Tony has known for some time that he was completely gone on Bucky Barnes. It doesn’t really sink in how much he’s screwed, however, until he comes home from a week long business trip in fucking London, he hates England okay, it’s cold, kisses his boyfriend ‘hello’ and hears a very clear meow.
He looks down, and a skinny, three legged white cat is twining around his ankles.
“Bucky?” He questions, as the cat meows, blinks up at him with unfairly big green eyes, and then starts scaling his fucking leg. Bucky is looking anywhere but at Tony’s face, tugging gently on a lock of hair that’s escaped the perpetual man-bun. Tony stands, arms held awkwardly out to his side, as the cat continues to climb, little claws prick-pricking at his skin, until the little bastard is sitting on his shoulder.
“When did we get a cat?” Tony asks, side eyeing the little beast with immense suspicion.
“We didn’t.” Bucky returns immediately, and Tony’s eyes narrow.
“Oh, we didn’t? So this is, what, the new maid?” Bucky blushes, and Tony huffs a sigh. He ignores his new status as cat-perch, grabs his bag and heads for the bedroom. He’s too tired for this, he’ll deal with the furry new issue sometime next week, after he’s caught up on his sleep.
Bucky darts in front of him, and reaches out to grab the bag.
“I’ll get that, doll!” He says, all smiles and blue eyed innocence. Tony quirks an eyebrow, and tugs gently on his bag.
“I got it,” He responds, and watches a muscle tick in Bucky’s jaw.
“No, it’s fine! You sit down and relax, I’ll put this away. You can get to know Ghost some more.” Bucky tries a grin, and right, that’s it, something is definitely up. Tony isn’t even touching the terrible name, calling a white cat ‘Ghost’, really? He darts around Bucky, who does his best to catch him with an arm around the waist. Tony twists away as Ghost yowls and digs into Tony’s shoulder to hold onto it’s perch, and slams into their bedroom.
“Aha!” He cries, triumphant, and then blinks at the perfectly ordinary room. “Okay, so this is a little awkward. You were acting kinda skeevy so I was honestly expecting something, I don’t know, spectacular, and I’m both a little embarrassed, a lot relieved, and weirdly disappointed.” Tony announces to the empty room, and Bucky huffs a laugh behind him. Ghost yowls an agreement, and launches from Tony’s shoulder to the bed, where it promptly curls up on Tony’s pillow. Of course.
“So, about the cat,” Tony begins, dropping his bag on the bed. A moment later, something he will deny until his dying breath, Tony lets out a very undignified squeal and leaps approximately two feet into the air as something bites his ankles.
“What the fuck!” He spins and aims his watch gauntlet at the threat. Bucky looks torn between laughter and horror, as Tony stares down at a tabby cat, sprawled on its belly with claws outstretched, half under the bed. “What the fuck.” He repeats.
The cats stay, and it’s only the beginning of Tony’s trouble.
~x~
The next cat Bucky adds to his collection is a truly impressive Maine Coon. He never says where he found her, but when he brings the animal carrier onto the common floor he is white with tight lipped fury. It takes both arms for him to hold the carrier, and the cat barely fits into it. Yellow gold eyes stare balefully through the grate and Tony sighs into his coffee mug.
“If I say no, I’m sleeping on the couch, aren’t I?” He asks no one in particular, and Clint snorts.
“Jesus, Barnes, where did you get that monster?” He’s crouched on the back of the couch, Marigold the tabby cat draped indolently across his knees. The cat has a fondness for hiding and small spaces that has made her Clint’s best friend, and the pair of them a menace for the rest of the team. Bucky ignores the question, and instead places the carrier in the middle of the room. The Avengers immediately clear the area as Bucky reaches out with his metal hand to open the gate. There’s a yowl, and the sharp scrape of claws on metal that has everyone except Bucky flinching before the former assassin moves back.
Tony shuffles around so the couch is between him and the fucking lion that slowly creeps out into the room. It’s the biggest domestic cat he’s ever seen, all fluffy grey and white fur that’s ragged and clumped. There’s a terrible scar bisecting the cat’s face, far too close to the eye for comfort. It’s old and healed, but now that Tony’s looking he can see signs of other scars hidden amongst the fluffy fur. The cat hisses at all of them, back arched and eyes darting furiously around the room.
“This is Buttercup,” Bucky says, soft and sad, as Ghost appears from nowhere and scales up to his flesh and blood shoulder.
Tony takes one look at Bucky’s face and knows Buttercup is staying too.
~x~
Buttercup is the most evil cat Tony has ever seen. She hates everyone, and refuses to be within three feet of any person or fellow cat. Any attempts to approach are met with vocal and physical discouragement, in the extreme. The other two Avenger cats learn quickly to leave her be, as do the Avengers themselves. She eats only when no one else is present, and never engages in anything resembling play. She claims Steve’s seat on the couch as her spot, and the supersoldier only attempts to move her once.
It’s the first movie night since Buttercup joined the family, and they’re halfway through the movie. The cat has deigned to tolerate their presence in the room, though she refused to share her couch with anyone and Natasha received a small scratch for daring to try. Bucky is sitting on the floor, gently stroking Ghost’s back, when he notices movement from the corner of his eye. Tony slumps his way through the door, and Bucky smiles at the adorable half asleep genius. Motor oil smudges one cheek and his hair is flying in every direction. His eyes are half closed, mouth open in a yawn. He stumbles along and Bucky is so caught up in how much he loves this man, that it takes him too long to realise where Tony is headed.
“Tony!” He yelps, starts to get up, but he’s too late as the genius flops face down on the couch. The team freezes as Buttercup leaps to her feet with a startled hiss. For a moment, they’re all stuck, waiting for the inevitable blood and screaming terror.
But it never happens. Buttercup watches the strange human who has invaded her space with narrowed eyes for several moments, and then slowly places a paw on his shoulder. When that illicites nothing more than a tired grunt, Buttercup carefully climbs onto Tony, and curls herself into a comfortable ball on the genius’ lower back.
And that’s that, as far as she is concerned. Buttercup is still evil incarnate; a violent, defensive beast who steals food and will fight you if you complain, always seems to lie down on the remote and blocks doorways with gleeful abandon. But while she will tolerate the Avengers in her presence, if not within touching distance, she loves Tony. She takes to trotting after him everywhere in the tower, drapes herself elegantly along DUM-E’s arm and rides him around the workshop, and once even takes an aspiring kidnapper’s eye out in defense of her human.
In short, she’s the best.