Conversation 8: Determination
Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark
Smoke. Fire. His throat rasped as lungs ached to fill but he choked on the acrid taste once it was past his lips; it burned the nose and caused eyes to water. There was something burning but thankfully it wasn't him; Bucky was sure because the air didn't smell like roasting flesh. His eyes opened to hazy air and the distant, tinny sounds of shouts and screams around him. He could see through fuzzy eyes that there were chunks of building lying on the street nearby. Every movement ached but he did move; that voice in the back of his head was screaming that he had to get up, had to move, before more of the building came down.
"-cky…-aroo…-bear…" A voice filtered through his hazy brain; Bucky became aware of someone tugging at his arm, trying to get him upright, trying to force him from his side to at least a kneeling position. Tony's frantic face swam in to view and his heart clenched. Something had gone very wrong.
"Suit?" He asked Tony, motioning to the sky and Tony must have responded but the answer was lost in the cotton. One hand, the flesh one, tugged at his earlobe to try to get rid of the situation but it only mildly helped. The motions might have meant the suit was on its way or they might have meant that it couldn't get through whatever was happening.
Around them, the concrete shuddered and he heard a distant thudding, though the way Tony hunched his shoulders and ducked meant it was much louder. He saw the debris come raining down and yanked the slender man to the ground, hunching his body over Tony's; his metal hand covered the back of the engineer's head, both of them crouched with faces down until the rain of debris had stopped. Bucky could feel Tony's heart hammering against his back and Bucky's chest as they waited for it to stop. At last, the engineer let go so that they could both scramble to their feet. That brought awareness of a whole new pain to Bucky's attention; his leg and ankle protesting having weight put on them. It didn't matter; what mattered was getting out of this minefield.
"Stark! James!" Natasha was yelling for them, motioning to where she and Clint were holed up in an alley. "First explosion was a car up the street, I think, but the second was definitely in that building over there." Her hand waved at the building which now had a large, smoking crater and several floors missing. "So much for Chinese." Her gun pulled out, checked, before she looked up and down the street at the civilians fleeing. There were sirens in the distance.
A whirring, clicking sound and then the ground shuddered a bit before the Iron Man suit landed nearby, Tony rushing over to it and slipping inside. At least he was armored; at least he would be safe. Bucky looked at Clint and Natasha. They were in jeans and t-shirts, expecting a pleasant day out and about, not a…was this even an act of terrorism? Natasha at least had her gun and Clint was digging his own weapon out; concrete dust had turned his hair almost grey and was covering his shoulders. Bucky's eyes went to the street, watching the people running past. Tony was already up in the air, trying to keep the worst of the debris from falling on the street and rescuing as many as he could from the building that had taken damage.
He wasn't an Avenger; this wasn't something that Bucky was used to doing, but how many times had he run in to the fire instead of away from it? There were vague, detached memories of the time before. Natasha grabbed his head, pressing something in to his ear and then tapping her own; he could hear the tapping reverberate. At least they had comms then, so that they could communicate with each other. He nodded to her, eyes going back to the building. There were people trying to escape it and Stark seemed to be trying to stabilize the upper floors.
"I could really use some help up here, guys. What's the ETA on Falcon and Cap?" Tony's voice sounded strained over the earpiece.
Steve's voice filtered in. "We're on our way, Iron Man. ETA ten minutes, hang in there."
"Like a piñata, Cap, like a piñata." Tony snarked back. "We've got people on the 9th floor and up that can't get down. Stair well collapsed. I'm going to stabilize the floor as much as I can. I'll need help getting them down though. Not sure the hallway is stable enough to clear, might have to go out windows."
Bucky could see the glint of the Iron Man armor as it threaded in and out of the building, repulsors firing as Tony tried to bend a beam back in to place to stabilize it. Ninth floor; his eyes followed the windows up, guessing how long it would take him to climb the steps. There was an alley way between the two buildings and as he leaned to the side he could see an old fashioned fire escape. It didn't, from here, look too bad.
"Ton—Iron Man, there's a fire escape on the south side, ends at the eighth floor that I can see. It comes out in the alleyway. Do you think you can re-route the civilians there? It might wrap the back of the building." He was already moving, dodging running people as he crossed the street to get to the alleyway.
"Buck, you're not cleared for this." Steve had that mother-hen tone to his voice which caused Bucky to roll his eyes.
"Sorry, punk, but Tasha and Clint look a bit caught up with that fire up tha street. And I'm right here…what's your ETA?" Bucky knew that it was still seven to eight minutes out, but Steve needed to be reminded apparently. He could picture the man grinding his teeth in irritation.
A tense silence followed before Steve snapped, "Fine, but you fall back when we get there."
"Aye, aye, Captain." He would have saluted but it would have been lost on Steve at the moment, so instead Bucky kept moving, heading for the fire escape. Above him the sound of twisting metal could be heard and he looked up in time to see Tony twist a piece of metal in to place, making a connection between the ninth floor and the eight. Bucky jumped up, grabbing the lower ladder and climbing it before he got to the first level. The release found which sent the ladder to the ground with a clash. "Fire escape is open down here."
"Hold your horses, Buckaroo, got to get this secured so they can get across safely."
Bucky snorted, glancing up the fire escape. "How long y'been waitin' ta use that one?"
From above there was a shower of sparks and the glow of light where Tony was concentrating on welding the metal in to place. He shifted, moving, the whirr of the repulsors as he worked echoing through the alleyway. Bucky's head was tilted back; he wished for his goggles at the moment, so that he could see what Tony was doing. Between the smoke and the bright sunlight above, it was almost impossible to make out exactly what was going on.
"Too long, Bucky-bear, too long." It sounded liked Iron Man might be laughing at him. "Alright, they're coming down. There are about fifteen people so far. Woman carrying an infant might need help getting down." Tony seemed calm though there was a faint waver to his voice as he worked. He'd moved, making way so that the civilians could get down. "Get them away from the building, down the street. Not sure if the top of this thing is going to stay up." He knew it wouldn't, but didn't want to scare anyone more than they were.
"Iron Man, we're two minutes out. Do you need help?"
"Send Falcon to Iron Man, Cap. We need you on the ground. Building damaged over here." Natasha called out, though they could also hear her calling out to several people to move on. "It looks like we have wounded. Any ETA on when the emergency crews can get here?"
"Working on it, Widow." Cap answered tightly.
There inner workings of what was going on with the other team was lost as Bucky moved behind the ladder, letting people get down. They were going slow, trying not to send too many at a time, just in case. The first few hit the ground and Bucky was yelling orders to them, pointing down the street, away from the damage. About half of the people were down when he heard the metal above him groan, head snapping back to look up.
"Fuck! Iron Man, floor five's grate is twisting." He shaded his eyes, then reached out, grabbing a kid off of the ladder and passing him to the adult. "Down, down, go on."
"On it." Tony dropped down, pushing against the fire escape, holding the grate in to place. "Might want to hurry, Bucky-bear, not sure how long before something else twists free."
"Working on it, doll." Bucky snapped, pulling another kid down and handing her off, trying to hurry the people down the fire escape.
The whir of engines could be heard and then Sam was there, moving to take Tony's place. "I got this; you go back up, see if everyone's out or how many are left."
"Thanks, Birdy, hang tight."
Bucky continued handing children down the ladder, trying to get as many people down as he could, until there weren't any more. His eyes shaded as he looked up at the building again. There were sparks flying, the sound of the repulsors firing again and then Iron Man was darting around the top of the building, breaking out windows, checking for any more people. It looked like they were clear; at least that's what Bucky hoped it looked like. At least Steve had forgotten about telling him to disengage for the moment.
"We're clear. You two get clear of the fire escape; Birdy, when I tell you, not before, you let go." Tony darted back in to the alley, hovering there. He glanced down at Bucky who was already moving, sliding down the ladder and heading out of the alleyway.
"I'm clear." He called through the comm to the two above.
"Now, Falcon."
As soon as Sam let go, the fire escape began to collapse on itself, like dominoes falling to the floor. Iron Man helped guide it down as best he could, to keep it from hitting the building next to them as much as possible. True, the blast from earlier had probably done a good bit of damage already, but that building at least seemed mostly stable. By that time, the ERTs were on site, giving anyone first aid that needed it and responding to the fires in the area that needed to be put out. Bucky was leaning against one of the building walls while Steve and Natasha talked to police. Tony was busy posing with a group of children nearby, waiting for the all clear.
There was a tugging on Bucky's shirt before a little voice asked, "So what's your superhero name?"
"Oh, uhm…" He hesitated, looking down at the girl who'd asked. "Bucky…" The children who had gathered with her were giggling, looking up at Bucky and whispering about how that wasn't really a superhero name at all.
"Bucky? That's not a superhero name." The girl shrugged though, grinning up at him. "Thanks for getting us down. I was real scared."
"Yeah? Me too…but…" He waved at Tony and Sam standing nearby. "They've got my back. Got yours too…alla yours…" Tony caught Bucky's eyes as he was talking, grinning at the man and clomping over.
"Oh, hey. I see you guys have met the newest Avenger." Tony slung one heavy arm of the suit across Bucky's shoulders, pulling the man in tightly. "Now, see…" He leaned down to whisper conspiratorially to the kids, dragging Bucky down with him. "Everyone calls him Bucky, but that's just a code name…'cause he hasn't picked a superhero name yet." He winked at the kids who all giggled, looking between Tony and Bucky.
"Can we name him?" One of the boys piped up, raising his hand like he was in school.
Tony beamed down at the kids, shaking his head lightly. "Nope." The p popped as he said it, waggling a finger at the group. "Superheroes have to pick their own name. It's a rule. Alright, kids, looks like the Avengers are heading home. Be good." He waved to them, steering Bucky away with that arm still wrapped about his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Bucky-bear, I'll think of a really cool name for you."
"I thought ya said I had to pick my own?" Bucky groused, head turning so that he could see Tony's profile.
"That was just for the kiddies. Everyone knows I come up with the coolest names." Tony was grinning ear to ear as they went, though when Bucky's leg almost buckled, he tightened his grip. "Was waiting for the adrenaline to wear off. Just wait until Cap gets ahold of you. C'mon, car's over here. I got Happy clearance to get through." And if Bucky leaned a bit more heavily on him after that, limping as he went, Tony didn't comment further.
"Seriously though," Tony went on, as if they hadn't gotten sidetracked with Bucky's injury. "I really do pick the coolest names. I mean War Machine, Iron Man…"
Bucky rolled his eyes and nudged at Tony's shoulder, his arm sliding about the man's waist to help support himself better. "You ain't pickin' my superhero name. Isn't like it will matter; Steve won't let me go out. If we hadn't been out getting' Chinese, I'd be holed up in the tower watching."
"Cap can't help but worry; you're his best friend. But, I'll see what I can do. I mean, with everything, you might be cleared for some light duty." He shrugged lightly at that. It wasn't as though all of them hadn't done work under less than ideal circumstances. Still, Tony got why Steve was reluctant. "I'll talk to him."
"You'd do that? Knowing it will probably turn in to an argument?"
"Sure, why not? It's not like Cap and I don't argue all the time. Just, ah, don't get your hopes up, okay?" Tony shrugged, unsettling Bucky's weight against him. "I'll do my best though. In the meantime, now that you're seriously thinking about this, I've got some schematics to show you." Tony grinned from ear to ear; of course he would have been preparing for this moment. He never did like people to go in unarmed. They limped to the car together, letting Bucky get settled in so that Happy could take him back to the tower.
-End-