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“Mr. Stark, have you found your soulmate yet?”
Tony was just leaving Stark Industries after a very long day. Rhodey and Pepper tensed beside him as Tony paused. He turned and gave the reporter his trademark smile. “Not yet,” he said.
“That’s shocking, for someone as high-profile as you,” the reporter continued. “Most celebrities find their soulmates quickly, but you’ve been in the spotlight all your life. Why do you think that is? Are you worried you won’t find them?”
Rhodey frowned and placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder as Pepper stepped towards the woman, but Tony just held up a hand, stopping both of them. “It’s okay,” he said, trademark smile still in place. “He’s just running a little late. He had to take his cape to the cleaners.” With that, Tony turned away from the perplexed reporter and made his way into the car waiting for him.
“You know,” Rhodey began as he settled into the seat beside Tony. “You’ve never told me why you always talk about your soulmate like he’s a superhero or something. Why do you do that?”
Tony shrugged and looked down. Now that the reporter was gone, the smile fell away. “Lots of reasons,” Tony answered vaguely. “You’ll understand if I ever get the chance to introduce you.”
Rhodey frowned.
“Tony,” Pepper began gently. “Why don’t you come have dinner with us? It’s been months since you’ve been anywhere besides the office and your home. You need to get out and socialize. Besides, maybe you’ll finally meet them.”
Tony shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that.”
Pepper gave him a confused look. “Well, you can’t expect to meet them without going out and actually meeting new people,” she replied, exasperated. “Come on, Tony. We won’t keep you long; just come with us. We’re worried about you.”
“Nope,” Tony said again, jumping out of the car as soon as it stopped in front of Stark Tower. He practically jumped out and ran for the door, ignoring Pepper and Rhodey’s pleas.
It was dark outside. The sun had gone down hours ago, and Tony stared at the sky. He couldn’t see the stars, but he knew they were there.
Just like his soulmate.
On Tony’s bicep, just under the sleeve of his plain black t-shirt, was a red star.
It was his soulmark. Soulmarks were always unique to each couple. Someone else might have a star, but theirs would be a different color or size. Maybe it would be rotated… but there was one person in the world who would have a perfectly-matching red star in exactly the same place on their body.
It wasn’t the star that made Tony believe he had a soulmate, though. Sure, it was what most of the world used, but every once in a while, there were people who would experience something else. Sometimes soulmates could feel the other’s emotions. If their soulmate was afraid, they’d suddenly be overwhelmed with fear and no idea why. Others would wake up with strange scars and no idea how they got them.
Tony… had dreams.
He had dreams that weren’t his. Actually, they were probably memories, although he experienced them as dreams. He never saw the person – instead, he saw the world through his soulmate’s eyes.
Sometimes, the dreams were terrifying. Death. War. Falling. Pain.
Other times… the dreams were a comfort. Blowing out ten candles on a birthday cake while a room full of people sang “Happy Birthday.” Holding a baby girl while a woman introduced him to his new sister. Playing in the park with a skinny blonde boy.
The dreams didn’t really make sense. Some of the memories seemed decades old – far older than himself. Other times, he’d see those same memories with a modern update. It was weird – kind of like watching a remake of an old movie. It made it hard for him to sort out the details.
Over the past few years, though, the dreams had been… different.
It started when he was in Afghanistan. The dreams changed from being something that was usually terrifying or out of a home movie to… wandering streets and trying to help people. The previous dreams were always haphazard and fuzzy, often downright disorienting. He couldn’t make sense of them. The new dreams, though… The new dreams were as clear as if he was really the one experiencing them.
He dreamed of pushing a woman out of the way of a bicycle on the sidewalk, only to have the woman scream at him after because she never saw the bike. He dreamed of chasing a man who stole a woman’s purse, only to almost be arrested for that very crime.
Somewhere out there, his soulmate was trying to help people – people who would sooner lash out at him than thank him. It never stopped him, though. He kept trying, kept searching for… something.
Tony hoped he was that something.
He built a suit, flew himself home, and spent his days trying to be the kind of person who would be worthy of a modern-day superman, because to Tony, that’s what his soulmate was.
That’s what he always had been.
Every time Tony was scared or sad, even as a child, he’d go to sleep and dream something comforting. It was almost like the man knew. He’d been Tony’s hero for so long, and now it seemed as though he was on a one-man mission to save the world.
Now if he could just find his superman…
“Mr. Stark, where’s your soulmate?”
Clint rolled his eyes and scoffed. Natasha tensed beside him, and Steve placed a gentle hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I hardly think that is appropriate for this conference,” Steve said, frowning. The reporter blushed and looked down, horrified at being chastised by Captain America.
Tony had to agree. He’d just flown a damn nuke through a wormhole and half of New York was in pieces, but whatever. Some people never give up.
“Oh, he’s just running late,” Tony said with his trademark grin firmly in place. “He got stuck at 5 and Dime saving the day. Kind of embarrassing for me,” Tony winked. “If this were a movie, I’d at least end up with a big romantic kiss for the cameras. Oh well; maybe next time.”
The reporters laughed, the Avengers either gave him a placating smile or looks of concern, and life went on.
“It’s okay,” he said as he bent down in front of the young teenage girl. “They’re gone.”
She looked around, making sure the group of bullies was really gone, and then used one fist to wipe her tears. She looked up at him, biting her lip.
“Come on,” he said gently, holding out a hand to her. “I’ll take you home.”
“I can’t,” she said even as she took his hand. “I ran away.”
“Why?”
“I… had a fight with my mom. I got mad and left.”
“Well, it’s okay to be mad, but you shouldn’t run away just because you’re mad. It’s not safe out here by yourself. Let me take you home, okay?”
The girl nodded and led him back to her house. He held her hand the whole way there, reassuring her that everything would be okay and her mother would be happy to see her. When they finally reached her house, her mother met her outside and rushed to hug her.
Police were already outside the house and immediately began arresting him. He wasn’t surprised or offended; he was just glad the girl was safe.
The girl begged and pleaded to her mother, who eventually went to the officers. She managed to convince them to release him. As he was walking away, the girl ran after him, throwing her arms around him. “Thank you,” she whispered. He hugged her close.
Tony woke up with a start. He glanced around, seeing he’d passed out in his workshop again. It was the third time that week, and he was kind of surprised Natasha hadn’t stormed in to force him to go to bed. She’d already threatened him once that month.
And then something dawned on him.
Tony had seen an address.
He knew the address of the girl he’d taken home.
“JARVIS!” Tony shouted, sitting up. “I need you to find an address for me.”
There was a total of fourteen matches in the world since all he had was a house number and street name. A little surveillance satellite hacking later, and Tony knew exactly which house he was looking for. It was identical to his dream.
Tony started researching. It turns out the girl was real… and had run away less than a week ago.
Tony pulled on his suit and flew straight there.
The mother had been shocked to see him, but she had been willing to let him talk to her daughter. The girl’s name was Anna, she was sixteen, and she described a kind and soft-spoken man with longer dark hair, a metal arm and bright but sad eyes.
Tony’s heart twisted.
The girl smiled at him. “You’re the one from his dreams, aren’t you?”
Tony started. “How did you… What… I don’t…”
“It took an hour for him to walk me home,” she said quietly. “He has dreams about you, too. He’s never met you, but he said he knew he would someday, and he wanted to be worthy of you when he did.”
Tony smiled at that and hugged her. “He already is.”
Tony wasn’t sure what he was expecting when Steve called him, but it wasn’t this.
Steve and Sam exited the elevator to the common area, a man in jeans and a plaid shirt hanging open over a plain t-shirt was standing between them. The man’s hair was dark and hung down to his shoulders, and his clothes looked like they’d seen better days. He had bright eyes and a metal hand.
Tony stared.
“Tony, this is my best friend, James Buchannan Barnes. Bucky. He’s been through a lot.”
“I know,” Tony said, and something in his voice must have startled Bucky, because the man looked up, meeting his eyes. There was an undercurrent of sadness in his expression, but in that moment, he looked confused. Hopeful.
“I was hoping he could stay here with us,” Steve said. “You do so much for us, Tony, and I hate to ask anything of you, but he’s my best friend and he needs the help. He can stay on my floor with me. I promise there won’t be any problems or anything,” Steve continued, almost pleading. Tony barely heard a word he said.
“Give us a minute?” Tony asked. Steve frowned and was about to object when Sam placed a hand on the man’s shoulder.
“Come on, Cap,” he said. “Let’s go in the kitchen.”
Steve hesitated, but let Sam lead him into the kitchen. “Just shout if you need us,” Steve said, looking more at Bucky than Tony. Neither man acknowledged him.
When they were finally alone, they stared at each other for a moment. Finally, after taking a shaky breath, Tony spoke. “Hi there.”
The corners of Bucky’s mouth twitched. “Hi,” he said.
“Are you… I think you’re my… um…” Tony stumbled over his words, feeling unsure.
“You look just like you did in my dreams,” Bucky blurted out and looked down when he saw how surprised Tony was. “I didn’t actually see your face very often, but sometimes I’d catch a reflection or you’d be looking in a mirror.”
Bucky stepped forward cautiously. “I lost my original soulmark,” he began as he pulled off the plaid shirt, revealing a metal arm. He then grabbed the sleeve of his t-shirt and pulled it up. “But then one day, I woke up and this was there. They tried to get rid of it, but it always came back. I don’t know how, but… it’s exactly the same as what I had.”
Tony stared. There, on the arm, was a red star. It was the same shape, the same rotation, the same shade…
Tony met Bucky’s eyes again, a little unsure. He wanted so badly to believe, but what if it was a trap?
“How do I know this is real?” he asked, a shaking hand reaching out to touch the star on Bucky’s arm. When he did, they both shuddered at the rush of warmth that rushed through them.
“When you turned sixteen, you cried in the bathroom for three hours because both of your parents were out of the country and didn’t bother to call you. You went to the pet store and spent the rest of the day playing with puppies, and then brought two of them home with you.”
Tony’s jaw dropped. “Not even Rhodey knows that. How did you—“
“I dreamed it.”
Tony threw himself into Bucky’s arms. He tucked his nose into the crook of Bucky’s neck and breathed deeply, savoring the scent. “This makes you my superman,” Tony sighed. After a lifetime of dreams, seeing life through this man’s eyes, Tony couldn’t believe they were finally together. The contact made a feeling of love and acceptance wash over him so strong, he wasn’t sure where his feelings ended and Bucky’s began.
Their bond may have been new, but it was strong. And amazing.
“Does that mean you’re Lois Lane?”
Tony snorted in amusement. “I’m hardly female,” he replied. “Should I prove that for you?”
Bucky grinned and pulled Tony closer. “I like the way you think.”
The next time a reporter asked Tony where his soulmate was, Tony grinned and pulled Bucky up next to him. “I’m not waiting for Superman anymore.”