Chapter Text
He came to awareness quickly, from a blank state to the present with no space in between. The last thing he could remember was reaching for Stevie’s hand on that train and falling down and down into nothingness.
Where was he now? He slowly moved his toes and then his fingers. No pain - no restriction, he could feel everything. He froze. His left arm wasn’t heavy, didn’t hurt. He could feel the sheets, he was in an actual bed. What had happened? Was this a dream? He let his mind wander, bringing flashes of pictures, an overload of a world lived in his body but as though through someone else’s eyes. “The Asset.”
He could hear the remnants of voices flicker through his head. So this wasn’t right after the fall, he wasn’t lying in the hospital ward in 1944. Time had passed.
His training, or rather Asset’s training, kept him from changing his breathing, from moving at all. He was no longer the person Steve called Bucky, no longer the Asset, but something, someone, who combines both. James Buchanan Barnes.
He had the knowledge of the present day, of how to kill someone with a shoelace, of how to woo a dame all at the same time. At least the Asset’s training seemed to be letting him keep calm along with the smell of an omega. He paused. An omega. Steve.
Slowly, he peeked through the bottom of his dark brown lashes. The room is bright, sheets white and fluffy, and even from his position on his back in the bed he could see what looks like to be the New York skyline. Glancing around covertly he noticed a man, Tony Stark, his brain supplied, sitting curled up in a chair by one of the windows, deeply engrossed in his tablet.
James breathed the air discretely, relaxing when he realized that Stark was an omega, calming him inadvertently. It put him at the advantage, but Stark didn't seem as though he was on edge even though he was in the room with a well trained assassin.
James tried to remember what brought him here, he knew deep down that his training was good, too good, and this could not have been a complete accident. A flash of a memory. Steve was looking for him, or was he looking for Steve? That last mission, orders, he was supposed to kill Steve but didn’t, couldn’t.
His eyes opened with a snap, heart beating as he quickly assessed the room, taking in anything that could be used as a weapon, a way to get out of the space if need be, his left arm whirled silently with his movement.
“Where is Steve?” he gritted out, voice dry and so unlike the smooth charm he used to have, before the war, before the cryo.
Stark jerked, immediately gripping the tablet like it could save him if need be. Well, maybe it could, James thought curiously.
“Steve,” James repeated, clearer this time.
“Oh! Wow! You’re awake!” Stark ignored his question and jumped out of the chair, eyes flickering around the room.
”How does it feel? Can you feel the sheets?” he asked, coming closer with his hands wringing slightly.
“Yes. Where is Steve?” he answered, his voice getting lower, dangerous, letting a bit of the alpha through.
“Hey now! Don’t worry! Steve is here. Well not here, right now, but he totally lives here. You are in his guest bed in his apartment in the tower. You are in New York. This is 2006. He just went out for his morning run and will return as soon as he sees this message I am sending right now, see, right now,” Stark held up his tablet and pointed at the messenger which contains a picture of Steve looking straight at the camera, blushing bright red.
James nodded, relaxing a little. If Stevie was here then things would be okay. They always had each other and now, even after all this time, all the things that he had done… it seemed as though Steve wanted him around.
“Oh, I’m Tony Stark by the way,” Stark walked over the bed, previous wariness seemingly forgotten. He reached out with his left hand as if he wanted to shake James’ hand but then let it drop, lowering his eyes a little after meeting James’ hard grey ones.
Stark certainly knows how to play the dutiful omega, and although it might just be instinct, James’ nerves calmed slightly.
“I know,” he replied, not moving from where he had pushed himself up against the headboard when he opened his eyes.
Stark’s eyes met his curiously.
“You know me? Or do I look familiar?”
“I know you, I remember,” James replied, looking Tony straight in the eyes. Tony had to know that he was the one who killed his parents, he could remember seeing that on the news last year when Steve started his worldwide search for him.
Stark’s eyes widened briefly, pulling back a little, before flickering back to friendly and pressing forward- hand outstretched again.
“Who are you?” Stark asked, as though that question is just part of everyday conversation, as if the killer of his parents, a strong alpha at that, was not in his tower, on his expensively bought bed. There was totally no way Stevie bought this type of luxury.
“I am not sure,” James raised his eyebrows at Tony who raised his eyebrows back to look at him deeply.
“I was Bucky, I was the Asset, not sure who I am now. My given name was James Buchanan Barnes.”
“Well hello Barnes, welcome to my humble abode,” he replied gesturing around the room, not looking put off at all. He actually came closer and proceeded to hold out his hand. “I am honored to meet such a good friend of Cap,” he smirked. “I have heard a lot about you.”
Giving in, James finally reached his new hand out and clasped Stark’s, not showing the surprise that he could feel the warmth of Stark’s hand.
“Seems as if I may throw that one right back at ya. Wanna tell me what's going on? What is this?” He shrugged his left shoulder easily, gesturing towards himself.
“Thought you remembered,” Stark threw at him like meeting the man who killed his parents wasn’t even on his mind at all. Like Stark wasn’t scared, like James couldn’t take control of this situation in a moment.
“Already giving me smack? I remember bits and pieces, flashes of memories, no idea how I came to be in your bed though, with a new arm,” James lowered his eyelashes with a leer.
Stark chuckled and leaned back. “Well, like I said, this is Cap’s bed actually. We’ve been tracking you for a while now. Finally caught up to you, though I think more you let us catch up. You, well, the not remembering anything you, put up a bit of a struggle and I may have gone a little overboard with the detaining. That was about 30 hours ago. My bad”
He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, “Honestly though, I am pretty surprised you’re not freaking out. It isn’t everyday that you get captured by your long lost BFF and wake up in 2006. I figured that having you actually out was the best time to work on your arm. I knew that Steve would not want you in pain, I just made something quick, we can improve it.”
James shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t even know if you’re real, if this is real, but waking to smell my Stevie and another omega sures a treat to what was before,” He trailed off, feeling strangely empty, drifting.
“I am real, I assure you. Here,” Stark moved even closer until he could perch up onto the end of of the bed, sitting quickly cross legged. The weight of him made the bed dip down, giving James some hope. If this was a dream it sure was realistic.
“Why are you here?” James asked Stark curiously, scootching out from under the covers to be more on the same level.
“Well…. Honestly I am the only omega around right now on the team. The Avengers. You should have some memories of them, of us. Clint is here too, in the tower, but he's getting pretty close to his heat so figured it would be best to meet you after you are awake and had some sense of where you are. Steve mentioned that sometimes you were hot to trot, per say, territorial, and figured that could set you off, which is not at all what we wanted. He said that you would wake up fine to me, something about the way you acted when we caught up to you, and I trust Steve,” He finished simply.
“And you aren’t scared of me,” James phrased it as a statement.
“Pfft, a little super soldier assassin alpha never scared me...needless to say I have been in situations with alphas before and it usually works out one way or another,” Stark added quietly as afterthought.
James’ eyebrows rose, who was this man who welcomed him with open arms to his home but thought so little of his own safety.
“I could have killed you before you even registered that I was awake,” He said flatly, crossing his arms over his chest.
Tony looked down at his tablet, his scent not even hinting the slightest bit of fear, “Well I do have my armor that I can call. And I trust Cap, everything’s fine… not to worry. Anyways, you must be hungry!! I can make a mean smoothie! Or maybe actually you should shower, not that I mind the smell of dirty post-battle alpha in the morning, it might not be great for you to meet the team until you clean up. Barton is going to be excited enough as it is.”
James paused, sniffing himself slightly, “Honestly, I can’t smell myself over you and Steve. It has been a while since I have had company with omega’s that were not targets. You smell pretty damn fine. But yeah, thanks, smoothie sounds great.”
He hesitated, “Not sure if I should be left alone right now. I feel like myself, but I know that I am dangerous and I would hate for something to happen when I’m finally remembering things again.”
He was cut off by the door to the apartment being opened quickly, but quietly. “Tony? Bucky? You guys here? Is everything okay?” Steve came down the hall into the room with large strides, his deep voice tinged with concern and excitement.
“Stevie?” James asked before standing shakily, leaving Tony sitting on the end of the bed. “Is that really you?” He feels off center. To be safe somewhere, well that could happen, but for Steve to be here in the room... His breath quickened and he froze right next to the bed, shutting his eyes, starting to lose focus.
“Whoa, hey there soldier, Barnes, you are in my badass tower, it is 7am on May 12th 2006. James,” Stark jumped off the bed fast, coming up and putting himself directly in front of James, head tilted slightly down and to the side submissively, radiating comfort.
“James Barnes, don’t leave us just yet, you were just about to have one of my world renowned smoothies and see your BFF, I mean not that I don’t want to meet the Asset, he seemed like a pretty cool guy, but let’s, uh, let’s just wait on that kay? Now breathe, in, out, in, out”
Stark pushed himself close, so James could feel his chest move with him. It took a little, but he slowly breathed in, letting it out with a sigh. Steve shook himself into motion, coming up and hovering right behind Stark.
“Bucky, hey Buck, it’s me, Steve, you’re here now, you’re safe,” Steve reached out around Tony and cupped James’ cheek with one hand gently.
The touch of his friend pulled James back faster than anything. Tony sidestepped out of the way as James let out a whimper and fell forward wrapped in Steve’s arms.
“I don’t know how this is real. I have done some horrible things Stevie, I understand if you don’t want a fella like that,” James whispered into Steve’s neck. “I’m not Bucky anymore.”
“I don’t believe that. You smell the same. You feel the same, Buck.” Steve replied, his tone slightly off, trying to hug closer but James pushed back a little and made a little space between them.
“I’m not,” His grey eyes met with Steve’s blues. “A lot has happened Steve, I just hope you take me as I am,” James could feel the sadness radiating off of him.
A shuffle off to the side of them has James looking away from Steve towards Tony who looked like he was trying to run out of this situation as fast as allowed.
“No. Stop!” James’ voice came out stronger than he intended, whoops, causing Tony to halt in his tracks. “I just need some time,” he continued to look at Steve and stepped back, “Gonna get cleaned up and get some food.”
Steve immediately looked guilty, “I should have thought of that.”
“Hey, hey! That’s what your handy resident billionaire's for, gonna whip up a smoothie quick, or better yet Chinese?” Tony replied quick before Steve could dwell on it.
“I could kill for some chow mein,” He replied, turning away from them and making his way to the shower.
~
He took his time, digging through the cabinets and finding a razor and extra toothbrush. The bathroom itself was insane. It was bigger than Stevie’s whole apartment in Brooklyn with shining white tile and warm floors.He decided to leave his hair long after finding a hair tie in one of the drawers, but cleaned up everything else before showering. He couldn't remember the last time he took a hot shower long enough to feel clean, human, again.
Getting out, he threw his hair up in a bun and wrapped a towel around his waist, before walking back out to Stark and Steve. They seemed more at ease, standing close by the window in the living room.
On the bed there were black sweatpants and a blue tee-shirt that must be Steve’s with the word Captain across the chest.
“You promised chow mein?” He asked, slipping on the clothes without thinking. A slight clearing of a throat made him raise his eyes to see Stark eyeing him up and down blatantly and Steve blushing that blush James knew spread further down than his neck.
“Chow mein?” He repeated, with a grin.
Steve smiled at him, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless.
“Yessir Sergeant Barnes Assassin Sir, right this way,” Tony finally answered, coming up close to him and physically leading him out to the elevator. Obvious much.
James just rolled his eyes and let himself be pulled along with Steve trailing along behind them.
~
“Where’s everyone at?!” Tony asked loudly as they came out of the elevator into the common room, “Chinese food is on its way.”
A blonde man with pink hearing aids was sitting in front of the TV with a controller, completely focused on what seemed to be an animated racing game. With mushrooms?
“Chinese food! Clint!” Tony repeated, coming in front of the TV and signing quickly with his hands. Clint glared at him before focusing on what Tony was saying and turning around to see James standing next to the sofa. James could smell he was an omega, and damn, he was the one that Tony mentioned was close to heat.
“James, Clint. Clint, James. Our lovely neighborhood assassin woke up a few hours ago,” Tony continued, signing as he said the words.
Clint stood, pausing the game, before coming over to James. He paused for a moment before smirking and holding out his hand.
“Pleased to meet you,” he said eyes glancing up and down James’ body in a blatant leer.
James shook his hand, grinning, “You’re the one who shot me last month. That fucking hurt.”
Clint smirked back at him, “Of course, who else? Bet you can’t beat me at Mario Kart either.”
The alpha laughed, “Probably not, not exactly playing video games at the Hydra base… but I do have some pretty badass reflexes.”
James could smell relief coming off Tony, he turned catching the man’s eyes with a wink. It was easier to joke about everything right now, take each moment as they came. He knew that he would have to work through things, but he just got here, might as well try to enjoy it. Clint seemed to understand completely, he could appreciate that in a guy.
Steve was still silent behind them, watching the exchange without any input. It bothered James a bit, Steve usually had something to say, especially with friends.
James walked over and sat on the couch, grabbing the extra controller, before glancing back at Steve. The scent coming off him was a bit disconcerting, sadness mixed with something like regret.
Tony came back around from the TV to put a hand on Steve’s shoulder, exuding comfort to the point where it permeated the whole room.
“Whatcha say, Steve-O, I’ll take you on after?”
Steve smiled at him, breathing out a deep breath, before going to sit on the loveseat, perching his elbows on his knees. “Sounds good Shellhead, though I know you are still sore from last week. I’m surprised you ever want a rematch.”
James looked over at Steve, who was giving Tony a smirk, before turning back to the game.
“So how do I work this thing?” He asked Clint who was watching Tony and Steve closely with a faint smile.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out, hot shot.” Clint smirked, edged closer to him, and started a new game.
~
James was overwhelmed. Natasha had come down in the middle of the game. He recognized the other alpha’s scent immediately but she hadn't said a word about it, just shook his hand like they were meeting for the first time. She mentioned that her bonded, Bruce, would come once he finished up in the lab.
It just seemed so unreal, the Avengers welcoming him with open arms after the past year of him keeping them on the run. They didn’t seem to judge him on his past, instead they just immediately accepted him as one of their own, within 2 minutes of being introduced, in their home, their safe place.
James liked Bruce almost immediately when he entered the room shortly after the food arrived. The beta seemed to be aware of everything, yet calm all at once. He sat quietly in the corner, writing in a notepad in scribbles that James couldn’t make out after introductions.
“Crab rangoon?” Tony’s hand waved one in front of James’ face, drawing him back out to his surroundings. When the Chinese food had arrived a few minutes ago, they paused their “Mario Death Match” till further notice.
“He doesn’t like crab,” Steve reached out to take it from Tony without second thought hand bumping into James’ as he reached for it as well.
James could smell Steve’s embarrassment, “Um. Not that I have been eating around, but last time I had crab I thought it was pretty alright.”
Steve ducked his head down, face falling.
“Soooooo! Who wants chow mein?” Tony butted in, breaking the silence.
James grabbed some food from all the containers and sat back down on the couch next to Natasha. “ты в порядке?” She asked him, quietly. James just nodded. He knew that it was just the first day. Steve would adjust... hopefully.
After eating, they played Mario until yawns started floating around the room. It was only about 11pm but from the conversation between the Avengers, it had been a long few days, well weeks actually. Not that James would feel guilty about that.
Clint had steadily drawn closer to him, obviously enjoying having another alpha around. By the end of the night Clint was playing with his head in James’ lap, eyes half closed, and was still managing to win. So much for being the new guy. Not that he minded, he knew Clint was close to his heat and the physical closeness combined with the pheromones was beyond relaxing.
He looked up from Clint to see Tony and Steve, who were sitting on the loveseat together, Tony fiddling away on his StarkPad, Steve with a book. He stretched his arms out on the sofa, sighing. It was all a bit like a good dream. He reached grabbed the throw and pulled it over them both, ignoring Clint’s squawk, eyes closing a bit.
“Сахарок, time to sleep.”
James opened his eyes to see Natasha up close, hand pulling up the blanket to poke at Clint.
Clint groaned and then pressed himself up, nuzzling into James’ neck. “Dun wanna,” he mumbled. “He’s so warm and yummy.”
James laughed, “Yummy?”, before gently pressing Clint over to Natasha.
Her eyes glittered with amusement, “Thanks for being so understanding. He gets like this before his heat. Likes to be cared for. Thor takes care of him usually but he is out of town right now so he’s stuck with me.”
James nodded. He understood. At least that hadn’t changed much in the years. He was used to being pretty open with his heats. He and Stevie used to help each other out back in the day, with that changing to whoever was available in the team when they went overseas. It was one of those things he was grateful for in society, the fact that it was acknowledged as something that everyone needed, everyone dealt with. Even betas had a short heat every few months.
“Here wait, Clint,” he stood up next to them and leaned in close to Clint. “It was nice to meet you man, let’s try a real match later huh?”
He could feel Tony and Steve’s eyes on him from across the room, curious. He held out his real hand, telegraphing his moves until he saw Clint’s eyes light up, “Yeah. Dude please,” he said before practically pushing into James’ hand, tilting his head to expose his neck. James leaned in and ran his nose from collarbone to chin before pressing in slightly harder and then pulling back completely.
Clint sighed, noticeably relaxing.“See y’all in a few days,” he signed before finally allowing Natasha to guide him out of the room to take the elevator up to his floor.
“Wow, Buck,” Steve murmured.
“Wow, what?” he replied, rolling his eyes and leaning back into the couch. “Just cause I got here today doesn’t mean I forgot my manners.”
“Cap,” Tony said, pushing Steve gently. “Don’t be jealous over Clint’s heat. Come on, it’s been a long day for everyone.”
“Tony,” James heard Steve reply quietly before sighing. He stood up, turning and pulling Tony up with him afterwards.
“Barnes, we have a floor for you made. I mean, we’ve had it there for a while, just worked out that we got it fixed up these past few months in case you finally stopped deciding to lead us on a wild goose chase around the world,” Tony grinned.
“A floor?” James looked at Tony incredulously. “You mean a room right?” He had seen Stevie’s apartment, but assumed that was just cause he was Captain America, part of the long term team.
Tony shook his head, grinning wolfishly, “A whole floor for our new alpha. You would expect less of me? I must fulfill my duty as omega,” He gestures at himself and then around the room.
James just looked at him, knowing that was total shit, before giving in and smiling, “Alright, show me the way then omega.” He lowered his voice a little, letting it rasp just the right way.
Tony laughed, clapped his hands delightedly, “Right this way, sir.”
Steve just stood quietly watching them, a grin finally appearing on his face, “It’s the floor right above mine.” His voice was low, cheeks slightly red like they used to get when James used to flirt when they went out for the night.
“Sounds great,” James looked at Steve, smiling. He followed the two of them to the elevator.
~
James couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t surprised, he usually had a hard time relaxing in new spaces. He wasn't sure he actually slept before, when he was the Asset. The apartment was amazing though. He hadn’t stayed in such luxury, ever. It was literally the entire floor, the door to the apartment was in a small room right off the elevator.
It was open, with lots of windows outlooking the city. James felt a bit exposed, even though he knew the windows were tinted, no one could look through. At least nothing would be able to sneak up on him.
The apartment only had a few rooms. It opened from the door to the living room which took up half of the floor. It had a L-shape couch halfway through, facing a huge tv, breaking the room up. The other side had a few pieces of exercise equipment, which James appreciated, the privacy was nice.
The only other rooms were the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. The whole place was painted with gentle blues, the bedroom having a darker shade, making it more comfortable for sleeping (well he figured that was the goal).
The kitchen had an island, instead of the table, with dark grey granite. He guessed that Steve had something to do with the choices, but then again, Stark was a genius. The bed itself was huge, king-sized, but not too soft that he couldn’t sleep in it, he figured, someday.
He ended up spending the night puttering around, digging through the cabinets, checking for cameras or bugs. He sat on the couch and messed around with the remote, finding access to the internet, Netflix, games, everything. It was starting to get light outside when a voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Excuse me Mr. Barnes, but I wanted to inform you that Steve is in the communal kitchen.”
James jumped to his feet, hand on the small knife he had found in the kitchen, and had tucked into his pocket instinctively.
“Who is there?”
“I apologize Mr. Barnes. I am Jarvis, the AI that Sir created to take care of him, and the tower of course,” The AI sounded sassy. It would figure that Stark made a person in a computer.
James looked up and saw small speakers embedded almost perfectly in the ceiling. “Can you see me?” He hadn’t found any cameras earlier, but if there was an AI in the building then he would be surprised if he wasn’t being watched.
“No Mr. Barnes, Steve made it very clear that you would not appreciate that.”
James nodded to himself, “Thank you Jarvis. I will head down to see Steve.”
~
He walked through the team common room to find Steve at the island, eating a piece of whole wheat toast, plain, and drinking a large glass of OJ.
“Hey Stevie, Jarvis said I could find you here.”
Steve jerked slightly, like he didn’t hear James from the moment the elevator door opened, “Hey, is everything alright? It’s five.”
James shrugged, sliding onto the stool next to Steve, “Not so great at sleeping anymore. The apartment is great though, I’ll have to thank Stark later.”
“It took me a while. This place is so different from our home,” Steve looked at him before looking back down at his orange juice.
“Hey, I do remember. Don’t worry about it. You’re right,” The alpha leaned into the Steve unconsciously. “It’s pretty hard to believe honestly, part of me didn’t want to sleep because I was worried I would wake up to being back in cyro again.”
Steve looked up sharply, pulling away a bit, “You remember cyro?” He winced, “Shit, sorry. You don’t need to answer that.”
“Yeah...” James said. And left it like that. He knew things were gonna come up, but it was day two dammit. He was not ready to deal with it. Who knew when he would be.
Steve threw back the rest of the juice and pushed back from the table, giving off a scent of despair that was starting to overpower the room, “I’m heading out for a run.”
“Alright,” James ignored his instinct that told him to care for Steve, he was not in the place right now to deal with anyone else’s guilt issues other than his own. “See you later?”
“Yeah. Tony is probably down in his workshop if you want to thank him.” Steve twitched his lips in something that looked like a pained smile and then let the floor.
“Shit,” James put his head in his hands. He didn’t know why he thought that coming down here would be different than yesterday. Steve had been off all last night. They had always been close even if they didn’t take that next step back in the war. It had been too much of a liability, he hadn’t wanted to leave Steve alone if someone had happened to him. He always figured that when the war was over they would settle down together. Maybe it was too long past the war. James sighed.
“Jarvis, Stark is in his workshop? Steve said I could thank him?” He talked as though Jarvis was in the room, figuring that the AI listened in.
“Yes Mister Barnes, it is the floor under the penthouse.”
James figured that information was permission enough and walked over to the elevator, hitting the button after hesitation. It was only about 5:30, but at least he wasn’t the only one in the tower with sleeping issues.
When the elevator opened James was a little surprised, there was loud music blaring, even through the tinted glass which closed off the elevator from the actual workshop.
He walked over to the door, raising his hand to see if there was a speaker when the doors opened for him. The music became almost unbearably loud, the singer yelling about something James couldn’t make out.
The place looked like it was supposed to be lit mostly by natural light, like his own apartment, with tables scattered about covered in a variety of monitors and equipment. He spotted Stark over by a table by one of the windows, eyebrows draw together as he dug a tiny screwdriver into what looked to be type of dagger, holding a few screws in his mouth. It brought back a memory of seeing Stark’s father, back during the war. He pushed that thought away as fast as it came. No use dwelling. James walked up so he was standing behind him slightly off to the side.
“Hey Stark,” he said, but he obviously wasn’t going to be heard over the racket. Surprisingly, Stark turned around, nostrils slightly flared. Oh yeah, that’s right. The omega probably could scent him, he was standing so close. He was so used to working alone or having suppressors when around others. It didn’t help an assassin to have their target scent them the minute they got close.
The man raised an eyebrow at him and then turned back to what he was doing, holding up a hand with two fingers, gesturing at the bright green couch up against the window, next to the desk. James shrugged and moved over, sitting on the couch and pulling his feet up under himself, resting back to watch Stark work. The sun was still pretty low to the horizon, lighting up the city in oranges and pinks. He would just close his eyes a minute, take a breath.
The next thing he knew was the sound of his name being called hesitantly, “Barnes?” He opened his eyes, blinking in what now was bright sunlight. Wow. He couldn’t believe that he actually had slept, especially with someone new in the room. He already was letting his guard down. The music was lowered, leaving the room almost completely silent except for the hum of machinery.
“Sorry bout that,” he muttered, pressing himself upright.
Tony looked at him from the desk where he was still sitting, amused.
“Wasn’t able to sleep earlier,” he shrugged. “New place, came down to thank you for it.”
Tony grinned, “You liked it so much you came to sleep here on my crappy lab couch?”
James just sighed, “Okay, going, going.” He stood up to have Tony roll his chair over and gently press his hand against his chest.
“Believe me, not complaining. Honestly, I’m gonna brag about it later. The Winter Soldier feels safe with me enough to pass out and drool all over my couch,” the omega grinned up at him before pressing him back down to sit.
James laughed, “Eh, not sure if anyone would care about that one. More like, the Winter Soldier didn’t kill me when I woke him up from his first normal sleep in a half a century.”
Tony looked like he swallowed a lemon, “Oh my god. And there I was talking about omega hospitality.”
James shrugged, “I'm just happy you didn’t mind.” It blew his mind that that Tony really wasn’t scared at all. To be honest he was a bit scared of what he was capable of, it was unreal to be around people who truly didn’t care what his hands had done these past years.
“So what’s up for today? Where’s Steve? I figured you would be glued to him today,” Tony looked at him closer. “You came down right around the time Steve usually goes for his run, didn’t pass him in the kitchen?”
“I don’t think he's dealing with me being back very well… I don't think I'm who he wants me to be,” James sighed
Tony shrugged, “Yeah, I think he’ll get better with time. It’s easier for the rest of us cause we didn’t know you before. We don’t see the changes or try to look for something that isn’t there. I think it was hard for him to see you so at ease with Clint last night.”
James smiled, “Clint seems to be a pretty chill guy. Steve should know sometimes people just click like that. Doesn’t mean anything about Stevie. One thing that hasn’t changed is how I’m always one to want to help out.”
“Sounds hot,” Tony leered, breaking up the conversation before it could get any more serious.
“You got that right,” James responded, letting his legs spread out wide.
“Fucking flirt,” Tony laughed, before turning back to his work. “Let me know when I can get a look at your arm. I want to make it the best of all arms.”
“If anyone can do it, you can,” Steve’s voice came through the room from the door. “You guys want breakfast? Bruce is making pancakes.”
Tony didn’t even respond before standing up and practically running across the room, leaving James laughing on the couch.
“Let’s goooooo!!” Tony called, rushing into the elevator and pulling Steve along with him. James pushed himself up. Things would settle down. He was sure of it. It just might take a lot of pancakes and some quality James-Steve time. He smiled at Steve cautiously as they entered the elevator to go up.
“Hi James,” Steve said quietly, underneath Tony’s continued rant about the perfect amount of bananas in each pancake bite.
“Hey Stevie,” James smiled at him. One step at a time.