YES I KNOW THIS CHAPTER IS APPEARING AS CODE AND I HAVE EMAILED THE SITE FOR HELP. I'VE REDONE THIS CHAPTER SIX TIMES NOW SO I'M AFRAID YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL FANFIC HAVE GOTTEN BACK TO ME OR GO READ IT ON AO3- SAME PENNAME. SORRY GUYS BUT THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO :(

So, it seems I have more apologising to do…I've been absent more than I planned to be. I apologise sincerely, I really do. My pregnancy was hard, I developed Gestational Diabetes and had to have a Caesarean, so I haven't been in much of a frame of mind to write. However, despite going through all that, I have a beautiful baby boy who is now almost 5 months old

As always, the characters in this story are the property of the Marvel Cinematic Universe- no copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Seventeen- First Kiss

Tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, Tony stared blankly at Bucky, his brain scrambled. He had called him Bucky and their teammate. When had things changed so much that he had begun to call the man by his nickname? Even in his mind he no longer thought of the soldier as Barnes, slowly, he had gone from hated murderer to teammate.

Steve gently shook Tony. "You alright?"

He squeaked weirdly, unable to form words and shrugged.

"Okay, well how about we get you something to eat? FRIDAY says you've not eaten in a while." Tony let himself be led away from the room, down to the kitchen, and ate mechanically when Tasha shoved a sandwich in front of him.

He could hear the two of them whispering behind him, concerned over his sudden catatonia. He was shocked, at his own admissions, and that he had been so easily able to reset Bucky. He'd thought it would make him feel better, than he would feel more even. But the truth was that he felt disgusted with himself, ashamed that he had wanted to cause someone pain, even if he was still pissed with them.

"I want Bruce," he croaked.

Tasha knelt at his side. "Okay, I'll go get him for you. Finish your sandwich for me though, alright?"

He nodded and finished it off in two bites, waiting for Bruce to come. He needed his science bro, needed to calm down and sort out his thoughts. She didn't take long to return with him, then Tony was gently manhandled away from the kitchen.

Down to his workshop they went, where Bruce sat him at his desk with the gauntlet on. "Work on that, don't move. I'll be back in 5 minutes."

He tinkered with the gauntlet until Bruce returned, the crinkling of a packet heard at his side. Peering up, he found an open packet of Haribo Tangfastics in his hands, which Tony instantly reached for with a grateful smile.

After eating a few he sighed, sat back and huffed a laugh. "Well, I guess this changes some things."

Bruce sat down and shrugged. "Does it? Really? You had to have realised it was going to happen eventually. Being in close quarters with one another would mean at some point the animosity between you two would have lessened. Is it really so hard to call him his own name?"

Plonking the bag of candy on the worktable, Tony sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. "I guess not, it isn't that though. I wanted to reset him because I knew it would cause him pain to hear those words one last time. I thought it would make me feel better, that it would make us more even."

"Did it?"

Tony shook his head and swiped a hand over his face. "No, damn it. Made me feel like shit, and guilty. I never used to be a man who took pleasure in someone else's pain, but I planned to. Instead, I ended up calling him my teammate."

"Is that really so bad though? You stood for him the night of the fundraiser, he's actively tried to stay out of your way as much as possible, and he's been honest with you about his past with Natasha. I wasn't exactly pleased to learn that myself, but this was in the time before me, so I can't make any judgement on it."

Tony really hated it when Bruce made sense and got him to see it too, but he did it in such a non-judgemental way that he couldn't be annoyed. This man who was pretty much his brother, who spoke his language of the smart people, but was also there for him in some ways others couldn't be.

He made a mental note to check on Clint and make sure he was okay, it can't have easy for him to drag off his comrade, even if he had known it was going to come down to a moment like that. He would also reassure Clint that he had taken no pleasure in causing the super soldier pain and misery.

"I think your theory isn't entirely correct, either. I don't think it's because you meant the words that you were able to reset him. I think that Natasha became so important to him that she was the only one able to do it anymore- but now someone has taken that place."

"Oh, come on, Bruce! There's no way I'm important to him."

Bruce smiled softly. "Wrong. Bucky has fixated himself on making amends with you, on trying to atone for the sins he committed before he knew you. Now, you've become so important to him that he no longer recognises Natasha as his handler, but you. The Soldier reacted to you instantly. Once you'd established that all previous missions were no longer active, the desire to kill you was wiped from his mind. Instead, he allowed you to handle him, and when you wanted Bucky back, whatever part of his brain that is The Solider, retreated."

That he had, Tony thought. The Soldier said all requests would be obeyed, and when he requested for Bucky to return, he had neither fought not argued, simply fading away until Bucky had stood there, confused, until his memories cleared.

"I gotta see Clint for a minute," he murmured. He thanked Bruce for taking care of him and went in search of Hawkeye. He found the bird in his nest once more, toying with his bow. "Hey, Bird Brain, come down for a moment?" He called up.

Clint easily swung down the rafters and landed almost silently next to him. "'Sup?"

Scuffing the floor with the toe of his trainer, Tony gave him the puppy eyes. Clint instantly scowled and threw his hands in the air. "For fuck sake, alright! Climb on."

He laughed and climbed Clint's back, laughing when he used the grappling gun to pull them up to the rafters. He settled on the beam with Clint and grinned madly.

"You're like a damn child," Clint groused, but laughed.

"Yeah, I like heights. I came to apologise, I was kind of an ass back there."

Clint cocked his head, arrow twirling between his fingers. "Not exactly, no. I knew it was going to come to something like this eventually- I knew you'd feel the need to get even."

"I didn't though, it just made me feel like a complete heartless bastard, no better than my dad."

"No!" Clint said sharply. "You are nothing like Howard Stark, Tony. You had a moment of weakness where you thought getting a low shot in would make you feel better. Even if it had, I wouldn't have thought any less of you. You were dealt a shitty hand, and an even worse one when you found out who had murdered your parents. You were entitled to some bitching. But, now that you've done this, do you think it's time to move past the constant anger and at least try to make an effort?"

Tony didn't remember when Clint became another voice of reason. "I called him a teammate, I think that's a start."

Clint slapped his knee and laughed. "Sounds like a damn good start to me. Now, I gotta hide for a bit, before Tasha finds the mess in the microwave…"

"CLINT!" Her voice screamed through the intercoms.

"Gotta go!" He yelped and ran off, leaving Tony to figure out how the hell he was going to climb down from the rafters without help.

-oo0oo-

It had taken some time, but finally, Tony was able to get down from the rafters. He'd called for his jet boots of his suit and just flown down carefully. He soon heard what had pissed Tasha off so much- apparently Clint had been curious what would happen if you microwaved a bowl of large marshmallows and sugar, the resulting mess had taken her over an hour to clean.

Clint was still in hiding and hadn't been seen for hours, Bruce had dragged her away from the kitchen and off with him, Steve was punching a few bags in the gym, and Tony was spending some time catching up with Wanda.

With the time that had passed since he'd last seen her, her powers had grown exponentially, and she had begun to struggle with controlling it. Spending some time talking with her had revealed that it was tied to her emotions, the stronger the emotion she was feeling at the time, the more she struggled with control.

Her problem reminded him of a Disney film, a character who struggled with her powers, and a pair of gloves had been enough for her to have some control. Simple gloves alone would not help Wanda though, not with how strong she had become. Instead, he made gloves that were more hi-tech and something she could wear all the time without losing her life to them.

He worked in silence, Wanda watching him. He cut material, moulded metal, and worked until her gentle voice sounded. "I'm sorry I was so awful to you."

Tony peered up and frowned. "Sorry?"

"During the argument. I said some mean things, I shouldn't have. Rhodey was hurt because Vision was distracted by me, if I hadn't been there in the first place, it wouldn't have happened."

He smiled softly. "Wanda, it wasn't your fault. I locked you away, and even though I thought that I was doing the right thing by you, but I was just trying to keep you there because I didn't want my team to fall apart. It was already happening, and I should have let you choose for yourself what you wanted to do."

She picked up a screwdriver, wrapped her power around it and tightened a screw for him. "What I did to Vision was unforgiveable, but still, he forgives me. For such a long time I hated you, I wanted to see you dead at my feet. But then you were determined to save Sokovia, to stop Ultron from killing everyone, and when it was over, you took me in, added me to the team. I finally had somewhere I belonged, and then Clint gave his son my brother's name as his middle one. I was so happy to know that a part of him, no matter how small, would live on."

Swallowing thickly, Tony cupped her cheek gently. "Pietro lives on in you, Wanda. He lives in every breath you take, you were twins, he will always be half of who you are. Your brother was a brave young man who saved my best friend and a little boy- he gave his own life for theirs. For that, I will always remember him."

Crying silent tears, Wanda clutched at his hand and held it tight between her own. "Thank you, Tony. I'm pleased that you and Bucky are starting to get along, he's a good person, even though he's done wrong. My powers were so out of control one day, everything would set me off. We were ambushing a HYDRA base when I heard someone crying inside, the screams of fear broke me, and I lashed out, nearly took Steve's head off when he tried to stop me charging the base. Bucky grabbed my hands in the metal one, absorbed all the power. It nearly stopped his heart. He did that for me, for Steve, to stop me getting myself killed. That doesn't sound like the actions of a cruel man."

Tony had to agree, it really didn't. It seemed that James Barnes had been making friends out of everyone except for him, at least, for now, anyway. "Yeah, I hear you. Now, back to work. Put these on, and give me your weakest zap."

She slid the gloves over her hands, the material designed to only cover a sliver of her actual fingers, the main part covered her palms. So far, he had worked out that's where the power came from, then it spread over her hands and outwards. Wanda zapped him as weakly as she could, though he still jolted. "Okay, that's good, let me just do a little calibration here."

He tweaked the small box on the back of the gloves, then nodded. "Okay, now give me your highest zap, without any emotions involved, just your natural highest power."

"I don't know, Tony. It's strong, I don't want to hurt you," she fretted, wringing her hands together. "I could do you some serious damage."

Tony grabbed her hands in his. "Listen to me, your fingers are receptors of pressure. When your powers spread out from your palms to your fingertips, the gloves read the output. If it's not hitting anything, it can't get a clear reading. I'll be absolutely fine, I promise. Now, gimme a zap!"

Wanda closed her eyes, and Tony watched as her hands glowed red until the power shot out from her fingertips and travelled into him. It was like being hit by a live wire, his entire body jarred and locked, his heart damn near stopped but he hadn't felt so alive. "Hot damn!" He yelled. "It's like sticking your finger in a plug socket."

"What now?"

Tweaking the gloves again, Tony shook his head to clear his thoughts. "So, the gloves will now read your maximum outage on a normal day, so if you have an emotional outburst, the gloves will absorb the extra power and it will dissipate into the air harmlessly. I've tried to make the gloves as unobtrusive as possible, I figured you wouldn't like elbow length gloves like Elsa."

"The ice queen from the Disney movie? No, thank you, I'm very pleased with my small gloves that leave my fingers free. I'm going to show them off to Vis."

Giving a knowing smile, Tony winked at her. "Sure, say hi for me."

Wanda blushed a dark red and fired a single tiny ball of power that gave him a tiny jolt. He laughed her out of his workshop and cleared away his tools. One small thing he could do for a young woman who had nothing left. Her parents were gone, killed by a falling shell of his company's making, her brother was killed by Ultron, a creature of his creation. But still, she stayed with them, even after all the pain he had caused her, no matter how much he hadn't meant to.

Which begged the question, if she could forgive him for the pain he had caused her, then surely, he could forgive Bucky? A shadow fell over him and he swung round, squeaking when he found Bucky towering over him.

"Um. Hi, thank you for the heart attack," he growled and threw the last of his tools away.

"Sorry, I didn't want to disturb you with Wanda. She's a brilliant young lady, I hope she manages to control her powers, she will be an extremely strong fighter when she does."

Tony nodded and slid the gauntlet onto his hand, flexing his fingers. He rotated the wrist and the repulsor lit up, ready to be fired. "I'm sorry about earlier. I took no pleasure in it, despite what I said. I had thought it would give me some closure, that I'd feel more even for the pain you had caused. I was wrong."

Bucky watched him, the plates in his arm whining as he stretched his arms out and back down to his side. Tony's gaze slid to the arm, his mouth nearly watering at the sheer beauty of such a creation. His fingers itched to really touch it, not just in a repairing capacity. He pulled off the gauntlet and tentatively reached out.

The metal hand met his own, palm upwards, fingers spread out, and let him feel his fill. "Tickles," he chuckled softly.

Yanking his hand back, Tony flushed pink. "Sorry. Erm, I was thinking. Do you want the logo replacing? I sort of figured you might not want to keep the red star, since it's HYDRA and all."

Sitting down, Bucky nodded. "Sure thing. Have any designs in mind?"

Tony swallowed thickly. "I could put on the Cap's shield for you, or maybe a small widow for Tasha."

"No, they're great ideas but not something I'm after."

Arms folded over his chest, Tony huffed a sigh. "Well, what did you have in mind?"

Shrugging, Bucky chuckled. "Nothing in particular really, just not something related to those two. I have all the memories I could want of them, I don't need a physical reminder as well."

"Because that totally narrows it down for me,/em he thought. "Well, okay, go away and think about it. When you have something in mind, come see me, we'll get that star removed and a new mark in place."

Tony thought he would leave then, but when he turned back round, the soldier was still stood behind him. "What?" He sighed.

Bucky shrugged and swung around on the stool. "Nothing, I just like being here."

He blinked several times before he answered. "Erm. Okay, well there's a scrap heap just over there if you're wanting to do something with them. Just metal and some parts. I suppose you could always make BUCK-E a friend."

Bucky flushed dark pink and coughed. "You've met BUCK-E?"

"Yep, he certainly likes to make sure I know you're around. Continually brings me little things of yours, feeds information back to FRIDAY to make sure I know. He's got quite the personality."

Bucky chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, the flush darkening. "Err, yeah. I decided to make him quirky- suppose I made him a little like you."

Shifting awkwardly, Tony cleared his throat and busied himself with the designs for his latest suit, giving Bucky a dismissal of sorts. He wasn't entirely sure how to react to such a statement, he'd already been trying to work out what agenda the bot had when he kept bringing him things, things that belonged to the super soldier.

-oo0oo-

Working in silence, Tony played with his designs until his eyes started to blur, and nothing made any sense. Coffee tickled his nose, making his mouth water. He peeked out from under his folded arms where his head rested, a cup of coffee hovering there in a hand with shiny metal fingers.

"Clint made it, said it was the concoction you needed," Bucky murmured.

He grabbed at the mug and took a scalding gulp, sighing in happiness when it burned its way down his throat. "Oh my god, I think I love you a bit," he cried, taking another gulp.

There was little chance to realise who he had said the words to before a hand was tangled in his hair, and warm lips pressed to his own, gentle, with little pressure, but scorching nonetheless. Sense returned to him, and he quickly shoved away from Bucky, his eyes wide and angry.

"The fuck was that?" He hissed coldly.

Bucky raised his hands and backed away a bit, his eyes screaming contrition. "I'm sorry, shit, I wasn't thinking."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Not thinking? Why in god's name would you even consider it for a split second?"

"I…fuck! I'm sorry, Tony! I was just…I was pleased to see you happy about something, I just didn't think."

Slamming the coffee cup down hard enough to shatter it, Tony got as close as his height would allow him, his face cold and hard. "You are lucky I was caught off guard. Try that again and I will put a hole through your chest, Barnes."

He stalked off muttering to himself and threw a glare over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes when he saw Barnes was smiling. "Fucking Tin Boy," he growled and stomped out, calling FRIDAY to order him his favourite mug…again.

Well, there you have it! Our boys have had their first kiss! Was it what you expected? I really hope you didn't just think Tony would cow-tow to him that easily! I have another chapter already written, so I'll post that in a couple of days since you've all been so patient with me! I love you all, immeasurably!