Traitor

Chapter 11

Bucky was avoiding him, that much he knew. The man had clutched him like a lifeline, their bodies flush together, the whole time he came to his senses. Tony didn't mind one bit when they had to stay in the quinjet, even as his best friend was wheeled away. Partly because Pietro was hot on his trail, following the paramedics. Tony knew Clint was in good hands, Pietro wouldn't leave his side and he was sure of that.

So, he wasn't going to leave Bucky's, not when he needed him the most. No one dared to interrupt them the whole time they spent curled into each other. Which helped Tony ease Bucky down fairly quickly.

Sure enough, as soon as Bucky Barnes fully came to, he yanked back from Tony's arms. Horrified, he managed to ask Tony if he had hurt anyone. "Only H.Y.D.R.A agents, James. We're all okay." Tony paused. "Well, except Clint but that's a totally unrelated issue."

While Bucky was relieved at the news, the tension in his shoulders didn't ease up one bit. "I knew this was a mistake." Bucky said darkly. Tony could only reach out futilely as Bucky curled in on himself. It felt as though they were back to square one. It wasn't long ago that Tony had insisted that Bucky was worthy of becoming an Avenger and that he didn't deserve to be behind bars. He remembered the disbelief in his eyes, and he never wanted to see it again. Never wanted Bucky to resent himself for something he had no control over.

Before he could say anything else, Bucky stood up and fled from the quinjet. Tony could only sit there, dumbfounded, for a few seconds before he came to his senses.

But Bucky was already gone when Tony tried to catch up to him, presumably to process everything alone. As much he wanted to take after him, he decided to respect Bucky's space, and hopefully he'd be willing to talk later on. The last thing he wanted was to make him feel cornered or pressured. Bucky knew what he needed in that moment, and if he needed any form of comfort, it would be on his own terms.

He was reflecting on the interaction a while later. With more than a little reluctance, Tony headed for the med bay. He was nonplussed when he heard faint laughs projecting from the room that carried all the way down the long halls. Tony's lips lifted into an easy smile as he walked into a relieving scene.
Clint was chuckling along to whatever joke Natasha had made, completely pain free as he did so. Dr. Cho was already finishing up on the old injury, Pietro watched in awe by Clint's side as the medical procedure was done.

"He's flatlining, isn't he? Call it, time?"
Clint's eyes filled with mirth at the sight of Tony leaning against the doorway.

"No, no, no. I'm gonna live forever. I'm going to be made of plastic." Dr. Cho smiled pleasantly. "You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference." Clint snorted and side eyed Tony. "I don't have a girlfriend."
"Oh, my apologies. I meant to say your partner." She smiled apologetically at Pietro, who only then realized just how domestic he looked fretting over Clint at his bedside.

There was a pause where the whole room of people remained quiet. No one bothered correcting her, and that somehow felt right.
It was only when Dr. Cho was taking her leave, Tony and Natasha walking her out, that Pietro broke the silence tentatively.

Clint's body twitched in surprise when he felt a hand travel up under his shirt, only to promptly relax when he saw that Pietro was staring at the otherwise unidentifiable new tissue that Dr. Cho had created.

"I can definitely tell the difference."

✯✯✯

Steve Rogers considered himself a reasonable man, if a little short tempered. So why was it that he had been losing his mind over Tony and Bucky's friendship the last few months?