blue light
but i don't have anything left to give
i'm like an old bone
in the back of the fridge
and i could ask for what i want
so you could tell me what you need
but there's no use crying anymore
- wet, old bone
20.
Everyone choruses "hello"s back, but Tony just stands there, a little slack-jawed. Oh, God, how he remembers Sunset. He's tried to forget her, and for the most part it's worked, but now she's here and she's that Sharon kid's friend and…
Sunset is still watching him, those painted lips curved up in a secretive smile. She, too, remembers him for sure.
As she makes her way around the room, personally greeting each of Steve's friends, Tony distantly notes how she moves the exact same way she used to. Sunset's got this precise, slinking step, almost like Natasha except more bold and less graceful. She's also grown her hair out from the rebellious pixie cut she used to have, and that long sweep of hair nearly reaches her waistline.
She must be nineteen now, or even twenty - a woman. It's strange to think that when she and Tony first met, she was seventeen and running from her demons, just like he was. Now, they are so separate, so distant - and he still remembers how he used to think he loved her, that she loved him despite his monsters.
That's what I get for being a stupid naive fourteen year old, Tony thinks as a bitter smirk crosses his face. Fourteen goddamn years of being manipulated by people who only wanted him for his money or "those adorable doe eyes" and it still took Sunset Bain to teach him a lesson.
Sunset's standing in front of him now, having made her way through everyone else, and she's very tall, especially in those heeled boots she's wearing now. Tony's only five eight, a part about himself he loathes endlessly, so she towers over him. She must be hitting six two in those boots, and that's another thing about her that hasn't changed - she always liked to look down on him.
When he was younger, Tony just thought it was because she - well - liked dominance. He didn't know.
That's the least reassuring part of it all. That he didn't know.
"Nice to meet you," Sunset says, all sweet slick smiles and white teeth. She holds out a hand, delicately. "You are…?"
"Tony," Tony says. That's how she wants to play it. He smiles, trying to quell the internal anxiety with a polite expression. "It's nice to meet you too."
Sunset trails a finger down his forearm, inconspicuously enough to look like a habit instead of a come on. Tony shivers and hates himself for it. It's been two years, and he's no longer a scrawny, scared child fresh out of the Ten Rings' clutches and desperate for attention. He's used to this, to flirting, to things like this, he should at least fight back, right?
He can't bring himself to do it. He can't bring himself to give her his trademark smirk, or duck his head to look at her through the eyelashes he's been told are quite long. Because he knows that no matter what he does, she will always have the upper hand. It is Tony who's been the sucker.
"You look familiar," Sunset says, biting her bottom lip. Tony doesn't pretend to think that that's a habit either. "I don't know where I've seen you from, but we should talk later." Her teeth drag on her lip before releasing. "Tony."
She turns away and back to the rest of the crowd, going in for a hug with Sarah before laughing and asking, "So, what's the plan for today? I hope we haven't intruded on your breakfast."
"Not at all," Sarah Rogers is quick to say, motioning towards her son. "Steve, honey, why don't you take Sunset and Sharon up to your room. You all can get acquainted there."
"Alright, ma," Rogers says, the perfect host as per usual, and offers a welcoming smile to Sunset. "Let's go."
Upstairs, Steve takes them to the guest bedroom instead so that they can all sit on the bed, which is king-sized. Tony tentatively takes a seat at the edge of the mattress, as far away from Sunset as he can possibly be. He swallows. It's going to be a long night.
"So, how long will you guys be stayin'?" Bucky asks the two, tone disarming. Sharon's scooted all the way over with Steve but she still squirms a little under Bucky's intent grey gaze. For a second, Tony feels a hot flash of pity for the girl; she seems, okay, she seems a little annoying for her age for sure, but also? A girl like that can get hurt easily. The thought settles something sick into his stomach. She's fourteen, isn't she?
And Sharon's been hanging around with Sunset, babysitter role or not. Sunset's...well, she's really not the type to find a girl like Sharon cute, but she knows how to wrap people around her little finger. She knows how to play the kind babysitter well.
"Until we feel like leaving," Sharon says, giggling. She seems like a giggler. "Oh, I don't know, we'll probably stay till nighttime, right, Sunny?"
If the situation didn't make him also want to run and hide, Tony would be all over the floor right now. Oh, God, Sunny. She is so definitively not Sunset's type.
"Sure, if you want," Sunset says, cool as a cucumber. She examines her nails before flashing Sharon a quick smile that'd seem genuine if Tony didn't remember her so well.
"So," Barnes says, giving them both a quick smile. "Most of us know Sharon, but we don't really know you. You from around here?"
"Well, I was born in California," Sunset starts. Tony can't miss the way her eyes flash to him briefly, full of promise and warning. "But I moved here last year officially since I go to college down east. I met Sharon's mom while volunteering at the local preschool. I was assisting her class, actually."
"Really?" Steve interjects. "That's pretty cool. Do you volunteer a lot?"
Sunset shrugs modestly like the responsible, humble college student she is. "Yeah, I really like working with kids."
Tony can't help out - he lets out a snort that tapers into a cough halfway through. Immediately, Sunset's eyes are on him, pinning him down, but - oh, God. The idea itself is just so comical. Sunset Bain, liking kids.
He remembers that back when he was dating her (if, in hindsight, it could be called dating), she'd make comments about children all the time. "Look at those little monsters," she'd say when one of them bumped into their legs on the street or at the ice cream shop. "I'd never want one of those." Tony would just laugh shyly, thinking that everybody had their differences, thinking that Sunset was super independent and it was cool how she didn't need anyone else to fulfill her. But now he doesn't know what's real anymore. What Sunset shoved into his head on purpose and what she didn't.
"What's funny?" Sharon demands, frowning at him. "Your name's Tony, right? You look really familiar."
"Nothing," Tony says, shifting on the bed. "Also yeah, I get that a lot."
"If nothing's funny, why'd you laugh?"
"Sharon, leave him alone," Sunset says, her tone carelessly amused but threaded through with just enough steel that Sharon obeys. "He's probably just laughing because I don't look like I like kids, right? I get that a lot, too, Tony. Everyone says I look - oh, I don't know - aloof. But I actually find them super cute."
Interestingly enough, it's Barnes - Bucky - who speaks up next, his face more guarded than his friends'. He folds his arms from where he's seated next to Steve, tilting his head. "That is funny," he says lightly. "You definitely don't seem like the kid type to me either."
Tony has to tamp down his eyebrows from climbing up his forehead. He might just be imagining things, but - Bucky sounds kind of...hostile. Well, it's not like he really knows how Bucky is normally to strangers, considering how they both got off on a severely wrong foot, but still. Sunset's pretty, she's nice, she's - is he just imagining the slight tenseness behind Barnes's words?
Sunset laughs, and even though only Tony can hear the slight nuances, he still cringes a little at how the sound is just a little too loud and a little too grating to be right. "Well," she says brightly, smiling that red, red smile at Bucky. "Hopefully the kids I work with think otherwise."
After that, the conversation moves onto easier things - like how she's enjoying her stay here, what she's done in this little town so far, what California's like. "Tony lives in Malibu," Bruce says, glancing at the other boy. "Do you live anywhere near there, Sunset?"
"Oh, no," Sunset replies smoothly, lying through her teeth. She is still watching Tony. "I live more up north. I couldn't live in Malibu. It's much too hot."
As the morning wears on, Tony finds the air getting more and more stifling. He pulls on his collar, trying to get some air in - Jesus, it's sixty degrees in the house, it shouldn't be so goddamn hot. No one else seems to be noticing how he's fidgeting around, they're still talking to Sunset - and why shouldn't they be? She's just as enigmatic as when he met her three years ago. Just as charming. Just the right combination of vulnerable and bold.
"We should go to the lake today," Sharon says suddenly. She grabs onto Sunset's arm - literally, where did this girl even come from - and pouts. "Steve, do you wanna go to the lake?"
"It's frozen over, what's the point," Clint says, chuckling a little. It dies a slow death, however, when he realizes that everyone's mulling over the idea and nodding.
"It'll be real beautiful out there," Steve says. "We should go, even if we can't swim or anything. If the ice is tough enough, we can walk out there a little too."
Tony frowns. He knows enough about ice to also know that that's a stupid idea. If the ice cracks once, even once, someone could die out there - trapped underneath the ice, in the water, bubbles coming out of their mouth in a parody of screaming.
"I'll ask my ma," Steve continues. He flashes a quick smile at Sharon, who seems all too proud to have weaseled one out of him. "After all, we have the whole entire day."
Bucky doesn't like Sunset Bain.
On the surface, he can't find anything discernibly wrong with her. She's nice, she's funny, hell - she's pretty, even though that shouldn't factor in on any of his judgements.
But his gut? It's telling him there's something just so slightly off.
The thing is, Bucky has really good intuition. It's what saved he and Steve from getting kidnapped once when they were younger. It's what made his heart speed up mere seconds before the car crash - even though he couldn't have done anything to stop it. So the fact that his alarms are blaring as he watches this friendly babysitter work her magic on the rest of his friends? Concerning.
Not to mention that Stark - Tony - has been acting a little weird. Not that Tony doesn't normally act twitchy, because the guy is twitchy, but. Bucky's seen him knot his hands together seventeen times in the last four minutes, and that's a little excessive, even for him.
On the ride over to the lake, Bucky makes sure to sit next to Tony, who's seated next to Sunset in the back. Tony's still awfully jittery when Bucky's hip inevitably presses against his during a turn, but what Bucky's more focused on is how Tony seems to be clinging a little to his side. Not obviously, of course, but Bucky's always been praised for his sharp observational skills. So he notices. And it's weird.
They've already had chats about this, but Bucky's not gonna turn around and pretend like everything's okay between them. In fact, with all the not-so-false rumors of Tony's sexual openness back at SHIELD, he would've assumed Tony'd be flirting like the suave playboy he is and leaving a ten foot space between them as per usual. But no - this time, Tony is stiff. Paler. And while every part of Bucky's rationality is rolling its eyes, his gut is telling him that Sunset Bain seems just a little fake.
By the time they reach the lake, it's only eleven am. The sky is white with a grey flush and it's beautiful, and he catches Stark - Tony - gazing upwards, with a look akin to awe. For some reason, this has Bucky holding back a smile.
Sharon's already off with Steve, chattering incessantly (okay, Bucky doesn't remember himself or any of his friends being like this at fourteen, but alright). Sunset's making small talk with Bruce, who looks a bit red in the face and fumbly. Natasha and Clint are whispering to each other behind their scarves, nestling quite close, and Thor's several paces ahead already, romping cheerfully in the snow with his jacket already half-slung off of his shoulders.
This leaves Bucky to simply enjoy the weather, and observe.
As he watches, trailing behind everyone to relax in the cool air and enjoy the walk, he notices Sunset drift closer to Tony. From where he is, it looks like a friendly conversation - and yet, he also can't miss the way Tony's shoulders curl like they're tensing, and how fluidly Sunset moves as she combs her hair back and touches his elbow. In fact, it almost looks like she's flirting.
Normally Bucky would roll with it - it's not in his nature to, well, disrupt that kind of thing. But there's something in the way Tony subtly shifts away from Sunset, everything in his body language screaming wrong, that prompts him to move up next to Tony and sling his arm around the other boy's shoulders.
"What're you guys talkin' about?"
Tony jerks a little under his arm but doesn't move, which Bucky counts as a win. Meanwhile, an odd expression flits across Sunset's face - almost angry - before disappearing. "I was just asking Tony some things about California. He's been telling me he doesn't like how hot it is."
"Yeah, that's why it's cool that Tony came with us for break," Bucky responds easily. With Tony pressed up against his side, he suddenly realizes just how different their heights are - Tony can't be more than 5'9". "It gets real cold here during winters."
Sunset laughs and nods her head. "Oh, trust me, I know."
"Hey, look," Steve calls out from ahead of them suddenly. Bucky glances up and, oh, there it is - the lake. It's frozen solid and sparkling with reflected sunlight, like a pool of glitter. Snow is scattered across its surface in heaps and it's just so beautiful. Obviously Tony thinks so too, because he jerks forward a little under Bucky's arm like he's yearning to touch it.
"Hey, c'mon," Bucky says. He gently nudges Tony forward. "No one's stoppin' you."
They all end up gathered in the snow by the edge of the lake, and Bucky watches as Tony curls into his large sweatshirt and tugs his too-long sleeves over his knuckles. It's like watching a little puppy roll around in its owner's clothing, and he doesn't know how he's never noticed Tony's so damn small before. Well - okay. 5'7", 5'8", is really not that tiny. But compared to Bucky, who's definitely hitting six foot and over, it's a marked distance.
"The ice has gotta be pretty thick, right?" Clint calls from his position out on the lake. He's already twenty, thirty meters from the bank.
"You're going to fall in, and nobody is going to help you," Natasha shouts back, but she's already laughing and stumbling - somehow still gracefully - over to Clint. Bucky can't help the smile that surfaces onto his face as he watches them. Nat pretends to get frustrated over Clint all the time, but nobody can miss the way they love each other.
Steve comes over and grabs him, tongue between his teeth as he grins. "Stop bein' such a spoilsport, Buck, and come play."
"Isn't that s'posed t' be my line?"
As Bucky wobbles over to Clint and Natasha, he notes distantly that Sunset and Tony are still sitting on the bank, alone now. Somewhere inside of him he feels bothered - maybe it's because of how he doesn't like Sharon's babysitter - and he grabs on Steve to keep from falling as he waves over at the pair. "Hey, Tony!" he shouts, motioning at them. "Join us!"
The little figure seated next to Sunset shakes its head a little. Bucky wants to go back, maybe, tug on Tony's wrist and tell him to have some fun - but, well, it's Tony Stark. He knows what he's doing. If he wants to sit in the snow drift with Sunset, so be it.
"What're you looking at?" Steve says, coming up beside him again. He peers over and waves at Tony. "Does he not want to join?"
Bucky shrugs, bites his lip, turns away. "I think at this point, a pretty stranger is better than us."
Steve frowns but nods his head in agreement. "Alright," he says slowly. "Well, maybe he'll change his mind."
"Yeah, maybe." Bucky casts one last look at the pair huddled in the snow. As he watches, Tony leans in and says something to Sunset - and then he takes her hand and they stumble from the bank and into the woods.
Okay, well, they're obviously off to do something more...private. That must mean everything's okay, then. Maybe he's just being paranoid. Maybe he's just being...overprotective, or something, because he's already hurt Tony enough. After all, it's not like Sunset or Tony could've gotten to hate each other when they've barely talked and it's only been an hour. It's not like they know each other. And it's not like Sunset's really a bad person, anyway - he's always been suspicious, even before the accident; he's always overthinking things.
And now they're off in the woods to do God knows what. Does Bucky even want to know?
He follows Steve across the lake and over to their other friends. The ice shines blue with a strange light, like a beacon lit in warning.
"Not here," Tony says. He sucks in a breath. "Please. Not here."
"Okay, let's get some privacy then," Sunset says agreeably. She reaches for his hand and clenches her fingers around his, a little harder than necessary. "The woods. Get up, Tony."
Without bothering to look at him again, Sunset tugs him across the snow and through the trees bordering the lake. "Time to catch up a little, isn't it, Tones?"
Tony bites the inside of his cheek as they reach a snowy clearing, well enough away from the lake that nobody can hear them or even see them. "What do you want?"
"That's not the way to treat an old friend, you know. How've you been?" Sunset says, friendly as ever as she sits down in the snow and crosses her legs. She turns to Tony, patting the ground beside her so that he'll sit down too. Her body is poised as if for the cover of a magazine.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Tony replies back. He stills the trembling in his fingers by digging them into the snow, and focuses on the evergreens surrounding them instead. They are tall and dark green and beautiful, but he can't even appreciate them with Sunset here, and for one hot second, he hates her. Just overwhelmingly and wildly hates her. "Surprised you came here. Thought you hated the cold."
"Oh, I do," Sunset says, laughing, and for a second - but just one - Tony can imagine that they're back again, she seventeen and he fourteen, and he's looking into her eyes and calling it "love." It's funny to think of it now, his fourteen-year-old notion of love - as if love were so easy, so simple. Obviously his parents' marriage had taught him nothing.
Sunset has moved closer to him. "Do you remember what we used to do?" she says lightly with a smile. "Remember all the fun we had?"
"In hindsight, I'd say that that fun was pretty one-sided." Tony twists his mouth into a smile - or, at least, a parody of one. He's sixteen, for God's - he can handle somebody like Sunset Bain. He's been handling people like her all his life.
Sunset pouts at him. "You liked it too." Ah, now there it is: the classic hand trailing down the arm. She looks him up and down. "And you're not as shrimpy as you used to be, you know. Those hours in the shop must've finally caught up to you, you should take advantage of it."
"Unlike some people, I don't like taking advantage of others." The words burn in his throat.
Sunset sits up straighter. "Okay, Tony," she says, and her voice is so so quiet and so so amused. "But that's not what I said."
The sun is very bright in his eyes and he tries to blink the glare out from between his lashes. Sunset's smile is gleaming, white and sharp like fangs, and for a moment he thinks the most stupid thing possible: can't sunlight kill vampires?
"Anyway," Sunset continues. She licks her lower lip and Tony tries to ignore the small pink flash of tongue that darts out from her mouth. Even now, even after all that's happened, he's still...he has no fucking clue how to feel about her. "I've missed you, Tony. Do you still think about me?"
"No," Tony lies. He gives her a bitter smirk. "You were just another person who fucked me over. What makes you think you're so special?"
Sunset tosses her hair back with long fingers and laughs, light and lilting. "Oh, Tony," she says, and oh God it's just like his luck to have Sharon Carter's babysitter be Sunset Bain. "I remember how you worshiped me. I know you haven't forgotten. You were so silly, just following me around like a little lost puppy. Tell me, Tones - I know I was your first, but was I your last, too?"
"I'm not as inexperienced as I used to be," Tony says and his voice sounds oh so brittle and does he know it.
"Oh?" That hand, moving to his thigh. "You tried to erase me, didn't you. With other people. Newsflash, Tony - life doesn't work that way."
"Fuck off, Sunset," Tony says coldly. His entire body is cold - his chest, his hands, his veins. "If not for my luck, I would've never seen you again."
"I've missed you," Sunset repeats, and touches him. Touches him. "I've missed you, Tony."
Tony stands abruptly and pushes her arm off of his lap. "Stop," he says, a tremble threading through his voice. "Stop."
Sunset shrugs but stays on the ground, looking up at him. For some reason, Tony feels no pleasure at finally being the one to loom over the other. "I'm going to ruin you inside and out," she says pleasantly, not averting her gaze. "I slept with you, dated you, forced myself to pretend to like you, and you still ended up being useless. 'I'm sorry, I can't steal the weapons blueprints, my daddy will get mad!' God, you're just as much the weak little virgin you were before I fucked you."
"You never wanted to do this," Tony says lowly. His hands shake. "You never cared about weapons, Sunset, you told me."
"Of all the people I know," Sunset hisses back, her voice like steel. She stands. "You should know that what we want doesn't matter. Not when our fathers are Stark and Bain."
"You didn't have to listen to him," Tony says softly. He hates her, oh how he hates her, but. But.
Sunset shrugs, her face morphing into something twisted and nasty. "If you think I didn't want to hurt Stark Industries, you're wrong. My father may have told me to, Tony, but if you think I ever loved you or wanted you for anything more than boosting my father's company, then you're even more stupid than I thought."
Tony flinches.
"You're just a Stark," Sunset says, that sunny smile returning to her face again. Her eyes tear into him, hurting him, choking him. "I could've used those blueprints. I could've stopped the monster your father is creating with his weapons. I could've torn down your family. But thanks to you, your legacy will continue. How does it feel, Tony? Hurting all those people - all that blood on your hands?"
"My father isn't me," Tony says. His voice is a ghost of what it was only minutes previously. "Howard's not - not me."
"Isn't he, though?" Sunset says. Going in for the hit. Guess she really hasn't changed. "Do you not hurt people, Tony? Can you really say you're more innocent than me?"
"No." His voice is a whisper. "But I'd never hurt…" He can't finish. Because somewhere beyond the trees, there's Barnes, lightyears away across the lake and laughing and having fun. His metal arm gleaming in the winter sun.
Sunset follows his gaze to where it reaches through to the lake and laughs. "Something to do with one of them, huh?" She shrugs. "Tony, when are you going to stop being a naive little boy and learn that you're a Stark? Starks hurt people. You can't change that."
He's losing his already-tenuous grip on the situation. He feels it and there's this hot sensation in his chest, tight and knotted. "What?" he snaps hoarsely, because he doesn't know what else to yell and isn't Sunset right, after all? About him? He's a Stark, and Starks profit off of destruction. He destroyed Bucky's arm and they all still took him in, being nice to him and showing him festivals and making marshmallows and not taking advantage of the fact that the great Tony Stark has PTSD. Well. Unless they use that info later. But in the end, Sunset is right anyway. All he is is a Stark, and Starks hurt people.
Sunset says it for him. "You know the truth," she says placidly. "I know you know how to use that supposedly genius brain of yours."
Tony tilts his chin up. "Should it bother me?"
For the first time, Sunset looks at him - really looks at him. "What?"
"Should it bother me that I'm a Stark?" he says with a calm that doesn't match his insides. "That Starks hurt people? You're telling me this like I'm afraid of it."
Sunset laughs. "You are."
"No," Tony says, and he offers her a smile. The Stark-patented one, the one that looks like a shark's and bites twice as hard. "I could hurt you. Baintronics is nothing compared to Stark Industries, that's why your father sent you to steal SI secrets in the first place. You think I don't remember anything about you? You think I couldn't use that against you?"
"But you won't," Sunset whispers, and how did she get so close? She presses up against him, slinking an arm around his neck. For a brief second Tony wonders if she possibly believes everything she's saying. "You won't, because I was your first, Tony. I was your everything." The last word is breathed into his mouth as she gently tilts his chin up and kisses him.
Tony jerks back. "What the hell are you doing?" He wipes his mouth and it feels sick, dirty. "What could you possibly get from me anymore?"
"Maybe I just want to have some fun," Sunset says, shrugging lightly. She gives him a look and there's something in her eyes that he can't read. "Maybe I miss what we used to have, Tony. Maybe I miss how you were the only one who wasn't trying to get something in return. Maybe I miss how naively you loved me."
"Stay away from me," Tony hisses, but his own voice sounds shaky. "Don't do that again, Sunset, I told you - what we had is over."
"You loved me so much," Sunset says and puts a hand on him again. "There's got to be a little love left, Tony, in that heart of yours. Even if you're becoming more and more like your dad every day. Isn't there, Tony?" She pushes him, just a little, in the chest. He feels bark against his back as he stumbles and oh, that's what it must be - a tree behind him, Sunset in front of him, trapped, trapped, trapped. "Don't you want to prove you're still capable of love?"
In the end...it's by some divine interference. Or by stone cold luck.
"I've gotta pee," Bucky says, and laughs when Steve rolls his eyes. "Some people have small bladders, Stevie, jeez, don't harass me."
"Okay, but hurry up," Steve says with a grin as he turns back to where Clint's currently twerking for Natasha. "Or everything might freeze and fall off."
"What kind of science class are you taking?" Bucky hollers in response as he crosses the ice. He's careful to step where there are patches of snow so that he doesn't slip, but he can still sense how slick the surface is. Wouldn't that be funny - if he tripped and went headfirst into the ice. Maybe Bruce's little genius friend could give him a new brain, or something.
He finally reaches the trees and makes his way through them, searching for a spot where he can safely pee out of view of the lake. He's a guy, it's not like he couldn't even just inconspicuously pee out on the ice - but it makes him uncomfortable. The publicity, that is. For all of his gusto when he's parading around with Steve and the rest of them, he needs his quiet moments. His privacy. Away from the prickling sensation that people are always watching, always waiting to hurt him.
" - capable of love," someone says all of a sudden, and Bucky's head jerks up. It's a faint wisp of sound, winding toward him from somewhere in the forest, but he catches it anyway - and it sounds like Sunset.
Oh, shit. He's forgotten completely about Tony and Sunset. He swears to God, if Sharon's babysitter and Stark are screwing in a tree somewhere near him, he's going to…
"Stop," Tony says, and it sounds tense. Panicked. "Sunset, I'm serious. Stop."
Bucky draws closer to the noise. Whatever's going on, it doesn't sound like sex.
"You could at least be useful for once," Sunset's saying back. "You know, considering I had to call you stupid names and cuddle you and pretend like I cared for five goddamn months."
"That was years ago," Tony's voice filters through the trees. "Years ago, and you're still thinking about that."
"Come on." Sunset's voice is impatient. "Are you really going to be that childish?"
Bucky comes to a stop when he sees Sunset, hand scrabbling for purchase on the waistline of Tony's pants. And Tony himself, pressed against a tree and looking for all the world like he's frozen stiff, his eyes wide and breath coming in shaky bursts of white in the cold air.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he yells across the clearing and Sunset jerks back like a rubber band, head snapping around to look at Bucky. She winces right after and good, he hopes she got whiplash.
Bucky storms over and he can't even think straight, from what he's just seen, from what he's just - God, oh God, Tony's...Tony's… Fine, no, Stark's fine. Nothing happened, they're still bundled in their winter garments, they're fine. It's fine. (Is it?)
"James," Sunset says, and she widens her eyes. They're big and sad and brown, but it's a strange brown, a cold brown. Not honeyed or warm, like Tony's. "Thank God you're here. Tony tried to - "
"Are you fucking kiddin' me right now?" Bucky looks her dead in the eye, shaking with the effort not to deck her. Girl or not, she's seventeen or eighteen and can handle a metal fist to the face. "You're really gonna try t' sell me that bullshit? I saw you."
Sunset's face shifts immediately. "Why do you care?" she says coolly, adjusting her stance into something composed and confident. "It doesn't take a genius to tell you aren't friends with Tony, James."
"Stop callin' me James," Bucky says tightly. "What the fuck were you doing just now?"
"We know each other," Sunset says in response. She motions toward Tony, who hasn't moved since and is still stiff against the tree. "We go way back. You have no idea what we used to have."
"Used to is the key phrase here," Bucky hisses. "Not anymore." He gestures wildly. "Should I be callin' the police? I heard him say stop, don't even try t' deny it - "
"No," Tony says, and Bucky's eyes flick over to meet his. "No police."
"Aren't you a legal adult anyway?" Bucky grits out. "Eighteen? Is this even legal?"
"Of course it'd be legal if I were eighteen," Sunset scoffs, her voice colored with a hint of disbelief. Like she thinks Bucky's stupid or something, and -
"She's twenty," Tony says quietly. "She should be twenty. Now."
For a second Bucky just stares. Now that he knows, he can definitely see a twenty year old in Sunset Bain - but - but that means - that means that -
"Get the fuck away from him," he says lowly, and he takes a step toward Sunset in the snow. "Get the fuck away from Tony before I call the fucking police."
"I'm still Sharon's babysitter, you know," Sunset says, even as her gaze flickers. "I can't just leave her here."
"Oh, yes, you can," Bucky growls. "She's got me and Tony to take care of her, not a fucking assaulter."
Sunset shrugs and takes a step back. "Alright," she says coolly. "Whatever, James. I'll see you later, Tony."
"No you fuckin' won't," Bucky snarls at her retreating back. "Not if I can fuckin' help it you won't."
As soon as Sunset's gone, he turns to Tony, who's sagging against the tree now with his eyes closed.
"Hey, doll," he says, barely even aware of what's coming out of his mouth. Okay, this is Stark - this is Tony - and Tony's a friend now, and Tony needs help. "Listen t' me, it's gonna be okay. She's not comin' back, okay - it'll be okay."
Tony sucks in an audible breath and looks up at him. Bucky's almost startled at the intense gaze - chocolate-colored, flecked with bits of honey and amber. "I know her," he starts quietly, "from - back in California. No big deal, she didn't do anything, I just...I used to date her."
"She's four years older than you," Bucky says, can't help but say. "Stark - Tony…"
"I know," Tony says roughly. "I mean - sorry. Just - God, I...I know."
"'M not gonna ask," Bucky says softly, "if you don't wanna tell me. But look, it's cold out and you're from California and not used to it. Let's go back to the car. I can text Steve and tell him we're goin' back, yeah?"
"Sunset's probably back in the car," Tony says miserably. "She came with us, remember?"
"I can have Sarah get someone to pick her up," Bucky says firmly. "Sarah's great, she won't ask questions - she'll just, I dunno, get a friend or somethin'. You don't have t' worry about that. But for now, then, we can go to the visitor cabin - it's a little shack for people who stop by the lake. It's got rations and a fireplace and we can warm ourselves up in there."
"All your friends are probably waiting for you," Tony mutters. He picks at the overlong sleeves of his sweatshirt.
"And they can keep waitin'," Bucky says, more strongly than he intends. "C'mon," he says, softer. "I'll let everyone know where we're headed and then we can eat some snacks or somethin'. But I don't wanna stand out here in the cold, I'm gettin' chilly, too. See? Brrrr." He rubs his hands and blows on them for effect.
He's rewarded with the smallest smile from Tony. "Alright," Tony says as he visibly tries to hold back his expression, and suddenly Bucky finds himself thinking - he's never noticed before how sweet Tony's face is when he's smiling. It's like his eyes get a little brighter and his mouth quirks up a little more on one side, or something. He also realizes how rarely he's seen Tony smile since he's met him, and this one probably isn't even one hundred percent genuine.
Maybe he should make it his goal to get Tony to smile more, he thinks. If not for anything else but to serve as one final olive branch, as one final apology.
"Y'know," he says lightly, because he's still holding it out, that one single olive branch. "We'd better get there fast, before Thor sees our texts and decides he wants t' eat too. I want there to be more than crumbs left in the cabinets when I go lookin' for food."
The subtle way Tony's mouth curves up again is worth it, Bucky decides, even when he realizes he still desperately needs to pee. "You okay?" he adds quietly after a moment, even though it's a dumb question. Maybe nothing happened, but - still. How could anyone be okay?
"Always." Tony's voice is faint but there, lingering. "Thanks."
"No need t' say thank you," Bucky tells him, and tries not to look at the boy in the red sweatshirt beside him. Tries not to think about what could've, would've, happened if he hadn't thought to pee in this exact spot at this exact time. Tony's so goddamn small, honestly; a big and charismatic persona but small nevertheless. "At least, not till I get some food in you before Thor comes thunderin' in and eatin' everything in sight."
He hopes Tony's still smiling, even though when he glances over, Tony's face is tilted away and angled toward the line where the trees meet the sky. Even if it's just to smile over something as lame as a crack about Thor's ridiculous appetite.
As they walk through the snow, Bucky tells himself to stop glancing over at Tony and focuses on leading them both toward the cabin instead. It is quiet, but his heart's still pounding like he's run a long, long way from the lake and everyone's laughter free as the wind.
The breeze whistles restlessly through the trees and is gone.