starkingenuity | The Not So Silent Hill

Bruce intervened a few times to make sure Tony didn't burn the brownies. Then as they settled in and Tony ate like a toddler, Bruce gave him a little smile and wiped drugged chocolate off of Tony's lip before licking it off his thumb.

He only halfway listened to the news. He was waiting for someone to leak news about the military trying to take possession of him, for someone to mention that media darling Tony Stark had shacked up with a monster and had a near-corpse in his tower, for another news anchor to gather a bunch of commentators talking about whether or not the Avengers should be tracked like animals now that all their dirty laundry was aired. Bruce didn't go outside very often these days, not after the media plastered his face everywhere and talked about each and every American death he was responsible for. Despite the fact that Natasha and Clint easily had comparable body counts, the the focus had been put on him, because at least those two were doing it under orders.

And, they were boring. They were normal people. Bruce Banner, not so normal. He would be less frightening if he could control himself. Even when the Hulk wasn't trying to kill people, like in New York, he still caused sizable damage. Still, there were other issues facing the world these days. SHIELD's most notorious had been unleashed and SHIELD itself had been labeled a terrorist organization.

Ever since that whole mess started, Tony couldn't even get Maria Hill on the phone anymore. His employees had a worse attendance record than he did!

Luckily, at this point, he could run his company through JARVIS and emails...and Pepper. She might not be talking to him, she might consider herself dangerous, but she did love her job.

There was nothing about Bruce on the news that evening, just more about Deathlock and a little bit about Cybertech, filling the gap Hammer had left. He didn't care. They were no Stark Industries.

Tony was more of a nightowl than Bruce. He rarely slept. And despite the pot, he'd probably be up all night.

Bruce, on the other hand, began to drift to sleep, curled up against Tony's side. It was sappy, but he liked having someone to hold onto when he felt so much like things would be ripped away from him.

His sleep was fitful. Nightmarish. He frequently woke up, grasping at Tony's clothes, giving him one fervent kiss before refusing to talk about it and pretending to fall asleep again.

It was a frequent pattern that night.

The first few times that happened, Tony let it go. He let Bruce have his way, let him have his dignity, but when the tears started, Tony rolled him over and spooned him, pressing close against his back with his lips to his neck. "What happened in the courthouse?"

He'd never outright asked and he knew better than to do so now, but if he didn't press and Bruce never let it go, they would stagnate and the already delicately emotional man could break.

Tony feared that more than anything else as he smoothed his hand over Bruce's rips.

"We might not be heading to Shepherd's Glen with Cap or into the fire with our Russian ninja but damn it, Banner, it's going to come up and I can't help you if I don't know."

"What would the point be?" Bruce quickly scrubbed his eyes, using their position the hide his face. "It was bad. But it was just as bad as everything else."

No, that was a lie. It was far worse, not the least of which because Tony hadn't been there to snap him out of it when he started falling, when he started thinking it would be better to allow himself to die.

It had been so much worse, and he didn't want to remember.

"Oh, I don't know. You keep up on medical journals and I just read over your shoulder. But I do recall that sometimes it's better to talk about it than hold it in." Repressing memories like that had gotten Bruce in trouble before. "I just thought I'd offer," he said as gently as possible.

Tony was terrible at comfort.

"We sort of all have this problem where we don't like to talk about what those problems actually are," he said. "Normally, it's cool, whatever, but being in a relationship like this with a little kid that can see into our darkest thoughts probably means we've really got to be on the same page here."

“It was violent and horrible and made me relive betraying the only person who ever tried to help me as a kid,” Bruce said shortly. Despite his curt tone, his hand rested over Tony’s. His skin was pallid and clammy. “I lied to the world and said that my mother was mentally unstable and my dad never laid a finger on her. What else is there to say?”

He didn’t like how the town had brought up all this old baggage. It was all put away neatly, locked up tight in the back of his head and he had moved on. And yet now he could remember the blood sinking into cracks in the asphalt as his father stood above his mother’s dead body. Now he could remember sitting in the front seat with his father as they ran over his mother’s corpse, listening to Brian Banner tell him that this was all his fault for existing and he was next if he breathed a word. Now he could remember lying on the stand, the unabashed violence that she was no longer alive to save him from, the resentment and rage and guilt and deep sense of responsibility. The question, the constant question of whether or not his mother would ever forgive him for ruining her life.

He wanted to fold it up and put it back in its box. He had enough problems without dwelling on two dead people. Enough problems without spending all his time thinking about the bloody courtroom and the children with sewn mouths and the hulking beast that chased him.

“It was all a long time ago. The town just dredged it up.”

Tony held Bruce a little more tightly. He couldn't read his thoughts but he knew he was coming to the edge of reason just the same. "I'm sorry," he said, though he didn't know what he was sorry about. Trying to get Bruce to talk about it was going to be like pulling teeth and he didn't want to hurt him any more than he had to. "People don't remember us for our pasts," he murmured. "They know us for our presents. It's hard for you, but you were a kid and you were scared and shit happens. You're-- Banner, you're never going to believe me when I tell you that you're a good person so I'm not going to say it. But you need to know that I'm still here for you. I've got pot and I've got fast cars and I've got you. Even if you kick me all night."

He chuckled into Bruce's ear.

There wasn't entirely too much to say after that. Bruce's past was a nightmare that no one could ever understand. Tony just had to accept that.

Tony couldn't sleep anyway, so he tried to keep watch over Bruce, curled up in his arms like that. It was the weakest he had ever seen the man and it frightened him.

And then the whole tower shook.

"Stark!" Tony closed his eyes and feigned sleep, but a massive hand closed over his shoulder any way. "Friend Stark! Awaken yourself!"

“Shit!” Bruce woke up flailing, not feeling rested at all, and shot into a sitting position to stare at Thor. Who had just appeared in their bedroom. Without any kind of warning.

Bruce narrowed his eyes. This was going to be a very long day. “Thor, has Jane explained the Earth custom of knocking, yet?” Hopefully, men sharing the same bed was accepted practice in Asgard, because otherwise there was going to be a very uncomfortable conversation. He had been hoping that he and Tony could maybe just mention their relationship to their friends like normal people, but no, they had to find out by vaguely creepy photos and randomly teleporting into the bedroom. Because they were Avengers and Avengers were too good to do things like normal people…

Oh, he hoped Thor didn’t piss off Alessa again. It had been bad enough last time.

Thor didn't even seem to notice. He was back to wearing plaids and jeans, a grin upon his face. "She has, she has, but this news could not wait. We have been granted an audience by the All-Father with the Healers Guild."

He looked like a dog waiting to be praised with a cookie and a pat on the head.

"This will require a trip to Asgard--"

"See," Tony said, rubbing his eyes. "This is more like it. Good job, Thor. How about you wait in the kitchen? J? Brew some coffee."

Who knew Asgardians enjoyed coffee so much? Once Thor was gone, nearly pulling the door off of the hinges, Tony laid back with a huff. "What do you pack for a trip to Asgard this time of year?"

Yeah, Bruce, you're the only one taking this strangely, deal with it!

When did this become his life??

"Uh... I don't know. A toothbrush? An anti-mind control thing?"

Bruce was thoroughly awake now. He dragged himself out of bed and started throwing on a shirt. "How are we transporting Alessa? If they can do something, she should be there for them to get started. And... I don't think she'd like being left out of the discussion." They had learned what ignoring her did. Speaking of...

"Maybe we should give her a crash course on manners while we're going." It would be a bad thing for her to be rude to Odin. "Do dark psychic powers work on gods?"

"We? I think her manners are on the mark," Tony laughed, stretching, and following Bruce out of bed. He might not have slept well, but some shots of caffeine would do him a world of wonder. He joined the other man in the bathroom at the double sinks to brush their teeth, still amused by Bruce's need to teach Alessa anything.

She was eager to make them happy...to a point. And then it all went down hill after that. Battles were harder to pick and choose with her because all they could do was express their disappointment in her and hope that she might be willing to change her ways for the reward of a smile.

"Which dark psychic powers on which gods?" he asked, spitting out his toothpaste. "At least Loki's gone, but there might be others like him up there."

"Not everyone can walk around with your idea of manners, Tony," Bruce said with a fond eye roll as he brushed his teeth.

It was hard to gauge how much influence they had over Alessa. Clearly enough so that she wouldn't wantonly torture people around the tower. Hopefully enough so that she wouldn't try throwing the All-Father out a window or something.

"I'm talking about..." Bruce made a vague gesture with his hand. They really needed to get an inventory on everything she could do, because it felt like she kept on coming up with surprises. "The thing she does when she knows things about you. Can you call that mind reading? Either way, if Odin knows she's taking a peek into his head, he might not take too kindly to it. He's a king, after all."

Kings, regardless of their land, had secrets they wanted to keep.

"My advice is to just ask her. She responds to that the best." Tony had too when he was younger. He was just a better person when treated like an adult. He might have acted childishly at times but his mind needed the stimulation that childish communication just could not bring. Alessa...he understood her frustration. "J-- tell Lessy we have a guest and not to destroy my kitchen. See if she'll come to our room."

Tony had faith in her even if she might not have faith in herself. When she got her body back.... They needed to be sure that she would be safe and happy. And that was easier said than done.

"We are going to have to move her body so it can be examined. And-- Okay, I don't mind telling you that this is pretty damned cool."

"I'm just not sure how much she really knows about what manners are supposed to be..."

Bruce rinsed out his mouth, not even bothering with shaving. He had yet to make shaving every morning a habit again, since he was so used to having no access to a razor.

He leaned on the sink, giving Tony an honest to God grin. "It is pretty cool." Going off to the fabled city of the gods to meet the All-Father who had been mythologized by their whole planet. No big.

And then Alessa stuck her head through the bathroom door. Without knocking. Was Bruce seriously the only one who knocked?

"I'm guessing that guy with the long hair's here," she said dryly.

"That would be Thor, and from what I've seen, a lot of the people where he's from have long hair," Tony said, gesturing with a toothbrush. Once again, he didn't seem to mind Alessa's sudden arrival. He took most things in stride...even things he probably shouldn't. "Want to go to Asgard? The real place, not the Norse mythological fantasy world. It's another planet."

Tony just...he just let it out so smoothly. That was one of the reasons he wasn't more popular as a person (his money tended to let people overlook that foible). He rinsed his mouth with mouthwash for good measure and dried off his hands and face before turning completely towards the girl.

"There are healers there that might be able to fix your body. And then we can go shopping for other dresses or try pigtails? Pigtails would look cute. What do you think, Banner?"

“Pigtails? Really?” Alessa seemed unamused, but Bruce looked at her thoughtfully.

“Maybe braids. Her hair looks a little long for pigtails, but I could see braids working out.” That was, of course, assuming they could heal her hair follicles too. It was possible that they were damaged irreversibly. “Either way, you’re wearing something other than a school uniform.”

“How are we even getting to Asgard? I don’t think we have a rocket,” she said, quickly changing the subject because she really didn’t know how to talk about things relating to appearance. The most she had ever been told was ‘brush your hair and smooth out your uniform’. She had yet to decide whether she wanted to change that or not.

“Asgard has something called the Bifrost. It can get us there without a problem.” Bruce carded his hair between his fingers absently. That was his idea of neatening up. “So do you want to go?”

“Sure.” She seemed surprisingly nonchalant about it. “When else can you go visit a new planet?” And if she was destined to destroy and recreate the whole universe, she might as well get acquainted with more than just her little corner of it.

"Evidently a whole lot if you're Thor," Tony responded, picking up clippers to trim his iconic beard before following Alessa back into his room. As he was still just in his boxers, he needed to get dressed and...meeting the king of Asgard seemed more formal than his usual tshirt and jeans attire.

Tony selected, with Bruce's and Alessa's help, a deep red collared shirt and black waistcoat with slacks and polished shoes. He looked really very dapper after, hair still streaked with white but fluffed up haphazardly, looking wind blown and care free.

Banner had his own clothing, but all of it seemed to scream Professor to him. He motioned for Alessa to join him at the closet door and crouched down to confer with his partner in crime.

"Purple really is his best color," he told her. "It brings out his eyes."

“I’ll take your word for it,” Alessa said dryly, ignoring how Bruce eyed them suspiciously from his spot in the bathroom, having decided that he would shave for this particular occasion after remembering that that was what most men did in the first world. “You spend long enough staring at him that I bet you’d know best anyway.”

The rows and rows of clothing in the closet shifted, Tony’s few purple shirts floating off their hangers and presenting themselves.

“Too frilly.” She put one with lacy frills, probably from a costume, back onto its hanger. “Too shiny.” There went a silk one. “Too purple.” Goodbye, bright plum purple. “Why does this have sequins?” That’s gone. “He’d look silly in this one.” She got rid of one that was clearly intended for business, all sharp lines and hard corners and really not Bruce’s style. “This one?”

It was a light purple button-down, not as formal as the last one but tidy and wouldn’t look out of place in a professional setting. “He could wear a blazer if you think we really need to look nice.”

She paused, then looked down at herself in her stiff, starched school uniform. “Do you think I should change too?”

Holding up the only shirt Alessa approved of to himself as if that might give him an idea of how it would look on Bruce, he was taken off guard by the girl yet again. "You? Can you change?" Forgive him for being an uneducated asshole sometimes but this was the very first time he'd had a little ghost girl hanging out with him. He just assumed that the uniform was part of the projection.

Having fetched one of Bruce's own blazers to go with a pair of dress pants Tony had yet to see him wear, he arched an eyebrow at Alessa.

This would be interesting.

"I mean... We are going to see a king. They tend to like it when you're dressed your best. Your clothes are very nice though." Tony wasn't placating. Uniforms, by definition, tended to be made for these sorts of obligations.

She looked at him as if he had just asked her if she could breathe (which she couldn't without help, but the principle stands).

"It's a projection. It looks how I want it to look."

And then suddenly instead of a little girl, Natasha Romanov was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in her usual catsuit but with Alessa's somewhat stern neutral expression. Alessa's expression really didn't look weird on Natasha's face.

"It just takes more concentration if I'm not used to doing it like that."

Alessa's voice came from Natasha's body, which was indistinct and had a blurred outline. Abruptly, she was back in her usual form, Alessa with her smooth school uniform.

"If you think the uniform will work, I'll stick with it. It's what I'm used to projecting."

Beyond unnerved, Tony blinked at Alessa-turned-Widow and shook his head. He head to play with his watch first, he had to find a suitable cologne, he had to do anything but look at Natasha Romanoff on his and Banner's bed. "Okay, new rule, no more anyone other than the three of us in this bedroom, all right? And that includes you looking like you because...no. No." He was very firm about that, rubbing the back of his head in annoyance before he laid out Bruce's outfit for him.

Bruce could certainly select his own clothing, but with the weed whacking currently going on in the bathroom, it would save time if Tony just helped him along a little. No offense to the man he loved, of course.

He dressed with Alessa standing there, sullen as usual, and fixed his tie before gently stroking back smoky, wispy hair that he couldn't really touch. "I think you look beautiful as you are. But dress anyway that makes you happy. The less stress you're under, the better. Banner! Put these on! I'm going to the kitchen to keep Thor from eating us out of house and home!"

"No? It's still me, it's just..."

Realization dawned.

"Ewwwwwww."

Excuse her while she wrinkled her nose, Tony. Yes, she was a very intelligent little girl with way too much knowledge of sex, but still. That was gross.

Nonetheless, she had no discomfort with Tony getting dressed in front of her. She stuck out her bottom lip a little and frowned when he called her pretty. No one but Vincent and Claudia called her pretty.

"It's a lost cause, Tony." Bruce came out of the bathroom, patting his face (which had luckily avoided any nicks) dry before checking out the clothes on the bed and nodding to Tony in thanks. "I'll be surprised if we still have a fridge by now."

"Well shit." He scooted out of the room to find the fridge door opened wide and Thor in front of the stove with all six burners going. There were twelve eggs boiling away in one pot, chicken shredded up with cheese and noodles in another and he'd done something odd with the left over Thai and tune fish too. Tony smirked. "Uh, hey, we're not that hungry."

"Will it only be the four of us, Stark?" He'd thrown a dish towel over his shoulder and used it to dry his massive hands. Jane was a lucky woman if any of this cooking was edible. "The bifrost may carry many more if the others will join us."

"Yeah, about that, they're off saving the world, little pieces at a time. Me and Banner and Alessa's body will have to go. Is that going to be a problem?"

"It should not. I have instructed Heimdal to take great care."

"Good."

"Now sit. Our morning feast has been nearly completed. The All-Father may wish to feast us as well, Asgard has been prospering."

Bruce got dressed quickly. Then Alessa fussed a little over him because apparently she did have an idea of how one presented themselves to authority and he didn't quite pass muster.

By the time they got to the kitchen, Bruce's curls were (mostly) tamed, his cheeks were smooth, and his blazer was impeccable. And he was looking fondly exasperated.

"Alessa, seriously, I don't think there is anything else you could possibly pick at."

"You have no idea how much of a perfectionist I can be if I want to," Alessa said, floating after him and blowing off nearly invisible lint from his shoulders. Bruce arched one eyebrow at all the food.

"Lessy, why don't you go clean up Tony instead?"

"Tony cleans up better than you do!" More lint blowing.

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Free! Do you think Alessa will see Loki!Odin for who he is?

She'd at the very least be able to see all the resentment towards Thor and Odin, so probably

Since she can see people's darkest moments she might now that Odin is actually Loki then. :p

Yeah, she could probably tell. She might not speak up immediately, but she could tell