Chapter 43: Chapter 43: The Helicarrier

A/N: Tony Stark arrives on the Helicarrier ahead of Germany.

-x-X-x-

“I’ve been thinking about it the whole way over here Nicky and I just can’t decide. How about I let you weigh in, yeah? Do you want me to give you a dressing down now or after I finish cleaning up this mess for you?”

Tony Stark strolls onto the bridge of the Helicarrier like he owns the place, which he might as well. Fury turns and gives him a glare with his one working eye, but Tony is unrepentant. So what if he’s basically taking the other man to task in front of the entire bridge crew and a certain Commander Maria Hill? At the end of the day, they both knew that this was Fury’s fuck up.

After all, Tony was working for the World Security Council. He was working with SHIELD on a number of projects and had been for years. All Fury had to do was bring him onboard Project PEGASUS as well and maybe this wouldn’t have ever happened. Maybe it still would have, but thanks to Fury’s decision, they would never know.

Well, Tony knew. He’d let this happen. He’d let it all happen. And so far, everything was going according to his plan.

Funny, the last time he was around, he hadn’t even been called in yet. Coulson had shown up at his Tower to let him know about the Tesseract’s theft so he could consult with them, but it wasn’t until the events that would take place in Stuttgart, Germany in just a little while, that they’d actually called him up to be backup for Rogers and Romanoff… as Iron Man.

They really had taken the ‘Iron Man Yes, Tony Stark not recommended’ thing to the extreme back then. But this time around, things were different. Iron Man didn’t exist and Tony Stark wasn’t just recommended, he was required by the World Security Council when a fuck up of this magnitude took place.

Would he have preferred to be back home with Pepper and Morgan right now? Of course he fucking would have. His baby girl was the goddamn light of his life, and here Fury and Loki were, pulling Tony away from what mattered most to him in this whole wide world. But alas… alien invasions wait for no man.

In the end, he was just glad that Pepper had already given birth. It would have been nerve-wracking for her to be nearing the end of her pregnancy right as this bullshit with Loki was finally happening.

Turning to face him fully, it seems like Fury has finally decided he’s going to actually rise to Tony’s challenge and take the bait.

“You are not the God of Science, Stark. We don’t have to consult you on every bit of research we do.”

Tony scoffs and flings out a hand, tossing some holograms into the air between him and Fury that show the data on the Tesseract which SHIELD had Natasha bring him.

“Far more than a bit of research, isn’t it Fury? And not the God of Science, am I? Maybe not yet. Still, why don’t you tell me something with that big spy brain of yours… of the top one thousand research projects in the world, just how many am I bankrolling at this point?”

Fury clenches his jaw, glancing between the holograms and Tony for a long moment.

“… About sixty percent.”

Grinning a sharkish grin, Tony steps right through the holograms, getting right up into Fury’s face.

“Try eighty, Director. But I guess I can’t expect much competence from SHIELD these days, can I? Gone downhill quite a bit since my father and aunt were in charge.”

There’s a vein on Fury’s forehead now and the man looks about ready to pop a blood vessel. Tony is wondering just how much further he can push this when another voice suddenly pops up.

“Is that the Tesseract? That the thing I’m going to be tracking down?”

Whipping around, Tony’s eyes light up as he sees Bruce Banner entering the bridge staring at his floating holograms with curiosity shining in his eyes. The scientist already looks so much better than the last time around, so much less antsy and nervous. But then Tony knows exactly why that is.

Perhaps trying to head Tony off at the pass, Fury is the first to answer, calling out from past the holograms.

“That’s right, Dr. Banner. We need you to track the unique Gamma Radiation signature that the Cube gives off so we can-!”

But Tony is already circling around the holograms. He could have stepped right back through them like he did before with Fury, but doing so would have interrupted Bruce’s view and he could always see the brilliant man’s mind at work. Besides, it would have been rude!

Grinning like the cat who caught the canary, Tony approaches Bruce from the side instead, hand outstretched as he cuts Fury off.

“Dr. Banner! Big fan! I-!”

He’s just about to say the line, unable to help himself… when Bruce surprises him. First, the man doesn’t hesitate to step up and take Tony’s hand in his, giving it a good, firm shake completely unlike the limp one he’d gotten the last time around. Second…

“Dr. Stark. I’d say I’m an even bigger fan. I’m especially a fan of the way you’ve helped me in overcoming the Hulk and evading my would-be captors for the last two years.”

For a moment, Tony’s brain short circuits. But… only a moment. The world slows to a standstill as his eyes quickly travel past Bruce’s big grin to where one Phil Coulson has quietly made his way over to Natasha’s side, the two SHIELD Agents all but fading into the background of the Helicarrier’s bridge until they’re called upon. There’s a bland smile on Agent Coulson’s face that Tony is all too easily able to read into. Coulson and Banner had talked and somewhere along the way, they’d both been able to figure out who Bruce’s mysterious benefactor was.

… That was Tony’s own fault, of course. And to be fair, it wasn’t like he’d ever had any intention of keeping the truth from Bruce once this was all over. Still, it was supposed to be Tony’s big reveal. He was going to have to get back at Phil in some way for that.

Barely missing a beat as time resumes normal speed, Tony has a wide grin on his face as he wags a finger in Phil’s direction.

“Spilling my secrets, Agent! Naughty, naughty!”

To anyone normal, they probably wouldn’t even notice the slight hitch as Tony reacted to Bruce’s reveal of his extracurriculars. Which of course meant that everyone in the room probably saw it. Save for Bruce himself.

Smiling even more blandly than before, Agent Coulson just tilts his head to the side.

“Apologies, Mr. Stark. I suppose I’m just an over-excited puppy sometimes.”

Ah, so that was how they’d figured it out. Bruce had thrown Tony’s amusing description of SHIELD Coulson’s way, and Phil had connected the dots from there. Well, joke was on him, because now the Agent was getting weird looks from everyone who had heard him, including Natasha, Fury, and even Commander Hill.

Snickering a little bit as he sees in Phil’s eyes that he realizes what he’s just done to himself, Tony turns away from the Agent and hooks his arm in Bruce’s in the process. With a swipe of his hand, he gets rid of the holograms and gives Fury an expectant look.

“Shall we, Director?”

Growling, Nick Fury narrows his one good eye at him.

“Watch yourself, Stark.”

But other than that warning, the SHIELD Director says nothing else to Tony before turning and retaking his position at the helm. A few moments later and the Helicarrier is beginning its ascent into the air, after which Fury quickly has the stealth mode activated. As that’s all happening, Tony pulls Bruce over to the side so they can talk with some modicum of privacy.

“Since you now know I’ve been your helpful little pen pal over the past two years, I figure it can’t hurt to ask… how’s life been treating you, Dr. Banner?”

Just looking at the man, he can tell Bruce is doing a hundred times better. Still, he wants to hear it from the other man directly.

“Pretty well, actually. I’ve been feeling amazing ever since we developed the treatment that suppresses the Hulk. No more emotional outbursts whatsoever. As you’re well aware, so long as I avoid physical threats, I’m just fine.”

Tony hums and nods at that. Indeed, with Tony’s help Bruce had been able to take Dr. Sterns’ data and his own research and create a ‘cure’ of sorts. Basically, it was a medicine he had to inject once a month that kept the Hulk from showing up no matter how emotional Bruce got. He could cry and scream and rage with the rest of them now, really let out all of his emotions… and there wouldn’t be a peep from the Hulk.

Of course, Tony would have preferred it if Bruce had worked towards making peace and common cause with the Hulk instead… but in this case, he knew Bruce wasn’t quite there yet. He also knew that ultimately the Hulk wouldn’t be contained forever. That was why he’d cautioned Bruce against getting hurt or shot or anything like that.

Partially because he didn’t want Bruce to commit suicide when the weight of everything that happened to him truly came crashing down, and partially because Tony was almost certain that Bruce’s drug wouldn’t work on the Hulk if Bruce’s life was actually threatened. Big Green would definitely wake up then, and Bruce would be right back where he started.

It was something of a ticking time bomb, but then Tony was already juggling half a dozen of those anyways, so what was one more right? And ultimately, as much as he liked the Hulk… he liked Bruce at least a little bit more. One day maybe the two could learn to coexist or maybe Bruce would even finally realize the Hulk wasn’t completely separate from him at all… but until that day came, Tony would rather have this happy, healthy, mentally stable Bruce Banner compared to the alternative.

“Oh! I heard you had a baby! It was so big it even managed to reach me all the way over in India!”

Tony blinks… and then lets a wide grin spread across his face at that. Flashing out his hand, he lets a holographic picture of his month old baby girl appear in his palm.

“That’s right! Here, let me show you what she looks like. Her name is Morgan.”

Bruce looks down at the picture for a long moment, smiling over it… but of course, eventually his scientist brain gets the better of him.

“How are you… doing those holograms, exactly? That seems like really advanced stuff.”

Tony just chuckles and waves his free hand.

“Oh, I’ve been doing holographic technology since before Afghanistan, Brucie. As for how I’m doing THIS… holographic emitters in the suit. Don’t tell the boys over at Armani, they tend to frown upon their customers making modifications to their garments.”

Bruce blinks at that, even as Tony straightens his jacket and grins. Alas, that alone isn’t enough to quench the other man’s curiosity.

“But wait… how are you controlling them exactly?”

Scoffing at that, Tony gives an answer he knows won’t be satisfactory.

“I’m Tony Stark, Dr. Banner. How do you think?”

Funnily enough, that more than anything actually seems to work for Bruce. Of course, the true answer is technopathy fuckery, but just invoking his own name also seems to be a reasonable answer.

Chuckling at Tony’s big wide grin, Bruce shakes his head and is clearly about to say something else when suddenly Tony has to stop him.

“Hold that thought, Brucie.”

Turning away from the scientist, Tony looks over to where Maria is leaning in close to whisper something in Fury’s ear. Once she finishes up, Fury whispers his orders back to her and she nods sharply, stepping away to carry them out. Tony, meanwhile, grins.

“Share with the class now, Nicky.”

Whipping around, the one-eyed man glares daggers at Tony, but Tony just grins and shrugs his shoulders.

“Let’s not forget how things went the last time you kept something from me, shall we Director? I would hate to have to contact Secretary Pierce and see what he and the World Security Council think about who should be in charge of this operation.”

That does the trick. Tony hates being so crass as to compare dick sizes with Fury right in front of Bruce, but needs must and all that rot.

“… Loki has been found in Stuttgart, Germany attacking a charity gala. She doesn’t have Barton, Selvig, or the Tesseract with her according to our eyes on the ground. My plan was to deploy the Iron Legion to capture her and bring her in for questioning. In the meantime, you and Dr. Banner will begin working on tracking down the Cube. Does that plan meet with your approval, Mr. Stark?”

Speaking through gritted teeth, it’s obvious that if Fury thought he could get away with shooting Tony right now, he would. God, wouldn’t that have hilarious consequences?

Tilting his head to the side, Tony finally nods with a smile.

“It does, Director Fury. Except for one thing. Bruce doesn’t need my help with tracking the Tesseract, so I’ll go with the Iron Legion to Germany.”

Fury pauses at that.

“… Excuse me?”

Rather than answer with words, Tony just snaps his fingers… which is when the upgraded version of Sneaky reveals itself to be standing right next to him. The bridge erupts into a cacophony of noise as SHIELD Agents all pull guns on the stealth armor, even as Fury’s one eye widens in disbelief. Tony just chuckles before giving Fury a curious look.

“I made the Iron Legion and War Machine, Director. Did you really think I didn’t make my own suit?”

It’s pretty funny, stepping up to the Iron Man Armor and letting it open and then envelope him while underneath his Armani Suit, he’s actually got enough Vibranium Nanites to make a dozen Vibranium Nanotech Armors. Its turtles all the way down, but nobody else on the bridge knows so the joke is only for Tony himself.

“Does the Secretary know about this?”

Tony pauses and tilts his now-armored head in Fury’s direction.

“I don’t have to consult you or the Secretary on every bit of security I build for myself, Fury. This suit isn’t quite as fast as the Iron Legion, but it’ll do the trick. I’ll reinforce them in Stuttgart and you make sure Dr. Banner has everything he needs to start tracking down Loki.”

“I don’t take orders from you, Stark.”

“Not yet Nicky. But the day’s still young.”

Before Fury can respond, Tony has already left the bridge. Admittedly, he’s lying about this suit’s top speed. He could easily beat the Iron Legion over to Germany and have Loki captured all on his own by the time they arrived. But that wouldn’t suit his purposes, so he would sandbag things a bit so he got there late. Should be fine, JARVIS was in all of the Iron Legion suits anyways so technically Tony had complete control of the situation, even if Thor showed up like last time to make a mess of things.

There was just one thing that he was curious about after watching the security recordings from the Project PEGASUS facility. Something about Loki that Tony needed to confirm for himself.

-x-X-x-

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A/N: A closer look at this new version of Bruce Banner. He certainly seems a lot happier and more confident then the Bruce in the original movie, doesn't he?

Meanwhile, something else has grabbed Tony's attention. Wonder what it is?