ever since Bruce had moved into Avengers tower, after the fight with the Chatari, Tony had been pulling little pranks and such to get him to Hulk out. sharp pointy objects to the side, a tack on his seat, destroying his research (only on the occasion he knew Bruce had a back up), sticking his ice cold hands up Bruce's shirt, spilling his coffee, backing up his laptop onto a new secret laptop then breaking his current on, little things. it annoyed Bruce, who knew Tony just wanted to see the big guy, but he refused to let him out. if anything, Hulk found the attempts amusing. it amused him that Bruce was so annoyed. they were just little pranks after all, Bruce could deal with it. he dealt with them for six months before the pranks started getting bad. first the power went out and he was grabbed mysteriously. Bruce managed to get over that one. then his stuff started to go missing and when he found it, it was shredded. that pissed him off a little. suddenly all his research had been deleted from Jarvis. that really pissed him off. he sat stewing in the lab after the last one, so when Tony came over and prodded him in the side, trying to make him Hulk out, Bruce jumped up. Tony stepped back surprised.

"Bruce?" Tony ask.

"I've had it with your pranks! at first they were amusing and annoying! now your pissing me off! locking me out of Jarvis! deleting my research! you said you wanted me here!" Bruce growled. for the first time since they met, Tony was afraid of Bruce.

"Bruce I don't know what you're talking about." Tony said, confused. that, didn't help, Bruce's body was turning green. Tony wanted to see the guy up close and personal, fine, he'd get too.

"it's one thing to do it! but it's another thing entirely to lie about it!" Bruce roared.

"Bruce! seriously man! I don't know what you're talking about!" Tony shouted as a large green fist slammed down beside him. before Tony could call for his suit, Hulk grabbed him roughly and through him on the ground.

"tin man stay away from Banner!" Hulk roared, throwing him through four walls, after beating him around. "or Hulk take glowy blue thing." Hulk warned. Tony simply laid there, falling unconscious.

*a few hours later*

he'd managed to get himself to the nearest hospital. part of his back was broken, so they put him in a back brace to help. his shoulder was fractured, so they'd put him in a shoulder sling. one of his legs was fractured, so they put him in a brace. he'd needed twenty stitches through out his body and he was covered in bruises. the others were shocked to see him limp in, half his face swollen and bruised.

"Tony what happened?" Natasha ask. Tony looked at them, something in his eye's didn't look right.

"someone delete some of Dr. Banners work. he thought it was me. when I told him it wasn't he assumed I was lying. Hulk put me through four walls and threatened to rip my arc out." Tony replied, heading for the elevator. he headed up to his room, missing the guilty looks of his team mates as he did so.

"did we go too far?" Steve ask as soon as Tony was gone.

"we didn't delete anything. we just moved it around and hid it." Clint replied.

"maybe neither of them know that." Natasha said. they hadn't done it to be mean, it was supposed to be funny, Tony finally getting to hang out with the Hulk. all they'd really done was get Hulk to beat the shit out of Tony.

"did you see his eye's, they looked a little dead inside." Clint said.

"well if you'd just got beaten around by someone you were a big fan of, wouldn't you look a little dead inside too?" Phil ask, from where he was reading his news paper. "I know if Steve beat the shit out of me, I would be." Phil added.

"and did you hear that, he didn't call him Bruce. he's called him Bruce pretty much since day one, he called him Dr. Banner. he hasn't done that since they shook hands." Natasha said.

"we should go talk to Bruce." Clint said.

"no need he just stepped out of the elevator." Steve said. his suit case was packed, he was leaving. Natasha and Clint were quick to block the door.

"where are you going?" Natasha ask.

"leaving. I thought Tony wanted me here, but turns out he's just another scientist trying to experiment." Bruce glared. "mean pranks. deleting my research, shredding my clothes." Bruce muttered.

"Bruce those mean pranks, weren't Tony." Steve said. Bruce glared at him.

"oh he got to you?" Bruce ask.

"no. I know he didn't do them." Steve said.

"oh yeah? how?" Bruce ask.

"because we did them. we thought the tension between you two would go down if you just Hulked out for him once, but the little things he was doing weren't getting you any closer to Hulking out. so we stepped it up a notch." Clint said.

"we didn't think it would piss you off like that." Steve muttered.

"or make Hulk break Tony like that. we were just trying to help." Natasha said. Bruce stared and them a moment, dropping his suit case. he reached up to remove his classes and pinch the bridge of nose.

"you're telling me, Hulk just beat the shit out of Tony for idiotic pranks you three pulled?" Bruce glared.

"yeah." Steve replied. Bruce glared at him, his eye's a dark green. all three stepped back. "b-but we were just trying to help!" Steve said quickly. Phil looked over and shook his head, deciding to step in.

"Dr. Banner, come chat with me please." Phil said. Bruce looked over at him and turned, following him to the elevator.

"what the hell do you want?" Bruce ask. Phil hit the emergency switch, stopping the elevator in its tracks.

"they were just trying to help, but there not what I wanted to talk about. Tony is." Phil said.

"yeah I should apologize I know." Bruce muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"no, I was going to say give him a few days. he didn't look so good, he was kind of protecting his arc. just give him a little bit. after what happened with Obadiah, he gets a little, whats the word.... panicky when someone threatens to take the arc. its the PTSD, he has anxiety attacks, so be careful." Phil said. "oh and don't tell him I told you, but he's harboring a super, hilariously huge crush on you." Phil added. Bruce seemed shocked as Phil turned the emergency button off and climbed out of it. immediately, Bruce took the elevator up to Tony's room. Tony was sprawled out on his back, listening to Black Sabbath. his music was suddenly turned off, so he could hear the knocking on his door.

"who are you and what do you want?" Tony muttered. he even sounded like he was in a lot of pain. Bruce bit his lip.

"its me." Bruce said. he got no response. "wanna open the door so we can talk?" Bruce ask.

"we can talk just fine with the door closed." Tony replied, his voice was bitter. "besides why would you want to talk to a lair?" Tony ask. he was still bitter, but Bruce could hear the hurt in his voice.

"I'm sorry." Bruce said. "I know now you didn't lie." Bruce added.

"go away. Hulk said not to get near you or he'd rip my arc out." Tony said.

"no. I want to stay here and talk to you." Bruce said.

"well I don't want to talk. I told you I wasn't lying, but for some reason that always calm demeanor just seemed to fail. you know I realized something, Hulks a good guy, unless your pissed at the person. then he'll threaten to rip their life line out and put you through four walls." Tony hissed.

"Tony I'm sorry. I just, I got pissed I thought you were doing the pranks. I was so angry I didn't listen to you. I should've realized that it wasn't you. the pranks you do are generally pretty innocent. though there was that one time you put out a banana peel for me to slip on and I busted my head, but you didn't mean for that to happen." Bruce said. just the sound of Bruce's voice was making Tony slightly nervous. his hand, already over the arc because the shoulder sling, tightened and Tony tried to relax, but flashback of Obadiah Stane went through his mind. Tony got up, Bruce could hear him stumble to the bathroom, and rummage through his cabinets. "Tony? Tony are you okay?" Bruce ask. he didn't get a reply. "Jarvis, whats going on?" Bruce ask.

"Sir is searching for his anxiety medicine." Jarvis replied.

"open the door. he needs help." Bruce said. the door flew out and Bruce raced into his bathroom. Tony was tossing things from his medicine cabinet, searching for his medicine. he found it and held the bottle tightly in his hand. Bruce paused and looked Tony over, he felt guilt at Tony's poor shape. "Tony are you okay?" Bruce ask. Tony flung himself around, dropping the bottle.

"get away from me Banner." Tony muttered, sinking to the floor. though it hurt his back, he put his head between his knee's. Tony's good hand came up to pull roughly at his own hair. Bruce walked over and knelt down, it was his fault Tony was like this right now and he was going to help him, even if Tony didn't want him to.

"Tony?" Bruce ask gently. Tony flinched slightly, his hand pulling harder at his hair as he tried to keep control of the situation. it hurt to see this. Tony was the first person in a long time to trust him, even knowing about the Hulk, and here he was cowering away because of an anxiety attack caused by something Hulk had said.

"go away. go away! go away! go away!! go away leave me alone!" Tony cried. Bruce paused realizing, this was Tony's Hulk out. an anxiety attack was Tony's Hulk out and if Bruce didn't do something to help, something bad could happen. Tony had helped him through it once, sure he wanted to see Bruce Hulk out, but only from the safety of his tower, where Bruce would be safe. Bruce had almost Hulked out in a restaurant once, but Tony had taken him to the bathroom quickly, and spent thirty minutes calming him down. if Tony could do that, Bruce could do it to. he reached out and pulled Tony to his chest, Tony's breath hitched.

"easy Tony." Bruce said softly, pulling Tony's hand from his hair, to hold it gently. "just breathe." Bruce said. Tony dug his nails into Bruce's hand.

"can't breathe." Tony managed.

"yes you can. if you can talk to me, you can breathe." Bruce replied. "come on breathe with me. in and out. you can do it, I know you can." Bruce added. his free hand pulled Tony's head to lay against his chest, so he could hear his heart. "just breath with me. it's gonna be okay." Bruce soothed. after a few minutes, Tonys body went slack against him. he played gently with Tony's hair. "how's your chest?" Bruce ask. Tony whimpered softly, curling up tighter. Bruce remember what Phil had said about Tony's crush and thought briefly about pushing him away. he decided against it though, Tony needed him right now. he could tell staying curled up like that was seriously hurting Tony. "okay come on. let's get you up." Bruce said. Tony pushed his hands away, using his good hand to pull him up.

"don't." Tony muttered. Bruce looked confused. "don't touch me." Tony said, clutching his bad arm to his chest with his good arm.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. I-I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. I really am." Bruce said trailing behind him. Tony didn't respond, simply curling up in bed. Bruce watched him, then pulled the blanket over him gently.

"go away." Tony muttered.

"no Tony, right now I think you need a friend." Bruce said.

"friend? fine, but leave Hulk out of it." Tony said. that was a little crushing.

"I'm sorry. I fucked up. the first person in the world to ever trust that angry idiot and he beat the shit out of him." Bruce sighed. Tony hugged the blanket tightly around his body as Bruce laid behind him.

"I'll leave him alone. I'll leave you alone." Tony replied. Bruce bit his lip. "I'll stay away from you." Tony muttered.

"no you won't." Bruce said, pulling Tony to his chest.

"let me go Bruce." Tony muttered.

"you don't want me to do that." Bruce said.

"how the hell do you know what I want?" Tony glared. Bruce made him roll over onto his back. Tony covered his arc out of fear that Hulk would take it.

"because, I know you don't. Phil told me." Bruce said.

"idiot traitor." Tony said quietly. Bruce leaned over and kissed him deeply. Tony's eye's went wide and for a second there he stopped breathing. Bruce, his science bro and biggest crush, was kissing him. Tony pulled back, watching him confused. "what the hell are you doing?" Tony ask. Bruce didn't say anything. "your alter ego threatens to kill me if I touch you again and you kiss me?" Tony ask.

"just don't piss me off." Bruce smiled. Tony blinked at him, turning his face away from Bruce. "I can leave." Bruce offered.

"no. hold me. please?" Tony ask softly. Bruce pulled him close to his chest. right now, Tony didn't really care what happened, he'd just had a panic attack and wanted to be held. Bruce nuzzled Tony's neck. this would be okay. Bruce would take care of him.