Working Title : Loki & Annie

78 Bruce Babysits Tony for Pepper

Inside the Tower, Bruce was sipping his tea, this time it was out of a rather large mug in the shape of Iron Man's helmet. It gave the helmet more of a chunky square appearance rather than the sleek style Tony obviously went with on the real thing. Sitting on an oversized couch he was reading from the tablet that Tony insisted on calling a Stark-Tablet, scrolling through pages of technical information. With his shoes kicked off, Bruce had his feet resting on the coffee table, occasionally tapping them together as he read.

He was in Tony's apartment, actually Tony and Pepper's apartment however that long-suffering woman was on the West Coast handling Stark Industries business. Which was one reason why Bruce was relaxing in the elegantly decorated apartment, showing all the tastefulness unlimited money could create when combined with Pepper Potts's sense of style. The only concession for Tony also living here was his odd indulgence for oversized coffee mugs that sat lined up on the counter next to the coffee maker.

"Doctor Banner, Miss Potts wishes to speak with you." J.A.R.V.I.S.'s volume was low due to Tony being asleep in the master bedroom down the hall. Though the room was double soundproofed because Pepper had insisted, the AI was taking no chances.

Bruce had declined Tony's offer then Tony's insistence that he accept a cell phone. Bruce saw no need, he never left the Tower and saw no need to have one. Now, he lifted his head to needlessly look to the ceiling, "Go ahead, J.A.R.V.I.S."

"Doctor Banner is here, Miss Potts."

"Thanks, J." Peppers's voice was low in volume though it wasn't clear if it was by J.A.R.V.I.S.s doing or her own. "How's it going so far?"

With a slow glance towards the bedroom, Bruce gave a soft twitch of his lips, "Still a sleeping beauty."

There was that soft chuckle before she spoke wryly, "I sleep with the man, Bruce, and he's no sleeping beauty. More like a dead starfish."

Now it was Bruce's turn to chuckle at the thought of Tony sprawled out across the bed. He wondered if it was weird that he thought it was weird that he had never seen how Tony actually slept in a bed. "Well, as long as he sleeping."

There was a not so humorous sigh heard then, "Bruce, I know something's going on back there, Tony won't tell me but I just received a notice that he initiated evicting S.H.I.E.L.D. from their office's in the Tower. So just tell me that he's okay and not losing his mind."

Bruce sat with his mouth hanging slightly open as his brain both froze and instantly understood. Operation No Room At The Inn. This is what it was. Kicking S.H.I.E.L.D. out. Kicking Fury out. Bruce felt his stomach start to actually begin producing acid and he took a huge swallow of his tea which did nothing to stop the burning. "Oh. Oh, uh, so that's what he meant." 

"Yeah. And I'm the one who has to approve it and I have no idea what's going on." Her taking a calming breath came through clearly, Tony had made sure of the professional quality of the speakers in the Tower. "What's going on, Bruce?"

Turning to look at the closed door where Tony was peacefully sleeping away, for the first time in ever Bruce wished Tony would wake up so he could come out here and explain this to Pepper himself. "Ah, yeah." Bruce used one hand to rub the back of his head, scratching his scalp nervously.

Pepper waited then decided to explain, "Obviously, something happened. Despite being the owner of the building getting S.H.I.E.L.D. out of the Tower isn't going to be easy even for us. Which Tony knows perfectly well and since he always has a reason for doing what he does, even if it's a dumb-ass reason, I need to know what his reason is so I know if I should ignore it or get ready for a legal fight."

"Yeah, maybe you should wait and talk with Tony." Bruce felt himself sinking down in the couch cushions, he hated being in the middle of anything emotional. And this was getting emotional and it made him itch. He scratched at the back of his neck. "'Cause I'm not sure I'm the one to, uh, explain it. I'm not even sure what's going on. Really. I mean, I'm only about seventy-five, maybe seventy-eight percent-"

"Bruce." It was the tone that Pepper used with Tony when she was done playing. "I'm not even at twelve percent so you know more than me. Now. Explain."

"Fury made Tony house two Asgardian's who are here looking for Thor because he's hiding from Asgard." Bruce had never been on the receiving end of that tone and found like Tony, he had no defense against it. "Because he broke Loki out of jail and is now hiding with him." He pulled in a deep breath which did nothing to calm his nerves. "Oh, and Loki is a little kid."

The silence that hung in the air was very loud. It made Bruce wonder if something had happened to the connection until Pepper broke it, "What?!" 

Her tone went up and he cringed, not so much from the volume but because he knew this wasn't going to be pleasant. He went to take a fortifying gulp of tea and found his mug empty except for the little bits at the bottom that he stared at sadly.

"Bruce. Start from the beginning. And don't you dare leave anything out."