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Tony froze outside of the living room on the common floor, his crutches making no noise on the plush carpet. He’d come up from his lab for food, one of the conditions Bruce had set for him being allowed back down there so soon after his stay in the hospital. His weight settled forward onto the Iron Man Tsum Tsums strapped to the top of his crutches so he could listen to the shouting going on in the other room.
“-just a fucking kid, Stevie!”
That was Bucky, no mistaking that husky growl.
“I know that, Buck! But he’s also a member of this team and he’s damn well proved he has the right to be here.” There was a heaved sigh and Tony could just picture the way Steve must be pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You know what Tony’s like. If he’s here then at least we can have his back. If he goes off on his own, which you know he would if he wasn’t on the team, then he’d have no one to watch out for him.”
“Steve’s right,” Natasha piped up. “You weren’t here for the whole Mandarin debacle but Tony basically invited a terrorist to his doorstep and gave out his address on national television. Many of the reasons why I listed him as ‘Not Recommended’ in my initial report are exactly why I can’t agree with him being benched now. He’s unpredictable. There’s no telling what he might do.”
Hurt flashed through Tony’s chest. Suddenly, he didn’t feel much like eating anything. He didn’t think he’d be able to keep it down. He was pretty sure the pain he felt didn’t have anything to do with his cuts and bruises, much less his broken leg.
“So, what? You’re fine with him killing himself as long as it’s on our watch?”
“It’s not like that and you know it,” Clint cut in, sounding irritated. “Come on, Bucky. The whole point is that if he’s on our watch then we can keep him safe.”
Bucky made a disbelieving noise.
“We did a fine job of that on the last mission, didn’t we? Or is Tony winding up in the hospital your version of protection?”
“What do you want us to do? Lock him up in a padded room with a straitjacket?” Steve sounded pissed. “I don’t think I need to tell you just how effective that would be.”
“Don’t pander to me, Steve. You were just as bad as he is, back before the serum when you were trying to get yourself killed in every fucking back alley in Brooklyn.”
“I think we should take a break,” Natasha cut in. “There’s no use having this conversation at all if we can’t keep cool heads.”
“Fine. But I’m not just going to stand by and let Tony kill himself-“ Bucky froze as he rounded the corner to find Tony standing there, his expression leaching from anger to surprise and guilt. “Tony.”
The young genius glared, shoving all of his hurt down and strapping on the mask he wore for the press when they wanted to tear him apart.
“Hey, Barnes,” he said with a sharp grin. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there. I must have been too busy trying to get myself killed.”
Bucky blanched. Tony wasn’t sure if it was the genius’s tone, calling him Barnes, or throwing everything back in Bucky’s face that did it, but he took a sick sort of pleasure in it. He headed for the kitchen.
“Tony, that’s not-“
“Do we have any arsenic left?” Tony cut him off, peeking into the fridge. “I was hoping to add it to my coffee. It’s the one with the nice almond flavor, right?”
“That’s not funny.”
Tony slammed the fridge door and glared at him.
“No, it’s not. Neither is trying to get me kicked off this team behind my back. I worked hard to get here. Not even Fury wanted to take on a sixteen-year-old kid but I’ve been here three years and I’ve damn well earned my place!”
Bucky looked stricken for a moment before it morphed right back into the anger from before.
“With good reason! You’re nineteen, Tony!”
The genius snorted dramatically.
“Really? What a surprise! I wish someone had told me earlier! Somehow I’d never figured out my own age before.”
“Don’t be an ass.”
“Oh, I’m being an ass. Then what are you being?”
Bucky scowled.
“I’m looking out for you.”
“By going behind my back and-“
“I’m trying to keep you safe!” Bucky’s metal fist slammed into one of the cabinets, shattering it. “God damn it, Tony! I feel like I’m the only one who wants to make sure you see twenty!” He sucked in several deep breaths, Tony keeping a wary eye on him the entire time. “When you went down… You have no idea what that did to me, Tony. If anything happened to you…”
All of his anger seemed to have melted away and it looked as if a bone-deep sadness had settled its weight upon his shoulders. It made Tony want to reach out for him, but the tension still thrumming through him as well as his metal hand still through Tony’s cabinet door kept the young genius in place.
“I’m fine, though,” he tried to soothe instead, keeping his voice soft. “I’m a little banged up but I’m fine. We’re superheroes, Bucky. We’re all going to get hurt from time to time. It’s an occupational hazard. Remember how Clint sprained his ankle a couple months ago? Or how you got shot last year? But both of you are all healed up now and I will be soon.”
Bucky made a noise of frustration.
“Clint ain’t you,” Bucky growled, yanking his hand out of the cabinet. Tony could feel his irritation and anger bubbling up again only to be squashed by the look in Bucky’s eyes. “I don’t feel the way about Clint that I feel about you.”
Tony swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to get his hopes up only to be disappointed but that look was not making it easy.
“And how is it that you feel about me?”
Bucky stepped closer, until the toes of his combat boots were just barely brushing against the toes of Tony’s Captain America Winged high-tops. One flesh hand and one metal came up to cup the sides of Tony’s face.
“I’ve never been very good with words,” Bucky admitted, “probably how I got into this situation in the first place. Maybe I could just show you?”
Tony’s jaw worked up and down a couple times before he managed to get out a strangled, “Yeah.”
A metal thumb swept over his cheekbone lightly before Bucky leaned in to press their lips together. He stooped a little extra to compensate for Tony not being able to get up on his tip toes. The sniper’s flesh arm trailed down to wrap around Tony’s thighs and hoist him upwards. Their kiss broke only briefly before they were back at it. Tony dimly registered the sound of his crutches clattering against the tiled floor. Eventually, Tony had to draw back to gasp for air and Bucky moved to trailing kisses and nips along his jaw.
“I just,” Bucky managed between kisses, “can’t lose you. I can’t even imagine it.”
Tony pulled him up to kiss him on the lips again. Fucking finally.
“Not gonna lose me,” he promised. “I’ll be careful. You’ll be careful. We’ll keep coming home to each other.”
“And if one of us comes back hurt?”
“Then the other can spend all the time pampering and taking care of them they want.”
Bucky grinned against Tony’s lips.
“I think that’s a deal I can agree with. Let’s start now. I’ll carry you to bed.”
“Now that’s a plan.”