Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count - 1969

Fic Detail - TonyBucky / Deaging

Written for Ari for Drabble Game - TonyBucky / "Are you still mad or can I get a cuddle now?"

Nice To Be Needed

"Did you even put any sunscreen on, Tony?" Bucky asked, sitting on the edge of the sun lounger Tony was sprawled across.

Tony shook his head and shifted onto his back, humming with satisfaction when Bucky snorted and squeezed some of the cream into his hands, before he spread it over Tony's back, taking his time to massage it as he did so.

"You're so good at that," Tony murmured, his eyes falling shut.

When he was done, Bucky wiped his hands off with a towel draped over the top of the sun lounger and pressed a kiss to Tony's temple. It was nice to see him relax; Tony hardly ever took time out for himself.

It was at Bucky's request that he'd turned the top of the tower into an extra team area, a fake garden of sorts. It was Bucky's happy place, and having Tony up there only made it a million times happier.

The genius reached out to grab the cup he'd placed beneath the lounger and lifted it to his lips, pouting when no liquid came out.

"I'm all out of coffee, baby," he pouted. "I'd get another but I'm too damn lazy."

Laughing, Bucky shook his head. "I'll go and get you something cold to drink, okay? It's too melty out here to be drinking coffee."

"But… coffee?"

"Iced coffee?"

"Ew."

"Lemonade?"

Tony looked thoughtful for a moment before he smiled. "You're the best."

Bucky stood up and stretched. Thought they were few and far between, he loved days like this, when Tony would just relax and let Bucky take care of him.

Before he even got to the door, the Avenger's alert sounded through the building, immediately vanishing Bucky's plans for the day. In seconds, Tony lost his relaxed demeanor and was up and off the lounger.

"Talk to me, J."

Bucky followed behind the genius, cursing the villains of New York with every step.

…

They were running out of time, Tony knew. They'd been fighting for hours, and it wasn't getting them anywhere. Stephen Strange had been called in and he was on his way, but none of them knew when he'd arrive and Tony knew that he had to do something.

He hated magic so much.

"We need to fix this. Now," he said into the comms, his focus on the witch who was causing the destruction.

"Iron Man, wait on Dr Strange!" Cap called, though he was out of breath.

It was that, more than anything else, that forced Tony onwards. His team were losing. They were taking too many hits and he couldn't sit back and let them continue to get hurt.

With Steve's voice in his ear, shouting at him to fall back, Tony flew at full speed towards the witch. He almost had her, but at the last second, she seemed to catch sight of him from the corner of her eye and he was engulfed in a flash of light.

The last thing he knew was the feeling of his body compressing until he passed out from the pain.

…

Bucky paced back and forth like a caged animal. He knew that he wasn't supposed to be unstable these days, but knowing Tony—and to a slightly lesser extent, Steve—were out there putting themselves in danger while he stayed home, made him crazy.

When the team finally trooped into the tower, minus the Iron Man armour, he was practically beside himself.

"Just… sit down, Buck. I'll explain," Steve said tiredly, running a hand through his already messy hair.

Bucky had to bite his tongue to quiet demands for immediate explanations, and for a moment, he was sidetracked by the toddler Widow was carrying in. More so when the little boy caught sight of him and immediately made grabby hands in his direction.

Frowning, Bucky looked from Nat to Steve and back, wincing when the boy's bottom lip started to tremble the longer Bucky didn't hold his hands out.

"Who… who's the kid?"

"Uh. Well. Tony always did like you best?" Steve offered, and it took a moment for the statement to sink.

"Say that again, with more details," Bucky asked, his brow furrowing, even as he accepted the little boy into his arms.

"Tony pissed a witch off and she turned him mini," Clint said, shrugging. "Strange said he'll be back to normal within a week, so… I guess you've got a kid instead of a boyfriend for a while."

Tony snuggled against his chest, and Bucky adjusted his arms slightly to make him more comfortable.

"I still don't understand. This is… this is Tony?"

Steve nodded. "It is. Like Clint said, Strange is sure its temporary, and Sam is out shopping for... kid things for him?"

Closing his eyes for a moment before he opened them and looked down at Tony, Bucky sighed. Well. He had wanted to look after his boyfriend more often.

He really hated it when his wishes came true in the worst possible way.

…

Toddler Tony was adorable. Smart as a whip, but shy and quiet, he clung to Bucky almost all of the time. At the moment, he was playing with a toy robot Clint had bought for him beside Bucky on the sofa, in a dinosaur shirt and shorts.

"Are you hungry, sweetheart?" Bucky asked, looking fondly at the little boy. It had been two days, and they already had a routine down pat.

Tony nodded, smiling shyly up at him, his eyes sparkling. Bucky grinned.

"Well, we can have… pancakes? Or Waffles?"

Biting his lip, little Tony looked thoughtful for a moment, before he whispered, "Pancakes."

"Pancakes it is. Do you want to come to the kitchen or should I have Clint come play with you while I make them?"

Tony gripped his robot and that was enough for Bucky. "Okay, sweetheart. "J, can you ask Clint to come and keep our little man company, please?"

"Of course," J replied, and Tony looked around hopefully the way he always did when he heard J.A.R.V.I.S. speak. Bucky looked on with concern as Tony's face fell when he didn't see anyone.

He didn't understand what, or who, Tony was expecting when he heard the AI, but it was frustrating. He hated to see Tony upset, no matter his size.

"Oh, he is precious," came a female voice from behind them, and Bucky turned to see Pepper striding towards them from the elevator, Colonel Rhodes on her heels.

"Pep!" Tony announced, and she practically melted as he lifted his arms up.

"Belay that message to Clint, J. We got him," Rhodes said, smiling at Bucky before he turned his attention to Tony and Pepper.

"Hey, Tones."

Tony stared at him for a moment before he giggled the cutest giggle Bucky had ever heard and pressed his face to Pepper's shoulder.

"Oh, that's how is it?" Rhodey asked, reaching out to gently tickle Tony's stomach.

Shrieking laughter followed Bucky into the kitchen, and he couldn't help but smile to himself as he made Tony's pancakes.

He was looking forward to having his Tony back, but he had to admit, he was enjoying having someone to take care of.

Though… Tony was so happy with Pepper and Rhodey, that Bucky might not actually be necessary for much longer.

…

He quickly realised that his fears were unfounded, as after lunch, when it was time for Tony's nap, the little boy was quick to reach for Bucky. He curled up on Bucky's lap, with his head pillowed on his chest, and within minutes, his eyes were closed and his breathing even.

"How's he been?" Rhodes asked quietly.

"He's doing okay. Quieter than expected, seems to be the general consensus," Bucky admitted. "We've not had any resistance from him at all, which… it's just a little odd. Tony's contrary for the sake of it most of the time."

Pepper snorted and nodded. "I think I would have expected a pretty rambunctious kid, if anyone asked what I thought a child Tony would be like."

"Another thing is… whenever J.A.R.V.I.S. talks, Tony looks around like he's expecting someone. I'm not sure if it's just… a normal thing to do, but he seems to be upset when he doesn't see anyone."

"His memory seems to be mixed of now and when he was actually a kid, huh?" Rhodes said, looking thoughtful. "When Tony was a boy, he had a butler called Edwin Jarvis. From the way Tony told it, the butler practically brought him up, so it's possible Tony's looking for him."

"That… makes sense," Bucky agreed. "It should only be for a few more days. Hopefully we can keep him happy until he changes back into his adult self."

"Well, he seems pretty happy right now," Pepper said, smiling at the way Tony's hand was gripping Bucky's shirt. "I don't think you'll have much of a problem."

"Maybe you're right."

…

When Tony turned back into himself, he was asleep. When he woke up, the cuddles and kisses Bucky was expecting seemed to be the last thing on his mind as he scrambled from the sofa, looking horrified.

"Tony? Are you… okay? You seem a little… angry?" Bucky asked, a little groggy from the afternoon nap.

"Excuse me if I seem a little unimpressed with this," Tony snapped, shaking his head. "I'll be in the workshop if anyone needs me. Try not to need me."

And he was gone, before Bucky could even register his complaints that he'd missed his boyfriend very much. Wiping sleep from his eyes, Bucky figured he'd have time to talk to Tony later, when he'd recalibrated a little bit.

Except… later didn't come, and Bucky didn't see Tony for three days. When he did finally see his boyfriend, he wasn't sure what to say. Tony was in a fitted blue suit, having clearly snuck off to a meeting of some sort, since Gala's aside, the only time Tony wore suits these days was for meetings.

"Are you still mad, or can I get a cuddle now?" Bucky asked, arching his eyebrow.

Tony seemed to hesitate for a moment before he opened his arms. Bucky wrapped Tony up as Tony wrapped his own arms around Bucky's neck.

"I wasn't mad at you," Tony promised quietly. "I just…"

Bucky pulled back enough to look at Tony. "What is it?"

"My childhood was… not the best I guess. I search my memories and they're empty of cuddles and playtime and… you did all of that with me. You let me sleep on your lap! You were… you were everything I wanted my dad to be when I was little and I wasn't really sure how to deal with that, so I ran away, the same way I always do."

Swallowing hard against a sudden rush of emotion, Bucky pressed his lips to Tony's. When he pulled back, he said, "I'm glad that I gave you the memories you were missing. I'm also really, really, glad that you're you again. As much as I liked feeling needed, I missed having my Tony around."

"You're always needed, sweetheart," Tony murmured. "Even when I'm busy, just having you in the lab, or even just getting a text from you, you always make me smile. You remind me that no matter how shitty things are, or can get, I've got you to come home too."

"I'll always be here to welcome you home, baby."

Tony leant up for a kiss, and his lips tilted up into a smirk. "How about you welcome me back to bed, huh? I've got an itch that only you can scratch."

Laughing, Bucky hauled Tony up, ignoring his sudden protests, and carried him towards the bedroom. He had a boyfriend to spoil.

Written for:

Disney - C7. Running out of time.

Trope - 11. "We need to fix this. Now."

Space - 9. Unstable

Showtime - 15. Blue

Attic - 18 ."I'm all out of coffee, baby. I'd get another but I'm too damn lazy."

Press Play - 7. Dinosaur Shirt

Liza Loves - 2. Resistance

Angel's Archive - D4. "Excuse me if I seem a little unimpressed with this."

Scamander's Case - 25. Empty

Basement - 12. Sunscreen

Festival - 14. Concern

Galleon - 1. Hesitate

Pinata - Hard - Slash

365. 281. Cuddle