Peter Parker... Stark?

Visitors

Bruce ran his hands through his rapidly thinning hair. He'd hoped that it would stay thick for more of his life, but the longer he spent working with Tony the more he came to accept the fact that bad hair days were his new reality.

His cup of coffee sat untouched in front of him and he leaned his elbows on the island and put his face in his hands, gently massaging his temples. Unlike Tony, he knew when he needed to eat and sleep, but like the billionaire, he tended to struggle doing so when predicaments like Peter Parker were dropped in his lap like this.

Bruce remembered the first time this had happened. He and Thor had barely returned to the Tower before an AI who called herself Friday started directing him to the med bay, alerting him that somebody needed his help. He hadn't expected Cap to run in minutes later with a broken boy in his arms, but Bruce knew better than to ask questions until he was sure everyone was okay. Hours later, after intensive surgery, he'd come out of the room and almost run straight into Tony, who had clearly been waiting for him. Thor was there as well, but unlike Tony he did not rush into the room to check on the comatose boy.

"I must go back to my people. I doubt I will see you again until after we have settled New Asgard," Thor had said in a quieter voice than was his usual, placing a hand on Bruce's shoulder.

"Wait, you're leaving?" 

Thor was already walking away, a wide smile on his face, but Bruce could tell something was bothering the god. "I will see you soon, Banner!" 

Thor hadn't come back. It had been months, and there was no word from the "Revengers", nothing to indicate they remembered him or cared to let him know they were alright. As the time continued to pass, Bruce learned to maintain his slowly dwindling patience by breaking everything down into more Hulk-like pieces--little facts and observances that even the big guy could understand.

Apparently a huge fight had gone down between the Avengers, and they were just barely back on speaking terms. Weird.

Natasha no longer seemed to be very interested in him. Not as weird, considering he had practically abandoned her.

Tony was married and had two adopted kids now. Weird.

Hydra was still causing chaos with every chance they got, which included experimenting on teenaged superheroes. Not weird. Not good, either.

Peter Parker, one of the two Tony had adopted, was now in a coma with miniscule robots controlling his brain. Bruce frowned. That sentence felt weird just thinking about it.

How was it possible for technology to override the human mind like that without killing the host? How was he supposed to pull Peter out of his coma? How would he tell Tony that he wasn't really sure he could get Peter back?

"Bruce? What are you doing?"

Bruce jerked to life, almost spilling his coffee as he spun around to see Natasha standing in the hallway. "What?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you having coffee in the destroyed kitchen?"

Bruce did a double take, realizing that he was in fact sitting at the kitchen island, surrounded by mutilated furniture, a chilly breeze rushing through the shattered windows and tickling the back of his neck.

"You need to get some rest, I think," Nat said, a small smile on her face as he stood up and picked his way towards her. 

"I... I can't."

"Why not?"

Bruce sighed. "I did some scans on Peter. Physically, he's in good shape. He's not malnourished like Morgan was, and there's no sign of recent physical abuse, but..." Natasha didn't interrupt him, just waited patiently for him to string his thoughts together. "But his brain has been completely overtaken by nanotechnology. I've never seen anything like it, Nat."