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It was no secret among the Avengers that Tony got attached easily. It was just the way he operated. He was a fixer, as Pepper would say. Anytime he saw a need – be it in a person, a place, a company, or an old car – he couldn’t resist the urge to take it in and fix it up until it was in better shape than ever. Clint often joked that was how they wound up with Spiderman – and he wasn’t entirely wrong. Steve and Bucky just weren’t quite as thrilled about Tony’s latest adoption.
They gave each other concerned glances behind their boyfriend’s back as he cooed affectionately at the large Bengal tiger, pressing their foreheads together and rubbing as the jungle cat’s jowls.
“Oh, aren’t you just the sweetest?” he asked as Emperor Furfang purred away like a junker that’d lost its muffler. “You are the goodest boy out there, I know you are. You’re more that good; you’re great!”
One giant paw batted at Tony’s head, making Steve and Bucky tense, but Emperor Furfang only pulled the giggling genius in for cuddles, rolling so that his belly could be scratched. The two super soldiers breathed twin sighs of relief.
They didn’t think Emperor Furfang would hurt Tony on purpose, per se, but they were acutely aware of the damage a predator like him could do if he wasn’t careful. They’d seen his claws come out while playing with some of the toys Tony had designed for him. No matter how cute and harmless he may appear while rolling in the dirt and relishing in the affection being shown to him, Steve and Bucky weren’t about to forget just how dangerous he was. Especially when Emperor Furfang was quick to turn from purring to snarling around anyone who wasn’t Tony.
Of course they felt for the situation and wanted the tiger to have a good home, but that home didn’t need to be at the Avengers compound.
“I can’t keep doing this, Stevie,” Bucky murmured, voice wrecked but still kept low enough so that Tony wouldn’t overheard. “The stress is gonna kill me. I can’t sleep – can’t get the mental image of what could happen out of my head.”
“There’s a reservation just about 20 miles out from here,” Steve admitted with a pang of guilt. “I’ve been doing research. I called and they’d take him. We could tranquilize him and get him there in the dead of night. Tony wouldn’t know until it was already done.”
“Wouldn’t know what it until it was already done?”
Steve jumped at the sound of Tony’s voice cutting sharply through the air.
“Oh, uh- Just- Just a surprise. You can’t ask anymore questions! It’s for your birthday!”
Tony’s eyes narrowed, expression mirrored on Emperor Furfang’s face behind him, and Steve prayed the ground under him would just open and swallow him whole.
“Steven Grant Rogers, you are a terrible liar and I suggest you tell me the truth right now or you aren’t going to like it.”
Steve froze. He’d always had a nose for trouble, his mother used to say, and something told him there was no getting out of this one.
Shit.