No-One But You (The Mystic Consultant) - Part 1

Chapter 68: Headspace (Part 8)

Bucky Barnes listened more than anyone, he just held onto the information more than most. He also noticed things a bit more. He currently noticed where Tony's eyes were.

He saw them through the suit, and he could see where he was looking. Tony was looking off in the direction where the others were. He seemed concerned, and Bucky could tell it was about Ezekiel.

"He's been, tormented."

"Tormented? Is that his word, or yours?"

It felt like Tony's word. Bucky watched his eyes as he questioned the word choice. Tony seemed to back out of his mood for a moment. Those eyes looked... contemplative.

"You know that I'll help you fix this. I was against the behavior toward Ezekiel from the beginning."

Bucky protested. Steve quit because of it, sorta. He was willing to do whatever Tony had going on in his crazy mind, as long as it involved a little trust?

Bucky smiled at the thought. Tony started looking at something while Bucky spoke, and the glowing orange armor around him started fading away.

They were talking real shit now. Truth shit. Tony wanted to face it head on, so he let his armor slip away for a moment. Tony kept looking at Bucky's arm, until he started speaking again.

"Can you trust me Tony, just a tiny bit?"

After all the wonderful time they had spent together? Tony almost laughed. Bucky Barnes had haunted him for years. He tormented him any chance he got, so why trust him now? Tony thought about it some more...

Bucky felt like he was begging. At that point they were standing closer than normal, and Tony brought his hands up to Bucky's arm.

He touched it. Tony touched his left arm as he processed the clever plan. The smaller brunette glanced up at Bucky's face for a moment, then he gave a gentle nod.

"Your group needs some work. It needs some glue, actually, so I want you to take them North."

Stephen Strange was with the glue that would potentially hold the group together. Bucky heard Tony's bizarre statement about GLUE.

... What? Bucky laughed a little. He puzzled over it, then he glanced down at his arm. The not-so-winter soldier said that he could handle the task. Bring them North. Ok. Got it.

Bucky and Tony went their separate ways. Steve's best friend slowly made his way back to the pack, while the smaller brunette travelled off toward Hoggoth's domain.

It was a large temple concealed deep within the warm terrain. Bucky was right to think of it as a jungle, and he was also correct about how the climate affected Ezekiel's condition.

Tony gave him advice on that a while ago, but apparently Obadiah's baby boy liked to learn things the hard way.

Tony pondered that as he entered the temple that belonged to one of the Vishanti. It wasn't as spectacular as the other two, but that's what gave it some charm.

Hoggoth's realm was filled to the brim with nature, and the temple was very simple. Tony was the opposite of that back at home. His part of the world neglected nature, and the tech was out of control.

Being there did something to Tony's soul, so he visited Hoggoth's realm all the time. He walked through the simple space, until he found two people that were unlikely to interact. They were chit-chatting, and Tony gave what he saw a soft smile.

"They'll be heading this way, eventually."

Job well done? Tony did his part, then he glanced over at Steve. He looked warm and happy. Cute. Talkative. Tony could tell Wade's humor was affecting him.

"We know."

"We saw."

Sarcasm had arrived, and Tony playfully rolled his eyes in Deadpool's direction. The unlikely duo could have seen anything out there, but they chose to watch him talk to Bucky?

He briefly wondered what they got out of it, but then his body did something out of habit. His body reactively migrated over toward the person on his right hand side. He slipped right on over toward Steve, then he rest his head on that blonde shoulder.

Tony secured himself there, while two warms arms held him in place. The brief discussion he had out there with Bucky fucking Barnes left him feeling a little stir crazy. It felt like he had ideas to work out, or things for them to discuss.

"Well, it's my turn then. Correct?"

Wade gently cleared his throat. Tony's mood was obvious, and Steve Rogers gave him an amused look. Maybe the two of them were going to have a chat about Bucky.

Maybe, maybe not. Deadpool wasn't really worried about it.

Chapter: END

Thanks for reading.