Archive of Our Own

In every fight, it was a question where Bucky would do the most good. The serum, as well as his training both before and with HYDRA, meant he was lethal in close combat. But while Clint was their best sniper, at least with his bow, Bucky was a very close second. So it usually depended on their enemy, and on what the team was more in need of.

Today, he was hidden at the top of the emptied College of Optometry, shooting at the Doombots descending on Bryant Park that the Fantastic Four weren’t around to deal with. Clint and Natasha were off, as were Thor and Sam, leaving them with relatively few members. It was made even worse by the fact that Bruce was understandably hesitant about letting the Hulk out, considering it was likely to cause more property damage than it was to help them out, even with part of the fight in a park rather than around many buildings.

Instead, Bruce was working on something that would help shut the robots down a little more harmlessly, using research Tony had been doing on miniaturized EMPs. He’d informed them all that it should only take a little more - production was the primary issue.

Steve was on the ground, alternating between using his shield and fighting hand-to-hand. Doom had been ‘kind’ enough, for lack of a better word, to make sure his robots focused on combatants primarily, which meant Steve was being kept quite busy. More than once, Bucky had shot a robot trying to sneak up on his friend just in time to prevent it from surprising him.

Up above, Tony was flying in the armor, taking out twice as many as Steve and Bucky. The massive array of weapons he had, as well as the repulsors, enabled him to take care of a lot of the stragglers not directly focusing on Steve.

Fortunately, after nearly an hour of trying to keep the Doombots from destroying parts of New York because their creator was angry at Reed Richards for some reason (“Understandable,” Tony claimed jokingly as he shot another three robots), it appeared as though they were finally starting to thin them out.

“There’s not a lot of them in the streets anymore,” Tony informed the two of them from his position in the air, shooting out two repulsor blasts that hit two Doombots crawling out of the entrance to the Bryant Park subway.

“Seems like there’s fewer around Steve, too,” Bucky observed. The Captain was surrounded by Doombot remains, either cut in half by his shield or disabled by a sharp blow of his fists or one of Bucky’s bullets. “Can’t say how many are left in the subway, though.”

“Tony and I can deal with the rest of them,” Steve told him. He did sound a little winded, but not nearly enough that it had Bucky worrying about him. “Can you check it out?”

“Copy,” he confirmed, putting his rifle away. It wouldn’t do much good if he ended up having to fight in close quarters, which would most likely be the case if he ended up finding more Doombots in the subway. “Iron Man, can you give me a lift?”

It would be much faster to get down with Tony’s help, after all. And if Bucky kind of liked having his attention, even if only for a few seconds as the armor helped him to the ground, well… No one needed to know, right? It wasn’t like he couldn’t deal with his secret crush in a way that wouldn’t impact the way they worked together as a team.

“Gotcha.” He’d hardly packed up before Tony was there, holding out a hand for him. “Hold on tight, princess,” the genius joked.

Bucky couldn’t help his grin, wrapping one arm around the armor’s neck as he felt Tony’s arm wrap around his waist. “My knight in shining armor,” he teased back, unable to help himself. The only ones of the Avengers to have realized that his flirting might be more than a joke were Steve and Natasha, who both shot him looks whenever he flirted with Tony. The man himself flirted back just as shamelessly, though, even if it wasn’t anything more than joking.

“Whenever you need me,” Tony replied smoothly, gently dropping him near the entrance to the subway.

Chuckling, Bucky saluted him. “Can’t always be there,” he shot back, winking and keeping his voice light deliberately. As nice as that would be, there were a lot of others who needed either Tony himself or the armor.

Over the comms, he heard Tony scoff. “Watch me,” he challenged, though his tone was light as well.

Before Bucky could reply, the slightly too revealing ‘always’ at the tip of his tongue, Steve cut in. “Chatter, guys,” he reminded them, though he didn’t sound too disapproving. Bucky was well-aware that his friend was absolutely ecstatic whenever Bucky let himself go a bit, despite the trauma HYDRA had put him through.

In front of him, Tony sighed. “Duty calls,” he said, sounding like he was grinning and rolling his eyes simultaneously. Bucky could perfectly envision the expression behind the mask. “Call me if you need me, Snowflake.”

“You know it,” he replied, staying where he was for a few more seconds as he watched Tony fly off again, the sun gleaming brightly on the metal of his suit. Gods, he was so gorgeous.

Then, putting a tight leash on his thoughts, he focused back on the mission. The entrance appeared quiet so far, no more Doombots exiting from it, but Bucky knew that wasn’t necessarily something that could be taken at face value. So as he descended, he made sure to keep his steps silent. Quickly clearing the turnstiles, he proceeded with caution as he stuck to the wall.

He ducked just in time to avoid the five Doombots flying up seeing him, stifling a curse. “Five incoming,” he whispered into the comm, continuing down when both Steve and Tony copied.

“Ah, damn,” he whispered next, once he had a full view of what was going on. “Guys, there’s a lot of them down here. Not sure what they’re up to, but… Bruce, any idea when you’re gonna be done with those EMPs?”

Keeping hidden, he waited for a response. “There’s a first batch of about fifty - will that be enough?” Bruce answered.

Sighing, Bucky silently took his guns out of their holsters. “Not even close,” he admitted, silently agreeing with the curses that both Steve and Tony let out.

“Any estimation of how many?” Tony asked, his analytical brain no doubt already at work.

It wasn’t easy counting, especially with only the emergency lighting on. “Hard to tell exactly, and I’m not sure if there’s any more spread through the tunneling of the 7-line, though it does look like this is their main starting point. But there’s at least hundred and fifty of them, possibly more.”

“Alright.” It was Steve, sounding decisive. “Bruce, you go west to the Times Square entrance to see if there’s any more there. I’ll deal with these last ones, and then I’ll go east to the Grand Central to check it out. Tony, I need you to keep an eye out above ground, intercept any of them that escape. We’ll shut them in, come at them from three sides.”

“If you’re sure,” Bruce hesitantly agreed.

“Bring those EMPs so you don’t have to Hulk out if you’re not in danger. I’d send someone else, but we’re a bit low on members today.” Steve did sound regretful - none of them wanted to force Bruce into something he didn’t want, but unless they wanted to leave the surface undefended, there wasn’t anyone else to send. Super soldiers or not, the Iron Man armor was still faster than either of them and better suited for combat in an open space.

As the others were starting to get into position (and Tony made as much of a spectacle of himself as possible to distract from the fact that he was now the only Avenger still out fighting), Bucky observed the group of Doombots in front of him, trying to figure out what they were trying to do.

“Nothing so far,” Bruce reported, keeping his voice quiet as he went deeper into the subway.

“Same here,” Steve replied, just as silent. “Looks like they’re all at yours, Buck. Any idea what they’re up to yet?”

Every once in a while, a few of them flew past where he was hiding and out of the subway, but from what he could tell, Tony had intercepted all of them so far. “There’s a few stragglers, and the ones coming from Bucky’s station, but I’m not finding any other spots they’re originating from,” the genius told them. “They’re still focusing on me, rather than doing damage.”

Just as Steve said “that’s good”, one of the Doombots moved enough that Bucky could see past it at whatever they were all working on.

“Shit,” he hissed, getting up. “It’s a bomb. They’re charging up a bomb,” he told the others, not even focused on keeping quiet anymore. If they finished working on that, it looked like it could blow up four blocks around their location.

He started making his way through the huge amount of Doombots, shooting and hitting and avoiding any attacks at him. His mind smoothed as he fought, focused only on surviving and taking them down. Steve’s voice was almost faint as he demanded an update, any information at all.

“They finish this and make it explode, it’d possibly take out some four blocks,” he reported, ducking to avoid a blow and jamming a knife into one of the robot’s weak spots. “They’re still charging it, though - not sure how much it’ll take.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Steve insisted. He was faster than Bruce when he wasn’t Hulked out, and was no doubt making his way through the subway much more quickly.

“Not enough time,” Bucky told his friend. He wasn’t enough to deal with all of the Doombots, and even though he’d shot the ones working on the bomb before, they’d soon been replaced by others as the rest of the robots got between him and the bomb. “Gotta explode it before they’re done - should only take out this station if I do it now.”

“Buck, no!” Steve yelled, forgoing any silence in favor of trying to stop him. “We’ll figure something out. Tony, get over there!”

“Already on my way,” he heard Tony reply, voice urgent, but he knew there wasn’t enough time. HYDRA had worked with bombs enough that Bucky could adequately tell what was going on, knew that Steve wouldn’t survive the explosion if they finished, either. Bruce might, as the Hulk, and Tony was still above ground.

Steeling himself, Bucky took aim. “Sorry, Steve. Not enough time.”

The explosion threw him off his feet and into a wall. He had just enough time to bring up his metal arm as he was followed by multiple Doombots, grunting as they smacked into him. The heat was next, taking his breath for a few seconds, and then he was on the ground as the subway station started crumbling around him.

Distantly, he could hear Steve screaming for him. “Bucky!” He was relieved to notice it was in his earpiece, though - his friend still wasn’t close enough to be suffering from the explosion.

Then, something hit Bucky’s head, and he blacked out.

To be quite honest, he wasn’t sure he’d expected to wake up again. It might not bring down several blocks, but Bucky had known when he shot the bomb that the station was probably a lost cause.

More so, he’d expected his surroundings to be dark - the emergency lighting would be out, and he knew for a fact he hadn’t grabbed his flashlight yet.

He blamed the concussion for the fact that it took him some moments to identify the familiar blue light that illuminated the small pocket of space that he found himself in. As it was, realization came when he noticed the weird stack of plating holding up a large piece of concrete above his head - what looked like an amalgamation of one leg and two arms of the Iron Man armor.

“Tony?” he rasped, coughing to clear his sore throat. It didn’t help at all.

A soft groan sounded from behind him, making Bucky tense up. Feeling the ache in his entire body, though, he forced himself to turn around slowly.

Shit. The armor, or what was left of it on Tony at least, looked like it had seen better days. Parts of the helmet were damaged, showing at least some blood on Tony’s face, and Bucky wasn’t even sure what was up with the chestplate.

Looking around, it seemed as though the space they had was fairly stable, supported by parts of Iron Man armor. Reassured, he crawled over to where Tony was lying. His jaw clenched when he noticed that one of the man’s legs was decidedly not in that safe space, and he hoped the damage of the rubble on top of it wasn’t too bad. Since they were underground, though, and a subway station had just collapsed on them, he wasn’t too optimistic.

“Tony?” he repeated softly, putting one hand on the other man’s arm. Bucky didn’t dare shake him, though, unsure if there were any injuries that might be worsened by moving.

To his complete and utter relief, he could see eyelashes fluttering over one brown eye, before it opened and focused on him. “Told you I’d be there,” Tony joked, voice sounding even worse than Bucky’s own. The fact that he was joking at all was enough for Bucky, though, who exhaled heavily.

Bucky was torn. On the one hand, Tony was there and responding, which was of some comfort. On the other hand, the fact that he was there at all, injured and trapped along with Bucky, made him want to yell about taking stupid risks.

“You should’ve stayed out,” he eventually decided on, his worry more than obvious to himself.

Apparently, Tony disagreed. Huffing, he shook his head, which dislodged the rest of his helmet. It revealed some growing bruises on his face, as well as the source of the wound - frustratingly enough, he had a tendency of cutting his cheekbones more than anywhere else.

“Told you I’d be there,” he maintained, eyes intently holding Bucky’s. His determination was obvious.

“You got hurt,” Bucky told him, even though he knew it wouldn’t make a difference to Tony. His own injuries never made a difference to him.

Predictably, Tony just shrugged, though he couldn’t quite hide the grimace that the movement caused. “Wasn’t just gonna let you get crushed,” he argued, eyes narrowing slightly. His words were somewhat slurred, but he still appeared alert enough that it didn’t worry Bucky too much.

As much as Bucky wanted to argue with him, wanted to tell him that Bucky wasn’t worth this kind of effort, he knew Tony would argue back just as vehemently despite his injuries. It was a waste of energy neither of them could use right now, not if they wanted to get out of here. They could always argue later, when they were safe and healthy and not in imminent danger.

So instead he tapped at his earpiece, which had been silent since he’d regained consciousness. “Steve? Bruce? Anyone there?”

Silence was all he got, though, and he couldn’t help but curse slightly.

“Is your comm still working?” he asked Tony, hoping that there was some way of updating the others and getting some news on possible rescue ops.

Tony grimaced slightly. “One of the things that got knocked out, I’m afraid.” Nodding at his helmet, Bucky realized that the side holding his comm had been severely damaged. Parts of it might be salvageable, but he didn’t think a comm unit was one of them. “JARVIS should still be getting health readings on me, though. If nothing else, they know I’m alive.”

But not completely healthy, Bucky could tell. He wasn’t too sure what was going on with Tony’s trapped leg, but he could hear the way Tony’s breathing was just a little off. It could’ve been pain, but he suspected that the damage to the chestpiece might extend to Tony’s own chest as well. “Anything I can do to help?” he asked, looking around again to see if there were any options at all.

For a few moments, Tony was silent. Then, sounding more unsure than Bucky had heard him before, he spoke up. “Distract me?” Before he could even start thinking of anything to distract Tony with, the other man cleared his throat and continued. “I mean, we can’t really risk destabilizing anything - the armor should hold up well enough that we won’t get crushed any more than we have, but too much movement and it might still…”

Bucky kind of wanted to yell at him that he shouldn’t have done what he had, that he should’ve just stayed outside of the subway, where he would be safe.

That’d be hypocritical, though. He knew very well that, if he thought there was any way to increase the odds of Tony surviving, he’d throw himself into a potentially lethal situation as well. He just wished it wasn’t Tony hurting, though.

“Alright, not too much movement, check,” he confirmed. They didn’t have a lot of space, even with random parts of the armor holding up what was now their ‘ceiling’, and Bucky spared a second to hope that they wouldn’t end up lacking for oxygen as well. Other than that, they were just depending on the others to figure out a way out of here for them that wouldn’t have the entire construction coming down on them.

Since he couldn’t think of anything else, he started rambling on about the run he’d had in Central Park earlier that morning, just after the sun had risen, and the squirrels he’d seen while running. There’d even been a raccoon, though the animal had ran behind some bushes before he could do more than notice it.

It helped keep Bucky himself calm as well - he didn’t much like being trapped anymore, even though the situation was quite different from when he was with HYDRA. Ironically, the dust in the air actually helped him differentiate the two, since they’d always kept their labs obsessively sterile.

Too late, he realized that it wasn’t helping Tony at all.

As he was trying to think of something else to talk about, Bucky noticed that Tony’s breathing was growing labored. It didn’t sound like any injury to his ribs had gotten worse, but if he kept breathing like this, it could do some serious damage.

“Tony?” Bucky asked, keeping his voice calm. “You with me?”

By now, he recognized the wheezing as hyperventilation, and he could tell by the look in Tony’s eyes that he was panicking. “It’s… I can’t breathe,” he gasped, and Bucky could hear the way he was trying to suppress his fear. He was shaking as well, starting to struggle against the rubble holding his leg down as well as the armor still covering his chest.

“Tony, look at me,” he told the other man sternly. Desperate eyes locked onto his, and Bucky could feel the weight of them. “You can breathe, okay? I’ll help, I’m right here. We’ll start with counting to two. In, one, two. Out, one, two. In, one, two. Out, one, two.”

There were a few moments where he had to draw Tony’s attention again, keeping his own voice as steady as possible. Then, once Tony could reliably count to two, he moved up to three.

For a brief moment, it appeared to get worse again, Tony’s breath hitching and his hand moving back up to his chest. The slight whimper that he appeared to be unable to keep from escaping made Bucky’s own chest clench, and he called out for Tony again. “Focus on me, just keep looking at me. In, one, two, three. Out, one, two, three.”

To his relief, Tony finally started breathing more normally again. His eyes looked less panicked as well, though it was more than clear that he wasn’t alright.

“Sorry.” Before Bucky could even start arguing that Tony had nothing to apologize for, Tony shook his head, continuing. “I know I’m not being a lot of help right now - you shouldn’t have to worry about keeping me calm right now, not when…”

Out of all of the Avengers, Tony was the only one who truly had an idea of the extent of Bucky’s trauma, thanks the monitoring by JARVIS that Bucky had agreed to. It meant that measures could be taken before he got too bad, which ran the risk of reverting him back to his conditioning - his murder conditioning. So Tony probably had a fairly good idea of the fact that small spaces… weren’t Bucky’s favorite thing.

It didn’t seem fair, though, for Tony to constantly be worrying about Bucky’s well-being when he needed help himself. “It’s not a problem, Tony - really,” he added when he noticed Tony was about to object. “You’ve helped me so much already, and I… I really don’t mind returning the favor. Being able to. I mean, I want to be able to be there for you, too.”

At any given time, it was a toss-up as to what Tony would and wouldn’t notice. He could be extremely perceptive, even when it came to interpersonal cues that people thought he never noticed. Other times, he missed the point so badly that it could end up being hilarious.

This time, he appeared to get it to some extent, at least. Or he simply trusted Bucky with some of his more vulnerable parts, though that might just be wishful thinking on Bucky’s side. “It’s just, my chest hurting, and the dust in the air… It… brings back memories,” he ended up confessing, one of his hands moving up to where the arc reactor was shining in his chest.

Unable to help himself, Bucky caught his hand. With the blue light of the reactor, he hoped his blush wasn’t noticeable.

“I’m right here,” he assured his friend, hoping it would help at least some. It was entirely possible that Tony would prefer to be here with anyone other than him, but he was determined to do the best he could. He could ignore his stupid crush while they were stuck and support Tony however he needed - as much as Bucky hated seeing him in pain, he knew he wouldn’t have survived the station’s collapse without his help.

“So, about that weather we’re having,” Tony tried to joke, though it came out weaker than he no doubt would have wanted. He was clutching tightly to Bucky’s hand, though, which Bucky hoped at least meant that his touch was welcome.

He forced out a laugh. “Yeah, the humidity ain’t really my thing. ‘Least the sun’s kinda nice after all of the rain, though.”

Talking about the weather wouldn’t be a lot of help for long, though, which was instantly noticeable the moment they ran out of weather-related news to talk about. Bucky frantically searched his brain for another subject that wouldn’t be too awkward, but he instantly noticed the difference in Tony.

Again, his breathing was starting to get shallower. “Tony,” he called out softly, catching the other man’s attention. “Focus on me, okay? Feel the way I’m holding your hand. I’m with you, and we’re gonna get out of here, and we’re fine.”

Hopefully, he sounded more certain than he felt. While he was physically doing well enough and his healing meant he would be fine soon, and he didn’t feel like he was slipping into a flashback, he wasn’t nearly as sure about Tony himself. Bucky still didn’t know how his trapped leg was doing, not to mention the damage to his chest. Hell, he hoped Tony didn’t have a concussion, though it wasn’t unlikely when considering his injuries.

“I’ve got you,” he assured again, aware that he sounded a little too sincere. Hopefully, Tony wouldn’t notice - the last thing he needed now was for Bucky’s silly crush to make things awkward between them, when there was no way out.

“Yeah,” Tony sighed instead, and although it was not much more than a twitch to his mouth, his answering smile still reassured Bucky. “My knight in shining armor.”

Bucky was unable to keep from chuckling. “Well, knight with a shining arm, at least,” he joked back, easily falling back into their casual flirting banter. “But it’s at your service whenever you need it.”

“Be careful about what you’re offering there, Snowflake. A guy might take advantage.” To his relief, Tony sounded better, steadier now than he had before.

And well, if the banter was helping, then who was Bucky to deny him that? “Ain’t taking advantage if I mean it, doll,” he replied, winking theatrically. “Anything I can provide is yours if you want it.”

Shit, but that sounded way too sincere. It was true, of course, but that didn’t mean he had to say it like that.

“Well, I can’t take advantage if you’re gonna be that nice about it.” Fortunately, Tony appeared to be willing to just ignore it, treating it like a joke instead. Hell, it probably was a joke to him, considering the way Bucky really shouldn’t be interested in him as anything more than a friend.

“If it’d make you feel better, I can complain,” he offered. He knew it came out a little more lackluster than it should have, though, due to his earlier thought.

Tony huffed at that. “As if.” Most likely, his headache was the only reason he wasn’t rolling his eyes. “Don’t like you complaining except that it lets me know how to make things better, how to make you happy.”

Just about then, it felt like Bucky’s heart stopped beating for a few seconds. Because that… that sounded a lot more sincere than he’d been expecting. It sounded like a lot more in general, really, and Bucky wasn’t quite sure what to think of it except that it kind of left him hoping, and he honestly should know better. That probably hadn’t meant what it had sounded like.

“You do,” he blurted out, before he could stop himself. “Make me happy, that is.”

Sure, dig the hole a little deeper, why not? Tony was right there, in pain and most likely concussed, so what better moment to just come out and all but confess how he felt? Brilliant going, that.

He could see Tony’s face from where he was lying, though, and he didn’t appear to mind what Bucky had said. In fact, he actually appeared to be genuinely smiling. “I’m glad.” Tony’s voice was close to a whisper, making the sentence sound like a confession, and…

A huge part of Bucky wanted to just go on like it meant nothing, like this was just part of their usual banter, like he didn’t have feelings for Tony that he never expected would be reciprocated. But they were trapped, likely for a few more hours, and Tony had dove straight in to help him out even though it could get him killed, had gotten him severely injured, and the things he was saying made Bucky hope.

So, instead of deflecting, he squeezed Tony’s hand. “Just hope I can make you happy, too,” he confessed, voice just as soft as Tony’s had been.

From where he was lying, the look of startled confusion was more than obvious, and for a few seconds he was afraid that he might’ve pushed too far. But then a shy smile appeared on Tony’s face, an expression he’d never expected to see on the self-proclaimed ‘genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist’.

“Well, that depends,” Tony replied, and Bucky could tell by the tone of his voice that whatever he said next would make all the difference, one way or another. He knew it was anything but easy for Tony to open up to anyone, to show his vulnerabilities, and the fact that he was doing so now, injured and right after a panic attack that Bucky had helped him with… This was significant, and if Bucky got this wrong, he was afraid it might ruin more than just the moment. “I’ve heard of this amazing restaurant that I’ve been wanting to visit, but no one to take me there.”

It was an obvious hint, and Bucky understood - Tony wasn’t quite secure enough to directly ask him out, and it was still more than possible to twist things around to keep things casual between the two of them if Bucky wanted.

But that wasn’t what he wanted at all. In fact, he couldn’t help his own smile, which made Tony’s eyes brighten hopefully. “Hell, I’d take you out to dinner anywhere and anytime you wanted, doll,” he replied honestly. And then, just to make sure there was no way he’d be misunderstood, he added, “I’d have asked a long time ago if I’d have thought you’d say ‘yes’.”

“You didn’t think I’d say ‘yes’?” Tony replied, sounding way more astonished than he should be.

Bucky shrugged, just a little, smiling somewhat ruefully. “Well, you’re absolutely amazing - didn’t see why you’d settle for me when you could get anyone you wanted, is all.”

“I just wanted you, silly,” Tony admonished him gently, squeezing his hand. “And once we get out of here, I’m going to get Steve to smack you for thinking you’re anything but amazing yourself - he’d do it, too.”

That was absolutely true. He couldn’t be too unhappy about it, though, not when Tony was right there and smiling at him like that. Hell, it was everything he’d hoped for and more. “Or you could grab a ladder and do it yourself,” he joked, unable to help but smirk a little at Tony’s mock-indignant look at that remark.

“Are you calling me short?”

“Shorter than me, at least,” he shot back, voice light and a grin on his face.

“I’ll grab the armor, then we’ll see who’s shorter,” Tony huffed, though the delighted look on his face gave him away.

Smiling right back at him, Bucky squeezed his hand again. “You can wear platform shoes if it’ll make you happy,” he offered. “Or I’ll just get on my knees instead.”

By the time he realized what he’d said, it was already too late. Thankfully, his blush wasn’t visible, though the outright smirk on Tony’s face definitely was. “Now that sounds like an offer I really shouldn’t refuse,” he remarked. His eyes seemed even darker than before, and Bucky could feel the effects of that look.

Unfortunately, this really wasn’t the place to be doing anything about that, so he found himself trying to dissolve the lovely tension between them a little. “Not until I’ve taken you out like you deserve, though.”

At that, Tony’s eyes softened again, another almost shy smile crossing his face. “Like I deserve, huh?”

“Only the best for you, doll,” Bucky answered him honestly. “Deserve to be wooed properly. So I’m gonna pick you up from your apartment, and I’m gonna bring you flowers, and then I’ll treat you to a great dinner with candlelight an’ all that. ‘M gonna make it the best date you’ve ever had.”

The awed look on Tony’s face was honestly the best response Bucky could have imagined. More than ever, he was determined to make Tony as happy as he could. Hopefully, getting into a relationship with him would help - it allowed for plenty of different ways to get Tony to smile, and Bucky aspired to make him smile at least once a day. He deserved all the happiness in the world, after all.

“And then,” he continued softly, rubbing his thumb over Tony’s hand, “I’ll just make sure it’ll keep getting better.”

“That’s a lot of promises, Snowflake,” Tony replied just as softly, though Bucky could see how much he hoped for those promises to come true. It only increased his determination.

“Well, you stuck with your promise to be there for me - least I can do is follow through on mine. And I doubt it’ll be a hardship at all, getting to be with you for it all.” That got him a soft, delighted laugh that he couldn’t help but answer.

It was something to look forward to, to be sure.

As it turned out, the comms had still been broadcasting while they were in there. So when the others found the two of them, he was greeted with a soft smack upside the head from Steve. “The two of you are gonna be intolerable from now on, aren’t you?”

Bucky looked at Tony, practically feeling his eyes soften as he watched his soon-to-be-boyfriend complain while he was being loaded into an ambulance, Bruce trying his best to keep him on the stretcher instead of making his way back to the Tower before he’d been looked over.

“Yeah… I sure hope we are.”