It wasn't Bruce's fault that Tony flinched. That he pulled back, eyes flicking away to spare himself whatever he might see in Bruce's eyes. Too many times he'd had those three words primed and sharpened like a knife, braced to carve away another layer he didn't want to give, to dig in and twist to leave him raw and aching in the aftermath. Rhodey and Pepper knew how to say it without saying it, knew that hearing it punted Tony back to a place that was dark and cold and ragged. Bruce didn't know, Tony didn't share that part of his issues. Rhodey lived through them alongside Tony- Pepper picked up from context.
Bruce didn't know how many of his issues stemmed around those three words. Hearing them, not hearing them, trying to find the right way to say them without saying them. The rest, comparatively, was easy to hear. He'd rationalized why Rogers did what he did during the accords mess. That wasn't the issue. That hadn't ever been the issue. It was the lie. Living with him, knowing him, and choosing not to trust him with something he had every right to know. Letting that get ahead of what might've been right not just for him and Barnes and the Avengers- but every other enhanced individual that'd fall under the purview of the accords.
But asking for any kind of long distance thinking from Rogers had always been a little foolhardy. How could a man look forward at what was coming when he spent his whole life staring behind?
"...I'd ask what took so long for Wanda to come around to that choice because Vision would've offered himself up as soon as he knew what the stakes were." Rationally, logically, it was the only call to make. Wanda not wanting to- that fit. She'd lost her entire family, her security, everything. Vis was all she had left. Having to pull the trigger herself? Some kind of impossible. But she would if pressed. "But I have a feeling I won't much like the answer."
no subject
Bruce didn't know how many of his issues stemmed around those three words. Hearing them, not hearing them, trying to find the right way to say them without saying them. The rest, comparatively, was easy to hear. He'd rationalized why Rogers did what he did during the accords mess. That wasn't the issue. That hadn't ever been the issue. It was the lie. Living with him, knowing him, and choosing not to trust him with something he had every right to know. Letting that get ahead of what might've been right not just for him and Barnes and the Avengers- but every other enhanced individual that'd fall under the purview of the accords.
But asking for any kind of long distance thinking from Rogers had always been a little foolhardy. How could a man look forward at what was coming when he spent his whole life staring behind?
"...I'd ask what took so long for Wanda to come around to that choice because Vision would've offered himself up as soon as he knew what the stakes were." Rationally, logically, it was the only call to make. Wanda not wanting to- that fit. She'd lost her entire family, her security, everything. Vis was all she had left. Having to pull the trigger herself? Some kind of impossible. But she would if pressed. "But I have a feeling I won't much like the answer."