#biobanner

Jess wandered around the SHIELD Laboratories completely lost. She'd been told to come down for some tests of her powers but she was lost. She wasn't a science kid. She had no idea about these labs. It was like a rabbit warren and she was going around in circles.

Through the window of one lab she spied a boy who used to be friends with Darcy. Bruce, she thought his name was. She stopped outside the doors and tapped on the glass, hoping she wasn't interrupting anything important.

Don't waste your life.

Tony had no intention of doing that. He never had, but after the cave, after everything, he knew he had been. His weapons were used against innocent people, and he needed to find out how these terrorist groups were getting a hold them. It wasn't right. 

He'd made himself a better, more powerful arc reactor once he was home. It looked so much nicer without that whole 'made in a cave' look the first one had. His fingers tapped against the metal as he moved around the lab. Weapons had to be destroyed, Bruce needed finding, and Obi needed placating. Right. Tony started running a tracking algorithm for Bruce as he set to work. 

DUM-E, BUTTERFINGERS, and U had been a wreck when took them out of the closet. They'd spun and whirred and pinched his skin for three days before they realized Bruce hadn't been in the lab with them. It was day four when his life became much more annoying. They had entered into "Banner's Sick" protocol so the fold out bed was down in a walkway and U was trying to balance a lump of iron wool on his head while turning screws in the leg plate. Making the Mark III was slow work. Of course, Tony could always go into their programing and turn the protocol off. Or Bruce could walk in that door and fix it. Bruce would walk in that door. 

He'd found a lead on Bruce, or more accurately the Jolly Green Giant along with SI weapon stores. Those could be taken care of at the same time. South America and the Middle East. One trip no problem with his new suit. Red and gold, very low profile. Jarvis had rolled his eyes at that choice. Tony just sent him to finishing up the detail work and checked one last time for any sign of Bruce. 

It took far longer than he would have liked, partly because Bruce was a pro at hide and seek and partly because he kept having to turn General Ross away from the trail, but at last there was finally a sighting in India. He left in the middle of a lecture. Bruce was coming home today. 

Rubble and debris were everywhere. A thick layer of dust had settled over the broken glass and scattered lab paraphernalia so thick it seemed like moths had passed. Which. According to the security footage, was true. 

Tony saw everything. He saw Bruce on the floor sobbing, Bruce up late, Bruce shaking, Jarvis hovering over him trying to feed him, his robots slowly curling in on themselves, Bruce running calculation after calculation, Bruce moving his bots, Betty and Steve gesturing angrily, Bruce looking like he does when he's about to do something stupid, Bruce doing something stupid, Betty being flung aside, something large and hulking breaking everything around him, and then no more Bruce. That was the last of it. 

His lab should have been repaired by now, but some dumbass (his money was on Fury) decided they needed to keep it just the way Bruce had left it. Because that thing had to be Bruce. Dammit. He wasn't supposed to leave. He was supposed to be here when Tony came back so they could fall right back into whatever project they were working on before the weapons demo. That was the plan. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind Tony heard Pepper telling him he should sleep. Was she even in the room? No. He changed the code after she put party hats on his robots. Now Bruce was the only one who could get in. So unless Banner had somehow managed to get a spot on Pepper impersonation after meeting her the night before, Tony Stark was hearing things. 

 Not that it mattered. The freeze ray was almost finished. After they tested it, he'd turn in and send the plans to the board in the morning. He finished welding the base of the gun together. That'll work for test purposes. He'd make up a sexier gun once he knew the basics would work. He picked up the canister and slid it into place. "Hey Banner. Ready for the tests?"