Eddie (i_puzzle) wrote in we_coexist, @ 2013-09-13 16:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | bruce banner, edward nigma, tony stark, zz:status complete |
Hatred...(Tony/Eddie/Bruce log)
Tony returned to the tower with a short temper and shorter nerves. His girlfriend, the only person that really meant anything to him here besides his scientific counterpart, was still in the hospital, waiting for him to liberate her. But he couldn't do much. Jarvis had told him the medical equipment was already in use.
Quite peterbed that his own tower's medical gear wasn't available for his own use, he'd returned quickly and assessed the situation, finding an extremely beaten man in the medical quad. No doubt Bruce's doing, though Tony couldn't think of why he'd help somebody who showed up in none of Jarvis' databanks.
He entered the medical area briskly, eyes fixed on the medical bed.
"You," he said, a bit sharper than even his not-so-friendly usual. "Who are you?
- -
Edward rolled his eyes at the empty room, unsettled by the constant beeping of the heart monitor and the soft noise the morphine drip made when it released more medication into his system.
He hated being here, cooped up like a bird in a cage. He didn't like being immobile but there wasnt much he could do about his current situation. He couldn't walk, not by choice but due to the fact that if he moved he risked further injury which would keep him here longer. And nobody wanted that.
When the door to the room slid open Eddie didn't even look over to consider who had walked in. His visitors consisted mostly of his daughter, whom he was surprised had left his side at all, and Bruce. Edward could've done without seeing Bruce but he was sort of dependent on the scientist so it was inevitable.
Edward had not chanced seeing the man who's name stood out against the skyline of the City so in response to the new voice that hit his ears Edward couldn't help but glance over at his new visitor.
He didn't care very much for the tone, though.
Lucky for Edward his speech was better despite the swelling in his face.
"Forgive me for not bowing, as you can see I'm sort of....incapable of moving too much," Edward said with the faintest hint of amusement, "Very nice to see you too, Mr. Stark." A shift and a wince, before Edward settled again.
"It doesn't surprise me that you have no idea who I am, but, you see, we run in a few of the same circles."
--
Tony assessed the ginger, going to the computer panel and bringing up the the information about his condition, scanning through it all.
"Yeah. You have the look," he said, turning the hologram of the man's body, left faceless, around in the air. "And the injuries. So who are you? And why are you taking up the best life support machines we have here? Not that Banner's not usually a sterling judge of character. If you overlook pretty much everybody he associates with. But all of this-" he gestured to the machines. "They're required for somebody significantly more. Well. Significant."
- -
Edward only remained still and watchful as Tony moved to the computer panel in the room to check the vitals Bruce had left as record of Edward's condition.
The small smile his lips had formed had yet to cease, amused at the look on Tony's face at his being there. Edward was curious as to why Tony was concerned about this space at all, besides the obvious fact that it was, technically, his.
"Ohh, that stings, Mr. Stark," Edward said with a smirk, tilting his head to the side just slightly in amusement, "Youre so quick to judge your scientists choice of friends. I knew there was a reason I sort of liked you."
The near death experience had opened Edward's eyes and mind to potential, and not the usual pain and death methods.
"It's good to see where I rank on your list of qualified applicants for use of this room," Edward cleared his throat, shifted again with a wince, and then stared at Tony with amusement, "My name is Edward Nashton. You employ my daughter. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, too bad it's under these circumstances."
--
"Yeah. Well. Banner's a good guy. He doesn't always notice that most other people aren't," Tony grunted. He walked closer to the man, Edward, circling the bed like it was a new piece of technology. Or rather, like the man was.
"So. You're the guy who made my dad seem like a saint," he said, taking the time to relist what he remembered being told about the man. He shook his head. "Didn't think they'd be open to helping you. Not Bruce, anyway. You've got your kid pretty well codependent."
He stopped in front of the bed and leaned on it, both arms rigid as he stared at the mangled man. "Who'd you piss off this time? This isn't the rage monster's work or you'd just be a smear on the pavement. You and your boytoy have a spat? Heard was was as nuts as you are."
- -
"I think Bruce notices more than you realize, Tony. Perhaps he's just more willing to overlook those things when all of the factors demand it." Edward watched as Tony circled the bed as if he were some sort of vulture circling fresh kill to look for the best spot to dig in.
That didn't phase Edward. He'd been through worse than Tony Stark.
"Bruce chooses his battles, Stark. Which is a page out of his book you should take time to read." Edward knew Tony wasn't lying about Effie's dependency on him, but that was up in the air right now. Edward no longer cared where her allegiance lay as long as she was safe. A happy daughter was a loyal one.
Eddie just leaned back against the bed as Tony stared him down, acting like he wasn't threatened or phased. Tony was lucky that Edward wasnt armed, which was unusual for a Nashton. But Eddie's guns had gone by the wayside before the fight.
"Well aren't you the curious one?" Edward finally emitted a soft, pained laugh and sighed contently, "I have trouble remembering everything..." Which was a lie but Edward didn't see the point in spelling it out considering Tony could just look at him and put it together, "...but I believe upsetting Scarecrow was never the safest option."
Edward shrugged a shoulder, winced in pain and pushed more morphine into the IV that dangled at his side. "Say what you'd like about him, Stark. It doesn't change the facts."
--
"He's a geek who finally caught the attention of a hottie. The fact that she's also intelligent overrides her maniacal tendencies," Tony shrugged. The comment about battles made him snort. "I thought you said you'd heard of me. I don't choose battles, I end them."
The name Scarecrow meant exceedingly little to Tony except to indicate that there were more crazy bad guys out there he'd have to deal with.
He stood and folded his arms over his chest. "Well, if you're here, fine. If you bring trouble to my house you're going to find yourself looking for morphine in the street gutters. And expect a change up of life support machines, we'll rig something workable up. But these are needed for a non-psycopath who's coming home tomorrow."
- -
"Well I can't argue with that," Edward nodded, the description of Bruce and Effie being quite accurate. "Did you think you were the only brain running around in this city besides your precious scientist?"
"Don't be so judge mental, Stark. You don't even know me personally, why should we resort to name calling? We both are far too old for that, I think."
Edward only watched the billionaire, "If you would like to be the one that moves me, please feel free. I can't do it on my own and God knows Effie can only manage so much. But it's a pity, I've grown to like this space."
Edward moved a hand to a leg that was bound in a hard cast, physically shifting the limb to keep the blood flowing in to it.
"And, if you don't mind me inquiring, whom might your non-psychopath be? Hm? Another hero? Oh I can't wait to have company."
--
The comment on age actually made Tony laugh, as he turned his back and drew up some inventory of the equipment they had available. "Yeah. You haven't heard anything about me at all," he said. He didn't grow up, he never had. It had been painful enough to make him wake up and take any measure of responcibility for his actions, he was not about to start taking himself seriously for his personality. Not unless Annie told him to, anyway.
"I'm not moving you. I'm moving your machines, as soon as we find a replacement. As far as I'm concerned your kid and son-in-law brought you here, so they're responcible for you."
The question made him shake his head. "Another genius. But you won't be seeing her. She's not going to be sleeping in a lab."
Tony planned on moving her to his room. He could get the bed hospital-clean with Stark-quality. Annie would be safe, and comfortable.
"And I would watch any mention or inquary you make towards her. There isn't a piece of technology in this building that won't do what it can to kill you if you take an interest they don't like. Isn't that right, Jarvis?"
"Miss Annie's abilities do make her dear to even the most basic pieces, sir," the AI said. Tony nodded.
"Even my suit likes her better than it does me," he said pointedly.
- -
"I don't have to have met you previously or have prior knowledge about you, Stark, to see what I need to. Just meeting you in person has told me more than anyone could ever relay to me in words." But if Tony wanted to do things in a childish manner, Edward could match him.
"I will let Dr. Banner know that he will have to keep my heart pumping with his fist then, instead of a machine. He might like that far too much, though." Edward wouldn't put it past Bruce to take advantage of a situation when the chips were down. Or at least he assumed.
But Eddie wasnt the only person making assumptions in this room either.
"Of course. The technology," Edward began, smirking at Tony, "Because where would you be without your technology, Stark? Would you merely be another man without all of these shiny things? Could you survive without them?"
Edward shook his head from side to side slowly, very gently in response to his own question but never pulled his eyes from the inventor.
At the mention of the suit preferring the girl, Annie, Eddie laughed, "That seems about right. How she puts up with you, I can't even begin to guess..."
But her 'abilities' did have Eddie wondering. "Exactly what can she do that excites all of your precious little machines?"
--
"That's not how we do things around here. Don't worry, you'll have a machine keeping your heart going," Tony snorted. Sometimes his oath to keep people alive if possible was irritating.
"I've survived without it before. Had it turned against me, in fact. And of the involved parties of that situation I'm the one still breathing, so draw your conclusions from that."
The laugh at the comment about Annie rolled off Tony's back. "I don't know either. I don't deserve it," he said. "And that should indicate that no. It's not just the technology that will end you if I even catch you looking at her the wrong way. Your kid might be trained to take your shit, but you lift a finger against her or anything I guard and this will seem like a spa vacation. I'm an inventor, I can come up with a few tools to redefine pain."
Tony knew he probably shouldn't be indicating how much he cared about Annie to a man like this, or what her powers were, but if anything Tony's greatest weakness was what was best known about him. He was a bragger, a showoff. He never hid his cards because they were always showy enough to trump the other guys.
"She talks to them," he said simply. "And they listen."
- -
Edward allowed Tony to revel in the comment about how they did things. Obviously Edward's sense of humor was something that was far surpassing the other genius.
"Pity. But we all have to fall at some point, hm? To rise from it and learn? Too bad yours has taught you absolutely nothing." Okay, maybe it had taught Tony things, but he hadnt fully taken them to heart still acting the way that he was. Edward was a prime example of how behavior of that sort could end with terrible results.
"I invent things as well, Stark. You aren't the only peacock in this parade. Your feathers simply are a different color. We are very similar, you and I."
Edward smiled, "I won't touch your precious little girl, I promise." Unknowing to both of them he already had.
And that next comment hit it home. Edward blinked and the beeping on the monitor began to grow quicker, "What did you say?" His eyes narrowed, as if he had misheard Tony. Had to have misheard.
It couldn't be. Annie couldn't be that little bitch that Edward had gunned down...the same one that had dropped a fucking car on him.
At least Edward had leverage. And perhaps his cards were just as good as Tony's.
"I would watch what you say about threatening to hurt me, Stark...." Edward began, his heart still racing, "I have a Hulk in my pocket. He may not realize it yet, but if you lay a finger on me I will bury him. Is it worth losing your scientist and my daughter for one insignificant man? Hm?"
- -
"One of the interesting things about being in this world, sure. I was getting bored of being the best dressed," Tony said with a shrug.
When Edward reacted visibly and on the monitor, Tony took a moment to take stock of the conversation. He ran through it all in his head, then looked up and down Eddie once more, a notion formulating in his head.
"I'm interested in what you think could kill off the only indestructable thing we've ever had to deal with," he said coolly. He wasn't worried about Bruce, and as long as Bruce was Bruce, Enigma was safe. Well, safe ish.
He pulled up Edwards list of injuries again, and found something inconsistent. Something too blunt and messy to be part of the elaborate injuries Scarecrow had left. He turned back to Eddie and rapped his knuckles on the cast. "What happened here?" he asked, tone casual but eyes sharp and dangerous.
- -
"You underestimate my daughter and your friend, Stark, if you think he is truly indestructible." Edward wasnt about to explain to Tony what he knew, it was obvious enough if Tony would straighten up long enough to consider all of the facts. It was common knowledge of course.
When Tony knocked at the plaster of the cast, Edward narrowed his eyes and glared at the male. Edward did not want to be touched. Ever again if he could help it.
"Some little bitch dropped a car on me..." Edward began, before his lips pulled back into a smirk, "...and instead of shooting her in the head like I should've, I got her in the side and the shoulder." Oh this was a fun game. "She's lucky. Usually I'm a much better shot."
--
The rapping of the knuckles against the plaster stopped and the hand fell to rest on the cast, though it was not a gentle way.
"Dropped a car on you," he repeated, then listened to the injuries the woman took. And then he knew, without a doubt, and all casuality and humor was gone like a switch had been turned off.
"I think it's time to revisit the idea of handpumping your heart," he said, voice cold. Tony didn't get angry often, and it was rarely explosive until he started dealing out damage. But the surest way to bring his blood to instant boil was in hurting the people he loved.
Jarvis, meanwhile, sensing the impending damage and under orders to keep Bruce updated on Edward's condition, sent the doctor an urgent notification, though he didn't explain the exact situation.
Left on their own for the moment, however, Tony walked around the bed, stoping at the other's side. He reached over, taking drip wires in his hands and ripping them out unceremoniously. "Seems like you're hooked up to too much anyway." He tossed the painkiller supply lines away from the bed, then turned and patted Eddie on the chest sharply, staring into the distance as he struggled to reign in his temper.
"She wasn't the lucky one. You were," he said, voice barely above a whisper as he turned and stared into Edward's eyes.
- -
Edward watched as the realization finally started to sink in to Tony's features. Edward wasnt a nice man and his pushing the cusp of death didn't make him any more susceptible to people's feelings and well-being. It did make him cold, calculating and initiated his planning intuition. Honestly it had made Edward more like a cobra and less like a peacock.
The heart monitor continued to beep as Edward's heart raced, and he found himself far too close to Tony in the next moment. Not that it was particularly a bad thing, but even having a stone cold fox like Tony Stark ripping out your pain lines wasnt something anyone would be fond of.
Edward winced at the lines tearing from his skin, lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl of pain as he looked at Tony, unmoved. "Trust me, Stark, I've felt more pain than you'll ever know."
"And I would shoot her again if I had the chance," Edward whispered in return, voice full of venom.
Having gotten the alert, Bruce about raced down the stairs to the MedLab. He burst through the door in time to see his best friend hovering over Edward in a way that didn't suggest they were having a manly heart to heart, and when Bruce noticed morphine spilling all over the floor the scientist rushed over to the pair of men.
"What is going on here!?" He wasnt usually loud, but the two men that were most important to the balance of his life didn't seem to be skipping merrily along.
--
In a flash Tony's hand was at Edward's throat, squeezing hard. "I believe you," he replied. "But that doesn't mean you're immune to it."
He didn't blink or budge when Bruce barged in. His attention was on the man who had hurt Annie, who for some reason was being kept alive by Stark's own machines. He ripped the next set of tubing out, not bothering to check what it was, his other hand still intent on preventing oxygen from entering Edward's lungs.
"Get lost, Banner. This doesn't concern you."
- -
Edward choked, eyes wide. His heart raced, but he smirked despite the fear and the blood that would now trace a faint line against Tony's palm and fingers from the sickle wound on his neck.
Bruce watched Tony in silent horror before snapping out of the daze, "Doesn't concern me? You're currently trying to kill my wife's father. How does that not concern me?"
Eddie looked at Bruce for help, and despite wanting to let Tony continue to rough Eddie up, he couldn't. Because Effie needed Edward. And Bruce needed Effie. It was a vicious cycle.
"You have one last chance to let him go, Tony. I don't want to hurt you." Bruce wasnt sure what started this, but he could guess. Eddie was like a slow acting poison.
Bruce's eyes flashed green, the small flecks swirling. He knew Tony wouldn't risk an outbreak.
--
Tony went still, though his hand didn't move.
"Your wife's father shot and tried to kill Annie," he replied. Then he finally let go of Eddie's throat, wiping his hand above the S carving. He glared at the man in front of him. "If you were on your feet you'd be dead right now. Come near her again and it won't matter how good your aim is. I'll pop your head like pitting a cherry."
He turned and stalked out, glaring just as viciously at Bruce, pointing at the man with the still bloodied hand. "Get him out of my tower. Now. You and your wife might be willing to let him try to kill you but if I so much as see him around here or around Annie again I'll obliterate him. You or Enigma don't like it, you can get the hell out with him."
He shoved past Bruce. "And steralize the life support machine. I'm bringing Annie home from the hospital and she'll need it."
- -
Bruce listened, and what he heard he didn't like. With a glare, Bruce looked over at Edward who only smiled a little despite still being unable to breathe.
When Tony did release him, Eddie coughed and hacked, pain racking through him in all directions, "I didn't know it was her. It wasnt like she gave me her name or anything. And it was self-defense!" That was the truth. Kind of.
Bruce shook his head, completely in shock. "You did what?!" Eddie shrugged, able to finally take air properly back into his lungs.
Before Tony could turn away from the line of sight, Edward tapped a finger against the pocket of his dressing gown, knowing Tony would know what the subtle gesture meant. Bruce was in his pocket and far too deep for the scientist to even fathom escape.
Bruce looked at Tony when the man turned his attention on him, saying nothing as he listened to Tony's demands.
"I don't have a choice now, do I?" Bruce replied very quietly. If Edward went, they all went. Tony wasnt giving him much of an option.
"I'll make sure that's the last thing I do before we move out."
Bruce turned away, furious, his eyes swimming with green as he glared at Edward.
Edward looked pale and closed his eyes, sucking in another hard breath. He knew he was going to the Warehouse. Bruce wouldn't even need to say it. All of them would be there and Tony could have his solace and safety.
"Lets go, Eddie," Bruce said, trying hard to keep the growl out of his voice. The scientist moved to gather a wheelchair and helped usher the gangster into it.
Bruce shot Tony a glare too as he pushed Edward out of the MedLab and to the elevator.
--
By the time Bruce had returned for his things, Tony had finished the preparations for Annie's arrival and had downed half a bottle of gin. Which found him in the other's lab, cleaning a few piees of equipment he'd outright replaced instead of putting into Annie. He wanted nothing to do with the broken creature that had been in the lab, though when he was back on his feet he'd have some scores to settle.
He wasn't about to let Bruce just walk back. As infuriated as he was, Bruce was the only friend he'd ever had, and he hated Eddie too much for the man to win him.
So he sat at Bruce's desk, poking through his inventions as he cleaned the machine in his hand, the bottle nearby.
- -
Bruce had taken Edward to the Warehouse and fixed him up as best as he could with what little equipment wasnt broken or there to begin with. Edward didn't deserve a high-class facility like Tony had to recover in, but Bruce wasnt going to let Edward suffer either.
He was sort of torn between helping Eddie and just ending his miserable existence completely. He hated Edward in more ways than he could physically count in the universe and yet he was bound to help him.
Bruce would do anything for Effie, much as Tony would for Annie.
When Eddie was at least stable and not bleeding, Bruce made his way back to the Tower to start gathering his things. The Warehouse had ample space to work, Bruce had done it before and there was nothing stopping him now.
Once in the Tower, Bruce used the stairs to get to his lab and upon entering he stopped. He looked at Tony warily, then shook off the feeling of sadness he felt, moving silently instead to the table where Tony was. Bruce began gathering things, including machines of various sizes, what he could fit into boxes at least, and the glass from Serenity that Wash had given him.
"You smell like alcohol," Bruce said finally, not bothering to stop putting his things in a pile.
--
"That would be because I drank alcohol," Tony replied. He was still hotblooded with fury, but it had gone dormant with Eddie leaving the building.
He reached out and picked up the glass, turning it over in his hand, then grabbed Bruce's shirt sleeve. "Stop," he said curtly, then paused, letting go of the sleeve. He let out a long sigh. "You're not going to leave. Go check up on him if you have to. But you- you and Enigma- can't stay there with him. He's a sociopathic lunatic."
He looked at Bruce, not with anger, but determination. And, for anybody who knew him well enough, a touch of desperation.
"He shot Annie, he can't be here. More than that he's attacked you. He's tried and almost succeeded in killing his daughter, your wife, more times than any of us could guess. He thinks he's invulnerable as long as he has you both in his pocket, and he's right, because you're letting him be. You're not leaving the Tower."
- -
Duh.
Bruce stopped moving when Tony's fingers clutched at his rolled sleeve, and he turned to look at his friend. Bruce studied Tony's features, the tone of his voice, and instantly everything flooded back to Bruce's mind. All of the time he and Tony had spent together as friends, working on projects...saving the world. And Bruce had been ready to walk out on all of that for someone he hated more than anything.
"He has to have treatment and you kicking him out makes that almost impossible," Bruce said softly, considering what Tony was saying, "And she's Effie. That's her real name. Something happened to her....wiped her memory kind of. She is the person Enigma had trapped inside of her, the good part..." Bruce wouldn't even begin to try to explain the struggle he was having trying to get Effie to remember that he loved her.
And that her father was a murderous liar.
"I didn't know about Annie. I'm sorry. If I had I never would've let him stay." Bruce had never really had the chance to meet Annie personally, he had seen her around in the Tower and Bruce hadnt begrudged the inventor the usual time they would've spent together working on account of Tony's girlfriend.
Honestly Bruce was glad Tony was as attached to her as he was. It was a good sign.
"You kicked us out, remember? I'm not leaving by choice. But as long as Eddie is hurting, Effie hurts. And I can't see her like that. No matter what it takes."
Bruce could hope Tony understood, considering he would probably have done the same for Annie.
With a sigh, Bruce lifted a hand and set his palm on Tony's shoulder, "Alright. I'll stay, but I am not going to let anything or anyone hurt Effie. Not you, not Annie and not Eddie as long as I can help it." He wasnt usually violent or threatening, but Enigma had changed his perspective on people. And God knew Edward had too.
"I'm tempted to call Jonathan and have him come scrape Edward off of the floor himself."
--
"Effie," Tony sighed. The girl had more names than a latte. Still, it was nice to hear an optimistic reason for this one. "Jesus, Bruce. I let her move in, didn't I? A few ground rules, sure, but I did. I even put her in charge of my damn company. I don't love you that much, and I never hated her too much apart from that..." he shook his head and one hand. "Blip."
Not that the Hulk appearing was ever just a 'blip'.
"I didn't kick you out. I wouldn't. You belong here, and she does too, though I don't know when that happened. But Edward, no. He's dangerous, to all of us, and he's already hurt all three of you. I don't give a shit if he knew it was Annie or not, how does it make it better that he didn't? And I know you didn't know about her. I didn't know about her until today."
"Nobody wants to hurt your wife, except that man. Annie aside, I wouldn't let him in here for that reason, same way you wouldn't have taken him in if you knew about Annie."
He looked at Bruce. "Hook him up to whatever gear you need to. Have Jarvis monitor him. When he's well enough call his boyfriend and let them rip each other to pieces again. But him being around only strengthens his hold on Effie and puts us in danger, her included."
- -
"I'm not saying that you haven't been generous, Tony. I know you put up with a lot, more than someone should have to, and I appreciate it." Bruce sighed softly, and patted Tony on the shoulder, "You don't have to love me, Tony. Just be my friend. My best friend."
Tony was right about Edward. He would kill all of them while they slept if he could get away with it. Bruce despised Edward, but he was so ingrained into Effie that she needed him to survive. Despite what pain he might cause her.
"Effie told me that he tried to turn her against me. She even moved out at some point because Eddie convinced her that I hurt people, and that I was going to hurt her too...that I wanted her for...." He sighed, shaking his head, "I don't know what part of me puts up with him, but I do it. For her." He smiled a little,
"You know that both you and I are terrible choices for partners, right?"
"I'll take what Annie isn't using. I'll even come check on her and help her too if you'd like. It's the least I can do considering this is probably somehow my fault."
--
"Letting her move in was generous. Hiring her wasn't. It was smart," he said. Then he paused. "I don't love anybody. Except maybe this gin," he looked at the bottle and squinted at the tag, then shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't true, of course, but Tony didn't like admit having feelings.
"Why are we the terrible ones? Because you explode into a rage monster and I don't stop drinking? Those are just character flaws like anybody else's."
"She should be fine, but yeah, in case anything happens I'll call. Just don't stay around him too long. If he does kick it it'll be rough, but you'll pull Effie back."
- -
Bruce could only sigh softly when Tony mentioned loving only the gin, offering a small nod.
"We're terrible partners because we're dependent." It was said in a soft voice, but Bruce knew it to be true.
Edward 'kicking it' wasnt an option.
Bruce did not want to have to go through that with Effie. Enigma would have been worse to have to put Edward's death through, but Effie...she needed him.
"He was close to dying. When she brought him in...Scarecrow messed him up pretty bad." Hulk had fought the Scarebeast and that was a fight he did not want to repeat.
"Jonathan had nothing to do with Edward's condition. He has these....alter-egos or something. It's really weird."
--
"Dependent," Tony paused, then shook his head. "Only because we let ourselves be." He didn't see himself as being dependent, but if Bruce did denying it would only cut the other man off more. And seeing as they'd just avoided a meltdown, he wasn't going to push it.
"Then yeah, call Jonathan up, let him clean up his own mess," he shook his head. He didn't have time for all of these lunatics. "If you want, Jarvis can send one of the suits with you. In case something goes down, it can get you out of trouble."
He didn't like Bruce going back to the warehouse alone with Eddie, when Jonathan might show up at any time. But Edward returning to the tower wasn't an option, and he doubted anybody wanted him and the man in the same room.
- -
Tony was dependent but Bruce didn't point it out to him. They depended on each other, as Hero's and as friends, and they depended on the people that loved them.
Bruce shook his head, "I think it's too early to tell Jonathan. I've fought him before. I don't want to do that again if I don't have to." It had not been a pretty fight. Hulk had hurt the Scarebeast pretty badly and was the champion at current.
"I don't think the Other Guy would like the suit, but it probably wouldn't hurt."
Bruce was running out of options and he'd even braved the elevator twice in the last week.
"Which suit? War machine?"
- -
"Yeah," Tony nodded. Nobody wanted the Hulk running around killing everything and everybody that got in his way. He thought it over for a moment and then shook his head. "War Machine was built for Brody, and he messed with it. Haven't gotten around to reappropriating it. The biggest one I have on hand besides that one is the Brute armor. Should be a bit roomier in case you need to make a quit escape."
- -
Bruce nodded.
"You have to make sure Effie can't operate it. We don't need accidents."
Bruce didn't want her to have access to control the suit. He wanted it to protect her, but only go so far and maybe limiting its use for her would be more helpful for everyone.
"Thanks. I appreciate it." Bruce played with a piece of the glass Wash had given him, and looked at Tony's bottle of gin, "That stuff will kill you."
--
"She can't. Nobody can without my permission, there are safety protocols even she can't hack," Tony replied. The suits were an incredibly devastating weapon in the wrong hands, and he had never developed any piece to any sort of functionality without first locking it down.
"Jarvis can operate it remotely, it'll follow you and if anything happens it'll come in and take care of it. Or just grab you and made a getaway."
He looked down at the bottle in his hands, then smirked and shrugged a shoulder. "My only worthy advesary." He took another swig and clapped Bruce on the shoulder. "J will have the suit deployed whenever you leave. Watch your back."
- -
Bruce nodded, relieved.
He didn't need any more trouble than was allowed. "Good. Thank you."
"Gin is not your only worthy adversary," Bruce said with a smile, looking down at the lab table. "Jarvis is a good friend too. We won't be out long."
--