[ this is exactly what he's been trying to avoid. these questions, to which he has no good answer. just hunches, backed up by years of betrayal. tony had showed up at his apartment, laid on his couch, and unburdened himself of years of pain. bruce hadn't been able to handle it; temperament wasn't an excuse, it was a reality. empathy—attachment, that was the easiest way to lose control. he still remembers the incident in rio de janeiro: the number of days without feeling the strain underneath his skin didn't matter; when he got involved with helping that woman, it all tipped over into chaos. that's what caring does.

he'd distanced himself from tony after that. it'd been partially self-preservation, partially because of an irrational betrayal he felt, knowing tony had so easily gotten rid of his arc reactor. extremely irrational. he knew how difficult the process was for tony, physically and mentally. but in the end, that was the difference, the one bruce had pointed out right from the start. tony had choices. bruce didn't. tony would never really understand that. and bruce didn't expect him to, but he didn't feel obligated to explain himself either.

at least, he didn't then, that day when he'd said yes. now, standing in front of the only person he could honestly call his friend, it's harder. he knew it would be. ]

I did, Tony. I wanted to call you. I wanted to think you'd help. No, I—I know you would've. And the you back home, in my timeline, is probably wondering why I haven't. [ the multiverse time travel theory is the only thing that explains their situation; he assumes tony's already reached this conclusion too. ] But this—my... condition? Isn't something you can fix.