Talkative

By the time anyone else makes it down to the common room for the day and breakfast, which at most was maybe an hour, Tony has been curled up on his chair for a while now. He has four mugs of coffee on the floor around him; only one has anything still in it close enough that he can easily reach all of them without really moving. Tony doesn't bother to acknowledge any of them as they slowly arrive, sometimes one by one or two by two. He doesn't even spare them a glance, which sets the pretence for the rest of the day. Luckily for the others, they've been placed together before, well, not all together, but they've been paired up before. Most of them are friends, whether newer or older; they all consider themselves friends. It makes this more comfortable if you ignore Tony, who is admittedly harder to do whether he makes it that way or not. They could be overthinking it, but it's kinda hard not to. It's a bit easier that Tony hardly moves as the others try to get on with the day and just get used to Tony being out of his room at all. He really only moves when he deems it late enough, and he can leave for the day.

When night comes, though, that's the ideal time for Tony to come out and finish off his mapping of the compound. He wanders back to the common room. This time again, a light is on, and he expects to find Bucky there again. Still hesitant but also curious and wanting to finish his map, Tony slips into the room cautiously. Tony looks around a little, seeing it's only Bucky up, which he had half expected anyway. Bucky is still wearing the same things as last night, but then again, so is he. Just a pair of fuzzy horror-themed pyjama pants and a rather large hoodie, enough that the sleeves cover half of his hands when relaxed. The only change is that the headphones around his neck still play music softly, which means they're actually quite loud when on.

Bucky recognizes a notable rock band but focuses more on the fact that, unlike last night, Tony has yet to move on. He can feel Tony pause lightly, scoping out the room before he looks at Bucky again. Eyes lingering on Bucky's back, Tony starts to move again, but his eyes stay on Bucky or his general area. Tony's presence is wired and hesitant but seemingly more used to his surroundings. Bucky has a knack for feeling people's auras and compares Tony's to the others.

Tony feels like static to Bucky. His energy has never felt like the others, even from the beginning. Steve has always felt like a breeze coming off the ocean, Clint felt like a breeze rushing through a forest, and Sam has always felt like sitting in the sun. Bruce has always had the energy of being under a weighted blanket, and Natasha has felt like a dripping tap falling into a pond. The only time he's felt Tony's energy calm down or change is around Fury. Even when Phil is around, Tony feels like static, but it's a softer, calmer kind of static, which makes Fury the biggest change factor. When Fury is around, Bucky can see through the static a little, and behind all the static, Bucky finds a slow, warm flame, or at least that's what he thinks. Unable to keep quiet this time, Bucky turned around and leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms lightly as Tony gazed distracted outside.

"Need somethin'?" Bucky asks him softly, making Tony jump, startled by Bucky speaking to him

"No," Tony says coldly, but he's clearly unsure of what's happening.

"Just like the view, then?" Bucky asks calmly, gauging Tony for a reaction

"You sure are talkative," Tony sneers at him, looking him up and down.

"Something tells me when you're around, I have to be," Bucky notes, his head tilted slightly to the side. He wonders why Tony never looks people in the eye.

"Buck? Tony?' Bruce asks groggily as he pads out of the hallway.

"Can't sleep, Bruce?" Bucky asks as Tony clicks his tongue and storms back down his hallways, scratching the back of his neck lightly unnerved

"Yeah," Bruce says slowly, more aware of what he just walked into

"Hmmm," Bucky just hums, watching until Tony has fully vanished.

"This happened before?" Bruce asks him, wondering just how many times Bucky and Tony have interacted without them knowing about it

"Not really. Second time he's come across me and the first time we've spoken." Bucky shrugs, going back to what he was doing

"That's true," Bruce says softly. They've only been together for about a week. There can't have been any more chances.

Neither really talks much more than that, as there is little to talk about, and Bucky offers him a mug of what he'd been making. Once done, each put their cup in the sink and head back to their rooms. Tony has already beat them back to his room, but not before completing the map, just going another way not to be seen again. He's making good progress on the new ban design, and while the old or current one is nice and comfortable, it isn't his per se. Tony wants to make one specifically for him the way he likes it. He'll keep the base structure the same as he actually likes that part of it. As what seems to be becoming the normal, no one comes near him during the day as he stays in his chair, hardly leaving it until he can return to his room. Normally, this would be steps in the right direction and what Phil wants from them, but just because they seem to be able to stay in a room together doesn't mean they get along. Tony knows it, too. He's just more reluctant to change it compared to the team, who are eager to get back to training and work, it seems. Being in the same room has never been the real issue; if he just wanted them to co-habitat, great, they did it. No, Phil wants them to get along, be a team, and actually interact with each other. The line is still clearly drawn between them and Tony. However, Bucky's changed his usual spot from his spot on the couch to a place on the loveseat. Why? Because he can watch Tony better from this spot, Frost's words still occupy a good deal of his mind after all. Bucky is careful not to watch Tony outright or give him too much attention, worried he'd spook or just piss Tony off more. He just needs to be able to easily look over or watch for some kind of reaction.

This pattern continues for a week, and Tony has the odd meeting in the middle of the night with Barnes, but they hardly exchange words anymore. On a plus, everyone is getting used to Tony being out for the most part. Still, neither Tony nor the others initiate anything or some kind of contact, which is okay since it's a good enough step. Phil comes at the end of the week for his weekly check, like clockwork. Phil doesn't bring Fury; he only needs to bring when he really needs a stronger force to deal with Tony or any of the others. Phil thinks a little as he comes in that maybe as the team is warming up to each other, Frost might need to join him once in a while, both for backup and her input on how she sees it going. Still, Phil is happy to see Tony out of his room and just being in the same area as the others, even if he's clearly ignoring everyone else and wants nothing to do with them. He notes the way Tony is dressed, something he's learned after many years with Tony. Usually, Tony dresses properly for the day and makes sure he looks good and, in many cases, better than anyone else is dressed. So, seeing him dressed in one of his many horror-themed fuzzy pyjama pants and an oversized hoodie that's well-loved and worn shows something else. This shows he might not be feeling well, and the fact that he's hiding under his hood and most likely has headphones on could be from power drawbacks or just being sick from lack of sleep and stress. Still, it's something for Phil to keep an eye on.

"Well?" Phil asks the group as a whole, glancing over each of them before sparing Tony a third glance

"Been okay" Sam shrugs, and Phil nods in acknowledgement.

"That's good to hear; I'm glad it seems to be working. And I can see Tony has been participating and keeping to his word," Phil says, impressed by everyone.

"Surprisingly," Natasha mutters under her breath, but Phil catches it, and he can't fault her. It is Tony, after all

"Yeah, he's been coming out," Steve says. Pretending he didn't hear the redhead, Phil nods approvingly.

"Well. I'm going to encourage you all to keep making baby steps if you want to move ahead and get to a place where you can start training again," Phil tells them, knowing it's a big motivator for most of them.

"Got it," Clint grumbles, not really wanting to, but Phil has a point, and he doesn't like sitting around for long.

"You can do it," Phil says, amused. He knows Tony might not look like it, but at least he listens to Phil.

"Don't worry about us," Steve tells him, but it's also a backhanded remark about Tony, which Phil finds obvious.

"I'll try not to," Phil huffs, rolling his eyes fondly.

"Any tips?" Bruce asks, nodding towards Tony, feeling a little sheepish for having to ask

"For Tony?" Phil clarifies even though he didn't need to, which makes Bruce want to shrink in his seat

"Yeah," Bruce says quietly, Natasha's hand moving to his arm assuringly.

"Don't, " Tony says, annoyed, as Phil hums in thought, but from that word alone, Phil knows something is wrong.

"What happened?" Phil asks seriously, shifting his weight to see Tony more and crossing his arms over his chest

"Nothing," Tony snaps at him, but his voice has a gravelliness that's never there normally.

"Tony," Phil says, warning him, his voice becoming more stern.

"I had a coughing fit; ye' happy?" Tony grinds out angrily

"Great," Phil sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He knows it was just a coughing fit from Tony, which Tony classifies as one of his drawbacks, hence the nickname Fit. The 'Fit' is an internal surge of held back or built-up powers, making it hard to breathe and closing his airway, essentially choking him and making him cough as he tries to get air back into his lungs. His voice is now harsh from the Fit, and since he's out after it, it was most likely a mild one and even the mild ones can have him coughing up blood. Phil has witnessed one of the worst ones. Tony wasn't just coughing up a little blood. It was running down his chin from his nose and mouth, Phil might even say from his eyes. Phil was sure Tony was going to die that night, and he was damn sure Tony had felt like he was dying. It ended up bad enough that they had to sedate Tony to stop the Fit and his making it work by trying to do it himself either by panicking or thinking he could force it to stop somehow.

"What's going on?" Natasha asks him, not liking how the air changed between Tony and Phil, and an uneasiness settles in the room

Phil hesitates momentarily before saying, "It seems like Tony had a power drawback last night or sometime in the last two days."

"What kind?" Bruce asks, both worried and curious, while Tony angrily clicks his tongue

"An internal surge of build-up unused powers that close his airway for a brief time, and then it seizes around his throat and lungs," Phil explains; they might as well know, seeing as Tony will be with them for about a year.

"So it chokes him!?" Sam asks, alarmed and genuinely shocked. He's never heard of powers that do that besides maybe some textbooks that he never paid too much attention to

"He can taste blood," Bucky notes pointedly as he watches what Phil can't, which is Tony scraping his tongue with his teeth.

"Do you ever shut up!?" Tony blows up on Bucky, making most of them jolt or shift to a defensive resting state

"It does chock him in simple terms; it can also burst blood vessels causing him to bleed from various areas, scratch his throat to shit. again, causing more blood, so the more blood, the more violent; hence, he probably had a mild one." Phil shrugs, it off simply as Tony growls and grumbles from his spot

"I'm fine, drop it," Tony growls through clenched teeth.

"From that explanation, you're clearly not," Clint snaps back a bit. He might not care for Tony, but it's unsettling to hear.

"Shitty bird brain, you don't know shit," Tony sneers nastily without looking at him or anyone for that matter.

"Tony," Phil snaps lightly.

"All powers come with a price," Bucky mutters to himself under his breath, recalling Frost's appointment. "Are there more?" Bucky asks Phil this time for everyone to hear

"More?" Steve questions, confused and not close to following

"More power drawbacks," Bucky clarifies, hoping maybe Phil can fill in the gaps Frost had left him with

"He has four kinds of power drawbacks at least that we've documented," Phil says, a little confused by why Bucky is asking him these questions.

"Frost told me all powers have drawbacks, including his, so what did she mean?" Bucky asks, sitting up a little more now everyone is catching on

"She did what!?" Both Phil and Tony shout in shock but also anger, at least for Tony

Hell, Tony is already half out of his chair as he shouts that, hood falling back a little, his face mixed with anger and quickly slipping self-control.

"I told you something was off!" Tony yells at Phil, turning halfway to see Phil more clearly. This means Tony has been in contact with SHIELD more than they realized.

"Frost told you about Tony?" Phil asks him, not able to wrap his head around the idea of Frost sticking her nose into the game so early on

"Warned me about this, I guess. Some other things too, but I mean, this is the first that's shown up, so" Bucky admits to the whole room, seeing as no one knew about this at all.

"What did she tell you!?" Tony demands, ready to get the answers either willingly or not

"I'd like to know, too," Steve grinds out. He's not as angry as Tony yet, but he does cross his arms to hold himself back.

"I mean," Phil says, still a little lost on it all.

"I think I do?" Bruce says, unsure, holding up a hand, which brings all the attention to him.

"Go on," Natasha tells him, her voice still tight.

"If she mentioned what I think she did, which was that all abilities have drawbacks, including his, then it means while Tony's powers are the most feared, it doesn't mean they're all mighty or above everyone else. They're still powers, and every power has consequences," Bruce says nervously under all the heated looks he's getting.

"That makes a lot of sense," Sam says, and he means it. It also makes sense that it comes from Bruce.

"Impressive," Phil notes softly but keeps an extra eye on a near-seething Tony.

"I guess it helps," Clint says. It does bring a different mindset forward after hearing it.

"I should have known she was behind this," Tony snarls, finally ripping out his earbuds.

"Why would she tell anyone? Why did she pick you? I mean, you all see her. What made you so different?" Phil asks Bucky, trying to figure this out

"I can actually answer that for you," Frost's voice says, making everyone look behind Phil to find her in the front doorway.

Her hand still lightly placed on the trim of the door no one knows how she got here or how she even knew to show up at this exact moment. In all her glory, she's kept to her white and pale or icy blue elegant aesthetic to keep to her nature and her ability. A familiar small, sweet, and calm smile on her lips as she looked around the room as if she hadn't created the current choice.

"Now please," Tony grinds out at her, wondering if he had accidentally called on her.

"Manners," Forst says simply as she comes in, sparing him a certain look to quell his assumption.

"You started this whole shit show!" Tony barks at her, his hand angrily sweeping over the current state of them but mostly at Bucky

"Emma," Phil says back to himself for the most part.

"James, would you like to know?" Emma asks, ignoring everyone else as she stops beside Phil

"I would," Bucky says slowly as he glances between Tony and Forst, unsure if this is the right time for this.

"Don't mind him," Forst says easily, dismissing Tony's current behaviour.

"Kinda hard," Clint grumbles, butting in momentarily and speaking for the rest of the team.

"In that case," Emma hums a little and starts moving over to Tony, crossing in front of Phil to do so

Tony jerks back once she's in his space, but he doesn't completely retreat, showing how much he trusts her in a situation like this. Once in front of him, she can easily reach out, cup her hand under his eyes, and check bone. Tony jerks back a little more, his hand roughly coming up, and grabs her wrist to take it off but stops when she gives him a look. Had they been alone, Tony might have pouted and sulked, but he wouldn't have done that with so many eyes on him. With him compliant, Forst takes her thumb and puts it between Tony's eyes just above the bridge of his nose and gently applies her ability and some light pressure. Tony flinches at the initial cool touch, but that's it, and as much as he hates it, it really does do the trick.

"I've told you before. Take better care of your migraines after the attacks; you have them bad enough without an attack. Take it seriously," Frosy reminds him, gently but sternly and with a look just for Tony, making him grumble a little

"That," Tony tries to snap back at her.

"It's bad, Tony. Now sit please," Frost chides him calmly, a little too calmly, making it come off as cold and distant.

"No," Tony scoffs back at her as she steps back, her hand dropping simultaneously.

"If you sit, I'll answer all the questions," Frost probes him. If it weren't for her, this might come off as her treating him like a child.

"Fine," Tony grinds out softly and drops back into his chair, slumping a little with crossed arms.

"Seems like I haven't risen to second place yet," Phil mutters fondly at her.

"You do just fine," Frost tells him as she returns to her place beside him, her hand sweetly on his arm.

"Now, which should I answer first?" Frost asks Bucky but leaves it open to everyone else, too

"Why would you even warn me?" Bucky asks her it's the biggest one he can think of right now

"Out of all of them, You, James, seem to need as much information as you can before going into something. I thought a warning was appropriate for this. Plus, it's Tony. He's not exactly everyone's cup of tea. Oh, and you're sensitive to people's energies," Frost explains to him.

"Energies?" Steve asks, confused and a little hurt that Bucky never confided this in him

"James," Frost says, raising one eyebrow, meaning he's the one who needs to explain.

"Steve feels like a breeze off the ocean?" Bucky says not really wanting to share this but is also not sure what she wants him to say

"Oh, like aura," Bruce says, though he's not sure if it's really the same.

"Correct," Frost tells him. She knows Tony has a very chaotic energy, and you don't have to be like Bucky to feel it.

"Guess that answers why you told someone, too?" Sam says, though he's not really sure anymore

"Why give me hints then? I mean, you gave me three of them," Bucky says to her.

"You would have done it on your own. I simply made you aware of the new puzzle falling into your lap. I gave you a fighting chance before he," Emma shrugs, explaining it as simply as possible.

"Enough," Tony snaps at her, cutting her off.

"Before Tony, what?" Clint asks, knowing it'll annoy Tony but also curious as to what she would say if he hadn't cut her off

"What were the other hints?" Natasha asks Bucky quickly

"Tony's life is not what you think, and don't let him control the narrative," Bucky says, pausing to think.

"So, like, look past everything and at him?" Natasha thinks out loud about the first one

"Well, yes, his powers and he have created a smoke screen, but there is a lot more to him than what has been spun," Frost says

"Still," Sam says

"Emma, we need to leave," Phil says after checking his phone, which had pinged.

"Of course, good luck," Emma tells them before she and Phil leave a little hurriedly.

For a minute or two, no one spoke or moved as they let it all sink in and all the new information that had been dumped on them. Bucky has a feeling there was more to her answers, but he doesn't have the time to think in depth about it right now. He'll have to set it aside until he has time. Not knowing what to say to one another everyone goes back to what they were doing before Phil had come and then was joined by Frost. Of course, a fight breaks out between Bucky and Steve. Luckily, it's only verbal for the moment, though the team has seen it come to blows before. It's only loud, and there in each other's faces, Steve's talking with his hands, and Bucky is just pissed it's come to this.

"Guys!" Sam snaps, trying to get between the two now as they see it start to escalate

"You never tell me anything!" Steve shouts back at Bucky

"I don't have to!" Bucky barks back, almost lashing out and shoving Steve away from him

"If you want to do it, let's try to do this calmly," Bruce grinds out at them.

"Cap," Clint stresses, trying to get through Steve's stubbornness.

"Yasha," Natasha snaps a second later, glaring at him a little

"Dominate fucking bastards," Tony growls to himself and gets out of his

Tony goes over the closest bookshelves, fingers over the spines for a moment until he reaches a heavy one. Tony pulls out the book and turns to face the commotion again, and what they don't know can't hurt them, right? No one needs to know he was aiming for one of them when he hurls the book at them. Luckily and sadly, it goes between their faces and hits the wall.

"Dude!?" Sam snaps at him after having to duck to avoid getting hit in the face by said hurled book

"It worked," Natasha notes, putting that away for later if she ever needs to break up another fight.

"Move away from each other!" Bruce snaps at the two of them, his hands on his hips as he glares at each one a little

"Fine," Bucky bites out.

"You're right," Steve grunts and both teens move back to their original spots, one on the loveseat and the other on the far side of the couch.

"Thanks, man," Clint says, acknowledging Tony's help.

Tony doesn't acknowledge him back and simply curls back up in his seat and puts back in his earbuds, annoyed at this whole thing. He has one arm loosely around his waist, and the other rests on his chest, pushing his thumb into the spot where Frost had hers. All the noise has brought the migraine back in full. Thankfully, his hood is all the way back up again, and with it tilted down, the hood and his hair block out enough light to ease it slightly. The only downside is that it only lasts for a short time. Steve can't drop it, so Bruce mediates while the others stand around on standby. Tony pays them no mind. After about ten minutes, it dropped for the time being and hopefully a while. After it's over and Bucky isn't so focused on everything else and sits heavily back in his spot, he glances at Tony. He's frustrated, but he can't help but check in on Tony as he runs a hand through his hair and watches the smaller for a few long minutes. Tony's still pushing his thumb into the spot and dragging his tongue through his teeth, trying to rid the copper taste that won't stop lingering no matter how much he tries to scrape or wash it down. Since Tony never spoke to them, minus the one meeting at night, he had yet to learn something like that could happen, let alone it did under his nose. Granted, he's sure Tony made sure of that. He doesn't seem to like being exposed or unravelled, quite content to stay in his bubble of lies and smoke screens. But now, knowing what they know, he can see the slight changes he had missed early because they were so stable. He'll have to watch him more closely to find more signs of something happening to Tony, whether it's an attack, him being sick or hurt, whatever they may come across.

"Buck?" Sam asks, a little tired when he notices Bucky watching Tony

"He's doing it again," Bucky notes, dropping his hand and looking back at them for the most part, though he keeps Tony in his line of vision.

"Which part?" Bruce asks, perking up a little bit

"Tasting blood," Bucky says, demonstrating what Tony was doing

"I wonder," Natasha mutters before getting up.

They watch as Natasha goes over to the fridge, grabs a bottle of water, and returns to the area. She heads straight over to where Tony and his chair are, and once she's within six feet, his sharp eyes are on her. Watching her carefully, Bucky can tell she can feel the same gaze he's felt from Tony on their nightly meet-ups when paths cross. Sensing his discomfort, though, Natasha stopped just a little out of arm's reach and gently placed the bottle of water down. Once it's down, she leaves, going back to her spot, not paying him any more attention, and gives them a look, making them do the same. Once they seem to move on from him, Tony sees the water for a minute before he leans over and picks it up. Ever cautious, he turns it over in his hands to break the seal and sniffs the water a little before taking a tentative sip. Once he deems it safe and untampered, Tony takes a few drinks. The cold water both stings and feels good on his scratched throat. It helps more than he'd like to admit, and he won't ever voice it out loud, but he keeps the bottle close, even using it as an ice pack for his forehead, hoping it'll ease the pain and pressure. Bucky taps Natasha with his foot, and she takes that as the cue Tony has accepted the water she'd offered. Tony slowly blinks, feeling a little dazed and tired as the cold water helps his head and throat. He doesn't stay much longer, maybe a half hour at tops, before he retreats to his room for the rest of the day. Once in his room, Tony sets the bottle aside for the moment as he digs around in his drawer for some painkillers. Once he's taken them, Tony looks around the still mostly unpacked room and sighs. Before he deems a nap useful, he unpacks the room first and then agrees to nap.

That night, Bucky thinks of baby steps, such as what they could be and how to do them, but it's a harder topic than he thought it would be. So he plans to watch Tony for a while longer until things become a little clearer and see just how much he can pick up on over that course of watching and observing. There must be something in Tony himself that will help him figure this all out, but he also finds out that he doesn't mind watching Tony all that much. It's not even the puzzle or trying to figure out this whole Rubix cube of whatever the fuck is going on. Hell, even being a team has taken a sidebar into how interesting he finds Tony to be. The mixed metal rings he always wears, shiny gold and silver that gleam in the sun or when the lights hit them just right. A messy mop of nearly black wavy curls purposely long enough to hide his face when he wants them to. Eyes that look like whiskey when held up to the light and almost a dirty gold when the light shifts just right. Freckles nearly unseeable on his sun-kissed skin that he seems to share with neither parent, which also brings him more questions. Little light scars that litter areas like his hands you wouldn't notice unless you were like him, apparently committing every detail to memory.

The next morning, when Tony comes down, he feels a little better, not much, but enough to cover it up on the outside. His migraine is there, but it's a dull, forgettable ache now; his voice has a small gavels to it, but he sounds almost normal. Of course, the deal comes back to mind as he gets out of bed, making him sigh before heading over to the closet and dresser. He really only wants to change his pants, but he plucks at his shirt with another sigh and peels it off. Tony changes into cargo military pants and an oversized, well-loved, worn white long-sleeved shirt. After grabbing his headphones and tablet, Tony pads down the hall in his mixed-matched socks, too lazy to find a pair of either. Bucky is already down, and he had expected it. After all, they had missed their nightly run-in; he was bound to run into Tony at some point. Tony moves quietly, ignoring the other, and heads to his chair, stopping short when he finds a mug set down on the table next to the chair. It's not his coffee, though; it's white with cinnamon on top, but at least it's hot. Tony blinks, then whirls around to already find Bucky leaning back against the island, waiting for him to acknowledge him. Tony frowned, glowering slightly as he took in Barnes, who looked too calm and comfortable. His hair is half tied up, and he's wearing ripped black jeans and a black band tee.

"It ain't gonna hurt yah," Bucky drawls, his accent thick when he doesn't try to hide it.

"Why?" Tony snaps shortly

"Why not?" Bucky throws back at his calmly again, noticing Tony won't meet his eyes even when annoyed

"What are you trying to do then?" Tony grinds out his grip on the tablet, tightening in his growing frustration

"What do you want me to do?" Bucky challenges back, taking a step toward Tony

Tony bristles at the tips of his ears, just the slightest pink hue before he spins on his heels and stalks back to the chair. He's clearly annoyed and in a huff but realizes Bucky isn't going to give him much right now or maybe ever. Bucky is starting to get an idea of what Forst meant when she said not to let Tony control the narrative, even though it sounded pretty straightforward. After watching him and the adults, he has a hint of what works and what doesn't with Tony, and he now has an idea of how to trip Tony up. Tony is playing nice, and Bucky knows that because Bucky knows it'd never be that easy if Tony wasn't, so that's a slight plus to the situation. While the others filter in, Tony does his best to ignore them and the mug of whatever Bucky had given him as it starts to cool. It doesn't take long for curiosity to get the best of him, and Tony shifts so he can get the mug again and does his routine until he deems it safe enough to try. It's lukewarm when he takes the first sip, maybe a little colder, but it still tastes fine, perhaps even good. It's just milk and honey with cinnamon, after all. Tony thinks it must be what Bucky is always making when he's up at night, but nurses the mug until it's finished anyway. By then, everyone is down, and breakfast has started for everyone else. Tony will eat when he's alone.

Ten more minutes, and Tony has to set down the table and take a brief break from designing. He stretches his arms over his head, his arms and hands tired from all the drawing and notes he's been putting into the new ban. Normally, Tony would do something else or explore some more. Still, he doesn't feel comfortable here and knows what to really do with himself if he even gets out of the chair. Of course, he could go back to his room, but if he does that, he's very unlikely to return, so he'd better not. Glancing around the room without making it obvious, Tony figures out where everyone is and rests his arms on his head, looking down at the tablet screen. The design spins slowly, showing the 3-D template he's been effortlessly working on over these past few days. With a lack of options and, honestly, will, he could just do something else on it. Still, there is only so much else he can do at the moment when his brain is currently lacking in ideas. Tony's not on good enough terms with the others, and they do not dislike him as much or at least not as hostile with it so openly. They banter okay, but it's under supervision, and someone is there to correct Tony and his quick tongue. And outside of that, he has only had two conversations with Barnes, and they were very short ones at that. Tony zones back in when something is tossed into his lap, and he squints a little, his head tilting to the side in confusion to find two hearing aids now on his tablet. Glancing up, Tony follows the perceived direction they were tossed from granted. No one is there, probably having moved by now, but he's almost sure it was Bucky so.

"What?" Tony asks, mildly annoyed, looking around until he finds Bucky

"I told you," Clint hisses at Bucky, a little embarrassed they were his hearing aids. After all

"They aren't working, and you're good with tech, right?" Natasha cuts in for Bucky a little more confident because she does know he's one of the best, if not the best, with tech

"I could do it," Tony hums, sitting back in his chair comfortably.

"What's the price then?" Sam asks, and Tony smirks a little, something dancing in his eyes

"Let's make a bet then," Bucky says suddenly, steering Tony away from what he has a chilled feeling was Tony taking control of the situation.

"A bet?" Tony says, glancing back over to him, almost disinterested in having Bucky cut in

"A bet," Bucky says, sparing the others a subtle shut-up look knowing they want to butt in

"Go on," Tony hums, intrigued to see if Bucky could come up with something at least worth thinking about

"I win; you fix it," Bucky says as Tony slips the headphones off his head and around his neck.

"Obviously," Tony huffs with a roll of his eyes, "And if you lose?" Tony adds after he's done the dramatics

"I won't, but" Bucky shrugs confidently, making Tony roll his eyes yet again.

"If I do lose, I will tell you everything about my visit to Frost word for word," Bucky tells him, and the others share a slightly worried look at that.

"Alright, and for this bet?" Tony says slowly as he thinks it over

"Whoever gets to the roof fastest wins," Bucky proposes. It's easy enough within the limitations, and nothing is too hard.

"No powers?" Tony asks, but he's doing it just for fun since he already knows the answers

"Duh," Clint says, arms crossed over his chest.

"Simply enough, then," Tony says, moving the tablet and removing his headphones.

"Great," Bucky says, and Tony shares a brief look. "Go," Bucky says

Both take off like a shot and then the second, the word leaves Bucky's mouth. Bucky figured Tony might have been scoping out the pace at night, but he hid a lot before he wasn't allowed to. While Tony was hiding, Bucky had been exploring a lot more openly than Tony had been, and his map of the place was finished. Even without powers, He and Steve have more enhancements and may be in better shape; he has no doubt he'll beat Tony, but by how much, he isn't sure. Tony probably knows that, too, and is also factoring that in. They spot each other twice on the way up but just in flashes when the routes match up. He beats Tony by two minutes closer than he had expected and turns out as standoffish and reluctant to interact. Tony has a wild competitive streak and is easily dragged in by curiosity. From the look on Tony's face when he slammed through the door to the roof, he had expected to lose and wasn't rushing too much by the end of it. Still, he's a little flushed and panting slightly, but he took it well, which means he's in better shape than they figured he'd be in. He assumed by the rumours Tony would be a nasty sore loser, but he is taking it well better than Clint, actually, and maybe even Steve. Another story that isn't adding up, and the pile is just growing to the list of things off around Tony.

"Fuck you," Tony says right as he sees Bucky, but there's nothing to it.

"Better than I thought you'd do," Bucky offers, but he's genuine

"Rude," Tony huffs, rolling his eyes.

"Come on now, you can take it with how much you dish it, can't you?" Bucky drawls almost in a teasing tone

"Whatever," Tony grumbles and turns to leave to go back inside. He really isn't going to have this kind of conversation.

"How much of the rumours about you are made up?" Bucky asks him seriously, making Tony pause, refusing to address Bucky or at least with his attention

"Do you need to know?" Tony snaps, half turning to face Bucky again, and Bucky can see his temper rising quickly

"Or is this you fucking around with us?" Bucky probes, though he isn't sure how much Tony pushing will go well for him

"You aren't working that kind of fucking energy," Tony seethes, whipping around to face Bucky properly. It might be a fair assumption, but it doesn't mean it doesn't piss Tony off.

"And what about!? Huh!? If anyone is fucking around with someone, it's you all doing it to me! I don't want to be a part of your stupid little boy band of a team. It would have been fine if you never said anything! You should have fucking ignored her!" Tony goes from seething to yelling at Bucky in almost rage, and Bucky not reacting is only adding fuel to the fire

"You did it on purpose," Bucky says, his arms crossed like Steve's to hold himself back and stay calm. He didn't expect Tony to get this angry so quickly, and it just about kicked him into flight or fight.

"Why?" Bucky asks when Tony finally stays quietly, letting him take a few steps closer to Tony

"Stop it!" Tony yells, and Bucky does not want to push Tony any further if it'll end up in him going after Bucky

"Guys!?" Sam calls out, coming up the stairs; they'd come looking after neither had returned

"This isn't over, sidekick," Tony growls angrily, roughly pushing past Sam to get back inside.

"Something tells me he made up those rumours," Bucky says, mulling over the ideas.

"Come on, man, who'd do that," Sam says, dismissing the idea immediately.

"Come on," Bucky says, and Sam shrugs before following him back in.

The rest of the team is confused when Tony storms back down in a ball of rage, grabbing his shit, including Clint's hearing aids, and is gone in a flurry of pissed off. Tony heads back to his room without a glance or word to the others to get as far away from them as possible. Mostly Bucky, but can you blame him? He hates how quickly Bucky is catching on to this shit and wonders if playing nice was not the best idea. Whatever Frost had told him was too fucking much, and he was too good; he knew this was a mistake, but he didn't figure Bucky would be like this. Apparently, being cold and quiet is perfect for assessing people and figuring them out. Who knew, right? No chance in hell is he ever fucking coming out again because he already knows if he ends up in a fight with Barnes, the others will be around and jump in. Not to mention, the stupid prick will probably figure something else out, all while fighting with him. This whole thing has thrown Tony off, and too much has been said about it; there's too much interest from the wrong people, and he was already two steps behind from the start. How long has Barnes been trying to figure him out?