Chapter Text
They'd saved the world, they were heroes. Alright, admittedly, some people were trying to pin responsibility for the whole attack on them- but overall the sentiment was that they were heroes. It seemed to be the kick in the pants Steve needed to get him out and getting reacquainted with the world, finally. Clint and Natasha were off to do... whatever it was spies did together. Reenacting “Mr And Mrs Smith” was Tony's bet. Thor was off to sort out his family issues and be a prince. And Bruce was---
“What are you planning to do, exactly?” Tony asked him after they had started driving off. He'd convinced Bruce to let him give him a ride, but the detail of 'where to' had been omitted.
Bruce shrugged and smiled at him, “Disappear again, try to do a better job of it this time.”
Tony frowned as he kept his eyes on the road, “You just saved all of New York City and, on a far more important note, my life, and you're going off to some shack in the middle of 3rd World Nowhere?”
“I can do a lot of good there,” he said quietly, “And without the risk of doing so much damage.”
“Okay, so, remember that job offer I made?” Tony asked and Bruce looked at him with confusion, “Oh, you didn't get that my inviting you to my lab was a job offer? Well it was. Now- I'm going to make it again, this time promising that you can put an extra focus on developing things to help people in third world countries, using your special expertise having been there and all.”
“That's a very flattering offer, really, but I can't accept that,” he said with a small smile, shaking his head.
“Sure you can,” Tony insisted, “You know, I would even consider it a favor to me. Not only do I get the wonderful advantage of your company- and I am not exaggerating when I say that- but I get to go in front of the press and say that I've hired an expert genius to start developing technology to help third world people. I've got a lot of work cleaning up my reputation, you know.”
“Somehow, I don't think employing the Hulk will help your reputation as much as you think.”
Tony raised an eyebrow, “A guy saves my life and I'm not allowed to give him a job? What is the world coming to.”
“Tony...” Bruce complained. They sat in silence for a few moments. “Tony- you passed the turn for the airport.”
“Well, obviously. Now, I'm sure that the airport has very nice restaurants but I prefer to do my recruiting at 5 star places. I know an Indian place that you will positively love. Or anything you want, really, I'm flexible- I also know some fantastic burger places if you're missing American food.”
Bruce sighed and shook his head, although his lips still twitched upwards into a slight smile, “It's really hard to imagine eating beef after living so long in a majority Hindu population.” He glanced off to the side, out the 'window' of the convertible, trying not to add on that it was hard to imagine eating in a 5 star restaurant after barely having enough to eat for years.
“Right, I forgot about that, you're choice then- what do you feel like? Sushi? I swear if you still want to turn down my job proposal afterwards I will give you the money- in cash- to get another plane ticket and drop you off at the airport, no questions asked.”
For awhile Bruce didn't say anything and Tony started to worry that he'd done the wrong thing. Finally he spoke, “You know what, I could really go for ice cream- a real milkshake.”
Tony grinned and flicked on the turn signal while JARVIS flipped up directions onto the dashboard computer, “That is incredibly doable.”
That was how Doctor Robert Bruce Banner got on Stark Industries' payroll, a $5 milkshake when Tony would happily have offered him a $1,000 meal. Bruce got his own lab, specially designed for him in the renovations that he helped Tony and Pepper design. Pepper had had a few misgivings about having him around, heard all the horror stories about the other guy while looking up Tony's team mates. Hearing about how Hulk had essentially saved the day, single-handedly subdued Loki and saved Tony's life, then meeting the shy doctor who responded to kindness with confusion melted those misgivings away. She'd feel a tiny bit of guilt for ever having them on the few times that Bruce opened up enough to talk about his life after 'the incident' and whenever someone on the news dragged up what a monster and menace he was.
A month later, Tony finally decided that the grace period on 'getting adjusted' had ended and Bruce's refusal to get close to anyone or open up was something else. The most logical answer was that Bruce was afraid of getting chased away again, or turned to a lab rat, if he screwed up. His experiences with Afghanistan and Obie were more than enough to be painfully aware of the sort of things Bruce feared, and to convince him that there was little more important than ensuring Bruce would never actually have that fear come to pass. The first thing he had done after getting back, after getting Bruce settled in, was ask JARVIS to find the information about anyone who might want to track Bruce down; what they wanted him for, what their weaknesses were, how much of a threat they were. There was a database, now, of people who were searching or had searched for Bruce, and intimate details of how best to destroy them if they made a move now.
He mentioned it to Bruce one day, casually, hoping it would help. Bruce smiled at him and thanked him, insisted it wasn't necessary, then things went back to the way they had been. Bruce was still guarded, although he seemed a little bit more relaxed. That might have just been wishful thinking, though.
“Steve's coming over today, to check out the adjustments we made to his suit,” Tony told him over breakfast one day, which for Tony consisted of coffee and whatever Bruce cooked for him, silently hoping that maybe having another Avenger around might open him up somehow.
Bruce looked up and at him for a moment before nodding, “Alright, maybe I'll see you for dinner, then.” He looked down and shrugged, “Or not, whatever.”
Tony stared at him, “You helped me make the changes, you're part of the team, I thought you'd want to see him, too.”
“No, it's fine, I wouldn't want to intrude,” he took a bite of toast, “Besides, I'm not part of the team and I don't really want to find out if Steve's suit is Hulk-proof that way.”
“That's not true- you're just as much a part of the team as the other guy is, you wouldn't be intruding. You helped make it- really, you're the one who worked out what fibers would give the most flexibility and protection, I just supplied the way to make it,” Tony insisted, shaking his head and leaning back. He sipped his coffee, wondering if Bruce was aware how difficult it was for Tony to give him credit on anything, hoping the gesture would be accepted for as meaningful as it was.
“That's nice of you to say, but I'd really rather not be there, I've got more important things to do.” Tony frowned and glared down at the half-finished eggs on his plate. One look at him told Bruce that he'd made a mistake, “Tony- I didn't... I mean...”
“No, it's fine, more important things and all that,” he grumbled, taking the mug of coffee and standing up, walking over to the pot of coffee on the counter.
Bruce sighed heavily, “It's not you- I just... I don't want to be around Steve, okay?”
Tony didn't look up from pouring his coffee, “And why is that?” Bruce didn't answer, so he turned around and leaned against the counter, smiling slightly, “I admit, the boy scout thing does grate on the nerves but that's not enough to make me avoid him.”
“I don't trust him.” Bruce's eyes were fixated on the top of the island counter that he was sitting at, refusing to look at Tony.
“Is it even possible to not trust Captain America?” Tony asked, the words out of his mouth before he thought about it. Bruce's eyes snapped up at him and he immediately regretted the words.
“He's army, and built like all of those jocks that beat me up for--” he dropped his head and took a deep breath, and Tony realized that this is the first time that he'd seen Bruce actually have to calm himself down. Bruce stood up and dumped his plate and cup in the sink, not looking at Tony, who didn't make any move to stop him. He walked out of the room, muttering, “And he's from the 40s which weren't exactly...” Tony didn't catch the rest.
It did not take a genius to work out what Bruce's problem was, and Tony would be very, very put off if it turned out that the guy that his dad wouldn't shut up about was a gay-basher. After the meeting to check out the suit, which went very well even if Tony got stopped every 5 words and asked to put it in layman's terms, Tony asked him to get coffee with him. During it he managed to subtly bring the conversation around to the differences between when Steve had gone under and now. Or, at least, he thought it was subtle. Steve, however, just smiled and shook his head and said, “Yeah, Fury was worried about that, too, made me go through sensitivity training.”
“That's actually pretty normal these days,” Tony assured him, then grinned, “If it's any help- I lost count of how many times they made me go through it some time after the 10th.”
Steve raised his eyebrows at that and then shook his head, “It's jarring to realize how backwards I was... everyone was, really, but I should have learned better. I wish I'd known better growing up.”
Tony smiled at him, “Hey, don't worry about it, we're still learning, you know, all of us, sometimes we still mess up. The important thing is that you know better now. Some people still don't.”
“I know,” Steve said with a sigh, “Some days I'm overwhelmed with how much things have changed, some I'm just... horrified by how little they have.”
“I think a lot of people have that feeling, these days,” Tony agreed, “Is there anything that sticks out about it?”
Steve bit his lip and looked up nervously at Tony, then took a deep breath. He leaned closer to Tony, voice suddenly a hushed whisper to avoid being overheard, “Well, um, I was... pretty upset to find out about that... um... Don't Ask Don't Tell, is that what it was called?” Tony nodded acknowledgement. Steve smiled slightly and took another deep breath. “50 years after I went under, that was the best way they thought of to handle... And then they only fixed it a year before I came back up. When I was serving there were guys who... well, they never said it but you could tell and they helped work for our freedom as much as anyone else, and...” Steve looked down again, his face bright red. Tony managed to avoid sighing in relief.
“We're pretty far behind a lot of countries in that respect,” Tony said quietly, “But we're also far ahead of a lot of others.”
“We're getting there,” Steve said heavily, smiling slightly at Tony, “That's what matters.”
They sat there for a moment, Steve stirring his coffee nervously and Tony watched him. “I'm the first one you've talked to about this, aren't I?”
Steve continued stirring for a moment before answering, “Sometimes it would come up, sort of, in the military but... not a lot, never this casually.”
“Are you...?”
Steve shrugged, “I don't really know. I love... loved? Peggy, so much, and it was easy to not think about whether or not it was just women because no one thought it could be anything else... I just didn't think about it.” He smiled slightly at Tony, “I didn't really have a chance to think about it. During the war, the enemy and staying alive were bigger priorities. Before it... I had so many health issues and spent too much time fighting bullies and trying to get into the army to worry too much about whether or not my interest in men was admiration or...” He took a sip of his juice and looked away.
“If it's any help, there are plenty of people still working that thing out nowadays, you aren't that behind the times,” Tony offered with a grin. “If you want, I'm sure every queer support group in the country would be falling over themselves to have Captain America join.”
“No!” Steve said, a bit too forcefully and he shrunk into himself slightly, glancing around as if all eyes were on him. The coffee place was loud enough that only a few people glanced over, and quickly lost interest. They were dressed as incognito as they could be, no one had mobbed them for pictures yet at least. Steve still lowered his voice enough that Tony had to lean over and strain to hear again, “I... I'm still not comfortable with this, I don't want to risk it getting out.”
“I understand,” Tony said, knowing exactly the reaction that would come about if it turned out that Captain America was queer. He took a sip of his coffee and managed to suppress a grimace. “Is it alright if the others know? I'm not too sure about Thor, but I'm sure the rest of the team won't treat you differently for it.”
“I think... that would be...” Steve frowned and furrowed his brow for a moment, “Is that why Bruce isn't here?”
“What do you mean?"
Steve fidgeted in his seat, “You said that he was busy and couldn't make it... I know that I didn't make the greatest first impression, acting like he would bring the Helicarrier down over a hang nail, I don't know if he really accepted my apology for that, and it's not exactly a secret that I came from a less progressive time...” He looked up at Tony sadly, “That's why he isn't here, isn't it?”
“I'm honestly not sure exactly what it is,” Tony said, then looked down, “But, uh, yeah. That's the best I can guess.”
“Fuck,” Steve muttered, running a hand through his hair and sitting back in his seat. Tony just stared at him, he really hadn't thought that Steve knew about cursing. “Do you think I should talk to him?”
Tony shook his head, “I'll bring this up, see if it's really what was bothering him. Might help.” He smiled, “Don't worry too much about it, yeah? You haven't said anything really awful to him. He'll get over whatever it is, I'm sure.”
Steve nodded, frowning slightly as he did.