First attempt at a Stuckony – be gentle folks :D
No money made, no copyright infringement intended
Not One, But Two
Rage surged through Tony when Steve admitted he'd known about Tony's parents' deaths, betrayal running like ice through his veins and when he turned to Barnes to kick the ever loving shit out of him that rage died down. The broken, defeated look on the man's face was enough to give Tony pause and he powered down the repulsors of his suit. His chest tightened in pain, for the loss of his parents, Steve hiding this great secret from him, and Bucky who looked ready to accept his fate.
When they made it back stateside, Tony didn't sleep for over forty-eight hours to persuade Ross, the UN and even the Avengers that Bucky was not a danger. Ross wanted them imprisoned for going against the Accords and Tony agreed that he would take full responsibility for them both and any further transgressions, he would face the wrath of the UN. It had been touch and go, but eventually, the UN had agreed that Bucky was not at fault for the assassinations during his time as the Winter Soldier, and that Steve would have to sign the Accords and agree to regular public appearances to show his support of them.
The blond had been unimpressed to say the least, but ultimately had agreed because Tony had explained that had he refused, there was nothing he could do to protect him or Bucky. Tony had already drafted a revised version of the Accords that included a loophole where if they could prove without a shred of doubt that the Avengers were needed somewhere the UN refused to grant permission, there would be no consequences.
Additionally, each member of the Avengers was entitled to their private lives and anything they did with those lives did not reflect on the team, or the UN. It seemed like a pointless clause but Tony had written it in as a safeguard for people like Clint who had a family that would be associated with them, but was not a part of the team.
After sleeping a scant four hours in the lab on a lumpy couch, Tony had woke and gotten straight to work on Bucky's arm. From the scan he'd had FRIDAY run on entry to the compound he could see that the arm didn't stop at the shoulder as he'd originally thought. It was welded through to his sternum and was no doubt causing what Tony had dubbed his murder strut. The arm must be a painful weight that tugged on his bones and he needed to do something about that.
Thanks to T'Challa he now had a healthy supply of Vibranium and he pulled up several schematics he'd already tinkered with the night before while speaking on video with members of the UN council. Multi-tasking at its finest. The plates were too big, almost clunky in how they moved, and Tony had already clocked how easily they could jam. There had been a few times during the fight at Leipzig that Tony had noticed the way the plates took too long to realign and forced Bucky to slow his fighting until he could move the arm sufficiently.
He figured smaller plates were the way to go, maybe integrate some nanites that would make the shifting of the plates more seamless and they could act as a temporary fix should any of the plates fail to work. The use of Vibranium would make the arm significantly lighter, making the pull on his sternum non-existent. Tony had done away with the red star, instead choosing a design that made the plates black, and the nanites gold, creating a rather beautiful piece of hardware, if he did say so himself. It was certainly a much better look than the silver monstrosity currently attached to the solider. The image of the metal wrapped around his mother's throat flashed through his mind and Tony inhaled sharply against the bolt of pain that ran through him.
Once he'd finalised the design and he was happy with it, he had FRIDAY begin production. She informed him it would take approximately four hours and when he checked his watch, it was already past nine so it was probably a good time to go grab something to eat and a coffee. He rubbed his eyes in the elevator and made a mental note to grab some Tylenol to ease the tightness in his chest. In the kitchen he found the whole team gathered plus Bucky. He greeted them with a tired smile, accepting the soft peck on his cheek from Nat.
He chased two Tylenol with a glug of coffee and took the proffered bowl of cereal from Clint. Tony enjoyed the background noise of chatter from his team, spying the super soldiers heads bent together as they spoke quietly together, blond hair a stark contrast to Bucky's long, dark hair. Their shoulders touched, so close that he suspected their knees were pressed together under the table.
Suddenly, pale blue eyes rose to meet his across the table and Tony gave him a smile, raised his mug in salute. He quaffed his cereal and drained the mug of coffee, pouring himself another one and disappearing back down to the lab to wait for the arm to finish rendering. He told himself he should take the time to shut his eyes for a little while but not one to sit still when there was work to be done, Tony cracked open the file containing an algorithm that would hopefully remove Bucky's conditioning.
When the tightening in his chest got worse, Tony swallowed another two painkillers he found in a drawer with some water. The algorithm was proving tricky, this particular field of work was not his area of expertise and he knew he had to be careful. One wrong line of code meant that he could alter Bucky's personality irreparably and no matter how strained things were between him and Cap, he had no intention of messing up his best friend any further than HYDRA already had done.
FRIDAY announced the completion of the arm. He glanced the table where it lay and marvelled at his work. It really was a piece of art. Bruce meandered into the lab sometime later to check on Tony, begging him to take a break, but Tony waved his well-meaning words off with a smile and promise he'd rest once he was done.
Well, what really happened was he passed out over his workstation sometime in the early hours of the morning for an hour or so, jerking awake when the road his parents died on entered his dreams. He groaned tiredly, scrubbed a hand over his face and swallowed some caffeine tablets so he could continue working. The algorithm wasn't going to write itself and every moment he left it incomplete was another chance that Bucky could wind up getting triggered somehow.
He was running on roughly five hours of sleep over seventy-two hours and it was making him irritable. When the latest test failed Tony growled in frustration and shoved away from the table, pacing wildly, running numbers through his head and muttering to himself. A glance at the old clock on the wall told him it was gone six in the morning. Jesus, he really needed to get this done so he could fucking sleep properly.
The smell of coffee invaded his nostrils and Tony greedily grabbed the cup that appeared under his nose, a large hand holding it out. He raised his eyes to find bright blue ones staring back. "Hey, Cap," he greeted.
"Tony, did you sleep down here?"
Tony nodded and drained the cup in four large gulps, ignoring the way it scalded a path down his throat, the pain waking him up. Steve asked him to please stop long enough to get a decent amount of sleep and Tony swore he would do. Later. Steve gave up trying to persuade him, instead leaving the lab so Tony could work in peace.
"Boss-"
"Yeah, FRIDAY, I know, it was mean to lie to Big and Blond. Leave it out, baby girl, I got work to do. Run the test again and show me where exactly it is I'm going wrong, or if even any of it is working."
She did as asked and displayed the results on the holo-table for him to review. The lines blurred together and Tony shook his head to try and clear it. He winced when another bolt of pain slashed through his chest and once again swallowed more painkillers. Fucking hell he really needed to see if he'd pulled a muscle during the fight at the airport.
Tony re-worked the code well into the evening, only noticing the time when his stomach growled in hunger. He snagged a granola bar and ate it quickly, chasing it down with a cup of bitter, cold coffee. He gagged at the taste and flicked the coffee pot in the little kitchenette on, grabbing the sink when his vision swam, and chest still tight. FRIDAY alerted him the altered algorithm was a success then sounded an alarm just as Tony felt white hot pain cut through his chest and he collapsed to the floor in a heap.
-oo0oo-
"What happened?"
Steve looked up from his seat next to Tony's bed in Medical when he heard Bucky's voice. "Huh?"
"Tony," he added. "What happened to him?"
Steve swallowed past the lump in his throat. "A heart attack."
Bucky's pale blue eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"Yeah," Steve sighed, resting his hand on Tony's bared forearm. "Bruce found a borderline lethal cocktail of painkillers and caffeine in Tony's bloodstream. He's been working non-stop and running on caffeine for three days, combining that with the pills and the fight at the airport his body just gave out."
"Why isn't he awake?" Bucky asked, moving to stand beside Steve and resting his flesh hand on his shoulder.
"Coma. Bruce had to put him in a chemically induced one so his heart could heal. He-" Steve broke off when his voice cracked, tears threatening to fall. "He died, Buck. His heart actually stopped and Bruce had to work so hard to bring him back. He was dead for two minutes and until Bruce thinks it safe to bring him back around, we don't know the extent of any damage caused to his brain."
The hand on his shoulder tightened painfully. "God…why was he pushing himself so hard?"
Pulling out his phone, Steve opened the video clip FRIDAY had shown him. "Come on, baby girl. We gotta get this to work. Steve needs his best buddy back and I refuse to let him down. There's gotta be something we're missing, something that's stopping this from working."
"I hurt him so bad, Buck. And he still felt like he owed me something to get you back."
Bucky sighed, kneeled at his side and squeezed Steve's knee gently. "Steve, I don't understand, you got me back."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "Not fully. He was working on a new arm, a lighter one so it wouldn't pull on your chest. He was in talks with the UN for hours on video conference, all the while working on a way to remove the conditioning from your head so you'd be you again. Really you."
"Come on, get some sleep. You're no good to him half dead from lack of rest yourself."
He knew it made sense but he was reluctant to leave the frail looking man, so small on the huge bed, far too thin under the ridiculously light sheet. "Come with me?"
Bucky smiled and nodded. "Of course."
As they left, Bruce entered and took up the seat Steve had just vacated, promising to alert him the moment there was any change. The two soldiers rode the elevator to the main floor in silence and retreated to Steve's room down the hall. They changed into sleepwear, one too tired to care and the other too worried about his friend to be concerned with nakedness.
They slipped under the sheets and Steve allowed himself to be pulled against Bucky's body in a tight hug, eyes growing heavy. He slept fitfully, each time waking to find Bucky peering down at him, eyes eerily bright in the dark room. Each time, Bucky softly told him to go back to sleep. Each time, warm lips brushed his head in a featherlight kiss.
Every morning that Bruce said it still wasn't safe to wake Tony up was like a stab to his heart. He and Bucky kept vigil at his bedside with every spare minute they had. It gave them a great deal of time to think, and talk. They'd grown a hell of a lot closer now they were around each other all the time.
"Stevie, how come you wanna sleep in my bed all th' time?"
Steve looked up and frowned. "Just seems easier to be with you in case Tony wakes up, we can get down here much faster."
Bucky cocked his head to the side in thought. "Right, makes sense."
"Why?"
Bucky shrugged. "Dunno, just not like you to want to cuddle all th' time."
A blond brow rose and he coughed awkwardly, cheeks tinging pink. "If it's causing you worry I can sleep here."
"Nah, Stevie, I was jus' wondered is all."
They lapsed into companiable silence until Bruce came to read Tony's vitals and readouts. Neither soldier moved a muscle and Steve held his breath in hope but the answer was always the same. No change. Steve knew he should have pushed Tony to sleep instead of letting him work himself into a heart attack.
He realised he'd never really thanked Tony for working so hard to bring them home, to bring Bucky back. He knew it must have been hard to let Bucky into the compound knowing he'd killed his parents, even if it had been as the Winter Soldier. But, because the soldier meant so much to Steve, he'd pushed his own discomfort aside.
Steve picked up Tony's limp hand and threaded their fingers together, squeezing ever so gently, checking his strength so he wouldn't harm him. They'd learned to get along a lot better before the bombing in Vienna, their sharp snipes evolving into witty banter that always left Steve chuckling at Tony's razor sharp mind and tongue.
His eyes took in the sharp angles of Tony's cheek bones, the jut of his collarbone and felt sad that Tony had lost so much weight, no doubt caused by stress. God, he wished so hard that he could go back and drag Tony bodily out of the lab and make him sleep. He'd seen the arm in his workshop and it was gorgeous. A stunning piece of tech.
"He's gonna wake up, Stevie," Bucky said, startling Steve out of his thoughts.
"I know, he has to. Because I don't know what I'm gonna do if he doesn't."
-oo0oo-
For the umpteenth time, Bucky took in his best friend's profile, the way his shoulders slumped, his blue eyes sad, lips red from chewing them incessantly while he fretted over the unconscious man on the bed between them. Every night since Tony had had his heart attack Steve had crawled into his bed and burrowed himself as close to Bucky as he could, taking whatever comfort the soldier was willing to offer.
And every time, long after Steve had fallen asleep, Bucky would lie awake and think how perfectly Steve fit in his arms. He'd loved Stevie for years, falling for him completely when brave, no longer small Steve had stormed the HYDRA base in Azzano and rescuing him from the clutches of the lunatic doctor, Arnim Zola. He'd already been given a huge dose of the super soldier serum but he was weak from the conditioning that had already been started.
When he'd fallen from the train and been found by HYDRA, the only thing that had kept Bucky constantly fighting to escape and not give up was the thought of returning to Steve. The other soldier had never expressed any interest in him, or any other man, so Bucky had kept his feelings to himself, not wanting to make their friendship awkward.
And now, Christ, he was half-way in love with Tony as well. His head hurt with confusion, his emotions pulling him in two directions and he didn't know what to make of it all. He'd killed Tony's parents and still the man had helped him. A new arm was waiting for him, and a half finished algorithm that would remove all the conditioning from his brain, making him whole again.
"Pozhaluysta, prosnis', milaya," he murmured, bringing the engineer's other hand to his lips.
Blue eyes shot up to his and Bucky flushed red. "Sorry, sometimes it just slips out."
Steve smiled at him. "S'fine, Buck. Guess I just haven't heard you use Russian much."
He was surprised Steve recognised the language and for one horrifying moment, he thought he'd been rumbled. But when Steve said nothing further, he figured he was safe. He'd need to make sure he checked what language he was speaking in before he opened his mouth.
When it got late, Bruce kicked them out of Medical and ordered them to get some rest. Bucky didn't even wait for Steve to ask, he just pulled his best friend towards his bedroom and the two quickly fell together in their customary sleeping position, except this time Bucky slid his metal arm behind Steve's head and curled it around him to hold him close.
The blond pillowed his head on Bucky's chest and fell asleep quickly, leaving Bucky once again to his own thoughts. At some point in the night, Steve had rolled over and slung his arm over Bucky's waist, mumbling his name in his sleep. "I'm here, Stevie," he whispered in the dark.
Steve squeezed his arm and nuzzled his chest. "Love you, Buck," he mumbled sleepily.
Bucky froze but Steve made no further movement or sound. Damn. Maybe Bucky had a chance after all. But, first things first, Tony had to get better before he could even think about going after Stevie. His mind was too torn up to even focus on getting him and Steve to admit their feelings for one another.
-oo0oo-
It was another week before Bruce was willing to bring Tony out of the coma. Bucky and Steve agreed to hang back, keeping just out of sight in case Bruce needed to put him back under. They waited with bated breath, watching Bruce work to bring him round. Finally, those hazel eyes opened and Steve could have crowed with joy.
"Hey there, no, don't try to sit up, just stay there a minute. Can you tell me your name?"
Tony looked at him. "What? Bruce, come on, you know my goddamn name."
"Right, well, tell me anyway."
"Anthony Edward Stark," Tony answered.
"That's great, Tony, just a few more questions," Bruce said. Tony answered them all easily, and Steve knew that meant there'd been no damage to his brain for the time he was pronounced dead. Bruce filled him in and Tony shrank back in the bed, apologising profusely to Bruce for giving him such a scare.
At long last, Bruce said they could come in and the two soldiers bounded in, both grabbing Tony's hands and holding them as tightly as they dared. Tony frowned at them but he didn't pull away, his lips twitching in mirth. "This what it takes to get two hot men to fawn over me?" He joked.
Steve half laughed, half sobbed and pushed some hair back off Tony's face. "You ever scare me like that again and I'm taking you off my Christmas list."
"Spangles, please, we all know I'm your favourite, you wouldn't dare," he laughed, wheezing slightly.
"Bruce?" Steve called.
"He's fine, he's just sore from the resuscitation."
Tony's eyes widened at that. "What?"
"You died, Tony," Bucky whispered. "Bruce had to really pound your chest to bring you back. You're gonna be sore for a while."
"Christ," he choked out. "I'm sorry."
Bucky smiled at him. "Don't do it again? Can't have our favourite genius dying on us."
Bruce made some intelligible noise at that and threw his hands in the air, muttering how no one appreciated his efforts as the other genius in the building. They stayed with Tony then, sleeping with their heads on the bed every night until Bruce discharged him. And even then, they didn't let Tony do anything at all, both running around after him. They both were aware they were completely fucked.
-oo0oo-
Tony created a new arc reactor that would shock his heart back into rhythm if he ever had a heart attack again. Now he worked until he grew tired and as soon as his eyes grew gritty, he took himself to bed. It was unfortunate it had taken dying for him to develop healthier habits, but at least he'd learned from them. Which was a damn first for him.
He'd never admit it out loud, but he rather enjoyed the two resident super soldiers taking care of him. Big & Blond and Big & Scary were a pair of absolute idiots who crawled hand over foot to get him anything he needed. He mentioned he was thirsty and a glass of water was pressed into his hand. He complained his back was sore and he was pressed, gently, face first into the couch and his back was massaged by sure hands.
When he finished the algorithm, finally finding where he was going wrong, he created a new port for the arm and detached the old one that was inside the metal shoulder. Then he installed the arm, the black and gold setting off tanned skin and dark hair beautifully and Tony actually had to sit very uncomfortably for a while after.
Implementing the algorithm had gone more smoothly than anyone could have hoped for and after a few choice questions from Steve, the two soldiers had bawled like babies. Bucky was still able to recall his training as the Winter Soldier, but there was no chance of being triggered by the words that had been programmed into his brain, and the things that used to make him jump no longer did.
That same night Tony had gone to check on how Bucky was doing when FRIDAY very hastily warned him to stay away. His knuckles were poised to rap on the door and he jumped away when he heard an extremely lewd moan from inside. Feeling an odd sting of hurt that Tony didn't understand, he slinked away back to his lab to work on an upgrade for his suit.
Things grew a little tense after that, Bucky and Steve obvious in their affections for one another and Tony left saddened that he'd thought something was there and it was clear he was so very wrong. Things came to a head not long after.
He'd been shimmying in the kitchen, the speakers playing some of his classic rock while he cooked dinner, when two super soldiers were suddenly standing very close to him. Tony shrieked in surprise when he noticed their presence and jumped a foot in the air.
"Sorry, sweet thing," Bucky murmured. "Didn't mean to startle ya."
Steve brushed a curl out of Tony's eyes. "Don't stop dancing on our account."
Tony blushed pink and stammered in response, his brain incapable of formulating words. "I…what…um…"
Bucky rested his hip against the counter and chewed his lip, a chuckle rumbling from his chest. "To, chto ya sdelal by s etoy zadnitsey," he growled.
Tony wheezed and his jaw fell. "YA dumal, ty uzhe delal chto-to s zadnitsey Stiva," he said back before his brain engaged.
Steve blinked stupidly at them both. "You know Russian, Tony?"
"Yeah, of course I do," Tony said, grinning stupidly. "You think Bucky's brain has re-engaged or did all the blood just run south?"
He never got an answer because the next moment, he was pressed between two extremely solid bodies. Bucky at his front devoured his mouth and Steve at his back palmed his ass. Hard. He moaned loudly between them and flicked off the stove before he was slung over Bucky's shoulder and carried off to their bedroom.
He was flung, gently, onto the large bed and the two soldiers pulled their shirts off, baring muscular chest and stomachs that made Tony drool in joy. He had no snappy comebacks, no cheeky quips, nothing. His brain came a total standstill.
For god only knew how long, the two men worshipped Tony, and finally, when he was breached, his brain engaged long enough to savour the moment these two men brought him to the brink of orgasm and held him there. Steve was inside him, thick cock damn near splitting him in half and it was delicious.
He peered over Steve's shoulder to meet Bucky's pale blue eyes and he rocked hard into Steve, driving him harder into Tony and it pushed him over the edge. He cried out, coming so hard his vision whited out, coating his chest in come, Steve following him with a cry of his name and Bucky growled their names out, hips stuttering as he finished inside Steve.
Later, after they'd come down from their orgasmic high, Tony said they might as well just move into his suite because he had zero intentions of letting either one of them go. "I've been halfway in love with you both since I heard you talking to me in Medical."
Bucky raised a dark brow in question. "You heard us?"
Tony nodded and kissed them in turn. "Every word, soldat. Every damn word."
A chorus of murmured words of love and endearment went around and they all passed out into an exhausted sleep. Who knew he'd be lucky enough to hold the hearts of not one, but two super soldiers?
Translations:
Pozhaluysta, prosnis', milaya – Please, wake up, honey.
To, chto ya sdelal by s etoy zadnitsey – What I want to do to that ass.
YA dumal, ty uzhe delal chto-to s zadnitsey Stiva – I thought you already did things with Steve's ass.