Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Afterward, Bucky would look back on their first meeting with fondness and a healthy dose of amusement. At the time, though, he’d mostly been confused - and more than a little embarrassed.

Because while Steve may have warned him about the eccentric billionaire that was the Avengers benefactor and consultant, he’d completely failed to mention that said benefactor was a woman - an oversight that had had Bucky putting his foot in his mouth and tasting it for days afterward (mostly in the form of teasing from Steve).

In Steve’s defense, though, it had been just as much Bucky’s fault as his. Bucky hadn’t paid much attention to the media in his early days, and hadn’t bothered really reading up on the team or anything, either, so when Steve had said ‘Tony Stark’, Bucky had just assumed.

The same way he’d looked at the three people who’d walked through the door - an imposing redhead in heels, a bored-looking brunette who dimpled when she saw him and Steve, and a sturdy-looking man wearing a slight glower - locked eyes on the man, and assumed him to be the infamous Tony Stark Steve wouldn’t shut up about.

It was Bucky’s first lesson when it came to Natasha Antonia ‘Toni’ Stark - never assume.

The brunette spoke first. “Ah, you’re here early. Nat said you probably wouldn’t make it until tonight,” she said, raising an eyebrow at Steve.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, sorry. Something urgent came up, and we figured the sooner we got here, the better,” he said, biting his lip and glancing over at Bucky. Or, more specifically, Bucky’s busted metal arm.

The woman waved him away. “No, it’s fine, I get it,” she said, then glanced sideways at Bucky. “You going to introduce us, Cap?”

Bucky knew they had to know who he was, because if they knew why Steve was here, there was no way they couldn’t. Still, it was nice to be treated like a human being.

“James Barnes, ma’am.” Bucky said, before Steve could. “Uh, Steve here calls me Bucky, so I don’t see why you can’t. And, uh, I don’t want to sound rude, but this thing is killing me, and the sooner I get it fixed, the better.” He looked over at the man, who’d stepped forward to stand right beside the brunette when Bucky had started speaking.

“Tony Stark?” Bucky asked. He thought the man didn’t look nearly as terrifying as Steve had made him out to be.

Steve made a choked sound from beside Bucky, while the man cocked his head and frowned. “What?” he asked, while the brunette raised her eyebrows, lips twitching, and fixed Steve with a look.

“Er,” Bucky said, feeling like he was missing something. He looked over at Steve for help, and found him covering his mouth, shaking with suppressed laughter.

The brunette seemed to finally take pity on him. “I have the feeling you might be running under some misinformation,” she said, stepping forward and holding out a hand for Bucky to shake.

Bucky took it without thinking, idly noticing that she had callouses - clearly someone who worked with her hands a lot.

“Toni Stark, at your service,” she said, eyes sparkling in amusement as Bucky gaped at her.

“Uh, what?” Bucky said intelligently, while Steve snorted behind him.

“I mean, I can see how you might be confused,” she continued seriously, “Happy -” She motioned to the man behind her, who rolled his eyes and grinned. “- often moonlights as my body-double on particularly busy days, you see.”

Bucky shook his head, feeling his cheeks heat. “I should have known Steve was talking about a dame when he said how scary and intimidating you were,” he grumbled, making Steve sputter and Toni’s eyes widen in delight. “The man can jump into enemy territory without a parachute and battle aliens without blinking an eye, but give him a pretty woman to talk to and he’s terrified.”

Toni’s grin got even bigger. “Pretty? Scary and intimidating?” she shook her head and clucked her tongue. “Why, I don’t know what to do with all of these compliments.” She looked over Bucky’s shoulder at Steve, who Bucky was pleased to see was blushing and shuffling in embarrassment. “Seriously, Steve, what the hell have you been telling him?”

To his credit, Steve didn’t let himself get derailed from the matter at hand, even if he flushed harder. “The truth, mostly. But do you think you can look at Bucky’s arm?”

Toni nodded, still looking amused. “Sure, but only if he lets go of my hand first,” she said, which made Bucky realize that he was still shaking her hand. This time it was his turn to blush.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, dropping her hand like it had burned him. Wanting to find something that would take the attention off of him, he looked over at the other woman that had come in with Toni, then back at the man he’d thought was her.

“Pepper Potts,” the woman said helpfully, smiling kindly. “Ms. Stark’s former assistant, SI’s current CEO, and Toni’s handler for life, I’m afraid. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Barnes.”

“Same,” Bucky replied, feeling a little more at ease. He glanced over at the man - had Ms. Stark called him Happy? - and nodded at him. “Does that make you Iron Man, then?” he asked.

While Steve may have neglected to mention certain details about Toni Stark, he hadn’t spared any about Iron Man, the team’s armored Avenger. Bucky knew the guy was Stark’s bodyguard (though how he could be a good one if he took off to fight supervillains when he was supposed to be, well, bodyguarding, Bucky wasn’t sure) and the man in front of him certainly gave off the same vibe, what with the way he was hovering protectively and glaring menacingly at Bucky.

Happy puffed out his chest and raised himself to his full height, but Toni snorted and waved her hand before he could speak.

“Who, Happy? Nah, he’s my head of security,” she said, laughing, while Happy deflated.

“You never let me have any fun, Boss,” he grumbled. “I could be Iron Man, if I wanted.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Toni snickered, then smirked at Bucky. “You’ve probably made his week - it’s not every day he gets mistaken for two of Stark Industries’ most famous faces.”

Bucky bit his lip, not quite sure what to say, and feeling relieved when Steve spoke up to ask, “Is Iron Man here right now?”

Toni shrugged and waved her hand. “Eh, he’s around. Probably taking a break - he was flying around all day yesterday, I guess you saw.”

Steve nodded. “Those bio-terrorists. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to him about. I haven’t read his report, but I’d rather hear it first-hand from him, if I can.”

Toni shrugged again. “I’ll pass it along, but it might be a while. The suit took some hits I need to repair, and I’ll probably need him in the workshop. But, more importantly-” She clapped and rubbed her hands together eagerly, then winked at Bucky. “Let’s say we get you down to the workshop and see what makes this baby tick, eh?”

Perhaps it was the casual, flippant way she spoke to him, without walking on eggshells like everyone else did, that put him at ease. Maybe it was the way she’d prioritized his problem without making a big deal about it, either. Or, hell, maybe it was the wink, and the way her mouth twitched up at the corner when she did it.

Whatever it was, it made Bucky feel a little spark of warmth, and he found himself doing something he hadn’t done in almost seventy years - winking back.

“Never on the first date, Ms. Stark,” he said, smirking, a little thrill going through him at the flash of pleased surprise on her face. Steve gaped at him, looking somewhere between scandalized and proud.

“Oooh, I’m definitely keeping you,” Toni said, stepping forward and patting Bucky’s shoulder appreciatively. “No one else rises to my bait, anymore.”

“That’s because we don’t want to encourage you,” Ms. Potts said, raising one unimpressed eyebrow.

“Do you see what I have to work with? Killjoys, all around,” Toni sighed, shaking her head sadly. She then stepped back and waved towards the elevator with a flourish. “Shall we?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Bucky smirked and offered her his elbow. “Lead the way.”

Despite Toni - and Steve’s - teasing, Bucky would maintain that his little identity faux pas with Toni had gone much better than when he met Iron Man.

For one, he hadn’t attacked Toni.

To be fair, though, he’d never seen anything quite like the Iron Man armor, and in the wake of the nightmare he’d just had and shadows of the roof at night, it had looked rather sinister.

“Jesus Christ!” the robotic figure yelped as the knife Bucky had thrown glanced off of him with a loud clink. “What the hell are you -”

Bucky didn’t give the - thing - a chance to regroup, and aimed a punch to its chest, using his right arm since his left still wasn’t in full working order. The thing caught his arm, swearing, so Bucky swung his left anyway, damaged arm be damned.

The thing spun out of his reach and shoved him away, then held both of its arms up in the universal sign of surrender. “Whoa whoa whoa, watch where you’re swinging that thing!” it shouted. “It’s still broken, remember?!”

Bucky stopped and narrowed his eyes. “How did you -”

“Look, I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding,” the thing said quickly, and took a step backwards towards the door. “I’m sorry if I, uh, alarmed you, but usually nobody is up here, and I wasn’t expecting - you know what? I’m gonna go get Cap. He’ll explain things better, and you look like you could use -”

“No Steve,” Bucky blurted, then winced at how panicked his voice sounded. “I mean, I don’t need, uh…” He swallowed and composed himself, then scrutinized the figure better, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “You’re Iron Man, aren’t you?” he asked, forcing his posture to relax.

Iron Man dropped his arms. “The one and only,” he replied, and gave Bucky a lazy, two-fingered salute. “Sorry for the scare. Wasn’t expecting you up here.”

Bucky shook his head, and tried to focus on his breathing. “No, it’s fine, I -” Deep breaths. In and out. “I thought, I thought you were… I dunno -”

“A bad guy?” Iron Man supplied, nodding knowingly. “Relax, it happens. No harm, no foul, better safe than sorry and all that.” He cocked his head sideways, as though considering something, then said, “You sure you don’t want me to get Cap? It’s not a big deal. JARVIS can just give him a message, even.”

“No,” Bucky snapped quickly, then shook his head and forced himself to relax again. “I - sorry. But please, no. I just… I needed some air, and he’s asleep now, anyway.”

Iron Man cocked his head again. “He won’t mind you waking him,” he said cautiously.

“Yeah, but he’ll worry,” Bucky grumbled bitterly, and pressed his arms against his stomach.

“Ah,” Iron Man replied, nodding sagely, and making Bucky wish he could actually see his expression. “Yeah, he does that. World-class mother hen, Cap is, but I guess you’d know that better than anyone.”

Bucky snorted in spite of himself. “Damn hypocrite, is what he is,” he grumbled, surprised when that earned him a sharp, staticky laugh.

“Shame he doesn’t see it,” Iron Man agreed, then stepped closer. “So, you come up here to get away from Captain Worry-wort, or to enjoy the view?” he asked, moving his arm to encompass the area.

“Little of both, I guess,” Bucky mumbled, looking down at the city. “Couldn’t… couldn’t sleep,” he admitted, still holding his arms against his middle.

“Me, neither,” Iron Man murmured quietly, lifting a hand to rub at the glowing circle in his chest. He then coughed, and nodded towards Bucky. “I didn’t damage your arm any further, did I?” he asked, indicating Bucky’s arm.

“No, not really,” Bucky replied after a little start, looking down at his left hand and clenching it into a loose fist. All of the fingers moved but one, which was better than before Toni had worked on it. Plus, it no longer hurt.  “And it wouldn’t have been your fault if you did,” he added, then frowned as something occurred to him. “Wait - how do you know it’s broken?”

The armor shifted again. “Oh, uh, Ms. Stark told me about it,” Iron Man said, in a tone Bucky couldn’t read. “Uh, not that she was gossiping about you or anything, but I saw some of her specs in the workshop earlier, and…”

“Oh. That, that makes sense,” Bucky said, before deciding to seize upon the subject change and asking, “You work with Ms. Stark a lot, then?”

Iron Man huffed. “You could say that,” he said, sounding amused, for some reason. “I mean, she’s the one who does all the armor repairs, and I assist her in the workshop sometimes. I kind of have to spend a lot of time with her, being her bodyguard, and all.”

Bucky felt himself flush, embarrassed that he’d already forgotten. “Oh, yeah. I suppose you do,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Must be interesting. I gotta say, I only understood every fourth or fifth word she was saying earlier, when she was tryin’a fix my arm, but it was interesting.”

“She can be a bit much for most people,” Iron Man ventured, shifting his weight in a whir of servos.

“I like it,” Bucky said, perhaps a bit more sharply than he intended. “It takes my mind off of, well,” He indicated his mostly useless arm. “And it’s nice to have someone talk to me like an actual person, instead of some fragile, porcelain doll that’ll crack the first time someone says somethin’ wrong.”

Iron Man chuckled humorlessly. “Well, I can tell you right now, Ms. Stark isn’t seeing a doll when she looks at you,” he huffed, waving his arm at Bucky.

When Bucky cocked his head at him in confusion, Iron Man made a strange noise, which Bucky belatedly realized was a distorted snort. “You expect me to believe a good-looking guy like you was in her presence and she didn’t pay you a single compliment?” he asked skeptically.

Bucky couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, uh, yeah,” he admitted, his face warming a little. “She do that a lot, then? Flirt with any half-decent lookin’ fella in her presence?”

“Only the hot ones,” Iron Man teased, which made something in Bucky’s chest loosen. It had been a long time since somebody other than Steve had teased him about anything, let alone a dame or fella flirting with him. “And ladies, too. But listen to yourself, ‘half-decent looking’… did they not have mirrors in whatever hidey-hole Cap had you in?”

Bucky found himself grinning. Oddly enough, the comment didn’t make him feel nearly as self-conscious as it might have coming from someone else. “Hey, I’ll have you know that modesty is a very attractive feature,” he said, smirking and watching as the Iron Man’s shoulders shook with laughter.

“Bullshit,” Iron Man chortled, and poked Bucky’s shoulder. “Trust me, from one charming asshole to another - you got it, you might as well own it.”

“That’s pretty presumptuous, considerin’ I don’t know what you look like,” Bucky drawled without thinking, then winced to himself when he realized how flirty that probably sounded.

Iron Man didn’t seem to mind, though, and made that weird crackly snort sound again.

“Ah, see, but that adds to my air of mystery,” he said, nodding solemnly. “And I never said how I looked - I said I was a charming asshole.”

“I won’t argue with you there,” Bucky snickered. “Though I don’t know how I feel about you pegging me down so fast.”

Iron Man waved his hand. “It’s always nice to find a kindred spirit,” he said, and though there was amusement in his tone, Bucky picked up a note of sincerity as well.

“Yeah, it really is,” Bucky agreed, and held out his hand.

And though Bucky wouldn’t realize it until much later, that handshake became the start of the first friendship he’d made by himself in nearly seventy years.

Chapter Text

“So I hear you’ve met Iron Man,” Toni said the next day as she opened a panel on Bucky’s arm.

“Hmmm?” Bucky asked, watching the rapid and efficient way Toni’s hands went to work in fascination.

Toni waved a tool around and pointed at the far wall, were the Iron Man armor was standing in a glass case. “Iron Man. Heard you met him last night,” she said, disconnecting a few wires and then glancing up at him.

“Oh, that,” Bucky said, heat creeping up his neck in embarrassment. “He, uh, told you about that?”

Toni grinned. “You could say that,” she replied mysteriously. “So, what did you think?”

“I like him,” Bucky replied immediately, blush receding. “He’s - well, he seems like a nice guy.”

Toni hands stilled for a second, then continued. “I… was actually talking about the armor, but okay,” she said slowly, though her mouth was quirked up in a small, pleased smile. “He’ll be happy to hear you say that.”

“Well, that was pretty nifty, too,” Bucky agreed, then leaned forward eagerly. “But, uh… do you know if he spends a lot of time on the roof, like that?”

Toni looked up, then pulled the wire she’d just popped in her mouth back out so she could speak. “I guess so, I mean,” she began, then hesitated, as though considering her words. “He has trouble sleeping, sometimes,” she said finally. “And if he doesn’t want to come down and hang out in the workshop with me, he likes to go up there.” She bit her lip. “If it’s a problem, or you want to be alone, I can speak with him and -”

“No no,” Bucky said hastily. “I actually - he was good company. Like I said, he was a nice guy and I liked him. I was just wonderin’ if you thought he’d mind me intruding on his space, that’s all.”

Toni stopped what she was doing and stared, eyes comically wide. “He won’t mind,” she said after a moment’s pause. “In fact… I think he’d probably like the company. I know he liked talking to you, anyway. He made a point of saying so.”

“Did he?” Bucky asked, his chest warming. Something in his tone or face must have shown how pleased he was, because the corners of Toni’s mouth curled up, which made Bucky’s chest feel even warmer, and for entirely different reasons than before.

“Um, actually… does he hang around anywhere else in the tower?” he asked. “Without the armor, I mean.”

Toni’s expression became guarded. “Not really,” she said carefully, picking up her tools and going back to work. “You see, he’s - I’m sure you already know, but his identity is a pretty well-kept secret. And he likes to keep it that way. Even the other Avengers don’t know.”

Bucky frowned, momentarily taken aback. “Oh, okay… but you know who he is, yeah?”

“Well, yeah,” she mumbled around the screwdriver she had just popped into her mouth. “He’s my bodyguard, and I’m not gonna hire any old Joe to keep a sharp eye on these goods,” she said, smirking mischievously.

Bucky huffed, but didn’t let himself get distracted, and plowed on. “So he could be runnin’ around the tower here now, out of the armor, and if any of us bumped into him we wouldn’t even know?” he asked, the thought making some of his spirits sink.

The screwdriver fell out of Toni’s mouth, making a loud noise as it bounced off of his metal forearm. She coughed and scrambled to pick it up, then caught his eye and smiled sheepishly.

“Yep,” she said, voice strained despite her cheery expression. “And I assure you, he likes it that way.”

Bucky frowned and mulled that over. “I bet I’d recognize him,” he said stubbornly, thinking of Iron Man’s speech and mannerisms. Surely he’d be able to pick them out easily, even from the face of a stranger.

For some reason, the remark made Toni’s shoulders relax.

“I’m sure you would,” she agreed, then poked Bucky in the shoulder and changed the subject, eyes sparkling playfully. “Now come on, hotstuff - we’ve got an arm to fix, and Steve doesn’t think I can get this done in just a few days. I want to see his face when he comes down here and finds you playing ping-pong with me.”

Though Bucky still wasn’t in ping-pong shape by the end of that day or even the day after, he couldn’t say he really minded, since it meant he would still get to spend more time with Toni.

When Bucky said as much to Dr. Banner - who’d come in and asked how the repairs were going while Toni was busy hunting down a particular tool she wanted - he smiled knowingly.

“I see,” he said, eyes darting over to Toni, who was currently scolding one of her bots for not giving her the tool back. “You know, if you really want to spend time with her, you don’t have to use your arm as an excuse,” he added, crossing his arms and leaning against the worktable behind him.

“I don’t wanna take her time if she’s busy, though,” Bucky protested, chewing the inside of his cheek. “What would I even do?”

Dr. Banner chuckled. “Maybe something like this,” he suggested, before raising his voice. “Hey, Toni?”

Toni paused in her scolding and turned her head towards them. “What’s up, Brucie?” she called, smiling brightly and making her way back over to them.

Dr. Banner gave Bucky a conspiring grin, but schooled it into something more friendly before he spoke to Toni again, to Bucky’s confusion. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to do lunch after all,” he said, shaking his head regretfully and looking down at his watch. “It’s actually what I came up to tell you. My experiment is going better than planned, and I want to be here to monitor the results.”

“Okay, sure, we can take a raincheck,” Toni said, shrugging nonchalantly and settling by Bucky’s arm again. “Do you need any help?”

Dr. Banner shook his head. “Nah, it’s mostly taking notes,” he replied, then looked over at Bucky, as though he’d forgotten he was there. “Oh, hey! Why don’t you take Bucky instead? He was just telling me how he’d never had Thai food before.”

Toni dropped the tool she’d just picked up into Bucky’s lap and stared up at him in horror. “You’re not serious,” she said, scandalized.

“Um,” Bucky said, and looked over Toni’s head at Dr. Banner. He winked and gave Bucky a thumbs-up. “Well, no… but it can’t be that different from Chinese, right?”

Toni lifted a hand to her chest and made a sound of deep pain. Banner made a sympathetic noise behind her, then lifted his arm and patted her on the back when she turned and buried her face into his chest.

“We have to save him,” Toni whispered, clutching at Banner’s shirt while Bucky wondered what he had said that was so wrong.

“You have to save him,” Banner replied in amused exasperation, and raised his eyebrows at Bucky. “I have an experiment, remember?”

Toni sniffed and pushed Banner away. “Fine. Poke at your petri dishes. We’ll go out and have a fantastic ol’ time by ourselves, right Bucky?” she said, turning to him with determination in her eyes.

Bucky felt the corner of his mouth turn up in a smirk. “Never let it be said that I left a lady hanging,” he agreed, catching Banner’s eye and grinning.

Toni beamed at him, then jumped to her feet. “Great! Let me wash this grease off, and we can go now,” she said, walking over towards the sink and patting Banner on the chest as she passed him. “Chinese food,” she grumbled, shaking her head. “What the actual fuck has Steve been doing…”

While she was distracted, Bucky turned back to Banner, who looked far too amused with the whole situation.

“See? Not hard at all,” he said, and clapped Bucky on the shoulder.

“Toni is amazing,” Bucky announced when he returned to his and Steve’s floor, flexing his new arm and feeling like his face would split from smiling.

Steve looked up from his sketching and grinned at him. “She is, isn’t -” he started, then cut himself off when he got a good look at Bucky’s face. “No,” he said firmly, lifting his pencil and pointing it at him.

Bucky paused in the act of running his hand along the back of the couch, enjoying the feel of texture on his metal fingertips. “No, what?”

Steve made a face at him. “No, just… no. Don’t even try it.”

“Don’t try what?” Bucky asked, flipping over the back of the couch so he could flop down next to Steve.

Steve gave him the stink-eye. “I know that look, Bucky. Just… don’t.”

Bucky scowled back. “Why? You sweet on her or somethin’?” he asked sullenly, picking at a loose thread on his jeans with his left hand, and becoming momentarily distracted by how soft the fabric felt.

“No,” Steve said, a little too quickly and a little too defensively.

Bucky twisted around until he was facing Steve fully, and eyed him suspiciously. “Were you sweet on her?” he persisted, watching Steve’s face carefully for any of his tells.

The tips of Steve’s ears turned pink. “No,” he said, even quicker than before, and then winced, realizing his mistake.

“I knew it!” Bucky crowed, whacking Steve’s arm and then jumping out of his reach when Steve tried to hit him back. “I knew it, I knew it - no wonder she terrifies you!”

Unable to reach him, Steve grabbed the pillow he’d been leaning on and threw it at Bucky instead, but Bucky ducked around it.

Steve glowered at him. “It’s not like that,” he insisted, though the pink had spread to his cheeks. “And that’s not why I’m telling you it’s a bad idea, either.”

“If you didn’t want me steppin’ on your toes, all you had to do was say something,” Bucky said, grinning to hide his disappointment.

Steve groaned. “We are not, have not, and will not ever be, a couple,” he began, enunciating each word carefully, as though he were explaining something very complicated.

“Which has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you have the hots for her,” Bucky pointed out, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

Steve scowled. “No,” he repeated stubbornly, then groaned again when Bucky raised his other eyebrow as well. “Look, I might have… entertained the notion of a tiny crush for a little while when we were first getting to know each other, but that’s all and well in the past, and still has absolutely nothing to do with me warning you off,” he said, voice strained in a way that meant he was hiding something, and an embarrassing something at that.

Bucky considered him for a minute. “You fucked up, didn’t you?”

Steve ducked his head. “Little bit,” he admitted, gaze firmly locked on the sketchbook in front of him.

Bucky smirked. “You gonna tell me how?”

“Nope,” Steve replied pleasantly, and began sketching again.

“Was it your terrible way with women in general, or did it have something to do with you and your big mouth?” Bucky persisted, smirk widening when Steve’s mouth twitched.

“It… it just wouldn’t have worked,” Steve said at last, when Bucky’s pointed looks finally got to him. “We’re both too stubborn for our own good. And I don’t think she’s looking for anything serious, anyway.”

“That’s not always a bad thing,” Bucky pointed out, becoming a little annoyed with Steve’s discouragement. If it had been because he liked Toni, it would have been one thing, but this…

“You’re not just sayin’ this because you think my head’s still not on straight, are you?” Bucky demanded angrily, sitting up and glaring at him.

Steve’s eyes widened. “No, of course not!” he protested, putting down his sketchpad. “It’s just… look, she may not be a superhero, but she still has a lot of say over the team. You could be showing an interest in Nick Fury and my answer would be the same. I just don’t think you two should be getting involved like that. She’s our benefactor. It would make things weird if things got strained between the two of you.”

“Awfully big assumptions, considering I haven’t actually said or done anything yet,” Bucky snapped irritably. “Be honest - if it were anyone else, you wouldn’t care. And Nick Fury? Really?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Okay, not a great example. And, alright, if it were somebody else I probably wouldn’t care; but as I know you two, I know how you - both of you - are.” He took a deep breath and then let it out, his expression open and honest. “I’ve worked hard to get where I am with Toni. I don’t want to be caught in the middle.”

Bucky frowned, uncertain of what to do in the face of all Steve’s earnesty.

“You wouldn’t be caught in the middle…” he hedged, and rubbed the back of his neck.

The look Steve gave him could have smelled bullshit from a mile away.

“Fine,” Bucky grumbled, sinking into the couch and glaring sullenly at the far wall. “But I’m lettin’ you know now that I’m not ever helpin’ you get another date ever again.”

Steve smiled in relief. “I can live with that,” he sighed, and picked up his sketchbook again. “Thank you.”

They sat quietly for a few more minutes, Steve drawing and Bucky putting his arm through various little exercises, before Bucky finally broke the silence again.

“She’s really somethin’, though,” he said wistfully, staring dreamily into space.

Steve threw his hands in the air. “You know what? Forget it!” he exclaimed, rising from the couch and stomping towards the elevator. “But if she throws us out of the tower because of something you’ve done, I’m moving in with Sam and buying you an apartment in New Jersey.”

“Did Stevie and Toni have a thing?” Bucky asked Iron Man a few days later. They were once again sitting on the roof, legs dangling off the edge and playing some kind of dice game Iron Man had brought while the sun came up behind them.

Iron Man turned towards him curiously. “Odd question,” he said, tapping his fingers against his leg. “But no, not really. I mean they flirted, sure, and I think the interest was there, but…”

“But?” Bucky prompted, when Iron Man trailed off.

“I think Ms. Stark’s exact words were that she really wanted to kiss him, but she also really wanted to set him on fire, too,” Iron Man admitted, before shrugging and adding, “Then again, that’s what Ms. Potts used to say about her, so…”

“I think everyone who knows Steve feels that way, though,” Bucky laughed, feeling relieved, before the rest of what Iron Man had said caught up to him. “Wait, Ms. Potts and Toni were a thing?” he asked in surprise. “When was this?”

“Yeah, for a little while. Right after -” Iron Man paused, giving Bucky the impression he’d been about to say something but changed his mind. “Right after, uh, Afghanistan. But they broke up right around the time the Avengers happened.”

Bucky frowned. “Why?”

“I’m guessing because the setting-on-fire fantasy starting getting more vivid,” Iron Man said neutrally, which made Bucky think he probably knew more about it than he was letting on, but didn’t feel comfortable telling Bucky about it.

“Well that’s… a shame,” Bucky said. “Ms. Stark is an amazing person. Anyone would be lucky to have her.”

Iron Man paused for a second at that, like he didn’t know what to say. Then he picked up the dice and popped them into the cup they were using to roll them and sighed. “Ms. Stark… doesn’t really have time for relationships.” he muttered, sounding bitter, to Bucky’s surprise.

“Well, I guess that makes sense,” Bucky said cautiously, tamping down on his disappointment. “She’s a busy lady, after all.”

“That she is,” Iron Man sighed, sounding tired, for some reason. “That she is.”

Chapter Text

Nearly six months into his stay at the tower, Bucky knew he was well and truly screwed.

Because despite Steve’s discouragement and what Iron Man had said about Toni not having time for relationships, there was no denying it:

He liked Toni. A lot. And not just in a friendly way, either.

She was smart and funny and witty, and shared his sarcastic sense of humor. She hid it behind a brash and cocky facade, but she was kind and incredibly generous and selfless. She made time for Bucky when Bucky knew she couldn’t really afford to, and made an effort to check up on him when she was away.

He loved her brown eyes, and liked listening to her laugh.

But most of all, Bucky loved how her face seemed to light up when she walked into a room and spotted him, and how warm and tight his chest felt when she did.

Bucky wasn’t stupid. He knew he was falling, and he was falling hard.

“Oh, just ask her out already,” Natasha sighed in exasperation, when she caught him watching Toni wistfully from across the room yet again.

Bucky startled and then hastily looked down at the bottle in his hand. “Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” he said gruffly, and took a swig. He didn’t even remember picking it up, just remembered walking towards the bar to grab something and then seeing Toni in her element - explaining some new gear to Steve and Clint, arms moving animatedly as she described their features and practically glowing with how excited she was - and being too distracted to really pay attention to anything else.

“Don’t play coy. It doesn’t suit you,” Natasha snorted, taking Bucky’s drink - which turned out to be mineral water - and replacing it with something stronger. “We’ve all seen you mooning around her. It’s starting to get sad. Just ask her out and put us all out of this misery.”

Bucky gave her a half-hearted scowl. She raised one imperious eyebrow in reply, and took a sip of his mineral water.

Bucky sighed in defeat. “Steve said he didn’t think I should,” he mumbled, rolling his new bottle - some kind of craft beer, he thought - between his palms.

“Steve is an idiot who jumps out of airplanes without parachutes,” Natasha sniffed. “And he has the dating sense of a housefly. Since when do you listen to him?”

Bucky cracked a smile, deciding that he was going to have to pass that on to Steve. Then he cleared his throat. “What if she says no, though? I like our relationship as it is. I don’t wanna screw things up.”

“If you truly liked your relationship as it is, you wouldn’t be thinking about going out with her,” Natasha pointed out, though not unkindly. “And for the record, I doubt she’ll say no. She’s your biggest fan after Steve and Iron Man. I think the three of them might be trying to start a club,” she teased.

Bucky ducked his head, face warm. “Putting her in the same group as Iron Man and Steve doesn’t really make me feel better,” he grumbled.

Natasha grinned. “Why not? Steve loves you, and Iron Man’s been crushing on you since you got here.”

Bucky wrinkled his nose. “You know Steve and I aren’t like that,” he reprimanded. “And Iron Man doesn’t have a crush on me. I’d know if he did.”

“You didn’t hear him arguing your case for joining the team during our meetings,” Natasha huffed with a smirk. “It’s either that, or he’s trying to win the spot as president of your fan club.”

Bucky sniffed and looked back over at Toni and the others. Toni mimed throwing something, then grabbed Steve’s arm and gave it a shake, which made Clint laugh.

“I don’t know why I talk to you,” Bucky muttered. “You’re no help at all, and you take way too much amusement from my pain.”

Natasha sighed and slipped off the barstool she’d been sitting on. “If you don’t want my help, you could always ask for theirs,” she said sweetly, pointing towards Clint and Steve with her chin.

Bucky made a face.

Natasha smirked. “Thought so,” she said, satisfied.

Toni chose that moment to look up from Steve’s arm and glance in their direction, her face flickering in surprise before breaking out into a face-splitting grin. Bucky felt a smile tug at his mouth and waved. Toni responded by picking up Steve’s arm again and using it to wave back at them.

When Bucky looked back down at Natasha, her face had softened.

“You won’t know until you try,” she said gently, and patted him on the chest.

“Hey,” Bucky greeted the next day, stomach in knots.

He’d been loitering around the elevator for almost an hour now, hoping to catch Toni alone on her way down to the workshop. He’d nearly chickened out twice, but Natasha’s words - and the memory of Toni’s smile - had made him stick it out.

Even so, his resolve was starting to crumble again now that he had Toni in front of him. But then Toni looked up from the tablet she’d been scanning and gave him one of her private smiles, and all of Bucky’s doubts disappeared.

“What’s up, Buckaroo?” she asked, sliding the tablet under her arm. “You waiting for somebody?”

Bucky swallowed down the last of his nerves and slipped his hands into his pockets. “Ah, yeah, actually. You. Uh, I was just… I was wondering if you wanted to catch a movie with me.” A movie seemed safe and private enough, and he thought he’d heard her talking about a new one she wanted to see the other day.

Toni drummed her fingers against her leg. “Yeah, sure. I’ve got some upgrades to the armor I need to do, but it’s nothing I can’t blow off for a few hours,” she said with a shrug. “I still haven’t shown you The Princess Bride yet, and I think you’ll get a kick out of it. Unless you had something else in mind?”

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Uh, yeah, actually. I mean…” He swallowed. “I was hoping we could… go out? And maybe get something to eat, too?” People still did dinner and a show, right?

Toni’s brow furrowed. “Go out… oh, you mean at a theater?”

Bucky nodded, relieved. “Yeah. We could catch that new picture you were talking about the other day, maybe try that Italian place you were telling Bruce about?”

Toni cocked her head thoughtfully. “Hmm… I am in the mood for some ravioli…” she said, biting her lip while Bucky’s stomach fluttered unpleasantly. “Sure, why not? Sounds like fun,” she said, smiling warmly and making Bucky’s stomach swoop happily.

Then Toni’s tablet went off, startling them both, following almost immediately by the Avengers alarm sounding.

Toni swore. “Shit,” she hissed, lifting her tablet and tapping at the screen. “There’s an attack in New Jersey. Shit shit shit, I still haven’t -” She stopped short and looked up at Bucky, wide-eyed, before giving him a strained smile. “Looks like I’ll have to take a raincheck on that movie,” she said apologetically, and began edging towards the elevator.

Bucky floundered. “I - okay,” he said, suddenly feeling adrift. “I - maybe when I get back? Not to go out, but maybe just…”

“Uh, sure, maybe,” Toni said absentmindedly as she stepped into the elevator. “It depends on how banged-up Iron Man is when you guys get back. I may have to push up those upgrades.” She gave him a distracted smile, then winked. “Better go report for duty, Avenger,” she added, just before the elevator doors closed.

Bucky grinned to himself, and dashed off to get changed.

As far as missions went, it didn’t really turn out too bad. Still, if Bucky never saw another giant octopus (“Squid,” Iron Man had corrected over the comms) in his life, it would be too soon.

They didn’t get back to the tower until after ten. Bucky had still wanted to go down and see Toni anyway, but JARVIS had told him she was busy helping Iron Man - whose armor had been bent after the squid picked him up and threw him into a truck - so, feeling a little disappointed, he went to bed instead.

Sleep eluded him, however, and he ended up getting out of bed a few hours later and wandering into his and Steve’s shared kitchen for a snack.

After deciding that he wanted some cocoa, Bucky rifled through the cabinets, only to discover that they were out of cocoa powder. He remembered seeing some down in the communal (as they called Toni’s) kitchen, though, and so he headed up there.

He was surprised to find the light on and someone standing in front of the fridge when he got there, and even more pleased when he realized it was Toni - until he saw the reason she was standing there.

“Jesus, what happened?!” Bucky gasped, staring in horror at the deep, mottled bruising along Toni’s back, which she was awkwardly trying to hold an ice pack against.

Toni yelped and dropped the ice pack, but Bucky darted forward and caught it before it hit the ground.

Toni looked over her shoulder at him and flushed, then tried to pull her shirt back down, but Bucky stopped her by putting a hand over hers. “It’s nothing,” she insisted, and tried to turn around. “It’s -”

“It’s not nothing,” Bucky growled, examining the bruising with a rising sense of alarm. God, it was even on her side, too. “What happened?”

He placed the ice pack at the center of her lower back, where the bruising was worst. Toni practically slumped in relief.

“Lab accident,” she grunted, turning around and resting her forehead against Bucky’s shoulder. Bucky kept the ice pack against her back with one hand and opened the freezer with the other, digging around until he found a bag of frozen peas.

“What kind of lab accident?” Bucky demanded, placing the bag of peas against her side. “Did you lay down and let Dum-E and U take turns running you over?”

Toni huffed and whacked him on the arm, the movement making her suck in a sharp, pained breath.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Iron Man and I kind of had an… incident with the armor, is all.”

“Iron Man did this to you?” Bucky hissed. The bag of peas tore open with the force of his grip, and Toni jerked her head back to stare up at him in alarm.

“What? No! He didn’t do it to me, he did it with me,” she said quickly. “The armor was all banged-up when he got back, and, uh, the repulsors… went off. When we were trying to peel him out of it. And then it knocked both of us halfway across the room, slammed some stuff around.” She winced. “Trust me, his bruises are probably worse, with the fight and everything. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but the, uh -”

“Octopus,” Bucky grumbled, misplaced anger simmering under his skin. “Dumb, stinking -”

“Squid,” Toni corrected automatically, before her eyes widened comically. “Uh, anyway, I’m just gonna take -” She pulled the ice pack from Bucky’s grasp and waved it around, then took a step back. “And then maybe go on to bed, and, um -” She took another step back and slipped on some of the spilled peas, and had to grab Bucky’s arm to steady herself.

“I’ll… clean these up,” Bucky said, worrying at his lower lip. “But are you sure you’re okay? Maybe Bruce -”

“Fine!” Toni choked hoarsely as she made a beeline for the door. Bucky noticed she was favoring her left leg, and his worry spiked. “I’m fine, perfectly fine, nothing some painkillers and sleep won’t fix. So, uh, goodnight, thanks for the peas, and - oh! If Cap asks, tell him Iron Man can’t debrief tomorrow. He’s, um, on bed rest.”

Bucky furrowed his brow. “Okay?” he said uncertainly.

Toni all but ran from the room before he could say anything else.

Chapter Text

Bucky didn’t see Toni nor Iron Man at all the next day, though the latter didn’t really surprise him. Toni’s absence bothered him, however, especially when he found out she wasn’t even in the tower.

“I’m afraid Ma’am is in a meeting with Ms. Potts, Sergeant Barnes,” JARVIS answered when Bucky asked him. “I don’t know when she’ll return, but likely not until much later.”

“Okay,” Bucky said slowly. “How much later is ‘much later’, JARVIS?”

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that definitively, Sergeant Barnes,” JARVIS replied.

Which… was not at all helpful, or specific.

And was also why, several hours later, he found himself standing in front of Toni’s bedroom door, fidgeting nervously and holding a plate of specially ordered ravioli.

A part of him wondered if this wasn’t such a good idea, since JARVIS had never actually told him Toni was home, but Natasha had assured him she’d seen Toni come in, and if Toni was avoiding people - or him specifically - Bucky wanted to know why. Besides, he was still worried about her injuries, and was hoping to convince her to let someone look at them.

Taking a deep breath, Bucky raised a hand to knock -

And nearly dropped the plate of ravioli when the Avengers alarm sounded and scared the hell of out him.

“You’ve got to be - now?” Bucky grumbled, and looked down at his - now disheveled - plate of ravioli.

Right. Well. No use letting it go to waste; he could still give it to her, he’d just have to save the talking for later.

Before he could knock again, Toni’s door flew open. Only instead of Toni standing there -

“Iron Man?” Bucky blurted in shock, making Iron Man startle and then freeze, like a deer in the headlights. “What are you doing here?”

“Um,” Iron Man said. “This is not what it looks like.”

Bucky wrinkled his nose, trying to figure out exactly what this looked like, and -

Oh. Oh.

Bucky’s heart sank.

“Where’s Toni?” Bucky asked, surprising himself with how even his voice sounded.

Iron Man’s weight shifted nervously. “Uh… taking a bath?” he said, making Bucky’s stomach clench unpleasantly.

“I brought her some dinner,” Bucky said hollowly, and held up the plate. “I guess she can eat it when she’s done.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll just -” Iron Man began, shuffling around awkwardly when Bucky shoved the plate in his hands. “I guess she’ll see it when she… comes out. Um. Bucky? Bucky wai-”

“We should go,” Bucky said stiffly, cutting him off and heading towards the elevator.

The call was for an explosion in DC, though SHIELD and emergency services seemed to have things mostly under control by the time they got there.

“SHIELD thinks it’s those bio-terrorists Iron Man tangled with a few months ago,” Steve said, jaw clenched as he took in the destruction. “The signature is the same, though their leader hasn’t taken credit yet.”

“The Mandarin,” Iron Man supplied. Flying on his own, he’d gotten there before they had, though he hadn’t really spoken until now. “He’ll probably claim responsibility in the next few hours. That’s his MO, anyway. I’ve been over the scene, it’s definitely them.”

Steve nodded. “Right, well - for now, let’s see what we can do about clean-up. Iron Man, you’re most familiar with how these guys work - I want you to ride in the quinjet with us on the way back, give us your perspective on this.”

Iron Man’s head jerked up. “Do I have to?” he asked, and Bucky could have sworn he saw him looking in his direction. “I can debrief when we get back to the tower. Ms. Stark has files, too, that she’s been keeping for me.”

Steve frowned. “The sooner we know what we’re up against, the better,” he said firmly. He hesitated, then added, “Are you alright? You’ve been really quiet. I appreciate you coming, but Toni did say you were supposed to be on bed rest. You’re not too hurt to be out here, are you?”

This time Bucky knew he wasn’t imagining Iron Man’s gaze on him.

“I’m fine,” Iron Man said, sounding strained. “Just a little sore, is all.”

Steve didn’t look convinced, but after exchanging a look with Natasha, he shrugged.

“Maybe not flying back on your own will do you some good,” he said.

From Iron Man’s body language, Bucky could tell he didn’t agree.

The ride back to the tower was… awkward, to say the least.

Iron Man rarely ever rode in the quinjet with them, but when he did, he almost always took the seat next to Bucky’s and started up a conversation. This time, though, he’d taken the seat across from Bucky and remained eerily quiet, speaking only to answer Steve’s queries and to tell them what he knew about the Mandarin.

Not that Bucky felt much like talking to him, anyway. He was still trying to wrap his head around Toni and Iron Man, and as a result he, too, had been quiet and withdrawn.

Something Natasha must have noticed, since she sat down next to him just before they landed and poked him in the side. “What’s wrong?” she hissed. “You look like somebody drowned your puppy and like you’re about to murder someone at the same time.”

Bucky scowled, which probably didn’t help the homicidal look Natasha was talking about. “I’m fine,” he lied, eyes darting over to Iron Man.

The whole situation stung, and not just because of his feelings for Toni, either. Iron Man had easily become one of his best friends, and the fact that he’d neglected to mention he was with Toni, well… hurt. True, he’d never come out and actually told Iron Man he’d had feelings for Toni, but he’d implied it plenty, and if what Natasha and everyone else had said, it wasn’t hard too figure out.

“You are not fine,” Natasha retorted, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she looked between him and Iron Man. “Did something happen between you two?”

Bucky hunched his shoulders. “Not exactly,” he muttered, then glanced sideways at her.

Natasha had been the one to push him towards Toni, but at the same time, if anyone had known about Toni and Iron Man it would have been her.

Bucky cleared his throat. “Did you know Toni -”

“Bucky, can I talk to you?” Iron Man asked loudly, cutting Bucky off and abruptly standing up. “Privately?”

Bucky exchanged a look with Natasha. “Uh… yeah, sure,” he said reluctantly, while everyone else started filing out of the quinjet.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at Bucky and then stood as well, patting Iron Man on the back as she passed him. “Get some rest, Shellhead.”

Iron Man made a staticky approximation of a grunt, then shifted nervously and started exiting the quinjet, motioning for Bucky to follow.

Once they were alone on the landing pad, Iron Man spoke.

“Okay, look, about me being in Ms. Stark’s room earlier…” he began, but Bucky cut him off before he could continue.

“I don’t need an explanation,” he said sharply, despite his efforts to moderate his tone.

Iron Man’s whole body slumped. “I was kinda hoping you would,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lie to you, but… ” He sighed, long and loud, and then rocked back and forth on his heels.  “Please, you can’t tell the others yet. Especially Cap. I know you’re angry, but they won’t look at me the same way, and I -”

“Why?” Bucky huffed, his anger getting the better of him. “If you want to sleep with your boss, that’s your business.”

“I - what?” Iron Man asked, but Bucky wasn’t finished.

“And you’re right, I am angry. But that’s not why,” Bucky continued, all the hurt that had been building up since earlier flooding out of him in an angry rush. “I don’t care who you’re with - in fact, I’m happy you have somebody. I just don’t know why you let me think you weren’t together when you knew I was interested in Toni.”

Iron Man’s head whipped up. “You were… you were interested in, in Toni?!”

Bucky clenched his fists. “Of course I was interested in her! Why do you think I kept asking if she was with anyone?” he demanded. “I even asked her out yesterday, and, and I feel like an idiot -”

“Oh, God,” Iron Man muttered, putting his head in his hands. “The movie, that was -”

“See? She even told you about it, and now -” Bucky swallowed and rubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, I’m takin’ this out on you, and I…” He let out a frustrated breath.

“It’s just - I thought we were friends, is all,” Bucky said bitterly, looking away and gritting his teeth. “And a little heads-up before I went and fell for your girlfriend would have been nice.”

There was stunned silence from Iron Man, making Bucky mentally backtrack to the last thing he’d said and wince.

“I, I mean -”

“I can’t do this,” Iron Man said, backing away towards the edge of the landing pad. “I can’t -” He shook his head and fired up his repulsors.

Bucky lurched forward. “Wait -!” he shouted, but Iron Man shook his head again and took off, hovering over the tower a second before zipping up and then off, out of the city.

Bucky watched until the armor was but a speck in the sky, his stomach clenching.

Steve stepped out onto the landing pad a moment later, frowning, and followed Bucky’s gaze.

“What happened?” he asked, tone worried.

Bucky turned around and went back inside.

Bucky went up to Toni’s room first thing the next morning and knocked on her door, intent on giving both Iron Man and Toni an apology. He’d reacted poorly and he knew it, and he wanted to make things right.

After several minutes with no answer, he went down to the workshop, only to find it empty as well.

“Hey, JARVIS, is Toni home?” Bucky asked nervously, hoping she’d just gone downstairs for a meeting or something.

A slight pause, and then, “Ma’am had some urgent business to attend to in Malibu, Sergeant Barnes,” JARVIS said, and Bucky could have sworn the AI sounded… frustrated.

Bucky swallowed. “Oh,” he said quietly. “Uh… do you know if Iron Man went with her?”

“Iron Man goes wherever Ma’am goes, Sergeant Barnes,” JARVIS replied, the sense of frustration increasing.

“Yeah,” Bucky sighed, heart in his throat. “I see that, now.”

Fourteen hours later, Bucky watched in horror as a news crew captured Toni’s Malibu home falling into the ocean with the headline ‘Toni Stark Missing - Presumed Dead’.

Chapter Text

Bucky slammed his hands on the table in front of him, causing the wood to crack. “Dammit, we can’t just sit here!” he shouted angrily. “We need to do something, get over there -”

“And we will, Buck,” Steve said tersely. His face had been one big, furrowed ball of tension since they’d gotten the news. “But we need to stay calm -”

“How can I be calm?!” Bucky demanded, and threw his arm towards the screens on the far wall, which were playing nonstop footage of Toni’s house being destroyed. “Toni - and Iron Man - are missing! Maybe even dead, and we know nothing -”

“You’re not the only one upset here, Barnes,” Clint snapped. “You think we like waiting around here any more than you do?”

Bucky started to snarl something at him, or maybe even put his fist through Clint’s face, but Steve and Natasha got between the two of them before he could.

“That’s enough, both of you. Buck, sit down,” Steve ordered, his voice firm but his eyes pleading. Bucky didn’t care.

“We should be there,” he insisted, unable to keep the tremor out of his voice. “What if, if -”

“For all we know, we could be walking into a trap,” Natasha said calmly, stepping around Steve. “Us running in half-cocked and getting taken out ourselves helps no one, and could very well be the Mandarin’s endgame.”

“If that’s the case, then it’s our fault this happened,” Bucky said hollowly.

The room grew silent.

“He’s right,” Clint said quietly. “Stark’s not like us, she’s a civilian -”

“But Iron Man isn’t,” Natasha reminded everyone. “And Toni knew what she was signing up for when she offered to sponsor the team.” She smiled faintly, a barely-there quirk of lips. “Besides, are you forgetting about Afghanistan? This is a woman who not only escaped, but blew up her captors with nothing but her brains and a box of scraps in a cave. I wouldn’t count her out for an instant.”

“Natasha’s right,” Bruce said softly, startling everyone. He’d had to head down to the Hulk-containment room after hearing the news, and this was the first time anyone had seen or heard him since. “Toni’s the most resourceful person I know, and it’s literally Iron Man’s job to watch her back. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the two of them have gone to ground.”

Steve looked up at the ceiling. “JARVIS, are you sure there’s nothing you can do to locate Toni or Iron Man?” he asked desperately.

“I’m afraid I’m running at a limited capacity, Captain,” JARVIS replied. “I’ve lost all contact with my Malibu servers, and this iteration of me is confined to the tower for now.”

Everyone slumped.

“Is it possible she wasn’t even at home?” Sam asked the room at large.

Natasha’s phone rang, and after a glance at the I.D. she stepped away to answer it.

Steve bit his lip. “JARVIS?” he asked hopefully.

There was a few seconds of silence, which was always an ominous sign from the AI.

“Iron Man and Ma’am were in the building when the missile hit, Captain,” JARVIS said regretfully. “I wish I could tell you more, but that is when my memory bangs start malfunctioning.”

Clint frowned and mouthed ‘memory bangs’, but Steve shook his head at him.

“He’s been doing that,” Steve said in a strained voice. “The explosion damaged a part of him, like he said.”

“That was Pepper,” Natasha said as she approached the table again, mouth in a thin line. “She and Happy Hogan think they may have something. Something about a guy named Aldrich Killian, who Hogan says was acting suspiciously during a meeting with Toni yesterday, and who Pepper says hasn’t been taking Toni’s rejections of his research well.”

Bruce made a sound of recognition. “She told me about him,” he said, mouth in a thin line and eyes tinged green. “He’s been hounding SI for months, wanted Toni to join his think tank and help him with his research.”

Natasha nodded. “Apparently he also brought along an old friend of Toni’s, Maya Hansen, to the meeting yesterday, and she went home with Toni afterward, just before the explosion. They have all the information there at SI with them, as well as surveillance footage. Pepper wanted to head over to the mansion, but I told her to wait and stay at SI headquarters until we get there.”

“Does this mean we actually get to go and do something now?” Bucky demanded, his hands creaking with how tight he was clenching them.

Natasha’s smile was shark-like, and Steve was wearing the same expression he used to get just before cracking HYDRA skulls together.

“We’re done waiting,” Steve agreed, and scooped up his shield. “Load up, we leave in five minutes.”

Clint’s chair squeaked against the floor as he stood up. “Finally,” he said, and gave Bucky a feral grin.

Bucky couldn’t find it in himself to return it.

They were halfway across the country when Bucky noticed he had a new voicemail on his phone. He didn’t really remember ever hearing it ring, but with everything that was going on, he probably wouldn’t have answered it anyway.

He almost ignored it, but they still had some time before they got to Malibu, and he’d already checked, cleaned, and reloaded his weapons three times, so he found himself a quieter corner at the back of the quinjet and checked it.

The number was unfamiliar, and looked wrong - far too long to be a phone number, for one. Frowning, Bucky opened it and put his phone to his ear -

And nearly sobbed in relief when a warm, familiar voice starting talking a mile a minute.

“Toni,” Bucky choked, causing Bruce, who sitting only a few feet away, to jerk his head up. Bucky met his eyes and swallowed the emotion clogging his throat as Toni’s voice kept talking. “She’s alive.”

“So… I was only going to leave a message for Pepper, but then it occurred to me that if anyone else was really freaking out over my supposed death besides her, it would probably be you. Well, and Rhodey, but he’s used to hearing about me almost dying, and I’ve only got time for the two messages and I’ve really got to tell you this, so he’ll have to deal. Um, anyway… I’m alive. Yay me.

“Okay, so… one thing you need to get absolutely, positively clear: I’m not dating, sleeping with, or otherwise in any kind of relationship with Iron Man. Never have, never will be, which… is probably something I could have made a little more obvious when you came into my room and made your assumptions the other night. In my defense, though, that was a pretty big and stupid assumption, so I think I can be forgiven. Oh, and thank you for the ravioli, by the way. That was really… yeah. Um.

“Dammit, this is hard to do over the phone. Look, what I’m trying to say is, is I - like you. A lot. Um, more than a lot. Like, chest-constricting, butterflies-in-the-stomach a lot. God, I can’t believe I just said that. Crap, I hate talking about feelings…

“Okay. Okay, the thing is, I didn’t think… didn’t know that you felt that way. About me. The same way I feel about you. At least, I hope it’s the same way I feel about you. And Iron Man didn’t, either, because we’re both fucking idiots. And just…

“Please. Please don’t be mad. I’m sorry if I hurt you. I’m sorry if I screwed things up with this big, stupid lie, and I -

“I’ve never had someone bring me ravioli before.

“I’ll be home soon. We can do the whole talking thing when I get back. Just - don’t do anything stupid until then, okay?”

“She didn’t give you any clue as to where she was?” Steve pressed, face pinched in worry. “Or mention if Iron Man was with her?”

Bucky shook his head numbly, head whirling with Toni’s words.

I - like you. A lot. Um, more than a lot.

Toni was alive. Toni was in trouble, but Toni was alive, and -

Toni felt the same way Bucky did. And he had almost ruined it over a stupid misunderstanding.

He’d thought she was dead. She could have died, and then Bucky never would have known, never would have gotten the chance to make it up -

“Toni’s alive,” Bucky whispered, like a prayer, and buried his face in his hands.

“Yeah, you said that already,” Clint sighed, swiveling around in the pilot’s chair. “What we want to know is where she is and what she’s doing, and if old Shellhead is with her. And, now that I think about it, why she sent a message to you, and why the rest of us can’t hear it.”

Bucky lowered his hands. “It’s private,” he said, without an sort of inflection.

Everyone got quiet.

“Oh, I’m so glad you got your heads out of your asses,” Clint groaned, slumping in his seat and then grinning. “It was getting painful to watch.”

There was a muttering of agreement from the others, which made Bucky’s cheeks heat, but thankfully they landed before anyone could say anything further on the topic.

Pepper and Happy met them at the entrance of SI’s headquarters, grim-faced.

“We know Toni sent you a message,” Natasha said before Pepper could even speak. “She got one to us as well."

Pepper nodded, some of the tension leaving her shoulders, and then motioned for them to follow her.

“Did Toni mention where she and Iron Man were in her message to you?” Steve asked, once they were safely in Pepper’s office.

Pepper bit her lip. “Not really,” she said, shaking her head and tugging at her skirt nervously. “She… she didn’t say much. Told me she was okay, and asked that I put pressure on the construction crew to start clearing away the house’s debri faster, but…” She looked down, face pinched in worry.

“She’ll be okay,” Bucky said, with confidence he didn’t feel.

Pepper smiled faintly. “That’s what she always says,” she said sadly. “I just wish it were as true as she leads me to believe.”

Bucky wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, and before he could think of anything his comm flickered to life.

“Uh, guys, we have a problem,” Sam  - who’d stayed behind in the quinjet with Bruce - said, sounding faint.

Steve frowned. “What kind of problem?” he asked, holding his hand out in placation when Pepper raised her head in alarm.

“Well, Air Force One had an, uh, incident,” Sam replied. “But the good news is, we found Iron Man.”

Chapter Text

“Why would Col. Rhodes kidnap the president?” Steve demanded, while Sam showed him the report SHIELD had just sent in. “And if Iron Man was there, why didn’t he contact us for help?”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe he couldn’t?” he suggested. “And from what the people Iron Man saved said, it wasn’t Rhodes, but some fire-breathing lunatic in Rhodes’ suit.” He frowned, seemingly to himself. “And that’s… not something I ever thought I would say.”

Clint threw his hands in the air. “This just keeps getting better and better,” he groaned, bringing his hands down to scrub at his face furiously. “We’re already one man down, and now our other armored backup is MIA, too.”

“I still can’t get ahold of Rhodey,” Pepper said as she walked back into the conference room she’d let them commandeer. She sat down, looking exhausted yet somehow still more put together than everyone else in the room. “And JARVIS is still -”

There was a ping from her phone.

“ - online, apparently,” she said, blinking down at her phone. “JARVIS? Are you working now?”

“Indeed I am, Ms. Potts,” the voice of JARVIS answered pleasantly, making something ease in Bucky’s shoulders. “Sorry for any inconvenience my absence has caused.”

Pepper sighed in relief. “No, JARVIS, it’s just good to hear your voice again. But listen, I need you to get a message to Toni.”

“Of course, Ms. Potts,” JARVIS said primly. “Though I’m not sure Ma’am will be willing to take any at the moment. And I already have a message for the Avengers from Iron Man.”

Pepper’s eyes flickered in surprise, but Bucky was too distracted with wondering why Toni wouldn’t be willing to take their messages to really read into it.

“What’s it say, JARVIS?” Steve asked with urgency.

Everyone’s phones pinged at the same time. Bucky pulled his out and read the text, which said:

Killian is working with the Mandarin. Took Rhodey’s armor. Has Maya Hansen and president, at this location.

The message was followed by a set of coordinates, which JARVIS had helpfully set on a map in the middle of the conference room table when Bucky looked up.

“Iron Man sent this?” Pepper asked in disbelief, though Bucky didn’t understand why.

“Indeed. In fact, I believe his exact words were ‘J, let’s invite all the kids to the party, yeah?’,” JARVIS responded with cheer.

Pepper’s eyes widened in understanding. “Ah, I see,” she said, her mouth spreading into a slow, relieved smile. “Glad you’re looking out for him, JARVIS.”

Bucky shot Steve a puzzled look, and got an equally puzzled shrug in response.

“I do try, Ms. Potts,” JARVIS replied solemnly.

“JARVIS, when is this happening?” Steve asked, giving the map a tap.

“Soon, Captain Rogers, perhaps even as we speak,” JARVIS said. “So if I may instill a sense of urgency…”

Nobody had to be told twice. They all stood up and started heading out the door, with the exception of Steve, who stopped in front of Pepper.

“Can you and Mr. Hogan -”

“Go,” Pepper said with a nod, eyes steely. “Maria is already on her way, and Happy and I can hold down the fort.” She huffed, then, and shook her head, expression torn between fondness and worry. “Just… when you see Toni, tell her that Iron Man could really use a vacation after this.”

Steve chuckled. “He and Toni both.”

They were almost at the drop zone, geared up and ready to go, when Bucky’s anxiety finally got the better of him.

“Hey, JARVIS? What’s Toni doing right now?” he asked, knowing his mind wouldn’t be on the battle ahead unless he knew Toni was okay. “She’s somewhere safe, right?”

There was a few seconds’ pause, and then, “Ma’am is currently assisting Col. Rhodes with procuring the War Machine - sorry, Iron Patriot - armor.”

“I thought the message said Killian had Rhodes’ suit, though,” Clint said while Bucky stiffened.

“That is correct, Agent Barton,” JARVIS answered, even though Clint hadn’t phrased it as a question.

Bucky felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. “JARVIS,” he said in a very quiet, dangerous voice. “Please tell me Iron Man did not let his very human, vulnerable, civilian boss tag along to a battle with fire-breathing bio-terrorists.”

Silence. And then, “I believe it would be more accurate to say that Ma’am let Iron Man tag along with her, Sergeant Barnes.”

“JARVIS, are you telling me Toni is in the middle of all of this?” Steve hissed, at the same time Bucky yelled, “What the hell is she thinking?!”

“Not in the middle, per say,” JARVIS replied, ignoring Bucky. “I doubt one could even say she’s in the thick of it. Most of Killian’s people are shooting at Col. Rhodes.”

There was a loud snapping sound, and when Bucky looked down, he found he’d ripped one of the quinjet’s handholds free.

“JARVIS, I really don’t think you’re helping as much as you think you are,” Bruce said, voice shaky, while Bucky’s panic continued to mount.

“But what the hell is she thinking?!” Bucky repeated furiously, eyes darting helplessly between Bruce and Steve. “She’s, she’s not - what were Rhodes and Iron Man thinking?! She doesn’t have any training, how could they let her -”

“With all do respect, Sergeant Barnes, nobody ‘lets’ Ma’am do anything,” JARVIS said, with considerably more bite than Bucky was used to hearing.

“I’m sure she had her reasons for being here,” Natasha said, though her pinched expression gave away her concern. “And I don’t know if you’ve ever read her SHIELD file, but she’s far from helpless.”

“Uh, guys,” Sam started, but Bucky wasn’t finished.

“She’s not a goddamn superhero!” Bucky exploded, crushing the handle in his hand and making Bruce wince. “She’s not bullet-proof, she’s not a supersoldier, or a god, or the fucking Hulk!”

“Guys -”

Bucky’s fists clenched, stomach churning unpleasantly at the memory of what it had felt like when he’d gotten news of Toni’s death. “And if anything happens to her, I -”

“GUYS!” Sam shouted, startling them all. Once he was sure he had their attention, he cleared his throat. “We’re here,” he said, nodding towards Clint in the cockpit. “Also, we have thirty unknown aircraft coming fast on radar.”

“Those are of no concern, Mr. Wilson,” JARVIS said pleasantly as everyone tensed. “The Extremis soldiers Killian has unleashed, however, are. If I may encourage you to disembark…?”

Steve exchanged looks with Bucky.

“Okay,” he said finally, squaring his shoulders and nodding towards the others. “Okay, let’s go. I’ll try to locate Iron Man. Widow, Hawkeye, I’m putting you on Rhodes and the president. Buck -”

“Point me to where Toni is,” Bucky told JARVIS, already marching towards the exit.

“With pleasure,” JARVIS replied.

Though Bucky had been able to understand the concept of ‘fire-breathing supersoldiers’, seeing - and fighting - them was a whole other thing.

From what the others were saying over the comms, they were having similar reactions.

The Hulk, at least, seemed happy with the challenge.

“Found Rhodes,” Clint panted over the comms.

Bucky punched the soldier that had lunged at him and winced at the heat. “What about Toni?”

Between the chaos of the battle and the soldiers throwing themselves at anyone who moved, Bucky was praying she and Rhodes had gotten out of the way, or at least found themselves a place to hunker down until one of the team could get to them.

“She’s not with him,” came Natasha’s terse reply. “Though I don’t see Iron Man, ei-”

“Barnes, three o’clock,” Sam said sharply.

Assuming Sam was warning him about an impending attack, Bucky turned and braced himself. Then he caught sight of what Sam was talking about, and felt his heart to seize in his chest.

Because there, sitting on the very edge of a steel beam, was Toni.

Toni, whose face was covered in cuts and bruises. Toni, who was sitting, not behind, but in front of Iron Man, who had his arms raised while his repulsors glowed menacingly, but was making no move to get either himself or Toni away from the battle. Toni, whose chin was raised defiantly as she snarled something at the blond man who had her and Iron Man cornered.

“Toni!” Bucky screamed - just as the blond man swiped his arm and burned through the steel beam she and Iron Man were perched on.

Toni’s head jerked in Bucky’s direction.

Her stunned expression was the last thing Bucky saw before both she and Iron Man plummeted towards the water below.

“Toni!” Bucky screamed, but before he could move one of the Extremis soldiers slammed into his side.

Snarling with rage and grief, Bucky kicked her off, then threw her sideways off the rig he was standing on and growled, eyes locked on the blond - Killian - who had turned towards Bucky at his shout.

His lips curled up in a sneer, skin turning orange as Bucky barrelled towards him, but just before Bucky could drive his fist through the man’s face like he wanted to, there was a high-pitched, familiar whine - followed by a blast that blew Killian clean off the beam and out of Bucky’s sight.

“What are you doing here?” Iron Man shouted, hovering awkwardly three feet behind where Killian had stood. One of his boots sparked and then fizzled out, making him drop a few feet. He waved his arms and jerked towards Bucky, who grabbed his hand and yanked him back onto the beam to stand beside him. “Uh, thanks, but seriously, what are you -”

Bucky growled, pulled his arm back, and decked Iron Man across the faceplate.

“How could you bring her here?!” Bucky shouted, grabbing Iron Man’s shoulder so he wouldn’t fall off the beam and then pulling his arm back for another punch. “You’re supposed to protect her, how could you -”

“Bucky!” Steve snapped sharply over the comm in Bucky’s ear, but Bucky ignored him, just like he ignored Iron Man’s desperate “Bucky, wait -”

“How could you,” Bucky started, tears stinging his eyes. “You let her fall, and now she’s-”

“She’s not dead!” Iron Man yelled, catching Bucky’s next punch and holding onto his wrist. “Bucky, you have to trust me, she’s-”

“Trust you?!” Bucky cried angrily, jerking his arm out of Iron Man’s grasp. “How the hell am I supposed to trust you when you just let Toni -”

Iron Man’s faceplate flipped open. “Because I’m right here,” sighed the exasperated, familiar voice of Toni Stark, brown eyes blazing as they bored into Bucky’s.

Chapter Text

Feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him, Bucky sucked in a sharp breath, stunned. “Toni?” he choked, grasping both her armored shoulders. She flinched when someone exploded to their left, but Bucky ignored it, as well as their teammates’ shouting in his ear. “You’re - but where’s Iron Man?”

Toni’s expression turned incredulous. “I am Iron Man, dumbass!” she hissed, eyes darting up to something over Bucky’s head. She raised her right hand and fired her repulsor over Bucky’s shoulder, then scowled at him. “I mean, seriously?! I’m literally wearing the armor, I am standing in front of you with it, what do I have to - umph!”

The kiss Bucky silenced her with was rough and desperate, and not at all how he had imagined their first kiss going. But then Toni wrapped her arms around him and pressed back, not as desperate as Bucky but almost as rough - and nearly twice as enthusiastic.

“You’re alive,” Bucky whispered when they broke apart, shaking and pressing their foreheads together.

Two gauntlet-clad hands reached up to frame Bucky’s face. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, soldier,” Toni murmured, eyes sparkling. “Does this mean you’re not mad at me?”

It was Bucky’s knee-jerk reaction to tell her no, but then he thought about it and realized that yes, he was angry at her - though probably not for the reasons she was thinking.

“Oh, I’m furious with you,” Bucky replied, reaching up and holding her hands against his face. “But at the moment I’m just happier that you’re alive.”

Toni blinked in surprise, then shrugged. “Fair enough,” she said, mouth twitching, before leaning in and kissing Bucky again.

Distantly, Bucky registered the clang of Steve’s shield bouncing off of something, and then someone landing behind them. “Buck? Iron Man? What the hell are you two- Toni?!”

Toni broke the kiss and rested her forehead against Bucky’s again, breathing hard. “Not now, Steve. We’re having a moment.”

Steve, however, was having none of it. “What are you doing here? And where’s Iron Man?” he demanded, throwing his shield at someone behind them and kicking a man who had landed next to him off the rig.

Toni’s expression twitched. “He’s on vacation. I’m filling in,” she deadpanned, shooting the man Steve had kicked with her repulsors when he tried to climb back up. “And while we’re on the topic, what are you doing here?”

Steve looked down at the repulsored man in surprise, then back up at Toni.

“You’re Iron Man?” he choked, dumbfounded. Another soldier tried to jump on his back while he was distracted, but Bucky helpfully shot him before he could get close, and Steve followed it up with a whack from his shield a second later. “And what do you mean, what are we doing here? You sent us a message!”

Toni made a face. “You know, I thought I was clever for pulling this off for so long without anyone noticing,” she grumbled, firing at a someone who was charging them when Bucky’s gun ran out of ammo. “Now I’m starting to think it was just you.” She raised her other hand and fired at Steve, who deflected the blast with his shield and hit another goon that had been trying to sneak up on her and Bucky. “What message?”

“The message telling us that Killian would be here and was working with the Mandarin?” Bucky reminded her, reloading his gun and noticing that several of the soldiers had circled them.

“I didn’t send you a message,” Toni said, disgruntled.

“That would be me, Ma’am,” JARVIS replied cheerfully over the comms. “I thought perhaps you could use the assistance. And you did ask for backup, if I recall.”

“No, I asked for more suits, not - you know what? I’m reprogramming you. I don’t remember creating you to be this sneaky.”

“I’ll make a note of it, Ma’am,” JARVIS assured her. “Also, your armors have arrived.”

“Armors?” Bucky and Steve said in unison, at the same time Sam’s awed “Holy shit,” could be heard over the comms.

Bucky looked up, and immediately shared Sam’s sentiment.

Because hovering above them was ten… fifteen… no, at least thirty Iron Man armors, several of which were so different from the usual shape, size, and color that Bucky wouldn’t have been able to identify them if they hadn’t been in a horde with the others.

Toni grinned and spread her arms. “What can I say?” she said, as three Iron Man armors thunked down beside her, Bucky, and Steve. “I like to have spares.”

She made a motion with her hands that made the armor she was wearing fall off, then walked straight into the armor that had landed next to her, which opened and then closed seamlessly around her.

She looked over her shoulder at them, faceplate down and eyes glowing, and when she spoke, it was in Iron Man’s modulated tone. “Shall we?”

There was a whoop overhead, and when Bucky looked up he saw it had come from Clint, who was sitting on the back of an armor as though he was riding a noble steed into battle. “Uh…”

“Can I give you a lift, Captain?” JARVIS asked from the armor closest to Steve.

Steve bit his lip and glanced up at Clint, then shrugged. “Why not?” he sighed, popping his shield onto his back and stepping onto the armor’s boots. “Take me to Nat, she said something about helping Rhodes with the president.” He grabbed onto the armor’s shoulder and let JARVIS wrap an arm around his waist, then glared over his shoulder at Toni. “Oh, and we’re talking about this later!” he added before JARVIS zoomed off.

The suit near Bucky shifted and moved closer, but Bucky stepped around it to stand beside Toni. “Think I’ll stick with you, thanks,” he told her, sliding his arm around her shoulders and standing on one of her boots, like he usually did when Iron Man flew him anywhere.

Toni cocked her head at him. “What? Don’t trust me on my own?” she said, and Bucky could just picture her bristling behind the faceplate.

Bucky shook his head. “God no,” he said, wrapping his other arm around her as well so he could get a better grip. “I just want a ride from Air Iron Man and - no offense, JARVIS - but old Shellhead is the only one I trust not to drop me.”

“None taken, Sergeant,” JARVIS replied, sounding pleased.

Toni cocked her head again, and Bucky could have sworn he heard her clear her throat. “I kind of want to kiss you again,” she confessed, wrapping an arm around Bucky’s waist and firing up her repulsors.

Warmth pooled in Bucky’s belly. “Bad guys first?” he offered, arms tightening around her shoulders.

“Sounds like a date,” Iron Man agreed with a nod. “JARVIS, find Killian for me. I owe him for what he did to Maya.”

“A very romantic first date, Ma’am,” JARVIS replied solemnly, before giving her Killian’s location.

And while Bucky didn’t entirely agree, he didn’t think he’d have it any other way, either.

By the time Toni and Bucky had taken care of Killian, the others had already taken down the last of AIM’s Extremis-enhanced soldiers and Rhodes and Natasha had gotten the president to safety, so it had then become more a matter of waiting for SHIELD and convincing the Hulk that there wasn’t anyone else left to smash.

“What about the Mandarin?” Steve had asked, once the Hulk had been coaxed into changing back and most of Toni’s suits had been ordered to head to the tower. “And your friend - Ms. Hansen?”

“It was Killian the whole time,” Toni had replied. “Since I don’t want to ruin your cute, wide-eyed faith in humanity, I won’t go into details about the guy he was using as the Mandarin’s face,” she’d added, voice dripping with disgust. She’d then looked down, and even with the helmet still on and changing her voice, Bucky had been able to tell she was upset when she’d said, “Maya’s dead. She and Killian had a… disagreement, on my participation in the matter, and he killed her. She wasn’t innocent in all this, either, but…” She’d shaken her head, then turned away to talk to Rhodes and check up on War Machine.

Between the battle, the cleanup, dealing with SHIELD once they had arrived, and the Iron Man revelation, Bucky had almost forgotten that most of the others had probably seen or at least heard part of his confrontation with Iron Man during the battle.

So he was understandably thrown when, halfway into their quinjet ride home, Clint turned to him and said, “Oh, hey, did I see you making out with Iron Man?”

Bucky froze, his water bottle halfway to his mouth, then cleared his throat. “Uh…”

Iron Man - who’d conceded to riding on the quinjet with them instead of flying back by herself - lifted her head from where she’d been dozing on Bucky’s shoulder and sighed.

“Aw, fuck it,” she grumbled, then reached up and unlatched the helmet.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Sam, but the others didn’t really react, which made Bucky think they’d caught on during the battle or, in Bruce’s case, were too tired to care.

“I will be fully willing to talk to you all about this tomorrow, after I have showered, slept, and eaten, all things I have done very little of the last seventy-two hours,” Toni said, before laying her head back down on Bucky’s shoulder. “Until then, withhold all questions and possible yelling, shut up, and let me sleep.”

“Hear, hear,” Bruce agreed sleepily from Toni’s other side.

Toni yawned, eyes already drooping shut, and clumsily patted Bruce’s knee in thanks.

There was a few minutes of silence as everyone stared at her and let that sink in, then:

“You know, I alway thought he’d be taller,” Clint noted, before shrugging and returning to the cockpit.

A few hours later, after stripping himself out of his gear, showering, and then collapsing in bed, Bucky found himself staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep despite his exhaustion.

“Hey, JARVIS?” he asked when another half an hour without sleep passed. “Is Toni okay?”

“She seems well enough, considering, Sergeant,” the AI replied.

Bucky swallowed, remembering the dark circles that had been under her eyes when they’d gotten home. “Is she sleeping?”

“Not at the moment,” JARVIS said after a second’s pause. “I believe she was having trouble sleeping, and decided a change of scenery might help.”

Bucky sat up. “She’s not in the lab, is she?” he asked worriedly.

“Surprisingly, no. She was going to go to the kitchen to get something to eat, but then she decided she needed some air,” JARVIS replied, in that calm, pointed tone Bucky was starting to recognize as the one he used when he wanted to tell someone something without actually saying it.

Bucky frowned, then huffed quietly to himself when he realized what JARVIS was hinting at. “Air, huh?” he said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and standing.

“Indeed,” JARVIS said, sounding pleased. “Also, if I may, she never did make it to the kitchen, and hasn’t eaten anything since your return.”

Bucky paused in the hallway, then nodded and made a detour for the kitchen. “Thanks, JARVIS.”

“Anytime, Sergeant Barnes,” JARVIS replied warmly.

He found Toni in their usual spot on the roof, just as he’d expected - and was thankful he’d thought to grab the throw off the couch when he’d passed it, because she wasn’t wearing the armor like she usually did when they were up here, and was hugging her arms to herself as though she was cold.

“Hey,” he said softly, so he wouldn’t startle her.

She glanced over her shoulder at him and gave him a strained smile. “Hey,” she greeted, scooting over in silent invitation. “I thought you’d be sleeping.”

“I thought you’d be sleeping,” Bucky returned, sitting down beside her. “You’re the one hasn’t slept in three days.” He pulled the throw off of his shoulder and slipped it over hers. “Hungry?” he added, holding up the two cans he’d dug out of the cabinet, both with spoons sticking out of them.

“Chef Boyardee?” Toni huffed, accepting the one Bucky offered her and then freezing when she got a look at the contents. “Ravioli?” she said quietly, throat clicking.

Bucky ducked his head and stirred his can. “Unless you’d rather have the Beefaroni,” he said, holding his can up to her.

She stared at him, expression unreadable. Then she took his can, set it down with hers, and climbed into his lap.

“You,” she said, before kissing the corner of his mouth. “Are absolutely.” She kissed the other corner. “Unbelievable, you know that?” She stopped and hovered with her mouth just barely ghosting over his, so Bucky took the initiative and pressed their lips together.

When they pulled apart for air a few minutes later, she continued, her dilated pupils and slightly swollen lips the only signs she’d ever stopped talking. “This stuff isn’t even real ravioli. It’s crap,” she said, though she was grinning from ear-to-ear.

“It’s all we had. I didn’t have time to order the good stuff,” Bucky protested, trying to keep a straight face and failing.

“It’s cold. You didn’t even heat it up,” Toni huffed, shaking her head in faux-indignation.

Bucky hid his smile in her shoulder. “I was impatient and lazy?” he suggested. “If you don’t want it…”

“You can have my crappy, room-temperature I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-ravioli when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers,” Toni replied, and started scooting off of Bucky’s legs.

His face still buried in her shoulder, Bucky wrapped his arms around her to keep her from moving. Toni paused, then sighed and settled back down, one hand sliding into Bucky’s hair and scritching lightly at his scalp.

“I guess we should finally do that talking thing now, huh?” she grumbled halfheartedly.

“Probably,” Bucky agreed without lifting his head. He had no desire to leave his current position, and thought Toni might be more willing to talk if she couldn’t see his face.

Toni sighed. “Are you still mad at me?” she asked, sounding resigned.

Bucky took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Just a little bit,” he admitted quietly, hugging Toni closer when he felt her stiffen. “But I’m not - well, everything turned out okay. And I know better than to try and make you promise not to do it again, because if your track record is anything to go by, you probably will.”

The hand in his hair stilled. “Well, I’ve only got the one secret identity,” Toni pointed out slowly. “It’d be kinda hard for me to lie to you about it twice.”

Bucky paused, then lifted his head so he could see her face. Then it clicked what Toni thought he was upset about. “Toni… I’m not mad about you keeping Iron Man from me,” he said carefully.

Toni’s brow furrowed. “You aren’t?”

Bucky shook his head. “No, I - I’m mad because you thought taking on a group of fire-breathing supersoldiers by yourself and not telling the rest of us was a good idea,” he said, unable to keep the edge out of his voice.

“I didn’t take them on by myself, Rhodey was with me,” Toni said defensively. “And how are you not mad about Iron Man? I lied to you, remember?”

Bucky bit his lip. “I actually thought about that,” he said, looking down. “You didn’t, really. By omission, maybe, but for the most part you never told a straight-up lie. And even if you did, it’s not - look, you had your reasons for doing it. I’m not going to pretend to understand what they were, but they were your reasons, and it wasn’t my - or any of the rest of the team’s - call.”

Toni frowned at him, eyes narrowed suspiciously. “So… so you really don’t care that I’m Iron Man?” she asked. “You’re really okay with me being on the team, and fighting bad guys and aliens and God knows what else despite the fact that I am, and I quote ‘not bullet-proof, a supersoldier, a god, or the fucking Hulk’?”

Bucky winced. “Uh…”

Toni rolled her eyes. “JARVIS thought I might understand where you were coming from better if he replayed your little freakout on the quinjet for me,” she explained. “And, let me tell you, that does not sound like someone who would be okay with me charging out to battle with you guys.”

Bucky wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about JARVIS replaying somewhat private moments back to Toni on a whim, but he brushed it off in favor of dealing with the problem in front of him. “That was different,” he said quietly.

Toni raised her eyebrows. “How so? What you said is right - I haven’t had Natasha or Clint or even Sam or Rhodey’s training. I’m not bullet-proof, I don’t heal fast, I don’t have superstrength, and physically, the rest of you run circles around me outside of the suit.”

But Bucky was already shaking his head, and picked up one of Toni’s hands when she stopped gesturing. “Because you are a superhero,” he said fiercely, making her startle and blink down at him in surprise. “And you have been the whole time, whether the rest of us realized or not. Hell, technically you’ve got more experience than Steve, if we’re talking about how long you’ve actually been doing this.”

“I feel like you just called me old,” Toni said, but Bucky wasn’t finished.

“The untrained, civilian benefactor of the Avengers heading off into battle? Yeah, over my dead body,” Bucky said, gently running his fingers over the calluses on Toni’s hand. “But ole’ Shellhead? Well… it wouldn’t feel right if you weren’t there to watch my back.”

Toni blinked at him, then carefully took her hand back and crossed her arms. “Pepper wanted me to give up being Iron Man,” she said, expression guarded. “She didn’t like the trouble and danger I was getting into. It’s why we broke up.”

Bucky shook his head again. “That was Pepper,” he said lightly. “And this is me, telling you that I’m absolutely, one-hundred percent fine with you being Iron Man, and even with you lying about it, and that even if I wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter. You, Natasha Stark, are Iron Man, and no one can or should try to take that away from you. Not me, not Pepper, not the team - not anybody.” He reached up and cupped her cheek. “Okay?”

Toni stared at him, slack-jawed. Then a slow, almost shy smile spread across her face, and she leaned forward.

“You know what?” she said, resting her hands on his shoulders. “I think I might just keep you.”

Bucky ducked his head and grinned. “Good,” he said, tugging her closer. “Because I’ve been yours since that first - and second - handshake.”

Then he leaned in for another kiss, and swallowed up Toni’s answering little huff of laughter.