WinterIron one shots

Running away

Word count: 2270

Summery: after he ran away from home, Tony finds work in a small garage, finding a small haven in their company. But it's hard to say goodbye to those people when the time comes.

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Tony ran away from home as soon as he finished walking across the stage with his Masters in Business and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. He was 17, and he was on a very accelerated track of coursework. He ran away from his father and his home. Tony was staying in shelters when he could as he didn't have his own money to rent a place. That lasted for as long as it took Jarvis and Rhodey to track him down. So now, Jarvis knew where he was, and Tony assumed Jarvis kept his mother updated on his well-being, who in turn likely kept Obie in the loop. He still kept in touch with Rhodey, who was going on to his technical school and his pilot training courses. Rhodey didn't know he'd run away, but then, Rhodey knew it was terrible at home, but not how bad. He just knew about the extreme pressures, and probably thought Howard was only a horrible father. He just didn't know how bad.

Still, Tony needed a job, and he found one in a small mechanic shop in Brooklyn. When he first walked into the shop, he saw a guy in overalls, long hair tied back in a bun, and grease everywhere working on a vintage motorcycle. It looked like he was in the beginning stages of refurbishing it as it seemed beat up, old, rusted, and just crap.

"Is that a 1942 Harley Davidson WLA. Or a replica?" Tony asked as he walked in, completely in awe of the machinery in front of him. And Tony was able to make some suggestions on how to fix it up. The guy, James "Call me Bucky" Barnes looked surprised.

Then a voice sounded form the back office, and an older looking guy with blonde hair walked out.

The fact that he hired Tony without any prior experience, references, and when it was apparent he was on his own and not quite 18 yet pretty much ensured Tony's loyalty for life.

The fact that Bucky was good with fixing up cars and was more than willing to listen to Tony talk about different cars, especially classic cars, was the cherry on top. Bucky was a few years older than Tony, and he was pretty much the friend Tony never thought he'd ever want. It was amazing. He kicked Tony out of the shop when he thought he'd been in too long, brought extra food for Tony to eat, and watched out for Tony whenever he'd let him.

"This is coming along so great, Buck! I can't believe how much you've done; it hasn't taken you nearly as long as you said it would." Steve said with a smile in his face as he spoke with the engineer.

Bucky took a massive bite of the burger Steve had brought and swallowed maybe half before he answered, "Was Tony Edwards. He had some good suggestions, and he's been helping on it a lot. Smart."

Tony smiled at being recognised ; it wasn't something he was used to - but it felt great, he couldn't help the warm feeling that came with the praise. Then Steve turned that smile on him, and Tony felt it in his bones, it was so potent. Tony quickly turned back to the oil change he was performing to hide his flushed cheeks before the other man noticed.

Steve, Tony learned, owned the small garage with Bucky as his first employee. Steve didn't work there, Instead, he worked as an art teacher a community college and volunteered at a veteran's clinic.

Steve visited the shop more often, and Tony learned that he was genuinely nice and fantastic person.

But it was his time he spent with Bucky that made the job so perfect. They would tease each other about their taste in music, and their obsession with classic cars. It was like a summer job that would never end, and he didn't want it too. It was perfect and in the first time in his life he felt like he truly belonged somewhere.