Chapter Text
Thoughts are swirling around in Tony’s brain. Let’s say, just for fun, that Bucky and Steve really are interested in a relationship. There are still reasons why it won’t work. For one thing, this would be so bad for Steve’s reputation. It’s bad enough he’s dating Bucky, but at least that was mostly smoothed over by the whole reunited soulmates spiel. Not even the harshest critics could resist the tale of Captain America saving his brainwashed soulmate.
But Tony? The media would have a field day at the news that Tony Stark is dating Captain America. He can see the headlines now. ‘Stark Defiles National Icon’. ‘America Sinks to New Low’. ‘America and Money: Why Our Country is on Its Knees for Stark’. He closes his eyes and bites back an exasperated groan. That’s probably nothing compared to what the internet will come up with. He’s pretty sure that almost everyone is going to think he’s just trying to get between Steve and Bucky. His name is going to be trending on twitter, and not in a good way.
Then there’s the whole history thing. No matter what Clint says, he doesn’t know how he can compete with what the two of them have shared. Bucky was there when Steve lost his mother. Steve was there when Bucky enlisted. He can’t help thinking about everything they’ve been through: Bucky leaving to go fight, Steve joining him, saving Bucky from Hydra, the fighting with the Howling Commandos, Bucky falling from the train. And then Steve tracking Bucky down, bringing him home, helping Bucky to remember everything about their past. That speaks of a depth of love that leaves Tony floundering.
Plus, what will happen when they break up? Because that’s inevitable, and he’s pretty sure it will destroy him. But then, that’s nothing new. And maybe Clint’s right. He should be trying to hold onto this with both hands and not question it too deeply, so that when Steve and Bucky ultimately come to their senses and decide they don’t want him anymore, he’ll at least have some memories.
Sometime around 3am, he’s aware of Clint climbing out of the bed. Tony’s left shivering until Bruce joins him, sitting up with a thick book and reading by the light of the reactor. Come morning, Bruce changes the bandages on his shoulder and back. He pronounces the stab wounds as healing well, but not well enough for Tony to be up and out of bed yet, much to Tony’s frustration.
He’s never dealt well with forced bed rest. Howard never believed in resting when you were sick; that was for the weak, and Stark men weren’t weak. Tony can remember at least half a dozen times where, at his father’s insistence, he was sent to school when he was too sick to focus, and the reaction when Jarvis had to bring him back home was never pretty. It got easier after Howard started leaving for his expeditions to find Captain America, but by then Tony was old enough to care about being seen as weak.
Laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, Tony feels weak. Since Bruce has stepped out of the room, and he decides to seize his chance. If he can make it down to the workshop and initiate black-out mode… He slowly sits up, grunting at the expected pain that bites through his ribs. He’s dealt with broken and cracked ribs before, though. It’s a hazard of fighting in armor that regularly gets banged around. Most of the time, he doesn’t even bother to tell the rest of the team about them.
Very carefully, he puts his feet down on the ground and stands, resting more of his weight on his left foot. The rooms spins a little once he’s upright, but not too badly. “What’s a guy have to break to get a crutch?” he grumbles under his breath. “J, make a note. Invent something that works better than a crutch and doesn’t make you look so lame.”
“Yes sir,” JARVIS says. “Your blood pressure has fallen and a deep body scan indicates you are in a lot of pain. Might I suggest returning to bed?”
“No, you may not.” Tony grits his teeth as he carefully opens the door. He still has the use of his right arm, since it’s his left arm that’s broken and his left shoulder that was stabbed, but that doesn’t make anything less awkward. He has to lean heavily against the wall on his right as he hobbles out the door, and his leg and back ache with every step, and he’s honestly not sure if he’s got the strength to make it to the elevator, down to the workshop, and then to his chair.
He’ll never admit to being kind of glad to see Bucky stepping out of the elevator. Bucky’s eyebrows shoot up when he sees Tony. “Tony! What the hell are you doing?”
“Would you believe I just wanted to see the view?”
“No, but I’d believe you were trying to sneak down to your workshop.”
“You have no proof of that,” Tony says. His legs are trembling with fatigue. He’s about a second away from sliding down the wall – the floor does look strangely comfortable all of a sudden – when Bucky scoops him up. He yelps in outraged protest, but Bucky completely ignores him and carries him… down to the elevator?
“Ummm… What are you doing?”
“You wanted to go down to your workshop, right?”
“Yeeeees…” Tony says, dragging the word out as the doors close. “But normally people like Steve and Bruce would be carrying me in the other direction.”
“I’m not Steve,” Bucky says simply. “And I can tell you miss your workshop and your ‘bots. I don’t blame you for wanting to check on them. I’ll help you down there, and when you’re finished we can come back up. I’ll even send Bruce a text so he doesn’t come after us.”
“You are a surprisingly good co-conspirator,” Tony sys, impressed.
Bucky shrugs. “I’ve had a lot of practice. Steve and I used to have to sneak out from under his Ma’s eye all the time.”
Tony eyes him speculatively. “What if I said I wanted to do some work?”
“I’d say you’re in no condition to work and you’re well aware of that.” The doors open and Bucky steps out, into the workshop. Instantly, the two of them are besieged by beeps and high-pitched whirs. Bucky chuckles and kneels down with a grace Tony can’t help envying, putting Tony within reach of Dummy, Butterfingers and You without setting him down.
“Hey, hey, none of that. I’m fine. I know, I was gone for a long time, I’m sorry.” Tony reaches for them with his good hand; his bad arm is safely shielded between him and Bucky, away from anxious robots, and he wonders if Bucky did that on purpose. He puts the thought out of his mind for now and focuses on reassuring them, stroking gears and listening to the clicks and beeps that, after so many years, somehow sound like speech.
Dummy lets out an excited whir and is the first to pull back, scooting across the floor towards the coffee pot. Tony won’t be able to drink it – the medication he’s on forbids the consumption of caffeine and alcohol, even if it weren't garnished with engine oil – but lets the ‘bot go. Bucky stands up, no sign of strain whatsoever, and carries him over to the couch set up in a corner of the shop. Tony sits down, feeling tired already, and lets Butterfingers and You crowd around his legs, biting his lip when You gets a little too close and a tread bumps the cast on his leg.
“Honestly, you’d think no one had been down here to visit you for months. Uncle Rhodey and Aunt Pepper were down here, don’t tell me they weren’t, and they both spoil you rotten,” Tony grumbles, but his tone is affectionate and his hand is gentle. “You’re all such drama queens, don’t know where you get it from.”
“I can’t imagine where they could’ve possibly learned that,” says JARVIS dryly.
“You shush,” Tony says absently, accepting the cup of coffee from Dummy. It’s piping hot and smells a little like engine oil.
“I wouldn’t recommend you drink that, sir.”
“Wasn’t going to. Dummy, you’ve been told a million times that oil is poisonous to humans,” Tony says, and, when Dummy subsides with a forlorn little beep, feels immediately guilty. “Come on, don’t be like that, I like your coffee better than anyone else’s except when it’s going to kill me – why are you laughing?” He looks up at Bucky, slightly offended, but the expression on Bucky’s face stops him cold.
Bucky looks so affectionate. Tony’s only ever seen that look directed at Steve. And right now it’s focused on him. The warmth in Bucky’s blue eyes is enough to leave Tony speechless, especially when Bucky smiles at him and says, “You’re adorable.”
Tony makes a sputtering sound at that.
“I know Steve and I kind of sprung this on you,” Bucky adds, sitting down beside him, leaving bare centimeters between them. “And I’m sorry. I might not know much about how dating goes now, but I’m guessing that making someone think you hate them isn’t the best method. If it helps, I never hated you, Tony.”
“Everyone hates me at one point or another.”
“Can’t vouch for everyone else, but I didn’t. Course, I didn’t understand much of anything at first. But you helped me feel safe. You were the first person completely unrelated to my past that I felt even a little comfortable with. I knew Natasha and Steve before I ended up here; I didn’t know you. But you still took me in and fought off the WSTC and SHIELD, even if it was just for Steve’s sake. You fixed my arm.” He flexes the arm in question, and the lack of noise from the mechanics within is still a beautiful thing.
“I just don’t…” Tony exhales and sets the cup of coffee down on the floor, frustrated at how hard it is to string the right words together. “You and Steve, I mean… it’s you and Steve. I don’t want to push myself in there. You guys are like… you… and I’m just –”
“Adorable?”
“Stop saying that!”
Bucky smirks. “Then stop being adorable.”
Tony glares at him. “Can you be serious for like two seconds? I can’t say this to Steve because he’ll either get offended and dig his heels in, or he’ll get upset and give me the puppy eyes.”
“What exactly is it that you’re trying to say?”
“I don’t want your pity,” Tony says, slowly and clearly. “If that’s what this is about, I don’t need it.” He can’t bring himself to look at Bucky. Instead, he stares at Dummy. “I’ve had Steve’s name since I was eight years old. I’ve had yours for over two years. I never once thought anything would come of that. I made my peace with having soulmates who didn’t want me a long time ago. So if this is just you two feeling guilty because I got myself kidnapped, then I’d rather we just forget the whole thing.”
Bucky’s quiet for about twenty seconds. Then he says, “I honestly don’t know what part of that to address first, so let me start by saying you’re an idiot but you’re right, you shouldn’t say that to Steve because you will probably make him cry.”
“Bucky –”
“Nope, you had your chance, my turn now. This isn’t about pity, Tony. I get that maybe you think Steve is enough of a martyr to date someone just because he feels guilty, but me? I am not that kind of person. If I want to date you, it’s because I love you.”
Tony chokes on his own saliva. “You – you what?”
“I love you,” Bucky says again, too calm and too serious, and oh god Tony might be having a heart attack. “I’m sorry that Steve and I didn’t say anything sooner. I can understand why you didn’t. We should’ve approached you before all this, but we didn’t. And I can sit here and apologize a hundred times if you want me to, but somehow I don’t think that’s gonna make much of a difference. Hey.”
He catches Tony’s chin and pulls his head up so that their eyes meet. The sincerity is practically radiating from him. “This isn’t about guilt, either, so get that idea out of your damn head. There is no expiration date on this relationship. We’re not going to decide, six months down the road, that we’ve lived out our sentence or done our good deed and that means we can dump you.”
“I didn’t say that,” Tony says, flushing.
“No, but I can tell you were thinkin’ it. Look, I know that soulmates don’t always work out. But I wanted you long before I knew you had my name. And I’ll still want you even if that disappeared tomorrow. If you can say the same thing to me and Steve, I really don’t think we have a problem here.”
“I think I’m having a heart attack.” That’s the only thing Tony can think of to say. It would certainly explain why his heart is racing so hard he feels dizzy.
This time, Bucky’s smirk tips into dangerous territory. “I’ve swept a lot of dames and fellas off their feet in my time, but I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve ever gotten such a… visceral reaction.”
“This is such a bad idea,” Tony says, but he can’t stop himself from grabbing Bucky’s collar and kissing him. He’s half-expecting Bucky to turn the kiss into something frenzied, but – though Bucky’s free hand immediately comes up to cup the back of Tony’s head – the kiss stays gentle, slow, and passionate. And good. Really good. Either Bucky’s a natural, or he and Steve have been practicing a lot.
The mental images of that practice are really, really attractive. Tony makes a tiny, bitten-off sound and tips his head to the side, head swimming. He’s probably not healed enough for this, even though he desperately wants to be. Wants Bucky to crawl on top of him so they can rut together, or so he could suck Bucky off, or do at least one of the numerous things that are running through his mind right now. He doesn’t even realize he’s clinging to Bucky until Bucky shifts closer and hugs him.
“Not going anywhere, kotyonok,” Bucky whispers, running a soothing hand down his back. “And you’re wrong, it’s not a bad idea at all.”
“Press is gonna have a field day.”
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the future, it’s that the press is always buzzing about something. Might as well give them something to talk about.”
Tony huffs a laugh, sinking further into the warmth of Bucky’s arms. “They’re gonna destroy Steve’s reputation.”
“He’s a big boy. I think he can handle it.”
“You said it yourself. You two have such a history.”
“Yeah, we do. But just ‘cause something worked in the past doesn’t mean it can’t be changed or improved. Sometimes I think Steve and I know each other too well… and regardless, our history hasn’t changed the way we feel about you.”
“…We?”
Bucky presses a kiss to the top of his head. “I’ll let Steve say it for himself, but I love you, Tony.”
Every time Bucky says that, Tony feels a shiver all the way down into his core, and it gets a little harder to breathe. Because he almost believes it. Because those words are chipping away at the part of him that’s filled with insecurities and self-doubts. And he really does not know what to do about that. He closes his eyes, absorbing the feel of Bucky hugging him, letting himself indulge in something he never thought he’d have, and doesn’t even remember dozing off.
He’s vaguely aware of Bucky picking him up and carrying him out of the workshop. Then he’s set back down in his bed, and Bucky whispers something in Russian and kisses him again. Pepper says something, Bucky answers her, and then the door shuts. Somewhere in between awake and asleep, Tony opens his eyes and sees Pepper watching him. She’s smiling, though her eyes are too bright.
“He loves me, Pep,” Tony whispers, still not sure he believes it all the way yet, but awed nevertheless.
She smiles a little wider and touches his cheek. “Yeah, they do.”
--
“But I’m telling you, they might need my help!”
“Agent Coulson instructed me not to let you out of your room, sir.”
“You take orders from him, now?”
The outraged sound of Tony’s voice is enough to make Steve grin as he reaches for the doorknob. It gives easily under his hand and he steps inside of Tony’s room. Tony stops complaining mid-sentence, head snapping around to stare very intently at Steve. It’s only been a week since he came home from the hospital, but it’s been hell keeping him in bed long enough to heal. Frankly, Steve spent the whole battle half-expecting Iron Man to show up to help out Thor and Iron Patriot.
“Thank god,” Pepper says, breaking the silence with a relieved sigh. “If you’d taken any longer, you were going to come back to a corpse. I’ve never heard so much whining in my life.”
Steve raises an eyebrow, holding back a laugh. No wonder Coulson gave him permission to skip the debrief. “Thanks for baby-sitting, Pepper.”
Tony’s sqawk of “I don’t need a baby-sitter!” goes ignored by the both of them. Steve feels like he and Pepper have come to an understanding of sorts, one borne from a few too many hours spent sitting beside the bed of an unconscious Tony. She’ll happily murder him if he does anything wrong to Tony, and Steve is going to do his damndest to make sure that never happens. Not just because he loves Tony, but because it would be a real shame if Pepper’s very expensive suit and shoes got blood on them.
“I’d say anytime, but honestly you’re worse than an afternoon of paperwork,” Pepper says, taking the sting out of her words by ruffling Tony’s hair playfully. Then she gives him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going now so that Steve can give you all the first-hand dirty details I’m not supposed to know about, but don’t forget. Rhodey and I are coming over for supper this Friday night. And I won’t be very happy if I have to start our night by dragging you out of your lab.”
“I’ll remember,” Tony promises.
“See that you do. Steve.” Pepper nods at him as she walks out, and Steve nods back to her before taking her place beside Tony. He’s tired from the battle, and it feels good to sit. For something that only lasted for half a day, it was very intense.
“So what happened?” Tony says, watching Steve closely.
Steve pushes his cowl up. “Richards was experimenting again.”
“That fucker. I know you said we have to play nice, but he really deserves a punch in the face.”
“I’m getting to the point where I’m not going to argue. From what I saw when I left, though, his wife was giving him a pretty hard time.”
Tony’s annoyed expression softens just a little. They all like Sue Richards, who is excellent at paving over her husband’s indiscretions. “Good. I hope that someday she finds someone who is actually worth her time. She spends her whole life cleaning up after Richards, and he never appreciates it.”
“Well,” Steve says slowly, “Maybe someday Richards will open his eyes and realize what he has. And how lucky he is to have it.” He looks at Tony meaningfully and watches Tony’s rant die before it ever really begins.
“You, uh, sure you’re not reading too much into the situation?”
“Actually, I think I’m reading just enough.” Steve pulls his gloves off, then takes Tony’s hand. After hours of holding a limp hand, he can’t express how nice it is to have Tony’s fingers wrapping securely around his. “Although I have to say, even when I first came here and we bickered all the time, I never once thought you were as irritating as Reed Richards is.”
Tony barks out a laugh. “Good to hear I never hit the gold standard of irritating,” he says, looking down at their hands. “I’m guessing you talked to Bucky.”
“Yeah, I did. And I should’ve come talk to you right away, but I thought you might want some time to process. And I wanted to talk to you alone, without one of the others in the room.” Which has been all but impossible. Tony must be assured of the team’s affection for him by now, because there’s always at least one person hanging out in his room when Steve comes by.
“Never thought Captain America would have stage fright.”
“He doesn’t. I do. Tony,” and Steve’s dreamed of saying these words, but that doesn’t make it any less frightening to say; he has to steel himself to get it out. “I love you.”
Tony actually shivers. “Jesus,” he says, a little shaky. “You and Bucky are scary alike sometimes.”
Steve smirks. “Guess we are. He told me what you said, about the – the pity and feeling guilty, and Tony, I swear to you that has nothing to do with any of this. I’ve been attracted to you since the day we met. It’s part of the reason why I lashed out so much at first. I wasn’t ready to feel like that way for anyone but Bucky, and the fact that it was you and you already had Pepper just made it a hell of a lot of worse.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I didn’t want you to. I spent a long time hiding this, Tony. Even from Bucky at first. If I’d known what you were thinking –” Steve stops himself. He’s been down this road, beating himself up, hundreds of times now. Bucky’s right. It doesn’t help, and it doesn’t change the past.
“I didn’t want you to know either,” Tony says, filling in the gap. “This isn’t all on you guys. I could’ve said something at any point over the past four years. Pepper and I broke up before Bucky came to the tower, remember? There was plenty of opportunity.”
“Yeah,” Steve says softly, even though it’s not the same thing. Not by a long shot. If he and Bucky weren’t dating, there’s a slight chance Tony might have approached one of them – but even that is unlikely. With the two of them already in a very solid relationship? Tony might pretend to be full of it for the paparazzi, but no one is that confident. And Steve and Bucky should’ve realized that.
“So anyway, you, um, I know you said Bucky told you and it’s not about pity or feeling guilty, but – Steve, there wouldn’t be any hard feelings. We could still be friends and teammates. Just because you have someone’s name doesn’t mean you have to date them. You know that, right? It means we’re really good matches, but sometimes that… that doesn’t mean much. So I just – you should know, I’d understand if you guys didn’t want to date me. I know it’s going to be a lot – the press is gonna go crazy, they’ll drag your reputation through the mud, and you guys have so much history... and this, this would be it for me, I’d rather we forget the whole thing if you don’t really want it.”
It just about kills Steve to stay quiet through the whole thing. He wants so badly to lunge forward and kiss Tony into silence, until Tony gets it, but he restrains himself. He has the feeling Bucky shut this line of thinking down pretty fast, and this seems to be something Tony needs to say. And Steve knows what it’s like to have to keep something like that in. It haunts you. So he bites the inside of his cheek until it bleeds and just listens.
“And I’m not a very good boyfriend. You can ask Pepper. I’ll forget about 90% of our dates and I’ll never remember anniversaries or birthdays. There are lots of nights I won’t come to bed, and I cling like an octopus when I do, and I have nightmares.” Tony pauses, licking his lips, his gaze far away. “And I’m an asshole, Steve, you know that. I’m sarcastic and mouthy and I never say things right – shit, I’m amazed this is coming out the way it’s supposed to. I push people away and I throw money at all my problems and I don’t like fighting, but I provoke fights all the fucking time and Captain America really should not be dating me.”
Tony’s eyes flick up briefly to meet Steve’s, then skitter away as soon as he realizes Steve is watching him. His voice is a lot softer when he finishes with, “And you and Bucky, you guys have the fairy tale, and I don’t want to fuck it up. If you’re gonna try polyamory, it should be with someone who deserves it.”
“Are you finished?” Steve asks when it seems like nothing more is forthcoming, and when Tony nods, uncharacteristically meek, Steve exhales slowly. “Tony, you are a lot of things. I won’t deny you’re an asshole sometimes. But you’re forgetting that Buck and I can be assholes too. No relationship is ever easy. They all require work. Sometimes that work involves telling JARVIS to remind you about birthdays and anniversaries. Sometimes it means physically pulling you out of your lab – which is something I am already intimately familiar with doing, I’m sure you remember.”
“Someday I am going to override your access code,” Tony grumbles, though without heat.
Steve just smiled. “Sure you will. I’ve never cared about my reputation, and the press can say what they want. I didn’t care when it came to Bucky, and I don’t care when it comes to you. And Bucky and I might have lots of history, but so do you and I. We’ve been friends for four years now. Unless…” He trails off, suddenly hesitant. “Tony, if this is your way of trying to make up an excuse so you don’t have to date me and Bucky –”
“No! God no,” Tony says quickly. “I want to. I – jesus, Steve, have you ever looked in a mirror? There’s a reason why the female photographers always gravitate towards you two.”
“Don’t try to pretend you don’t know you’re just as attractive,” Steve says fondly. There’s been more than one moment when watching Tony take the armor off, leaving him in just that scrap of an under-suit he frequently wears underneath, has left Steve achingly hard. Tony might be shorter than him and Bucky by a good foot, but his body is well muscled after years in the workshop.
“If you think I’m attractive, why don’t you come over here and prove it?”
The words are spoken defiantly, but with a hint of something underneath, and Steve gives in to his initial desire and moves from the chair to the side of the bed. He leans in, savoring those last few seconds of anticipation before his mouth finally meets Tony’s. Tony slips his hand free and grabs the front of Steve’s shirt, like he’s afraid Steve might change his mind and back off. It’s as endearing as it is unfounded, because Steve is immediately addicted to the feel of Tony in his arms.
“I love you,” Steve says. “And we can take this as slow as you want. I’m not promising it’s definitely going to work out. I don’t know that. Neither does Bucky, or you. I wish we did. All we can do is try.”
“I can’t believe you’re giving me one of your speeches at a time like this,” Tony mutters, coy little smile on his lips.
Steve rolls his eyes. “For the last time, I do not have a list of memorized speeches that I whip out when necessary.”
“Sure you don’t.”
“I don’t, mostly because you and the rest of the team never cease to surprise me,” Steve says, and he’s being honest there. No list of speeches, never mind just one speech, could possibly cover the wide array of experiences Steve has on a weekly basis. And he loves it that way.
“You’re such a sap,” says Tony.
“I am, but you like it.”
Tony snorts but doesn’t deny it, instead tentatively leaning up to kiss him, like he’s not sure he has permission to do that yet. Steve kisses him back eagerly and swears he feels the mark on the inside of his arm tingle a little when he does. Which is impossible, of course, but it is possible he’s even more of a sap than he realized. He decides not to say anything to that effect, less he get teased for the rest of eternity, and focuses on kissing his boyfriend instead.
--
Eight weeks later, Bruce cuts off the last cast and deems Tony fully healed. Well, ‘fully’ as in none of his bones are broken and the stab marks are getting to that shiny stage. As far as Tony is concerned, he’s been healed for the past six weeks and it’s just taken the medical profession a while to catch up. He gives Bruce a one-armed hug in thanks and beelines it out of the room to find his boyfriends. And he should be way past the stage where thinking that word makes him smile like a dumbass, but he’s really, really not.
Bucky, Steve, Clint and newest member of their team, Sam, are all clustered on the couch together watching television. Clint has a huge bowl of popcorn in his lap that goes flying when Tony makes a running leap and lands right on Bucky’s lap. Bucky yelps in surprise, only to promptly get yanked into the most passionate, thorough kiss Tony has ever participated in. Ever. Steve forgets all about helping to pick up the popcorn in favor of watching with a very interested expression.
“Aw christ, here we go,” Clint complains to no one in particular.
“Do they do this often?” Sam asks, sounding amused as Tony releases Bucky and turns to Steve, pulling him into an equally passionate kiss. Steve makes a rough sound and cups Tony’s face for a better angle, though makes no move to pull him off Bucky’s lap. Clint groans.
“More than you want to know. Come on, I’ll show you the training room. You do not want to be here for the next five minutes when the clothes start coming off.”
In the wake of Clint fleeing the room, dragging Sam along with him, Tony pulls back and smirks smugly. The whole team thinks they’re fucking already, except for maybe Natasha (who is Bucky’s confidant) and Bruce (who expressly warned all three of them against doing anything before Tony was healed). There’s been a little petting, a lot of making out, but it’s never gone beyond that. It is officially the slowest Tony has ever taken a relationship – even with Pepper, they were having sex pretty much the night they first kissed - and the surprising thing is, he’s actually enjoying the pace.
Steve and Bucky don’t need fame; in Bucky’s case, considering that he doesn’t cope well with the media’s more intrusive questions, he has more than he wants. The same goes for money: they both have hefty bank accounts after ninety years of accruing interest. And not even Tony can convince himself that this is because they don’t want him sexually, because he’s seen the arousal in Steve’s face and felt the way Bucky’s fingers grip his hips. They want him. He’s very slowly starting to believe that they want all of him.
“You did that on purpose?” Bucky says, winding an arm around Tony’s waist.
“Duh. Clint’s a popcorn hog.”
Steve lets out a snort as he bends down to grab the popcorn bowl. It’s still about half full. “You could’ve just asked someone to make another bowl.”
Tony shrugs and slings his legs across Steve’s lap. It’s fun to make Clint squirm, mostly because he knows Clint is just being a drama queen and it doesn’t really bother him. “That’s not as much fun. Besides, I wanted to show you. See? Cast free.”
“I see that.” Steve shuffles the bowl into Tony’s lap and sets his freed hands on Tony’s leg, pushing up the fabric of Tony’s jeans until he can see the skin underneath. The muscles are slightly atrophied and his whole leg and foot are swollen, and Tony wouldn’t admit it out loud, but his leg hurts from walking on it even a little bit. His arm is sore too, which is why he made sure to land on Bucky and not Steve - so that his sore arm would be outward.
“So Bruce gave you a clean bill of health?” Bucky asks.
“For the most part. Standard rules apply,” Tony says, selecting a piece of popcorn. Frankly, he’s never listened to medical advice before and he’s not going to start now.
“Which I’m guessing means you’re supposed to take it easy.”
“Boring. I’m way behind on work. I just came down to –”
“Have a nice night in watching movies with your boyfriends? That sounds lovely.” Bucky shifts his weight a little, then pulls Tony down until Tony is sprawled across his chest.
“No, that’s not what I –” Tony breaks off again as Steve starts very, very gently massaging his leg. He tenses, expecting it to hurt, and slowly relaxes when it doesn’t. Apparently the serum gave Steve magical hands. He thinks about the work waiting for him in the workshop. It’s only been in the last month that Bruce has cleared him to do anything physical, and he wasn’t lying when he said he was way behind.
But Bucky is warm and comfortable, and Steve’s hands feel so nice. He leans his head against Bucky’s shoulder. “Maybe I can stay for a little while. One movie.”
Steve grins down at his hands. “Just one? We were gonna order pizza.”
“Don’t push your luck,” Tony says fondly, but he has the feeling he won’t be moving anytime soon. Especially if Clint finds the courage to bring Sam back and join them. Then Natasha and Coulson will inevitably wander in, and sooner or later Bruce, Thor, Jane and Darcy will follow. There’s a strong possibility Pepper and Rhodey might even show up. It wouldn’t be the first time, and the local pizza place is actually starting to get used to orders of over thirty pizzas – they don’t even ask if it’s a crank call anymore.
He relaxes a little more and turns to look at the television as Bucky’s free hand idly rubs up and down his sore arm. For this, his work can wait one more day.