This chapter was really tough to write. Several days, I just had zero motivation.

Tony rockets through the air, already longing for a drink or twenty.

He knows he won't be sleeping at all for the rest of tonight. Not that he was ever good at sleeping consistently, even before he started having nightmares about the cave or Obadiah's betrayal years ago. From what he's heard from Jarvis, his new housemates aren't great at sleeping either, and are currently having a hot chocolate and coffee party.

Frankly, Tony would've been shocked if James didn't have nightmares. It was horrifying enough to hear about mind wipes and electrocution, but to actually explore the dank, cavernous base where it happened added a whole new layer. Tony had enough nightmare fuel before seeing the chair fitted with restraints and a metal halo, like something out of a torture dungeon.

Then there was the cryogenic chamber that, according to a file he'd found, froze "The Asset" in suspended animation. Which explains how the hell a guy from the forties is around today and doesn't appear to have aged at all in over six decades. Just seeing that was enough to give Tony chills, but James had actually been forced in there and been frozen like Han Solo in Carbonite.

Then again, being frozen alive might have been a relief compared to the memory-erasing chair or whatever other atrocities happened in the HYDRA base.

There's no doubt it was a HYDRA base, not when Tony had seen the telling logo of a skull with snakes slithering out of it. That particular base was abandoned and seems to have been so since the eighties, but if HYDRA was around but hidden in the eighties, the organization is likely still lurking in the shadows today.

Lurking, apparently, inside SHIELD.

When his mansion comes into view, Tony is relieved to see it is still standing, and appears to have been unharmed. Then again, Jarvis would have told him if his guests actually blew up the house.

As if reading his thoughts, Jarvis reports "Sir, Sergeant Barnes has broken into your lab and is currently arming himself with a blowtorch."

So much for increasing security. Could anything keep James out? His new security measures seemed to barely slow James down. The guy's even more adept than Fury and Coulson when it comes to breaking into his house- they'd never made it into his lab. Tony swears loudly, increasing his suit's thrusters. "Tell me he's not giving it to Harry."

Maybe leaving his guests alone for a solid fourteen hours wasn't the best idea. Tony had been relieved to hear that Harry had started watching television like a normal kid, but that had been in the afternoon. Apparently by two in the morning, his guests decided it was time to get dangerous with fire. Okay, Tony's done that his fair share of times, but not with a freaking four-year-old.

He soars through the tunnel connected to his lab before hovering in midair. "I just can't leave you alone, can I?"

"I wasn't alone. I was with my dad and Mr. Jarvis." Harry peers out from where he's half-hidden behind the dark fabric of James's Batman cape, only for James to step in front of him protectively again. Harry looks sort of disappointed to see Iron Man, probably hoping the Batwing would swoop in instead.

"And clearly they didn't stop this from happening." Tony jerks his head towards James, who is clearly sizing him up, eyes flicking over his armor for weaknesses to exploit. James's eyes are somewhere between his usual analytical detachment and a more human panic, continuing to dart around the room for other threats.

"It's just me." Tony retracts the faceplate and lands on the floor. He raises his armored palms in what would usually be a display of peace, except he's got some powerful repulsors packed onto them.

James doesn't look reassured, and continues to stand in his battle-ready pose. Maybe he's freaking out about SHIELD again, like when Pepper visited.

"Let me just say that I fully believe you about HYDRA now, and believe me, I'm not turning you in." Tony hastens to assure him.

"Your father was Howard Stark." James's voice is flat, even if his eyes betray some panic.

He must have had a flashback from his pre-HYDRA life. That's good, isn't it? But he's still standing in a battle-ready pose and hasn't lowered his blowtorch.

"Yeah. Wouldn't have won father of the year, that's for sure. He was too busy obsessing over Cap and the old you." Tony mutters. "I'd say you're doing better than he did at the whole parenting thing, aside from this whole letting a kid near weapons part. Seriously, once you cut that out, your parenting score will shoot way up."

What does it say that a brainwashed, tortured assassin is somehow more attentive and affectionate toward a kid than Howard was? Even after everything, that protective part of Bucky seems to have survived.

"My dad's even better'n Batman." Harry informs him with all the pride a four-year-old can muster. At least the kid isn't holding any weapons at the moment.

"The Batman does not kill." James's voice has a hint of conflict in it now, and Tony senses he's referring to the fictional Batman, not himself. Considering how he'd latched onto the identity of Batman, the fact he'd been an assassin has got to screw that up.

James reaches for a notebook that sits on a nearby table. Tony doesn't remember it being there before. Is James keeping a journal? That'd probably be one of the things therapy would recommend if Tony ever went.

"What were you writing in there? Dear Diary, today I missed Tony's awesome presence so much that I grabbed a blowtorch." Tony teases. He doesn't get one of James's murderous glares in response, the man simply clutches the book tighter.

"We write-ed memories." Harry tells him.

"So, what are you remembering about my dear old dad?" Tony finds himself asking, though he's not sure he wants to know. "That he totally kissed Cap's ass-" Tony pauses and glances at Harry. He should really get that kid earmuffs or something, he's surprised he's managed to censor his language as much as he has around the kid. He's shocked he even bothers, honestly.

Harry speaks up before James, stating in the matter-of-fact way of small children. "Your dad an' mummy died in a car crash. Like mine."

Tony didn't think the kid would remember that after one offhand comment. Or is he just at the stage of assuming everyone's life is exactly like his?

"Yeah, December 16, 1991." Tony mutters, the date etched in his memory forever. "You weren't around then, Oliver, but we were orphaned the same way."

Something knowing flashes in James's grey-blue eyes, and Tony frowns at him. "You knew that. Why did you know that? Did you research me when I was gone?"

"We watched Batman." Harry replies, smiling slightly.

"Cool, but that's not what I asked." Tony doesn't turn from James. He's positive he hadn't mentioned the date before.

"December 16, 1991. Target Howard Stark successfully eliminated." James answers as if obeying an order, and Tony remembers that James considers him a technician, remembers how he'd reported memories as if expecting them to be erased.

Being a genius usually means Tony's quick to pick up on things, but his mind struggles to comprehend this new information. James and Harry have been doing that a lot recently.

James frowns, almost seeming conflicted over the answer. Is he remembering Howard being an ally, not a target? Or is he simply conflicted about revealing the information?

The word target echoes in Tony's head.

"You're telling me," Tony asks quietly, with barely contained rage. "That HYDRA ordered an assassination on my parents?"

James gives one short nod of assent. He hasn't said anything to confirm Tony's next suspicion, but Tony is almost certain James is the one who had done it. Or, rather, the Winter Soldier had.

James opens his mouth, but Tony makes a furious stop motion. He wouldn't want to hear the details if he was paid in Vibranium.

Even thinking about the possible details makes him see red. Tony feels his face turn murderous. His faceplate snaps down, and he raises his palm.

His repulsor blasts one of his workshop tables.

Harry yells wordlessly, and simultaneously, the Iron Man suit shorts out.

It's enough to snap Tony out of his rage, and he realizes James has moved in front of him, aiming the blowtorch at his face. Tony's immensely glad that he lowered his face plate for the illusion of privacy. His face is too handsome to get scorched to a crisp, thank you very much.

"If you do not remove the blowtorch from Mr. Stark's face, I will be forced to neutralize you." Jarvis's tone is polite and dangerous at the same time. James stiffens, his eyes assessing the ceiling.

"Suit's fireproof, Jarvis." Tony stumbles back, taking several deep breaths. James's eyes track his every move, but the man remains where he is.

"I believe there has been a misunderstanding." Jarvis says in a slightly lighter tone. "Mr. Stark was not attempting to harm either of you, merely... venting his frustrations."

Tony raises his palms in a gesture of peace, and James slowly lowers the blowtorch.

Tony tries to get his suit to unfold into the briefcase, but it's still malfunctioning. He has to get the robotic arms to disassemble it as he had the earliest models.

James silently watches the arms work. He seems to have realized that Tony hadn't aimed at either of him or Harry, yet still finds the need to threaten him. "If you attempt to harm Harry, I will eliminate you."

"Like you killed my parents?" Tony snaps without thinking, then immediately berates himself. Christ, this guy had even less of a choice than Tony had in that cave. He was tortured, and it's not like Tony's hands are clean, not after being the Merchant of Death. His weapons had killed someone's parents, undoubtedly making some orphans themselves.

"Howard was... an ally of James Buchanan Barnes." James pauses, seeming overwhelmed by whatever's in his head. Something akin to guilt flashes in his ordinarily-blank eyes. Is he remembering? Tony doesn't want to know. The way he talks about his old self as if he's an entirely different person only serves to remind Tony of all he'd been through, all that had been stripped away from Bucky to turn him into the Asset. "I killed them."

"You crashed his mummy and daddy? But you're a hero." Harry turns to look up at James in utter confusion, clearly wondering if he's a good guy or a bad guy. The kid has a black-and-white view of the world, people are either good or bad with no middle ground.

"It wasn't him." Tony tells the kid, surprising himself. If someone told him mere hours ago that he would be defending his parents' killer, he'd have thought they'd broken into one of his several liquor cabinets. He didn't even know they had a killer ten minutes ago.

But James isn't the killer, not really. Even the Asset was barely more than a puppet with strings clenched tightly in HYDRA's grasp.

"My dad said he killed-ed the Dursleys." Harry shares casually, and that guilt flashes through James's eyes again, confirming it. Tony already had a hunch, but James said that to his kid? Tony's an adult and he had a hard time stomaching it.

Harry, on the other hand, seems almost disturbingly unconcerned over this information. Granted, his aunt, uncle and cousin sucked, but still.

"It was a fire." Harry says. Tony lets it slide. He doesn't want to be the one to tell Harry that his new adoptive dad started the fire, even if the Dursleys were terrible.

Tony turns to James and sighs.

"I don't blame you." He's furious, but not at James. "Now, HYDRA, on the other hand, has a one-way ticket to hell. I'm gonna hunt them down, tear them apart. They won't know what hit them."

He was always planning on it, he wasn't going to let an evil organization stay hidden in the shadows. But now HYDRA has made everything personal. They killed his mom.

"HYDRA is a threat to Harry's safety. It must be eliminated." James agrees.

"They're a threat to your safety, too." Tony points out. "Everyone's, really."

"I can help beat bad guys!" Harry punches the air, looking much more confident in his Robin suit.

"No." Tony and James answer simultaneously.

Tony starts to inspect his suit, which has now been fully removed by the robots. He can't find anything wrong with the wiring or circuitry, and suddenly remembers how the malfunction had happened at the same time as Harry's shriek.

"Was this you, Oliver?" While it may not be good for his tech, the thought that Harry has that kind of power is awesome. And a little terrifying. He has to make his suits immune to Harry's powers somehow.

Harry looks nervous, probably thinking he'll blast something again, so Tony shoots him a grin.

As he works, he asks "What else has HYDRA done? I don't think you could drop a worse bomb than you already have."

James frowns, seeming to be trying to remember if he had dropped a literal bomb.

The base had some records, mostly physical papers that he'd scanned into his personal, secure server and told Jarvis to go through, but he doubts that those account for all the atrocities the organization has committed.

Focusing on those other atrocities is easier than focusing on what James just revealed.

Tony glances at Harry and asks "Did they set up another orphaning car crash?" It's certainly not out of the question that they'd killed Harry's parents too. HYDRA's apparently very interested in Harry, likely for his abilities, though according to James there are more people out there with the same abilities.

Harry doesn't seem to pick up on what Tony's implying, but James does.

"Unknown. The enemies stated it was an assassination by an agent under the codename Dark Lord."

Tony snorts slightly at the codename. Then again, he'd seen papers referring to the Winter Soldier at the base. "I take it you didn't know that guy?"

"The Dark Lord is likely a wizard."

"Wizards are bad guys." Harry tells him seriously. "With wep-nized sticks."

Right, not only does he have to take down HYDRA, Tony also has to figure out this whole wizard thing.

"I doubt they're all bad." Tony mutters. There have to be some cool ones, right? Like Harry. Okay, he's getting off the subject. "Unless they're all HYDRA."

James goes rigid again. Tony mentally curses himself.

"I'm not going to hurt you for anything they made you do." Tony promises to James. James clearly had thought so, earlier. Then why had he gone to the lab where all the suits were? Panic screws with logic, he guesses. "Why didn't you run?"

"Your armor can reach approximately 250 kilometers per hour." James states flatly, but there's a clear you would have caught me in there. Right, even James's super-speed is nothing compared to Tony's suits.

"You've got your whole vanishing act going for you." Tony replies. Then again, he has sensors, but James still manages to sneak up on him.

James looks at him as if he's stupid. "You would know how to follow the tracking devices in the prosthesis, and make them extremely difficult or impossible to remove."

Tony frowns. "There weren't trackers in there. There was a place where there might've been, but there wasn't actually."

It's James's turn to frown. "You did not install tracking devices?" He says it like Tony had made an egregious error in maintaining his arm.

Of course HYDRA had chipped James, like a dog. Tony's actually somewhat impressed James had apparently removed the first one.

"I'm not going to track you. And I don't think anyone caught onto me now. The base was completely deserted, had been for decades. I killed the alarms before I went in, but I don't think they would've worked anyway."

James nods once, stiffly.

"So as of right now, you're in the clear."

Tony pauses. SHIELD probably keeps an eye on his activities as Iron Man, and Fury has that nasty habit of breaking and entering unannounced. Shit. Well, James and Harry are still safer here than they are on their own. At least they've got Iron Man backing them up here.

"Well, Fury has a nasty habit of showing up, but I won't let him take you, so your best bet is probably sticking here. I'll fight wizards, too."

Considering what Harry did to his suit, wizards might be sort of tricky.

Harry tugs on James's cape. "Can we go to the Batcave?"

James shakes his head. "We cannot go there."

Harry's face falls.

"This is the closest you're gonna get to the Batcave, kiddo. Batman's not real." Tony eyes James's Batman suit. "You know, I think that'd fit me better than you. I was already a genius, billionaire, orphan superhero. But now I've got the whole backstory too."

Hiding feelings behind some dark snark never hurt anyone.

James starts to shed the caped garment, but Tony waves a hand. "Keep it. You've got the whole brooding thing down anyway. Besides, I'm more awesome than Batman anyway."

"Batman's more awesome!" Harry crosses his arms.

Tony's glad for this old argument. Trying to convince a preschooler that his favorite superhero is fictional is less painful than dwelling on other stuff.

"You know, you're turning out like Batman too, Oliver." Tony mutters. If this kid's parents were assassinated as well, well, he's got the origin story going. Unlike Batman and Tony, Harry seems to actually have superpowers.

"I'm Robin." Harry tells him. "But not really, 'cos my dad loves me more. Harry."

Despite everything, Tony finds Harry's expression sort of adorable. Tony's not sure he wants to know what this kid is going to be like when he grows up, especially with James teaching him self-defense.

But the look James is sending Harry seems more human and less like a creepy cyborg terminator. Even that guilt in his eyes seemed more human.

Said eyes snap back to Tony. "Why are you helping?"

"You were a prisoner of war. Those bastards wiped your mind, tortured you. They're going to pay."

Okay, maybe this isn't the sort of conversation they're supposed to have in front of a preschooler, but Harry had been there when James mentioned memory wipes the first time, and who knows what he'd seen before arriving here?

Tony really hopes Harry hadn't actually witnessed said wipes. Even imagining them is traumatizing.

Harry gapes at James, his face baffled once again. "You were in jail?! But only bad guys go to jail!"

"Not quite what that means." Tony tells the kid. "Prisoner of War means the bad guys captured him. He didn't do anything to land there."

"Bucky Barnes's fall from the train landed him there."

Tony stares at James, unable to tell if he's being literal or developing a dark, deadpan sense of humor. He really hopes it's the latter.

"You ex-scaped, Dad?" Harry asks knowingly. "You beat up bad guys?"

Something flashes across James's face. "I... defected. When I found you."

Tony bites back an acerbic question as to why he hadn't defected when sent to kill his parents. That won't help anyone, and James had made a comment earlier about memory wipes being necessary. Maybe he had defected before.

James seems to guess what he's thinking. "They used the Chair when I became uncooperative."

Tony scrubs a hand across his face. "If you tell me where the others are, I'll destroy them. Or you could. I bet it'd be cathartic to go to town on them."

"HYDRA must be destroyed." James's cybernetic arm clenches and whirs. "They will not harm Harry. They will not reclaim me."

"They'll have to get through Iron Man before they try." Tony says.

"An' me!" Harry declares, and both James and Tony shoot that down again. Harry scowls. "And Batman. And my A'set Dad."

"I'm still looking into Rollins and Rumlow." Tony tells him. "Haven't found anything incriminating yet, but they'd keep that under wraps. Do you remember any other names? A leader, perhaps?"

That's probably too much to hope for, Tony thinks, but then James says "Director Pierce."

Harry remarking that Tony's parents died was inspired by a boy Harry's age at the preschool I helped in for my high school's Early Childhood Careers elective. Santa and Mrs. Claus came and were reading a book. I forget if someone mentioned that horses were like reindeer, but this little boy just blurted out of nowhere "My grandfather liked horses. Then he died."

I was trying not to laugh thinking "that escalated quickly."