Who Am I? » [Stucky]

175. Propaganda

They breached the empty hut, sneaking into it's crumbling walls and stalking about in the limited darkness. Shafts of light sliced through the rickety woods. shutters and cast stringy golden threads of light into the wall. With those small clusters of luminance the tilt of the squiffy house was revealed.

Floorboards creaked under their feet and mice scratched around; their paws carving little grooves into the planks and cockroaches scuttled all around them. Mildew rotted the walls and moss was invading the rotting damp building.

"Kinda reminds me of our place in Brooklyn seventy years ago," Bucky remarked, kicking rubble aside on the floor.

"Except cleaner and more structurally safe," Steve remarked seriously.

"You guys shared a house?" Tony asked conversationally, searching the room for a clue to a secret entrance.

"We shared a bed... Most nights," Bucky added with a coy smirk, digging through abandoned possessions.

"And you're telling me you guys weren't always gay together?" Tony snorted, shaking his head at the pair of them.

Bucky rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his neck. "Steve had severe health issues, Tony. It wasn't like I climbed in just to fuck him in the ass or suck his dick-"

"Sensitively put," Natasha snarked with a smirk. She couldn't help but find it humorous how Tony seemed to pale with the gruesome details of their erotic affairs.

"As much as he does it these days," Steve retorted. There was a tinny clap that rung out in the enclosed space as Bucky high-fived him.

"Really?" Clint grimaced and sighed.

"Nah, Steve really was susceptible to illness. He had a weak immune system and with such a weak - no offence - body it was hard for him to keep warm. And these were the days without central heating. We even had a smashed widow one Christmas after some drunkard on the block put a brick through it," Bucky reminisced.

"How did you not freeze to death?" Sam's brows drew together as he squeaked out the concerned sentence.

"Nearly did, not long after," Bucky said on a lower note.

"Where is this secret base that you're so convinced exists, Tony?" Maria sternly crooned, tapping her foot impatiently as she supervised and wordlessly directed the team pulling apart the squat. "Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?" She insinuated passive aggressively.

"Please!" He pouted like he was sucking on a boiled sweet. "Tony Stark does not make mistakes!"

"Tony Stark talking in the third person is a mistake, because if he does it again, I'm going to wallop him," Melinda spoke with a bitter frown.

"Yes, ma'am," Tony responded fearfully, a tremble in his voice.

"You really know how to keep him on a leash, Melinda. I'm genuinely impressed. The only other person I know who can shut him up like that is Pepper... I've been trying for years," Maria casually stated, receiving a nod of agreement from her boyfriend.

"If there's anyone who can shut Tony up, it's May," Ward agreed. He reviewed Skye's reaction and felt a glimmer of hope when he saw a smile quirk on her lips.

"What's your secret?" She pried with rapture.

"Magicians can't share their secrets," May chirped, cheerfulness sounding alien in her voice.

"We're not being methodical Trip pointed out, rifling through goods; there's no way we're going to find our way in like this - if this place exists..." He stood back, stretching his spine out, cracking his knuckles and thoughtfully overlooking the crowded room.