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“Mister Stark, sir has instructed me to inform you he would like to speak with you.”
Steve frowned at the ceiling and set down the brush he held, wiping his hands on a spare bit of cloth. Astro snored from his place in the corner, Steve giving him a fond smile before addressing the AI once more.
“Is everything alright, JARVIS?”
“I cannot say for sure, only that sir was very adamant about it being as soon as possible.”
The blonde stood, glancing forlornly at his painting before heading towards the sunroom door. He hated to leave a piece so unfinished, especially because it was for Camden, but if it was something urgent, he also didn’t want to push it back any.
Steve jogged towards the lab, frowning at the quietness of the house. He could hear the usual hustle and bustle of Marta preparing dinner and Jarvis—the human one—humming a tune as he cleaned, but there were no other sounds. Howard and Bucky had taken Camden out school clothes shopping—Bucky going along to ensure Howard didn’t buy thousands of dollars of clothing for a five year old—leaving Steve to paint and Tony to work on new suit mods down in his lab.
He swung down the staircase, skipping every few until he reached the glass doors and punched in his code, pulling the door open after it gave an accepting click.
“Tony?”
“Over here, Steve.”
Steve frowned at the note in Tony’s voice, something strained right beneath his tone, and hurried over to where Tony sat on a stool near the Roadster, turning a rag over and over in his hands. He ran careful eyes over the man, frowning deeper when he saw no marks or anything out of the ordinary, sweeping the surroundings instead.
Nothing was spilled or broken, it looked like JARVIS was running scans on a completed Iron Man suit in the corner, and everything seemed really…neat, by the lab’s standards.
But…Tony was working on the Roadster. And Steve had learned very early in their friendship that Tony only worked on it when he was stressing out hardcore.
A trait he and Howard shared. Steve was pretty sure the Roadster had been gutted and reassembled more times than anything else in the lab.
“Is everything alright?” He eased his way onto a stool on the other side of the car, running gentle fingers along the hood.
Tony twisted the rag in his hands, glaring down at it before his head came up to face Steve. The man bit his lip in an attempt to hold back his gasp at the haunted look in Tony’s eyes, mind instantly racing.
Was Tony having a ‘bad day’? He hadn’t had one of those in years, not since Camden was born. Had something happened to Camden or Bucky or Howard?
“Tony, are you—“ Steve reached out only to abruptly pull his hand back when Tony threw the towel on the engine of the car between them, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Don’t. Just…don’t. We’re….we’re friends, right, Steve?”
“I…thought we were more than that.” Steve said, crossing his legs and tilting his head to look at the man he considered a son.
He’d…thought that was mutual.
“Friends don’t…lie to friends. Right, Steve?”
Steve stiffened his spine, something in his stomach souring, though he couldn’t tell whether it was the words themselves or the slow rage seeping into Tony’s voice.
“No,” Steve murmured slowly, uncrossing his legs and crossing his arms instead. “Why do you ask?”
Tony huffed, the sort of sarcastic huff someone gives when you haven’t given the answer they wanted, and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. There was a long moment of silence, Tony linking and unlinking his fingers in front of himself, before he looked up at Steve, the blonde catching his breath. There was…rage in Tony’s eyes.
As well as a soul-shattering betrayal.
“Were you ever gonna tell me you fucked my husband?”
Steve jerked back like he’d been swung at, blinking furiously at Tony, swallowing back the bitter taste on his tongue from the words.
Bucky had….apparently told Tony.
Which, yes, he’d told Howard, so it’s not like it was a huge secret. But Howard had been merely unsettled for a few days, wondering if Steve wanted a younger lover, before a romantic night on the town had his insecurities quelled.
Tony, wasn’t likely to be satisfied as easily, or so it seemed.
Steve stood, pacing around the other side of the car, running fingers through his hair and cursing the day he ever met Bucky Barnes. When he finally came to a stop, hands on his hips, Tony had risen from his seat as well, facing him with a stony look on his face.
“I didn’t…think it was of import.”
“Not of import?!” Tony slammed his hands down on the Roadster, Dummy and Butterfingers scrambling to their corners at his shout. “Steve, you fucked my husband. You’re my step-dad and you dicked my husband, how is that ‘not of import’?!”
“Tony, calm down.” Steve barked, the younger man clenching his jaw at the command and practically baring his teeth.
“Calm down? You want me to calm down? How about I calm your ass down, old man?”
There was a calm that washed over Steve at the words, despite his rolling stomach. He was used to this, used to combat situations. Having ten fully trained SHIELD agents come at you for training made one angry kid seem like a walk in the park. He straightened slightly, kicking his jaw up just a bit and glared over at Tony.
“You can try, boy. But I doubt you’ll get far.”
At his tone, all the fight seemed to sink out of Tony and he shuddered before collapsing back on his seat, head falling into his hands. Steve took the opportunity to cross around to him, pulling his seat with him and settling close. He didn’t touch Tony, not yet, not until the man raised his head up. Then Steve laid a gentle hand between his shoulderblades, smiling softly.
“Tony, it was a very long time ago and it was a mistake from the get go. There’s a very good reason I didn’t tell you about it. It’s not like he and I had this whirlwind romance.”
“Like you and Dad?” Tony cracked, his smile still sad but a smile nonetheless.
Steve nodded with a smile, settling back and crossing his legs once more, linking his fingers and hooking them behind his crossed knee.
“You’ve got questions, I’m guessing.”
Tony scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck and looked at him sheepishly, cheeks flushing.
“Uh…yeah. I barely managed to drag that much outta Bucky, he wasn’t sharing anything else. So I was hoping….maybe….”
The whole thing suddenly made sense to Steve; Tony’s threats, the boy’s explosive anger, and he laughed, a sharp, short note in the silence that had fallen over the lab.
“Were you trying to rile me into a fight? To get me to give you details?”
“Shut up!” Tony shoved at him with one hand, cheeks now a darker red. “For a second I thought it was gonna work! Then you had to go all ‘Captain America’ on me.”
Steve shook his head, unlacing his fingers to brush his hair back as he smiled softly, shaking his head at the boy.
“For a genius? Not very smart, Tony. You could have just asked me.”
“Yeah, well.” Tony muttered, waving a hand in the air between them. “Past is past. You’ll tell me, though?”
“As long as I don’t think it’s something you should ask Bucky instead of me.” Steve agreed, Tony snatching the rag from its place on the engine and twisting it in his hands once more before looking up at him.
“Why?”
Steve sucked in a breath at the loaded question. Trust Tony to start with the most complicated part and work his way down. In some ways, he was still the ornery kid he’d been so many summers ago when Steve met him in the sunroom.
He ran a hand through his hair once more, buying as much time as he could before looking up at Tony.
“Honestly? I can’t tell you why Bucky decided on it. Maybe because he trusted me? Maybe not, but either way, all I can tell you is why I did it.”
Tony nodded, scooting just a bit closer and Steve closed his eyes against the look on his face. A part of Tony, he knew, didn’t actually want to know about this. But the other part, that part that was constantly fiddling with things and gutting technology to examine it, craved answers.
“I did it because I’ve always found Bucky attractive. And because I thought, at the time, it might be good for him. Be with a guy he actually trusted, you know?”
“He is pretty hot.” Tony agreed lightly, the dark in his eyes belying his tone, though Steve ignored it for the moment, laughing an agreement.
“Why do you think I kept him around all these years? To get rid of all my coffee and food? But, no, seriously, that is why. I thought he needed someone he could trust.”
Tony went silent for a moment, twisting the rag once more, before looking up at Steve and biting his lip.
“Was it…any good?”
Steve arched a brow, Tony pulling a face t him until he sighed and relented, staring down at his lap. He didn’t really want to answer this part, it was probably the most mortifying part of all of it. But he’d agreed.
Goddamnit.
“It was…no. It was probably the most horrific sexual experience I’ve ever had. And I’m counting the guy I dated in high school who tried to convince me to pee on him.”
Tony pulled a face at that but Steve held up a hand, the man quieting to let him continue.
“We were…drunk. And I mean, we’re very lucky get managed to get home, let alone in the front door, drunk. And things happened, like they do, and we started having sex. And um….that was pretty much our biggest mistake of the night.”
Tony shook his head, rubbing a hand over his face and looking at Steve with narrowed eyes.
“Am I going to regret asking why?”
Steve flushed himself, fiddling with his pants, picking at a spot of paint as he nodded.
“Probably.”
Tony groaned and let his head fall back, but pressed on.
“What happened?”
“I…uh…I have this thing. Er…this kink? Whatever.” Steve could feel the heat radiating off his cheeks but he pressed on, Tony having sat up and looked at him once more. “I like calling people Daddy. And yes, my dad was a good dad, and no, he never touched me in any inappropriate ways. No, it’s not because he died young. It’s because it gets me off quick.”
Tony’s eyes widened and Steve took a deep breath, pushing aside all the negative thoughts and clearing his throat after his rant, waving a hand between them.
“Anyways, sorry, it’s a touchy subject.”
“S’alright. Go ahead.”
“But, yeah, so we’re drunker than skunks, screwing around, and it slipped out. And the second I called him Daddy, Bucky went pure white, kinda shoved me off him, leaned over the side of the bed, and proceeded to throw up all over my bedroom floor.”
Tony grimaced, Steve chuckling at the look on his face before shrugging and scrubbing a hand over his cheeks.
“And that’s pretty much it. We were done, forever, with that little experience.”
Tony nodded, twisting the rag once more before tossing it onto the engine and turning to face him completely. Steve inhaled at the look in Tony’s eyes. This, whatever came out of his mouth next, was the question that had been burning in his mind since he’d found out. Steve braced himself, clenching his hands together and meeting the boy’s stare evenly.
“What, Tony?”
“Do you ever wish it had gone right? Wish that you guys had tried again? Wish that…you and Bucky had gotten together?”
Steve burst out laughing, Tony’s perturbed face only serving to make him laugh that much harder, wrapping his arms around his ribcage. The man sat back with a pout, glaring at him as Steve tried to get himself under control. Once he could breathe without chuckling, he sat up and met Tony’s eyes once more.
“No. No, are you kidding me? Bucky and I would kill each other within about the first week of any relationship. I love your Dad, Tony, and even if I didn’t? Bucky would still not be my type.”
“What the hell’s wrong with Bucky? I think he’s a great guy!” Tony protested hotly, crossing his arms over his chest as Steve rolled his eyes and got up.
“Yeah, sure, he’s awesome. He’s perfect. For you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?!” Tony demanded, the glint in his eyes letting Steve know he could leave now.
That he’d put at least most of the man’s fears to rest and there wasn’t any animosity between them any longer.
“I’ve gotta go, Tony, I’m working on Camden’s painting. I’ll see you at dinner!”
Steve gave a jaunty wave over his shoulder and started towards the door, biting his lip to hold back chuckles at the indignation that grew in Tony’s voice as he shouted at Steve’s back.
“What the hell does that mean? Steve! STEVE! You get back here and tell me what that means! Bucky is a great guy! He has a fantastic smile and a huge cock! You come back here and tell me what you meant! STEEEEEEVVVVVEEEEE!”