A/N- Thanks to those that reviewed, it wasn't enough but I loathe when writers do it, and it was done. This will be another quick update, hope yall like it.

Chapter 7

~&~&~Common Floor~*~*~

Tony watched with his face pressed against the giant windows on the floor, as his teammates and Rhodey, left the tower via the Helicarrier. He watched it go by wistfully, wishing he could go but smiling softly to himself that he would be able to be entertained. Now that he was alone, he allowed his adult mindset to come forth and gave a chuckle of amusement as he replayed the end of the previous conversation.

Leave it to good old Rhodey to know him much better than anyone else. Speaking of which, he turned back to look at the window to make sure they weren't coming back in case they forgot something.

"Jarvis, I want you to disable all of the other commands the others gave you. I don't want you to alert them of anything that is currently or will be going on in the tower. I have something I need to do, and it involves Bucky," Tony said quietly. It took quite a lot for him to speak without the lisp he had, it was quite tiring. However, he didn't want to take any chances with this command at the moment.

"I know sir; I will keep track of the Avengers progress. If they start to come home earlier than planned, I will keep you updated on that and warn you when need be," the A.I. promised.

"Good, fank you Jawvis," Tony said with a happy sigh as he glanced out at the empty sky. "What is Bucky up too now?"

"Mister Barnes is also looking out the window, are you going up now?" Jarvis asked curiously.

"Yes I just want to bwing my twains," Tony said happily as he went and grabbed his aforementioned toys before he headed to the elevator. Pressing the button for Steve's floor he stood in the elevator patiently, giggling every now and again to himself. He took a step out of the elevator and headed towards the man's rooms. "Is it open Jawvis?"

"Yes sir, Lockdown is shut down and cancelled," Jarvis intoned.

"Good," Tony chirped out before he twisted the handle of the door and let himself inside of the man's rooms. "Bucky? Whewe awe you?" He called out curiously as he walked further into the flat and looked around.

Bucky for his part had been floored when he had heard the locks opening, he had wondered if someone was breaking in or if the A.I. had a breakdown. He had felt actual terror for a moment as he realized that Tony would be downstairs alone without anyone to protect him. He calmed himself down quickly enough when he heard the child's voice as casual as it could be. He slowly came from his hiding place behind the door to look at the child incredulously.

"Anthony Stark, just what on earth are you doing up here?" Bucky asked in an appalled tone. He had to fight to keep a straight face as he realized both he and Rhodes had been of the same frame of mind. Both James had been right about this little boy trying something. Though he hadn't thought the child would outright lie about it.

Tony wasn't one to be deterred at all and simply gave the man a wide grin. "I came to pway wiff you, I bought my twains wiff me too," he said holding out two trains in his hands. His track was set up downstairs so he was hoping he might be able to persuade the man to come down with it. It should be a piece of cake because no one else was currently here at the moment, and they weren't due back for quite some time.

"Tony, I need you to listen to me bug. It's not safe for you to be up here with me. I don't want to hurt you. What happens if I trigger and you're close by?" Bucky said in a serious tone trying to get the boy to see reason.

"Jarvis bewieves dat you have a twigger word, and dat it's either in Gewman or Wussian or a mixture of both. I, while fwuent in both don't know all of the wowds in it, so Jawvis finks that dere is no way dat I can twigger you. Especially 'cause I will only speak in Engwish. We will be okay, I pwomise," he assured the man seriously.

"You promised Rhodes you wouldn't seek me out," Bucky pointed out bluntly.

"Yes but I cwossed my fingers when I did it, I'm not doing dat now," the little boy replied cheekily as he held up both his palms so the man could see for himself.

Bucky couldn't help it when his face broke out into a grin at the child's cheeky explanation. The boy had a such a smart mouth, it was almost like he was talking to a kid version of Steve. "Alright then, I suppose we can play," he decided lightly. He knew at this point he didn't really have a choice, the boy had sought him out after all.

"Gweat!" Tony chirped out quickly reaching forward to hug the man around the legs before he held up his trains.

"What?" Bucky asked in confusion as he looked down at the child.

"Pick a twain pwease," Tony elaborated happily.

Bucky looked from both the red and gold steam train and the black and silver one. He knew the child would one day be the Iron Man as Steve kept pointing out. And he was pretty sure that red was probably the child's favorite color, he mentally reasoned out. "I'll take this one," he said as he grabbed the black one. He didn't notice which hand he had grabbed it with, just intent on pleasing the child.

Tony however did, and as Bucky went and grabbed the black train, the little boy gave a loud gasp of happiness. For once both of his mindsets were on the same page. He looked at the man's silver arm with awe and glee and his fingers twitched with the urge to just touch it and see how it felt. "Oh wow," he breathed out reverently.

Bucky glanced at the child in confusion, unsure of what the hell was going on. "What is it Tony?"

"Your awm," Tony answered out softly. There were no other words for him to explain the glee he was currently feeling at looking at such a specimen.

Bucky gritted his teeth at the child's words, wanting to quickly yank the offending limb back. He was sure he had probably terrified the child with it, he hated it himself. It had done some truly horrific things. He lost himself for a moment in his memories which is why he found himself startled again when he heard the child's voice yet again.

"Can I touch it pwease? I'll be so caweful wiff it," Tony begged out eagerly.

Bucky wasn't totally sure what possessed him to say yes, but he gave the child a smile and gestured over to the bed so they could sit down. He would rather sit with his arm resting on his lap, just in case he got a reflex. He didn't want to accidentally hit the child with it, he could severely hurt the boy or worse.

"Yes but let's go sit down," Bucky said as he led the way to the bed and took a seat. He bent down with his free hand to pick the child up and set him up on the bed.

Tony looked at the man in awe as he was picked up. "You awe stwong," he said happily before he climbed over into the man's lap.

The little boy placed the silver arm around his lap and gently ran his hands over the arm. The adult mindset had resurfaced and he was quickly taking it all in, just in case the man took it away.

He noted every crack, and bolt and every squeak. He was already thinking of ways that he could make it better for the man, and less painful. He knew prosthetics hurt, and even when you got used to them, they still hurt. He didn't want Bucky to be in pain if he didn't have too. Tony was very thorough with his ministrations, even forgetting just who was inspecting.

But the man never wavered, he never shuddered. He allowed all of this, and that warmed up Tony more than the man could ever know. Once he was completely finished mentally cataloguing what he needed to do, he turned to look up at the man's face who was looking down at him in obvious amusement. "Fank you," Tony whispered out softly as he held the arm between his two hands and relaxed his back against the man's torso.

"No Tony, thank you," Bucky said in the same soft tone. The child didn't even know what he had done; he didn't understand the significance of his behavior, but Bucky did. And he loved him for it. This little thing could let go of all of the stereotypes, even knowing the role that Bucky played and he still managed to forgive him. They didn't deserve Tony Stark, but he was thankful to whoever was up there, that they had him.

Tony smiled softly, he allowed his child mindset to fully come forth. His adult mindset was in the same frame of mind that Steve had, Bucky wasn't going to hurt him at all. He might have just gained another protector.

~&~&~Breaking a Line&~&~&~

It was a half hour later when Tony moved from his cuddle position on Bucky's lap, it was really an ideal place to be but his little mind was getting a bit bored. He would definitely be having more cuddles later, though hopefully they would be able to watch a movie at the same time too.

"Do you wanna go see my twain twack?" Tony asked as he turned around to look at the man. He knew that as much as he wanted to be carried, the other man might need some space so he reluctantly climbed down from his lap.

"Where is your track set up?" Bucky asked as he stood up next to the child and gave a stretch.

"On the common floor, we have a bunch of twacks set up so we can even wace da twains," he said happily.

"Sounds like it'll be really fun bug," he said with a grin of his own. The child's excitement was contagious as well. He held the child's hand and made his way towards the steps.

Tony allowed the man to lead though he looked back at the elevator in confusion. "Why we taking da steps?" He asked curiously, wondering if the man didn't see the elevator there.

"Because the elevator only has one exit, and we will be sitting ducks if something were to happen," Bucky replied honestly. "However if we take the stairs that gives us a fighting chance of coming out okay," he added quickly not wanting to scare the child.

"I not dat good wiff steps Bucky," Tony said fearfully as he looked down the stairs with trepidation.

"I am, so you have nothing to worry about Tony," Bucky replied easily as he bent down and picked up the boy. He adjusted the child so his metal arm was holding the child securely on his hip as he descended the stairs.

Tony laid his head against the man's neck relishing in the comfort as Bucky led them downstairs to the common room floor. There Tony pointed out all of train tracks, jabbering away at what they could do.

He was just so excited that he had a playmate and he wasn't at all wary of Bucky Barnes. The tiny tot allowed the man to place him on the floor and he eagerly made his way to place his train on the track, instructing the man to do the same. There he started playing.

~*~*~A few hours later*~*~*~*~*

Bucky was fairly amused at how much energy the child seemed to have, they had gone from racing trains, to building puzzles, to coloring and then to playing with Avenger toys no less. He had been more than thrilled to let the boy have his fun, and if he hadn't of had all of his training he thought he would have been more than a little run down.

As it was he had loads of patience, which led him to watching the child more to make sure he didn't injure himself in his excitement. He laughed lightly as he saw the boy jumping up once more wanting to show him something else and he was amazed at his exuberance. He just went with it.

Tony was in love with Bucky, the older man didn't seem to be getting annoyed with him at all. As it was, he himself was starting to feel a bit tired but he didn't want to stop. This was the most continuous fun that he could remember having in quite some time and of course he didn't want it to end. As he stood up yet again to show Bucky this cool thing that Jarvis could do for them, he suddenly froze and found himself unable to move.

Bucky who had been watching the child, also froze and casually looked around trying to see if he could find the source of what had made the child react like that. "What's the matter Tony?" He whispered out quietly.

The little boy didn't answer right away too busy focusing on his body and trying very carefully to walk, only to find that he couldn't. He made a distressed sound as his abdomen contracted heavily. "Oh no," he whispered out, completely ignoring Bucky for the time being.

"What do you mean 'oh no'? What's happened?" Bucky repeated, his hand automatically dropping towards his back to where he had an emergency weapon to protect them if he needed too.

Tony flushed red in embarrassment as he felt the warm liquid starting to run down his pants leg. He couldn't do anything to stop it, he had waited much too long and his body had decided for him. He swallowed thickly not wanting to see the man's reaction to his accident at all. He couldn't even run, because his bladder wasn't yet empty.

Bucky released a sigh of relief when he realized what had the child so tensed. It honestly wasn't that surprising, as he himself didn't think to ask. This boy was practically a baby, and he had gotten caught up short. It happens, however he could also see the boy's face and it was starting to switch between flight or fight.

And he knew as soon as the child finished Tony would try to run, because this child was smart. The tot would know he would have no chance against an adult and to hide would be the only way to stop from getting hurt. He was glad in that moment that he had personally killed Howard Stark. How dare that man treat this child that way? His own flesh and blood, it made Bucky sick.

Shaking the thoughts away he looked back at the child, knowing what was going to happen. He would need to stop him, and so as soon as it seemed the boy was finished, he quickly grabbed him and held him tight.

Tony gasped fearfully for the first time when Bucky grabbed him, he knew he had no chance of getting away. "I'm sowwy," he whispered out sadly, knowing he was probably going to be in for it.

"There is no reason to be sorry, I know you didn't mean to do it. Let's go see if we can get you cleaned up so we can finish playing," Bucky said kindly as he carried the boy up the steps. "Where are your clothes?"

"In da penthouse," Tony sniffled out dejectedly.

"Is the elevator the only way up there?" Bucky asked, hoping that it wasn't, as that was a dangerous safety hazard.

"No, dey haff stairs, but I hafta pwess my hand against da wall," Tony whimpered out.

"Okay, you do that when we come to the section of the wall. Calm down Tony, I'm not mad at you and this isn't the first time I've had to clean up an accident," Bucky said lightly knowing he needed to calm the child down before he did anything.

"Who else did you cwean up?" Tony asked in bewilderment.

"I used to clean up Steve all the time, sometimes you cannot control your body Tony. That is a part of life. But I'm here for you and I will clean you up and after we can watch a movie and cuddle on the couch," Bucky replied soothingly.

Tony smiled happily that did sound nice, and he was a little late on his nap today as well. That sounded like great fun. "What movie can we watch?"

"How about you pick?" Bucky said as he gestured to the top of the steps that they were on. He watched the little boy put his palm against the wall and a new set of stairs appeared. He had to admit that he was more than a little impressed.

"Otay," Tony said happily thinking on what he might just pick.

Bucky made his way up to the penthouse, noting in fondness how the child seemed to be calm now. He headed into the bedroom and grabbed a little outfit, as well as some clean underwear for the boy. Walking into the bathroom, he grabbed the bottle of what looked like baby shower gel and a towel before he made his way to the sink in the kitchen.

The sink was upright so he wouldn't have to bend over, not to mention it was open and he could see all of the vantage points unlike the bathroom. He was overly cautious because he had this child's life to look out for as well.

"I'm gonna set you on the counter and then I'll wash you up Tony. Does that sound good?" He asked in a gentle tone.

"Yes dat sounds nice," Tony said tiredly as he stuck his thumb in his mouth. He would leave it all to Bucky now, he was just exhausted from the ordeal and all that playing beforehand.

Bucky nodded before he got to work, turning on the water and making sure the water was warm for the child before he got him out of his wet clothes. Those he placed in the empty sink next to the one he had filled up with soap and water. Glancing around, he placed the child in the water. "How does that feel?"

"Good," Tony whispered out as his little body relaxed in the warm water.

"Jarvis, are the Avengers still downtown?" Bucky asked, not wanting them to come home and him be ill-prepared.

"Yes, I can set a screen up so you may follow them?" J.A.R.V.I.S stated unsure of what the man wanted.

"No, I don't need to see it," Bucky replied quickly. He would have liked too, but he didn't want the child getting scared. How was he going to explain that to the other James? It was obvious that Tony had two overprotective James looking out for him.

Knowing the child would be falling asleep soon, he got him bathed and dressed before placing his wet clothes in the soapy water to soak. Someone else could get it out and place them in the washer later. Picking up the child yet again, he headed back towards the steps and followed them down to the common room.

Even though the child was practically asleep, if Tony was in anyway stubborn like Steve he would force himself to stay awake to watch the intro of the movie just to prove it that he could. As he came down to the common floor, he stepped over the child's toys, planning on picking them up later once the boy was fully asleep. Not to mention he still needed to clean up Tony's accident on the floor.

There was no need to leave a big mess for someone else to clean up, not when he was fully capable of doing it. He sat down on the couch and kicked off of his shoes before he laid down. He wanted to make sure the little boy got a good rest and was safe from falling off of the couch. Once they were situated and he had Tony laying on his torso, he gently ran his hand through the child's hair.

"What movie did you wish to watch bug?" He asked quietly.

Tony didn't even open his eyes, the hand in his hair feeling amazing and lying against Bucky's body had him feeling so safe. Not to mention the man's pet name for him, it warmed him on the inside like no other. He could care less what they watched just as long as he didn't have to move from his current position. However, he knew he had to settle on something. "We can watch Awaddin," he decided happily knowing that Bucky himself might even enjoy it.

Bucky glanced up at the ceiling where he constantly heard Jarvis's voice and hesitantly spoke yet again. "May we watch Aladdin please?" He asked, feeling slightly stupid for talking to what seemed like no one.

"Of course," Jarvis replied as he set up the movie and turned it on.

Bucky turned to look at the movie as it started, his gaze jumping from Tony and back to the screen. He kept running his hand through the child's hair as he could feel the boy relaxing bonelessly against him. He was very impressed at the picture, and found to his surprise that he quite liked it.

Bucky was very much aware that Tony was long gone asleep but he still didn't stop his ministrations in the child's hair. The boy's hair was very soft and it was a very soothing feeling to him. He smiled to himself feeling very much at peace in this moment, wishing that it would never end. He didn't even notice when the film got quieter and he started to doze off.

~*~*~*Couple of Hours Later~*~*~*~*

If the A.I. that was Jarvis could smile he would be, he was currently making sure that this footage was in a secure place as he was sure that his creator would enjoy it immensely. This was what he needed and he was so glad that so many people were taking the time to give his young sir a chance. Not to mention this was the first time that he had seen James Barnes, allow himself to relax like this and he didn't want anyone to ruin it.

He was happy that the rest of the team was out. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, he heard the Helicarrier land on the landing pad. He initiated locked down on the common room floor, making it inaccessible via both the stairs and the elevator before he turned his eyes so to speak to where the rest of the team was. He also activated the soundproof walls, he knew how sensitive the soldier's ears were and he did not want to spook him.

Rhodey wasn't in the mood for anything but for seeing how Tony was. It was after 7pm, and he was thankful that they had already had lunch before they left otherwise the tiny tot would have been starving as it was way passed dinner now. He didn't currently hear anything and he was slightly worried, as silence with Tony Stark of any age was a bad thing.

Not to mention the fact that the Winter Soldier was somewhere in the tower and he really wanted the little boy in his arms at this very moment. He was so glad that Clint had decided to debrief later, once they were in the tower. He wasn't going to go to S.H.I.E.L.D either way as he was not a part of the Avengers team. Rhodey shook his head and headed towards the elevator and got on.

Once there he noted almost immediately that the button for the common floor wasn't lit nor was it working. He stood there for a while contemplating what it was that Jarvis was trying to say. He didn't realize how much time had passed until the rest of team appeared in the elevator with him.

"I thought you would already be upstairs with Tony by now," Clint said in confusion once he saw the man.

"Jarvis has locked us out," Rhodey replied quietly knowing he could get up there if he truly wanted too. Tony had given both him and Pepper complete access to his tower. However, he knew that there had to be a reason for Jarvis to do such a thing in the first place. He knew that there was an explanation he just had to ask.

"Why would he do that? Has something happened to Tony?" Bruce asked quietly.

"Did Bucky get free Jarvis?" Steve found himself asking, worried for the first time that something had happened regarding the two of them.

"If you would press the floor below the common area, I would like to show you something. All of your questions will soon be answered as well," Jarvis answered cryptically.

Trusting his friend's A.I., Rhodey pressed the floor, the silence almost becoming unbearable before he exited and took a seat on the chair there. "What do you need to show us Jarvis?"

"What happened today in the tower when you left," Jarvis replied. "Get comfortable," he added.

Steve sighed, getting a bit annoyed and more impatient but he did do as he was told. If he didn't listen there was a chance that he wouldn't even be told. And he didn't want to be kept in the dark, especially because it was about Tony and Bucky.

Jarvis kept his one of his eyes on the two sleeping in the common room, and showed the Avengers the last couple of hours they had missed when they were out saving the city. He knew that they would all be in for a big surprise. And until they accepted what it was that had happened, they would not be allowed to go up to the common floor. That would be detrimental for both Mr. Barnes and his creator. And Tony would always come first.