Sam sat in the uncomfortable office chair as Fury looked over the report. He could feel the tension as his bruised hand ached.
“I’m going to be straight with you, what the hell were you thinking?” Fury said, throwing the HR report down on the table.
“He’s a bully, Fury,” Sam said in a calm tone, knowing very well that there would be repercussions for hurting a powerful white man like Tony Stark.
“Look, Stark is a grade A fuck face, but everyone on the team is an essential member, meaning we need his tech and money plus funding from the government. If you have a disagreement, work it out. The Avengers can’t handle the bad press, especially you. You are the first-ever black Captain America and the press is itching for any reason to slander you. And history has shown white men with money rarely get backlash,” Fury said in a stern voice. Sam knew what he was up against if his altercation leaked to the press.
As Sam walked out, Steve was giving him the serious You’re in trouble Captain American face. Steve walked beside him as the two men got into the small car Steve insisted on driving. The car felt less cramped now that he was all of 60 pounds of bones.
“Why have you been distant for the past two days and what did Fury want?” Steve was concerned for Sam it was like him to shut him out of the loop.
“Tony has been saying transphobic things to Bucky and called her a whore,” Sam explained, while he watched as Steve gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles were white.
“What? He’s such an asshole. I fucking hate bullies,” Steve growled.
“It’s okay, I’m going to make sure Bucky goes nowhere near him. But if she has to be in the same room as Tony, I don’t want her alone with him. Also, I want you to tell others what he did so he won’t try to spin the story,” Sam said, he didn’t want Tony to get away with what he did to the love of his life. “Can you do that for us? For her?”
Steve clapped a hand to Sam’s shoulder and said, “Of course.”
Bucky sat curled up in a warm blanket with a cup of warm tea in her hand. She felt a gentle hand touch her shoulder and give her cheek a light kiss.
“I hope I didn’t get you into much trouble,” Bucky said softly. She was used to transphobia, and over time, she grew a thick skin, but she also knew that she couldn’t always stick up for herself because it wasn’t always safe to do so.
“Baby, I’ve got you, he will think twice before messing with you again,” Sam said sweetly pulling Bucky into his arms.
Bucky threw her head back laughing at one of Steve’s stories, as Clint tried to call his bluff and Thor tried to one-up him to impress Bucky. Natasha, who stood in front of the stove cooking fries, just laughed at the four friends.
The kitchen became silent as Tony stepped off the elevator. As Tony walked, he could feel the glaring looks coming from his teammates.
“Who the hell died and made the room turn cold?” Tony snapped.
“Our respect for you,” Clint hissed out as Natasha gave him a warning look. Tony let out a huff as he poured himself a cup of coffee and stomped back to the elevator. He knew it could have been anything to cause the rift between himself and the team, but given recent events, he had a pretty good idea why.
The following day, a nervous Peter awkwardly walked off the elevator and went straight to the common area where Sam and Bucky were watching television.
“I’m going to tell the team I’m trans, but first I want to tell Tony. He’s just been an important part of my life. So I was thinking if you could give me a pep talk, that’d be great.” Peter had a grin on his face that slowly turned into a frown as he looked upon the grim look on his friends’ faces.
“Peter, sweetheart, there’s something you should know...Tony was being transphobic towards me and misgendered me on multiple occasions. I don’t think it would be safe for you to come out to him,” Bucky said gently as Peter shook his head in disbelief.
“The rest of the team will welcome you with open arms,” Sam added as he saw Peter’s eyes water.
“No! That’s not true, maybe he misunderstood and thought you were from Transylvania. Yeah, maybe he thought you were from Transylvania and he has beef with a whole country that we don’t know about. Mr. Stark cares a lot, he just has a different way of showing it. I’ll go talk to him and we can clear this up,” Peter babbled out, backing away to the elevator.
“Mr. Stark! Is it true? Did you misgender Miss Bucky?” asked Peter, as Tony let out a sarcastic laugh.
“Misgender? How could I misgender someone who is clearly in denial? He is obviously a man in woman’s clothing. Like, maybe I was born in a different generation, but I just think he is too old to be prancing around in floral dresses. It would be like if you put on a dress and bow in your hair and called yourself Penelope or…” Tony paused mid-rant to see the tears streaming down Peter’s face.
“Pete, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have ranted about mindless adult drama,” Tony said, trying to comfort Peter who pulled away.
“I’m a transgender man! I was born Penelope Parker but I never felt like a Penelope! I always felt like a Peter and I thought I could come out to the one man I looked up to. But I guess I was wrong,” Peter’s face was red from anger, as tears streamed down his cheeks.
“But you look like a guy, It’s just different,” Tony whispered.
“I hate you,” Peter said as he ran off leaving Tony stunned.
Peter ran past Bucky on the main level floor, tears clouded his eyesight. Bucky pulled him close to her chest as he sobbed.
“You were right! He hates anyone who is trans! I’m disgusting,” he cried out into his chest. Those words ignited a fire inside her.
“No, you are an extraordinary boy, who is on a journey to be your true self,” Bucky said sternly, wiping a stray tear. After he had calmed a little, she had gotten Peter a ride back to Brooklyn.
There was a fire in Bucky’s eyes as she stepped out of the elevator and into Tony’s lab.
“Stark! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Bucky yelled as Tony looked at her with a tear-stained face.
“Oh, have you come to kick me when I’m already down?” Tony replied, trying to show Bucky how much in pain he was.
“Don’t you dare play victim! You don’t get to be sad...not about this,” she hissed.
“Oh? So I don’t get to be sad that Peter hates me now and my teammates have practically shunned me,” he yelled back.
“No, you brought this on yourself. Bigots have no place in being a superhero. What you did today to Peter was unforgivable, he looked up to you and you couldn’t get your head out of your ass for a single moment to realize your words hurt. I hope today you realize you lost good friends who would have had your back until the end. I hope you get educated because the world is changing with or without you,” she said before leaving feeling a weight lift off her shoulders.