If anyone had asked him, whilst he was lying half dead and three quarters frozen in the wastelands of Siberia, Tony would have said that there was absolutely no way he would ever allow the Winter Soldier into his home, let alone invite him.

And yet, that's almost exactly what had happened.

Wakanda had managed to mostly remove the triggers from his brain whilst in cryostasis, but they hadn't been able to do it all and so had requested that Barnes be allowed to use Tony's BARF technology. The problem with that had been the fact that Barnes had been a wanted fugitive, and consequently unable to set foot outside of Wakanda, let alone in America.

Someone, somewhere, though had been an intrepid little law student, and had pointed out that Bucky Barnes had never actually been arrested for any major crime. His only crime, in this time and under his own name, had been resisting the Task Force officers that had tried to bring him in for questioning, and, arguably, it had been Ste-Rogers' fault that he'd done so.

And so, for the moment – until the UN decided what it was going to do about the Winter Soldier's crimes – Barnes was free and clear to travel back to America, to use Tony's tech and be housed in his Compound.

It had actually been… not as difficult as Tony had expected. Of course he'd had several nights where he awoke screaming, his mom's last gasp ringing in his ears, and catching sight of things out of the corner of his eye tended to make him flinch, which in turn jostled his healing ribs, but Barnes himself had mostly stayed out of sight, so Tony was mostly able to keep him out of mind.

But with only the four of them living in the Compound, and with Tony spending more hours than was probably wise going through all the information that Romanov had dumped onto the internet, obviously the situation couldn't last forever, and Bucky began making tentative steps out of the shadows.

Which meant that when Bucky turned up outside the workshop one day, Tony didn't immediately fall head-first into a panic attack.

"Freezer pop!" he greeted, instead. Then, immediately after, "No, urgh, scratch that one." He'd been trying to find nicknames for Bucky, like the ones he had for Rhodey, but it'd only been a week and certain things just didn't ring true for either of them. Bucky had nixed Winter Wonderland and Soldja Boy, and Tony himself couldn't even manage to finish the word Popsicle without his heart attempting to bang itself out of his newly strengthened ribcage. "What brings you into my lair?"

"Um—" Bucky's gaze was firmly fixed on Dum-E and U, who were supposedly 'cleaning' at the other end of the workshop but in reality were just making even more of a mess. He lifted his flesh hand to point vaguely in their direction. "You… you have robots?" he asked.

Tony tipped his head to one side. "Yes. Yes, I do," he said, then called over his shoulder, "Dum-E! U! Come over here; I've got someone new for you to meet!"

The two 'bots glanced up and over at them. U glanced back down at his 'work', but Dum-E gave an enthusiastic beep, dropped the broom, and raced over to where Bucky was standing. Bucky looked slightly alarmed – Tony couldn't blame him for that. Dum-E's body was big and bulky; anybody with any sense would be alarmed if that came racing at them with no signs that it planned to stop before running them over – but, in true Howling Commandos, Winter Soldier and Steve Rogers style, Bucky didn't take a healthy step back but stood his ground.

Dum-E halted so suddenly he almost tipped over. Both Bucky and Tony instinctively lunged for him, but the 'bot managed to rock himself backwards without their help, bouncing a little as he landed back on his rear wheels. Dum-E let out a string of beeps and whistles, and reached his own claw out towards Bucky's arm.

"Woah, now, gently!" Tony warned, just as Dum-E's claw wrapped itself around Bucky's wrist. "That part of him may be made of metal, but the rest of him isn't."

"'s okay," Bucky said, smiling dopily at the 'bot. "He's just saying hello, right?"

"He is." Tony leant back against the nearest worktable. "This is Dum-E. He's my oldest 'bot, so he's a bit… special. And I'm sure you didn't come down here to be fawned over, so what's up, Buckaboo?"

Bucky winced a bit at the name but made no protest. He wiggled the arm free from Dum-E's grip and held it out so Tony could see the hand. "The thumb's jammed," he explained. "Don't know what happened, and I can't unstick it."

"Hmm." Tony took hold of the limb and twisted it from side to side as he studied the mechanical digit. "Dum-E, fetch the toolkit that's on shelf 21A," he said, absently, and the 'bot beeped wildly and zoomed off. Bucky watched him go, his expression still awe-struck. It was no less awe-struck when Dum-E raced back carrying a bucket.

Tony glanced at the 'bot and sighed in resignation. "That's a bucket, you heap of rusty bolts," he said. "How am I supposed to mend Terminator's arm with that? Go and fetch the toolkit!" He shook his head as Dum-E beeped mournfully and trundled off again. "I should donate him to the remains of SHIELD," he said. "They'd deserve it."

"He's brilliant," breathed Bucky. His head swivelled to take in the entire workshop again. "Everything here is just… unbelievable."

Tony glanced up and met his gaze. "You were in Wakanda," he pointed out. "They've got tech that's years ahead of mine."

Bucky managed an awkward, one-armed shrug. "That's kinda the thing," he said. "Tech there's too advanced; it's nothing I'd ever even heard of before and it sort of comes across like magic. But yours—" He turned to look at where one of the holograms was showing off a blueprint, waiting for Tony to pull it apart and adjust it. "Yours reminds me of the flying car we saw at the Expo, you know? Yours really is 'the future'."

"I'd hope that mine works a bit better than Dad's attempt at a flying car," Tony eventually managed to get out around the lump in his throat.

Bucky chuckled as Dum-E finally returned with the requested toolkit. "Well," he said, "couldn't be any worse!"

Tony took the kit from the 'bot and began to spread it out on the worktable beside them. "Oh, my friend," he began, and pretended to ignore the startled look Bucky shot him at that. "Let me tell you all about my first proper tests of the Iron Man armour…"

"Hey, Viz—whoops, am I interrupting?"

Vision looked up at Tony from where he was seated cross-legged on the lawn. "Not at all," he said, calmly. "I was merely meditating. I know it's not your 'thing', but you can join me if you like."

"Meditating?" Tony dropped to the ground beside him. Thankfully, he was wearing jeans, so a few grass stains didn't matter. Not that wearing suit trousers would have stopped him, but his dry-cleaner would have had a few things to say about it.

"Yes." Vision closed his eyes again and tipped his face upwards to the sky. "My research showed that this was a good method to help sort out thoughts and feelings that I am unsure of."

Tony shrugged, but leant back on his elbows to enjoy the sun himself. "Couldn't tell ya," he said. "I know Bruce did it, but I've never had the patience for it; always got too many ideas running around. Is it working for you?"

Vision tilted his head as he thought about it. "Yes, and no," he said eventually. "It does allow me quiet time to organise my thoughts, but it doesn't help to bring clarity regarding human emotions."

Tony snorted. "If you ever work that out, you'll make a fortune," he said. He turned his head to look at the android. "Viz, nobody fully understands human emotions, not even us humans. We're just very good at pretending we do."

"I see," said Vision, slowly. "FRIDAY did say something of the sort to me."

"Don't worry about it." Tony reached over to pat Vision comfortingly on the shoulder. "No-one will expect you to get these things right, anyway, so don't put pressure on yourself."

"But if it allows me to fit in better—" Vision began.

Tony cut him off with a bark of laughter. "Sorry, Viz," he chuckled. "But standing out is the new fitting in. And with all the political correctness changing day by day, then it wouldn't matter anyway. As the kids are saying nowadays, you do you, Viz."

Vision frowned in bemusement. "I… do me?" he repeated, uncertainly.

"Yeah. As far as I've gathered, it means that if something's right for you, then screw anyone else telling you different. You don't have to follow the crowd and be 'normal' if you don't want to."

"I don't think I know what my normal is yet," Vision admitted.

"Give it time. You're still young, Viz," said Tony, smiling at him. A sudden beep sounded, and Tony jumped. "Damn, is it that time already?" he asked, looking at his watch. "Sorry, Viz, I've got a meeting to get to."

Vision inclined his head. "Of course," he agreed. "I shall remain here and continue meditating."

Tony got to his feet and dusted himself off before heading back towards the Compound. "Have fun!" he called back over his shoulder.

Tony entered the main common lounge area to discover Rhodey sitting on one of the couches, feet up on a nearby coffee table, and a large bowl of popcorn nestled on his lap.

"Honeybear!" he gasped in mock offence. "Were you actually planning to watch a movie without me?"

Rhodey gave him a sideways glance, then looked down at the bowl of popcorn, then up at the TV screen that was currently scrolling through a list of film titles. "Sure looks that way, doesn't it?" he said, and tossed a kernel of popcorn into his mouth.

"Rude!" Tony informed him, grinning, then he dropped onto the seat beside Rhodey. "What are we watching then?" He reached for the popcorn bowl.

Rhodey snatched it out of his reach. "Get your own," he suggested. "And I was thinking of Who Framed Roger Rabbit."

"Who framed who now?"

The voice came from the doorway, and both men looked over to find Bucky hovering there, looking as though he wished he hadn't spoken at all.

"Ooh, you'll love it! It's a classic!" Tony enthused. He sprang back up off the couch and headed for the kitchen, gesturing at Bucky to sit on the couch as he did so. "Go sit; I'll get snacks for us all. Hey, FRI?" he added. "Ask Viz if he wants to join us."

"He'd be delighted," FRIDAY said after a short pause.

"Wonderful. Get Who Framed Roger Rabbit queued up, baby girl, but don't start it yet." Tony rummaged through the various cupboards and eventually emerged victorious with a variety of snacks. He was actually quite surprised at the variety; he hadn't thought any of them had been in the mood to request things like that, but either FRIDAY had been thinking ahead, or they'd gradually been ordering a few and just not eating them.

On his way back, juggling both snacks and drinks, Tony paused in the kitchen doorway. Bucky had placed himself at the end of the couch, with an entire cushion's worth of space between him and Rhodey. It looked rather as though he was trying to merge himself with the arm of it, but he didn't show any signs that he was about to cut and run. It was a long, slow process, having to come to terms with things you'd done in the past; God knew Tony knew all about that. But although he still had his moments – not surprising, considering he had seventy years of trauma to overcome – Bucky appeared to be well and truly coming out of his shell. Idly, Tony wondered whether Rogers would have appreciated this new personality, or whether he would have just mourned the loss of the old one.

Vision had arrived sometime while he'd been in the kitchen, and now sat on Rhodey's other side. He still sat rather stiffly – he hadn't yet learnt the joys of a good slouch – but was conversing animatedly with Rhodey and Bucky. Rhodey was apparently explaining something, hands waving wildly through the air. He was so involved in it that he'd forgotten to guard his bowl of popcorn. To Tony's amusement, both Bucky and Vision were sneakily taking pieces from it.

"Hey!" Rhodey protested, once he finally ran down and noticed that his bowl was now empty. "C'mon, man, not cool!"

Tony burst out laughing, and the other three turned to look at him with varying degrees of amusement and fake indignation.

"You see this?" Rhodey demanded, waving the empty bowl at Tony. "What's it comin' to when a superhero brother can't get no respect around here?"

"There's a superhero here?" Bucky asked, widening his eyes and pretending to look around the room. "Where?" He ducked and finally laughed out loud as Rhodey snatched the cushion from behind himself and struck out at Bucky with it.

Rounding the couch, Tony scattered the snacks across them all, then carefully placed the drinks on the coffee table around Rhodey's feet. "Never fear, the popcorn hero is here!" he said, cheerfully, and struck a ridiculous pose before flopping down onto the couch between Bucky and Rhodey.

"Changing your name to Corny Man, huh?" Rhodey pretended to consider this, then nodded solemnly. "'s good, man. I think it'll catch on."

Tony spluttered. "Corny? I'll give you 'corny'…" He reached for the cushion that Rhodey had been using as a weapon, and a brief tug of war ensued. Vision and Bucky cheered them on. Tony finally emerged as the winner, mainly by dint of 'accidentally' brushing his fingers over Rhodey's side, where he just so happened to be ticklish.

Smugly tucking it behind himself, he reached for a bag of his favourite blueberries, as the other three dispersed the rest amongst themselves, amicably bickering.

This, Tony thought, as they all settled down and FRIDAY was finally able to begin the movie. This is what a family really feels like.

This was home.