Work Text:
“Shit shit shit shit, Steve !” Bucky screamed from the bottom of the stairs, climbing them two at a time and walking to the bathroom door in a quick pace. “Open up , this is an emergency!”
Steve swung the door open, looking worried but also perfect with his wet hair dropping beads of water over his naked tan torso--
Now was not the time to drool, Bucky. Get a grip.
“What’s wrong?” Tony asked behind Steve before the man could ask himself over the giant bathtub they installed not so long ago. He was still in his mermaid form, and, even though normally Bucky wouldn’t mind at all --on the contrary, he loved that Tony was relaxed enough to be his real form near them almostly all the time--, right now it was making him anxious.
He moved him gaze from Tony to Steve, and breathed out, trying to calm himself.
“I was just on the phone with Sam and Nat, and they just landed down on the island and are on their way here .”
Steve’s eyes widened.
“ What ?”
Steve’s hysterical tone made Bucky’s skin crawl and his breath hitch. Gosh, how he wished he were a little bit more stable.
Something over his face definitely showed how stressed he felt right now --maybe the eyes, Steve could always read their eyes--, because Steve’s expression changed from shocked to resolute. He rested his hands on Bucky’s shoulders, which always helped him feel more grounded.
“It’s ok, Bucky, there’s nothing wrong. They probably just wanted it to be a pleasant surprise.”
“Don’t they know Bucky hates surprises?” Tony was now standing next to Steve, looking concerned and a little bit mad on Bucky’s behalf.
If he wasn’t on the verge of an attack, Bucky would have thought his reaction was moving.
“They do… but-- that’s no the point right now. Bucky, focus on breathing.”
“Steve, I’m fine. I just need some water.” A second later Tony was offering him a glass, one he always carried with him when on solid ground. He gave a few sips and felt some of the prickling on his skin dissipating.
“How long until they arrive?” Tony asked. For all the months they’ve been dating --five, to be precise-- not once Tony decided to go to the town on the other side of the island with them. Neither of them pushed Tony about it, remembering what happened last time they did. So as a result, Tony didn’t know much about it.
“About half an hour.” Steve answering after a little consideration.
“What are we going to do with the arm?” how were they going to explain Bucky got a stone arm that worked by magic?
“We can take it off.” Tony suggested.
“No way.” he held his arm protectively.
“Yes way, Bucks.” Steve said, even though sounded apologetic. “It’s the only way. Besides, I bet they won’t stay longer than a week or something.”
“Fuck me.” he said.
“Later, tiger. Right now, sit on the bed and lemme do the magic.”
--
When the doorbell rang, they were readily sitting on the living room, Tony and Steve still with wet hair from the shower and Bucky (sadly) without his arm.
Steve prompted himself and opened the door, looking one last time at his boyfriends before doing so.
“Hey, Cap!” Sam greeted cheerfully, hugging Steve firmly and patting him on the back twice before moving towards the open living room.
“Hey Bucky,” Sam smiled down at him and offered a hand, which Bucky shook readily.
“Sam.” Bucky nodded and dropped his hand on Tony’s knees, silently reassuring him everything was fine.
“So you are the famous Tony, huh?” Sam said, turning to face Tony.
He tensed next to Bucky and gulped nervously before speaking. Tony told them beforehand that he hadn’t been around other humans in a long time, if ever, so Bucky could understand his caution.
“Yeah, that’s- that’s me.” he gave Sam a faltering smile.
If Sam found Tony’s reaction peculiar, he didn’t show.
“Steve and Bucky had been talking a lot about you over the video calls. Nice to finally put a face to the name.” He sat on the chair next to the couch as Steve and Natasha walked in, Steve sitting on Tony’s other side while Natasha greeted Bucky with a hug.
Tony blushed and turned to face Steve.
“You didn’t tell me you talked about me on those phone meetings.”
Steve shrugged and smiled shyly.
“What can I say, Bucky and I never shut up about you.”
“I second that.” Bucky said.
Tony snorted and rolled his eyes, smiling.
“Oh God, you didn’t tell me you were such saps .” Sam made a face.
“It was pretty obvious by the way they talked about the guy, Sam.” Natasha rolled her eyes from her sit on the other armchair.
“Still.” he shivered dramatically.
Bucky snorted. He’d missed his friends, truly had. Sam’s peculiar sarcasm wasn’t one easy to find. Even Natasha’s cold stares were something Bucky dreamed of seeing again.
“So,” Steve started, resting his arm over the couch’s back, “what brings you two down here?”
“Nothing much,” Sam said as Natasha shrugged, “just missing our two best friends and decided to pop over.”
Pop over .
That didn’t sound right, Bucky thought. They didn’t just pop over anywhere.
Tony shifted uncomfortably next to him, but didn’t say anything, letting all the talk be held by Steve and himself.
“You sure there’s just that?” Steve said, looking intently at their friends. “Because I know you know we don’t react well to surprises.”
Sam froze for a second, blinking at the boldness of Steve’s words, but then sat back on his chair, letting out a defeated sigh.
“Yeah, we know that. We didn’t have time to warn you. Hell, we didn’t know know until we were on the airport.”
Bucky brows furrowed.
“How’s that?”
“Furry wanted to send agents to check on you guys. It’s been almost an year since you moved down here and he was getting tired of the radio silence.” Natasha explained, looking apologetic.
“We told him we wouldn’t have anything to do with him ever again.” Bucky’s voice felt tight and his hands were slightly shaking. Gosh, he wished he could face that man one more time just to punch him.
He felt a hand wrapping over his own and turned to see Tony looking at him comfortingly, it calmed some of his nerves.
“We know.” Natasha nodded, “That’s why we asked permission to come over instead of the other agents. And also,” she gave them a warm smile, “we weren’t kidding when we said we missed you. New York is not the same without its power couple.” she looked at Tony, “Now trouple.”
“Speaking of which,” Sam said, sounding excited again, “how did you guys meet? Every time I asked about it you guys changed subject, there’s no escaping now.” his smile became evil, in Bucky’s opinion.
“I’m from around here. We stumble into each other one time… and been together ever since.” Tony spoke, no doubt feeling like that was a topic he could easily talk about without giving anything away.
“Didn’t you said he was from abroad?” Natasha asked, clearly confused.
“He’s an immigrant.” Steve corrected quickly.
“From europe.” Bucky added. “Sicily.”
“Oh, he’s italian!” Sam face lit up. “I’ve never been there before, but I would love to meet.”
“Yes… italian, that’s… what I am.” Bucky bit down on his lips to hold back his giggling. Tony looked so confused.
Five months dating and they haven’t got around teaching Tony about geography.
“Beautiful beaches,” Sam continued his daydream, and Tony looked up when he heard the word ‘beaches’. Bucky coughed a laugh into his hand when Tony grabbed his glass of water from the coffee table and took a huge gulp, “But then, you also have beautiful beaches right here. Y’all don’t know how crazy I am too swim one those waves.”
“Excuse me.” Tony said abruptly, standing up and making a quick detour towards the stars, which he climbed just as fast.
Steve glanced at Bucky and couldn’t help a set of giggles to fall from his lips.
“I’m sorry, sorry.” Bucky said through laughs, “Tony just- he loves the sea too much. He probably went to have a bath.”
As on cue, they heard the sound of the shower turning on.
“... what a strange man.”
-
When Tony joined them again, after he calmed himself on a really long and salty bath, they were reading themselves for a trip down the beach. Steve gave him an apologetic look before going back into the kitchen and prepare some snacks for the afternoon.
Is not that Tony didn’t like their friends, he thought while sitting on the couch and watched as Sam and Natasha put on sunscreen, is just that- they were humans .
Granted, Steve and Bucky were also humans, but they were different. And still it had taken him some time to get used to them.
Also --and he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, nope-- he’d kind of gotten jealous by the easy way they all interacted. It wasn’t as if his interactions with his boyfriends were stiff or tough, but Tony always thought there was a barrier between him and them.
Maybe it was because he is a merman, or maybe it’s just his personality, or maybe this was all inside his mind, but he always felt they were a bit… unreachable.
But then there were other times where he would catch them staring at him like he was the most important thing in the whole universe and those thoughts would disappear.
Now, though, watching as they joked and laughed over things Tony didn’t understand, it was all he could think about. He hadn’t felt so distant from them since they started dating.
-
All in all, Tony liked Natasha.
While Steve, Bucky and Sam ran head first into the water, they took the liberty of setting their blankets on the sand and watching the waves quietly.
At first, sitting in silence had been a little awkward, but soon Natasha started asking questions about the island and the weather and the animals-- nothing personal, Tony liked that.
He answered all with increasing ease, feeling a little less out of place, and even asked a thing or two now and then.
“You must not be an ordinary person.” she said changing the subject all together, after answering a few things about her home country. Tony swallowed down the water he was drinking with great difficulty as he looked back at her, lay on the blanket as her head rested on her open hand.
“Why you say that?”
She shrugged and looked over the sea. He wished she wasn’t wearing sunglasses so he could read her expression.
“Steve and Bucky don’t open this easily to anyone.” the ‘ not after what happened to Bucky’ went without saying, but Tony caught that.
“I think the circumstances to which led us to meet were a little…. unique.” he admitted, lost in those memories.
Natasha frowned.
“Didn’t you say you bumped into each other? That sounds pretty typical to me”
Oh fuck. He tensed.
But when he looked back at her, she didn’t look accusing or incriminating, just-- curious. As if she noticed something was off, but didn’t mind not knowing the truth either.
So he shrugged, looked her in the eyes, and said:
“We all have our secrets, don’t we?”
To his surprise, she smiled, first time Tony saw her doing so. It was beautiful and carefree and Tony couldn’t help but feel honored for being the one who provoked it.
“Yes, you’re right.” and with that, she rose from her place and dusted some of the sand off her arms before placing her sunglasses down. “I’m going in and show those boys how to really have a water fight. You sure you don’t want to join?”
“Nah, I’m fine just here. Besides, someone has to look after our things.”
She snorted.
“Sure, like we aren’t the only living beings in this bay.”
-
“You sure you don’t want to stay, doll?” Bucky looked at him with his best puppy eyes, maybe he could convince Tony to stay that way.
“I’m sure.You have fun on your own,” he gave them an assuring smile, “I’ll use this time to check on how things are doing under there. I will be back tomorrow… or the day after. You know how time works different down there.”
“Oh yeah,” Steve smiled, “remember that time we thought we had stayed a few hours but it ended up being an entire week?”
Tony snorted.
“That was fun. Maybe we should do it again sometime.”
“We totally should.”
“Anyways,” Bucky cut their chattering, “maybe you could stay for dinner? I can do that fish you love…”
“Tempting, Barnes, very tempting.” Tony licked his lips as if imagining the taste of the fish already, “But I don’t wanna be in the way. You have a lot to catch up with your friends. I will stay low for a bit.”
Bucky didn’t want that. Truth is, he wanted to show Tony to their friends, to the world, put him on a pedestal and announce how much love he had for this person. He was sure Steve felt the same way, judging by the way he was looking hopefully at Tony, wishing he would stay as well.
“You know you will never be in the way. Ever.” Steve said, and Bucky nodded eagerly.
“We will miss you so much.” I’m already missing, he thought, but didn’t want to seem too desperate. “Every second.”
Tony snorted, averting his eyes. Bucky loved making Tony flustered by confessing his mushy feelings. Loved making him feel loved.
“Such a sap,” but he smiled nonetheless. “I will be back before you can even notice.”
“I doubt that. Bed’s going to be too cold.” Steve smirked.
“I doubt that. You two are walking furnaces.” he chuckled. “But… I’ll miss you too.” he smiled shyly and Bucky’s heart threatened to jump off his chest.
He lived for the moments Tony opened up for them. It wasn’t often, but when he did, it always left him breathless.
Truly, Bucky was lucky to have the most amazing lovers.
“Be back soon.”
“I will.”
-
He didn’t know if he should.
Tony swam down lazily back to his underwater den, lost in thought. His conversation with Natasha from the afternoon still echoed through his brain.
You must not be ordinary.
Well, nothing about him was ordinary, nothing about their relationship was ordinary.
He loved them and was sure they loved him, but would that ever be enough?
Sure, the last few months were the best thing that ever happened to him, but what if they decided to move back from where they came?
What if someone chose to look too into their relationship? If Tony was found they were finished.
Or if they lost their interest in him? What if they only date him --love him-- because of what he is? Not human, not ordinary?
They would lose interest, wouldn’t they?
He let a current carry him for a while until he spotted the familiar rocks and corals that adorned the entrance of his den.
He smiled weakly at DumE’s enthusiastic welcome once he made his way inside. The fish swam all around him, circling him and moving his tale so fast you could hear clearly the disturbance in the water.
“Hey there, clown face.” he petted DumE under his chin and dropped down on the sandbank.
Thirty minutes had passed --and he knew exactly how much time had gone by, no matter how long, he always knows when he’s away from them-- since he started mulling things over his head alone in his house, when he heard something moving outside the cave.
“Uh oh, I heard it correctly then,” Pepper invited herself in, “Tony is back under the sea!”
Tony didn’t move when Pepper sat next to him and petted his head lightly, trying and failing to smooth it down.
Pepper looked as stunning as ever, her violet tail swirled idly from one side to the other as she moved her ginger hair out of her face, studying Tony with knowing black eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything, nothing, I don’t know.” he shrugged and closed his eyes. The moments passed by them, both in silence, as Pepper continued to caress his hair with gentle fingers while she waited for him to eventually open up. Which he always did with her, there were no secrets between them. “Steve and Bucky have some friends over.”
“Oh.” was all she said. He didn’t have to voice his fears with her, she knew them already. Didn’t see the way he did, though, but Tony hoped she could understand why their humans friends put him on edge.
“You would like Natasha, she’s pretty cool. Also a redhead… I think.”
“You do love us redheads, don’t you.” that got him to smile a little.
“Yeah, you know it.”
There was a beat of silence.
“So you came down here to mop alone, I suppose.” Pepper started.
He shook his head.
“Not mop, just to think things over. Reconsider if what we’re doing is the right thing.”
“Sounds a lot like mopping to me.”
He sighed and sat up, ignoring her comment.
“I just don’t know what to do. One thing led to another and now I can’t stop thinking they would be so much happier if they weren’t with me. I feel like a stone blocking the flow, Peps.”
“Tony, I don’t know where you got this idea from, baby.” she took his hand on hers and squeezed. “I’ve never heard them saying anything about you that wasn’t positive. They love you.”
“They don’t know it yet.” he said softly, as if admitting out loud stung. “But they will, I know that.”
“I…. doubt that. Really do.”
The rest of their day was spent with lots of cuddling and hugging and eventually they found something to eat.
Later on, when there wasn’t anymore rays of sunshine cutting through the waves and down to the sea ground, Rhodes joined them, hugging Tony like he hadn’t seen his friend last week, and updated them on the city’s affairs --Tony has yet to visit it again.
They helped him take his mind off his worries and even draw a few laughs out of him, and for that, he was forever grateful.
That night, as he lay next to his two friends, Tony decided that whatever was about to come, he would be ready, because he knew if he fell, they would catch him.
-
“Tony! I’m so glad you are back.” Steve said as he hugged his boyfriend and kissed his cheeks incessantly then moved to his mouth. “We missed you.”
Tony chuckled and disentangled himself from him.
“I’ve missed you too.” he gave Bucky a quick peck before greeting both Sam and Natasha. “Peps and Rhodes are coming in later today, if that’s alright.” he looked from Bucky to Steve questioningly.
“Sure, Tony. There’s space here for everyone.” Steve said, not being able to hold back his excitement. They’ve never seen Pepper and Rhodey in human forms and he was sure Sam and Nat would love them.
So they were already waiting with snacks when they arrived late in the afternoon. They looked just as lost as Tony did on the first few times he came into the house --though, at the time they didn’t know it was because he was a merman and it was all knew to him--, but fitted right in.
Pepper hit off with Natasha just as Tony said they would --what a prophet-- but Rhodey stayed closer to Tony throughout the night. He looked somewhat protective of Tony as well, which although wasn’t that unusual, he was never like that when it came to him or Bucky. And it rubbed Steve in the wrong way.
He waved the thought from his mind for the moment, deciding to talk with Tony about it later on, and focused on the present.
Sam and Natasha were discussing which movie they were going to watch that night while the others ate tuna dip --Tony’s favorite-- with nachos, and for some reason they were narrowing their choices down to disney animations. Sam and her were sitting on the carpet while Bucky and Steve were almost sitting over one another on one side of the couch and Tony was surrounded by his friends on the other.
“No, Nat, I can’t stand watching Mulan another time. For god’s sake I don’t care if it’s your favorite movie, can we change a little bit this time?” Sam sighed and placed Mulan on the No pile. “What about this one instead?”
“Sam, you are the only person alive that likes Brother Bear.” she deadpanned. Sam mumbled something about her lying as he laid the DVD down when another cover caught Steve’s eye. He smirked.
“Why don’t we watch The Little Mermaid?”
Seeing Tony cough out water and proceed to stare Steve with his most confused glance was so funny he had to hold back a laugh. Bucky shoulders shook next to him.
“ What? What is that?”
“Oh, Tony never watched The Little Mermaid? What the hell? We have to watch it now.” Sam said, already loading the dvd player.
As the movie started, the three merpeople in the living room looked less and less tense and more curious slash confused of what they were watching.
“Why does she hoards all those useless stuff?” Tony asked at some point, frowning, “A fork?”
“Shush Tony,” Sam waved him off, “is not like we can understand mermaids behavior. Who knows, maybe they enjoy our trash.”
Steve had to bite his lips for not laughing yet again, because the look Tony was giving Sam’s back could kill. Tony had once complained about the amount of trash humans left on the seas and the lengths his people have to go to keep the oceans somewhat clear. He could understand where Tony was coming from.
But by the end of the movie, Tony was sobbing.
At first Steve thought was a happy crying, since the main characters were going to live happily ever after and all that fluffy schtick so very Disney.
But Tony rose from his sit and left the house without a word.
Steve froze, looking from Bucky --who also looked pretty much puzzled-- to Pepper and Rhodes.
“You should go after him.” Pepper said, sounding calm, but the look in her eyes told another story.
Steve just nodded, grabbed Bucky’s hand and excused themselves from the house, looking for Tony.
It wasn’t difficult to find him. He was sitting by the waves of the bay, looking straight ahead. He didn’t look when they sat on either sides of him.
“Is that what you want from me?” Tony asked after a brief moment of silence. Steve felt his heart squeezing at the sound of Tony’s voice, small and unsure.
“What? What do you mean?” Bucky asked, voice soft.
“In the movie, the mermaid, she gave away her life to be with the human. Is that what you want from me?”
Steve snapped his head back to Tony and frowned.
“What?”
“I was wondering when you were going to get tired of me, of, of who- what I am.” he breathed in shakely, “But I don’t think I can become human. And even if I could-- I wouldn’t. Not, not for you, not for anyone. I won’t change myself.” Tony squeezed his eyes shut and hid his face on his folded knees. He was shaking, Steve noticed, and a knot formed in his throat and felt his own eyes starting to glaze with tears.
“Hey, Tony, hey,” he placed a hand on his back and let out a small sigh of relief when Tony didn’t flinch, “we would never ask any of that from you. Tony, we love you from who you are, all of you.”
“Where is this coming from, doll?” Bucky’s voice sounded constricted with raw emotions.
Tony shrugged.
“I don’t know, I guess it’s always been an issue that’s been running in the back of my mind, I just-- I don’t know, it suddenly came forwards, I guess.”
“Oh, Tony. I’m sorry we haven’t been doing a great job of showing how much we love you.” Steve took one of Tony’s hands and kissed it.
“No, that’s- that’s not it.” he shook his hands and gathered his next words carefully, still facing the waves. “I’ve never felt more loved in my entire life as I do when I’m with you two… I guess I’m just thinking about how… what will happen next.”
“What do you mean?” Steve asked, even though he already knew what Tony would say.
“When we… eventually break up.”
Bucky took a sharp intake of breath and his face squirmed in pain. Tony let out a humorless chuckle.
“Guess I don’t know how to be happy without always expecting the worst.”
Steve squeezed Tony’s hand.
“We’ll just have to show you, then.” he said, voice resolute and Tony blinked at him. “We will show you that you can be happy without having to expect anything in return.”
Bucky nodded, smiling slightly and grabbing Tony’s other hand.
“Tony, you mean the world to us. Hearing you talk about your insecurities… it eases a part inside of me that always thought you were too good for me. It’s not easy being broken, but it gets better if we can take care of each other.” he kissed Tony’s cheek, “We can take care of you like you take care of us.”
Tony sniffed then laughed wetly and brought both their hands closed to his chest, hugging it.
“I love you two so much.” his voice came out an octave higher.
Steve turned to the side and hugged them both closer to him and kissed the crown of Tony’s head. It tasted fresh of salt water.
“I love you too as well.”
-
They came back to the house, hand in hand, to find Sam pouting on the couch, Pepper and Rhodes looking intensely at the TV screen and Natasha singing and dancing to “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You”.
Maybe Tony could keep this happiness just the way it is.