A/N: ... I have no excuses for how long it's been since the last chapter.
Cold.
He was really cold.
Colder than he'd ever been.
Where was he?
What had happened?
"Bucky!"
Steve... Steve, where was he, was he okay?
"Hey! I think I found something!"
Who was that?!
"Do you know your name?"
"James," he croaked weakly. "James Buchanan Barnes. Where's Steve?"
The other person didn't answer.
"Why can't I tell him, he ought to-"
"The other Avengers will be informed when the time comes, Tony."
Who's Tony? What's the Avengers?
"Stark, that wasn't part of the design-"
"Rules are made to be broken, Fury."
Stark...? That didn't sound like Howard. Who was Fury?
It was getting warmer and warmer, and the darkness was starting to fade...
Bucky slowly opened his eyes, grimacing at the harsh lights.
"Mornin', Sleeping Beauty."
"... Wha...?" Bucky squinted, his eyes focusing as he turned to where the voice was coming from. A man with dark hair grinned at him as he dried his hands off with a dish towel.
"Who... who are you?"
The man placed the towel on the counter on the other side of the room, walking over to Bucky and extending an arm. "Anthony Stark. Call me Tony."
Warily, Bucky shook his hand. "James Buchanan Barnes. People call me Bucky."
"I know. Dad told me a little about you." Tony scoffed. "Well, when he wasn't talking about science. Or Steve."
Bucky's eyes widened, and he sat up, going into a panic. "Steve! Shit, where is he? Is he okay?"
"Calm down! Steve's fine, he's back at the tower, probably beating the crap out of a punching bag." Tony paused. "That reminds me, I should probably order some more of those." He mumbled, turning away.
Bucky sighed in relief, leaning back. "What about everybody else?"
The other man halted. "... Everybody else?"
"Yeah. Y'know, Dugan, Montgomery, Morita, Jones, Dernier, those guys!"
"You've... You've been out for a while, Barnes. They're not around anymore."
Bucky stared at him, feeling his heart sink. "... Howard?"
"My dad died over twenty years ago. You've been gone for almost seventy years, Barnes."
The soldier started to feel a bit dizzy.
"Don't worry, you're not the only man out of time. Steve managed to get himself... frozen..." He trailed off as he turned around and saw that the other man had passed out. "Huh. Y'know, I imagined that going a bit better for some reason."
"So it's really been seventy years, huh?"
"Yep." Tony replied as he tested the wiring in Bucky's new prosthetic. Upon seeing Tony open what he had thought was his normal arm and inspect the insides, he'd fainted again, but he'd gotten over it in the days since.
"So do the cars fly, or...?"
"Nah. Dad scrapped that one once commercial airlines became big. We have some flying people, though."
"Seriously?"
"Yep. There's me and my suit, Thor can kinda fly with his hammer, and then there's Johnny Storm, with that fire business, and then a couple of the X-Men."
"What the heck is the 'X-Men'?"
"Basically a bunch of people with superpowers who run around saving people and try to help people like them."
"Ah." Bucky winced as Tony closed the lid on his arm. It always pinched a bit, even if the arm wasn't real.
"So, speaking of superpowers, how's Steve doing?"
"Steve?" Tony couldn't help but smile a bit. "He's great. Really great."
Bucky smiled, relieved. "Glad to hear it. Has he been out long?"
"Oh, about... About a year or two, maybe?" Tony furrowed his brow. He really should know that; after all, Steve was his... boyfriend? No, no, 'boyfriend' should be reserved for teens.
Also, they really hadn't discussed it.
Tony couldn't help but grin a little. They were a 'they' now. Not "Steve and Tony", as in two separate entities listed together, but "Steve and Tony", as in a matching set, a package deal just like "Clint and Natasha", "Pepper and Happy", "Thor and Jane", "Peter and Gwen", "Bruce and..."
Tony frowned as he realized that his best friend was the only single person he knew (except maybe Coulson, but he wasn't going there). Maybe he should set him up or something; he did see that cute girl from R&D making eyes at him that one time-
"Hello? Stark? Earth to Stark?"
Tony jumped as his train of thought was interrupted. "Sorry, what?"
Bucky gave him an odd look. "You okay? You kinda zoned out there for a minute."
"Uh, yeah, sorry, just..." He gestured awkwardly at his head. "Just thinking about something. You were saying?"
The odd look remained, but Bucky decided not to press him. "Well, I was hoping you could tell me a little more about how Steve's doing."
"Sure. Fire away."
"Where is he?"
"Last I checked? Home."
"And that would be?"
"Stark Tower. Though I'm thinking of changing the name to Avengers Tower, since that's who lives there."
"And that's another thing. What the hell is this 'Avengers' business I keep hearing about?"
Tony gave him a curious look. "This is the first time I've mentioned it."
"Yeah, but... I heard someone else say it. Someone you were talking to, they said something about telling the other Avengers when the time comes?"
"Ah, that would be Fury."
"And Fury is...?"
"Well, besides being an angry bald dude with an eyepatch, Nick Fury is the director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."
"That's kind of a mouthful."
"You said it. I'm pretty sure someone just wanted the acronym to spell Shield, though. Anyway, it's sort of like the FBI, except instead of dealing with gangsters or terrorists or whatever, they deal with all the weird shit no one else can comprehend."
Bucky nodded, slowly gaining an understanding. "Okay. And this SHIELD thing, how does that tie in with the Avengers?"
"Basically we're run by SHIELD. Meaning that Fury gets on my case just about every time we stop some nutcase from destroying the planet or whatever."
"Why?"
"... Did you know that saving the planet doesn't mean you won't get in trouble for the destruction you cause while saving it?"
"Ah." Bucky glanced over at Tony's chest, his brow furrowing when he saw the faint blue glow emanating underneath the unfamiliar logo.
"Hey... if you don't mind my asking, what's with the glowing?"
"Hmm?" Tony glanced down. "Oh, that. That, my temporally displaced friend, is my arc reactor." He tapped it lightly, making it glow brighter. "'S the only thing keeping a ton of shrapnel from hitting my heart and killing me."
Bucky stared at him in disbelief. "S... Seriously?"
"Yep. Fun, huh?" Tony chuckled humorlessly. "But hey, could be worse."
"I... I'm having a hard time believing that."
"Well, despite the fact that the only thing keeping a hunk of metal from killing me is another hunk of metal, I don't have it that bad. I've got more money than I know what to do with, I'm a friggin' superhero, I've got a great kid, and I've got the best boyfriend in the whole-"
"Boyfriend?"
Tony froze, realizing what he just admitted to a virtual stranger. Something he hadn't even told his son, or his best friends (though Thor hadn't exactly been around since after the whole Lizard Incident; something about cleaning up his brother's mess).
And worst of all, the guy he'd admitted it to was his boyfriend's best friend (who he currently thought was dead).
"U-Uh..." Tony mumbled intelligently, debating whether or not lying would help his current situation. "I..." He swallowed. "Yeah. Boyfriend. As in, a man. Whom I am dating." Hesitantly, he turned towards Bucky. "Is... is there a problem?"
"Not really. I mean, I knew guys like that back in the army. They could fight as well as any other soldier could, maybe better. When you're fighting for your life, things like that don't really seem to matter that much."
The billionaire couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He might not know Bucky well enough to be hurt if he wasn't cool with him seeing Steve, but Steve himself was a different story. He'd hate to be the reason that Steve lost his best friend again.
Bucky glanced at his new arm, the look of his face a mixture of curiosity and anxiety. "So, does this turn into, I don't know, a gun or something?"
Tony grinned, walking over to the soldier.
"Tony, what's going on- oof!"
"Sorry." Tony apologized as his blindfolded boyfriend backed away from the way he'd walked into. The billionaire took Steve's hand, pulling him along.
"Can you at least tell me why I have to be blindfolded?" He frowned. "Tony, are you taking me to some sort of weird super-genius cult thing?"
"Okay, one, Clint's no longer allowed to pick the movie. Two, if you weren't blindfolded, then would be a surprise, now would there?"
"Wh- Okay, Tony, because I care about you I'm just gonna tell you: Your surprises aren't very good. In fact, most of them are awful."
"Hey! I'm awesome at surprises!"
"Uh, who's idea was it to throw Clint a surprise bachelor party? After he got married, mind you?"
"Hey, in my defense I didn't know Fury would show up. But regardless, I think you'll like this particular surprise."
Even with the blindfold on, Tony could tell that his boyfriend was rolling his eyes. "If you say so."
Tony grinned, opening the door to Bucky's room. He glanced at the soldier, putting his finger to his lips. Bucky nodded, getting out of the bed as quietly as possible.
The billionaire sighed, turning towards his boyfriend. "Okay, before I show you, I want you to know that I wanted to tell you about this the minute I found out, but somebody- and by somebody I mean Fury- decided that the shock would be... distracting. It took a lot of pleading, threatening, and bargaining, and I may now have to give a lecture or twenty to some trainees in SHIELD's training academy, but I think it's worth it."
"Tony, what's going on?" Steve asked again, this time with a smile.
Tony hesitated briefly before reaching up and grabbing the blindfold. "Just... don't freak out, okay?" He said carefully as he removed the cloth from around his eyes.
Steve blinked, looking at his boyfriend briefly before looking around the room. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the room's inhabitant.
"B... Bucky?"
"Hey, Steve. Miss me?"
The room was silent for a moment. Painfully silent.
Tony cleared his throat, looking away. "I... I'll let you two catch up."
Tony wasn't actually sure how long he was waiting outside the room, but eventually the door opened again, his boyfriend walking out.
Neither said anything for a moment. Steve leaned against the door, running a hand through his hair, sighing quietly.
Tony cleared his throat awkwardly. "S... So, uh... How'd it go?"
"... He's alive."
"Well, yeah, I know that." Tony dared to look over. "Are... Are you guys still, y'know, buddies?"
Steve didn't seem to hear him, instead staring out into space.
Tony looked down. "I... I wanted to tell you. I know, I said it already, but... I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you before." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I just- Fury-"
"Don't."
The genius blinked, looking at Steve. "What?"
The soldier turned towards him, his arms crossed and his face carefully neutral. "Don't give me that 'Fury made me do it' bullshit. We both know that you wouldn't listen to Fury about something like this. You're too stubborn."
Tony's eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that if you'd really wanted to tell me, you would have, Fury be damned."
Tony's eyes widened in shock, his mouth opening as if to deliver a defensive retort, then closing.
"I..." His throat tightened, and he swallowed hard as he looked away. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"You're right. I didn't want to tell you. Not as much as I should have, anyway." He groaned, running his hand through his hair. "I... I know it's stupid, but... I don't know. Maybe... Maybe I was afraid that you'd forget about me if you saw him again."
"What?! Tony, what the hell are you talking about?!"
"Don't give me that. He's your best friend. You've known him forever. And let's face it, you have infinitely more in common with him than me." He chuckled humorlessly. "Why would you want me when you could have-?!"
The soldier quickly cut off his boyfriend, pressing his lips to Tony's. The genius' eyes widened in surprise, but that quickly faded as he melted into the embrace, wrapping his arms around Steve's waist. The blonde hummed as he moved his hand to cradle Tony's jaw, turning slightly to deepen the kiss.
Suddenly, someone in the hall cleared their throat. "Well. Looks like more's changed than I thought, huh Steve?"
Steve broke away, stumbling and accidently hitting his forehead against his boyfriend's. Both men groaned in pain, Tony pushing on Steve's chest with the hand that wasn't gingerly rubbing at his forehead.
"B-Bucky!" Steve exclaimed, his face nearing the same shade of red as Tony's armor. "Uh, um, we were just, uh-"
Bucky sighed, rolling his eyes. "Oh, relax. It's not like I didn't know already."
"You knew?!" The other two yelled simultaneously.
"Yep."
"So you knew that I was-" Steve started, just as Tony said, "You knew that my boyfriend is-"
The two paused, looking at each other in confusion.
"Uh, just for clarification's sake, what, exactly, do you know?"
Bucky rolled his eyes once more. "I've known all along that you're not a hundred percent straight, Steve. Don't even try to deny it, I saw how you looked at Clark Gable that one time we snuck into a movie theater when we were kids."
"W... Wait, seriously? You knew?"
"'Course I did. I'm a little offended that you thought otherwise!"
"And you're okay with it?"
"Well, yeah. You're still you, man. The fact that you like guys doesn't change that."
Steve smiled, looking over at Tony. Tony grinned right back.
"And as for your question, Stark, yeah, I knew about that too."
Tony's smile fell. "Wh- How did you-"
Bucky snorted derisively. "Oh, please. You really think I couldn't tell that you had a thing for him? The way you go on and on about him, you'd think he was some kinda deity!"
Tony's cheeks heated up in embarrassment and anger. "I... I do not go on and on about him!"
"Yes you do."
"Do not!"
"Actually, you do." A woman said as she approached them.
"Natasha? What's going on?" Steve asked.
Bucky smiled at the red-haired woman. "Well, hello there-"
"Married, pregnant, and will kick your ass if you try anything."
Bucky closed his mouth.
The assassin smiled, then turned to her teammates. "There's been an incident. You two need to get to London, now."
"Why? What's going on?"
"We're not sure but..." She hesitated briefly. "Look, all I know is that something's going on. Something big. And... Thor's back."
A/N: Next chapter will contain spoilers for Thor: The Dark World.
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