Smitten Kitten (Chapter Five)
ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS HERE ***********************************
Rhodes threw Steve through a window first, and the soldier partial shifted into his Lion with a snarl, his feet slipping and sliding on the shattered glass as he tried for balance on the grass.
Bucky was next, destroying the rest of the window and smashing into the ground, but he was fully shifted into his Wolf before he even stood back up, baring his teeth furiously at Rhodes.
Then both of them were scrambling backwards, shifting down into human as fast as they could and yelling at the top of their lungs as the twelve foot tall black bear came crashing through the wall and onto the lawn, each step of its massive paws leaving a dent in the ground, jaws open in a roar that shook the soldiers to their very core.
And stalking behind the bear, nose in the air, tail twitching irritably, came Tony.
Turns out he wasn't as alright with being rejected as he had originally thought.
That would teach those stupid soldiers to hurt his feelings.
Honeybear to the fucking rescue .
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“Now boys .” The Colonel crossed his arms over his chest. “I want you to tell Tony exactly what you told me. Don't leave anything out or I'll put you through a wall again.”
Bucky and Steve, both dressed again and looking more than a little terrified, nodded in unison.
“It wasn't that we didn't want to be around you after shifted down, Tony.” Steve began awkwardly and the black cat just twitched his tail.
“It's just that--” Bucky rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Just that you were naked , and both our animals got--got--um--”
“Got??” Rhodes thundered and Bucky jumped. “Finish your fucking sentence!”
“We both got possessive and were afraid we couldn't control our shift!” Steve blurted. “Bucky and I have been getting… closer but---”
“But feline shifters and canine shifters don't ever really get along and we both want you, so seeing you naked--”
“--both our animals wanted to claim you, and of course, fight the other shifter in the room so--”
“-- so we left so we wouldn't do anything stupid.” Bucky finished lamely. “And we are really really sorry if that hurt your feelings.”
“Of course it hurt his feelings!” Rhodes growled, and the Bear was still so close to the surface that it came out as more of a rumble and less of a sentence.
Tony stood on his hind legs and pressed his little face into Rhodey's, meowing softly until the man calmed down.
“I told I would kick your asses if you upset Tony.” he warned. “Consider yourself lucky I only scared the living hell out of you today. If it happens again, I will crush you, Super soldiers or not. Pretty sure I can carry your shield, Cap, you ain't all that special. And Bucky, wolves are about a dime a dozen so don't fucking test me, or I will toss your mangy hide away and find another one for the team, do I make myself perfectly clear?”
He scooped Tony up into his arms and left the room, leaving Bucky and Steve shaking on the couch.
“I have never been more scared in my life.” Steve admitted, and Bucky couldn't even laugh about it.
“Somehow this was more terrifying than any flashback I could ever have.”
“Heya pals.” Clint and Natasha appeared in the doorway. “Met Rhodey's bear, did you?”
“Um--um--”
Clint's lips twitched into a smirk. “Yeah, so story time. Back before Tony was Iron Man, and he was just rich and obnoxious and hot--” two sets of eyes snapped up to meet his. “-- what? You think just because Tasha and I are together I'm blind to how gorgeous Tony is? You two are all brawn and no brain aren't you?”
“Clint.” Tasha murmured and he coughed.
“Right. Anyway. So I meet Tony, ended up trying to be flirty and funny and offended the hell out of him without realizing it.”
“Imagine that.” Bucky muttered and Clint glared at him.
“So anyway. Later that night, I shift into my hawk and go to take off, and a partial shifted Rhodey-bear reaches into the sky and snatches me back to ground. Surprised he didn't break my wings. Tells me in the most terrifying voice in the world, that if I ever upset Tony again he'd pluck all my feathers and roast me for dinner. Then let me go. It took me six months to even be able to look him in the eye again.”
“He's intense.” Natasha nodded. “I wouldn't feel comfortable going up against him, even in full dragon form. I feel like he could rip my wings off without blinking.”
“How is he so big?” Bucky stammered. “His bear is twice my height. And Rhodes is like, half my height in real life. I've hardly even heard him raise his voice but--”
“It's because he's such a good person.” Clint said decisively. “Not only is he fairly high ranking military, and War Machine, which would make his bear big anyway but he's genuinely the nicest person I've ever met. Maybe nicer than Phil, but I would never say that out loud. The strength of his heart, his soul. That's what fuels his bear.”
“That makes it worse. Makes it scarier.” Bucky complained. “I can't compete with a guy who's animal is directly proportionate to the goodness in his heart!”
“Well maybe next time you don't piss Tony off.” Clint snapped, and Bucky popped his teeth right back, bursting into a partial shift and growling at him.
“Down boy.” Clint waved his hand in a bored fashion. “I've heard you scream like a child, you don't scare me anymore.”
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A week and a half later, both Steve and Bucky were snappish and irritable with each other and everyone else.
Tony had barely spoken to them the last ten days, and certainly hadn't called them to help with his shifts at all. Their almost daily dose of snuggles and cuteness had completely disappeared, and tensions were so high between the Lion and Wolf that they couldn't even share a bed anymore.
When Bucky had walked into the bedroom the other night, Steve had partial shifted almost instantly, eyes flashing gold, a warning snarl building in his chest. Bucky had had to partial shift himself, and they had spent a restless night unable to relax around each other at all, even in separate beds.
This morning they couldn't even sit together.
Bucky was pacing anxiously in the living room, Steve tapping his claws on the kitchen table, physically unable to bring himself out of a partial shift because he was so stressed out. Neither of them had realized how much they had counted on Tony being with them to keep them level until the little shifter started refusing to be around them.
It was tearing them up mentally, throwing them out of sync emotionally, and driving a wedge into their friendship, effectively putting a stop to anything romantic that had been blossoming.
And it was making the rest of the team insane .
“Enough .” Wanda yelled, when Bucky got too close to the kitchen and Steve jumped to his feet in a clear challenge. Bucky had just squared up his shoulders, more than ready to accept the challenge, when Wanda pushed her chair back and sent them both a glare.
“I cannot handle the tension anymore. Bucky, come let your Wolf run with Natasha and I. You need out of the compound and away from the Captain. Tonight, Hawk and Vision can take Captain out. Let's go.”
“I don't want to go.” Bucky protested. The thought of Steve alone with Tony made his skin crawl and his Wolf furious .
“I wasn't asking.” Wanda lifted her hand, letting her power arc between her fingers and glow in her eyes and Natasha murmured in agreement behind her.
“Fine.” Bucky couldn't even look at Steve, turning away as he started undressing so he could shift.
In the entirely creepy way of shifting unique only to Snakes, Wanda took two steps forward, and let her entire body shimmer and melt away, her human skin seeming to shed itself, leaving her as her Constrictor, thick coils tensing and moving as she curled her body close together to avoid being stepped on.
“Come on.” Tasha sighed and stepped out of her dress, treating everyone to a quick flash of perfect curves before the scales starting climbing her body, smoke puffing from her mouth when she exhaled.
Bucky grumbled a little a more, but dropped his pants and let his Wolf take over, growling at the pain that always accompanied his left arm changing. Hydra had managed to design the arm to shift with him but it always hurt and he hated it. Hated the reminder of his Winter Soldier days. He even kind of hated how close his Wolf came to emulating the Winter Soldier, all brute strength and and barely checked power and killer instinct.
But he couldn't deny how much he loved the freedom being in Wolf form brought him, and he knew a hard run would do wonders for his state of mind.
“We will see you in a few hours.” Vision said calmly, running his hand over several feet of Wanda, and the Constrictors eyes glowed red at the gentle touch. Vision couldn't shift, for obvious reasons, but he loved Wanda just as much in her Constrictor form as he did human, and she loved that.
Raising her coils to push more of them through his hands, she sent him another soft look before heading out the door, closely followed by Bucky, and then Natasha.
Once they were gone, Steve was finally able to pull himself from his partial shift, breathing a sigh of relief, and Clint clicked his tongue in sympathy.
“Why don't you go paint or something. We’ll run you ragged later, so go get some rest. Can't imagine you sleep well with the canine shifter in your room. Go sleep, we will come looking for you when they get home.”
Steve didn't answer, just sent both Clint and Vision a jerky nod and headed up to his room.
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He'd only been asleep a few minutes when the door to his room banged open, and a very disgruntled Tony stood there glaring at him.
“I haven't hardly slept all week.” Tony spat. “Haven't been able to shift alone. It's making me crazy. Both you Alpha shifters are so stupid and it pisses me off, but I need you anyway so get your asses down to my lab and--- hey, where's Bucky? I came looking for both of you.” His face fell and Steve sat up on his elbows.
“Bucks out running. Needed a break from all--” he made a circle motion with one hand. “You know?”
“Oh.” Tony looked even more upset and kicked at the carpet self consciously. “I came in here all ready to yell at you guys and demand a little attention but now I'm not really sure what to do.”
Steve bit back his laugh and held out a hand hopefully. “Well… I'm here, if you want.”
Tony eyed him curiously. “Without Bucky? We've never done that.”
“Being close to Bucky isn't the part of this whole thing I have been missing.” Steve said, feeling a twinge of guilt as he said it, because shifter biology aside, he was missing Bucky.
Just not as much as he was missing Tony. “I miss you, Tony.” he murmured, and and Tony's eyes lit warmed.
“Oh.”
“Come on.” Steve urged. “I'll close my eyes and you can shift and we can just lay here, huh?”
“Yeah. Alright, that sounds good.” Tony nodded quickly, and was already unbuttoning his shirt, so Steve dropped a pillow over his face so he wouldn't stare.
Within a minute, he felt tiny laws pressing at him lightly and he opened his eyes again.“Hey there, beautiful.” He turned on his side, making room on the bed and Tony curled into a little ball next to him, nose pressed into his stomach. “Yeah, we can nap like this. This is fine.”
Without a second thought for what might happen if Bucky walked in on their little scene, Steve closed his eyes and fell back asleep to the little purr coming from his favorite shifter.