WinterIron one shots

Unrequited love?

Word count: 4424

Summery: Steve and tony need to prove to the world, the media that they get along - and what better way to do it - than to pretend that they're engaged? But another super soldier has his eye on the genius .... what could go wrong? 

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Bucky had known from pretty much the start that Steve and Tony's relationship was a sham, not in the least because Steve had told him so. Bucky might have felt like someone had put his brain through a blender, but he still remembered enough to know what Steve looked like when he was in love. Steve was definitely not in love with Tony. They were friends, sure, but that was it. There had apparently been some bureaucratic bullshit with SHIELD that had led to them faking a 'whirlwind romance' and getting married shortly after the Battle of New York. Steve had even admitted that, in all honesty, having to pretend to be in love had actually been what started their whole friendship, forcing them to spend time together and bond.

The picture Steve had painted before they even reached the tower was a fairly clear one. The whole team knew that they weren't really together, so they spent the majority of the time just doing their own things. They went for a date night once a month and showed up to each other's galas and events to keep up appearances. According to Steve, Tony flirted on auto-pilot so even press conferences and candid shots of them by the paparazzi only fed their image. It was a good arrangement. Tony hadn't been interested in anyone since his experience in Afghanistan, after all, and Steve still felt too loyal to Peggy to even think about pursuing anything new with someone else. It worked for them.

Bucky had taken all of that in stride, not together enough himself to be able to really absorb the implications of it all. When they actually did reach the tower, he'd only met Tony and the others in passing before more or less secluding himself as much as possible. His main points of contact were Steve and Sam, though he saw Natasha from time to time as well. It wasn't until at least two months later than he actually began to start venturing out into the common areas of the Avengers' floors and interacting with the team a bit more.

That was when he started noticing that not everything was as plain and simple as Steve had made it seem.

Bucky was a world class assassin and had been an exceptionally gifted sniper even before that. His observational skills were quite keen. It took him all of three days to figure out what Steve was too oblivious to see. Tony Stark wanted to make things work between them. Romantically.

He was always the one to arrange their little dates and outings, taking special care to make sure they catered to Steve's interests. He made sure to keep up appearances even when it was just the team around, sitting beside Steve for everything from meals to movie night to team meetings. When he looked at Steve, there was wistful longing in his eyes. Still, something about it didn't seem quite right to Bucky. There was lust there, on Tony's end, but it was low-key and there didn't seem to be any real sexual tension, even the one-sided kind. Bucky knew Tony's history. Physical attraction would definitely be an important factor to him in a loving relationship. If he was really in love with Steve, Bucky would expect to see more ass-staring or awkward boners when they sparred or something.

It didn't make any sense, but Bucky knew better than to try and talk to Steve about it. He obviously didn't have the slightest clue what was actually going on. That, or he had dug himself a deep, deep pit of denial and had decided not to come out anytime soon. Either way, he was useless. Luckily, Bucky knew someone who never failed to give him good advice in this strange, modern, free world.

"It's a thing," Natasha told him simply, tone disinterested and eyes on the knife she was sharpening. She and Bucky sat side-by-side at her kitchen table, each working on their own armaments. "This is as close to a long-term, committed relationship as Tony has ever come. He put on an act, but he's always just been looking for someone to connect with. He knows there's no real future there between him and Cap, but he can't keep himself from hoping. After things didn't work out with Pepper, he knows this could be the last chance he gets."