Chapter Text
"Commander Barnes, are you there? We need an escort to the temple site!"
A man ducked out of the dorm door, straightening, and Tony felt his eyes widen in decided interest. The man-- Commander Barnes, evidently-- was big. Broad shoulders lined with muscles and strong hands, and Tony was already reconsidering Pepper's suggestion to hook up with someone while he was here. Packaged with grey eyes, long hair pulled back in a bun, and scruff along his jaw, Tony wondered if it would be too forward to start flirting. "We?" Commander Barnes said, eyes flicking to Tony, then again, giving him a quick but appreciative once over.
"Yes," Melissa said with an excited smile. "Mister Stark would like a tour of the temple, to see what we've uncovered so far." Tony noticed that she didn't say anything about his concerns for their safety, and he was glad for it. Telling the security team leader that he didn't have complete faith in their ability to do their job? That was going to be a delicate matter, and he wasn't looking forward to it.
Commander Barnes smiled at him, and Tony could swear his heart skipped a beat. "Sure thing, sweet thing," he said with a wink. "You ready to leave now?"
Tony nodded, and the three of them set off.
"So," Commander-call-me-Bucky-Barnes said after they made their way into the forest, "I'm surprised ya came down here. Melissa's been tryin' to get in touch with you for a while now."
He wasn't accusing when he said it, but Tony responded like he had been. "I wasn't in charge--" or sober "--until a few months ago, I didn't know we were still funding this dig, I didn't know anything beyond the village had been found, I didn't know it had gotten more dangerous." Tony shrugged. "Take your pick."
"I didn't mean nothin' by it darlin', I was just wonderin' why I hadn't gotten to see your magnificent ass around these parts before now. It woulda made this job a lot more enjoyable."
Melissa choked on nothing and flushed, taking several steps at a hurried jog so that she was far enough ahead that she could at least pretend not to hear what they were saying.
"Do you ever stop flirting?" Tony asked, amused.
"Only when I'm too tired for it," he said with a suggestive leer.
"Is she alright up there? By herself, I mean. I thought it was dangerous."
"Dangerous by herself, but they're not lookin' to kill so she's fine. I'm keepin' an eye on her." Bucky lifted one side of his shirt to show smooth skin that had a scar marring an otherwise perfect surface and Tony felt his mouth go dry at the tease.
And then he realized that Bucky was actually showing him a gun.
He flushed and looked away, clearing his throat. "It looks- uh, safe." Forcing his mind back to the issue at hand, he said, "But only temporarily. How long is a handgun going to work until they come along with a machine gun and level you out?"
"You want me justify this," Bucky stated, cutting through the bullshit Tony was, admittedly, using to try and get a rise out of him. "While you're real pretty doll, I'm not sure your head's empty enough to not have your own ideas."
Tony raised an eyebrow challengingly. "You're the one I need to be convinced is worth it."
"Oh I'm worth plenty doll," Bucky purred, but after a moment he turned serious. "I don't know much about archaeology. But I can tell ya that if you don't fund this, someone else will, and they won't care about keepin' everyone safe, or keepin' that temple intact."
"You think that little about people?"
"I think we're all in it f'r the money," he said, "and that archaeology doesn't pay as well as black market artifacts."
"But they're pieces of history," Tony said, aghast. He understood though. He'd been at a gala for some charity for children recently, and it had killed him to see how many of them were there for the appearance and not because they gave a shit. He'd actually heard someone say 'Well, really, who cares about any of those children? They won't amount to anything' after they donated ten thousand dollars. He sighed. "I'm not going to cut funding and you know it, so stop being an asshole."
Bucky shrugged unrepentantly. "You tol' me t' convince ya."
"I meant, tell me what your team's doing and what the extra money would be doing for your efforts, not 'call me a terrible person please'," Tony grumbled.
Tony had thought that was obvious, but Bucky blinked and went "Oh," so maybe he really had just misunderstood. "Well right now, we're escortin' them back and forth and patrolling the area."
"And you need more money for…?"
"More staff," Bucky said simply. "Some of my team is only part time, and they're all overworked right now." He offered Tony a hand to cross a log, and it wasn't so big that Tony needed help, but he took his hand anyways, just to touch his hand. "Honestly you need t' hire a new security team to take over."
"You have other plans?"
Bucky shrugged, effectively not giving Tony an answer. "When I took the job, it was s'posed to be temporary. Melissa was tellin' me the other day that this is gonna take years to excavate, and that's not the sorta job I want."
"Most people would be happy to have a little job security, especially in your line of work."
"Was that a pun?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Tony said innocently, but he cracked when Bucky raised an eyebrow. Good god that little smirk was going to be the death of him.
"Just doesn't sit right with me, stayin' in one place so long."
"Don't want to settle down?"
"I might," Bucky said, glancing at Tony with something like a promise in his expression, "for the right person."
Tony held his eyes, and it felt like something passed between them. Tony was going to-- fuck he didn't know, kiss him?-- but he tripped over a tree root because he was too busy gazing lovingly into the eyes of someone he barely knew, and the moment was broken.
He heard a choked noise above him and knew that Bucky was covering up a laugh. Even though he was face down in the mud and leaves, he didn't blame him; he would have laughed too. However, since he was face down in the mud, he was flushed an embarrassed red when Bucky helped him up.
"You okay doll?" he asked, struggling to keep a straight face. "Anythin' hurt?"
"Just my pride," he mumbled, rubbing ineffectually at his face.
Bucky's hands replaced his, wiping off the bigger smudges. At least he hadn't landed in a flat pie full-- just a couple leaves full. "Don' worry about it, we've all been there."
"Oh yeah? You want to show me pictures of the time you dropped into mud?"
Bucky's voice dropped low. "Why Mister Stark, you ain't paying me enough for that."
"If I were paying you for it, it wouldn't be half as much fun."
They flirted back and forth for the remainder of the walk, and it was the most fun Tony had had in… god, years probably. As soon as the temple came into view though, Tony had a single minded focus. He walked to the wall in a stunned daze, eyes tracing the familiar but somewhat forgotten shapes and words. He was so focused on reacquainting himself with the language that he didn't even notice when Melissa hung back to talk to Bucky.
"Bucky," she said, wringing her hands nervously, "I know your two settings are 'flirt' and 'take them to bed', but do you think you could ease up a little? He doesn't look uncomfortable yet, but I don't want to risk the dig."
"Relax Mel, he's fine. Stark's a big boy, he can tell me t' fuck off without blamin' ya for it."
Melissa glanced between the two of them nervously. "Well… if you're sure," she said uneasily. Feeling that she had gotten as much of a promise as she was going to get, she went up the last couple of steps to join Tony at the temple's doorway. Bucky trailed behind, and if that happened to give him a much better view of Tony's ass? Well, he was sure that Tony wouldn't mind. He was watching Tony, not paying attention to what was happening between the two of them other than that.
Tony gestured a lot, and Bucky could see the pull and bunch of muscles under his shirt. He wasn't bodybuilder material, but it was more than he'd been expecting from a billionaire. He was surprised by more than just a few muscles with Tony though, and that intrigued him. What kind of billionaire was interested in archaeology enough that they could keep up in a conversation with the leader of the dig? Why was he actually dressed for the climate instead of sporting two hundred dollar shoes and bitching about the cost when they got ruined? Hell, why had Tony showed up at all? Wasn't this the sort of thing that got delegated? Tony-- or Stark Industries-- must be funding over a dozen projects; there was no way he was personally checking in on all of them. So why this one?
He was so caught up in his thoughts that it took him a second to speak up when Tony moved as if to enter the temple. "Sorry dollface, but ya can't go in there."
Tony turned to him, frowning. "Why not?" he asked, more than a hint of brattiness in his tone. It should have turned Bucky off-- at least a little-- but he found himself charmed by it instead. "I've been on a dig here before, I'm not going to ruin anything."
"I know ya won't mean to sweetness, but these kids've been working real hard and they have it all set up precise. I don't even go in there unless Melissa asks me to."
"Oh," Melissa said, looking desperately between Tony and Bucky, scrambling to recover Tony's good mood. "Commander Barnes, surely it wouldn't hurt if we popped in for just a moment. Mister Stark, is funding this entire project after all."
"When were you last here?"
Bucky had asked because he was curious, but evidently Tony thought that was an argument point-- and a good one-- because he sighed and nodded, turning back to the temple front but taking a step back. "It was a while ago," he admitted. He gave a little self-deprecating laugh and shook his head like he was dislodging bad memories. "Thanks for offering Melissa, but Bucky's right; I wouldn't mean to, but I'd probably mess something up if you let me in." He shot a longing look at the entrance to the temple but stayed back. "We can head back to the camp if you want."
"Are you finished looking?" Melissa asked. "Because we can stay up here as long as you want. Deanna's taking care of things back at the camp."
Tony glanced at Bucky to see if he had any objections, but he shrugged. "Cap's handling things on our end."
"I… think I'd like to stay. Just a little bit longer," he hedged, knowing full well that he would stay well into the night if they let him-- not that they would, it would be far too dangerous. He went back to the wall, taking a closer look now that he had the time. His head turned this way and that, looking at the words he thought he'd forgotten years ago but apparently still remembered.
"You know your stuff Mister Stark," Melissa said when he finished, smiling excitedly.
He gave her a half-smile, trying to not let it go to his head but failing miserably. "It's been a while," he said, aiming for modesty but probably falling short. "So you've been bringing back a lot from this site?"
Melissa nodded, ponytail bobbing. "At least a case every week."
"That's what my team's sendin' off," Bucky added, and Tony nodded. He'd wondered why the security team would be watching over the archaeologists' belongings, but if they were the artifacts that had been causing so much trouble, it made sense.
Melissa nodded, smiling gratefully at Bucky before turning back to Tony. "Commander Barnes and his team have been wonderful, we couldn't have done this without them. We've had over a dozen cases since they got here, and it helps everyone sleep better to not worry about thieves."
"A dozen cases," Tony repeated wondrously. "When I was here, we barely had a single box for the entire season."
"You were on this dig?" Melissa asked, and Tony realized that he never told her. She'd heard that he was on a dig before, familiar with the language, but that was a far cry from being on this specific dig.
"Just for one season years ago." Tony gave the wall one last, lingering look, and turned around. "We can head back now."
"Satisfied?" Bucky asked with a suggestive smirk. Melissa flushed pink and shot Bucky a 'what the hell are you doing' look that he ignored.
Not wanting to embarrass her further, Tony ignored that. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to tell Bucky that no, he wasn't, could he get a little help with that? "Don't worry Melissa," he said, clapping a hand on her shoulder, "your dig's funding is secure."
She beamed. "Really? You're giving us the extra money?"
"Yep. I just wanted to make sure it was worth the risk, and it clearly is," he said, gesturing back at the temple as they made their way back into the forest.
"Oh thank you so much Mister Stark! I promise, you will not regret this. We're making breakthroughs in this regions history, completely revolutionizing the way they view their ancestors! You have no idea the impact this will have, thank you so much."
Tony couldn't have kept a smile off his face if he wanted to. "It's not a problem; you've earned it."
Melissa all but squealed, and Bucky leaned down to talk in Tony's ear. "You just made her week, doll."
Tony shivered, and he hoped that Bucky didn't see it, but when he glanced up to look at him, it was obvious that he had. "Any way I can make yours?"
"Sweetheart, you don't even have to ask." Bucky's eyes were dark with desire, and Tony thought he was about to get kissed within an inch of his life.
Except then Melissa was clearing her throat pointedly, and Tony realized that at some point they'd stopped walking to have their little moment. Heat rose in Tony's cheeks, and he stepped away even though Melissa had averted her eyes. "Should I go ahead Commander Barnes? It seems like the two of you want some time alone."
"Nah. Thanks Mel, but that wouldn't be very safe. I don't want any accidents happenin' in the last week just cause I wanted a cute piece of ass." He winked at Tony.
"More than a piece," Tony muttered, so only Bucky could hear.
"That a promise sweet thing?" he asked, equally quiet.
"Maybe," Tony said, but coupled with the look he was giving Bucky, it was obvious that he meant 'definitely'. He licked his lips and saw Bucky's eyes drop to watch. "We shouldn't keep Melissa waiting," he said.
"Right." Bucky shook himself. "Right." They started walking again, and Melissa stuck close to them, maybe for safety but probably just to remind them that she was right there and they shouldn't get distracted. "So how're things stateside?"
"Pretty much the same as they have been."
"Nothin's changed in six months?" Bucky asked doubtfully.
"You've been gone six months?"
He nodded.
"There was an election while you were gone."
"Who won?"
"Potus."
Bucky made a noise of disgust that had Tony laughing. "Not like I want anyone else he jus' bugs me."
"He's a pain in the ass," Tony said with a snort.
"Know that from personal experience?"
Tony nodded. "Stark remember? I've been meeting presidents since I was four."
"Are they all disappointing?" Melissa asked.
"Yep."
"What about music?" Bucky asked. "Anything interestin' happen there?"
"I don't know what you like, but I can guess so… no, nothing interesting happened."
"Oh? And just what d'you think I like doll?"
"Lots of guitar."
Bucky's grin widened. "Am I that easy?"
"Well I haven't even gotten a kiss yet, so I'm going to say no."
"Oh my god," Melissa said under her breath.
Bucky laughed. "Don't worry Mel, I'm not gonna make you watch that."
"Good," she said, but Tony stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.
Bucky raised an eyebrow at his expression, but it was obvious he was affected if the way his eyes did a quick perusal of Tony's body were any indication. "You a voyeur or somethin' sweet thing? Cause we might have some trouble there, I don' like sharin'."
"I don't like to be shared, so don't worry."
"Can you please keep it in your pants?" Melissa said, practically begging.
Tony shot her a smile, apologetic and a little surprised at himself as well. "Sorry Melissa. Why don't you talk since we can't seem to control ourselves. Tell me about the dig," he suggested. "You've gone over the general information, why don't you fill me in on some specifics."
"Like what?" she asked, casting her thoughts around for a suitable topic.
"The food," Bucky said, making an exaggerated face of disgust.
Melissa laughed. "It's not that bad. Really Mister Stark, it's not," she insisted, as if worried that he would take personal offense to the state of their menu. "We're more concerned with nutritional value and it not spoiling than… other factors," she said delicately, which Tony took to mean that yes, generally the taste was utter shit.
"Maybe I'll see about getting you a better selection while I'm at it," he said, shaking his head with a grin. He remembered his days on the dig, and honestly he hadn't thought about the food all that much, more focused on- …other things. The memory of short blond hair and a wide smile flashed through his mind, and he shoved it back into the 'Never Open' box where it belonged. God he hated South America, despite Melissa and Bucky's best efforts for him to change his mind. "What artifacts have you found?" he asked, craving more information and knowing that while he would be able to get it soon enough, he wanted it now. Besides, hearing Melissa describe everything would surely prove to be more interesting than reading a physical description.
As Melissa started talking, describing the various golden and jewel encrusted vessels, Tony found himself so caught up in what she was saying that he started stumbling more often than before, not paying attention to where he was walking. After helping him straighten three times in as many minutes, Bucky kept his hand on Tony's arm, catching him before he had a chance to try and fall.
Tony didn't have a great concept on time at the moment, riveted by Melissa's stories and descriptions as he was, and since he didn't know the forest all that well either, he didn't realize that they were getting close until Melissa said something about it. He'd eaten on the flight, but that had been a while ago, and he was looking forward to eating again, even if Melissa later admitted that the food was rather slimy and bland because they were eating imported cans and MRE's from the states instead of eating the local food like Tony had done when he was on the dig ten years ago-- but then, the group had been much smaller back then.
Bucky stopped suddenly, jerking Tony to a halt along with him and making Tony cut off in the middle of a sentence. Melissa slowed a few steps before stopping as well, looking at Bucky with an expression of pure confusion. Still holding onto Tony with one hand, he raised the other to wave her over.
Frown deepening, Melissa did so.
"D'you hear a chopper?" Bucky whispered, eyes darting between the two of them.
They went silent, scrunching their faces like that would make their ears work better. After a few moments, they both nodded, and Bucky cursed under his breath. "Tony," he said, voice more serious than Tony had ever heard it in their short time of knowing each other, "is there any chance it's yours?"
He shook his head immediately. They had dropped him off and had plans to pick him up again in a few days' time, so why would they come back? He said that out loud, and Bucky doubled down on staring at Tony intensely.
"Is there any chance it's yours?" he repeated as the sound of the spinning blade got closer.
"No. They left as soon as I got off, and they have a busy schedule. They wouldn't drop all that just to come get me a couple hours later."
"Not even for an emergency?"
He shook his head again. "They have the number," he said, pulling out his satellite phone, "and they know to call, not just show up."
"You're sure?"
"Yes I'm sure what the hell is going on?"
"Helicopters are either rich people or a bad fuckin' situation. We've got the rich person," he said, face twisting with a rueful half smile.
"What are you saying?" Melissa said, dreading to hear the answer.
Bucky opened his mouth to answer when suddenly the sound of a machine gun let loose. From one moment to the next, Tony and Melissa went from standing to pulled to the ground by Bucky, hiding against the trunk of a particularly large tree.
The ground around them was still; they weren't the ones being shot at. It was rattlingly loud in the forest all the same, unnatural and jarring as the rat-a-tat overcame the sound of bugs and other various animals gone suddenly quiet at the foreign invasion.
Bucky was holding both of them close, hands tight on their shoulders, and Melissa hunched into it, holding her hands over her ears with a whimper. Tony leaned away a little though, looking up at the patches of sky that he could see through the leaves. His eyes roved over dozens of shades of green before he caught the flash of black he was looking for. "What-?" he started to ask, then stopped, paling. "Oh god," he breathed.
"What? Tony," Bucky said, moving his hand from Tony's shoulder to his chin, turning his face to look at him when he didn't immediately respond, "what?"
"The camp," he said numbly, eyes wide. "They're shooting at the camp."
Bucky cursed, turning his head to look behind them in the direction of the camp, but because of their position at the base of the tree, he couldn't see anything.
Melissa flinched, hard, when they heard screaming. "Johnny." The name fell from Melissa's mouth by accident; she hadn't meant to say anything but they'd been friends for so long and she knew that was his voice. "Oh my god Johnny." His scream cut out sharply, too sudden to mean anything other than a death sentence, and Melissa closed her eyes tightly. It didn't stop tears from leaking out.
Bucky started moving, trying to detach himself from them so he could stand.
Melissa's eyes flew open and she clutched at his shirt desperately. "Where are you going?"
"To see if I c'n help," he said, voice low and soothing. "You and Tony are goin' to stay here okay?"
"No," Tony said firmly, causing Bucky to look at him, mouth already open in objection.
"Ya can't do anything out there sweetheart-"
"Neither can you," Tony said plainly.
Bucky blinked, taken aback.
"They're in a chopper with a fucking minigun attached to it, you aren't going to be able to do shit."
"People are dying."
"And if you walk in there you're going to be one of them."
Bucky cast a conflicted look towards the camp before looking back at Tony. "I can't just let them die."
"When they stop, we'll look. If they decide to send people down, we'll fight. But right now? That's a fucking suicide mission." It made sense. Tony knew it made sense. It still made him sick to his stomach to say it. He glanced at Melissa and felt a pang of sadness at how obviously terrified she was, shaking in place and looking like she might drop dead from fear alone.
Bucky grit his jaw and settled back down, and Tony felt like he could finally breathe again. He gave Melissa a sad half smile then guided her hands back to cover her ears. She did it easily, hunching over and squeezing her eyes shut as her fingers went white trying to shut out the sound of bullets.
Bucky's eye twitched every time someone screamed, and Tony kept a timer on in his head for the length of the attack. One minutes. One minute and thirteen seconds, and then the helicopter was moving on. Seventy three seconds with a minigun and people who had no training in combat situations and very little cover… Tony closed his eyes. There wouldn't be any survivors. He looked to Bucky and could see that he had reached the same conclusion. There was a grim acceptance in his eyes, and Tony hated it. Wanted to wipe his past clean and fill him with optimism like- nope, not going there.
Eighty seconds later, Bucky was straightening, pulling Melissa to her feet and offering Tony a hand up-- that he didn't see until he was already standing. “Wait here, I'll be back."
"Where are you going?" Melissa asked, eyes wide with terror, and Tony couldn't judge her in the slightest. He didn't particularly want Bucky to go anywhere either, even if he promised to come back.
"Into the camp," he said, pressing the gun into Tony's hand and curling his fingers around the handle when he didn’t make a move to take it.
"Why can't we go with you?" Tony asked.
"Just in case."
"I think we'd be safer with you than sitting by ourselves out here," Tony pointed out, and Melissa nodded along frantically. She'd stopped crying by now, and her face had a light covering of dirt with tear tracks down her cheeks.
Bucky grit his jaw, and in the back of Tony's mind-- where he wasn't so scared-- he noticed that Bucky looked hot as fuck doing that. "Fine, but only because I think you'd come after me anyways."
"That's fair." And probably would happen because while Tony was technically a genius, he wasn't always smart in practice.
They crept into the camp, Bucky leading the way and Tony and Melissa following behind. She had one hand over her mouth to quiet her renewed sobs at seeing the corpses of people that earlier that day had been alive and working on the dig with her, and her other hand was clamped on Tony's arm, holding onto him so hard that her fingers were white and he’d have a bruise tomorrow.
Bucky pulled a handgun from the small of his back and turned the safety off as they snuck forward.
Tony had no idea where they were going, but he trusted that Bucky wasn't picking a building at random. His assumption was proven true when they slipped inside the door and Bucky made a beeline for his pack, and while Tony was at it, he grabbed the bag that he recognized as his own. He leaned down to grab it, then froze. Melissa wasn't holding onto his arm anymore. "Melissa?" He threw the bag over his shoulder and straightened, looking around for her in the small space, but she was nowhere to be found.
Bucky's head shot up from where he was checking his bag for something when he heard Tony talk. "Where is she?"
"I don't know," Tony answered with a frown, still looking around like he thought she was going to pop out of one of the beds. "She was holding onto me and then..."
Bucky zipped up his bag and threw it on quickly, fastening it, picked up his gun, and grabbed Tony's hand as he passed him to reach the door.
"Do you always hold people's hands under the guise of safety?" Tony asked quietly, needing to say something to try and calm himself down.
"Always," Bucky said with a wink, equally quiet. "Do you know how to use this?" he asked Tony, pulling a handgun from the front of his waistband and showing it to him, the gun laying flat against his palm so Tony had a perfect view.
"Are you kidding?" Tony couldn't help but ask.
Bucky started to put it back, saying, "Well I jus' thought that maybe--"
Tony stopped him from retreating by putting his hand on Bucky's wrist. "I'm a Stark. We don't make weapons anymore, but for the first twenty years of my life, that's all I knew."
"No offense doll, but that doesn't mean you know how to use it in practice."
Tony plucked the gun from Bucky's grasp. "Desert Eagle, semi-automatic, ambidextrous safety," he said, switching it off then back on, "so you're probably ambidextrous. Gas operated like a rifle to allow for more powerful rounds." He let the magazine out and peeked at the contents before sliding it back in. ".44 Magnum," he said with approval, "so you have eight rounds. You might be the hired muscle around here, but you're not the only one who knows how to handle a gun." Tony punctuated his statement by grabbing Bucky's belt loop and pulling him closer, then sticking the gun back in the front of his pants.
Bucky's eyes were dark with interest. "Is that so," he murmured, looking immensely like he was going to lean down the few inches separating them and kiss Tony senseless."You might want to hold onto that though doll,” he said, passing it back to him. “Normally I would say shoot at anyone you don't recognize, but you don't know anyone on the team, so maybe don't."
"Then who am I supposed to shoot?"
"Hopefully no one, but anyone who shoots at us." Bucky didn't wait for a reply, switching his gun to his left hand and easing the door open before grabbing Tony's hand again with his right. Tony wanted to make another joke but was aware of how much danger they were in and kept his mouth shut. His little show with the Desert Eagle had been a short-lived time of levity. He swallowed thickly and tried to keep in step with Bucky, doing a decent job of it considering that he didn't have any practice with this sort of thing.
They made their way past the building and further into camp, staying close to the building's entrances just in case, Tony assumed, someone appeared in the large space that made up the walkways of the camp. There were signs of the chopper's passing fire as they crept along, bullets dinging the unkempt road and some of the building's rooftops. They were getting to the thick of things, a smattering of corpses visible ahead of them. Tony couldn't make out how many bodies there were or even hope to identify who they could be, they were so riddled with holes.
They spotted Melissa right as there was a loud shot and she crumpled, her head jerking and her blonde hair staining with red. Tony's eyes went wide and his throat clamped up. He probably would have stood there for a minute, looking on in horror, but Bucky pulled him to the side, hiding around the side of the building. He didn't stop there though, continuing to pull Tony along the length of the building, walking much faster than they had been doing the rest of the time.
Tony's heart was thundering in his ears. The world around him was buzzing in a way that had nothing to do with the bugs populating the forest, and he didn't even notice when they started running. He clued back into the world around him when the camp was no longer in sight and it was just trees around them. "I'm okay," he said, pulling his hand from Bucky's so they could run better.
Bucky nodded, and they kept running. Tony was in shape, but he wasn't a goddamn sprinter. He went for as long as he thought he could, then a little bit longer. Bucky kept an eye on Tony the entire time, and when he saw that Tony reached him limit, he slowed down, and soon enough they were stopped.
"Sorry," Tony gasped, resting his hands on top of his head to keep his lungs open. "Give me- a minute and we can keep going."
Bucky shook his head, glancing up at the sky which, Tony now noticed, was turning a sunset orange. "It's gonna be night soon, and we're not gonna make much progress in the dark. We're as safe as we're goin' to get f'r the day, we might as well find a spot t' rest."
Tony meant to say 'okay' but all that came out was a slightly different pitched breath; he nodded.
Bucky unclipped his bag and swung it around the his front, pulling out a canteen and taking a long drink before handing it to Tony. "Sips," he said.
Tony nodded again. The first sip tasted heavenly-- if muddy tasting-- and while part of him wanted to guzzle it down, the part of him that couldn't hold its breath for three seconds prevented him from going for it. He handed it back a minute later, and Bucky stuffed it in his bag before refastening it.
He jerked his head forward. "We'll find a spot for the night, and then we c'n rest."
"Okay."
Bucky started walking, and Tony did his best to keep pace beside him. They were walking quickly, but it was a far cry from the running that they'd been doing earlier. Even so, his legs were aching, and he found himself stumbling over nothing but his own feet.
The second time he tripped, Bucky said they could rest there for the night. "I know there are more important things t' worry about," Bucky said, dropping his bag on the ground and helping Tony with his, "but do you still have my gun? That was my favorite."
Tony frowned, glancing at his hand where he last remembered it being. "Oh." At some point, he'd tucked it into the waistband of his pants, so he grabbed the weapon and handed it over.
"You okay?" Bucky asked, both his expression and his voice dripping concern.
Tony smiled weakly. "They're probably here for me," he found himself saying. He hadn't meant to, but that was the most likely cause.
"What makes ya say that?"
"The entire place happens to get shot to hell the same day that I show up?"
"It could be a coincidence. It's not likely," Bucky said with a crooked smile, “but it's possible."
"What else could it be?"
"We were movin' the artifacts today; they only missed it by an hour. Or it could me an' my team," he mused, sitting on the ground. Tony all-but collapsed.
"Are security teams always being targeted? Maybe I should give mine a raise."
Bucky gave a bark of laughter. "Yeah, we're not... always security."
Tony blinked once, twice, then he understood. "You're a mercenary."
"Yep. Does that bother you?"
Tony stared at him for a minute, then shrugged. "It doesn't matter what I think."
"Doesn't it?"
"You're getting paid, all the same."
"I'da thought you cared who that money was going to."
"Why are you picking a fight?" Tony asked tiredly, and Bucky blinked, taken aback before smiling sheepishly.
"Sorry doll. Habit. People find out I'm a mercenary, and all of a sudden I'm a criminal instead of someone who signs a contract and does the job jus' like anyone else."
"And you expected me to do that."
Bucky just kept smiling, but there was something soft in his gaze that Tony didn't want to- no, couldn't think about. It was one thing to flirt and maybe plan to hook up, but that look... no. He couldn't go there right now. Fuck South America and its matchmaking, he was going to get out of this continent with his heart intact, both physically and emotionally.
Bucky pulled out two protein bars and tossed one to Tony. He opened it up and started eating, raising an eyebrow at Tony when he didn't do the same.
"I'm not hungry," he said, thinking about the gunshots, the bodies, the way Melissa had dropped to the ground like a puppet with cut strings.
"If ya don't eat, you'll be 'not hungry' cause you're dead."
Tony rolled his eyes at the exaggeration, but opened the bar and took a bite of the bar that tried to cover the taste of protein with peanut butter and didn't do a very good job of it. "Happy?"
"I will be once ya eat th' whole thing."
Tony ate it slowly, partially because of the taste and his lack of appetite, but also because his body still hadn't quite settled from the running and he worried that if he ate it too quickly, he would make himself sick. He pulled out a water bottle of his own, seeing Bucky nod absently when he saw it.
Bucky took a pull from his own and licked his lips. "So. I've got good news an' bad news."
"Worse than people trying to kill us and murdering a bunch of students?"
"No."
"Then I don't care."
Bucky chuckled. "The good news is, I have a tent in my bag." He kicked the large pack with the side of his foot. "The bad news is, it's a single. Norm'lly I'd call that a good thing with someone as pretty as you, but I'm guessin' you're not in the mood for that sorta thing."
"You're full of shit Bucky. You're not in the mood for it either."
Bucky looked at him for a long moment, serious. "Yeah," he said quietly, "guess I'm not." He shook off whatever he'd been thinking about, and got to his knees, pulling all sorts of things from his bag to get at the tent. "Even if sleepin' outside didn't end with ya gettin' eatin' alive by bugs, sleepin' together is safer."
Tony couldn't help it-- he giggled. "I know you're right, it's just- this sounds like the beginning to a really bad porno. There's only space for one person but we're both going in, and oh, we shouldn't be fully dressed because we only have one set of clothes and we don't want to get them dirty, do we?"
"Well now that ya mention it..." Bucky said, hooking a thumb in the front of his jeans and winking. "It sounds like I'm jokin', but do ya really wanna sleep in the clothes you were runnin' in?"
"Guess not," he agreed.
He tried to help Bucky set up the tent, but when it became clear that he had no idea what he was doing having never set up a tent before and this one not having instructions since Bucky didn't need them, he sat to the side and made comments like how great Bucky's ass looked when he bent over. For a moment, he felt ashamed for making light of such a serious situation, but... he knew that neither of them were actually over it, and this was just a way of coping. It made him feel like a liar for his earlier comment about how neither of them were in the mood for it though.
It wasn't quite dark by the time he finished, but he motioned for Tony to get inside anyways. Sunrise was going to be early, and presumably they wanted to be moving by the time the sky was lighting. "After you sweetheart," Bucky said, holding the little tent's flap open.
"If you wanted to check out my ass, all you had to do was ask."
"Do you ever turn that off?"
"Not if I can help it."
"Well how about you get a good look now and then you get in first since you're bigger."
Bucky hummed. "Tempting," he said, but it was clear that he thought Tony was only joking. He started stripping, carefully folding his clothes and tucking his various weapons between the cloth. Once he was down to boxer briefs, he crawled inside the tent and threw an arm over his eyes to give Tony some privacy while he got ready for the night.
Tony worked quickly, feeling more exposed than he would have if Bucky had been looking and talking to him. He crawled in alongside him and zipped the tent closed before laying down.
Bucky shifted away to give him some space, and Tony hesitated for only a moment before snuggling closer. It wasn't a sexual thing-- not mostly, at least-- and he just about purred when Bucky wrapped an arm around him to show that he was welcome to stay where he was.
"Have you ever been on an assignment like this before?"
"Security detail? Yeah. Where it turns into a complete shit storm and people die? Also yes, unfortunately."
"Worse than this?"
"I'd say so. But," he added ruefully, "I also don't know the full list of casualties."
"'Full list of casualties'," Tony repeated. "You make it sound like they aren't people."
"'Course they're people. When we get back I'll talk to their families and make sure they're okay, same as you're plannin' I'm sure. But for the moment, it's only gonna give ya trouble." His hand started to stroke Tony's lower back, sending tingles up his spine and down to his toes; he was pretty sure that Bucky didn't realize he was doing it. "Really doll. Don't think about it for a few days 'til we get this figured out, and then you c'n obsess over it all ya like."
"Is that what you do?"
Bucky's shoulders moved in a small, adapted version of a shrug. "Sometimes. I've seen a lotta people die, Tony. I can't think about all of them all the time, and neither should you."
"They deserve to be remembered," Tony said quietly.
"And they will be," Bucky said simply. "That doesn't mean it's on you to get nightmares about it."
Tony didn't say anything, his silence meaning that he agreed with Bucky, if begrudgingly. "Did you know them? All of the students, I mean."
"Yeah. Hard to work here for six months and not know everyone. The site's expanded since you've been gone, but not that much. When were you here anyways?"
Tony gave a shrug of his own, shifting to get more comfortable. Both of their skin was sweaty and sticky in the not-fun way, but after a little moving around he found the right position. "A few years back," he said vaguely. "I don't really like to think about it."
"You didn't have fun?"
"There were... parts that were nice. It didn't end well though. Sort of ruined the whole memory."
Bucky nodded, pressing an absent kiss to the top of Tony's head. "Cap used to be an archaeologist for this dig. He's a teacher now, but he helps me out ever' so often." He laughed quietly. "He's gonna kill me for dragging him into this."
"Nah, he'll just be happy you're alive."
"After he gets over it though..."
Tony snorted. "He sounds like a fun guy."
"Yeah. You'll get to meet him soon."
"Ooo meeting the family? We haven't even been on a date yet."
"I can't believe you accused me of never turnin' off the flirtin' when ya talk like that," Bucky said, amused.
Tony yawned, surprised at first, then feeling stupid at that surprise because he'd been running for however long today and combined with the emotional stress and all the traveling he did, it would have been strange if he hadn't been tired. "Do we have a plan? For tomorrow?"
"We're heading to the river to get good ole Cap on the phone so he can pick us up."
"Who is he? You said he's a... teacher usually?"
"Yeah. Best friend and second in command on this op. We were in the military together y'know, so it's not like he's clueless."
"Good to know."
"Yeah," Bucky said, the smile clear in his voice. "He's pretty great; you'll like him. All blond hair and blue eyes, maybe you'll even like 'im more'n you like me."
"I don't like blond guys, but thanks," Tony said with a snort, thinking of the last blond haired-blue eyed guy he'd given more than a passing glance. "And who says I want to trade you in? I haven't even taken you out for a test run yet."
"At the rate you're goin', you're never gonna get to test me out."
"Well I was supposed to have a few days of walking around the camp with nothing better to do than hook up with a hot mercenary."
"And now you have somethin' better to do?"
"I don't know, sleep maybe?" Tony said, but he was smiling, and despite the exhaustion of most parts of his body, his mind and libido were more than willing for a romp in the sack. He propped himself up on one elbow so that he was facing Bucky instead of just laying on top of him.
"Aw but sweet thing you can sleep anytime. I'm a limited time attraction."
"Are you open for business?"
"For you doll? Absolutely." As Bucky said it, his eyes were roving over Tony's face, eyes dark with an unmistakable desire.
Tony didn't bother saying anything else, just closed the last few inches between the two of them and kissed him. Bucky's lips were dry but soft, and Tony had a suspicion that that was only because they'd been running for half the day. He made a noise, and Bucky opened his mouth breathlessly, nipping at Tony's bottom lip.
Neither of them were much in the mood for foreplay, what with the tiring day and the fact that both of them were in their underwear and nothing else. Their skin was sweaty and sticky in a not entirely pleasant way, but honestly Tony couldn't care less about that. What he wanted to know was how the hell Bucky was doing that with his tongue and where the fuck he learned it because oh god...
Bucky was all consuming, a fire that was surrounding him, covering his entire front and sending it down his throat and into his stomach with every curve of his tongue and the way he held him. He had one hand on Tony's barely covered ass, and the other on the back of his head, not forcing him in place but helping him keep track of where Tony was.
Bucky was hard and thick under Tony, and he pulled back for a moment, resting their foreheads together to give Bucky a chance to tell him that he didn't want to do anything else. He rolled his hips down once, then paused, waiting to see if Bucky was going to stop him, but he just moaned and pushed his hips up against Tony's before claiming his mouth again, messier than before but neither of them minded.
They moved against each other, trying to find a rhythm in their cramped space, but ultimately they just ended up rutting against each other like teenagers in a car. The fact was though, that neither of them were young enough to come like that. With a slightly frustrated groan, Bucky shoved the front of his boxers down before reaching inside Tony's and taking both of them in his large hand and stroking.
Tony whined in a way that would embarrass him if he thought about it and shifted his weight. He moved his hands from Bucky's body to brace his elbows by Bucky's head and moved against him with more purpose, the roll of his hips a promise of what it would feel like when-- if-- Bucky got inside him later. The new position made it easier for Bucky as well, and he worked his hand hard and fast, sweat a poor substitute for lube but they were both so close to the edge that it didn't matter.
He twisted his wrist on the upstroke near the head of their cocks and Tony could feel his orgasm pooling in his groin. Bucky pressed wet kisses to his neck, and it sent Tony over the edge. His body tensed and filled with pleasure as he came thick stripes over Bucky's hand and onto his stomach.
"Oh god Tony yeah, jus' like that baby," Bucky was saying breathlessly, still working his hand quickly until he was arching up into Tony's body and biting his lip to keep from screaming.
Tony was shaky above him, trying to keep his weight off of him but having nowhere to go. The pleasure from their orgasms was quick to fade with the uncomfortable conditions, the air humid and on the wrong side of too warm, and their come a sticky mess between them that they had to find a way to clean.
All that said, they were both more relaxed. Tony felt like he could actually fall asleep now, and Bucky seemed less likely to murder the next person he saw-- Tony hadn't even noticed the extent of his tension until it eased.
"Alright sweet thing, get up a sec," he slurred, patting Tony's behind. Tony got out of the way best he could, and Bucky unzipped the tent enough to grab a handful of the large leaves that populated the trees here. He wiped Tony up first, getting him as clean as the leaves allowed, which wasn't much but was better than nothing. He tossed the come-covered leaves outside and then zipped the tent back up. Getting back into place made them both very aware of the pointy parts of their bodies, but they managed it in the end, Tony's head back on his chest and Bucky's arm around him. The tent smelled like sex and sweat, and it wasn’t exactly the potpourri Tony was used to but he was too tired for it to matter. "Get some sleep honey."