Work Text:
The rogue Avengers are returning, and it shouldn't be a problem. It can't be a problem, the world needs the Avengers together, not spread out doing god-knows-what in random places in the world.
It wouldn't be a problem, if it weren't for the reason they broke up in the first place.
James "Bucky" Barnes.
Tony had eventually given in to Bucky coming to the tower, after he rationalized to himself that Bucky couldn't control his actions when he killed his parents. So, done deal, right?
Wrong.
New footage showed that the plane Mary and Richard Parker, who were SHIELD scientists, and parents to Peter Parker who would later become Spider-Man, had died in wasn't an accident.
Evidence showed that Mary and Richard Parker were killed by the Winter Soldier, otherwise known as James "Bucky" Barnes (and he had expressed major guilt when he found out he killed a four year olds parents' and said kid grew up to lose the last of his family), who was coming to live in the same tower Peter Parker (who Tony had yet to tell about his parents, but who could blame him for not wanting to see how the kid would react?,) had been living in since his aunt May, his only living relative, had died in a car accident. (God, when can the kid catch a break?)
Tony was conflicted on the matter, because he knows what it feels like for someone you trust so much to hide something so big from you, but he also knows he had felt more closure when he thought his parents deaths' were an accident. His guilt about not telling Peter worsens one night when Peter tells him he wishes his life were normal sometimes. ("I mean, I really do love the life you've given me, but sometimes I wish my parents had never died that day so they would have been on that field trip with me to stop me from becoming Spider-Man. My mom always insisted on going on my field trips, for some reason.")
And Tony still doesn't tell him, because how does he even say it? Is he supposed to just walk up to him and say "Hey kid, really sorry for not telling you but your parents were actually killed by a brainwashed super soldier who's coming to live in the same tower as you in the next week," or does he sit him down and eventually let the kid see the footage after being begged to see it for himself, as some sort of fucked up proof? (Tony wouldn't blame him, either, because seeing it in front of him is what made his parents murders' seem so much more real)
Then the rogues, and by default Bucky, show up, and the secrets so much harder to keep when he can see how guilt-ridden and awkward Bucky is around Peter, who's trying to figure out why Mr. Stark and the rogues were walking on glass around him. Peter tries making Bucky cookies, and Bucky does smile and thank him, but runs off right after with a half assed excuse to cry on Steve's shoulder. ("God, Steve, the kids so nice when he should hate me, and I know he doesn't know but he should and it's killing me to see him try to figure everything out.")
And Peter shouldn't have been able to hear him, but he's Spider-Man, and his enhanced hearing makes it impossible not to hear. In some fucked way, it makes sense when he puts the pieces together later and realizes the Winter Soldier killed his parents. He had known his parents were with SHIELD and that Ben and May never truly believed Mary and Richard's deaths to be accidents, but he never put Bucky into the mix.
He knows he should probably be mad, but Peter can't find it in himself to blame Bucky for killing his parents, because he shows obvious signs of guilt and he wasn't in control of his actions, so he forgives the super soldier.
A few days after he realizes, he finds Bucky on the roof of the tower with his legs dangling off as he looks down at the ground, and takes a seat next to him.
It's an awkward silence, so he tries to make conversation, "it's so far up, but I think that's what makes it pretty."
Bucky looks over to him, eyebrows furrowed, "How so?"
"Everyday, I walk, swing, and run around the city as Spider-Man and see the worst of it, but from up here I see the bigger picture. It's what keeps me going sometimes, knowing there's someone out there that may need my help sooner or later." He explains, choosing his words carefully.
Bucky gives a guilty look his way, and smiles to hide it as he mumbles, "good morals."
"I know about my parents." He says and Bucky tenses next to him, "I don't blame you."
"You should." Bucky shakes his head with a humorless laugh, "I killed them."
"No, the Winter Soldier did. I don't think you hear it enough, but you aren't him. You've shown you aren't by trying to make things right."
"You're a good kid, y'know. If I were in your spot I'd be raising hell, but instead you're sitting here and comforting me when it should be the other way around. And I know you're gonna cut me off and say it wasn't me, but it'd make me feel better if you'd let me apologize."
Peter looks confused for a moment, before he smiles slightly, and says "Fine. But after that, no more apologies and we're reintroducing ourselves to each other."
Bucky lets out a breathless laugh, before nodding in agreement, "I'm sorry for how the Winter Soldier affected your life, but hello, my name is James but you can call me Bucky."
Peter's smile widens when he realizes Bucky didn't say 'my actions', "Peter Parker and Spider-Man, you can call me Peter. Now that that's cleared up, c'mon, we're making cookies while I tell Mr. Stark he can stop being all stiff around me and tell him I don't blame him for not telling me sooner."
Peter stands up, offering Bucky a hand, and Bucky looks at him like he's seeing a ghost before realizing 'right, super strong, even caught my metal arm, letting him help me won't fling him off the tower.'
An hour and a half later, Peter's putting cookies on the table while Bucky and Tony realize just how much better the kid is than anyone else in the tower.