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“Tony, can I talk to you about something?”
Tony minimized the diagram he was tinkering with and spun his chair around to face Bruce. His teammate stood before him, clutching a StarkPad to his chest and looking nervous…well Bruce always looked at least a little nervous, so more nervous than usual. His hands were busy clutching the tablet in a death grip, but he chewed on the inside of his lower lip. Tony didn’t reply, but he was rarely quiet, so Bruce usually took that as an invitation to talk. He didn’t at first, and Tony was just about to think of something to say to get him started.
But then Bruce stammered, “I…I…found the…uh…the Hulkbuster blueprints.”
Tony felt as though he was hit by a truck. How did Bruce…? Did he hack the system? Did he piss off JARVIS enough to spill secrets? Could JARVIS get that pissed? Oh holy fuck, King-of-the-Betrayed Bruce just found out he was living in the home of a man who had been paid to try to kill him in gruesome, explosive, messy ways.
“Hey, Bruce, look, I made a lot of mistakes, and that’s high on the list. I didn’t know you, and I didn’t know what a caring, sweet, fucking genius you are. And I didn’t know that you liked tea more than coffee, or that you hadn’t had sex in who knows how long—and that’s enough reason to destroy a small town, if you ask me—or that you’re vegetarian, and you hold sick babies, and—“
“I knew,” Bruce said, as calm and clear as Tony was frantic.
“You knew?”
“Yes. The munitions had ‘Stark Industries’ printed all over them. You tend to remember whose name is on the bullet intended for you. But, I was thinking that…well…you should keep working on them.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The subconsious gesture tugged at Tony's arc reactor.
“Stark Industries no longer designs, manufactures, or sells weapons,” Tony said, pulling out his stock media response. It seemed safe; it felt safe. Because Bruce wasn’t possibly implying what Tony thought he was implying, so it’s better to be safe.
Bruce sighed. “Not Stark Industries. Tony Stark. You make arrows for Clint, and Cap’s shield, and you know Natasha is not using those sonic explosives to go fishing.”
Tony froze. Bruce didn’t know. He couldn’t know. But…maybe he should know.
“The real reason I won’t make weapons anymore is that missile—the one that put the shrapnel in my heart—had my name on it. Literally. ‘Stark Industries’ right down the side in bold, black letters.”
Bruce’s eyebrows shot up above the rim of his glasses. He set his StarkPad down on the counter before turning his full attention to Tony. So he hadn’t known, Tony mused.
“You’re not the only one who created his own monster. But I’m even worse because I knew what I was doing when I designed those weapons; I just didn’t care.”
“But…you stopped…I can’t.”
“So what? The damage is done. Even after years of hunting down and destroying caches of weapons, I’m still finding them. I can never go back and unmake them, and every moment even one single repulsor missile is in the hands of some third-world mad genius scientist, the odds of the technology being backward engineered is more in their favor. Maybe I can stop that, and maybe I can’t. And what do I have to show for it? Fancy houses, fast cars, all the latest toys, and a fistful of metal in my chest.”
Bruce pushed his glasses up his nose again then seemed to give up and take them off. His gaze was steady and heavy on Tony, and Tony could feel the gears in Bruce’s head creaking and turning.
“One day, Tony, I might not be the hero. My track record is not good. If there’s ever a time when I can’t come back…or he needs to be stopped…I would feel better knowing there was someone out there who could make it end.”
“You realize that you’re asking me to potentially kill my best friend?” Actually, more like put him down like a rabid dog, Tony thought.
“Yeah. Well, try to. Your last round was kind of shit.”
“Now you’re just being a dick.”
“No, seriously. I woke up with mild sunburn, and I think that was from falling asleep in open daylight.”
Tony grabbed his screwdriver menacingly, and Bruce threw up his hands in mock surrender.
“But Brucie, you’re not going to be able to stand a chance against the next wave of Hulkbusters because I know your secret now.”
“Always angry?”
“No…The only way to kill you is with kindness.”