Ready, Fire, Aim!

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony sat up and stretched, sighing as his back popped. Oh, that felt good. He then busied his hands with stroking the cat, smiling fondly down at him. Then he seemed to notice Pepper for fhe first time and grinned. "Hiya Pep," he greeted, not noticing her slight stiffness when the restraints were removed. At his calm disposition she relaxed. "Hello Tony," she replied softly.

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

Bruce's hand automatically reached out to stroke Nox's back when the cat began to purr softly, but he quickly stopped himself when he felt himself brush against Tony's own calloused fingers. "S-So, uh, how are you doing, Tony? Feeling okay now that Nox is here?" he inquired gently.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

"Now that all three of you are here," Tony corrected with an oblivious smile. "But the cat helps. Don't you, my pirate friend?" He asked, scratching behind his ear. This was a lot better actually, his friends being here to see him and all. "The other me hasn't come back yet, I suspect he's hiding," he added helpfully.

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

Bruce chuckled softly, glad to hear that Tony was doing alright, and that he wasn't hallucinating at the moment. "Good..." was all he could think of to say.

 

((m'not sure where you want to go with this...))

[Sweet_Wyvern]

(...Neither am I? This sort of just happened, I never planned it. Humm... I suppose in the long run they could have him on medicine and Bruce (memories and age restored) could help him through putting his mind back together. As for this exact point in time, I had an evil nugget or two..)

 

"Its not normal for people to be locked up by beds, is it?" Tony asked for a moment, staring at Nox as he slowly stroked the cat. "There're bees in my head and there shouldn't be bees. There weren't before.." His speech was interrupted by an approaching doctor, who didn't look pleased by the removal of restraints. "If you're going to untie him, we're going to have to drug him so that he doesn't hurt anyone or himself," he scolded, picking up the syringe. There was exactly one second of silence before Tony himself saw the needle and everything went to hell. As soon as the doctor turned towards him he panicked, all but screaming and flailing to get away from the thing that terrified him. The machines in the room, not just his, but all of them, went crazy as his mind lashed out, lights flickering and computers starting to spark as they were overloaded.

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

Bruce didn't have time to stop the doctor, knowing just how much Tony hated needles, before all Hell broke loose. He flinched violently as sparks flew and systems crashed, suddenly bombarded with a cacophony of angry, groaning machines and Tony's terrified, piercing screams. It was almost too much for him to bear, but he held his breath for a moment and abruptly pushed the doctor aside, lowering himself down to Tony's level. "Tony! Tony, it's okay! Look at me, no one's going to hurt you," he called over the noise as soothingly as he could manage. His voice breaking probably didn't help matters.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony looked at Bruce like a deer in headlights, eyes wild and panicked. There was a needle and the bad man was going to hurt him with it, why did they want to let him hurt the engineer, weren't they his friends. He was hyperventilating rather quickly, but he kept looking at Bruce, who was safe and warm and everything that he needed. Gradually the machines began to calm down, the cacophony of sound and visual chaos receding as the man took control of his powers again. Tears rose in his eyes as he wound his arms around Bruce and buried his face in the doctor's shoulder, sobbing silently.

Pepper had gotten between the doctor and Tony, watching in mute horror as everything fell apart. When Bruce seemed to get it under control, she whirled on the man and began berating him in that tone that meant instant death.

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

Bruce held Tony close and murmured comforting words into his ear, rubbing slow, rhythmic circles into the engineer's back. His other hand rested on the nape of Tony's neck. "You're okay, it's okay, you're safe," he whispered, just trying to calm him down as best he could.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony shivered, getting as close as he could to Bruce with the restraints on his ankles. He couldn't help it, he wept almost uncontrolably. He was scared of needles on a normal day, but in this state he was terrified. But Bruce wouldn't let the doctor touch him. Bit by bit he began to relax, tension bleeding out of him and tears stopping until he simply clung to Bruce. "Don't make me h-have one, please," he begged in a whisper, hiccuping.

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

"It's okay, I won't let anyone hurt you," Bruce promised, shooting accusatory daggers in the doctor's direction. He had been fine before the needle was brought out. He continued to murmur reassurances and hold the engineer until he completely calmed, wanting to do all he can to comfort him.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Eventually pepper warded the doctor off, looking fairly murderous before she smoothed her complexion and sat next to Tony. "It's okay, Bruce and I won't let them hurt you," she promised, rubbing his back. The man nodded into Bruce's shoulder, breathing only slightly labored now. He had calmed now. "I'm sorry," he whimpered quietly, knowing he'd made a mess.

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

Bruce shook his head and broke them apart so that he could look the engineer in the eye, and a hand rose to cup Tony's cheek. "Hey, it's okay. You didn't mean to, and you couldn't help that you were scared. We'll just have to work on you controlling your powers, that's all," he assured him with a small smile.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony managed a smal nod, though he couldn't force a smile. He was still pretty badly shaken. "Did I hurt you?" He asked softly, touching the bandage on his face with gentle fingers. Pepper had removed the kitten when Tony began flailing, and now settled him back on the bed again. "You didn't hurt us," she insisted, carding her fingers through his hair. He leaned into the touch immediately, closing his eyes and exhaling. He was practically purring.

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

Bruce shook his head in unison with Pepper's words, although he couldn't help but wince slightly upon Tony's prodding. Mostly it only hurt when one touched it, even gently. He smiled softly at the engineer's reaction to the sensation of Pepper's fingers smoothing back his dark locks, and there was a sadness to his gaze. Something about it just seemed familiar, and not in a good way. He couldn't quite place it, though.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Pepper's phone began to ring and she sighed, standing and pulling it out. "I.. Have to take this. I'm sorry," she apologized profusely, walking away quickly as she answered the phone. Tony looked displeased by the loss of the hand in his hair. Then he noticed Bruce's expression. "Did I do something?"

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

Bruce's eyes followed Pepper out, and he subconsciously shifted closer to Tony to compensate for her loss. He turned his head in surprise to the billionaire's question, and he shook his head immediately. "N-no, just trying to remember something..." he replied quietly, offering the other a small smile. "I've been having trouble with that lately."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

"Maybe I can help!" Tony automatically suggested, a smile coming to his features. He was easily cheered in this state, apparently. "What are you trying to remember?" He tilted his head, stroking Nox occasionally.

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

The physicist blinked at that, but quickly recovered, and his gaze drifted down to the feline in Tony's lap, his features contemplative. "Something about you and Nox...I'm not sure, but something...is just really familiar, seeing you two together like this. I can't quite place it, though," he sighed, scratching Nox behind the ears.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony scrunched his nose up in thought, trying to come up with something to explain what Bruce was remembering. Him.. Nox.. Oh! He knew now. "I remember. We had this thingy and long story short me'n Nox switched bodies. It was kinda interesting until I almost died," he supplied, looking up at the man innocently.

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

"Oh..." was all the supposed genius could muster. Bruce's eyes shifted from between Nox and Tony a few times as he tried to imagine exactly that might've happened, but he couldn't seem to wrap his head around it. "You switched bodies with...er, never mind. That's not really that strange, what with everything else I've seen these past few weeks."

[Sweet_Wyvern]

"It wasn't my fault. HYDRA, a group of bad people with funny green suits, had these weapons that would've made them switch bodies with us. They'd be unstoppable. Only HYDRA is stupid, so we beat them and it backfired when I was taking it apart," Tony explained, hoping he was being helpful for his friend. "They look like lima beans," he giggled after a moment.

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

Bruce chuckled a bit despite himself, and he placed a hand on Tony's leg, suddenly starving for some form of contact. Tony might have the mind of a six year old right now, but he still wanted him regardless, wanted to be there for him. Not that all of his answers were helpful, but at least he trying. "Well I'm glad that we won, and that you two are okay," he murmured.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony took this as an invitation and snuggled close to Bruce, setting his head on the man's shoulder and giving a contented little sigh. It was okay that he was tied to a bed when Bruce was with him. "I dressed him like a pirate once. Pirate Nox," he hummed, laughing softly. It wasn't all that funny, but then again, insanity and all.

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

Bruce allowed Tony to rest his head on his shoulder, and he chuckled along with him, both because of the mental image that the engineer provided for him, and Tony's laughter itself. Even though it wasn't normal for him, and it had a slight unhinged quality about it...it was genuine and easy. It was Tony's laugh, and he enjoyed hearing it.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

(WHOOSH!)

 

Tony raked a hand through his hair and stared into his coffee. Several months of intense medication and therapy, and he was finally sane again. Mostly. He still had a few.. Issues per se, but they were small. The point was, he could think properly again. This morning he was up early, unable to sleep in for whatever reason, so he was waiting for Bruce.