A/N- Okay, so I am going to preface this with the small fact that I've only ever seen the Winter Soldier once, which was back in 2014 when it first came out, aka half a decade ago. So if my memory of the movie's events are spotty (beyond what I can find on wikipedia), just chalk it all up to the fact that this is an au haha
PS My sister came over to visit me at school for a few days so blame her for the fact that I couldn't finish this soonser! xD
Tony stared at the television screen in front of him as the jet sped towards DC. Apparently there was a big mess, several cars destroyed, civilians injured, and Nick Fury was dead. Tony called back the number that Steve had called him from, though he wasn't sure whether to actually expect Steve to answer or not. There was no answer, so he just left a message. "Jesus, Steve. You go on vacation for three days and this is what happens? Clearly you don't understand what a vacation is supposed to be. But I guess that's something we can discuss after we figure everything out with your cyborg friend. I'll be landing soon, and then it shouldn't take me very long to meet up with you. And I seriously hope that you have a good explanation for all of this." He hung up and slipped his phone into his pocket, and then went back to intently watching the news.
When it was indicated that he needed to do so, Tony took his seat and buckled in, and waited for them to finish landing. As soon as he could, he was off of the jet, carrying his Iron Man suitcase with him as he went. It would be too high profile to actually go to the rendezvous point in his armor, though with Fury dead, Bucky running around doing Hydra's bidding, and who knows what the hell else going on, Tony felt a lot better at least having it with him.
He was wearing jeans and a too-big hoodie; it had been Steve's suggestion so that Tony wouldn't stand out. They didn't need the whole world questioning what Tony Stark was doing in DC when they already had so much else to deal with at the moment.
Tony still didn't understand why he was meeting Steve at a hospital of all places, but he decided to actually listen to Steve for once. They were supposed to be teammates, after all, and they both cared about helping Bucky. As he hurried down the creepily empty hallway, Tony paused as he passed by a vending machine. He'd been in such a rush to get here as soon as Steve had called that he hadn't had time to have anything to eat. Considering the fact that Steve hadn't even bothered to pick up the phone, Tony figured that it wouldn't be that big a deal if he stopped for a snack.
The last thing Tony was expecting to see was a very obviously not-bubblegum shaped object in the bottom row of snacks, hiding innocently behind an obnoxiously bright pink pack. Tony glanced both ways down the hall, but didn't see anyone coming, and then looked back at the vending machine. Was Steve even here at all? He'd been pretty vague on the phone, not wanting to risk saying anything if anyone else could potentially be hearing it. Had Steve led Tony here for that flashdrive in there? Well, this was a hospital. It's not like Steve would have brought him here for the amazing coffee.
Still unsure of what was expected of him at the moment, Tony quickly stuck some bills into the machine twice over, retrieving the gum and the flashdrive. Either one of those could come in handy. Then he grabbed a bag of chips while he was at it, because gum wasn't very fulfilling.
Tony took a moment to toss the flash drive into his Iron Man suitcase, since there was no way that anyone else would be able to get in, even if they did manage to get the case away from him, and then he continued on down the hall to the room Steve had told him, just to double check. He peered in, but it was empty. So had Steve really just sent him here for the flashdrive?
The sound of someone clearing their throat behind him definitely did not make Tony let out a startled little yelp as he whipped around. He tried not to wince at how difficult it was to turn so quickly. Maybe he really could use a cane. But that was something to think about some other time. For now, he just stared at Natasha, and his shoulders slumped down with relief. "Oh, good, it's just you. I was starting to get some horror movie vibes from this place. Did Steve send you here to get me? I had no idea you were even in DC. You know what I think our team could use some work with? Communication. It does not seem to be our strong point, as much as it saddens me to admit-"
"Stark," Natasha interrupted. "Tony," she amended. "Steve's not here. Haven't you heard the news?"
Tony thought about everything that he'd seen on TV. "Which news?" he asked warily.
Natasha narrowed her eyes. "Steve has been declared a traitor of Shield, and is on the run. If you didn't know that, then why are you here?"
"He called me," Tony answered with a small shrug. "Said he needed me to come down here because he knew I would be invested in the idea of helping a mutual friend of ours."
Natasha scoffed. "You have no friends, Tony. What's with the subterfuge?"
Tony raised one eyebrow. "Besides the fact that I haven't heard from you in ages and then suddenly a bunch of shit goes down, Steve's nowhere to be found, and you're the one here where he was supposed to meet with me?"
Natasha raised both of her hands up, as if showing that she had no weapons somehow made her any less dangerous. "We're on the same side. I've encountered the Winter Soldier before, and can tell you more about him."
"Winter Soldier? Is that what they're calling him? But anyways, I don't need your help figuring out more about him. I already know that he's Bucky Barnes, and that he's being mind controlled by Hydra." Maybe he was just playing his cards too soon, but he didn't think that that was the case. Natasha was a tough person to talk to at the best of times, and right now, Tony figured that it would be easiest to talk frankly.
Natasha's eyes flicked over to the vending machine behind Tony for just a second before focusing back on him. "You need to give me that drive. Without it, neither of us can do anything to help Steve. Or the Soldier."
Tony shrugged. "No offense, but between the two of us, I'm pretty sure that I'm the only genius. Wouldn't you agree that that makes me more qualified to figure out whatever's on there?"
Natasha clenched her jaw. "I believe that there are higher priorities here than proving that you're the smartest guy in the room. Just hand over the drive so that I can use it to help Steve out of this mess."
"Well I'll just come with you then-"
"No!" At Tony's immediate suspicious look, Natasha sighed. "Look Tony, you're a good man. Much better than I gave you credit for in a stupid report for Fury. And you're a good teammate. But this isn't a situation where you can be of any help. We need to be under the radar, and a face as famous as yours is going to accomplish the opposite of that. I'm sorry, but I just can't let you come along with us. This is too important to risk anything messing it up. I'm still not sure exactly what's going on, but I know that this is bigger than any of us."
"I get it. All I do is ruin everything," Tony spat out. He could feel himself starting to tremble, but hated the idea of appearing weak in front of someone like Natasha. "Why would you possibly want the help of the guy who's smarter and richer than just about anyone else you've ever met?"
Natasha frowned. "Tony, I am not trying to attack your character. I just want to make sure that everyone walks away from this safely. Including you. We don't have time to stand around all day debating this. I know that you're a stubborn man, but please listen to me just this once. I can help Steve, and Barnes. But not if you don't give me that drive."
Tony clenched his jaw. He should have known that it wouldn't take very long for the team to realize that they didn't need him. They were just fine without him. All they really needed him for was his money and tech, and apparently not even that was enough for them to want to keep him around. And with Natasha and Steve helping him out, Bucky didn't need Tony either. But Tony did still trust Natasha, even if had already figured out she didn't need him. Or maybe he trusted her more because of that. Some people, like Steve, were too nice to admit that they didn't want him around. At least Natasha was upfront about it.
So he opened the case to pull out the flashdrive to toss it over to Natasha. She easily caught it with one hand, and then tucked it into one of her pockets. She was giving him a strange look that Tony was in no mood to try and decipher. "Have fun with Cap and Cap 2.0 while I'm living it up back in my hot tub." He snapped the case shut with more force than necessary, then turned to go. "Not really worth the ride over if I'm being honest, but eh. I guess that's why I'm lucky to have my own private jet. I'd hate to travel coach all this way for nothing. Though I guess I could always make the ice cube comp me for it, since he is the one who called me all the way out here for nothing." Tony knew he was rambling, but it was difficult to force his mouth to just stay closed. He had to, though, or else he'd blurt out something as lame as his feelings, and he really didn't need Natasha to know the full extent of just how pathetic he was. "Anyways, I'll just be on my way now. Maybe I'll read about it all in the news tomorrow. Oh, and if Fury is really dead, why don't you send me an address to mail some cheap flowers to? Wouldn't want the man thinking he's good enough for the expensive stuff."
Natasha reached out to grab Tony's arm. "Tony, I am not trying to-"
He shrugged off her loose grip. "No, no, it's fine, I get it." He offered her one of his usual charming press perfect grins. "Go save the world. Someone's got to." Then he hurried off before Natasha could say anything else that would make him wish he could just sink into the ground and never get back up again.
Even though he said he'd head back to New York, Tony couldn't get rid of the uneasy feeling in his stomach, like something bad was going to go down. He knew that Rogers already regretted calling him here, but it was too late, he was here. Now he may as well stay until he was sure that the threat was over with. Until he was sure that Bucky and Steve and Natasha were all safe. He knew that they didn't need him, but the world needed them, so it was best to make sure they were protected.
One thing he knew Natasha had a point about was needing to remain low-key. He had no idea why Steve would be declared a traitor of Shield. Maybe one of the other Avengers he could understand, but Steve had always been such a by the book, stick up his ass type. Had he accidentally mixed up the words in his boy scout pledge or something?
Tony found his way to a crappy little motel, the kind that charged by the hour, and checked himself in. If he was being perfectly honest, this was nowhere near the worst accommodations he'd ever had (flashes ran through his mind of Afghanistan and Hydra and a cramped little room under the stairs that was barely big enough for him once he started puberty and-), but it was certainly the worst that he'd ever had to pay for with his own money. But that was a good thing. If Steve or Natasha changed their mind and wanted to meet up with him, they would never agree to go through some fancy hotel to get to him.
Tony sank down onto a bed that felt about as comfortable as a hunk of granite, though obviously worth a lot less money, and wondered why he hadn't thought to bring more than just his Iron Man suit with him. Probably because Steve had never really specified much beyond where to meet and what to wear, and Tony had foolishly assumed he'd figure out a way to grab Bucky and run before the day was over. Of course he had spare clothes on the jet, but it would be rather conspicuous to go and fetch them. He could buy some new things, maybe roleplay as Clint by buying clothes from Walmart. But for right now, he just wanted to take a moment to relax. Or at least, relax as much as he could when his sleeping situation involved a solid rock.
He ended up spending the rest of the day scribbling away ideas of new inventions on a pad of legal paper that he'd found in the bedside table instead of a bible, and didn't realize how much time had passed until he could no longer see what he was writing, and was forced to look up and see the dark room. Damn, no wonder he usually stuck to tablets. At least with those he didn't have to worry about being interrupted by lack of light.
If it hadn't been forced to get up and turn the light on, he probably wouldn't have even noticed the way his stomach was growling embarrassingly loudly. Tony started to reach for his phone so that he could call for take out, but then decided that he would prefer to take a walk instead. He needed to stretch his legs and back after sitting awkwardly hunched over for so many hours in a row.
Tony grabbed his hoodie and sunglasses, not caring about how douchey it would look to be wearing sunglasses when it was already dark outside. He headed out, though he was only a few steps out of his room before a large hand was being pressed over his mouth and he was being roughly dragged around the corner of the building. With his leg in the condition that it was, he couldn't really kick at his captor to get free.
He squirmed around, but the grip around him was like iron- or whatever material had been used to make the that was holding him hostage. Without even intending to, Tony relaxed as he realized that it was just Bucky who had him. He reached up to tap politely at the flesh hand that was covering his mouth. There was a soft hiss into his ear. "Do not scream or shout." Tony nodded, and then the hand was removed, though the one around his waist remained where it was.
Tony took in a few deep breaths, exaggerating the lack of air he'd had a moment ago. "You know, if you wanted to chat you could have just knocked on the door like a normal person."
"I have no interest in speaking with Captain America," Bucky growled fiercely.
Tony laughed. "And you think that I'd be slumming it with him? He doesn't wan- doesn't need my help. I'm just here for you, but Steve knows you a lot better than I do, and I'm sure that he would be better equipped to help you out here. I mean he's the big man on campus, you know?"
Bucky shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is that he insists on looking at me like- like I'm- I don't like the way he looks at me," Bucky finished lamely. "You're different. I know that I should be returning to my handler, but it feels more safe to be here." He didn't say anything else, but Tony understood that this new Bucky was a man of few words.
He couldn't deny the warm feeling in his chest at the thought that someone in the world actually preferred Tony to Steve. When had that ever happened before? Tony's entire childhood had been Howard comparing him to Steve, and explanations about how he would never be as good as Steve. And Tony did like the guy, no mistake, but still, it felt nice to be chosen over him for once. "Okay, that's- okay. Why don't we go back inside? Less risk of someone spotting us out here. And then maybe you can tell me how you found me?"
Bucky frowned as he slowly released Tony completely. "You are not very good at covering your tracks. You should be more careful."
Tony smiled. "Sure, I wouldn't mind taking a few pointers from you." They returned to the motel room, Tony's hunger already long forgotten, though the low growls his stomach made would have been difficult to ignore if he wasn't already used to doing that.
Once the door was closed and locked, and Bucky had propped the desk chair under the handle for good measure, Bucky let his backpack slide off of his shoulders and onto the thinly carpeted floor. Tony hadn't even noticed the backpack. "What's that?" He wondered if Bucky had brought him some Hydra weapons to study, or maybe some secret plans that could be used to save a lot of lives if they were foiled in time.
Bucky said nothing, and just nudged with his toes until it flopped over in front of Tony. Tony knelt down to open the bag, and his eyes widened as he saw a loaf of bread, a box with four sticks of butter, a small frying pan, and a carton of eggs with yellow goo clinging to the outside. He looked up at Bucky curiously, and Bucky glanced over at the drawn curtains. "Sustenance," he muttered.
Tony grinned. "You're going to cook for me?" He pulled the egg carton out and popped it open. The rough fall to the floor had gotten one of the eggs to crack open completely, which had caused the gooey contents to spill out. The others seemed mostly okay, though, with just some hairline fractures running through the shells. "You're the best," Tony declared with complete honesty. "Looks like stuff for French toast? Or were you planning something else?"
Bucky shrugged, still not looking at Tony. "Whatever you want. Just eat."
Tony brought the backpack over to the little kitchenette area, and carefully pulled everything out. The bread had gotten slightly squished, but otherwise seemed fine. Tony laid all of the ingredients out on the small counter space. There weren't any spices to mix in, which meant it would be a fairly bland meal, but beggars can't be choosers, and all that. Besides, Tony was just touched by the idea that Bucky had bought (or more likely, stolen) food for Tony.
A quick rummage through the cabinets revealed a few mostly depleted bottles with sugar, salt, and pepper caked at the bottom. He smacked the bottles against the counter a few times to loosen the powders, and then went to work making French toast. It was hard to ignore the way that he could practically feel Bucky's eyes drilling holes into his back, though he thought it had to be important that Bucky didn't make any move to attack Tony or to run away. "So if you've decided not to go back to your handler, does that mean you don't need to kidnap me anymore? You seemed so intent on it a couple of months ago."
"No." That was all Bucky said, but Tony was just pleased to get any kind of response.
He decided to hold off on finishing their conversation until after they'd both eaten, because everyone was grouchier on an empty stomach. And with the sizzling of egg against the hot pan, it would be difficult for Tony to hear anything Bucky told him anyways.
Just out of habit, Tony began softly humming under his breath as he cooked. It had been a long time since he'd done anything even this simple, but growing up, Ana Jarvis had always let him help in the kitchen, promising that he'd have a much easier time getting a girlfriend or boyfriend if he knew how to cook. Not that it ended up mattering, though, since apparently all he'd needed to get a significant other was a lot of money, which was something he already had.
Thinking of how much Steve could scarf down when he was given permission to eat until he was full, Tony decided to cook the entire loaf of bread to be on the safe side. He kept two slices for himself, and put the rest into a separate pile for Bucky. There were no plates, but the counter looked clean enough to eat off of. Then he quickly washed off the pan before settling down onto the bed with his food.
Bucky stared at Tony for several long and awkward seconds before he grabbed his own stack, though he continued to stand at the foot of the bed instead of sitting down. "What were you singing?"
Tony blinked in surprise, then shrugged. "Just an old song that my mom liked." Those rare nights when Maria Stark had been in the mood to sing Tony to sleep rather than ignoring his existence were some of the best childhood memories that he had. She had a beautiful voice, and had always looked so happy when she was singing. After a few seconds, Tony shook his head to clear away the thoughts. "Anyways, maybe we should focus on the more important issues at the moment. Like what are you even doing in DC?"
Bucky put down the slice that he was in the middle of eating, and then rested his hands in his lap. He looked adorably awkward and Tony almost wanted to take a picture to preserve the moment. "It was a kill mission," he said quietly.
Tony's eyes widened in realization. "Fury." It couldn't be a coincidence that Fury was dead in the same city Bucky had been sent to kill someone. And it seemed logical enough to believe that Hydra would want the director of Shield to be dead. He swore under his breath. "I never was very fond of the cyclops and all his secrets, but even I can admit that he deserves respect for what he did. He was able to keep together an entire organization of spies and agents and did pretty well at it. But… "Why would they make such a drastic move now? I can't believe that they wouldn't want to get rid of him sooner. Unless they've got some other plans going on that are going into effect that they don't want Fury interfering with. Or maybe that Fury had actually found evidence of. "The flash drive," Tony breathed out. "Dammit. I wanted to know what was on it before, but now I really want to know." He gave Bucky a searching look, and then decided that he didn't look like an overly jumpy man. "Alright, just give me a moment, and don't freak out." He wasn't sure how much information Bucky had been given about him when he'd been assigned to kidnap him, which is why he offered the warning.
It didn't take long for Tony to snap open his case, and then activate his bracelets so that his suit would fly towards him and assemble itself. Lugging around an entire suit of armor all the time was a bit straining on the muscles, but totally worth it. Once he was completely closed in, he glanced at Bucky, and was relieved to see that the assassin looked more curious than anything. Curiosity was obviously much better than fear, and was also a sign of free thinking.
"J, buddy, did you get a chance to download the contents of that flash drive before we had to hand it over to the Incredibly Deadly Widow?"
"Of course, Sir."
Tony grinned. "Excellent." He'd told himself earlier that he wouldn't try to peak at the drive, because clearly Natasha and Steve didn't need him interfering. But surely they'd understand that if this was about something as big as Hydra and Fury's death, and Bucky himself, that it would be pertinent to have him helping them out from the sidelines?
He pulled the new files up onto the HUD to scroll through it. A lot of it seemed to be data not connected to any information, just useless red herrings to bury the real leads underneath. But then he found something about a Hydra bunker that was shockingly close by, and quickly pulled up a satellite image of the coordinates. All he could see was a fiery wreck. "Apparently we're a little late to the party," he grumbled. He couldn't deny the spike of worry that shot through him at the thought that Natasha and Steve had also had access to this information, and would have most likely wanted to investigate the bunker.
But the bunker wasn't the only useful piece of information on the drive. His eyes widened, and he had to reread a certain line twice to make sure he wasn't mistaken. He raised the faceplate of his armor so that he could ask Bucky. "Have you ever met a man named Jasper Sitwell before? He's listed as a 'liason' here, but I don't think it can just be a coincidence that there also happens to be an Agent Sitwell of Shield."
Bucky frowned, looking lost in thought for a moment before giving a small shrug. "The name is not familiar."
Tony stepped out of his armor, though left it standing vigilantly in one piece in the corner of the room. He grabbed his phone and pulled up a picture of Agent Sitwell. "This is him. Anything familiar?"
Bucky stared at the picture for several seconds before giving a single abrupt nod. "Yes. I have never spoken with him before but I have seen him in Pierce's home."
Tony gasped sharply. "Pierce?" It couldn't be possible. Hydra couldn't be so deeply embedded into Shield. Someone would have noticed. He would have seen something when he hacked into Shield back when Loki tried to invade the world. Fury would have noticed something. Someone would have seen something!
But Bucky seemed unaware of Tony's internal issues. "Alexander Pierce. I have been assigned to protect him on multiple occasions, and his orders go above my handler's."
Tony sank down onto the bed. "Holy shit. This is- shit." He had absolutely no idea how much Natasha and Steve knew. Then he jolted up to his feet again. Natasha was a spy and an agent of Shield, and she'd been so insistent on Tony handing over the drive and then leaving. What if she was Hydra too? What if she had gone after Steve? He was already considered a traitor- and that made a lot more sense if there was more Hydra activity in Shield than anyone could have anticipated- and she could be intending to kill him, if he hadn't already died in that stupid Hydra bunker. "Shit! Alright, look, I think that Steve might be in serious danger right now. You know, the guy who was your very best friend growing up? But he's just one person, and if Hydra is confident enough to rise up now, they must have something serious planned, and we can't let them get away with it. We need to find Sitwell, and get him to talk." He began pacing back and forth in the small space that he had. "Alright, let's be realistic here. I'm not nearly as intimidating as you, especially with this stupid leg. So why don't you go after Sitwell, and I'll find Steve?"
Bucky stared at him blankly, and Tony wondered what he could have said wrong. "Are those orders?"
Tony quickly shook his head. "No! Of course not!" He sighed. "Look, this is a really screwed up situation, and I have no idea what the odds are of us all walking away in one piece-" he glanced at Bucky's metal arm. "-or whatever pieces we started in, okay? I wouldn't blame you at all if you don't want to get involved anymore. You need to do what's safest for you. You shouldn't go back to your handler and Hydra, and I think you're already aware of that, which is great! But you don't have to do anything. You're allowed to make your own choices, and no matter what you choose to do, I'll be proud just because I know it's what you really want. Does that make any sense?" He felt like he was rambling, but he needed to make sure Bucky understood him.
Bucky crossed his arms over his chest. "You are weak and incapacitated by your injury."
"Gee, thanks, tell me how you really feel, why don't ya?"
Bucky ignored the grumble and just continued speaking. "You will most likely die or be captured if you are on your own against Hydra." Tony wanted to make a loud complaint about how unfair that assessment was. Even with a bum leg he had his brain and his Iron Man suit. But he remained silent and waited for Bucky to get to the point. "I have a new assignment. Protect Anthony Stark."
Tony's eyes widened. When he was much younger, after the first time he'd been kidnapped, Howard had hired a bodyguard to watch over Tony. He'd stuck around for four months, and was gone the day his contract expired. The pattern held up, where a bodyguard would be hired for a few months following a kidnapping, and then everything would go back to normal.
The first time anyone had wanted to protect Tony without being paid for it was Rhodey, when he saw a fourteen year old Tony getting himself into all kinds of trouble. But even Rhodey, no matter what his real intentions were, always joked about how he did it because it was a moral obligation, or for a chance at Tony's money, or whatever other reason he could come up with. Of course Tony knew that it had all been said so that Tony wouldn't feel smothered enough to push Rhodey away, but even so, it would have been nice to actually hear the truth sometimes. And eventually there was Pepper, who was always looking out for Tony, but she was also on his payroll, so despite how much he loved her, he'd never be able to fully banish the insecurities he felt about his friendship with her. It all meant that this was the first time in his life anyone had ever outright stated that they were going to protect him, with no ulterior motive.
Tony gave Bucky a cautious look. "You know, I can be very difficult to look after. I mean, I'm too reckless, and I don't follow orders very often, and I-"
"That is exactly why you need protection," Bucky interrupted. He said it like it was a simple fact, no argument necessary.
Tony stared at Bucky for a long moment before he sighed. "Alright, then I guess we're in this together. Alright, so as much as I want to find and help Steve, we're just going to have to hope that he can hold his own against Natasha, because Sitwell is the bigger priority here." Tony began tapping away at his phone, eager to find the mole so that they could go after him. It only took a few minutes for him to grin victoriously. "On the other hand, if Steve and Sitwell happen to be traveling together…"
,,,
The asset would have just left behind Stark ("No, seriously, please just call me Tony.") if he could have gotten away with it. He wasn't entirely sure what the bright red metal suit could do, but it seemed to give Stark complete confidence, despite his lack of fighting skill, and the major injury he had. There was a brief image in the asset's mind of Stark staring up at him in disbelief, falling over into the asset's arms after being shot by a Hydra scientist.
But the asset shook the image aside. There were more important things to focus on at the moment. Like the look of absolute glee on Stark's face as the asset drove like a maniac to get them to the car that contained Rogers and Sitwell. Stark occasionally called out directions, but for the most part seemed content to let the asset get to their destination on his own terms. The asset almost wished he didn't have to pay such strict attention to the road. He couldn't remember ever seeing Stark look so happy before, at least not within the brief amount of time that they'd known each other.
Then the asset finally caught sight of the car that matched the description Stark had given him, and swerved his car out into the middle of the road, cutting off traffic completely. He made sure to swerve with the driver's side facing oncoming traffic, not wanting Stark to get injured in a car accident.
He got out of the car and stood in the middle of the road, waiting for a moment until Rogers got closer, and then he began stalking towards the moving vehicle. He held out his metal arm, trusting that it would be strong enough to actually bring the car to a halt if Rogers didn't stop driving first.
But Rogers must not have wanted to risk running over the man who had supposedly been his childhood best friend, because he slammed on the breaks, managing to stop the car just in time for the asset's arm to put only a small dent into the hood. Rogers quickly leapt out of the car, holding his hands up in the universal sign for being unarmed. "Bucky! What are you doing here?"
The asset opened his mouth to speak- even though he knew that he wasn't nearly as good with words as Stark was- but then two other people got out of Rogers' car. The first was a completely unfamiliar man, but the redheaded woman did look vaguely familiar. With all the times his mind had been wiped before, nothing should look familiar, but this woman did. He saw a flash of a roomful of young girls that he was responsible for training, and even as he kept his focus on Rogers, he knew that the spider would be someone to watch out for because she could be dangerous.
The asset gave Rogers a brief glance over. Stark had seemed concerned that Rogers was in danger, but the man looked healthy enough. With that same look on his face that had been there when they'd seen each other outside of Stark's tower, and when Rogers had followed him after Fury's death. "Bucky, I know you probably don't understand what's going on right now, but it's very important that you let us continue on our way. We need to stop something terrible from happening, and I know that you're still a good enough person to-" The asset stopped listening to Rogers. He didn't like the way Rogers kept talking to him like they knew each other when they didn't, not really.
Rogers finally stopped talking, though the asset didn't realize why until he glanced over and saw that Stark had limped his way from the car to stand next to the asset. "Steve!" Then he shot the redhead an unusually heated glare before slowly making his way towards Rogers.
Apparently Rogers was completely useless, at least when it came to tying people up, because as Stark made his way closer, Sitwell was suddenly springing out of the other car, grabbing one of the redhead's guns, and then grabbing Stark, yanking him backwards and pressing the gun to his head.
The asset growled in anger, and completely ignored what anyone was saying. He knew that Stark had wanted to keep this man alive to interrogate him, but the asset was more concerned with keeping Stark alive. Without any hesitation, he grabbed one of his own guns and fired once, perfect aim landing a bullet between Sitwell's eyes. He dropped backwards, instantly dead, and then the asset rushed over to Tony to make sure that he was unharmed.
Rogers made an unhappy noise. "Bucky, don't! He's a friend!"
The asset didn't bother to give Rogers the unimpressed look that he was feeling. Of course he wasn't going to hurt Tony. He'd literally just killed someone to protect the genius. Clearly Rogers wasn't the smartest man in the area. Tony had a strange look on his face as he reached up to rub off the small spatter of blood that had gotten on the side of his neck. "You uh, you really take this protection gig seriously, huh?" The asset nodded. Tony stared at him for a moment before reaching up to give the asset a pat on his shoulder. "Well, thanks for saving me, though uh, maybe in the future, if it's at all possible, do you think you could try finding non-lethal ways to do that? Not that I'm assuming you're going to want to stick around after we figure out everything that's going on right now or anything-"
The asset nodded again. "I will try," he told Tony in a solemn voice. He wouldn't be able to protect Tony properly if Tony got frightened of him and sent him away.
Tony smiled, and the asset didn't understand why that made his heart rate pick up. Tony didn't seem to notice his affect on the asset, and went to step around him so that he could speak with Rogers. The asset found himself stepping to the side to block Tony's path without even thinking about it. Tony raised one eyebrow in bemusement. "You've already protected me. I think I'm safe for now." He casually slipped past the asset, and walked over to Rogers. "I'm glad you're okay. I was worried when you weren't answering my calls. And, well, I'm not sure how much you've already figured out, but Hydra seems to be in bed with Shield, and not in any of the fun ways." He looked over at the redhead distrustfully.
Rogers frowned. "I know. We found out a lot, and we really need to get to the Triskelion to stop this thing called Project Insight from happening. If we don't stop it, a lot of good people will end up dead." He hesitated for a moment before continuing in a softer voice. "Hydra wants to take out anyone who could potentially be a threat to them, and you're on that list of people, Tony."
That caught the asset's attention. He was supposed to be protecting Tony, and he wouldn't be able to do that if all of Hydra was after him. But he also didn't want to work with Rogers and the redhead. Not after they'd already proved themselves incompetent enough to not even be able to keep an enemy subdued. And he didn't like how Tony had walked right into a dangerous situation just for Rogers.
Yes, the asset would work to put an end to whatever this project was, but no, he would not work with Rogers to accomplish their shared goal. Instead, he scooped up Tony, slinging him over one shoulder and ignoring the loud protests that came from everyone, and headed back to the car. He gently tossed Tony down into the passenger seat before taking the wheel again, and he quickly took off, leaving Rogers and co. behind to deal with the fallout of what had just happened.
,,,
Tony gave Bucky a look of disbelief. "You can't be serious right now, can you? Do you honestly think that I'm just going to sit around in here while you go up and risk your life? Are you forgetting that I'm an actual superhero? It's literally my job to save people!"
"Not this time," Bucky growled. "Stay."
Tony shook his head. "No way!" He turned to open the car door, but then Bucky moved faster than seemed humanly possible, and suddenly there was a handcuff around Tony's wrist, with the other end around the handle above the door. "What the hell? Are you serious right now?" Bucky just ignored him and got out of the car, hustling towards the building that the helicarriers were stored in.
As soon as Bucky was out of sight, Tony opened the door and hopped outside, ignoring the way that his handcuffed arm was bent at an awkward ankle. He activated his bracelets, and didn't have to wait long for his suit to encase him. He left off one gauntlet so that he could blast the thin chain of the handcuff, and then put on the last gauntlet. Pissed at Bucky, but mostly just eager to destroy Hydra, Tony flew towards the building. Of course, an Iron Man suit wasn't exactly low key, but at this point Tony didn't care about keeping a low profile. He just cared about making sure that Hydra couldn't destroy all those innocent lives, and maybe even that Hydra was destroyed completely. And, as much as he'd never really liked the guy, Tony thought that maybe Fury's ghost would appreciate some good old fashioned revenge for his death. Of course Tony didn't blame Bucky for pulling the trigger, he just blamed the Hydra agents who had ordered him to do it.
As he moved, he registered that he was getting a call from an unfamiliar number. Tony paused mid-flight to answer the call. "That you, Cap?"
Steve sighed. "Yeah, it's me. Thought you might be interested in knowing that Fury's still alive. He'd probably kill me for telling anyone, but it didn't seem right to keep it from you." He hesitated, but Tony didn't say anything because it seemed pretty obvious that Steve still had more he wanted to say. "Are you okay? Has Bucky…?"
Tony ignored the slight rattling inside of his gauntlet from where one half of a handcuff remained wrapped around his wrist. "I'm fine. The guy is really taking his self-proclaimed mission of protecting me really seriously. So tell me where you're at with the whole 'taking down Insight' thing, because I could really use some good news in my life right now."
"We've got a way to stop it. We just need to sabotage the helicarriers by replacing the controller chips."
"Oh, is that all? Great. Well, let's do this then."
There was another short pause before Steve spoke quietly. "Tony, you're one of Hydra's targets. They've already tried to kidnap you twice, and now they're ready to just straight up kill you. I don't think it would be safe for you to get so up close with this."
Tony scowled. "What is this, bash on Tony Stark day? I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, Capsicle. And all things considered, I'm sure that you're a pretty big target right now yourself, so stop trying to bullshit me. Why don't you want me getting involved in saving peoples' lives?"
Steve sighed again. "Look, Tony, I know you really don't want to hear this, but-"
"I really wish everyone would stop assuming that I'm completely useless! Just because of a stupid limp, everyone thinks I can't do anything! I can't believe this would be coming from you of all people. After you had to spend so much time trying to prove yourself as a kid because you were always getting sick and being weak, and now you're going to turn around and try and stop me from helping? From doing something that I know I can do? Screw that. Keep your little chips to yourself, but that doesn't mean I'm not helping. I'm not letting the rest of you risk your lives while I just sit back and do nothing." He hung up before Steve could even try to give any kind of response, and then continued on towards where he needed to be.
He found an office with Natasha furiously typing away on a computer. She only glanced up long enough to see that the person entering the room wasn't a threat to her before she bent her head back down. We need to prove to the world that Hydra is still a threat, or nobody will take us seriously."
Tony gasped when he realized what Natasha was doing. "If you release all of that information, it would be a death sentence to so many Shield agents."
"If I don't then it would be a death sentence for the entire free world," Natasha answered grimly.
But Tony didn't believe that there was no way of fixing this. So he shoved Natasha aside, and surprisingly enough, she actually let him. He wasn't stupid enough to think that he could ever make Natasha move anywhere if she didn't want to go there. But she just stood and peered over his shoulder as he began typing away.
He understood why it was important to release all of that information, but he also understood that he didn't want to see any innocent people die needlessly. So he used Jarvis to interfere, and scoop up all of the information that wasn't directly relevant to Hydra or any of the Hydra moles.
As Tony processed all of the data, he paused when something caught his attention. A well hidden file titled 'Winter Soldier'. Tony couldn't deny that he was very curious about Bucky, and what exactly Hydra had done to him, so against his better judgement, Tony opened the file. His eyes quickly scanned over everything, filling him with growing dread and horror as he understood just what had been done to Bucky to make him the way he was now. It was torture and cruelty and an off-brand version of super soldier serum, and brainwashing and all sorts of other things that made Tony want to vomit.
Then there was a subfolder of evidence of many of Bucky's hits that had been done for Hydra. Tony froze when he saw one with a very familiar date. December 16, 1991. Tony could feel the way his hand was shaking as he clicked on that file, and was faced with nothing but a grainy black and white thumbnail to a short video. Full of trepidation, Tony clicked on the video. There was still another couple of minutes until all of the filtered Hydra data was released, so he wasn't wasting any time by watching it.
Though Tony wished he'd just left the video alone as he watched a nightmare play out in front of him. That familiar road that he'd driven up and down on hundreds of times after his parents' death, hoping to somehow feel closer to his parents by doing that. And then he watched as his father's car swerved into a tree, and then a metal armed assassin strode into the frame, shooting Howard once in the head, and then walking around and opening the passenger door. He reached in and snapped Maria's neck in one quick and efficient move. Then he walked around the car to grab a small box from the trunk before he shot the security camera, and then everything went black.
Tony slumped down in the seat, and for once in his life, had no idea what to think or say. Howard was a piece of shit who was no real loss to the world or to Tony's life. But Maria… even if she'd never been a typical mother, and seemed to rarely find the time of day for her son, Tony couldn't help loving her. For those moments when she'd sing him to sleep, or when she made sure that Tony got some presents he actually wanted for holidays and birthdays, or when she made sure that the Jarvis' were never fired. After the first time he'd been kidnapped, his mom was the one who comforted him when he woke up with nightmares.
It had always been easy enough to blame Howard for being a drunk driver and getting his wife killed. But now he knew that it was Bucky who had done it. Logically, Tony knew that it wouldn't be fair to blame the man for what he'd done, especially after seeing all those Winter Soldier files about how they'd made him into what he is. But emotionally, all Tony could see was that metal arm killing his mom.
When he felt a hand rest lightly on his shoulder, Tony jumped up to his feet, only relaxing sightly when he saw that it was just Natasha. "Tony, we don't have time to stay here." Her eyes flicked over to the computer screen and then back to Tony, obvious in her concern for him. It wasn't often that Natasha's emotions were so blatantly telegraphed, which meant that this was either really real, or very fake. "Please, Tony, we have to get out of here."
He didn't even realize he was crying until he reached up to wipe at his face, and his hands came away wet. He quickly got back into his suit, ordering Jarvis to keep him mute from the world for now. He grabbed Natasha, and flew them both out of the building. Tony dropped the spy off back near the cars, and then flew straight up towards the helicarrier that was rising up into the sky. He wasn't sure if Steve was just bad at his task, or if something else had caused interference, but either way, Tony wasn't going to let that vehicle take off and kill a whole bunch of people.
Tony strategically shot at certain spots of the helicarrier that would help bring it down faster, and then he hovered around awkwardly, not sure what else he could do short of boarding the ship and trying to do some hacking. Then the helicarrier started veering towards the Triskelion and Tony began panicking. What should he do? What should he do?
The helicarrier smacked into the giant building, tipping it far more onto its side than a ship should ever be, and then Tony watched as a familiar blonde body builder was flung from the helicarrier, straight towards the river beneath. A second later, another body fell from the helicarrier, this one with the glint of a metal arm.
Tony swore under his breath, and then began flying towards Bucky, grabbing him and quickly moving to drop him off on the river bank before diving beneath the surface to grab Steve and drag him back to the bank as well, depositing him down next to Bucky. Then he turned back to watch the remaining helicarrier crash down. He winced at the thought of how many people had probably been inside the building before it was brought down.
After a moment, Tony turned back to the two super soldiers, and saw that Bucky was already getting to his feet, looking down at the unconscious Steve with an unfamiliar expression. Tony knew that now wasn't really the right time for a confrontation, but before he could even think about it, the words were coming out of his mouth. "So you killed my parents." He made sure to keep his mask down so that the tear tracks on his cheeks wouldn't be obvious, and so that his voice modulator would keep him from sounding like he was about to burst into tears again.
Bucky blinked a few times, and for a moment he looked confused, but then slowly realization spread over his face, quickly followed by guilt. "I didn't remember, I didn't-"
Tony held up one hand. He hadn't realized it until this exact moment, but he knew that he could forgive Bucky, because it hadn't really been him who committed that murder. Well, it had been, but only in the most technical sense. "Now that I think about it, when you rescued me from Hydra, you didn't come back with me, but that was after I mentioned my dad. I think that maybe you remembered it that time, and felt too guilty to come back. But it wasn't you who did that. Wasn't you who took my mom away. I almost want to blame Howard for being stupid enough to carry around some kind of top secret stuff in his trunk while driving around my mom, but that wouldn't be quite fair either. The blame is all with Hydra."
Bucky narrowed his eyes. "How can you say that?"
Tony shrugged. "You did literally save me from Hydra. I don't think an evil killer would do that, but you did. I know, if you're anything like me, you're probably never going to stop blaming yourself. God knows I still think about what my weapons did even though I had no clue what was going on behind my back. But it wasn't you, Bu- uh. Actually, I'm not really sure what to call you. I've been thinking of you as Bucky in my head all this time, but you don't seem to really remember much about being Bucky, and I'm not going to call you 'the asset' or the Winter Soldier. What do you want to be called?"
Bucky stared at Tony for a while before shrugging once. "James will do for now." He said it with the uncertainty of a man who had no idea who he was, and Tony could relate to that, even if he'd never been forced to forget about everything he knew and cared about in life. Didn't change the fact that he'd spent most of his life feeling lost, having no idea of who he was supposed to be.
Tony nodded. "Cool. Nice to meet you then, James. I'm, uh, going to head home now. If you need a place to crash, or ever want to cash in on that arm I'm working on, you know where my tower is." He took a step back, then paused. "Oh, and if you still have the keys to those handcuffs you used, I would really appreciate it."
James stared at Tony like he was looking at an alien, then reached into his pocket to pull out a small silver key, which he tossed to Tony. Tony easily caught it, and then removed one of his gauntlets so that he could unlock the half of the cuff and toss it aside. His wrist was angry red, and bleeding in some spots from where the metal had harshly rubbed up against it during his flight. But it wasn't anything serious; he could just patch it up once he was safe and back in his workshop. He nodded once at Bu- at James, and then took off.
,,,
James had stared at the Captain America and Howling Commandos exhibit in the museum for several hours. He could see his own face peering back at him from a couple of pictures, as well as a giant cardboard cutout proclaiming him to be Steve Rogers' sidekick. As if.
There was a picture of Rogers, Agent Peggy Carter, and Howard Stark all sitting at a table together. The resemblance between Howard and Tony was pretty strong, though James didn't really remember Howard at all, at least not beyond being the face of one of his victims.
It still seemed so hard to believe that Tony could somehow forgive him for murdering his parents. He just didn't understand how that was possible. But he also couldn't see any reason for Tony to lie about such a thing. If he hated James forever now, then why would he have offered shelter and upgrades to his most important weapon? It just didn't make any sense.
And then there was Steve. James had intended on sticking around long enough to talk to the man, but he'd ended up chickening out, and making a run for it just a few minutes after Tony had taken off. James had no idea who he was supposed to be, but he did know that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life being compared to a version of himself that he couldn't even remember. And he just knew that that's all Steve would ever do. But maybe if James could figure himself out first, Steve would have an easier time understanding that James was a new person now.
James had come to the museum to see if it would spark and important memories, but nothing in particular had risen up in his mind. James sighed as he clenched his metal hand into a fist, and reached up with his flesh hand to tug his cap down to make sure his face wasn't visible to everyone else. Maybe taking Tony up on his offer wouldn't be such a bad thing. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he wanted the chance to get the know the other man better, and he couldn't do that from a different state. And going to Tony's tower would give him the added benefit of being away from Hydra. He was under no illusions that they would be happy to just let him go after seventy years of being one of their most useful weapons.
,,,
Tony was in the middle of one of his lab binges when his music cut out and he was interrupted by Jarvis. "Sir, you have a visitor. Sergeant James Barnes, according to my facial recognition software. Would you like to let him up?"
Tony blinked a few times as he tried to tug his mind free from the problem he'd just been working on. It had been two weeks since everything went down at the Triskelion, and Steve had already sulked back to the tower several days ago after realizing that he probably wasn't going to be able to find James on his own. "Sure, J, give him access." He grabbed a cloth to wipe some engine grease off his hands while he waited a minute for the glass doors to his shop to slide open, and a very awkward looking James to slowly step inside. He had his long hair pulled back into a neat bun, and had shaved off his slight scruff. "Uh, hi."
James shuffled awkwardly, and Tony wondered if there were very many dangerous assassins who were able to pull off the awkward look like that, and look admittedly adorable on top of it. "You said that I could come by here if I wanted a place to stay. Or- or for an arm?" He reached up to scratch at the back of his neck. "If you want me to go, though, I'd understand. I can just leave right now-"
Tony quickly shook his head. "No- no, that's alright. You're perfectly welcome to stay, if you want. Steve is around here too somewhere, if you want to talk to him."
James shrugged, looking very hesitant. "I'm not sure if I want to talk to Steve. But I- uh," he had a very uncomfortable look about him. "I brought something for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small round bar. He shook it up and down, and it extended into a full length cane. "I know you have enough money to buy your own, but I just thought that-" he cut himself off, face colored the faintest pink. "You seem too stubborn to get one for yourself."
Well, Tony didn't know if he'd call it stubbornness per se, but yeah, he had purposely avoided getting himself a cane. It just felt like too much of an admission that he really wasn't as strong as he liked to think that he was. James must've sensed Tony's apprehension about this specific gift because he started to pull it away, and Tony quickly reached out to grab it. "Thank you!" he blurted out. It had been a really long time since anyone had gotten him a thoughtful gift. The usual assumption was that he was already more than wealthy enough to buy for himself anything he might want. He clutched the cane tightly in his hand until James finally let go, and then he held it up to begin studying it curiously. "Where did you get this?"
James shrugged, and Tony interpreted that as meaning that it was better if he didn't know. James let out a small sigh of relief at having his present be accepted. "You deserve a lot more," he said very quietly.
Well that was certainly something up for debate, but Tony decided not to start a fight. It was just nice that James had shown up at all, though Tony was a bit relieved that it had taken him some time to show up. Tony wasn't sure how he would have felt about having James in his space so soon after finding out the truth about his parents.
Tony cleared his throat, and quickly changed the topic. "So did you want to see that arm?" He went over to one of his work tables and quickly pulled up the file. Even though he hadn't expected James to ever actually take him up on his offer, he'd continued to work on it anyways, and it already looked much better than it had the first time James had come to the tower. "See that elbow? I think it needed better flexibility, without sacrificing any of the strength so I added…"
,,,
James couldn't help staring more at Tony than at the holographic design being displayed in front of him. He couldn't help finding the man incredible for not only forgiving him for his past, but also going so far as to build him a new arm. And he sounded so enthusiastic when he talked about his work. Passionate was a good look on Tony. And he was glad to see that Tony was already leaning some of his weight onto the cane. Even if it was just a subconscious reaction, it meant that hopefully Tony wouldn't tire himself out so much when he was working, or doing anything else.
After a long explanation of how the new arm worked and what materials it would be made out of, Tony paused to take a breath, and then turned to look at James with a combination of pride and uncertainty.
Well, there was no way James could let Tony think that he, or his creations, were anything other than extraordinary, so he leaned forward to give Tony a quick kiss. Even if he got slapped, it was worth it to see the bright flush to Tony's face, making him look flustered and shy despite his playboy reputation. James couldn't remember if he'd ever had a first kiss before, but decided that this one was more than satisfactory enough to take the title.
Tony just stared up at James with wide eyes. "What was that for?"
James shrugged, and tried to figure out how to properly word his thoughts. "Being with you feels… safe. And good. And you look nice."
Doubt was clear on Tony's face as he glanced down at his grease stained wife-beater. "Uh, you sure you aren't having some kind of residual brain damage or something?" Then he immediately froze in reaction to his own words. "Shit, that's not what I meant, I just-"
James decided that it was the appropriate time to give Tony another kiss, and it worked to calm the man down fairly quickly. "How long have you been down here?"
"Sir has been working for the past twenty-seven hours," Jarvis answered immediately. "With only coffee and a single tomato for sustenance."
James decided not to ask why Tony had a random single tomato. Instead, he just offered a small smile. "Never got to finish all the food. Back in DC. But it was good. Will you make me something?"
Tony furrowed his eyebrows. "I can have Jarvis call you takeout from anywhere you want-"
"I want your cooking," James insisted. It would get Tony out of the lab, and hopefully he'd end up eating some of his own food as well.
Tony's shoulders slumped down. "Ah. I wonder if this means Ana was right afterall?" he mumbled to himself. Then he told Jarvis to save his work on every project he'd opened, and gave James a small smile. "I haven't made any real food in a really long time, so don't blame me if I burn the water or explode the microwave or something."
James smiled fondly- because how could he not when Tony was the one talking? and then he gently reached out to touch the side of Tony's face, ready to pull away in an instant if it made Tony uncomfortable. Instead, Tony pressed further into the touch, and James was more than happy to provide some human contact. "Whatever you make will be perfect." He spoke confidently because he knew it was the truth. No matter what Tony made or did or said, everything would be just fine.
A/N- I really hope that their relationship doesn't seem too rushed or forced! That's always my biggest concern when writing fics where people get together for the first time haha