fossilised | I come from a land of ice and snow

I come from a land of ice and snow

Asgard sat atop the branches of Yggdrasil since time began, and little had changed in their society in the years since. Each Asgardian was long-lived into the millennia, their lands were fertile, their people brave and strong. They had their vassals, their allies, and their enemies. Yet even those who opposed them respected the might of the Golden Dias, and the royalty who sat upon it. Currently that was Odin Borson, though he grew weary more easily now and had begun to consider passing the throne to his eldest son.

He had been blessed with many children, but only two that he considered worthy of his lineage and status. His firstborn, Thor, strong and honourable and everything an Asgardian warrior should be. His second son, Loki, was not natural born, though none knew that but his wife. He was different, a creature of magic and mayhem, of sharp intelligence. Both were worthy, but together they would take Asgard to a new prosperity, he was certain of it.

Midgard, where the mortals dwelt, was a land raided every few centuries for stock. It was seen as a breeding ground, much like a corral for cattle. Mortals were lesser, short-lived and weak, they were fit only as slaves. The last raid had taken place when Loki had been but a baby, nearly a thousand years ago, but the mortals that had been taken had been bred and cared for so that a healthy slave population still thrived. Slaves were given a weakened mixture of Idunn's crop with their food, to extend their natural lives to at least a few centuries in order to make them worth the effort to train. They had no rights, but they were taught well that this was their natural position.

All slave children were raised in a central pen and taught the same when small, those that then displayed talent at cooking, riding, hunting, housework, artisan skills, or singing were then measured off to be specially trained for higher masters. Every five years those who could afford to buy a slave, or those of high enough status to simply demand them, came to the corral and chose. Those who were chosen were special, were envied, and those who were not ended up working the fields out in the far reaches of Asgard, the most menial of work.

Anthony and Steven had been friends since they were little and being raised in the large pens together. Both had excelled, Anthony at crafting and Steven at warrior's skills, but neither were chosen when they were five, nor ten, nor even fifteen. Now, at twenty, it was their final chance to be chosen before they would be assigned to one of the meanest farmers beyond the borders of the great capital. Steven woke Anthony as the dawn rose, mingled excitement and nerves on his face.

"Anthony! Wake up, I've got news! I heard the overseer talking to one of the passing guards, and Princes Thor and Loki are coming to the corral today."

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Despite how this would look, despite how much Steve protested, he was a fantastic sport about the whole thing. Barton and Stark were on his team, but the word ‘team’ was a sort of loose term and he wasn’t exactly their leader. It was all right if he looked a little foolish here, especially if it made Bucky happy. Steve was a tough guy. He could sustain a little egg on his face here and there.

Tony was the first out, having ducked into the tower in their Village to use the restroom and wash his hands, and he stood with his hands on his hips watching the man slip into the light of the courtyard. “I really don’t think I can handle anything weirder than a boar-cat. Do not say your arm isn’t working unless it’s hanging out of it’s-- Oh.”

He blinked, mouth open, and then snapped that mouth shut again immediately.

“So okay. You’ve caught a Disney Prince. Well, Barton will dress him and I’ll get the oven on.”

Some of Bucky's easy good humour slipped away now that it wasn't just Steve and himself any more, but he still had a slight smile on his face when he hefted Steve onto the ground at Tony's feet.

"Sure, sounds good. We better get moving quick, because he never shuts up and it's kind of annoying, you know?"

The fondness in his eyes was unmistakable, Steve was his whole world and that had only grown since he had his memories returned. Steve was all he had now, and the same was true in reverse - all their families, friends, everything they had known before was dead and gone years back.

"I'm thinking maybe a white and creamy sauce?"

Tony ran a tongue over his teeth somewhat frighteningly and Steve rolled back onto his bound hands. “You know what sounds even better? Letting me go and not bothering with cream sauce,” Steve said, which only made Tony, and Barton too, who was now sitting on the second floor balcony overlooking the courtyard.

“We don’t really have any cow milk. There’s plenty of what I think might be goat’s milk, but I really don’t want to try it. Barton?”

“I don’t want to eat anything that talks to me,” the archer said, highly amused. “Call me old school.”

Tony tapped a foot. “Uh, well how will you feel if we gag him first?” There was a pause and then a dramatic roll from balcony to ground by the SHIELD agent. Tony found them all so vvery annoying. But he still kind of missed Phil.

“Okay, a gag will work. Here.” He offered Tony the rag he had been cleaning his hands with and Tony tossed it towards Bucky.

Though this was Bucky's game, and he had allowed the other two to join in on it, he stood a little forward as if acting as a barrier between them and Steve. It was funny, but he was also a slightly paranoid guard dog who wasn't about to let anyone actually hurt Steve or go too far with the game.

"You really think a gag will work?"

He caught it from Tony, but it was filthy and he wasn't about to subject Steve to the taste of whatever Barton had on his hands.

"I think I better just cut him loose-- but first, Tony, come and take a look at the vines, they have a lot of give, might be useful? Steve-- show Tony what happens when you struggle."

Crouching with Bucky at Steve’s back as the man genuinely attempted escape, Tony couldn’t help but be amazed at the tensile strength of the plants. “And these are the ones that are growing over everything? We’ve been pulling them off the buildings left and right-- Oh wait. No…these are the heartwoods. See, the tendrils? Those you can break, but the main stem…see how it gives?”

“See? I have been trying to get out of this for the last three hours,” Steve complained, cheek once again in the dirt. It wasn’t as if he didn’t need a shower anyway, but he didn’t like being helpless. He made a deep, sighing huff, resigned to his fate but not at all liking it. At least he wasn’t too annoyed just yet. “Think you can cut it off?”

He could see a flash of a blade as Clint passed a knife over to Bucky, once again letting him lead the charge when it came to handling Steve.

He felt Tony give him a little push on the back. “I thought you two were just into some pretty kinky stuff? No?”

“Tony, inappropriate,” Steve sighed.

“Hey, how’d you guess my middle name?”

Bucky might not know Clint very well at all, but he was becoming appreciative of the man's understanding with how to handle things without making a big deal out of it. The boundary that said Steve was his territory was wonderful, soothing, and kept him from going out of his way to stake his claims there.

But then there was Tony...

Bucky set the knife down just for a moment and straightened up properly to look Tony directly in the eye, voice and expression stern. "We've talked about this," the appropriateness of boyfriend or other lascivious comments. "Don't do it again. Final warning."

Only then did he crouch down and cut through the vines holding Steve to finally set him free.

You don’t poke bears unless your name is Tony Stark and you’ve spent your whole life doing whatever you wanted until a particular bear decided he didn’t like it. The older man stood as Bucky cut the vines easily – another interesting property to note about those plants – and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m sorry. Final warning? I’m not policing my observations for you because of your poor, narrow minded sensibilities.”

Barton gave the pair a side eye and then pressed his lips together and gave other eyes to Steve to hopefully have him step in. And thankfully, the blond did. “Guys, it’s fine. Bucky, I’m used to it with him.”

They’d been forced together for weeks before the abuse started and Stark clammed up. If anything, he appreciated that Tony was being Tony again. He didn’t say anything when Tony called Bucky his boyfriend a few days ago and he wasn’t going to say much to this comment (which he didn’t fully understand) either. Tony liked reactions and Steve was happy to give them without really being offensive.

But Tony? Tony wasn’t letting this one go. “No. Call off your guard dog, Rogers and put him in his place. He’s not ruler of all things. I’m sorry if he’s got cultural hangups when it comes to normal, every day things, but I’m not going to watch what I say.” He couldn’t anyway. It all flew out so fast.

Bucky quite liked Tony in that muted sort of way that said he was tolerable and he was willing to help, but he wasn't about to give leeway to him just because of what had happened. Suffering through trauma didn't give you a get out of jail pass, he sure as hell didn't have one, and so Tony had another thing coming if he thought that Bucky was just going to stop and let it pass.

"No."

He bristled and took a step towards Tony, fingers closing into a loose fist.

"I asked you not to, you're a grown ass adult, show some respect and monitor yourself. I don't talk about the stuff you wouldn't want smeared around, so pay it forwards. I won't ask you again, I'll just punch you the next time you say something. You're not a kid, and you're not dumb, so you have no excuse."

Tony laughed, which had Steve getting to his feet and between the two men before Tony could say anything or Bucky could show him what a good shot he was. “Guys, please—“

But Tony was already going, mouthing off. It’s what most often got him into trouble. He was self-agrandizing, but he also put his mental acumen where his mouth was and had the money and legacy to prove it. So no one had ever really taught him how to simmer down. Not even at boarding school, where he was hated and feared, or at home where he was ignored no matter how much he acted out. “Let me get this straight. You, a trained assassin with a metal arm, will hit me, just an average joe with a good bone structure in his face, because I say something you don’t like that doesn’t actually do anything to harm you?”

He glanced at Steve, at the side of his jaw at least since the blond really was between him and Bucky now. “Stark—“

“Your campaign platform is all about a guy who doesn’t like bullies. Well tell your asshole friend that he can stuff it. Or break my teeth of a joke. Whatever you’re currently feeling Captain America.”

"Steve."

It was a low warning, not that he was about to attack Tony, but that he wanted the choice to fight his own battles however they turned out and he better step aside right now because this was nothing to do with him.

"You call me a bully because I might punch you, and what I am, and what you are? But you don't think it's bullying to take something that you've been told not to do or say, and keep right on doing it like it's your God given right to be better than everyone else without consequence? Me punching you, if I did, isn't bullying. It's called consequence, Stark, learn it. You do something bad, you face the consequences, that's how life goes."

Tony did one better here, stepping to the left, away from Steve, so that he and Bucky could continue their conversation. Steve did his best not to roll his eyes but…eyes were certainly rolled and Barton made sure to just stay and watch where he was. This could be bad with two super powered guys and one very smart guy battling it out. “You asked me not to call him one thing. And I didn’t. And I won’t. I get it. You want to pretend people don’t feel things because you don’t like them and it matters to your friendship to stick your head in the sand. But I didn’t say anything else, Barnes. Or do I not reference you together with him in the same breath anymore? Will that make you feel better?”

Tony’s eyes were bright amber in the glow of the square. The lights actually seemed to pulsate as if egging the pair on.

Steve’s dismay turned to confusion as he glanced between the two men. “Are you two fighting about me? Because I can take whatever he says about me, Buck. Thick skin, I promise.” He didn’t need to be protected. He’d never needed it. He could handle himself. He was his own man.

Bucky wasn't having any of this any more. He didn't realise that Stark thought it was Steve that felt the one-sided attraction, and he feared that any moment now something would be said that would smash their friendship into broken pieces, when Steve found out about Bucky's perverse longings.

So... he took advantage of Tony stepping around Steve to move. He didn't go to punch him, but he did snatch out his metal hand and grab him to haul him up and then carried him off at high speed, darting back into the jungle and zig-zagging around to avoid any pursuit until he could be sure they were alone.

Only then did he put Tony down, eyes hard and fierce.

"I thought we could be maybe friends, Stark, but I was wrong. You're jeopardising the most important friendship I have, because you think it's your God-given right to say whatever the hell you want. This has to stop. Because if you cost me Steve, I swear you won't survive the hour after that. Not a threat, just a fact."

After the nausea and dizziness ceased, Tony managed to let wonder and sudden realization color his face. He was no longer expecting to pick his teeth up off of the ground and so his shoulders relaxed and he turned slightly on one heel, putting his profile to Bucky. He made a casual glance around to make sure that they weren't being followed, but big blond and earnest wasn't yelling and tromping through the jungle after them.

"So you're not a homophobic jackass who wants to pretend that our team mascot doesn't have a massive crush on you... You think he'd hate you if he found out that you have a massive crush on him! I get it now. You're still a big asshole though. You have to know Cap better than that. I barely know the guy and I know him better than that!"

Tony shook his head.

"I wasn't trying to out you, so my bad. Let me take all the slack for that one. I deserve it." He wasn't going to out Steve either by blatantly telling Bucky he thought Rogers was gay. Or mostly gay. He probably would have to get Barton out here to help him find his molars.

Bucky knew that Steve likely would try to stay his friend, but that wasn't the point, there were some things that just irrevocably changed things and this was one of them. If Steve found out, he'd try to be understanding of his friend's perversion, but it would colour literally every action between them in the future, and Bucky just couldn't have that ruined.

"Listen to me, I don't care what you think in private, but you don't say anything again. You don't suggest, you don't tease, got it?"

Bucky had lost too much in his life already, and he hadn't even got back all of the pieces of himself. He wouldn't cope with losing Steve, even in just the way where things changed.

"Things are fine as they are."

Tony opened and shut his mouth as he thought on what to say or do. He lifted one finger a moment later. "You are an idiot," he said, making his point before moving onto the next, a second finger joining the first. "You're blind." And a third to join the first two: "don't threaten me again. Talk to me like a person if you were serious about the whole pal thing, okay? I won't out you to the Boy Wonder. You don't order me around. We good?"

In the distance, Steve's voice was worried. "Buck? Tony? You guys okay?"

He couldn't have his friends fighting. Not when they had so much work to do. And he didn't want to have Bucky beating Tony up either.

Tony thrust his hand out to Bucky and if the other man took it, he'd call back that they were fine and to get dinner started already. "But I get to tease you in private. That's my only rule."

Much as Bucky thought that Tony was like an impossible overgrown child, he did sort of like him and feel sorry for him aside from everything; so, after a moment of hesitation, he took Tony's hand and shook it in his own.

"Even in private, better not overstep those bounds too far. No threats, I'm asking you as a pal."

He'd been through too much to find it funny when things were poked into his sensitive subjects. Was it so wrong of him to want a break from being stressed and tired and on edge? A tiny part of him even wanted to beg Steve to forget everyone else on Earth or the training moon, and just retire with him to one of the picturesque villages to spend the rest of their lives growing plants or some other domestic stuff.

"Please."

"I never loved someone like that," Tony admitted. "I don't think I even love Pepper like that. I don't even know if she's alive but I've barely thought about her-- but you? You were this brain washed scary robot guy and you still wanted nothing but to protect him. I can respect that. There's not a lot of people like you around. So he's off limits. But your hair and your crazy way of talking is not. You need tougher skin if you want to be my friend."

He was already starting back to the Village before Steve could find them and happen upon a conversation Bucky would punch his skull in if he heard. So Tony left it like that, hands in the pockets of trousers that didn't fit too well but he didn't have a tailor handy anymore to do anything about.

Steve had his hands on narrow hips and a worried look on his face as Tony and Bucky pushed out of the jungle. "Are you--"

"We're fine, mom. Thanks," Tony said, heading back inside to avoid having to eat any more boar-cat.

Steve headed slowly over to Bucky. "You too? You can tell me if you aren't."

Bucky wasn't about to argue with that, Steve being off limits was all he wanted, and so Tony could rip into whatever he wanted about Bucky himself and he'd take it. He was good at letting most things roll off him, Tony would only ever tease and so nothing he could say would ever be as bad as things he had heard from HYDRA, but something about Steve made him lose his cool.

He didn't attempt to stop Tony from disappearing back inside, stopping in front of Steve to shrug slightly.

"I'm fine," he said shortly, not the most comforting of answers, probably, but he wasn't about to tell Steve what he just painstakingly made sure he wouldn't find out. "Stark just doesn't know when to keep his big mouth shut."

"That's the first thought I ever had about him," Steve grinned. The amber glow of the inset lighting made rings around his pupils. It was hard for anyone to look more beautiful that this right now, man or woman, regardless of personal preference for that sort of thing. His hair seemed to sparkle too. This place was glorious and Steve looked like he belonged here, still covered in dirt and smiling as if nothing was wrong for anyone in the universe. "The second was of how much like Howard he is."

Steve put an arm around Bucky's shoulders. It was a loose, friendly gesture. They ate together and Barton told them about the survey of the moon and about the crumbling Villages at the northern cap and the extensive maze of tunnels beneath the surface. "There are herds of these things that look like purple giraffes, but their legs are really short and their necks extra long. It was so weird," Barton said. "Not as weird as the giant mushroom trees though. When this is over and we're settled for awhile, it's going to be pretty interesting to explore."

Exploration was the topic on Steve's mind that night too, as he laid in the cot next to Bucky's. He hadn't taken one of the beds for himself. Someone else would need that, he figured. A cot was fine with him.

"This is nothing I ever imagined for us," Steve said wistfully, hands clasped behind his head. "I thought maybe we would go to Africa and hunt lions one day but this is so much....more."

As distasteful as the Soldier was there were aspects of his skill set that would prove useful in the days and weeks to come. He had been taught tactics on a wide scale; admittedly to bring down governments and topple nations, but he could easily use it to do the opposite and help build. He was already working on a list of what needed to be done, starting with getting down into the underground systems to see if they were suitable for living or just storage. Either way, the added space would prove invaluable.

"Yeah? I never thought we'd end up there, I always knew you were gonna save the world one day."

He really meant that, even before the serum he had known that Steve was destined for greater things. Guys like him weren't born every day and Bucky used to have daydreams of Steve in the Oval Office, changing the country and the world for the better, a compassionate leader for a post-war America. Sure this was bigger than that, but it still didn't surprise him.

"You know you're gonna have to take charge after the rescue, you can have democratic votes but there needs to be a strong voice with the actual good intentions to take charge first. That has to be you, Stark would be a disaster and Barton thinks too small, he's in this for too much of a personal reason."

The talk of fantasy and lion hunting and adventures to the Orient were tales for boys to tell each other and while Steve wanted to reconnect to the boys that they had been, Bucky's change to a more serious topic along with what he had admitted to the day before, that he couldn't go back because he changed too much, made Steve set aside the foolish notions of adventure and the romance of travel.

Maybe one day they could be those boys again when they were old and their families didn't need them any more. But for now, Bucky was right.

"Stark has a loud voice. But I agree with you. He had a good heart and maybe he'll realize that but he's not the leader he thinks he is." Steve wouldn't sugar coat it. Just like he wouldn't deny that he was the man to do the leading. Again. He'd been built into a symbol and while he could get the job done, the serum giving him the strong and attractive body that made people want to let him lead, no one was going to want to hear rhetoric or promises. They would want action.

He alone could provide that.

"Will you come with me again? Join up? I need you with me, more than ever."

"I'm with you, Steve, til the end of the line."

It wasn't something he had said for a long time, but it meant a lot to him all the same, and it was the complete truth. If Steve signed up, Bucky would be right there with him. If Steve jumped into the damned fires of hell, Bucky would follow before he even hit the ground and never regret a moment of it.

He glanced over at Steve, able to say things to him that he never could have to anyone else, even in front of anyone else.

"I haven't had a lot of choice for a long time, you were the first mission I gave myself, and I don't choose to let it go. Wherever you lead, I'll follow."

Steve didn’t need Bucky. He could fight his own battles and outside of Bucky, he felt like he was alone anyway. He’d made due without his friend for a long time too, all through boot camp, all of those months on tour… He knew he was going to need people in this fight, and it was going to be a hell of a fight the moment they hit Earth’s atmosphere again, but one person’s loyalty could be measured against any other.

But that said, Steve didn’t want to be alone anymore. He didn’t want to have people follow him blindly on appearance or even on action. He wanted someone that knew his heart.

Steve pushed up against the pillows so that he could see Bucky’s better, half turned on his side with his arm beneath his pillow. Their cots were just a foot apart, close enough that if Bucky exhaled roughly, Steve would feel it against his shoulder.

“Thank you.” And he meant that genuinely. “And thank you for putting up with Tony. I know he’s…an acquired taste. It’s all right if he makes crude jokes. Heck, half of the Howling Commandos did all the time. He’s harmless. I just wish you’d overlook some of that stuff since we really do need him.”

Steve might not need Bucky, but Bucky sure as hell needed Steve. He never would have broken his programming if it hadn't been for his oldest friend, and he wouldn't have any reason to keep living past the pain if it weren't for him either. Maybe it wasn't healthy or fair to pile that much on Steve's shoulders, but he couldn't help it being true.

"It's fine, we hashed it out."

As long as Tony left Steve off the teasing for Bucky, which he promised to do, then they would be fine. He could deal with crude jokes about anything else, Steve was the only thing off-limits just in case it clued Steve in to the truth.

"He's like a spoiled kid, doesn't seem like enough people ever taught him no."

Steve had a good laugh about that. “You know, that sounds about right. Howard must have had a hands off approach to parenting and just spoiled Tony rotten. That makes a whole lot of sense.” And it was absolutely wrong. Steve would find that out later, though.

They spent the next day preparing for their flight and by the following morning, the four men were loaded onto the deconstructed Skiff. Tony took them off of their little moon with it’s rough potential beneath them, and shot out into space. Those not in seats, crowded around Stark to watch their hope disappear, fell against the back wall as inertia failed to kick in as strongly as they’d all hoped. Steve had his arms around Bucky as they fell into a pile on the floor, listening to Stark’s “Whoops, forgot to compensate for the lack of weight!” apology from the jumpseat.

It would be a few days before they made it back to Earth through the disruption in the Void, and without much else to do but plan their arrival, Steve spent a lot of time sitting in one of the windows below deck to watch the stars. He looked too big, too jocklike, to be staring wistfully at the stars but he was still just that kid from Brooklyn deep down.

He didn't hear Bucky approach but he saw a glint of his arm reflected on the glass and he tilted his head back and gazed up at his friend.

"This makes me feel small again."

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