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Tony yawns, looking out the skyscraper window and trying diligently to ignore the presenter who is attempting to convince him of... well. He's sure there's some point to this presentation, otherwise Pepper wouldn't have insisted he show up. He absentmindedly gazes over the presenter's suit, slightly wrinkled in a way that tells Tony that the man probably ironed it himself in his hotel this morning, and smiles inwardly as he takes in the sheen of sweat on the man's face. He seems cowed being in Tony's presence, which he needn't have worried about, since Tony isn't even paying attention.Silence falls over the room, and Tony realizes the man has asked him a question. Glancing at Pepper, he finds that she's looking expectantly at him, with a smirk on her face. Ah, so she WAS paying attention, and isn't going to cover for his lapse in concentration. Typical. As he mentally reviews the last few seconds, Tony's StarkWatch alarm goes off. A lab explosion. Oh thank God, Tony thinks as he taps the alarm away. He gifts the presenter with a Tony Stark Patented apologetic smile."I'm so sorry, but I've got to run. There's a lab emergency. I'm sure you understand. Pepper here will be more than happy to answer your questions and see what we can do." He shoots a hopeful glance at Pepper, who frowns at him questioningly, but nods. Giving her a thankful nod, Tony takes his leave. Tapping his watch again, his Iron Man suit materializes around him and he takes to the skies. "Fri, update. What's going on in the lab? Was it Bruce? Oh I hope it was Bruce, I'll never let him live this down!"Lab explosions aren't exactly a rare occurrence, but normally Tony is the one making the explosions. Tony smiles as he remembers the fondly exasperated looks on Bruce's face as Tony made yet another explosion just a few days ago. Hey, it wasn't his fault Dum-E never utilizes his fire extinguisher correctly! "Boss, I believe Dr. Banner could use your assistance, as he is in considerable distress."Tony swears. "Code Green?""No, Boss. You're gonna have to see this for yourself,"
Friday says mysteriously. Worry intensifying, Tony boosts the thrusters and jets towards the Tower.What could have possibly happened? Bruce is the calm one, he's never one for "Distress", except for the Big Guy, of course. Tony swears again, thinking about what could have happened to his friendThe Tower landing couldn't come fast enough and Tony literally flies down to the lab, still in full armor. It never hurts to be prepared, especially with the Big Guy a possibility. As he approaches the lab, the first thing Tony notes is that it's partially on fire. Dum-E is whirring, beeping frantically with his fire extinguisher on full blast. "Friday, turn on the sprinklers. Where's Bruce?"Stepping out of the Iron Man suit, Tony looks around for his lab partner. Friday lights up a corner of the lab, and Tony hears soft whimpering. He strides forward and peers around the tables and debris, heart pounding in his chest. What he sees makes him gasp out loud. A tiny child, with his hands wrapped around his knees, is crying inconsolably. "...Bruce?"The child looks up, tears in his big brown eyes. "W-who are you?"Tony swears yet again
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The child looks up, tears in his big brown eyes. "W-who are you?"Tony takes in the small child before him; kid looks to be about 5 or 6 years old, thin and small, just like Tony had been at that age, with a mess of dark curly hair. He is the perfect picture of a little Bruce Banner, or at least how Tony had imagined a little Bruce would look. Somehow he is wearing clothes that fit him perfectly, despite the fact Tony is sure he was forty years older and three feet taller less than an hour ago. What could have happened in here, how would this kind of thing even be possible? The only person who has the answers is unfortunately now the scared child in front of him. The child in question is still looking at Tony, obviously terrified, maybe of the fire that's being put out, maybe of being somewhere that is obviously unfamiliar to him, so Tony crouches down and puts on his best "Little Kid Friendly" smile."My name is Tony, your name is Bruce, right?" He gently reaches out a hand, intending to touch the little guy's shoulder, pull him into a half-hug maybe, like Tony would with adult Bruce when he comes down from a Hulk-Out and he's too tired to resist. This Bruce, however, flinches massively and begins crying in earnest. Witnessing Bruce try and make himself as tiny as possible while as far away from Tony as possible, Tony realizes he has made a mistake. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Bruce wails and hides his small face from Tony, who immediately retracts his hand, stunned. Tony rocks back on his heels, brain whirring at around one million miles an hour. Clearly little Bruce is a whole bunch different than Adult Bruce. He thinks back to what he knows about Bruce's childhood, which is next to nothing. Bruce is very quiet and reserved about his past as an adult, and as a matter of friendly respect, Tony has never looked into it. Based on the looks he's getting right now, it looks like their might be another reason beyond privacy that Bruce never talks about what his childhood years were like. Or maybe that's just Tony projecting. Good old Howard, causing Tony to question every flinch of another person. Surely a kid as sweet and innocent as Bruce surely had been, surely Brian wouldn't have ever... Ah, that's a question for another time. Right now, take care of little Science Bro. Feeling a surge of compassion, and suddenly overwhelmed with a desire to get this new little Bruce to trust him, Tony leaves his hands near the ground, by his side, and speaks softly to him."Buddy, it's okay. I don't know what you think you did, but everything is okay. I just want to make sure that you aren't hurt."Tony pauses, looking him up and down for injuries. The lab did explode, after all."You're not hurt, are you?"Bruce raises his head the tiniest bit and stares at Tony, no less terrified but looking absolutely confused. He slowly shakes his head.
Is it wrong to think he's absolutely adorable, even though the little dude is really upset?
Yeah, probably.
Tony keeps a steady eye contact with Bruce, trying not to freak the little guy out any more than he already is. The lab is still smoking, though FRIDAY and Dum-E have put out the actual flames. There's chemicals and moving parts and experiments that could be in various stages of unstable. As it is now, it's no place to figure out what happened to Bruce. He's got to somehow convince Bruce to leave the lab with him, who knows what his adult counterpart was working on in here, but he'll never find out if he can't get Bruce to calm down somewhere quiet where Tony can think. Carefully, Tony reaches out his hand, palm up, not threatening, for Bruce to take."Bruce, buddy, would you mind coming with me out of the lab? It might be a little dangerous in here and I'd like us to go somewhere safer until we get some things figured out. Is that okay?"Eyeing the lab, and then Tony, Bruce warily starts to reach out to take Tony's hand. At just that particular moment, Dum-E drops his fire extinguisher with a large BANG, and begins beeping sadly in distress as the extinguisher rolls away. Bruce's reaction is instant: he yanks his hand back at the noise and jumps up, moving his small hands to cover his ears, and makes a frantic break for the lab door, blowing right past Tony, right through the path of the smoking section of the lab."Bruce, be careful!"The words are out of Tony's mouth before he can stop them, and his yell causes Bruce to jump and turn back to look at Tony in alarm. He just has time to see a look of pure dread in Bruce's eyes before the little boy's momentum causes him to bump heavily into a table containing adult Bruce Banner's chemical experiments, which start to fall. It all seems to happen in slow motion, the bottles and chemicals rattling, tipping and knocking together.Glass beakers cracking, and spilling their contents, onto the table, in the air flying towards an already petrified child.Liquids and semi-solids mixing. A spark as two or more flammable and "Should Never Be Mixed" liquids hit each other.Tony's heart stops.The lab explodes for the second time that day, a hot fireball forming and igniting in an instant, debris flying through the air, singing the hair on Tony's arms as the heat hits his face.A scream, high pitched, pained, and wailing. It's a sound that is somehow everything Tony never knew he feared and a sound he hopes he never hears again as long as he lives."BRUCE!!"
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Tony blinks his eyes open, a headache already raging. He registers through blurry sight what appear to be.. flames? Something seems wrong about that, but Tony can't put his finger on it. The sound of sobbing draws his attention, even over FRIDAY's blaring alarms. Who is even crying? It all comes back in a rush. Bruce, his lab partner and best friend, turned into a child. Little Bruce running from fear. The explosion. Tony jerks into fully conscious panic. "BRUCE?!" He sits up, body screaming at the sudden change and telling Tony to take better care of it, but Tony doesn't care. He only cares about one thing right now. And that thing is Bruce Banner. The lab is in flames, purple and yellow and green in a way that tells Tony that there are chemicals in it, that the air might be unsafe to breathe. Extending a hand, Tony calls to his suit, scanning with his limited vision already for his young lab partner. The suit engages with a silky smooth click, and his vision mechanics come online. FRIDAY, bless her, outlines a small figure a short distance from Tony, curled into a ball and heaving, with sobs or pain or the inability to breathe, Tony doesn't know. "FRI! Engage Parker Luck protocol!" FRIDAY has not yet had to use this protocol. Nothing like a trial by fire, literally. Ever since Tony had started inviting Peter Parker to join him and Bruce in the lab, he had taken note that Peter was both very energetic and very distractable. So in case of Peter ever causing a lab explosion, Tony had ensured there were protocols to protect both Peter and Bruce. A smaller Iron Man helmet flies and attaches itself to the small boy a few feet away, fire retardant rains from the ceiling, and a huge fume hood descends and starts pulling toxins from the air. At the same time, Tony forces the suit to carry him forward and scoop the now helmeted child into his arms. The glass walls surrounding the lab have blown out, which is lucky since Tony immediately flies through them, cradling little Bruce in his arms. Finally Tony registers that FRIDAY is talking to him. "Boss? I've called Dr. Helen Cho, and she is on the way to the Tower as we speak. Should I initiate lab lockdown protocol?" Tony affirms as he clears the floor and lands, disengaging the suit and trying to triage the little boy in his arms. Bruce is sobbing, and Tony pulls him closer, which seems to soothe and frighten Bruce in equal parts. He is littered with burns, but none of them seem life threatening at first glance, and there is glass sticking out of the little boy's skin in multiple places. He is also holding his left arm at an awkward angle. This is so outside of Tony's paygrade. Hurt little kids is not something Tony has ever dealt with hands on or ever wanted to. Feeling kind of useless, Tony decides to start pulling some of the pieces of glass out of his young lab partner. "Bruce, buddy? Would you look at me?" Bruce obediently tears his hand away from his face, and looks at Tony. Tony feels his heart ache as he looks at his friend, terrified and hurt and distrustful of him. "Buddy. I want to get some of this glass off of you, is that okay?" He doesn't know what he'll do if Bruce says no. But Bruce nods, still crying, but now that he is aware of Tony's attention, not making a sound or flinching. Bracing himself, Tony starts with the bigger chunks, some as big as a fourth inch wide, to his estimation. He can't even find words to say how Bruce's terrified lack of flinching or reaction makes Tony feel. He is literally pulling glass out of the little guy and there is no reaction other than continued hushed crying. He knows very little about Bruce as a kid, but that is something that clearly needs to change. Tony doesn't know what could have happened to Bruce as a child to make him this distrustful and pain tolerant, but he does take a moment to curse the fact that Brian Banner is already dead and Tony can't take this out on him personally. "FRIDAY, update on Dr. Cho?" He tries to stay as calm as possible. Kids need calm, right? Bruce, however, freaks out the moment Tony speaks. "No, no no please don't!" Bruce's voice breaks and he stares Tony down with the intensity of a hunted animal. "No what, buddy? I need a doctor to look at you and make sure we are both okay." Bruce rips himself out of Tony's grasp and tries to run. Only he can't make it that far and trips before even taking a step. Tony catches his right arm and sits him down. "Bruce. Talk to me right now, bud." He doesn't know what he is hoping for, Bruce to suddenly not be scared or to open up, but what he receives is a sudden resurgence of tears. "No doctors. They'll take me away. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please no doctor" the plea in Bruce's voice leaves Tony desperate to calm him and to please him. But what can he do? Tony can't fix broken bones, and Bruce clearly has at least one. Tony himself may have a concussion. "If I promise you I'll stay the whole time will you let the doctor take care of us? I'm hurt too, and I don't think I can fix it all, buddy. I'm sorry. We need some help." Tony fixes Bruce with his best puppy dog stare which, while it never worked with Pepper, has an 85% success rate with Bruce's adult self. Bruce looks Tony over, and so does Tony, as he realizes he himself has glass and cuts all over him also. Yeah, they really need Helen. A nod is all the answer Tony receives. It is all he needs though, and Helen Cho enters the room. Briskly taking in the situation, she looks at Tony. "Mr. Stark. What have you done this time?"
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Dr. Cho takes stock of the situation and takes control easily and instantly. "Tony, who is this?" she asks, motioning to the child in his grasp. Tony glances down, and then puts on his favorite Billionaire smile, "Why Helen, this is Bruce Banner! I don't believe you two have met." Dr. Cho fixes Tony with a very hard stare, reminding Tony vividly of the "Answers NOW, Tony" look that Pepper gives him all too frequently. He shakes his head slightly, exuding charm for Bruce's sake, but trying to stave off questions for now. "Well, Dr. Cho, you see... I had a lab accident here with my good friend Bruce here and unfortunately we... Well..." Tony tries desperately for a nonchalant act that communicates injury but relieves Bruce of all blame. He spots Dum-E sadly sweeping up flame retardant in the corner, and he smiles winningly at Bruce and Dr. Cho. "Actually now that I think of it, this whole thing is Dum-E's fault, so you'll have to tell Pepper that me and Bruce here had nothing to do with it. We could use some fixing up though. Together, if you don't mind." Dr. Cho's eyes narrow slightly at him in a way that tells Tony he is going to have some explaining to do later. Which would be great and all, if Tony actually had any answers. Why does everyone always think he knows everything?? Because you always act like you know everything Accepting his fate of being doctored, which Tony hates, he scoops Bruce up into his arms and follow Dr. Cho to a safe area to be examined. Tony completely ignores the way little Bruce both freezes in his grip like he would rather literally anything than be carried by Tony, yet somehow hiding in Tony's embrace almost as if he... No, Tony is IGNORING this. He files it away for later and traverses to the elevator with Dr. Cho in the lead. "Friday, take us to the Med Bay please." Dr. Cho requests to the elevator when they enter. "Of course, Doctor. Thank you for coming on such short notice." Friday replies. Bruce jumps in Tony's arms, looking all around for the source of the voice, and not finding one. "Not to worry, Bruce, Friday controls the whole tower. She's an AI" Tony replies easily, fully anticipating that small Bruce is smart enough to figure out the rest on his own. "Isn't that right Fri?" Tony smiles down at Bruce as Bruce puzzles out what must be the future to him. Or is it? Tony hasn't asked if Bruce knows what year it is or anything. Does Bruce know that he has been turned into a child? Does he think he time travelled? He can't have his adult counterparts mind, Tony ventures, based on his seeming lack of knowledge of both Tony and the Tower. Does he have any memories at all? He, Tony Stark, a Science Bro, not even knowing or questioning the current situation! He will have to start correcting this at once! Tony's existential horror is interrupted by Friday answering his question. "That's right Boss. Mr. Banner, if you have any questions you may ask me if you wish."Friday's interruption makes Bruce gaze wonderingly at the ceiling, which he very quickly hides under a mask of calm, with a wary glance towards the good Doctor. Tony supposes any questions he has will need to wait until after Cho leaves, lest he lose any trust young Bruce may have built in him. They arrive at the Med Bay shortly, and Tony follows Doctor Cho, with Bruce in his arms, to the nearest exam room. With all of Tony's hatred of Doctors, you'd think he wouldn't have wanted an entire floor of the tower dedicated to medicine and first aid. But, as it turns out, Super Powered people tend to get hurt, A LOT. With almost no regular doctors knowing how to treat them, it had only made sense that to protect his team, Tony would need a large amount of space to heal them. With Parker in his life now, he was more glad than ever he had decided to invest in medical facilities. That kid got injured and attracted trouble like no one Tony had ever met. Looking down at his best friend, now a child, on his arm, Tony was glad once more for the ability to do all of this in house, even if he personally hated it. Sitting down on an exam table, Tony gently sets Bruce down next to him. Dr. Cho, bless her, goes to Tony first. Even though in Tony's opinion, Bruce deserves and needs medical attention more than Tony could ever deserve, the wary look has not left Bruce's face, and it'll be good for him to see that Dr. Cho isn't going to hurt Tony, before she helps Bruce out. So Tony braces himself to be examined.After a few brief minutes (Tony isn't that hurt. Honestly.), Dr. Cho finishes putting a butterfly bandage on what is actually a pretty superficial cut, in Tony's opinion. In the Doctor's opinion, he needed stitches, and it was this butterfly bandage and the promise not to move around too much in the next day or two, or consenting to getting stitches. Smiling and lying through his teeth about being a good patient, Tony accepts the butterfly bandage, for Bruce's sake of course. It's not like Tony actually needs medical attention. *Snap!* Tony realizes Dr. Cho is snapping in front of his face. "Pay attention, Tony! You have a moderate concussion, and some bruising. take it easy for the next couple days, and I mean it! Actually, Friday, tell Pepper that Tony needs to stay off his feet for the rest of this week." Dr. Cho smiles sweetly at him, but Tony sees the vicious pleasure on her face. They all know if Pepper knows... Well, Tony won't be able to do anything for the rest of the week. "It's only Thursday too..." Tony thinks to himself. Bruce stiffens next to him, and Tony knows Bruce has realized this means it is his turn. Tony looks as reassuring as possible at Bruce, and pats his shoulder gently. Bruce is trembling, from a mixture of fear and probably pain. Now that Tony has taken some sort of medicine to clear his head, he really takes young Bruce in. He is wearing a ripped purple shirt and tanned shorts, and he looks terrible. He is white all over, except for the places dark with fresh and dried blood. Thanks to Tony's minor first aid, he no longer has visible glass sticking out of him, but he has more than a dozen small cuts, some of them deep enough Tony knows Bruce isn't going to get away with a butterfly bandage. Dr. Cho is as gentle as possible, explaining exactly what she is going to do as she does it, scanning him with some device that she and Tony came up with that Tony could probably name if he was actually paying attention to Dr. Cho instead of Bruce. Bruce trembles the entire time she washes the cuts out, and Tony can't help but put his arm around Bruce's shoulders. Bruce freezes instantly, and jerks back a bit. "Tony, leave it." Dr. Cho commands. Tony takes his arm back sadly. What the hell had happened to his Science Bro that he couldn't even take comfort when he was clearly scared and in need of a hug? Tony was and is very much a touch person. A light brush on the back, a friendly hand tap, that was how Tony communicated. How was he supposed to communicate that he was trustworthy to Bruce if he couldn't even touch him? Tony looks on helplessly as Bruce shakes his way through the rest of the preliminary exam. Finally, Dr. Cho straightens up and looks at Bruce. "Okay Bruce, so next I am going to give you some anesthetic so I can stitch up a couple of these cuts. I'm sorry, I wish I didn't have to. Also, I am going to need to set your leg. It shouldn't hurt one bit once you've had anesthetic, okay?" Bruce looks at her, opens his mouth and closes it a couple of times. Tony and Dr. Cho wait it out. So quietly that Dr. Cho and Tony have to lean in to hear it, Bruce whispers "What is, uh.. ansetetic?" Dr. Cho smiles warmly, "Anesthetic? It's a medicine that I put right in your arm so that your body lets me fix you without it hurting." Tony nods along helpfully, as if his contribution adds knowledge in some way. "Like.. a shot?" Bruce ventures. Dr. Cho nods, "Very smart! Yes, just one little shot." Bruce blanches and immediately tries to get on his feet, on the exam table, and collapses under the weight of his broken leg and cries out in pain. Instinctively, Tony catches him as he falls and pulls him into his lap. Bruce squirms and struggles to get out, fighting Tony for all his little body is worth. "No shots! No shots! Shots bad!" Tony holds onto him, barely, as Bruce fights and yells harder, crying out whenever he manages to bump his left leg into something. "Bruce, buddy, it's just gonna help you not feel bad anymore. I know shots aren't fun, but you're going to be okay. Trust me, Bruce. It's going to be okay." Tony tries to sound as gentle as he can considering he's basically fighting Bruce to hold still. Bruce throws an elbow that surprises Tony, and he takes it full in the face. Tony feels something *crunch* in his nose, and then there's blood everywhere. With a gasp, Tony accidentally lets go of Bruce, and Bruce falls to the floor. He looks up at Tony, staring at his nose in shock, and then Bruce just, well, he just... Tony could only describe it as shutting down. Bruce loses every bit of fight in his eyes, and the only thing Tony sees before Bruce shuts down completely is utter terror at Tony. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry sir." Bruce attempts to get onto his knees, clearly intending to bow to Tony, and all of this being so horrific and quick that he hasn't even moved to staunch the bleeding in his nose. Bruce's broken leg collapses under him and Bruce goes sprawling face first onto the floor, where he quietly quivers but does not look up or make any sound at all. Tony looks, lost, at Doctor Cho. She will know what to do. She's a doctor. They know everything about kids and stuff. Right?? Helen Cho looks about as shocked as Tony, and then, she looks very very sad. She makes an aborted movement toward Bruce, then shakes her head, and turns to Tony, mouthing you need to help him. Ah yes, he, Tony, king of saying the right thing at the right time... There is no world where that is true, but Tony feels his heart breaking at the sight of his Bruce, his best friend, his science bro, in this condition. Tony gets of the exam table, and slowly sinks to his own knees. "Bruce, buddy? I'm okay. I know you didn't mean it. I just want you to feel better, and I know that Dr. Cho is trying to help. I'm sorry it's scary." Tony feels like he did an okay job with that one, but Bruce makes no move to respond. Tony looks at Dr. Cho questioningly, but she simply shrugs. So Tony does what he knows best. He inches his hand forward, slowly, until it touches Bruce's shoulder. "Bruce, kiddo?" Bruce does not respond. Tony gently shakes his shoulder to continued no response, so he does the next best thing and rolls Bruce over. Bruce is completely unconscious. Dr. Cho sighs behind him, "well, it's probably for the best, but still disappointing. Poor kid. Pick him up and let me fix him up before he wakes up. When he does, you ARE going to deal with this Tony." Tony picks up Bruce and lays him gently on the exam table. "Why me? Aren't you a doctor? You should know how to fix this." Helen laughs bitterly. "Yes, I know the protocols for this sort of thing and I have some idea of the causes of such reactions." She softens, "But he's your best friend. Don't even lie to me, Tony, I can see how attached you are to him already. I don't know what happened to him before you met him as an adult, but... Bruce has definitely been abused Tony. And you are the one that needs to be there."
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After a thorough talking to at Tony's expense, and a blood test and some scans on a still unconscious Bruce, Dr. Cho releases Tony and Bruce from the Med Bay. They take the elevator back to Tony's personal floor, Bruce asleep due to some careful drugging by Dr. Cho, and Tony starts to think. There's a lot of questions that need to be answered here. First and foremost, what happened to make the mild mannered, 40 year old Bruce Banner into a terrified child of 6? Secondly, was there a way to change him back, or would it wear off somehow? And lastly, but clearly most importantly, who had hurt this child, and how could Tony make them pay? Tony heavily suspected Brian Banner as the culprit, who was luckily for Brian, already dead. Tony hated to remember a single second of the fear on Bruce's face he had already seen far too many times. As for how to change him back, Tony really needed to figure out exactly what happened first. He had taken a sample of Bruce's blood, but as there isn't anything to compare it against, it was likely a dead end. He would need to analyze the footage from the lab explosion very carefully.Tony and Bruce arrive at the penthouse, and as they step out of the elevator, Tony sees Pepper, and based on the look on her face, briefly contemplates making a break back to the elevator. He can stay on Steve's floor, yeah, that would work. Steve and Bucky are out on a mission somewhere and they wouldn't begrudge him the space to hide from Pepper surely! Tony imagines the righteousness lecture he would receive from Steve about hiding from his own girlfriend. Sighing heavily, Tony puts on his best Innocent yet Sorry face for Pepper. "Tony, what on earth were you thinking! First you completely abandon a meeting with our board of directors and a potential investment, then Friday tells me you and Bruce BLEW UP THE LAB?! What kind of explosions would be so important you'd skip out! Of course, you're Tony Stark, and even the promise of an explosion is enough for you to abandon an important meeting for your OWN company!" Pepper is getting redder and redder by the second, and Tony opens his mouth to try and explain, but before he can "And who is this child! Don't tell me you kidnapped him. I swear Tony-" Tony sees his chance and dives for it "This is Bruce, Pepper. Bruce Banner." Pepper opens her mouth to yell again, and then closes it. Bruce takes this opportunity to start waking up, shifting in Tony's arms, looking for the sound of the noise, most likely. He opens his eyes, yawning, and peers at Pepper, who takes a very close look at him. She softens, looking at him, and Tony knows he has won. In a much softer voice, Pepper greets Bruce. "Hi Bruce." Bruce gives her a small wave of sorts, he surely isn't all that awake yet. Pepper shifts to look at Tony "Does he..." remember is unspoken between them, and Tony shakes his head. "He doesn't. I'm working on it. Sorry I ditched the meeting, Pep. I'll make it up to you somehow." She smirks a little at him. Gosh, does Tony love her."I'll get you a bedroom set up, how is that, Bruce?" Pepper barely waits for Bruce's nod before she's gliding off, the most graceful hurricane of activity that Tony has ever seen. Meanwhile, Tony takes Bruce over to the common area, where there's enough couches and chairs for all of the Avengers, a feat that seems to get harder and harder every passing week, and deposits Bruce gently on a couch near the middle of the room. "Hey buddy, you doing okay? We got all done at the doctor, and we are both okay now. You just can't pull on your stitches, and you can't get your cast wet yet, okay?" Bruce rubs at his eyes, and focuses on Tony, before nodding. He makes quite the sight, a tiny Bruce Banner, with his left leg in a cast, and butterfly bandages and a stitch or two in several other places. Tony realizes that Bruce's clothes are torn up, and he doesn't have any other clothes here right now for a child. That can easily be remedied, and Tony quickly orders Friday to get some clothes in Bruce's size. "...Mr. Tony? I'm sorry I hit you, I didn't mean it." Bruce's lower lip is trembling already, and Tony just does not do well with crying kids, he never knows what to do. "It's okay, buddy. I'm not hurt." Bruce clearly doesn't believe him, and Tony's sure the huge bandage on his nose is not helping that situation at all. "Not hurt too much," he amends. "I just wanted you to feel better, I'm sorry I trapped you." Tony isn't sorry he held Bruce still for Dr. Cho, but he is sorry it scared Bruce, so he makes it as genuine as possible. "You don't have to say sorry. Daddy says adults know the best all the time and you haves to do what you're told. I'm just... bad." The last part comes out barely more than a whisper, and Tony is surprised enough to not be able to speak.Pepper interrupts at that moment, bless her. "Bruce, I got you a room set up! Do you want to go and see it with me?" Bruce nods, and carefully gets off the couch. Luckily for Bruce, Dr. Cho has invented technology that allowed her to speed up the process of healing bones, and Bruce is already allowed to walk on his cast. Tony wonders if he will even need the cast by the end of the day, as the Hulk usually speeds his healing process up so quickly it's unrivaled, even by Tony's favorite webswinger. Then again, Tony hasn't seen much of the Hulk, even when Bruce had two separate emotional outburtsts. Maybe The Hulk really was just an anger thing? Or maybe he's just more dormant in little Bruce. Yet another thing on Tony's list to look into. He meets Pepper's eyes and smiles, "While you and Bruce do that, do you mind if I check a few things. I'll come back soon." Pepper nods at him and offers her hand to Bruce, who does not take it. Pepper gets the hint, and drops her hand, and she and Bruce walk side by side off to Bruce's new bedroom.Tony pulls out a tablet that he keeps stashes in the cushions, also managing in the process to dislodge a knife he feels sure Natasha has stashed there. Well, we all have our emergency items. Tony smirks before carefully putting the knife back EXACTLY where he got it, so as not to invoke the wrath of Romanoff. "Friday, pull up footage of the first lab explosion please." "Sure thing Boss." Tony's tablet lights up and he sees adult Bruce Banner puttering away in the lab. The timestamp marks it ten minutes before the explosion, so Tony speeds it up a little to get closer to the event. So far it looks normal, just his lab partner carefully analyzing a chemical, then making a notation, then making a slide. It's interesting work, to be sure, but Tony much prefers to examine things that he can make move, or explode. Of course, Bruce evidently accomplished the explosion bit himself today. Six minutes before the explosion, the screen glitches and Tony sharpens his focus, looking for the tiniest detail. Bruce is standing in front of his desk, and then, he isn't. A blink of an eye. The screen goes blank. The next thing that happens is Tony watching himself enter the lab 20 minutes later. "Friday, what is this?" "I'm not sure Boss. The footage is not there." Tony snaps his fingers in frustration, "Well, make it there, Fri, I need this! Work on it!" "I'll do what I can, Boss." Tony feels a little bad for snapping at Friday, but it quickly fades to a general alarm. There is something wrong about this whole thing. Why wouldn't he have this footage, what is going on here?