Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tony was stuck. Maybe it was the 38 hours he had gone without sleep, maybe it was the rut simmering in his veins, but the newest iteration of his suit was just not coming together. He pressed the heel of his hand into his eyes, trying to ease the headache that was slowly building and tossed the wrench he was holding onto his work table.

There was a chirp from next to him, and Tony looked out the corner of his eye to see a certain bot creeping closer, fire extinguisher in its claw.

“Not now, Dum-E,” he grumbled.

Tony absolutely hated pre-rut. Like clockwork, it never failed to have both horrible timing and annoying symptoms. He could function, sure, but he didn’t have to be happy about it.

It felt like his skin was stretched too tight across his joints, and his glands were throbbing with every inhale. He’d had the lab pretty thoroughly scent-neutralizing, but it didn’t help him so much on the edge of his rut. It’s hard to clear out the scent when he’s constantly releasing it no matter how much he tries not to. Honestly, he should probably make his way to his den up in the penthouse already, but he had been getting antsy and thought some lab time would take his mind off his slowly boiling blood.

“JARVIS, pull up the schematics for the Mark XV, this isn’t working.” He batted away his current blueprints that had been hovering beside him. After a few seconds with no response, Tony looked up towards the ceiling.

“JARVIS?”

“Sir, you have a visitor. Several, in fact.”

Tony groaned and gripped his hair in his hands. “Tell them I’m busy, JARVIS. And pull up the schematics.”

“I apologize, sir, but I do think this requires your immediate attention.” JARVIS almost sounded like he was dreading what was to come.

There was a click of a lock and the door to his workshop slammed open. Tony groaned.

“Come right on in, why don’t you,” Tony said with a sweeping gesture, getting to his feet. “Please, lab’s all yours. Can I get you a sparkling water? Or maybe you’d prefer my foot up your—“

“Stark.” Fury’s tone held no levity, but that was pretty par for the course for the man. His coat fluttered in the air as he stomped forward. Tony was momentarily distracted by the bitter scent wafting off of Fury that he almost didn’t notice his trail of ducklings. Natasha poked her head around the towering man and made eye contact with Tony.

“Miss Rushman! It’s been a while.” He tried to pull his face into a smirk, but judging by the unimpressed look on Natasha’s face, he didn’t exactly succeed.

“Stark.” She gave a small nod, her lips curling up briefly. As she moved, Tony caught a faint whiff of her cloyingly sweet omega scent. It made his head throb and he tried not to wrinkle his nose. Natasha always had a faint chemical smell lingering in her scent, a remnant of her time in the Red Room that she never could shake. Usually he wouldn’t have noticed, but today he must’ve been just too close to his rut to do anything but.

Tony glanced behind her and took in the group that followed—Steve, Maria Hill, and a dark-skinned beta man, judging by his faint scent, who was letting Steve use him as an arm rest. Speaking of Steve—

“Wow Rogers, what happened to you? You look like you’ve been cliff diving into a pool of sharks.” He bared his teeth at the other alpha in a semblance of a grin.

Steve groaned unintelligibly and looked heavenward as the beta man huffed out a laugh. “More like he got punched off a helicarrier straight into the ocean.”

Tony blinked, grin faltering. “He what?”

“Haven’t been watching the news, have you Stark?” Maria chimed in as she stepped around the groaning Steve to stand next to Fury.

“I’ve been a little busy.” He gestured around the workshop and at himself. “I’m not exactly that tuned in when I’m on the verge of rut.”

Maria opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the beta man sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes had gone wide.

“Shit, man, you’re in pre-rut? Talk about timing.”

Tony stared at the man for a second.

“Sorry, but who are you?”

“Oh, my bad. I’m Sam. I got caught up with Cap here in D.C.” He looked over at a very downcast Steve before continuing. “I’d offer a hand but they’re a little full of super soldier at the moment.”

“Riiiight, okay so that explains nothing to me—“

“Sit down, Stark, this is going to be a long conversation,” Fury huffed as he pulled out a stool at the neighboring workbench.

Tony narrowed his eyes at the man, unknowingly letting a little bit of red bleed into his eyes for a moment.

“Fine. Go ahead.”

—

“So you’re telling me that your pal from the forties murdered my parents and you want me to help look for him??” He stared at Steve in disbelief. He turned to look Fury in the eye. “To help recruit some feral alpha so we can work with him?” He could feel the rut simmering in his veins flare with the steadily building anger.

“Listen, Stark, the man has gone rogue at the moment. He has no handlers and it’s the ideal time for extraction. Shield would benefit from—“

“No, you listen Nick,” Tony said lowly. “I don’t give a fuck about what’s good for Shield right now. You said Shield was Hydra. You want me to help you with my money, my parents’ money, to aid their murderer? And you demand it while you’re in my territory? You’re out of your goddamn mind.”

“Tony, it wasn’t Bucky’s fault,” Steve pleaded.

“ENOUGH!” Tony shouted, slamming his hand on his workbench. His neck glands were aching against his scent patches now, threatening to slip past and fill the room with his angry, acrid scent. “How can you try that with me, Rogers? Huh? Your buddy killed my mom. I don’t care if it ‘wasn’t his fault.’ My parents are dead. He made his choices.”

“It wasn’t a choice, Tony. If you would just listen, you’d understand he wasn’t—“

A growl tore its way out of Tony’s throat and his eyes flashed red.

“Nope.” Sam shot to his feet and began pulling Steve to the door. “My nose may be dull but even I can tell this is not a fight we wanna have right now. You too, Nat. Let’s go.”

Sam pulled at Steve’s arm, but he refused to budge. Natasha eyed the men warily, glancing over to the Shield agents where they sat in stony silence. Tony’s eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth through another growl.

“Get. Out. All of you.”

Tony whirled around and began stalking towards the back of the lab where he had a makeshift hideaway set up, a few blankets and coats draped across chairs and lab tables. Before he could take another step, Steve’s next words had him stopping cold.

“Bucky is an omega.”

Tony’s mind screeched to a halt. It felt like he had been doused in freezing water, ice trickling down his spine and dread clinging to his shoulders. Bucky, the famed alpha Howling Commando who fought side by side with Captain America, an omega? Howard had told stories about the two, and never once had he even hinted that the man was anything other than an alpha. Hell, Tony was pretty sure that the exhibit in the Smithsonian even labeled him as such. Was it all a cover up? Why would they go to the trouble when they thought he was dead?

Steve let out a pitiful whimper before clearing his throat.

“It was an open secret, in the Howlies. We all knew, but no one wanted him singled out just because he was an omega. Peggy helped him disguise his scent whenever there was an inspection.” Steve’s gaze shifted to the floor, unmoving. “Howard never knew. No one but the Howlies and Peggy. And the Howlies only ever knew because it got out when they were captured in Azzano.”

Tony looked at Steve then, taking in the man. He was dirty, injured, his gaze dull. He looked like a man on the verge of breaking.

“Why?” Tony breathed.

Steve’s gaze shot up and he glared into Tony’s eyes.

“You’ve read the history textbooks. You know how dangerous it was to be an omega back then. And an omega hiding their designation in the army? He may as well have signed his own arrest warrant.”

“Why would he have joined if there was that much of a risk? You telling us he had the same level of self-preservation as you?” Sam asked, eyebrow ticking up.

Steve startled as if he had forgotten he wasn’t alone in the room with Tony. He closed his eyes a second and squared his shoulders.

“Bucky’s ma raised him as an alpha. I was there with him, when he presented. With him and his ma. She swore me to secrecy and registered him as an alpha as soon as she could.”

Tony took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The pre-rut was like a thick cloud weighing down on his head. Steve’s scent had begun to bleed into the air, meeting his own head on. He couldn’t think like this.

“Out, all of you,” Tony repeated, softly this time. “I need to think.”

Chapter Text

12 hours earlier

The asset—no, James, Sergeant Barnes, Bucky—was cold. It felt like ice was trickling through his veins. No matter how much he rubbed his hands along his arms and huddled into the alcove next to a pizza joint he just couldn’t get warm despite the sun beating down on him.

He didn’t know why he had made his way to New York after the whole mess in DC, but there was something telling him he had to be there. The closer he had gotten to the city, the more his skin seemed to buzz with anticipation.

He could feel his glands throbbing with his heartbeat, and his gums ached, itching for him to bite.

Great, Bucky thought, mind muddled. Is this a fucking heat?

Hydra had…done something. Well, obviously they had done multiple somethings but when it came to his biology, things were all over the place. Bucky couldn’t remember the last time he had a heat, but he didn’t recall it being this cold.

“Fucking cryo,” he muttered. 70 odd years of being repeatedly frozen had done a number on his cycle and now it seemed the burning heat that used to light his blood aflame had turned to ice. The only thing that remained the same was the godawful headache and sensitive glands that tried to grab every ounce of his attention.

I can’t stay here, Bucky thought. He was situated in a dirty alley near a bustling road, and it offered zero sense of privacy.

But where… Bucky’s mind went blank as a wave of dizziness rolled over him. He felt a pull in his gut and he stumbled forward, away from his temporary haven.

Gotta get…over there. Get to him, he’s safe, get to alpha, his mind whispered. He lurched forward, a massive tower casting a shadow over him. Bucky looked up, eyes unfocused, as the voice in his head screamed. Get to alpha.

For once, Bucky listened.

He ambled along in the shadows until he could see the front entrance to the overly tall building. For a second he could’ve sworn he caught a whiff of a scent that was absolutely delicious, his eyes fluttering shut.

A breeze washed over him, causing Bucky to shiver. He needed to get inside that building. He needed his alpha.

Bucky scuttled around the corner to where a staff member was entering in a side door. Glancing around quickly, Bucky rushed in as silently as he could.

The room he found himself in was small, nothing more than an alcove leading to a longer hallway. The employee was already well along their way, turning the corner out of sight up ahead.

Bucky eased ahead carefully, scenting the air every few steps to try to catch another whiff of that delectable scent. It almost had a tang to it that he had never smelled before.

Eventually, he found himself in the stairwell, cautiously climbing so many steps he lost track of time. His head was growing fuzzy again, but he had a feeling deep in his gut that he was headed in the right direction. He exited out of the stairwell after a few flights and peered into the hallway.

Nothing but closed doors and seemingly empty meeting rooms. The scent was still too faint here.

There was a ding, and the elevator a few feet away opened up, empty.

“Good morning, Sergeant Barnes,” a voice said from above.

Bucky startled. He whirled around frantically, looking for the speaker. The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once, but there was no scent but his own, bleeding through his heavy-duty patches. He fell still.

“God?” Bucky whispered.

There was a heavy silence, and for a second Bucky thought he had hallucinated the voice.

“You may call me JARVIS, Sergeant Barnes,” God replied. Huh. He was British?

“Jarvis?” Bucky’s shoulders were inching up to his ears, yet he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of satisfaction mixed with his confusion. Was he now on a first name basis with God? “You should call me Bucky, then.”

Before he could formulate a question, a door slammed shut somewhere down the hallway, and Bucky’s stomach shot into his throat. A shiver wracked his body and he couldn’t stop the high-pitched whimper that found its way out of his mouth.

“Bucky, if you would place yourself in the elevator to your left, I’m certain I can take you somewhere more comfortable.”

Before he had finished, Bucky was shaking his head. Was he really about to argue with God?

“I-I can’t I’m looking for my—for alpha. Alpha is here. His scent…” Bucky trailed off as his eyes went momentarily blurry and he clenched his cybernetic arm so hard the plates creaked.

“Don’t worry,” God—Jarvis—intoned. “I will take you where you need to go.”

—

Now

Bucky Barnes. Omega.

It shouldn’t have made a difference, but it did. Tony had seen how Howard’s Commands had affected his mother, had seen the way an alpha Voice could completely strip an omega of their autonomy.

Tony paced in front of his work bench, eyes glued to the ground in front of him.

“JARVIS, what have you got on James Buchanan Barnes? You find his enlistment papers?”

“Actually, sir, I have pulled his draft orders. They are displayed on the screen to your right.”

Tony’s head shot up. “Draft order? He was drafted?”

“That is correct,” JARVIS said. “His identification number corroborates this.”

“An omega got drafted?” Tony’s eyes flicked through the lines of text JARVIS had displayed. A growl was caught at the base of his throat.

“All paperwork lists him as an alpha, sir.”

“Right,” Tony sighed into his palms and massaged his temples.

Tony tried to wrap his head around it. A secret omega, classified as an alpha for safety only for it to backfire spectacularly. He couldn’t imagine that Bucky’s mother would have ever even considered the draft would call for him.

Yet, it did.

And now here they were, caught in the 21st century.

Steve hadn’t mentioned a hint of a mate, fated or otherwise, yet Tony couldn’t help but wonder if there had been anyone for the omega. Especially back then, it would’ve been rare for an omega to go unmarked and unmated past their twenties.

But then again, who would there be to mate an alpha who was actually an omega?

Had Steve never offered? Were they not compatible? Tony’s mind briefly conjured a blurry image of the two, wrapped up in each other in a tent somewhere in Europe. He felt his lip curl and he swatted away the image before the growl could leave his throat.

Why did the thought of them together make his blood boil?

I must be getting close now, Tony thought.

Tony leaned on table and let out a heavy sigh. This line of thought was getting him nowhere. He needed to look at the facts.

Fact: James Barnes killed his parents.

Fact: James Barnes was abducted by Hydra.

Fact: James Barnes is an omega who is susceptible to alpha Commands.

There was no denying it, Tony knew. The Bucky Barnes that ran alongside Captain America, the man his father told stories about, would never have willingly turned to Hydra. He would never have willingly killed his friend, let alone an innocent.

“JARVIS, what time is it? Where did the groupies go?”

“Director Fury and Agent Hill have left the premises, but Ms. Romanoff and Captain Rogers are in the common area. Currently it is 4:54 PM.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “Four—how long have I been down here?” His stomach started protesting as he spoke. Clearly, he had lost more time than he thought.

“It has been 16 hours and 49 minutes since you first entered the lab and approximately four hours since the others vacated the room.”

That put him even closer to the start of his rut than he thought.

“Alright,” he clapped his hands. “Let’s go see the others.”