The Tower: Unexpected

Bucky

My next doctor's appointment involved doing a fasting blood glucose test at the start. Which meant I had to go right in before breakfast and drink a bottle of glucose drink and then wait an hour. Wanda, Sam, Nat, and Clint came with me this time and we were waiting around in the medbay waiting room, just messing about while the hour ticked down.

As the hour approached the doors opened and in strolled Bucky, sans cybernetic prosthesis. "Did I miss it? Tony was being Tony."

I looked up at him in shock. I blinked and shook my head trying to see if I was having some weird kind of hallucination. I hadn't seen him in over four months. It was crazy that he would just show up so casually with his arm removed. "I... what ... You... Did you do something to your hair?"

He looked at me deadpan. "Yes, but I also... Clint told me that Tony could take the arm off. And now I'm here. Sorry."

I looked from Bucky to Clint and then back again. "You just took your arm off? Just like that?"

"Yes?" Bucky said like I was being obtuse. "It was why I wasn't here. Why wouldn't I get rid of it?"

"I don't know. It was your arm." I said with a shrug. I didn't know if I wanted to be angry at him for not thinking about it sooner or just relieved that he had figured it out now and it meant he could be here.

"No." He said firmly. "That was never my arm. That was the arm they gave me. That was the arm they forced me to have. It was never mine."

I got up and moved to him wrapping my arms around him and stroking his hair. "I'm glad you figured something out."

"Well, it was your idea."

I pulled back and looked up at him. "Does this mean we can share a bed alone now?"

He smiled softly and nodded. "I think that would be okay."

"You aren't too late," I said, kissing his cheek. "Just doing the blood glucose thing and being bored."

"Oh, good," Bucky said, sounding relieved and a little excited. "Clint told me we find out what they are today."

"Yeah. Hopefully. If they play along." I said pulling him back over to take a seat.

Bucky made a pained whine sound. "Okay."

"What was that?"

"If they play along. They're our kids."

I laughed and leaned against him. "You think they won't? Maybe if they don't we'll know they're Tony's."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because any kid of Clint's would ever play along."

"If one of them seems to slip and smack into the other one, then we'll know it's Clint's." I teased.

"Hey!" Clint protested. "I'm right here!"

"Clint! One time you went to walk over the bed, got your foot wrapped in the covers and launched yourself so far you ended up doing a forward roll into the bathroom."

"With grace," Clint said.

Doctor Schroeder stepped out of the examination room and looked over our group. "Okay, Elly if you want to come and get your blood drawn we can get to the good stuff."

I went in alone and she took blood and while I got comfortable on the examination table she went and got the others. They grouped around the table, all trying to get in a position where they both could touch me, not be in the way and see the screen. It wasn't entirely successful but they did their best.