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The prank war Clint and Bucky had going on was no secret to the other Avengers but usually they were left alone if they didn’t express the explicit wish to participate.
Tony most definitely had not expressed any wish to participate at any point in this childish behaviour and especially not today.
The day had started off badly enough as it was, with a nightmare about the caves and Yinsen, and while Bucky had tried his best to calm him down, it wasn’t working quite as well as when Sam was there too.
So Tony had left for his board meeting still a bit shaken and it hadn’t gotten better so far. The board meeting was horrible, there was a problem with the newest Stark phone that was supposed to launch in about two weeks and then Pepper had called in sick.
To say Tony was stressed was an understatement.
All he wanted to do when he came home was curl up on the couch or in bed, get his boyfriends to cuddle him and then watch a movie or maybe go directly to sleep, if only he could shake the lingering memory of the cave.
So when Tony came into the tower his thoughts were as far away from the prank war as they could be.
Which might be the reason he didn’t immediately realize something shady was going on when he entered the pantry to get his favourite cookies and the door closed behind him.
He only realized what had happened when he tried to leave again, and the door wouldn’t budge.
Tony tried it a few more times, but nothing happened and while the pantry was actually well lit and not all that small to begin with, images of the cave immediately jumped to Tony’s mind.
His breath instantly quickened, as did his heartbeat, and Tony could feel himself starting to shake.
This was certainly not his day.
He tried to keep his panic at bay, this was nothing to be afraid of after all, and he hammered against the door. He tried to yell, too, to get someone’s attention, but nothing made it past his mouth and some irrational part of him kept telling him that calling attraction to himself was a bad idea and would only end in him getting hurt.
After another minute of knocking on the door Tony also stopped that, too afraid that someone would come to get him and it wouldn’t be someone he knew.
Tony took a step back and tried to get himself back under control, stop the shaking somehow, or stave off the panic, but it didn’t work, and soon enough he was also hyperventilating.
That was the moment he charged at the door again, rattling the doorknob and hitting it as hard as he could.
He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened, but suddenly the door sprung open and Bucky stood before him. Before Tony could say anything Bucky emptied a bucket of cold water in his face.
Adding this to everything else immediately sent Tony into a panic attack.
“Tony? Oh, shit,” he faintly heard someone say and then he was lowered onto the floor.
He couldn’t breathe and he was back in the cave, dying all over again, being put underwater, being electrocuted by the only thing that was keeping him alive right now.
“Please don’t,” he managed between two breaths, or maybe they were sobs. “I will do whatever you want,” he pleaded and then immediately hated himself for being so weak.
“Please, please stop,” he couldn’t help but go on and the other person gathered him close.
Tony fought against the hold on him, desperate to get away, and minimize the amount of pain they could inflict, but the other person wouldn’t let him.
“Tony, Tony, shhh, it’s me, Bucky. You’re in the tower, it’s 2016 and you’re safe, you’re at home, nothing will hurt you here,” the person told him, over and over again, but Tony couldn’t listen to these lies, why would they come up with something like this just to hurt him too.
He weakly tried to push the person away but he didn’t succeed.
“Friday, get Sam,” the person snapped and Tony flinched. Anger always meant more pain for him.
“Shh, no, I’m sorry, I’m not angry with you, it’s alright Tony, nothing will hurt you here,” the person soothingly said but Tony couldn’t believe it, they were always angry with Tony, always and it always ended in more pain.
Tony distantly heard an elevator arriving, and that was strange, there were no elevators in the cave, but then another person arrived and Tony lost his thought.
“Shit, Bucky, what happened?”
“I thought it was Clint. I locked him in the pantry and then dumped a bucket of water over him, I swear I thought it was Clint, I would never…”
“Alright, I know. Move,” the new person instructed and Tony was left alone, right until someone else crouched down in front of him.
“Tony, Tony try to look at me. It’s 2016, you’re not in Afghanistan anymore. You’re in New York, in the tower you built for your team and you’re safe. I know you don’t recognize me right now, but I need you to try. I’m Sam, and this is Bucky and you know us.”
The soothing tone of the voice did wonders to Tony’s nerves, even if he didn’t quite understand the words yet.
“I want you to breathe with me now, think you can do that?” Tony’s hand was pressed to someone else’s chest.
“In,” the person demonstrated, “and out.” Think you can follow my lead here?”
He didn’t wait for an answer and instead started to take even and deep breaths and eventually Tony caught on to the fact that he was supposed to mimic them.
He tried, he really did, but the water made it hard to breathe and he was reasonably sure that he would drown every second now.
“You’re not drowning, I promise, there is not enough water on your face left, come on, try it. Trust me. You won’t drown.”
Tony had learned never to trust the men who talked to him, but this voice sounded familiar and Tony wanted to trust, he wanted to show that he wasn’t as weak as everyone made him out to be, and so he took one breath, prepared to cough up everything that would come into his mouth and lungs.
But nothing happened and so Tony gulped in one big breath of air after another, until finally he remembered that he was supposed to breathe like the man in front of him.
He tried to match his breathing to the one demonstrated and after the initial first few it got easier.
“That’s good, sweetheart, you’re doing great.”
Tony frowned because no one ever called him sweetheart in the cave and then suddenly everything came back.
“Sam,” Tony sobbed and forgot his breathing all over again.
“Hi there, sweetheart. It’s okay, you’re safe,” Sam told him again and Tony practically flung himself into Sam’s arms where he started to cry, unable to stop.
Sam held him through everything, murmured sweet endearments into his hair and continuously stroke his back.
“Think you can get up and come to bed with me?” Sam eventually asked when Tony’s desperate sobs had quieted down.
Tony managed a shaky nod and Sam helped him up, keeping him close and tucked under his arm.
They stumbled into their bedroom, and Sam quickly got him under the blankets, crawling in after him and holding him close.
“I’m sorry,” Tony mumbled after a few minutes and Sam shook his head.
“Don’t be. You have nothing to be sorry about,” he said and pressed a kiss to Tony’s hair.
“Where’s Bucky?” Tony asked after a beat of silence and Sam winced.
“He’s hiding?” At Tony’s panicked look Sam sighed. “He was the one who locked you in and dumped the water on him. It was one of his pranks for Clint, except this time he got the wrong person. He is terribly sorry and ashamed and hiding,” Sam explained and now Tony remembered that he had seen Bucky right before the water hit him.
“It was an accident,” Tony mumbled, though he was still shaking.
“Yeah, it was, sweetheart, but he still feels terrible. And to be honest, he should. This war has gotten way out of hand,” Sam mumbled and Tony laughed through a new wave of tears.
“Can you call him?” he asked Sam when he calmed down again and Sam nodded.
“Of course. Friday, if you would, get Bucky up here.”
“Done,” came the reply a few seconds later.
It took Bucky almost five minutes until the bedroom door opened and even then he only stood there, not looking at them and also not entering their bedroom.
Sam nudged Tony so that he would notice Bucky and Tony extended a hand.
“Come here and cuddle me too?”
“God, Tony, I am so sorry. I never meant to hit you with this, I know it’s barely any excuse at all, but I really didn’t mean to do this to you and I am so incredibly sorry, you have no idea, I can sleep on the couch for a few nights if that is what you want, I just want you to feel better, okay, please, what can I do?” Bucky rambled and Tony wriggled his hand.
“Come to bed?” he asked again and now Bucky’s gaze snapped up.
“You really want me close to you right now?”
“You’re an idiot and I love you and would you please come and cuddle me too, so I can feel save on both sides?” Tony asked and he only noticed how truly exposed he felt to the side without Sam until Bucky nodded and came towards him.
Bucky quickly slid into bed behind him, effectively spooning him, and it was only then that all the still lingering fear and tension bled away.
“I am so sorry,” Bucky mumbled into his hair and Tony nodded.
“I know. Usually it’s not that much of a problem, but with the nightmare from last night…” he trailed off and Bucky squeezed him.
“Still sorry.”
“You can make it up by staying here,” Tony told him. “The original plan was to cuddle with you two anyway, so this is still going like I wanted.”
Sam huffed, clearly picking up on Tony’s attempt to make Bucky feel better, and he affectionately rolled his eyes.
“If someone wouldn’t look after you two, you would break your backs to make the other feel okay,” Sam complained and Tony pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Good thing we have you here then,” he told him and Sam sighed.
“You two are really some idiots.”
“But I’m an idiot who needs cuddles,” Tony pouted and Bucky tightened his arms around him.
“He needs all the cuddles,” Bucky told Sam, despite his words still looking like he was ready to get up and leave at any given moment.
Sam leaned over to kiss Bucky and mumbled “It was an accident, stop looking like that, he needs us,” before he laid back down.
Tony certainly could have done without the flashback but the end result was still exactly like he had imagined his day to end.