New York, Present Day

The tension that greeted Steve and Bucky when they reached the compound wasn't surprising. Tony was standing in the entrance hall with his arms crossed, staring flatly at the two super soldiers. Alicia Bennett stood next to him, barely able to contain her excitement.

"It's so awesome to see you again, Steve!" She cheered as he and his best friend entered the compound. Steve smiled, but was too preoccupied looking at Tony to answer. Alicia read the air around them and decided to back away, realizing that she could talk to Steve and his friend later. She observed the man standing slightly behind Steve staring down at the ground awkwardly.

Everyone at SHIELD knew of the Winter Soldier. Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes had only been in his early twenties when he'd enlisted for the war and had gotten shipped out with the 107th division. He was known better, though, as one of Steve's Howling Commandos that had helped him to take out HYDRA during World War II. She could see the wear of war on his face, her sharp eyes taking in all the scars that battered his face. He had a sharp jaw line and gray-blue eyes that seemed haunted. She was startled by the similarities between his eyes and Steve's. They had the same old sadness and wisdom. She thought back to the old videos she'd seen of the two best friends and tried to find the same, laughing man in the man standing in front of her, but there was practically no trace of the old Bucky Barnes.

"It's been too long, Capsicle." Tony broke the tense silence, allowing a smirk to grow on his face. Steve's shoulders loosened slightly. He was in no way in the clear with Tony, but at least they were on talking terms. "Agent Bennett-" She cleared her throat, interrupting him. Tony rolled his eyes, but fixed his sentence. "Alicia told me you're looking for an arm." He looked at Bucky as he said this. The dark haired man looking up, meeting Tony's eyes, and nodded.

Tony was taken aback by the visible guilt and sincerity in his eyes. He swallowed and turned, not wanting to see the raw emotions in his mother's killer, and gestured for his three companions to follow him. Nobody talked as they entered his lab, where a shiny new arm was waiting on the work bench.

"You took a couple days." Tony only shrugged at Steve's widened gaze. It had only been two days since Bucky had been thawed, and Steve didn't want to think about how much sleep Tony had lost building an arm for a man that he detested.

"I don't understand." Bucky spoke for the first time. Alicia jumped, not expecting the deep Brooklyn voice next to her, and took a deep breath to calm her startled heart. Bucky shot her an apologetic expression, which she just waved off. "You hate me. Why would you do this for me?" He gestured to the metal arm that would replace his old one, which had been missing since Stark himself had ripped it from Bucky's body.

"I owed Cap." Tony only shrugged. "Go ahead and sit down. I'll have to remove what's left of the old one." Bucky slipped his jacket off, revealing the destroyed shoulder of his old metal arm.

"Hey." Alicia touched Steve's shoulder softly where he stood at the door. When the super soldier turned to her, she gestured with her head to the door. "Let's leave them alone for a couple minutes okay?" Steve glanced back at Bucky unsurely. "Trust me, it'll be good for them."

Neither Tony nor Bucky said anything when the door opened and their other two companions slipped out of the room, leaving them in terse silence.

"I used to hate Steve." Tony tossed the statement out without much care. He put his head down so that Bucky couldn't see the expression on his face, but the man was a trained assassin; he'd already caught it. "My dad used to go on and on about how amazing he was." Tony rolled his eyes. "There was never a time when I wasn't being held to this...giant expectation." Tony finished his revelation, wondering why he'd admitted that to the black haired ex assassin.

"Believe it or not, Steve really did used to be the weakest man I've ever seen." Bucky replied after a couple seconds of silence to gather his thoughts. "Nobody will ever really know the extent to his health problems before the serum, except for me." He shook his head, a wry smile across his face. "I used to worry about that kid incessantly." Stark listened, enraptured, to the older man. He tried to imagine Steve as small and weak, but the image seemed wrong to him.

"Did..." Tony trailed off, swallowing harshly. Bucky could sense that whatever Tony was about to ask him could affect the very tense peace he and Steve had with the billionaire. "Do you remember it?" Bucky's shoulders tensed and he abruptly sat up straighter.

"I...I do." Bucky replied, the words getting stuck in his throat. Tony's breath shook slightly.

"Did she...did she talk?" His trembling voice betrayed him, despite his still hands as he meticulously cleaned all of the gunk and old wires out of Bucky's shoulder. The soldier looked away, blinking slowly. He didn't want to tell Tony, for the sake of Steve's friendship with the Stark, but he knew that Tony needed it, and deserved it.

"Her eyes were open...she was holding my wrist until the very end." He stared down at his human hand, trying not to remember the feeling of Mrs. Stark's neck under it. He repressed a shiver. "She was a fierce woman, Tony." Bucky said sincerely, turning to look at the younger man. "And I'd do anything to change it." Tony looked up with a rebuttal ready, but was thrown by the grief and depression that shone in Bucky's eyes. "I know it won't mean anything, but I'm sorry." The words seemed to have more of an effect on Tony than Bucky ever thought they would. He stopped cleaning Bucky's shoulder and stared up at the Winter Soldier. No...he stared up at James Buchanan Barnes.

"I know." He replied softly. And it was true, he did. He could see in Bucky's eyes that he truly regretted it, that he really would do anything to go back and do it over. To make a different choice.

"I appreciate everything you've done for Steve, Tony." Buck said softly as Stark finished cleaning out his shoulder. He picked up the new, lighter arm, and started to attach the wires as Bucky continued. "When I started to remember...I was worried. Steve is my little brother, and I'm glad that he was in good hands. I'm glad that you're one of his best friends." He smiled down at the man, wincing as the last connection was made.

"Well, you should be good to go." Tony only replied, standing up. Bucky rolled his shoulders softly, marveling at the lack of weight. He'd always walked with something of a swagger because the old metal arm had dragged the left side of his body lower than the right.

"It's...light." Bucky clenched and unclenched his hand, bent his elbow, and moved the arm any way he could.

"I made a few upgrades from the old one. I looked at the wiring and engineering of it. It was amazing, for the time period it came from, but archaic to today's standards. You should be able to feel at least a little bit with that one." He gestured. Bucky looked over at Stark with wide eyes.

"Stark, this means more than you could ever imagine." Bucky threw him a genuine smile, one that took Stark by surprise. When the man smiled, Stark could actually see the old Bucky Barnes, the one in all of the photos and videos from during the war, before the fall.

"Yeah well...don't destroy it."