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“Bucky, seriously, think this through.”
Bucky ignored his brother, throwing more clothes into his knapsack. “Buck! Brock is not worth this.”
“He is to me,” Bucky rumbled, swinging the bag over his shoulder. “And if this is what it takes to get him, then I’m going.”
Brock Rumlow was all Bucky had ever wanted. He was handsome, funny, athletic, and most importantly, charismatic. He always fit in everywhere he went. Bucky had never had that; people thought him cold, called him ‘Winter.’ Everybody but Steve and his mom Sarah treated him like an outside, which, okay, he was, but still. Bucky just wanted to belong with, to somebody.
Brock was that somebody. Yesterday Bucky had dressed in his best suit, scraped together his courage, and went to ask for his hand, but Brock was high-class. He couldn’t just be wooed by some pretty words.
“I would bring you the stars, Brock,” Bucky had sworn, and ignored the pang in his heart when Brock laughed, focusing instead on how beautiful he was when he did so.
Brock got himself under control, looked Bucky up and down, and said “Alright, Winter. We all saw the shower yesterday. One of the stars fell from the sky. You get me that star and I swear to be yours.”
So now Bucky prepared to walk down Seven Bridges Road. No one ever made it past the fourth bridge unless they could pay the toll, but if you could, you would find yourself in a magical world. Or so said Bucky’s father, Chester Phillips, in his favorite nighttime story.
Sarah said that’s where Bucky came from. His father had been her childhood friend and she had taken care of Bucky once he passed on, but his mother had always been a mystery. “She’s from beyond the bridge, your pa always said,” Sarah would tell him.
“It’s dangerous,” Stevie said. “I’ll worry about you, jerk.”
Bucky smiled at his brother, ruffled his hair, which Steve predictably huffed at. “You shouldn’t. I’m leaving all the stupid with you, punk. I’ll be fine.”
Downstairs, Sarah Rogers was waiting. She handed him food, a water canteen, and his birthright: a magical candle that was said to transport the user miles in seconds as long as the candle was lit. It was left with him in the basket someone had delivered to his father's doorstep. “Come back to us,” she whispered to him as they hugged. “You will always have a place here.”
“Be safe, Bucky,” Steve told him, and then he set.
For love, he told himself as he left the only home he’d ever know.
“No passing.”
“But-”
“No passing unless you can pay the toll,” the tollman said, tone as bland as his face. Bucky rolled his eyes, feeling like they’d been arguing for hours even though it had only been a few minutes.
“And what’s the toll?”
“If you don’t know, then you can’t pay,” the man said with a shrug. “If you can’t pay then you can’t pass.”
Bucky raised an eyebrow. “You sure you’re legit?”
“Do you want to see my badge?” Bucky nodded and he passed it over.
“Phil Coulson. Agent of Shield. Is that what it’s called, beyond the bridge - Shield?”
Coulson shrugged. “Just about. More capitalization. My badge if you please?”
Bucky almost handed it right back over, then jerked his hand back, grinning. “What will you give me for it?”
Coulson froze, staring at Bucky hard. “You wouldn’t happen to know Chester Phillips.”
“He was my dad.”
“Son of a-” Coulson cursed, then stepped to the side. “He did the same exact- just go.”
Shield did not look immediately different then his own town of Bridge, until he hit the first village. Talking birds, spellcasters, a woman with two heads - Bucky tried not to gape but he was pretty sure he failed.
“Excuse me, do you need help?”
Bucky turned at the hand on his shoulder. A pretty woman around Sarah’s age was standing there, her eyes roving over his face like she was drinking him in. “Um, hi,” he said, and something in her eyes grew very bright. “I’m Bucky - James, really, but everybody calls me Bucky…”
“James,” she echoed, her hand rubbing over his shoulder soothingly before letting go. “Are you lost?”
“Yeah, a bit. This place is pretty busy.”
“Oh, yes,” she said, her face falling. “Our King just recently passed. The Barnes royal family has many sons, and word says that he decreed any of them could inherit should they prove themselves worthy.”
“How do they do that?” Bucky asked, curious despite himself.
“They catch a star,” the woman said. “And bring it back here to be admired. People are gathered in case one of the princes comes through and needs help. If they choose the next king, they assure their futures.”
The star - he had to hurry. “Listen, do you know where the star fell? Only, I’m after it too.”
“After it?” she repeated, sounding disappointed. “May I ask why?”
“I’m retrieving it, for my love,” Bucky answered proudly, but her frown only deepened. She was silent for a very long time, her gaze weighted, before she pointed towards the east.
“It will be a long journey,” she warned him. Bucky grinned, stepping closer. Inexplicably, he felt he could trust this woman. He showed her the candle. Her eyes grew wide as they raised to his face and then, suddenly, filled with tears.
“Whoa, hey,” Bucky said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “‘S nothin’ to cry over, its just a candle!” She just kept crying. Jesus, this is why people thought he was cold. He was so rotten with people.
She stepped away with him and pointed again to the east. “Promise me that you’ll be gentle.”
Bucky’s brow wrinkled in confusion but nevertheless, he nodded. She took a few deep breaths, pulled a match from…somewhere in her dress, turned him in the right direction, then lit it.
“Be gentle,” he heard again, before the world zoomed away.
He found a huge crater where the star must have landed, but no star. Instead there was a young man sitting in the middle, looking completely distraught. He was dressed in a slinky silver shirt and white pants, which looked beautiful against his tan skin and dark hair and eyes. For a moment Bucky was frozen as he stared down at him, his breath caught in his chest.
Then the boy noticed he was there, and scowled. “Hey! Don’t just stand there gawking. I’m injured, I need help.”
Bucky scrambled down the slope to reach him. “I’m looking for a star that landed around here, have you seen it?” He panted as he reached him.
The boy stared at him like Bucky had just said something very stupid, before his eyes narrowed. “And what do you want with this star?”
“To take it back to Brock, my one true love,” Bucky answered, reaching out a hand.
The boy snorted in derision. “True love? From a human? Are you even capable?”
“What are you talking about?” Bucky asked, dropping the hand like the boy’s acidic tone had scoured it raw. “You’re human. You’ve never been in love?”
“I am not human!” The other man snapped, looking insulted. “And…no. Of course not. Love is so fleeting. There’s no point to it.” He looked up at the sky, where the moon hung bright, a mournful look in his eyes. “She’s so far away.”
“Who is?”
“Maria,” the boy answered. At Bucky’s clear bewilderment, he pointed up at the moon.
Bucky felt the need to take a step back. Clearly this man was insane. “You named the moon Maria?”
“I didn’t name her anything. Maria is her name. She’s my mother. Well, not really. But she protects me from Howard, blocks me from his view, and that makes her family.”
“And…who is Howard?”
“Your sun,” the boy said as if it was obvious. “He’s an asshole. He likes to push the other stars around, show off how brightly he shines, like he’s not just a little dwarf star.”
Suddenly multiple things clicked in Bucky’s head. The absence of the star. The boy in the middle of the crater. His injury, as if he had fallen, and all this talk of the sun and the moon. He pointed excitedly at the boy and said “You’re the star!”
“…I am,” the star said slowly, crossing his arms with an adorable pout. “And you’re not taking me anywhere.”
“But I need you to win Brock!”
“If you have to sell a sentient being to win Brock’s love, then let me tell you, he is not worth it,” the star said, raising one imperious eyebrow. “I’m not going, and you can’t make me.”
They glared at each other, at an impasse, until Bucky grinned. “I don’t think I like that look,” the star said just before Bucky swooped down on him, lifting him into his arms. The star felt nice in his arms, warm and soft. Amidst many protests, Bucky carried him out of the crater and to the woods where he sat him down and began breaking a branch off the tree.
“I’m not going to sell you,” he reassured the boy, pulling out his knife and carving at the top of the branch. “Not now that I know that you’re - you. I just want him to see. He’s promised to be with me if I do and he’s - all I ever wanted. I could belong with him.”
“You don’t belong?” The star asked, still cross but with curiosity in his tone as well.
“No,” Bucky said softly. “Never. I’ve always felt like an outsider, like I can’t relate to others. Even when they’re the same as me.”
He thought he heard an “I know what you mean” but when he looked Tony was staring at the sky again, the same sad look from before back in his eyes.
“Look, why don’t we help each other out,” Bucky said, pulling out the candle from his back. It hadn’t run out yet. “This candle can transport you miles in seconds as long as the flame is lit. It could get you back home. I’ll give it to you, if you come with me.”
Tony stared at the candle hungrily, eyes flicking once or twice to Bucky’s face. “Alright,” he agreed after a moment. Grinning, Bucky put the candle away, surreptiously pulling out another item. He got the star onto his feet, then handed him the crutch he had carved out of the branch.
“You got a name?”
“Yes. But I’m not telling you!” the boy answered mutinously.
Bucky grinned. The star had spunk, he’d give him that. “Then I’ll just have to make something up. Bambi? No, too fiery. Silver? No, that’s no good. Give me a hint, doll?” A sudden burst of color flitted across the star’s cheeks and Bucky’s grin grew wider. “Doll? You like that? You’re certainly as pretty as one. Fun to carry, too.”
“Just shut up and get moving!” the star spluttered, his cheeks burning red. “The sooner we get to Brock, the sooner I go home!”
The star was funny, as prickly as he was, and endlessly curious. He had Bucky explain every new sight they came across, huffing cutely when Bucky didn’t exactly have all the answers. “Why couldn’t I have got a useful human?”
“Hey, who is giving you a piggy back ride right now, you spoiled little star?”
“I’m not spoiled, you’re just a worrywart. I could walk. I’m pretty tough, you know?”
“Sure, doll,” Bucky snorted, adjusting the star so he was more comfortable on his back. “I see some lights up ahead. Might be an inn. We’ll stop for the night.”
“Shouldn’t we hurry?” The star asked. “Aren’t you anxious to see Brock?”
“He’ll wait for me,” Bucky said, trying to sound surer than he felt. Maybe the star heard his fear anyway, because the arms around his shoulders squeezed him a little tighter for a moment.
It was indeed an inn, operated by a man and wife. The wife was a little odd; her exotic coloring with ink-black night and moss green eyes kept distracting Bucky, drawing his eye. He snapped back when the star scraped his knife across his plate, creating a terrible screeching sound.
“Something wrong?” Bucky asked. Tony just scowled at him and announced he wanted to take a bath. The wife, Madame Loki, immediately began fussing around him, tugging him upstairs.
There was another guest, a Sir Stane, that had the air of importance and condescension Bucky knew well to avoid. He headed upstairs, pausing when he heard Loki and the star through one of the doors.
“You seem stressed, my dear,” the woman was saying.
“Yeah, I guess,” the star sighed. “I just miss my home.” Bucky felt a pang of guilt at that. He could have sent the star back straight away, found another way to win Brock’s heart. It’s what Steve would have done. But Bucky didn’t want to keep waiting for the moment when everything made sense, where he suddenly fit in. Brock made sense, he told himself.
The voices dropped to a murmur and Bucky was about to move on when suddenly he heard a shout from within. Heart leaping into his throat, he burst through the door to find Loki standing over the star in the bath, a knife raised high.
There was a light burning bright in the center of the star’s exposed chest. It seemed to be Loki’s target, but as the knife swung down Bucky let out a yell and tackled her. The knife skittered away as they rolled around on the ground. “Doll!” Bucky shouted. “Run!”
The star seemed torn with indecision, but before he could decide to run or stay and help, Sir Stane appeared at the door. “What is all this-” His eyes froze when they landed on the star, the light in his chest. “The star! Oh, my boy, you don’t know what a gift this is. With you in my grasp, I will be king!”
“The star is mine!” Loki howled, and with a flick of her wrist Bucky went flying. He landed near the knife and stared at it woozily.
“Bucky!” the star came rushing towards him. “Come on!”
“Go,” Bucky mumbled. “Take the candle - go -”
“I’m not leaving you, you idiot! Maria above, what kind of horrible person do you think-”
There was another crash and suddenly Stane was bearing down on them, his hands going for the star’s throat. Bucky didn’t know what compelled him to move, but suddenly the knife was in his hand, and then in Stane’s gut. Bucky and the star watched as the man gasped and fell back.
“Now can we go?” the star said faintly, and in answer, Bucky grabbed his hand as they dashed for their gear and clothes and left.
“Tony,” the star said softly as he dabbed gently at the wound on Bucky’s forehead he had received when his head collided with the wall. Bucky tilted his head questioningly. “My name. It’s Tony.”
“Tony,” Bucky echoed, weighing it, feeling the taste of it on his tongue. Tony blushed that beautiful red, but this time underneath it was a strange soft glow.
“Don’t wear it out, okay?” he warned. He shook a finger in Bucky’s face, attempting to look intimidating, but Bucky just laughed, grabbing his hand.
“Don’t worry, Tony. You’re still my doll.”
Loki chased after them over the countryside, Tony and Bucky only staying one step ahead of her at all times. Even worse, they found out that Sir Stane’s brother Sir Pierce was wandering these same hills, looking for them.
They fled into a lightning storm, hoping to cover their trail, only to get captured by a boat that harvested the lightning for sail. For a long moment, Bucky expected to be killed, but the Captain, Nicholas Fury, took one look at their hands, wrapped around each other, and snorted.
“Eloping?” he asked out the side of his mouth to Bucky, who shook his head. “Oh. Well, maybe you should think about it.”
Captain Fury, pilot of the Helicarrier, was fierce in front of his men, but fairly genial otherwise, agreeing to take them back to the closest port to the village on Seven Bridges Road. In his spare time, he took to teaching both Tony and Bucky how to shoot.
“I’ve had men train for years ain’t got the aim you got, Buck,” he complimented Bucky.
“What about me?” Tony whined.
“Yeah, you’re okay.”
That adorable pout overtook Tony’s face once more and Bucky took pity on him. “Here, let me show you something,” he said, stepping close to Tony and raising his arm to wrap his hands around his forearms.
“O-Okay.”
With curiously trembling fingers, Bucky fixed Tony’s grip, unable to help himself from lingering. Tony was just so warm, and bright. He fit so perfectly in his arms.
“Is this good?” Tony said lowly, turning his face up to Bucky’s so they were only inches apart. All Bucky could see was large brown eyes staring up at him, sparkling and bright. The whole world lit up around him but Bucky only had eyes for the star in his arms.
“It’s good,” he replied, his voice taking on a dreamy quality he'd never heard in it before. “You’re so good, Tony.”
Tony blinked slowly, and his or Bucky or both of them inhaled on a shudder that seemed to shake the earth. “Can I-” Tony began.
“SHOOT!” Fury shouted, and surprised, Tony fired the gun.
Bullseye.
“Well, look at that,” Fury said, smirking. “There’s hope for you two yet.”
Tony pouted again, which was starting to do interesting thing to Bucky’s blood flow. It wasn’t until he lifted his fingers to run them along that lip and they cast shadows back at him that he realized Tony was glowing. Tony had never done that before, not this brightly.
Tony was staring at Bucky’s outstretched fingers now, then to Bucky himself, and a shy smile took over his face. The glow, Bucky realized, meant Tony was happy. Happy with him.
“They call me Winter, back home,” Bucky said on their last night. They stared up at the star from the deck of the ship and Tony relayed stories of them. There was Pepper to the east, shining brilliantly. Rhodey to the north, never blinking. A weak light down south that Tony called Hammer with a sneer. So many stories of a place Tony called home. It made Bucky sad. “They said I was cold.”
“Only because they wouldn’t let you in,” Tony said. “You’re the warmest person I know.”
“I’m just about the only person you know, Tony.”
“I’ve watched humans for centuries,” Tony said stubbornly. He looked sideways, almost abashed. “The other stars always laughed at me for it, watching. But humans are so interesting. They feel so much. Stars change, but not for centuries. I never knew-” His hand reached up to clutch his chest, over the bright light Bucky knew was there. “I never knew it could feel like this.”
“Me neither,” Bucky whispered, rolling over so he could drink in Tony fully, shining bright against the wooden planks. He made the mundane look beautiful. Tony rolled as well, and carefully reached out to trace over Bucky’s arm, then his ribs, down to his hip.
“I wish we could stay here,” he whispered, before his expression shuttered. “But we can’t, can we? You have to get to your love.”
Bucky wasn’t so sure anymore.
They were in the village when his resolve broke. Tony yelped as Bucky shoved him against the wall and began digging in his pack. “What are you doing?”
He pulled out the remains of the candle and handed it over. “Here. You can go home now.”
Tony’s eyes flickered from the candle to Bucky’s face, confusion on his gorgeous face. “But - don’t you want to win over Brock?”
“No.” I want to win over you, but I can’t. “Forget Brock, he’s not important. I should have given this to you straightaway, and let you get home. I put you in danger.”
“You saved me,” Tony said fervently.
“Still.”
Tony rolled the candle back and forth, eyes narrowing on Bucky’s face. “Why didn’t you? Give it to me. Just to win Brock, right?”
Bucky opened his mouth, then closed it again. Sarah had taught him to be truthful. “Not exactly.”
“Then why?”
“Because I wanted you to stay,” he whispered, unable to look at Tony, to see rejection once more.
Hands grabbed onto his face, dragging him down towards Tony where their lips crashed together. It was clear Tony had no experience, but he made up for it in enthusiasm, kissing and kissing and kissing. Bucky groaned into his mouth, wrapping his arms around the smaller man to bring him closer, he had to be closer.
He stepped forward, pushing Tony to the wall again and held him there, kissing back as fiercely as he could. “Tony,” he groaned, his hands touching everywhere they could.
“I want to stay,” Tony panted, tilting his head back so Bucky could get at his neck. “I want to stay. Bucky, I love you-”
Tony was glowing bright, hard against his thigh where he was rutting into Bucky. He likely only had the vaguest idea of what he was doing. Bucky slowed the kiss down, pulling back to gain some control. This was important. “I love you, too,” he said. Tony literally lit up, even though his smile faltered.
“But Brock?”
“Brock isn’t home, doll,” Bucky said, kissing him again. He couldn’t stop. “You are.”
Tony’s smile looked fit to split his face and Bucky was worried the glow might start attracting attention. “You know, I’ve noticed we’re in an alley right next to an inn.”
“Historically not good places for us,” Tony teased. Bucky nipped at his lips, quieting his giggles.
“Maybe we can make some better memories.”
They rented a room, kissing and touching as much as the star seemed comfortable with, into the late hours until Tony, who seemed permanently lit from within, fell asleep. Bucky watched him, then rolled over to walk towards the desk, jotting down a few lines before grabbing up his pack.
He had to tell his family that he was never coming back again. That he had found his home, and it was wherever Tony wanted to be, because it was Tony. And, he grinned as he sawed off a little piece of Tony’s hair; he would keep his promise to Brock, if only to show him the wonders he was missing.
He dropped the letter off with the landlady to leave with Tony and set out just before dawn, a spring in his step.
Tony woke with a smile on his face. Maria above, the other stars didn’t know what they were missing. “I hope you see me, Mother,” he whispered to the ceiling. “I hope you’re happy.”
He rolled over, wanting to wake up Bucky and maybe persuade him to do some of the things he was clearly holding back on last night, only to find an empty bed. “Buck?” he called, but there was no answer from the attached privy.
He got out of the bed, wincing at the cold floor, and went to look anyway, but the room was entirely empty. When he came back, he noticed that Bucky’s pack was gone. Tony ran his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit he had developed in this body, and felt a weird choppy bit, as if someone had chopped a piece off.
“Oh,” Tony said, when it all clicked together. He had left.
Bucky had left him, and gone back to Brock, taking a piece with him. He had changed his mind. Chosen the human. Of course. Why would Bucky, who never felt like he belonged, love a star, who never would?
Tony was such a fool.
Numbly, he dressed himself and walked out of the room, out onto Seven Bridges Road and heading for the border. He couldn’t go on without Bucky. Even if he had to watch him from a distance as he always had before, at least he would see him.
A moment later the landlady came to the deserted room, carrying breakfast on a tray with a letter stuck neatly in the corner. “Good morning, dearie, your man said-” She stopped at the sight of the empty room, her heart dropping at the shadows left behind.
“BUCK!” Stevie cried, and they fell into a hug. “Look at you, look at your hair!”
Bucky tugged on the strands that had grown out over his time in Shield, grinning sheepishly. “And look at that smile,” Steve continued. “Good trip. Did you find your star?”
Bucky’s smile only grew when he thought of Tony, waiting for him back at the village. He would only stay for a few hours; he couldn’t wait to get back home. “Yeah, I did.”
“And? Where is it?”
“He is waiting back at Shield for me, so I can say my goodbyes here.”
“He?” Steve repeated, eyes bulging with surprise. “Goodbyes?!”
Bucky laughed, and told him the whole story. By the end of it he swore Steve might be swooning. “Gosh, Buck, that’s so romantic. I knew there was something different about you now the moment I saw you. So he’s nice, really?”
“Nice is not the word I would use,” Bucky said with a snort, reaching into his pack for the handkerchief he had wrapped Tony’s hair in. “Look, a little piece of him-”
“That sounds creepy, Buck.”
“Just look, punk,” Bucky said, then unwrapped the handkerchief. Instead of strands of Tony’s soft dark hair, however, a stream of beautiful silver dust fell to the ground between them. Bucky stared at where in mixed with the dust on the floor, and an inexplicable feeling of dread welled up in him. “That’s…not right.”
“Bucky?”
“It turned to dust. It was his hair, I swear it, Steve.”
“I believe you. But our world isn’t like theirs. Maybe Tony just doesn’t belong here,” Steve reasoned.
Doesn’t belong here.
“I left him all alone,” Bucky whispered.
“Yeah, but you said you left him a letter.”
Bucky shook his head, shouldering his pack, checking that the gun Fury had given him was still in there. “There are people after him and I left him alone - what if he tries to come to where I am? He’s in danger, Steve!”
“Alright, alright,” Steve said, his tone both soothing and firm. “Just don’t panic, alright, Buck. We’ll go get him.”
“We?”
“Well if my future brother-in-law can’t come to me, I’m going to him,” Steve said, and Bucky knew there was no arguing with the stubborn set to that jaw.
“Stop!”
The woman who had been pestering him since he exited the inn was still at it. “I can’t,” Tony said blankly. “I have to see Bucky.”
“James - Bucky - he’s coming back. I saw you two yesterday, the way he looked at you - he wouldn’t leave you. But you can’t go through the bridge!”
“I have to,” Tony said. The woman tried to follow him but was jerked back by the very long chain that had kept her shackled lo these many years just as Tony crossed under the fifth bridge, heading for the fourth. A carriage was coming their way, driven by a familiar-looking, handsome man with black hair and dark green eyes.
“Need a lift?” The gentleman asked, but Tony shook his head. “Oh,” the man said, grabbing his hand. The woman screamed and Tony realized why those eyes were so familiar. “But I insist.”
They disappeared in a flash of green light, the carriage continuing on, as the woman stared at the place they had disappeared.
“Tony!” she heard, and her head snapped up. James - Bucky - her son, came barreling towards her, collapsing at the place where Tony had just been standing. A small blond man with a shield on his back followed after him and placed a comforting hand on Bucky’s shaking shoulder.
“Was that one of the ones after him?”
“Loki,” she answered for them. “It’s a trickster spirit that feeds off natural energy. A star would power him for centuries. We have to go after him.”
“How?” Bucky sobbed, digging his hands into the dirt as if he could drag Tony back to him. “He’s gone.”
“Do you still have the candle?” she demanded, and Bucky’s shoulders froze, mid sob and looked up, nodding. “I can show you the way.”
“Come with us,” the blond man said, and she shook her head, pointing at the chain. Her son stood, reached into his pack and pulled out a gun. Without blinking, he shot her chain apart.
"Iron bullets. Fury said they were useful against magic," James mused. Gaping, she stared at the split pieces. “What’s your name?” James asked her softly.
“Una,” she replied. She had almost forgotten her name, in the time since she had been allowed to speak it. She pulled out a match, James held out the candle, and they flew off to save a star.
“You can’t have my heart,” Tony laughed even as struggled against his bond. “I gave it away. To someone who didn’t even have the decency to give me a replacement.”
“As fascinating as your tale of woe is,” the spirit drawled. “Even a heart with such little power as yours can sustain me for decades. At this point, I’ll take what I can get it.”
He raised the knife high and Tony found himself closing his eyes, waiting. It wouldn’t even hurt, he told himself, not when Bucky was carrying the most vital pieces of him.
“I believe you have something that belongs to me, spirit!”
Tony’s eyes flew over, but it wasn’t Bucky. A short, sandy-haired man was standing at the door, armed to the teeth.
“You!” Loki snarled.
“Who?” Tony asked.
“Pierce!” the man screamed. “Rightful king of Shield as soon as you give me my star!”
Tony blinked, feeling serious deja vu. “Hey, did you have a brother named Stane?”
“Yes,” Pierce said, smiling. “And I thank you for dispatching him. I only need one more thing from you-”
He was cut off when a round disk came sailing out of nowhere, hitting him in the back and sending him flying. A familiar figure filled the doorway, flanked by two figures, one Tony knew and one he didn’t. But only the one in the middle was important.
“Bucky!” he cried, lighting up. Loki cackled at the glow, scrambling for his knife, the full power of a star within his grasp, but he was blown backwards by a shot from Bucky’s gun.
Bucky rushed to Tony’s side, unchaining him from the altar and lifting him up into his arms. “I’m sorry,” he breathed into Tony’s neck. “I’m so sorry.”
“You left me,” Tony cried even as he returned the embrace.
“I told you I was coming back,” Bucky said, pulling away.
“You did?”
“I left a letter.”
“Where?”
“With the landlady!”
“Bucky-”
“As fascinating as this is,” a new voice broke in, and Bucky and Tony looked up just in time to dodge a stab from Pierce’s sword. Steve was sprawled out on the floor, groaning, while Una was running towards them. Bucky dodged ripostes and blocked swipes with his gun until he was backed into a corner. Pierce raised his sword high and Una shouted “Alexander!”
The man froze at the voice, the call, and turned to look at the woman, his eyes going wide with recognition. “Sister?” he asked disbelievingly. “Where have you-”
The questioned never finished as Loki re-entered the fray, sending a lance of ice straight through Pierce’s eye. Una screamed as her brother fell, and the trickster appeared behind Tony to grab him by the neck.
“Tell your friends to leave, star,” he growled in his ear, summoning several pieces of ice and directing them towards Bucky, Steve, and Una. Tony kept his eyes locked with Buck’s, wide and terrified. “Let’s you and I finished our business.”
“Tony, no! I won’t leave you!” Bucky shouted, scrambling to his feet. Loki sent the ice forward and Tony yelled.
“Oh?" Loki chuckled. "Do we have a deal, star?”
Tony panted, struggling, gazing at Bucky. “You won’t hurt them?”
“Of course not. Not if you cooperate.”
“Tony, don’t!” Bucky yelled. “Please! I'm not leaving you. I'm staying right here. You stay with me, dammit!”
“I love you,” Tony whispered, and Bucky’s eyes burned with tears.
“I love you, too.” He stepped forward, letting the ice touch his chest. “Please.”
Tony closed his eyes, accepting his fate. At least Bucky would live. “I think you forget how stars die, trickster.”
Loki chuckled in his ear. “And how is that?”
The light in Tony’s chest suddenly grew bright, and then brighter, until Una had to shield her eyes. Bucky, however, didn’t look away, eyes wide and pleading. Tony smiled. “They go supernova.”
The light exploded, taking Tony and Loki with it.
Bucky woke up coughing. He was disoriented for a moment until he remembered where he was. What had happened.
“Tony!”
He shoved pieces of debris off of himself and got onto his hands and knees, crawling towards the last place he had seen the star. The room seemed permanently bleached with brightness, and Loki was nowhere to be seen.
A small body rested where Tony fell, and he scrambled to it, turning his love over to see his still, pale face. “Tony,” he whispered brokenly. “No. No. Please, don’t leave me. Please. You are my home.” He kissed unmoving lips. “You are my heart.” Another kiss. “I belong to you, and you belong to me.
“I love you.”
Outside, where none of them could see, the clouds moved from where they blocked the moon’s view. Maria looked down at her Tony, her star, her favorite child, and smiled, sweetly sad. The moon grew a little dimmer that night, and forevermore after.
Inside, Tony gasped to life.
Bucky cried out, then laughed wetly, kissing all over his face, saying his name again and again.
“I told you,” Tony grumbled. “Not to wear it out.”
“Doll,” Bucky corrected, smiling down.
Tony sat up, feeling at his chest. “It’s gone. My light.”
“Never,” Bucky swore and Tony looked up at him, trying to smile.
“I don’t think I’m a star anymore, Buck,” he said, trying so hard not to cry. “It’s so cold, now.”
Bucky tugged him closer, kissing his forehead. “Then I will warm you up.”
Una ran her fingers through her brother’s hair, remembering when they were children and he wanted to save the world. How did they come to this, she wondered.
“I’m sorry,” a voice broke through her reveries, and she looked up. James was standing nearby, the star cradled against him. Steve was in the distance, retrieving his shield. “He was your brother?”
“Your uncle,” she said, smiling sadly when the man stepped back in shock. “Your father was Chester Phillips. I met him while running away from my guards and fell in love at first sight, but he only had the one night. He left before I could tell him about you. I knew you would be in danger from my family, so I had Coulson smuggle you to him where you would be safe.”
Bucky’s mouth opened and closed as he struggled to adjust. “You - he passed on when I was eight. He said he always regretted leaving my mother.” He looked down at Tony. “To never make the same mistake, when I had love in my grasp.”
Tony got up on his tiptoes to reward him for that bit of poetry, and Una smiled to know that Chester remembered her. “You have defeated all others, James. You have retrieved the star. You have fulfilled all the requirements to become king of Shield.”
“Me?” Her son yelped. “A king. I’m just a kid from Bridge!”
“Hey,” Steve said indignantly. “That’s my line.”
“I can’t be a king!”
“I think you’d make a great king,” Tony said, shrugging. Bucky rounded on him. “You’re smart, you’re kind, but not too kind. You’re compassionate. You’d look great in a crown.”
“You realize I’m gonna marry you. You’ll be king, too.”
Another shrug, though accompanied by a truly spectacular blush. “Well, if I can’t be a star, being a king might do.”
“A star is a star,” Una said. “No matter how far it falls.”
Tony blushed even more at that, and her son beamed at her before ducking down so he could get to the star’s mouth again. They got quite distracted, and Steve gagged.
“Gross. You’re gonna be royal and gross. Royally gross!”
Tony broke away from Bucky with a gasp, glaring. “Who are you, again?”
“I’m Steve! Bucky’s brother, thank you,” Steve sniped back. “Future Captain of the Guard, too, so you should be nice to me, starshine.”
The two glared at each other while Bucky looked to the heavens. “I haven’t even said that I would - look. Um. Mother? You know more about this than me. Why don’t you rule? Or we can, together. Just as long-” He kissed Tony again. “As long as I have you.”
Tony smiled, and though he wasn’t a star anymore, Una still thought she could see a glow. “Yes, yes, I love you, too…Your Majesty.”