Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count - 1050

Fic Detail - TonyBucky / Soulmate!AU - When you turn a certain age, you swap bodies with your soulmate.

Unfrozen

It was cold. Tony couldn't move as inch, couldn't even blink his eyes. It was like his subconscious was trapped inside a mind that wasn't his and he hated it. This wasn't like the stories he heard, of swapping bodies and leaving messages for your soulmate to find you.

It was nothing like the love stories they printed in the magazines every day, or that he heard from his friends and acquaintances.

He could only hope that his soulmate was having more luck in his body.

…

Tony woke with a gasp, his body wracked with shivers.

"Tony!"

"Pep? What… what happened?"

"You were unconscious," she told him, squeezing his hand. "We didn't know what was happening, there was… nothing. We were so worried! Rhodey's on his way in and—"

"Phone him and tell him I'm fine," Tony said, shaking his head. "He doesn't need to come out here."

"Too late," said a voice at the door, and Tony saw Rhodey leaning against the doorframe. He waved playfully. "Why are you always in hospital beds when I see you?"

Tony snorted and made grabby hands. "You can't come here and not cuddle me, Honeybear, it's rude!"

Rolling his eyes, Rhodey moved forwards and hugged Tony tight, pulling back enough to look at his face. "You've gotta stop doing this, Tones. My heart can't take the stress."

"It's not like I did it on purpose," Tony protested. "I'm forty. The body swap happened."

Pepper blinked. "But—"

"I don't get it either, Pep. It was like I was trapped in a body that was… frozen?"

Rhodey and Pepper stared at him, and Tony could only nod in understanding. Whatever had happened, it wasn't good. He just didn't have the first idea how to start searching for answers."

…

Coulson's appearance was the first thing that happened that took Tony's mind off of the question of what had happened to his soulmate. The news that Captain America—the original no less—had been found and unfrozen.

Unfrozen.

It was… an idea.

…

The problem with that idea was that Captain America was an absolute douchebag.

Okay, Tony probably could have behaved better too, but really? Steve Rogers didn't know the first thing about Tony, and yet, he'd been shown a few video's and he suddenly thought himself superior? Oh hell no.

Tony wasn't going to let the jumped up science experiment look down on him like he was lesser. A snowball had a better chance of surviving in hell.

…

Tony opened his eyes and looked around. It was dark, but he was in a lab of some kind. There were scientists standing around him, and he didn't want to move for fear of them asking him questions.

The familiar octopus signal only made him more wary. Was his soulmate Hydra?

"Soldat!"

Tony stared forwards, not sure what was happening. He bit back a gasp of pain when he was prodded harshly in the ribs.

"Soldat! Ready to comply?"

Swallowing hard, Tony followed his instincts and repeated, "Ready to comply."

His voice was husky and low, almost a growl. Whatever the hell this was, he had to get his soulmate out of this.

…

"James Buchanan Barnes," Pepper told Tony, as soon as he opened his eyes. "He's the Winter Soldier, Tony. The ghost assassin."

"What? How the hell—"

"He woke up this time. I'm not sure what happened last time, but… it was… an adventure. It took us a while to convince him that he was safe but then he started panicking about you and… we have the recordings of all the information he gave us though, and… Tony, we've got to save him."

Tony nodded. "I know."

…

From the recordings, Tony worked out that Barnes was being kept in cryo a lot of the time, and that he'd managed to start throwing off the brainwashing that Hydra was subjecting him too. Further research told Tony that he was, in fact, Cap's long lost bestie, and wasn't that going to be awkward?

Sure, the two of them got along better now than when they'd first met, but…

Christ.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, get Rogers on the phone."

…

Tony stared at the navy blue costume Steve was currently wearing and shook his head. "That's not a good idea. I don't know if you know this, Rogers, but Barnes isn't going to react well to Captain America. He needs Steve right now."

"I just—"

"Please trust me on this?" Tony interjected. "You know him best and blah blah, I know, okay. I just… I understand being tortured, and while he's had it a hell of a lot worse than I ever did… he's not going to want to see that uniform, okay?"

"I… okay, Tony."

…

It was… carnage.

But it worked.

…

"I can't tell if… I feel like if I believe you're here, I'm going to realise that I managed to hallucinate you into existence."

Tony snorted. "Sorry, Snowflake, but not even you could hallucinate this kind of awesome."

Bucky chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "So. Soulmates?"

Nodding, Tony smiled slightly. "Apparently. There's going to be a… a lot to sort through, not to mention you… well, far be it from me to make decisions for you, but I feel like you're probably going to need a lot of help. To, you know…"

"Be a functional human being?"

"Get your life back," Tony rephrased, reprovingly.

"I… you're right. The triggers… Tony, I'm so scared that they could—"

"That's not going to happen," Tony said firmly. "I won't let them get to you again. We'll find a way forward, Snowflake. One way or the other."

"I don't… I'll never be the Bucky that Steve's looking for. I don't even really remember who that is."

"You don't have to be anyone other than who you are now. I'll deal with Steve if I have to," Tony murmured. "We can do this, Snowflake. You'll see."

…

Waking up beside yourself is… a strange feeling.

Tony watched his own eyes open and a lazy smile spread across his own lips. "Well. This is different."

Tony, from Bucky's eyes, with Bucky's voice, chuckled. "It's something," he agreed.

"Does this mean we can fuck with Steve?" Bucky asked, grinning sinfully.

Tony smirked. "As if that was ever in question."

Written for:

Romance Awareness - Day 9. When you turn a certain age, you swap bodies with your soulmate for one day of the year.

Romance Awareness - Extra - 24. Waving at a friend.

Galleon - Navy Blue

365. 171. Hallucinate