Work Text:
It was a normal night at the Avengers Tower, expect they were celebrating their biggest mission success, taking down one of the biggest Hydra bases that they've found up to date. Earlier in the year, they've taken in new members, they welcomed James 'Buchanan' Bucky Barnes, rescued from Hydra and in therapy every week, they hired a veteran named Sam Wilson, he was the Falcon and he was pretty good at his job. Last, they hired an old convict Scott Lang, he took the role of Ant-Man when he successfully had snuck into the compound. There was also Loki, Thor's brother, who saw the good in him and thought he could be of use, but he was under constant supervision by everyone even Tony's AI, JARVIS, kept a constant watch on the god of mischief.
Now here they all were, the original avengers plus Rhodey and Pepper with their new teammates, laughing at good jokes and stories, Pepper perched on the couch arm next to Nat, fingers brushing through her girlfriends auburn hair, there was Bruce sat on Thors lap, Sam pulled out a lot of the alcohol from Tony's bar that Stark knew he would need to restock after the end of the night, they were lounging around in the common room, just the 10 of them. It was until Clint half drunkenly suggested that the team should have a karaoke night since Starks walls were all soundproof enough that the city below wouldn't hear how possibly drunk their mighty heroes were at the moment, can't blame them working so hard all the time to defend them from the evils of the universe.
Tony ordered the AI to pull out the karaoke machine that was hidden behind the tv, just a normal old karaoke machine that probably hadn't been used in a while since Tony hadn't thrown many parties since the team gotten together to become Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Clint, of course, went first choosing the song no one they cared to catch the name of, too drunk to care at the moment, probably some rock song cause Clint was beating his drumsticks on his lap.
It was the third round, Bruce was forced out of his comfort zone, the two supersoldiers weren't drunk- they couldn't cause of the serum but they didn't care. When Natasha demanded one of the supersoldiers to go next James piped up, beer in his metal hand.
"How about' Stark goes?" He took a swig of the alcohol. "He never participates anyways-,"
"No fucking way am I-," Tony gets cut off.
"Man of iron come on- dear banner here even went up," Thor interjected sipping on his mug of Asgard beer, eyebrow raised. "It is not that bad if he can do it, you can too,"
Tony whined trying to burrow himself more into the couch, trying to get himself out of this with his pleas before Natasha pulled him up by his arms almost dropping his glass of whiskey but it was already grabbed from him and set aside before he could make a mess of himself, and before he could protest he was dragged up to the machine.
He huffed giving up on protesting and just walked up to the machine muttering under his breath as he scrolled through the song choices, he felt embarrassed he'd have everyone's eyes on him, especially two specific supersoldiers behind him that he totally didn't have a crush on- okay maybe he did- it's just a little crush- he swears! The only thing that stopped him from confessing was- there wasn't any room for him, the two had each other since the 1930s, he had so many problems and baggage there wasn't a point, he thought.
He paused at the song "Say You Won't Let Go," by James Arthur, thinking hard on this one. He could choose this, make it secretly towards the two, they wouldn't know, right? It was a song surely they couldn't piece it together. He picked it, before grabbing the non-attached microphone, taking a seat in the chair set in the living, backward of course, resting his forearms on the chair top, fiddling with the microphone as the music started, raising the mic up towards his mouth staring at the karaoke screen.
"I met you in the dark
You lit me up
You made me feel as though
I was enough
We danced the night away
We drank too much
I held your hair back when
You were throwing up"
"Then you smiled over your shoulder
For a minute I was stone-cold sober
I pulled you closer to my chest
And you asked me to stay over
I said, I already told you
I think that you should get some rest"
He pulled his eyes away to stare at the floor, tapping his calloused fingers on his lap, his body swaying a little side to side to the music, a smile picking at the corners of his lips.
"I knew I loved you then
But you'd never know
'Cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go
I knew I needed you
But I never showed
But I wanna stay with you
Until we're grey and old
Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go"
He peeked up from the floor expecting disgusted looks from his teammates, maybe the all too familiar look of disappointment- but he saw none.
"When you looked over your shoulder
For a minute I forget that I'm older
I wanna dance with you right now, oh
And you look as beautiful as ever
And I swear that every day you'll get better
You make me feel this way somehow"
"I'm so in love with you
And I hope you know
Darling, your love is more than worth its weight in gold
We've come so far, my dear
Look how we've grown
And I wanna stay with you
Until we're grey and old
Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go"
"I wanna live with you
Even when we're ghosts
'Cause you were always there for me
When I needed you most"
"I'm gonna love you 'til
My lungs give out
I promise 'til death we part
Like in our vows
So I wrote this song for you
Now everybody knows
That it's just you and me
Until we're grey and old
Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go"
"Just say you won't let go
Oh, just say you won't let go"
When the song ended, of course, he was meet with silence- of course, he was meet with silence, he was terrible at all this, making friends, singing, his self-confidence was decreasing by the second, his teammate's jaws dropped but that's not how he saw it. He was pissed- very pissed.
He huffed dropping the mic onto the carpeted floor, little harshly grumbling about how he didn't even want to do this, pulling himself up off the chair before stomping off to his lab- probably not the best place to go when drunk but he wanted away and wanted away now. He just embarrassed himself in front of the whole team- especially in front of the two handsome super-soldiers he liked so much- they just gave them a better reason why they shouldn't be around them, he was annoying, he knew it.
Of course, JARVIS refused him access to the lab, fuck why did he program him to refuse access on these types of days- he huffed in annoyance before sulking up to his room, of course, avoiding the common room up to the floor where he slept sometimes, keyword sometimes, usually up pulling all-nighters to get most of his projects done- most of it was just upgrades for the team like a new arm for Barnes, widow bites, new EPM arrows for Clint, etc.
After retreating to his bedroom, he did a quick nightly routine including just washing his face, brushing and flossing his teeth befoe slipping off any clothes he had on that day to some comfy sweatpants, no shirt, of course, he felt he could protect the arc reactor better this way- maybe not but he'd always keep one of his hands protected over it.
Plopping down on his bed, he tells JARVIS to make sure he's not disturbed and alert him when someone walked in the room- hating surprises. Maybe just a little nap wouldn't kill him, he just needed to sober up a little that was all. Setting an alarm with the A.I, snuggling up in his comfy bed, laying on his side, a hand immediately on the metal life source in his chest. He knew it wouldn't be long before he woke up from the many night terrors, memories of the past.
-------------
Everyone sat there still shocked at the performance that their other team leader just gave. Who knew Anthony Edward Stark could sing like that when all he does is work in his lab blasting his metal music in his soundproof lab- at least he was considerate.
Nat went up turning off the machine, saying something Russian under her breath and her with her girlfriend, started cleaning up the boy's mess- well also their mess but with supersoldiers and a god in the room?
"Are we gonna talk about what just happened or-..?" Bruce was cut off by his boyfriend.
"What's there to talk about dear?"
"That Tony just angrily walked out like that? Didn't let anyone of us get in a word?" He turned to the two supersoldiers. "Especially, I've noticed the small glances he'd take at you two,"
"What are gettin' on bout Banner?" Bucky had set down on whatever number of beer he was on, leaning back onto the couch behind him, an arm around Steve's shoulders.
"I'm saying, this wasn't a random song he picked, heck he would've probably picked something AC/DC knowing him!"
"You're saying that was for... Us?" Steve cocked an eyebrow.
Now he had to admit, he and Bucky had been talking for the past week. When Bucky started spending more time in Tony's lab mostly cause of the metal arm that painfully was attached to his shoulder by HYDRA, that was slowly being removed and being made a new arm- It was a slow painful process- of course, Steve spent time in his lab as well, sitting perched on a counter or couch, sketchbook and pencil in hand sometimes with or without Bucky there.
They sat down and talked about it, of course, communication is key.
They talked about how they felt towards the brunette philanthropist, there were feelings developing, being born and raised in the 1900s of Brooklyn, New York though, yes they were together then but even having another person in a relationship was deeply looked down upon, all these new opinions and groups were still so confusing to them-they been thinking about talking to Tony about it all but it seems the genius finds a way to talk about something else, or just don't hear them over his tinkering, sometimes just tells them he needs it to be quiet when he's working on Bucky's arm.
Something was up.
And they just wanted to help him.
-----------------
When Tony woke up to JARVIS talking to him- he couldn't make out what the AI was even saying- why was he warm all a sudden? He groaned at the starting headache moving his hands to his eyes, giving them a quick rub with his fists, blinking as his vision slowly came to him to identify his surroundings- what does he find?
He in between a supersoldier sandwich with him on his side, Barnes on his left and Steve on his right, his front was facing Tony, he felt Buckys front pressing on his backside.
He blinked once more but more in surprise- he remembered going t bed alone- they were all clothed- that confused him even more. When did they sneak into his room? Why didn't J alert him? He huffed trying to think of all the ways he could try to sneak out of his own bed without waking them up- but he knew he was too late when he felt metal fingers running through his messy bed head and a different hand rubbing his waist- probably Steve's.
"You're awake," metal arm spoke up from behind him. "How you feelin', hm?"
Tony grumbled groggily. "M... my head hurts- why are you two in here anyway? Pretty sure I came to bed alone" He could hear one of the two chuckle- what? Did he have something on his face? Did he look that bad in the morning- his thoughts were cut off by fingers lifting up his chin to look up at Steve- who had a soft smile on his face?
"This is why," he heard Steve say in his low morning voice- before Tony could question anything, he felt a pair of lips meet his own- it wasn't desperate or filled with lust- he could tell it was just a soft passionate little kiss, he did find himself returning it- it felt so wrong but at the same time, it felt so right.
When Steve pulled away, he didn't get another word in before he felt James' hand tilt his head towards him and pulled him into a kiss as well, Tony's hand immediately went to grab onto his shoulder-length black hair with a soft hum- okay this felt nice, really nice-when he was let go, Tony was a blushing mess, hiding his face into whatever he could hide his face into, of course, it turned out to be Steve's bare chest. He felt so safe in their arms- if only he said something months ago, then the nightmares would be stopped, the endless nights of drinking would be replaced with cuddling with two bulky supersoldiers.
He sighed in content, curling up a little. "I think I understand," he kind of murmured into Steve's chest. He could feel their hands back into the places they were before.
"Well, what do you say then, doll?" he felt Buckys lips on the top of his head, he already loved the affection, all his insecurities felt like they didn't exist. "Can we take you out? Shower you with kisses, cuddles, maybe even more? See where it goes?" Tony let out a small giggle listening to the supersoldier. "We've liked you for a long while ya know,"
"R-really?" He didn't mean to stutter but he was surprised a little speechless.
"What's there not to love about the Tony Stark?" Steve spoke up. "You're amazing, extraordinary, every little thing you do is adorable, you're a genius, philanthropist, the man who survived a bomb after escaped from terrorists and made it home with battle scars and refused medical attention, you're so strong Tony, so caring to the ones who you let in and let care for you, you took Bucky in even after all Hydras have done to him- you saw past all that."
He felt a tingling sensation in his chest, butterflies fluttering around in his stomach- fuck was he tearing up?
It didn't matter though, he told himself.
He had two supersoldiers to wipe his tears and make him feel loved more than he ever has.