Chapter Text
One minute Tony was looking into the mirror, frowning as he fiddled with his tie, silently mouthing the words to the speech he had to give tonight. The next minute, the door behind him had opened and Bucky Barnes was quietly slipping into the room. Tony’s hands froze as he registered Bucky’s presence, and Bucky froze likewise. Their eyes connected in the mirror.
“Buck? Where are you?”
Bucky visibly winced and eased the door shut. In the next instant, he had launched himself at Tony. Tony didn’t even get a chance to react before he was being pushed against the wall. A hand landed on Tony’s lower face, pressing tightly over his mouth. His heart started to race, and he looked up at Bucky, but Bucky wasn’t looking at him anymore. He was staring at the door.
“Bucky?”
As Steve’s voice neared, Bucky grew more tense and Tony’s confusion deepened. His first thought had been that Bucky had snapped, and the Winter Soldier had made a reappearance. But given that Tony wasn’t dead or dying, that seemed somewhat unlikely. But then what the hell was going on? Why was Bucky trying to hide from Steve, of all people?
He mumbled against Bucky’s hand and Bucky shushed him, eyes flicking back to Tony with a pleading look that set Tony on edge. Something was definitely wrong; he just wasn’t sure what. But Bucky was as stiff as a board as Steve’s voice came from right outside the door.
“Buck? You in there?”
“Steve, don’t go in there. You know that’s Tony’s room.” That was Natasha, her voice so close that she must also be right outside the door.
Bucky was holding his breath. Unconsciously, Tony found himself doing the same.
“I’m looking for Bucky,” Steve said, sounding both defensive and worried.
“Well, he won’t be in there. Tony’s getting ready to go to that S.I. event. He might have even left already, and you know how much he hates it when we invade his privacy,” Natasha replied. “And if he hasn’t left, he’ll be annoyed that you’re interrupting him.”
“This is important,” Steve argued.
Tony couldn’t help rolling his eyes at that. Of course Steve thought that his search for his friend was worth more than anyone’s privacy. One would have thought that Steve might have learned his lesson after he accidentally interrupted Bruce last week, and caused a rather expensive science project to go awry. Bruce had been furious, and Steve had been apologetic, but apparently not too apologetic.
“Did you check the gym? Or what about the pool? You know how much Bucky loves to swim. Or maybe he’s sparring with Thor,” Natasha said.
Steve sighed loudly. “Yeah, alright. I already checked the gym, but I guess I can check again...” His voice faded as he and Natasha departed.
Bucky still didn’t move, not even after they were gone, until Tony squirmed impatiently against him. Bucky was a heavy, solid weight pinning him down, and that was making it a little difficult to breathe. Bucky started, as though having forgot that Tony was there, and then sprang away from him like he was a cat sprayed by water. Tony sucked in an unimpeded breath as Bucky looked at him guiltily.
“Sorry. I’m really sorry,” Bucky said, all but wringing his hands together. “I shouldn’t have come in here, I know. It’s just – this was the only place I could think of where I thought Stevie might not follow.”
That was more words than Tony had heard Bucky string together at once since Bucky had initially arrived at the tower. He absently rubbed at his chest, frowning, and slowly asked, “Wait, do... do you not want to be around Steve or something like that?”
Bucky flushed. “I – no. It’s not like that. I love Stevie. He’s my friend.” It sounded like something that he had been telling himself a lot lately.
“Then...?” Tony raised an eyebrow, giving the door a pointed look.
“It’s just –” Bucky sounded quiet, hesitant. Like he thought that Steve might somehow overhear. “It’s a lot. Sometimes. That’s all.”
Oh. Tony was surprised to find out how much he understood that. Because Steve Rogers was a great guy, but he could definitely be a lot. Steve always came on strong; he had very little concept of moderation. He was an all or nothing sort of person, and he had definitely been all ever since the Winter Soldier had successfully been retrieved and the code words removed from his brain.
“You need some space,” Tony said. “Why not just say so?”
Bucky shrugged, his eyes on the floor, and Tony understood that too. Sometimes you could say something, but that didn’t mean the person you were talking to was going to hear it. Especially in this case. Steve didn’t mean anything by coming on too strong. He was just legitimately concerned about Bucky. He wasn’t going to respond well to being told that he was being too much.
But Bucky had also been through a hell of a lot over the past seventy-five or so years. It made sense that he’d need some space. And after decades of not having a choice about anything, it also made a lot of sense that Bucky wouldn’t be sure how to communicate that. Tony stared at him for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons, and was ready to tell Bucky to just hide away from tonight when his big mouth opened.
“You know... I don’t have a date tonight,” he heard himself saying. “You could come with me. Get out of the tower for a little bit.”
Bucky looked up, surprise written across his face. Tony was pretty sure that he looked surprised too, and quickly schooled his features into a confident smile, like he’d totally meant to say that. Inwardly, his heart was racing again and he was filled with a sense of overwhelming panic.
Had he really just asked out the Winter Soldier?
“You mean – you mean like a date?” Bucky asked after a few seconds.
“No!” Tony said quickly. “No, just as like two friends – well, two associates who are attending an event together. That’s all. I just thought – Steve can’t find you if you’re not in the tower... right?”
“I guess that’s true,” Bucky said. His eyes slowly swept up and down Tony’s body, starting at Tony’s ankles and then crawling up to his hips, chest, shoulders, then to his face. The hair on the back of Tony’s neck prickled, and he had the fight the urge to shift uncomfortably. He was very used to people looking at him, but it had been a long time since anyone looked at him with such staggering intensity.
“You don’t have to,” Tony said awkwardly. Had he crossed a line by making the suggestion? Maybe he should’ve kept his mouth shut. But it was too late now...
“Would I have to talk to anyone?” Bucky asked.
“Probably not. You’re not an Avenger yet, and your face wasn’t widely publicized during the whole Winter Soldier trial, so...” Tony shrugged. People would be curious about Bucky, but this was a fundraiser for a local children’s hospital, so it was basically going to be a pissing contest. They’d figure out quickly Bucky had no money, so he wouldn’t be that interesting.
Bucky nodded. “I don’t have anything to wear.”
“What?”
“I don’t have –” Bucky gestured at Tony’s suit, and Tony suddenly realized why Bucky had been looking him up and down like that. The sweatshirt and jeans that Bucky was wearing wasn’t exactly haute couture.
“Actually, you do. JARVIS ordered a range of clothing for you when you arrived, and a suit was included,” Tony said.
“I – really?” Bucky blinked.
“Yeah. Everyone has a reason to dress up once in a while,” Tony replied, shrugging. “So if you want to come, you better go get dressed. JARVIS can tell you where it is. You have about twenty minutes.” He checked his watch as he spoke.
“Okay.” Bucky strode over to the door, opened it, and slipped out as quietly as he had come.
Tony exhaled, turning towards the mirror. He made a face when he realized that Bucky had wrinkled his jacket and shirt. Sighing, he unbuttoned the jacket and smoothed out each wrinkle. Then he rebuttoned his jacket and resumed fiddling with his tie. He felt unaccountably nervous now. This was either going to be great for Bucky, or a complete disaster for Tony.
Possibly both.
“Alright, J. Can you distract Steve while I get Bucky out of the tower?” Tony asked a few minutes later. Bucky very rarely left the tower, and so far he had only done so while accompanied by either Steve or Natasha. He wasn’t sure how Steve would react to finding out that Tony had left with Bucky.
“Yes, Sir. Sergeant Barnes is waiting for you. He is having difficulty with his tie,” JARVIS said, and Tony smiled despite himself.
He made his way out of his room and down the hall to the living room, where he found Bucky and Clint. Clint was trying to do up Bucky’s tie, but it wasn’t going very well. Tony rolled his eyes and walked over to them, batting Clint’s hands out of the way. Clint moved, muttering something about ties under his breath, as Tony quickly and expertly did up Bucky’s tie for him.
“There, all good,” Tony said.
“I make the cut?” Bucky asked, sounding self-conscious.
Did he make the cut?
What a dumb question. Bucky had no idea just how good he looked in a bespoke dark gray suit, paired with black shoes, a light blue shirt, and a deeper blue tie that was a perfect match for the color of his eyes. He’d pulled his hair back into a bun and shaved too, so he looked polished but approachable.
“I’d tap that,” Clint said, openly leering, and Tony snorted.
“Barton, you’d tap just about anything if Agent let you,” Tony said dryly.
Clint opened his mouth, paused, and then shrugged. “Yeah, okay, I can’t argue that.”
“Is that a yes?” Bucky asked, looking somewhat self-conscious.
“That’s a yes,” Clint told him. Then, to Tony, he said, “Does Steve know about this?”
“Nope,” Tony said, popping the ‘p’ obnoxiously, and saw Clint’s knowing smirk. There was nothing Clint liked better than being mischievous, especially when Coulson wasn’t around to control him.
“Awesome. Have a fantastic time, you two,” Clint said, his smirk giving way to a grin. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
Tony rolled his eyes. “That’s a very long list indeed,” he pointed out. “Come on, Barnes. There’s a car waiting for us downstairs.”
Bucky followed him into the elevator, and JARVIS obligingly took them downstairs. Tony watched Bucky out of the corner of his eye, trying to decide how stupid this was on a scale of one to ten. If one was not stupid, and ten was the stupidest thing that Tony had ever done in his life, then this probably ranged about a fifty. Steve was actually going to kill him. But it would worth it if Bucky could start to see that there was a world outside of the tower.
“If it gets to be too much tonight, just let me know and I’ll get you out of there,” Tony said as the doors swept open. He saw Bucky glancing his way with a surprised expression, as though he hadn’t expected Tony to be so considerate. It stung a little.
“Thanks,” Bucky said. “And thanks for – this. This is the first time I’ve left the tower with a purpose. Usually it’s just to go get a coffee or something like that.”
“There is no greater purpose in life than coffee,” Tony said seriously, and for the first time since he’d run into Tony’s bedroom earlier, Bucky smiled just a little.
That smile hit Tony like a punch to the gut.
Shit. No. Don’t even go there, Tony told himself sternly. He quickly stepped out of the elevator and walked over to the car. The driver leaped out to open the door for them, and Tony slipped inside. He made sure to slide across the seat to the other side, leaving ample room for Bucky to climb in. It was a relief when Bucky stayed on the other side of the car, leaving plenty of space between them. The driver closed the door and then scooted around to climb into the driver’s seat. They pulled out of the underground garage, smoothly joining the evening New York traffic.
Tony stared out the window, barely seeing the passing lights. In the reflection of the window, he could see Bucky’s profile. Bucky was looking forward out the window, no doubt watching where the car was going. He seemed completely unaware of Tony’s presence. Too bad Tony had the opposite problem; he’d never been as aware of Bucky Barnes as he was right now.
That was what happened when you were a secret sub living in a dom’s world.