I Dreamt We Had a Kid

Chapter 25

"Bruce?"

"This is what I look like as the Hulk?" he laughs, standing up. "You're so tiny!"

"Take it easy Bruce," Tony says, backing away.

"This is amazing, how did it happen?" Bruce asks, looking at his hands.

"The exposure to quantum particles fused together Hulk and Bruce," Shuri says, "Can you turn back?"

Bruce's eyes close hut in focus, and there he is, Bruce Banner on the floor in ripped clothes.

"Well, professor Hulk," Tony jokes, "I think you are overdue for a costume change."

Nat helps Bruce stand up and leads him away.

"I think that's enough for today," Steve says, patting Tony's shoulder.

"You ok Scott?" Tony asks the man who looks to be in shock across from him.

"That was the weirdest thing I have ever seen," he says, blinking. Tony laughs.

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It does not take much to make Bruce a suit. He makes it simply because he doesn't need much armor as Hulk. He simply makes a strong a stretchy sleek looking spandex suit that can drastically grow and shrink without tearing.

He folds up the uniform and places it on a desk.

"Tony, go to bed," Steve says from across the hall.

For once in his life, he was actually planning on doing that anyway. "Aye, Aye cap," he says, striding to his own bedroom this time.

The room is sterile and lonely. Steve's room had pictures and a homey scent to it because he had been living in it for so long. It was basically their bedroom at this point. But here Tony was, stripping his clothes off and stepping into the shower.

He cleans himself off and stumbles over to his neatly made bed in exhaustion. The sheets are stiff and rough, but he falls asleep easily anyway.

He gets to work right away, the next day and the next. They work and work and work. Testing different formulas and time zones to get it perfect, and then they do.

Scott successfully comes back from 1990 with a pair of roller skates and a blockbuster movie.

"Scott, we left you for ten minutes," Tony says, annoyed.

"I wanted to have fun."

The plan is they all leave to their designated time zones at 8 am, so naturally Tony is up at 3. He sits in his room in front of a laptop because there are a few things he has to do before he can leave.

He goes to the bathroom and does his hair in the best possible way. He washes his face and practices his smile in the mirror before returning to his chair. He looks at the camera on the laptop one more time.

"Start recording Fri," he says, taking a deep breath.

"Hey Pep," he swallows, "If you're watching this, it means I didn't make it. Don't be too sad, please, I mean, you deserve someone much better than me anyway," he smiles at the camera. "I know you're pregnant, Pep. I don't know what we are having, but whatever it is, I hope they are just like you. Brave, beautiful, smart. You deserve so much more than 12% of the credit baby."

He brushed his hand across his nose. "I love you so much, so, so much. I need you to promise me something. Promise me you will watch over Peter. He has lost so much already, and even though I don't matter all that much to him, he meant a lot to me, so make sure he is a part of our kid's life."

He can feel his eyes tearing up, "I love you so much Pepper," he places his hand on the camera for a moment, "You were right, the bunny was a stupid present."

He swallows and forces out a broken laugh, "Goodbye, sweetheart."

"FRIDAY, end the recording." he goes to the bathroom again, washing his face and trying to look like he wasn't crying.

"Two more," he says to his reflection before making his way back to the laptop. Preparing himself once more, he tells FRIDAY to start another recording.

"Hey kiddo," he says with as much gusto as he can muster, "How is school? What's your favorite class, is it science? Mine too. If it's not your favorite, that's ok too, I just want you to be happy. I'm sorry I can't be their honey, I hope you know I would if I could have been." He has to fight back the tears again.

"I didn't even get to meet you, but I already know I love you so very much." He gives a meaningful smile to the camera.

"I hope you know Peter, if you don't, ask your mom about him for me. Tell him I miss him." He inhales sharply, "I want you to picture something for me, picture me coming over there, through the screen and hugging you." He gives the camera an awkward hug. "Your grandfather, he never did that. He never hugged me, I'm sure he would have loved you, though." Tony isn't sure if that's the truth or not.

"Listen, kid, I know it's hard, but you are a Stark, and Starks can power through anything."

He doesn't try and stop the tear rolling down his cheek this time.

"I love you kid, so very much." he blows a kiss and ends the recording. He lets himself cry this time, the tears flow from him because he wants so badly to be a part of his child's life. Tony genuinely isn't sure if he will be able to record the last video, but he takes a full-on shower this time in preparation and sits in the chair once more.

"Hey, Peter."

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