After two days of long sleepless nights in the lab, Shuri was finally able to separate Vision from his stone. She had underestimated how long it would take, but she didn't want to take any chances, she wanted to make sure everything was done right and that no harm came to Vision.
The stone had been locked in the vault with the Tesseract, and extra security had been put on it, to make sure nobody could get in. You met Shuri in the lab with Bucky, who was meeting Tony for his first fitting for the new arm. You saw Vision sitting on a bed and walked over to him. "So, how are you feeling Vis?"
He nodded, looking down at his pale skin. He chose to look this way, to step back and have a normal human life with Wanda, since he didn't have powers anymore. You understood why he wanted to look human. All he wanted now was to have a normal life with Wanda.
"I feel…normal…human." He told you, smiling over at Wanda, who hadn't left his side. You smiled at them. "Good." Getting up, you walked over just at Tony was bringing out the box you assumed had Bucky's new arm in it. You wondered if it would look the same as it did in Infinity War. Tony opened the box and it did for the most part, except for the smaller red star painted on the upper arm. You smiled and ran your hand over it. "I wanted to keep that part because you have one too." Bucky said from beside you.
"It's beautiful Tony." You told him, turning to kiss Bucky on the cheek.
"This one's way better too. Your range of motion will be greater, you'll have more sensation, and it's temperature controlled, so it wont lock up or anything." Bucky ran his hand over the vibranium arm in awe.
"This is great Tony, Thank You, really."
"No worries, I was excited to do it. You ready to get it on?" Bucky nodded and you helped him take off the other arm, putting it in the now empty case, while Tony went around with the new arm to get it fitted to the socket. He frowned and you poked you head around Bucky to look at the arm. "What's wrong."
Tony sighed, removing the arm and placing it down on the table. "The new arm just isn't fitting in to the socket as well as I'd like it to. Really it should all be replaced; they did a hack job of putting it in anyway." Tony threw up some x-rays that you hadn't seen yet. It was of Bucky's shoulder and spine. Your mouth dropped as you looked at just how haphazardly the metal was placed into his shoulder and his spine.
"See this?" Tony asked, running his hand down the x-ray on the spine. "This doesn't even need to be in there. If it's okay with you Buckaroo, we can take it all out, and replace all the hardware." Bucky tensed and his flesh hand grabbed mine. The last time he had surgery like this, he wasn't sedated. I can only imagine how terrified he must be.
"Trust me Sergeant Barnes, we have the top medical staff here, you'd be in excellent hands." Shuri told him. Bucky looked over to you. "What do you think?"
"Bucky, I can't make this decision for you. If you're scared about having surgery again, or about being sedated, I promise, nothing will happen to you. I will be there the whole time." He nodded and closed his eyes. "Okay, under one condition."
You nodded. "What is it?" Bucky looked over to Tony. "Don't ever call me Buckaroo again." Tony laughed and agreed, and Shuri went to inform the medical staff about the procedure. Tony left to go talk to T'Challa, leaving you alone with Bucky. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. This is a good thing." You told him, running your hand through his hair. He leaned into the touch, resting his head on your chest. "I know. It honestly feels like a weight has been lifted. Like the last bit of Hydra is being removed." You nodded, wrapping your other arm around him.
They scheduled the surgery for a few days later, giving Tony enough time to come up with the hardware and coordinate with the doctors. Shuri led you to a room where Bucky could get prepped, and then they took him into the operating room, where you held his hand until he was under, then you waited with Tony in the observation gallery. Seeing how carelessly the metal was put into Bucky's body make you sick. Tony held your hand the whole time, giving you reassuring squeezes whenever you thought you might freak out.
The whole surgery took 8 hours from start to finish, and you were in Bucky's room when they brought him in, still unconscious. He woke up about an hour later, in pain, the amount of pain meds they had to give him was crazy, but it was enough to knock him out for a couple more hours. You were hoping that with his healing speed, that he would recover much faster, and then Shuri could get to work on his brain.
Bucky was fully healed within the week, and you were back in the lab, getting his new socket fitted for the arm. Tony clicked it in and Bucky immediately started moving his fingers. Everything was much more fluid and smoother than it was before. "How does it feel?" Tony asked, stepping back, admiring his work. Bucky stood up and moved the arm around, in circles, up and down, turning the wrist, wiggling the fingers.
"It feels good. Smoother, easier to move around."
"Now, how was your sensation before?" Tony asked him. Bucky shrugged. "I could feel enough to move it, that's about it." Tony nodded and pointed his head in my direction. "Try now."
Bucky stepped over to you and raised his hand, placing it on your face. Your eyes fluttered closed for a second, loving the cool feeling against your skin. You heard Bucky gasp as he moved his thumb across your cheek. You opened your eyes to see tears filling his. "What's wrong?" You asked.
"I can feel everything." He whispered. He ran the hand down your arm, lacing his fingers with yours. "Your skin is cool. I can feel that." He said softly. You smiled, then looked at Tony. "Thank you." You told him. He nodded, smiling at you as he backed out of the room.
"This is amazing Ally; I haven't felt much of anything with his hand in so long." You took your free hand and ran it down his arm, watching his face as he shivered at your touch. "I can't believe Tony did this for me." He told you, glancing down at the arm again, moving the fingers back and forth.
You smiled at him. "Tony knew how the other arm made you feel. Like Hydra still held a part of you. He wanted you to never feel like their weapon again. He's a better person than a lot of people give him credit for."
Bucky nodded, pulling you to him, resting his metal hand against your neck.
"Yeah, he is."