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Romance Awareness, Day 4. Your soulmate is the only one who can't hurt you.

Auction Prompt - Afraid

Word Count - 2008

I Don't Expect A Romantic Comedy

After Bucharest, Tony is aware of the truth. He doesn't really know what to do with that truth, but it is undeniable. Barnes going Winter Soldier and tossing him across the room should have hurt… should have possibly even broken or cracked a bone or two.

Yet it didn't.

Only soulmates could cause that kind of phenomenon.

Of course, that didn't end well, and not Tony is flying to Siberia to try and bring Barnes and Rogers in peacefully, because as pained as he was to admit it, he couldn't sit back and just watch them destroy their lives.

He'd given up on finding the one person made for him long ago, and to find him now… Tony was unsettled. He didn't know if Barnes was aware of it, having been the Winter Soldier when they'd fought, and if he wasn't, Tony didn't think alerting him would be a good plan.

Steve would be heartbroken for a start, and Tony wanted no part of that clusterfuck. And… well. Soulmates were supposed to be perfect for one another, but Tony had proved over and over and over that he wasn't perfect.

He wasn't sure he could even handle the pressure.

…

Tony couldn't pull his eyes away from the screen. He watched his mom die at the hands of his soulmate. What… What even was that? He didn't think, couldn't think, he simply attacked because Barnes was standing right there and he'd murdered Tony's mom.

When Steve tried to stop him, Tony turned and fought him too, no longer caring about not hurting Steve, because Steve knew.

Barnes jumped in front of Steve, staring at Tony. When Steve tried to protect his friend, Barnes knocked him back behind him.

"He can't hurt me," Barnes murmured.

Tony stared at him for a long moment, pain in every inch of his body, because physical pain was one thing but emotional was something entirely different.

"I hate you," he whispered.

Thrusters activated, Tony flew away from the Bunker, and away from his soulmate. They could clean their own mess up. Tony was done.

…

The flip phone burned in Tony's hand, but with a final look at Bruce, he dialled the only number stored and raised it to his ear.

"Tony?"

"You're needed. It's time you came home."

…

Tony didn't know how long he'd been without sleep. He just knew it had been a long time, and he was tired, exhausted to the bone. Thanos was gone, and the Avengers and everyone else who had fought, had won the war, but there had been losses in battle and Tony knew it would hurt for a long time.

Especially while they dealt with the clean up.

Still, as he sat on the balcony of the common room in the compound, he couldn't help the relief that seeped into him because it was over.

"Tony?"

Tony knew immediately who had joined him, but he didn't turn. "Your rooms are all still there. Feel free to crash."

Steve crossed the balcony to stand beside him. "Thank you. For calling us in. For… doing what you did. If you hadn't been strong enough, we'd have lost."

"I did my job, the same as everyone else, Steve," Tony replied wearily. "We all did what was necessary."

Steve hesitated for a moment before he squeezed his shoulder. "I'll leave you to it."

"Did you get your pardons? I had them sped up after I called you. They were almost done anyway."

"We did. Rhodes… informed us of all you've done over the past two years. I… don't really have the words to thank you, but thank you."

"I'll bet he did," Tony snickered despite himself.

Rhodey had had two years to rant about Captain America and his merry band of miscreants, but Tony knew he'd been waiting for the opportunity to rant to their faces.

He couldn't begrudge his honeybear, since he'd been the one to prop Tony up after everything that happened.

"Sleep well, Cap," Tony added.

"You should get some rest too, Tony. Good night."

…

Tony did get some rest when Rhodey forced him to bed, but nightmares were never far away, and after a few hours of blissful unconscious, Tony was shocked away in his bed, afraid that the victory had been a dream.

He got up, unwilling to return to slumber to find himself back in that terrifying reality. With Friday lighting the way and chasing the shadows away, Tony padded into the communal area, unsurprised to find it occupied.

He wasn't stupid enough to think he would be the only one suffering the sights of the last few days.

He hadn't expected it to be Barnes though, and he halted at the doorway for a moment, considering just going down to the lab instead.

Barnes looked up and met his eyes, and they were so haunted that Tony couldn't bring himself to walk away. Instead he walked through the living area to the kitchen, setting about for the fixings for hot chocolate.

He worked silently and efficiently, picking the two mugs up and moving back into the living area, handing over one of the mugs.

"Thanks."

Tony nodded, slumping on the sofa.

The silence was surprisingly comfortable, and Tony realised that he felt safe with Barnes. It made sense in an abstract way of course, Barnes couldn't hurt him, but Tony felt safe that the other man wouldn't even try.

The hot chocolate was long finished by the time the silence was broken.

"I… see you die. Everytime I close my eyes, the thing you did, with the gauntlet… it goes wrong and you… you turn to dust and…"

Tony still didn't speak. Instead, he lifted Barnes' flesh hand with his own and placed it against his heart.

They sat like that for long moments, and incrementally, Barnes relaxed until he was slumped beside Tony, his hand resting against his chest, held in place by Tony.

Tony only realised the other man had fallen asleep when he heard him snuffling adorably. He turned his head to look at Barnes. He looked younger in sleep, his features relaxed in a way Tony had never seen.

He was a very handsome man, and under any other circumstances, Tony knew himself well enough to know that he'd have been overjoyed to know this man was his.

He didn't notice when his own eyes fell and the sandman swept him away.

…

The clean up was immense, and it occupied Tony's mind continuously over the following month, every moment he was awake devoted to helping put the world back to rights. The other Avengers, because they were all Avengers again, did the same, each of them out on the streets, helping with whatever they could.

Tony did a lot of the behind-the-scenes work, but even he didn't mind getting stuck in whenever he had a few hours free from meetings and phone calls.

They'd only been finished for three days when the call to assemble came in, and Tony was running on fumes.

Rhodey tried to bench him, but stubborn as he was, Tony hadn't even retorted, he'd just flown out into the battle. It was a mistake.

He didn't see the Doombot until it was too late, and the blow to his stomach was enough that he was knocked painfully to the ground.

It was to Barnes' terrified repetition of his name over the coms that Tony had lost consciousness.

…

White.

He knew he was in medical because everything was white. He was going to have to speak to them about adding a splash of colour to the medical wing because white on white on white was tragic.

"Tony?"

Tony turned to see Barnes sitting beside him. He looked a state, still in his battle uniform, his hair a mess, his eyes red rimmed.

"Hey," Tony replied. "You… okay?"

"I can't believe you're asking me that," Barnes muttered. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Don't think I didn't notice that you didn't answer me," Tony said, raising his eyebrow. "Did everyone make it through it okay?"

"Don't think I didn't notice that you didn't answer either," Barnes retorted, pulling his chair closer to the bed. "Everyone else is fine. All worried about you."

Tony relaxed into the slightly scratching bedding. "Good."

"Tony… you can't… you can't do that."

"Do… what?" Tony asked, nonplussed.

"I thought you were dead."

"I'm… sorry?"

"Don't be sorry, just don't fucking die," Barnes snapped.

Tony blinked and then chuckled. "I try my best."

"Just… I know that we… I know you don't… Look. I'm not asking for a romantic comedy, I just… I need you to be alive and around, okay?"

"Barnes…"

"Bucky."

"Bucky," Tony corrected himself. "I'm not going anywhere, alright? Today… that was on me. I shouldn't have been out there. I'll be more careful."

The doctor entered the room, and Bucky stood up. "I should let the others know that you're awake. I'll be back soon."

"Hey, Tasty-Freeze," Tony called when Bucky was at the door. "Sneak me some coffee back with you."

…

"Friday, tell Bucky to come down to the lab, please."

Tony was bouncing with excitement. After the disastrous mission that had landed Tony in the hospital, Bucky had been far more present wherever Tony was. That meant that he'd managed to get scans of that metal arm finally.

He'd never admit it to anyone, but he'd been salivating at getting his hands on the machinery since… well, since the first time he'd seen Bucky if he was honest.

Bucky arrived five minutes later, looking immediately amused when he saw Tony practically frothing with enthusiasm.

"Okay, so you don't have to accept this, and I know you didn't ask or expect and yadda, yadda, yadda, but I built you a new arm and it's a masterpiece if I do say so myself and so you should probably see it, right?"

Bucky blinked. "Did you even stop for a breath then?"

Tony just bounced on the balls of his feet until Bucky nodded his agreement to unveil the new arm. Words spilling from his lips, Tony talked about all the extra features he'd added as he showed Bucky every inch of the new arm displayed on his work bench.

His words stopped mid-sentence when Bucky wrapped his arms around him, muttering a rough, "thank you," into his ear as he hugged him tightly.

"So… does that mean you like it?" Tony asked after a full minute passed.

Bucky's laugh was warm and rich and Tony was pretty sure he'd never heard a better sound.

…

"Happy New Year, Tony."

Tony turned, offering Bucky a warm smile. He was out on the balcony, where the Avengers had been watching the fireworks over New York. The rest had gone back in to help themselves to more food and drinks, but Tony was enjoying the cold air.

"Happy New Year, Snowflake," Tony replied, when Bucky stood behind him, pulling him back into a soft embrace.

"So, I know I told you I wasn't expecting a romantic comedy, but… how cliche would it be if I kissed you now?" Bucky asked, his hands on Tony's hips spinning him so they were facing one another.

Tony grinned, reaching up a hand to stroke Bucky's cheek. He guided Bucky down until their lips met in a chaste kiss.

When they pulled back, Tony said, "You've started a theme now, Snowflake. I expect a proposal at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and sharing a plate of spaghetti in Italy now, you know?"

"You want to be like two dogs?" Bucky asked, smirking as he raised his eyebrow.

"I'll have you know that Lady and the Tramp is one of the greatest romantic movies ever made," Tony replied, mock affronted.

"Will your favourite Italian restaurant do?" Bucky asked, nudging Tony's nose with his own. "I want to do this properly. Dates and…"

"Sounds perfect," Tony interrupted, raising himself onto his toes. "But for now, my lips are cold. Warm them up, Snowflake."