A/N:

I think we've held on long enough, it's time for Bucky to get a new arm, featuring Bruce Banner. A splash of inspiration in this chapter comes from Tumblr user notmeblahh.

I own nothing.

Enjoy!

Chapter 9

A few hours later, Steve and Bucky were sitting in the living room with Bruce. Bucky looked a little nervous, but pushed on, "Hey, Doc? Do you think you and Stark could possibly build me a new arm? One that doesn't have HYDRA written all over it?" Bruce pushed his glasses up his face and took a breath for a count of five. "I could definitely do it, I just need his tech to do so. I'll talk to him when he gets back from Pepper's. I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

Steve broke in, "Just make sure he doesn't get too stuck-up about it." Bruce nodded, "Will do, uh, do you mind if I borrow the arm? I need to draw out the framework." Bucky popped his arm off and gave it to Bruce who left to go draw up the plans. Turning to Bucky, Steve smiled and put an arm around him, "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Bucky shrugged, "I KNOW Stark will keep judging, but that's because he's a rich playboy who's used to everything being thrown at him." Steve laughed, "Well, that bit's true. But we know he inherited his father's genius, so there's that going for us."

He smiled, briefly flashing back to when Bucky took him to the Stark Expo in 1943, all those years ago. "Remember the levitating car?" Bucky grinned, "How could I not? I was so focused on it that I didn't notice you had gone to try to get yourself enlisted, AGAIN." And although that was a bittersweet memory, they looked at each other and within minutes both were laughing loud and uncontrollably. Wiping tears from their eyes, they eventually calmed down and went back to Bucky's room so Steve could bandage Bucky's stump and get comfortable.

In his lab, Bruce was studying the arm and trying to mirror the schematics in his drafts. It was incredibly intricate, and he often got frustrated but reined in his temper before he could Hulk out completely. He noticed the limited flexibility of the arm as well as its durability and made a note to try for a more flexible arm with the same level of durability. Lucky for him, he had secondary access to all of Stark's tech and tools, so it was easy to scan and then pull up a 3D-render of the arm.

After an hour, Bruce had come up with a rough sketch of the new arm, deciding it would no longer be titanium, rather an aluminum-steel alloy* to allow for more mobility yet still being as strong as the original. Now all he had to do was figure out how to re-work the cybernetic wiring that would be interlaced with what nerve endings were left in Bucky's stump. That would be complicated, but he didn't have 7 Ph.D.s for nothing. Taking a deep breath, he sat down and carefully drew the wires into his rough sketch. One missed wire, and the arm would be non-functional. I got a bit of a ways to go, he thought. But he took his time, there were no deadlines. I just need to...take it slow, one step at a time.

While Bruce was studying the arm one floor below, Steve and Bucky were moving Steve's things into Bucky's room, which wasn't much; just some clothes, toiletries, and a few books. There was plenty of space for both of their things, and all they had left to do was neaten up Steve's old room so it could be used as a spare room. Now Bucky's space felt more comfortable, and Steve was more than happy to share that space with him. After they got settled in, they set about making dinner.

Bucky murmured to Steve, "I'm feeling like pasta tonight." Steve was surprised, "We just had pizza for lunch, and now you want pasta?" Bucky smirked and nodded, "Yeah, something wrong with that, punk?" Steve shrugged, "No, not at all, you jerk. Should I get the others?" Bucky made a face, "Depends on whether or not you feel like cooking for 4, maybe 5, if Banner isn't too busy with his work." Steve thought about it for a moment, "I'm pretty sure that once I start cooking EVERYONE's going to come out of their rooms and ask what's cooking, so I may as well make enough for us all." Bucky grinned, "Oh so does that mean I can use corny lines on you?" Steve looked puzzled, "Lines?" Bucky scoffed and playfully cuffed him over the head, "You'll see, Stevie, don't worry. Let's go, I'm hungry."

Before they could go to the kitchen, a knock on their door got their attention. It was Bruce, coming to bring back Bucky's arm. "Hey guys? I'm finished with this, you can have it back." Steve took the arm from Bruce and gave it to Bucky, who disappeared into the bathroom to re-attach the arm. With a semi-concerned look, he faced Bruce and asked how far he got, "Well, I've got the schematics and framework drawn up, it took me a while to re-configure the wiring in the arm, but I am 99.99% sure I got it. Now all that I have left is the actual material and rebuilding it. I'll have Tony help with that once he gets back. Hopefully he won't have a problem with this project." They heard a laugh from behind them and turned to see Bucky, arm re-attached and working.

"He's got buckets of money, he won't care if he has to buy more materials. He's fucking Iron Man, for fuck's sake." Steve gave him a stern look and shook his head, "Well, hopefully all goes well, and by the end of it you will have a new arm. Thanks Banner." Bruce nodded and retreated back to his lab. Bucky smirked from his post against the doorframe, "What? I'm not wrong, am I?" Steve rolled his eyes and groaned lightheartedly, "Once that arm is done, all that's left is some therapy to erase any of HYDRA's remaining influence from your mind. Sound good?" Bucky looked a little worried, but nonetheless smiled at Steve, "Yeah, that sounds all right. Shall we start making dinner?"

*I had to do a little research about that, not sure how accurate/up-to-date this info is.

Another sort of cliffhanger, and we have now started the process of creating Bucky's new arm. This chapter was really bothering me, in that I couldn't finish it due to stress-induced writer's block, but it's finally here, so please leave a comment/review, constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated. Hopefully none of my writing has gone inconsistent. Signing off for now though.

Happy reading!

-Aspiring Avenger