Bruce was surprised when Tony leaned in, but he reacted carefully and sincerely, moving his hand from Tony's shoulder to just moving the arm around him. Bruce lacked affection in his life, the few times it existed being fleeting, but he remembered. And he remembered wanting these flickers of reassurance too. Tony was the first person in years to do this, be in his space, so shortly after they met. He'd been startled, taken aback, already so nervous just shaking hands with others. Tony did this for him when they were only strangers. Bruce could do it now for him.

"I know. We tried and it wasn't enough." He was always a bleak person, but this time? For a few moments, he really thought they could do it. He thought they had a chance. He felt maybe they had, and they lost anyway. The Avengers and their fight, it all finally caught up to them. Bruce had so few people left to lose, but he wondered. Betty. The one tie to his past. Was she dust? Pepper, who was always so kind to him? But he had so little compared to Tony, because Tony believed in creating a suit to save the entire planet. They were all his to lose.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left. I should've been stronger." That could apply to many things. Strong enough not to run. Strong enough for the Hulk to help, the Hulk could jump high, he might have been able to follow Tony into the sky, into space. Maybe that would have changed things. Woulda shoulda coulda. "We tried, that might be nothing, but it was something too. I know you of all people probably fought the hardest."