Tin Can and the Science Man (Tony Stark x Bruce Banner One Shot Series)

Anger Management (Part 2)

Anger Management (Part 2)

One Shot #1

Bruce's POV

The next day...

   I'm currently on my lunch break at work when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and smile to myself when I see that it's Tony's number on my screen. I open the text immediately and read it. It says:

 I'm bored out of my mind since it's my day off today and I actually really miss you. Can we meet up for coffee, tea, or whatever else? 

    I feel a giddy sensation pass throughout my system. After my lunch break ends, I only have two hours left of work today and then I'm free for the rest of the day. Tony's really cute too... this is definitely something I should act on. My friends Natasha and Clint have been pushing me to get back into the dating world for years now. Well this isn't officially a date but it's the start of me finally getting to know someone new. I'm going to accept his offer but I'm not meeting up with him until I get off of work. I text him back the following:

   I'd love to Tony! I'm on my lunch break currently and have a couple more hours of work to finish after that. I'll be getting off at five-thirty. Want to meet me at Starbucks down the street from where I work? I'll text you the address. 

A couple minutes go by before he texts me back with the following:

 Sure thing good looking ;) Send me the address of the Starbucks. 

I blush as my fingers type across my phone. Once the information is set, I sit back in my chair and reflect on what I just did. I just acted on an offer I never thought I'd act on again honestly. I'm quite proud of myself. 

About three hours later...

 The clock finally strikes five thirty on the dot and I managed to finish my work for the day right on time. I clock out and make my way down to Starbucks. It's about a ten minute walk from here due to heavy foot traffic this time of day in the city. When I arrive there, I find Tony sitting at a table with sunglasses on... indoors. This man is so extra but yet I find myself drawn to his confidence. I'm nowhere near as confident as him. I take a deep breath and make my way over to the table he saved for us. He takes his sunglasses off once he realizes that I'm standing right in front of him. He smirks at me and motions for me to sit down. 

    "I took the liberty of buying the first round of drinks. I figured you'd like a chai latte. You can't go wrong with a chai latte if you're a tea drinker. Did I make a good call?" I take a sip of the latte and smile. "You made a good call, thank you. I can buy us the next round if we want a second round of drinks. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. I work less than two blocks away but due to the heavy foot traffic at this time of day, it took more like fifteen minutes to get here rather than the usual ten or less." "You're fine Bruce. I'm a working man myself, I just happened to have the day off today due to a light task load for this week. I'll get back on the work grind tomorrow." 

      I gawk at him a bit. "What's it like being the owner of Stark Industries now? I know your father Howard owned it previously." He cocks an eyebrow at me. "Have you been doing research on me?" I blush and nod. "Just a little bit." He then proceeds to tell me the overall history of Stark Industries for the last fifty years. I stare at him in absolute wonder, soaking in his every word. When he's done speaking, a moment of silence passes before he breaks it. "Enough about me though, tell me more about you Bruce. You're a medical scientist right?" I nod. "Well, that's an interesting job. I'd love to learn about it." "Well I work the NYU student teaching hospital. I'm one of two lead scientists there. We perform all sorts of experiments for dozens of medical trials a month, everything from kidney failure cases to viruses such as COVID-19." 

         He gasps. "You're working on cases for COVID-19? That's the most recent foreign virus that people are afraid of right now. There are cases popping up daily here in the U.S. Do you think a pandemic could happen here?" I sigh. "It's a possibility but we're performing this clinical trials in the hopes of minimizing that possibility. The students under my and my colleagues instruction are decent ones thankfully. Most of them don't require instructions repeated to them more than twice and are a lot of help on these cases, including the ones related to COVID-19." Tony applauds me. "I'm impressed. You're doing remarkable work to protect the people of our country. I just hope you stay safe in the process. You're still at risk of being exposed to the virus too." 

       I nod. "I know, we practically wear hazmat suits around these patients." The two of us continue to talk about work for a bit before moving on to more personal subjects. I tense up when the subject of dating comes. I nearly break the cup I'm drinking my latte in. Tony notices and he frowns. "Geez Bruce, I'm being insensitive. I'm so sorry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Green spots appear on my skin and I try some breathing exercises to calm myself down. I don't need another incident like the one I had in Harlem a few years back. "It's okay Tony, it just caught me off guard is all." I wait until the green spots on my skin are completely gone and my heart rate is more steady before diving into this dark tale.

      "My last girlfriend was named Betty. We broke up six years ago due to her overbearing father. He not only hated my guts but he hunted me like prey due to my 'unique' condition. I got over her specifically but not what she did to me. The way she just tossed me aside. We were together for five years... we were set to be engaged. She left me about a week before our wedding. I lost thousands of dollars I put towards it too. I was absolutely shattered Tony. A part of me always will be truthfully." His expression turns into a serious one. "I had a very similar experience with my ex-wife Pepper. We divorced a little over a year ago. The only difference is that she walked out on me because she couldn't handle the fact that I'm not a straight man. She felt threatened by the prospects of me ending up with a guy rather than staying with her forever."

     I give mirror his serious expression. "I'm so sorry for you too Tony. You deserve better." He nods. "You're right, but you do deserve better too. You know Bruce, we're more alike than I thought we were." Suddenly, our hands gravitate across the table and we're holding them tenderly. "Tony..." He sighs. "Bruce..." I give him a sad smile. "Who would have thought that an anger management class would have brought us together like this in such a short amount of time?" He gives me a small smile back. "The thought is mutual. Though I have a follow up one, you letting me take you out on a real date after our next class. I think you're extremely sexy and would fit nicely in my arms."  I blush like a tomato. "I-I think you're cute Tony and I'd love to go out on a d-date with you." He winks at me. "Sounds good darling." The two of us then toast our drinks like dorks and I feel so content.

I hope that you guys liked this one shot! :) -Mary