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“Are you serious? You live here?” a female voice squealed from the other room. “If I’d known that, I would have let you convince me to come home with you sooner.”
Tony emptied the last mouthful of coffee from his cup and placed it in the sink before heading through to the living area to meet Bucky’s guest. He wasn’t quite prepared to see his partner with an armful of the woman but he should have expected it. Bucky was an affectionate person and of course that would extend through to the friends that he’d made in Wakanda. The fact that he’d even been able to recover enough to allow someone into his personal space while he was there was testament to how quickly his progress had gone once the triggers were removed from his head.
Bucky’s eyes lit up when Tony entered and he pulled back from the hug. “Zee, this is Tony Stark. Tony, this is Zoya.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “Well of course it’s Tony Stark. I live in Africa, not under a rock, white boy.” She offered her hand and Tony shook it warmly. “It’s good to finally meet you, Mr Stark. You have my eternal gratitude for the help that you gave my friend.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” he told her, “but please, call me Tony. And Bucky is a good man - he deserved a fresh start. I’m just grateful that he accepted my help.”
“Not many in your position would have had the grace to do what you did,” Zee said. “I cannot even begin to express just how happy I am that my friend is truly happy here.”
Tony tried to shrug off the thanks - he’d never been comfortable with it, but he still ended up squirming a little. “It was really my pleasure.”
Bucky stepped forward and wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders. He had always been quick on the uptake whenever Tony began to get uncomfortable with a topic and although they were keeping from everyone the true nature of their relationship, he was grateful for the show of friendly affection. The Wakandan girl didn't need to know that Bucky was hugging Tony to him a little tighter than he was her. “I can’t believe two of my best friends are finally getting to meet!” he crowed. “Tony - Zee is a snarky cow so you’re gonna get on great.”
Zee elbowed Bucky in the ribs at the same time that Tony said, “Rude!” and the two of them laughed.
“Wait - two of?” Zee questioned. “How many best friends do you have?”
“Just one more,” Bucky said, “who you’ll meet later this afternoon.”
Tony didn't miss the flash of sadness on Bucky's face as he spoke of his best friends and as much as he knew that Bucky was happy with the choices that he'd made, he still had regrets for losing the childhood friendship that he'd shared with Rogers.
“Wait - are you talking about the enhanced kid who can kick your butt?” she asked, eyes wide in wonder.
When Bucky had first made arrangements for his friend to visit, he’d had a sudden realisation and then a minor meltdown. Tony had never seen him so unsure as he’d stammered out an apology to Peter, telling him that through his correspondence with Zoya, he’d likely given away enough details for her to identify him to some degree. He swore that he’d never said anything specifically about his spider powers, only generic things like strength and accelerated healing, and he’d never named him either - but Zee was a smart woman and would quickly put two and two together. Peter had been quick to dismiss the apology, assuring Bucky that so long as no one shouted from the rooftops that he was Spider-Man, then he was okay. Besides, Zee was Dora Milaje and that made her close enough to a superhero herself in Peter’s mind and it didn’t bother him if other heroes knew who he was.
“Uh, yeah, that’d be the one,” Bucky said a little bashfully.
“Will I get to see him in action?” she asked brightly. “Seeing you get schooled will surely be the highlight of my trip.”
Tony laughed and Bucky dropped his arms from their shoulders and glared at them both. “Are you gonna spend your entire visit ganging up on me with Tony?” he demanded.
“Probably,” she replied happily.
“Just wait till she meets Petey and he gets in on the action as well,” Tony said.
Bucky groaned and dropped his face into his hands. “I think I’ve made a terrible mistake,” he said mournfully.
The twin evil cackles that were the reply to that statement proved him right.
“Hey,” a voice said as Peter closed his locker.
Yelping, he jumped backwards and then glared at Michelle. “What the hell? You scared the crap outta me!”
She shrugged, unconcerned. “So, uh, I know that you got your… 'internship’ tonight -” She used air quotes and all - “but I was hoping that maybe we could grab a coffee somewhere so we can talk before you go?”
Peter chewed on his lip, trying to get a read on her but she’d always been a closed book. He wasn’t going to find out what it was that she wanted to talk about unless he agreed to meet. Of course, he was pretty sure that he knew the general gist of what it was about. “Um, yeah, sure. I guess I can spare an hour.”
“Awesome. I’ll meet you out front after our last class.” She turned to leave but paused, and then added, “Don’t worry - I won’t say anything to Ned or he’ll wanna come.”
He nodded, grateful and then watched as she left. The afternoon dragged by, but then again, it generally did on a Friday since all he wanted to do was get to the Tower so he could see Tony and Bucky. Today he would not only be delayed in getting there but he’d also not be able to be open with his affections since Bucky had a friend staying with them. He was still excited to see them however, which meant that the clock seemed to go as slowly as possible.
Finally the school day ended and he made his way to the front of the school, finding Michelle waiting already. They walked in silence, Peter following her without question as she led him to a small coffee shop on one of the quieter streets. They placed their order and then found a table in the very rear corner where they would have the most privacy.
“So,” Michelle said, drawing the word out as she watched him with a piercing gaze.
“So,” he replied, fiddling with a sugar packet and avoiding her eyes.
She sighed, annoyed that he wasn’t blurting out the answers to her unspoken questions. “Let’s start with the most important thing then - no one has forced you into doing anything that you don’t wanna do, have they?”
“What? No!” he spluttered, aghast.
“I gotta ask, Pete, what with the statutory rape and all.”
“Keep your voice down!” he hissed, glancing furtively around the shop in case anyone had overheard.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist. No one heard,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Seriously though, you gotta know that there’s reasons for these laws, yeah?”
He rolled his eyes right back. “Yeah, yeah, spare me the lecture. Look, no one has coerced me, it’s all consensual, and we’re actually all madly in love with one another.”
She huffed. “Lame.”
“You’re just jealous. I take it things with Ned haven’t gotten that far?”
She froze, her jaw dropping open in shock. The waitress appeared with their coffee, giving her a moment to collect her thoughts. As soon as they were alone she demanded, “How did you find out? Did he tell you? Because I’ll kill him!”
Peter tore open the sugar packet he’d been playing with and poured it into his coffee. “No, he didn't tell me so there’s no need to murder your boyfriend just yet. I guess I saw what you saw - having to sneak around and hide it does seem to make it easier to recognise it when you see others doing it.”
Michelle seemed to calm down a little at that. “I suppose,” she conceded.
“Why do you need to anyway? Hide it, I mean,” he asked.
She shrugged. “My parents aren’t really okay with me dating. They want me to focus on school I guess. It just kinda happened one night and I told Ned that if he wanted it to continue, he’d have to keep his big mouth shut. To be honest, I’d expected him to blab about it to the whole school by now.”
Peter laughed, knowing his best friend well. “Yeah, well, just goes to show how much he values what you two have. He can keep a secret if it’s really important.”
Michelle looked pleased at this but also seemed to want to get the subject back to him. “So, two guys huh?” She waggled her eyebrows. “That must be exciting.”
Peter couldn't help the goofy smile that spread across his face. “You have no idea.”
“Not if you don’t give me any of the juicy details,” she pointed out.
He blushed. “It’s kinda private.”
She huffed. “Come on, Peter, be reasonable. You’ve had to hide this for however long it’s been going on and now you have someone who knows - who won’t tell by the way, even without the scary NDA - so why not take advantage? Aren’t there times you just wanna shout from the rooftop how happy you are or how amazing the sex is?”
His cheeks were positively burning by now but he couldn’t deny that she had a point. He wasn’t going to give in that easily though. “What, you want me to tell you how happy I am just so you can tell me how lame I’m being?”
She thought about this. “Okay, that’s a fair point since I totally would do that. How about this though - we have an agreement that we can both talk to each other about the sappy, romantic stuff and neither of us can make fun of the other. Deal?”
He thought about this and realised that it would be nice to have someone to talk to. He held out his hand and they shook. “Deal.”
“Are you sure you guys don’t wanna come?” Bucky asked from the door to the lab.
“Nah, you two go out and have fun catching up,” Tony said, while his fingers itched to reach out and touch, to pull Bucky close for a goodbye kiss, to grab that ass and squeeze. Bucky was taking Zee out for a night on the town and they were both dressed to the nines - the Wakandan girl in a slinky, sparkly, silver dress, and Bucky in a pair of jeans (that should come with a warning label they made his butt look that great) and a slim fit button down that was open at the collar to show off just a hint of his delectable neck. “Peter and I have plans to finally bring Tik-Tok online tonight if we can.”
“Tik-Tok?”
“It’s the AI we’ve been developing for my robot,” Peter said, thrumming with enthusiasm and almost seeming to bounce on the balls of his feet.
“I kinda mentioned that the bot looked a bit like a character from Return To Oz,” Tony explained.
“Return to Oz ?” Bucky asked, confused.
“It’s a really old movie that Tony and I watched a while back - I think you were in Washington at the time. Anyway, they totally look like each other so we’ve been working on Tik-Tok’s voice algorithm to make sure he sounds like Movie him too.” Peter was beaming. “We’ll have to make sure that we watch it on our next movie night so you can see for yourself”
Bucky was still looking confused and Tony gave him a smile. “They made a sequel to the original in the eighties. It’s weird as fuck and scared the shit outta me when I first saw it. I think you’ll like it.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Bucky drawled. “Right, well, we’re off then. See you later.”
Zee waved at them and then linked her arm with Bucky’s as he led the way to the elevator. The doors slid shut and instantly, Tony gravitated towards Peter, pulling him in close and wrapping him in a tight hug. “This weekend is going to be torture,” he groaned against Peter’s neck.
“It’s totally not fair for him to parade around looking that good when we can’t touch,” Peter agreed.
“Oh man, how hot did his ass look?” Tony whined.
“You wanted to go with them, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well obviously I couldn’t go since I’m not old enough but you could have. I know that you wanted to since I know it’s gotta be killing you as much as it is me that every man and his dog is gonna want to get their hands on his booty tonight.”
Guilt washed over Tony as he couldn’t deny that the same thought had occurred to him earlier and he’d been overwhelmed with possessive jealousy. Bucky was theirs and no one else should get to check him out, unless they were there to stake their claim. Of course, since they were all actively hiding their relationship, that was off the cards for the next year at least so for now, they’d both have to suck it up and just trust that Bucky would keep his admirers at arm’s length. He said as much to Peter.
“I know,” Peter said with a pout, “but it doesn't mean that I have to like it.”
Tony kissed him softly, and then immediately deepened the kiss, needing to feel close to at least one of his partners. Peter was pliant and willing against him as Tony mapped out his mouth, taking his time and savouring every moment. By the time they finally broke apart for breath, they were both breathing heavily and half hard. “Fuck, I love kissing you,” he murmured, pressing several quick pecks to the edges of Peter’s lips.
“Mmm, it’s definitely one of my favourite pastimes,” Peter agreed.
Tony was just thinking that maybe they could skip the work in the lab and head straight to the bedroom when Friday interrupted them.
“Sorry, boss, but Pepper Potts has arrived and is heading up to see you.”
His head dropped against Peter’s chest and he groaned softly. “Urgh, that means paperwork." He then straightened, kissed Peter once more, and then stepped back, putting a respectable distance between them. “Okay, thanks, baby girl - let her in when she gets here.”
Peter smiled, gave his bicep a quick squeeze and then headed over to the workbench that Tik-Tok was set up on. Simultaneously, their phones pinged with a text alert and they pulled them out.
I hate not being able to kiss you both goodbye :-* - Bucky
Tony smiled and sent his own kiss emoji back and soon it was joined by one from Peter. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and shortly afterwards there was the ding of the elevator and Pepper appeared a moment later in the doorway. “Hey, Pep,” he greeted her.
“Hello, Tony,” she said with a smile. She caught sight of Peter at the back of the workshop and called out, “Good evening, Peter.”
“Hi, Miss Potts!” Peter called back with a little wave before he turned his attention back to the hologram that he’d pulled up in front of him.
“What can I do for you?” Tony asked, hoping that he sounded eager and enthusiastic and not bored and resigned.
Pepper knew him well. She swiped open the Stark Pad that she was carrying and held it out to him. “Don’t worry, this won’t take long at all. I just need your signature on a few things so we can go ahead with the Free Energy Initiative before the board gets their backs up any more. Having you come to the last meeting shut them up for the time being but they’re now circling like sharks again. I don’t want to dally with this - the sooner we get the paperwork signed off, the sooner we can begin implementing the initiative.”
Tony huffed and began to press his fingerprint to all the places that she indicated. “I don’t understand them sometimes. They’re more than okay with all of our other charities - in fact, they’re so enthusiastic about the September Foundation that I actually began to wonder that they had souls after all. For some reason though, giving away free power to the poorest neighbourhoods is suddenly distasteful. It’s like they’re against people actually having heating in winter and electricity to run the bare necessities.”
Pepper lifted one of her immaculately groomed eyebrows. “You’re confused as to why businessmen who sell clean energy are reluctant to give it away?”
“How is it different to anything else we do?” he demanded. “We’re helping people who need it the most.”
“It’s just the visual, I suppose. Look, Tony, don’t stress about it - now that this is all signed, it’ll be going ahead and the board can’t stop it.”
“I’d like to see them try,” he snarled.
She paused and regarded him for a moment and he cursed that she knew him so well. Normally he just waved off their concerns, plowing on and doing what he wanted, not caring what they thought. She’d picked up on the fact that he was taking this personally and the way that her fingers flew to the Stark Pad, doing a quick search meant she was determined to know why. “Oh,” she said softly as she found the document that she was looking for, her eyes flickering over to where Peter was. She’d just discovered that his building was one of the ones that would be included in the initiative.
Tony sighed, and then pitching his voice low so that Peter wouldn’t hear, said, “Did you know that the winter after his uncle died, his aunt couldn’t afford to feed Peter and pay the electricity bill? They lived by candlelight, and boiled water on the gas cooker so they had hot water to bathe in, but they had no heating, Pep. Peter got pneumonia, and he almost died, but you know what’s worse? It’s that they couldn’t ask their neighbours for help, to kip on their couches on the coldest of nights, because most of them were in the same boat. It’s wrong, Pep. I know we have a business to run but I can’t sit by and watch kids freeze to death.”
“Tony, I know, it’s okay, I understand. Shit, breathe with me, Tony. It’s going to be okay, I promise. Just breathe.”
Fuck fuck fuck. Just the mere thought of Peter being so cold, as cold as Tony had been when lying stricken and injured in that bunker in Siberia, waiting to die, was enough to spark an anxiety attack. His lungs rattled as he tried to inhale but his spasming muscles wouldn’t allow him to take a full breath. His chest burned and he curled in on himself, instinctively trying to keep his core warm the way that he’d been unable to do so when trapped in the damaged Iron Man armour.
“Peter!” he heard Pepper yell. “Come here, quickly. Tony, breathe with me, in and out, that’s right. See look, Peter’s right here and he’s okay, see, happy and healthy and right here.”
The sight of Peter, his brown eyes wide with worry and fear, but alive and unharmed and warm (because fuck that it was summer, his brain wasn’t thinking that clearly right now) was enough to ease the tightness in his chest just a little and he was able to draw in a full breath. Tony saw Peter begin to reach for him but then stop and drop his hand back, and for a single moment, Tony considered throwing caution to the wind and just pulling him to him. But he couldn’t. They’d been careless enough with the people who had found out about them and Pepper was different to two of Peter’s classmates. It wasn’t that he thought that she would out them, or even report them, but it was that she would likely disapprove and that was something that Tony just wasn’t fit to handle. She had been his friend for the majority of his adult life and he had disappointed her so much already. He just couldn't do it again.
“Great, Tony, that’s better. Keep breathing. It’s okay, you’re okay, and Peter’s okay. Just breathe,” she kept on saying.
Peter, bless his cotton socks, went to the cupboard and fetched the blanket that was kept there. He came and wrapped it around Tony, brushing his hands soothingly down his arms under the guise of settling the blanket over him, and Tony calmed even further at that touch. He took another deep breath, this time in through his nose, picking up the traces of scent left behind from both his partners from the last time that they snuggled together on the workshop couch. It pushed back at the last of his anxiety and he felt the attack finally recede for good. He was left shaking and weak, but at least he could now think.
Pepper, the amazing human being that she was, knew exactly what he needed and she picked up the Stark Pad and then gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I’m going to go and get the initiative started right away, Tony. I’m sure that you and Peter have things you need to be getting to work on so I’ll leave you both to it.” She gave Peter a warm smile and then she headed for the door.
As soon as she was gone, Peter was leading him over to the couch and was pulling him down to cuddle against him. “You okay?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah, baby, I’ll be okay. Just keep holding me, yeah?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Tony,” he assured him, squeezing him a little tighter and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Want me to call Buck and have him come back?”
Tony shook his head, and nuzzled his face against Peter’s throat. “Nah, it’s okay. I don’t want to interrupt his night out - besides, if they came back, I wouldn’t be able to snuggle with either of you. Let’s just leave him to it and we can fill him in once he’s home.”
The music was so loud that Bucky couldn’t even hear himself think, let alone anyone speaking so he communicated with Zee by way of facial expressions and hand gestures along with a guiding hand. They made their way to the bar and after a short wait in line, managed to order two drinks. When they were handed exactly what they’d asked for, Bucky decided that the bartender must have been a lip reader to have understood what they’d said. The club was packed and Bucky took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm. He still wasn’t overly comfortable being around so many people but just seeing the excitement on his friend’s face was helping. Zee was only in town for a few days and he wanted her to enjoy every second of it.
There were no free tables anywhere so they remained standing near the bar as they finished their drinks, occasionally shouting the odd remark into each other’s ears but otherwise just people watching. A rather alarming number of clubbers, both men and women, seemed to be checking him out and Bucky couldn't help but blush. He really didn't think that he was much to look at and he wished that Tony and Peter were there for him to hide behind. Scrutiny of any kind made him uneasy after having spent too many years being a science experiment and he wished that people would stop looking at him. Eww, and was that man licking his lips while he was leering at him? Who even did that?
Zee noticed both the people looking at him and Bucky’s reaction and she laughed, moving a little bit closer to him and slipping an arm around his waist. “My poor, pretty white boy is shy,” she shouted into his ear.
He scowled at her but couldn’t deny it and he moved even closer to her, hoping that people would mistake her for his girlfriend and stop eye fucking him. By the time that he’d finished his drink he’d determined that it didn’t in fact make them stop; all it did was make them send dirty glares at Zee in between mentally undressing him. He plonked his empty glass down on the bar and wrapped his hand aaround Zee's wrist. “Wanna dance?” he half mouthed, half mimed.
She grinned and nodded, then tossed back the last mouthful of the fruity concoction that she’d ordered. They headed for the packed dance floor and began moving along with the crowd. They started on the outside perimeter of the mass of gyrating bodies but it wasn't long before they were swallowed by the undulating crowd and found themselves in the middle of the dance floor. The two had spent so much time sparring and training together that they knew how the other moved and they easily fell into a rhythm together, allowing their bodies to move to the beat of the music.
Several songs later, Bucky found himself grinning as he twirled Zee around, and realised that he was actually having fun. As much as he wished that Tony and Peter were with them, it was nice to be enjoying himself away from them as well. He’d worried that he wouldn't be able to, that he’d grown too dependant on them, and it was a relief to know that he hadn’t. He loved them both dearly but he’d learned his lesson the hard way about what happened when you limited yourself to only one or two people to socialise with. For the longest time it had just been him and Steve...and no one else. It wasn’t healthy, he knew that now, and so he was going to cherish spending time with all of the people that he’d grown close to over the past year.
More and more people were joining the dance floor and there was little space to dance. It soon became impossible to move more than a few inches to either side and the two of them were left just bouncing up and down. They laughed as they tried to jump higher than the other, not even moving to the beat anymore.
And then suddenly someone was pressing against Bucky’s back, hands gripping his hips as the person grinded against his ass.
Spinning suddenly to break their hold, Bucky came face to face with a well dressed blonde man who was eyeing him appreciatively. He glowered at the man, and although he wouldn’t be heard over the music, demanded, “Do you mind?”
The blonde stepped even closer, placing his hand on Bucky’s chest and replied, “Not at all.”
Before he could even respond, Zee was there, shoving the man backwards. “Hands off, he’s taken,” she snapped, her thick accent somehow managing to make her voice heard over the din.
The man looked at her in disbelief. “Yeah, right.”
Zee rolled her eyes. “Not by me, you moron - he has boyfriends.” She then clasped her hand in Bucky’s and pulled him away, fighting against the crowd towards the exit of the club.
Bucky’s mind was reeling, and he wondered if he could possibly have heard right. Boyfriends. How the hell did she know? He must have misheard. Perhaps she’d said boyfriend, singular, and only to make the guy back off? That was more likely than her having figured out the truth after having met Tony and Peter for all of five minutes.
The street outside felt almost silent compared to the club and they walked randomly down the sidewalk, just moving away. Zee spotted a bar that looked relatively quiet and she dragged Bucky into it, shoving him into an empty booth and going to fetch them drinks. She came back with another cocktail for herself and two glasses of whiskey for Bucky. He smiled gratefully and then downed one in one go before beginning to sip at the other.
“You look like you’ve seen an ancestor, White Wolf. What’s wrong?” she asked, a concerned frown tugging her mouth down.
He toyed with his glass, trying to find the words to ask for clarification over her statement without giving away anything. “What you said back there,” he began, but then trailed off, unable to voice anything else.
“I thought that people here were accepting of same sex relationships?” she asked, confused.
“They are,” he said.
“So what is the problem? Is it that there are two of them? Do they not allow sharing here?”
He sucked in a sharp breath, unable to mistake her meaning this time round. “You know?”
She furrowed her brows. “About you and Stark and Peter? Should I not?”
“Well, we’ve not told anyone,” he said nervously.
Zee laughed and patted his hand in condescension. “Oh, white boy, you’re so funny. You told me, every time you wrote to me and spoke about them. It is as clear as day that you care for them and they for you. Seeing the way that you look at each other only confirmed it for me.”
“Fuck,” he said, closing his eyes and dropping his head onto his arms.
“What is the matter?” she asked, worried. “Why are you scared?”
He sighed. “Zee, the age difference between us - well, specifically Peter’s age - it’s not... allowed here.”
She regarded his steadily. “You mean that it is illegal?”
He swallowed hard but couldn't answer verbally so simply nodded.
Zee snorted. “What a ridiculous law.”
He shrugged. “I can kinda see why it’s in place. I mean, Peter is mature for his age - he’s had to grow up quickly, but most teens aren’t like him.”
She gave him a look that told him that she thought that he was insane. “That is, how do you say it here? A load of shit. Yes, that is a load of shit. You do not magically mature overnight simply because you turn eighteen and anyone who says that a person cannot make a sound judgement simply because they haven’t a predetermined number of years to their name is deluded.”
“It’s not just anyone saying it but professionals and experts.” He wasn’t sure why he was arguing with her since he didn't want her to judge him.
She huffed. “Perhaps in a general sense they are right but they haven’t taken into account each individual circumstance. Humans are not all cut from the same cloth and the same rules cannot be applied to everyone.” Zee shook her head. “Tell me this, White Wolf - is your Peter happy?”
“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “Yeah, he really is.”
“And you have no plans to hurt him?”
“God, no. I would never.”
“Then I don’t see what the problem is. If you love each other - all three of you - and will do whatever necessary to protect one another, then that speaks for itself.” She reached out and placed her hand on his. “I understand though, that it is a delicate situation and I swear that no one shall hear of it from me. You protect them and I will protect you.”
He flipped his hand over so he could twine his fingers with hers, giving them a squeeze. “Thanks, Zee, that means a lot to me.”
“It is good to see you happy. I can see that that is mostly thanks to them and so that means a lot to me.”
“I missed you so much, my friend,” he said, his voice catching a little. “I’m so glad that you came to visit.”
“I told you that day at the airport, it wasn’t goodbye. I shall always be your friend, White Wolf.” She let go of his hand and reached for her drink. “I feel like more dancing. Shall we risk getting your booty groped again by hitting another club?”
He laughed. “So long as I have you to protect me, I’ll follow you anywhere.”
It was late, more morning than night, when Bucky slipped up the stairs to the Penthouse. Zee knew about their secret but Vision was still in the Tower and they were still keeping it a secret from him so Bucky still had to be careful not to be seen once he’d bade Zee goodnight. The floor was blanketed in darkness but Bucky knew his way by memory. On silent feet he moved into the bedroom, making out the shape of his partners in the large bed. He smiled to himself as he undressed, shucking his clothes with abandon until he was down to just his boxers.
Peter roused before he’d even gotten a knee on the bed, his spidey senses warning him that there was someone in the room, and he peered through the darkness. “Buck?” he asked, sleepily.
“Yeah, doll, it’s me. Budge over.”
“Have a good time?” he asked quietly, scooting over to allow him to climb under the blankets and then immediately plastering his back to Bucky’s chest, slipping his arms back around to cradle Tony protectively.
“Yeah, it was fun, but I missed you two.”
“Same,” Peter said and sighed.
“Something wrong?”
“Tony had an anxiety attack. He seems to be doing okay but he only fell asleep a little while ago and I know he’s exhausted.”
“Damn, honey, why didn’t you call me? I coulda come back.”
“He didn't want to interrupt your night. You know how he is.”
Bucky let out a long breath. “Yeah, yeah I do. Never thinks of himself, silly man.”
“I guess that’s part of why we love him,” Peter said, moving his face forward to kiss the back of Tony’s neck. “This way at least we can make sure that he’s taken care of.” He yawned widely then.
“Sounds like you’re exhausted too,” Bucky murmured, snuggling even closer. “Sleep, doll. I’ll make sure that we’re up early enough to get back to our own rooms.”
“Mmmm, thanks. Love you.”
“Love you too. Sweet dreams.”
“Don’t need dreams, life is sweet ‘nuff with you,” Peter said.
Bucky chuckled and nuzzled his nose into the tousled locks of Peter’s hair but between one breath and the next, Peter had fallen back asleep. Bucky pulled the blanket up a little further, making sure that his lovers were comfortable, and then settled in to watch over them. He knew that tomorrow he would likely freak out about Zee having figured out their secret but for now, he was content to just hold them, knowing that they were safe and close.