Chapter 3

The sky was thickly coated with black clouds, thunder boomed and lightning lit up the sky. Steve's eyes shot open at the sudden, explosion-like noise from the outside. He jolted up and looked around, panting as his heart raced. He jumped to his feet and went out on the terrace to look outside. He almost slipped on the wet floor of the terrace but caught the rails in time not to fall. His eyes observed everything quickly, searching for the trouble he was expecting, but then he noticed it was pouring and that it was the thunder that woke him and not an explosion. He let out a sigh of relief and went back into the room. He closed the door to the terrace and then looked at the bed and realized that Bucky was missing. His eyes widened and his heart started racing again.

"Bucky?" He called and was about to run out the door when J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke up.

"Sir, he's int he bathroom." J.A.R.V.I.S. said.

Steve looked to the door of the room's adjusted bathroom, there was light coming from under it. He exhaled once more in relief, then went to his chair and pulled it to the glass door leading to the balcony and plopped down onto it, sitting in a relaxed position and watching the weather outside.

Inside the bathroom, Bucky stood in the tub with his hands on the wall and head hung as scalding water rained down on him, making his skin pink from its heat. He heard Steve, but he didn't reply. In truth, while he was in his coma, he remembered everything that had happened to him which he should not remember: everything he could remember from his childhood, how he grew up, his time with Steve, the army, the war, then falling off the train that time and losing his arm, getting found and carried away by the Soviets, being experimented on, all the horrible things he did, the cryo, everything up until the moment he lost consciousness in the Carpathian mountains.

Bucky bit his bottom lip and clenched his fists, so hard his knuckles went white, but only on his right hand. His left hand looked like it was covered in real skin, it took him a moment when he woke up to realise that he wasn't dreaming and he was missing his real hand, but instead of the arm that Hydra gave him, he was one that looked more like a human arm. It felt strange to be able to feel temperature and the sensation of touch with his left arm, it would take some time to get used to. The only disadvantage he saw so far was the pain he'd feel if he blocked a weapon attack with his left arm and from the high temperatures.

Steve was lost in thought of how he was going to approach Bucky and what he was going to say to him once the other stepped out of the bathroom. His train of thought was broken by the sound of the lock on the door unlocking and the door opening slowly with a slight creak. He turned back to see Bucky stepping out in only a towel wrapped around his waist and still wet, leaving trails of water after himself. He stood there, watching Steve in silence, water dripping from his hair strands.

Steve stood up from his chair and turned to face Bucky, the both of them stared at one another in silence. Steve slowly approached Bucky. "Bucky..." He started, but was interrupted by the other man.

"Steve, don't." Bucky stopped him with a raised hand.

Steve stopped walking and stood a meter away from his friend. Oh how he wanted to hug him tightly and never let him go, never again. But there was a mere meter between them which prevented him from doing so. Steve swallowed, looking at his friend.

"No need for all this careful approach bullshit." Bucky continued. "I remember everything..." Bucky said.

Steve's eyes widened. "Bucky...!" He breathed. He made two steps forward and wrapped his arm around Bucky, pulling him into a strong and tight embrace. His eyes filled with tears and he sobbed, hanging his head as he held Bucky to himself with one hand on Bucky's back and another on the back of his head.

"Steve...!"Bucky struggled a bit. He was still weak, having just woken up and having enough strength only to walk and perform average movements, but he was still weak to fight. "Let go... You're crushing me!"

Steve let go of Bucky, but he held him by his shoulder as he looked at him. There were still tears in his eyes. "Please... Please tell him this isn't a dream... I beg you... Please tell me this isn't a dream!"

"It's not a dream, happy." Bucky replied.

That only made Steve cry more and pulled Bucky into another tight hug. "Oh Bucky!" The big baby kept on sobbing.

"Hey...Man...Stop." Bucky tried to push him away but it was pointless. "I'm not gonna go anywhere... For now at least."

Steve looked at him again. "You can't go anywhere... I won't let you... I won't let you go... Not anymore... Not now, not ever!"

"Fine, fine. But let me dress at least." Bucky looked around. "Is there even anything for me to dress into?"

"J.A.R.V.I.S." Steve spoke up, still eyes on Bucky.

"Yes, sir?" The house spoke.

Bucky jumped a bit from surprise and looked around, searching for the source of the voice.

"Is there any clothing that my friend can wear?" Steve asked, still looking at Bucky.

"Mr. Stark had some extra clothing ready for Mr. Barnes to wear once he awoken. I will have a robot bring it." J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

"Yes, thank you." Steve said. The house said nothing in return.

"Who was that?" Bucky asked Steve, once he found no living source of the voice.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. is a program created by Tony Stark, the owner of this house and son of Howard Stark. J.A.R.V.I.S. is more like a mind without a body, having a point of view of its own." Steve explained.

"Uh-huh..." Bucky replied. He looked around the room. "So," He looked at Steve. "Where is he?"

"Basically everywhere. He can transfer himself into any mechanical object. Be it a cell phone, or Tony's Iron Man suit." Steve kept explaining.

"Uh-huh... And what's a cellphone?" Bucky asked. He felt awkward, not knowing anything about the technological development of the 21st century, except for the weaponry and experiment devices.

Steve smiled, he had a lot of explaining to do, and he would certainly enjoy telling his friend everything he knew. He would explain the smallest details until Bucky understood them, in some way at least if not fully. And that's exactly what he was doing for the past several hours after Bucky was brought his clothing. Apparently it was still night and Tony and Pepper were still asleep.

Pepper was the first to wake. When she walked into the kitchen in her robe, she jumped up in surprise when she saw Steve and Bucky sitting at the table and talking over some coffee.

"Oh, good morning, Pepper." Steve greeted with a smile.

Bucky turned back to look at the person Steve referred to. He saw a woman who seemed to be in her late 20s or early 30s. She had strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, a curvy build with some muscle, and wore a white robe.

Pepper took a moment to catch her breath and calm her heart beat. "Yes... Good morning. Well... This is a good wake up call." She smirked, then inhaled and exhaled deeply. She stood up straight and looked at them both. "When did he wake?" She referred to Bucky.

"In the middle of the night." Steve replied.

"Uh-huh..." Pepper nodded. She went to a counter to get her cup and poured herself some water. She leaned on the counter with the back of her waist as she took a sip of her coffee. "How are you feeling?" She asked Bucky.

"Weak to fight but strong enough to walk and talk." Bucky replied.

"Oh... Yeah..." Steve remembered to introduce Pepper to Bucky. He cleared his throat. "Bucky, this is Ms. Pepper Potts, she is Tony's assistant."

Pepper nodded to Bucky, who gave a slight nod back.

"Is Tony still sleeping as always?" Steve asked?

"Yeah, you can expect him to wake up on his own around 1 p.m." Pepper replied, taking another sip of her coffee.

Steve smirked. "But you're not going to let him sleep for so long, are you?"

"Nope." Pepper took the final sip and set her cup into the dish washer. Then she left the kitchen to go dress.

After putting on a pair of tight, white jeans, a light green t-shirt, brown, leather sandals, and collecting her hair in a pony tail, Pepper went to wake Tony.

The door opened on its own in front of her as she came in. Tony's room was a mess of clothing and papers all over the place along with tools. She sighed, there was no difference between his room and his workshop. In fact, his workshop was more tidy than his room! "Oh Tony." She shook her head with a sigh. She made her way through the mess to his bed, sat down on the edge of it, and stared to shake him lightly by his shoulder. "Wake up, Tony."

"Mmmmmmrrggh..." Tony groaned. He grimaced a bit and waved her away lazily. "Five more minutes."

"No, it has to be now." Pepper insisted.

"What is it now? Tsunami? Earth quake? Terrorist attack?" Tony said sleepily.

"James Buchanan Barnes woke up." Pepper said.

"WHAT?" Tony jolted up. His eyes wide, heart racing. "J.A.R.V.I.S.! Close all the door and hide all more robots! Block all the systems so that he doesn't get my research and get me my suit!" Tony jumped to his feet.

Pepper chuckled.

"What?" Tony looked at her.

"He's not endangering anyone, Tony." She said through her laughs.

"What?" Tony asked in disbelief. "He's one of the world's top most wanted terrorists and he's not endangering anyone? What is this? Some parallel universe in which ever villain is a nice guy? Then I should be expecting a friendly visit from Loki."

Pepper chuckled more. "No, Tony. He remembers everything, and he's too weak to fight. So if he tried to cause anything, Steve would hold him down."

"Yeah yeah, as if that muscled up teddy bear is capable of punching someone." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Tony." Pepper stood up from his bed. "Give Captain some credit."

"The last time I checked, he was willing to let that friend of his punch him to death." Steve countered.

"James didn't remember anything. Plus, he's Steve's friend. Imagine how Steve felt the whole time." Pepper countered back.

"Still, I'm not having him for long in my tower. I'm fine with him as long as he's out of here. He can go live with Steve, Steve has his own house." Tony argued as he pulled on some clothing.

"That's dangerous, Tony. They can be spied on and attacked."

"And if they are here, we're on the radar too." Tony countered once more.

Pepper sighed. "Come on, Tony. At least let them stay till Bucky is strong enough to leave and fight back."

"You mean wait until he's strong enough to kick mine and Steve's asses?"

Pepper huffed. "Tony! He seems to have changed for the better, give him a chance!"

"Or he's just fooling everyone and hiding behind Steve's back while flattering his lashes innocently, getting himself some time for his evil schemes!"

"Tony!"

"Pepper!"

Pepper looked at him, arms crossed, then left his room with a huff and a shake of her head.

Tony watched her leave. "Hey! Pepper! I'm just looking out for both of us!" Tony stuck his head out of the door way and shouted after her. But Pepper just kept on walking. He sighed and went back in, the door closing behind him. "Women." He said with a sigh and a head shake.

"But they are the suns of our male lives, Mr. Stark." J.A.R.V.I.S. seemed to tease Tony.

"Oh, be quiet. And don't talk like you've been in love!"

"Maybe I have." J.A.R.V.I.S. sounded like he said with a shrug of his shoulders, imaginary shoulders.

"Wait, what?" Tony stopped dressing. "Who was it? A girl robot? Or some female type artificial intellect?"

"No, but I have had a few interests in some of your female guests."

"Wait, you spied on me while I had sex?" Embarrassment and anger was building up inside Tony.

"I am the house after all, Mr. Stark." Now J.A.R.V.I.S. was really enjoying this.

"And you got off on it?" Tony quickly realised he didn't want that question answered. "Wait, don't answer that."

"It was an interesting sight, Mr. Stark. Very." J.A.R.V.I.S. struggled to keep a calm voice.

Tony's face reddened with fury. He stormed out of his room into the kitchen. He stopped in the door way and eyed Steve and Bucky. Then he proceeded to the coffee machine, all the while glaring at Bucky, who seemed to raise a brow.

"What's his problem?" Bucky whispered lowly to Steve.

"Probably a fight with Pepper." Steve whispered back.

"Do they do that often?" Bucky asked.

"Not surprisingly, yes." Steve replied.

"Why not surprisingly?" Bucky asked.

"It's just how they are." Steve replied.

"And he's always the reason?"

"Mostly, yes."

"I heard that." Tony said as he finished pouring himself his coffee. He turned on his heels and glared at both men while drinking his coffee.

Steve seemed to flinch a bit under the glare.

Pepper walked into the kitchen. She paused for a moment. "It wasn't me."

"It was me, Ms. Potts." J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke up.

Again Bucky's eyes traveled around the room. He shifted uncomfortably, feeling spied on, with no privacy what-so-ever.

"What did you do this time?" Pepper asked.

"We spoke about love." J.A.R.V.I.S. replied.

"Oh?" Pepper raised a brow, as she opened the fridge and scanned its contents for something she could eat, then she retrieved some sushi from it and closed the door.

"Yes, I have revealed my secret of spying on him and his 'guests'." There was some hinting exaggeration on the last word.

Pepper chuckled and shook her head. "Oh J.A.R.V.I.S., I'd give you a high-five if you could do so back."

"It is a shame I cannot." J.A.R.V.I.S. said.

"Indeed it is." Pepper took her breakfast and went to sit at the table with Steve and Bucky.

Tony grumbled and after taking his last sip and setting the cup down on the counter with a loud clank, stormed off to his workshop.

"Tony! At least put your cup into the dishwasher." Pepper called to him, but he kept on walking. She sighed and shook her head. Then got up and put his cup into the dishwasher.

"He seems like a child." Bucky spoke up lowly.

"More like an adolescent." Steve said.

"An adolescent girl on her period is more accurate." Pepper spoke up with a sigh and a shake of her head.

There was a moment of surprise between the two males before they chuckled a bit, realising just how accurate that really was.