Chapter 11
Tony shouldn’t laugh but the situation was so absurd that he had to. “that’s not at all funny, but the way you said it was kind of funny. Sorry,” he says, wincing.
“This is what I get for following Yasha’s advice,” Bucky mumbles and Tony’s eyebrows shoot up.
“Yasha?” he asks.
Bucky sighs, “yeah. Turns out you might have been right about my knowing about him letting him… leak in I guess. Now that I think this is the first time. In hindsight I’m pretty sure my insistence on seeing you was mostly him. Also I hope this penthouse really is super soldier proof because I really don’t want to see what Steve is going to do next,” he says, wincing.
Tony shrugs, “the good news is that Steve isn’t exactly normal in his assholery so it probably won’t be something… drastic. At least by our standards,” he says. He had a guess as to what Steve was about to do and unfortunately for him it wasn’t going to work. Either way Bucky wasn’t his next target anyways- the easiest way to isolate Bucky wasn’t to go after him anyways. It was Tony who made the better target for several reasons but mostly because he was the only one around who was offering Bucky any kind of support. With him out of the picture Bucky would have little choice but to go back to Steve though Tony doubted he saw it that way.
“Are you sure?” Bucky asks, wincing again.
“I have more experience with this version of Steve than you do so yes, I’m sure. I’m fairly certain I have his next move planned anyways and if I don’t,” he shrugs, “I’m a genius, I can think on the fly. You’re safe here, Bucky.”
*
Tony probably should have guessed it would happen but like a moron he doesn’t so when Yasha looks smug over his coffee mug Tony rolls his eyes. “You still have plenty to do before I consider a relationship,” he points out.
“Well I made a friend earlier so I don’t have that much to do,” Yasha says smugly, taking a drink from his coffee cup. “I’m just happy to know Bucky agreed not to screw up my life. That’s a first.”
“A friend?” Tony asks skeptically, ignoring the rest of that.
Yasha shrugs, “she said she wanted to punch her shitty ex out and I gave her some advice,” he says like this is a normal thing to bond with another human about.
He sighs, “Yasha, please don’t encourage assault.”
“If I punched Steve in the face would you object?” Yasha asks, raising an eyebrow like he has Tony beat there. Which he totally doesn’t.
“Morally yes, but in a more practical ‘I hate you and hope you get hit by a bus’ kind of way no. But you shouldn’t take my advice,” he says.
“Then I’ll continue bonding with people over assault,” Yasha says, grinning as Tony lets out a long sigh. Of course he’d twist Tony’s words into what he wanted, Tony really shouldn’t be so surprised.
“A single friend you offered punching advice to barely counts, but it’s a good start,” Tony tells him.
“I’m lovely, I’m sure I’ll make friends fast,” he says, looking pleased with himself. Tony doesn’t actually doubt that- it was the kind of friends Yasha would make that worried him.
*
The last thing Tony wants to do is leave the house mostly because Bucky seemed to figure out how to talk to Yasha in his head- something Tony had absolutely no understanding of whatsoever, but found endlessly amusing when he watched it happen. Yasha looked like quite like a shocked cat every time it happened and Tony couldn’t help but laugh. Sadly though Rhodey had things he wanted to go over with him in regards to the Accords- things that were more Avengers business specifically. Rhodey did most of his hero work either on his own, with the military, and sometimes with the military but doing his own thing instead of whatever they told him to do. They didn’t much like it when he did that but he was also the only direct connection they had to Tony’s tech and he damn well knew they had people on trying to reconstruct his suit. Too bad they didn’t find Riri Williams before he did.
Still, Rhodey’s business was mostly on his own or through a government system already and he mostly only worked with Tony when he was with the rest of the team. The result was that Tony would know more about laws surrounding Avengers business than he would, at least when things were strictly them. Rhodey seemed concerned about emergency clauses, or the lack thereof, so Tony had offered to go over things and already had a new version drawn up and a long list of concerns to hand Rhodey and an even longer conversation to make sure Rhodey properly understood everything.
He doubted there would be misunderstandings, but knowing them they’d get sidetracked and end up doing something ridiculous like watching every horror movie ever made despite both of them hating horror as a genre and Rhodey insisting horror movies only happened to white people. Which was true and entirely disconcerting for Tony, who liked to think that Italians were immune though Rhodey reliably informed him that they were not and that he would one hundred percent sell Tony out to a demon for zero dollars. He’d be offended but if they ghost wasn’t picky about race he’d actually give the demon money to take him. Or maybe offer Justin Hammer up as a suitable replacement and double the payment because not even a demon deserved to suffer with Hammer.
“Tony,” a familiar voice says and he turns, finding Steve standing behind him. He barely resists the urge to roll his eyes and instead he sighs.
“What do you want?” he asks, looking to cut this as short as possible. Whatever this was he wasn’t trying to make it an event. More like a small blip on his map that he barely acknowledged if that.
Steve assesses him for a long moment before he laughs, shaking his head. “Bucky never slept with you, it was just an easy way to get me to freeze,” he says.
True, which was why he said it, but that didn’t mean Steve’s conclusions were true. And, because Tony was selfish and probably too much of an asshole but it would be a lie to say he wasn’t going to enjoy this just a little. “You’re not wrong,” he says and he watches the relief flow out of Steve’s frame, which really only makes the second part of his statement that much sweeter. “But not about us sleeping together. Just the part where he said it to shock you so he could make an escape. Sorry,” he says, not sounding sorry at all. It was shitty to take pleasure in this he knew, but after the kinds of secrets Steve had kept from him he couldn’t bring himself to feel guilty for telling the truth. He’d earned it after all.
“That is not true. And you aren’t together,” Steve says, shaking his head more in denial than anything.
“Also true,” Tony says, “the part about us not being together, we very much slept together,” he clarifies. For a moment Steve must see red- Tony can see the rage on his face that only lasts about a half a second but unlike most he wasn’t easily intimidated. He’s had more than one man all but literally rip his heart out- it was hard to be intimidated after that. Especially when he doubted Steve would do anything particularly heinous. From what Tony has gathered he played games that were strictly of the mind, which really didn’t bode well when he was dealing with someone who has been playing mind games since he was conceived.
When the rage filters off Steve’s face smug satisfaction replaces it though he does an admirable job trying to hide it. “Congratulations, Tony, you slept with your parents’ murderer. They didn’t die in a car accident, the Winter Soldier killed them,” he says. Interesting, Tony notes, that he avoids saying that Bucky did it but Tony leaves that in favor of laughing.
“I already knew that, Steve. I read the files,” he says, scoffing as he turns to walk away but a tight grip on his arm holds him back. Tony looks down at Steve’s hand gripping his upper arm and back to Steve. “What are you going to do, hit me?” he asks, rolling his eyes like he wasn’t afraid of that. He was but not because he thought Steve would do it- its just that if he did he wasn’t exactly in a good position to fight back at the moment. Thankfully for him Steve wasn’t hard to occupy if needed, all he’d need to do is bring up Bucky.
Steve’s grip tightens on his arm and Tony resists the urge to wince because shit that hurt. He guessed he could thank a lifetime of abuse for preparing him not to react as expected because he manages to keep the pain off his face and judging from the look on Steve’s that only pisses him off more.
“What the hell is going on?” someone new asks. Both Tony and Steve turn to face Rhodey, who spies Steve’s grip on Tony’s arm and quickly picks up the pace. “Well? Anyone care to explain?” Rhodey asks. His eyes flit down to Steve’s grip and then to Tony’s face. It was a testament to how well he knew Tony that he could see the pain there because the look on his face changes completely. “I suggest you skip the explanation and let him go,” Rhodey tells Steve.
For a moment his grip tightens but he releases Tony, who gratefully takes his now numb limb back. Rhodey immediately steps between Steve and Tony, pushing Tony back a little. “I suggest you go,” Rhodey says in a warning tone. Tony sees Steve consider Rhodey for a moment and he snorts.
“If you think you can outdo Rhodey pissed off you’re wrong. Your title from the military was honorary, his was earned. And he didn’t need to become a lab experiment to be special,” Tony adds. Rhodey’s head turns a little to face him- his way of telling Tony to shut up but it was hardly his fault it was true.
“You do not want a media spectacle on your hands right now, and you want me on your ass less. So go,” Rhodey tells him. Steve glares at Tony over Rhodey’s shoulder for a moment but he eventually clenches his jaw and spins on his heel, stomping off like any smart person would when they’ve been outclassed.
Rhodey turns to face Tony when he feels that Steve is sufficiently out of their hair. “Dude, what the hell did you to him?” he asks.
Tony makes an offended noise, “why’s it automatically my fault?” he asks.
“That is so not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that you had your fighting gloves on and I don’t know what you said to make Captain Perfect to consider actually killing you but it must have been something impressive. And probably stupid, but that’s because I know and love you, not because I have any evidence for that,” he says.
He sighs, “I fucked Bucky and knew he killed my parents, which took all the leverage Steve had to get Bucky back into his grasp away. Oh, and also he’s an abuser. Follow me, we have a lot to catch up on,” he chirps, grinning as he walks off. Rhodey makes a confused noise before he runs to catch up.
*
“What the fuck is that?” Bucky asks, sounding shockingly like Yasha as he carefully reaches out and touches Tony’s bruise. The touch is feather light but it still makes him clench his jaw a little. Bucky must notice right away because he immediately pulls back and quietly apologizes.
“I uh… had a little run in with Steve,” he says.
“I thought you said he wouldn’t pull something like this,” Bucky says. “That bruise is huge.”
It took up most of his upper arm because the damn skin around Steve’s hand bruised too but that wasn’t something he was worried about. “He wouldn’t- not with you anyways. I’m fair game.” Not that he would go far, Tony thinks, but if he thought a little physicality could scare him off Tony didn’t think he was above that. Granted it wouldn’t do much given that Tony wasn’t exactly afraid of him but he could try his best. Tony knew where he stood now and he’d be prepared next time.
“That is not acceptable,” Bucky says, flabbergasted.
“Its fine, Bucky, and not something I can’t handle.” It wasn’t even odd for his life really, someone was always trying something and to be fair he wasn’t exactly easy to get along with himself.
“Its not fine and you shouldn’t have to handle it!” Bucky counters. “Why the hell did he do this?” he asks, gesturing to Tony’s arm.
He sighs, “he decided to inform me that you killed my parents- he didn’t know Natasha told me two years ago- and wasn’t impressed that his leverage was gone. Rhodey saved me so all is well. Then we got scarred for life when Yasha decided his new hobby was horror movies. Please do that thing where you talk to him and talk him out of his love of gore. I almost had a heart attack when I came home and I have heart problems, that is a very real possibility,” he says. The damn music alone was enough to give him and Rhodey nightmares- they had to share a bed to convince themselves that a demon wasn’t about to eat them.
“Tony…” Bucky says but he shakes his head.
“I’ve faced scarier things than Steve,” Tony tells him. “I’m fine. How are you though? I can’t imagine having a voice going off in your head is pleasant.” Yasha certainly didn’t react well even if his reactions were amusing. But Bucky was the more fragile one out of the two so Tony was more worried about him than Yasha. He was sure Yasha could adjust fine; Bucky on the other hand might need some extra help.
Bucky shakes his head, “you have a bruise that takes up half your arm and you’re asking if I’m okay? And I am, by the way, thanks to you mostly. I found a bookstore not far from here that I like too,” he says, grinning.
Tony smiles, “that’s great. You should ask Rhodey to take you to some local coffee shops, he has a talent for finding great hot drinks.” Rhodey liked to joke that Tony could spend five minutes in any given area and he’d find the biggest asshole in town and piss him off, the local drug dealer, and a prostitute but if you dropped Rhodey in any given area he’d find the best coffee places, the cop in town that was the biggest asshole and then he’d piss him off, and at least two libraries.
“I’ll talk to him after you get through all that Accords business,” Bucky says and Tony groans.
“Curse Steve for screwing that all up. Again. You should also catch up on movies and hopefully you won’t further your absolute barbarianism in movie taste. Who doesn’t like James Bond?” he asks himself more than Bucky. James Bond is an icon and Bucky didn’t like him? HYDRA must have zapped his head pretty good because that just wasn’t possible.
“James Bond is a prick, but there were a few sci-fi movies that caught my interest in your shelves,” Bucky says.
Tony grins, “we should watch Star Wars! It’ll distract Rhodey long enough for me to put off dealing with law things longer given that there’s an entire franchise that’ll take awhile. And my eyes had to witness the prequels so do you,” he says.
“Oh, you’re going to make him watch the prequels? Do you hate him?” Rhodey asks Tony, making a beeline for the coffee Tony made, noting that there was none left, and then stealing Tony’s. He ignores his protest and makes off with Tony’s well-earned drink while Bucky laughs.
“I’m sure they aren’t that bad,” Bucky says.