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Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count: 439

It's Mutual

Bucky followed Tony outside to the bench at the bottom of the garden of the compound. He had a bad feeling in his stomach, despite Tony telling him that it wasn't anything 'too bad'.

They sat down, and Bucky automatically put his arm around his husband's shoulders. "What's going on, Tones?"

"I, uh. So I want to preface this by telling you that nothing is certain yet and there might be, uh. Well. Something else."

Bucky frowned. "Tony, you're not making sense."

"I might be dying," Tony blurted out.

Bucky felt like the ground had just dropped from under his feet. His chest tightened until it was hard to breathe, and his heart pounded so hard in his chest that he felt like it might actually burst out onto the grass beneath them.

"Tony—"

"I'm sorry," Tony said, rubbing Bucky's back. "I shouldn't have told you like that, I just don't know how to soften this. Nothing is certain, Buck, but we promised no secrets so… I'm just trying to make sure that you know what's going on."

"What is going on?"

"We're not sure yet. Helen is worried about my heart. It's possible that I've just… abused it too much in the years since Afghanistan. Honestly, Buck, I've been living on borrowed time since then, so this isn't a huge shock."

Bucky would beg to differ.

"Tony…"

"There's, uh, something. Something that could help but—"

"How long have you known?" Bucky asked. "How long have you known that you could be dying?"

"Just a couple of days," Tony promised. He reached over to squeeze Bucky's hand. "Listen to me, okay. Nothing is set."

"What's the something?"

"Do you remember me telling you about extremis?" Tony asked, biting his lip.

"The thing that made Pepper set on fire?"

Tony nodded. "Yeah, that. For a few years, it's been on both mine and Helen's servers, and we've worked on it here and there. We think there's a possibility it could fix me. We're still looking at it, but… I guess it's there as a failsafe."

Bucky nodded. "I can't lose you, Tony. I can't. Promise me you won't—"

"I promise I'll do everything I can to stay with you for as long as possible," Tony replied softly, submitting to the strong arms that pulled him close.

Bucky hugged him tightly, resting his cheek against Tony's head. "Thank you for telling me."

"I love you," Tony murmured. "More than life itself, I love you. Tell me you know that."

Bucky pulled away, just enough so that he could look Tony in the eye. "I know that. The feeling is entirely mutual."

Written for:

Showtime, 17. "How long have you known?"

Empire, 14. Setting: garden

Scrapbooking: Leaves: set outside