Part 4.

There are rules that come with living with Tony, and Steve insists that he can follow each and every one of them. They are from Tony, they are what Tony wishes, so of course Steve can handle them. He says as much and Tony's response is to wrinkle his nose and insist that Steve has broken rule number three: no mentioning the "non-existent" bond. When Steve mentions that he doesn't know the rules yet, Tony has them posted on the wall. And the kitchen fridge. And the bathroom mirror. Steve even finds one in the pocket of his pants, but the hardest one to get over was the one glued to the inside of his shield.

Steve knows them by heart, but he reads them whenever he passes just to make sure Tony doesn't add to the list without him knowing. The last thing he wants to do it hurt Tony without meaning to.

Time passes and things are quiet. They get the occasional visit from Thor and Clint moves into the tower, though Steve has trouble remembering exactly when that is. One minute he is making breakfast alone, the next minute he has Clint next to him and it stays like that every morning. If either Clint or Bruce notice the numerous lists of rules, neither comment on them in his presence. Steve is glad and he also refrains from saying anything.

Natasha doesn't live with them until after the next major battle. A group that calls themselves the Advanced Idea Mechanics attacks the tower and attempts to steal Tony's work. It doesn't go well for them and Steve is glad to finally be able to do something to help Tony besides keeping the nightmares away. He goes into battle focused on keeping the tower safe and, by the end of the day when he is soaking in the ridiculously large tub, he is proud that he succeeds at his task.

When Steve makes breakfast in the morning, Natasha is there with Bruce and Clint, attempting to finish the crossword in the paper. Something else swells in Steve's chest at the sight (even if part of him deflates because Tony isn't there) and he makes breakfast without a word.

Things go like this for another month and Steve finds himself comfortable in his own skin for the first time in years. Nobody mentions the oddities that happen when Tony comes in, the way he avoids Steve completely only to drag him to the bedroom at night. Steve doesn't need to explain that they do nothing more than sleep. Natasha still watches him with slightly hidden pity.

Despite the comfort and contentedness he feels, Steve is glad when Fury approaches him with a mission. He doesn't read most of it, but something tells him that he needs to go, so he accepts without a word. He is surprised when he finds that Natasha will go with him, but he accepts her help and they plan to leave the next morning.

Something changes in Tony that night. While still being dragged to the bed, Steve is regulated to the edge. Tony places several pillows between them and piles the blankets over himself. Confused, Steve merely sits against the headboard and watches him settle down to sleep.

"What's all this for?" he asks once Tony stops moving.

"Getting used to you not being here," is the only answer Tony offers.

Steve finds himself smiling even if he knows that Tony only wants to use him and nothing more. He settles to sleep after that, facing the mound of pillows and blankets that hide Tony from him. He won't push, he doesn't need to push in order to know that Tony has just gotten used to this. It warms him that Tony is comfortable around him in this aspect, even if he isn't in others. Steve wants to kiss him, wants to hold him close and tell him that things will be okay.

He closes his eyes and rolls over instead, remembering rule number four (no staring) and number one (no intimacy of any kind). Though rule one is void by number two (only intimacy in sleeping only), Steve knows his thoughts are far from pure. He needs to sleep and he needs to prepare.

The mission is only to look for information. To observe a facility that might be making weapons that Hydra used in the war. Natasha can do this alone, Steve realizes, but she doesn't have the knowledge of weapons. So far, Steve doesn't see any weapons and he is unsure whether or not they will. The facility is a standard military one with no outward secrets and no suspicious activity.

Without warning, there is chaos. Natasha and Steve join the fray without thinking as they take down both sides of the fighting. Steve doesn't know what drives him, and he doesn't know what drives Natasha, but he can't stop. Something in her eyes tell him that she can't either. Steve doesn't question, ignores the screaming of SHIELD on their communication units, and lets his shield fly.

It's caught by a mechanical arm and Steve's eyes widen as the man attached to said arm walks calmly out of the warehouse as it begins to burn. Natasha shouts something in Russian next to him and Steve takes out the gun he was forced to wear. He doesn't want to use it, but what choice did he have? The man looks familiar, but he also looks deadly. He and Natasha step back and she continues to yell.

The man pulls back his arm to throw the shield and Natasha's voice gets desperate. She straightens and shouts something else and Steve can't believe his eyes when the man simply crumples on the ground. He is confused, so he follows her cues. She doesn't holster her guns, but she nods to the shield.

Steve takes it and he gets a better look at the man. Something in his heart breaks and he can only think of Bucky, but that can't be right because Bucky is dead. Steve looks to Natasha and asks who this is, how she took care of him.

"He is the Winter Soldier," Natasha tells him. "Age unknown, brainwashed by multiple groups, and very volatile. We're going to take him back to base."

Steve settles the shield on his back and leans over to pick the man up. "He looks familiar," he tells her.

Natasha hesitates before looking away. "He should considering who he is. Come on, Cap. I'll explain on the way."

She tells him, slowly and gently, about her time with the Winter Soldier. Steve can do nothing but stare and feel guilt and all he really wants to do is jump out of the plane. This is Bucky. This is his best friend. The man resting on a medical bed should have already lived his life and died, but Steve condemned him to torture and a mechanical arm.

He doesn't even think before he is calling Tony. Tony answers and Steve doesn't hold back, already feeling comfort with the simple "Rogers?" Tony had said upon answering. Steve tells him about the mission back during the war. He tells Tony about Bucky and the loss and the guilt. When he is done telling that story, he tells Tony that he is looking at Bucky and he doesn't know what to do because it isn't fair. He is so lost and he is so confused and he wants to know what to do in this situation. How does one react?

Tony offers nothing more than silence and, in the end, Steve simply thanks him and hangs up the phone. He didn't know what he interrupted and he will apologize later for it, but he needed to talk to Tony. That simple comfort had him calm and ready for anything.

Natasha explains that Bucky won't wake until the orders are given, orders that she knows because she had handled him once upon a time. She won't give them until Steve approves, but Steve is unsure of everything. He asks that medical take a look and make sure he is okay before they do anything, and Natasha agrees. Fury surprisingly follows along and doesn't ask them much about the mission. Steve wonders if the man knew that Bucky was there all along and he doesn't put it past him.

Tony shows up at SHIELD without his armor, though Steve knows that it is hidden somewhere, waiting to come out if Tony needs it. In true Tony fashion, he steps into the medical room and picks up Bucky's chart, flipping through it. Nobody says a word until he looks up to Steve and asks if Bucky was ever bonded.

Steve remembers, a few days before Bucky fell, when his friend told him of a man he had met before being taken by Hydra. Steve looks away from Tony and tells him that it doesn't matter because whoever it is probably died. Tony doesn't care and needs the name, so Steve gives the only one he knows.

"Bucky called him Logan," he says. "Some others called him Wolf or something like that. He was talking a little too fast at the time for me to get everything."

Tony nods and hands the chart to Natasha as he leaves. Steve doesn't understand, but Natasha seems to. She just smiles and settles on the edge of Bucky's bed, running a hand through his hair. Steve asks what her smile is for.

"He's attached even without the connection. Stark is ridiculously easy to read."

Something blooms in Steve's chest and he straightens. "He is?"

"Don't get too excited, soldier." Natasha smoothes a hand over Bucky's covers. "He'll keep his distance because he doesn't want to do what fate wants. He needs control in his life. Just continue like normal and you'll get him eventually."

That isn't what Steve wants to hear, but he knows it's what he needs to do. Tony doesn't have the feeling, so this is Tony's game. Steve is just here for the ride and he won't get off even if his life depended on it.

When Steve leaves the medical room, he isn't surprised to see the armor that took to him standing watch outside of it. Since nobody is around to see, he leans in to press a kiss to the metal cheek before asking it to stay and watch over Bucky. When he goes down to the mess hall, the suit stays.

If there are three unconscious agents on the floor when he returns, well, it can't completely be his fault.