The Not So Silent Hill

[starkingenuity]

[Continued from: here]

Staring at the little house, Tony was noteably unimpressed. The child and other half of a god (however loosely you wanted to use the term) really ought to have not been so...small. He was expecting more, and the way he stood with his hip out and arms crossed proved it. They'd take a quinjet to the nearest open field and one of Tony's smaller cars after that, loaded into the back of the plane after he'd ripped out a few seats.

With Extremis stable enough to exist in several now fire-breathing and extra strong mice rampaging through specially designed cages to contain them, JARVIS' databases and hacking ability getting them the information they needed to arrive here, and Alessa more or less content with the nurse she and Banner picked out, this had been the next logical step. Even so, he expected it to be a little more difficult.

Wearing a black t-shirt and dark jeans that only accentuated his somewhat femininely proportioned hips and backside, Tony Stark was still Tony Stark and flashiness and he went hand in hand.

Like a brand name.

It didn't help that the yellow convertible was parked across the street, in direct contention with the overall look and feel of the neighbor around it.

"You can knock." He wasn't too keen on touching things other people did.

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[starkingenuity]

The last thing Tony wanted to do right then was run back into that inferno of a room but sometimes you just had to do things you didn't particularly want to. He pulled himself out of Bruce's arms, face a splotched mess, and bolted for the doors. "J-- Open outer and inner lab doors, Stark-0415." The doors hissed for him as they split open and reacting blindly, he found himself inside hell itself.

But he'd been there before, playing chess with the Queen Demon herself. He'd survived this once, why not again?

And if not-- Well, he'd had a pretty good life. His dad might not have cared much for him and he might have always had some alcohol issues but it was Alessa's turn to get to experience something good. Alessa's turn and Bruce's turn.

The heat was sweltering but Tony threw up his arms to protect his face and could almost feel the skin start to blacken on them. "Not today!" he yelled, unsure if this was all just more Silent Hill illusion or if it was real.

What did it matter at the moment?

"You don't get to have her back today! ALESSA!"

[honeyibrokeharlem]

"Leave! I told you to leave!"

"You DARE speak to me like that?!"

It wasn't a lab anymore. There was fire everywhere. A hulking thing, wreathed in swirling black cloth, so tall that it stoops, arms and legs so long that it takes up the hallway. They're in a living room, burning, chunks of the floor falling through to the fiery kitchen below. Alessa is back in her school uniform, smaller than she usually is, puffing out her chest and looking up at the beast with her hands fisted in her skirt. The tears running down her face belied her defiant pose. "You're dead. You're supposed to stay dead."

[starkingenuity]

Know what Tony was starting to hate? Dead parents coming back to nightmarish life to torment their children. He was going to seriously rue the day that Howard came back for a chat and some scotch, though if that ever happened, Tony might well throw in the towel. No matter what his father might have said on film in the 70s, that didn't make decades of heartache any less real.

Growling as he pushed his way through Alessa's inferno, Tony moved between the small girl and whatever towering mass of horrible shadow had arrived to make her miserable when all she really needed to do was get better.

This might be one more instance of laying down on the line for a fellow soldier but he wasn't trying to prove himself. He had nothing to prove this time anyway. He just wasn't going to let Alessa get hurt.

"I believe the lady told you to leave!"

[godandhermother]

"This is none of your concern!"

The monster approached, every step making a sharp clicking sound on the burning wood and the billowing cloth sweeping around it. Alessa flinched back from the cloth as it came closer, every brush against the skin leaving burning pain, as if the cloak were made of nettles.

"She always had a way with men. Twisted them around her little finger, made them suffer, then tossed them aside when she was done. Masterful. My little girl."

The beast bent, curled, lowering itself so its face was level with Tony's, and in the firelight, it was clear it was wearing a perfect porcelain mask.

"Leave before she sucks you dry."

"I SAID GO AWAY!" A floorboard ripped itself from the floor and bashed the monster in the face. It reared back with a shriek of rage and swung its arm, an arm that cracked like a whip in the air and swung like a belt.

[starkingenuity]

Tony wasn't so good at dodging but for a man of his age, he was a little more spry than some. What he wouldn't have gived for a little super soldiber serum to tide him over, however. He'd have to play around with that later, even if Bruce might well kill him. As he dodged the creature, he grabbed Alessa as well and should he not just fall through her, as tended to happen with astral projections, he would likely end up sheltering her with his body.

After all, none of this was real and if that was the case, Silent Hill would do everything in it's power to make it appear so with all senses. He'd seen and smelled the blood on Bruce, he'd touched it. And if all of this gambling paid off, he could use that experience to his benefit.

It would not help him from feeling or experiencing hurt, but it shouldn't actually be there.

Pushing himself up, defiant despite all of his senses telling him that his skin was crackling and splitting, Tony Stark pressed on towards the porceline faced creature, eyes blazing with the heat of the room and his own inner fire.

"You have no business being here," he growled. "You're not real! This isn't your realm. And you're really messing up my carpeting!"

He hoped the gamble paid off.

[godandhermother]

Alessa was solid. She wrapped her arms around his neck, digging her nails into his back.

"I have every business to be here. I haunt this world. I wait in every shadow. When the new world is born, I will be there."

The porcelain mask cracked at the mouth, its lower jaw hanging open with jagged teeth.

"I am more real than you will ever be."

The beast lunged with a hiss, but then a deafening crack rattled the ground, a bolt of lightning coming down and hitting the monster, making it rear back and writhe and shriek. "ALESSA!"

Then everything was gone. Alessa wasn't in Tony's arms, and there was no fire. Instead, Alessa was sitting up on her medical table, the straps ruined, gasping for air.

And Bruce managed to force the lab door open again, his eyes wide. "What just happened?"

[starkingenuity]

Tony took two steps back and sat down, legs out and knuckles hitting the floor between his legs. "I think I just shit out through my penis," he said, and while he wasn't generally crude like that, he really felt as if he'd done the impossible and lived to see through to the end. It was horrifying. And still, it gave him a real sense of accomplishment. Though with what, exactly, he couldn't be sure.

How could be that accomplished when he might not have done anything at all? It wasn't like he could call down lightning from the sky--

When he saw Alessa gasping, however, Tony half crawled on his knees towards her, pulling himself up to the table to wrap his arms around her burning hot body.

This time he might really get burned but it was worth it.

One more hurdle passed--

He was sure that they were going to be all right...for the next few minutes at least. "Shh, Ashy, calm down, breath like I do. In...and out..."

[honeyibrokeharlem]

"Name's... not... Ashy... dumb boy..." It was the first thing she properly said in decades besides screaming at monsters. Her tongue was clumsy, making her speech difficult to understand, like her tongue is numb and too big for her mouth, and her voice lacked any bite to it. She flopped against his shoulder, struggling to breath even as she started to hiccup, her chest jerking painfully in such a strange way that she didn't remember anymore.

"You're both okay. We're all okay." Bruce walked to the table, a little unsteady on his feet, and wrapped his arms around both of them, ignoring how hot Alessa was on his already abnormally warm skin.

Her tattoo was glowing on her back, bleeding all over again, but it was working. Nothing was exploding. Nothing was burning anymore.

[starkingenuity]

It didn't matter how long it was, that embrace, but Tony loved it for every moment that passed. He was sweating up a storm by the end of it, but there were showers and Alessa was talking and moving and despite not having a fully functioning memory, everything just seemed perfect.

Darkness was setting in by the time he and Bruce finished all of the tests on Alessa. She was given a light sheet to sleep under and JARVIS was set to monitor her, the bear he occupied looking over her from a table to her left, within reach if she needed it.

Tony was animated, despite how exhausted he so obviously was. His eyes shone bright as he stood with Bruce in the kitchen, shirt off and scar visible, stirring a pot of whatever hadn't been expired. His hands moved all over the place and he walked from one end of the room to the other, constantly running his fingers through his hair.

"I just can't-- We did that. It's insane!" Yeah, he did get excited over his achievements!

[honeyibrokeharlem]

Bruce was more subdued but no less excited by their success. He was smiling into the pot, barely paying attention to what he was doing. Alessa would need physical therapy, speech therapy, regular therapy... but she was able to move.

"I wasn't sure if we'd be able to do it," he admitted softly, "but we did. Tony, she can touch things now."

There hadn't been much time to revel in it, in between Silent Hill's intrusion and the exhaustion afterwards, but she'd be able to feel and touch.

Maybe they could be halfway normal now.

[starkingenuity]

Two geniuses and a demon child... Half way to normal was all they'd ever be and you know what? Tony liked it. He sat on the counter just to keep from pacing and had another drink of water from one of the bottles still in the pantry. Everything was buzzing in his head, all of these ideas...his heart thumped in his chest like it always did when he'd come out of something impossible alive and on top.

It wasn't until they were actually eating that Tony managed to sober a little and he dropped his cheek into his hand as he spooned soup into his mouth as neatly as he could manage.

"Could you...just for the future you know...try not to almost die again? I'm not actually sure I want to deal with that again, okay?"

[honeyibrokeharlem]

"I'll promise it if you promise the same."

It was more relevant to Tony, anyway. Tony was so much more fragile, and so much more prone to throw himself into dangerous situations. Which was darkly ironic, because it was Bruce who so wished to die.

But he didn't want to die right then. He didn't want to die when he was with Tony or Alessa.

"I don't want to deal with you almost dying any more than the other way around."

[starkingenuity]

"Deal." Tony reached across the table and offered Bruce his hand to shake. Once a business man, always a business man. He went back to eating just to pause again a few moments later, gesturing with the spoon. "So anyway, what was that? Do you think they want her back? Is giving her a body she might actually use such a bad thing? And, stop me if I'm wrong here, but was all of that just a little too close for comfort? I mean, if that can happen now, here, in the middle of no where, what's it from happening again on movie night? Or if we're out at a nice restaurant?"

Ah yes, Tony and his finer things.

"I'm not saying that I'd be embarrassed for tar and ash kids popping out of the walls attacking people over their sorbet, but that a porcelain faced representation of Alessa's mother might ruin the wine, but trying to give Lessy a normal life might sort of not work if that happens."

Because yes, going out to fancy restaurants with the world's richest man and his anger-issued boyfriend was really normal.

[honeyibrokeharlem]

"If she's as important as she's been telling us, then of course they want her back."

Bruce picked at his food. The whole incident had churned his stomach, but he was trying to force himself into eating. He hadn't been eating enough since Tony lost his memory.

"She can control it on some level, right? Maybe she just wasn't prepared for the spike in power and summoned it by accident before losing control. We'll talk to her about it when she wakes up."

[starkingenuity]

When she wakes up. That could be awhile. Tony checked his pocket for his phone and then reached back across the table to take Bruce's spoon from his hand.

"That reminds me. Swim trunks. You have ten minutes. You wouldn't believe how the water around here holds the heat." He wanted, badly, to spend a little time on the beach with Bruce. Why? He wasn't so sure about that actually. Another gap in his memory, probably.

He'd already lost his shirt, rummaging through his bags for shorts was easy. He told JARVIS to keep the outdoor lights on. Strung in the trees, they'd look like fireflies.

Maybe he needed a little help with the romantic side of himself but he was doing pretty well for the time being.

He was just excited. Excited and pretty sure he was in love and... Who could blame him for being giddy?

[honeyibrokeharlem]

Bruce considered telling Tony he was too tired, that he wanted to go to sleep, but the way Tony looked at him made him relent.

He could be a sucker, sometimes. Especially when he was in love. His lovers were able to talk him into the craziest things.

And that was what made him end up feeling very self-conscious, clad only in swim trunks, only toeing the water. "I haven't been in the ocean in years Tony." He didn't even remember the last time he went swimming. He couldn't help but feel he was going to sink like a rock. Or maybe get bitten or stung by angry wildlife.

[starkingenuity]

Tony held out his hand for the other man, ankle deep and sinking in the soft sand as the waves rolled back. "And now you are. Just to your ankles, c'mon," he said as if he was coddling a dog. "We'll just go for a walk." It was probably the best sort of date Bruce might hope for, secluded, no one with cameras in their cellphones posting pictures to instagram and tumblr the moment they step outside. No one watching them. And it would be tough to get time to themselves as Extremis worked through Alessa, made her stronger, made her harder to control herself.

Caring for a child wasn't easy but a super powered, genetically enhanced child was going to be over the top.

Tony was only offering him a little respite before they fell into the sheets, now clean, ready to pass out.

He was right about the water being warm. The sand itself was still warm and despite the darkness, the water was crystal clear. So long as they avoided shells, there would be no need to worry about Hulked up sea life.

[honeyibrokeharlem]

Bruce crept in up to his ankles. The brine washed across his skin, catching some of the hair on his legs and tugging it gently. The moon and stars were reflecting off the water, glimmering with every dip and curve of waves.

He reached out and took Tony's hand, curling his toes in the sand.

"Okay. I can go in a little deeper."

It was soothing. He had forgotten how relaxing it was to be submerged in water.

[starkingenuity]

For awhile they were quiet, enjoying the water and the warmth and the breeze from the ocean. The bay was protected, the waves small and manageable and perfect for slipping their toes into. Tony was never a man for silence, but this was incredibly calming where quiet tended to lean towards discomfort.

They headed from the water, knee deep by that point back up the beach as the night wore on. Wet feet kicked up the sand that couldn't cling to their toes or legs.

With the house still in the distance, Tony turned towards Bruce with an almost dimpled grin.

"So. This means we share a bed, huh?"

Real smooth.

[honeyibrokeharlem]

"If you don't mind it." Bruce draped one arm over Tony's shoulder, gently playing with the hair just above the back of his neck. "But I don't think you do."

It was more than he could have hoped for. That Tony would still want him, even without all the memories and history. That Tony wanted all of him.

Bruce leaned forward, brushing their noses together, and kissed him softly. With all the ocean air, he tasted like salt.

[starkingenuity]

Tony didn't have to remember to feel and to like what he had seen...to like the way Bruce was with him. He'd never had that before, he was certain of it. Not with Pepper, or Maya or the string of other women (and a few men here or there) he'd been with. Nothing had even prepared him for it. Storybooks had always seemed so made up.

But they weren't. And maybe Tony was just being a sap but he knew it in his heart that he belonged totally and utterly with Bruce.

Their hands even fit together perfectly.

"I don't think I want to risk you not being there if I look away for too long and holy shit that's sappy," Tony said with a laugh, pressing his forehead to Bruce's. "I don't know what you've done to me but I actually kind of like it." He felt like a genuine human being for the first time in forever.

[honeyibrokeharlem]

"You are you and what did you do with my boyfriend?"

Bruce was smiling anyway, because even if it was sappy, it was nice and reassuring and romantic and all the things a part of him really needed right then, for all his insecurities.

Tony's eyelashes were catching against his own, their faces were so close. Bruce could feel his breath on his cheek, and everything smelled like salt and sand. It makes him feel freer to say the things on his mind.

"You know, the night before everything happened..." before Loki cursed him, before he forgot, "I told you I love you. You said it back."

[starkingenuity]

There was a strange sort of look on Tony's face as he gazed at Bruce, blinking. Love. Love. He didn't doubt that Bruce was telling the truth, but there was a sizzle in his stomach that he didn't trust. What was that? There was a moment of hesitation, a moment of keep thought on the matter, before it hit him.

And hit him hard.

What had he been running from? He never cared what people thought of him, so that couldn't be it. Let them talk. They always did anyway. He'd just been scared that if he held too tight, Bruce would leave and never come back. Love had never been the issue. Loyalty to Pepper and desire to keep it casual with an easily spooked man, that was all he'd been trying to get over.

The corners of his lips tilted up first. The light in his eyes glowed. "I wasn't lying," he told Bruce, and he meant it.

[honeyibrokeharlem]

Bruce curled his fingers in Tony's hair. It was fascinating, how expressive the man could be. His feelings were always written in every line of his face. Bruce had never understood how no one could read Tony like he could, because to him, Tony was an open book.

"I wasn't either."

Bruce let go of Tony's hand to wrap his arm around the other man's waist, pulling his body against his and tasting the salt on his mouth again. They fit together like puzzle pieces.

He didn't know how long this could last. Whether something would force them apart, or Bruce would have to go on the run, or Tony would get hurt or killed--but right now, right then, they had that moment in the ocean water.

[starkingenuity]

Sex was immediately on Tony's mind, not just running interference in the background with equations and pieces of blueprints like it usually was. He was going through the self-realization phase of their relationship all over again, trying to figure out why he was so damned attracted to Bruce, why he couldn't get enough of him or his mouth either. Each and every kiss was not only appreciate but devoured, heart fluttering around inside of his chest without any particular rhythm he had been use to before.

It was strange, he decided in a split second decision, to be held like this but after another second passed, he found he didn't mind it. Bruce could hold him however he liked and those strong arms of his made Tony feel safer than he could remember being outside of that suit of his.

When the kiss broke and he was half hard in his swim trunks, Tony tried to lure Bruce to bed with a little more kissing and some backwards walking towards the house.

He knew, in the back of his mind, that they could never actually finish off, that Bruce's heart rate and the Hulk were linked, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have a little foreplay.

Or perhaps they could do whatever they did in Silent Hill that let them sleep together? Was there a secret?

He didn't know yet but soon he wanted to be an expert in all things Banner.