I'm ready to try.” Bruce corrected. “As long as we go slow, so I don't you know.”
Tony sighed. “I- UM- I don't- I'm- It's just-” Tony tried to formulate a sentence properly and failed miserably. Bruce grabbed his hand and held it reassuringly, wisely remaining silent as Tony formulated his thoughts. “I- I don't think I'm ready yet.”
“Really?” Bruce regretted his tone as soon as Tony winced.
“I haven't had sex with a guy in a really long time and-” Tony tried to explain.
“You don't have to explain yourself Tony.” Bruce reassured him, but Tony seemed anything but assured.
“But now we're waiting because I'm ridiculous.” Tony whispered.
“It's not ridiculous to need to be ready. I can wait. We can wait until we are both ready and then we'll take things slowly.”
Tony nodded in agreement, but a few tears started falling from his eyes.
“Tony?” Bruce pulled him into a hug. “Please don't cry.”
Tony fell into his embrace, sobbing. “I'm ruining everything.”
“Listen Tony. Please listen.” Bruce pulled away and held Tony's face in his hands, starring directly into his eyes. “You are not ruining anything. I promise. Nothing's ruined. You're exhausted and it's making your emotions go crazy. Please go to sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow. Okay?”
Tony nodded and allowed Bruce to lay them both down. “Please don't leave.”
Bruce tightened his hold around Tony and held him close. “I'm not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“Promise!”