Tony was running around the next morning when Bucky came back from doing his jobs, anxiously tugging at his hair at the thought of Stephen coming over thanks to his brat of a child.
"Dad chill" Bucky says, grabbing his bag from off the table.
"Um child of mine where do you think you are going? your dad needs support to get through this" Tony says, blocking the door so Bucky couldn't walk out.
"Dad, I have an educational experience to get through and look at it like this, with me here you have no show of the sexy doctor man putting the moves in you you have to do this aloooonnneee" Bucky then pushed past his dad jumping into Tony's Ute before waving goodbye.
"Oh and dad?" He calls from the window.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks so much for being so.. understanding last night? I'm really glad I can talk so freely now about this and not have to shut Nat and Bruce up in fear of you hearing.."
Tony smiled at his son from the doorway. "Course, Buck. I'm glad you told me, now you'll be able to freely talk about sucking some guys dick and I'll be able to just shrug it off."
"OH MY GOD DAD EW! IM LEAVING-"
Tony laughed wholeheartedly as his son sped off down the driveway, blasting his Elvis Presley CD as he did so.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, Dr Stephen Strange was standing right in front of him, in a pair of black trousers and a white button up that had the sleeves rolled up showing off his muscled arms with a black tie, making Tony instantly feel self conscious at his jeans and plain white top.
"Um h-hi Dr" Tony stutters out, slightly taken aback by the sudden man before him.
"Tony, nice to see you. I wasn't really expecting an email from you but a nice surprise anyway. How's it been since I saw you last week?" Stephen asks, walking inside.
"Look I uh have to admit um the email or uh yeah wasn't um heh I don't uh have anything to help with your patients" Tony mumbles.
"What so I don't get to talk about my patients bummer" Stephen replies, sarcasm dripping in his voice.
"Uh well um funny story my son sent that email to you hoping to set us up... haha he doesn't realise you're straight"
"Oh I'm not straight I'm probably the bendiest bender you know" Stephen says with a slight chuckle, making his way over to Tony.
"What about you Stark? Hmm? Are you straight?"
"Oh um I-IM STRAIGHT" Tony cursed at himself for the outburst and his bisexual panic.
"Are you now?" Stephen says, clearly not believing him and continuing to edge closer and closer.
"Uh... I-I um ngh" Tony was so frustrated with himself. He was usually the ultimate player, he was the one making everyone else stutter and trip over their words, he was almost always the one to take the lead be in charge take control. But with Stephen it was almost impossible. His presence demanded attention, demanded that you do anything and everything he wants without him even trying. Tony was trying so hard not to spill every secret he had to this guy and it was so hard not to just fall into his arms and let everything out.
The other issue with Stephen was he wanted to tell him everything. Wanted to tell him all the horrors he experienced in life, all his sorrows, every bad thought he's every had, all the dirty ones too and it was bad for him. He had barely talked to this guy for longer than half an hour yet he already felt head over heels.
"I-I-I-I... I have a doctor kink!" Tony shouts, then cursed loudly at himself. "I'm also about as straight as a pole that got hit by a bus!!"
Stephen stepped closer to Tony putting his hands firmly on his shoulders. "Why don't you take a breath before you blurt out anything else, Tony." Stephen says, looking down at him. Tony breathed in and out slowly.
"Uh sorry I Uh didn't mean to be so embarrassing. I'm assuming you'll go now. I'll tell that Christine lady that you have come for your once a month every month if you don't tell anyone about this..." Tony says, avoiding eye contact.
"Fuck." Stephen curses.
"What what's wrong?"
"Fuck fuck fuckedy fuck fuck fuck" Stephen continues.
"Look you're gonna need to stop swearing at yourself for a minute to tell me what the issue is" Tony says, sass lacing his every word.
"... ugh I wanna take you out on a date and be all nice and romantic and wait till it seems right to have sex damnit." Stephen says, frustrated with himself on every level.
"Um then do that?"
"Wait you'd actually be interested in more than sex with me?" Stephen asks, some insecurity showing in his eyes.
"I mean yeah..." Tony replies nervously, rubbing his neck.
And then not being able to hold back any longer, Stephen grabbed him by the neck and leaned down, kissing him softly on the lips almost like he was afraid that he would disappear.
********
Bucky walked into school an hour later, buzzing with excitement. He couldn't wait to tell Natasha and Bruce the amazing news, and he also couldn't wait to get home and hear what happened between his father and Dr Stephen Strange. Life for once was actually on Bucky's side.
As he made it at his locker, confusion washed over his features. "Where's Bruce and Nat?" He thought to himself. Bucky scanned his eyes around the halls, The sound of laughter and students conversing loudly with their friends floated throughout the space as he did so, until his icy blue eyes landed on his two friends.
Bruce had just slammed his locker shut and was throwing his bag back over his shoulder, while Natasha and Clint were huddled together against their lockers that stood beside each other, giggling down at their phones.
Bucky sighed, unlocking his own locker and began getting all the books that he needed for the day, when an arm suddenly slung round his shoulders and caused him to jump. Giving a small help of surprise, Bucky turned and slapped Bruce on the chest, causing the other to laugh. "Jesus Bruce! Don't fucking do that to me!"
"Chill chill, I ain't no murderer." Bruce chuckled, leaning against the lockers after patting his friend on the shoulder. "Anyway, how are you?"
"I'm fucking fantastic!"
"Wow- Okay. That's a first. Why're you so 'fucking fantastic'?"
Bucky rolled his eyes before grinning. "I may or may not have come out to my dad.."
Bruce's jaw dropped. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed, "that's amazing dude! I'm guessing he took it well?"
"Yes! He was so sweet and ended up telling me that he was bi."
"Oh cool!"
"Yeah, it is! Urgh I'm just so happy!" Bucky rambled, hugging his books to his chest.
"Well I'm glad you're happy but.. are you gonna tell the school?"
He shook his head. "Uh no.. why do I have to anyway? They don't need to know."
"No no no, I know that I just wanted to know so that you could prepare yourself for anything. You know?"
"What do you mean prepare myself!?" Bucky hissed, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Nothing, just forget I said anything." Bruce muttered.
Bucky sighed. Yeah. Just forget.
Soon the silence that had begun to waft around the two boys was broken by Natasha and Clint mumbling small hi's and waving awkwardly. "Hey guys, what's up?" Bucky asked, hiding the nerves that bubbles in his stomach from his voice.
"Not much. Just thought we'd come over and talk, ya know?" Natasha responded, leaning her head against Clint's shoulder, and causing Bruce to roll his eyes.
"Okay.."
The group stood in awkward silence for a few moments, eyes focusing on things around the corridor when Clint decided to break the ice and say, "I can leave if it's too awkward."
Natasha instantly denied him, but Bruce cut her off and growled, "Yeah, that'd be great." With a harsh glare.
"You know what? If you really want clint to go Bruce, I guess I'll just go too." Natasha hissed through clenched teeth, getting ready to drag Clint away as Bucky grabbed ahold of her arm.
"Wait Nat! Bruce was just kidding.. right Bruce?"
"Nope. Dead serious."
"Come on, Clint." Natasha hissed once again, "let's go somewhere we are actually welcome."
Bucky watched painfully as the couple walked off without even a glance back, causing anger and frustration to start to bubble inside the pit of his stomach to the point he couldn't hold it in any longer and exploded. "Why the fuck would you do that!" He yelled, "you've probably now made them both feel like absolute shit, especially Clint!"
"Why did I do that?" Bruce questioned, an equal amount of anger in his tone. "Maybe because Nat was fucking rubbing in my face that she was with him and didn't give two shits about how I felt about it!"
"Are fucking Kidd- this again! I get it, Bruce. You like Nat and your jealous of Clint. But you have to fucking understand that she's happy. So fucking happy with him because she's finally found a guy who actually treats her right, and I know you could do the same, but seriously? Treating her boyfriend like absolute shit and that his emotions and feelings don't matter is so fucking selfish Bruce. You need to get through your thick scull that she's with him and that treating him like shit is so selfish and awful! So maybe instead of being such an asshole, be kind to him. Treat him with respect like he treats you with respect. Or at least try to be for Nat, because acting the way you are won't get you anywhere." Bucky practically screamed, eyes blown wide with anger as his hands were clenched into fists at his side.
"No, you don't fucking get it!" Bruce spat, poking Bucky in the chest. "You don't know what the hell Im feeling because you don't know what love is! So stop acting like you know everything about how I'm feeling because you don't."
Bruce shoved Bucky into his locker behind him, holding on tightly to the collar of his shirt as his eyes were scrunched in a glare. "I'm sorry." Bucky breathed, trying to calm himself down before he fired a punch at his friends face. "But you cant get mad at me for trying to help you!"
"How the fuck is yelling at me that I'm an asshole helping me get with Nat! And for the record, I don't need your fucking help anyway. So leave me the fuck alone!"
And without another word, Bruce gave one last shove to Bucky before turning on his heel and storming off down the hallway.
Bucky breathed in deep breaths, hand over his hammering heart as he watched his friend storm off, and slid down to the floor. He placed his head in his hands, trying to rack his brain around what just happened.
**********
Lunch was a completely different story.
Bucky walked timidly into the cafeteria, clutching the straps of his bag that clung to his broad shoulders as he scanned his eyes around in hopes of finding Natasha and Bruce sitting together like nothing had happened.
But his hopes were crushed at the sight of Natasha sitting with Clint and some of their other friends, completely ignoring his presence as he stood awkwardly at the door. Bruce on the other hand was seated with his basketball team, sending Bucky a harsh glare as he caught sight of him standing alone.
Allowing his shoulders to slump and a sigh to slip past his pursed lips, Bucky turned on his heel and made his way outside of the cafeteria and out into the fresh air.
Bucky kicked a pine cone as he headed out to the bleachers that surrounded the schools large football field, thinking of finishing off some homework when the sound of yelling and running footsteps cut him from his thoughts.
He raised his bowed head to only sigh, football practice was on. Great.
Bucky went to turn around and head to the library, but was stopped by someone calling out his name and running over to him. Confused as to who it may be, Bucky turned back around, eyes widening at the sight.
"T'Challa?" He questioned as the familiar male cake to a stop in front of him, football tucked away under his arm.
"Hey buck." He said sweetly, "what're you doing out here all alone?"
"Oh.. um.. just thought I should get some fresh air ya know?"
T'Challa shook his head with a small chuckle. "Bucky, you don't have to lie to me. What's really up?"
Bucky sighed, ignoring the presence of a blond haired boy in the team making faces and jumping around. "My friends and I got into a small fight and so I've got no one else to sit with so I thought I'd come out here at get some homework done. But seeming as practice is on, I'll just go do it in the library."
"No no no, it's fine. Really. You can just watch like old times, ya know? I know for sure that Pietro, who I'm guessing is right behind me, has missed having you here and joining in on teasing me."
"T, I don't think that's a good idea.. we broke up a few months ago and decided to just be friends, didn't we?"
T'Challa gave a full belly laugh. "Bucky, oh sweet Bucky, I didn't mean as in wanting us to get back together because yes we do work better as just friends, I just meant that like you used to really enjoy just sitting and watching."
"Ohhhhhh!" Bucky laughed, a blush of embarrassment rising to his cheeks. "Sorry.."
"It's fine."
"Well I guess I will stay here and watch. But you better get back to practice before your coach starts yelling."
With a nod and a small wave, T'Challa jogged back over to his team, quickly firing the football at Pietro's face as he began to make kissing noises in a teasing manner. Bucky couldnt help but burst into laughter at his exes actions and shook his head.
Once the boy had finally calmed down from his laughing fit, Bucky situated himself on one of the many bleachers and began to do his homework, every so often looking up and watching the practice and watching as T'Challa was quick on his feet.
But as time slowly went by, and Pietro had saved Bucky multiple times from being hit by the ball, a familiar someone came over and took a seat next to Bucky, clearing their throats.
Bucky shot his head up in fright, eyes widening at the person that filled the space beside him. "Oh hey Clint.." he mumbled, brushing his hair from his face. "How come your here?"
Clint smiled softly, "just thought I'd come and make sure you were okay. I heard you and Bruce fighting, so thanks for sticking up for me."
"No problem. I'm really sorry about Bruce.. he doesn't mean to get so angry and all.. just can't seem to control himself at times.."
Clint shrugged. "It's okay. I'm kinda used to it now, I guess."
As Bucky opened his mouth to respond, the sound of whistling cut him from doing so and caused the two of them to look over. Pietro was in the middle of the field doing press ups, a smirk on his lips as he sent a wink Clint's way.
Clint blushed, averting his eyes away from the handsome male and back over at Bucky. "Complicated homework?" He asked.
Bucky shrugged, ignoring the others response to being catcalled. "Eh, not really no."
"Well, I better get back to Nat, you know how she can get sometimes.."
"Oh yes, I know."
Clint chuckled. "See ya."
"Bye..."
******
Bucky walked in through the sliding door at the side of his house a few hours later, feeling slightly giddy at the thought of finding out how his father and Dr Stephen Strange's little meeting went.
"Hey dad! I'm home!" He called, hearing the jug boiling from inside the kitchen. "Did you get the D?"
Getting only a choked out cough in response, Bucky confusingly walked into the kitchen to find his father coughing and tea spat across the bench and a fully clothed Dr sipping on his tea.
"Oh shit- sorry haha.." he apologised awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.
"So this is your son that sent the email." Stephen said with the nod of his head. "Nice to see you again, Bucky. Tony here was telling me how it was your idea to start up the mental health part of the ranch."
Bucky gave a small nod. "Yup.. it was.."
"And why is it that you came up with this idea?"
"Oh well-
But before Bucky could finish his sentence, Tony cut in and spoke. "He just randomly came up with I-
"No i didn't father." Bucky sassed, crossing his arms. "I came up with it because at the time I was just 10 and my mum had just left. So of course I was heartbroken and did the stereotypical thing and didn't want to leave my room because I thought I had done something wrong and that I was the reason she left, so I didn't wanna make my dad even more upset by having to look at me. And I stayed in my room for weeks, until my friends came round and dragged me out to the animals and I just- I don't know.. my mood just lifted and that's when I realised that this could help other kids or adults that may have lost a loved one or were going through some mental battles."
Stephens eyes widened at the teens response, quite impressed at his ability to come up with such an idea at such a young age.
"But anyway I better go and finish off that fence cause I can literally feel the sexual tension in the air and I really don't wanna be in the house if anything goes down"
Tony gasped, grabbing ahold of a tea towel and whacking his son on the ass as he ran out laughing, "You little shit!" He yelled with a huff.
Bucky laughed in response as he ran inside of his room, dumping his bag onto the floor as he continued to cackle, holding on tightly to his stomach.
"Oh my god!" He wheezed, looking over at the family cat the gazed at him from his bed. "That was bloody amazing, bub!"
The cat only yawned, stretching out its limbs before curling back into a tight ball. Bucky sat down beside her and ran his hand gently over her soft fur, smiling as she began to purr.
"Only a few hours to go before the weekend, Alfie." Bucky sighed, closing his eyes at the thought of being able to lounge round home in his pjs, stuffing his face with chips.
He grinned at the thought and quickly leapt up from the bed, throwing off his clothes and tugging on his work ones that he had set out the night before. Once he was all dressed and had remembered to put on a hat after tying his hair up into a low ponytail, the boy ran out of his room and out to the sliding door.
Bucky slipped on his boots, giving Dodger a scratch behind the ear before making his way over to the large barn that had all of their tools inside.
He grabbed ahold of the toolbox that tony had left out for him before making his way to the fence.
But once he had arrived, Bucky dropped the box beside his covered foot in shock. The fence was completely finished, wire and all. "What the hell.." he thought to himself.
"That's odd.. maybe Mike finished it for me?"
Giving a simple shrug of his shoulders and straightening his hat, Bucky decided to go for a small walk. He left the toolbox where he had dropped it and made his way through the long itchy grass, fanning his face.
"Holy shit, it's fucking hot." He mumbled to himself.
The hot, humid air blew against his face and caused sweat to drip down his forehead, drenching his already pink skin. Bucky pulled the collar up over his neck to try and protect it from the sun, thinking of all the possibilities of getting burnt.
As Bucky continued to walk, feeling regret crawl up his spins as his throat became dry. He definitely should've brought a drink bottle, maybe then, he could've cooled himself down,
Sighing in relief once he had made it up the hill, Bucky plonked himself down on a tree stump and began to tug on his shirt to try and get his chest cool.
Bucky sat with his head in his hands, trying to wrack his brain around what Bruce had said earlier that day, stomach churning anxiously.
"So leave me the fuck alone!"
What was he supposed to do? Let Bruce off the hook for being an asshole and for letting his anger get the best of him again? Apologise even though he did nothing wrong?
Bucky sighed sadly. This really did not have to be this complicated. All Bucky had to do was rock up to Bruce and confront him, ask for an apology and sort it all out. But of course Bruce most likely wouldn't apologise. He was too stubborn in these situations.
But, as if on cue, the black horse sauntered out of the darkness of the trees at a slow trot, giving a small neigh as a hello towards the slightly upset boy.
Bucky gave a small smile, raising his hand and placing it softly against the fur of the horses nose. "Hey bud.." he whispered, "what're you doing here?"
The stallion blew out his nose, the warm air blowing against Bucky's face. Breathing out a chuckle, Bucky rose slowly to his feet before wrapping his arms around the horses neck and burying his face in its soft fur.
The horse moved his head to where his chin rested on the small of Bucky's back, causing him to grin. "I'm glad I found you." He whispered, running his hand up and down the horses neck.
He gently pulled away from the small embrace, pressing a kiss to the tip of the stallions nose, when the sound of hooves thundering against the uneven ground came up behind Bucky.
Bucky leaped back in fear, eyes widening in pure horror as a rope was thrown around the horses neck. "Mike! Let him go!" Bucky exclaimed, grabbing ahold of the middle of the rope. "You're scaring him!!"
Mike sighed, tugging harshly against the rope. "I'm sorry Bucky, but I can't do that. Tony's orders."
"Excuse me? My fathers orders?"
To say Bucky was mad was an understatement. He was livid, blooding boiling as he held on tighter at the ropes. "That fucking liar!"
Mike tugged at the ropes once more, causing it to slip through Bucky's hands and rip the skin. Bucky let go with a hiss of dissatisfaction, watching helplessly as the horse continued to struggle against the rope, leaping up onto its back legs.
"Oh calm down!" Mike growled, giving another tug.
"Mike please!" Bucky begged, grabbing ahold of the halter on Mikes horse. "You're hurting him! Please!"
"No bucky. I already said it was your fathers orders. So let go, I don't wanna hurt you."
"No! I'm not gonna let you take him away from his home! It's wrong!" He growled, holding on tighter.
"Then you leave me no choice."
Without another word, Mike flicked the reins and yelled, causing the horse to start to trot away, the stallion struggling behind it. Bucky was blown back at the impact, hitting the ground harshly and he fisted the grass in pure anger.
Once Bucky had made it home, eyes filled with anger and hands clenched into fists at his sides, he found Tony talking to mike outside of the stable, smiling and shaking hands.
Tony looked over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps, eyes locking with his sons before he walked over to him. "What's wrong, Buck?" Tony said innocently, crossing his arms.
"How could you, you fucking asshole!" Bucky screamed, giving tony a shove. "You told me to stay away from that horse, you told me it was dangerous! And what do you do? Fucking get mike to finish the fence so I could lead him to the horse!!?"
"Buck, it's not like." Tony said calmly, placing his hands up in a motion to let Bucky know to lower his voice. But Bucky ignored him.
"Then what's it fucking like, dad!?"
"I told you those stories because I knew you'd go after it."
"So you fucking used me to get to the horse? You asshole!" Bucky yelled, giving tony another shove. "How could you be so heartless!"
"Don't you dare speak to me like that, young man!" Tony yelled, pointing a finger in Bucky's face. "You have no clue what the hell your talking about!"
Bucky scoffed, "Wow dad, treat me like a fucking five year old to try and guilt trick me? Really?"
"Get inside now, Bucky!"
"Or what? You'll take my phone away?! Go the fuck ahead! I could care less about that!"
"Now bucky!" Tony growled, pointing towards the house with his eyebrows raised in anger.
Bucky growled and turned on his heel, storming inside the open house and ignoring the glance of confusion he got from Stephen.
Tony sighed from where he stood, running a hand down his face. "Shit.."
*******
Bucky sat at his desk against the wall of his room, hands tugging at his now free hair as images of the fear filled horse flashed in his mind. What his father did was wrong. That horse was perfectly happy where it was.
"How could he do this?" He thought, "lying asshole."
Bucky was soon cut from his thoughts by a knock at his slammed shut door, the mumble of Tony asking to come in being heard from the other side.
"Why? So you can just come and lie to me again?" Bucky snarled in response, keeping his back to the door.
He heard tony sigh and slowly open the door, cautiously making his way inside of his sons bedroom. "Buck, I'm sorry I lied to you. I know it was wrong.." tony spoke softly.
"That's it? Just some lame apology?
Tony sighed once again and took a seat at the edge of Bucky's bed. "Buck, please look at me. I wanted to explain myself.."
Bucky rolled his eyes but spun around to face him, nodding his head to let him know to continue.
"As I said before, I knew you would go after the horse. So I thought that I should just act as if I didn't want you going after it, then you'd definitely go after it, and I was right." Tony explained, to which Bucky responded with another eye roll.
"That still doesn't explain as to why you used me." He stated bluntly.
"I- I just thought that if you went after it without my permission, you could just easily lead me to it. Your whole life you've been able to calm down any animal, Buck. So I knew you'd be able to with this horse."
"So you just wanted the horse for yourself? You can't just take whatever horse you want! That ones wild!"
"Where do you think every other horse has come from, Bucky? Or at least their ancestors. The wild, Bucky. I'm not doing anything wrong."
"I know that, I'm not an idiot." Bucky spat. "But that horse.. he's special.."
"That's exactly why I wanted him."
"But what for! We have plenty of other horses who are special and are trained!"
Tony sighed. "I'm going to get either Thor or Loki to train and break him in, and then I'll probably sell him. He's an extremely expensive breed."
"What? No! I won't let you sell him! He deserves to go back to his home!" He cried.
"I'm sorry, Bucky. But that's not your decision to make. It's mine and it's final." Tony growled, getting up from his seat. "And you won't be going anywhere near that horse, you hear me? I don't wanna be told that you've set him free."
Bucky rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I hear you loud and clear. My own father doesn't want me going near a horse because he thinks I'll do something. So much for trust." He spat, spinning back around in his chair.
*****
Hope you enjoyed it!
~ Maddi❤️