If you insist, doctor - A SCIENCEBROS Fic

..Tony, would you be so kind to bring me some herbal tea? After changing back from the other guy I feel a bit... weak. -BB

Oh of course, Bruce. You just stay there. I'll get it in a moment. -TS

Thanks. I'm fine. Just saying. -BB

After a few minutes, Tony approached to the door of the room where Bruce was resting, a cup of hot tea balanced in one hand. He didn't bother knocking before he opened the door and went inside. "Here you are Brucie. One cup of tea - hot and fresh."

Bruce smiled from the bed. His hair was messy and his eyes showed his sleeplessness. "You don't have to play the nurse, you know. But thank you..."

"Oh, no, no, no." Tony said, shaking his head. "I don't mind, Bruce. Really."

For a moment or two it was quiet. "...I'm sorry." Bruce started. "I shouldn't... I shouldn't ask this from you, but... Listen, you remember anything about it? The battle I mean. I just... I blacked out."

Tony was quiet a moment before he replied. "No, it's fine. I remember most of it. What part are you specifically wondering about?" Realizing that he still held the tea cup in his hand, he then handed it to Bruce.

Bruce smiled softly as he grasped it delicately, taking a little sip "I can't remember from when I Hulked out to... basically, when I found myself in Steve's arms being carried back in the car. I fell asleep, and the second thing I remember is waking up in this bed, which is clearly yours." He said, looking around in the room, full of little details that screamed Tony Stark in every corner.

"Huh, Alright." Tony began. "Well, let's see. After you hulked out, all of us continued fighting off the Chitauri. Then more and more of them just kept coming out of that damn wormhole. We had to find some way to close it, so we could gain the upper hand. While that was going on, Fury and the council had disagreements, and apparently Director Eyepatch pissed them off and the council basically sent a nuke to blow up the city just so they could get rid of the Chitauri!" Tony hesitated before he continued his explanation. "So... Uh... I... kind of redirected the nuke into the wormhole..." Before Bruce could say anything to him about, Tony quickly continued and backed himself up. "It was a dangerous decision, I know, I know.... I truly thought that I wasn't going to make it out of there... I passed out at that point, but from what I heard from the rest of the team, I fell out of the wormhole, Widow closed it. I kept falling, but before I hit the ground, Hulk jumped and saved me."

Bruce blinked, saying nothing, eyes big from the surprise.
"...I don't know what part shocks me more. But... he ....Hulk helped you? He did something good. Is that... real"?

"According to the news footage, yes." Tony replied with a nod. "Guess he's not as a bad as you think."

"He... He knows you."

"True. But the fact that he did it should say something."

"...That he likes you." Bruce said quietly.

"That he loves me." Tony said, as it was the most normal thing in the entire world.. "He could have saved any member of the team, but no - just me, apparently."

Bruce blushed violently, almost sputtering his tea, but not quite. "He... he just... just might."

Tony laughed a bit, "Don't spill your tea, now. You are in my bed, remember."

"I am. And someone put clothes on me, which I should be grateful of." He said, letting a little smile grace his lips.

"Yeah, your welcome."

"...It was you?" Bruce said, realization dawning on his face as he moved up a bit in the bed. "You've been kind... It's not like you... It wasn't me, you know... It was the other guy who saved your life. "

"But wasn't it, though?" Tony replied. "I know that you do have slight control over him. He doesn't act completely as an independent being. He works off your subconscious thoughts."

"So my subconscious doesn't want to kick your ass as much as my conscious self claims to?" Bruce said, trying to joke around, smirking softly and getting another sip of the drink.

Tony smirked at Bruce's joke. "Apparently not."

"Apparently not. Do you want to... I don't know, if you need me for some experiments down in the lab, knowing he's not after you, I could help... if you need it."

"Oh, no. No experiments. At least, not yet. You need your rest."

Nodding, Bruce moved to put the empty cup on the nightstand. "Alright. I probably will be useless for some more hours. Are you... are you hurt at all? After what happened?"

Reaching over, Tony grabbed Bruce's cup from him, briefly brushing his fingers over the doctors. "Just a few cuts and bruises. Nothing to worry about, Bruce." Tony assured him.

Bruce blinked, straightening up a bit more. "I checked people in medical field for a living since three weeks ago. Let me see. Please?"

Tony sighed. "If you insist, Doctor. But I'm tellin ya, don't worry about me. Worry about yourself."

With a little smirk, Bruce moved closer to him and ran one hand in his curls, pulling them back. "I'm a doctor, Tony. It's part of my nature to care for the injured. Show me?"

"Most of them are on my back." Tony said. He turned himself around and sat of the edge of the bed. He then pulled his shirt over his head.

Bruce watched Tony undress and show him his battered back. His doctoral instincts took over and he began examining the injuries. His fingers very gently grazed over the skin, lightly on the bruises and just around the cuts, as to not cause any pain. He saw Tony flinch a bit when he came close to one that was on his shoulder. "I need some disinfectant and a medical aid kit if you have it..." He murmured softly.

"Right... I have on in the bathroom." With that, Tony got up from where he was sitting and walked to the bathroom to fetch the supplies that Bruce needed. When he walked out of the bathroom, Tony held the medical case close to his chest. The truth was that Tony had gotten a rather bad injury, in the form of a long gash across his chest, during the battle. He didn't want Bruce to worry about him, seeing as how the doctor had his own self to worry about, so he tried to hide it from him the best he possibly could.

When Tony returned, he sat back down on the bed in the same position as before, his back facing Bruce, and handed him the case. Bruce took it from him, opening it up, and beginning to clean the cuts and attend to them in the best possible way. He made quick work of them. "...You said most of them are on your back? Where are the rest?"

Tony quickly lied, "They're fine, Bruce. They're only minor. There's no need to fuss."

Tony tired to get up from the bed, but before he could get far enough away, Bruce grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"Tony, if you have other injuries, let me see -" Mid sentence, Bruce turned Tony around and caught sight of the rather large gash, just above the Arc Reactor. "Oooh..."

"It's - it's fine, Bruce. Really. I-"

"No it's not fine!" Bruce nearly shouted. "Now sit down and let me help you!"

Tony stood then for a moment, contemplating his options. He then sighed and gave in. He knew that sooner or later, Bruce was going to find out about the gash. He was just hoping that it would be later. Tony sat down on the bed in front of bruce.

The doctor re-opened the medical kit and swiftly began tending to the injury. He analyzed it as he did so, figuring out just how serious it was.

"It doesn't look too deep... It won't need stitches, but it'll take a while for it to heal." Bruce stated. He continued, "God, Tony, how did this happen?" His voice faltering and showing obvious concern.

"It was my fault, Bruce. Don't worry about it." Tony said.

"Tony... The truth. Please don't lie to me." Bruce replies

Tony hesitates, perhaps thinking of something to say that would stall, but ultimately just giving up and telling the truth. "Well... It was when Hulk caught me as I was falling... The force shattered an interior layer of the suit and it cut into me. I didn't realize it until later..."

"I... The other guy did this?" Bruce said, voice quieting.

"No, no, no, Bruce don't even start, Okay?" Tony was quick to set things right. "It was not your fault, or his for that matter."

"He hurt you, Tony..."

"No. He saved my life. You know just as well as I do that if I had kept falling that the impact on the ground would have killed me. A gash across my chest is a small price to pay for still being alive."

As much as he wanted to, Bruce couldn't come up with a counter argument for that. It was true that a fall from that height would have been fatal because of the shear force alone. "I... I'm just sorry that he did that to you..."

"He didn't mean to injure me, Bruce."

Bruce continued cleaning the wound, focusing on properly taking care of it. Periodically, however, his eyes would wander and then rest on the Arc Reactor, glowing softly with slight blue light. Whenever this would happen, he would stop his movements for a few seconds or occasionally more. The reactor was something that always fasinated, Bruce. It was an... amazing piece of technology, and he could help but to be curious about it.

Tony noticed Bruce's behavior and saw his eyes looking elsewhere than the cut. "You can touch it, you know."

Bruce looked up, meeting Tony's eyes. "Huh?"

"The reactor. I've seen you look at it."

Brucce dropped his gaze down, feeling his face turn slightly red. "Oh, no, thats- that's okay. I don't need to -"

"I know you're curious. Go ahead, doctor." Tony replied as he smirked a bit.

Bruce looked up again and then nodded slightly. He looked back at the reactor, and hesitantly brushed his fingers over it. The metal was cool to the touch, but the light radiated a slight amount of heat making for a nicely balanced feeling.

"What's the consensus, doctor?"

"It's... amazing... you know?" Bruce says without looking away, words seeming to fail him. "That... this is what is keeping you alive..."

"Yeah... It didn't always do that..." Tony started. "At one point... it was actually killing me."

Bruce's gaze snapped up at that comment, fear showing in his features. He didn't move his hand away from the reactor.

Tony continues. "Palladium poisoning... I had to find a different element to replace it."

"...It's a good thing that you did..."

"Very."

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, or maybe it was longer than that, neither of them could tell. During this time, Tony raised his hand up and placed it over Bruce's that is still on the reactor. The action took the doctor by surprise, but he didn't protest.

"Bruce... You know that I trust you. I trust you more than pretty much anyone else... And... I hope that you trust me as well."

"Tony, you're one of the only people in a long time who hasn't treated me as a monster... You're... one of the greatest people I've ever known..." Bruce replied genuinely. "...Of course I trust you."

"Good... Then, trust me right now." Said Tony, with a small smirk. "Close your eyes."

Tony saw that Bruce was about to say something, probably to ask why, but he stopped. He then nodded slowly and the proceeded to close his eyes and Tony instructed.

Tony simply stared at Bruce for a second or two, thinking to himself whether what he was about to do was a good idea or not. He went back and forth with himself before he raised his other hand to put it behind Bruce's neck, pulling him close to him and slowly placing his lips to his.

Bruce was slightly confused at first, and for a moment he's frozen in place, unable to move or respond. Yet, he didn't open his eyes. After the shock wore off, he found himself returning the gesture to Tony, affirming his previously unconscious feelings towards him.

They only broke apart when the need for air grew to a level too much to bear.

Tony was the first to speak, opening his eyes and locking on to Bruce's brown ones. At this proximity he could see that there were actually tiny flecks of green swirled around in his eyes too. "You have no idea how badly I've wanted to do that."

"I - I didn't realize it before, but... I - I've subconsciously wanted to do that too..." Bruce responded.

Tony laughed a bit and smirked, "You are so adorable when you're bashful like that." He quickly kissed Bruce again. "I love you, Bruce. I love you so much."

"I - I love you too." Bruce said, more confident now and stealing another kiss. "Why... Why did it take us this long to... notice."

"I don't know," Tony replied. "and I don't care. All that matters to me right now is that you're mine. I don't have to hide anything anymore, and I can kiss you whenever I please."

For the next few moments they went back and forth, kissing the others lips, sometimes putting more force and pressure into it, other times simply keeping it as a gentle peck.

Then came along Jarvis' voice over the intercom. "Sir, Director Fury is here and wishes to speak with you."

"Can't." Tony said in between kisses. "Tell him.... to go away.... We're.... busy...."

---

As angered as the SHIELD Director was, he had long given up with trying to reason with Stark and left to return to his own business. He automatically assumed that Stark was lying when his AI told him he was busy and couldn't speak at the moment.

But, as it turns out, Bruce and Tony really were "Busy."