Trust in me. Trust in You.

After the incident with Project Insight, Tony is left cleaning up the mess left behind from the data dump. As more and more distressing things come to light Tony is left caring for an overprotective Winter Soldier while also trying to reconcile with his own feelings on everything he'd learned.

Rated T. Ship- Winteriron

Hello there everyone! It's time for a new one-shot! I hope you're ready. I'll see you at the end.

Tony hadn't heard from any of the Avengers in weeks and it was beginning to piss him off. Sure he was still recovering from heart surgery, but Rogers still should have called him to help when Project Insight launched. He was the guy who designed the new carriers and he knew how to keep them on the ground. And the data dump? Well, that was just a mess and Tony was stuck cleaning it up because he didn't want to see innocent SHIELD agents dead. So, instead of resting Tony was stuck sifting through data and saving people.

So, Tony spent his nights not sleeping and sifting through data and his days doing work for SI and Pepper. It was a bit stressful working with Pepper. They'd recently broken up and it was hard. Sure, Pepper understood why he continued to do work as Iron Man, but the stress of everything with extremis was too much for her. Tony understood. He wanted Pepper to be safe and healthy and that wasn't an option with him. They were still friends, but it would be a little awkward for a while.

The one thing that trouble Tony, as he sifted through so many HYDRA/SHIELD files was the information on the Winter Soldier, or as he was better known as, James "Bucky" Barnes. There were heaps of information on the brainwashing and all the horrible stuff done to him, but there was also a sealed file that was bothering him. Tony was wary to open it. He didn't know why. He just felt like it wasn't something good.

Although, after a few sleepless nights, Tony's curiosity got the better of him and he started to unlock the file. He knew something really fishy was up from the get-go. As he unlocked the file Tony very quickly realized that that the code used to lock the file was very familiar. It was Natasha's but the whole thing ended in "SR". That was really concerning. What did those two had to hide?

Well, it turned out that what they were hiding sent Tony into a panic attack. The video that was hidden in the file was horrible. Tony had to watch as a brainwashed Winter Soldier crash his parent's car, kill Howard and then choke Tony's Mamma as she begged for her life. Tony didn't care much about Howard. He was an abusive drunk. But his Mamma, she deserved so much better. And seeing her murdered had him sobbing alone on the floor of his lab with nobody for comfort.

He was alone. He was scared. He was hurting. And soon enough, Tony was angry. He was angry at HYDRA for making him an orphan and killing his Mamma. He was angry at Howard for forcing his Mamma to go with him that night. And he was angry at Steve and Natasha for trying to hide this form him.

Tony spent the night in his lab with the only comfort he had being JARVIS and his bots. What a sad life he lived.

A week after watching the tape, Tony wasn't feeling as much like shit has he had previously. Sure, he was absolutely furious at Natasha and Steve, but he was working through things. He needed to. He didn't have much of a choice. He had time to think things over. He wasn't mad at Branes for hilling his parents. He was mad at Howard and HYDRA for all the pain he was currently feeling.

So anyway, Tony was feeling a little less like shit and he still had work to do. He had work to do and he did NOT want to be disturbed. Which was why he was feeling a little pissed off when JARVIS announced that there was someone requesting entrance into his private floors.

"Who the hell is requesting entrance at 3 in the FUCKING MORNING!?" snapped Tony as he closed up his holograms and stood up for the first time in hours.

"According to my facial recognition software, it appears to be Sargent James Barnes."

"WHAT?!"

Tony was out of his lab in seconds and commanding JARVIS to let the man in. Tony was completely confused about the situation. He head was swimming with conflicting thoughts and feeling. But most of all. He was just curious as to what the hell was going on.

The second Barnes walked out of the elevator to Tony's floor Tony was struck by just how big Barnes was. Even with the layers he was wearing Tony could tell that Barnes had some serious muscle on him. Although, Tony didn't have much time to ponder over Barnes's physique before the man was stalking towards him with his metal arm on display. He backed Tony into a wall before looking him in the eye and finally speaking.

"Fix it." Snapped Barnes as he thrust his metal arm into Tony's face.

"Well, that's not very polite." Mumbled Tony as he tried to get control over the situation.

"Fix it… please?"

The way Barnes said please was odd. In fact, the way he talked was odd. His voice was all scratchy and he wasn't sure of his words. Tony was sure that the man hadn't been given the chance to talk in a long, long time. It was kind of sad. It made Tony want to burn HYDRA even more than he already did for the death of his mom.

"Alright, let's head down to my lab. I can't exactly do anything without my tools."

Barnes nodded and took a step back allowing tony to breathe. He was starting to feel a little claustrophobic. So, Tony began leading Barnes further into the place. Tony's lab was tucked away from the main living area for obvious reasons. Although, as they were walking, Tony had a bit of an idea that he should probably address.

"I should really call Rogers. Pretty sure he's been looking for you."

"NO!" shouted Barnes and Tony tried to suppress a flinch as he turned on him.

"No?"

"No. Don't want him."

"…Alright. But if he finds out and gets mad then that's on you." Tony really wasn't looking forward to that inevitable argument.

Tony lead Barnes into the lab and had him sit down on a spare stool as he got to work. Tony had JARVIS do multiple scans while Tony started rooting through the wiring. The whole time he was searching Barnes's face for signs of pain but the assassin remained stoic yet intrigued by his new surroundings.

After about half an hour, Tony found the problem.

"It's waterlogged. I'll need to give it all a good cleaning. It could take a few days. But honestly with the way things look it would be better to just make you a whole new arm."

"New arm?"

"Yeah. Gotta be honest, I can totally make one better than this. I might take a little longer but it'll perform much better and you'll probably feel less pain cus I can make it lighter than this junk. So what'ya say? New arm?"

Barnes nodded enthusiastically and Tony couldn't help but smile back. He guy was a little bit like a shy puppy.

So, in between sorting out SHIELD files, Tony began working on a new arm for Barnes once he got some scans of his current one. And while Tony worked, Barnes sulked in the shadows. Tony had set the man up with a room and new clothes, but Barnes wasn't sure what to do with himself. So, he took to sitting in Tony's lab in the corner and watching. It was a bit unnerving.

To pass the time and make things less awkward Tony began talking as he worked. Might as well get Barnes caught up on all the things he missed being a frozen murder machine. Tony talked about major events, movies, books, the time he hacked the Pentagon on a dare. It helped pass the time. And slowly, as time passed, Barnes began moving closer and closer until one day, he was sitting cross-legged at Tony's feet while he worked. He just sat there and listened. He didn't talk much, but he was slowly finding his voice.

There was one afternoon when Tony was yammering away and Barnes was actually joining in the conversation. It was nice. They were talking about how Barnes had wanted to be a mechanic when he was little. He'd always liked watching all the different cars as they drove by.

As they were talking, Tony came to the realization that he couldn't just keep calling Barnes, Barnes. The guy deserved to be called what he wanted to be called.

"What should I call you?" asked Tony rather bluntly.

"Sorry?" asked a confused Barnes.

"Look, I can't just keep calling you Barnes. What do you want me to call you? You deserve to pick for yourself."

And poor Barnes, who hadn't really been able to make his own decisions for 70 years, well, he wasn't sure what to do. He had this wonderful opportunity before him. He could choose his new identity. He could finally be a new person. A better person. A free person.

"…James. Call me James."

And so many wonderful things blossomed from those simple words.

The first wonderful thing to happen was Tony finishing James's new arm. Tony was so fucking proud of himself. And who wouldn't be? He'd just built a fully functioning metal arm that connected to the nervous system from scratch. Not only was this amazing for James, but it also gave Tony the confidence he needed to launch a new prosthetics division for SI Medical. James cried when he was fitted with the new arm. He loved it so much. He actually made Tony a cupcake as a thank you.

And that was another surprise for the both of them. James had found out that he had a knack for baking. It kept him calm and allowed him to sample some of the foods he'd never had the chance to before. It was really sweet (pun intended) to see how happy he got when trying new things.

James actually continued to live in the tower. James had been sure that Tony would kick him out after the arm was done. Tony, on the other hand, didn't really want James to leave. He'd gotten so used to the man's company that he knew if he left he'd just continue to wallow in loneliness.

James actually liked living in the tower. He had his own space and was given the freedom to make his own decisions. It was amazing. He'd never felt so free before. He would split his days between catching up on different books while sitting down in Tony's lab and experimenting in the kitchen. It kept his mind active and his hands busy. Plus he got to eat what he made.

Somewhere along the line, James noticed that when Tony got in "the zone" he was abysmal at taking care of himself. That doesn't mean that Tony was always horrible at looking after himself. It was just when there was too much work to be done and so many people getting mad at him all the time, Tony tended to put any kind of self-care on the back burner. James noticed things as they happened, but the day he decided to actively do something about it was an odd one.

"Sir. I must remind you that it is time to take your heart medication." Spoke JARVIS one afternoon when the two were sitting down in the lab.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry J." said Tony, a bit meekly as he shuffled over to take the medication in question.

"You're on heart medication?" asked James as he stared at the man.

"Um, yeah. I uh… I had heart surgery to remove my arc reactor a couple of months before the whole SHIELD falling and HYDRA being exposed thing. I'll still be on medication for a long time cuz my heart was pretty damaged from everything. Shrapnel is a bitch."

And this was when James realized that he was living with an idiot. A genius sure, but an idiot none the less. From there James vowed to keep the man from inadvertently killing himself because he was too absorbed in things and forget to eat, sleep, and take his medications.

And you know what? It worked. Tony wasn't dying and James felt better about things. Actually, the whole act of keeping a sassy, short thing from dying due to stupidity felt normal to him. It took a lot of reading and working on his memory for him to realize why. It made sense to him now, but James was more than happy sticking with Tony then running off to find Steve now that he had some of his memories back. He wasn't the same man as he used to be and he was ok with that.

Although, after about a week of magically appearing food and meds, Tony quickly caught onto James's game.

"You know, you don't need to do all this stuff for me. You're a free man. Plus you already thanked me for the arm."

"I know that. But you're an idiot who gets too engrossed in his work when people get mad so someone has to look out for your dumbass."

Well, Tony hadn't been expecting that as a response. Although, he was happy that James was coming out of his shell and finding enough of his voice to tell Tony off for doing stupid shit. And well, Tony had no rebuttal for that so he just let James's mother henning continue. He couldn't say he was mad about it.

Tony and James lived in their little nebulous bubble of contentment for five months before things came crashing down. The two were just eating breakfast together like they tended to do when JARVIS announced that Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, and Natasha Romanov were demanding entrance to Tony's floor. The two looked at each other confused. This was incredibly unexpected. James was feeling conflicted at the news. He wasn't sure if he was ready to see Steve yet.

And Tony on the other hand, well he was just mad. He was still angry over the whole Project Insight thing and he was furious over Steve and Natasha hiding the file about his parents. He really didn't want to deal with Rogers and his merry band of calamity incarnate. Unfortunately neither had much of a choice on the matter. Natasha knew how to break JARVIS, and even with the new updates, Tony wasn't going to risk it. He loved JARVIS. Everyone loved JARVIS. He wasn't going to risk it.

So, Tony gave his permission and the two waited with bated breath for all hell to break loose. And hell did break loose.

"Stark, I was wondering if you might have someplace for us to stay while we sort out this whole HYDRA thing…" Started Steve as he and the others walked into the room. But, once he spotted that James was there too, all bets of civil conversation were off.

"Bucky? What are you going here?" asked Steve as he walked closer to his long lost friend. James took a few steps back and Steve stopped.

"I needed help. Tony helped me." Replied James as he started looking for a way out of this. And by the look on his face, so was Tony.

"I could have helped." Spoke Steve once more as he tried to get closer.

"I don't think you could have helped me with a broken metal arm punk. I needed a mechanic so I found the best one. Now we're friends."

"You should have told me he was here Stark! I've been looking all over for him " snapped Steve as he turned his attention from James to Tony.

"No, I shouldn't have. James told me not to. Don't you think that after 70 years of brainwashing the man should be allowed to make his own choices for once?" rebutted Tony. His eyes were wide and his face was starting to pale.

"It's not your right!"

"Well it is James's and I refuse to break his trust!"

An awkward silence permeated the room. Steve was standing his ground with anger in his eyes. Natasha was inching closer to be his back up. Sam wasn't entirely sure what was going on. James just wanted to leave but didn't want to without Tony. And Tony, well, he was just working on his breathing. Now wasn't the time to have a breakdown.

"You still shouldn't be hiding things Stark." Grumbled Steve and Tony's eyes darkened in anger.

"Well isn't that hypocritical of you. See Rogers, what I want to know is why you and Miss Spider over there think it's alright to keep secrets that don't affect you at all? Why'd you try and hide the file? Do you both hate me so much that you feel the need to hide my parent's murder from me? Do I really mean so little to you?" asked Tony. His hands were starting to shake and the room was silent. Steve's face paled and he fumbled over his words for a second before speaking.

"You were never supposed to know." Whispered Steve and Natasha nodded. Tony's face hardened and James felt like punching something.

"Why not?"

"Because you would have killed Bucky."

"Well, as you can see, I found out and I didn't. I helped him and fixed him up. It doesn't matter that it was his arm that killed my mom. I still helped him because I'm a good person and he's my friend." Snapped Tony.

"It's not his fault!"

"Don't you think I know that! It's HYDRA and Howard's fault! James is just as much a victim as I am. But you are NOT allowed to dictate how I feel about all of this! You don't get to make that choice for me! I'm hurt that you think that you have the right to dictate my feeling and keep big secrets from me! You don't have the right!"

And well, Steve didn't really like being told that at all. He didn't like being told that he was in the wrong and it just made him angry. He didn't know hat to take no for an answer. He started stalking closer to Tony with the intent to fight but James quickly got in the way. He knew that this would end badly and he didn't want to see Tony get hurt.

"STOP!" shouted James as he looked between the two. Steve was funning and Tony looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

"Just stop. Steve, back off. I made my own decisions and you need to respect that. Tony has been nothing but nice to me. He gave me a safe place to stay where I could figure things out and he gave me a new arm. Stop yellin' at him and treatin' him like shit. Just back off."

Steve and his companions stood there shocked but James didn't care. He just grabbed Tony's hand and pulled him back towards his room where he could calm down. He yelled at JARVIS to keep an eye on Steve and his crew while he sat Tony down on his bed and pulled him into a hug. James wasn't really one for physical contact after everything he'd been through. But holding Tony in his arms just felt right.

Despite none of them really wanting them there, Steve, Sam, and Natasha stayed in the tower and were soon joined by Bruce, Clint, and Thor. They needed to take out what remained of HYDRA and to retrieve the stolen sceptre.

So, time moved on, and, much to Steve's chagrin, James continued to spend the majority of his time with Tony down in the lab. Actually, he'd started helping out Tony and was thinking of going back to school once his life had settled down. Tony was very proud of him for that decision.

Steve, on the other hand, was not happy about this arrangement. He constantly wanted to spend his free time with James. James would spend some time with him, but he quickly figured out that Steve wasn't the same kid from Brooklyn he used to be. They'd both changed and Steve needed to realize that.

On a lighter note, both Tony and James had realized their growing attraction to each other, although neither had acted on it. Tony wasn't acting because of his own insecurities and not so great past relationships, and James wasn't acting because he wasn't sure how he should approach the situation. So maybe fate just needed to give them a push.

A literal push.

Tony had been running around the lab chasing DUM-E when James walked in looking for a nice place to read. Tony hadn't been looking where he was going and crashed into him leading the two to sprawl on top of each other on the floor. James was laid on his back with Tony on top of him. A look of surprise crossed both of their faces.

Neither was sure who started it, but one moment they were laying together on the floor blushing and the next they were kissing. The kiss started out sweet and timid but it soon turned into something so much more. Both were greatly enjoying the moment. The heat of each other's mouths was intoxicating and both wanted more. But even so, they still had to come up for air.

"Was that ok?" asked Tony as he tried to keep his blushing under control. James thought it was cute.

"More than ok." Smiled James as he looked up at Tony.

"You sure this is a good idea? It might piss off Steve."

"Then let him be pissed off. I'm happy here with you."

"Really?" asked Tony, his voice small. James just gave him another kiss to quell Tony's fears and his own.

"You gave me a home." Whispered James as he held Tony in his arms.

"You gave me a home too."

Eventually, they did get off the floor to go somewhere more comfortable. But in the meantime, they just enjoyed the moment. It was the little things that made them happy.

So… What do you think? I'm feeling pretty good about this one. Also, Tony totally could have fixed all the issues with Project Insight if Steve and Natasha had bothered to call him in. So, I fixed it and added a little romance. Don't be afraid to check out my other fics. I've got a great selection. I'll be seeing you all around! -Shadows