Avengers 1. Chapter 1

Banner/Hulk was always one of my favorite characters. The whole 'lonely, suffering, misunderstood guy' thing always appealed to me. While I'm still not entirely sure how I felt about Mark Ruffalo's portrayal, I truly enjoyed the Avengers movie, and I wanted to explore some more around the interaction Banner had with some of the other characters. No pairings here, slash or otherwise, though there is some insinuation with a couple of them.

This story consists primarily of movie information, as well as some comic stuff and a few bits of info from the old tv show, which I also really enjoyed. Anything else is something I absorbed subconsciously or made up.

Some of these are longer than others. Some might contain hints of pairings (there were so many possibilities with this movie!) Each chapter will contain Bruce's point of view, then whichever teamate is featured in the chapter.

Warning: This story contains the following; a compassionate Natasha, a guilty Steve, a sensitive Tony, a sweet Thor, a fanboy Clint, and a slightly repentant Loki.

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Team Bonding

Chapter 1

If anyone asked who stood out most among the avengers, there would be many different answers. All of them were unique and extremely noticeable in some way or another. Some might say Natasha, because she was the only woman in the group. Others might say Thor, due to his (literally) alien ways. Some reason could be given to make any of them seem to stand out in the group. But if one were to ask the Avengers which among their ranks stood out in their opinion, the answer would be unanimous: Bruce Banner, aka The Incredible Hulk. They each had their own perception of him, and the each found their opinions on many matters changed by knowing him.

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Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow

Bruce had needed less than a second to figure out what was happening when the little girl who'd come begging him to help her father had jumped out the back window of the shack he'd been led to without breaking stride. It was a good thing to, because he had barely more than a second to compose himself before being confronted by one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. She'd been cool and composed, and he hadn't been able to resist shaking that composure by testing her with the threat of an outburst. He knew she wouldn't kill him, and even if she wanted to she couldn't. She must have figured that out too, because she went back to using reason. In the end, he consented to go with her, if only because he knew that, as usual, no one would dare approach him, knowing what he was, without plenty of backup to cause a scene.

She hadn't been interested in learning about him, or why he was wanted by Nick Fury. He understood her kind well enough. She was a soldier. She took orders and only considered them enough to determine the best way to carry them out. She didn't ask questions and didn't let feelings get in the way. But Bruce noticed a slight change in attitude toward him after that first encounter; she respected him.

"How'd you know I wasn't alone?" She asked on the ride over. He snorted derisively. He knew what she was doing; trying to distract him from plotting to escape. He really wasn't interested in talking. He'd never been a fan of flying, even before having to jump out of a helicopter in order to trigger a transformation that almost didn't happen in time.

"No one from any half-decent intelligence organization would go anywhere near me alone, unless of course they found some way to kill me that could be sufficiently operated by one person." He replied.

"You know that from personal experience?" She asked. Maybe she was a little curious after all.

"All too well." He replied coolly. "Again, if you're anywhere near as good at your job as you act, you ought to know all about it." She'd shut up after that, seeing no point in the conversation. They both knew that she'd been briefed on the battle in Harlem with the abomination Blonsky had turned himself into. But she hadn't tried to distract him with conversation anymore. Except perhaps in that moment on the flying fortress when he was about to change, and she'd promised him that he'd get to walk away from S.H.E.I.L.D. He'd been so afraid then. Yes, he was angry at her for forcing his hand and bringing him there, but he didn't want to kill her. He'd known she was trapped, unable to free herself, knew that she had selflessly waved away the men coming to help her to face the danger alone, and he'd done his best to put some distance between them before he lost awareness. He'd been sure that after that outburst, he'd be put in a cage for sure.

But then, after the battle was over, she and Nick Fury had both kept their promises, and he'd been free to go where he wanted. Whether they had intended it all along or had changed their minds at some point between then and the battle was still a mystery, but he decided not to examine it too closely.

They were on good terms now, and hopefully it would stay that way. She might not be able to kill him, but she would surely be able to make his life unpleasant if so inclined.

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Natasha waited by the car with Bruce. The man was rather twitchy. They were waiting on Clint to show up so that they could see Thor off to Asgard with Loki in tow. Steve would be riding his motorcycle behind a special armored car with the two Asgardians inside and Tony would be meeting them there. She couldn't help but start to feel impatient. She shifted from one foot to the other, then hissed lightly as she put a little too much pressure on her sore ribs. To her great surprise, Bruce went perfectly still. He didn't speak for a moment, and when he finally did, his voice sounded a little shaky.

"I'm sorry." She looked at him, surprised.

"For what." He met her eyes, and she was shocked by the amount of sorrow in his.

"For that. For hitting you. I tried to get away, but when he wants to hit something…" he trailed off. She realized what he was talking about. She wasn't really in the mood for dramatics, so she tried to shrug it off.

"Doesn't really matter anymore. I got plenty beat up by those Chitauri." But Bruce wouldn't let it go.

"Still, I didn't want to hurt you. I've never tried to hit a woman before." Natasha couldn't help but feel a little insulted by that.

"Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't take a hit." She commented a little coldly.

"I know that." He replied softly, almost too low for her to hear.

"Then why does it bother you so much?" She asked, really wanting to know now. He stared at her, hard.

"You don't know? SHIELD doesn't have that part of my life's story too?" She immediately began searching though her knowledge of his life, all the things she'd learned to find just what would make him say yes. Her first conclusion was his first transformation, which had resulted in serious injury to his girlfriend, Betty Ross. She discarded that thought quickly. It seemed a little more deeply rooted than that. She went back further, before the accident, and found her answer. It was incredibly simple really, a common problem for men who'd come from such a situation. And she could tell from the flash of absolute misery that crossed his face that he knew she'd found it. She decided to be kind about it.

"You didn't want to hurt me." She offered quietly. "You tried to move away, redirect the Hulk's attention. And the Hulk, I think, doesn't discriminate based on gender. He goes after all his foes the same way. One such incident doesn't make you like _him_."

"How do you know?" He asked quietly. "A lot of reputable doctors say it's genetic. How do you know I haven't inherited some cruel disposition that the Other Guy has no problem acting on?"

"Because that day, during the battle, you were a hero. You were brave. You both were. You came back, and the Hulk fought with us, even protected us some of the time. Good people, _brave_ _people_ don't just cause pain because they can; that's what cowards do." Bruce just stared at her for a prolonged period of time before snapping his gaze away. Natasha realized he'd heard Clint coming before she did. There was no more time to speak of the issue; they were forced to let it go.

As they drove to their destination, Natasha couldn't help but think more about it. How terrible must it be for a man to have such a raging personality trapped inside him when he'd spent his entire life striving to be the opposite? She recalled the look in his eyes as he'd looked at her right before the Hulk took over, the fear and sorrow, and the way that already begged her for forgiveness while pleading with her to find a way to escape, and the way he'd managed to crawl and stumble a few paces in the opposite direction just before his will was overruled by his alter ego. Bruce Banner lived in his own personal Hell, she realized, and he had no idea how much of the anger inside him might actually be his own.

She knew there was nothing she could do about it except try to respect his struggle and try to be ready to fend off the soul crushing guilt he must feel all the time.

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Bruce's issues with his father will be a recurring thing in this story. I guess I'll be posting whenever I hit yet another long rut in my most recent Star Trek story. There's no real timeline here; it all takes place near or after the end of the movie. This story itself isn't complete. I've started several chapters but most of them are only halfway done. Some will be longer, and some may be shorter. I'm not even sure if I'm going to stop with the characters I mentioned at the top. This is one of my side projects while I try to get past my writers block on Love For Sale, which is my main priority. Next up will be Steve!


	2. Chapter 2

I rearranged some things from the 2008 film. The scene in the Arctic was meant to be an alternate opening, but since it was discarded (I think) I'm setting the event after most of the movie, but before the very end. I kind of feel like since Bruce seemed to give up on the cure after the thing in Harlem, that it would have made sense that he gave up on living shortly afterward.

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Chapter 2

Steve Rogers/Captain America

Bruce didn't learn until well after the battle that he was actually the main reason for Steve's discovery. He would have never guessed that his little trip to the Arctic would one day bring him face to face with an honest-to-God World War II comic book superhero. Steve's initial greeting, and his lack of caring about anything other than Bruce's ability to help them stop a threat had caused Bruce to like him more than any other military member he'd ever met. Of course, he turned out to be just as wary as the others almost immediately.

Steve, with his old fashioned sensibilities and mannerisms, seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and it had pained Bruce to let him in on that piece of information. Of course, Agent Coulson had just happened to mention it, and Steve, being such a nice guy, had felt obligated to thank Bruce. He'd tried to do so after the battle.

"You did good out there." He'd said, slapping Bruce on the back, just a little too hard. "You and the 'Other Guy'". Bruce accepted the compliment with a small smile.

"Well, we had a good leader." Bruce offered in return. He honestly didn't mind taking orders from someone who actually seemed concerned about all the 'little people' instead of only caring about his career and reputation. Steve grinned broadly at his compliment.

"Well, that's thanks to you for leading them to me so they could dig me up." Bruce stared at him, confused.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Agent Coulson told me you were the reason they found me in the arctic." Steve explained. Bruce closed his eyes. The arctic. He'd forgotten that Steve had been found there. He knew he must have wreaked some kind of havoc in the frozen wasteland when his suicide attempt failed. He'd pissed the Hulk off big time with that stunt; when he woke up, he was in Canada with no idea how he got there or how long he'd been rampaging. Apparently the Other Guy didn't like the cold at all. He'd never considered that his trip there and Steve's presence were connected.

"I wasn't up there looking for you." He said quietly. Steve shrugged.

"Still, you found me. That matters a lot me. And to S.H.E.I.L.D."

"I wasn't up there working for S.H.E.I.L.D. And I didn't actually find you. I just did something that led them to you, and it wasn't even for a few more years." Bruce said, needing him to understand that he shouldn't be grateful to him. "I was up there because…you remember when I said I knew there was no way for them to kill me?" Bruce waited for it to sink in. When it did, Steve's eyes widened in a way that might have been comical if they hadn't been discussing such a grim subject.

"You…you were up there to…" Steve couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Yeah." Said Bruce. "After my latest failure to reverse the change caused me to assist in the creation of two super villains and actually destroy a city, I gave up. I went out into the arctic wilderness with a gun and shot myself. And that failed, just like everything else I'd tried to get rid of the Hulk." He was starting to wish he'd just accepted the thanks and left it alone.

"Well." Said Steve after careful consideration. "I'm still glad to be alive and awake again. If whatever happened to bring you up there led to that, then I'm grateful." Bruce just settled on shrugging.

"Okay then."

And that was that.

* * *

Steve hadn't known what to make of Doctor Bruce Banner when he first met him. He had first suspected from the footage he'd seen of the rampaging creature that the man was brilliant but power-hungry, with a will too weak to resist the allure of more power, just like Schmidt, but with far less control over what he'd made of himself. He wasn't sure how to react to the nervous, unassuming man that Agent Romanoff had introduced him to.

Bruce had been wary, expecting to be treated as a threat or a prisoner. Steve had almost immediately felt guilty for automatically suspecting him of having an unsavory nature. He even felt a little empathy. They were both chemically enhanced after all. But he knew that was where the resemblance between them ended. He had been a scrawny, asthmatic orphan with nothing to lose and everything to gain from the experiment. Bruce had been the opposite, a perfectly normal, albeit brilliant man whose whole life was turned upside-down by what he'd managed to accidently do for himself. He hadn't even been looking to use it as a weapon, only to try and make human beings live longer, healthier lives. While Steve's transformation had been embraced and celebrated, Bruce's had been cause for fear, and it wasn't fair. He was in no way the monster that Schmidt, or the soldier named Blonsky had become, craving more of the power they'd tasted. Steve resolved from the moment Bruce asked him just what the word was on him that he would do whatever he could to treat him like a normal civilian. He felt like he owed him that much, especially after learning from Coulson that they had found him in the ice because of the scientist turned monster. His gratitude had turned to horror later when he learned just how Bruce had contributed to his being found.

His resolve had crumbled almost from the start. Tony Stark had been cocky and teasing, immediately complimenting Bruce on his nightmarish trait, then later trying to get a rise out of him just to see how he would react. Steve would have been lying if he'd said it didn't bother him just a little to see the way the scientist bonded rapidly with Stark. Sure the two of them were geniuses, and Bruce did seem to share some of the biting, sarcastic wit that Tony dished out with every other sentence, but other than that, what could they possibly have in common? Steve couldn't help but be reminded of all the times people had favored Bucky over him, assuming the more attractive specimen was better in more than just appearance.

He'd snapped at Stark for his little attempts to provoke, showing Bruce that he was just as worried about a rampage from the Hulk as the others, and that Tony Stark actually had more faith in him than anyone else. Later on, when Stark had suggested that Bruce be allowed to 'let off some steam' he'd made the completely selfish reply that made it sound like he thought Bruce had no right to express himself or even feel negative emotions. He'd felt ashamed, especially when Bruce had blurted out to Fury that his struggles with the Hulk had driven him to attempt suicide. It had been enough to shock them all into silence for a moment before the fighting started up again. And then Bruce had come close to losing control, and then finally snapped when Loki's henchmen attacked, disappearing into the city after Fury had ordered him shot at.

And then he'd returned. Bruce had taken a beat up old motorbike of all things and made his way back to them just before the battle really heated up. Perhaps he'd been right to favor Stark. He was the only one who seemed certain that Bruce was, deep down, a true hero; that he would rise to the occasion and help them save the Earth. Stark had proven himself more deserving of Bruce's friendship. It was no surprise when Bruce left their farewell group to go and live and work in Stark's tower, and later on the Avenger Mansion.

Steve didn't really know how to speak to Bruce after he learned how he led SHIELD to his location. His horror at what Bruce had said on the Helicarrier had multiplied tenfold when he learned that Bruce had been in the Arctic to commit the aforementioned suicide attempt. How was he supposed to talk to the man, knowing that the only reason he was there was because an innocent man who had been tricked by the government into trying to create more supersoldiers like him, turning himself into a monster in the process, had been trying to kill himself because of it? Especially when he himself couldn't help but treat that man like a threat.

It had taken a while, but after the battle, when Steve had time to analyze it, he realized just why Bruce was more drawn to Stark. It was because while Steve had tried to treat Bruce like a normal person, it was all just a preventative measure. He had only been doing it to keep the beast at bay. Stark had embraced all of Bruce from the start, the good and the bad, and he had actually trusted the man enough to tease and poke without fear. What's more, he'd helped Bruce truly accept his condition instead of just being resigned to it.

If Steve prided himself on one thing, it was that he'd been found worthy of having his acquired power just by being himself. But at some point, he'd begun thinking just like the rest of the world's military strategists, focusing on containing the monster, only treating Bruce like a person to avoid an unpleasant outcome. Stark's acceptance had been immediate and unconditional, and he'd made Bruce feel more secure than anyone else had. Steve now knew that Stark was truly a good man, and that he'd been right in his approach to Bruce. Steve knew he was going to work hard to make him feel just as welcome on their team as Stark did.

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I know this one didn't have any of Bruce's daddy issues, but they will be back. Still struggling with Love For Sale, unfortunately, but I promise I'm trying!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, this came out a lot sooner than I expected! Big thanks to LEPrecon for the review that helped inspire me to finish this just hours after reading it. This has some of the comic book and first movie stuff I mentioned before. Warning: This is slightly darker than the previous chapters.

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Chapter 3

Tony Stark/Iron Man

Tony Stark was almost instantly Bruce's favorite of the group. Sure, he first came across as cocky and abrasive, not to mention self-absorbed. But he didn't regard him the way the others did with a mixture of pity and wariness. He teased and poked and acted like a little kid testing his boundaries with a new playmate. He could understand why; he was a curiosity to people like Tony, and Tony sincerely meant no harm by it. It was just his way of trying to understand.

That's why he'd reacted with amusement rather than anger when Tony had poked him with that tool in the lab, trying to see what kind of reaction he'd get. It was almost as if Tony had trusted him to have his problem under control enough to be able to test the waters a bit. And Tony, true to his childish nature, had offered to share his snack when Bruce had impressed him by showing that he'd caught on to Loki's subtle jibe at the Stark Tower. Bruce hadn't known it at the time, but by accepting the blueberry, he'd pretty much agreed unconditionally to be Tony's best friend for the rest of their days. Before he knew it, Tony was inviting him to work, and even live in his tower in New York.

Bruce ended up saying yes, because even though Nick Fury had kept his promise about letting him go on his way, he knew he'd still be watched. He also knew that General Ross was still out there somewhere, possibly waiting for the opportunity to put him in that hole he'd mentioned years before. So he decided that he'd be better off with his new man-child best friend.

It was a good life, having a warm place to sleep, all the food he could eat, and even a special panic room connecting his bedroom to his lab where he could shut himself in if he found himself about to change due to a nightmare or an accident. He really wasn't sure why Tony was doing all that for him, until they talked about his first night there.

"I can't imagine how much this must have cost you." He commented as they worked on some blueprints for a new tower he was planning. "You should have spent that money repairing your tower, or some of the other damage the battle caused in the city."

"What can I say?" Asked Stark with an easygoing grin. "I'm a nice guy. Besides, it's not every day I find someone who can keep up with me _and_ put up with me. Honestly, if you were a girl, Pepper would have some serious competition."

Bruce couldn't help but smile at that.

"Don't let her hear you say that. But seriously, why spend all this money on someone who may just decide to leave at any time?" Tony sobered up a little at his words.

"Because I want you to stay." He paused, looking truly serious. "It's more than just the fact that you and I can have a conversation that's actually up to my standards. I think you and I get each other in a way that none of the others can. I know what it's like to be in a hopeless situation. Only instead of trying to put an end to it, I just tried to forget about it by taking risks and burning money." He gave Bruce a good, hard stare. "Us emotionally damaged geniuses need to stick together. We both need people who actually have our best interests at heart." Bruce took a moment to consider.

"I guess you have a point there." He finally said. Tony, knowing he'd won, gave Bruce a crooked grin.

"And think of it this way; by keeping you happy in your lab and giving you some space to blow off steam, I'm probably saving millions of dollars more than I've spent for all the damage I'm preventing." Bruce grinned back at him.

"Another good point."

And that was that. They'd gone back to their playful banter and there had been no more talk of Bruce leaving, or of Tony spending too much money on him.

Tony had been excited to meet Bruce Banner from the second he'd learned he was actually alive and dealing with a colossal mutation. He'd been especially curious about the mutation part. He couldn't resist commenting on it to see how Bruce would react. In retrospect, that might not have been the best approach, but Bruce hadn't held it against him. His later attempts at provocation had been met with amusement. Tony knew from the start that he had no reason to fear Bruce letting the Hulk out on him.

What did concern him was Bruce's reaction to his genuine attempts at friendship. He seemed so distant and hesitant to accept offers for help. But then, based on what he'd learned about the incident in Harlem, it was understandable. Bruce had reached out to someone who'd turned out to be untrustworthy. The result had been not only the creation of an even more dangerous creature, but a super-powered genius with desires of world conquest. Bruce clearly suffered a great deal of guilt over it.

Tony could relate to that guilt. He could understand living with the knowledge that he was responsible for the deaths of innocent people, no matter how indirectly. Bruce had trusted the wrong person, yes, but Sterns was the one who'd been reckless and irresponsible, resulting in the creation of the creature known in code as 'Abomination.' He'd been so busy when he was young just cranking out whatever new additions he felt like and then running off to do whatever he wanted while a man who he'd trusted more than anyone sent those weapons to kill the people they were meant to protect.

Knowing that, and dealing with the trauma of being captured, nearly dying more than once, and watching the man who'd saved him die to make sure he'd get a second chance at life had taken its toll. Finding out that he was slowly dying from the device keeping him alive hadn't helped either. Still, in the end he'd come out all right, and he wasn't sure the same could be said of his new lab buddy.

He might have overstepped his bounds by comparing Bruce's situation to his own. He did believe that he was right in pointing out the terrible privilege. He was fully dependent on the little machine in his chest. He'd felt already what it felt like to have that machine fail him, if only for a moment. Bruce had survived the gamma exposure by changing, and becoming the Hulk had saved his life. But he'd been saved by something he had no control over. Something that was dangerous and potentially uncontrollable. And his little reactor had never caused him to destroy a city, that much was for sure. While he was dependent on it, had learned and worked to control it, there was never an issue of it controlling him.

He found Bruce surprisingly easy to talk to. While it was true they didn't see each other much outside of the labs (Tony had his company and a girlfriend, and who knew what Bruce did in his spare time) they spoke about many things while they worked. Tony (after a drink or two, admittedly) had spoken of his father.

"I mean, the guy could never compliment anything I did. I guess I just thought that if he wouldn't acknowledge my accomplishments, he'd notice if I did a bunch of crap that would 'reflect badly' on him." Tony tapped on his mini reactor. "He left me a pretty big legacy though, and he believed I was the only one who could figure it out. That must mean something." He looked up from his screen at Bruce, who was listening as he studied something on his own screen. "Your dad ever do anything like that." Bruce looked up to meet his gaze.

"I was adopted when I was ten. My parents were always both really proud of how I did in school. I admit I'm a little glad they didn't live to see me become the Hulk." Tony frowned.

"What about your biological parents?" Bruce shrugged.

"My dad beat up my mom a lot. When I got old enough to question him on it, he started beating me up too. He really didn't like that I was smarter than him. He was a scientist too, and he always had to be right about everything. So it wasn't that I couldn't be good enough, it was that I was too good for his comfort. He had it in his head that I'd overthrow him somehow, and that if he could prove he was stronger than me, it wouldn't matter that I was smarter than him."

Tony didn't know what to say to that. He'd never considered being smart a problem. The conversation had ended for that day, and for the next week or so, Tony didn't hear from Bruce at all. He wondered if asking about Bruce's family had been a mistake. He finally decided to just ask Bruce if there was a problem and, if it was indeed his fault, apologize. He learned from Jarvis that Bruce was in his own private lab, which had been finished a couple of days before.

"Okay, quick question." He said as he strode in. "Did I say something to offend you? Because if I did, it was an accident, but I'm much more clever and obvious about it when I'm trying." Bruce shook his head.

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's just…" He sighed and removed his glasses so he could rub at his eyes. "What we talked about, it got me thinking about some things, and I looked into something that led me to this." He directed Tony's attention to the screen in front of him and pulled up an image of two DNA strands. One, Tony recognized as Bruce's own mutated DNA. The second was very similar, in more ways than one. In addition to obvious radiation induced mutation, there was something else that matched.

"Where did you get that?" He asked, just to confirm his suspicions.

"Brian Banner, my biological father." Bruce jerked his thumb over his shoulder and Tony turned around, almost flinching when he saw the remains of a human being, long dead, in a sealed case on a long table. He looked back at Bruce, unable to voice his question, but Bruce seemed to get it. "I had his remains exhumed. It took a little persuasion to clear it, but Fury pulled through for me. What you said about legacy, it got me wondering. I never fully understood how Betty's serum was enough to save me, but I just assumed it was, and that since the radiation couldn't kill me, it changed me. And that's partly true; it might have killed me if it wasn't for the serum, but it didn't start from scratch. It had a base to work on. Apparently I got my recklessness from my father. He must have experimented on himself with Gamma rays before I was conceived, and he passed along whatever mutation it created in him to me. Whatever he did to himself wasn't enough to cause something like the Hulk, but that, coupled with what I did to myself was." He gave a twisted, joyless grin. "I guess I was really born to be a monster."

"Stop!" Snapped Tony, startling Bruce. "You're not a monster. You don't kill people for fun, or even out of instinct. The Hulk targets things that he perceives as a danger."

"It doesn't change the fact that there are people who could still be alive now if I had just left things alone." Bruce retorted.

"Am I a monster?" Asked Tony. Bruce looked shocked.

"What?"

"Am I a monster?" He repeated. "I spent years designing weapons that took countless lives, and who knows what fraction of them were actually enemy soldiers. Would you not call me a monster just because I don't have green skin and a horrific temper?"

"It's not the same." Argued Bruce.

"Whether it is or not, it doesn't change my mind that you're not a monster. I mean, have you ever deliberately killed someone?"

"No." Admitted Bruce. "But I've come close. And I can't blame all of it on the Hulk."

"What do you mean?" Asked Tony, confused again. Bruce sighed.

"I wasn't the Hulk the first time I killed someone. He didn't even exist yet."

"Who did you kill?" Asked Tony. Bruce didn't answer, he just glanced rapidly at the table. Tony looked at it, then back at him. "You killed your father?" He asked, shocked. Bruce nodded, just looking miserable now. "Why?"

"I told you, he was abusive. Then had had a nervous breakdown and was started hearing voices. Those voices convinced him to kill my mom and come after me, but the police heard the racket and got there before he could finish it. He had me terrified that he'd get off and kill me too if I testified against him, so I lied on the stand. He got off, but got convicted just a few days later because new evidence and a new assault charge came up. He got diagnosed as schizophrenic in prison and got put on medication. Fifteen years later, he was considered reformed and safe as long as he stayed on his meds. He was released into my care." Bruce shook his head sadly.

"What happened then?" Asked Tony, needing to know.

"That first night, he convinced me to take him to my mom's grave. He said he needed to face what he'd done, and I believed him. I'd heard his diagnosis and forgot about the fact that he'd been cruel _before_ he had his first breakdown. I did what he asked, and when we got there, I saw that he hadn't changed one bit. He was still the same bullying narcissist that he always was, pills or not. The real reason for us being there was to remind me what he was capable of if I didn't go with what he wanted. He started pushing me and I didn't think; I just pushed back, hard. He fell backwards and hit his head on Mom's tombstone. I think I was in shock after that. I couldn't handle what I'd done and I just kind of wondered home and passed out on my couch. I woke up to the sound of the police knocking on my door, with no memory of what actually happened. They told me my father had been killed in the cemetery, that they thought it was a mugging gone bad. I think they might have suspected me just as protocol, but when they saw the bruises and how disoriented I was, they figured that Brian must have knocked me out, gone to the cemetery, and encountered some muggers and took whatever he had on him after he was dead. I think they believed that because his wallet was stolen. Someone probably came along and took it after I left, or they might have looked more closely at me."

"Damn." Said Tony. "But if you didn't remember then, how do you know now?" Bruce shrugged.

"I couldn't handle it then, so I blocked it out. But a few years ago, I looked into hypnosis as a way of controlling the Hulk, and it all came back to me." He shook his head. "I'm not proud of what I did, but I admit that I don't regret it either. I know it's horrible, but I don't." He shrugged again. "Maybe it's Karma. He helped ruin my life before I was even born, and I ended his. And now…I thought I'd accepted the fact that I'd never be rid of the Hulk, but it was mostly because of all the destruction caused by my last attempt. But seeing the evidence in front of me like this, knowing that it was never a possibility, that kind of changes my outlook." Tony got past the shock of learning of the killing when he heard the sorrow in Bruce's voice.

"I don't care that you're not sorry. When I was being held hostage by the Ten Rings, I killed everyone I could very deliberately. And I don't regret it either, because it was them or me and they didn't care about who they hurt as long as they got what they wanted. Your dad was just as bad as them, and if there's any possibility that he could have changed into a real monster like Blonsky did, then I'm not sorry he's dead either. And I don't care how many times you say it; I'll never think of you as a monster." With that, he left the lab before Bruce could try and argue again. He didn't stop moving until he was back in his room. Then he spoke.

"Jarvis."

"Sir?"

"Delete any and all recordings of the conversation in the lab. Completely destroy any data, no chance of putting it back together." He ordered.

"Yes, Sir." The computer then followed his command. Good. He wanted no record that anyone could use against Bruce, especially SHIELD. He didn't believe they would lock him up again, but they would probably try to use it to manipulate him if it was possible. He was going to look after his new friend, both by keeping his image safe, and by doing everything he could to prove to Bruce that he wasn't a monster.

* * *

I just love the Science Boyfriends! The first Hulk movie actually had a lot more in common with the comics (if Wikipedia is to be trusted), one thing being that Bruce inherited some kind of mutation from his father and killed him at some point, though in a different way. It also showed that Bruce was exposed to the Gamma rays because he was protecting someone else from them, again in a different way. The way Bruce's father died was taken from what I've learned about the comics, with some of my own ideas, though I don't know if it happened pre or post-Hulk. Next will be Thor!


End file.

Avengers, Drama, Friendship