Chapter 10
This is set during post Age of Ultron. Mild Spoilers.
AN1: A HUGE THANK YOU to my Friend Emily who is editing this story and who is helping me figuring things out when I get stuck, So THANK YOU.
Four hours after Tony and Bucky sat down together to get started on what they had to do they are both outside the building where they will find Alexander Pierce.
"Are you ready?" Tony asks Bucky.
"No." Bucky says, being pretty sure that he could never be ready for what they are about to do, "But let's go." He says and the two of exchange nods.
"First stop security office." Tony says.
"Follow me." Bucky says and they head into the building.
Because they know that they can't risk being caught on cameras as it will completely mess with their plan Bucky and Tony slowly make their way through the facility and to the security office, being as careful as possible to avoid the cameras. When they arrive at the security office Tony pulls something out of the backpack he has opens the door and throws it in before quickly shutting it.
"You never did explain exactly what that is." Bucky tells Tony.
"Scientific term?" Tony asks and Bucky nods, "Sleeping gas." He respond and he once more opens the door so that they can enter the office where they find the two security guards fast asleep, "Because just easing the cameras will be too suspicious we're going to put them on a loop." Tony says as he quickly goes over to the equipment and starts pressing stuff.
"And that will give us twenty minutes to do what we have to, right?" Bucky asks, wanting to double check the facts.
"Yep." Tony says, "If it takes us longer than that then there is about a one hundred percent chance that we'll be caught."
"I've faced worse odds." Bucky comments in a completely serious voice and despite himself Tony finds himself smirking.
"Let's move." Tony says once he finishes doing what he was doing.
"Pierce's office is on the top floor, and he has the best security. He's not going to be easy to get to." Bucky tells Tony as they make their ways through the corridor.
"Sounds like another day at the office to me." Tony comments.
"What do you do?" Bucky asks interested.
"That's a very long story that I don't have time to explain now." Tony says and they are just about to walk around a corridor when Bucky puts his arm out in front of Tony and stops him from going forward, "What's going on?" Tony asks.
"Someone's coming." Bucky explains and both he and Tony quickly look around for somewhere to go.
"Supply closet." Tony says noticing the room and they both head to the room and hide in there.
"We're clear." Bucky says after few minutes of them hiding in complete silence.
"How can you tell?"
"I can hear really well." Bucky says as they walk out of the room, "We've just got to make it to the end of the next corridor where we'll find the stair well and then three floors up we'll find Pierce." Bucky explains and Tony nods.
For the next couple of minutes Tony and Bucky make their way through the corridors and stairs in complete silent. While the silence is due in part to them trying not to be noticed it is also in part because neither Tony nor Bucky know what to say to each other.
When they arrive at the top floor both Bucky and Tony pause and Bucky checks to make sure the corridor is clear.
"All clear." Bucky says to Tony, who nods and they make their way down the corridor, "Pierce's office is at the end." He explains and Tony nods.
"Good." Tony says wanting this to be over so he can start to figure out a way to get back to his time.
"So how exactly are we going to do this?" Bucky asks curious.
"Well I don't know about you but I've always found that the direct response works best." Tony says.
"Yeah, direct is good." Bucky comments as Tony searches through his backpack for something.
"You used to be a sniper, right?" Tony asks pulling out what Bucky knows to be a homemade version of a dart gun.
"I was." Bucky admits as honestly that felt like a lifetime ago.
"Good, we've got one shot at this, hit Pierce and he'll be out for two minutes. That will give us enough time to secure him before he wakes." Tony says as he hands the dart gun over to Bucky. Hesitantly Bucky reaches out and grabs it being sure that if it was a regular gun then he wouldn't have. "On the count of three." Tony says walking over so that he is right next to the door, "1,2,3." Tony says before pushing the door open. As soon as Tony pushes the door open Bucky steps in the room and fires the dart gun at Pierce, getting a perfect shot and knocking him out.
"Nice shot." Tony comments, before he can stop himself and they head inside the room, Tony pulling rope out of his bag while Bucky closes the door.
"We've got to make sure the ropes are tight, we can't risk the chance of him getting free before we've done what we have to." Bucky says walking over to Tony.
For the next minute Tony and Bucky work together to make sure that Pierce is secured to a chair. Once Pierce is secured Tony pulls a little black case out of the bag that has two stringers in it and pulls one of them out.
"I never asked, where did you get that?" Bucky asks curious.
"Dad and Peggy's. I've been discovering a lot about their secret hiding places in recent times so it wasn't hard to find." Tony explains, "Do you want to search or deal with Pierce?" Tony asks as he wouldn't mind doing either but he has a theory that Bucky would.
"I'll search." Bucky says as he would rather not speak to Pierce unless he has to.
"Okay. He should wake any second so we should get started." Tony says as he stabs the stringer into Pierce's shoulder.
For the next minute or so Bucky searches through Pierce's stuff grabbing anything that says anything about Peggy while Tony waits for Pierce to wake up. Finally after what feels like a while to Tony, during which he got pretty bored, both he and Bucky finally hear a groan from Pierce.
"Show time." Tony says walking over to Pierce.
"What's going on, you're going to regret this." Pierce says in a slur.
"Yeah, well I've heard that before." Tony says, "You and me are going to have a little chat." Tony says before sitting on the desk so he is right in front of Pierce.
For the next ten or so minutes Tony does what he has to do to make Pierce completely believe that Peggy isn't a threat while Bucky searches through the office, collecting anything related to Peggy and putting it in Tony's backpack.
"Say it back to me." Tony tells Pierce.
"Peggy Carter doesn't know anything. Howard Stark didn't tell her what he just learnt. She is an old woman, it's better for the cause if we leave her alone. Killing her will just expose us."
"Good." Tony says before injecting Pierce with two different needles at once, and in a few seconds Pierce is unconscious once more, "He'll only be out for a few minutes, have you got everything?" Tony asks Bucky who is doing up the backpack.
"I think so." Bucky says as Tony removes the ropes from around Pierce.
"Good, let's go." Tony says once he has untied Pierce. In response Bucky nods and hands Tony back the backpack which he puts the ropes into.
"We've only got a couple of minutes until the camera's come back on." Tony informs Bucky.
"Then we have to be quick." Bucky says as they rush down the corridor.
Being as fast as possible, though Bucky makes sure that he isn't too far ahead of Tony, they both run down the stairs.
"So, how did you know that was going to work?" Bucky asks as they run down the stairs.
"Shouldn't you have asked that before we did it?"
"In my experience asking that question before never ends well." Bucky admits.
"Probably true. I didn't know, not really." Tony admits, "But I realised that version of me did it before so I figured I could do it again, basically I was using Harry Potter logic."
"Harry who?" Bucky ask as they arrive at the ground floor.
"Harry Potter, right hasn't been written yet." Tony realises as they rush through the corridors, "It's a book series and a pretty good one at that, you should read it when it comes out." Tony says when they are about a corridor away from the exit and instead of responding Bucky throws his arm his arm out in front of Tony and stops him from going forward.
"Look." Bucky says to the look Tony is giving him and so Tony peers around the corner and sees guards all around.
"Great, that's going to make things more complicated." Tony comment, "We've got about two minutes until the cameras come back on."
"Which means you need to get out of here." Bucky says as he knows that if the camera's come back on and Tony is in the building then both Tony and his past self are in serious danger, "I'll provide a distraction so that you can get out of here."
"What about you?" Tony asks, even though he can guess the answer.
"We've got two minutes until the cameras come back on which means either one of us gets out of here or neither of us do and you need to." Bucky says to Tony, "You need to get back to your time. So it's got to be me that gets caught."
"I would argue, but we don't have the time."
"Good. Wait thirty seconds then head to the exit." Bucky says, "Goodbye Tony, I'm so sorry." Bucky says before turning the corridor and leaving Tony alone.
After Bucky leaves Tony counts to thirty before checking the corridor. When he does he sees the exit completely free and he is just about to run for it when he notices why it's free. It's free because all the guards are Bucky beating him even though he isn't fighting back.
Even with how mad he is with Bucky Tony knows that he can't just leave him to be beaten and brain washed again. Tony wants Bucky to hurt because of what he has done and he thinks that he hates him, but despite all that he doesn't want him to suffer as much as he clearly is.
"Come on, please be in here." Tony says searching his bag for the canisters he used on the guards and Pierce earlier, "Please be enough." Tony says throwing the canisters down the corridor as he hopes that he's right about the gas not being able to affect Bucky.
Tony waits about ten seconds before he looks down the corridor again and sees that while a few off the guards have passed out a few haven't thought they are woozy so before he can comprehend what he is going to do Tony runs and attacks the guards before they can realising what is going on, as he does he hopes that because they are so disorientated that they think he is Bucky.
"Come on, we've got better things to do than lay around." Tony says sticking out his hand for Bucky to grab.
"Thank you." Bucky says as he stands up with Tony's help.
"Don't, let's go." Tony says and they both run out of the building.
"He could have left me. I was expecting him to leave me, and after everything I did I deserved to be left." Bucky admits, doing his best not to look at Steve.
"Tony wouldn't have done that." Pepper says, "Even with how hurt, angry and betrayed he is Tony doesn't want anyone to suffer, he doesn't like to see other people in pain." She explains.
"I've started to notice that." Bucky admits.
"Are you okay?" Tony asks Bucky about twenty minutes after he helped Bucky up once they are back at Peggy and Howard's safe house.
"I'm fine, it's noting that won't heal." Bucky responds, "How are you? I'm sure that fighting didn't help your shoulder." Bucky says, guilt clear in his voice.
"Honestly, I think I've blocked out the pain." Tony says, "But if what I am feeling is anything to go by I've pulled some of the stiches Peggy put in." he admits.
"I can have a look if you would like, I remember some of my field medic training from the army." Bucky offers.
"Nah, it's okay. I've got to get going."
"Going? Where?"
"I've got to figure a way back to my time and to do that I need a lab, with equipment and supplies. The only place I can think of that will have what I need, that I can get into and that would be empty is Dad's personal lab in his mansion in New York. So that's where I've got to go." Tony explains.
"Would you mind if I joined you?" Bucky asks hesitantly not sure if it is a good idea but wanting to make sure that Tony is safe until he gets back to the future feeling like it is the least he could do considering everything.
For about a minute Tony is quiet while he considers that and what it would mean, "No." Tony answers, "I'm just going to grab what we need from here then we can get going." He tells Bucky, "Do you think you could get us a way to get there?" He asks curious.
"Yeah, I think I could do that." Bucky responds and Tony nods.
Twelve hours later
It has been eight hours since Tony and Bucky arrived in New York and they are currently in Howard's private lab, Bucky is sitting down while Tony paces.
"Maybe some rest will help, I mean it's had to be a while since you've slept." Bucky comments.
"No, I don't need sleep, I can get this." Tony says as he paces across the lab, "Tell me everything we know."
"What?"
"When I get stuck I need to hear the problem out loud, talk it through and I don't have what I'd usually use." Tony says, trying not to be sad as he thinks of JARVIS, "So you're it, get talking."
"Okay. Um, you came here from the future." Bucky says.
"Right."
"You said that you were angry and drunk and you accidently created the device that made the time portal."
"And I don't remember what I used to make that." Tony says, internally causing himself, "So, I've got to narrow that down and maybe that can help." Tony says pausing for a second, "Keep going."
"Um, you went to Peggy for help which was a good thing because you saved her life and was able to help me, which we all know most likely always happened." Bucky says, "We convinced Pierce that Peggy wasn't a threat and here we are."
"Okay, good. So this always happened, that's the theory we're working with, right?"
"Right." Bucky confirms.
"Okay, that's good. That means there has to be a way for me to get back, because I've gotten back before." Tony says.
"Maybe not." Bucky says and Tony turns to look at him.
"Explain."
"Well everything we've done so far is to preserve what we knew already happened but when it comes to you and the future….."
"We don't know what happened." Tony realises, "There is nothing concreate that says I get back to the future, a version of me could have been hiding for the next twenty years, or something could have happened." He realises, stopping to pace as he truly comprehends what that will mean.
"No." Bucky says sanding up, "That's not acceptable, you will get back to the future, back to the people you care about."
"Yeah, how? If you got an idea I'll be more than happy to hear it."
"You said it yourself you have to remember what you built to get here in the first place, that's the key." Bucky tells Tony.
"Right, remember what I made, I can do that….I think…..maybe….I hope." Tony says before walking over and sitting at the desk.
Twelve hours later
"DAMN IT." Tony suddenly says, causing Bucky to jump as for the last few hours there has be basically silence.
"What's wrong?" Bucky asks.
"I can't get it! I can't remember what I used." Tony says frustrated, "Aghhh." Tony says angrily pushing everything he is working on off the table as he is annoyed that he can't remember that he can't figure it out.
"Did that help?" Bucky asks.
"No, not really." Tony admits, "I'm close I can feel it, but I can't remember."
"Maybe you need a break, I mean you haven't slept in what, a day?" Bucky asks.
"Longer." Tony corrects.
"Then maybe a break could help." Bucky says, "Someone once told me that if you focus on a problem for too long you'll never solve it. The human brain is a complicated machine and is always working and just like all other machines it sometimes needs a break before completing a task."
"Dad told you that, didn't he?" Tony asks, not sure what to feel but realising that he doesn't feel anger when he looks Bucky anymore.
"He did." Bucky confirms, "I don't know much about science or technology or time travel, but what I do know is that taking time away from something your focused on can do a world of good."
For a little while Tony is quiet, considering what Bucky said, "I'll try getting some rest." He says, "Can you wake me in an hour?"
"Sure." Bucky says and Tony heads up to the bedroom he would always stay at when he stayed in this house leaving Bucky in the lab.
Four Hours later
After an hour of restful sleep Tony went back to work in the lab.
"Oh crap." Tony says three hours after he stared working again.
"What's wrong?" Bucky asks worried as in his experience someone saying oh crap while working in a lab never ends well.
"I figured it out, the last component of the device that brought me here." Tony explains.
"And?"
"It doesn't exist on this planet until 2012." Tony explains.
"That makes things slightly more complicated." Bucky comments.
"You think?" Tony says, getting up and starting to pace again, "I'm stuck here. I'm literary stuck here!" Tony says, "I can't re-create the device which mean I can't get home!" he says angrily, "I was an idiot! Drinking and creating something never ends well I should have known that by now. Stupid, stupid, stupid." He says.
"Okay enough." Bucky says walking over to Tony.
"Enough, really? Who do you think you are?" Tony asks, the anger back in his voice.
"Look I know you hate me, and I deserve it, but I want to help you get back to your future, get back to your life." Bucky says.
"Haven't you been listening? I can't get back to my time!" Tony says.
"Maybe you just haven't thought of a way yet." Bucky says, "You managed to build a time machine, while drunk, that tells me that there isn't much you can't do which means if anyone can figure out a way to get back it's you." Bucky says.
"The thing that doesn't exist yet was the key, I know it." Tony says, "I can't re-create the device without it or I could but it wouldn't work." Tony admits, "I don't know what to do." Tony say.
"You've just got to find another way." Bucky says, "There's got to be one, right?" he asks uncertain.
"Maybe." Tony says starting to think, "Okay, let's think. Time is fluid, it bends, that's the theory. Different times are connected." Tony says
"Okay, I don't understand that, but okay." Bucky says.
"Hang on, maybe, it could work." Tony says racing over to the desk and starting to hurriedly writing something, "I don't have to create the device."
"Huh?"
"If I can get other people to create the device and open the portal then I could get back." Tony says looking up at Bucky.
"Would that even be possible?" Bucky asks.
"With perfect timing and communication, maybe." Tony says.
"But doesn't that mean you'll have to communicate with people in the future, how are you planning on doing that?" Bucky asks
"I'm not, you are."
"What?"
"You said you wanted to help." Tony says defensively.
"And I do. But how am I going to communicate with the future?" Bucky asks.
"You're not, not exactly." Tony says, "You're alive in my time which means you remember this, and you'll be able to pass on the information needed to the people who can re-create the device."
"That makes sense." Bucky admits, "But you're forgetting that for decades I've had my memories erased. If f that happens in the future I may not remember that." He admits.
"Hydra's defeated by the time I came from." Tony says, "You're free. I don't know what state you're in, but I know that there's a chance that you can remember, and I know that you're my only chance." Tony admits, "And I don't hate you." Tony says forcing himself to say the words, "I want to, I desperately want to, but I can't." he reveals, it being clear that what he is saying is the truth.
"Thank you." Bucky responds, shocked and glad, "What do you need me to do?" He ask and Tony starts to explain.
Eighteen Hours Later
"So you know what you've got to do." Tony says to Bucky as they walk into Howard's office at six am.
"Yeah, whether I remember is the question." Bucky admits, "Where are you putting the letter?"
"In the back of this photo." Tony says as he picks up the picture of him, Howard and Peggy. You'll find it on the floor in the future." He explain and Bucky nods.
"Okay and once I collect it I go to the place called Avengers Tower and enter via the way you told me and I give the letter to Pepper and only her." He says.
"Correct." Tony confirms Tony says as he puts the back on the frame once more hiding the letter behind.
"If this works we've got two minutes." Bucky says.
"I know." Tony says putting the picture back on the desk before walking around the desk to stand across from him, "If this works once I'm gone you have to run."
"What?" Bucky asks surprised.
"Run James, as fast and as far as you can and never stop. It's the only way to stop Hydra from getting to you." Tony says.
"That will change the future, you've admitted that." Bucky says as one of the things that Tony has admitted is that he is still the Winter Solider for years more.
"I don't care." Tony says, "You don't deserve what Hydra will do to you, no one does, so you've got to run." He says and there is suddenly a blue electric light starting to form, "That's my cue." Tony says stepping forward, "Run James, Run." He says and to both of their surprise Bucky pulls Tony into a hug. After one awkward hug Tony and Bucky break apart.
"See you in the future." Bucky says.
"Yeah, see you there." Tony says with a grin before walking into the blue light.