"Bruce- a lot of things weren't good for me with 'the team'. You weren't ever one of them." Time and distance and a lot of scotch, dealing and coping and trying to live better, to be better. It'd hurt, losing everyone. Watching them walk away in the middle of a mess they all had a hand in leaving it for Tony to try and mend. He won't pretend it didn't. Bridges for the most part might be stretched or strained or nonexistent but only one had a torch put to it-
Only one was something he had no intention of mending.
"I retired. You left, I tapped out. Ultron was...Sokovia was a sign." A warning, a message. Something none of them had the chance to pay attention to. A reminder that no matter what he did, no matter what he built or how many lives he saved people would look at him and see The Merchant of Death. That was flag one.
Rogers bringing Wanda in without missing a beat, Thor throttling him, how easy it was for all of them to look and judge and blame- he'd fucked up. He would own that.
But not a one of them tried to understand the why. None of them had ever tried to connect with him other than Bruce, and he'd been useful. A heavy hitter, a constant supply of funding, legal navigation, PR assistance, tech. He gave. He gave and he gave, he tried and he tried and he didn't want anything in return but the opportunity to do something right. To help people. To trust a group he'd come to be fond of and-
That trust wasn't returned. Shocker.
He knew better, no reason why it should be so upsetting. "I tapped out. There wasn't much of anything for me left there and I stupidly thought Rogers had a handle on everything."
But that had been the first crack- or at least the first visible one. They'd never really seen eye to eye for all he thought they understood one another. Didn't matter. Tony let his head fall forward, leaning in and curled into Bruce, holding him as much as he was being held up. "It's a long story, if you want to catch up. I'll give you the cliffnotes. Don't want you passing out on me again."
no subject
Only one was something he had no intention of mending.
"I retired. You left, I tapped out. Ultron was...Sokovia was a sign." A warning, a message. Something none of them had the chance to pay attention to. A reminder that no matter what he did, no matter what he built or how many lives he saved people would look at him and see The Merchant of Death. That was flag one.
Rogers bringing Wanda in without missing a beat, Thor throttling him, how easy it was for all of them to look and judge and blame- he'd fucked up. He would own that.
But not a one of them tried to understand the why. None of them had ever tried to connect with him other than Bruce, and he'd been useful. A heavy hitter, a constant supply of funding, legal navigation, PR assistance, tech. He gave. He gave and he gave, he tried and he tried and he didn't want anything in return but the opportunity to do something right. To help people. To trust a group he'd come to be fond of and-
That trust wasn't returned. Shocker.
He knew better, no reason why it should be so upsetting. "I tapped out. There wasn't much of anything for me left there and I stupidly thought Rogers had a handle on everything."
But that had been the first crack- or at least the first visible one. They'd never really seen eye to eye for all he thought they understood one another. Didn't matter. Tony let his head fall forward, leaning in and curled into Bruce, holding him as much as he was being held up. "It's a long story, if you want to catch up. I'll give you the cliffnotes. Don't want you passing out on me again."