Help him.

Steve had rummaged through Tony's lab and had found four bottles of Whiskey – he hadn't seen the fifth underneath the couch. He had planned on stirring up Jarvis, so that the AI would alert the mechanic and make him come back down to make a scene and demand the soldier to piss off. He hadn't had the courage to go up and knock, like a normal person would do. He didn't like it, but he had to admit that he was a coward.

I may be a war-hero, he thought, but in the real life I'm not even close to being brave.

He spent the next twenty minutes in front of Tony's bedroom door. He seemed to be doing that a lot
lately. And even though there wasn't really anything exceptionally bad that could happen once he did knock, he was still scared of any kind of reaction. What if Tony had another stack of alcohol in there and had spent the past two hours drinking himself into unconsciousness??

But did he really think this little of him?

No, I'm just being realistic, he told himself.

Eventually he did knock. He didn't get an immediate answer, so he tried again, harder this time.

“Fuck off, Rogers!”, came the quiet and hoarse reply, although it was filled with venom. “Go back to your lover!”

A rather uncomfortable thought shot through Steve's head at that: Tony sounded like he'd been screaming. Because of him.

“Let me in, Tony, I need to talk to you.”

“I thought we were done with the talking bullshit.” Nevertheless, there followed a mumble and a soft click, which indicated that the door was now unlocked.

Steve entered slowly, quietly closing the door behind him. “I'm sorry. Again.” He sheepishly looked down to his feet. “I said things I shouldn't have, things that weren't fair. And I never should have left you alone like this, I shouldn't have put Bucky over you like that.” He looked around in the big room until his eyes found a big bed, in which lay a heap of blankets.

“You would have done it eventually, anyway.”, the heap grumbled.

The soldier rounded the bed to discover Tony's head, that was only barely visible from underneath the blanket. “I want to make this up to you. I want to make my peace with the government so that I can come back and we can return to being the Avengers. You and me and all the others.”

“And Bucky.” It wasn't a question. Tony had even opened his eyes, as if he could find out whether the other man was lying this way. His face was reddened and puffy, like the face of somebody who'd cried for too long.

“Eventually, yes.” The soldier cleared his throat. “But only if you're okay with that.”

“Would you leave again if I forbid him to ever set foot in this building?”

Steve took a few moments to think about that. It wasn't an easy question and it was even less easy to answer. But he knew he had to answer truthfully, and the truth was, that he didn't know.

Yes, he loved Bucky. He was the only person who'd known Steve before the serum and he was the only one who had accepted him as his weak self. He'd always been kind and understanding and always there for him, no matter whether he had a date or was needed elsewhere.

But Tony … he had tried so hard and he was still trying, even though he had reached the end of his strength a long time ago. He just wanted a family, somebody he could rely on for once in his life. Somebody who would accept him as his self-destructive, chaotic self; the same way Bucky had accepted Steve.

And Steve owed Tony, big time.

“No.”, he finally said. “I don't think I'd leave. Not again. I care about him, yes. I even love him. But if you don't want him in your tower, then I don't want him to be here. I don't want you to think that you have to let him in, just so that I'll stay.”

“But you want me to allow him in.”

Again, it wasn't a question. And again, Steve knew he couldn't lie. “Yes.”, he replied. “But it's okay if you don't. I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want.”

“That's very … considerate.” The genius finally made the decision to sit up, pulling his knees to his chest along with the blanket. He looked down at his hands as he thought for a few minutes. There seemed to go on a lot inside of his head: he was frowning and his lips were pressed into a thin line, as his eyes moved from one place to the next without ever standing still. “Okay.”, he then announced. “He can't stay. You said he's in Cryo, so it doesn't really make a difference anyway. I will speak to him, one day, on my terms. Then I'll decide whether I'll allow him to visit, or if I'll allow him to come and stay here with you or what.”

“... really?” Steve lifted his brows in slight surprise. “That's amazing!”

He gave the other man a dashing smile and went to embrace him in a hug, but Tony raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “Not there yet.”, he warned, even though his voice was friendly and his lips were pulled into a soft smile. “But thanks.”

“I promise you, I will never hurt you again!” At this moment, Steve felt like a little boy, who'd been allowed to eat a whole box of his favourite candy. He knew he'd wronged the genius, and he knew that he had a lot to make up, but he also knew that he could and, more importantly, would do everything in his power to make Tony realize how important he was, how much he deserved all the love in this world.

Surely they'd be fine.

Three months later Tony agreed to meet Bucky. He had stormed into Steve's room and had announced that “Fine, I'll meet him! Friday at seven in that little coffee shop around the corner!” and then he'd gone down to his lab and had spent the next five hours there without leaving once, even though Clint had tried annoying him enough to get him out.

The negotiations about the freedom of Team Cap were moving on slowly, but at least they had been released from their prisons and had been put under house arrest. Which had led them straight into Tony's tower. There had been a few complications, because Clint loved to disappear into the vents and Tony hadn't liked it, but then Steve had managed to defuse the conflict by suggesting that the archer should only be allowed into certain parts of the vents. Not that that really worked, but it was the thought that counted.

Also Sam had kept complaining about the absence of 'Bucket', since him and Cap were best friends. That had continued, until Tony had snapped at him and had said a few things he regretted afterwards. Steve had then explained to the Falcon about the arrangement him and Tony had made and that it was fine. After that he had proceeded in calming down a certain genius.

Over the course of the past months, things had reached a more or less normal situation and there weren't as many fights any more. Except for that one big one, where the others had found out about Spiderman's identity and they'd found themselves standing in front of a nerdy teenager. Peter had defended himself very well though, by reminding them that he was the only reason Tony was still alive and that him and Steve were on good terms again.

He'd nearly cried when he'd snapped at them angrily, but nobody had dared to say anything. Not even Natasha. Because the truth was, that he was right. Without Peter, Tony probably would have starved himself to death. It had gotten damn close already.

The genius had turned a nice shade of red when the teen had stood up for him.

Now, however, was Friday. The Friday he'd meet Bucky, and Tony was terrified. Of course he'd never admit it, but he was scared to hell and back that something would go wrong, even though he wasn't sure what that might be.

When Steve offered to join him, he agreed gladly and now he was trying to decide whether he should just … not go. In the end he came to the conclusion that it would be cowardly if he backed out now, so he put on a hoodie, sunglasses and a hat and left the tower, followed by an equally poorly disguised Captain America.

When they entered the shop, they immediately spotted the assassin, who was sitting in the back, wearing a hoodie and a hat. He did not wear sunglasses, though.

The eyes of literally everyone in the room followed the two Avengers, as they made their way to the back. For a few long moments neither of them said a word; they just kind of stared at each other.

Eventually Bucky cleared his throat nervously. “Hi.”

Tony slid into a chair opposite of him, Steve beside him. “Hi.”, he replied, his tone icy. “So. You're out of Cryo.”

“And you're ready to talk.”

“Yeah.” This time Tony cleared his throat. “I want you to tell me what happened. That night.”

Bucky shot Steve a short look, but he nodded. “I don't remember everything. They wiped me not long afterwards. But I know that your parents were my targets, even though they didn't tell me why. They never really did.” He lowered his head and stared at his hands. “I … I completed the mission.”

“Why didn't you ever run??” The mechanic's voice was bitter and sad, yet he managed to keep a more or less neutral face. “You had enough opportunities!”

“I tried. In the beginning. But they always found me. I think they even implanted a tracker at some point. And in the end I couldn't run anymore. They'd … hurt me. Whenever they'd gotten me back. I just couldn't bear the pain anymore.” He took a shaky breath. “So I just complied.” He locked eyes with Tony, something like a desperate plea in them. “I wasn't myself. I didn't have control over what I did. I know that now. But I still apologize to you. For all the pain I've caused.”

Steve looked like he was that close to defending Bucky, but in the end he managed to keep quiet. He knew this wasn't the time to talk about self-hate.

Tony nodded once. “Okay.”

“What does okay mean?”, the blond asked with a hopeful frown.

“I'll think about it.” And a little quieter: “Tell him not to disappear.” Then he got up and left.

Five weeks later Tony made the final decision. Two days after that, Bucky moved into the Tower and into Steve's room. Of course they still weren't exactly on good terms, but Team Cap welcomed the assassin back with open arms and Peter was a whole new level of excited.

It took another month until Tony stopped leaving the room whenever Bucky entered, and another few weeks until they managed some short conversations.

Eventually they bonded over Bucky's arm and Tony offered to make a whole new one, which the taller man agreed to immediately.

Then came the day on which the entire team got pardoned and was welcomed back to their status as heroes.

Over time, Bucky became the bigger brother of Peter, as well as Clint.

Once May visited and got flirted with by three people, including Natasha. She visited more often now and soon enough there was the rumour that she was dating Rhodey. Two weeks later and it was official, but Peter refused to call the man anything but Rhodey, much to the amusement of everybody else.

Roughly a year since Peter had called Steve, things were good at the tower. The Avengers were back together and no longer divided into teams. They did pretty decent work and managed not to destroy half of the city every time it got attacked.

Bucky and Tony were something close to friends now, Bucky and Steve were married and May and Rhodey were still dating and were now living on their own floor in Stark Tower. Peter shared a floor with Clint and Bucky came visiting a lot. Whenever Ned came over, him and Peter updated the assassin on Star Wars and Star Trek, while Clint did his best to excite the man for Super Cop.

One day, Peter lay in bed at night and thought about all the things that had happened and a wide grin spread across his face as he realized: without his help, none of this would have happened.

The next day at school he stood up against Flash for the first time and he felt better than ever. Unfortunately the bully decided to get his revenge and for a week everything got much worse, until Bucky heard about it.

On Monday, he accompanied Peter to school.

“You don't have to do this, Bucky.”, the teenager complained and kept his head down while walking towards the building, trying not to get noticed by anybody. It didn't work, which was mostly the fault of a certain assassin, who kept close to the boy. “I'll be fine.”

“I'm sure you will, but there's nothing wrong with taking my little bro to school.” He gave Peter a filthy smile. “Can't hurt anyone, right?”

“Right.” Finally they reached Peter's classroom. “Well then, thanks for driving me and all, but I need to go now.” He turned to enter the room, but he was held back by his arm.

“What, no hug today?”

“I'm sorry, but I don't really want to embarrass myself further.” He could already see Flash coming closer to them, eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Besides, I'm not a child anymore!”

“Ouh, that was mean.” Bucky put a hand over his heart – the metal one, mind you – and pretended to be hurt. “So mean in fact, that I might just have to follow you around all day.”

“Alright fine, give that damn hug then!” Peter pouted in annoyance and braced himself for the crushing hug.

The assassin grinned and leaned down, gently pressing the boy against his chest, careful not to break his ribcage.

Despite everything Peter had just said, he secretly loved these hugs. They gave him the strength he needed to survive school these days.

However, the moment got interrupted when a certain little asshole sneered: “That your boyfriend, Parker?”

For the briefest of moments, Bucky froze. Then he turned around every so slowly, his face without expression. He deliberately tucked a lose strand of hair behind his ear – with his metal hand. He pulled his lips into a dark smirk. “You must be Eugene.”, he said with gravelly voice and offered his cold hand.

One nervous Flash took said hand and shook it with wide eyes. “Yes, Sir.”, he croaked. After a few moments he gulped anxiously and asked: “Are you Mr. Barnes, the Winter Soldier?”

Peter could see the slight shiver that ran through Bucky's body and softly lay a hand on his upper arm to calm him. The older man shot him a grateful look.

“Yes.”, he answered. “Sometimes I still am the Winter Soldier. Although I cannot say when.” He winked at the bully. “But I'm sure you can think of a few situations.” He turned back around to Peter and offered his fist.

The teenager groaned internally, but he knew it would only get even more embarrassing if he didn't do it. So he responded and they bumped their fists together in a flowing pattern.

A few of the students who had gathered around them by now gasped. “Parker has a secret handshake with the Winter Soldier!!”, one of them panted.

Ned nodded proudly and Bucky fist-bumped with him. Then he turned around and left. For a few seconds nobody moved, until Peter cleared his throat and pushed his best friend into the classroom, falling into their chairs at the back of the room.

“Your life, dude.”, Ned grinned.

Peter returned the expression with a slightly dopey smirk. “Yeah man, my life.”

Later that same day, Tony called in the middle of Chemistry lesson and demanded to be put on speaker. He announced that Peter's class would be going on a field trip to Stark-Tower next week and that “Peter, don't forget your badge again!!” and after short consideration: “Actually, bring it and we'll destroy it. I'll just tell Jarvis that you can go wherever you want whenever you want.” It was a miracle that the genius hadn't leaked that Peter was actually living at the Tower.

Flash nearly passed out at that.

“Dude!”, Ned exclaimed with glowing eyes “What even is your life??”

“It's crazy, is what it is.”, Peter replied with burning cheeks. He really did love his life.