I do not own avengers or the characters within.

The argument on the ship gets out of hand and the hulk steps in.

First real story in a long time. Let me know what you think.

~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~

"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Steve emphasized his point by pushing Tony, a bit harder than necessary. He staggered back a few steps and every eye in the room turned to them.

Hurt, not physical but emotional flitted across Tony's eyes, but was buried quickly. Trying to ease the tension, he joked "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

"I know guys with none of that, worth ten of you. You aren't a hero, you just pretend to be. Your father would be ashamed of what you've become." Steve was fuming and took a threatening step towards Tony.

He held his ground and blinked. He kept his eyes closed a half second longer than necessary in order to control the emotion in his eyes.

In that half second, Bruce hulked out and threw Captain America against the wall, holding him up by his neck.. As Tony opened his eyes, the Hulk drew back his fist to pummel Steve, and Tony threw himself at the Hulk yelling, "Bruce, No!"

The rest were stunned but leapt into action when Tony did, too late to do a thing about the fact that Tony threw himself unarmed at a giant green monster. The hulk stopped and stared at Tony. Tony stared back. The others sidestepped their way behind the Hulk, trying to find a way to bring him down. Tony stopped them with a look and a shake of his head, knowing that would not end well for anyone.

Hulk spoke or grunted. "Cap'n hurt Tony."

Tony frowned. "He didn't hurt me."

Hulk insisted. "He hurt Tony. Tony Sad."

Sighing, Tony grudgingly admitted, "Maybe, but he didn't really hurt me. You shouldn't hurt him."

Hulk debated for a tense minute or two, but let the Captain go. Steve slid down the wall, gasping for breath. Everyone released a breath and then Tony approached the Hulk.

"Why?" Tony asked after struggling to figure out what to say.

"Hulk like Tony."

Furrowing his eyebrows he asked, "But why?"

"Tony likes Hulk." The Hulk smiled a wide smile that was crooked and sweet while also looking threatening and suddenly, he was Bruce again and Tony was staring at him in confusion while Natasha discreetly handed him clothes.

Fury broke the silence. "While that was exciting, we really need to figure out..."

~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~

(Story goes according to canon. The ship engine fails, Bruce hulks out and ends up falling to the ground, Phil dies, Tony, Steve and the rest go to NYC, Bruce and Thor meet them there, etc...And picks up right after Tony sacrifices himself for New York and The Hulk catches him falling through the air.)

ROAR!

"Urgh. What just happened? Did anybody kiss me? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

Tony tried to follow the conversation but he mostly heard whooshing air and an elephant break dancing in his skull. His mind suddenly tuned in as Captain America stated. "We aren't done yet."

Tony attempted to get up but failed. "More fighting to do? Where? Let's go."

"No. Just clean up and we need to imprison Loki."

"Yea, I don't think I can do that right now. Maybe you guys could handle that part." Tony stated, trying to be reasonable with a searing headache.

Steve's temper flared suddenly. "Look just because you did something heroic does not mean you can just lay here and relax while the rest of us do all the work and..."

The rest of his rant was ignored as Tony locked eyes with Hulk. "Please try not to kill him." Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.

Thor stopped America's rant by thumping him on the shoulder. "He passed out, mate. You should probably go get a doctor before Hulk kills you."

Steve looked at a fuming Hulk who seemed to be debating whether to stay with Tony or kill him. Suddenly, Banner was there. "Forget the doctor, Get me clothes!" Captain America hurried off, while Bruce checked Tony's vitals as best he could around the Iron Man suit. He hurriedly put the clothes Captain America brought, on and looked to Thor for help. "We need to get him to his loft. I can probably get this off there."

Thor windsurfed them up to Tony's place.

"Welcome Dr. Banner. If you would place him on the platform outside, I will remove the suit, so you can treat him. I am noting a few minor injuries. The most pressing ones being a gash on Mr. Stark's clavicle and a slight concussion." A delightfully British Computer Animated Voice chimed above them. Bruce followed his directions and laid Tony on a couch, while Thor kicked Loki a few times to make sure he was unconscious.

As Bruce checked Tony's injuries, he asked. "So, you're JARVIS? Tony told you about me."

"Yes, he seemed very excited to work on some expandable pants that would fit no matter what size you become."

"Hmmm..." Bruce blushed while Thor laughed loudly. "You are right the concussion seems mild. I will do a check when he awakens. But I need to stitch this cut up now. It's bleeding a lot. Combined with his head wound, blood loss is the most likely reason he passed out. Do you have what I need here JARVIS?"

"Sterilized equipment and gloves are rising on the platform next to you. I would warn you, Mr. Stark prefers to tend to his own injuries."

"Too bad. I'm not going to let him bleed to death so he can maintain his pride. If I can handle waking up naked in random places after turning into a giant green monster, he can deal with a few little stitches from a friend."

"We're friends now?" Tony groaned opening an eye. "Does that mean you're going to come and work for me at Stark Tower. We do have the best toys money can't buy you know."

"Of course we're friends, even the other guy likes you and he doesn't like anyone." Bruce helped Tony into a sitting position and prepared the needle.

"Tis true!" Thor declared. "The Hulk and I completed a quest of destruction upon our enemy earlier this day and he finished this act by punching me in the face."

Tony burst into fits of laughter, while Bruce chastised him. "Hold still. I'm trying to sew your head back together."

~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~~tonyandbruce~