Work Text:
We All Scream
Could you possibly do a follow-up to the upcycle one? How does Clint react? What about when Tony wakes up? What about the rest of the team?”
“Ugh, God…My head…”
Tony swam back to consciousness with a blinding headache. He rolled over on stiff sheets and groaned. Medical. Great. He really needed to set aside a larger bedding budget for them. Shit. Had there been a battle? The last thing he remembered was being in his lab, working on Bucky’s arm. How had he wound up in medical?
“Hey,” a voice spoke gently from beside him, “you’re awake.”
Tony squinted his eyes open, thankful that someone had apparently decided to turn the lights off. Bucky’s face swam into focus after a few blinks. Tony reached for him and Bucky pulled him close without question.
“What happened? I don’t remember…”
Guilt flashed across Bucky’s face.
“Yeah. I, um-That’d be my fault. Do you remember how the Skrulls pulled that switcharoo with Stevie a few months ago? Well, I may have, possibly, thought they’d tried to do the same thing with you…”
Tony’s brow furrowed, his brain moving through molasses to try and keep up.
“You thought…I wasn’t me?”
Had he been acting strangely? Out of character? He didn’t think so, but considering how fuzzy his head still felt it was a distinct possibility. Bucky looked guilty.
“I jumped to some conclusions I shouldn’t have. Obviously. You were just talking about kids and…I figured it out, once you explained a little more. But by that point Clint had already shot you with the knockout dart.”
“Clint shot me?”
“In his defense, he was really pissed off when he found out it was a false alarm. I think he yelled at me for a good twenty minutes straight. It probably would have been longer if Steve hadn’t dragged him away.”
Tony’s brow furrowed. He actually would have thought Clint would find the whole thing hilarious.
“He didn’t laugh?”
Bucky shook his head.
“It really freaked him out to know he’d fired on his own teammate. Loki’s invasion came up a couple times.”
Tony winced.
“Ah. Yeah. That’d do it. I guess he’s gonna wanna see me pretty quick then, now that I’m awake.”
“Nat’s keeping him occupied.” Bucky’s shoulders drooped. “I really am sorry. I messed up big time.”
Tony pushed himself up in the bed, moving slowly to accommodate his headache. He leaned toward Bucky, all but forcing the man to move closer and let him rest his weight against Bucky’s chest.
“That’s the life we live, I guess. We can never be sure of anything.”
Bucky worried the inside of his cheek. Tony could tell by the way the skin tightened and his jaw moved. It was an old habit that came through whenever Bucky wasn’t quite sure if he should say something or not.
“We can be sure of some things, I think.”
He sounded like he was working his way up to something and Tony pulled back just a bit to get a better look at him.
“Like what?”
Because sometimes Bucky just needed a bit of prodding to get himself going. For the moment, the ex-assassin was avoiding all eye-contact with Tony.
“This whole thing, thinking someone might have taken you and was holding you somewhere, doing God knows what…It was terrifying, Tony. I was angry for sure, but mostly I was just scared. I didn’t know if you were being hurt or if they’d already killed you or if we’d be able to find you in time…As much as I hated every second of it, it really put things in perspective for me.”
Tony held stock still. His brain wasn’t sure where this was going. The dark, cruel voice in the back of his head told him that this was it, this was Bucky leaving him. Largely, though, Tony told that voice to shut up. Bucky wasn’t like that. They had something between them and Tony knew it didn’t just go one way.
“You ever gonna say it or are we just gonna sit here all day playing twenty questions?”
Bucky took a deep breath, giving the genius a serious look.
“I love you, Tony. That’s what all of this showed me, clear as day. I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
A dopey smile spread across Tony’s face.
“I love you, too. Even if you did convince Clint to shoot me with a tranquillizer dart.”