Turnabout - (parts 5/5 + epilogue) - Finished 6/13/2012

[Dusty15]

I, per usual, will second everything Spoo has said.

I feel so spoiled by this fic, Garnet! It's like it was made for me...so many lovely fetishy buttons are being pushed all over and I'm...well...goo. Again. What a mess.

[ID2006]

OMG, Ilove you so freakin much right now. Sick boys in bed together sharing a cold. GXGHLHKFJSDHHXGFJF

[SapphireSong]

OHMIFREAKINGGOOOOOOOOOOOSH

Garnet, my dear, you have asdjfkl;jafdadjakdl; outdone yourself... the plot, the characterization, the fetishyness, the EVERYTHING. You are brilliant, I tell you This is my favorite Avengers fic right now... and Stark and Banner aren't even my favorite characters.

Seriously,

Tony going caretaker while maintaining all his snarky brilliance...

Poor sick feverish compromised miserable Bruce~!...

it's SO FRIGGIN' ADORABLE I... words. I can't even. :'D

[DogLover]

HAJDKHKJFHGCZCBDYDGSGCJHBDJH

(My failed attempt at coherence^^)

Yeah, I'll just

I mean, TWO of them! Sick! In bed! TOGETHER! gaaaaaahhhh...I love their bromance...

Thank you so super much for writing this.

[Jorm]

Oh good god... My vision of the two of then passed out together in cold ridden misery is coming true! GARNET, YOU MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE. I CAN'T EVEN.

[Salamander]

"Hh--MPHshh'uh!" Tony watched the rise and shudder of his shoulders with another deep breath, before purging it into a second, "Heh--WHFHSHH!"

Some of my favourite sounds right there. So perfect for him, too There's too many things to love about this fic, not least Banner trying to just push through his fever and then giving up. And cuddles! And bromance! And yes, Tony is shameless. I can just see Pepper rolling her eyes. I loved it.

[PaperThings]

I love this story so much. Like way, way TOO much. Just... Banner and Tony and cuddling and sickness and eeeeek, this is FANTASTIC.

[SterlingSilver]

OKAY.

1) Everything I could possibly say has already been said by the lovely people above.

2) I just manage to pick myself up from the last update, and you bring me melting into a puddle once again from this latest one~! Dang you and your skills~!

GARNET. I LOVE THIS. LOVE THIS SO MUCH <3

[ichixshiro14]

Gahhhhh genius!! When Tony said they're both comfortable with their sexuality and invited himself into Bruce's bed, I squee'd a little Thanks so much for sharing, can't wait for more!

[Anonymouse]

AUGH I missed the updates! At least now I get to read them all at once now.

I'm going to try to resist the urge to comment in depth on every wonderful sentence you wrote and just list the things I absolutely loved.

- SNEEZING WHILE HOLDING TEA. One of the greatest scenarios ever.

- Banner examining Tony's "heart." And then Tony sneezing immediately afterwards.

- The fact that Banner expected Tony's sneezes to be more "dramatic."

- BANNER'S SNEEZES And the fact that he has CAT ALLERGIES.

- Potts forcing Tony back down into her lap when he has to sneeze. And when he says "You know I'm not done yet."

- Banner fiddling with JARVIS to keep Tony locked out of his room.

- Tony braving the possibility of Banner turning into The Other Guy to try and reassure him.

- How upset Banner gets when he realized he almost Hulked out.

- Banner getting dazed after sneezing. Poor feverish darling. <3

- "Come on, we're both grown men secure in our sexuality."

- Banner always apologizing/saying excuse me after he sneezes.

- EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT THIS STORY!!!

You are a freaking GEM, my dear. I look forward to the next (and final? ) part.

[*Dark_Side*]

This story is so amazingly awesome! I can't wait to read more and see the two incredibly cute science bros taking care of and comforting each other. Thanks so much for writing such a great story.

[Garnet]

dgdfjkldh as usual YOU GUYS AMAZE me with your responses, they make me feel so good aaah! I love you aaaall I have no words! Well, I do have words, actually! They come in the form of the next part. Posting this in a slight rush un-proofed, so excuse any derpy errors.

Also, title updated to 5 ½ parts because I have one more tiny epilogue bit after this fluff. But until then, have a big chunk of touchy bromance. Enjoy!

-----------------------------------------------

Bruce seemed torn between the want of company and the hesitation of growing too close. As usual. Tony didn't take that personally, but he did make himself comfortable taking up as much of the bed as possible until the other man finally relented and leaned back on the pillows his arm was also occupying.

"Was that so hard?"

"Yes," Bruce sighed.

Tony brushed a hand over his rumpled hair without any shame, using the gesture to not-so-discreetly test his friend's brow again. Still blazing. He winced, and then leaned aside for the dampened washcloth. "Hold still, okay?"

Bruce shot him a wary, hunted look. Tony imagined he'd endured any number of horrible things following that phrase, but was pleased to see the man's expression go slack and relax at the first touch of the cool, wet cloth to his skin. A bone-deep sigh of relief resulted.

Tony had never actually done this to anyone, but he got the hang of it quickly enough, brushing the terrycloth in slow, smooth strokes over damp skin. Some the aching tension slowly went out of Bruce's frame as he sank back, eyes fluttering shut. Tony resisted the urge to grin to himself as he passed a corner of the towel gently over an ear and the arch of one cheek, where it rasped slightly against a day's worth of unshaven shadow.

"How long have you been sick, Banner?"

He cracked his eyes back open blearily to calculate it in his head. The brain that normally spit out formulas as if it were composing a grocery list seemed to lag slightly on the concept of time at the moment. "Um... since last..." He hesitated for a second, bringing a thumb and forefinger to his nose to rub it hastily into submission. "Last night."

"Ah-huh. Mister 'doesn't get sick', you're worse than I am."

Bruce actually smiled wearily at that. "It wasn't a complete lie, I haven't been sick before, well. Now."

Tony narrowed his eyes in amusement. "I feel strangely honored that my supervirus managed to squirrel past your defenses, then."

Bruce shrugged half-against him and pinched his nose again. "Considering some of the places I've been living, it is sort of impressive."

Most people were wise enough not to give Tony Stark any fodder for his already impressive ego, but Bruce seemed to give it away so freely that it temporarily baffled him. "Well, I'm an impressive guy," he decided at last, then put the cloth aside. "Better?"

"Mmm," Bruce murmured indistinctly, then tightened in surprise as Tony's hand found its way to his hair again, and then the back of his neck to press gently at the knots of tension. "What are you--"

"You're stiff as a board. Relax, doc."

He started to protest, then went loose again as Tony moved his thumb in small circles through the t-shirt, idly loosening small kinks in the muscle that must have been rigidly painful. After a few moments, he seemed to more appropriately drape over the bed rather than tightly occupy it, and Tony was satisfied to go back to running a hand through the dark, tangled mess of hair. Thicker and longer than his own, but shot through with a few strands of grey as well. He didn't think Bruce had more than five or ten years on him at most, but then he supposed his life was the definition of 'high-stress'. At least he'd stopped protesting, and even sagged into the touch with a deep sigh that turned into a cough.

"This is kind of pathetic," he croaked softly when he'd recovered.

"Eh, I'm not going to tell anybody if you won't," Tony shrugged, then draped his arm back over the doctor's shoulders. He glanced down when Bruce tensed up again, and was about to playfully berate him for it when he noted the agonized crumpling of his friend's features. Ah.

"Heht--"

Tony was already leaning aside for a tissue when Bruce pulled hastily away from his side and shook with a firmly stifled sneeze.

"Nkggt!"

He flinched openly in sympathy, and then again as Bruce sat up and repeated the gesture soundlessly. Tony wasn't entirely sure what he was going for, as the bed shook with the effort of containment as much as it did otherwise, so he gave him a sharp look.

"Don't do that, you'll rupture something."

Bruce managed a brief, trembling smile. "I've held in worse thi-h-ings... hiht--KKGT!"

This time Tony gave him a sharp pinch to accompany the sharp look. "Stop that! You'd better not be holding in on my account."

"I dunno, Pepper said you were kind of a germapho--- phobe," Bruce muttered, grimacing openly as he rubbed and rubbed in an attempt to keep the rest of the fit at bay, obviously only prolonged by the efforts to downplay it.

"I... well, yeah, kinda," Tony admitted with a frown. "But I did give it to you. Sorry about that, by the way, but--- no, stop that," he scowled as Bruce reached for his nose again. He batted the hand away, but sighed when his friend turned stubbornly into a shoulder.

"Heh-MPHHSHH!"

"And I am in bed with you..."

"Hhh'WHFSHH!"

"Well not in bed like that but technically still--"

"Tony, shut up," Bruce ground out in-between sneezes. There was no accompanying primordial growl to suggest any real threat, so he only smirked in response.

"I will when you let them out like a normal person."

That got a hoarse laugh. "Well. We're none of us normal-- Heht--UHSSHOO!" He sneezed at last with delirious-sounding satisfaction. Tony rubbed a hand gently between his shoulders as he braced for another. "Hh'UTSSCHHuu!"

"Gesundheit! There, isn't that better?"

In response, Bruce flopped back down with a low groan and a hand idly massaging at the center of his chest. Tony had the sense that he wasn't playing that up for dramatic effect, his sneezing definitely sounded less like a fitful, frantic response to a stimulus and more like they were sapping every last bit of his resolve. He pulled his mouth to one side in concern.

"I think you have this worse than I did..."

"Bakig' up for losd tibe," Bruce mumbled in congested response, blanched, and then gathered a handful of tissues to his face in preparation. Stalled. Glanced awkwardly sidelong at Tony.

He rolled his eyes, and made a pointed show of covering his ears and looking away. "You are the biggest prude."

He was going to count to twenty and then resume his pestering whether Bruce liked it or not, but was surprised when halfway through the other man initiated contact first. Tony lowered his hands slowly as he felt his companion leaning slightly, shyly against him. Good. Progress. He wrapped an arm reassuringly around his shoulders, and spent a few minutes just shamelessly enjoying the sniffling quiet and warm proximity to another human. Well. Mostly human. Bruce still felt pleasantly solid against him, different from Pepper's slim, sylph-like form. Fit, but with slightly more meat on him and not toned to a muscular vanity the way that Tony was.

It took some effort not to resume idly stroking his hair or turning reflexively into the reserved cuddle, but Tony had discovered that handling the other scientist wasn't unlike dealing with a wild animal. Not that he would say as much to his face. A firm but persistent hand yielded best results, while overstimulation or too much attention just drove Bruce flinching back into his shell. It wasn't normally something Tony had the patience for, but somehow...

"Hh-!"

He loosened his grip automatically to allow Bruce to snag another tissue, but was pleased when he didn't retreat entirely to the other side of the bed at the urge to sneeze. Instead, he only turned politely away from the man serving as a headrest and trembled hard in place.

"Hh'MPHsshh! Sorry."

"Banner," he began scoldingly.

"Heh--- NHSHH'uu!"

He couldn't decide if that was progress or not, but sighed out a dutiful 'bless you' as Bruce recomposed and cleaned himself up. Tony took him gently by the shoulder and guided him back into place afterwards, before he could start second-guessing himself. "You okay?"

"Been better," Bruce murmured, then sighed. "Been worse."

"What can I do for you?"

Bruce glanced up at him shyly. "You're awfully -- snff! Excuse... invested in this."

Tony shrugged against him. "Hey, I already got out all my whining and moaning at Pepper. And, hey, gotta take care of my lab partner." The earned a faint, curling smile.

Tony didn't confess aloud, and perhaps didn't need to, that he had precious few friends as it was. Apart from Pepper, Rhodes, and the man currently lying against him, he kept the rest of the world firmly at arm's length and usually like it that way. Still, it made slights from those he held closest sting that much more, to say nothing of threats to their health and safety. He cared, even if he didn't act the part most of the time.

"Seriously though, movie? Food? Sleep?"

Bruce seemed to mull that over, then sighed. "None of the above? I need to sleep, but... I don't want a repeat of... that," he grumbled.

"Well, I'm here. Don't worry about it. You feel a little cooler now anyway."

Bruce looked unconvinced, glancing dubiously up him. "No offense, Tony, but you should probably sleep too. You still looked like you've been dragged under a bus."

Tony blinked. "I've been dragged under a helicarrier turbine, a bus can't be that bad." We waved off any of Bruce's arguments as he paused a moment in thought. "Hmm... I, oh. Wait, I have an idea. Stay put," he ordered as he reluctantly pulled away from his heat source and dragged himself upright. "I'll be right back."

He left Bruce blinking at him curiously as he made a brief, sniffling tour to one of the nearby labs, and returned some ten minutes later with a small device dangling from his fingertips.

"You ever worn one of these?" He inquired, holding up the little heart rate monitor fashioned onto a wristband. "For that?"

Bruce squinted at it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, um. All the time, actually. I stopped wearing it when I went a year without any... incidents, but. Well."

Tony bent to affix it to a wrist held out obligingly, shrugging as he did so. "Well, gotta go back to go forwards sometimes."

"Thanks," he answered wryly, but pulled the monitor towards himself to calibrate the warning alarm with a practiced familiarity.

"It's linked to your heartrate, then?" Tony wondered as he settled himself back down beside his companion and stretched out.

"Not intrinsically," Bruce said in response, "But it-- e-excuse me--Hh'WHHFH!" He turned hastily into one shoulder, stayed there for a moment, then crinkled his features and shivered again. "Hh'MFHSSH'uh!" He recovered with a length sniffle and the start of an apology until Tony cut it off with a glare. He cleared his throat and moved on. "It's a rough indicator."

Tony wasn't of the opinion that Bruce needed a failsafe, even with all recent or recent-ish events considered. But if the security made him feel better, he wouldn't argue. Cracking his back and neck with an agreeing sigh, he waited until his friend was rearranged comfortably against him before springing the next question.

"Does it hurt? When you change?"

Bruce gave him a slight look, but Tony arched a brow. "What, did you seriously think I wasn't gonna ask this stuff eventually?"

"Maybe not like this," he admitted, but rubbed his nose and continued. "But... I'd rather be asked questions than poked at and cut open, so."

"I did let you mess with my reactor," Tony added, "Quid pro quo."

Bruce drew a corner of his mouth into one of the half-smiles that Tony had grown weirdly fond of. "Fair enough. It.... hurts, it's more a skin-crawling discomfort than anything, but I don't remember much after it happens, so. I think my brain blocks out the worst parts." A glance upwards to gauge Tony's reaction earned an expectant look, prompting for more, so Bruce sighed and continued. "It's... worse if I fight it. Much worse."

"Yet you do it anyway."

Bruce gave him an exhausted look. "And the alternative is... is, hang on-heh!" It verged on him quickly enough that he just managed to turn into an upper arm, body torqued awkwardly for the quick seize.

"Heh'KNNGSHH-uu!"

A miserable failure of a stifle, and Bruce collapsed back against the pillows rather than Tony this time, rubbing a thumb and forefinger at the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Ughh, I cad't stop sdeesig," he complained, then gasped sharply and repeated the action with even less control.

"HEH'USHoo!"

"Bless you," Tony offered as he accosted the last one firmly into submission, or tried anyway. He rubbed at Bruce's shoulder. "I know it's been a while, but that's still generally what happens when you have a cold," he observed in amusement. "And it's okay, I know what the alternative is. Still it's like... fighting a defense mechanism."

"A defense mechanism.... yes, sort of," Bruce sighed as he recovered himself, sniffling, and then uprolled his eyes in weary thought. "It's not quite a reflex but..."

"There's a point where it plateaus, and you can't stop it?" A nod in response, and Tony grinned. "So like fighting a sneeze. Or an orgasm."

Bruce looked blindsided by the bluntness for a moment, and then broke into a sudden laugh. "Yeah, that's...pretty accurate, actually. All of them kind of end in a mess."

Now Tony was chuckling too. "Dr. Banner, I'm shocked!"

Bruce offered a wry grin, then fell comfortable quiet for a while as Tony seemed satisfied in his interrogation. For now. He'd pick on the man more when he wasn't sick. They laid there like that, half-drowsing for perhaps a quarter of an hour before either one stirred again. While Tony had been enjoying the boon of a relatively itch-free nose for the first time in nearly three days, his companion was not quite so fortunate. He became half-conscious again at a warning sniffle and inhale from the other man, and then full conscious at a sudden quick jerk against him.

"Heht--CHSHH!" He almost hadn't turned in time, Tony mused as he drew his arm in a little subconsciously, but watched in vague sympathy as the doctor spasmed several more times in mounting annoyance. "Heht-CHHSHH'ue! H-heh... h'MHFHHSHH!! Heh--USSHHoo! Uggghh."

He flopped back down utterly drained from the brief but intense fit, sounding hoarse and with hands trembling a little. A couple of soft beeps sounded from the heart rate monitor, drawing both mens' attention immediately. Bruce turned it over and read through bleary eyes, but swallowed and sighed. "It's fine, I'm just out of breath. Sorry, that was...you don't have to be here. I really shouldn't sleep anyway." He sniffled and fought consciousness with a hand rubbing at one eye.

This time, Tony exhaled in vague annoyance.

"Bless you. And would you stop apologizing and beating yourself up already? I know it's kind of your thing but seriously." Bruce didn't protest, but did give him a vaguely confused glance, as if he were honestly unsure of any other way to be, or any reason Tony would be putting up with him at all if it weren't a huge inconvenience that needed to be constantly excused. So Tony sighed, and jogged him close. "Look, in case you'd forgotten, it's not your fault you're sick, and you're not going to get better without sleep so now you stop being stupid. Also, I like you. Pepper likes you. Hell, I even like the Other Guy. We're not putting you up out of pity, but at the severe risk of waxing poetic here, we're not going to leave you alone with your monster either. Okay?"

Bruce swallowed tightly and blinked a few times in rapid succession, but he got ahold of himself before he started to unravel. A deep breath, and then a nod. Those seemed to be the words that he needed to hear, and maybe even exactly who they needed to come from.

"Okay."

It sounded even, more relieved than hurt, Tony thought. His companion confirmed it a moment later when he leaned back against him and slowly, tentatively draped an arm over his abdomen. Tony furled his own hand reassuringly over the slight weight and turned his cheek into the dark tangle of hair.

"... thank you."

Tony gave his shoulder a slight squeeze. "You're welcome. Now go the hell to sleep, or I'm going to sic Pepper on you."

When Bruce trembled against him, it was only with a small current of laughter. He offered no further complaints, though, and within ten minutes had dropped soundly off.

[Spoo]

So...remember those noises you heard from me the other night? The ones that didn't sound human? Well, I'm making those again. Only they're louder this time, and they sound more parrot than puppy...

OhmygoshBrucewasSOsneezy! EEEEEEEK! Sneezing is usually a nice addition to a well-written story with a juicy plot, but I'm not going to lie. Bruce's constant 'affliction' was DEFINITELY the best part of this update for me - followed closely by their dialogue.

I was so proud of Bruce for opening up to Tony (as awkward as it was, haha). They just have the best relationship ever. I swear. I can't wait for the epilogue, because...guh.

FEEEEEEELS!

Edited June 11, 2012 by Spoo

[DogLover]

Yay, first comment! (EDIT: well, it was when I started typing... )

Um...I kinda exploded when I read this...

"Ughh, I cad't stop sdeesig,"

And this:

"I think you have this worse than I did..." "Bakig' up for losd tibe," Bruce mumbled in congested response, blanched, and then gathered a handful of tissues to his face in preparation. Stalled. Glanced awkwardly sidelong at Tony.

BEST AVENGERFIC EVER!!! No, wait...BEST FIC EVER!!!

Yeah, I'll just be here, geeking out about your awesomeness...and groveling :notworthry:

Also, does the 5 and a half mean more fic? *is hopeful*

[pinknose]

My brain is now officially melted. It is official.

GAHH! The bromance-y fluffy goodness! I... I can't... words...

And did I hear (or read, whatever) epilogue? Yes yes yes a million times yes!

[SterlingSilver]

WOOOOOOO~! <3

I was checking this forum like crazy, and finally noticed the update~!

I was waiting, and man, was it worth it =w=

Tony x Bruce is just SO CUTE~.. And you keep them both in character, too~!

Makes it all the more enjoyable~

[Ciuty80]

i´m in DEEP satisfying love with your writing Garnet!!!!

this is sooo perfect, brilliant, just-can´t-find-any-fitting-words for this gorgeous story...

and i´m so looking forward to your epilogue!!!! :drool:

please give us MOARRRR banner and tony!!!

[Dye]

Oh... mai... GOOODDDDD

BRUUUUUUUUUUCEEEEEEE <3333 dfjhgkjdfhj ALL THE FEELS I CANNOT HE IS SO ADORABLEEE <3

[Dusty15]

All hail the mighty Garnet! You are OUTTA CONTROL AMAZING! I just about lost it at:

A miserable failure of a stifle, and Bruce collapsed back against the pillows rather than Tony this time, rubbing a thumb and forefinger at the bridge of his nose in

frustration. "Ughh, I cad't stop sdeesig," he complained, then gasped sharply and repeated the action with even less control.

OH YES OH YES. Bruce, let me hold you. I've again been reduced to goo. Someone come scoop me up, please?

[PaperThings]

Oh my God, you are the BEST. Seriously. This is actually just making me want to bang incoherent letters on the keyboard because it's too good for actual words and eeeep thank you SO much.

Also, particularly loved the comparison of Banner turning into the Hulk to a sneeze, because, um, yeah, the whole connection to loss of control makes me think of it EVERY TIME so thank you thank you thank you.

[VividBubbles!]

So adorable. There are no words. Well, judging from the comments above, there are words, but no original ones I can come up with. This is what you do to me woman! You fried my brain with adorableness! Can I have more?

BYE!

Edited June 12, 2012 by Bubbles!

[Anonymouse]

Bruce actually smiled wearily at that. "It wasn't a complete lie, I haven't been sick before, well. Now."

Tony narrowed his eyes in amusement. "I feel strangely honored that my supervirus managed to squirrel past your defenses, then."

LOL yes. Even Tony's germs are obnoxious assholes.

Bruce managed a brief, trembling smile. "I've held in worse thi-h-ings... hiht--KKGT!"

Idk why but I loved that.

I also LOVED the comparison between sneezing, sex, and turning into the Hulk. I had the same thoughts as I was reading through this.

AND ALL THOSE SNEEZES FROM BRUCE. Love love love it!

EEEEE that ending! Such flufffffff! <333

[Prongs]

HOLY MOLY.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am in love with this fic!!!! When the heart monitor beeped and he was just out of breath *swoon*

[Garnet]

Hey remember that time where I said I was going to add another teeny epilogue and then it turned into a GIANT FLUFF-FEST complete with illustration because I have no shame?

I do.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING ME on this fic journey. I want to keep writing more but it will just devolve into more endless schmoop so instead I'll move on to torturing someone else Or at least these dweebs in a different scenario. Love you all so much for the comments! ;u;

CHEESE HO~

----------------------------------------------------

Pepper sighed to herself at the sight of them, sprawled out on the bed and looking far more comfortable than anyone had a right to be. If she was jealous, it was only for that fact. Tony was out cold with a book spread open on his chest, hiding the glow of the arc reactor. Pepper tilted her head to read the title. Applied Industrial Hydraulics and Pneumatics. She rolled her eyes. Only her boyfriend would consider that light reading material before bed. Then again, for all she knew they'd been reading it aloud to each other like some kind of weird science foreplay.

Bruce was sacked out close beside him, turned slightly on his side and with his head slumped against Tony's shoulder and a hand curled lightly over his stomach. He looked considerably worse for the wear, pale and rumpled with a flushed nose and dark circles under his eyes. Poor thing.

Dr. Banner was an interesting person, she'd decided. She would be kidding herself to think that she, as one individual, would be enough to keep Tony from his self-destructive spirals, so she'd initially just been happy to have someone else distracting him intellectually. But then he'd had to go and be painfully sweet with his wry sense of humor about everything, and now she was comfortably accustomed to his presence everywhere and she too worried that some day he'd just take off and be gone.

Because on the one hand, Bruce was almost impossible to dislike, so quiet and self-effacing as he played the straightman in a way that reminded her bittersweetly of Phil. Plus, he was polite and it was nice to hold an extended conversation with someone who was wildly intelligent but didn't lose her in technobabble after a minute and a half. It was a breath of fresh air to Tony's mania and gargantuan ego, and she would have adopted him on the spot if not for that one very big drawback. The one that didn't seem to bother Tony, but then Tony had a weird perspective on a lot of things and he wasn't grounded in reality half the time either. Pepper, however, had read through all the headlines and news videos with cringing uncertainty about keeping someone who could turn into... that under their shared and very breakable roof. The PR fall-out from any potential incidents alone....

She felt bad about doubting either man now, since Bruce did indeed seem to have a very tight hold on it. Sometimes she forgot about it altogether, but then there would be little flickers of dread like last night, and she would be feeling guilty all over again for being anxious of something that hadn't actually happened. In fact, right now it looked like he'd just been sneezing himself to exhaustion, and she resisted the urge to brush the fringe of hair off his brow.

Instead, she eyed the empty spot on Tony's near side in debate.

She'd resigned herself to catching this bug eventually, but a dry tightness in the back of her throat and throbbing pressure in her sinuses had still been unpleasant heralds of her fate. Pepper was used to working through sickness, remaining aloof and professional as possible with a dripping nose, but in the quiet calm of the guest room, in the hazy predawn light, it was far too easy to give into temptation. She was exhausted.

Slowly, quietly, Pepper padded barefoot to the bedside and levered her slight frame up beside Tony. He stirred a little at the shift in the mattress, and drowsily fluttered his eyes open. With a few blinks, he seemed to take stock of the situation, confusion giving way to musing thought as he looked at Bruce, then at her, then to the room around them. Then back at her.

A sudden well of discomfort flashed through her, for the first time wondering if she'd just intruded on something private. Despite being romantically involved already with one of the individuals.

"Is this okay?" She murmured, softer than a whisper as she gestured lightly to herself, then Tony and Bruce on the far side. Tony followed her indications for a minute, then gave her a puzzled look.

"It's a me sandwich," he replied quietly, though Bruce seemed completely dead to the world anyway. "I don't see how you can go wrong." He lowered his brows for a moment, and then added soberly, "Are you okay with it?"

Her paranoia vanished as quickly as it had come on. She nodded and tucked her head against the spot between his chest and shoulder, then as if to seal the deal reached over to lay her hand gently atop Bruce's. Tony seemed pleased by this, and leaned aside to kiss her temple. She sighed with satisfaction at the ticklish rasp of his beard against her ear.

Without thinking, she allowed herself a damp sniffle, then winced at his frown. Great, incoming hypocritical germaphobe...

Instead, Tony pressed his lips into her hair and murmured, "You too?"

Pepper gave a tentative nod, glancing up. "I guess it was inevitable..."

Tony smiled weakly. "Sorry. Apparently I like taking everyone else down with me."

Her brows rose. An apology too? "Okay, who are you and what did you do with the real Tony Stark?" She gave him a quick kiss as immediate reassurance. "But hey, for once it's not your fault, I did climb into bed with you and handle your gross tissues for two days."

"Well, I'm not touching yours."

"That's more like it," Pepper chuckled. "You are pretty cute when you're sick, though. In a pathetic sort of way."

She was used to seeing him sleepless after spending late nights in the workshop, but insomnia only made him more manic and difficult to manage. The unmade disorientation of constant hangovers wasn't that entertaining either, then he was just ornery and whiny and he'd do it all over again the next night. Though, that hadn't been for a while, she mused. Not since... well, since Bruce had sort of unofficially moved in with them (a fact they had accepted but were still trying to convince him of). And prior to that, he'd been less inclined to drink himself towards an early death when she was spending the night. It was some progress.

Still, she could at least feel bad for him when he was sick, without rolling her eyes at herself for feeling sympathetic.

He had some other quip prepared, but with lips parted to deliver it, her boyfriend adopted a faraway, distracted expression. She'd seen that look plenty of times recently, and hastily freed one hand to place a forefinger just beneath his nose.

"Ah-ah, not in my face thanks."

Tony's features crinkled in anticipation, reddened nostrils flared and trembling slightly against her digit. She pressed a little harder, fearing she was about to get baptized anyway, and sighed in unified relief with him when the moment passed.

"Good?" She teased, cracking a slight grin.

"Yeah," Tony sighed, though he was scrunching and squirming his nose slightly as if with desire to itch at it but no free hands at his disposal. "But it'll come back with a vengeance later."

"I hope not." She obliged him with another gentle rub until the sensation apparently disappeared. She kissed the bridge gently, mindful of setting him off again. "That looks sore."

"It is. This is what you have to look forward to," Tony agreed, glancing over at the still-unconscious man at his side for emphasis.

"Can't wait."

He laid his head back down, with her tucked comfortably beneath his jaw. She heard rather than saw him smile lewdly.

"So, that 'not in the face' stipulation, does that apply to all bodily fluids or..."

Oh, he must have been feeling at least a little better. She pinched him hard enough to earn a small yelp of surprise, and flinched automatically when Bruce stirred awake at the noise.

"Aw, now see what you did?" She scolded with an apologetic smile.

"Me! I think you took out a chunk of skin, woman. Bruce, am I bleeding?"

The doctor was slow to gain full consciousness, rubbing a hand over his face and squinting at Tony blearily. "What?" His gaze roamed over to Pepper, then, in open surprise and then embarrassment as he turned away slightly and started to rise. "H-hi Pepper, sorry. I'll move to the couch."

"You're not going anywhere." Tony grabbed him by the back of the shirt and pulled him back down until Bruce gave up and flopped back into position against him.

Pepper smiled affectionately, then smothered a cough behind one hand. "We're hogging your bed anyway."

Bruce turned into one shoulder to soundlessly stifle a quick sneeze, then sniffled congestedly.

"Excuse be. Ad techdically, id's Tody's bed," he mumbled.

"Well, I dunno who this 'Tody' is," Tony replied playfully. "So it must be yours."

"Bless you," Pepper offered, then gave her boyfriend an inquisitive glance. "Is he always like this?"

"Oh yeah. I think I'm gonna make a little harness and leash him to my hip so he'll stop trying to escape our affections."

She shared a giggle with him even as Bruce rolled his eyes and sniffed again to clear his head.

"I'm sure that will end well." He was at least smiling wryly as he said it.

Tony sighed and turned his head to study her sadly, brow crumpled. "At least you love me, right?"

Pepper groaned and reached up to cover his vision with a hand. "Oh jeez, not the big brown Bambi eyes, I can't take it!"

Tony squirmed one hand free to bat hers away, half-laughing and half-sniffling. "Hey, it..." He trailed off as his breathing grew shivery and unstable. "Ugh, s-see, back with a... vengeance-IHSHH'oo!"

No time to even think about stopping it before it bled into his sentence. Pepper frowned in mild concern as he sat up, sneezing, to dump the book from his chest to the covers. A soft blue glow diffused across the blankets from the uncovered reactor.

"Heh'issch-oo! ISSHoo!"

"Aw, Tony..."

"Yes, yes, poor me," he grumbled between sneezes. "Where's--- hih'ISSH-oo! Where's the...hept'SSHHu! Ugh. The tissues?"

Bruce uncovered them from the tangle of bedding after a quick search, but turned the box towards Tony with an apologetic wince. Empty.

Pepper pushed herself upright. She knew damned well the fit wouldn't stop until he properly blew his nose. "You want up?"

Tony nodded, though it was hard to detect around the quick bob of his head with each sneeze. "HehihSSHHu!"

She gathered her legs and slid reluctantly from the envelope of sheets and warm bodies to let her boyfriend stagger away towards the adjoining bathroom in pursuit of more tissues or, in a pinch, at least a roll of toilet paper. She didn't pursue him, but did enjoy the angle of the jeans he'd worn to bed half-slung off his hips. Mmm.

Rousing herself slightly when he disappeared, she shivered reflexively at the chill in the air and wondered if there was some reason Bruce kept his room somewhere in the realm of Antarctica. She finally sneezed as well, a discreet "heh'nkgsht!" against one hand, and blinked in bleary surprise when Bruce blessed her.

"Oh, thanks." That was sort of nice, she decided, having someone who didn't flinch away reflexively from the prospect of germs. Even if Tony had been pretty good about that for the duration of this plague. Being tolerant and being considerate was a subtle differentiation, and he rarely approached the second realm without some prompting.

She gathered the book aside, shook out and smoothed the covers somewhat, and then promptly crawled back beneath them while Tony was still sneezing hysterically from the bathroom.

"Sorry you got this," Bruce murmured with quiet earnest, voice dry and soft. Pepper smiled.

"It's okay, I'll live. I take better care of myself than either of you do," she jibed gently, and earned a small chuckle in return. She squirmed into the slightly-warm spot Tony had recently vacated. A smart woman would be terrified of Dr. Banner and the monster lurking in his cells, and Pepper was a very, very smart woman. But right now, he looked too sick and sleepy to be much threat to anyone but himself.

When Bruce didn't respond unpleasantly to the close vicinity, she scooted herself a little closer to test her head on his shoulder. Then he blinked a little, but slowly rested a warm palm open on her shoulder. Not in a protesting fashion, either. Pepper closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Good, they were finally getting somewhere with him.

A final, climactic "Hah'ESSCH'OO!!" from the direction of the bathroom worried her enough to look over one shoulder.

"You okay, boss?" She called out softly, employing the nickname out of habit.

"Oh yeah," Tony replied, sounding breathless and stuffy but coherent. "You two keeb flirtig, I'b just id here dyi'g."

Yeah, he was fine. Pepper shifted herself around until her back was comfortably aligned against Bruce's chest. God, he was so warm, no wonder Tony had been reluctant to leave him all night. "You heard the man," she teased her remaining bed companion gently, and slid a hand blindly up and backwards until her fingertips ghosted along the coarse texture of his cheek. The soft, sandpaper rasp as he turned his jaw more surely into her palm sent little shivers of pleasure down to her toes, and privately she hoped that this... whatever this was wasn't going to end anytime soon. It was a nice thought, perhaps, that while in the confines of this bed she could forget the rest of the world for a while. Even if she had to be sick at the same time.

His hand relocated to her shoulder, and she slid her own down to cover it, then plucked at the band around his wrist with blind interest. Didn't seem like a watch.

"What's this?" She murmured, turning her head slightly to study the numbers softly flashing and shifting on the digital face.

"Heart rate monitor."

She pondered that for only a second or two before it caught up to her. Oh. "You don't usually wear that."

His fingertips twitched a little, but he didn't withdraw his hand yet. "Yeah... fever dreams. Things got kind of touch and go."

She tilted enough to look him in the eye, dreading and curious at once. "How close?"

He gazed back at her, debating, but wisely must have decided that straightforward honesty was the best tactic. "Very." He glanced towards the adjoining room, where the hiss of water from the tap indicated Tony's presence still. "He talked me down."

"Really?" A brow lifted at that. Tony had charisma in spades, but situations that required delicate social finesse and empathy. Well.

Bruce just smiled faintly. "He's good at it, really."

She tested his forehead. "You feel okay now, just a little warm..."

"I'm fine, don't worry."

"I wasn't worried," she lied, but laid back down and tried to find that safe happy place again. Sometimes she still forgot. And then sometimes she remembered, but wouldn't leave the bed even if her heart did pound a little faster for the recollection. If he was fine, he was fine, and the shielded hurt in his eyes would have been far more painful to bear. They hadn't coaxed him here just to run away from him.

A few minutes later, Tony stumbled back from the bathroom with a new box of tissues under one arm. He'd splashed some water on his face and was idly blotting it dry into a handtowel, but that he tossed aside in favor of snarking at Pepper for commandeering his bedspace. She squirmed herself comfortably against Bruce, stuck out her tongue at her boyfriend, and made it quite clear she wasn't moving. She did, however, hold both arms outstretched, patiently waiting like that until he finished sulking and sniffling and clambered back into bed and her embrace. Pepper was far too long used to his splitsecond moodswings, and just rolled her eyes as he snuggled into her as suddenly happy as an overgrown cat.

"You're such a baby."

"I'm sick, I can whine all I want," Tony dismissed.

"We're all sick."

"You can whine too. I'll just do it louder."

"Well, you do have a lot of practice."

Suddenly, she felt Bruce's patient warmth withdraw from her back. Pepper glanced over a shoulder with the worry that he'd taken their playful bickering seriously and had grown uncomfortable. Instead, he was turning away and raising an arm hastily to his face.

"Hh-! .. H'MMFHshh! Ugh, 'xcuse me..."

"Bless you," she and Tony offered in perfect chorus, and that earned a smile from Bruce as he recovered.

"Mhn, thanks." A sniff, followed by a brief beat of hesitation as Tony held a hand out to him, fingertips outstretched. Only a beat, though, before he accepted the offer and laced his own hand into a loose twine. They settled them in unspoken agreement at Pepper's hip, and she resisted the urge to purr. At this rate they would barely even need any training.

"So, doc," Tony said a few comfortable minutes later, giving Bruce's hand an idle squeeze and then nodding to their general puzzle of limbs. "Pepper and I discussed this, we've decided it's a good idea. Your thoughts?"

Pepper didn't argue this slight overgeneralization and logic jump, but she did look back with some amusement to see Bruce's reaction.

He cleared his throat, but looked between them only for a moment before responding. "I can't promise anything," he began, sniffled, and then confessed with quiet optimism, "But this is...nice. I could get used to this."

"Good," Pepper agreed. She reached down to unfasten the monitor from his wrist and tossed it away onto the carpet somewhere. "Me too."

The men laid awake for a while, chatting and sniping at each other quietly, while Pepper drifted off serenely between them, lulled to sleep by the exchange of voices and shared headcold.

[Spoo]

I'm just a mess right now. A big, fat mess. Everything about this fic was perfection: The characters, the dialogue, and ESPECIALLY their interactions.

AND NOW THEY'RE ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY! *SOBS*

The picture made everything all the more real, too. Thanks for this, Garnet. I have several head canons thanks to your story!! Hehehe. Tony and Pepper and Bruce FOREVER~~~~