On The Edge (Science Bros)

One

The line picked up. "Uh, hey, Bruce."

"Hi, Tony..." Bruce's voice was laced with concern, something in Tony's tone setting him off.

"So, um, I'm calling you from the roof of Stark Towers, and um," he laughed a little, quirking his head to the side, "I'm extremely close to the edge and I, uh, can't seem to make myself move away and the ground's looking very appealing right now, so um..."

Bruce took a step back, already moving to the door, leaving his equipment on and his assistant alone at the S.H.I.E.L.D. laboratory. "Okay. It's okay. I'm on my way now, don't hang up." He brushed past security, who let Bruce through without a second thought after seeing the panic in his eyes. "Is anyone at the Tower with you?"

"No, um, except for J.A.R.V.I.S. Wait, no- F.R.I.D.A.Y, I mean F.R.I.D.A.Y. "

"Did you turn her off before you went on the roof?" Bruce slammed the car door shut and swerved out of his spot in the parking garage.

"Um, yeah. And, I, um- There are these, uh, voices, and they keep telling me to jump, and I, um-"

"Tony, listen to me. I am the car now. I'm about fifteen minutes away. You are not, under any circumstances, allowed to jump. Do you understand?"

"I- um, yeah. I just, I keep moving closer to the edge and-" the scientist glanced at the street below him, and tried to restrain from going any further. Voices echoed around him, laughing at him, telling him to jump, that the world would be better off with out him. He was having trouble finding a counter example, especially when the voices were of people he knew.

"Tony, when was the last time you took your meds?" Bruce took a quick right turn and floored it on the empty road. It was past midnight.

"I don't think I've broke a month yet, but-" Tony tried to pass it off as okay, causing him to laugh uncomfortably.

Bruce slammed on his breaks at a red light, cursing it mentally. "All of them?"

"Well, no. Like, I was taking my sleepy drugs up until two days ago, and so my brains pretty wired right now."

"That's okay, we'll figure this out. I'm five minutes away now, okay? Don't move." Bruce switched lanes and passed three slow moving taxis.

"Yeah, I'll just- Did you hear that?" Tony tripped over his anxious words, his feet slipping forward as his mind egged him on. You're wasting his time, if that's even really Bruce, the voices antagonized him.

"No. I didn't hear that and neither did you. It's not real, remember?"

"Yeah, right. I, uh- auditory hallucinations. Been talking to those all day," Tony's voice shook, "Did you know that this is the fourth time I've had a conversation with you in the past few hours?" Tony managed to joke.

"Tony, how long have you been on the roof?" Bruce waited impatiently for the light to turn.

"I, um, what time is it?"

"It's twelve seventeen now."

"After not sleeping for three hours then, I came up at ten." Tony heard the sound of a fire fight and his head swiveled in search for its source.

"Bruce, are you sure you're not hearing this?"

"No, Tony. You have to remember that it's not real."

"What about you? I mean, not to be a skeptic," he laughed cautiously, "I just have had this conversation with you before, and I don't..."

"Tony, right here, right now, in real time, you are talking to a real person. I am getting you off that roof, I'm parking now. Then I will be on my way up, okay?"

"Well, you see, that's the fourth time I've heard that, but sure, I'll believe you." His eyes darted around as old war sounds echoed off the roof, reality continued to slip out of reach from the crazed man.

There was silence on the phone for a moment, which caused Tony to panic and say, "You still here Bruce, or did you hang up. Ha, hang, that's-" funny, he thought, his breathing speeding up, his eyes wide.

"Yes, I'm still here. I'm in the elevator now, okay? What side of the building are you on?"

"I'm not really sure, actually. I walked around a lot before you picked up. Or, this you picked up. Um, are you sure that you're on your way up? There are, um, lots of noises up here that you probably can't hear. Just my enhanced paranoia due to my manic depression, right?" he laughed nervously.

"Tony, I'm almost to the roof okay?"

"Yeah, yep. Coolio," the man panicked, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants.

The elevator stopped and Bruce spilled out, "Tony!?" he yelled, using his phone as a spotlight searching for his friend.

"Bruce?" Only a soft whisper, coming from the south side of the building.

Bruce chased after it, frantically for the voices source, and finding it barely a foot from the edge, shaking violently, the phone slipping from his fingers. A yard away, Tony whispered, "Please don't come any closer." Bruce stopped and carefully tucked his phone into his pocket, bringing his hands out as a harmless gesture. "Okay. It's okay. We can just talk from here."

"Auditory hallucinations," Tony muttered, biting his lip, "They sure, uh, mess with your brain, ya know?"

"Yes," Bruce said patiently, the longer he kept Tony talking, the longer Tony was alive. Although he was a nuclear physicist, the doctor had been in more than enough of these situations, although he was normally on the other side. He understood that Tony was in control of this situation, no matter how out of control he was.

"Like, right now, for instance, I'm hearing three different you's. One told me that I should jump, which is what I've been getting all day, so you probably didn't say that. Then the other said yes and then you said that you understand, which I know isn't true."

"Tony, I said yes."

"Oh." The man inched back, thinking that he had just heard his friend say that he should in fact jump, killing himself. "I can, um-"

"Tony, what did you hear?"

He wet his lips, "I, um, thought that you- I just." His panicked mind misinterpreting and scrambling his friend's words.

"Tony, I'm going to text you, okay? I'm not sure if you're hearing this correctly, but I'm pulling out my phone and texting you what I'm really saying, okay?"

"No, I don't, I-" the frightened scientist struggled to sift through all the booming voices and gunfire he was hearing.

Tony, this is the real Bruce standing in front of you. Whatever you hear coming out of my mouth isn't me. This text is real, okay? The phone laying at Tony's feet buzzed and lit up.

Please get it, Bruce thought in wait.

Wild eyed, Tony slowly leaned over and picked up the phone, subconsciously shifting forward. As he read the text, his sleep deprived eyes scanned Bruce pleadingly.

"Please say something," the crazed man begged.

"Tony, this is real, I'm going to take a step forward, okay?"

Tony bit his lip as Bruce took a cautious step forward, waiting for Tony's reaction.

"That voice is mine, okay?"

"There's still three of you, not to mention the other noises and I-" Tony took a half step forward, to which Bruce was careful not to react to. "Auditory hallucinations," he reminded himself, tears brimming in anguish.

"I know that you don't want to jump," Bruce urged, "You have so many friends, Pepper, a future, Tony, whether you like or not. Please come away from the edge."

Tony's eyes widened, "Auditory hallucinations," he chanted the mantra to himself, "Manic depression. PTSD. Paronia. Anxiety. Panic disorder." But as though he was being pushed back by a wall of wind, he struggled to force his feet forward. Bruce closed the gap and quickly pulled Tony away from the edge.

"It's okay. You're okay," Bruce murmured, draping an arm around Tony's back as he led him inside. "This is real," Bruce reminded him. "I'm real."