The Eyes Have It

by crematosis

Steve has a lot of flaws, but his eyes are not one of them. Just ask his lovers.

A/N: Another avengerkink prompt! I pretty much jumped at the chance to write a silly fix-it for Civil War because I hate seeing my boys fight.

Disclaimer: I've never had a concussion, never seen anybody with a concussion so the medical science might be dubious, but I just winged it.

Steve leaned back in bed, one arm wrapped around each of his lovers. Sex always wore him out in the best of ways. He felt loose and relaxed, ready to move into the post-sex phase Tony called "gazing soulfully into each other's eyes". Well, it looked like only he and Bucky would be playing that game tonight. Tony looked like he could barely keep his eyes open.

Steve smiled and turned to look at Bucky, running his gaze along his lifelong best friend's swollen lips, flushed cheeks, glassy eyes. God, he was gorgeous. And Bucky stared right back like Steve was a priceless piece of art.

"Cornflower," Bucky said suddenly.

"No such thing," Tony mumbled into the pillow, surprisingly coherent.

"Yes, there is. Cornflower blue. Just look in Stevie's big box of crayons."

Steve groaned at the word blue. "For Christ's sake. Are you two still on about this?"

Since the episode with Zemo, Tony and Bucky had been obsessed with determining the exact shade of Steve's eyes. It had been endearing at first, but after three weeks of listening to them argue, Steve really wanted them to drop it.

Tony lifted his head up onto his arms and grinned up at him. "You know how we get. We're just a little bit crazy about you, if you hadn't noticed."

Steve smiled, despite himself. "I noticed. But is it really that important-"

"Yes," Tony said. "The world needs a name for the most perfect shade of blue ever created."

"Cornflower," Bucky said again.

Tony rolled his eyes. "And Bucky's given up on pinning down the color and has moved on to just making shit up. Buck, please. Corn doesn't have flowers. Especially blue ones."

"It's just a flower. Got nothing to do with corn really."

Tony frowned. "That makes no sense."

Bucky let out a frustrated sigh. "I didn't name it, okay? Just look at the fucking picture." He thrust his Starkphone in Tony's face.

Tony squinted at the screen. "Okay, you win. It's a real thing."

Bucky smirked triumphantly. "So you finally admit-"

"Hell no. Steve's eyes are not cornflower blue. That's a fucking pastel, Buck."

"Oh yeah? What are you going with?"

"Cobalt," Tony said after a measured silence.

"Fuck no. Cobalt's a dark blue, dipshit. You're only picking it cause it's a metal. And that's the stupidest thing I ever heard. These are Steve's eyes we're talking about, not some damn pipe."

"Metals can be beautiful." Steve stroked a finger over Tony's chest. "Remember when you used to have the reactor?"

Tony snorted. "Sorry, babe. Your eyes are gorgeous as hell, but they don't glow like my reactor."

"Sure they do," Bucky said with a grin. "When I do this."

Steve groaned as Bucky straddled his hips and his hands reflexively wrapped around Bucky's waist.

Tony huffed and muttered something under his breath about super soldiers and their inhuman refractory periods. But he calmed down when Bucky leaned over to kiss him.

Well, this was his life now, Steve supposed. And all thanks to Zemo's stupid comment about his eyes.

—

Steve thought it was just going to be him and Bucky chasing Zemo down to the Siberian facility.

It had started as a simple undercover operation with Tony agreeing to sign the Accords as a way to find out what Ross was planning. But then Bucky had been blamed for the bombing at the signing and all the careful planning went out the window. They were just supposed to be acting like enemies, but somewhere along the line it had stopped being an act. They had both said things to each other that they knew would hurt.

And now they weren't even speaking to each other.

But at least Steve still had Bucky. Bucky didn't know what Tony was like before this whole mess started, but he was a sympathetic presence. He kept him distracted with stories of the good old days the whole flight in and some of the ache in Steve's heart loosened with the familiar banter.

Inside the compound, all the teasing turned into tense silence. Steve had his shield up and Bucky was gripping his gun tightly, eyes darting around the facility as he crept forward silently.

They both whirled around at the screech of metal, immediately settling into fighting crouches. The metal door was forced open and Tony stepped through the opening, encased in one of his suits.

Tony slid his helmet down, showing he wasn't a threat. It also showed how wounded he was from their earlier fight. That black eye didn't look good.

"What are you doing here?" Steve prompted.

Tony met Steve's eyes briefly and then he looked away. "Maybe your story's not so crazy. Maybe." He leaned back against one of the walls. "Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise, I'd have to arrest myself." He rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness.

"Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork."

Tony huffed out a sound that wasn't quite a laugh, but there was a faint smile on his face. Just a glimmer of the devil-may-care Tony that he knew, but it was enough for him to lower the shield.

"it's good to see you, Tony."

"You too, Cap."

There was sincere warmth in Tony's voice and he was looking Steve right in the eye, so he had hopes that this would be a tender moment of reconciliation. But then Tony gestured behind him at Bucky.

"Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. We're on a truce. Put the gun down."

Steve made a gesture to Bucky that they could trust Tony.

Bucky slowly lowered his rifle, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Yeah, I know Tony's an odd one," Steve said with a chuckle. "But he's a good man and it's good to have him on our side." He slung an arm over Tony's shoulder.

"Technically. Sort of," Tony said. "Look, I don't agree with everything you guys did, but I'm willing to admit that I didn't do everything right either. I should have trusted you."

Steve cupped his hands around Tony's face. "I should have made it easier on you. We should have worked this out somehow, communicated better."

"Come on, are you two gonna kiss or what?" Bucky complained.

Tony coughed and took a step backwards, bringing his helmet back up. "We have a bad guy to catch, don't we?"

Bucky gave Steve a puzzled look, but he just shrugged.

He couldn't force Tony to just forgive and forget and go back to the casual intimacy they had once had. This fight could very well have erased all the love between them. But at least Tony had come back to fight at his side. If all they were now was teammates, Steve could live with that.

Tony's scanner only picked up one heat signature in the massive cyro chamber, which didn't make sense considering all the frozen soldiers that Zemo could revive and send after them.

The cryo tanks all around the room lit up with an amber glow. The tanks were all still occupied. And all their occupants had been shot with a bullet to the temple.

Steve swallowed. Zemo never meant to revive the others. This was all a trap.

Zemo's mocking voice rang out through the room, oddly muffled and distorted. He was taunting them, but he was smart enough to do it from a distance.

Oh, there he was. Hidden behind a thick metal door and a glass viewing window.

Steve threw his shield at the glass, but it just bounced off harmlessly.

"Please, Captain. The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I'm betting I could beat that," Tony said, strolling up confidently.

"I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'd never know why you came."

Steve walked forward, right up to the window. "You killed so many innocent people, just to get us here?"

Zero stared back, malice in his eyes. "I studied you, I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized. There's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes." He laughed. "How nice to find a flaw."

Bucky stiffened.

"Oh, hell no," Tony said loudly. "He did not just say that."

Bucky shifted his grip on his gun. "Pretty sure he did."

Steve chuckled. "Now you've done it."

Tony had always been crazy about his eyes. Even though he swore repeatedly that it was only a friends with benefits sort of thing with no emotional attachment, Tony had never been able to stop babbling about how much he loved Steve's beautiful eyes when they had sex. Bucky had had the same fixation back in the day. Apparently still did, if his reaction was any indication.

Zemo's eyes darted back and forth between them. For a moment, there was a flicker of uncertainty in his expression, but then the hatred showed through again. "I've thought of nothing but-"

"Nothing but insulting the world's most perfect shade of blue," Tony said indignantly.

"You a fan of Steve's baby blues, too?" Bucky asked, just a hint of a smile on his face. "You have good taste."

"So do you. Damn, if I had known this earlier we might have gotten along better. All this time fighting, we could have been comparing notes."

"This is all a joke to you, isn't it, Stark?" Zemo hissed. "The deaths of strangers means nothing to you. We'll see if you can ignore the deaths of the people you love."

He fumbled with the equipment inside the chamber and a computer screen at Steve's right flicked on.

A repulsor blast sliced through the middle of the screen even though Tony hadn't taken his focus off Zemo. "We're not in the mood," he said. "You just insulted our Steve."

Our Steve.

Steve felt something in his chest swell. He had understood when Tony warned him it was nothing but sex. The genius had every right to be wary of commitment considering what he had read about some of Tony's past relationship failures. And he understood why Bucky had still dated girls in the 40s even though he had him. Back then, you were just supposed to marry some girl and have a family and they had always figured their relationship would be fun while it lasted, but would never be permanent.

This wasn't exactly a declaration of love, but Tony was making it clear that he and Bucky-

Oh. Oh wow.

Steve drew in a shuddering breath. He had hoped that he could start sleeping with both men again without any jealousy, but this sounded like Tony actually approved of Bucky, like Steve wouldn't have to keep his two lovers separate.

It was a heady thought.

"Hey, Stark," Bucky said with a lazy smile. "Didn't you say something about being able to break through this thing?"

"Ooh, Buckster, you have the best ideas," Tony said gleefully. The whine of the repulsors charging filled the room.

Zemo's face twisted into a sneer. "You think this is a victory for you? No. You took everything from me, and now I'll take everything from you."

Steve's eyes went wide as Zemo uncapped a grenade. "Tony, no!" he shouted, lunging for the genius.

But Bucky tackled him backwards and all he could do was stare helplessly as Tony's repulsor blast set off the grenade and the whole chamber became a pile of rubble.

"Tony!" Steve cried out. He rushed to where he had seen Tony go down and frantically scrabbled at the armor, brushing off debris.

Bucky shoved him out of the way and worked the helmet release catch.

Steve sucked in a breath of relief. Tony's eyes were open, which had to be a good sign, even though his expression was a little glassy.

Bucky gently tipped Tony's head to the side and examined a cut on his forehead. "You okay, Stark?"

Tony blinked a few times before his gaze focused on Bucky. "Oh wow, your eyes are pretty, too," he said dazedly. "Not as pretty as Steve's, but hot damn."

"Uhh," Bucky said uncertainly. "Thanks, I guess?"

"How'd I get so lucky?" Tony murmured. "My boyfriend's boyfriend is almost as hot as he is." He lifted a hand to the back of Bucky's neck and pulled him down into a kiss.

Bucky's eyes went wide with surprise and then he melted into the kiss, groaning into Tony's mouth as he deepened the kiss.

Steve swallowed hard. God, the two of them fit together like they were made for each other, like they had been lovers for years. He could watch them go at it all day, but unfortunately he had to be the voice of reason.

"Easy, Buck," he said. "He probably has a concussion."

Bucky pulled back, licking saliva from the corner of his mouth. "Shit, right," he said. He backed away, eyes wide with shame. "Shit. He just had a bunch of concrete fall on him." He felt down the seams of the armor. "Gotta get him out of this thing and check him over."

"No, don't move him yet," Steve cautioned. "We don't know if he has any other injuries." Tony didn't look like he was in any pain, but then again, the concussion would probably mask anything.

"I'm fine," Tony insisted.

"Let's hear what Friday has to say about that."

Tony grumbled and fiddled with the helmet until Friday's warm, female voice greeted them.

She confirmed the concussion and went on to point out a broken wrist, a twisted ankle, and a wound on Tony's chest that would require stitches. There were also numerous small cuts and bruises all over Tony's body, but nothing that needed any medical attention past a Band-Aid.

Begrudgingly, Steve admitted those were pretty minor wounds. Tony had seen a lot worse.

"So," Tony said with a lascivious eyebrow waggle. "Does that mean I'm cleared for the post-mission 'thank god you're alive' sex?"

Steve cleared his throat. "I think you need to stay away from strenuous activity for awhile. Until we know your concussion is all cleared up."

Tony waved a hand. "Don't worry about me. I'll just lay back and let you do all the work."

Steve sighed. "No, Tony. You're going to get stitched up, and then you're going to take it easy for the rest of the day."

"We're supposed to keep him awake, right?" Bucky said. "Until he's normal?"

Steve bit back a reply of, "then he'll never sleep again" and just nodded.

"I've got a couple suggestions for how to keep me up," Tony said with a purr. "The two of you can take turns with me all night."

"Shameless, ain't he?" Bucky said with a smirk. "How'd you end up fuck buddies with a guy like this?"

"Excuse you," Tony said indignantly. He made as if to get up and cursed as he put too much weight on his injured arm.

Steve put a hand under Tony's chest and helped him to his feet. "Take it easy, Tony," he murmured.

"Fuck buddies," Tony said disdainfully. "Is that all Steve is to you? Just a fuck?"

"Hey," Steve said sternly. "We're not picking fights, here." He gave Bucky a pleading look. "Don't listen to him. It's the concussion talking."

Bucky snorted and leaned back up against one of the pillars that were still standing. "Don't worry about me, Stevie. I'm used to it. You remember all those times you came home spitting mad and concussed as hell? God, you could barely even stand up but you were still fighting."

"Steve's eyes are so pretty when he's mad," Tony said. "Like a stormy ocean." He took a few stumbling steps in Bucky's direction.

"Tony," Steve said warningly.

"I got him," Bucky said, catching Tony before he could fall over. He steadied Tony back against the pillar. "We're pals, aren't we, Stark? Bonded over Stevie's baby blues?"

"Mhhmn." Tony slouched down a little.

"Hey, no, stay with me, Stark." Bucky nudged him. "I want to hear more about how Stevie looks when he's mad."

Tony blinked and straightened a little. "Oh, yeah. God, the angry sex is fantastic. I always feel so bad for pissing him off, but the look in his eyes." He shuddered. "There's probably something wrong with me that I get off on this, but I love how he looks at me like he can see into my soul."

Bucky shot Steve an amused look over his shoulder. "Damn, Stevie, you been getting into the kinky stuff after I was gone?"

Steve flushed. "Not really."

Tony bobbed his head. "Steve's been good to me. Treats me like a special person. Like he loves me."

"I do love you," Steve said with an exasperated sigh. "Even when you're being impossible."

"Love you, too," Tony murmured. "I missed you, you know. All the fighting was awful and we should never do it again."

"Agreed," Steve said.

Tony's eyes went soft. "Didn't realize how much I missed you until I was going to bed in that big, empty bed. So cold and lonely. And waking up without that beautiful smile and bright eyes." He reached out for Steve and stumbled again, but Steve caught him and pulled him into his chest.

"So stupid," Tony muttered into his neck. "Why'd I think we could be just friends? I love you too much. Every time I look into your eyes I just want to spend forever with you."

"Tony," Steve said reverently.

Tony's hands tightened against Steve's uniform. "All the fighting made me realize how much I don't want to lose you. I'm stupid if I just casually date and have sex when we could be spending so much more time together doing couple things."

Steve stroked his hair. "I love you, too, Tony. We'll talk about this more when we get home."

"Home," Tony said with a wide grin. "Let's all go home." He listed to the side and Steve fought to keep him upright.

Bucky ran a hand down the side of Tony's armor. "I think he'll be more manageable without all the extra weight."

"Trying to get me naked already?"

"Nope," Bucky said. "Just getting you out of this hunk of metal so we can get you home."

"I can fly," Tony protested.

"Not in your condition," Steve said sternly. "You're riding in the plane with us."

Bucky hit the release catch on the amor and the layer of metal peeled away, revealing a battered and bloody billionaire.

Tony swayed a little. "I don't think I'm going anywhere without the armor."

"Yes, you are," Bucky said. He hoisted Tony into his arms.

"Oh, this is great," Tony said happily. "I like being carried by strong, sexy men."

Steve filed that away for later, for the next time the genius complained about being kicked out of his lab.

"I'm hot, am I?" Bucky asked with a cocky grin.

Tony nodded his head eagerly. "So very hot. Has Stevie told you yet that the long hair looks good on you? Well, it does. You should never cut it. Leave it long, just for me." He reached up and stroked a hand through Bucky's hair. "I want to wake up beside you and just pet your hair for a couple hours."

Bucky barked out a laugh. "Yeah, I think we're keeping you."

"Just a word of warning," Steve said. "He's not going to be quite so open when he's not concussed."

Tony liked to pretend that he couldn't care less, but anybody that really knew him knew how deeply Tony cared about people. He'd probably be embarrassed about baring his soul to them and he'd probably hide from Bucky for awhile, but Steve was sure Tony would warm up to him again.

Bucky moaned suddenly and Steve stared as Tony sucked on one of his metal fingertips.

"You tellin' me this is a one-time thing?" Bucky said, his voice cracking.

Steve scratched the back of his head. "Actually, no. This is probably going to be a regular occurrence. Tony's always had a thing for metal."

Tony pulled his head up and beamed at Bucky. "Hey, you should open me up with your metal hand so Steve can fuck me."

Bucky let out a low whine. "Steve, please," he said. "We have to."

"After he recovers," Steve said with a growl.

These two were going to be the death of him.

As Steve had feared, once Tony's concussion cleared up, he went into hiding down in the lab, coming up only for food and sex and disappearing again at the first sign of Bucky. After four days, Bucky got fed up and broke into Tony's lab.

Steve found the two of them sprawled across the lab couch, drinking scotch and writing hilariously bad love poems to each other. Steve's favorite exchange started with Tony writing:

"Roses are red

Steve's eyes are slate blue

You're a sexy motherfucker

Your eyes are pretty, too."

To which Bucky had scribbled:

"Your armor is red

Steve's eyes are SKY blue

You're kind of an idiot

But I like you, too."

And after that, the two had been fast friends. Steve was taking both of them to bed almost every night. The two of them fought a lot over who got to do what, but that was just the way their love worked. After all they had been through, the teasing and playful arguments somehow made everything feel normal.

Steve's only disappointment was that he couldn't take his lovers out on a date, but technically, he and Bucky were still wanted fugitives and they weren't allowed to leave the Tower. One day though, that would change. Steve had hope.

Already the Accords were being discredited because someone (probably Tony or Natasha, but neither one would admit it) had leaked Ross' private e-mails that detailed his plans to get his hands on the Winter Soldier and make him a military weapon.

Every time Tony went out for an interview, he talked up Steve as a hopeless romantic working to save his long-lost love from the horrors of Hydra and a coldhearted government. At home, watching the footage on the couch with Bucky on his lap, Steve could only snort as Tony again painted him as some perfect, noble warrior.

But it was working. Steve had seen fan pages on the internet dedicated to their relationship and petitions were circulating to let them leave the Tower for a date. Sam had started speaking out about the obligations the government had to them as veterans and a few influential senators were proposing pardoning them and working to rehabilitate Bucky.

Surprisingly, T'Challa was one of the ones fighting the hardest for their pardon. Steve asked him about his change of heart and the Wakandan had only smiled enigmatically and said, "My eyes have been opened."

Steve left it at that.

So, this was his life now. Sex and house arrest. Who was he to complain?