A Relationship for Three

A Relationship for Three: Tony/Bruce One-Shot

"GET OUT, TONY!" Bruce shouted, hunched over as if in excruciating pain.

Tony, who had been pushed to the doorway of Bruce's bedroom, tried to move back toward him in order to help. "But I—"

"NOW!"

Bruce looked up into Tony's eyes and Tony could see the Other Guy, the Hulk, trying to break free. "I won't leave you. I know you're pissed but I need to fix it. It doesn't matter if it's with you or him."

The expression on Bruce's face turned to horror as a green hue began to dye his skin. He shook his head violently as he lunged forward and shoved Tony out of the room so hard that he fell on his ass and skidded across the floor of Bruce's living room. Tony flinched as the door slammed shut so he couldn't see Bruce as he changed. He could feel the sting through his legs from sliding across the dark green carpet.

The sunlit room had one wall of windows and little furniture because Bruce didn't want anything that was easily breakable. Everything from the couch to the bookcase was made of strong, reinforced material. His most important belongings resided in his lab that was a floor below Tony's.

He could hear shouts as Bruce tried to fight back the Hulk but he was too weak to hold him. After a few seconds and the sound of tearing fabric, there was complete silence. Tony picked himself up and walked cautiously toward the bedroom door. He was about to press his ear to it when a beastly roar erupted from the room. Startled, Tony jumped about a foot back. He collected himself quickly and reached for the metal doorknob.

Tony knew any second that the Hulk would bust through a wall and run off into the city but he wanted to stop him before he had the chance. He turned the knob, relieved that Bruce didn't lock it, and threw the door open to a raging Hulk. Everything in the room had been tossed to the sides. Pieces of the bedside lamp were scattered across the floor and the bed itself sat upended on the far wall. The Hulk stood in position to charge through the wall of windows when Tony burst in.

"HULK! Wait!" he shouted, holding out his arm as if it alone could stop him.

The Hulk paused, relaxing his stance as an irritated growl filled the air. Tony constructed Bruce's floor so that it would be taller than the others specifically so the Hulk could fit but his dark hair still slightly brushed the ceiling. He made a mental note to fix that the next time Stark Tower was destroyed.

"What?" he asked in a deep, rumbling voice. It was easy to see his impatience.

"I wanted to—" Tony began, hovering in the doorway just out of Hulk's reach.

"You made him angry, not me."

"I know but listen."

"Listening," he growled.

"I need to show him… I need to show him that he can trust me. That I care about both of you."

"Don't care," he said, turning back to the windows.

"No, no, no, wait," he said, almost running into the room a few steps. "I hear from a trusted source that you like smashing things. I have a little project that could use your special touch."

He paused and looked at Tony sideways. Tony sighed and restrained himself from rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

"I'd like you to smash things for me, Hulk. What do you say?"

The Hulk paused and looked out of the windows for a moment before turning to Tony with a grin. "Okay."

Tony smiled and relaxed, knowing that the Hulk wasn't about to break through his tower and go on a rampage. He was also pleased that he was being handed the chance to spend time with him. Bruce thought that he could never love them both but he prided himself on professionally proving people wrong.

"C'mon, big guy. We're going a couple floors down to research and development."



Bruce felt a groan vibrate in his bare chest as consciousness hit him hard. He slowly opened his eyes, momentarily blind as they adjusted to the room. He stretched out his limbs, feeling nothing but firm, cold floor beneath him. That wasn't new to him but the man with an arm draped around his waist was something he had yet to get used to. He propped himself up on his elbows, looking down at the lax arm and his pants that were stretched beyond repair, covering his lower half like a blanket.

He surveyed his surroundings and determined that he was on one of the Tower's research and development floors with Tony. Bits of metal were strewn across the floor with a heap of it piled in one corner. He recognized the damage as the Other Guy's work and the bits of metal as parts of Tony's Iron Man suits. He looked over at Tony, sleeping as soundly as if he were curled up on a down mattress. He felt sick at what he would say when he saw what he'd done to his suits. For a moment, he thought he might be able to clean up the mess before Tony woke up but he stirred as soon as Bruce tried to move his arm from his waist.

He froze as Tony lifted the arm he'd been trying to move and rubbed his eyes of sleep. Tony opened them and looked up at Bruce with a tired smile. He appeared as though he could easily fall back to sleep but Bruce knew he would fix that with a cup of coffee once he got his bearings. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and Bruce followed suit, holding his pants around his waist so as not to expose himself. Bruce's stomach tightened as Tony started to look around.

"Tony, before you say anything, I'm really very sorry."

Tony turned to Bruce but his expression didn't convey horror, shock, or even anger. In fact, Bruce thought he looked quite amused. "Sorry for what?"

"Um," Bruce faltered, "well, your suits. Your Iron Man suits. The… Other Guy, he—"

Tony laughed, lines crinkling around his eyes. "The Hulk was assisting me with a project. We stayed here well into the night, testing out several new suit designs for durability."

Bruce felt shocked. He never thought in a million years that Tony and the Hulk would get along like that, or at all. "He, uh, was helping you? Really?"

"He was great. Perfect for the job," Tony said, picking himself up off the floor and padding over to his desk that held several interconnected computers.

He beckoned Bruce over as he sat down in his blue, plush computer chair. Bruce gathered the waistband of his pants in his hands as he struggled to stand. He had a hard time walking when he managed to stand but he was able to shuffle the short distance to Tony. He watched as Tony typed a few commands and brought up an image of an Iron Man suit he'd never seen before.

"JARVIS, display a life-size 3D model of the suit the Hulk and I worked on," Tony commanded.

"Right away, sir," JARVIS responded in an almost flawlessly human English voice.

They both turned as a glowing blue grid appeared in an open space of the room. Within moments, the grid began to form itself into the shape of one of Tony's suits with a few slight changes in the appearance of the exterior armor. Bruce stumbled forward a few steps to get a closer look, marveling at the differences he could see. He glanced from the model to Tony in slight awe.

"He really helped with this?"

"More than he realizes, I think. We determined which of my new compounds could best take a beating and now I can try and improve on it."

Bruce walked back to stand in front of Tony who kept swiveling back and forth a little in his chair. "Tony, I… I don't know what to say."

"As a friendly suggestion, you could say 'Oh, Tony, you are the greatest and most attractive scientific mind the world has ever known!'"

Bruce grinned and shook his head before surprising Tony by straddling Tony in the computer chair. He didn't give him the chance to say anything as he grabbed the front of Tony's black tank top and pulled him into a kiss. He could feel Tony's lips turn up into a smile which caused him to smile too. They broke apart and just stared at each other for a moment before Bruce interrupted the silence.

"I should, uh, put on a pair of pants that fit," He said, removing himself from Tony's lap.

Tony's eyes took in the image of the half-naked Bruce. "There's no need for that."

Bruce laughed and stared down his feet. Tony reached out and grabbed one of Bruce's hands, causing one side of his pants to drop down. Bruce tried to pull them up higher with his other hand to compensate but it didn't help much. Tony barely noticed because he was staring at Bruce's face with a mixture of concern and worry.

"Hey," he said, pulling on Bruce's hand to make him move a couple of steps closer. "You forgive me, right?"

Bruce frowned, causing his brow to furrow. "I love you but… I don't know, Tony."

"I swear I won't do it again," he said honestly, standing up so he could look Bruce in the eye. "I saw how angry it made you. No more solo suicide missions. Not when I have something to live for."

Bruce's mouth dropped open a little at his words. "Tony…"

Tony put his hands on Bruce's shoulders. "I know. I'm breathtaking."

Bruce suppressed a laugh. "Always have to ruin the moment, huh?"

"Well, let's go to my room and start a new one. I promise I won't ruin it."

Bruce smiled. "I'll hold you to that."