Avengers: Month 1

TONY

The first time was the worst. Tony had wanted to make a joke about not looking like he was facing the gallows, but even he held back. He'd never had to be this careful about someone else before. It certainly wasn't his style, having to be cautious and not alienate someone that he couldn't afford to alienate.

But, they got through it. It was probably the most awkward experience Tony has ever lived through, but he did. He wasn't sure whether he was surprised or not to hear that Bucky had already gone digging in his arm haphazardly to remove any failsafes and trackers embedded in. The bright side of that meant that he'd clearly regained enough of his memory to recall when they'd been inserted in the first place.

Tony lasted a grand total of 23 minutes before his mouth started running away from him. Who could blame him though, with the shoddy work that he was looking at? Sure, it was a technological marvel considering the time it came from, but it was a travesty compared to the things he could do now.

"Yeah, I'm gonna wanna take the whole thing," Tony finally said, withdrawing and slapping his hands on his thighs. "Er, that is, if you're okay with that." When was the last time Tony asked for permission to do something? Hell if he knew.

Bucky was staring unnervingly at him, not saying a word. Tony fidgeted before blurting out words just to fill the silence. "I could go on about the billion and one things that could be changed and upgraded from what it is now, but the biggest thing is that neural uplink. Not only is it a nightmare of a mess in there, it's unnecessarily convoluted while only giving you the most basic of feedback. It's like they had all these ideas about what they could have done, but then just went with the simplest option."

Frowning, Bucky looked at his arm. He had no clue what kind of 'feedback' the man was talking about. It worked as well as he could imagine. It moved as easily as his flesh-and-bone arm, and he had a good gauge of its strength relative to the amount of pressure he needed to apply. But, that wasn't the issue here. "You can do whatever you want," he rasped at last, softly interrupting Tony's blabbering.

"This arm—I, have done…" he shook his head. "My word isn't enough to reassure people that I won't pose a danger to others again. Maybe taking the arm will help."

Tony gawked, "what? No, no, no. I'm not leaving you armless," he insisted. "I'm gonna give you a new one. A much, much better, cooler, awesomer arm. A Stark tech original. Hey, you think I should sign it? It'll be Mark 1; I could even make a display case for when you move onto Mark 2 and you could hang it up over the—"

"What?" Bucky cut in, before even realizing. "Why would—no, you don't need to… you shouldn't be making—"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Manch—er, Barnes," Tony held up a hand. "You can't tell me what to do, and I never have to do anything either. I do what I want; that's kinda my thing. And what I want, has been to look into that sweet arm tech since I saw it on you." The man actually licked his lips, and Bucky was starting to wonder if there was something seriously wrong with the guy.

"Now that I've seen what an utter disappointment it is with my own eyes, I definitely wanna get you in a design of my own. What a way to rub it in their faces, eh?" He seemed to remember who he was talking to, and quickly added, "well. Of course, even if it's gonna be the best robotic prosthetic in the universe, you're not obligated to use it…"

Feeling an odd sense of amusement washing through him at Tony's sour face, he searched the other's face for any kind of lie, or deceit. "Sure," he agreed, watching as a huge smile bloomed on Tony's face. "I don't mind being your guinea pig.

The delighted expression was instantly wiped off Tony's face, "ok, first of all, no. You are not a guinea pig," he spat the words out like dirt in his mouth. "We really need to have a talk about—god, where's Bruce when you need him? He's much better all all this sensitive 'feelings' stuff…"

BRUCE

Bucky was starting to think the elusive "Dr Banner" was the Avengers equivalent of the boogey-man you tell naughty kids. But lo and behold, he was staring right at the man. Bucky cocked his head, considering. It was the middle of the night; too late to be going to bed, and also too early to be waking up.

The quiet man was sitting by the kitchen island, a mug in his hand and soft music streaming in from somewhere he couldn't quite see. As Bucky took a small side-step, he could see that the other had a sandwich in front of him as well, though his attention was mainly on the tablet in his hands.

As he was hesitating, a soft voice called out, "you can come in. Don't mind me." Bruce hadn't turned around, and kept his relaxed position as he picked up his mug and took a sip. Bucky inhaled a little deeper, and could smell that it was some kind of tea.

Finally unsticking his feet from the floor, Bucky slowly made his way over. He didn't know what to say, and so kept silent as he dipped his head in acknowledgement of the other, then went about pulling a mug of his own from a cabinet.

He pulled open the refrigerator, then frowned at the sheer assortment of drinks and snacks crammed inside it. He was about to give up and just get some water when he heard a soft exhale behind him and glanced back to see Bruce hiding a small smile.

"How do you feel about tea?" asked the man, raising his cup and his brows in askance.

Glancing at the mug and the man minutely, Bucky slowly closed the fridge door. "I'm not fussy," he replied softly. He glanced at the other man again, taking in his relaxed posture, though it looked slightly forced.

"There's some in the pot," Bruce nodded to the pot that was opposite him. Bucky took a slow step to the counter and then lifted the lid curiously, the light scent of the tea wafting up. "It's camomile. Good for stress, and sleep," Bruce smiled, a light twinkle in his eye.

Nodding absentmindedly, Bucky replaced the lid then poured himself some. "Thank you," he took his mug then glanced around, unsure whether he should sit here or elsewhere.

"I wouldn't mind some company," Bruce said casually, "or some conversation."

Seeing no lie or fear, Bucky breathed in deeply then nodded, taking a seat by the end of the counter, a little ways away from Bruce. Conversation was stilted at the beginning, from Bucky's part, until he relaxed over time listening to Bruce's calm and soft voice.

He would hardly recall what they talked about, later, as it was filled with simple mundane topics. Perhaps that was why it had felt comfortable; Bruce didn't pry or try to bring up anything that could be considered 'information'.

Once they'd run out of things to talk, Bucky was happy to sit quietly and listen as Bruce absentmindedly spoke about some research he was working on, the words washing over him peacefully.

SAM

Bucky had spent the better part of his first week at the Tower mainly on Steve's floor. Tony had surprisingly offered to give him one of his own, though Steve had promptly shot that down. Bucky wasn't sure which he would have preferred; being able to be left alone or being with Steve, but he didn't bother voicing an argument.

Various Avengers members would pop in randomly, probably since Steve had taken to staying in his floor more too because of Bucky. That wasn't to say Bucky avoided the other floors; he simply chose to explore them usually when he knew they would be empty. The only places he hadn't thoroughly explored was the gym and training floors, despite the Tower's AI "JARVIS" – and wasn't that a marvel – assuring him that he was allowed to.

Steve's most regular visitors were probably Sam and Natasha, though he did get the odd visit from Clint via ceiling vents occasionally too. It seemed like Sam had forgiven him easily after their conversation in the quinjet, as he was always friendly to Bucky, despite Bucky's awkwardness.

He could see why Steve liked the man; it was almost like having a Steve Rogers 2.0 around. Actually, scratch that, that's terrible news.

Regardless, that didn't stop Bucky from feeling the pang of guilt and sting of jealousy when he saw how easily they interacted. It highlighted the odd tension and awkward distance that still enveloped Steve and Bucky now that had never existed in the past. He would have withdrawn more, try to distance himself from Steve, if not for the man himself resisting.

STEVE

His broad palm was like a brand on the back of his neck, where it lay. Bucky was filled with so much anxious energy that he was surprised he wasn't vibrating out of his skin. His eyes couldn't stand the force of Steve's burning gaze, yet also couldn't resist drowning in them at the same time.

"Don't lie to me," Steve's deep rumble felt like it was shaking through Bucky's chest.

His fingers, flesh and metal, twitched where they hung at his sides. "I'm—not…"

"You're a fool if you think you're doing me any favours by pretending," Steve nearly growled. Bucky was uncomfortably familiar with that tone; one that meant he was bound to lose this argument. He shivered, dropping his gaze.

"Steve…" he had started, but now was faltering on what to say.

"I want to kiss you," Steve declared, so unexpectedly that he almost laughed when Bucky's jaw dropped and his eyes darted back up to stare in surprise. "If you don't want me to, then stop me." He mentally crossed his fingers as he slowly, slowly, leant forwards, glancing pointedly at Bucky's lips.

He brushed the thumb he had wrapped around the back of Bucky's neck up and down in the short hairs there, feeling Bucky shiver. He felt his heart drop to his stomach at the soft touch of Bucky's hand on his chest, but then those fingers curled into this shirt in a shaky grip instead of pushing away, and his heart soared.

Their lips touched, and for the first time since waking up in that wrong, wrong room inside SHIELD four years ago, Steve felt grounded again. He couldn't stop himself from deepening the kiss; urgency, desperation and longing surging up within him. Bucky let out a small sound of surprise, that he swallowed up eagerly, teasing a tongue at the seam of Bucky's lips.

Almost instinctively, Bucky opened for him, and then he was being swept away. His mind quieted, and his other arm came up to wind around the back of Steve's neck, keeping them together unthinkingly. Steve's hand on his neck tightened possessively in response, and a thick arm wound around Bucky's back.

It felt like coming home after so many years, and time simply flowed by as they lost themselves to one another. Strong arms and fingers belied their strength as both men's hands trembled with the emotion pouring out between them; bodies hardly believing they were touching of the person in front of them again.

It could have been seconds, or days later, that Steve came back to himself to soft sounds coming from Bucky. Reluctantly, he pulled away gently and then opened his eyes, heart wrenching at the sight. "Bucky…" he loosened a hand to swipe a thumb across Bucky's wet cheeks. Those beautiful eyes he could never forget blinked open, lashes heavy with lingering tears.

"Steve," Bucky's voice whispered brokenly, a fresh wave of tears running down his face as he drank in Steve's face, the feel of his body, his smell. He was real, and in front of him right now. "I— missed you."

"Oh sweetheart," Steve's heart splintered painfully in his chest. He leant forwards and pressed soft kisses along the side of Bucky's face, then his cheeks, then the corners of his eyes. "I'm never gonna let anything separate us again." He pulled back, resolve lighting a flame in his gaze, "never."

Shivering at the menacing hint of a growl in Steve's voice, Bucky said nothing but stepped in and then tucked his face to the side of Steve's neck, both arms curling around the other. When Steve responded by wrapping his own arms around Bucky again, the warmth of him suffusing into him, Bucky had never felt more content.

They stayed plastered together for the rest of the day. No matter whether they were sitting on the couch, making dinner, or later when Steve guided a pliant Bucky to his room. Tucked into sheets smelling like Steve and with the man himself wrapped around him, Bucky slipped into the most peaceful sleep he'd had in decades.