Saccharine

Chapter 17:The Incredible Grumpy Mountain Man

The whole ride was relatively quiet. Eryn was afraid her heart would burst out of her chest. Her eyes were glued to the window of the lumberjacks vehicle. It was getting dark, though she could vaguely make out the frosetry. Her top teeth bit into her bottom lip as she prepared herself

Upon arriving Eryn could barely coax herself out of the back seat. Taking a step anywhere near the rundown looking cabin was impossible. She strayed near the car door as Tony ventured up without her. He was halfway to the front door when he realized she had not followed. He turned back with an annoyed look. "You gonna just stand there?" Eryn nodded. Tony took a few steps back towards the car, "No no no, you came with me all this way. You gotta do this with me." But she couldn't move.

 It was all so real and all so sudden. She had barely any time to process that they were there. That he was inside. That they were about to see him. Why was she so scared? He was just a person, a person she knew and felt so deeply for. Why was it so hard just to walk up to the door? Tony assessed her as her mind wandered in a daze. "Remember what I said about putting on our big girl pants? It's too late to take them off." Eryn hesitated before insisting, "You go on. I can't do this."

 "Oh come on!" He snapped. The raise of his voice caused her head to lower. "I don't think I should have come." "Well you're here. Little late to be backing down now."

Eryn brought back her gaze and opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a strange creaking sound. Tony whipped around and revealed a man in the doorway of the cabin.

Bruce.

He leant against the frame, taking in the sight of the two; flabbergasted. Eryn begged for the ground to swallow her up. Begged for some sort of earthquake or snow storm to take her away.

He didn't look too excited to see them. And of course he wouldn't, they were highly unannounced.

It was Tony who finally broke the unbearable silence. "Uh, Girl scout cookies?" Eryn whinced. She wanted to hide.

"Tony, what are you doing here?" His voice was almost harsh.

"You've been up here the last few years."

"Yeah. I like it up here, no Avengers."

"Well you don't gotta worry about those guys anymore. The Avengers are done."

"I'd hate to say that I'm shocked, but I'm not."

Eryn shifted uncomfortably, listening to the two. She didn't know what she could offer to their conversation or even if she wanted to.

"The world right now, its armorless, there's no Avengers and SHIELD," he motions to Eryn, "is unreliable, and captain rogers and his band of Mary band of misfit mutants are MIA. Right now the only thing protecting earth right now is us."

"Maybe the earth doesn't need protecting. Last time we tried putting armor on the world Ultron happened."

"But we were there-"

"But who caused the problem Tony? We did. Everytime there is a threat, we come and stop it, but there's always a bigger threat. How long does that cycle keep going until we can't beat it? The world is safer without the Avengers."

Her voice was wobbly, startling the two; reminding them of her presence. "What if another threat comes? What if there are more bad guys? What's the world gonna do without the Avengers? With no one to stand up for it?"

Tony added, "The cycle ends when we stop fighting."

"If it comes down to that. Keep me out of the fight."

"Bruce-"

"I can't keep doing this. I finally got away from the cycle and I don't want back in."

"So what, are you gonna stay here and be the incredible grumpy mountain man?"

Eryn stepped forward, her face was numb yet again and her eyes were cold. She met his gaze, mustering up the strength behind her words.

"Let him." Two little words. Leaving her chapped lips with such venom. They seemed to confuse him.

"If that's what he wants. Let him."