No-One But You (The Mystic Consultant) - Part 2

Chapter 26: Silver Poetry (Part 6)

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"Tony, I've got a question. It's a bit of a serious one, so don't get all …"

Bitchy? Prissy? Annoying? Bucky Barnes didn't finish his sentence. He kept staring at the television as a bunch of nonsense covered the screen. Steve glanced in Bucky's direction, but Tony didn't.

He heard what Bucky fucking Barnes began to say, but Tony was kind of spacing out. Actually, he was waiting for Steve's best buddy to finish his random thought.

"What's your question, Bucky?"

Steve Rogers wanted to hear it. The hot blonde was very much still in his "Captain America" mood. Steve's vibe bordered being impatient. He continued looking at his friend. Bucky smiled a bit.

He was contemplating how to ask his question without starting a brawl. The question was for Tony and it dug up old wounds, but there's always been something that Bucky wanted to know. It was something hidden… beneath the surface, or whatever.

"When did you begin making your Iron Man suit? Or, how? How did you begin making your suit?"

They all knew that the version of Tony Stark that was laying around on the living room floor in that moment wasn't taken and held captive in an Afghan cave. The kidnapping was intercepted..

Steve and Bucky met Tony at the X-Mansion, when he was how old? Seventeen? Bucky Barnes did the math on that while they were "hanging out" and he realized that Tony always seemed to have his Iron Man armor.

In fact, the Tony Stark he was looking at in that moment was the reason Bucky and Steve were successfully given the Super Soldier Serum.

"I started designing an armor to cover my body when I was a kid. I think I was like... five? Maybe six? I dunno."

Tony answered the stupid question, but he still kept his eyes locked on the television screen. They moved on from baseball replays and all the sports highlights.

Tony kept looking at some waste of time awards show that dominated the screen in that moment. The programming switched over to some sort of laundry detergent commercial, so Tony slowly looked in Steve's direction.

"But, why and when did you actually put it together? When did you wake up and decide, hey, I wanna put this machine all over my skin?"

Bucky had always been impressed with flashy technology. He especially liked what he'd seen the Stark family put together. Tony pondered the question for a sec.. but his focus was set on Steve.

Tony studied his expression. The smaller brunette gave Steve a small smile, then he turned his head to the left. Bucky fucking Barnes was sitting on the floor beside him…

It became obvious to Tony that Bucky was either uneducated on certain aspects of his life, or, he was forgetful and stupid.

OR, perhaps Bucky was playing games. Was he pretending to be interested, or some shit?

"Obviously... I was born with trust issues. But, I started physically building a suit to protect my body after I was told my parents were dead. Before I met the two of you, they supposedly died."

All of that drama was some sort of orchestrated, bullshit. The multiverse was playing games out there and manipulating lives. Tony caught on later on, but he never felt safe.

He kept looking at Bucky Barnes. The more he looked at him, the more innocent his random question seemed.

"They were supposedly killed by another version of you. But, the Bucky FUCKING Barnes I met, long before I ever met you two, had a metal arm…"

The torment ran deep, but Tony kept looking. Bucky seemed pretty surprised. Tony watched his expression as he brought his hand up.

The smaller brunette started looking at his own arm, and he had his technology replicate what the "Winter Soldier's" arm looked like. Bucky watched the tech cover Tony's arm. It slid over his skin with ease, then his skin turned silver.

"Some psycho fuck version of you tried to murder me, and I was pretty frightened. He tried to kill me countless times."

Tony flicked his wrist and the tech disappeared. His arm and hand returned to normal and Bucky processed what was said.

He knew of the Winter Soldier, and what he was capable of, but he wasn't told that version of himself was involved in Tony's situation. Obviously, Fury withheld that information from him.

"Thankfully, I had some help. Right Steve? Soooo, I guess, Bucky you can credit yourself for inspiring my armor."

Tony laughed a little. He almost rolled his eyes as well after he finished his confession. He wasn't into giving credit to anyone, but giving Bucky that information made him feel a little bit better.

He smiled again when he looked over at Steve. Steven Grant Fucking Rogers, his protector, and forever his first crush.

Tony crushed hardddddddd on that one as he grew up. He thought about it in that moment as he started studying Steve's serious expression.

His idiot friend was still lost in thought toward his left, but Tony ignored it. The smaller brunette couldn't really take the somber vibe anymore, so he tipped his face more toward his right.

Bucky's posture straightened up for a sec. His back quickly pressed up against the base of the living room couch too, because Tony FUCKING Stark started slowly kissing Steve.

Tony didn't want to talk anymore, or respond to anymore ridiculous questions. He wanted to adjust Steve's mood a bit more, and pull him into what he really wanted to do.

Bucky's soul started stirring around beneath his skin as he watched. He blinked his eyes closed as hard as he could, but he focused on the way Tony was kissing Steve again as soon as he opened them.

Steve's best friend thought he should stand up and leave, but he couldn't pull his focus away.

Chapter: END

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