Chapter Twenty-Nine – Upgraded
The tension in the tower became considerably more relaxed over the next fortnight, to the point where it was almost like it had been before Germany, before Siberia. The group would watch films in the common room most nights, sometimes it would devolve into something resembling a frat party, and some other times it would be Tony and Bruce locked in a heated debate over some article one of them had come across, the others torn between telling them to shut up and cheering them on as things grew borderline violent.
There had been one time when Bruce's eyes had flashed green for one heart-stopping second, and Tony had wondered if he'd gone too far. But then Bruce had burst into laughter and winked at him. He'd flopped back into Bucky's lap and let his heart calm down while the rest of the team fell about laughing at how, finally, Bruce – Mr-Mild-Mannered - had managed to psych them all out.
That had then become another conversation on how Bruce had managed that without going full Hulk-out. Apparently Bruce had listened to Tony after all and stopped treating the Hulk like a problem. The two souls coexisting in one body had actually been talking and it seemed they had more of an understanding and had even come close to a friendship.
The tension between Bucky and Tony however, had increased, but it had also taken a new direction. Gone was the tension of Tony wanting to murder Bucky, now it was replaced with a serious amount of sexual tension that had only grown worse over time. Tony's head reeled with it most days, constantly questioning himself if what he was doing was right. Would his mother be disappointed in him, for starting to fall for the guy who had murdered her? Would Howard have screamed at him for being a failure? Would he have told Tony what a weak, pitiful excuse for a man he was?
Tony guessed the answer to all of the above was no, because no one else saw it that way. At first, they had remained extremely tentative about showing much affection around the rest of the team, especially as Tony had done a complete one-eighty and it wasn't exactly something either of them understood at the time, nor did they now, but they were working on it. But Steve, who had been the first to suss them out, had been taking it well, going so far as to tug them both into a strong hug. It was the first time Tony had laughed with Steve, truly laughed, and not felt that frisson of fear down his spine at the super-soldier's touch.
As the rest of the team acclimated to their newfound relationship, Tony had been expecting some sort of blow out, but the lot of them had accepted the pair with easy grace, Barton snorted deliriously after he'd gotten Natasha to simmer down after their fight in the gym. It was as if every single one of them had been able to see it coming, but the two stars of the romance had been completely blind. With things being out in the open, the pair had become more touchy-feely, their hands would brush, sometimes Bucky would lean down and nuzzle Tony's cheek. When their movie nights would be less riotous, Tony would be debating with Bruce from the comfort of Bucky's lap.
Lots of hand feeding went on, with many murmuring what they were doing was practically porn. Usually there would be some sweet snacks passed around or a plate of fruit, and Tony would gently take each piece from Bucky's metal fingers, letting his tongue rove over the smooth, cool metal. This usually ended with many of the team telling them to just have sex already.
It had taken a couple of days after Tony's fight with Natasha to pin Bucky down and really talk about what he'd said. Bucky had then reiterated much of the same back to Tony, saying his reaction was so aggressive because he had wanted to keep Tony safe, and the man had simply triggered him and sent him on his way.
Tony had blushed beet red throughout the entire discussion, unsure how to process the information, until Bucky had placed the sweetest of kisses against his temple and disappeared from his sight. Now there they were, watching telly, cuddled on the sofa in full view of their friends, and the world started to feel right.
Just as the film was ending, FRIDAY murmured quietly in his ear and excused himself, heading down to the workshop. She had finished with the final render for the new arm for Bucky, and it was as sleek and beautiful as he'd imagined it would be. He liked seeing Bucky in black, so he'd chosen that as the base colour, but the nanobots were gold and lined the arm perfectly, a little bit of Tony mixed in.
Once he'd done all his tests and made sure there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, he asked FRIDAY to get Bucky to come down. He waited patiently for the soldier to appear and smiled warmly at him. The smile was answered with a cocky grin that Tony was sure Bucky had learned from him.
"Whaddya want me for, doll?" He drawled, throwing a smirk and reaching for the engineer.
Tony danced back and presented the arm with a flourish. "Ta-dah!"
Blue eyes widened, his fingers re-directing to run over the smooth metal. "Tony…I…it's beautiful. You changed the design."
"I'm glad you like it, and yes, I did change the design-"
His words were cut off when Bucky backed him into the workbench, gently took the arm from Tony, and crushed them together, his head bending down to meet Tony's lips in a heated kiss. Lost in the fierceness of the kiss, Tony almost forgot about the other reason he'd called Bucky down. Slowing their kiss down, he gave Bucky a very gentle push on the chest, his heart pounding at the chiselled muscle he could feel through the thin t-shirt.
"But there is another reason I brought you down here instead of showing you with the others. Fry and I have been running the numbers and we've hit a slight snag."
The light dimmed in his eyes and Tony could kick himself for letting Bucky distract him. "What is it?"
Tony kicked a rolling stool over to Bucky while he sat on the workbench. "I've been looking over the scans of the attached arm and it's wired into your body deeper than I thought it would be, I also hadn't anticipated how much of it would be bolted into your skeleton. Because of the super soldier serum, your body burns through any sort of anaesthetic too quickly, which means that when I detach your current arm, you're going to feel everything."
Bucky cocked his head in thought and shrugged. "Well, I knew that anyway. Sheesh! I thought you were going to tell me something really horrible!"
Staring in complete shock, Tony had to take several moments to process what he had just heard. "Wait, rewind, you knew? Bucky…how can you be okay with this? The process is going to take several hours, at best."
Bucky rose to his feet and curled his metal fingers under Tony's chin. "I'm okay with it, it'll be you and not some crazed doctor operating on me."
Swallowing thickly, Tony blinked back tears, recalling all the reports on what Zola had done to him. "Actually, I was thinking of asking Stephen Strange to operate on you as he has extensive knowledge on surgery and the mystic arts, he'd have an easier time monitoring you, and might be able to circumvent the pain somehow."
The cool fingers dropped from his chin and Bucky shook his head. "Absolutely not. Tony, I fully trust you, you're a fount of knowledge and I suspect you've already read up on every known to man book on surgery, the nervous system, and many more than I can think of."
Well, he was guilty there! He'd spent the last two weeks reading nothing but books on the very procedure he was going to have to perform on his boyfriend. Boyfriend. Huh. The word still sounded so foreign to him, but so very, very right. "Okay, okay. I'll do it – but at least let me keep Strange on speaker in case I hit a snag?"
Bucky agreed to it, and thanked Tony with an insanely passionate kiss, again, that left Tony rock hard and panting, his eyes glued to the seat of Bucky's pants while he sauntered away. Oh boy, he had it bad. Real bad.
-oo0oo-
As Strange had some things on with his Sanctum Sanctorum work, and was still learning the Mystic Arts now that he had taken over as Sorcerer Supreme, they had agreed to do the operation a week later. When the day finally rolled around, Tony woke feeling sick to his stomach that he was about to cause immeasurable pain to the man he cared deeply for. Their tension had been thick of late, neither of them going beyond heated kisses, and quick gropes over clothing.
It was as if both of them were afraid that if they took the plunge, one of them might come to regret it, or that it would alter something irrevocably and they wouldn't be able to take it back. Tony knew he wouldn't ever regret it, but if he'd asked Bucky the same question, he would have known for certain that the soldier felt the same way.
Bruce had been kind enough to hand over his medical lab for the day, and promised that he would keep within the tower should he be needed for anything. He also promised Bucky that he would only step in if it came to worst case scenario. He understood what it was like to have a bunch of people prodding and poking at you, and knew that Bucky wanted to keep the number of people messing about with his body to a minimum.
Tony scrubbed in and made sure he had a stable connection to Strange. He'd gone over the entire procedure last night and was confident he could do this without any hiccups, but it was comforting having the safety net of Strange there. He shared a quick kiss with Bucky and placed a bite guard in his mouth. He picked up the scalpel, took a steadying breath, and began separating flesh from metal.
For the most part, Bucky just bit down on the guard and gave the occasional grunt, but he knew his boyfriend was in agony. He knew that the serum enhanced everything, including pain. He knew that a scratch could feel like a gash, and a gash would feel like a wound, so him cleaving skin from metal had to be agonising.
It was only when Tony reach the nerves that Bucky began to scream. He worked as fast as he dared, desperate to have it over with, but refusing to risk botching it and having to redo it all. The arm slipped away with a sickening squelch and Tony fought not to vomit. He now knew why surgeons never operated on someone they loved.
He ordered FRIDAY to have the arm locked away and picked up the tiny chips that would be attached to Bucky's nervous system so he could control the nanobots. He slotted the arm into place, and watching in fascination as the microscopic bots scurried into place and affixed the arm in its permanent position.
There was a final scream from Bucky when they essentially drilled themselves into the flesh to hold position, those were the nanobots that wouldn't move, keeping the arm attached. The ones that attached to the bones did their stuff at the same time to reduce the pain to Bucky. Once FRIDAY had performed her scans and confirmed the arm was successfully bonding with Bucky, Tony ripped his mask off, threw away his scrubs and gingerly wiped away the tears that had streaked down Bucky's face.
"It's over, I'm so sorry, so, so sorry," he choked out, covering Bucky's face in kisses.
A warm hand enveloped his head and gently pushed his head until it slotted with the soldier's and their lips met. "It's okay, moya lyubov'," he whispered.
Tony gasped into his mouth and deepened their kiss, neither one of them answering Strange's frantic shouts if everything was okay. He vaguely heard FRIDAY inform the doctor that everything was a success and James Barnes was merely expressing his gratitude. There was a snort before the line disconnected and Tony hopped onto the table, straddling Bucky's hips and kissed Bucky with everything he had.
"Say it again," Tony said between kisses.
He felt Bucky smile against his lips. "Moya lyubov'."
Their passionate embrace was interrupted when they heard a disgusted squeal and caught sight of Clint staring at them in horror. "Really? On the table you just operated on your boyfriend?"
The pair flushed red and Tony hopped down, ensured Bucky was alright then disappeared in a flash. Clint smirked at him as he passed, and Tony fought down the urge to punch him for ruining the moment, but he was also grateful. He didn't really need their first time to be on a bloodied operating table. Grinning like a lovesick idiot, Tony retreated to his workshop and tinkered, mindlessly, on some things, his mind constantly replaying the sound of Bucky's smooth voice called him 'my love'.
