I really need to thank multi-fandom-trash- again for educating me about all this (all I knew before was that there was a surgery that people could get to transition). He gave me all the necessary technical details among other things that I would need for this part.

And he came up with the title and gave me the media/song, so really, he deserves like, 90% of the credit.

***

Carson was in a state of mental back and forth.

He'd been living with the Avengers for the better part of five years, at least warm with Tony for four of those years, and offically/publicly dating Bucky for about one year. He'd become close with the team, some faster than others, but close still.

So why was it so hard to consider asking Tony for something he needed?

His thoughts were constantly battling each other out.

Tony took me to the clinic for the testosterone treatment when no one else could take me.

Yeah, but that did not cost $4,500.

True, except a, it does not always cost that much, and b, he is a billionaire, what is fourty-five hundred bucks going to do?

Okay, but even if he would be fine with it, would he take you for a four hour surgery? Or what about the recovery in the hospital? Would he be fine that?

Why would he not be? He is your friend and you have been living in the Tower, his home, for more than five years. And even if he can't take you, you can always ask Bucky.

There was more like that, and a lot of sitting in silence in his room.

He weighed the pros and cons constantly, often mentally repeating himself, which only caused more doubt and/or anxiety. Eventually, he sighed and decided to bite the bullet. Besides, the worst Tony could say was no. Then he could go to Bucky, maybe try and create a GoFundMe page.

He trudged out of his room and nervously walked to the labs where Tony would be. He knocked on the frame of the door. Tony looked up from his work.

"Hey, Carson, what's up?" He asked. Carson walked over nervously, biting his lip and picking at a hangnail.

"Well... You-you see, Tony, I... I wanted to ask you something." Carson stumbled over his words.

"Sure, go ahead." Tony said, removing his safety goggles and taking off his rubber gloves.

"Well... I have been thinking about this for a while and figured now would be the best time to ask." Carson started. No going back now.

"Go ahead." Tony coaxed. Carson took a deep breath.

"You see, I want to be able to get top surgery, but I cannot really afford it because it can cost a lot of money. I was wondering if you would be open to at least helping to pay for it because it is something I really need right now. It can be a long surgery and you do not have to stay for it all, I can always ask Bucky to stay. Of course, if you do not want to, then that is okay, but-" Carson explained rather quickly, but Tony cut him off.

"Woah, slow down. You didn't have to be nervous about asking. Of course I'll pay for it. It's something you need, and you don't really ask for much. I'll make an appointment as soon as I finish up with this." Tony said.

"Are you serious?" Carson asked, stunned. He had expected Tony to only pay part of it, not the whole thing.

"Sure. Just give me a half hour or so and I'll book the soonest appointment I can." Tony said. Carson didn't say anything, only really had a deer in the headlights look of surpirse on his face. "You good, Carson?" Carson then wrapped Tony in a large hug, much to Tony's surprise.

"Thank you so much, Tony." Carson said.

"Sure think, kid. And watch the chemicals." Tony said as Carson let go. "I'll call you down once I get the appointment."

"Thank you!" Carson said, running out of the lab and back to his room, a huge grin on his face.

***

~About An Hour Later~

Most of the team was in the lounge hanging out when Tony came in with a slip of paper,

"Alright, Carson, the appointment is going to be tomorrow about noon, alright? The surgeon is gonna make this an easy experience." Tony said, handing Carson the paper.

"Wait, appointment? Surgeon? Noon? What's this all about, Tony?" Bucky asked.

"I was waiting to tell you until Tony got the time booked, but he's paying for top surgery for me." Carson said, turning slightly red at realizing this must have been awkward.

"Tony, why the f*ck would you not tell me as soon as you agreed?" Bucky asked, slightly angered.

"You just heard that Carson was waiting to tell you once the time was booked so he could give you the most information possible." Tony replied back.

"I need to know these things as soon as possible, Stark. What if Pepper told me something important and you heard about it like this?" Bucky snapped.

"Hey, leave Pepper out of this, Terminator. Besides, now you know." Tony bit back. Bucky sighed.

"Alright, alright. But I'm coming along." Bucky consented.

"Already was planning on it. Does anyone else want to come? I could use the support." Carson asked shyly.

"Sure, I'd like to come." Steve said.

"Sounds good!" Nat replied.

"And I need to go because I need to pay so..." Tony said.

"Bold of you to assume we all don't have your credit card number memorized." Olivia said, passing by the lounge.

"Shut up, Khaleesi. That's not true, right?" Tony asked. All the occupants of the lounge suddenly found the walls and floor very interesting. "Oh come on... Well, you need my signature on the bill, so there."

"You mean this signature?" Nat asked, scribbling on a paper and producing an almost exact forgery of Tony's John Hancock. Tony rolled his eyes.

"That's illegal, Veronica Sawyer." He said.

"Admit it, you're worried about Carson. You're looking for an excuse to come as one of his not closest friends." Nat said.

"'Not closest friends?' What the hell, Tasha? I'm the one paying for this." Tony said, slightly hurt.

"You can come, Tony." Carson said.

"Great!" Tony said, smirking at Nat. She proceeded to flip him the bird.

***

~Next Day~

This was probably the second most stressful trip Carson had ever been on. First place goes to the trip to the Tower after being rescued. Tony drove, Steve in the passenger seat, Nat and Bucky sitting in the back with Carson between them. His hands were shaking a little bit from the nervousness and excitement.

Nervous because he'd never really had a large scale operation since the Hydra base (which caused him to have the Super Soldier Serum and a bunch of other things put into him).

Excited because he'd finally he able to have the body he wanted for his whole life.

Eventually, they made it to the clinic. They got out of the car and walked inside. They went up to the reception desk.

"Hello, my name is Amelia, how may I help you?" The woman asked.

"Yes, hi, we're here for the noon appointment." Tony said. Amelia looked at her computer screen.

"Carson Ambrose?" She asked.

"Right here." Carson said quietly. Amelia looked at him kindly.

"And you must be some of the Avengers. Can I see your IDs?" She asked. Tony and Steve produced their state IDs, Nat, Bucky, and Carson gave her their S.H.I.E.L.D. IDs because they didn't have state issued ones (Nat had too many fake ones from missions, Bucky was still afraid of getting one because someone might recognise him as the Winter Soldier, and Carson never really went to get one. Their agency IDs worked, though).

"Looks like everything checks out. Mr. Stark, I'm going to need you to fill these out as you are paying. And Mr. Ambrose, I need you to fill these out as best you can with past medical experiences and records. They also contain information about the procedure you might need to know." Amelia said, producing two clipboards and handing them to their proper recipients. "You can sit in the waiting room if you like."

"Thank you." Steve said. The group sat down in chairs in the white painted waiting room. Tony filled out his papers, Carson filled his out (he nearly ran out of room on the paper when asked about previous surgeries or medical experiences). Eventually, they filled out all the forms, and spent a while waiting for the doctor to call Carson back.

Tony and Nat spent some time at the vending machine, eventually leading Nat to try and kick the glass in because the Kit Kat bar she wanted got stuck.

After about ten minutes, a nurse came into the waiting room.

"Carson Ambrose?" He called. Shaking slightly, Carson stood up.

"Good luck." Nat said reassuringly.

"Hi, my name is Daniel. I'll be doing some brief assessments on you before Dr. Jacob gets you ready. Your boyfriend can come with, too." the nurse said. Carson nodded, a weak smile on his face.

(Okay, unless you count the ER for cutting my foot open on an open AC grate, I've never had to go to the hospital before, let alone for a surgery. So, sorry if I get any procedures wrong by mistake :D)

Carson was led back to a small room where Daniel did some vitals and other small things (pulse, breathing, checking his eyes, etc.) like one would do before a well check. Then he was asked to put on the hospital gown and such before he could be led into the operating room. Then, Dr. Jacob came for him.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Jacob, and I'll be your head surgeon today. If you could follow me, please." He said, a warm smile on his face.

"Uh, could my boyfriend stay for the operation?" Carson asked, turning slightly red.

"Well, technically we can't really allow it-" Dr. Jacob started.

"Please. The last time I was on an operating table, it was for purposes that meant me harm. He calms my nerves and it would make me feel a lot better if he could come with." Carson replied. Dr. Jacob looked as though he was about to say something, but then he glanced at Bucky's arm and tall stature. He decided it might be best to keep his head.

"Of course. I'll pull in a chair. It will be a long operation." Dr. Jacob said, leading the pair to the operating room. There were two other surgeons in the room, and they had trays of tools in their hands. There was an operating table and some lights around. Dr. Jacob went back and grabbed a chair from one of the waiting rooms and slid it into the corner of the room.

"You okay?" Bucky asked.

Truth be told, Carson was feeling a lot more nervous. He did feel some anxiety upon seeing the operating table, not completely over Hydra's experiments.

"Sort of..." He replied.

"Well, just remember these doctors are licenced to do this, you gave your consent, and I'll be right over in the corner. You're gonna be 100% fine." Bucky reassured. Carson took a deep breath and walked over to the table. He lept up and sat on the edge.

"Okay, Carson. We're going to have you lie back so we can give you anesthetics and put you to sleep. You'll be out in 10 seconds, then you won't feel a thing. You'll wake up after, but it will only feel like a few minutes at most. You will be fine, we promise." One of the surgeons said. Carson nodded and slowly lied back on the table.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Steve, Nat, and Tony looking in through the observation window, giving encouraging smiles and thumbs-up.

"You ready?" The surgeon asked.

"Yes." Carson said, taking a deep breath. The surgeons did their pre-surgery set-ups before putting a mask over Carson's nose and mouth. Within a few seconds, he was out.

***

~Four Hours Later~

Carson blinked, the lights of the hospital room temporarily blinding him. The lights were his main indication that told him he wasn't in the Hydra base (the one he was trapped in was very dark and dingy). The second being the fact that he wasn't strapped down. He blinked a few more times, slowly starting to sit up. The first thing he noticed was that Bucky was in the corner, fast asleep in his chair. Carson smiled at the thought that he had stayed in the room during the whole surgery.

The surgery. He thought to himself. Slowly, hesitantly, he brought his hands up to his chest. For the first time, he didn't feel breasts. He actually looked like he had always wanted to. He felt several emotions all at once, mostly exitement and shock. It all came out as a sob of joy. Bucky instantly sprang up at the sound, looking around frantically for what was wrong. He eventually saw Carson clutching his chest and sobbing.

"You okay?" He asked. Carson nodded through the tears, smiling.

"I have never been better." He replied.

***

~Two Days Later~

Carson was released from the hospital two days after for recovery. Tony had picked them up from the hospital and drove them back to the Tower. When they were in the elevator to go back to the living floors, Carson fidgeted with his hospital bracelet. He was keeping it pinned up on his wall, he knew that. A small memento of the occasion.

The elevator dinged open and they were met with streamers and balloons all over the hallway leading to the lounge.

"What is all this?" Carson asked, slightly amazed.

"Just go to the lounge." Tony said, smiling. Carson and Bucky walked hand in hand into the lounge and were met with a mass of streamers, balloons, and the team holding a small cake out for him. It said Congratulations, Carson! in purple icing.

"A party for a top surgery?" Carson asked, folding his arms and smiling.

"Sure! We know this meant a lot to you, so we figured we'd celebrate!" Maya said excitedly.

"Cake made by yours truly!" Olivia said proudly.

"I... Thank you guys so much!" Carson said.

"Of course!" Nat said.

"Okay. Now cake." Carson said.

***

A/N

I hope you liked it!

multi-fandom-trash- , I hoped I got what you were envisioning!