Don't tell me... [that you love me]

Freedom is never given. It is won.*

"Are you ready?"

Longing.
Rusted.
Dawn.
Seventeen.
Stove.
Nine.
Kind-hearted.
Homecoming.
One.
Freight car.

"Готовы соблюдать"**

"Hello, Winter. Do you remember me?"

Emtpy, cold, gray eyes stared at him for a long moment. Silence. Is he losing memory every time he's being awaken? Impossible. Tony scheduled the sessions every third day. That means Winter will have whole day for himself. He will be learning under the guidance of his new babysitter. Tony had no idea whether this idea will work out, but it was still worth a try. The first – and the previous one – session, wasn't this bad, they spoke for a few hours about everything and nothing. Stark repeated himself that from now on the latter is a free man and have his own rights. After this, the soldier voluntarily handed control over Barnes. It's been two days, during which Tony focused on tinkering. Steve poked him several times at the workshop, when he visited his boyfriend – so far,he wasn't allowed to leave the safe room, but it was going to change soon. The genius had also a mandatory chat with T'Challa alone after dinner. He had to assure him that everything would be fine and no one will get hurt. Well, whole this educating idea was very risky. Finally, the third day came. Time to set your toys aside, Tony...

"Tony," that answer took him a long while.

"That's right. I have something for you as a reward," the genius smiled leaving the room for a short moment. He came back next minute with a plate full of spaghetti, and a mug of hot chocolate. A bowl with halves plums were brought right after. Tony put all of this on a table in front of the soldier. He asked the workers in the kitchen to not send food to his little baby this day, he wanted to bring him something special. They had a deal after all, right? Winter's eyes widened, crept in confusion. "Do you remember?"

He didn't remember. At least not right away. Tony shoved him a fork and nodded at the plate. Winter obediently took it and ate the first bite. Then he took few sips of hot chocolate and consumed few plums. And then... he did something totally retarded and unexpected. He moved away from table and looked straight at the genius.

"It's not poisoned," he said after a moment. Tony's jaw dropped. What? That he brought him food to check if it's not poisoned? He forgot about their deal. Fuck. Just fucking great, hah.

"What the... I know it's not poisoned. After all, I made it myself," Tony said, trying to keep himself from laughing. What? The situation was hilarious. "I promised to bring you food you like. Two days ago. Remember?" Winter frowned, probably trying to recall whole situation. Tony didn't expect that everything will go smoothly and easily, even though that's how it started. Finally the silent oh escaped the soldier's mouth. So he remembered. Gray eyes looked into hazel ones once again.

"Is this... is this for me?" he asked as if he wanted to be sure.

"Yup. It's all for you," Tony smiled and held out his hand in front of the latter, just to ruffle the messy hair. For a moment he thought Winter will jerk back, slap his hand, start to defend himself. Anything. Nothing like this happened. His eyes were just filled with confusion. "Eat."

After a while, all soldier's attention was focused on the food in front of him. It was evident that he was hungry. And happy. The ice in his eyes melted a little. However, it was difficult to function with a missing limb. Tony saw how he wanted to reach for a cup of chocolate, and then looked at his left arm. He could probably do something with it... but it's too early. When Winter finished eating, he pushed away his plate together with an empty cup and looked at the genius.

"Thank you."

"No problem," Stark reached for the bowl with plums and took one half. He played with it for a moment, then he pressed it against Winter's lips. The latter obediently bite it, not taking his eyes off Tony. "Got any favourite type of music?"

"I do not know," he answered after a long silence.

"Ok. Next time I'll prepare something for you to listen. The internet is a bit limited here, in the basement, but I'll think of something. You want to help me in the workshop? Do some tinkering?" Tony smiled suggesting some form of entertainment.

"Okay," the man replied standing up.

"Listen. If something doesn't suits you, you must tell me. I can't read in your mind. If something is bad or good... you need to tell me this, ok? You're not alone anymore."

"Yes."

"Are you ready?"

Longing.
Rusted.
Dawn.
Seventeen.
Stove.
Nine.
Kind-hearted.
Homecoming.
One.
Freight car.

"Готовы соблюдать"

"Hello Winter. Do you remember me?"

"Tony," the answer came immediately. Tony was proud of him, his objective was evolving, even though he was still somewhere on the level of the child. But this is just the beginning, right? End of the first week, it'll be better over time. He put a paper bag on the table with little surprise inside. Winter looked at it suspiciously. He opened it after Tony nodded. "Plums!"

"I noticed that you like them a lot," the genius laughed remembering that even when they were working in the workshop, the latter wasn't leaving his bowl of fruits. "By the way I brought civilization to the underworld. We have the internet. Come on, we'll do some browsing."

Winter obediently followed him, clutching a paper bag with plums. They walked to the main control panel in the middle of the room. The soldier sat down at Tony's desk, looking over his shoulder at the virtual screens. He had no idea what they were displaying, but his eyes followed the hands of the genius. The music filled the room through the speakers located on the walls around. Stark walked to his precious coffee maker. He made a strong espresso without sugar for himself, and, of course, a hot chocolate for his little baby. When he returned to the panel he saw that the other was already familiar with the system and was looking for the music that he might like. Tony put a sweet drink in front of him. Momentary confusion, suspicious glances. However, soon he recovered and took a few sips thanking silently. It turned out that Winter liked something from the border of rock and electronics. Something told Tony that he loves the sound of guitar.

"You think you could play the guitar?" the genius asked out of nowhere.

"I do not know..." he replied after a moment's thought. Then he looked at his left arm. "And I won't find out. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," Tony said seriously and stroked the place on Winter's arm, where metal met skin. He noticed that the other man flinched. "It hurts?"

"Not anymore."

Stark left him for a moment, asking FRIDAY where is the carton 11-V, in which he kept his toys. It was in the corner of the room, under a pile of some papers. What the fuck is this? Whatever. He opened the box and looked for his treasure. Oh, yes. That's it. Barnes' arm, memento from Siberia. He went back to Winter. He placed himself between his legs, holding its prey in the hands. He saw the anxiety in eyes of the latter, a bit of fear.

"I can fix it. You just have to tell me if you want it, or not. I won't do anything without your permission," the genius began sending another man's a gentle smile. Back in the time he would jump on a piece of technology right away, like a hungry mouse on cheese. But not anymore. "You said it no longer hurts. I assume it was different before? It'll be fine, I won't hurt you... intentionally. I want it, as well, to be your decision to make, if you want it or not. I want you to be sure. Not like I'm forcing you here."

This time the silence lasted much longer. Patience is a virtue, they say. This guy had to fight his own demons, he had to win his freedom, he must find it after all. The gray eyes held a whole range of feelings. From fear, anxiety and uncertainty, to the hope and trust. Tony felt disgusted with HYDRA, had a great desire to send them a pile of bombs. A dozen Jerichos.Winter was defenseless, had no idea about anything. He wanted to kill him before. God, he was so grateful that Steve stopped him... He wouldn't forgive himself. This man before him wasn't a heartless murderer he was suspecting him to be. He just did what he was told, lost like a child in the fog. If they told him to jump off a skyscraper and kill himself, he would do it. Tony sighed, put a metal arm on the side and hugged the other man. Winter stiffened at the sudden touch. However, the tension gone a moment later and he relaxed, putting his head on the genius' shoulder. Stark just patted him. This was probably the moment when he felt sincere sympathy for this man.

"I agree." came in the end.

The next day Barnes was pulled out to the gym by Steve. Tony sat alone in the workshop, which was oddly empty. He got used to the company of mentally unbalanced soldier. They never spoke much, he noticed the other was just sneaking into his workshop to watch what was he doing. He wasn't aware the genius was working on new, bionic arm. How would he know? That was only between Winter and Tony. This, too, will have to be fixed somehow. Two personalities in one body. They need to contact each other, make some kind of agreement. He'll come up with something. His communicator beeped. T'Challa. He was waiting for him in the main room, the one with a fireplace. So he went to meet the Wakandan king. He finally found him in the kitchen. Besides T'Challa there was also Natasha. Tony passed them and immediately walked over to the coffee machine. Strong espresso without sugar, this is it.

"If you want to ask me how Winter's education is going I'll tell you we're making a progress. Maybe it's not huge, but still better than nothing," he said breaking the silence and slowly sipping his fresh-made coffee. "He knows that he likes plums."

"Actually, we wanted to remind you, that we are planning a movie marathon soon, and it would be nice if you could join us," Black Widow smiled at him. Well, yes, a movie marathon. He completely forgot about it. He spent all his time in workshop, came upstairs only for food.

"What movies?"

"Well... Sam was chosing."

"Disney Princesses?"

"Lord of the Rings."

"Even better," the genius laughed at his empty cup and put it on the table. Well, he will have to join them in their little marathon, even if he hates the movies. It could be a great opportunity to...

"I let him out to the gym today," T'Challa started, leaning against the counter.

"I noticed. I take it as a good sign."

"You tell me."

"Dunno what I could tell you. Too little data so far. I'm trying to make him familiar with everything, but I have no idea about the final result. He doesn't say too much. But he's calm and not doing odd shit, trust me," the genius explained recalling all three sessions with the soldier-killer.

"Tony, I still think it's a bad idea. Steve..." Wakandan king sighed looking at the floor, not finishing his sentence. Tony just got up spitting annoyed get me some acoustic guitar before he left the room. Fuck you, Rogers.

"Are you ready?"

Longing.
Rusted.
Dawn.
Seventeen.
Stove.
Ni- -
- - - - - - -- --- ---- ------ -------

"Tony!" Winter exclaimed happily. Too early. He wasn't done with the magical words. What happened?

"How...?" he began but didn't finish. He didn't understand what was going on.

"Dissapointed?" the soldier asked, sitting still on his place. The piercing gaze of gray eyes on the genius.

"No way!" he replied immediately just to see Winter's first smile. It seemed that today was the day full of surprises. Very pleasant ones. He cleared his throat. "So... today we will be putting your new arm on its place. Ready?"

"I think so," the answer came right away. It was a lot better than the last time. They made some progress then.

He led the soldier to the desk where he worked on a metal arm. He asked him to get rid off the T-Shirt. And then Tony himself removed the cotton, elastic bandage that covered remains of the bionic stuff. He slightly bit his lip, it was all his fault. But he'll fix it. First he drew major wires and connected them together. Then he plugged the special chip he had made to the motherboard, which had spread vivid, active nanonerves to the system. Winter was sitting obediently on the desk watching as the genius tried to reconnect everything. When the arm was finally inserted on its place and covered with new shell fragments made of pure vibranium, Tony asked him to move his fingers. Then he asked if the soldier feels any pressure, pain or other malfunctions. It turned out that there was a short circuit near the elbow, some damaged connector. Stark immediately replaced it with a new one. After that Winter could freely move his hand, he squeezed a few empty cans as he was told to - no idea what they were doing in the workshop though. Tony again opened the cover plate and messed with some modules. For him, nothing could be done ok or alright. Everything had to work perfectly and flawlessly. Finally he closed the cover with satisfaction and tapped it with fingertips.

"Ha, kiss me!" he said to himself, he was proud of what he had done. He glanced happily at Winter, completely unaware of what was going to happen. Winter's right hand was placed on the back of Tony's head to hold him in place, when he crushed their lips together. Wait, wait a moment... What? Is Winter...? W-Whaaaa...?!

"W-WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Tony screamed pulling away.

"You said to kiss you," Winter replied confused.

"I-I told you already there are no orders anymore! How many times do I have to repeat myself? You alone decide what you want to do," the genius flushed, his heart speeding up. The latter just cocked his head to the side, as if not understanding what he had just heard.

"I wanted this," he said finally, causing Tony to blush even more.

"Y-YOU CAN'T JUST KISS PEOPLE LIKE THAT OUT OF NOWHERE! YOU MUST ASK FOR PERMISSION!" he blurted out quickly, flustered. And if not for Winter's super sensitive hearing, he wouldn't understand a single word.

"Can I kiss you?" that question came up almost immediately.

"Yes, exactly that's ho-...hnn!" Tony shut his eyes, when soft lips were pressed against his. Again. What the fuck was going on? Why his heart was pounding so loud? He didn't understand... A second later, he felt a wet tongue on his lower lip. Winter asked for permission. And Tony gave it to him, parting his lips. He suddenly felt hot as if he was on fire. He moaned, wanting to shoot himself in the head. In response Winter only deepened the kiss, exploring the inside of his mouth and thus he slipped from the desk and tightly embraced the smaller man with his repaired, bionic arm. The genius didn't know what was going on, the world was spinning before his eyes, he tightened his grip on the latter's forearms. He was the first to break the kiss, he simply ran out of air. Their hot breaths merged into one. When he opened his eyes he saw the soldier smiled, stroking his cheek. "What are you doing?" he whispered feverishly.

"You allowed," the other man replied, also in whisper. His voice was low, husky, seductive ... no, Tony. Get a grip. Where was his logic? It disappeared somewhere in those temping lips. Involuntarily he turned his head slightly to the side, wanting to continue, when a loud voice interrupted him. FRIDAY.

"I do not want to disturb, Boss, but Captain Rogers would like to talk to you. He did not want to intrude here, so he asked if you could come to the main hall."

Winter scowled, something interrupted his plans. After all, it was his day, every third belonged only to him ... and Tony. How anyone even dared to interrupt him? He hugged the smaller man even more, burying the face in his neck. He began to suck greedily the delicate skin causing Stark to moan, he liked the sounds he was making. He pulled away after he left a visible, red mark which he stroked with fingertips. FRIDAY spoke again.

"Boss, I suggest you to hurry."

"I'm coming, I'm coming! I still have something for you," he muttered after a while, pulling out a small notebook from the desk. "I'd like you to start contacting with your other half... with Barnes. I have no other ideas besides this so... you could leave information for each other in notebook. Something like shared diary. So that both of you will make decisions and will understand each other better. I'm going to meet with Steve now, and you... you can start now. Dunno, write about your love to spaghetti, or about music," he finished handing him a notebook, and moved away. Winter obediently took the object in his hand, grabbed a pen from somewhere, kissed the genius for the last time and sat down at the desk. Tony left the workshop, directing his steps towards the main room. He completely cooled down already, what was he even thinking, what was he doing even... Now he will have to straighten things up. Steve was sitting on the same couch like during the first day, when Tony came to Wakanda. It felt like ages ago. Hearing steps, the blonde stood up and smiled.

"Hey Steve. Something's wrong?" Tony asked, walking over to the latter who at first was cheerfully grinning at him. But then he instantly frowned. Friendly look turned into one that could kill on the spot. Stark didn't understand.

"Is that a hickey?" he finally asked pointing at Tony's neck.

….Fuck.

A new day
A time to change
Forget about yesterday
I start today
And we rearrange
The life that I'm living
Things will never be the same
It's time to start living
Rise up***