seekevolution | The Amulet

He's grateful. Sitting up, Mohinder tries to shake off the dizziness he feels, and gently dabs at his cheeks. He feels quite foolish but there is so very little he can do about that now. What's done is done.

He's very careful with everything he says, making sure everything that comes out of his mouth can not be misconstrued as a command. "Thank...thank you."

"Take it slow." Bruce hovers there, watching how Mohinder reacts to sitting up. He can see the dizziness in the sway of his body, but that is to be expected. "Mohinder, tell me what happened after I left. I was ready to take on Fury and SHIELD itself if that's what it took to get Fury to let you go."

It's not a long tale to tell but it takes Mohinder the better part of an hour to tell Bruce about how he'd been taken from the lab just after Bruce and Tony left and been given several blind tests through one way mirrored rooms and cards stretching from the inane 'bark like a dog' and 'take off your clothing' to the horrorfying 'put your firearm in your mouth and pull the trigger.'

All three agents in the room had put their guns in their mouths...the test subject (who had an empty chamber) and the two guards who had supposedly been cleared and safe. Mohinder shakes over that, half laughing and half crying.

"It spreads. It spreads, Bruce. Anyone in physical contact with me-- That's why it's not safe."

It spreads. That is frightening for any scientist to hear. The effect of the amulet spreads and more people end up under Mohinder's control. Two people were dead because of it. There is a flare of green just for a moment in anger towards Fury, who should have known better in how this was being tested, but hindsight is ever twenty-twenty.

"Physical contact is required?" Bruce wants to confirm, lips tight, suddenly grateful for Tony's issues with touching people.

"It seems so," Mohinder says quietly. The look Bruce gives him does...something to him. It doesn't stir any fear in his heart...just desire. But that's dangerous. That causes dangerous thoughts. He wishes he could experience that kiss again. The one given at the end of their evening together, the one that made him feel so...so alive.

Bruce can't know what Mohinder is thinking, but the amulet's power draws him anyway. He leans in before he's thought about it, couldn't think about it, capturing Mohinder's lips with his, his eyes closing. It would take a thought to break it off, and Bruce can't fault Mohinder for this. But it's as passionate as Mohinder wants, his hand warm on Mohinder's a moment later.

Mohinder knows he's done it again, knows it's against Bruce's desire, but he's had so little going for him that he lets himself have the moment. Bruce is wonderful, almost too warm, the sort of person he just wants to spend his days with... He's perfect. Just perfect. But Bruce doesn't feel that way. The guilt after is overwhelming and he pulls back with a gasp, sucking on his lower lip, eyes down and his heart racing.

"I think it best if you keep me locked away. Tell Mr. Stark to... To set the code. I have no influence over him."

Edited 2013-11-27 18:53 (UTC)

Bruce sits back, breathing slowly, his eyes opening. He swallows, remembering the conversation he had with Tony on this same plane not that long ago. About trying. Having 'fun'. It isn't about having fun, but he understands.

There is a warmth he feels with Mohinder, a friendship, something very close. Is it right to try something that he doesn't know how it will go?

So, he shakes his head. "I didn't lie, in the restaurant, you know. You asked me to tell you how I felt, and I did."

A slow burn? I kept something very different from what he feels with Tony. Tony is fast. Exciting. Take charge. And Mohinder couldn't be more different. "I have trouble believing most things I hear. Especially when they're things I'd like to believe," he says somewhat twistedly. He gently presses his fingers against the stubble on Bruce's cheek. "You may well care for me because I care for you. That's unfair to you, Bruce."

Without a doubt it is a different feeling. Tony riles, pushes, nudges, twists, burns fierce and hot. In many ways, he and Tony are complete opposites. That makes he and Mohinder very similar. A slow burn... Is a better way to put it.

It doesn't mean he knows which is what he should have in his life. This though, he doesn't feel wrong to admit. "I spoke to Tony about that. Some... Of what I felt... Is long from before this situation from the amulet." His eyes lift to Mohinder's, speaking softly. "I don't know what it means, or what should happen. It may have to wait until this is over."

Mohinder just nods. Nods and then sets his forehead, monetarily, against Bruce's. "You should go." Yes. This time he's doing it on purpose. Go away, Bruce. It's no different from running, actually. Mohinder knows that.

Tony's waiting when a glassy eyed Banner returns to the cabin and he doesn't bother to put down his sandwich.

"You're getting more action than I am, lately. That's not right."

Blink. Bruce looks around, then at Tony, almost confused how he got there before focusing on Tony. "What? More action?" Now he does look confused, not at all following. Hadn't he been talking to Mohinder? He needs to watch his patient until he's sure Mohinder will be okay and all of the drugs are out of his system.

Tony just smirks. "Sit down. He wants to be alone, obviously, or else you'd have your pants around your ankles right about now." He gently pats the seat beside him and offers Bruce a bottle of water and a bag of all natural organic apple chips.

Bruce sits down where patted, taking the offerings and a bit surprised at them, but he cracks open the water first and drinks a good deal of it in a go. A droplet escapes and follows his jaw before he sucks in a breath as he finishes. "That's not funny, Tony. I'm not going to have sex, nevermind on your plane."

"You were getting pretty cozy back there," Tony says, reaching to get that bit of water before it falls into Bruce's collar. Tony's smiling but he doesn't much feel like it, if he's honest. "Before you jump on me, I wasn't watching. JARVIS was."

"And you were watching JARVIS, hardly any difference." He rubs his hand over where Tony touched, feeling a faint tingle there. "I think he thought back to the other night and... it happened. It's spreading, first off. Anyone who has physical contact with him. SHIELD accidentally killed two people because of their idiocy."

Tony nods, stoic, but not surprised. "So I heard." Let's not talk about you and the other doctor kissing. Tony recrosses his legs so that one goes over Bruce's. He needs to get Pepper naked ASAP before this turns into something bad.

And something he can't explain to his girlfriend.

"He's all right? Will be?"

Pepper wanted to see him kissing Bruce. Who knows what she would do with the idea of him shagging Bruce.

Bruce doesn't even really think twice about what Tony does, mostly because Tony is always trying to do little things like this. "I think he will be. The drugs they used... damn them for it. That's not the kind of thing that should be used on people unless it's a medical emergency. They threw him into a room and used him like a lab rat and two people died because of it!" For a moment, Bruce actually snaps his words before he looks away, eyes closing hard.

"What's done is done, it sucks I know that, but it's done," Tony says, only doing a so-so job on being cool, calm, and collected himself. SHIELD is really stretching it now. It's not that he cares so much what happens to Mohinder, but this research affects them all.

Banner more so. And no one messes with Banner. Not if they're smart, at least.

Tony shifts back, half on Bruce, half on his own chair. He's like a cat sometimes. He just wants to be in everyone's business. "We'll get it figured out when we land."

Bruce knows, intellectually, that Tony is right. That SHIELD agents go into their lives in SHIELD knowing that they are putting themselves at risk. They are dead and there is nothing that Bruce can do by being angry. However, however...

Bruce's inner anger could care less about that logic. Thankfully, Tony is there to tame that.

His brow lifts towards Tony at how the other man is making himself comfortable, but after a moment, he shifts just enough to let Tony stay comfortable. "...I know... none of this makes you happy." Very quiet, looking out across out the window. "Even having him here. Thank you for doing it. I couldn't imagine... anyone else doing it."

"Good scotch and a new project are the only two things that make me happy, Banner, so don't sweat it." And don't read into it. Tony sure as hell isn't going to, no matter how king of the throne he's being right now with his leg taking over Bruce's lap.

Truthfully, he's not sure what he feels. He loves Pepper. Obviously. But he probably loves Bruce. Also obviously but it's more complicated than that. More disastrous. The consequences are greater.

And there's no way to get rid of any hot and bothered feelings that come with it either because... Well, Bruce did sort of eradiate himself.

"We'll figure it out and ship Suresh back to the West Coast. Easy peasy."

There is something very reassuring about Tony's optimistic outlook on this whole situation, something that makes Bruce believe in that outlook. Perhaps not easy, but that they could find a way and have Mohinder back to normal, back to the life he had been loving.

Though Bruce, deep down, isn't even sure that's actually possible at all anymore.

Bruce had loved one person, one person with all of his heart, and it had ended in disaster. Maybe it had been doomed to be that from the beginning, considering who her father was, but that didn't mean he had cared about her any less. He had made the decision to end that, to let her go be with another man, and he still dealt with that decision. He had never been free, by his own notions, to just enjoy himself sexually, but in only a few months between Tony and Mohinder, his mind was being nudged from that.

Everything is more complicated now. Tony has never shied from being a risk taker, and Bruce had been honest with both men about his feelings.

"I hope so," Bruce only murmurs, closing his eyes. He's been going without much rest for a while now, and he feels comfortable and safe enough about where they are, and who is currently resting on him, to let himself drift a little.

This isn't a kindness, Bruce. It's an attempt to remove an intruder. Tony's got strange sensibilities. If Mohinder were a woman, this competition probably wouldn't happen. Bruce is allowed a girlfriend. A wife, if he wants, but Mohinder-- Smart, attractive, a good family man, probably monogamous, would be devoted00

It's nothing Tony can offer and he hates the thought of losing. Especially losing to Suresh. He watches Bruce sleep with dark thoughts in his head and brood for awhile until they land.

He'll just let Bruce sleep as he has Mohinder transported into the fifth subbasement. It's nice down there. One of Tony's labs is there as well as the Avengers' practice rooms. That means that Mohinder has all of Tony's luxury's at his fingertips...and his influence will be beyond Bruce, who will stay at the top of the Tower so no more kissing because Mohinder thinks about it will fucking happen again.

The things Mohinder could think about could get infinitely worse than just kissing. Bruce will wake up more than a little confused about where he is and why he is alone, but he quickly surmises with a look around and then confirmed by JARVIS moments later. "Thank you, JARVIS," he murmurs, going to gather his things and get to the Tower as well.

"Tony?" Bruce calls out as he gets to the living areas of the Tower, not sure where he would find his friend. He badly wants to check on Mohinder, as basically his current doctor, so he will head for the elevator to go down to him.

He doesn't see the problem because he trusts Mohinder that much.

As the doors open, Tony steps out and sweeps Bruce into a dance. It's one of those things that only happens in musicals and with Tony Stark. The bearded man grins and gives Bruce a spin before ushering him to the kitchen.

"You haven't eaten and you should. Getting mad takes a whole lot out of you." He winks at Bruce and pulls open the fridge. "Do not think about Suresh for the next one and a half to two hours, all right? JARVIS is doing scans. You can look at said scans and have a turkey sandwich. But not in that order or the mayo will congeal."

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