Tony managed. Somehow he managed to live in the same space as Bucky. It wasn't easy neither for him nor Bucky who was tiptoeing round him like Tony was the one who wanted to kill him. It was almost ironic.

What hurt though, was the fact that the Soldier had never been so cautious around him. Sure, the Soldier had seemed wary at the beginning of every meeting but now that Tony could see the facial expression that accompanied being cautious he was pretty sure the Soldier had been rather careful than wary. Maybe a bit unsure but never afraid of Tony. Unlike now.

While Tony had thought that they were past the whole 'I-killed-your-parents' mess it seemed like it got replaced with the new confession Bucky had made. And now it looked like Bucky was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Tony to finally throw him out, or maybe even worse. Steve seemed to expect that too, he was very polite all of a sudden and very awkward around Tony but in the end it was Sam who mentioned it.

Somehow they had all managed to show up in the kitchen at the same time. To everyone's surprise they were all there to eat, even Tony, but when they took a look in the fridge there were no leftovers of anything. Tony was ready to go back to the workshop, already deciding that food wasn't that important right now, while Steve clearly wanted to order in and Bucky just looked like he regretted being there.

When Tony caught Sam's eye, the other man sighed. "Okay, I'm cooking. Tony you will assist."

"Why me? Why not your super bff's?"

"You're closest to the fridge" Sam said while he pulled out a few pots. "I'll need some things." He listed everything he would need and Tony dutifully brought it all over to him. Sam put Steve and Bucky on chopping duty and they complied without protest.

They were all working silently when Sam suddenly said "So, everyone's wondering when you'll throw us out."

Tony wasn't sure who was more startled at that: Bucky, Steve or himself. Tony briefly glanced over to them but Bucky refused to lift his eyes and seemed to expect some kind of blow while Steve just waited for the sentence to be spoken. When Tony looked back at Sam he could see the smug smile he had on his face.

Tony sighed. "I thought I made myself clear" he said and refused to meet anyone's eyes. "You're free to live here as long as you like."

Sam turned around to Steve and Bucky but before he could say anything Steve spoke. "If you say 'I told you so' I will throw this knife at you" he said without even stopping chopping.

Sam obviously suppressed the words and turned back around to his pot though he didn't manage to hide is smile. Tony had already turned back to stirring the contents of one pot when Sam nudged him in the side. Tony looked at him and Sam rolled his eyes while he pointed at Steve and Bucky at the table. Bucky was still very busy cutting his vegetables but Steve looked like he wanted to say something but was uncertain about it.

"Oh god, Steve, just get it out" Tony exclaimed and Bucky nearly chopped of his finger.

"It's just…we thought that after…"

"My last drinking experience you would no longer be welcome here."

Steve grimaced at that and said "I was going with 'the last incident' but yes."

"Just because I can't handle shit and deal badly with it doesn't mean I'm gonna throw you out."

"We just don't want to make you uncomfortable. This is your home after all."

Now it was Tony's time to roll his eyes. "The only thing that makes me uncomfortable is your politeness lately. It's unnerving. And you" he said and pointed at Bucky who finally looked up to him "stop tiptoeing around this place. I am not breakable, you know."

Bucky hunched over the plate and when he spoke it was so low that Tony nearly missed it. "Thought you wanted to avoid me."

"If I wanted to avoid you I'd have Jarvis tell me where you are so I wouldn't run into you. Since that is not the case, relax, will you?"

Tony felt a bit like a hypocrite, giving that advice, since he wouldn't be comfortable around Bucky any time soon, but it wasn't as if any of the others knew so it was all good.

Bucky gave a sharp nod but Tony believed that it was unlikely that Bucky would relax in the near future. He always seemed stressed or on edge, he even managed to look stressed when he meditated, even though he swore that it helped, so this was probably as good at it got.

When neither Steve nor Bucky added anything else Tony turned back around to his pot, noticing that the sauce seemed to have burned a bit. He quickly stirred it again but he guessed the damage was done.

"I told them they were being idiots and that you would throw them out if you really wanted to but no one listened to me" Sam said and he practically shouted the last part over to the table only to be hit in the head with a piece of carrot. Tony managed not to snort at that but it was a close call.

After that things got a bit more relaxed. No one changed their ways to please the other and Steve stopped being so horribly polite. Bucky seemed still a bit uncomfortable but Tony wasn't sure if that was still because of him or if that was just how Bucky was these days.

Steve told Tony that he was doing much better than he had before but Tony only believed it when Bucky came to his workshop on his own.

Tony was busy improving Sam's wings when Jarvis said "Sergeant Barnes wishes to enter the workshop."

Tony saved the simulations he had made and indicated to Jarvis to open the door. Bucky came in but didn't say anything and after a short while Tony asked "So what can I do for you?"

Bucky moved the metal arm and said "I can't close the hand."

Tony pointed at the workbench they usually worked on now after Bucky had lost it when Tony had suggested the chair. Tony opened the arm up, still explaining what he was doing even though he was pretty sure Bucky could recite it back to him by now but when he looked inside he stopped talking for a second to assess the damage.

"This doesn't look good."

"Just fix it" Bucky pressed out and didn't look at the arm.

Tony carefully prodded at a few of the cables before he looked at Bucky again. "I need to replace a few of them."

"Fine" Bucky snapped and Tony sighed.

"This will probably hurt. And as long as I can't replace big pieces it is only a temporary fix until the next part breaks. The new arm…"

"I don't want a new one. Just fix this one."

Tony let out another deep sigh and held on to his patience by a threat. "I have to build the cables first. It will take some time."

Bucky shrugged as best as he could with the metal arm still open on a plate and Tony began to close the arm again. He told Bucky Jarvis would call him when he was done and when Bucky was gone he immediately started.

It was a bit difficult because he had to figure out what exactly the corroded cables were doing but when that was done it wasn't that much of a challenge anymore. It needed some tinkering until everything looked like the ones in the arm but it didn't take him longer than a day.

When Bucky came into the workshop again he walked directly over to the workbench and Tony followed. It was tricky work, attaching the cables again, and he was sure it hurt Bucky more than he let on, but Tony wasn't about to bring up the new arm again. If Bucky was dead set on not taking it then fine. Tony could live with that.

But that was only true as long as Bucky didn't do more with the arm than the occasional sparring with Steve and Tony forgot all about it when Steve announced a week later that Bucky would join them in their team training and then on missions.

Steve had set mandatory training sessions for the team so that they could work on their teamwork and Tony had built a special obstacle course for that. It was after one of their sessions that Steve announced this and Clint, Natasha and Sam seemed all fine with it.

Tony definitely wasn't and he lingered around to tell Steve exactly that. "You can't take him out with us on missions. His arm is a liability. It is degrading quickly and will not hold during a fight."

"And what do you suggest? Let him rot in the tower forever?"

"Make the new arm I built a condition. He cannot go out and fight with that broken thing."

Steve's face got serious at that. "You want me to force the new arm on him?"

"No. It's still his choice. There are consequences to the choice like with everything else."

"I won't do that."

"Steve, one solid hit is all it takes. The arm will crumble. Quite literally I'm afraid" Tony explained and really hoped he could get Steve on his side but that didn't seem likely.

"I will not force this on him. He doesn't want a new arm. And it holds up fine during sparring."

"Because you take care not to hit it too hard. That won't happen in a real fight."

"I said no. It's his decision if he wants the arm and it's also his decision if he wants to get back out there. I will not tie those two together." With that Steve left and Tony wanted to punch something. This was not going to end well.

When Bucky joined them on their next training it was a bit ridiculous how easily he fitted in with them. He preferred to be the sniper of the team and while Clint had not been happy with that decision at first he was all on board with it now since it meant he could mingle a bit more in the fight. While Bucky was excellent with his rifle he was also a force in the field. He was a heavy hitter, just like Steve and Thor and he was as quick and graceful as Clint and Natasha. It was a bit unfair really.

After five more or less flawless practices Steve decided that Bucky could come out with them. Everyone seemed quite excited about that but Tony had one last concern.

"Not to dampen the mood or anything but what about the Soldier?" he asked and only barely stumbled over the last part. When everyone looked questioningly at him he elaborated. "The last time Bucky got hit he lost control. What if that happens in the fight? If he loses focus and one of us has to stop him?"

Everyone looked a bit solemn at that prospective and in the end it was Bucky himself who spoke up. "I can handle it. I've got better at it."

"Tony has a point" Clint said. "You got better at it during practice. No one can say what will happen during a real fight."

Steve seemed to contemplate that for a bit before he said "We can choose the first battle carefully. Maybe something not world endangering first. Though, don't get me wrong, if we need help, he doesn't stay here."

Tony was by no means happy with that but Steve also didn't sound like he would budge on that and so Tony just shrugged.

"Sure. It's only my life" he mumbled under his breath and was glad that no one heard him.

The first mission Bucky was allowed to come to were big butterflies.

No one thought the Avengers would have to come out for that but it turned out the butterflies were not only huge but also dumb and clumsy. They crashed into everything and one beat with their wings was enough to topple over cars and when the first one crashed into a building and brought it down the Avengers were called in.

Since it was the first time Bucky was out in a real fight since he got away from Hydra everyone was a bit wary that he would fall back on the Winter Soldier. Tony was secretly hoping for that, not that he would ever say that out loud, and he felt bad for it.

He tried to stay away from Bucky during the fight since Tony knew that he wouldn't be able to concentrate if he stayed close to him and also because if Bucky would fall back on the Soldier and the Soldier really wanted to kill him he didn't want to be in close proximity.

He had Jarvis monitor the arm though because he was still convinced it would break down sooner rather than later. Tony new that it was inevitable and he wanted to know the second it happened.

They had taken down nearly half of the butterflies, it really wasn't that hard, it was not like they actively fought back, when Bucky suddenly didn't respond to calls on the coms anymore and Tony could see from high above that he was moving more like the Soldier now. Tony was drawn to the Soldier and flew down almost on instinct before he caught himself and concentrated on the insects again.

The team was suddenly tense for entirely different reasons than the butterflies and the massive destruction they caused and Steve ordered someone to stay close to Bucky without crowding him in or posing as a threat. Since Tony and Sam were high up in the sky and the most effective against the big insects and Natasha was with Steve and too far away it fell to Clint to watch Bucky.

Tony kept an eye on them while he took down another one of the giant insects and he saw how Clint warily crept closer to Bucky. The Soldier didn't seem to notice him, fully engrossed in shooting down a butterfly that had come dangerously close to Tony, who was too distracted to really notice, but Clint kept his distance nonetheless. It wasn't like anyone knew how the Soldier reacted to other people.

"Too scared to babysit?" Tony couldn't help but ask to lighten the undoubtedly tense mood and he could practically feel the glare Clint threw him.

"How about I shoot you down, then you can take over" Clint retorted and before anyone knew what happened the Soldier was standing right in front of Clint, gun leveled at his face.

Tony barely heard the growled "Don't" over the coms before Steve talked.

"What happened?" he frantically asked and Clint slowly raised his hands.

"Not sure if your buddy wants me to stop joking or if he wants me to stop existing. Woah" Clint exclaimed when the Soldier took another step into his direction, gun now pressed to Clint's forehead.

"I'm betting it's the jokes" Tony said and he could see the concentration of the Soldier falter.

Clint noticed it too because he said "Maybe you should keep talking, Stark."

"Maybe you should do less of that" Tony shot back before another butterfly nearly crashed into him.

That actually required his complete concentration and Tony tried hard not to think about the fact that the Soldier was right there.

He couldn't spare his attention, especially not now since the butterflies decided to team up on him but Jarvis informed him that Sam had joined Clint and the Soldier and seemed currently busy trying to talk the Soldier down. It seemed like he was successful because not even five minutes later Clint rejoined Natasha and Steve.

Sam stayed with Bucky and neither of them joined the fight again, even though Tony could have needed some air support. In the end it worked without Sam and when the last insect fell Steve was already sprinting towards Sam and Bucky.

Tony flew down as well and when he touched the ground he heard Bucky say "Sorry, Steve, lost control for a second."

Steve seemed relieved but Tony was glad that he was in the armour so he didn't have to keep his face in check because he was pretty sure he wouldn't manage that right now. The Soldier had been there, right there, and Tony had missed his chance, again. It didn't even matter to him that Bucky had told them that the Soldier wanted to kill him, he had all but forgotten about that in the moment, and Tony couldn't stand the sight of Bucky right now.

He turned around and with a clipped "Meet you at the tower" he was gone before anyone could say anything.

Tony attended the debrief afterwards but he played with his phone the whole time and when he was asked why he vanished so quickly he made up some excuse about the company.

He was doing better with Bucky, that much was true, but it didn't help with the fact that he just wanted the Soldier. Tony knew that it was wrong and he should be happy that Bucky seemed to have more control over the Soldier now but the truth was that Tony missed the Soldier.

He missed that he suddenly showed up, he missed that the Soldier trusted him even though Tony had nothing done to deserve that and he missed their meetings in the park.

Tony had still went there in the first few weeks after Bucky came to the tower but he had stopped once Bucky admitted that the Soldier wanted to kill him. After that it had just hurt too much to go back there.

And now all he had where those brief moments where the Soldier broke through Bucky's control and it always made his heart race. Tony attributed that to the fear of being killed and didn't examine it further.

After that first mission Bucky was benched for some time because while the Soldier hadn't hurt Clint or Sam no one was sure if that would stay that way and so Bucky had to stay behind when there was another call for the Avengers.

Tony could tell that Bucky was bitter about that, he just wanted to fight, but he certainly would not be the one to change Steve's mind. Tony was still worried about the arm and was actually glad that Bucky didn't put more strain on it than he already did.

When Bucky came to him again because the arm was stuck in one position, Tony laid out some rules for the use of the arm.

"No heavy stuff. No weight lifting, no push-ups with this arm. It won't hold forever and you wear it down even quicker. So stop it" he mumbled into Bucky's arm while he tried to connect one end of the new cable with the plate it belonged to.

It was more difficult every time Bucky came back and Tony wasn't sure how long he would be able to patch it up. He had told Bucky that, again, but he had just looked at Tony and said "But it looks fine to me."

Tony had refrained to roll his eyes but he was pretty sure he sounded exasperated when he answered. "It looks fine from the outside because that is pretty decent metal, nearly as good as my suit. The inside is what worries me. It is crumbling."

"Then make it stop" Bucky said and Tony closed the last panel with more force than necessary.

"If only it would be so easy" he said and turned away from Bucky.

Tony had tried to bring up the new arm a few more times but Bucky had shot him down every single time and now Tony was just waiting for the arm to finally give out so that Bucky couldn't do anything else but accept the arm. It strained Tony's nerves to just wait for the damage to be done but since Bucky was pretty stubborn that was the only thing he could do.

The arm held out long enough for Steve to allow Bucky back in the field though and from then on a good portion of Jarvis and Tony's attention was used up on watching the arm. Thanks to that Tony had maneuvered himself into a dangerous position more than once and when Steve called him out on being too fixated on Bucky, Tony didn't even bother to answer.

It was pretty clear on whose side Steve was especially since the arm held up fine so far. What didn't hold up fine was Bucky's control over the Soldier.

By now it was already standard that the Soldier would break out during a mission and no one was really surprised anymore when it happened. So far the Soldier hadn't attacked anyone of them and he always seemed to understand the situation because when Bucky lost control he didn't even falter in his fight.

The only difference was that the Soldier always made his way over to Tony, no matter if he was in the air or on the ground and Steve intercepted the Soldier a few times when Tony was too busy to notice him. Tony wasn't really too busy, he just wanted the Soldier to reach him once, only to see his course of action of course, but Steve never let it come to that and Tony didn't know if he should be happy about that or if he wanted to curse at that.

The more missions Bucky attended the faster the Soldier broke through his control and Bucky couldn't really explain it. If it weren't for the fact that the Soldier very obviously still wanted to kill Tony everyone would probably have been happy about that because the Soldier was a real asset, for the lack of a better word.

Bucky was a very good fighter but the Soldier seemed more comfortable with using his strengths and he didn't shy away from hurting his enemies if it was necessary, not in the way that Bucky was all too careful about not inflicting more damage than he needed to.

But the Soldier was still a wild card and even Steve could see that. He had brought that up in training once but it didn't go over well.

They had all assembled at the start of the obstacle course when Steve said "So I've been thinking."

Sam's immediate respond was a mumbled "Oh god" but Steve wasn't deterred by that.

"I think it would be really helpful if we could train with the Soldier. With Tony not present of course."

"Kick me out of the team, why don't you?" Tony said while the rest of the team kept silent.

"I don't want to kick you out. I think it would be best if we could at least train with the Soldier once." He turned to Bucky before he continued. "You lose control every time now, always faster than before. The Soldier is a liability. We don't know how he operates. I think training with him could really help us."

"He was trained in the Red Room, Steve" Natasha said. "We usually don't do teamwork."

"You seem to do fine" Tony pointed out and Natasha smiled a bit at him.

"It was a long way. Just ask Clint."

"Oh no, don't ask Clint, she would kill me if I ever told you how long it really took" Clint hurriedly said and just like that the mood lightened a bit.

"And that's the reason I think we should train it here and not only hope for the best in the field" Steve explained, eyes trained on Bucky who had kept silent during this whole exchange.

When he noticed that everyone was looking at him he straightened a bit. "I will not give up control willingly" he said and before anyone could protest he mumbled "It would feel like they would win."

That ended the discussion instantly because no one was about to make Bucky feel that way and Steve never brought it up again. And since it wasn't like the Soldier was in their way when they fought, he just did his own thing, no one protested.

It didn't change the fact that the Soldier still moved into Tony's direction every chance he got and that Tony watched him more than the others.

And that was the only reason Tony was the first to notice that the inevitable finally happened.

They were fighting hippopotami, who even experimented on those, and it was a tough fight. They were roughly the same size as they should be but Tony was pretty sure they were enhanced because no animal had any right being so aggressive or so immune to attacks, not to mention that they were a lot faster than they should be according to Jarvis.

They seemed to attack humans just because they could and there were at least fifteen of them out there. Natasha and Sam were almost no help against them since bullets couldn't pierce their thick skin and after Clint's tranquilizer arrows did nothing to them he help rescuing civilians.

The repulsor was pretty effective against them just like Steve's shield, the blunt force with which Steve threw it knocked them right out, and the Soldier was able to inflict some damage with his arm as well. Between the three of them they managed to take out most of the vicious animals until only two remained.

Steve was busy fighting one of them while the other sprinted towards the Soldier. The Soldier was heavily dependent on his arm, Tony had witness that before, and so it was no surprise when the Soldier extended his arm to stop the animal.

It was also no surprise that the arm couldn't take the strain anymore and Tony was pretty sure he could actually hear the arm snap. The hippopotamus raced on and threw the Soldier into the next building. It was already pretty unstable and the animal now seemed to have a personal issue with the Soldier because it was ready to storm in right after him.

Tony couldn't let that happen because without the arm the Soldier couldn't do much to defend himself less alone to take the animal down and so Tony rushed in after him. Jarvis let him know that the Soldier could probably take one solid hit from the animal before something broke or worse and he displayed the integral structure of the house which wasn't doing so good and could come down any moment. That the Soldier couldn't take.

Tony managed to push the Soldier aside right before the animal hit him and Tony was thrown into the next wall which promptly gave out on him. Tony had time to register the anger on the Soldier's face who was already storming towards him and the animal before he blacked out.

"What the hell were you thinking, Tony?" was the first thing Tony heard when he opened his eyes. He was a bit disoriented and felt fuzzy but that was probably due to the throbbing headache he was sporting.

Steve was standing at the end of his hospital bed and his face was a mixture between annoyance, anger and relieve.

"Bucky?" Tony managed and instantly whished for a glass of water. His throat was dry but before he could look around if someone was so thoughtful to place one beside his bed Bucky said "I am fucking fine. That was totally unnecessary. I could have taken it down. Did so, in the end, because you were unconscious! I would have made it."

His voice held an accusing tone and Tony wanted to answer but his throat was too dry and so he finally did look around for that water. Luck was on his side then right beside his bed was a full glass with a straw. He reached for it, taking stock of everything that hurt in the process and then eagerly drank the cool soothing water.

When he was done he looked Bucky over but he really did seem fine, except for the obviously broken metal arm, and so Tony relaxed. "According to Jarvis you wouldn't have. My bet was better."

Bucky wanted to say something to that, Tony could tell by the way he worked his jaw, but Steve silenced him. "You are just human, Tony. We have the serum to keep us alive" he said and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I have the suit, Steve. It was fine. I ran the numbers and the probability that I would survive was much higher than Bucky's."

At that Steve stared at him. "Higher? You risked your life knowing that there was a chance, a very real chance, that you wouldn't make it?"

"Ehm…probably? Bucky's numbers…"

"I don't care about Bucky's numbers. You never risk your life like that again. Not if there's a chance that you could die, do you understand me?"

Tony tried to sit up but the pain kept him where he was. "Yeah, right. I wanna see you say that when Bucky dies and I tell you I could have done something." Steve took a deep breath but before he could speak again Tony went on. "Don't bother. I would do it again, and you know it. If there's a chance I can save anyone I will take it. No matter what you say."

Tony carefully kept silent about the fact that he would save Bucky even if it meant is death. That wasn't helpful and neither of them would understand and Tony would not explain it to them. It was bad enough that Bucky didn't remember him. He would absolutely not live in a world where Bucky died because Tony did nothing.

But they didn't need to know that and going by the daggers that Bucky was shooting him with his eyes he wouldn't even want to know that.

"I just need you to be more careful, Tony. Please" Steve finally said and Tony shrugged.

"I'll try. Won't make any promises, though. Now. What's the damage?"

As it turned out the damage was more irritating than dangerous and Tony had to wear a cast around his arm for the next few weeks.

He was annoyed after a few hours already because even if the painkillers took care of the lingering ache the cast was constricting and it didn't let Tony work like he wanted to. And especially not like he needed to in order to fix Bucky's arm.

Bucky came down to his workshop the day after Tony was released from the hospital and sat down on his usual bench. Luckily Tony broke his left arm, so he could still do a lot of things but definitely not enough to work on the arm.

Still, he looked it over to see what the damage was and it was devastating. The joint of the elbow only worked until a certain degree before it was stuck, the shoulder lost most of its mobility and Bucky could barely open the hand at all, let alone move the fingers or hold something. There was barely anything that was not broken and Tony really wasn't sure if he could repair this much damage. He probably could have if the arm were in any better state before but since it had been pretty much worn down before it took the last hit there was nothing much Tony could do now.

"And?" Bucky asked when Tony took too long to say anything.

"You need a new arm" he said and looked Bucky in the eye. "There's nothing left to salvage here."

"No. You can repair it." Tony had to look away at that, it sounded too much like the Soldier, but he shook his head.

"Nice to know you have some faith in me, but there is really not much I can do. The arm is totaled."

"No. You need to repair it."

"Bucky, there is not much left to repair. Everything is damaged at one place or another. I don't even wanna know how it looks inside. That arm is done."

While Tony spoke Bucky got up and started to walk around, metal arm close to his body and the other hand in his hair. "You have to repair it. You have to. I don't care how long it takes" Bucky mumbled and Tony changed his position so that he could still watch him.

"Bucky, you have to understand. I can't do that. The new arm…"

"I don't want a fucking new arm!" Bucky suddenly screamed at him. "I won't let you put me under and take another thing from me. That won't happen!"

The frantic glare in Bucky's eyes made Tony unsure if he was still talking to him or if he was caught in something else and so he did his best to remain calm.

"Bucky. Listen to me. No one wants to take anything from you. But that arm is not salvageable. I wouldn't even know where to start with that."

"Then you will do your damn fucking best to find that out. Because I will not take that arm from you." He left the workshop with those words and Tony really wanted to smash something.

Bucky was being unreasonable and Tony knew that he couldn't force him to take the arm but he really wished he could right now. Just to prove how awesome the new one would be and that Bucky didn't have to be such a fucking child about this.

He took some time to calm himself down before he asked Jarvis to show him the damaged arm. He hadn't lied to Bucky when he said he didn't even know where to start with this and he wasn't sure it would work. Definitely not with his cast still on, but that gave him some time to figure out what he could do.

Bucky avoided him after their last meeting and Tony was glad for it. He didn't know if he could take another hit right now.

The cast came off after five weeks, yes he might have talked the doctor into taking it off earlier than normal, but he needed to do some physical training first, before he could work on the arm for a prolonged period of time.

The five weeks gave him enough time to develop something like a battle plan and while the arm would probably have pretty restricted movement he was certain he could restore enough to allow Bucky the most basic of motions. Bucky didn't seem happy with that when he told him but Tony would not bring up the new arm ever again so Bucky had to deal with that on his own.

Tony was halfway done with the arm when AIM attacked one of the SI buildings.

Neither Tony nor Bucky were technically allowed to go out on missions yet but since it was Tony's personal nemesis attacking his own company there was no way he would sit this one out and Bucky just tagged along, obviously deaf to Steve's reasoning that he should stay in the tower.

Clint and Natasha joined them on the sight and as soon as the AIM agents noticed that the Avengers arrived they concentrated their attack on Tony. It wasn't a big problem, since he was perfectly able to take them out but the sheer number was a bit worrying.

The others joined in on the fight and they had a pretty easy job taking the agents out since they all concentrated on Tony. No one knew exactly what they wanted but it didn't seem like they managed to get it and that was good.

They retreated a bit when they noticed that they couldn't take Tony out and seemed to come up with a new strategy. A few of them fired randomly at the Avengers to keep them at bay and when Tony stepped in front of Bucky to shield him from a bullet their focus suddenly changed.

The agents attacked again and this time they concentrated their attacks on Bucky who had a hard time defending himself since his metal arm was still out of commission. A few seconds into the fight he lost control and the Soldier took control though he didn't seem to do any better than Bucky.

The others were busy fighting off attacks on their own and so it fell to Tony to make sure that Bucky wouldn't be hurt. He did his best to shield the Soldier from bullets, and he very pointedly didn't let himself linger on the thought that this was the closest they have been since that last visit, when someone pulled out a special gun and fired it at the Soldier.

Tony extended his hand to catch the bullet and Jarvis warning that this was in fact an EMP device came too late. The EMP went off and the suit went down, too heavy for Tony without the support system, and Tony quickly contemplated his options.

Stay in the suit and be helpless and leave the Soldier without protection for another three minutes until it came back online or go out of the suit and do his best to inflict damage and have the Soldier's back.

The decision was not really hard and so Tony used the manual release hatches on the suit.

When the Soldier noticed what he was doing he came closer to the suit, still trying to keep the agents at bay, and Tony thought he heard him say "Don't, you idiot" but that couldn't be, the shooting was way too loud to hear anything.

When Tony was out of the suit he was glad that Steve had made him practice his hand to hand combat because it came in pretty handy right now and he managed to take out three AIM agents before they shifted their concentration to him again.

They also stopped shooting, which was a bit strange, but Tony couldn't wonder about that for too long; he had his hands full with making sure that no one knocked him out.

He was fighting back to back with the Soldier and when a round of attack brought Tony shoulder to shoulder with the Soldier he briefly reached out to clasp Tony's arm.

Tony faltered at that for a second and it was a second too long because he took a hit to the head and Tony only had time to register that he was falling down before everything went black.

Only one more chapter to go!

Thank you all who left comments or favourited this, it really means a lot to me.