"We all have a right to tap out if we want to." Bruce believed that. He wasn't sorry he tried to kill himself, and if he could have, he would have found a way to do it. Yes it would have been a sad end to a sad life, but then there were people who would be alive right now if he was gone. Everyone should have the choice to control their own life, but controlling others was where things got sticky. "It's your life, but I'm glad you didn't."

He could die now. Like anyone else. His mortality hadn't been much of a question for him for a long while, and he'd been young before that so he hadn't thought it over. Bruce knew he wanted to live, and he chose not to die, but he could now. He was a different kind of liability. Fantastic. Now wasn't the time.

Bruce nodded, his arm still around Tony. "I'm not surprised to hear that. He was a victim of Hydra. Nothing he did was his choice. You reacted emotionally, but with distance, you can see that and be willing to give him a real shot. You give people a lot of shots." He was someone who got those chances too from Tony, so he appreciated it, respected it. "I read a lot about that time when we were tasked with the Project Rebirth reboot, most everyone just cared about the science, but you know me, I like to be thorough and know everything. News reels, papers, that sort of thing. People spoke well of him." But he was secondary of course to Steve himself, who was the focal point. Captain America's best friend and sidekick.

"In hindsight, it's good I wasn't there, it would've all been a lot worse if I was, but I'm sorry you had to take so much on by yourself."