Work Text:
Now:
Bucky moans and tries to roll over, but his body seizes in a wave of pain. He’s distinctly aware then that he’s not in his bed but lying on a hard floor and there are metal shackles clamped around his wrists.
Opening his eyes he takes in the nondescript concrete cell, dark and bare except for the chains hanging off a wall, and the sliver of light filtering through the tiny glass window in an iron door.
He checks all of his extremities from his toes to his head and is relieved to notice that nothing’s broken or bleeding out. His shield, comm and weapons are gone but at least his head is still where it’s supposed to be, on top of his neck. The only problem is that his mechanical arm seems to be damaged, but that isn’t surprising, considering the EMP disc still attached to it. Bucky crushes it with his other hand and tries to recall what the hell happened.
There was something to do with Tony- an attempted kidnapping because of Bucky? No, that had been almost a month ago. But something to do with a kidnapping and Iron Man?
Oh, right.
***
Then:
Bucky had the feeling he was about to jump head-first into the biggest mistake of his life. Or you know, second biggest if you counted all the getting captured and experimented on by Nazis, falling off a train and being picked up by angry soviets as a mistake. Because getting lost in the lot of abandoned HYDRA labs while frozen after being “gifted” to them wasn’t his fault at all. Those terrorists had the most incompetent accounting and inventory personnel. Really, if SHIELD hadn’t raided that particular stash he probably would have sat there till the twenty-third century.
As it was, now he was adapting to a new life in the twenty-first, catching up with the new technology, pop culture, fighting on a team while bearing the mantle of Captain America (He didn’t like it. He couldn’t measure up to Steve in any way, but no way in hell he was letting anyone else have it.), making friends and oh, also he was planning of doing something he really wasn’t sure of.
So he decided to look for advise.
“You are going to WHAT?” Iron Man exclaimed and Bucky took a step back in surprise. He hadn’t expected such a loud reaction.
“I said, I’m going to break up with Tony.” He repeated.
Iron Man stared at him in shock. And for a red and gold mask with glowing eyes to radiate shock it must have been a big one.
“But… why?” Bucky raised his eyebrows. He’s never heard the robotic voice so full of emotion before. “You were fine right? you seemed fine. If he screwed up somewhere I’m sure it’s fixable, if you just talk with him, not- no need to rush into drastic measures. I- What did he do?”
“Woah, hey.” Bucky stood up and put his hands on Iron Man’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you. He’s your employer after all. I just needed to hear the opinion of a friend.”
“Why?” Iron Man asked again and Bucky sighed, turning his back to him and looking out the window.
“I can’t actually give you a reason, you know? I just don’t know if this relationship’s going anywhere. And it’s not like he did anything wrong, he’s just- I don’t know how to explain it. I have a feeling like he’s hiding something, something important. It’s like when we’re together there’s a glass barrier between us. He’s not committed, you know? And I’m not really in the mood to fall for a deemed cause.”
In the reflection he could see Iron Man clench his fists. “He’s a man with a lot on his plate. He’s bound to have secrets. You can’t expect him to reveal every single detail of his life and business to you.”
Bucky shook his head. “It’s not about business. It’s personal, I can feel it. Something he doesn’t want to tell me or is lying about. Or, I dunno, someone?”
“He’s not cheating!” Iron Man exclaimed, rightful indignation tinting his voice even with the modulator in place.
“I never said he did.” Bucky turned around and raised his palms in a placating gesture. “But we’ve been together for months. Whatever it is, you’d think he would trust me by now.”
Iron Man’s chest was rising with heavy breathing, and Bucky shook his head again. “Besides, I’m really not in a place right now to be in a relationship like that. I should never have said yes when he asked me out.” And yeah, he knew perfectly well he was going too far. He didn’t even mean it, couldn’t mean it. Not when his best memories in this new world were all of Tony.
Iron Man turned around and marched out the door.
“Hey!” Bucky hurried after him, catching his wrist, but Iron Man yanked it away. “Wait, I’m sorry. I had no idea you cared that much. Look, I shouldn’t have told you I’m-”
“Don’t you care even a little bit?!” Bucky took a step back as Iron Man turned around and got into his personal space, the gleaming and so familiar armor looking huge and intimidating. “Don’t you feel anything at all for him?!”
And that felt like a fucking stab in the gut. “Fuck you!” Bucky cried out. “I have the right to end a relationship I’m not comfortable in! And what I do or do not feel for him is none of your business!”
Iron Man then visibly deflated. “Whatever” he said in a tired demeanor “You’re right. You’re always right, you’re Captain America after all. You can afford to break some poor idiot’s heart, that was stupid enough to think that maybe you were the one, right?”
“Don’t you dare-”
“You made him happy for a while there.” Iron Man interrupted him “Thank you for that at least. I guess.”
He walked away for real then, and Bucky didn’t try to stop him. Fuck. He had no idea Iron Man and Tony were so close. In fact, if he had to pick out one person that he didn’t expect to lash out on him it would be Tony’s employee. His constant passive-aggressive attitude towards his boss had been the reason Bucky’s been avoiding spending so much time with him lately. Well, apparently he did care more than he let on.
Bucky leaned against the wall and then slid down it. What a mess. Now even if he changed his mind it would be of no use anymore. Iron Man was probably gonna tell Tony that Bucky had invited him to lunch just to dump him and even if he didn’t Bucky kinda felt like he needed to follow through now.
He had to, really. Because what he’d told Shellhead about Tony’s secrets was the truth, but it was not the whole truth.
He could just hope Tony would be able to forgive him someday.
***
Now:
Bucky wastes no time in ripping the chains off the wall to at least free himself to some extent. He tries the door but it’s pretty solid, so he takes a running leap and crashes into it with his metal shoulder. When it doesn’t even budge he tries again. If he doesn’t manage to get past it at least the noise will attract the attention of someone with a key.
He knows that he should probably stop for a moment and think this plan through, come up with a strategy, but he can’t even fathom the idea of staying in one place. He has to get out of here. He has to find Tony.
After his third try the door whines pitifully and he hears voices on the other end. “Quiet there!” somebody shouts, so Bucky does it again.
The goons aren’t probably the brightest of the bunch, because then they are opening the door, big-ass gun in front of them and Bucky kicks it out of the way and pushes his way out, swinging the chains still attached to his wrists by the shackles like a whip as he ducks out of the way of a bullet and punches a guy in the gut with this other hand. The limp arm is a dead weight and he curses as another goon tries to grab it to overbalance him, but he sends the poor bastard out of his way with a kick and jumps to the side to avoid another round of shots. He knocks a gal out and outright ignores the dude mimicking karate moves and runs past him around the corner.
He barely has time to roll out of the way of a shower of bullets and curses inwardly as at least half a dozen goons, better armored and more armed than the previous ones, come running towards him. He one at the front yells out an order and Bucky grits his teeth, because he knows he can’t run back and the hallway is too narrow to properly maneuver himself against so many adversaries.
The leader fishes out another, weird looking, gun, takes aim and-
-falls down with a stream of blood spraying out of his neck.
The rest of the lot follow immediately, each and every one go down in a span of two seconds. When Bucky turns around he finds the rest of the uniformed guys down and one single figure standing in the middle of the poorly lit corridor, gun in hand lowered and pointing to the ground instead of Bucky’s head.
“Tony?!”
***
Then:
Tony never showed up for their scheduled lunch, didn’t even call. And maybe there was nothing surprising about that but Bucky felt a sliver of concern nonetheless.
He dialed Tony the next day but the call went to voice mail and none of his messages were showing up as read.
The second day Bucky was starting to worry for real so he asked Jan to call Tony, but he didn’t pick up either. That evening they saw Iron Man on the news. He was pursuing a drug cartel in Florida, in collaboration with the police, which was weird since Iron Man never did that kind of jobs. But that also meant that Tony was probably in Florida too, since his bodyguard was supposed to be his invisible shadow.
A third day and still nothing.
On the morning of the fourth day Bucky was making himself a sandwich early in the morning, after spending the whole night watching shows on his laptop, too worried to sleep, when Tony walked into the communal kitchen.
He looked horrible – dark bags under his eyes, bruises on his jaw and a burst lip, dirty, mussed hair. He also seemed to be one step away from falling on his face and Bucky was in his space before he could stop to think about what he was doing, holding him in a bear-hug.
“Jesus Christ, Tony! You had me so worried where the hell have you been? Why didn’t you pick up your phone?”
Tony had gone still for a couple of seconds, then slightly relaxed against his frame “You were worried?”
“Of course” Bucky said, and drew back just enough to hold onto Tony’s shoulders with both hands “You went completely off the grid. Where have you even been?”
“Oh that-” Tony smiled, but it was sharp and somehow cold “I guess that’s just another one of my secrets, isn’t it?”
Bucky felt like a bucket of ice had been dropped on his head when Tony pushed him away with both hands, taking a step back. For some reason that step felt like a mile and Bucky had the distinct impression that something fragile and precious just had been dropped and broken into a thousand pieces.
“Tony, please, whatever Iron Man told you-” but Tony interrupted him.
“He only told me the truth, and I don’t have to justify myself to you. You wanted this first, so have it your way. We’re done! You can still live in the tower with the rest of the team and I’ll work maintenance on your arm when needed and on scheduled appointments, but that’s the whole extent of what you’re gonna get from me. Understood?”
He was angry and hurt. Bucky could feel it, could hear it in the edge of his voice, and his chest ached with the need to comfort, to beg forgiveness, to fall on his knees and cling to the fabric of Tony’s jeans, to admit that he’s made a mistake.
Instead, he nodded.
Tony nodded back and turned on his heel, walking away, walking out of Bucky’s life.
Jesus, what a mess.
***
Now:
“What the hell are you doing here?” Tony hisses running towards him. He’s clad in skinny jeans and an undershirt that used to be white but now is just spattered all over with dirt and blood. None of it looks like it’s Tony’s tho, so Bucky relaxes a fraction.
“Rescuing you.” He supplies, and Tony raises a dubious eyebrow at him. He then points his gun to the side, fires, and Bucky hears a short cry and the dull thud of a body hitting the ground in the distance. Okay, probably not the best moment to get just a little bit turned on, but can you really blame him?
“I was perfectly fine till you showed up, thank you very much, Mario.”
Bucky scrunches up his nose at the video game reference but prefers to address to more pressing matters. “My arm isn’t working. EMP.”
Tony snorts. “Such a rescue task-force you are. I can’t do anything here, by the way. Specially when we’ve got AIM at our tails like hunt dogs.” He tugs at Bucky’s shackles. “Hands up.”
Bucky obeys, clasping his metal hand in the flesh one and Tony shots at the chains, neatly slicing the metal like butter.
“Laser gun” He explains, holding the thing up, but Bucky’s more impressed with his aim, looking around the carnage around them, every goon killed with one clean shot in a vital place.
“I didn’t even know you could shoot.” He says and Tony rolls his eyes, stepping around the bodies and picking up the other laser gun, that he throws at Bucky, as well as a couple regular ones, a knife and a carrier vest that he wounds around his hips, arranging his arsenal. Bucky does the same, all well as he can one-armed, figuring they’ll need the munition.
“Of course not. I’ve only been designing and building the best weapons in the world most of my adult life, how on Earth would I know how to use them, um?”
Okay, fair point. Bucky follows Tony, who starts walking ahead, determined steps guiding the way.
“Do you even know where are we going?”
“Yes, as it turns out, I do. We have to get to one of the elevators to get overground.”
“Wait” Bucky grabs his elbow and Tony turns to look at him with impatience. “The rest should be nearby. We were following Iron Man’s distress signal but the closest we could get was this forest. We have to get him out of here.”
Tony curses under his breath “Iron Man is fine, believe me. We, on the other hand, are not gonna be if we don’t get our asses out of here.” Tony looks at him sharply, as if running a debate in his head, but then presses his lips in a thin line and turns away.
“You’re angry.” Bucky mumbles, trailing after him as they resume walking. He can hear shouts somewhere around them but their path is clear and dark for now. He can’t watch Tony’s face and their six at the same time, but he can practically feel the irritation radiating out of him.
“Out of all the people to be caught in a life or death situation with, why did it have to be you?” Tony goes straight for the proverbial jugular and Bucky winces. He can’t believe this is the same sweet, warm and flirty man he’s been dating for the past few months. It’s like he’s suddenly gotten on the bad side of the legendary businessman Anthony Stark infused with rabies, and he doesn’t like it at all. He wonders where has his Tony gone, the one that would light up every time Bucky walked into the room, the one that always kissed the seam between metal and flesh when he finished working on his arm.
Not for the first time Bucky wonders what would Steve do, what would he have said in his place? Damn punk was a menace to his own health but somehow he also always knew how to make people forgive his every transgression and dumb mistake.
Finally he goes with “I missed you” because he really doesn’t want to argue and whatever else you could say, the truth amounts to those three words.
Tony’s step falters, but he doesn’t turn to look at Bucky.
“You were the one who decided you have had enough of me, remember?”
Bucky frowns “What the fuck? I never said that, Tony.”
“It was your idea to break up.” His overall presence feels tenser, and Bucky wishes he knew if it’s because of their predicament or the conversation. “You told Iron Man as much.”
“No” Bucky corrects him, covering him as they round a corner, and lowers his voice to barely a whisper. “I told him I was thinking of breaking up with you. I never even had the opportunity to explain myself to you, we never actually talked.”
“And we’re certainly not talking about it now.” Tony hisses. “Or ever. I’m not going to spill to you my every last thought or beg you to take me back, if that’s what you’re expecting.”
“What? For fuck’s sake Tony, that’s not-”
He’s interrupted when the corridor lights turn on and a siren pierces the air. And suddenly the two of them are caught in the middle of a corridor as a bunch of AIM goons, half-in-half-out of their ridiculous beekeeper uniforms, spill out of the nearest door.
***
Then:
It’s been almost two weeks since his conversation with Tony and Bucky haven’t seen him since. Bucky had to find out via Internet that Tony was in Singapore, and then in Toronto, London, Boston… anywhere but New York. It’s not like he was stalking him, never mind what Jan kept insinuating, his only intention was to make sure that his- his ex, wasn’t doing anything stupid and potentially dangerous. It felt to Bucky like he was trying to fill the void in his days, though. He’s never realized how much of his life revolved around Tony. Every time he went outside he was reminded of the walks they used to take, his favorite diner – a painful reminder of their numerous dates there. The food tasting like ash. Bucky couldn’t be sure if it was because of the memories or if it had always been that way and only Tony’s company made it great.
The call to assemble came in when he was there, actually, staring broodily at his sandwich and ignoring the pitying looks from the wait staff.
“Status?” He asked, strolling into the briefing room, and Storm turned to him with her brows drawn together in a frown.
“It’s about Iron Man” She said, turning back to the room and the rest of their teammates “He’s been kidnapped.”
“What?!” Giant Girl exclaimed as everyone tensed up. “How do we know?”
“Because he sent us a distress signal. He’s got a wide array of them for different emergencies and the frequency of that one matches the abduction or kidnapping signal.”
“What about Tony?” Bucky asked.
Storm shook her head. “Nothing. We couldn’t contact him.”
Bucky had to lean on the table as a cold rush spread through his body “Do you think they took him too?”
“Bub, calm down. You smell like you’re about to have a heart attack.”
Bucky ignored Logan’s jab. Iron Man could handle himself, as an avenger and a fighter from head to toe. But Tony, Tony was only a civilian. God knows what could happen to him if he had actually been captured. Bucky’s only consolation was that nobody would be stupid enough to kill Tony Stark when they could use him for his talents or demand ransom.
“Do we even know if the attacker was after Iron Man or after Tony?”
“All we know” Storm stated “Is the proximate location of where they’re keeping the Iron Man armor. The signal is still transmitting and hasn’t moved in the last forty minutes.”
“Then what are we waiting for!?” Bucky shot up. “Avengers-”
“No.” Storm interrupted him. We’ll go, but now I’m starting to think it’s better if you stay behind.
“What?”
“You’re too close, it’s too personal for you.”
“And for you it isn’t?” He accused her. “Iron Man is a friend to all of us.”
“But for you this isn’t about Iron Man. We all want to save Stark is he’s been captured too. He’s a friend too, our benefactor and a civilian. But we need clear heads able to keep calm and follow a plan. You look right now like the moment you catch a whiff of Stark you’re gonna go off the rails.”
“I can follow a plan. I’m fine! I’m the team leader, Ororo, you can’t just-”
“Co-team leader!”
“Hey guys!” Spidey appeared between them, hanging from the ceiling, “I don’t know if you’re aware or I’m just the smartest arachnid in this room today, but while you’re arguing they could be torturing our friends.”
Bucky set his mouth in a firm line “I’m coming.” He deadpanned. If he had to sit with his thumb up his ass and hope for Tony and Shellhead come back to him alive – he was going to go insane.
Storm threw her hands up in the air and informed everyone that if shit went south it sure as hell wouldn’t be her damn fault.
Damn her for being always right.
***
Now:
Bucky never wanted to have his fake Captain America shield back more than in this very moment. Or to have his arm in full range of functions back. He tries to put his body between their enemies and Tony, firing from his gun, but is being pushed to the side a second after as a bullet sears through the space where his chest had been a second before.
“Stay behind me!” Tony shouts out, rolling aside and firing three precise shots. Two of them hit bullseye and Tony surges forward, slipping on one knee and swopping a man off his feet with a circular kick of the other leg, shooting him a second later. He uses the body as a shield against the incoming fire and that’s when Bucky comes out of his trance, just in time to avoid getting killed. He follows Tony and covers him as well as he can without an arm. He makes sure to shot every enemy trying to get to Tony from behind and throws his laser gun to the side when the power, or charge or whatever it was, runs out, taking one of the spare normal ones instead.
Tony goes straight for the woman in the middle, the one that’s supposedly in charge, outright pushing people out of the way, trusting Bucky to cover him and, after barely dodging a shot, kicks her weapon out of her hand and then knocks her out with a punch, grabbing the pistol off the air. “We have to get out of here!” He shouts and Bucky wholeheartedly agrees, meeting him back to back, he can see out of the corner of his aye more goons arriving. Tony starts shooting indiscriminately and Bucky runs forward, checking around the corner and firing too as Tony leaps behind an attacker and slashes his arm and side with a knife. He runs past Bucky, around the corner, and Bucky follows him, dodging into the first corridor and then through an open steel door that thankfully turns out to be empty. Tony barricades it with a chair and looks frantically around. It’s an office, a large window overlooking some sort of training range. Tony fires his gun at the window and throws another chair at the glass to break it out of the frame but then turns around and starts tapping around the ugly pictures behind the desk. As the thumps on the door start getting stronger he gets more nervous, feeling with his hands over the concrete wall.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Bucky shouts, using his weight to keep the door shut.
“Trust me!” Tony shouts back.
A few moments later he lets out a victorious whoop and a part of the wall separates and slides aside.
“In there, c'mon!”
Bucky makes sure the barricade is more or less holding up and dives into the dip in the wall, Tony right by his side. The walls shield them from view a second before the door bursts with a loud crash and Bucky keeps still in the narrow space as Tony, pressed against him, breathes fast and strongly. But he might as well start signing opera because there’s no way anybody could hear them with the cacophony of voices and crashes from outside. Bucky thinks he hears the words “through the window” and “perimeter” and then the sounds start to die out.
Tony’s still heaving, but easier now. Bucky can’t see him but can feel all of him, flush against his body, burning hot, damp and tense but relaxing by the second. Bucky’s disturbingly familiar with that sensation and tries to push aside memories of all the other times he had Tony in the exact same state and melting into him. He doesn’t manage it completely, and reviving the events of the last few minutes surprisingly doesn’t help at all.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tony hisses, angling his pelvis away from the happy bulge in Bucky’s crotch.
“Sorry, Pavlovian response.”
Tony snorts but doesn’t squirm anymore and Bucky resists the urge to rub against him. Bad idea, inappropriate behavior, mortal danger, all of that. Also, he can practicallyhear Tony’s glare despite the utter darkness. “Where are we, by the way? How did you know about this closet?”
Tony shifts and Bucky suppresses a grunt, but the little shit ignores him – although Bucky’s 90% sure he’s smirking – and starts feeling along the inner wall with one hand again.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a flashlight, would you?”
“No, they took everything away when I was captured and knocked out.”
Tony stops fidgeting and his breathing hitches. “You were captured?”
“Yeah. We were sweeping the forest, looking for Iron Man, and I stumbled upon a hidden lock under the leaves. I should have waited for the rest, but-”
“-but you jumped head first into an enemy underground base, how typical.”
“Oh, don’t give me that shit” Bucky hisses, suddenly angry “I was scared shirtless for you. I wanted to make sure you weren’t in there being killed or tortured.”
“I don’t need your concern. Or rescue, for that matter.”
“Oh, I could see it back there. Tennis? My ass!”
“I do play tennis.” Tony shrugs. “It’s a requirement for any rich businessmen below golfing age. I just also been practicing MMA since the age of seven.”
“What for?” Because Bucky should have suspected it. Of course he should!
“Being rich and smart comes with a lot of risks. I have a dangerous life and an even more dangerous job.”
“What? Fighting computer code and loaded, white dudes older than Methuselah?”
Tony inhales sharply and grits his teeth. Bucky swallows tightly. Whatever is happening to them, it’s new. They never used to be like this before the break-up. Then again,before was the time when Bucky wouldn’t have dreamed to see Tony shove his foot in some AIM goon’s mouth. The man he’s sharing a limited space with now doesn’t feel at all like his sweet and ludicrous boyfriend. The string of profanity coming out of his mouth is familiar, so is the firm body against his, but the fire and the aura of efficient danger, the calculating intelligence and ruthless violence is new. Bucky’s pretty sure it’s wrong how excited a part of him is about that new, unexpected development, how his reason doesn’t seem to be able to suffocate the desire under his skin.
It’s a bad idea, but this whole day has been one stupid risk after another, so he decides “fuck it” and shuts Tony up with a bruising kiss. It’s more forceful and violent than anything they shared before, but Tony wastes no time and immediately gives him back as good as he’s getting, gripping at Bucky’s uniform and pushing back, but not breaking the kiss, which is not about affection at all but domination and control. He’s angry, and he translates it into the demanding push of his tongue and the sharp bite of his teeth. It’s messy and brutal and probably the most erotic experience of Bucky’s life. When they part they’re panting harshly and Tony’s hard-on is as evident as Bucky’s in the cradle of their hips.
“We have to get out of here.” Bucky says, because the air is starting to warm up and they’ve been there, arguing in the closed space, narrower than Bucky’s shower growing up, for a good while now. Not to mention the whole enemy base situation. “Hang out, I’m gonna punch out the door.”
“No. We have to go the other way.” Tony stops him, and he sounds a little bit dazed. He leans against Bucky’s chest, deflating for some reason, and sighs. “I- I’m gonna tell you something. Because we need light and because I’ve been thinking lately and, well… help me to take off my shirt.”
Bucky’s breath hitches.
“Are you sure? Tony this is not the place or the moment and you know that-”
“Do it.” Tony commands and maneuvers his hands up.
Bucky hesitates, all fight gone out of him. This is definitively not how he pictured this moment happening. Because that’s the thing – he never saw Tony shirtless. Yes, they had sex, but Tony’s chest always stayed covered. Bucky has his own share of scars, specially around the arm, so he understands. When Tony first saw them they weren’t an item, or even interested in each other, so even if Bucky felt ashamed and uncomfortable he didn’t protest in the face of an emergency. However, he can get why, after the kidnapping by AIM that put the end to his adventuring career, Tony would be reluctant to show the aftermath of his experiences to others, specially to someone special. Tony told him he would let Bucky see his scarring when he was ready, which was okay in Bucky’s books. He could wait. Now, though…
Bucky tugs on the back of Tony’s undershirt and Tony wriggles out of it. He leans in and brushes a soft kiss on the corner of Bucky’s mouth. “Close your eyes.” He says.
“I already can’t see a thing.”
“It’s for your own good, trust me.”
It’s the second time Tony said it today, and so far they’re alive, so Bucky closes his eyes and waits.
Tony wriggles, getting his hand between their chests, and then he hisses loudly and pulls it down sharply.
Bucky’s so startled he almost opens his eyes when intense light explodes behind his eyelids.
“What the?!”
“Wait, don’t open them yet, you’ll hurt yourself.”
Bucky waits just barely long enough for his enhanced eyes to become used to the light and opens them looking up at the high ceiling. The light is coming from between their bodies and slowly he lowers his gaze. It’s still too intense and he can’t look down for more than a few seconds but he’s pretty sure of what he’s seeing.
“Found It!” Tony announcer cryptically and wriggles, shifting around until he can almost drop on his knees and slide aside a panel in the wall, revealing a keypad. He punches in a nine digit code and then pushes at the side that’s made of wood instead of concrete. It opens easily and Tony falls on his side, crawling into the available space and getting up.
The light in his chest reveals a long corridor and he turns around, grinning.
“What?” Is all Bucky can say.
Tony holds up his hand and shows Bucky something that looks like a crumpled rubber rag. “Artificial skin. Completely opaque and sticks as good as duct tape, unfortunately peels off as bitchy-”
“No, Tony, is that a fucking arc reactor?! Why do you have an arc reactor plastered to your chest?”
Tony sobers up and looks aside, shrugging, and Bucky knows a deflection when he sees one. He intends to cross his arms over his chest but remembers that one isn’t working too late. He shots the useless chunk of metal a betrayed glance and Tony smiles.
“It’s not plastered to it, goes kinda deep, actually. You could say it’s life support. I’ve got a complicated heart condition and this is really not the place nor the time to go into detail about it.”
“Jesus, doll.”
Tony shrugs and turns around, walking down the corridor. Bucky follows, still a little perturbed by the fact that apparently his boyfrie- his ex, is a walking flashlight.
“So wait,” He shakes his head, because there’s something that just doesn’t add up “You have it in your chest?”
“Yes.”
“And it’s an arc reactor? An actual arc reactor? Like the one that runs the Iron Man armor?”
Tony doesn’t slow down, but looks over his shoulder with a careful smile. “It’s the samearc reactor that runs the Iron Man armor, actually.”
Bucky stops dead in his tracks. “Please tell me you didn’t just insinuate what I think you did.”
Tony turns around and even though he’s smiling his eyes look serious. Oh god… can’t be. Bucky leans on the wall, blinking repeatedly as if to shake off his incredulity.
“I told you Iron Man was fine.”
“Jesus.” Bucky repeats and pinches the bridge of his nose with his one operational hand. “I need a moment.”
Tony nods. “Can you take it while we keep moving?”
“How did you know about this- secret passage? Anyway.”
“This used to be an old military secret base. It had already been abandoned for decades when AIM appropriated and expanded it, but we are in the old section right now, and according to my source it doesn’t get used much. These passages were planned to let the higher ups escape or keep them safe in case of some major fuck-up. Probably just the architects having fun, but I contacted a retired colonel that spent some time here and he gave the code. Back then people kept everything scribbled on pieces of paper and filed away. Handy.”
Bucky shakes his head, trailing after him like a ducking. “So you were investigating this AIM facility? It wasn’t a kidnapping?”
Tony turns his head just so Bucky could see him roll his eyes. “No, dummy. I had to ditch the armor, which wasn’t in the plan, but the distress call was a malfunction, probably because of all the explosives that got thrown my way. I’ve got what I need and the armor is programmed to blow this joint nine ways from heaven as soon as I get somewhere from where I can send a signal. I’ve got a new model ready, anyway.”
“Fuck, you just dropped off the radar completely. We thought… Why would you do that?”
Tony shrugs but doesn’t say anything for a while.
“Why do you think?” He asks finally, sounding defeated, and Bucky suddenly remembers his conversation with Iron Man the day he confessed his intentions and Jesus Fuck, It must have felt like a punch to the gut for Tony. Looking at it in retrospective he hadn’t overreacted at all, if anything he kept his cool exceptionally, all considering. Except…
“Did you mean it?” Bucky asks quietly, not even sure if he wants to know the answer. “When you – when Iron Man – said that you thought I was the one.”
Tony’s step falters and his shoulders hunch a fraction “Can we not talk about this now, please?”
“Tony-”
“I was emotional and said something stupid, okay? I’m not a fucking Disney princess.”
“Just answer me this one thing, please…” Bucky pleads, grabbing Tony’s elbow to keep him in place “Were you in it for the long run?”
“I thought that much was obvious.” Tony mutters, looking away.
“It really, really wasn’t.”
“We should keep moving” Tony says and Bucky lets go of his elbow, walking one step behind him.
After a few minutes of turning corners and uncomfortable silence Tony sighs and apparently surrenders to whatever internal war he was having with himself.
“I wanted to tell you, you know? But I’ve been keeping it in secret for too long. The only other person who knows it is Rhodey, and only because he helps me with my missions. But telling you would mean to tell the team, and from there something would leak and… But I wanted to.”
“You should have.” Bucky nods. But he’s careful to keep his tone soft and free of accusation.
“Would it have changed anything, tho?”
“Everything.”
Tony shots him a doubtful look over his shoulder so Bucky rushes to clarify. “Not only I knew you were keeping something really important from me, but I’m also finding out now that I didn’t know at all the man I’ve been dating for months.”
“I wasn’t acting. I never changed myself in front of you. Just concealed parts.”
“Which is basically the same. But Tony, if it was just the secrets part I wouldn’t have gone for the brakes, I like you a lot, there are days when you’re the only thing keeping me upright. I would have tried to talk to you first if it wasn’t for another reason, something I haven’t mentioned to Iron Man.”
Tony looks curious now, so Bucky soldiers on.
“Since we started dating there had been three attempts to either kidnap or hurt you to get to me. The only reason you got out of each one of them fine is because Iron Man was there – and yes, I know what I just said, let me finish – but I keep having nightmares where my enemies take you and… I thought by dating you I was putting you in constant danger, I was worried and afraid for you every sleeping and walking moment and I felt guilty for weeks every time and- Fuck, Tony. I almost lost it today. I was worried sick about you, not Iron Man, you. Because I know Iron Man can handle himself but I had no idea you could fight like that or even had what it takes to pull the trigger.”
Tony stops and turns around, crossing his arms over his chest. “You broke up with me because you thought I was weak?”
Bucky winces. “Not in those exact terms but I guess- yeah. I’m just starting to adapt now to a life that’s completely different from what I had less than a year ago. I’m really not in the capacity to be somebody’s knight in shining armor, specially if I’m the reason they need saving in the first place. God, I sound like an asshole!”
“You are.” Tony deadpans. “Because, first of all – the shining armor part is mine by definition – and second, you are aware of what I did before the plane crash and AIM, right? I was known for being an adventurer, a danger-junkie even. I survived an avalanche on the Everest and a week lost in the African Rainforest. How in the world does that translate into candid desk flower?”
“Well, you stopped doing all that after the crash, which is a huge red flag on itself. Besides, I’ve only ever known this version of you and only heard stories of how you used to be before.”
“I’m still the same person, Buck. I can take care of myself and of you too.”
“Well I know that now.” Bucky whines, and Tony snorts.
“So does it change anything now?” He sounds uncertain and Bucky licks his lips, wondering again what would Steve say in his place.
“Only if you want it to.”
Tony looks straight at him. There’s speculation in his gaze and Bucky knows that whatever decision he takes now, will be the final one. Finally Tony shrugs and smiles warmly, patting his shoulder.
“Let’s go, Bookaroo. Our teammates are probably worried sick by now.”
“Yeah. Get us out of this rat-hole, Iron Man.” Bucky commands, but there’s such relief and joy in his voice that it sounds more like a victory announcement.
Tony mock salutes and strides forward, navigating the corridors with ease. The silence is not uncomfortable this time, tho, and Bucky let’s himself appreciate the dance of shadows over Tony’s naked shoulders under the blue light reflected by the corridor walls. They get to a dead end soon enough and Tony finds the keypad. According to him they should be in an office near the elevators.
“Ready?” Tony asks. They both know the most difficult part of this mission lies right ahead. All exists will be heavily guarded and they’re ridiculously outnumbered. However, Bucky nods confidently and leans forward, kissing him deeply. When he pulls back Tony follows for a second and then blinks repeatedly, a dazed smile spreading over his face. By God, he’s so pretty!
“What was that?”
“For good luck.” Bucky grins. Let’s give ‘em hell, doll.”
***
At the end it’s Jan who saves their sorry asses and once their wounds are under control, Tony fixes his arm and kisses the seam between flesh and metal like he always used to.
Bucky knows then that they are going to be alright. Him and his knight in shining armor.