It was surreal.

Sitting next to James Buchanan Barnes and eating Mac and Cheese while watching Star Wars. Tony subtly sneaked a hand to his left arm, pinching the skin slightly to assure himself it wasn't a dream.

It wasn't.

Okay then.

He caught a glance of Bucky as he flickered his gaze from the T.V. to his food. His face reflected a sort of fascination and awe.

"Hasn't anybody else showed you movies and T.V. from this generation?" he asked, amused by the expression on Bucky's face.

"Yeah… but not this stuff, I mean, not this sci-fi stuff, ya know?" Now that Tony heard Bucky up close and personal, he could make out the slight twinge of Brooklyn in his voice and it sent unexpected shivers down his spine.

"Huh. Would've thought that was first thing they showed you. I know for a fact they're absurdly into science fiction, even more than me, and that's a feat in of itself."

"I think… I think they didn't wan' me to get triggered from the violence," said Bucky, his focus now solely on Tony.

"Ah," said Tony eloquently. "That makes sense, I guess." He blushed, berating himself for not thinking of that.

"Nah, it really doesn't," scoffed the ex-assassin.

Tony stared at him. His lips quirked up at the edges. "Wow. Do I detect a slight hint of defiance in those pretty blue eyes, soldier?"

Bucky gave him a look, then said, "Pretty blue eyes, Stark? I didn't know you swung that way."

Tony spluttered, a hint of pink appearing on his cheeks.

Smirking faintly, he continued. "They treat me like I'm glass. I don't think they understand, especially Stevie," he rolled his eyes, "that I can handle myself. I mean, I've only survived on my own for 70 years." He looked up at Tony, expecting the man to be agreeing with him.

He clearly wasn't.

"What?" he asked.

"I mean…" he hesitated,"you're important to them." Then furrowed his eyebrows and tried to clarify. "They care about you and, you know, want to make sure you're alright. I'm just saying I get where they're coming from," he finished simply.

Star Wars was now long forgotten and served only the purpose of providing a background to their conversation.

"Huh," said Bucky. He eyed the mechanic critically. "Didn' think you would be on their side."

Tony scoffed. "No, Barnes- Bucky, sorry- I am definitely not on their side. But-" he cut off Barnes with a raised hand. "I can… see where they're coming from- yes, even Steve. To be honest, if I had a best friend who vanished for 70 years and then came back as a master assassin with a massive guilt complex, I think I'd be a little worried too."

"I can handle him being worried! That part's fine, it's even almost, good. But what I can't handle is how Steve suddenly thinks I need to be protected all the time! It's infuriating. If he understands what I've gone through for the past 70 years, shouldn't he know that, you know, as an assassin, I know how to live?" he ranted.

"Do you, though?" Tony asked hesitantly.

Bucky looked back at him incredulously. "What?"

He looked down at the leacher couch, mindlessly fingering the edge of a small tear on the arm.

"I just… Do you know how to live? Or do you know how to survive? And I don't mean to be defending Captain Perfect here, and maybe he is going a little overboard, but maybe he's just worried you're thinking it's too much. You're out in the real world now. I haven't seen much of you at all since you moved in, but FRIDAY keeps me updated on what's going on, who leaves, who comes in, that sort of stuff. You've mostly been shut up in your room, Bucky. So… I ask the question again. Do you know how to live, or do you know how to survive?"

Bucky stared. Then bit his lip and turned to face the screen. The sides of his lips quirked up.

"How'd we get from Star Wars to my mental state?" he asked.

Tony recognized the deflection instantly, but decided to let it go. He wasn't Barnes's therapist, after all.

No, not a therapist. But maybe a friend..

"I don't know, Bucky," he said. "I don't know."


"I'm not calling you Bucky," Tony declared. Bucky's hand halted in its rush to shovel cereal in his mouth. He was sweaty, having just come back from a run. That was something Tony had suggested - he'd had always seen Steve let out his stress either by beating something up or running. He figured the former was probably the better option for Bucky.

It was approximately a month after the night they'd watched Star Wars together, and Tony was pleasantly surprised that he actually liked the presence of Barnes in his tower, if only because he was the only one in the tower that didn't hate him. They'd spent more and more time together during the past month, quietly ignoring the scathing looks from the rest of the team (except Steve, of course, that bastard always seemed happy seeing them together for some reason).

But whatever the circumstances, he knew Rhodey and Pepper appreciated the support in their never-ending crusade to eat more, sleep more, get out of the lab more. To Tony's everlasting surprise, Barnes was actually a huge mother hen.

"Oh?" The super-soldier raised an eyebrow.

"It's too… I don't know." Tony, of course, knew the reason very well. 'Bucky' had been Steve's. Steve's best friend, Steve's partner, maybe even Steve's lover. Selfishly, he wanted to have some part of Barnes as his own. "Maybe James?"

Barnes wrinkled his nose and winced. "Hell no."

"No?" He smirked. "Okay, um what about Barney?"

Barnes fixed him with an unamused stare.

"Fine, fine. Jamie?" he suggested, taking a seat on the kitchen counter and looking down at Barnes imploringly.

The ex-assassin contemplated the nickname, chewing his cereal slowly. He nodded, "Actually, I don't mind that one."

"Really?" Tony asked. "You won't take James, but Jamie's fine?"

'Jamie' grinned brilliantly and Tony's stomach flipped. "My mama used to call me James when I got in trouble, which, to be fair, was quite a lot. Hearing that name from you would be…. odd," he finished, cringing.

Tony smiled cheekily and remarked, "Why, you don't think of your mom when you see me?"

Jamie stopped eating and fixed Tony with a smoldering stare, his eyes narrowing. He looked Tony up and down.

"No…" He shook his head slowly, a smirk growing on his face. "I certainly do not."

Tony swallowed.

Neither do I, Jamie, neither do I.


Merry Christmas! Review if you liked it!