Author's Note: Stand alone scene, but it may turn into a longer fic, particularly with encouragement. Could be a friendship fic, could lead to Tony/Bruce. If you enjoy it, please review to share your opinion and let me know if you'd like to see more. Alerts will inform you if it changes to a work-in-progress.

Tony woke to rage: a soul-shaking roar that overloaded his suit and jolted him back into life. Tony jerked, coming back, and stared up into the giant green face. He could still see Bruce there, in the set of the eyes, but the fury was all Hulk. Hulk bared his teeth, savage, and he'd never seen something so primal. Even in his suit, Tony would never be that impressive.

But the snark took only a few seconds to kick in, and Tony was in control again. The suit was finished, but he could build a better one. They had won.

/ / /

"He saved you, you know." Natasha had hung back, helping him pry off his twisted metal armor, while the others moved on. She didn't look up from the rubble-strewn street, but he could see amusement in the twist of her lips. "Caught you in free fall and bore you to the ground."

Tony frowned. He didn't remember falling. Only the drift through cold space and the empty drone of a failed call. "We all saved each other."

She smiled, and something in her expression made him shut up. Her eyes narrowed, tracking movement behind him, and he turned to see. Bruce Banner, newly clothed and self-conscious, in his human skin.

"You owe him a debt."

For once, Tony didn't have a comeback. This pleased Natasha, and her lips twisted into a smirk with a secret behind it. "Even debts you've forgotten must be repaid." Her white teeth flashed, and she was gone, hopping over the wreckage of a city's salvation as nimbly as an acrobat. Tony stood staring after her, trying to puzzle out her meaning.

"Guess we go our separate ways then."

Resignation, in Bruce's voice. "Not yet," Tony said, though he hadn't thought of what came after.

"No?" Bruce gave him a skeptical look, a wry smile playing across his now human features. But Tony understood defense mechanisms well enough to see through the smile to the bone-deep loneliness beneath. How long had Bruce been on his own now? In distant countries, where no one spoke his language and no one could find him. Moving on when anyone showed interest.

"No," he said firmly. "Not yet." Hope shined in Bruce's eyes, and something tightened in his own chest. Tony knew loneliness. A billion adoring fans couldn't quench the need inside, and even Pepper sometimes wasn't enough. Bruce had no one. "Didn't I say there'd be shawarma first?"

Bruce grinned, accepting, but it didn't quite seem to click. He was just happy not to be left behind. Of course, Tony thought. He'd been green.

"Let's see what they've done with Loki."

He cuffed the other man on the arm. As they headed back, Tony tried to reconcile the perfectly ordinary man beside him with the creature he'd become. Clearly, Bruce didn't quite have the details of what happened while he was Hulk. But Tony had fought alongside him. He'd been in control. That power had been directed, focused on enemies and the needs of battle. Tony had seen the intelligence in his eyes.

But Tony had seen the tapes too. On the carrier, he'd lost control. He'd hulked out and smashed through the ship. Mindless, absolute ferocity, that left even Natasha shaking in a corner. Tony wished he'd been there. The idea of such unbridled rage made adrenaline sing in his veins.

The difference was intention, Tony thought, but had no way to test the theory. In this battle, Bruce's transformation was an act of will. He'd made a choice. On the Helicarrier, he'd had none.

"Where'd you get the clothes?" he asked suddenly. That mystery, at least, he could solve.

Bruce looked down. He stared at the black dress shirt as if he'd forgotten it altogether. He smoothed the fabric down self-consciously. "In all the chaos, there may have been a bit of looting," he admitted.

Tony snorted. "You did save the city. I think they can afford a thank you gift."

Bruce ran a finger under the collar, adjusting the stiff linen, though it seemed to fit fine.

"Well, we saved the city. I saved it, really, with the whole nuclear strike thing. When you look at it objectively."

Bruce was getting used to his skin again, Tony realized. Like he'd done with the arc reactor. The body changed in an instant but the mind needed time to adjust.

"You saved the whole city?"

"Well, you helped some," Tony admitted. "Maybe 12% of the saving."

"So enough for a shirt, then." Bruce was chuckling now, and he'd stopped tugging at his clothes. "And some pants."

"At least that, yes. Probably not enough for a belt."