Can We Ever Be Together? Chapter 3, an avengers fanfic

'Maybe it is better if I got some sleep too. The next few days might be hectic' he thought as he headed to bed. Somewhere across the world, Tony was smiling at hearing Bucky's voicemail and got onto a plane to reach the meeting spot.

Tony was feeling very nervous. He could still remember the first time he met Steve in the past. 'That was one hell of a meeting, passing out on them from pain and blood loss.'

Flashback

Utterly battered up, breathing heavily from the impact of his body with the ground. He sat up slowly, groaning as he jolted most of the wounds as he sat up in confusion.

"Where am I?" he asked to the air, with a grunt of pain. Suddenly, he saw a flash of blond hair in front of him, asking something with concern clearly written on his face. "You are bleeding heavily sir. Buck, call the ambulance!" was all Tony could hear and immediately shook his head.

"Sir but you are bleeding heavily and need immediate assistance!" Steve said, voice filled with concern and determination. "No... hospitals... hate them. I... can take... care of it... not... the... first time..." Tony gasped out. "Need... some... help... though." he said.

"Buck, carry him to our house while I take his suitcase. Seems like he is allergic to hospitals." Steve said quickly as he went to pick up the red and gold suitcase. "Are you sure Steve? We don't know who he is and..."

"I am sure Bucky. Whoever he is, he needs our help right now so shut up for now and carry him." Steve said. Tony was too much in pain to register the talk going around him and felt himself being carried suddenly, letting out a short gasp as he felt a wound being jolted and soon saw black spots before passing out.

'What if Steve or Bucky don't remember? What if they don't believe me? What if they hate me for whatever happened? Will they like me now as they liked me back then? Will everything change?' Tony thought as he was waiting near the honorary grave of Stan in the outskirts of London.

At the same time, somewhere on the way to London, Steve leaned back on the seat, thinking about his experience on meeting Tony for the first time.

Steve had been on his way home with Bucky when he heard a sudden noise in the alley way and rushed forward to see what had happened. There, he was greeted with the sight of a man bleeding out badly, looking around in confusion.

"Excuse me sir? What happened? Who did this to you? Where are you from? You are bleeding very badly sir. Buck, call the ambulance! He is bleeding out badly!" Steve shouted to Bucky, who was standing in a corner.

When he saw the man shaking his head, he immediately was even more concerned. "Sir, but you are bleeding heavily and need immediate assistance!" he said, voice filled with concern and determination. "No... hospitals... hate them. I... can take... care of it... not... the... first time..." Tony gasped out. "Need... some... help... though." he said.

"I am sure Bucky. Whoever he is, he needs our help right now so shut up for now and carry him." Steve said. Bucky reluctantly lifted Tony up, careful not to jolt any of the injuries and felt him go limp soon after.

"Anything we do, we need to hurry up Steve. He is losing blood quickly and I think it is better to take him to the hospital Stevie" Bucky said.

"No Bucky, if he doesn't want to go to the hospital, we will take care of him." Steve said stubbornly and took Tony to his home. The following days were really tiring. They had to constantly check upon him, and Steve had fallen sick in the middle, Bucky had to goo to work, neither of them being professional doctors did not help the situation. At times they regretted not taking him to the hospital.

But they didn't admit him for two reasons. One was they did not know where he has come from or anything about him and two, the device on his chest. The moment they saw it, they understood why he didn't want to go to the hospital. They waited for him to wake up patiently.

'That was a long wait for him to wake up. Now I realise why he was that injured when we met him' Steve thought as the cab came to a stop. "Nervous?" Bucky asked. "Definitely nervous and guilty. Will he forgive us after all that we have done? Will we ever be the same?" Steve asked and Bucky remained silent, not knowing what to answer.

To pass time, Tony stared at the grave of Stan, one that he had found after some deep research into the old SHIELD files that he had saved without anyone noticing.

"Here rests Anthony Stan, one of the best soldiers who fought in World War II, a part of the Howling Commandos. May he rest in peace.

Born: 29 May 1910

Died: 30 May 1943

The lover of Steven Rogers and James Barnes"

the headstone read, the last one so small that it was microscopic. The irony was that he certainly hadn't died and the world had almost forgotten about him due to the sorcerer stunt. True, the world didn't know about Stan as it was a secret that he was in the group. Only the family of the Commandos and a few SHIELD members knew about him.

And the sorcerer stunt even erased that away, the little evidence that he had been in the 2nd World War, apart from the files that no one touched were gone. All because of a stupid sorcerer. And now, Tony had to deal with telling something that had no records for a proof. This totally sucked.

Tony turned around at the sound of footsteps and froze at seeing Steve and Bucky, visualising them in their military get up as they approached him, a sight he would give his life to see again.

"Hi Tony." Steve said curtly, with a tinge of nervousness and Bucky gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Hi Steve, hi Barnes." Tony replied, a little downhearted. Steve went past Tony to pay respects to Stan, before facing Tony.

"The last time I came here, I never expected to see him alive. Seems like my wish was fulfilled. Never thought that I would forget about him that easily. " Steve confessed, his voice filled with emotion, mostly regret, guilt and hope. "So... should we call you Tony or Stan?" Steve asked.

"I'm still Tony then and now Steve. And I don't blame any of you, and as much as I want to blame that sorcerer, I can't do it as he was the reason for all this complications to happen in the first place." Tony said.

"Um... can someone please explain what is going on? I mean, I remember that the 3 of us were in a relationship from the similar rings we have, I remember that Stan... Tony is somehow related in this but how is he related with us? How did it happen?" Bucky asked.

"Even I wish to know Tony. Most of my memories are still foggy, the only one that is vivid is the one when you landed in the past I believe." Steve said.

"Don't worry Steve. That's why I've called you two here. And no, I honestly don't blame you for not saying this before and certainly not for forgetting me. I can understand what had happened and will never blame you. It is true I was initially hurt that you chose Bucky over me but after thinking for sometime, I realised that you had probably forgotten whatever had happened." Tony explained.

"And Bucky, I certainly don't blame you for killing my parents. The past versions of them and the version I grew up with were completely different. Even though I miss them, I would never blame it on you. I was mostly angry at Steve for not telling it to me before itself." Tony said. "Ready to listen to a story? I found one of dad's houses here nearby, we will be staying there for a while. Hope you packed!" Tony said and skipped inside.

A/N: A new chapter is up people! So all the flashbacks will start from the next chapter onwards if you hadn't noticed it. I know the characters are a little out of character but... I like it this way so I don't regret it.

Hope you all liked it! All comments and criticisms accepted and appreciated. I will be busy for the next two to three weeks with schoolwork and other things so the updates can be and little here and there.

Thank you all, for reading!

Rasnak signing off :) ;)

UPDATED ON 6 OCTOBER 2018