Battle Scars

Chapter 14

You woke in stages.

Your nighttime and early morning hours had been spent with you and your soulmate getting to know each other on a more intimate level. The sun had been peeking over the horizon before you drifted to sleep wrapped in his arms. You could tell from the light in the room that it wasn't even midday yet, so why the hell were you awake.

"What are we going to do if we can't find her?" a low voiced hissed from the hallway. Bucky?

"Everything will be fine, Buck." And that was Steve. What the hell were they doing? You were too tired for this shit. "We'll just ask—" His words cut off abruptly and you realized he'd entered the room. You could only hope the sheet was covering you from view.

The silence stretched and you relaxed thinking they must have left.

"Guess they made up, huh?" Amusement colored Bucky's voice and told you they hadn't left at all. Stupid super soldiers.

Tony's chest moved softly under you as he chuckled. His thumb rubbed against your skin signaling he knew you were awake as well.

"Next time you want to know where someone is, ask Jarvis," you said, not moving from your position. You were far too warm and comfortable to make the effort.

"Sorry," Steve said. "We were just worried when we saw the bag on your bed and then we couldn't find you anywhere."

"Well, you found me. Now leave."

You heard them mumble their apologies and agreements. What you did not hear was them leaving. No, instead you heard a distinctive click. Like the one made when someone takes a picture with their cellphone.

"James Buchanan Barnes, I will hurt you."

The super soldiers hurried off, and Tony gave up any pretense of trying to pretend he didn't find this all amusing as hell. You groaned and buried your head into his side. "Were they seriously giggling?" you asked.

"Yep." He popped the p when he answered then kissed your forehead. "Jarvis lock down access to this floor until I say otherwise."

"Of course, sir."

You felt him pull back to look at you and tilted your head to meet his gaze. His eyes studied you for a long moment. "You were going to leave?"

The sadness in his voice hurt your heart. "For about five minutes. Then I calmed down enough to realize that I didn't really want to go anywhere. Though I was afraid you were going to ask me to leave."

He huffed a laugh at that and pulled you closer to his side. "If I am ever stupid enough to even imply that I don't want you exactly where you are right now, smack some sense into me."

"I was just mad, Tony. Even if I left, I would have come back."

A hum was his only answer and you could tell he was lost in thought. You left him to it and ran one finger over the arc reactor glowing softly in his chest. You couldn't help but wonder at the pain that he'd been in at the time. And did it hurt now? What if something happened to the reactor, would he die?

As if sensing the turn your thoughts had taken, he grabbed your hand in his and brought it to his lips to kiss your palm. "That reminds me," he said. Suddenly you found yourself flipped onto your back, Tony grinning down at you as his hands gently pinned your wrists on either side of you.

"I didn't take the time to properly examine this last night." He punctuated the word this with a kiss to your breastbone, right where the soulmate scar mirrored his own.

"Well, we were rather preoccupied." You giggled as the whiskers from his goatee tickled your sensitive skin.

He hummed and moved his lips across your scar, covering it with gentle kisses. He began to whisper "I'm sorry" between each brush of his lips.