Thank you so very much to Hakkuro, jesteringKinghood and two guests for your kind reviews! You've really inspired me to keep updating.
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Chapter 8: What Doesn't Kill You
"Temper us in fire, and we grow stronger. When we suffer, we survive."
― Cassandra Clare, City of Heavenly Fire
At the gate to the camp they were welcomed as heroes, POW's who fought their way out of a HYDRA base first with fists then with stolen guns. The whole 107th plus the remains of other battalions that had been there were immediately surrounded, hands shaken and backs clapped.
That the Colonel didn't give Steve any disciplinary action was telling enough.
Through it all Tony and Bucky stuck close by him, which he was grateful for. Even after the show circuit, it was a little overwhelming. This was actual respect and gratitude he was getting now, and he had no idea how to handle it except with a smile and nod.
It took half an hour to extract himself from the crowd. There were a startling amount of apologies as well as cheers from the guys who had booed him offstage just a few days ago. Had it really been that short of a time?
Near the edge, Tony grinned. "How does it feel, Cap?" he asked cheerfully.
"Weird," Steve admitted. All he really wanted was peace and quiet and Tony, to figure out what had just happened and unscramble his thoughts.
"I can sleep for a damn week, let's go to bed," Tony grumbled and stumbled off to a barracks tent. He didn't seem to care one way or another that he was sleeping in someone else's bed as he flopped down on one in a dark corner.
The tent was already over capacity. Every bunk but that one was filled, sometimes with two men, as the wounded had collapsed inside to sleep off the long walk. No matter that he was wired, Steve felt about ready to join them.
Taking off boots and socks and borrowed helmet was a quick endeavor, settling onto the narrow bunk even more so. Officially Steve's excuse was that he was too tired to think straight; he hadn't slept more than two hours in as many nights. Really, he just wanted to feel Tony beside him.
Not a minute after he got comfortable, Steve heard his best friend's quiet swearing as he tried to find an available bed. "Bucky?" he whispered.
"Steve? There you are. Where can a man get some damn sleep?" Bucky hissed. He turned his head this way and that, barely visible in the dim light that seeped through the canvas walls.
Tony, who he had been sure was asleep, grumbled. Like a cat he climbed on top of Steve and settled himself there, head resting on a broad shoulder and arms around the blond in a half-embrace. Something stuck out of his chest and dug into Steve's, cooler than the rest of his body, but the discomfort was easily ignored. "You can sleep there," Tony said, pointing at where he had been laying before.
There wasn't a hint of argument from Bucky. Too tired for it, probably. Instead he just crawled in and ignored the protesting creak of bedsprings as he settled with his back to Steve's side and resting his head on an outflung arm. "Night Stevie, Tony," he mumbled.
"Night," Tony returned, and readjusted himself. Now his head laid over Steve's heart and the whatever-it-was rested comfortably in the dent under his ribcage. Their legs tangled together intimately.
"Good night," Steve returned. As subtly as he could, he pressed a kiss to the top of Tony's greasy head.
He was given a pleased purr and a quiet snore.
Beside them, Bucky snorted in his sleep and curled closer. He wrapped Steve's arm around his front, hugging the muscular appendage like a favored childhood toy.
Steve drifted off more happy than he had been since the night of the Expo. He was right where he belonged.
When he woke, it was still daytime. Tony was on top of him, but one arm had fallen over to wrap around Bucky's waist and he was straddling one of Steve's thighs. He was too comfortable to want to move, despite that the arm Bucky had claimed was numb.
It took a moment and a glance around before he saw what woke him up. It was Gabe, who was looking at them all with amusement. "Gotta get up, Colonel Phillips wants you all," he answered the unasked question.
"Thanks," Steve said with a grimace.
Gabe grinned and slipped away, leaving him to fend for himself. Traitor.
The short exchange had been enough to wake Tony. That was unusual. "Probably a debriefing," he moaned in displeasure and buried his face in Steve's chest.
"Don't even say that word right now," Bucky mumbled.
Well, it seemed that the army was good for one thing: they learned how to wake up without a fight. That could also have been captivity. Steve tried to ignore the thought.
"We gotta go report," Steve sighed, "You have to get off me." The thought of not being within touching distance of Tony or Bucky made something inside him die a little. After being so afraid for them for so long…
Bucky seemed to agree, because he simply sat up. "Oops," he mumbled when he realized that he had essentially held his friend's arm captive the whole time.
As well as he could under Tony, who still hadn't moved, Steve shrugged. "It happens," he said, waving it off.
With another displeased moan, Tony slid off of Steve and nearly sent Bucky tumbling off the bed when he barreled into him. He was shoved unceremoniously back into Steve's side.
Rolling his eyes fondly, Steve swung his legs over the other edge and forced his creaking body to sit up. Almost every joint in his body cracked.
"That has to hurt," Bucky mumbled, getting to his own feet. The same thing happened to him, and he gasped.
"Feels good," Steve replied, sighing. He grimaced down at his filthy Captain America suit and hoped that the stage producer wouldn't murder him for it. Now there was a thought he could save for later.
One quick shower and some borrowed combats later, he leaned on the door to the shack that was being used as a debriefing room. At the table were Bucky and a personnel officer, the former eating like he hadn't for a week (which may have been the case) and the latter asking questions then writing the answers.
Bucky's answers were stilted, peppered with pauses where he took a bite or drink. Steve had the suspicion that he lied about several things. Most notably when he was asked, "What kind of tests did they perform on you in the HYDRA facility?"
There was a pause, covered by him stuffing some mashed potatoes into his mouth and chewing slowly. "First it was normal medical tests. Taking measurements, blood, that sort of thing. They wrapped up and set my injuries from earlier then," he said, eyes on his plate as his lips tightened around the words, "They came back the next day and started pain tolerance tests. It was a lot of different things they did. Cut me up, hit me with sticks, popped my joints out, electrocuted me… Pretty much everything." He swallowed as he added, "They did that for a week. Or at least I think it was a week. I counted by when they brought me food."
The thought made Steve feel a little sick. He kept his composure, however, only smiling grimly when his friend glanced at him.
"The next week they did other tests. They kept me from sleeping, then when I passed out on the fourth day they decided they wanted to know how I would react to lights flashing really fast for a very long time. After I puked for the second time, they put me in a dark place. They kept me there until I started screaming, then put me on the table again. I think they were trying to decide what to do to me next when Steve got there," Bucky said in conclusion. His face was haunted as he relived the horrors, eyes empty while he spoke clinically. Like it happened to someone else.
His foot tapped on the floor. He was lying about something.
It wasn't his place to say anything, Steve thought. If there were some things Bucky didn't want to tell happened, were too horrible or humiliating, then he wouldn't force the issue.
The questioning continued for another hour, getting Bucky's side of what happened during the escape from the factory and on the journey to the camp. There was a marked absence of any mention of the fabled Winter Soldier and his near murders.
That made Steve curious, but he saved his questions for now. Maybe Agent Carter would know something. She was in intelligence, right?
When Bucky was finally released, they both let out a sigh of relief. The dark-haired man took his tray with him, eating as he walked. The smile he gave his friend was weak as he scuttled into the sunshine.
The interviewer shook his head as he sorted the stack of papers he had scribbled on. It really was a stack, at least seven pages back and front of cramped handwriting. Honestly, Steve was surprised that it wasn't more.
"That things they did to that kid…" the interviewer muttered to himself as he massaged his hand.
Steve could only agree. "Tony's up next, isn't he?" he asked.
The interviewer eyed another stack of papers. "Yes," he replied with a grimace, "Are you sure you want to stay for this, Captain? I think you know it's going to get… unpleasant." And wasn't that the understatement of the year.
Icy dread poured through him at the mere idea of leaving Tony to relive his torments alone. "Worry about him, not me," Steve denied.
The interviewer looked unconvinced, but seemed to realize that there was no dissuading Steve. "Bring him in," he instructed instead. He picked up the pen again, this time with his left hand, and positioned himself to resume taking notes.
When Steve stuck his head out the door to call for him, Tony was already leaning on the wall. "My turn already?" the dark haired man asked with a shadow of a smirk. Without an answer, he walked inside and seated himself casually on the vacant chair. He brushed his hand against Steve's comfortingly.
Steve resumed his position of leaning on the door once he closed it.
"Full name?" the interviewer asked, looking from the paperwork to Tony.
"Anthony Edward Starosta," Tony lied with an easy grin.
"Rank and division?"
"Lieutenant, engineering corps but stationed with the 107th."
"Age?"
"Forty five."
The response gave the interviewer pause as he looked Tony over.
Steve couldn't blame the guy; Tony looked a decade younger than he was even with the strain of captivity.
For now, the strangeness was ignored. The number 45 was put down in the correct slot.
"Tell me about being captured by HYDRA," the interviewer said softly.
Tony took a minute to compose his thoughts. "We were under fire from the German army when a tank and some guys showed up out of left field and vaporized them. There was nothing left by the time they were done. It happened in an instant," he described, eyes far away as he recounted the story, "We'd already sustained forty percent casualty rates. We were cold, tired, hungry, outmanned, and hilariously outgunned. So my unit surrendered, giving the rest of the division time to get away. We were walked east for the rest of the night and part of the day until we got to the factory." He proceeded to tell about the 107th being divided up so that they would be unable to plot an uprising, how at first the guys in his cage- Monty, Jim, Gabe and the rest- had all been at each other's throats.
When he finished describing the giant bomber that he had gotten a look at the plans for, he paused and licked his lips. "Bucky got the hell beaten out of him about two weeks in, he was dragged away to Zola's lab because he couldn't work around his injuries. That night we decided that the reasons we were arguing were bullshit." He grinned. "We were all allies and one of ours had been… the equivalent of killed. No one had ever come out of that lab. So we decided that revenge was more important than our differences and started making a plan."
The hairs on Steve's arms rose as he watched his man talk in such a casual tone about things he hadn't wanted even to imagine. This was Tony, his Tony, but a side of him that Steve had only seen glimpses of. When he nearly got his face pounded into the pavement by bullies and it was Tony who found him, the look on his man's face and the threat in his voice had stayed with Steve for a long time. Now he was seeing that those occasions had only been the tip of the iceberg.
"The plan that we made as a group would have worked perfectly, of course it would have, I was involved," Tony snorted with well-founded arrogance, "but I couldn't afford them getting caught so I had my own plan. I staged an accident with a crane that killed the bastard and five other HYDRA guys. It also destroyed everything between me and the other POW's. For a few days everything went back to normal. Then I got called to Schmidt's office." The fidgeting that he had been doing increased, fingers tapping on each other quickly.
This time, Steve's breath froze in his throat. How the hell had Tony lived through that?
"He had figured out that it wasn't an accident and that I was some kind of engineer. A skilled one," Tony said with a wince, "He offered me a place in HYDRA."
The interviewer choked as he stared at the man across from him. He beat on his chest with a fist under Tony's amused gaze. "And you said?" he asked delicately.
"Obviously I said no," Tony said, lips quirking upward for a few short seconds.
Steve hadn't realized that his shoulders were tense until he felt them relax.
"I considered doing it to spy on them," Tony continued thoughtfully, "But then he said it would be in weapons development and I told him to go fuck himself. I stopped making weapons years ago. Like hell I'd go back to it, spy or not." The look in his eyes as he said the last sentence convinced Steve that he damn well meant it. He'd die before he ever made another weapon.
The mystery of the shooting range all those months ago was solved. It only made Steve curious; he hadn't realized how little he really knew about Tony until the walk back here. Now he was getting another look.
The surprises didn't stop there. It was vaguely interesting, and rather irritating, that Tony lied as well about what happened in Zola's lab. According to him, he got subjected to the usual battery of tests then they gave him massive amounts of hallucinogens then put him in different environments to see what would happen. Really, the story he concocted was almost as convoluted as the truth probably was.
By the end of Tony's description of the experiments he had been subjected to, the interviewer looked a little sick. Everyone seemed grateful when the story went on to Steve showing up on his unauthorized rescue. It got progressively lighter again until Tony was making fun of them driving a goddamned tank into the middle of camp.
"You have to admit that was funny," Tony said, grinning like the cat that had caught the canary. The emptiness in his eyes was far more telling.
"It was something else to see," the interviewer agreed with his own smile. "Is there anything you'd like to add?" He looked like he didn't expect much. From how he put his pen down, and shook out his hand, he thought it was over.
"When they give Cap his own squad, I want in. Otherwise, no," Tony responded out of the blue.
The concept took Steve by surprise. He had just been grateful to not be reprimanded or put on latrine duty. Having his own team… That would be something else. Without permission, his mind went to people that he could see himself asking to join.
The interview complete, Tony was dismissed. Again his hand brushed up against Steve's but this time he also gave the blond a teasing wink. He had intentions for later.
Steve couldn't wait.
He did however stay behind, offer to help with the paperwork. Where Bucky's statement had rolled on for seven pages, Tony's took up ten. The man's hands had to hurt.
The man shook his head with a thoughtful expression. "They both lied about something. I wager it was the same thing," he said, almost to himself.
"You noticed too?" Steve asked, impressed. Both of his friends could be difficult to read at best.
The man snorted. "I'm in personnel, not UDT," he responded dryly. It was enough to get the message across. "Dismissed, Captain."
Steve saluted the man before he marched out the door, careful to close it behind him.
When he asked around, he was told that Tony and Bucky had convened on the roof of a barn. How they had gotten up there, never mind why, Steve wasn't sure he wanted to think about. When he got there he did see that their expressions were intense as they spoke in low voices, close together.
If they were any other people, Steve would feel a little jealous. As it was, he took a running jump and vaulted up to catch himself on the edge of the roof. It was a simple application of momentum to pull himself up the rest of the way.
The conversation cut off, and instead Bucky offered a hand to help him drag himself the rest of the way up. "Tony was just telling me about how you told him not to run after an assassin unarmed the day after you did exactly that," his friend cheerfully relayed, eyes promising him hell when they were alone.
Nervously, Steve chuckled. "I think the difference is that I'm not exactly a normal guy anymore," he said, eyeing his man's sprawled figure.
"Doesn't mean you're bulletproof," Bucky returned. "Does it?" He looked between the other men, asking for answers.
"Don't be stupid," Steve said affectionately. He laid down beside Tony, folding his arms under his head with a contented sigh. The sunshine felt good against his face.
"Show him your side," Tony told him with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.
It took Steve a minute to figure out why. Then he remembered the angry red line across his skin that he had seen in the shower, the specks of blood and burned edges of his costume when he took it off. When he lifted his shirt and looked down, it was nothing but a rapidly fading scar.
"What the hell?" Bucky demanded, looking from the silvery tissue to his friend's face and back.
"I got shot somewhere in that HYDRA base," Steve explained, sheepish now that he realized he really should have noticed it.
This time when Bucky looked at the scar, it was with interest and… why did he look ill all of a sudden? "Stupid punk," he grunted, and threw himself back onto the roof on Steve's other side.
"Jerk," Steve returned lightly.
"Idiots," Tony put in with a grin.
They were silent for a while, basking in the quiet and privacy provided by the rooftop. The noises of training and everyday running of the camp provided a comforting back-noise. Steve was almost ready to drop off to sleep again.
"I didn't think the days were so long in November," Tony mused quietly. The sun was barely beginning to set over the treeline.
"They aren't," Bucky told him, snickering, "We slept the whole day and night and part of today away." He didn't seem to mind, from how he whistled and pointed out a cloud that looked like someone's butt.
Steve rolled his eyes. "Only you, Bucky," he said resignedly.
Then he realized that he had a question for them. "Why'd you lie in there?" he asked quietly, not wanting to somehow be overheard.
"If I said anything about the Winter Soldier I would have been laughed right the fuck out of here and into a mental ward," Tony said dryly, "I love cute nurses as much as the next guy, but I can live without the padded walls." He intertwined his fingers between Steve's, casually holding his hand.
That anyone could look up and see them made Steve's heart pound even more than Tony's worn fingers between his own. Carefully he shifted so that his leg blocked any view of their hands from below.
"Didn't want to think about half the stuff they did to me," Bucky answered in a low, expressionless voice, "I feel fine now anyways." He grimaced as he spoke, as if he didn't think it was right.
It didn't feel right to Steve either. Now that he thought about it, they had recovered amazingly quickly from how he had found them. How did they even get on this roof? It was ignored, just like the rest that was new and different. For now.
He'd get his answers, all of them. For now though, he was perfectly willing to let time go by.
They watched the sunset that day.
That was the last bit of peace that Steve experienced for a week. Probably more, but time felt like it snapped by. Before he knew it he was in London, being given his own team and assignment: wipe HYDRA off the map.
That map was impossibly wide, spanning most of Europe. There were bases that Steve saw on the map in Bucky's room that ranged from Greece to France and one for some reason all the way out in Lithuania. Then there were the ones that the SSR had found for themselves… one of which was in Greenland.
When he told Tony about that base out in the middle of nowhere, the other man didn't seem to react. Then Steve looked deeper, and saw the sad pride in his eyes.
"What is it?" the blond asked as they walked to the nearest London Underground station.
"You're going to hate Greenland soon enough, Cap," Tony replied mysteriously. When he laughed, it was sharp.
Something was even less right than before about Tony. In Brooklyn and then training he had been a contradiction and hid things, but those had never left him so… depressed and desperate. No one else seemed to see it, but Tony was more defensive and snarky than before and wouldn't give any answers as to why. All Steve knew is that it had to do with Azzano and why Tony was so skittish around him- or, everyone but Bucky and Peggy.
Only when they were being shuffled in among the throng of Londoners in an Underground station did Steve come up with the words for what he wanted to say. "Tony?" he asked hesitantly.
"Hm?" The older man tilted his head to show that he was listening. Bright, inquisitive brown eyes looked up at him from where he stood slightly in front.
"I know now isn't the right time for it, but I know you're keeping some big secrets. I'll admit that it hurts that you don't trust me. I just wanted to let you know that I won't judge you for it, whatever it is, when you do decide to tell me," Steve said in a low voice, fully aware of everyone who could overhear.
Tony smiled up at him, but just like most of those that he gave now it was sad. "Some things, I don't know if I ever can tell," he replied in a similarly low tone.
"That's okay too. As long as you tell me that this is one of those things. Just don't lie to me, okay?" Steve knew he was a little too desperate to keep the first person he'd ever loved, if he was willing to give these kind of concessions. Who knew what he could be hiding? But if he knew anything, he knew that Tony wasn't a traitor. Anything else, he could deal with.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I can do that." A weight seemed to fall off of Tony's shoulders as the train came, and they were pulled in along with the flood of people. He actually giggled when he was jammed between Steve and a wall, giving the filthiest grin that the blond had ever seen even as he pulled his body back.
It suddenly hit Steve that this was exactly what he wanted his life to look like. He wanted to be able to hold Tony in broad daylight, take his hand in a crowd, kiss him whenever he felt the urge. Not just make the excuse that they were on a crowded train or there wasn't anywhere else to sleep or they must have seen it wrong. That's no way to live. His throat hurt from bottling up the urge to shout at the top of his lungs that dammit, he loved this man.
Wait… he may not be able to shout it, but he could whisper.
From the look on his face, Tony knew something was going to happen. His raised eyebrow, teasing half-grin, said it all. Like this, the lines starting at the corners of his eyes and lips disappeared.
Heart pounding, Steve leaned down. His lips brushed the shell of Tony's ear as he spoke, and he smiled as he did; the hairs on the back of the other man's neck had risen.
"I love you."
When there was no response, Steve felt his heart stutter. Was it too early? Did Tony not feel the same way? Was this a worse time than usual? He was afraid to look his man in the face and see pity or anger.
The train turned, and momentum threw Tony into him. Chapped lips found his neck, and a breathed, "You too," made him feel a little dizzy.
As their stop had been reached, there was no time to say anything more.
From the wary, inquiring looks he got, Steve knew he was grinning like a madman. That didn't bother him in the least. It was taking everything he had not to start laughing from sheer elation.
When he looked to his side, Tony was smiling too. For once, he was happy and free of the shadows he'd always carried.
Their eyes met, and Steve couldn't help chuckling. Now hopefully getting the team together would go this well…
Surprisingly, it did. After a brief moment where he was sure he screwed up, every single one of the men he picked agreed to this insane proposal. If anything, they seemed eager to get back out there. Either they wanted revenge or they were just plain crazy, but either way he wasn't complaining. That would be hypocrisy at its finest.
"Where are they putting all this stuff?" the bartender questioned, though he didn't seem to want an answer, as he just shook his head and refilled the beer. No matter that Steve knew he had never seen the man before, he looked strangely familiar.
The mugs were set in front of him, and he put the thought out of his mind. It wasn't relevant right now. The men accepted their beer with a cheer, and continued their short trip to drunkenness. Steve had the feeling that he was the only sober one here.
Or maybe one of three sober ones. At the bar, Bucky and Tony waited for him with glasses of whiskey in hand. When he approached he saw that they were talking in whispers again, heads close together as they tried to keep from being overheard. The moment they noticed his approach their conversation ground to a halt and Tony gave him a strained smile.
"I told you they were idiots," Bucky said with a shaky chuckle as he stared down at his glass.
"How about you two? Are you ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?" Steve mocked himself even as he seriously posed the question. These were the two men he wanted beside him for this, more than anything.
Bucky took a few seconds more to look at his drink, then turned his eyes back up to his blond friend. "Hell no, I'm following that little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb to run away from a fight," he answered.
Steve flushed with happiness. That was just what he needed to hear. It wasn't Captain America that was wanted there, just him. He looked to Bucky's other side hopefully, waiting for the other man's answer.
If he didn't know better, he would think Tony was about to have a heart attack. "Me?" he asked in a strangely high pitched voice, "You're asking me to join the legendary Howling Commandos?" His eyes were so wide that they must have hurt, mouth hanging slightly open, before he composed himself.
That was an interesting name… "We may not be legendary, but yeah. Want to help us take down HYDRA?" Steve asked again.
"Not legendary yet, maybe," Tony said with a gleeful grin, "Sign me the fuck up." He drained his glass in one with a laugh.
Steve shook his head and ordered himself a beer. These men would be the death of him.
"You're keeping the outfit though, right?" Even as Bucky asked, Tony leered at him.
When Steve looked over the shoulder at the poster for his tour, he grinned at the notice posted on it: 'Tour Cancelled'. He was truthful when he said, "You know, it's kinda growing on me."
Not quite a minute later Agent Carter showed up, a vision in red. It was too bad that she only had eyes for him; Bucky was trying his hardest but couldn't get an ounce of her attention. A quick glance, but that was it.
However, when she saw Tony, she smiled. "You have good timing, Lieutenant Starosta, I was about to open that suitcase of yours if you didn't reappear soon."
Steve raised an eyebrow. Last he saw, Tony didn't even own a suitcase beyond his army duffel, and he had that with him.
"Perfect, then," Tony agreed happily, "I need you to keep it for me a while longer though. I need it at the right time and not a minute before." His tone was longing as he added, "It isn't the right time yet."
Agent Carter only nodded and gave Steve a time to be at HQ before she left. The catcalls and wolf whistles that followed her were ignored. The door closed behind her and the world suddenly went back to normal.
"Poor girl," Bucky said, glancing from Steve to Tony and back with obvious merriment as he went back to his glass, "Damn I'm glad I lost that bet." He choked on his whiskey when Steve said,
"Actually, you won."
Tony grinned and beat his friend's back. He'd been looking forward to this since he and Steve actually got together. "You did say it would happen the day Steve got into the army," he reminded the other man cheerfully.
The moment he stopped choking, Bucky started laughing. "And here I thought the building had just gotten friendlier!" he hooted.
"Well, it has," Tony said, going back to his own drink, "Just not quite that friendly. We got some gifts going away, but nothing like that." He was amazed at the sheer amount of alcohol that was being betted on him, not even thinking about the cash or household favors. Even better for Bucky to have gotten it.
"Wait, that explains it! You," he pointed to Steve, "got into the army the night of the Expo and you two…" He grinned, gestured between the other men, and added, "And it was the same week that the blind lady had bet on! So it got split between us!" He looked so proud of himself for figuring it out, like he'd just tied his own shoes for the first time.
"Congratulations Sherlock, you just used basic deductive skills," Tony said dryly.
It did nothing to dampen Bucky's spirits. "Bartender!" he called.
The skinny kid with the big blue eyes looked up from the beer he was filling.
"Get these two a drink, we're celebrating!" Bucky ordered, grinning widely.
Steve's eyes widened in panic. "Uh, Buck?" he asked weakly.
"Celebrating?" the bartender asked curiously. His smile was easy-going as he slid the glass toward the patron it was intended for.
"Bucky?" Steve said again, a little higher pitched. He was ignored.
"Two of my friends from back home got together and won me a bet!" Bucky explained happily.
There wasn't a single sign of suspicion, or judgment as the bartender gave a friendly smile and began filling drinks. "Congratulations. What are their names?" he asked conversationally.
"Tony and Stephanie," Bucky half-lied, "They've been making eyes at each other since they met, seriously." Over his shoulder, he shot his friends a wicked smirk.
Steve snorted, and scowled half-heartedly when Tony laughed hysterically. He was not a girl! No matter how he used to look!
The drinks were passed around, and the bartender went to tend to the other customers with a final congratulation.
The drink in his hand was cool and smelled like some of the good scotch. Steve raised his glass in a mockery of a toast and took a sip. Yep, it was the good stuff.
It was really too bad he probably couldn't get a buzz.
They did their best to get drunk, but it seemed Steve wasn't the only one who had a hard time with it. Their usual bottle of whiskey turned into four, and they were all still able to leave under their own power. Bucky and Tony stumbled out holding each other up, cackling in a way that made Steve wonder if they should be unleashed on London.
Somehow, maybe because they were in uniform and maybe because Steve was still horribly sober, they managed to make it back to base with no harm done. Well, those hooligans would probably be scarred for life after seeing them all get into a playful wrestling match in an alley; by the time they settled down there were dents in the dumpsters and some crumbling bricks. It was very lucky that the sentries found Tony and Bucky's drunkenness funny and didn't report them.
With some help and more than a little patience, Steve managed to get them into his newly assigned room to sleep it off. This would probably be a recurring thing, he realized with chagrin.
Bucky had tipped face-first onto the bed and was giggling alarmingly.
The second the door closed behind them, Tony shook his head and appeared to sober up instantly. It was all in how his eyes became more alert, his posture straighter, as he quirked an eyebrow at his friend. "Think he's planning world domination?" he asked with a grin.
"Knowing Bucky, probably," Steve admitted. When they were younger they plotted how they were going to take over the world. It wouldn't surprise him one bit if they woke up to find a flag of Bucky's face flying over Buckingham Palace.
"A world run by Bucky? I could dig that," Tony said with a queer laugh. He seemed half-serious.
"Here, I'll grab another blanket and you guys can have the bed," Steve said, changing the subject before the conversation could devolve any further. Yep, he was definitely the only one here truly sober.
Before he could, a hand grabbed his hand with surprising firmness. Tony's face was grave now, eyes never wavering from Steve's as he spoke. "It's your bed, you're sleeping with us," he ordered. His voice didn't waver or slur at all, just like they had never been to that pub.
The skin where they touched tingled.
It must have shown on his face, because Tony shuffled closer until they were pressed together from chest to hips. "I hate talking about feelings, but I know it's important to you so I'll do it for once, you lucky bastard," Tony said, a shadow of a smile on his face, "I meant what I said earlier. I've meant it for longer than I care to admit."
The confession made Steve feel like his heart was too big for his now massive chest. He had never thought he would be this lucky.
"I meant it for when you were feverish, when you jumped on that goddamn grenade, and when you made your big damn hero entrance. I always did," Tony continued, and there was a gravity in his eyes that meant more than he was saying. "But you remember how I said I was a little psychic, right?"
Steve frowned at the sudden change in subject. "Yes," he confirmed.
"I know for a fact, and I can't tell you how, that you're going to be the last one standing of the three of us," Tony said.
A lump suddenly jumped into Steve's face. Like he promised earlier that day, he didn't ask how it was known.
"When that happens, don't give up," Tony said, eyes darting down and away toward the bed where Bucky hummed contentedly, "Live. For both of us. You know we'd kill you if you didn't." He paused for a moment before he laughed. "Shit, if I wasn't drunk I wouldn't be saying this. Time for bed!" He went to pull away, but Steve caught his shoulders.
Instead of saying anything, because how could he, Steve pulled his man closer and held him. If Tony was right, and his track record so far was impeccable, he didn't want to waste a single minute. Not if they didn't have much time left.
Tony seemed to get it, because he shut up and let himself be held. He even put his arms up around Steve's waist and stroked his lower back with slow, soothing motions.
"Go be all sappy elsewhere," Bucky grumbled, throwing them the stink-eye.
"Thanks for stepping on our moment," Tony shot back. Despite his ire, he shot a wink upward at the blond and loosened his tie.
They all stripped down to undershirts and shorts to roll into bed, just like they did after they escaped that HYDRA base. Also just like then, Tony laid on top of Steve and Bucky captured one of his arms for use as a pillow.
This time however, Steve couldn't sleep for a long while. Even as Tony purred near his ear and Bucky snored at the wall, his mind was processing that they might be gone soon. When he tried to imagine life without them, everything in him rebelled. Life without the only two people left who knew and loved him before he became Captain America was unthinkable.
It just meant that he would have to be extra-vigilant, Steve determined. He'd make sure Tony's prediction didn't come true, not even if it killed him. Unconsciously he pulled both of them closer.
They curled further into him.
The feeling of rightness came back, and Steve dropped a kiss on top of Tony's wild hair.
Sleep didn't come for him for several hours.
