Hi sea!! Thank you for another year of being such a kind, thoughtful, and super fun friend to scream about Steve/Tony and the general MCU with! I can always count on you to gush/vent with!
I've been deep in the Sam/Bucky trenches the past few weeks so I will rec you some fics from there! Grounded by Margo_Kim. Bucky's journal, written in first-person, angsty but hopeful Looking For Knives (I Was Looking for You) by downjune, a classic H/C leads to get-together set-up. The humor interspersed with the H/C really worked for me here, it fits them well :D Night Fishing by Sholio, Sam/Bucky hunt down a swamp monster. Their dynamic is hilarious in this, plus it is genuinely pretty creepy!
Speaking of which, here is a fill <3 I tried to do some horror, which is usually not my wheelhouse. Think of it as a spiritual successor to this other fill I did for a previous stocking. I hope you like it!
------
"Thanks for the lift, Iron Man," Steve said, gently hopping off of Tony's foot just before they landed on the lawn in front of the mansion. "Debrief at 1600!" he signaled to his team over the comms, to a series of affirmative responses.
"Enough time for a shower, then we'll need to set up the meeting room," Steve realized he wasn't being followed, and turned around. "Tony?"
Tony hadn't moved from where he'd landed. Even in a suit of armor, Steve had long been able to read the shifts of movement that echoed the human inside, that made it Tony. Here, there remained none. Tony remained statue-still, like a suit of armor standing guard in an empty hall.
Steve blinked at his own vision blurring. No, the red of the armor wasn't changing shades. What was different was the blood that ran down it, where the neck met the helmet.
"Iron Man!"
Blood seeped out through the armor's crevices, through the elbows, finger joints, the torso.
Steve scrambled for the catches of the armor, but he didn't need to. The helmet slid off like it wasn't worth millions of dollars between Steve's hands.
The blue eyes that had always been Iron Man's, even when Iron Man and Tony became one, that had always been watching Steve since he'dwoken up in the future -
The eyes were clouded over in deep red blood. Blood treamed down Tony's face, into his mustache and beard, into his mouth and his teeth that slowly turned into a grin-
"TONY!"
His sheets were soaked in sweat, in stark contrast to his cold and clammy skin. His heart pounded in his ears, and even deep breathing didn't quiet it.
Steve's apartment was quiet and still. Before he went to bed, he would have considered it a rare moment of peace. Now, it tinted the world unreal.
He had to make it to the mansion.
It was just after midnight. Most likely, Steve wouldn't have to go upstairs to the bedrooms. Nope, Tony would most likely be in his lab-
There was blood in the entranceway. The polished floors of the mansion were marred by the dark pools. You could barely tell they were red in the darkness, but the deepness of the color shot Steve's heartrate up.
Fresh drops made a trail - a trail that led exactly to where Steve was meant to go in the first place. It was beyond the evidence of the blood. The hairs on the back of Steve's neck stood on end. Every alarm bell rang in his mind, an attuned sense to the world that was sharpened by the serum.
The light on the lab was on. The door was closed. Steve had to stand in the pool here, to key in his code, and—
"Tony?" Steve called out. It was so quiet it was almost as if his voice echoed.
"Huh?"
Steve spotted him the moment he turned around, raising his goggles. Tony's eyebrows raised. "Steve? What are you doing here?"
Steve strode across the lab, until he was able to touch Tony for himself.
"Whoa, Cap, what's going on?"
"Are you okay?" Steve demanded.
A furrow made itself known on Tony's handsome face. "I'm fine, Cap," he chuckled, but it was uncomfortable. "Why wouldn't I be? Did you have bad dreams?"
"There's blood," Steve offered, voice shaking. "Right to your lab door."
Tony spread his arms out. "As you can see, I'm in tip-top shape. No bleeding here."
"No, you have to - it was all over the floor!"
Tony stared at him. "Right to my door?"
Yes, Steve wanted to shout, he had been standing right in it.
"Okay," Tony said. He took a gauntlet, and Steve relaxed marginally. "Nothing's entered my lab other than you, as far as I know. Let's check this out."
"Yes," Steve said, as they made their way to the door, "I think we need to consult with Doctor Strange, this is more in his wheelhouse-"
It wasn't there. The pool of blood that Steve had been standing in wasn't there.
"It was right here," Steve insisted. Tony adjusted his gauntlet, face grave.
"Most of it was at the entrance," Steve told Tony, as they walked. Even the drops of blood were gone, but the massive one, right at the entrance - Jarvis never would allow that on his floors. Tony looked more and more concerned the closer they got to the entrance.
Tony accompanied him to the foyer, where the parts of the floor where the moonlight shone on gleamed, polished to perfection.
"I…" Steve stared at the floor, dumbstruck.
It was like he had been anchored in place, to Earth, to New York, to this mansion, and the disappearance of the blood had lifted the anchor, leaving him adrift. He hadn't…had he?
"We'll go visit the Sanctorum tomorrow. But maybe you should stay in the mansion for the night," Tony said. "Just to keep an eye on me." He added a wink, that sent a cold frission down Steve's spine, as he turned to look at Tony.
Steve looked at Tony's blue, blue eyes. He blinked rapidly, willing them to turn red. They did not.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2025-02-23 11:38 am (UTC)I've been deep in the Sam/Bucky trenches the past few weeks so I will rec you some fics from there!
Grounded by Margo_Kim. Bucky's journal, written in first-person, angsty but hopeful
Looking For Knives (I Was Looking for You) by downjune, a classic H/C leads to get-together set-up. The humor interspersed with the H/C really worked for me here, it fits them well :D
Night Fishing by Sholio, Sam/Bucky hunt down a swamp monster. Their dynamic is hilarious in this, plus it is genuinely pretty creepy!
Speaking of which, here is a fill <3 I tried to do some horror, which is usually not my wheelhouse. Think of it as a spiritual successor to this other fill I did for a previous stocking. I hope you like it!
------
"Thanks for the lift, Iron Man," Steve said, gently hopping off of Tony's foot just before they landed on the lawn in front of the mansion. "Debrief at 1600!" he signaled to his team over the comms, to a series of affirmative responses.
"Enough time for a shower, then we'll need to set up the meeting room," Steve realized he wasn't being followed, and turned around. "Tony?"
Tony hadn't moved from where he'd landed. Even in a suit of armor, Steve had long been able to read the shifts of movement that echoed the human inside, that made it Tony. Here, there remained none. Tony remained statue-still, like a suit of armor standing guard in an empty hall.
Steve blinked at his own vision blurring. No, the red of the armor wasn't changing shades. What was different was the blood that ran down it, where the neck met the helmet.
"Iron Man!"
Blood seeped out through the armor's crevices, through the elbows, finger joints, the torso.
Steve scrambled for the catches of the armor, but he didn't need to. The helmet slid off like it wasn't worth millions of dollars between Steve's hands.
The blue eyes that had always been Iron Man's, even when Iron Man and Tony became one, that had always been watching Steve since he'dwoken up in the future -
The eyes were clouded over in deep red blood. Blood treamed down Tony's face, into his mustache and beard, into his mouth and his teeth that slowly turned into a grin-
"TONY!"
His sheets were soaked in sweat, in stark contrast to his cold and clammy skin. His heart pounded in his ears, and even deep breathing didn't quiet it.
Steve's apartment was quiet and still. Before he went to bed, he would have considered it a rare moment of peace. Now, it tinted the world unreal.
He had to make it to the mansion.
It was just after midnight. Most likely, Steve wouldn't have to go upstairs to the bedrooms. Nope, Tony would most likely be in his lab-
There was blood in the entranceway. The polished floors of the mansion were marred by the dark pools. You could barely tell they were red in the darkness, but the deepness of the color shot Steve's heartrate up.
Fresh drops made a trail - a trail that led exactly to where Steve was meant to go in the first place. It was beyond the evidence of the blood. The hairs on the back of Steve's neck stood on end. Every alarm bell rang in his mind, an attuned sense to the world that was sharpened by the serum.
The light on the lab was on. The door was closed. Steve had to stand in the pool here, to key in his code, and—
"Tony?" Steve called out. It was so quiet it was almost as if his voice echoed.
"Huh?"
Steve spotted him the moment he turned around, raising his goggles. Tony's eyebrows raised. "Steve? What are you doing here?"
Steve strode across the lab, until he was able to touch Tony for himself.
"Whoa, Cap, what's going on?"
"Are you okay?" Steve demanded.
A furrow made itself known on Tony's handsome face. "I'm fine, Cap," he chuckled, but it was uncomfortable. "Why wouldn't I be? Did you have bad dreams?"
"There's blood," Steve offered, voice shaking. "Right to your lab door."
Tony spread his arms out. "As you can see, I'm in tip-top shape. No bleeding here."
"No, you have to - it was all over the floor!"
Tony stared at him. "Right to my door?"
Yes, Steve wanted to shout, he had been standing right in it.
"Okay," Tony said. He took a gauntlet, and Steve relaxed marginally. "Nothing's entered my lab other than you, as far as I know. Let's check this out."
"Yes," Steve said, as they made their way to the door, "I think we need to consult with Doctor Strange, this is more in his wheelhouse-"
It wasn't there. The pool of blood that Steve had been standing in wasn't there.
"It was right here," Steve insisted. Tony adjusted his gauntlet, face grave.
"Most of it was at the entrance," Steve told Tony, as they walked. Even the drops of blood were gone, but the massive one, right at the entrance - Jarvis never would allow that on his floors. Tony looked more and more concerned the closer they got to the entrance.
Tony accompanied him to the foyer, where the parts of the floor where the moonlight shone on gleamed, polished to perfection.
"I…" Steve stared at the floor, dumbstruck.
It was like he had been anchored in place, to Earth, to New York, to this mansion, and the disappearance of the blood had lifted the anchor, leaving him adrift. He hadn't…had he?
"We'll go visit the Sanctorum tomorrow. But maybe you should stay in the mansion for the night," Tony said. "Just to keep an eye on me." He added a wink, that sent a cold frission down Steve's spine, as he turned to look at Tony.
Steve looked at Tony's blue, blue eyes. He blinked rapidly, willing them to turn red. They did not.
"Sure," Steve said.