Ready, Fire, Aim!

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

Bruce rolled over in his bed, rubbing his eye with this palm of his hand, and producing a light yawn. "Thanks, J," he mumbled, this voice still thick with sleep. He threw the sheet away from him and got out of bed, knowing that if he were to wait any longer he would never get up; he was far too comfortable. It had been weeks since he'd been able to sleep at least somewhat decently.

 

He looked in the closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and a soft, cotton-blend t-shirt. It's not like he'd had time to grab any of his clothes, and they were trying to lay low, so he would just have to wear some of Tony's clothes for now. It took him a minute or two to change, brush his teeth, and comb through his mess of tangled curls.

 

"How are Tony's vitals?" Bruce asked in the midst of getting ready. He'd figured that the AI would've told him if anything of significance had happened, but he felt the need to ask anyway.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Stable, sir. He hasn't dropped beyond the range of what is to he expected, nor has he woken since the previous night. I shall alert you if this changes while you are away, The AI replied helpfully. He was worried for his creator as well, and though he was simply an intelligence system, he did have the capacity to care about Tony. The man drove the computer crazy, if that was possible, but he was quite fond of him.

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

Bruce nodded. Okay, Tony will be fine until I get back. I'll only be gone for an hour at the very most, and JARVIS had everything under control. He'd be fine... he thought as he walked into the kitchen. Despite the restful sleep he had, he was still pretty drowsy, and he walked to the small coffee maker to find that it was already filled with a fresh brew, courtesy of a certain AI. He poured himself a cup and quickly drank it, not wasting any time in getting to town. Tony could wake up any minute, and he needed those meds... He picked up a wad of cash from one of the kitchen drawers (really, Tony? You just leave your money lying around?) and left.

 

It only took him about 30 minutes to get into town via the car they'd taken from the airport, which had thankfully survived the action of their first day at the house. He stopped at the small shop, looking around to see only a handful of people around. It was still pretty early, and many of the tourists were still sleeping in their beach houses at this hour.

 

He paid the grumbling shop clerk, and took the white prescription package gratefully. He also picked up another first-aid kit and some food with the left over money, before heading back to the house.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Jarvis monitored the house and its only occupant for the moment while Bruce was gone. It was quite uneventful really- Tony's vitals were constant, getting gradually better if anything. Very gradually, but getting there. Anything was better than dying, even if it left him weak.

 

While Bruce was away, the AI took it upon himself to start fixing the house. Ross was probably no where near them, considering he would assume they moved after the attack. By this estimation, they would be staying for a while. So, with the fully charged IronMan suit as his vessel, Jarvis began working on fixing the roof. It would be terrible if there was a hole and it started to rain.

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

It was a long quiet drive back, as there was no radio in the car, but he didn't really mind the silence all that much, considering the crazy last few days they had. But it made him think of Tony, and how he wasn't there with him, but lying unconscious in his bed recovering from a near-death experience from only 9 or so hours ago. Why did their lives have to be so stressful...?

 

He rolled up to the house, smiling as he saw a red and gold reflection glitter in the morning light from atop the house. He took his two paper sacks inside, quickly putting everything away. He took the prescription into Tony's room, trying to stay quiet on the off-chance that Tony woke up. He filled a syringe with morphine, replacing the cap and placing it in the first aid kit for when he woke up, which was out of Tony's reach (he didn't need Stark trying to inject any substances into himself while Bruce wasn't looking), as well as putting two Vicodin tablets and a glass of water from the bathroom on the bedside table.

 

Now all he had to do was wait...

[Sweet_Wyvern]

For a few minutes, it seemed like Bruce would be waiting a while. Then there was a giant thud on the roof, followed by a dim 'Terribly sorry, slipped,' that was loud enough to wake Tony. He really, really wish it hadn't. His side felt like it was on fire, and his head was pounding- from dehydration maybe. He blinked several times, shifting his gaze towards Bruce. When he saw what the man had, he managed to mumble, "I could kiss you right now." His mouth was really dry, but the need to stay right where he was far outweighed the urge to get a glass of water. He also really hated needles, like, really hated them, but he had no choice. He distracted himself by looking out the window, unable to watch himself being injected.

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

The thud from above broke the silence of the room and startled Bruce, making him jump. He looked down at Tony, now awake, and felt a pang of relief in his chest. He didn't wait to inject the morphine into him now that he was awake, picking it up from the first-aid kit and uncapping it with a faint pop.

 

He could see Tony's discomfort, and worked to make it as quick as possible, swiping an alcohol wipe across his skin and injecting the substance into his arm. It should only take a moment before it began to take affect. When he was in less pain, he would help Tony drink something, as he'd heard his parched airways when he'd spoken earlier.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony winced as the needle penetrated his skin, sternly telling himself that if he could handle the bullet, he could handle a needle. When it was done he turned his head back towards Bruce, feeling the warmth spread up his arm slowly. He always did have an appreciation for the speed of modern medicine. "Thanks," he managed, licking his lips in an attempt to wet them. He was lucky to have Bruce. And- what do you know? He was feeling numb already. The man visibly relaxed into the bed, releasing a small sigh as the pain left him. God bless morphine.

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

Bruce smiled a bit, glad that the morphine was doing its job. Now maybe they could both relax a bit, well, Tony seemed to be doing just fine with that. Bruce mentally grimaced at the thought of having to deal with a doped-out Tony for the next few weeks. That should be fun...

 

He helped raise Tony's head, allowing him to drink some water, and later did the same thing with some chicken broth he'd picked up in town. It wasn't nearly as much as he wanted for him, but it was something. He thought about making some ginger root tea for the both of them, so that maybe he could get some solid food into Tony's system sometime today, but he figured that Tony wouldn't be awake for long enough to even try. Bruce looked at the monitors, seeing that Tony's vitals were still pretty low. Yeah, he'd be pretty weak for a while...

[Sweet_Wyvern]

'Doped out' didn't quite cover it. Sure, Tony could handle drinking water and broth so long as his head was lifted, but some of the things he said made his title of genius questionable. It wasn't his fault, not really, just his personality multiplied and his IQ cut in half.

 

"Bruuuuuuce. Why is the Hulk green? I mean, why didn't he come out purple? Isn't that your favorite color?" He rambled, looking up at the doctor innocently as though this was a valid question. It was similar to him being drunk, except he wasn't crude.

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

Bruce could tell that these next few weeks were going to try his patience more than anything had in a long time. He tried answering Tony's questions at first ("I don't know, Tony. I didn't exactly get a say in the Other Guy's color scheme..."), but after awhile he sort of gave up and just tried to ignore him until he passed out again. Hopefully he did pass out sometime soon, because his "patient" was really starting to grate on his nerves...

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony huffed as he realized that Bruce was ignoring him. He was just being no fun at all. He was beginning to feel sleepy though, and half the conversations he thought he was having were just going on inside his head. He wasn't very lucid most of the time, though he did seem to grasp clarity long enough to smile at the doctor. "Thanks doc. Just for this, I won't make you pay for my roof," he said, though a few minutes after that he was out like a light. Joking, he was joking of course.

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

Bruce smiled, both at Tony's "joke" and at the fact that he finally went to sleep. He went into the kitchen, making himself some lunch, having skipped breakfast to hurry into town, and ate contently for a while, just thinking. He contemplated what their next move would be after Tony was well enough to travel, but so far couldn't come up with anything. He resolved to talk to Tony when he was a bit more lucid about the situation.

 

He wandered around for the rest of the day, not quite knowing what to do. He had no lab to work in, and he couldn't travel around the island trying to help people with Tony in his current condition. So he settled on trying to enjoy the scenery while he was here, maybe play a little tourist. He sat on the balcony that faced the south end of the island, where you could see a massive expanse of green. It would've been much more beautiful had it not been for the splintered trees and the gaping holes in the sea of green...

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony spent most of his time unconscious, oblivious to the world as he healed. Every now and then he would wake, but it would be for a few minutes before he sank into unconsciousness once more. By the next day he was feeling a lot better, though he still slept heavily. It was partially because of the morphine he kept getting, and partially because he was too weak to do anything but sleep. It was about three days before he was ready to eat, and he was starving at this point. His mind still seemed a bit off thanks to the drugs, but he wasn't completely loopy anymore. "Hey, Bruce? Do you think I could eat something now?" He asked. If the doctor didn't think he was ready he would keep drinking broth, but..

 

 

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

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. You really need to eat something other than broth..." Bruce pulled up the bandage covering Tony's wound. It was healing pretty well, and it was in no danger of opening. "Any requests?" he asked.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony couldn't even feel it as the doctor checked under the bandages, so there was no flinching or swearing. Hm, actually, he had been craving something for a while.. God, he felt about as helpless as a pregnant woman. He made about as much sense as one, anyway. "Well.. Do we have the stuff for a turkey sandwich? I've really been craving it.." He said sheepishly, glancing out the window.

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

"Uh, yeah, I think so. I'll go see what I can whip up..." he turned and left the room, making his way into the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later, said sandwiches in hand. He helped prop Tony up against some pillows so that he could eat, knowing that he had enough morphine to keep away the pain of any pulling stitches. He sat beside him while he ate, incase he needed anything else, his own sandwich in hand. He munched quietly, not really having anything to say.

 

Things had begun to feel a bit more routine over the past 3 days, and to be honest, he was a bit bored. At least in Calcutta he had some stimulation, had a job to keep his mind and hands occupied. Now, not so much. But he didn't mind. Tony getting better was all he cared about right now.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony sat up without complaint, taking the sandwich eagerly and chowing down after a hasty thank you. It felt so good to have solid food again- fresh tomatoes, lettuce, turkey.. It took a lot of restraint not to moan. He did have the sense to slow down though, as too much food too fast would probably make him sick. "When do you think I'll be ready to travel?" He asked. He was starting to get stir crazy sitting around, enough that Bruce might have to start drugging him just to keep him sitting still. "I mean, we probably need to fly out of here. Somewhere more remote. Question is, where?"

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

"I think a few more days at the earliest before you go anywhere. We might me able to start walking around tomorrow, but I don't want to push it," he answered.

 

"I've been wondering about that too..." Bruce admitted. "I honestly don't know where we could go that Ross wouldn't find us, other than maybe some third-world country somewhere, but with your wound, I don't want to risk infection. We need somewhere with at least some access to medical supplies, that's unnoticeable enough for us to stay there undetected until..." Well, until what, Bruce? Ross would never stop chasing him down, and he didn't expect Tony to stay with him forever, so... He thought about it for a moment, but came up with nothing.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony nodded with a small sigh. He was tired of sitting, and at the same time he was still tired. He wanted to move, but didn't think he could. It was terrible, and it really drove him nuts.

 

Tony looked to the doctor expectantly when he fell silent, raising an eyebrow. However, the silence gave him an idea. "Until we can clear your name," he finished the sentence, a glint in his eye that said he was up to no good. "You're a hero, Bruce. The people know that, all we need is followers. If we get people behind us, it'll be impossible for Ross to take you. In the meantime, you and I are about to become grade A attourneys. We'll get you out of this somehow."

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

Bruce put on a guise of optimism for Tony's sake, made it appear as if he thought it might actually work. Of course he would try to clear his name, but the fact of the matter was, was that Ross had way too many supporters on his side, and almost everyone that had seen the Other Guy on the news was either terrified, confused, or completely unsure of him. Who was going to want to keep him in New York?

 

"Yeah, I guess we better come up with a plan then, huh? Put some of this down time to good use since you're awake," he said with a smile.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony knew when someone was lying. He was so good at it that he started recognizing it, and Bruce's smile was a fake one if he ever saw it. He wanted to convince him, tell him that everything would work out, but he wasn't sure how.

 

"Good idea. This might become a vigilante thing though. I have an idea, and before you freak, hear me out," he said carefully, sitting up straighter. "I think you should let the Hulk out more. Think about it: if he gets out say, every two weeks, he'll be less likely to force himself out. We can start in deserted areas, work on keeping him destroying everything. If we can show the world a Hulk that doesn't smash everything and is halfway civilized, Ross won't have any hold in court. They'll force him to leave you alone," he said, looking extremely thoughtful. "Hulk trusts me. I trust him. I think he's willing to change if he gets to be out more. He deserves a little time to play."

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

Bruce stared at him. When he tried to come up with something to say, his mind drew a blank. Finally after a moment he was able to process it, and come up with something that wasn't related to him checking Stark into a mental hospital for suggesting something so crazy.

 

"Tony, you do realize that you were hurt because you were trying to protect me from the military, right? If I Hulked out to 'play with you', that you would be putting yourself in the direct line of fire. Not only that, but Ross doesn't care about his public image- he does whatever he wants regardless of if he has permission. He's a lunatic! If people actually agree with him that I'm a menace, then that's just a plus!"

 

He didn't want to admit that the idea held some merit, since Tony would never let him hear the end of it. If he brought the Other Guy out more, sort of shared his body, I guess, and we did it in a controlled environment, it might just keep him content enough that he wouldn't try and spring into action every time a certain scientist poked him with electrified sticks.

 

But no, this was too crazy. Ross would squash this idea like a bug the moment he caught wind of it, and he'd use footage of the Other Guy's rampage to help further his agenda.

[Sweet_Wyvern]

Tony was stubborn. He was bullheaded and firm, and he'd be damned if he let Bruce's fears stop this. "Nope. No sir. You're not getting out of this one. I know I got hurt, but I knew what I was getting into. I still do. And if we can prove that you AND the Hulk aren't a menace, he'll get prosecuted for chasing you. This is our only option. You can't just run your whole life," he pointed out, refusing to give in.

 

"Look, if the Other Guy understands that we can make Ross go away and all he has to do is smash in private only, don't you think he'll give it a try? People love a hero. And if they don't agree, well, even the government ignores it when people hate something. It'll work, I promise. We have to try."

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

Bruce sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to win this fight. And to be honest, the thought that Tony was going through all this, that he was so determined to help him, well...it was kinda touching. Only one other person had ever fought for him this much, that actually cared about him and the Other Guy.

 

He could feel the presence in the back of his mind, which had sort of made a place for itself ever since Tony had started to talk about the Other Guy. Apparently he liked the idea. Well of course you would, it means you get to wreak havoc and smash with no consequences! he thought. He was surprised to hear a grumble in reply. Great, I'm having conversations with himself now?

 

He realized that he was just standing there, and that Tony was sort of expecting a reply. "Um...I guess I could give this a shot. But if there's even the slightest chance that something will go wrong, I'm pulling the plug!" he countered. "I'm not letting you get hurt again."

Edited May 15, 2013 by lord-of-the-nerds-and-fandoms