72 Hours (Avengers: Tony and Bruce)

[matilda3948]

Part one of a new story featuring sick!Tony and care taking Bruce because we all love the science bros.

72 Hours

It was quiet on the jet as a banged up Avengers team made their way back towards Stark Towers. Natasha and Clint piloted the plane, stealing worried glances at each other every few moments. Natasha had a split lip and her left eye would be black within the next few hours and Clint knew he had at least two bruised ribs. But they were more concerned about their teammates in the back of the plane. Steve had made out with a few scrapes but Tony was bleeding from an injury to his arm. His armor was bent and wouldn’t retract so they could see the extent of the injury. And Bruce was huddled in the corner as far away from the rest of the team as possible. He’d needlessly smashed a building in his rage and then almost hurt Natasha as she tried to help calm the Hulk down. He sat with his head down, shoulders sagging, and hadn’t made eye contact with anyone on his team since boarding the plane.

“Tony, hold still,” Steve said. “I think I can get this plate free if you hold your arm like this.” He positioned Tony’s arm across his lap and used every bit of strength he had to pry the piece of metal off Iron Man’s damaged suit. Finally Steve was able to assess the damage to Tony’s arm. “This cut is deep,” he said. “You’re gonna need stiches.”

“I’m not going to the hospital for a cut,” Tony said, but he paled when he looked down at his arm. Steve grabbed the first aid kit and pressed some gauze to the wound.

“Don’t be stubborn. This isn’t going to close up on its own.”

“Thanks for the diagnosis, Cap but I’m fine.”

“Let me see it,” Bruce said quietly. It was the first thing he’d said since transforming back and not even Tony would refuse a request by the doctor. Tony slid closer as Bruce put his glasses on, an act that seemed to take a tremendous amount of energy. He carefully examined the gash on Tony’s forearm before taking his glasses off again and resting his head back against the wall. “I can stitch you up back at the tower. Keep pressure on it for now.”

**

After dropping Tony, Bruce, and Steve at Stark Towers, Clint and Natasha left to go to Clint’s house upstate. Everyone was going to need a few days to rest and regroup after the successful but messy mission. Steve was eager to get back to his place as well but wanted to make sure Bruce and Tony were okay before he left them on their own. Bruce was exhausted, barely making it inside under his own power before slumping down in a chair at the kitchen table. Tony didn’t seem much better, stopping long enough to grab a screwdriver before sitting down next to Bruce and making quick work of loosening the last bit of bent armor so his entire suit could come off.

“Hey Cap? Do you mind getting the big guy’s medical kit from his room?” Tony asked. “Not sure he’s got the energy to make the trip.”

“Of course,” Steve said. As his steps receded down the hall, Tony glanced at his friend.

“You okay?” he asked. Bruce shrugged but didn’t answer. “Listen, we had a bad day but thahh—” Tony’s voice broke off suddenly and he twisted away from the table.

hahAhhSCHHew! Tschheew!

Tony shook his head to clear the sudden irritation and sniffed. “Sorry. Lost my train of thought.”

“Bless you. How’s your arm?” Bruce asked.

“I’ll live.”

Steve came back at that moment and put an extensive first aid kit on the table—certainly more complete than what they had on the plane.

“You guys gonna be okay?” Steve asked.

“Yeah. We’ll be fine. Right?” Tony glanced at Bruce.

“Take care, Steve,” he said.

“You too, doctor. Look after that arm, Tony. I’ll check in tomorrow.”

Bruce snapped on a pair of latex gloves and got out what he needed to patch up his friend. Tony was uncharacteristically quiet watching the other man work. It was only after he’d put down a drape and lined up gauze, tape, several kinds of topical medicine, and the prethreaded surgical needle, that he finally spoke up.

“Are you okay?” Tony asked? “You haven’t said much since—”

“I’m leaving after I stitch you up,” Bruce said.

“When you say ‘leaving’ you mean…”

“I can’t keep doing this,” Bruce sighed. “I’m going to hurt someone—kill someone. I could have crushed Natasha today.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Not this time. But it’s not a question of ‘if’ it’s a question of ‘when’ and I can’t live with it.”

“You can’t leave, Bruce.”

For the first time the doctor raised his eyes and looked at his friend. Tony frowned—it looked like Bruce was on the verge of tears and he’d take an enormous raging Hulk over a crying Dr. Banner any day of the week.

“Okay, look. Just don’t do anything today, alright? Give it 72 hours before making a decision.” Bruce looked ready to argue so Tony sweetened the deal. “If you still want to go after that I’ll teach you how to scan for SHIELD tracking technology so they won’t be able to find you again.” They stared at each other for a moment before Bruce nodded. “Knew I could make you an offer you couldn’t refuse,” Tony said with a smirk. “Now help me out with this arm before I get gangrene or something.”

Bruce adjusted his glasses and positioned Tony’s arm exactly the way he wanted it. He took off the bandage Steve had applied on the plane and assessed what he was working with.

“I’ve got to clean it first to make sure it won’t get infected,” he said, reaching for one of the bottles. “I’m sorry but it’s going to sting.” He watched Tony’s muscles contract and heard the sharp intake of breath as he began cleaning the affected area. Bruce worked as quickly as possible and once he was sure he’d done a thorough job he prepped a syringe full of lidocaine. “I can numb it for you now,” he said. After a couple quick injections Tony could no longer feel the area around the cut and he took a couple deep breaths to calm himself down. It was only when Bruce reached for the needle that Tony gasped. “What’s wrong?” Bruce asked, thinking Tony was in pain.

Hehh HihhSCHHeew! hahh AhhTSCHHew!

“Bless you.” Tony nodded but was immediately overtaken by another two ticklish, desperate sneezes.

heh ehh hehAHHtschhhew! TSCHHHeew!

“Ugh.” Tony roughly ground the palm of his hand against his nose and sniffled.

“Are you okay?” Dr. Banner asked.

“My nose itches.”

“I guessed that much. Are you done?”

 “Yeah—ehh…wait…Hehh Dehh…definitely not done… hahAhhSCHHew! AHHshhhew!”

Bruce stood up and took his gloves off, going over to the kitchen counter and grabbing a few napkins for his friend—it sounded like he certainly needed them. He placed them within reach and sat back down in his chair waiting for Tony to blow his nose and make sure he was actually done sneezing this time. He didn’t say a word, but Bruce put a hand on Tony’s forehead.

“How did you feel this morning before we left?” he asked, putting fresh gloves on and getting ready to go back to stitching up Tony’s arm.

“I felt fine.”

“Really?”

“Mostly fine,” Tony said. "Maybe a little headache-y, throat's a little scratchy, but mostly fine." Bruce smiled and firmly held his friend’s arm down, making quick work of the seven stitches required to close the cut. Bruce taped a clean bandage over everything and said,

“Keep it dry and I’ll recheck it in the morning but it should be fine. You’ll want to take some ibuprofen as well.”

“Nah. It doesn’t hurt,” Tony said.

“It will once the lidocaine wears off. Plus, you have fever.”

“You think?”

“Not bad but try and keep it that way.” Bruce stripped his gloves off again and gathered up all the medical debris off the table. He grunted when he bent down to throw it in the trash—his body was so sore.

“You look like you could use something as well, big guy.” Tony found a bottle of painkillers in the cabinet got two for himself then handed the bottle to Bruce. “Come on. You look like you’re really hurting today.” He only hesitated for a moment before accepting the pills. “Thanks for patching me up,” Tony added. “See? This is why you can’t leave—can’t have Steve trying to do this kind of work and I’m pretty sure Natasha would just want to amputate my arm while I bit down on a leather strap.” It didn’t get the laugh he was hoping for, but it did elicit a small smile and given Bruce’s state of mind, Tony supposed a smile was a win.

“We can talk about it in 72 hours,” Bruce said.

TBC...

[pastelglaceon]

great so far! love me some science bros

[SleepingPhlox]

Ohhhh my, yes.  This is yummy.  This is the story equivalent of a really nice chocolate cake.  You write them so well, the little touches here and there like Tony's aversion to hospitals really make the characters feel right.  And you make them interact so effortlessly.

The world needs more sick Tony.  The world needs as much sick Tony as possible.  I was in such a bad mood because I woke up stupid early and now I'm cool with being awake because it means I can read this over again.

Cannot wait for the next bit.

[CharliesGirl]

Awwww! I love this  

[beatlelover22]

Oh yes... My fav line was "I guessed that much..." Oh my gosh how I love Tony. 

[darkness-is-the-light]

It was so early when I saw this and of course I was awake but not coherent enough to type out a comment. You have no idea how happy I am to see more Bruce and Tony in the fanfiction section. There needs to be more of these adorable nerds. 

[AngelEyes]

Yay Science Bros! Never enough!

[ID2006]

Yes yes yes 

[RiversD]

Love, love, loving this.

Your characterisation of the Avengers was great here- from that first summary of their state on the plane, it felt consistent with their canon selves, and that made the events of the fic easy for me to find believable. (I might also really like the concept of Tony sometimes having to have bits of his armour pried off to get at an injury...)

On 14/08/2016 at 6:42 AM, matilda3948 said:

Tony shook his head to clear the sudden irritation and sniffed. “Sorry. Lost my train of thought.”

This is one of my favourite things.

I love Tony's sneezes- I just really enjoy the idea of him having fittish, sudden sneezes that perpetually take him by surprise. Nice sounds for him too, I thought. I found it really easy to turn the spellings into sounds in my head.

On 14/08/2016 at 6:42 AM, matilda3948 said:

“I guessed that much. Are you done?”

 “Yeah—ehh…wait…Hehh Dehh…definitely not done… hahAhhSCHHew! AHHshhhew!”

Super hot, yo.

I also enjoyed the dynamic you created between Bruce and Tony, and the way that Tony was able to persuade Bruce to take some time before leaving for good while still understanding and respecting Bruce's reasons for wanting to. That section gave me feelings, especially about actually caring!Tony.

This is great.

[Red]

Great fic! I´m waiting for more. I love Marvel and I love how you describe Tony and Bruce!  

[matilda3948]

Thank you all so, so much for your comments! I really appreciate it. Took me a while to figure out how I wanted to finish this but I think I'm finally happy with it. It's late and I haven't proofread it, so I apologize for typos but I wanted to post it before I went to bed.

**

“Sodium, Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicahh—Ahh hahh AhhNGSCHHew! Ugh. Silicod.”

“Bless you,” Bruce said. He pulled a couple tissues from the box that was lying on the bed between the two men and held them out to his ailing friend. He knew Tony was never lucky enough to get away with just one sneeze.

hhNGSHHHew!

“Bless you again.”

“Thags.” Tony turned his head and blew his nose then did his best to try and stifle the cough that was always threatening to choke him. “Where was I?” he asked.

“Silicon.”

“Right,” Tony said. “Okay. Silicon, Phosphorus, Sulfur…”

Just how did two banged up superheroes end up sharing a bed reciting the periodic table of elements? It has started over an hour earlier when Tony’s insomnia got the better of him…again.

Tony woke up and groaned. He rolled over and glanced at the clock—he’d only been asleep for about three hours but somehow managed to wake up feeling infinitely worse than he had when he laid down.

heh’SNGSHHew!

The thick, nasal sneeze caught in his throat and made him cough. Tony clutched his throat as each gasping cough scraped its way out. He finally recovered his breath and threw his blanket on the floor, getting up and stumbling into the bathroom to get a drink of water. Tony rested his palms on the cool counter top and let his head hang for a moment before turning on the tap and using his hand to bring a mouthful of water up to his lips. Then, for good measure, he splashed some cool water onto his face. Despite taking medicine earlier, he still seemed to be running a fever. After turning off the water he took a towel from the rack and blotted his face dry. Tony frowned when he finally looked in the mirror and saw how sickly he looked—he was unusually pale except for the dark circles under his eyes and a pinkish tinge starting to set in around his nostrils.

“Not a good look for me,” he said aloud. Then he winced because he sounded terrible and even those few words made his throat sting. He opened the medicine cabinet to see if he could find a cough drop or something to ease the pain in his throat but no such luck. Tony was right on the brink of feeling sorry for himself and, as if his body seemed determined to add insult to injury, his nose was starting to run. Well, one side of his nose was starting to run and the other felt as though it was it filled with concrete. He swiped the hand towel from earlier and wiped his nose. Tony was walking back towards his room when he stopped short just beyond the doorway. His breath hitched sharply and his head angled back, his chest rapidly filling with each sharp inhale. With nothing else at hand, Tony buried his face in the towel and nearly doubled over.

hehh Ahh…hah AhhEHH’GNZSHHHeew!

He was torn between being relieved and being disgusted.

ahhNGSCHHeew! ngt’SHHH! NTKSHHHeew!

He leaned against the door frame and blew his nose into the towel and then tossed it in the clothes hamper. Tony looked around his room and realized that going back to bed was a lost cause—once he was awake there was no going back to sleep. Might as well head down to the lab and work on something. Tony left his room and shuffled down the hallway. He turned the corner and saw a light coming from underneath Bruce’s bedroom door; he wondered if his friend had decided to sneak out in the night rather than stay the agreed upon 72 hours. He stopped outside and didn’t hear anything so he cracked the door, afraid he was about to find the room empty.

The lights may have still been on but Dr. Banner was sound asleep and looked like he had been for quite a while. Tony felt equal parts relieved and jealous to find his friend sleeping so peacefully. Bruce had a physics journal resting on his chest and his glasses perched on the end of his nose. Tony weighed the likelihood of being able to successfully remove both the magazine and the glasses without waking his friend; he didn’t like his odds and he really didn’t want to have to explain why he was standing in Bruce’s room in the middle of the night. He thought about what Bruce had said earlier and wondered what he could say to get the other man to stay. Or maybe it was better to let him go—Tony could see how much guilt and worry Bruce felt about the consequences of the Other Guy’s actions. But he’d been doing so much better. Well, until yesterday.

hhNGKTX!

He’d been so caught up in his thoughts that he barely managed to stifle the sneeze. Unfortunately, stifling made his head spin and the room tilt under his feet. Tony was doing his best to make it towards the door but another sneeze overtook him first.

huhNGK’shh! Ahh hehNK’shheew!

By the time the third sneeze was barreling its way out he was one the floor and Bruce was waking up.

“Tony?”

Tony briefly glanced up over the hands he still had cupped in front of his face before.

ahhNGSCHHeew! heh Ahh… AHHGNSHHHH!!

“Bless you!” Bruce threw his blanket to the side and straightened his glasses before kneeling down on the floor across from his friend. “Why are you on the floor?” he asked.

“Got dizzy,” Tony mumbled. He swiped at his nose and sniffled wetly. Bruce looked bemused and stood up.

“Stay there. I’m just going to get you some tissues.” He was only gone for a few seconds but when Bruce came back he found Tony trying to stand up on still-wobbly legs. “I just told you to stay there.” He took Tony by the arm and eased him back down onto the floor; he could feel the heat coming off the other man.

“You’re not the boss of me,” Tony said weakly. He took several tissues and folded them over his nose and giving it a fierce blow. He repeated the process two more times before finally being able to take a semi-clear breath. Bruce didn’t ask the obvious question but set to work examining his friend.

“You’ve been feeling sick for more than just the last two days,” he said. “There’s no way you got a sinus infection this bad in 24 hours. How long have you actually been feeling bad?”

“About a week.”

“Hmm.” Bruce placed his hands on either side of Tony’s neck and checked his glands before finally resting one hand on his forehead. “Okay, you obviously feel terrible so why aren’t you in bed?”

“Can’t sleep,” Tony said, grabbing another tissue and rubbing his nose back and forth. He really, really didn’t want to sneeze again. As though saying the word “sleep” was enough of a reminder, Bruce yawned against the back of his hand.

“Scuse me,” he said. “I don’t know how you’re not tired after yesterday.”

“I’m exhausted,” Tony said. “I just can’t sleep. I was going to go down to the lab for a while.” Bruce yawned again and shook his head.

“You need rest, Tony.”

“Can’t. I’m going to let you get back to bed though. Sorry I woke you up.” Tony sniffled and pinched his nose shut. Maybe if he did that he just wouldn’t sneeze. How long could a person keep their nose pinched? Maybe he should get one of those things that swimmers use to keep water out of their noses when they were in the water.

“Why did you come to my room in the first place?” Bruce finally asked.

“Was on my way to the lab and saw your light on. Wanted to make sure you hadn’t skipped out in the middle of the night.”

“Just fell asleep reading. I told you I’d give it 72 hours and I will.” Bruce stood up first and held a hand out to Tony. “Come on.” Tony took his hand and let himself be hauled to his feet. The dizziness immediately set in and he was afraid he was going to hit the floor again but he felt Bruce grab him by the shoulders. “Open your eyes, Tony. Closing them only makes it worse.” Tony blinked a couple times and Bruce pointed to the clock on the wall. “Stay focused on that and it will pass quicker.” It only took about 15 seconds and the world finally righted itself. “Do your ears hurt?” Bruce asked. “Your equilibrium is really off.”

“Ndo. Just a cold,” Tony said.

“And a sinus infection,” Bruce added.

ngt’SHHH! NTKSHHHeew!

“Bless you. Those sound like they hurt,” Bruce said.

huhh…AHH..ahhNGSSSHHH!

“Ugh. They do.”

Bruce tugged Tony out the door and back to his bedroom. Then he straightened the bedding and went into the bathroom, coming back with a cup of water and a bottle of Tylenol. He watched as Tony took the pills and then stood there with an expectant look on his face until Tony relented and got back into bed.

“It’s not gonna work,” Tony said. “Once I’m awake I can’t go back to sleep.”

Bruce walked around to the other side of the bed and laid down as well. Tony raised an eyebrow.

“I’m exhausted and I don’t trust you stay in bed where you belong,” Bruce explained. Tony sighed and readjusted his pillows.

“So I’m just supposed to lay here and do nothing?”

“Have you tried meditating?” Bruce asked.

“Do I seem like the kind of guy who meditates?”

“Count sheep?” Bruce yawned again.

“No.”

“Recite the periodic table?”

“Never tried that. Okay. Hydrogen. Helium. Lithium.”

“I meant in your head, Tony.”

“Oh.” Tony heavy sighed.

“Fine.”

“Beryllium. Boron. Carbon. Nitrogehh…hehh…have to hah AhhNGKshhh!”

“Sneeze. Yeah. It’s okay, Tony.”

hhSNGshhew! AhhNTSCHHHeew!

“Bless you.”

“Sorry,” Tony rasped before breaking into a coughing fit. The pain in his throat was unbelievable and he ended up curled on his side trying to get the spasms to stop. He felt Bruce pat him between his shoulder blades and saying something to him—he couldn’t make out what but it was gentle and comforting. When the coughing finally subsided, Tony rolled back over, propped another pillow under his head and took a shaky breath.

“Okay?” Bruce asked.

“Yeah. Listen, you don’t need to stay,” Tony said. “You’re exhausted and you’ll never get any sleep while I’m—”

“I’m not leaving,” Bruce said.

“But—”

“Tonight or three days from now,” Bruce said.

“Really?”

“Really. You should always have a doctor nearby. You may be a genius but you do a terrible job taking care of yourself. Just relax and try and get some rest. Go back to the periodic table.”

Tony cycled through all the elements twice, regularly interrupted by coughing and sneezing. Bruce was nearly asleep, doing his best to fight it in case his friend needed something.

“Lead…Bismuth… … ”

“Polonium,” Bruce mumbled. When Tony didn’t pick up after his prompt (or sneeze, or cough) he glanced over and saw Tony was asleep. Bruce smiled and finally allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep.

[darkness-is-the-light]

Matilda... Why do you keep making my heart want to flutter away? This is extremely adorable, and reciting the periodic table to go to sleep just puts it over the top. Tony is so unbelievably stubborn and Bruce knows him to handle him. I... I love this. I could go on for a while but I'm going to stop here. 

[Red]

I hoped you would continue the story and right away you posted a new part! It´s wonderful, thank you so much! 

[ID2006]

Mmmm, what a lovely thing to read before going to bed myself

[AngelEyes]

I love this! Dr Banner to the rescue! And he's right, Tony needs him!