Shadows and Secrets Book Three (A MCU FanFic)

Chapter 25: Revelations

trigger warning: references to suicide that may be offensive or upsetting to some readers

trigger warning: language that may be offensive or upsetting to some readers

Bruce's  POV

Tony shook him awake.

Bruce blinked the sleep from his eyes and sat up, adjusting his glasses. "WhathappeneddidIfallasleep?" he asked. The words blurred together in a yawn.

Tony pulled a sticky-note off Bruce's cheek that had gotten stuck there. "Yeah, you fell asleep. Sunshine and Terminator are here."

"What?" Bruce nearly banged his knee on the table rushing to stand. "How long have they been here? Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"Only ten minutes. And you could use the sleep." Tony gestured to Bruce's cheek. "You ah... have something there."

Bruce impatiently wiped the back of his hand across his cheek, ignoring the ink that smeared on his hand.

"Uh... you... that just made it worse... um."

Bruce paid him no mind and walked out of the lab, Tony running to catch up.

~

"Sorry I'm late," said Bruce to Marjorie and Bucky. "I fell asleep and nobody woke me up." Bruce glared pointedly at Tony. Some science bro, he grumbled internally.

"It's alright," comforted Marjorie. Bucky shrugged.

"Did anything important happen while I was asleep?"

"Not really," said Marjorie at the same time Bucky said, "Steve betrayed our friendship in a permanently altering way."

Bruce blinked. Maybe it was best not to unpack that...

"You have something on your face–" Nat lunged for him with a wet paper towel. Bruce tried to dodge to no avail. "–what did you do?"

"Fury should be getting here any minute now," reminded Clint.

"What is the meeting about, anyway?" asked Marjorie.

Sam shrugged. "We don't know."

Finally escaping from Nat, Bruce straightened himself and adjusted his glasses. He really needed to get another pair that fit better. "We think it's either about the Raft or HAEIW."

"Or something new and equally dire and serious," sighed Steve.

~

Fury barely appeared before he got bombarded with questions: "What happened?" "Why are we having a meeting?" and "We made a plan, you have to hear it!"

"A 'plan?'" questioned Fury. Tony nodded. Nat, Tony, and Sam had all come up with an elaborate plan to make the public opinion of the Avengers better over the last week and were waiting for Fury to approve it before starting.

Marjorie looked curiously at Tony while Bucky only scowled. "What plan?" she asked.

"To improve our stance with the press," said Nat formally, "I suggest we create positive press ourselves."

"Meaning we make Tiktok videos and stuff," elaborated Sam.

Fury scowled. "You want to make Tiktoks while in hiding? How would that even help?"

"We would seem more human, and lots of people would see it. And it wouldn't be just Tiktok."

Bruce saw the point of the plan, but was reluctant to be on Social Media. He had been on an internet blackout to avoid stress for the past year.