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“I’m happy to keep flying in circles, I guess?” Clint offers.
The rest of the Quinjet is silent, the Avengers reeling from Hill’s update about Ultron’s reach on top of the blows of the fight. The witch had messed with everyone’s heads, and the nightmare she had showed Bucky still danced in his vision every time he closed his eyes.
They needed, he needed, a place to regroup. Bucky hesitates, but then heads to the cockpit. He reaches over Clint’s shoulder to type in the coordinates.
“Fly here,” Bucky directs.
“Tennessee? What’s there?” Clint asks, though he’s already making the adjustments to their course.
“Safehouse,” Bucky explains. “Not one in SHIELD’s databases. Ultron won’t be able to find us.”
Bucky crosses his arms and takes a deep breath. Is he making the right decision? Is he making his own decision? Can he tell if he’s following some order by the witch? Can he trust his own mind?
Steve comes up behind Bucky and peeks over his shoulder.
“You sure about this, Buck?” Steve asks softly.
Bucky gives himself another moment to hesitate. “Yeah. I’m sure.”
Eventually Clint announces that they’re approaching their destination. Bucky comes up to the cockpit again to point out a landing spot - an area just east of the barn kept clear for such a moment as this. Clint doesn’t comment on how the Quinjet fits perfectly.
The rest of the Avengers, all except Steve, crowd behind Bucky to get a glimpse of where Bucky has taken them. The white two story farmhouse stands out amongst the fields - the paint job that they’d undertaken a few summers ago still holding up well, Bucky notes. He spots a drone skimming the top of the cornfield. The crop looks to be coming in nicely, but Bucky will check the readings from the drone later to be sure.
Bucky suspects that’s a new barn in the northeast corner, and he sighs. As if they didn’t have too many barns and sheds already.
Bucky leads the Avengers off the jet, and he strides forward to outpace them to head off the four legged robot dashing towards them. With practiced ease, he grabs the metal collar around its neck to stop it from leaping on their guests.
“Yes, SPOT, we have visitors. Don’t jump,” Bucky orders, forcing the canine-like robot to stay on the ground rather than jump up on Bucky instead.
SPOT barks, one of the twelve types that are in its register. It dances at Bucky’s feet, instead, but doesn’t make to leap on Bucky or anyone else. Steve is the first to approach, the others hanging back in caution. Bucky lets SPOT go, and SPOT races around Steve, barking, while Steve tries his best to pet the overexcited bot.
“A robot dog named Spot. Really,” Natasha comments with one judgemental eyebrow raised.
Bucky shrugs. “Sentry Patrol of Terrain: SPOT.”
“Uh, what?” Clint asks.
Bucky ignores him to continue striding toward the house. He hears Steve coaxing SPOT and the other Avengers on, too, but Bucky’s focus is on the house. He does wish he’d called ahead, at least, but he’s happy to be yelled at for that as long as there’s someone in the house to yell at him.
SPOT wouldn’t be his fine and normal self if something was wrong, right?
Bucky leaps up the porch steps and bursts through the front door to silence. His heart pounds, the nightmare from the witch coming to the forefront, and Bucky fears he might throw up all over the new wooden floors they’d just put in six months ago.
“JARVIS, where is everyone?” Bucky croaks.
Silence.
Then there’s the sound of quick feet racing down the steps, a cadence Bucky recognizes, and the tension in him slackens.
“Daddy!” Emma squeals when she comes into view. She leaps over the last few steps, and Bucky races to catch her before she lands on her face.
Bucky sweeps her up into his arms and spins her around. “Hey pumpkin. I missed you.”
“I got a new watch!”
“That’s exciting,” Bucky compliments. He waves the rest of the Avengers into the house but doesn’t let go of Emma.
“…Okay. This I did not expect,” Clint mutters to Laura.
“It’s Dora the Explorer,” Emma explains. “It’s special.”
“It sure is,” Bucky replies with a smile. Her arms are wrapped around his neck so Bucky can’t tell if she’s actually wearing the watch, but there’s no way Bucky is letting go. “Emma, these are the Avengers. Everyone, this is Emma.”
“Hi!” Emma greets, releasing one hand from around Bucky’s neck to wave. Then she gasps. “Uncle Steve!”
Bucky winces from the volume right next to his head. Enhanced hearing is not always a benefit.
“Hey there, princess,” Steve greets with a broad smile. “How are you?”
Emma starts chatting, talking about everything she’d already seen and done that morning - what she had for breakfast, the bugs she saw on the porch, the drawings she did. Bucky half tunes her out as he cases the rest of the house. He’s still missing two people, and he didn’t forget that JARVIS never answered him.
Bucky spots Harley lurking around the corner to the living room and breathes a sigh of relief.
“Harley, come meet the Avengers,” Bucky beckons. He rearranges Emma onto his hip, leaving his metal arm available.
Harley slouches and shuffles forward, playing it cool. “You’re in trouble,” Harley tells Bucky.
Bucky frowns. He definitely should’ve called ahead, but where was Tony if Tony already knows about Bucky bringing the Avengers home with him? But before Bucky can question Harley, the boy has already moved on.
“Steve!” Harley greets with a rare smile.
It hurts to see the smile directed at Steve instead of Bucky, but Bucky hides it. It gets harder when Steve opens his arms and Harley races to him for the hug.
“Heya, squirt,” Steve replies, smiling, though he does a sympathetic grimace at Bucky.
Bucky shakes his head and kisses Emma’s temple. It’s not great, but Bucky can handle Harley’s teenage rebellion or whatever it is, especially if Steve is still allowed to look after Harley.
“Where’s your dad?” Bucky asks his kids.
“In the basement,” Harley replies as he eyes the other Avengers. “He said not to bother him.”
“How long ago was that?” Bucky asks. “Never mind, he’s about to be bothered. Is everything alright with JARVIS? He didn’t answer earlier.”
“My apologies,” JARVIS says. Several of the Avengers twitch at the sudden voice coming from the ceiling, and Bucky winces because he forgot that JARVIS might seem similar to Ultron to the Avengers. To Bucky, JARVIS is far, far removed from what Ultron is. Harley smirks, because they don’t have many guests over who they can spook with AI butlers anymore, but Bucky shoots Steve an apologetic glance. Steve glares as he frantically whispers to an explanation to the Avengers. “I’m afraid I was rather tied up at the time. Sir is on his way.”
“Thanks, J.”
“Anytime you want to explain a little, Barnes, please feel free,” Clint voices.
“JARVIS is an artificial intelligence who manages my home,” Bucky explains. “These are my kids, Harley and Emma. My husband, Tony,” Bucky introduces as Tony walks through the door to the basement.
“You,” Tony snarls, pointing a finger at Bucky. “What did you do? You’re in the doghouse, only I wouldn’t do that to SPOT, so you’re in the barn with the tractors.”
“You put heating in the tractor barn last winter so your tech wouldn’t get cold. That’s not much of a punishment, babe,” Bucky replies, relief almost making him dizzy. He tugs Tony to him and kisses his cheek wishing he could keep his family like this, forever. No nightmare, no destructive sentient robots. Just… them.
“Harley, think of something creative to punish your father with,” Tony orders. He takes in the rest of the Avengers. “Or whoever it was that let that thing onto the internet that’s trying to hack every country’s nuclear codes.”
“Ultron,” Bruce sighs. “He’s gotten the nuclear codes?”
“No, I’m blocking it - Ultron?” Tony sighs, rubbing his eyes. “Well, JARVIS is now. Most of his processing power is directed to that, so please don’t bother him.”
“You’re Tony Stark,” Hank realizes, voice flat. “When the tabloids stopped mentioning you, I figured you were dead.”
Bucky turns, metal fist clenched and ready to defend.
“Hank Pym,” Tony sighs and rolls his eyes. “I should’ve known. This is definitely one of your disasters. And it’s Barnes now.” Tony pulls out the wedding ring that hangs on a chain around his neck.
“Sorry to barge in on you like this, Tony,” Steve redirects.
“Oh, right. Pleasantries. Hi everyone. Welcome to the farm. I know you but you probably don’t know me.” Tony points at Pym, whose lips had pursed. “You definitely don’t know me, so shut up.”
Hank mumbles something that Bucky intentionally ignores so he doesn’t have to do something about it.
“I’m ignoring you,” Tony tells Hank. But then Tony sees Laura and does a double-take. “You. You wonderful genius superhero. Iron Woman. May I please see that gorgeous flying armor? Repulsor-tech, right?”
“Hey now, don’t drool at my wife,” Clint complains.
“Honey, we talked about this,” Bucky reminds him.
Ever since Laura had taken to the air in a flying suit of metal armor, Tony had been pestering Bucky with questions. Which was fine - better than Tony pestering Fury, because that never ended well - but then Bucky was playing middle-man in science speak that sometimes he got wrong and then Tony quizzed him until Bucky ended up with a scrambled jumble that made even less sense. And Bucky had to pretend to Laura that it was Bucky who was interested.
Tony knew some things already, having hacked SHIELD’s files about the armor, but Laura had kept the arc reactor and repulsor tech under wraps. When she and Clint had confiscated the technology from Vanko, Vanko had carved a swath of destruction across Russia and the Balkans so wide that had Fury content to keep the knowledge off the grid.
Laura had taken Vanko’s technology and created the Iron Woman, a sleek black and gray armor that was, to be honest, almost indispensable in the field. Tony had even distantly consulted on the low level AI helping to pilot the suit.
Tony tosses a glare at him, and Bucky thinks it’s a bit sharper than warranted. They had talked about it, and Tony had told Bucky to make sure that Tony played it cool. “It’s not like you bring geniuses home with you every other day. All I get is Captain Forties over there who insists on reading physical newspapers and pretends he doesn’t know how to send an email.”
Laura laughs obligingly and Steve rolls his eyes.
“I’m happy to show you the armor, Tony,” Laura replies.
Then Tony turns. “And Banner! You brought me Doctor Banner!” Tony exclaims, shaking Bruce’s hand. “Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”
“Thanks,” Bruce replies, a confused smile on his face.
Emma squirms in Bucky’s hold, so Bucky lets her down. She goes over to Natasha, who Bucky realizes has been suspiciously quiet and still in the corner. But Natasha bends down to chat with Emma about whatever Emma wanted - her hair color, it sounds like - and so Bucky turns his attention back to Tony.
“The team needed a safe place to stay while we plan our next move. We have to stop Ultron,” Bucky explains.
Steve sighs. “Before he destroys all of humanity.”
“…yeah, okay. Fun,” Tony replies with only a blink of surprise. “Make yourselves at home? I’ll upload FRIDAY to run the house while JARVIS is occupied, and she’ll speak up if you’re doing anything you shouldn’t be.” Then he points at Harley. “The footage will be played back, so don’t think you can get away with anything sneaky until she’s up and running.”
Harley pouts.
“Are your kids okay? Safe?” Tony asks Laura. “If they need a place to hide out, we have plenty of space.”
“Thank you for the offer,” Laura says, “but Maria has it under control. We have safety measures for this, but thank you.” Then she follows Natasha and Emma up the stairs, seeing Natasha’s signal for backup as Emma tugs Natasha to her room to show of her drawings.
Clint nods his thanks as well. “If I knew Barnes had his own kids, I would’ve made him babysit more.”
“We’re not his. We’re adopted,” Harley chimes in.
“Harley!” Tony reprimands sharply.
“Adopted makes you his,” Clint argues with a smirk.
“Oh God. If you two are going to argue, take it outside where I can’t hear,” Bucky sighs. Of course, that only encourages Harley.
“You’re Hawkeye, right? Why do you use a bow and arrow? I mean, don’t you run out? And wouldn’t it be faster to use a gun?” Harley questions.
“Kid, I’m gonna show you why. Find a couple things that can get holes put in ‘em and that you can manage to throw with those kiddie arms of yours and we’ll have some fun.”
Tony sighs as Harley races toward the back of the house with Clint sauntering behind him.
“I’ll just wait until I hear screams,” Tony decides.
Bucky frowns. He doesn’t need Harley absorbing any dangerous ideas from Clint - the kid gets enough of his own - but Clint does have his own kids. Neither of them should end up too injured, probably. Hopefully.
Thor walks out the front door, and Steve follows him.
Bucky will go after Steve soon. Steve had been too quiet and pained over whatever that witch put in his head. Bucky can take a few guesses as to what Steve could’ve seen that would shake him up like this, and Bucky likes none of them. But right now, Bucky has his own head to get on straight.
“Hey, Banner. I’m sure Tony wouldn’t mind you checking out the lab space in the basement,” Bucky suggests as he takes a hold of Tony’s elbow.
“I’d be happy to give you a tour!” Tony offers. Tony steps toward the basement door, but Bucky tugs him back. “But science?” Tony questions, turning to Bucky.
Fortunately Bruce picks up on what Bucky wants. “I’d love a tour,” he says, “but later is fine. Hank and I can go check on Clint.”
Then Bruce pulls Hank away, toward the back of the house and to probably the backyard, and then Bucky is finally left alone with Tony.
Bucky yanks Tony to him and kisses him, deep and desperate. Bucky searches for home in Tony’s mouth and finds it, clings to it, until he finally pulls back with a shaky breath.
“Now that’s what I call a welcome,” Tony purrs as he reaches his hands up to stroke the back of Bucky’s neck. “Hello, husband.”
Bucky rests his forehead against Tony’s and tries to even out his breathing. He keeps his hands on Tony, even though Tony makes no motion to move away from where Bucky has Tony trapped against his chest. The memory of the vision returns though, even now, and Bucky shivers.
“Tell me,” Tony whispers.
Bucky licks his lips. “It was a witch. She - she got in my head. Made me see things.” Bucky tightens his arms around Tony. “You were dead. You, Harley, Emma. I was the one - the programming -”
Tony shushes him. “I get it. But we removed it. We got it all, James. You aren’t going to hurt me or the kids. You wouldn’t.” Tony kisses him, chaste and sweet. “You aren’t going to let her get in your head again. But we could scan you, check you out again, if that would make you feel better.”
Bucky nods. “Please.”
“Alright, baby. Come on down to the lab. I’ll get FRIDAY going and she’ll help me scan you.”
“Okay,” Bucky breathes.
Tony gives him one more quick kiss before he tugs Bucky to the basement. “And if everyone is still occupied when we’re done, I’ll give you a more fun hands-on scan, hm?”
“You can never resist the tac gear, can you?”
Tony grins. “It’s always so fun to strip you out of it.”
Later, after the scan gives the all-clear for Bucky’s brain, after the stripping fun was interrupted by Nick Fury showing up at his house, after realizing Thor has left, after the Avengers have figured a plan, Bucky side steps Natasha in an empty hallway as she comes back from the bathroom.
She pauses and he follows suit.
“I wanted to say… I’m happy for you, Yasha,” Natasha says quietly. She meets his gaze for a second then looks back to the kitchen where most everyone is gathered around the remains of dinner. Dinner had been a mix of cuisines, as Tony had placed a family-of-four order from eight nearby restaurants to feed everyone without tripping any alarms.
Bucky winces from guilt but doesn’t let it show. “Thank you,” he murmurs. He wants to explain why he didn’t tell Natasha about Tony, about his family - that it wasn’t a lack of trust or because of their own romantic history - but it wouldn’t matter now. Bucky knew what they taught those coming from the Red Room, and if Bucky was able to go through his own unmaking and still find Tony and have a family - knowing that, for her, would outweigh any excuse Bucky could offer.
He doesn’t regret the silence because the fewer who knew about them the safer Tony and his kids are, but he still feels the guilt.
Natasha nods. She smiles, a small thing, and maybe she understands. She continues down the hallway.
Bucky calls out after her. “We have space but not a lot. Some of you are going to have to double-up.”
“Don’t meddle, Barnes. It’s not your strong suit,” Natasha retorts.
That night, after everyone has been settled someplace (and oh man, Bucky has Fury sleeping on his couch) Bucky collapses into bed next to Tony.
“So. The Avengers are fun,” Tony comments as he snuggles up to Bucky.
“That’s what you call what happened at dinner?” Bucky asks, turning his head to raise his eyebrows at Tony. Hank Pym and Tony had traded remarks about each other’s intellect and ethics (though most of Pym’s had been directed at Howard and how the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree) until finally Laura had interested Tony with some of the armor upgrades and Bruce had gotten the fun job of handling Hank.
“Yeah. That was fun, wasn’t it?”
“Whatever you say, sweetheart,” Bucky chuckles. He leans over and kisses Tony - sweet, slow, and like they have all the time in the world instead of a countdown clock to the apocalypse.
When Bucky pulls back, Tony’s eyes are closed. “You’re going to need me for this one,” Tony whispers, serious. He opens his eyes and challenges Bucky. “You can smash Ultron to bits with your arm, but any internet connection will let him survive. This isn’t your type of fight. You need me.”
“Harley and Emma need you,” Bucky murmurs, his heart pounding.
The thought of Tony getting near Ultron, near its violence and malevolence, and the thought of what Ultron could do to Tony, makes him panic.
“You need me, too.”
“I do,” Bucky admits and he pins Tony beneath him because he’s afraid of the thought that he might not be able to touch Tony, one day. That Bucky won’t be able to come home to this. That Bucky will no longer have a home in Tony because Tony will be gone. “I need you, Tony. If something happened to you, I…”
“If I don’t go, something could happen to you,” Tony replies.
“Harley and Emma need you too.”
“Hill can watch over them, right? That’s what Clint and Laura do when they go out on missions.”
“Tony, please,” Bucky begs. He doesn’t have an argument. He knows Tony is capable, that he would be useful because Tony always knows how to make himself useful, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t kill Bucky to watch. And of all missions to throw Tony back into the fray, this one? Ultron?
Tony blows out a long breath. Bucky slides down so that he can kiss the scars on Tony’s chest.
Tony had stepped down from Stark Industries, from his entire lifestyle, because of the stress and alcohol wreaking havoc on his heart. He had given the company over to Stane and entered a voluntary exile, disappearing from the papers entirely. When SHIELD kidnapped and tried to re-calibrate Bucky, SHIELD had pulled Tony in as a consultant for the arm. Bucky will never forget one of those later sessions, when Bucky finally remembered who Bucky is, and Tony had been working on the arm and then suddenly collapsed. Bucky had heard Tony’s heart beat slow and slow until finally it stopped, with Tony hanging limp in his arms. SHIELD’s medics were able to restart his heart, and then eventually Helen Cho had a breakthrough that with surgery healed Tony and thousands of others with similar conditions.
But Bucky will never forget.
“Fine,” Tony huffs. “It’s up to your band of heroes, then. But you come home, James. I know you need to watch Steve’s back, and your team’s back, but… in the end, you better be able to come home to me.”
“Yes, baby,” Bucky agrees, coming back up to give Tony a deep, needy kiss. “You’re my priority mission. Coming home to you.” He kisses Tony again, in promise.
When it’s time to leave, Bucky kisses Tony goodbye. He hugs Emma and kisses the top of her head, her big blue eyes tearful and breaking his heart. He looks around for Harley.
“He’s in his room,” Tony sighs. “Won’t come out.”
Bucky breathes through the punch to his gut.
“We’ll get the jet prepped,” Steve says, putting a hand on Bucky’s shoulder. “Go talk to him. Come out when you’re ready.”
The rest of the Avengers head out, saying goodbyes and thank yous. Steve is the last out the door with a hug from Tony and Emma.
Bucky heads up to Harley’s room on the second floor. He knocks on the closed door.
“Hey bud, it’s me,” Bucky calls out.
There’s no reply.
Bucky blows out a breath. “I’m headed out with the team. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“What a surprise,” Harley sneers from the other side.
Bucky rolls his eyes. “I’m glad you’re listening at least. You want to come out and say goodbye?”
“No. Just pretend I did what I did last time, or the time before that, or the time before that.”
Something thunks on the other side, against the wall.
“What’s this about, Har?” Bucky asks, crowding up against the door but not quite willing to make FRIDAY unlock it.
“Nothing, whatever. You leave, then you come back. Same deal. I’m over it.”
“Doesn’t sound like you’re over it to me.”
“Just leave like you always do!”
“I gotta protect Steve. The team. Your dad, you, your sister. If I don’t do this, people will get hurt. I gotta go to do that,” Bucky tries to justify. He can’t stay. He can’t let Steve go out alone, even with the team. Bucky promised to always have his back, and he always will.
Doesn’t mean he isn’t ripping his heart to pieces over this.
The only reply is something heavy - Bucky suspects a book - slamming against the door.
Bucky sighs. “I’ll see you when I get back. I love you.” He places a hand on the door for a second, like he could touch Harley through it.
The door doesn’t open, and Bucky walks away with a heavy heart.
When Bucky comes back down, he crouches down and hugs Emma tight. “This is another one for you,” he tells her. He wonders if she feels like Harley does, or will grow up to, if Bucky keeps leaving. Maybe she’s an angel (mostly) for him when he’s here to try to convince him to stay. He lets her go for a second then hugs her again. “This one’s for Harley. Give it to him when you see him next, alright?”
He gets Emma’s agreement, then stands to face Tony.
“Remember your mission,” Tony reminds him. Bucky nods and steals another quick kiss.
Bucky’s gaze flicks up the stairs but when they remain empty he heads for the door. He walks out, breathing carefully controlled, into the cool morning. He walks down his porch steps and heads for the Quinjet, the rest of the team already onboard.
Bucky looks back. Tony stands in the doorway, holding Emma on his hip, waving. Bucky blows a kiss, and smiles when Emma giggles. Then he looks up, at where he knows Harley’s window is. Bucky can’t tell if Harley is watching, but he salutes the window anyway on the small chance.
Then Bucky turns and heads for the jet and doesn’t look back again.
The ramp closes behind Bucky, Clint already settled into the cockpit, and Steve pulls Bucky aside.
“You okay?” he asks softly.
Bucky shrugs. “Are you?”
Steve glares, but Bucky has been immune to that look for decades.
Bucky’s phone vibrates in his pocket and he pulls it out. An unknown number is calling him, but that means it’s FRIDAY scrambling the line so that no one could track the call back to the farm.
“Hello?” Bucky asks, his heart racing. There’s still time to turn around. Clint has only just begun to take off.
“Harley has something that he’d like to tell you,” Tony tells him, his voice containing a serious edge.
Bucky waves off Steve’s concerned look. Sometimes he really hates parenting, and he hopes Tony knows what to do about this because Bucky sure as hell doesn’t.
“Yeah?” he asks, his voice steady.
A static-y huff filters over the line. “I’m sorry,” Harley says, voice flat. “I love you. See you when you get back.”
Bucky will take it, even if Harley sounds more begrudging than sincere. “Thanks Har. Love you too.”
There’s silence, but Bucky stays on the line. Then there’s another sigh, but this one is definitely Tony’s.
“Teenagers,” Tony huffs.
“Teenagers,” Bucky laughs, a bit broken. He rubs his eyes and hopes he can pull himself together before the fight or he won’t be of any use to Steve anyway.
“We love you. Stay safe. Keep Steve safe. Then get your butt back home,” Tony commands. It’s the voice that Bucky has heard him use so many times on Harley and Emma to get them to behave.
Bucky doesn’t think he could love the man more than this moment.
“You got it, love.”