He woke up to bright sunlight streaming into the room. And Steve was dressed and sitting on the edge of the couch with the morning news.
Well, so much for sneaking out.
He scrubbed at his face. "What time is it?"
"A little after nine." Steve smiled sympathetically. "I didn't want to wake you. You seemed like you could really use the sleep."
He probably did. He was so used to only taking cat naps here and there. Sleep was dangerous. He couldn't afford to make himself vulnerable while he was sleeping in other people's sheds. There was always the chance someone would find him there and throw him out, so he was always on the alert, always ready to go on the run again.
But somehow, he had felt safe enough here to get a full night's sleep.
"There's coffee if you want some," Steve said. "Or I could make you a cup of cocoa just like Ma used to make."
"Sounds great." He slipped into the clothes set out for him as Steve surreptitiously averted his eyes.
Once he opened the bedroom door, he could smell the sizzle of bacon and the rich scent of coffee. His stomach started rumbling again.
Steve led him back downstairs to the kitchen where most of the Avengers had already gathered. Sam, Thor, Natasha, and Coulson were sitting around the kitchen table and Clint was perched on a bar stool with his plate balanced on his knees.
"I made breakfast," Tony announced, manically gesturing to the spread of food on the kitchen counter. "There's pancakes, waffles, eggs and bacon, and a couple of those little breakfast sausage things."
Steve shook his head. "And probably fifty flavors of coffee, if you're any indication."
"Tony didn't sleep," Natasha said with a disapproving frown. "He stayed up all night-"
"Doing very, very important and very secret things," Tony said quickly. He waved his spatula vigorously. "Nobody spoil this for me."
Steve steered Tony around the counter. "Why don't you sit down and take it easy for a second? And no more coffee."
Tony huffed, but he took a seat across from Sam and began sneaking breakfast sausages off his plate.
"What would you like, Bucky?" Steve asked. He took a plate out of the cupboard and stood expectantly next to the food.
"Uhhh." His eyes flicked over the counter. There were so many choices and everything looked delicious.
"A little bit of everything then," Steve said kindly. He scooped a spoonful of eggs onto the plate and continued down the line until the plate was full.
As he ate, more of the Avengers and their friends made their way down into the kitchen. There was Dr. Banner, Thor's girlfriend Jane and her friend Darcy, and a man Tony referred to as Happy.
"Okay, I think that's everyone," Tony said cheerfully. "Time for presents."
"Hey, you jerk. Are you really going to start without me?"
"Rhodey," Tony squeaked. "I thought you were here with us."
Rhodey swatted Tony with his newspaper. "I told you I had to go to the bathroom. Would it have killed you to wait until I got back?"
Tony cleared his throat. "Okay, now we're all here. Let's go, guys."
They all followed Tony down the hall to a large room that might have functioned as a ballroom. But at the moment, there was a large tree in the center of the room with presents piled all around. Everyone sat down and watched as Tony began sorting all the presents into piles with the help of a tiny robot with pincers that he called Boltbrain.
"Okay, this section is Thor's, this is Steve's, and this is Bucky's." Tony pointed to the largest pile.
His eyes went wide. "How did you do that? You couldn't have known I'd show up."
"Nope," Tony agreed. "No idea. But, one of the benefits of being me is that I can still find Christmas presents no matter what time it is."
"But I didn't get anybody anything," he said anxiously. It wasn't fair that they were giving him gifts when he had nothing to give in return.
"Oh yes, you did," Tony said triumphantly. "You got everybody some very nice things." He held up a box labeled "To: Steve From: Bucky".
Steve sighed. "Tony. Did you really do all this last night?"
"Well, I didn't do it all myself," Tony allowed. "The bots helped a little. And by helped, I mean they tried not to stab me to death with scissors."
"Oh, Tony," Steve said. "You're going to give me an ulcer one of these days."
"Or a coronary," Clint supplied helpfully.
"Or a stroke," Natasha added.
Steve made a strangled sound.
It was probably in bad taste to laugh at Steve's suffering, but he couldn't help but be amused. Steve's friends seemed to care about him, even as they enjoyed teasing him. It reminded him of the good old days when he could needle Steve about needing a girlfriend and Steve could needle him right back about needing to get a brain.
Tony pressed the box into Steve's hands. "Totally worth it," he said.
Steve shook his head, but he began carefully undoing the wrapping paper. Old habits, probably. From the years they really had to save every bit of paper to use again.
"Oh wow," Steve breathed as he opened the box.
There was a framed photo inside of the two of them hugging. He looked faintly hopeful, but Steve was smiling like it was the greatest day of his life.
Steve leaned over and pulled Tony into a sideways hug. "Thanks, Tony. I love it."
Tony waved him off. "Don't thank me, thank Bucky."
"Thanks, Buck," Steve said, pulling him into a tight hug. "Thanks for coming home."
Home.
He didn't think people like him deserved to have a home. But Steve had always been far too optimistic for his own good.
"Less gawking, more present opening," Tony declared, throwing scraps of wrapping paper around him as he scrabbled at the package Thor had given him.
Everyone else was unwrapping now, so he started in on the one that was supposedly from Steve. Inside the box, there was a hair brush, a comb, soap, a wash cloth, shampoo, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a razor, shaving cream, aftershave, cologne, and a couple hair ties.
"Steve is such a practical person," Tony said cheerfully. "All the basic necessities. We weren't sure if you wanted to keep your hair long or not, but it needs a touch up, no matter what."
Steve reached for the brush and slipped it out of the packaging. "I'll help you brush out the tangles," he said.
Obediently, he turned sideways on the couch. He was sure his hair was probably a lost cause. It was too matted. But he'd let Steve try anyway. It felt good to have his hands patiently working at the knots.
"Mine next," Tony said, practically vibrating with excitement. "It's just the first installment, of course. Because everyone came up with this silly rule that I can only spend $500 per person on Christmas."
"For good reason," Steve said. "It'll take me ten years to go through all the art supplies you bought me last year."
"I still don't see how that's a problem. You're planning on being here for the next ten years, aren't you?"
"Look. We've explained this to you already, but I'll try one more time. You've already done enough for us all year. If you really must spend money on things, donate to a worth cause instead."
"Like Bucky," Tony said brightly. "He needs something for our New Year's Eve party."
He suppressed a snort as Steve made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. Steve was just never going to win.
Tony's present turned out to be several pairs of new clothes. There were jeans, t-shirts, a heavy winter coat, and a very nice leather jacket.
Tony grinned."Steve said you were a bit of a ladies' man back in the day."
"That's right." He turned the jacket over and ran a hand over the seams.
"So now that your wardrobe's been updated, you can go right back to playing the field."
"I suppose so." He held up a cranberry-colored t-shirt and inspected it carefully.
"Go try them on," Tony coaxed. "Bathroom's down the hall, third door on the left."
Steve put down the brush. "Go right ahead, Bucky. You'll probably feel better out of Clint's borrowed clothes."
He slipped into a pair of black jeans, the cranberry t-shirt and the leather jacket and studied himself in the mirror. His hair was still a mess, but when he tied it back with one of the hair ties, it didn't look so bad. He actually looked like a normal person now.
On the way out of the bathroom, he almost collided with a redheaded woman in a green suit rolling a large suitcase behind her.
"Oh, hello." She smiled warmly and extended a hand. "Pepper Potts. I'm a friend of Tony's."
"I'm Bucky," he said. "Friend of Steve's." He carefully shook her hand with his good arm.
"Nice to have you with us this year, Bucky. I hope Steve warned you about how Christmas can get. We're a pretty big group here."
He smiled. "I'm aware."
Her phone chirped and she pulled it from her purse. "Tony again," she said with a sigh. "Better see what he's up to."
He followed as she walked briskly towards the ballroom. Everyone was still slowly unwrapping their presents and Tony was sitting in the middle of a pile of paper.
"Pepper, you made it," Tony said delightedly.
"I did," she said coolly. "But after the several hundred text messages demanding to know why I wasn't here yet, I almost changed my mind."
Tony looked sheepish. "Sorry, Pep."
"You're lucky I'm so fond of everyone else." She bent down to hug Natasha.
"Merry Christmas," Natasha said.
"Festive holiday greetings to you, Miss Potts," Thor boomed.
She smiled and moved over to pat Thor's shoulder. "Merry Christmas to you, too."
Tony squirmed impatiently as Pepper made a round of the room, exchanging pleasantries with everyone. "We all got you gifts, Pep," he blurted out.
"So did I," she said, patting her suitcase.
"Don't you want to open them?"
She whispered something to Coulson, then straightened up with a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. Let's open presents."
Tony practically dove for her suitcase and began parceling out the gifts. There were presents for everyone except him, which was only to be expected. But Tony seemed to take it as a personal insult.
"You are making the worst first impression," Tony said disapprovingly. "I can't believe you didn't get Bucky a single thing for Christmas."
Pepper glared. "If someone would have told me they were inviting a guest for Christmas, I would have."
"And if someone had actually read their text messages, they would have known to make another stop on the way here. But, never mind. I guess Bucky's Christmas will just have to be ruined."
"Tony," Steve said sternly.
"It's fine, actually," he said quietly. "I'm very happy with what I have already."
"Of course," Tony said. "Steve's best friend has to be just as saintly as he is." He flopped back against the couch with a dramatic sigh and nudged a box in Pepper's direction. "He's so nice he had to get you a present even though you didn't give him anything in return."
Pepper picked at the edge of the paper. "Bucky got me a present?"
"He got everybody a present," Tony said proudly. "Just little things, you know. I got a new coffee cup." He waved the sleek black mug overhead.
Pepper pulled a pair of shiny silver earrings out of the box. "Oh, Bucky, they're beautiful," she said. "You shouldn't have."
"Totally shouldn't have," Tony agreed.
Steve swatted him with a cushion.
It was another hour before all the presents were unwrapped. During that time, people wandered between the kitchen and the ballroom to get refills on their coffee and a couple bites of breakfast sausage. He would have joined them, but Steve insisted on getting him everything he needed, even though he was perfectly capable of walking to the kitchen without getting lost. The tower was big, but it wasn't that big.
Shortly after eleven, Pepper rose off the couch with a stretch."Alright, guys, I have to be heading out. I've got more people to see today." She made another round of the room, pointedly hugging everyone goodbye except Tony. At the door, she turned and waved over one shoulder. "Goodbye, Bucky. It was nice meeting you."
He waved back, still feeling a little shell-shocked. Nobody was ever happy to meet him. Everyone the Avengers knew were some of the nicest people on earth.
Tony clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Bucky, buddy, look at you go. Already scoring with the ladies. I see plenty of dates in your future."
"You are not setting Bucky up with Pepper," Steve said sternly.
"Why not? You have a problem with Pepper?"
"Besides being your girlfriend, no."
"We're broken up at the moment," Tony said. "There may or may not have been a series of fights culminating in an incident with blue hair dye."
"She'll probably forgive you eventually," Natasha said. "But regardless, Pepper isn't Bucky's type."
"How would you know Bucky's type?" Tony scoffed. "You barely know him."
Natasha smiled thinly. "Ignore him, Bucky. When you're ready to start dating, you come to me. I have a couple single neighbors that I've already thoroughly vetted."
"Oh sure, just throw random women at him. That strategy's already worked so well for Steve, hasn't it?"
"If Steve took my suggestions seriously, he'd probably be married by now. But he's not motivated enough to get out there."
"Sorry Tasha, but I had other things on my mind at the time." Steve squeezed his knee."Hey, Buck, what do you say we go on a double date sometime, for old time's sake?"
He smiled. "I'd like that."