Ready, Fire, Aim!

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Bruce gave him a hand up, offering himself to lean on while he guided Tony back to the bedroom. He helped ease him down onto the bed and smiled a bit. "Just give me a few minutes. I'll be right back," he assured, before heading to the penthouse kitchen to prepare the "leaf water" for the engineer.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony laid down and unconsciously wriggled closer to Bruce's side of the bed, where there was a warm indent. Was this his life now? Staring at the ceiling washed with soft blue light, it was almost as though something was breaking inside him. How had he gotten here? He'd crawled out of Afghanistan on his hands and knees, and when he survived, he thought that would be the end. The big caper, and then it'd be all relaxing from there on out. Then Obadiah happened, and he figured his troubled days were behind him. After Vanko and Justin Yammer, he was weary, but changed for the better. Then New York happened, and he'd decided that maybe these life altering occasions would stop being so drastic if he pretended they meant nothing. Then Bruce stumbled into his life, and then danced right out. A younger Bruce was currently in the kitchen, making tea for a man whom he only knew because he was trusting his word, and he himself? He lay in bed, mouth tasting of vomit and skin scratchy with drying sweat. This was just.. it for him. Maybe some day Bruce would revert back to his regular age, but what would that change? Absolutely nothing. He was always alone, even if someone was laying right beside him. He shouldn't have been surprised- he'd been alone to begin with.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Bruce hurriedly prepared the tea, placing the kettle on and gathering the dried herbs together from various tins. After about five minutes he returned with two mugs and he sat down beside Tony, handing him one with a reassuring tilt of his lips. "It's pretty bitter, but considering how much coffee and scotch you drink, I figured it wouldn't be too terrible."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony looked dazed for a moment, dull brown eyes finally settling on Bruce in recognition. Oh, right. He sat up, accepting the mug and looking down at the contents. Earlier he would've scoffed, but now he just felt numb. Who cared anymore? It was all just liquid, something needed for life. Wordlessly he took a long draught, ignoring the burn as usual.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Bruce rubbed the engineer's arm a bit anxiously upon seeing the dulled look of his eyes, a deep frown curling his lips. He looked deflated, dejected, like he'd just given up caring, and it made his stomach twist uncomfortably. "This should help you not only fall asleep and help you sleep restfully, but Passionflower has the flavone chrysin, which has wonderful anti-anxiety benefits and, in part, can work similarly to the pharmaceutical Xanax. I figured that anxiety would could be part of why you're having nightmares in the first place. Just drink a cup every night before you go to bed, and you should find yourself having significantly less nightmares..." he explained, bordering on babbling. He was usually fairly comfortable around Tony, but he tended to spurt out facts and figures when he was nervous. That, or he would just shut down and stop talking completely.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony blinked several times as Bruce spewed a bunch of random knowledge into his face that he probably wouldn't remember the next day. If it had been important he might have tried to remember it, but considering the fact that he had let go and stopped caring.. well. Ironically, he was almost like Bruce had been when he woke up from Hulking out, only he didn't try to prove the point that emotions were horrible. He simply didn't care anymore. "Thanks," was his simple reply as he finished the rest of the tea, setting down the empty mug and settling on his side, staring blankly at the wall as he waited for sleep.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

This was just so wrong. This wasn't Tony; Tony wasn't some ****ing zombie. This was worse than seeing him in pain! He could tell that the engineer has shut down, and he didn't know how to fix things. "Tony...look at me," he said, a pleading edge to his voice, "Please don't do this. Please."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony's gaze gravitated to him, though there was still a dead indifference to them. "I'm not doing anything," he stated, not even a tone to his voice. He was having some serious, psychological issues at the moment, and part of it was that he missed Bruce. Of course he loved this Bruce, but.. well, it wasn't all of him. Only part of him. He couldn't just snap out of it, he felt completely dead inside.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

"That! That's exactly the problem," he groaned, gesturing vaguely to Tony's dead expression. He placed a hand over his eyes, swallowing thickly as he tried to gather his bearings. This had been exactly what he'd been afraid of before, when he had first spoken to Tony after his "incident." He knew he wouldn't be enough for him. But Tony had promised that Bruce was the same Bruce as before, and that he would always love him. He guessed that it's just been too long, that the stress had just become to much for Tony to keep his promise. Finally, after several long moments, he whispered in a hoarse, dejected voice, "If I could bring your Bruce back, I could. I-I'm doing my best, Tony...I'm trying..."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony's brows knit together slightly, though he didn't look any more alive than he had. "It's fine, Bruce. I already told you that you're what matters to me. Don't worry about it," he droned, shutting his eyes. "I'm just tired, that's all. Your tea is probably working." He didn't fail to notice how close Bruce was to breaking down, he was just too far gone to fight for him.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Bruce took a deep breath and slowly released it, trying to keep his cool. Maybe he just...he just needed to find a way to cure himself. Maybe then he could love Tony the way he needed him to. Maybe then Tony wouldn't be shutting down on him, and he could actually manage to get him some help. This unfocused, depressed lump of a man was not the same Tony that had acted as his best friend and mentor these past few weeks, and he certainly wasn't the same man who supposedly loved him.

The scientist slowly rose to his feet, studying Tony with a hurt expression, before he turned and calmly walked out. "I-I'll be in the lab."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony didn't respond, pulling his blanket up around him and snuggling down inside it. There was a small niggling of doubt inside of him, but it eventually petered out. Bruce was right about one thing though- the tea was calming. He eventually drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Bruce wandered down to the lab, his stomach in knots as he fought against the urge to run back up to his own room and curl up on his bed. He was being ridiculous, reacting this way, but he couldn't help it. He cared about Tony, and the idea of him, the person that had stuck with him all these months, had done his best to help him through everything: the painful age spurts, the flood of fractured memories that accompanied them, teaching him how to deal with Hulk...the idea of of him shutting down caused his chest to ache. He walked through the lab doors and pulled up the data Tony had gathered from the vial of whatever it was that had de-aged him, and he began to work on a solution to all of this. There had to be a way to bring the true Bruce back; to save Tony from his own demons.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

(skip? Tony might have a few brief nightmares but nothing major)

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

(Okay but to when? Bruce will probably be working nonstop in the lab until he tuckers himself out and falls asleep in there.)

[Sweet_Wyvern]

(Morning! Whoosh!)

 

Tony woke up after having slept for a solid nine hours, glancing at the clock. Usually he would grumble and go back to bed, but why bother? He got up and shuffled to his closet, pulling on a t-shirt and pants with a mostly empty head. Everything was mechanical, purely muscle memory and robotics. What did he need to do today? Oh right, now he remembered. He needed to fix the math the tech guys had sent him for some new StarkPhone tech. He made his way to the elevator, looking generally resigned about the world.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Bruce lie sleep several floors down in the lab, head rested against the table, glasses askew. He had passed out somewhere around ten AM, not having gotten much sleep before he had wandered down into the garage. His work space looked a mess, papers scattered everywhere, screens filled with program after program, all running and whirring in an attempt to reverse engineer the serum. The scientist himself looked just about as disheveled as one could look, his curls unruly, his t-shirt and shorts wrinkled beneath his hastily put on lab coat. He was determined to fix this, even if it meant wearing himself out to do it.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony made his way down to the lab when he couldn't find Bruce upstairs. The doors silently hissed open as he arrived and took in the sight before him. He sighed softly, stepping through the mess of papers that surrounded Bruce. This wouldn't do any good. Didn't Bruce see that he was fine? He began closing down and deleting holograms with his mind, wadding up paper and tossing it methodically into the trash can. He was fine.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Bruce woke with a start as he heard the faint crumpling of paper, and his brow creased for a moment in confusion, before his unfocused eyes landed on Tony and he realized what the engineer was doing. "Tony! No, I've been working for hours on those!" he exclaimed, hurriedly rushing out of his seat to snatch the crumpled balls of formulas and notes from the other's hands.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony's expression barely shifted, a mere twitch of his eyebrows signifying that he registered Bruce's distress at all. "You shouldn't have. There's no point," he said calmly, watching the man scramble about. He caught his arm and looked him in the eye, still neutral. "I'm okay, Bruce. I don't mind the way you are. Let it go," he said bluntly, and the defeated look in his eye clearly said, 'I already have.' It wasn't often that he gave up, but something had just snapped. Broken. It wasn't even a second personality like Bruce's had been, he'd just mentally collapsed under the weight of stress.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

Bruce shook his head, hands balling into fists at his sides. "No! This is not ****ing okay! You're dead inside, Tony! I-I can't just accept that! I can't just let you shut down and go numb like this!" his voice shook and cracked several times, brimming with emotion. He was desperate; he needed to fix it, needed to put Tony back together, back to the man he'd grown to know, to care for and look up to.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony just shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry you see it that way," he said simply, "because I'm fine." He wasn't. He wouldn't ever be, not like this. Maybe it was a combination of shock and stress that kept him this way. He could barely process emotions anymore. Turning towards the elevator, he threw a wave over his shoulder and got in without saying anything.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

That was the last straw, Tony leaving him there without so much as a word. This wasn't okay and the emotional stress had become too much. With a small gasp, his entire demeanor seemed to shift. The trembling of his hands ceased, his spine straightened, and his features smoothed. He glanced curiously around the room, a brow quirked as he took in the scene around him. Banner seemed too have been working on something rather important. He might as well finish it for him. Out of the corner of his eye, he just managed to catch Tony leaving. "Oh, hello Anthony."

Edited October 20, 2013 by lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony glanced over his shoulder and paused, wondering idly what was going on. He took in the doctor's stillness and indifference, noting that he seemed to be rather dead inside as well. Oh, he knew this, it was that new third personality. Well, it was a shame, but at least this one would agree that he was fine. "I wondered when you would make an appearance next," he greeted in a monotone.

[lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms]

He studied the engineer for a moment, head tilted in consideration as he took in the other's demeanor. The similarities between them was cursed uncanny, and quite questionable, considering their last meeting. He gave a slight shrug. "I come when I'm needed," he stated plainly. "It seems that Banner was quite upset with something or other. Would you happen to know what about?"