If I Got Everything That I Wanted (Book 2 of Love, Monsters and Magic)

Chapter 7

This is a really long chapter! Well, really long in terms of my chapters. I hope you like it. It's more a filler chapter. And how I was trying NOT to make it Tony and Bruce feels. Anyways, vote, comment. I really love to hear what you think. I want to be sure I'm doing this right. Anyways; ON WITH THE SHOW! ~Louise

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It was around nine o'clock that evening by the time Pepper had convinced me to get out of bed. It hadn't really taken much convincing to do so actually, I knew I wouldn't sleep that night having had around fifteen hours worth of sleep already. So I showered quickly, pulled on a pair of slacks and my Black Sabbath t-shirt and began to make my way down to the kitchen to get some food. And scotch. In fact, scrap the food, just the scotch.

When I finally arrived in the kitchen, I found Bruce perched on one of the bar stools in the middle of the room, shifting around uncomfortably- as usual.

“Hey, big guy!” I shouted across to Bruce as I made my way over to him. He obviously hadn't been expecting any company as he jumped a little at the confrontation. His head snapped around and he relaxed a little as his he caught sight of me.

“Oh, hey, Tony. It's good to see you're up and dressed.” Bruce joked. There was a smile on his face but not a smile of happiness. It was obvious Bruce was frustrated, upset even. He smile never reached his eyes and it faltered until, after a few moments, he gave up and let the smile fall. He turned his attention back to the tablet in his hands. I was curious just to what the good Doctor was doing sitting alone in the kitchen, engrossed what ever was on that tablet. I peered over his shoulder and was surprised to see S.H.I.E.L.D files on the screen. They weren't just S.H.I.E.L.D files, they were S.H.I.E.L.D's secure files. I recognised the name on the screen. Betty Ross. Who was she and why would she be in S.H.I.E.L.D's secure files. I read snip bits of the file over Bruce's shoulder. A name in her file caught my attention. Why would Bruce be mentioned in her file- Oh. OH. In bold, blood-red letters, the word DECEASED where printed visibly.

“You would think that S.H.I.E.L.D would make their 'secure' files a little more secure.” Bruce laughed half-heartedly.

“Yeah, you would think being a super secret agency and what not.” I retorted with less enthusiasm. I had read up on all the files S.H.I.E.L.D had on Bruce before and after his accident, but there had only been mentions of Betty Ross. She must have been important to Bruce. For once in my life, I didn't feel like joking around. Bruce closed the files and sighed. I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“Fury didn't want to tell me, thought it would affect my focus. Whenever I asked, he just- He should have told me!” He yelled and slammed his hands down with some force down on the counter, hard enough to leave two dents in it. I wasn't expecting that reaction. Now I knew how Natasha must have felt all those months ago in India when she had to bring him in to help locate the tesseract. I flinched at his raised voice but my hand never moved from its place on his shoulder. His breathing was laboured, and skin flashed green for a split second.

“Bruce-”

“I'm sorry, Tony. I never meant to shout. I just, he should have told me. She died, Tony, and I... I can't.” He stood up, and started for the door but I tightened my grip on his shoulder.

“Bruce, you aren't leaving. I'm not going to let you go out in this state. You don't have to sit with me, sit in your room or I'll leave and you can stay in here, but at least I'll know your in the towers and you're okay. Gives me peace of mind and whatever.”

“Tony-”

“You need to calm down, Bruce, but don't go out.” I almost pleaded with him to stay. If he went out, and wandered aimlessly through the dangerous streets of Manhattan, it would just result in an unnecessary mess and the arrival of an unwelcome green guest. He sighed and paused for a long moment.

“Okay, I'll stay, but, would you stay with me?” He asked.

“I'll stay.” I earned a sincere smile from Bruce.

“Thank you, Tony. Thank you.”

“Hey, any time. It's part of the reason I'm here.” I laughed.

I pushed Bruce out of the kitchen and into the lounge which was, thankfully, empty. Bruce sat on one couch, sinking back a little with a less than content sigh but at least his breathing had steadied. I wandered over to the bar and started pouring myself a scotch. “Want a drink? I'm having one.” I offered before throwing the entire contents of my glass to the back of my throat. Then I poured another.

“I probably shouldn't.”

“Fair enough, big guy.” I said in a nonchalant tone.

“That wasn't a no,” he laughed. “It's not the worst thing I could be doing.”

“Point taken,” I stated and carried the two glasses towards the couches, the scotch bottle wedged under my arm. Bruce took one of the glasses gingerly and swirled it contents around in the glass in front of his face. I took a seat on the couch opposite Bruce and stretched out. I took notice that Bruce was sitting up right with his legs beneath him, the way a child would sit on the floor. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room and I was doing everything in my power not to be the first person break it. Much to my surprise, Bruce was the one to break the silence. He had thrown his drink back his throat and held his hand out for the bottle.

“She was my first love, my only love actually.” He stated taking the bottle from my out stretched hand.

“Oh yeah? What happened between you?” I asked. I was internally kicking myself for asking, I didn't want to to pry on him, but I had inability to hold my tongue.

“After the... um accident, Betty and I decided to start a relationship together, make it official.” He smiled sadly at the recollection of the memories. “I didn't think it was a good idea. I knew it would put Betty in danger and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I- the other guy- hurt her. I let my heart get the better of me. She made it easier to control the other guy, to convince myself that I wasn't the other, that he wasn't me.” He struggled with the last sentence. He swallowed another glass of scotch and stayed quiet for some time. I stayed quiet, not wanting to press on matters he didn't want to. “She got sick. The exposure to the Hulk,” he shook his head, “to the other guy, it was poisoning her. The gamma radiation was killing her so I left her. I told her that I was doing it to save her, I told her I loved her and then made her promise that she would move on. It took some convincing but she promised she would, but she would need sometime. When I arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D, I asked Fury how she was doing but he wouldn't tell me. I kept asking, I was so persistent. I-I just wanted to make sure she was doing okay.” He took another drink, and pulled in a long breath through his teeth. “Once Thor had taken Loki back to Asgard for the second time, I finally realised that Fury wasn't going to tell me anything so I asked Natasha to help me break into the files. She died just before Loki's attack on Manhattan, the gamma radiation killed her.” He closed his eyes for a long moment and when he opened his eyes they where sparkling with stubborn tears. “When I confronted Fury, all he could say was that I needed to focus on the situation at hand. I haven't spoken to Fury since. Asshole.” He finished, downing yet another glass of scotch.

“That's some love story. We have our very own tragic hero.” I joked to try and lighten the mood a little. I was relieved when Bruce laughed along with me.

“Yeah, I would say I'm the tragic hero, more the deranged green monster. It was good to actually talk to someone about that. I've never really muttered a word about it.” Bruce trailed off but there was a nostalgic smile on his lips. His eyes snapped up to mine and the smile on his face. “But enough about my love life. You and Pepper.”