31

(I promise I don't hate you guys; I just have a lot going on)

Steve POV 

When the invitation for Tony and Pepper's party showed up in our mailbox, I was seriously considering not going. Tony and I have been on good terms, having resolved any lingering bitterness about what happened in Siberia, so it wasn't that.

I just don't feel very good about leaving the house. Ever since that box showed up on our doorstep, it feels like we've been in a state of emergency. Or, I have, anyway. Bucky has been very carefully indifferent to it. He won't let me see it bothering him whatsoever, even though I know it does. 

I was fully intending to just hunker down in our house and wait until I felt like the threat had passed, but...

"What do you mean, we're not going to Tony's party?" Bucky asks incredulously, holding open my closet door as he pauses in his search for something for us to wear.

"I just..." I shrug. "I think it's safer to just stay here." 

He lets the door swing shut. "You think it's safer here than at the Avengers tower, where all the Avengers are? And that's another thing- all of your friends are going to be there; you can't just not go." 

"So it's about appearances?" I tease.

"No, it's about getting out of this house." 

"You don't even like Tony." At this point, I'm just trying to find excuses to stay. I struggle to understand how he thinks it's a good idea to be out and about right now.

"I don't dislike him. Was I upset about him totally beating the crap outta me? Sure, but I understand why he did that." 

Feeling the need to put my foot down, I firmly say, "We aren't going. That's final." 

Bucky opens the closet door once again and props it open with a bookend. He gestures to the suits hanging up inside the closet. "Find an outfit. We're leaving at five." He promptly exits the room, giving me no time to argue. 

By the time five o'clock rolls around, I still haven't chosen an outfit. I'm trying my hardest to enforce that we're staying home.

When Bucky re-enters my room, dressed in one of my suits, he looks annoyed but not surprised at the fact that I'm still wearing my casual clothes and showing no signs of going anywhere. He draws in an irate breath and says,

"Where are the car keys?" 

Which is not what I was expecting at all. I was kind of thinking he would say something more along the lines of, 'why aren't you dressed,' or, 'get your lazy ass into a suit,' or in the best case scenario, 'good idea, let's stay home.'

I gape at him, confused as if he's speaking another language.

"What?" I ask when my brain starts working again. 

"Well, we're both being stubborn," he explains himself, casually clipping cufflinks onto the ends of his sleeves, "so you can stay here, and I'll go. Sam will be there, so I'll have someone there that I'm friends with. Do you want me to extend your congratulations to Pepper, or-?"

"What- no!" I cry out. "We can't split up- are you crazy?" 

I catch myself calling him crazy once again, and I almost fall on my knees to start apologizing. But it doesn't seem to bother him. In fact, he's wearing a very small smile- almost unnoticeable

"Then come with me." 

-------

True to Tony's nature, the party is absolutely full of friends and strangers: people that I know, people that I don't know, people Tony doesn't even know. I've already been approached by multiple reporters asking about my retirement. I've waved them away every single time because I just feel like they're focusing on the wrong thing. They should be focusing on the fact that Tony Stark is going to have a child. 

"Capsicle!" Tony greets warmly, seeming to have shaken every hand in the room. "Good to see you here." 

"It's good to see you, too, Tony," I return, my response genuine. There was a time not so long ago when I was so upset with him that I wouldn't have even been able to lie about that. 

He swirls his white wine around in his glass, thinking carefully about what to say to me next. I hate that we have to do that- be cautious in our words so as not to upset the other.

"I was worried you weren't gonna come," is what he decides on. "You and, uh, Fullmetal over there have been locked up in your house for the better part of a month." 

I don't understand the reference he's trying to make with his nickname for Bucky, but I imagine it has to do with his metal arm.

"Yeah, we've been a little paranoid," I explain casually. "We got a kind of threatening letter in the mail a little bit ago. It's nothing, y'know? Probably just someone trying to prank us or something. But it brought back some unwanted memories, so we've been keeping to ourselves." 

I'm trying to shrug it off as if it's nothing. It's not nothing, but I really don't want Tony to get involved, and I'm sure Bucky doesn't, either. 

"Oh, shit, that really sucks." He's being genuine, I can tell. "I'm sorry. What- what kind of letter?" 

"Just someone pretending to be HYDRA." I am not great at pretending to be casual. I can tell I'm way too stiff, and shrugging way too much. "There are still a lot of people who aren't okay with the fact that Bucky wasn't arrested, so-" 

Ironically, right as I bring up someone being arrested, the elevator opens and a cop walks into the room. 

Tony turns the music in the room off by pressing something on his watch and approaches the man.

"Is there a problem, officer?" he says, arrogantly. 

"No!" the young officer assures quickly. "Not- not with your party, I mean. We haven't been getting any complaints. No, I'm here for- I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes?" 

I look around the room, eyes landing on Bucky immediately. I'm trying to communicate a question with my eyes, but it doesn't seem to be working. He starts to walk toward the cop, but I grab his arm when he gets near me. 

"Why?" I ask. "Is he in trouble?" 

Before the man can say anything, Tony interrupts. "I think we should go someplace more private," he suggests. "So we can talk about this without being stared at." 

He ushers the four of us into an elevator, turning the music back on as the elevator doors close. The elevator only takes us one floor down, and we exit into a significantly quieter and less crowded room. 

"I might have missed an appointment with Dr. Raynor," Bucky mutters to me. "I'm not sure, though." 

"They can arrest you for that?" I hiss back.

"Yeah, it's court mandated." 

"Alright, what is this about?" Tony asks aloud. "Because whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing I can't take care of." 

He means that he's sure it's nothing money can't take care of.

"Well," the young man stammers, absolutely starstruck at being in the presence of two Avengers and the Winter Soldier. "There's a warrant out for your arrest, Sergeant Barnes. For- for murder." 

"I was already tried for all of that and found innocent," Bucky disagrees, remaining a lot calmer than I am. "They can't bring me to court for that again." 

"No, not those murders." The officer seems ashamed. Apologetic, even. He clearly does not want to be the one bringing Bucky in for this. "The murder of John Walker." 

None of us know what he's talking about about, and it's very obvious on our faces.

"Walker's dead?" Tony scoffs. "Since when?"

"Since this morning. L-look, Mr. Barnes- I mean, Sergeant Barnes. I really gotta bring you in, so it would be great if you would just come willingly." This kid is so goddamn nervous; he's sweating like a whore in church. "I don't think using force to bring you in would even be possible, so could you-" 

"Yeah," Bucky nods, looking like he's trying not to laugh. "Yeah, I'll go with you." 

I do a comical double take between Bucky and the cop, my eyes almost bugging out of my head. "What? No, don't just go with him!" 

I don't trust this. I feel like they need to present us with evidence, any sort of proof that Bucky killed John Walker. Hell, I need proof that Walker is dead! 

They can't just take my partner away from me in the middle of a party. That's just plain rude! This damn generation and their lack of manners.

But Bucky remains calm. He is completely unbothered by these absurd allegations. "Stevie," he says gently. "They have no proof, baby. And I didn't kill him. You know I didn't kill him." 

Yeah, he has a good point, but people probably get convicted of things they didn't do all the time! At least, that's what happens on crime TV shows, which probably aren't very accurate to real life.

So I let him get arrested.

"You can meet us at the station," the officer tells me, "but you can't come with us." 

He escorts Bucky into the elevator and out of the tower, leaving me to wonder if I made the right choice.

Tony sips silently at his wine, staring at me over the rim of the glass.

"So?" he asks expectantly.

"So, what?" 

"So, aren't you gonna go meet them at the station? Or do you need to go get Sam first, because you can't do anything if your gay threesome aren't all together?"

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. "First of all, we can do things when we aren't together. Second of all, we are not a threesome." 

"Sure, sure." 

I ignore him and enter the elevator, pressing the button for the lowest floor. I get impatient really quickly, tapping my foot and wishing the elevator could go just a little bit faster. When it finally reaches the ground floor, I run out to my car and get into the driver's seat. 

Manhattan's traffic makes what should be a ten minute drive closer to a half hour drive. I get out of my car and walk into the police station, feeling a little self conscious being out and about in this nice suit. 

But that feeling quickly goes away when I get inside and see the very last person I expected to see.

(Oooooh who is it? A long lost dead friend? A long lost dead enemy? Someone I made up entirely?  Place your bets here!)