The sun had barely risen when Bucky left for his mission, leaving the air cool and much of the Triskelion's courtyard in shadow.

He used those same shadows to avoid running into anyone, not in the mood for morning greetings, and had almost made it past the walls when he heard someone shout his name.

Cursing to himself, Bucky started to walk faster - he recognized the voice, and Steve was the very last person he wanted to talk to right now - only to stumble and fall when he was literally tackled from behind.

"What is wrong with you?" Bucky yelled, rolling and elbowing Steve in the face, royalty be damned. "You're not five feet tall anymore, you giant, you can't go around tackling people -"

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Steve demanded, pinning the arm Bucky had tried to hit him with and sitting on Bucky's legs.

"On a mission, you psychopath!" Bucky shouted, reaching for his pack with his free hand so he could hit Steve with it instead. "Get off me, Stevie, or I swear to God -"

Steve scowled and rolled off of him, then offered him a hand up, which Bucky refused.

"How could you just leave?" Steve demanded, while Bucky brushed the dirt off of his clothes. "Sneak off at the crack of dawn, without even saying goodbye -"

"I didn't just leave, I told you, I have a mission -"

"- which Fury told me you specifically requested!"

They both glared at each other, breathing hard, before Bucky took a deep breath and forced himself to relax.

"Look, I'm not gonna stand here and argue with you," Bucky sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving, but -"

"You're running away," Steve told him, chin jutted out angrily. "You're scared, and now you're running away."

Bucky's temper flared again. "Oh, really?" he snapped. "Tell me, then: what am I supposed to be running away from?"

That, oddly enough, seemed to pacify Steve. He took a deep breath and then let it out, his expression closing off and the tension in his shoulders visibly easing.

"You're in love with Tony," he said simply, voice calm and even.

Bucky's heart stopped.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about," he started, but Steve cut him off by raising his hand.

"You're in love with Tony," he repeated firmly, and took a step forward to make up for the step Bucky took back. "I don't know how I could have missed it before, but it's plain as day now, and you - you're in love with Tony."

"Stop saying that," Bucky snapped, pulling the strap of his pack between his hands, and accidentally breaking it in half. "I'm not, I - I don't know why you're -"

The corners of Steve's mouth ticked up briefly. "You love Tony," he insisted, still infuriatingly calm, and looking at Bucky with eyes that were too knowing, too familiar, and so Steve that Bucky -

Bucky knew he couldn't lie.

His shoulders slumped. "Yes," he whispered, feeling as though the word had been pulled out of him by force.

Steve didn't react like Bucky had expected. He didn't get angry, or upset, or look at Bucky with contempt or disappointment or any of the dozens of other things Bucky had thought he would. In fact, he didn't react at all.

He just blinked, once, his face revealing nothing, though to Bucky it almost seemed as though his eyes were thanking him.

"Why?" Steve asked, still blank-faced, and his gaze piercing.

"Why?" Bucky asked incredulously, his head spinning from all the conflicting emotions he was feeling. "I - what the hell kind of stupid question is that? Of all the things to… you want to know why?"

Steve nodded. "Yes, why. You're in love with Tony - but why?"

Bucky laughed, a high, humorless sound that sounded hysterical even to his own ears.

"Why? Why?" he nearly shouted, light-headed with how hard it suddenly was to breathe.

"Because he's the most beautiful, amazing, wonderful person I've ever met. Because my chest feels too tight and too warm and too heavy and too light all at once when I think about him. Because he's funny, and kind, and smart, and loyal, and, and -"

Bucky closed his eyes, his chest aching, and pictured Tony's face smiling at him.

"Because he has the most gorgeous eyes, and an amazing laugh, and, God, the way he smiles with his whole face…" He opened his eyes, no longer caring what Steve might see in them. "I'm in love with him because I feel like a whole person when I'm with him, and I've never, ever felt this way, and I -"

He stopped, took a deep breath, looked Steve straight in the eye, and said, "Of course I'm in love with Tony - how can I not be?"

For several long, painful minutes, Steve didn't say anything.

Then his shoulders slumped in relief.

"Good," he said, and smiled warmly at Bucky. "Because I'm not."

Bucky blinked, thrown. "You… what?"

Steve sighed, but his smile grew wider. "I'm not in love with Tony," he repeated patiently, eyes bright, before stepping closer to Bucky.

"I know," Bucky said slowly, doing his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "You said that before, remember?"

Steve shook his head. "Buck, you don't understand," he said, chewing his bottom lip. "I called off the wedding."

Bucky dropped his pack.

"What?" he whispered, stunned.

If Steve was tired of repeating things, it didn't show in his voice or his face. "I called off the wedding," he said, grinning. "Me and Tony - we're not getting married. To each other. I'm not marrying Tony," he added when Bucky still didn't react, and put his hands on Bucky's shoulders.

Bucky swallowed thickly, still too stunned to think straight. "You... why?"

"Because he's smart and loyal and funny and kind," Steve said, eyes soft. "Because he was willing to marry a guy he didn't even love for the good of the whole kingdom." He shook his head, expression fond, and then reached out and slipped a hand behind Bucky's neck to give it a squeeze, just like Bucky used to do to him when they were kids. "And because he deserves to be happy with the person he loves, just like you do."

Bucky opened his mouth, then closed it. "You…" he started slowly, even as his breathing quickened. "You and Tony aren't getting married."

Steve huffed, grin wide enough to split his face. "Tony and I aren't getting married," he confirmed, and pressed their foreheads together.

It was too much.

"I'm sorry," Bucky rasped as Steve wrapped his arms around him. Bucky returned the hug with as much force as possible, feeling like he'd shake apart if he didn't. "I'm so, so sorry, Stevie, I -"

"Hey, come on, you've got nothing to be sorry about," Steve soothed, patting Bucky on the back and ruffling his hair lightly. "We can't help who we fall in love with - I know that better than anyone. I've already been over this with Tony. You didn't do anything wrong."

The mention of Tony's name made something in Bucky's chest ease. "Tony, he really -" Bucky started, voice shaking. "He told you he was in love with me?"

Steve snorted. "Not exactly," he sighed, arms holding Bucky in place when he tried to pull back. "No, don't start panicking again. I think he thought he was protecting you by not saying your name," he huffed, shaking his head. "He just told me he was in love with someone else. But then in the next breath he was asking if I knew where you were, and with everything that happened, and the way you two have been acting since we found you, well… it wasn't hard to figure out."

He sounded both exasperated and fond, and far too amused with the whole situation at large, which was what made Bucky really start to relax.

Bucky sniffed embarrassingly. "You know, a lot of guys wouldn't be so understanding of their best friends stealin' away their fiances," he gasped, voice muffled by Steve's shoulder.

Steve laughed into his hair. "Tony was never really mine to steal," he pointed out dryly, before pulling back and turning more serious. "You know that, right? I mean, we never really promised - we've always been just friends."

Bucky hiccuped and nodded. "Tony isn't anybody's," he said softly, scrubbing at his face with the back of his hand. "He's his own person, and always has been."

"Except his heart," Steve said quietly, face softening. "That does belong to you. Same as this -" He placed his hand over Bucky's chest. "- belongs to him."

Bucky swallowed and ducked his head, throat tight.

"When did you get so philosophical?" he asked once he could speak again. "I don't remember you being so touchy-feely before. What happened to that shrimpy little punk who ran his mouth and spoke and thought with his fists?"

Steve snorted, his eyes dancing. "He grew up," he said, then looked down and smiled to himself. "And learned a thing or two about what you're feeling right now, too."

Bucky frowned, curiosity piqued, but before he could get Steve to elaborate the other man cleared his throat and starting speaking again.

"You need to go talk to Tony," he said, face serious. "Everyone from Stark House is going home later today, and he - I know he wanted to see you before he left."

"I will," Bucky said, a happy, giddy feeling bubbling up in his chest. "I will, right now, I -" He cut himself off when he remembered what he'd been doing, adrenaline making his mind race and go blank at the same time. "I, uh, still have a mission," he said numbly, staring down at his pack.

Steve rolled his eyes. "I'll take care of it," he snorted, and tilted his head back towards Triskelion. "Go. Find Tony. And quickly, before Fury and Howard get together and try to marry him off to one of the Asgardian princes."

Though he knew Steve was teasing, Bucky remembered Thor laughing at Tony's jokes, and Loki and Tony sitting with their heads together on the Bifrost's deck, and felt a genuine stirring of horror.

It must have shown on his face, because Steve's teasing smile evaporated into exasperation. "Buck, I promise, nobody is going to come swooping in with another marriage proposal the day after Tony's engagement has been broken," he said patiently.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Bucky growled, before spinning around and running back through the gates.

It didn't occur to Bucky that he should have perhaps asked Steve just where Tony was staying until he was standing in the middle of the Triskelion's great central foyer, trying to decide which staircase to take.

He'd thought he'd heard one of the guards mention Lord Stark being in the western wing, but he was certain they had been talking about Tony's father. Still, they'd probably put them close to each other, right?

Just as Bucky started for the western staircase, Clint started skipping down the eastern one, humming cheerfully and munching on an apple.

"Hey!" he called, waving when he saw Bucky. "I thought I saw you barreling in from the window. What's going on, I thought you were-"

"Where's Tony staying?" Bucky interrupted, pausing at the bottom of the staircase with one hand on the banister, which creaked under his grip.

Clint cocked his head. "Uh, what?"

Bucky gritted his teeth. "Where is Lord Anthony's suite?" he demanded, with far less patience than his last request.

Clint still look confused, but pointed up behind himself with his thumb. "The eastern wing, one floor up from here, five rooms down from Ste- Lord Steven's rooms, in Americana Hall," he replied, tone hasty in response to the aggression in Bucky's. "But I don't-"

Bucky abandoned the other staircase to barrel past Clint. "Wait! I don't think you should - Fury's -"

The rest of what Clint was saying was cut off as Bucky turned the corner, almost running into two guards.

Bucky flew up another staircase and down several corridors until he finally skidded around the corner of Americana Hall. He counted doors when he got to Steve's room, hoping he was counting from the same direction Clint had intended, and stopped at number five.

A redhead with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose answered the door when he knocked. Bucky thought he had seen Tony talking to her before, but he didn't wait for an introduction.

"Tony?" he called, shouldering his way past the woman and into the room.

There were several people seated at the little sitting area to the right - Fury and Peggy Carter included - but Bucky focused on the only person that mattered.

Tony did a double take when he spotted him, then started to stand, brows knitted in confusion. "Bucky?" he asked, a note of alarm in his voice. "Are you okay? What's-"

"Steve told me," Bucky blurted, hands shaking at his sides.

Tony startled, then stilled, his expression turning blank - save for the cautious flicker of hope Bucky caught in his eyes.

"Steve told you what?" asked the man who had been sitting beside Tony. Peggy kicked him, then shushed him when he started to protest.

Tony's eyes flicked briefly towards the two of them, then back to Bucky.

"Can you leave us alone for a minute?" Tony asked them, his eyes still on Bucky.

"Of course," Peggy said, at the same time both Fury and the man she had kicked said, "Absolutely not," and "Hell no," respectively.

Peggy stood up and glared at the two, hands on her hips. "Howard," she said warningly, but before she could say anything else a tall man holding a tea tray walked in through the still-open door and froze, eyes sweeping over the scene and then widening comically.

"I'm sorry, are we having someone else for tea?" he asked, eyebrows raising at Bucky.

"No," everyone, including Bucky and Tony, said.

Then Tony, face flushed in embarrassment, took a step towards Bucky and tilted his head towards the door. "We should -"

"Oh, no. You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on," said the man that must have been Lord Stark, frowning at his son and ignoring his sister's withering glare.

Looking resigned, Tony closed his eyes and sighed, then turned his head back towards his father.

Bucky, however, was out of patience. He reached out and caught Tony's elbow before he could walk away, ignoring Lord Stark's sharp intake of breath and Fury's narrow-eyed look of disapproval.

Tony looked up at him, eyes wide and bright with curiosity and the same hope Bucky had seen flickering in them before. Bucky chuckled a little in spite of himself and, heedless of the other people in the room, reached up with his free hand and cupped the back of Tony's neck.

Tony's eyelids fluttered briefly when Bucky ran his thumb over the sensitive spot behind his ear, making something in Bucky's chest settle, and giving him the courage to finally say aloud what he hadn't dared say before.

"I love you," Bucky said, calm and clear and solemn, despite his dry mouth and rapidly beating heart.

Then he took Tony's face in his hands, tilted his head back, and kissed him.

There was a loud crash as the tea tray was dropped, but Bucky ignored it, as well as the exclamations that followed.

"Oh my."

"Barnes!"

"WHAT THE-"

"I think we should go," a woman's voice said loudly, while Tony's hands came up to grip the fabric of Bucky's shirt and tug him closer, then settled on Bucky's shoulders.

Distantly, Bucky was aware of Peggy and the redheaded woman ushering the others out amidst very loud protests, as well as the door clicking shut. He thought one or both of them might have said something to him or Tony before they left, but Bucky couldn't tell what, and didn't feel like pulling away from Tony long enough to find out.

"I love you," Bucky whispered against Tony's mouth when they eventually slowed down for breath, because he felt that bore repeating.

Tony chuckled wetly, gasping for air. "And I love you," he said, callused fingers pressing into Bucky's nape.

Feeling like his heart was going to burst out of his chest, Bucky surged forward and captured Tony's lips again, smothering Tony's breathless gasp and pulling him even closer, until there wasn't an inch of space between them.

Bucky wasn't sure how much time had passed when Tony groaned and finally broke the kiss, breathing hard and laughing weakly.

"I think you just killed my father," he said, shoulders shaking. "And Fury. And, oh God, poor Jarvis…"

Bucky huffed and pressed a kiss to the corner of Tony's mouth, then his temple. "I think your aunt has them all well in hand," he said, rubbing his hand up and down Tony's back and moving down to mouth at the shell of Tony's ear.

Tony shivered and pulled back to give Bucky a stern look, though the bright amusement in his eyes and the happy flush of his cheeks belied it. "Still, while I appreciate the sentiment and enthusiasm, you would have only had to wait a few more minutes and we could have done that in private," he huffed. "I wasn't leaving for hours - what was the hurry?"

Bucky bent down and nuzzled Tony's neck, inhaling deeply and letting Tony's scent wash over him.

"Well, as Stevie pointed out, you're quite popular," Bucky said wryly, lips moving against the sensitive skin of Tony's neck, and eliciting another shiver. "Figured I had to get to you before anyone else had a chance to snatch you up."

He pulled back and grinned crookedly at Tony's dumbfounded expression, which morphed into one of exasperation.

"Right. Because news of my broken engagement hasn't even been announced, and I already have an entire line of suitors waiting with baited breath outside my door," Tony huffed, lips twitching. "Did you duel any of them on the way over here?"

"I would've," Bucky promised, even if he knew Tony was joking. "I'd fight everyone in the kingdom and out of it, if I had to."

Tony chuckled breathlessly, eyes bright. "You sort-of have," he pointed out. "Bandits, dragons, sea monsters…" He shook his head. "In any case, I already told you…" He reached up and held Bucky's cheek. "Given a choice, I will always choose you, James Buchanan Barnes."

Throat tight, Bucky placed his hand over Tony's, then pulled Tony's hand down to his mouth and kissed his palm.

"I love you," Bucky said lowly, moving down to kiss the pulse on Tony's wrist as well.

Tony swallowed thickly. "You said that already," he said hoarsely, bottom lip trembling.

Bucky traced Tony's lip with his thumb. "And I'll say it a thousand times more," he said softly. "I love you, I love you, I love you. From now until forever, and for as long as I live - I love you, Anthony Edward Stark."

Tony's breath hitched, his lip trembling harder and his eyes fluttering shut. "That… sounds dangerously close to a proposal, James Barnes," he said in a wobbly voice.

Bucky leaned forward and brushed their lips together. "Not yet," he murmured, before he carefully walked Tony backwards, until his knees hit the sofa behind him and he plopped down with a quiet 'oof'.

Then, keeping hold of Tony's hand, Bucky sank down to his knees, and folded his arms over Tony's lap.

"Now it's a proposal," he said, never breaking eye contact as he brushed a light kiss against Tony's knuckles.

Tony swallowed, then reached down to stroke a hand through Bucky's hair.

"Are you sure?" he asked hoarsely, blinking rapidly.

"I've never been more sure about anything in my entire life," Bucky whispered. "I've never loved anything as much as I love the time I've spent with you, and I…" He let out a soft breath, and gave Tony's hand a light squeeze. "I don't ever want to be without."

Tony laughed, the sound coming out as a sob. "Time spent with me… I almost got you killed," he gasped in disbelief, bending down until their foreheads were pressed together.

Bucky huffed softly. "Maybe," he admitted. "But more importantly…" He took Tony's hand and pressed it flat against his chest, directly over his heart. "You saved me."

Tony drew in a shuddering breath, fingers spasming against Bucky's chest. "You're more dramatic than I am," he breathed, before squeezing the back of Bucky's neck and choking, "Yes, you idiot. Of course I'll marry you."

And then he kissed Bucky, laughing - or crying, Bucky couldn't tell if the tears were his own or Tony's - while Bucky's heart pounded and soared and exploded all at once, right under Tony's hand.

And right where Bucky intended to keep it for the rest of his life.

After a few extra minutes spent artfully dodging Fury, Tony's father, Mr. Jarvis, and three people looking for him on Fury's behalf, Steve finally found Peggy, standing in front Tony's suite and peeking through a crack in the door.

He opened his mouth to greet her and was promptly shushed, despite the fact that he was walking up behind her and she couldn't have seen him coming.

Grinning to himself, Steve kept quiet until he was standing beside her, then tilted his head towards the door and whispered, "What is it?"

She looked up to give him a look of fond exasperation, then went back to peeking through the door. "Look."

Steve moved behind her, able to see over her head easily with his height, and peeked through the crack as well - and felt like he would split his face with the force of his smile.

Tony was sitting at the edge of one of the room's little sofas, half-hunched over Bucky - who was slumped over Tony's lap, his face buried in Tony's stomach. One of Tony's hands was combing through Bucky's hair, while the other was tangled with Bucky's, and Bucky's free arm was wrapped firmly around Tony.

"Mr. Jarvis wanted to bludgeon James to death with a tea tray, but I managed to talk him down by showing him this," Peggy said quietly, a soft smile on her face.

Steve chuckled softly, feeling like a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He hadn't been sure he'd ever get to see Bucky happy again, and this…

"I feel a little less guilty about us, now," Steve muttered, resting his chin atop Peggy's head.

Peggy huffed quietly. "Perhaps," she agreed, before turning her head to look at him and raising an eyebrow. "Don't think I'm going to let you get off telling James about calling off the wedding before me," she added mildly, crossing her arms.

Steve grinned sheepishly. "It was kind of an emergency," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "And Tony hadn't told you yet, either."

Peggy's mouth twitched. "Excuses, excuses," she said, though Steve could tell she wasn't truly mad.

He grinned again, unrepentant, and went back to watching Tony and Bucky.

"We should tell them, first, before we say anything to anyone else," he said, taking Peggy's hand in his.

Peggy returned the pressure, and laced their fingers together.

"Later," she said, smiling when Tony bent down and planted a kiss in Bucky's hair. "We have all the time in the world - for now, let's let them have their happiness for themselves."

Steve nodded in agreement, smiling at the look of adoration in Tony's eyes, before Peggy carefully pulled the door closed.

~Epilogue~

The wedding of Lady Margaret Stark Carter, Head of Stark, and Lord Steven Rogers, Heir of Shield, was the affair of the century.

Not only was the ceremony grand, but everyone in the kingdom wanted a glimpse of the soon-to-be King and Queen of Aavenge, and so came in droves to admire and bless the new couple in person. In attendance was most of the kingdom and the heads and heirs of every royal house, as well as many royals and ambassadors from other lands - including King T'Challa of Wakanda, both princes of Asgard, and even the kings of Latveria and Atlantis.

Indeed, nary an eye could be seen not gawking at the couple, singing their praises and remarking on how bright the kingdom's future would be.

For their part, the newlyweds mostly only had eyes for each other.

Mostly.

"Pegs, if you don't stop watching Tony and Bucky, people are going to talk, and Lord Steven, here, is going to get jealous," Lord Howard told his sister, tilting his cup towards her and then Lord Steven.

Lady Margaret took her eyes away from the dance floor - where Tony and Bucky were dancing a soft waltz, smiling warmly at each other - and fixed her brother with a glare.

"I'm just making sure Tony's having a good time," she sniffed, accepting the drink her new husband offered her.

"The only thing I'm jealous of is how easy they're making that look," Lord Steven added. "Especially since they keep tickling each other when they think no one is looking."

Sipping at her drink, Peggy returned her gaze to the two of them. Sure enough, as she was watching, Bucky's hand darted up to dance along Tony's side during their next turn, making Tony squirm and snicker, and pinch Bucky's side in reproach. Bucky grinned down at him, eyes bright with mischief. Their next turn made the light of the ballroom catch on the only piece of jewelry Tony was wearing - a pendant the same shade of blue as Bucky's eyes. Bucky's gaze darted down to it, his smile widening and softening at the same time, and this time, when his hand moved, it was to cover his own engagement gift - the red jasper that had once been Tony's.

"You worry too much," Howard sighed, once again pulling Peggy's attention away from the couple.

"And why shouldn't I?" Peggy scoffed. "Tony is my heir. It's only proper that I worry about him."

"Yeah, but you're giving poor Bucky a complex," Howard grumbled, sipping at his wine.

"You're just upset because he's afraid of me and not you," Peggy retorted, making Steve snort into his cup.

"Actually, I think you're both wrong," he said once he'd recovered, and before Howard and Peggy could get into an actual argument. "He's positively meek when he's with Jarvis."

That made both Starks snicker.

"Ana loves him, though," Howard pointed out wryly. "I think she's ready to adopt him as her own."

Peggy nodded gravely. "I found her fussing over him in the kitchen last week," she agreed. "Feeding him and telling him one of her dragon stories…"

Steve snorted, but before he could say anything, a deep chuckle captured their attention.

"Your Majesty," Steve said, standing straighter and inclining his head to the newcomer.

King T'Challa smiled and returned the gesture. "Lord Steven, Lady Stark," he said, before glancing over at Howard and adding, "Lord Howard, a pleasure to meet you. Please, do not let me interrupt - I just wanted to congratulate the newlyweds in person."

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty," Peggy said, politely inclining her head as well. "Don't worry, you're not interrupting anything - we were just discussing James's integration into the family."

T'Challa's eyes crinkled in amusement. "It's going well, I hope," he said, before lifting his head and scanning the crowd.

"He's won over the most important person, so that's all that matters," Peggy said decisively.

T'Challa smiled fondly. "They look very good together, yes?" he said, tilting his head towards Bucky and Tony.

The others followed his gaze.

Tony was laughing at something Bucky had said, head ducked and eyes dancing. Bucky leaned forward and kissed Tony's forehead, expression filled with warmth and affection, then said something that set Tony off again, and made him hide his face in Bucky's shoulder.

"No," Peggy corrected softly, eyes happy and smile gentle. "They look happy together."

~The End~

AN: Thanks for reading!