Title: Pleased to Meet You

Author: sorion

Fandom: Iron Man / Batman

Pairing: Tony/Bruce

Genre: slash, action

Rating: PG

A/N: Prequel to "Who Da Man?"

Pleased to Meet You

Tony Stark was downing his second drink of the evening (within less than five minutes), and it looked like there would be a lot more of those, if nothing entertaining happened very soon…

He heard familiar steps click-clacking his way, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Without turning around he said, quietly: "Pep, please tell me there's someone worth talking to, here, or I'll be gone before those geriatric morons can change their first round of diapers."

Pepper Potts cleared her throat as a warning. "It's a charity event, Mr Stark. Just because you so far donated the largest amount of money doesn't mean the foundation doesn't need everybody else's."

Tony turned towards her with a pained expression. "Please, find me some entertainment? Please?"

Her lip twitched, and she averted her eyes.

Tony's eyes narrowed. "You know something," he accused her.

"Well," she began, making sure her expression was as neutral as she could manage. "Most of them are not playing in your league, but that's nothing new." She tried to say that as quietly as possible; the last thing she needed was someone overhearing her or her boss talking down donors with loose change. "There are two people from Gotham, though…"

"Gotham?" Tony shuddered. "Have you ever been to Gotham? That has got to be the nastiest city on the whole damn planet. I think their quota of sunny days per year is exactly zero. Never mind that they have even worse whack-jobs locked away than we do here, and I should know, I get to catch those on a regular ba... sis…" He stopped, mid-rant, and his eyes lit up.

"Ohhh…" He held up a finger and waggled it at Pepper. "Oh, you!"

Pepper grinned. "I thought you might be interested in meeting him."

"Am I ever!" he agreed, mischief practically radiating off him, while he scanned the large room.

Pepper looked mildly alarmed and inconspicuously grabbed Tony's sleeve. "I don't have to remind you what the secret part of secret identity means, do I?" she whispered, urgently.

Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna unmask him, give me a little credit."

She still appeared sceptical. "I'm never quite sure with you…"

Tony's eyes found their target. "Oooh! Serious eye-candy."

Pepper followed his line of sight. "Him or the boob job hanging on his arm?"

Tony pulled a face. "That man has no taste in women." Which answered her question, really.

He tilted his head and lowered his voice. "And the pictures of him with the mask and the stupid pointy ears don't do him justice."

"He looks much better in Armani," Pepper agreed.

Tony already manoeuvred his way through the people, Pepper following him.

"As do you, by the way," she said, smirking.

Tony turned to her, aghast, with a hand on his chest. "Miss Potts, I must say that I am very surprised that you would think my armour is anything but incredibly cute, thank you very much."

She laughed. "Whatever you say, Mr Stark."

"And it's flashy."

"Absolutely." That one was hard to disagree with.

Tony nodded, firmly, smirking and continued to march towards the one he was looking for. Whom he reached only moments later.

The man recognised him, right away, and Tony sent him a wide smile and held out his hand in a greeting.

"Bruce Wayne," he said.

"Tony Stark," Wayne replied, sounding honestly impressed and took the offered hand. Then he turned to introduce the woman by his side. "And this is Tanja Helis, Gotham's very own contribution to Hollywood."

"Pleasure," Tony assured her, taking her hand. "This is my assistant, Pepper Potts."

Another round of hands were shaken, accompanied by nods and smiles, after which it became very clear that Tanja was indeed just the "plus one" of the invite. The boys seemed to be in their element.

"You are a difficult man to get a hold of, Mr Stark," Wayne noted.

Tony looked just the tiniest bit chastised. He had been very aware that some of Wayne's associates had tried to contact him, but he'd been busy with a project, and he wasn't all that interested in meeting sockpuppets, anyway. Especially if the man behind them was as intriguing as this one.

"Yeah, well… Pepper would be the first to tell you that it's a bit like calling a kid to dinner while he's playing in the sandbox, Mr Wayne."

Wayne chuckled. "Call me Bruce."

"Will do. Tony suits me much better than Mr Stark, anyway, Bruce."

Bruce assessed his counterpart. He was still smiling pleasantly, but, yes, he was most definitely assessing. "So that's what it takes to get you to speak to me? A nice charity party?"

Tony pursed his lips and shook his head. "M-m. No. All it took was you showing up personally."

Bruce laughed. "Nice." He nodded. "Well, I guess superheroes don't have the time to deal with lackeys, do they?"

It took all of Tony's restraint to not rise to that bait. He also knew that it took all of Pepper's restraint to not step on his foot to stop him from saying something stupid.

Tony was well aware of the fact that Bruce was sounding him. That was not a random question. How could it be, Wayne being who he was? The man might have had the billionaire playboy image down to a T – and most likely some part of him actually was just that – but there was undeniable steel under the façade when one knew where to look. And Tony did know that very well.

Tony decided the only course of action in such a situation – if only for that particular moment – was serious honesty. "Don't listen to the media. It's not very heroic from where I'm standing."

That was when Tanja piped up. "You shouldn't be so modest!" she insisted.

Tony smiled, benignly. "That's not usually my style, either." He winked, making everyone laugh.

Pepper's laugh sounded a tad tense, as if she was still not really sure whether or not it was too early to breathe a sigh of relief, or if Tony was merely waiting for a better opportunity to get a rise out of Wayne.

Bruce conceded with a tilt of his head. "Either way, you're doing a good job."

"High praise," Tony said. A lot higher than coming from most people, as he was well aware. "But I do hope that's not the good job Wayne Enterprises are interested in. The Iron Man is not up for sale or fusion." He grinned.

"I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't sell a kidney for the tech in that suit, but no."

"Your kidneys are better left where they are, anyway."

Bruce chuckled. "Drink?"

"Absolutely." And off they went, leaving the ladies behind.

Pepper sighed, and Tanja took two glasses of Champaign off a waiter's plate, handing one to Pepper, saying, "Boys…"

Pepper nodded, taking the offered drink. "He does that a lot." Somehow, she didn't have it in her to begrudge Tony his fun. It was a joy to watch him when he was truly engaged.

She was also happy to find out that despite her initial reaction to Tanja when she had seen her across the room, she was actually a fun conversationalist.

*

Pepper patted Tony on the shoulder while sitting next to him in the passenger seat of the car on their way back to the house. "Well done."

Tony cleared his throat. "Yeah, I did well, didn't I?" He smirked. "I was being restrained. And not just with holding back on teasing him, but I only had one more drink. The whole evening." He harrumphed. "Bastard only had one, and I couldn't very well give him the upper hand."

"You deserve a medal."

"A big one. In red and gold."

Pepper snorted.

"Jokes aside," Tony added, "if he hadn't been actually interesting to talk to, I would have blown it."

"Interesting?" She wouldn't have called Wayne all that interesting. Not when she took the Batman out of the equation; and Wayne would of course have done so in public. And the whole filthy-rich thing got old after a while…

"He's smart. Real smart. Not as smart as me, though," he added quickly.

"Of course not."

Tony's lip twitched. "And his public persona is nearly perfect. I was impressed."

"So you didn't tell him that you know?"

"Naw. He'll figure it out given a day or two. If he doesn't, he's not as smart as I think he is." He turned to look at her. "And you know I'm always right."

"Well, he does have that day or two, since you actually both agreed to a meeting."

.

They entered the garage, and the moment they got out of the car, Jarvis greeted them with a message.

"Sir, your car needs immediate attention."

Tony blinked startled. "Car's fine." He patted the top.

"Sir, the brakes have been tampered with. It was only because of your fail-safe system that the car managed to override it."

"What? What the hell kind of idiot would think he'd get anywhere with that with one of my babies?"

Pepper stood there with wide eyes. "Someone tried to kill us?" She didn't really know if she should be shocked or grateful or something else entirely. They had just been driving home. Nothing had happened. "Tony?"

Tony still had his hand on the car. "Someone who didn't know that it would take more than tampered brakes to get through my systems." The wheels in his head were churning.

"Tony? What are you talking…"

"Jarvis! Suit. Now."

"Right away, sir," Jarvis said, while at the same time Pepper yelled "Tony!" and ran after him.

Tony hopped onto the platform to get his suit, ripped his half-opened bow tie and jacket off and already rambled off another order to Jarvis. "Find me the cell phone number of Bruce Wayne, get me a connection and give me the location."

"Will do, sir."

Pepper came to a standstill next to Tony and watched him being armoured. "What's going on?"

"And Jarvis, notify the police that there might be more hazardous cars from that party."

"Yes, sir."

Then Tony turned to Pepper, just before his mask was put on. "That was not someone from my playground. There was only one person interesting enough at that party for some punk to come all the way here."

With that, the mask closed and Tony was off, leaving one startled Pepper behind.

.

After only a few moments, Jarvis contacted Tony, again. "I have the number, sir, but the tracking might take more time, he has several sweeping programs preventing it."

"Gimme the connection, then!" Tony ordered. "Fucking Wayne," he mumbled. "Crap security in his damn car, but a sweeper on his stupid phone."

"Wayne."

"Uh, Bruce, hi, it's Tony."

"Something about the meeting tomorrow?" Wayne sounded confused.

"No. Where are you?"

"In my car. Tony, what…?"

"Do the brakes work?"

Wayne was about to go for a very incredulous 'What?', but instead it took a moment, and the answer instead was a very grave "No".

"Uh… okay. Keep her steady, then. I'm on my way. Where are you?"

Wayne hesitated.

"Bruce!"

"Coastline."

Tony groaned, not even bothering to ask where exactly. "You're heading towards a nice cliff to fall off of, aren't you," he accused the other man, already calculating where and how far Bruce could have headed after the party and flying in that direction, as well.

"I'll try not to."

Tony thought he could make out the sounds of some tires screeching. He did not like that sound one bit. "Just how fast are you?"

Wayne hesitated, again. "Too fast. The damn brakes worked fine when I was still in the centre!"

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted. "I have pinpointed Mr Wayne's location." He uploaded the data to Tony's monitor.

"About damn time!" Tony cursed. "Keep going steady, Bruce, I'll be there in a sec."

"What the hell are you going to do? Catch me?"

"That was the plan." He could see the cliff his monitor was pointing him towards, but he was still too far away to see the car.

.

Bruce tried to keep his hands on the wheel. He had tried to open the door and just jump out, but apparently, whoever had killed the brakes, had also jammed the door.

"I hope you're in that suit of yours, Tony, because I can't open the door, either." His eyes widened when he saw what lay ahead.

"I'm in the suit. Almost there."

Bruce took a deep breath. He couldn't stop, he couldn't get out, and he was already dangerously fast to stay on the costal street that might not have been all that narrow under normal circumstances, but was definitely way too narrow for the speed he was currently at. Not to mention…

"You'd better be, or you can find another guy to do business with, Stark. There's a u-turn and I can't take it!"

"Okay, I need you to trust me. Go straight ahead; it would be harder to catch you when you swivel!"

Bruce really, really hoped that his being a good judge of character remained true for this guy. "You better know what you're doing."

He held his breath, kept his hands tight on the steering wheel and saw a shadow speed towards him, just when he was about to...

The car went over the edge, then jostled, but couldn't have fallen more than maybe ten feet.

"Gotcha!"

Bruce released the breath he'd been holding and gasped. He stared ahead. The red and gold was now clearly visible in the head-lights.

"You look pretty damn heroic from where I'm sitting," he blurted out.

Tony laughed, just as out of breath as Bruce. Then he looked at the car. "Nice one," he complimented. "Gonna have to... sorry..." He lifted the car enough so that he could place the back wheels on the cliff. "I'm really sorry." With that, he ripped off first one front wheel and then the other.

"I think I can forgive just this once." He didn't feel like speeding, anymore. "Put me down?"

"Tell you what," Tony began. "I got a better idea. I'm just gonna..." He lifted the car completely and headed off. "Just relax."

"Tony!"

Tony laughed, again. "Don't tell me you're scared of heights."

"I am when I'm sitting in a damn car, flying over the ocean!"

Tony snickered. "Just five more minutes, handsome, then you and your car will be safe in my garage, and we can take care of what's wrong with it."

It took a minute for Bruce to come to terms with the fact that he wasn't in control, and he really hated that. After that, the whole situation just appeared weirdly funny to him.

He listened to Tony talking to his AI.

"Jarvis, have the police been informed?"

"Yes, sir. The remaining cars will be investigated, and there have not been any other accidents with guests to this point."

"That's one piece of good news, anyway."

Bruce silently agreed. He himself had calmed down somewhat; it was obvious that Stark knew what he was doing. The car was being held steadily.

Since he was flying backwards, though, he turned around in his seat to see where they were headed. "You do that often?" he asked.

"Taking billionaires out for a scenic tour? Sure."

That made Bruce laugh despite the situation.

.

Iron Man manoeuvred the car directly into his workshop where Pepper already waited for them, looking nervous and then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw both men unharmed.

"Jarvis," Tony immediately said while putting down the car gently, "open Mr Wayne's door and shut off the engine." The engine of the car was still running for a few moments more, until one of the robotic arms reached under the car and turned it off, just as the door was opened.

Bruce would have lied had he said that he didn't feel very much relieved to feel solid ground under his feet, once more.

Pepper came running towards him. "Mr Wayne, are you alright?"

Bruce just nodded and turned around to see what the whirring sound was about… and his eyes widened. There, in the middle of the room, Tony stark was being revealed, piece by piece. That was… impressive.

Tony grinned at him, as the machine was pulling at him. "Hey, there, Brucie. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Bruce froze for a second, then grinned. The adrenalin rush had dwindled on the flight here, and well, he was used to dealing with adrenalin.

"Thank you. Seriously."

Tony hopped off the platform, marched to Bruce and patted him on the shoulder. "No need. We should do this, again, sometime." He winked.

"Uh…" Bruce looked at him sceptically. "Just without the driving off the cliff part, if you don't mind."

"The what?" Pepper almost squeaked.

Tony chuckled. "No worries. Everyone's fine." He directed Bruce out of the shop with his arm still around his shoulder. "You didn't have to wait up for us; it's past two. Your work for today is done. Thank you, Miss Potts."

Bruce was going to thank her, too, but Tony dragged him along, already talking, again.

"Jarvis, I need a damage report on that car."

"Certainly, sir."

"Bruce, my man, what we need now is pizza and a drink or several. Jarvis, order us some pizza, will you?"

"Right away, sir."

"What a way to close a night, eh, Bruce?"

Pepper looked after them, amused. "Batman or not. He won't know what hit him," she murmured.

*

One hour later – past three, give or take – found the two men sitting on the couch in the living room with an empty pizza box and two glasses that had held a drink – or several - their bare feet on the coffee table.

Bruce was leaning his head back onto the headrest and… giggled.

Tony looked all too pleased with himself for having accomplished that. They hadn't had that much to drink, though he was a little vague on the exact number of drinks, but Bruce obviously wasn't used to it.

Bruce wiped his eyes wet from tears of laughter. "You know… now I'm curious about what she caught you doing that was worse than coming home with a suit full of holes." He snickered.

Tony was on the last swallow of his drink and choked, coughing a moment. "No… you really don't wanna know. Trust me on that."

"I trust you," Bruce said, smiling at him. His eyes were sparkling of amusement and alcohol.

Tony sobered just a bit. "Not quite yet."

Bruce looked at him, puzzled, but still smiling.

"But that's okay," Tony said. "I have time."

Bruce blinked at him and lolled his head to the side. He frowned and turned it back and blinked some more. "That's funny…"

Tony was about to pour himself another drink. "What is?"

"When I…" Bruce turned his head to the left and right, several times, frowning. "From the corner of my eyes…" He blinked, again. "You're chest is kinda glowing."

Tony put the glass back down and smiled. It wasn't a cocky, mischievous or even truly amused smile. It was warm. He cleared his throat, leaned back and continued to open his shirt farther down than the two buttons that had already been open. All the while, he kept his eyes on Bruce, watching the other man's become clearer and clearer.

Bruce squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, to get rid of the misty sheen and leaned forward. "Oh, my God."

"Nice, huh?" Tony just opened all the buttons, pulled the shirt out of his pants and let it fall open.

Bruce inched closer and reached a tentative hand for the glowing device in the middle of Tony's chest, running a gentle finger along its rim. "What's it do?"

"It's just running an electromagnet," Tony said, softly, oddly touched by Bruce's reaction to it. "Before I got rid of the weapons development division, I made the mistake of getting in the way of one of my inventions."

Bruce's eyes shot up to Tony's and widened.

Tony shrugged, crookedly. "Some shrapnel is still in there." He knocked on the reactor. "This keeps it from moving around."

Bruce looked at the glow, awed. "It's beautiful." He moved his right hand to the side and laid it flat on the chest. "I mean… it keeps your heart beating, right?"

Tony wasn't sure if the alcohol in his system let him hide the effect the warm hand on his skin had on him. On the other hand, Bruce was too sloshed to notice, most likely.

"Well, it's not like it's a pacemaker. 'M not an old man or anything."

Bruce's left hand drifted off the device and onto the chest, now, too, while the right one slowly moved lower along the side. His eyes followed his hands and roamed over the naked torso. "Beautiful…" he whispered, this time pretty obviously not talking about the arc reactor.

Tony breathed deeply. "Oh, dammit," he swore.

Before Bruce even knew what had happened, strong hands had lifted his head, and passionate, warm lips kissed him. He responded in kind before he realised that it was a kiss, that there were roaming, gripping and pulling hands, that it was a man in his arms. He was moaning deeply at the burning touches and kisses, before he ever knew just how much he wanted this.

But he didn't have to know or realise any of that. He could feel it.

Tony was busy fumbling Bruce's buttons open, while Bruce in return pushed Tony's shirt off his shoulders.

Bruce enjoyed the feel of strong muscles on the other's shoulders and for a moment forgot that he wanted to get the shirt out of the way and just kneaded the flesh he found there. The muscles under his fingers tensed when Tony just ripped Bruce's remaining buttons open and pushed his shirt back.

That trapped Bruce's hands behind his back while they both struggled with his cufflinks that were soon being ripped off like the buttons and rolled onto the floor.

Tony gave his own cufflinks a short shrift and then threw his shirt away.

The two men stared each other for long seconds, their chests heaving, before they came together in another frantic embrace and kiss.

Tony for a brief second considered just throwing Bruce back on the couch and having his way with him, right then and there, but they'd probably fall off the damn thing and they didn't have… that other… uh… Fuck, those hands and lips were distracting. Lube! Right. They didn't have any lube, here. And Tony very much planned on needing some of that.

Bruce was in the process of proving that he wasn't too drunk to get Tony's belt open and then proceeded to prove the same thing for button and zipper.

Tony let him open the pants and quickly stood to let them fall to the floor and kicked them away. Then he reached down, gently framed Bruce's flushed face and leaned in for a soft kiss. "I think maybe we should continue this upstairs?"

Oh, God. The man was looking at him with wide, hazel eyes; his hair was out of its usual shape and flopping into his face; the lips were red and glistening… Tony had to kiss him, again.

Bruce still hadn't caught his breath and wasn't really sure what he would have said, if he had. So he just nodded and let himself be pulled up by a hand.

Tony kept Bruce's hand firmly in his and led the man out of the living room and towards the stairs, until he felt a film pull and for a moment feared that maybe Bruce got cold feet.

"Tony…"

"Yeah?" It didn't really look like Bruce had cold feet, Tony thought. He moved closer and slung one arm around Bruce's waist.

"This might not be…" He was going to say 'a good idea', but that was not at all what he meant, so he re-phrased in his mind. "The press really shouldn't…"

Tony held Bruce closely and kissed him deeply. "They won't. I promise." He kissed along the cheek to Bruce's ear and felt the other man shudder.

"Come upstairs with me?" he whispered, raspily.

That woke some of the fighting spirit hiding beneath the alcohol, and Bruce delved for a passionate kiss, holding Tony in a firm grip.

Tony moaned, loudly and broke the kiss after a minute. "Upstairs. Now."

Bruce smirked at him. "Lead the way."

.

They stumbled up the stairs and into the bedroom, not bothering to turn on the lights, all the while kissing and refusing to let the other go.

Tony kissed, nipped and bit along Bruce's neck, while he opened the other man's belt, pulled it out and threw it away before opening and dropping the pants and letting him step out of them.

Bruce tilted his head to grant Tony more access and held his head close with both hands. His eyes were slits, lost in ecstasy, and yet he couldn't help but gasp, again, when he saw the moon shine into the room and making the ocean in the distance glitter. It was just as beautiful as the sensations coursing through him.

"This is really a nice spot you have up here," he murmured, leaning into the caresses.

Tony kissed the corner of Bruce's lips and chuckled. "Didn't you have enough of the scenery for one night?" He grinned at him and raised an eyebrow.

Bruce had to laugh at that, but there was also something else. The laugh turned into a smirk. "I haven't seen all I want to see, yet," he said, his fingers playing with the hem of Tony's boxers.

"Definitely worth a closer look," Tony agreed, letting Bruce push the shorts down.

Bruce licked his lips and looked down, his hand reaching for Tony's swelling erection. He closed his eyes and sighed from the pure pleasure of feeling another. "It's been too long," he said, before he pulled Tony into a kiss and gripped the other man more firmly and moved his hand, slowly.

Tony gave into the kiss and the touches, but he would have been damned had he not tried to reciprocate. He pushed Bruce's boxers down over his firm ass, directed his very new lover to the bed, laid him down and crawled over him.

Bruce seemed confused for a moment when he found himself lying down, but when he felt the other man's closeness and warm body atop of his, he reached for his head and pulled him into another kiss. Out of instinct, he spread his legs to accommodate Tony where he wanted him.

Their bodies aligned and both moaned into the kiss.

Tony blindly reached into the bedside drawer and threw something from it onto the bed, then he roamed his hands over the body offered to him and thrust his tongue deep into Bruce's mouth and moving his body in promises of what was to follow, drinking the moans and whimpers he got for it in return.

"So responsive," he said, kissing a trail down Bruce's arched neck. "So beautiful."

His hands reached the nipples only shortly before his lips replaced one of them, licking, sucking and biting just a bit.

It made Bruce bend his chest upwards more and open his legs wider.

Despite the playboy persona he upheld, he hardly ever took anyone to his bed, anymore. He wouldn't know how to even begin to trust them enough to fall asleep next to them, afterwards; and whenever he did take someone, he would leave before closing even one eye. Never mind that those few were and mostly had been women. There hadn't been any men since Princeton, and that didn't even really count. He only just now realised that they might have counted, had he let them…

"'S good," he whispered, threading his fingers through Tony's dark hair.

Tony continued to kiss lower, slowly, feeling all the tenseness flowing out of Bruce, one by one. "You need this…" he said. He often said something along those lines when in bed with someone, but this time, there was no cockiness in his voice, just recognition.

He kissed along the stomach. "I've got you," he promised.

Bruce nodded, unseen, trusting. He didn't know why he trusted Stark with, well, himself. Was it just because they both wore masks to do what they felt was right? Or was it something about Tony? Something else…?

His eyes opened wide at the first touch of lips to his dick. Lips and tongue and the prickle of Tony's beard. "Tony!"

Tony licked up the length and kissed the tip, doing no more than teasing Bruce, relaxing him, taking his mind off things that did not belong in the here and now. And Bruce responded to every touch as if he had been dying for just that.

The arousal made Bruce as woozy as the alcohol did. Both together felt like he'd fallen down the rabbit hole, liking very much what he found there. "Why the hell haven't I done this more?" he asked the ceiling he was looking at.

Tony snickered. "Thanks," he said, reaching for the tube he had thrown on the bed along with a condom, before. He opened it with one hand, spread some of the liquid between both hands, pumped Bruce's erection with one, while the other went lower.

Tony used only his hands, this time, so that he could keep a close watch on Bruce's face. The other man had his eyes closed, again and was leaning into the touch, not tensing up in the least. Good.

Without another word, Tony thrust in one finger as far as it would go.

Bruce moaned loudly and threw his head back. "Oh, yes!"

Tony just moved the finger back and forth a bit, grinning. "Man, you are responsive."

Bruce laughed, luxurious. "Well, you know how to play me."

Tony refrained from telling him that Bruce played him just as nicely, in return. He didn't need to give the man that much leverage. Not just yet.

"Am I?" he asked, instead and added another finger. In an almost clinical voice he continued: "How does one Bruce Wayne react to prostate stimulation, I wonder."

Bruce breathed rapidly and deeply. "Very… uh… very well." He did remember that one. Oh, Lord, he must have been insane going without this of his own free will.

"Does he?" Tony teased him and angled his fingers upwards before pushing them in, again.

Bruce gasped and jerked his hips off the bed. "Oh, yes, he does," he confirmed, laughing out of the sheer pleasure his body (and Tony) granted him, only to have it become a hearty moan when Tony played him, again.

He didn't think, anymore; he didn't have to. It felt so, so good to just surrender without having to submit his spirit.

Bruce opened his eyes when he felt Tony's body cover his, again and smiled at him.

Tony smiled back, his sweaty hair falling into his face. "Hey, there."

"Hey." Bruce's hand involuntarily moved to brush one of the dark strands out of the handsome face over his.

"Ready for the main course?" Tony smirked.

"If you're up for it," Bruce teased right back.

Tony chuckled and reached for the condom lying on the bed with one hand, ripped it open with his teeth and somehow managed to put it on with the one hand, too.

Bruce just watched him, amused at first, and then appreciative when he saw the muscles move in Tony's shoulders and arms. He had noticed them before, and like before, he couldn't stop himself from reaching up, running his hands over the glistening skin and kneading his hands into the hard muscles, once more.

"Nice…" he said.

Tony managed his one-handed manoeuvre without pulling something and now just steadied his dick with the hand, while he held himself up with his other arm.

He brushed his lips over Bruce's. "It's from the flying," he explained, not finding it at all odd that anybody else would not have considered this the appropriate pillow talk in such a situation. "There are thrusters in my gloves, and I have to steady my body with my arms and shoulders."

Bruce nodded, took a secure hold of Tony's head and pulled him closer. "I like it."

Then Tony kissed his lover while he slowly pushed inside, both moaning against the other's lips.

"And this..." Bruce added. "Mmmhm. Like... yeah... like that."

Tony pushed forwards, steadily and didn't stop until he was seated deeply inside the younger man. He looked in the now almost black eyes of Bruce and bent down to lick his slightly parted lips.

He smirked and flickered his eyes down and up again. "That one doesn't need the extra training to look that good."

Bruce half laughed, half gasped. "I bet the suit vibrates when you fly..."

Tony pulled back a bit and thrust back in, making a similar breathy chuckling sound. "Nothing beats flying."

Bruce slung his arms around Tony's shoulders and kissed him, deeply, enjoying every grunt and thrust and movement he got from his lover.

Tony broke the kiss, gasping. "But you get pretty damn close, gorgeous."

Bruce was too far gone in every which way possible to question sweet-talk. More than once, he had used lines like that, had had them perfected to get exactly what he wanted. Much like Tony must have...

Then why did he believe the man...?

"Tony," he all but whimpered.

... Because he wanted to.

Tony noticed the shift in the mood and recognised it for what it was. Bruce had a very deep want to believe in people; a want that was not just deep, but also deeply buried when it came to his personal space.

"It's okay," Tony said and kissed Bruce, gently, almost lovingly, keeping up the steady thrusts. He moved his arms under Bruce's, hooked them around his shoulders and cradled his head, never breaking the kiss. That restricted his moving his hips, but right then he didn't care, anymore.

"It's okay. Let go; I've got you," he repeated the promise he'd made earlier between kisses.

Bruce returned the honest look, filled with passion and wrapped his legs around Tony's torso, his arms still around the neck.

"I trust you." Bruce felt that he could truly trust that man with everything. His past, his family, his life... his secrets. And it had nothing to do with his mind being clouded with lust and alcohol. He just knew. Tony Stark would never betray him.

"I know. I know, Bruce." Tony could see the honesty clearly in the other's expression. It awed him, thrilled him, urged him on. Made him want to live up to it.

Bruce angled his hips upwards and moaned, almost desperately. "Don't let me." He gasped. "Don't let me pull back, tomorrow. Don't..."

Tony growled, lowly. "No chance in hell," he vowed.

That needy expression along with the strong will lying beneath it drove him nearly mad. He knew it so, so well, himself. It was terrifyingly familiar. Familiarly painful, yet fulfilling.

His thrusts sped up.

Bruce threw his head back into the strong hands steadying him. "Tony..."

Tony would have helped Bruce along with a hand, but he didn't want to give up the position they were in, just now. It felt too right. Just as they were supposed to be in that moment.

"Bruce, look at me."

Bruce opened his eyes.

"Touch yourself. Come on, do it for me..."

Bruce whimpered and lowered one hand. Only partly because he would have gone mad if he hadn't been able to get to a release soon, but much more because it was Tony who asked him.

He bit his lips and moaned, moving his hand as much in synch with Tony's movements as he could.

"That's it, Bruce" Tony urged him on. "Like that, go on."

"Tony!"

"Let go."

And Bruce did. With a sharp yell he reached his climax, letting go, letting himself fall.

"Oh, God, yes. Fuck, you're beautiful! Fuckfuckfuck!"

.

They remained in the same position for a long time, just kissing and holding each other, their chests rising and falling, rapidly.

Tony finally broke the kiss, humming contently. "You really did need this, didn't you?" His expression managed to be caring and teasing at the same time.

Bruce laughed, quietly. "Yeah, I guess."

Tony kissed him, again, lazily tangling their tongues, both of them breathing each other's air.

This time it was Bruce who broke it. "I meant what I said. I do trust you."

Tony smiled at him, knew exactly what the other man was (not yet) talking about. "I know." He gave him a small kiss; he didn't want drunken confessions, even if Bruce already sounded surprisingly sober. He ran a soft finger over the side of Bruce's face.

"We have time. You can still trust me tomorrow."

Bruce smiled back. Yes. Yes, he would.

End

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