starkingenuity | The Not So Silent Hill

Bruce's love of kids confused Tony. He'd never been wanted, he'd been abused and a whole lot less than loved. So for Bruce to be willing to lend his heart out to another, for him to even know how, was pretty remarkable. Tony felt around in his front pocket for a handkerchief and he tapped on Bruce's shoulder to hand it over so that he could pay for the gift with one of his own.

Why not? It was only a piece of cotton hand-embroidered in silk and worth more than Bruce's clinic in India probably, but he had a drawer full of them. The way the girl's face lit up was priceless any way and Tony actually felt sort of proud.

His smile bloomed on his face as it did on hers, quite without asking his permission first. He had it when his emotions showed anything other than asshole arrogance. Damn it. "You're rubbing off on me," he told Bruce as they kept going. "And why do they all speak English?"

“Oh no, someone besides Alessa or me might find out you have a heart,” Bruce teased gently, but he was smiling and warm, because little was as endearing as watching Tony Stark and a small child smile at each other. It made him want to kiss him, but he was a private man and had only just gotten comfortable kissing in private, let alone public.

He unfolded the red silk as they walked away to tear a small piece off of the sticky bun, offering it to Tony. Maybe it was just him, but he’d always been able to tell that Tony had genuine compassion beneath all the bravado. He’d never understood how it was so easy for other people to not see it.

“I was wondering that myself, actually. It makes no sense for them to develop a nearly identical language to English. It doesn’t make much sense for them to evolve to look human, either.” He’ll take a tiny bite of the bun himself. Yum. “There are more similarities than differences here. They have identical language, identical appearance, and have developed a kind of government that we’ve been using for thousands of years. You can explain some of that away, but not all of it.”

He started gesturing with his free hand, not paying attention to the slightly bemused looks he was getting. “Language and ideas about government—that might have just been exported. After all, Asgardians supposedly showed up at Earth before, and that’s how we get the Norse mythology. Maybe some Asgardians came even before the Vikings, then stuck around and shared language and culture with humans. The biological similarities? Not as easy to explain. You don’t export biology.”

Huh. Maybe their species were distantly related somehow. It was interesting to think about.

"But why English?" Tony asked, pressing for that one, simple answer. It was bugging him. "Shouldn't they speak some sort of Germanic derivative? Old Norse? Swedish or one of the Norwegian languages?" It just bothered him. The biology didn't so much, though he did wonder if they were able to interbreed with humans, or if their technology and magic made it all possible. "Ooh, what if it's like the TARDIS?"

Tony was more of a Star Wars fan to Doctor Who, but he use to catch it on TV in the 70s when that guy with the never ending scarf and the afro use to be on it. He liked the robotic dog. It was why he had created DUM-E in the first place.

"A universal translator? Hm. I should work on that. Add it to the list. Which, by the way, has me thinking. We can still use Extremis on Alessa. If that growth is neutralized, we can still give her the ability to walk again without a few decades of physical therapy."

Tony's ability to move between topics was jarring.

“TARDIS…?” Yeah. Bruce had no idea what Doctor Who was, since he didn’t watch much TV growing up and preferred to spend his time reading, but it was probably just another of Tony’s weird pop culture references.

But at the mention of Alessa, he sucked in a breath. “I was thinking the same thing. Even with physical therapy, she’d be well through college before she could even get out of a wheelchair.” She wasn’t a toddler anymore. Even if her brain was plastic enough to re-learn walking and talking, she had the muscles of a newborn in the body of a seven-year-old. Her own weight would keep her from developing as she would have if she were younger. “We have no idea what Extremis will do to her power. She could end up exploding things without meaning to.”

If that were the case, they would need to put her somewhere blast-proof while she figured it out. Tony, her nurses, anyone without some kind of super ability would be too fragile to be near her.

Somehow, he doubted she would mind if she could learn how to walk again.

"Never mind," Tony laughed, his hand falling to the small of Bruce's back. He was use to having pretty women on his arm, and this was just one of the old fashioned ways Tony still struggled with. Hopefully Bruce didn't mind the gentle guiding. Tony just wasn't a hand holder. He was still eating the piece of sticky bun when he gathered what it was Bruce was getting at when it came to Alessa and her powers...and lack of control.

That made him frown. "Well, I keep saying that I want to go to the beach," he mused. "I have a property far enough away from civilization that we could introduct Extremis to her in."

We. He was not, not, going to get Bruce and Alessa go, not even for a day. He was going with.

Bruce definitely noticed the hand on his back, and frowned a little at it, knowing it was supposed to be affectionate and yet not exactly sure what it's meant to be.

It took him a moment before he realized, oh right. Then he felt a little silly, because he'd done the same thing to women once or twice. It felt strange to be on the other end of it.

But it didn't matter. He couldn't help but frown at Tony. "Tony... it'll be dangerous." And Tony, unlike Bruce, didn't have a monster keeping him alive. He had seen the careless destruction Alessa could create when she was annoyed. He didn't want to see what would happen if she couldn't control herself.

"Of course it will be dangerous," Tony replied, stopping under an apple covered arbor that stretched high over their heads. He took Bruce by the hand for a moment, just to make the other man face him. The guards gave them their space, but stoically watched just the same. "Banner, our lives are dangerous. I stablized Extremis. I could teach you what to do if there's a formula malfunction, you could contact me remotely, but I don't want that."

He wanted to be in the action.

"What if something breaks? I could take you through it, but that could take too much time and two sets of hands are better than one. Besides..."

I need to be there if the Other Guy pops out.

"You're my family. Don't take my family from me, Bruce. Not this time. Not with this. I need to be there."

Bruce glanced at the guards, chewing the inside of his cheek. He always felt self-conscious when being affectionate in public. He was a private person, even when one didn't take into account what years of hiding did to him.

But this was important, so he looked away from the guards and just paid attention to Tony. "I don't want to lose you either, Tony. Neither of us do."

And that was what could happen. He could be hurt or killed, because they didn't understand Alessa's power beyond the fact that it was incredibly destructive. If she lost control, she might accidentally hurt Bruce, and then he could lose control. Bruce was reasonably sure she could handle the Hulk, at the very least until she could get to a mirror, but that meant there could be crossfire to be trapped in.

He didn't trust the Hulk to be reasonable, even around Tony. Just because it was good with him once didn't mean he could trust it to listen to him. In Bruce's mind, the Hulk could only be pointed in a certain direction, never stopped, and if that direction had nothing to destroy? It would turn on whoever was around it.

At least, that was his working theory. He didn't dare experiment. He didn't want Tony put in a position where he might face that without any kind of protection.

What would Bruce do without Tony? He didn't know if he could help Alessa alone.

Right. Bruce loved him. Bruce wanted him to stick around for as long as possible. Being in a relationship was...strange. He'd learned how to work around it with Pepper because Pepper had been worrying about him when she was just his personal assistant. They had grown comfortable enough with each other that Pepper use to buy her own presents. But Bruce was brand new. Not only that, they had the same intellect. Not only that, but Bruce was a man and Tony was never good with making men like him or understanding their needs.

It always hit him so hard that he might be missed. Tony lifted his hand to brush against Bruce's cheek. "If I can figure out how to make it safe, I'll get to stay, all right? If it's too risky... I mean an acceptable risk, okay? If it's too much, I'll stay in New York and we'll Skype it."

Did they have a deal? Tony could only turn the charm on so high with Bruce. Bruce could see through his bullshit.

"I just want to be apart of this. I know it's weird but... This is going to make her ours. I kinda want that."

Bruce worked his jaw, weighing the deal in his head. He was eternally cautious, always waiting for the other shoe to drop and for all the good things he had recently been given to be taken away. He didn't want Tony near anything that could break him, kill him, make him leave--

But Bruce couldn't just keep the people he cared about in a bubble. People couldn't live like that. More than anything, Tony couldn't live like that. He was a hedonist, a daredevil, and more than anything, he was just someone who enjoyed life in a way Bruce never let himself do. Tony Stark was willing to meet him halfway and try to make things as safe as possible--Bruce could do the same.

Bruce hesitated, then leaned forward, brushing his lips very lightly against Tony's before pulling away again. "You have a deal. We'll both try to make it as safe as possible. We're going to bring a little girl home who will learn how to walk."

Though Alessa could not do much with the feast, Tony still cut up some of whatever delicious meat they were eating was and made sure she had juice. He'd been doing that from the start. It was accidental at first, but slowly (and perhaps because Alessa always gave the illusion of meeting their touch or trying to do what would be expected of a real girl sitting between them) it had become habit. She was as real to Tony as anything else. She could make herself be felt even if she could feel nothing in response.

Not yet at least. The healers were working on giving that back to her and Tony and Bruce would seal the deal but making her functional again.

Thor was noticeably absent from the feast but Odin was there and he and Alessa kept giving each other strange little looks-- Or maybe Tony was just seeing things. Asgardian ale was so much stronger than even the scotch he was use to and while he tried to go easy on the alcohol because of Bruce's issues with it, he couldn't help himself this time.

Accidental drunkenness could be forgiven, right? Even when he climbed up on the table to toast their hosts...?

Bruce warned him about the alcohol, but did he listen? Noooooooo...

As Tony hoisted himself onto the table, Bruce rubbed his temple and flashed an apologetic look towards Odin, hoping that Thor's loud and boisterous mannerisms were common here.

"Sorry, Alessa," he murmured to her softly.

She shrugged, to this day not sure what she's supposed to do when she has food in front of her. "I stopped caring about being embarrassed a long time ago."

Bruce gave her a smile and mimed ruffling her hair. As Tony got to thanking Odin for having them, Alessa sent a small smirk in Odin's direction. Bruce hadn't the slightest what had passed between Alessa and the All-Father, but whatever it was, it seemed to be profound. He was curious, but considering they were being given all the resources of Asgard, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"And so, in closing--" Most of the people around the long tables looked utterly confused by what was happening, their goblets still lifted up high while Tony literally pontificated about nothing at all. He'd started slurring words when he got up to the part where he peed in his suit (which didn't really work when he wasn't wearing the armor and the joke was so overdone it really wasn't that funny anyway) and half fell backwards when Odin rose to thank him mid-sentence.

"Let us continue with the feast! Another course, yes, yes, and bring some apple juice for our guest." There was twittering from the crowd after that, but as Tony required help getting back into his seat and half passed out once he got there, nose inches from some sort of squash soup, it was just as well.

The apple juice at least had a restorative sort of quality to it, enough of one to perk him up and finish a big slice of cake while he gazed dreamily at Banner. "Your eyes are like Turkish coffee."

Bruce started to sigh softly and hide his face once Tony got into nonsense. By the time Tony was revived and giving him bedroom eyes, Bruce had long since realized that he was far too sober for this.

"Why Turkish?" Luckily, Tony was not at all the kind of drunk Bruce's father had been. Brian Banner used to get angry and mean when he was drinking. Tony just got... silly. And apparently, flirty.

"Please tell me you're not going to start when I'm in the middle," Alessa piped up, looking supremely annoyed by this development. "His staring is bad enough when he's sober. If you start making out, I'm gone."

"You don't need to worry about that, Alessa." They were, after all, in public.

Tony had to agree with that...to a point at least. "I'll be sure to put my hands over your eyes first," he teased Alessa. "It's not my fault you're short and easy to lean over."

It was true that Tony was a silly drunk and when in love, he was a silly, in love drunk. He wiggled an eyebrow at Bruce, stopping only at the look Alessa gave him. Oh, that did make him laugh, and laugh sweetly.

Any look Bruce gave him was taken with a grain of salt and a little bit of a comment dripping with innuendo before most of the guests filtered out in pairs or groups to do whatever it is well born Asgardians happened to do after feasting with the All-Father.

It was right about that time that they were informed that Alessa's body was whole again and, luckily, Tony was actually able to walk back to the healing pavilion without having to lean on Bruce, the walls, or poor Alessa's projection.

"Oh, for the record, Turkish because of how strong they are. You really have no idea how attractive you are, Bruce Banner. No comments from the peanut gallery on that one either, Lessy."

Alessa was tense. Her expression didn't change, but she hung closer to Tony and Bruce, her projection radiating humid warmth. "The peanut gallery comments on what it wants!" She looked up at Bruce, then tilted her head. "...I think you look nice. It's easier for me to tell if a girl's pretty than if a boy's handsome."

Bruce arched one eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah." She frowned ever so slightly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason."

Alessa normally would have probed, but instead, she just looked forward, smoothing her skirt slowly.

Then they got to the medical room, the corners of her mouth tightened. A body, breathing, without machines or tubes, lying on its back with its arms by its sides. It was hairless, without a single scar or blemish, and it looked like it was asleep.

Just a sleeping little girl.

Alessa hung back further, staring at the body with her mouth in a grim line.

Tony, however, went immediately towards her, only to have a healer stop him. "She is quite suseptible to illness in this state. You will need to contain the air she breathes for some time, control her temperature...think of her as an infant."

Tony glanced back at Bruce and frowned. He'd never been around an infant before. They were all screaming without teeth and shitting and not much else. He wasn't sure what to do other than get her a blanket and a beanie cap to keep the heat in. He decided not to touch Alessa's body, even though he wanted to. "But she's all right?"

"She's perfect again. She will function, though she will need your help feeding her and cleaning her. She may not be able to talk until her tongue becomes more muscular but she can breathe and swallow on her own." Eir turned to Alessa and crouched down, hands folded over her knees. "Would you like to test it out? You will need to let us know if you feel any pain from your body. We will be able to fix that before you leave here."

Alessa stared past Eir at her body, fragile and new and like a doll instead of a mangled corpse. She pursed her lip and disappeared.

The body's eyes snapped open, and for the first time in nearly forty years, she could see.

The light was too bright. The table too cold. She felt the cold, felt the hard, but she couldn't move and people were all around her and she was struggling for air because her throat was getting tight and she remembered she remembered the last time she was in the body and she could see when she couldn't move and the flames she could see them everywhere and she wanted scream and thrash but Mommy had tied her to the floor she let herself be tied to the floor and it hurt it hurt her skin was peeling and she was seeing the world end before her and she couldn't breathe anymore there was too much smoke--

Bright blue eyes, far more vivid in color than the projection's ever were, darted around the room blindly, a blast of heat rolling off of it as its weak chest heaved in hyperventilation, the table beginning to blacken all around it even as the skin remained pristine.

At first, Tony was hopeful. He creeped just a little closer before the wriggling began. Eir was right. She was just like a newborn, her arms and legs just barely capable of moving and her fingers not quite balling up into fists. A sharp cry escaped her throat and he turned at once to Bruce the moment her eyes rolled around her head like a frightened horses.

"Gloves!" Doctors always carried them. He'd seen Bruce put then in his pocket before they left in case he had to handle Alessa's burnt body. At least they were always prepared. Tony didn't wait for Bruce to hand him a pair, he ripped the Baggie from his jacket pocket and slapped two on his hands quicker than one might think was possible before he was back at Alessa's side.

Panic attack. He knew all about those. Gloves fingers lightly took her hand in his and he rubbed his thumb against her palm.

"Lessy. Less, sweetheart, look at me. Just look at me. You're safe." He could feel his watch heating up. The push of too warm air was almost stifling. "You're with me. You're still with us and you can leave that body whenever you want! Do you feel me holding your hand? Do you remember what you told me the night you and I laid in your bed? That all you want to do is feel? Well feel me!"

It was too much. Sensation was tingling on her skin, pressing against a hand she didn’t understand anymore, lighting up pieces of her brain that hadn’t been used in decades, and she didn’t know if it was pleasant or painful but it was overwhelming and she could see her mother leaning over her with those cold eyes and tangled hair and her chest was tight and she wanted out--

Thick black smoke rose from the body. The wriggling ceased and the eyes closed.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Bruce flinched and covered his ears as the voice boomed in the room, shaking the walls and ground, before the smoke shot through the air and out the door, leaving the room far too hot with a long crack through the stone floor.

The body was no longer moving, but tears trickled from its closed eyes.

Bruce slowly moved his hands from his ears. Alessa had just had a panic attack. He never thought he’d see that happen to the stoic, perpetually expressionless little girl.

“…I think she needs a minute.”

"Uh. Yeah." Tony pulled off his gloves with a wince, the latex steaming and his fingers coated in sweat. He balled up the gloves and shoved them into his pockets before Eir returned to his side with some salve. "Hey--"

"It will soothe you. Alessa will need some time to cope with sensation that does not include pain. Her body is new but her mind is not," the healer explained and while Tony tried to understand, he really didn't. He wanted to, but he had no frame of refence for this at all.

Desperately, he looked to Bruce. "She might be yours on this one."

Bruce pursed his lips and looked at the door the smoke had gone through. It was hard to articulate, how it felt to want kind touches, but to not understand anything but pain. How it felt when people jerked their hands too quickly, when they waved around bottles, even after so many years. How it felt to be trapped in your own memories.

He didn't bother to try. Instead, he just said, "I'll talk to her once she's cooled off. She's used to dealing with things on her own. Trying to force my help right now might make it worse."

It had taken him a long time to accept help, to accept vulnerability, and he hadn't been through half of what she had been.

Though all of that did sound like it was for the best, Tony couldn't help but worry. Alessa, scared, alone, and here in Asgard could be a pretty volatile match up. Could they really trust her to go off, to hide, and not melt down part of the city?

Tony flexed his fingers, the ache leaving them, and stood again. His hair was ruffled from Alessa's rage and he looked halfway defeated.

"We can set up a place for you to stay and wait for the girl to calm herself down. There is a lovely garden and a comfortable bed there," Eir said.

Tony thanked her. He could use a rest.

Well, if she started melting down the city, they would know about it.

Bruce didn't rest. He spent his time in the garden, looking at the flowers and gently urging Tony to sleep if he didn't do so on his own. Eventually, after the city grew quiet and it had yet to be melted down, Bruce slowly walked away again.

He didn't need to look for her. He had a feeling he knew where she would be.

Alessa sat in the medical room, staring at her body, hugging her knees and alone except for the magic monitoring her vitals. Bruce didn't even need to announce his presence before she said, "It's not mine anymore."

"It may feel that way for now..." Bruce sat down next to her, even as his joints creaked and cracked. He was getting old. "...But you're going to make it yours. It always belonged to you, even if it hurts to think about."

She huffed softly, resting her chin on her knees and letting her hair fall in front of her face.

Bruce looked at the body, still and pristine. "You know, your projection isn't entirely accurate. You look different in real life."

She peered at him under her hair. "What do you mean?"

"You make yourself look older. You wash out your colors." He made a vague gesture towards the body. "You have very pretty eyes, too, when they're not closed."

She huffed again. "Doesn't matter. They're not mine."

"Then the body has very pretty eyes. How's that?" Bruce imitated her pose, hugging his knees. He wasn't quite as flexible as she was, though. "This is going to be very hard for you. I wish I could fix it all, but I can't. Neither can Tony. You're going to need to learn everything all over again. But we're going to be right here for you while you do it, okay?"

She didn't immediately respond. She slowly unfolded her legs, smoothing her skirt and staring at the body with a neutral expression.

"...Can you put my hand on your face?"

Bruce arched an eyebrow at her. "I can't put gloves on it. The healers said it wasn't safe."

"I don't care."

She didn't look at him.

"I want to know what it feels like."

He watched her carefully from the corner of his eye. She didn't look at him.

But he still couldn't say no.

"Okay. But don't tell the healers."

She disappeared from his side. Those vivid blue eyes opened up again, but this time, they were half-lidded, and he watched the chest rise and fall evenly before taking gloves out of his pocket and pulling them on carefully.

Then he knelt by her table, picking up on hand--so soft and weak and small in his--before pressing it gently to his cheek, already growing stubble.

The sandpapery skin made her hand tingle and her nerves shudder and she couldn't move--but she could leave the body at any time, and the touch had just enough rough bite to it that she could understand it somewhat. His hand she had trouble with, but his cheek felt like... she didn't know what it felt like anymore.

But it made the corner of the body's mouth twitch upwards.

Because sleep had indeed taken him, for all of half an hour, Tony had missed all but the tail end of Bruce's and Alessa's exchange. He stood in the doorway, trying not to trespass on their moment, happy just to watch without joining in. he had his time with each seperately and that the two more important people in his life bonded was top priority.

It didn't seem to matter to Tony that they had each entered his life not all that long ago. He'd known Banner for two years, since the Chitauri attack on New York, but that didn't mean that they spoke every day or even that they were in constant contact. He's known Alessa for even less time, though he'd grown attached to her, like Bruce, very early on.

Tony was a man for nonsensical relationships, it seemed.

When things were still for awhile, he crept forward towards the pair and slowly ran a hand up Bruce's back to his shoulder and squeezed.

The process might be slow going, but he knew Bruce had made a break through.

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