AN: Two chapters posted today, so don't forget to go back and read chapter 8, too! :)

(Also - yay, we're at the half-way point!)


The Agardian's ship, the Bifrost, was one of the largest and grandest Bucky had ever laid eyes on. Bucky could tell it impressed Tony as well, since he could practically feel Tony vibrating in excitement and curiosity beside him when they rowed up.

The captain, Heimdall, greeted them once they boarded, but it was Thor who personally escorted them to the ship's sick bay before heading off to help the Warriors Three take care of the dragon's remains.

Though Bucky grudgingly allowed the doctor to take a look at him, he refused to take his shirt off for him, and wouldn't let him actually do anything to treat the wound.

He'd had enough strange 'doctors' poking around his body to last a lifetime, thanks.

"The wound needs to be cleaned and dressed," the doctor protested in frustration, while Tony hovered worriedly behind him. "You need stitches, at least. And a salve to help stave off infection -"

Bucky shook his head and glowered at him. "No, no stitches. I'm fine," he said, crossing his arms and then wincing internally when the move pulled at his cut. "I can clean and bandage it myself."

The doctor scowled. "Not properly, you can't," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "Even great warriors need a healer's touch every now and then, and Prince Thor has specifically ordered me to see to you."

Bucky opened his mouth to tell the guy just where he could stick his 'healer's touch', but then Tony stepped around the doctor and put a hand on Bucky's shoulder.

"What if I do it?" Tony interrupted, looking back over his shoulder at the doctor. "Could you tell me what to do and let me do it instead?"

The doctor hesitated, gaze darting from Tony's face to Bucky's, then sighed. "I suppose," he grumbled, eyeing Tony's hand on Bucky's shoulder. "If you're the only one he's going to let touch him."

Bucky frowned, a protest on the tip of his tongue, but then Tony turned back towards him, eyes pleading, and whispered, "Please?"

"Fine," Bucky relented sullenly, his stomach flipping unpleasantly at the relief on Tony's face. Then he scowled and tipped his head towards the doctor. "But I don't want him in the room."

Tony sighed but gave Bucky's shoulder a reassuring pat, then turned his towards the doctor. "Is that okay with you, doc?

The doctor shook his head and threw his hands in the air. "I suppose I don't have a choice, do I?" he sighed, before turning towards one of the cupboards and taking out some supplies.

Tony listened carefully while the doctor explained what he wanted him to do and set out what he would need. He kept one hand on Bucky the whole time, and didn't remove it until the doctor had finished giving his instructions and left.

"Okay, strip," Tony said, crossing his arms and giving Bucky a stern look.

Under any other circumstances, Bucky might have made a crack about Tony being forward, but with the memory of the hot spring still fresh in his mind, he kept his mouth shut.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Bucky grumbled, gingerly peeling his shirt away from his chest. The bleeding had stopped awhile ago, but the dried blood had adhered the cloth to his skin.

Tony moved to help him, making a face once the cut was exposed, and bit his lip.

"I know what the doc said, but I don't know how to do stitches," he sighed, hand hovering over Bucky's right pectoral, where the cut began.

"Don't need 'em," Bucky replied, leaning back on his forearms while Tony went to wash his hands. "It's already started to heal, and will be mostly gone by tomorrow. Stitches will just make it worse."

The cut was shallow, and the ends had already started to close up - which had been one of the reasons he hadn't wanted the doctor to look at it to begin with. If experience was anything to go by, it would probably be fine without any care, but Bucky didn't think Tony would let him go without, and didn't want to fight him on it.

Tony came back with a bowl of sweet-smelling water the doctor had ordered him to use, set it down beside Bucky, and dipped a washcloth into the water.

"We can clean it up and bandage it, at least," Tony said, tongue between his teeth as he carefully ran the cloth over the edge of the cut. "Does it hurt? And please don't say 'not really' or 'I'm fine', because I saw you wince when you sat down on the table."

Bucky laughed, the muscles in his stomach jumping when Tony laid his other hand against it to steady himself.

"But I am fine," he said, smirking at Tony's sour expression. "And it doesn't hurt as much as it did."

Tony scowled, looking very much like he wanted to dump the bowl over Bucky's head, so Bucky straightened up and decided to change the subject. "So… Sir James? Since when have I been a 'Sir' anything?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I decided to knight you," Tony replied, the corners of his mouth curling up despite his best efforts to remain stern-looking. He wet the cloth again and went back to work cleaning, eyes darting up to Bucky's face and then back down. "If you slay a dragon and defend a lord or lady of the court, you get knighted. It's the rules. You're forever 'Sir James', now."

"I don't think the kingdom actually does knighthoods, anymore," Bucky mused, tilting his head back towards the ceiling. "Besides, the Asgardians are actually the ones who slayed the dragon - and you ended up defending me, remember?"

Tony snorted and set the cloth down, then reached for the jar of salve the doctor had left out. "I remember pissing it off and making it want to eat us even more," he said, unscrewing the lid. "Dragons are far more temperamental than Ana led me to believe." He started applying the salve, once again starting at the top of the cut, then added, "I think we should accept their offer."

Bucky startled and dropped his head, inadvertently making Tony smear some of the salve across his stomach. "What? You can't be serious," he protested, while Tony scowled and grabbed up the cloth again.

"Why not?" Tony said, wiping at the smeared salve and somehow managing to make the mess worse.

"Because we can't trust them," Bucky replied lowly, shooting a suspicious look towards the door. "We don't know these people, Tony. They could be pirates, for all we know."

Tony set the washcloth down and crossed his arms. "I don't know much about Asgard, but I have heard the names Thor and Loki in association with the ruling family," he said stubbornly. "And before you cry imposters - does this ship look like anything a pirate would have?"

Bucky let out a frustrated breath and leaned forward. "Okay, maybe not - but what if they decide we make better hostages than guests, what then?" he demanded. "You wouldn't be the first royal who got caught up in interkingdom politics, and the court - especially Steve and Fury - won't take that lying down."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Does Thor really strike you as the type to do something like that?" he asked skeptically, reaching around Bucky for a roll of bandages.

"I wouldn't know, because I don't know him," Bucky hissed, catching Tony's forearm to stop his movement and forcing him to pay attention to him. "Which is what I'm trying to say. You may be willing to put your life in their hands, but I'm not."

There was only one person on the entire ship Bucky trusted to keep Tony safe, and that was himself.

Tony blinked up at him in surprise, then looked down at Bucky's hand - which Bucky belated realized was wrapped around Tony's hand instead of his arm, now.

Bucky let go and dropped his hand back into his lap, then cleared his throat. "It's just… it's not safe," he finished lamely, turning his head away.

After a few seconds of silence, Tony laid his hand over Bucky's and gave it a squeeze. Then his free hand brushed against Bucky's chin and gently, but firmly, forced Bucky to turn towards him again.

"No, it's not," Tony agreed softly, brown eyes blazing. "But neither is carrying on as we have." He swallowed, hard, and dropped his eyes down to Bucky's chest. "How many more times do you have to get hurt before you don't get up again?" he asked quietly, the corners of his mouth turned down.

Bucky sucked in a sharp breath, heart beating a little faster in his chest. "If this is about me… I told you, I -"

"Heal fast, I know," Tony said irritably, and clenched his jaw. "Which is a small fucking comfort to me, when you keep throwing yourself in harm's way to keep poor, weak little Lord Anthony safe."

"You're not weak," Bucky said sharply, twisting his hand around so he could return Tony's grip. "That's not why I - I can't -" He sucked in a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. "You're one of the strongest people I've ever met, Tony," he said quietly. "And I'm not going to apologize for trying to protect you when we both know I'm the one who can take the hits and still walk away."

Tony glared. "I don't need protecting," he said angrily, and yanked his hand away. "I need you to stop giving me fucking heart attacks by almost dying and then claiming everything is fine because you seem to think you're immortal!"

Bucky blinked, startled by the outburst. "I don't think I'm immortal," he said cautiously, for a lack of anything else to say.

Tony scowled. "Then stop acting like you are!" he snapped, reaching for the roll of bandages on the table and accidentally knocking them off.

He bent down to pick them up, and stayed crouched down for a few seconds, breathing hard. When he stood up again, he wouldn't meet Bucky's eyes.

"By my calculations, it's going to take us a few weeks at least to make it back to the kingdom on foot by ourselves," he said tersely, wordlessly instructing Bucky to lift his arms. "If we let them take us on their ship, it'll be a week, tops. Plus we'll have food, shelter…" He started wrapping the bandage around Bucky's chest, looping it over his right shoulder a few times as well. "...medicine," he added, finally meeting Bucky's eyes and narrowing his own, as though daring Bucky to argue.

Bucky bit back the retort he could feel building in the back of his throat, and took a deep breath.

"You're making the bandages too tight," he said instead, doing his best to keep his tone as neutral as possible.

Tony's brow furrowed. "I don't want them to fall off," he protested. Even so, he made his next loop looser than the last.

"Yeah, but I still need to breathe, Tony," Bucky replied, even though he knew his sudden shortness of breath had little to do with the bandages and everything to do with the man doing the bandaging.

It had been a long time since anyone but Steve had shown this much concern for him.

Bucky took another deep breath, then forced Tony to stop by tapping his hand. "You really think this is a good idea?" he asked quietly, while Tony tied off the bandage.

"Yes," Tony replied immediately, his shoulders - which Bucky hadn't even realized had been hunched - dropping in relief. "And if it isn't, well." He gave Bucky a half-smile, a spark of mischief in his eyes. "I couldn't help but notice there are several lifeboats we could use to sneak off if we had to. And we've gotten out of worse scrapes before, haven't we?" He laid his hand over Bucky's now-bandaged wound.

Bucky scoffed, then slid his left hand over Tony's.

"I trust you," Bucky said simply, and hoped Tony wouldn't be able to feel his heart pounding in his chest.


Thor, once he returned to the ship with the others, was delighted to hear of their decision.

"This calls for a feast!" he declared, wrapping an arm around Bucky's shoulders and thunking Tony on the back hard enough to make him cough and stagger a little. "It has been some time since we've had any guests - we can eat and drink to your health, and you can regale us with tales of your adventures!"

Tony gave him a strained smile and straightened up. "Well, I'm not sure how much regaling we can actually do, but I won't say no to some food and a stiff drink," he said, coughing again and thumping his chest.

Bucky's stomach chose that moment to remind him how hungry he was, and growled loudly.

Thor looked down at him in surprise, then grinned. "Aye, then both you shall have. Our stores are not that of what we would have in Asgard, but we have plenty of mead and ale, and our trip to shore was a fruitful one for hunting. Tell me, is there anything in particular you would like?"

Bucky and Tony and looked at each other. "Meat," they said in unison, making Thor chortle and thump both on the back again.

"My friends, you have come to the right ship."


True to Thor's word, almost as soon as Bucky and Tony sat down goblets were shoved in their hands and plates of charred, unidentified meat were put in front of them.

They dug in immediately, all table manners forgotten - though admittedly, it didn't appear as if they were a high priority to the Asgardians anyway.

Bucky thought not knowing what the meat was should have bothered him more, but as he hungry as he was, he thought it might be better if he didn't ask.

"You may want to pace yourselves, if you haven't had anything heavy in some time," Loki remarked from across the table, head cocked and one eyebrow raised.

Bucky swallowed the bite he had just taken and opened his mouth to reply, but Thor beat him to it.

"Have a heart, brother. This feast is for our guests - let them partake of what they want," he said, grinning at Bucky and then raising his cup towards him.

Bucky hastily lifted his own so Thor wouldn't be left hanging, then chugged it back when Thor did, coughing and instantly regretting it when he got to the bottom. He couldn't get drunk anymore - hadn't been able to since HYDRA - but he was actually starting to feel a little woozy. Loki was probably on to something about pacing themselves.

Loki sighed and leaned away from his brother - who was already shouting for another round of mead - then pushed a pitcher of water towards Bucky and Tony.

"So, Anthony -"

"Tony, please," Tony mumbled around a mouthful of food. "I can't be formal while there is a giant plate of roast, uh -"

"Boar," Sif, who sitting on Tony's other side, supplied helpfully.

"- boar, right, thank you - in front of me."

Loki inclined his head, and though he didn't smile, Bucky got the distinct impression that he was amused.

"Alright. So, Tony," he said, nodding his head. "What's a lord doing out picking battles with dragons?"

Tony reached for his cup, which Bucky noticed was filled with water instead of mead. "I didn't pick a fight with it, it picked a fight with us," he said, catching Bucky's eye and giving him a private little grin.

Bucky bumped his leg against Tony's in response, and noticed Loki's eyes narrow a fraction.

"Even so, I'm curious to hear how you got there," Loki said, glancing between Bucky and Tony curiously. "If I remember your history well, 'Stark' is one of the ruling houses of Aavenge, yes?"

Bucky stiffened, but Tony only chuckled weakly. "It's a rather long story," he said, munching on some bread that had made its way down to their end of the table. "The short version is I got a little… misplaced, and Sir James - Bucky - here, found me, so now we're heading back home."

Bucky just barely managed to withhold a snort, because that was an abridged tale if he'd ever heard one. Tony must have seen it in his expression, because he patted Bucky's thigh under the table.

"To be honest, I'd rather hear what you have all been up to, and what brings you to this corner of the realm," Tony added, leaning forward. "Do you slay dragons often, or was this time a novelty for you?"

There was a round of laughter.

"Not as often as we would like, I'm afraid," Sif said, giving them a closed-mouth smile. "Most of the dragons in Asgard stay well north, so they don't bother our people much. And there's not much reason to hunt something if it's not making a nuisance of itself."

"Unlike some creatures," Hogun - who was beside Bucky - muttered ominously.

Curiosity piqued, Bucky ignored his food for a moment and turned towards him. "What creatures would that be?" he asked.

Hogun made a face, but it was Fandral who answered.

"That would be the beast that brought us to your realm," he said, suddenly looking far less drunk than he had a moment ago.

Tony craned his head around Bucky to look at him. "A beast?" he asked, nose wrinkled.

Thor's eyes turned grave. "A great sea monster," he said, setting his cup down for the first time since they started. "It has been plaguing our shores for the last year, sinking ships and attacking our southern villages."

"The Allfather, King Odin - that is to say, Thor and Loki's father - tasked us with killing it," Fandral added. "Thus far, it has proven itself quite… wily. We chased it away from our sea, but we haven't been able to do more than injure it."

"Yet," Sif muttered, eyes narrowed as she picked up the knife next to her plate.

Loki sighed. "Yet," he agreed, inclining his head towards Sif. Then he turned his attention to Bucky and Tony and added, "We tracked the beast to your shores, and know it's somewhere nearby - it just has to rear its ugly head so we can finish it."

Bucky leaned back, an ominous sense of foreboding taking away the last of his appetite.

Tony must have had a similar feeling, because he sat up straighter and said, "Our shores?"

Thor chuckled and stood, giving the tome of them a confident, reassuring smile. "Fear not, friend Tony. We won't let it terrorize your people as it did ours, nor rest until it's dead," he proclaimed, and raised his cup.

There was a chorus of "Aye!" as the rest of the table - including Loki - raised their cups as well.

Bucky exchanged glances with Tony, who shrugged, then halfheartedly joined the toast. After a beat, Bucky followed suit - even if the prickling sense of foreboding refused to fade.


Tony and Bucky were given a cabin to share - something Bucky was ridiculously and embarrassingly thankful for - and told to let it be known if either one of them needed anything.

"Still think they're pirates?" Tony asked sleepily, once he had collapsed in his bunk.

"Drank enough," Bucky replied. "What do you make of their sea monster story?"

Tony grunted and, by the sound of it, rolled over. "If we hadn't almost gotten eaten by a dragon, I'd say 'mead', but…" He trailed off, then sighed and rolled over again. "What do you think?"

Bucky swallowed, and tried not to think of glowing red eyes. "I think there are all kinds of monsters in the world," he said softly.

Tony didn't say anything to that. After a few minutes of silence, Bucky craned his head to take a peek at him, and found he'd fallen asleep.

Smiling to himself, Bucky laid his head back down, and tried not to notice how cold and empty his right side felt without Tony's warmth up against it.


Bucky woke from a light, fitful doze an hour later when Tony crawled into bed beside him.

"'S too cold," Tony mumbled sleepily, when Bucky turned to face him.

Bucky hummed but didn't say anything, and lifted his arm in invitation.

He was fast asleep within minutes of Tony slotting himself under his arm.


The Bifrost's crew were a lively, hospitable bunch, and within just a few days Bucky could admit to feeling guilty about his initial distrust.

Tony didn't quite gloat about it, other than a slightly smug 'I told you so' on the third day, when Bucky came back from the ship's armory with a sword Hogun and Volstagg had helped him pick out.

Thor, in particular, was hard not to like. Not only was his friendly personality and cheerful nature nearly impossible to resist, he went out of his way to make sure both they were comfortable, giving them tours of the ship, telling jokes, and keeping them company if he found one of them alone. He was quick to laugh, first to smile, and spoke to both Bucky and Tony as though they were old friends, which Bucky - and especially Tony - found endearing.

Heimdall, the captain, rarely ever left his post, but he seemed to always know what was going on on his ship anyway, and didn't mind when Bucky or Tony wandered up to ask a question or observe the deck below. He was quieter, too, than rest of the crew - save for maybe Loki - which Bucky secretly liked, as he seemed content to let Bucky sit up with him in silence when the rest of the ship got too much for Bucky to handle.

Most everyone Bucky met on the ship was welcoming, but, outside of Thor, Tony, and Heimdall, Bucky found himself in the Warriors Three and Sif's company more often than not.

Hogun was solemn and serious most of the time, but was most patient and comprehensive while explaining Asgardian customs. Everything Fandral said or did tended to come off as flirtatious, but Bucky quickly learned that he meant nothing by it, and that he, not unlike Tony, simply like to charm people. Volstagg was probably the friendliest of the three, even if Bucky allowed he likely wasn't the brightest; he was kindhearted, and seemed disturbed by Bucky and especially Tony's lack of weight, so was nearly always trying to feed them.

Sif, Bucky could admit, quickly moved up Bucky's list of top ten toughest warriors he'd ever met. The same day Bucky had acquired a sword Sif had offered to practice with him, much to any onlookers' amusement. Bucky ended up flat on his back and an inch short of hair, but enjoyed it all the same, and sparring with Sif soon became a daily ritual.

No, there weren't too many things about the Asgardians Bucky didn't like. With one exception:

"Ah, I see Loki and Lord Tony have their heads together again," Volstagg remarked, leaning on the railing to Bucky's right.

Bucky gritted his teeth and looked up from watching the deck below, where Tony and Loki were huddled together - again - over some of Loki's books.

"Looks like," Bucky said stiffly, clenching his fists when Tony pointed to something in the book open at Loki's knee, then leaned over into Loki's space to pick it up, bringing his face dangerously close to Loki's.

The sight, unfortunately, was no longer a new one, and once again made Bucky's stomach clench.

"It's quite interesting, really," Volstagg continued, cocking his head. "Loki doesn't usually warm to people, especially strangers, very much."

"He certainly hasn't to me," Bucky said, narrowing his eyes when Loki casually leaned into Tony's side.

"I wouldn't take it personally," Volstagg chortled. "I've known him for years, and he's still frigid as an ice giant to me."

Bucky didn't know what an ice giant was, and wasn't sure he wanted to ask.

"Indeed, Loki has taken quite quickly to Anthony," Heimdall said from behind them.

Bucky didn't quite startle - he'd remembered Heimdall was there, he just hadn't expected him to speak - but Volstagg nearly dropped the bag of sweets he'd started pulling out of his pocket.

"Well, Tony's kinda hard not to like," Bucky said, and nearly winced with how defensive he sounded.

Heimdall wasn't offended, though, and chuckled. "Not unlike Thor, yes?"

"Quite right," Volstagg agreed, once he had recovered. "Perhaps that's it - Thor is the only one Loki ever listens to, after all. Besides the queen." He held his bag out to Bucky. "Sweet?"

Bucky politely declined, and tried to find a way to tactfully point out that the lingering looks he'd caught Loki giving Tony were anything but brotherly. He eventually decided on, "I doubt Tony reminds him of Thor."

Volstagg frowned. "Of course not. He's far too puny," he said glibly.

Behind him, Heimdall gave Bucky a knowing smile - which squashed Bucky's hope that he'd just been overreacting.

Stomach clenching again, Bucky swept his gaze back down to where Loki and Tony were sitting, and saw that the two were staring up at him. Loki looked bland and disinterested, but Tony grinned and waved.

Bucky waved back, but kept his eyes on Loki, and didn't return the grin.


To Bucky's great annoyance and displeasure, Loki continued to take up nearly all of Tony's time.

When they sat down to breakfast, Loki was there, capturing Tony's attention with a discussion about some book or theorem they had gone over earlier. During the day, Loki was almost always glued to Tony's side, taking him on tours of the ship while explaining the intricacies of Asgardian architecture and culture. He kept touching Tony, too - brushing their arms together, touching Tony's shoulder, leaning against him when they sat down together - in a way that was a little too deliberate for Bucky's liking.

One night, Tony didn't come to bed, so, worried, Bucky went to go hunt him down - only to find him hunkered down in Loki's quarters playing some vaguely chess-like game.

"Sorry," Tony said sheepishly while he and Bucky walked back to their cabin. "I lost track of time. I forgot how much fun a challenge like that could be - Steve's usually the only one who can give me a run for my money, but even then…" He trailed off and gave Bucky a sideways look, picking up on his ire. "Are you mad about something?"

Bucky gritted his teeth. "No, just tired," he said, doing his best to keep the ire out of his tone. He wasn't angry at Tony, after all.

Tony didn't quite buy it, but seemed willing to accept the excuse if Bucky didn't want to talk about it. "Too much sparring with Sif? I saw you two on the deck earlier. Loki says your problem is you're favoring your left side too much for defense, and Sif keeps exploiting it."

"Maybe," Bucky said neutrally, and wondered if Loki would still say that after being on the receiving end of Bucky's left hook.


The following afternoon, Thor kept Tony after lunch - deep in the retelling of the time he had defeated a particularly aggressive bilgesnipe - so, by chance, Bucky found himself alone with Loki when they both ran into each other on deck.

Loki gave him a slight nod in greeting, then sighed and glanced back from which Bucky had come. "Is my brother still boring Tony with one of his great feats?" he asked in exasperation.

"As far as I know," Bucky said carefully. "What is a bilgesnipe, anyway?"

Loki gave him a sardonic half-smile. "A creature you wouldn't want to meet in a bad mood," he said blithely, before nodding and making as if he were going to walk around Bucky. "If you'll excuse me…"

Bucky started to move, then hesitated, and blocked Loki's way instead.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"

Bucky cleared his throat. "Yes, actually," he said, squaring his shoulders. When Loki simply crossed his arms and looked expectant, Bucky continued. "You know Tony's engaged to be married, right?"

Loki cocked his head, his other eyebrow joining the first. "I know. You've both mentioned it before," he said, with no small amount of impatience. "How does this concern me, precisely?"

"It concerns you because you need to leave him alone," Bucky said lowly, crossing his arms and squaring his jaw.

Loki narrowed his eyes. "I beg your pardon?" he said, his voice taking on a very dangerous timbre.

Bucky gritted his teeth. "I've seen the way you look at him," he said, not bothering to hide the displeasure in his own voice. "And touch him, and just -" He stopped and shook his head, jaw working furiously. "He's spoken for. He's not yours."

Loki raised his chin, giving Bucky a hard look. "I see," he said finally, before giving Bucky a slow, ugly smile. "Though I don't think you do."

Bucky uncrossed his arms, resting one hand on the railing beside them and clenching his other fist. "What don't I see?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Loki shrugged, then leaned forward, as though he were telling Bucky a secret. "That he's not yours, either," he said coolly, before turning and walking back the way he came.

Bucky heard a snap, and when he looked down, he found a chunk of loose wood from the railing in his hand.


Bucky was still silently seething at dinner that evening, partially because Loki's words were still rattling around in his head, but mostly because it was clear Loki was ignoring everything Bucky had said.

Because there he was, sitting with Tony further up the table and leaning closer than was strictly necessary, quietly commanding all of Tony's attention. To make matters worse, he was being extra touchy-feely, too, something Bucky was almost positive he was doing just to prove a point, as he glanced over at Bucky just about every time he did it.

It was almost too much to take, and made Bucky want to smash his plate into the smug bastard's face.

After drinking more mead than was probably good for him, his super liver be damned, Bucky ended up excusing himself early and heading down to his and Tony's cabin.

Half an hour later, the door banged open.

"What is wrong with you?" Tony demanded angrily, slamming the door behind him.

Bucky, who'd been in the middle of taking off his boots, froze. "What?"

Tony stomped closer, until he was practically looming over Bucky, and Bucky had to crane his neck up at him. "Did you seriously tell Loki to stop talking to me because I belonged to Steve?" he hissed furiously.

Bucky scowled, and made a mental note to wring Loki's neck later. "No, I told him to stop flirting with you because you were with Steve," he said tersely, raising chin.

That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say.

"How dare you - you, of all people - tell someone they can't talk to me because I 'belong' to someone," Tony snarled, nearly shaking with fury. "Like, like I'm a damn dog you're not allowed to pet, because the owner hasn't given permission -"

"That's not what I meant," Bucky said, stricken. He scrambled to stand up, and held his hands out placatingly. "That's not what I meant, Tony, I didn't -"

"So, what? I'm not allowed to have non-Steve approved friends, is that it?" Tony scoffed, hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"Of course not! I don't-" Bucky cut himself off with a frustrated hiss of air, then scrubbed his hands through hair. "He doesn't want to be your friend, Tony! He knows you're not available, and yet, he still - have you seen the way he looks at you?"

Tony snorted. "You mean, like a fucking intelligent human being who has something interesting to say?" he retorted.

The words felt like a slap to the face.

"What, I'm too stupid for you, now?" Bucky demanded, using anger to cover up the hurt.

Tony's face twitched briefly in surprise, before settling into a scowl. "I didn't say that!"

"It's what you implied!"

They both stopped and glared at each other, breathing hard, before Tony let out a frustrated noise and dug his fingers into his hair.

"I can't - I can't talk to you, right now," he hissed, and turned towards the door.

Without thinking, Bucky moved to block his way.

Tony scowled up at him. "Move," he snapped, eyes glinting dangerously.

"Not until you promise to calm down and listen," Bucky hissed in frustration. Distantly, he was aware that he was probably making things worse, but at the same time he couldn't stop the part of him that was panicking at the thought of Tony leaving. "Dammit, Tony, I -"

Tony growled angrily and tried to step around him, but Bucky slammed his hand against the door, inadvertently crowding Tony against the wall beside it.

"Please," Bucky pleaded, looking down at him and swallowing hard. "Let me explain."

Tony glowered, then raised his chin defiantly, as though daring Bucky to do just that. And Bucky -

Bucky kissed him.