Under Pressure

Tony was stressed, Yasha knew, because of all things he spent more time in a suit. He’s long known that Tony used suits as a way to hide himself in a way but dressing for stress was new to him. He knew the habit wasn’t unusual, though, because Natasha didn’t show any kind of reaction to indicate that Tony’s behavior was unusual. If anyone would know she would, he reasons.

But Tony’s stress was half the reason for his current actions, that and he was tired of Bucky getting all the attention. So he was a bit of a jealous asshole and kind of selfish for it, he wasn’t entirely unusual. Turns out people either tended to prefer monogamy too, though probably not because they were worried their other personality was going to take over their life.

When he walks into Tony’s lab he looks up, smiling. “You wear glasses?” he asks, causing Tony to wrinkle his nose and all but throw them off his face.

“No,” he lies and Yasha laughs.

“I literally just saw you in them, why are you lying?”

“Because I hate the way I look in glasses. I look like one of those stereotypical nerds in old shows,” Tony mumbles, giving the glasses an offended look.

“Well I think they look cute,” Yasha says honestly. “Plus if you need them to see maybe aesthetics aren’t important.”

“Aesthetics are always important,” Tony says in a prim tone, “but I’m guessing you’re here for a reason. You don’t wander down here much.”

That was true, he guessed, unless Tony had something to do in regards to his arm. Technically Tony always had something he could improve, but Yasha didn’t really care either way if the arm worked. Tony was just a perfectionist to a high extreme. “Uh…” he says, not sure how to do this. “Here,” he says, throwing the flowers he brought Tony on his desk.

For a moment Tony examines them, head tilted to the side and then he smiles, reaching out and gingerly lifting the flowers off the desk. “You brought me flowers,” he says softly, sniffing them.

“Yeah uh, I’ve been reliably informed that that’s like… normal.” His single friend, if you could call her that, has given him all sorts of advice he was sure was terrible but this particular life advice seemed good given Tony’s reaction.

“I’ve always wanted flowers but no one has ever bought them for me,” he says, smiling down at them. Yasha shakes his head, wondering how it was a guy with literally everything anyone could ever ask for and then some could want such a small, useless thing and somehow not end up with it.

*

Shuri and Tony exchange a look, something T’Challa definitely notices but doesn’t say anything about. As it turns out her trip to America sort of turned into a trip around the world thanks to Wakanda getting a little more lax at the boarder, which T’Challa knew about, but apparently didn’t seem to know that Shuri spent more time in America poking fun at Tony’s tech at least until she found out his tech could play fetch. Then she thought Dummy was cool, which, rude. Tony told her to respect her elders because Dummy probably had a good decade on her.

“Are you sure you should go ahead?” Shuri asks, apparently more brave than Tony was because he wasn’t about to ask Natasha that.

Natasha sighs, “I won’t do anything without backup,” she says. Shuri looks to Tony and he frowns for a second when T’Challa follows suit, then realizes he was officially the authority on Natasha’s behavior apparently.

“What do I look like, her keeper? Pretty sure I’d be dead if I even tried, but if you’re asking if I think she’s telling the truth I think lying about staying put when you’re not planning to when you have no perceivable motivation to do otherwise is pretty stupid. Yeah, she’s probably not lying,” he says when both Shuri and T’Challa frown at him. Natasha rolls her eyes; clearly irritated that Tony was the authority on her actions now. Off to the side Bucky doesn’t say anything either way. He can see that Bucky had an interest in the conversation, but he obviously doesn’t want to voice his thoughts to the room.

“It would be useful to have someone go ahead. We’ve all acknowledge that this feels… staged. If it is maybe my presence will draw a reaction so we can get ahead of whomever is calling the shots,” Natasha says.

It’s smart, Tony thinks, but T’Challa and Shuri give him another look. “What?” he asks, inexplicably looking behind himself. Obviously he doesn’t find anything interesting there.

“Well what do you think?” T’Challa asks.

“Why are you asking me? This is Natasha’s specialty,” he points out. T’Challa and Shuri just continue to look at him and he eventually he lets out a long sigh. “Like I said, this is Natasha’s thing but I think her plan has merit. Theoretically we could get a reaction and if anyone is going to be able to handle this it’s Natasha,” he says.

“You remember that she was compromised, right?” T’Challa asks but Tony rolls his eyes.

“In a fit of fear I ran some tests on a rock with a coworker and accidentally created a genocidal AI that nearly succeeded in his goal to destroy the world yet you’re still looking at me like an authority figure. Natasha on a bad day has a clearer head that I do on a good day so that doesn’t really matter to me much.” That and she was faster at self reflection than he was, she knew where she went wrong and he knew she’d be careful to avoid making that mistake again. She’s a spy- it wasn’t in her nature to indulge her emotions and Tony didn’t really need to read files on the Red Room to know she had been trained out of that habit. Besides that Natasha had the most to gain out of keeping her cool. It wasn’t like any of the rest of them had solid evidence that they were ninety with no knowledge whatsoever of the first near forty years of her life.

Across the room Natasha smiles just a little and nods towards him, “thanks for that. I’m leaving in a few hours,” she says and Tony nods, confident that she’ll be fine. With that she leaves the room and T’Challa sighs.

“Shuri has more faith in you than her,” he explains and Tony shakes his head.

“Shuri has spent more time with me and has a lot in common with me. Obviously she likes me better- no offense. But Natasha is the most competent member of the Avengers team when dealing with these things, I’m just the benefactor and the tech guy.” Hell, even Steve had better authority on this kind of thing than him though Tony would be able to think himself out of a bad situation faster and with more efficacy than Steve and sometimes Natasha could. That was just because he was better at quick math though, not because he was particularly good at problem solving in a more… practical sense.

T’Challa tilts his head to the side, “Shuri doesn’t put her faith in people very often, I’d give yourself more credit than that,” he says.

Tony gives T’Challa an unimpressed look, “no offense, but I’m not in the business of taking advice from kings who bug my house and then complain about my sex habits. Also Shuri was polite enough to leave one of those bugs behind and I figured out how to jam the signal so I wouldn’t try that twice,” he tells the king. T’Challa looks surprised, but not as surprised as Shuri. He knew the feeling of being surprised by someone doing something that he didn’t think was possible, but she underestimated how much he disliked being spied on. Plus deconstructing her bug had taught him a surprising amount of information about how it worked so figuring out how to block the signal hadn’t been as difficult as he thought it was going to be.

“I suppose I earned that,” T’Challa says softly, looking away.

“You definitely earned that,” Tony tells him, “and Natasha is a spy that’s probably only rivaled by your guards, she’ll be fine.”

*

Bucky steps in front of him as he goes to step out the door and Tony frowns, “what’s this?” he asks, surprised that Bucky would be so… bold. Usually he was much more passive than actively blocking Tony’s path and glaring down at him.

“This isn’t a good idea,” he says and Tony sighs.

“Every troll has its use, this is Steve’s. Its not like he’s my ideal choice,” he points out. He wasn’t even Tony’s first choice but Natasha trusted Steve’s ability more than Clint’s and Tony had to agree there. Clint was good, but they didn’t know what they were dealing with so it made no sense to bring a guy who’s main expertise was a weapon that was older than dirt. Plus Clint retired, Natasha felt it was best to keep him out of things and Tony agreed.

“You’re going to get hurt,” Bucky says and Tony sighs.

“That’ll happen whether or not Steve comes. It’s the nature of the job and to be blunt I’m not going to give it up- that ruined my last relationship and that was no one’s fault, but consider that.” Pepper couldn’t handle the stress and he didn’t blame her, but he wasn’t much willing to go through all this again.

Bucky sighs, “that’s… not what has me worried. You do remember that the only thing that saved you from Steve the last time you had an encounter was Rhodey, right?” he asks.

“He saved me from a pathetic intimidation tactic that Steve should know wouldn’t work on a guy who once threatened terrorists on national television and followed it up with his home address. As if a little arm grabbing would get me to dump you,” he says, rolling his eyes. What a pathetic attempt at getting Tony to do what he wanted.

“Okay, you know what, then I’m coming with you,” Bucky says and Tony opens his mouth to respond but Bucky cuts him off. “I doubt he’d try anything stupid in my presence, he’ll probably spend most of his time trying to win my affections.”

Tony shakes his head, “you shouldn’t have to do that, and not because you think I’m not safe. I have my suit and it’s much cooler than my last suit,” he says. It was still in fledgling stages- there were a lot of bugs to work out- but now was as good a time as any to test it. Their current villain seemed to prefer the underground method of fighting and Tony preferred the regular attacks. He knew how to handle those much better than whatever the hell this was.

“Your suit would be the only thing saving you,” Bucky says softly.

“Give me more credit than that, I’m not stupid and I do know how to fight contrary to popular belief. If Steve really wanted a fight it would probably be a pretty even match if for no other reason than my ability to think faster than Steve can punch. I’ll be fine, Bucky, you don’t need to follow me around to ensure that. And T’Challa is coming with me anyways so technically I have backup,” he adds when Bucky doesn’t look convinced.

He raises an eyebrow, “the guy that bugged your house? I’m supposed to trust that guy?” he asks and Tony sighs.

“In his defense he seemed genuinely regretful of that.” As he should be, Tony notes, but still. Bucky gives him a look and Tony sighs, “he seems a lot less pissy since his sister took a liking to me. It’s pretty clear he has a lot of respect and trust for her that’s thankfully now translated to having some kind of weird faith in me.” Not that he agreed with that but he wasn’t the one with a faulty trust system. Okay actually he had that problem too but not really the same way.

*

This was not his idea of a good plan but Natasha insisted so here he was. Tony knocks on the door, aware of T’Challa’s presence behind him as he does so. Despite Bucky’s worries he was sure this was only going to end in minor disaster. He’s surprised when Steve opens the door so fast but when his face goes from hopeful to pissed he knows why. He barely resists the urge to roll his eyes and instead takes a breath. “I’m going to need your help,” he says, barely able to keep a bitter tone out of his voice.

Steve lets out a sharp laugh, “what the hell makes you think I’m going to do anything for you?” he asks.

“Nothing, but its not me you’re doing the favor for its Natasha. Trust me when I say if I had a choice I wouldn’t be here- but Nat said you were her best bet at making sure things go well so here I am. There’s a lot you don’t know,” he says.

“Yeah, seems so, like the fact that apparently you were fucking my boyfriend,” he snaps. “Did he tell you that?” he asks T’Challa, looking over Tony’s head. He does roll his eyes at that because that was fucking dramatic and totally unworthy of being spoken out loud.

T’Challa looks a touch uncomfortable and sighs, looking away. “I uh… was an unfortunate witness to that,” he says in a low, embarrassed tone.

“And its also none of his damn business what either of us do with Bucky. So cut the shit, are you going to help me help Natasha or are you going to continue this pity party you’re throwing for yourself?” he asks, losing his patience a little. Steve shifts forward a bit, giving him a downright murderous look and to Tony’s surprise he hears T’Challa shift behind him. A brief glance over his shoulder reveals that he’s looking at Steve and leaning slightly closer to Tony. It’s a clear way to say that he’s prepared to defend him if necessary and Tony finds it odd from a guy who invaded his house once to get information but he leaves that for now.

“There wouldn’t be a pity party if you hadn’t messed my life up sticking your nose and your dick where it doesn’t belong,” Steve snaps.

Vulgar, Tony notes, doesn’t look very good on him. It felt so out of character from the holistic, goody-goody Tony was used to but then he knew better than most that people could be masters of disguise. He’s spent his whole life wearing some kind of mask, or in his later life metal suits, to hide who he really was, how he actually felt. Turns out Steve’s mask was a badly made costume with an American flag theme.

“Answer the damn question, Steve. I don’t have time for you to wallow in a situation that was half your making to begin with,” he says.

“You’re going to go,” a new voice adds and Steve whips around, revealing Bucky standing behind him in the middle of Steve’s living room. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he obviously climbed the fire escape though why Steve didn’t hear that was a mystery. T’Challa at least had the benefit of assuming it was someone else who lived in the building, Steve not so much. Though he guessed his focus on Tony might have been distracting.

Steve goes to open his mouth to respond to Bucky but he shakes his head, “you’re going because I want you to,” he says and Tony’s eyebrows shoot up. This was more a tactic he’d expect out of Yasha, not Bucky. Manipulation wasn’t really his thing and it showed but when he glances past Steve at Tony he knows why he did it and sighs. Guess he wasn’t the only idiot who did dumb things for all the wrong reasons.

*

“Can FRIDAY actually fly this thing or are you trying to kill us all?” Bucky asks, glancing around suspiciously.

Tony laughs a little, shaking his head. “FRIDAY can fly the plane- she’s still learning but her margin of error is much smaller than mine and I’m the one who built this plane so keep that in mind before you look horrified,” he says.

Bucky doesn’t look less suspicious but that wasn’t unusual with the exception of Wakandans. They seemed much less suspicious of their technology and were very fond of their tech leader though Tony thought Shuri was difficult not to love, not when she was so exuberant and full of personality. Still, Wakanda was less ‘robot overlords’ and more ‘technology has good uses’ and Tony wonders how much vibranium has to do with that. The metal seemed to have much wider uses than Tony even thought possible and that was information he gathered just from things Shuri has alluded to in their conversations not to mention what he’s seen.

“Fine, I’m sure your AI won’t crash us. Mostly. And for the record I still think Steve being here is a bad idea,” he says softly.

Tony sighs, “he’s only here because of you,” he points out. “I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to convince him to come along mostly because I’m uh… not exactly pleasant when talking to him. Never have been, its kind of a personality flaw.” He probably should have known that given their first real interaction was a fight but he wasn’t well known for learning fast when it came to human interaction so.

Bucky considers his words for a long moment before he sighs. “This is stupid, I know it is. Starting a new relationship right after getting out of a bad one isn’t a good idea, and that’s not even considering having an entire other person in my head and everything else that’s going on but I can’t really help liking you. Especially after Steve. Maybe he didn’t intend for things to end up the way they did, I like to hope not, but either way he’s not really someone I recognize anymore, and compared to you, well. That’s not even a competition really.”

Its weird being on the positive end of that. Usually when people made comparisons between him and Steve he was the disappointment, not the shining star. “Well, lucky for you I’m not exactly much smarter or known for avoiding risks. Besides, you’ve been doing just fine figuring yourself out so this is probably less of a stupid idea considering that,” he points out. Oddly it was Yasha who was struggling but Tony supposed he should have anticipated that. He was born in a HYDRA lab as an assassin- just because he had a bright personality and was upfront about who he was didn’t really mean he knew how to function.

“You’re actually a lot smarter, but I can appreciate your risk taking at the moment,” Bucky says, smiling down at him. “And for the record you’re more my type than Steve anyways, at least now. Actually he used to be a lot more like you- small and ready to kick anyone’s ass, even his own ass. If you met him then you’d probably get along a lot better with him than… whoever he is now.” Bucky shakes his head, looking away for a moment and it occurs to Tony that Steve wasn’t the only one who’s lost everything.

He reaches out and squeezes Bucky’s arm, “I’m sorry, Bucky. I… its must be hard, all of this,” he says, waving a hand around him.

“Sometimes,” Bucky agrees. “But I actually like the future a lot better than the forties, less pretending to like women and more actual human rights. And you, of course. God knows I wouldn’t find someone else who’s so accepting,” he says, shaking his head.

“You would,” Tony says, “find someone accepting. I’m definitely not the only accommodating person in this era, but I am probably the smartest and most attractive unless you count Shuri, she’s smarter. But I’m definitely the cutest,” he says, grinning.

“Fine, maybe someone else would understand what the hell is happening in my head, but they wouldn’t be you and that’s a travesty. I’m rather fond though uh… I don’t really know how Yasha would feel about this,” he says, wincing.

Not pleased, Tony knew, due to lingering insecurities but he was sure he could smooth those over anyways. Yasha’s worries mostly centered on him deciding that at some point he’d like Bucky better and ignore his existence and that would never happen. His reasons for loving Yasha were different from his reasons for loving Bucky and he was certain he wouldn’t want to live without either of them or their strange versions of love for him. Or general fondness in Bucky’s case, Tony was happy to wait for actual love to foster there.

“Actually I already talked to him about this- I can’t say he’s happy about it, but he understands. Most of his problems are things you can’t help anyways, I’ve got it,” he says. Yasha needed reassuring that he existed, and that Tony wasn’t going to stop believing that because, like everyone else, he saw Bucky as more legitimate than him. It wouldn’t be a difficult job really; it wasn’t as if Yasha was shy and that was half of what Tony loved about him.

Bucky smiles, shaking his head. “And now you’re solving problems I didn’t even anticipate having, wow. You really do make my life easier,” Bucky says.

“I try,” Tony tells him, smiling back.

They stand there for a moment somewhat awkwardly before Bucky reaches out, carefully tracing his fingers along Tony’s jaw, reminding him of the first time they kissed. “You really are amazing,” Bucky murmurs. He leans forward, kissing Tony softly, letting it linger for a moment before he pulls back. Tony laughs quietly and looks away, catching sight of someone in the doorway. He looks closer and steps in front of Bucky when he finds Steve there looking more hurt than he had a right to. He was the one that made this mess; he shouldn’t look so upset to find things didn’t go his way. It was about time that something went wrong for him.