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Tony looks over at Steve as the plane lands in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good. I just really hope we can find him.”
“What if we find him but he doesn’t want to come home?”
Steve looks down and licks his lips. “Then we keep trying.”
Tony nods and puts his hand on Steve’s shoulder. “I brought a phone to give to him. If he doesn’t want to come with us, I want him to be able to contact us... and I may have put a GPS tracker in it, but I’ll show him how to disable it.”
“Tony...”
“Yeah Steve?” Tony raises an eyebrow at the strange tone to Steve’s voice as Steve trails off.
“How can you... Why are you...” Steve sighs and looks out the window of the plane, rubbing a hand over his face. “Why do you care so much?”
“Because you’re my friend. Because you matter to me. Because I don’t like seeing you hurting.” Tony shrugs. He can’t tell Steve anything different. He can’t tell Steve how much it breaks his heart to watch Steve mourning for his lost relationship with Bucky. Even if it means he’ll lose Steve, he wants to make Steve happy.
“You’re too good to me, Tony. I don’t think I deserve you.”
“You’re Steve Rogers. You’re like the ultimate good guy.”
“You’re thinking of Captain America. Steve Rogers is the guy who lied several times to try to get enlisted in the army. Steve Rogers is the guy who got into more back alley fights than probably every other kid in his neighborhood combined,” Steve says as he gets to his feet and gathers his bags. “Steve Rogers is not a saint.”
“Never said he was. But I know what Erskine said to you. Howard kept immaculate records about Project Rebirth, including why Dr. Erskine picked you. Yeah, you lied to get enlisted. Most people would run the other way from war. You didn’t just get into back alley fights, Steve. You were trying to stop bullies. No man is a saint until he dies for his cause, so... considering you pretty much were dead for seventy years, I’d say you’re a saint. But no saint has ever been perfect.”
Steve sighs. “I didn’t... That was Captain America that went down in the water.”
“No. That was Steve Rogers. Captain America is just a title. You are not a different person from Captain America, Steve. You are Captain America and he is you. There would be no Captain America if it weren’t for you. Yeah, Captain America has become a legend but deep down, you’re Captain America. You are everything he stands for. But that all had to come from some place.” Tony shakes his head. “Captain America wouldn’t be Captain America if it weren’t for Steve Rogers.”
Steve looks at Tony, eyebrows drawn together. “You believe that.” He licks his lips, breaths coming faster than usual. “You really believe that it’s me who’s special, not the uniform and the shield.”
“The shield wouldn’t be a national icon, neither would the uniform and neither would the whole package, if Steve Rogers weren’t a good man, rather than a good soldier. Bucky would’ve been dead or worse if Steve Rogers weren’t a good man, rather than a good soldier. The serum? Wouldn’t have worked, from everything I’ve read, if Steve Rogers weren’t a good man versus a good soldier. Do you think you really would’ve gone behind enemy lines to rescue the 107th and the rest of the Howling Commandos if Steve Rogers was a good soldier, versus being a good man? Come off it, Steve. You’re the only reason Captain America is lauded as a hero. If it weren’t you behind the shield? It wouldn’t be Captain America.”
Steve rubs his tongue over his bottom lip as he looks at Tony. “I...” He sighs and shakes his head. “Let’s go look for Bucky.”
Tony shrugs and grabs his stuff, following Steve off the plane and over to the waiting car. “You want me to drive?”
Steve nods. “I don’t do so well when it’s a car.”
“You prefer your motorcycle, yeah?”
“Yes,” Steve says. “Tony, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re allowed to feel what you feel, Steve. Just like I’m allowed to feel like you’re wrong.”
“What about you?”
“What about me? I’m awesome.”
Steve frowns at him. “Yes, you are, but you don’t think so, beyond the times when you act like a cocky little shit.”
Tony shrugs. “Opinions are like assholes. Everybody’s got one,” he says. “You’re entitled to yours and I’m entitled to mine. Everyone knows I’m a rich, selfish, asshole who only thinks about himself. You? Not a chance.”
“But you’re not that. You’re not selfish, or an asshole and you don’t think only of yourself. I’ve seen you in action. The only thing in that sentence that is really you is the rich part and your friends don’t care about your money.”
“Except for Rhodey, my friends are only my friends because of my money. Pepper never would’ve given me the time of day if I hadn’t been paying her. Happy was paid to be my bodyguard and driver. None of them really like me for me. Hell, even Rhodey doesn’t like me.”
“Pepper stays with you as your CEO because she loves you. Happy still follows you everywhere, even though he’s the head of security for Stark. And don’t even try to say that about Rhodey. I know for a fact Rhodey’s been your friend longer than anyone else and he loves you too.”
Tony raises an eyebrow. “How do you know any of that?”
“Because I’ve talked to them.”
“And I know you,” Tony says. “I know more about you than anyone else on this planet, except maybe Bucky. I have all of my dad’s old files, which includes all of Erskine’s files as well.”
“You... You set me up.”
“And you walked right into it,” Tony says with a smile. “You get it now though?”
“I get it.” Steve smiles and slides into the passenger seat. “And you’re sure Bucky’s here in Spain?”
“I’m eighty five percent sure.”
“Good enough for me.”
It’s a quick drive to the rundown hotel where Tony’s surveillance had spotted Bucky. Steve picks up his shield and heads inside, Tony right behind him in the suit. “Top floor, Cap,” Tony says, scanning for heat signatures.
Steve jogs up the stairs, skidding to a stop just inside the door. “Bucky.”
“Stevie,” Bucky mumbles, looking up at him from his curled up position on the floor. “Took you long enough to get here. Stark. I’m sorry about your parents.”
Tony licks his lips. “It wasn’t you, Bucky. It was the Winter Soldier and you’re not him.”
“Buck, are you ready to come home?”
“I don’t... What if I hurt one of you?”
“You won’t,” Tony says before Steve can get a word in. “I have a Hulk-proof room that you can stay in whenever you feel like you’re going to lose control. We have Thor living in the tower, and while Steve might be hesitant to put you down until you’re feeling better, Thor won’t. Neither will Hulk. Plus, the armor? It’s likely stronger than you.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. The Tower is a safer place for you than anywhere else.” Tony offers a hand to Bucky, helping him up. “Besides, all Thor really has to do is set Mjölnir on your chest and you won’t be going anywhere.”
Bucky offers Tony a tiny smile and looks at Steve. “He tellin’ the truth, Stevie?”
“Yeah. I can’t even lift Mjölnir.”
“And you’ll keep me from hurting your family? Your friends? Your... Your Tony?”
Just as Tony is about to object to that phrase (“his Tony”? What even is Bucky saying?), Steve is nodding and reaches out for Bucky’s free hand. “Yeah. I won’t let you hurt them, just like I won’t let them hurt you. I’ve missed you, Bucky.”
Bucky lets go of the gauntlet and moves over to Steve, wrapping his arms around Steve’s waist and burying his face in Steve’s neck. “I’m so fucked up, Stevie. I don’t know if I can get better.”
“You can. You will,” Steve says with so much surety even Tony believes him.
“Come on, Brooklyn boys. Let’s get out of this shit hole and back to New York.”
Steve and Bucky nod in unison, moving towards the entrance. Tony follows them, glad this had been relatively easy. He knows the next few months won’t be nearly as simple, but at least they’ll have Bucky nearby to attempt to get rid of Hydra’s brainwashing.