Gently

16. Not by Halves

"AIM part two just hit the North Side, Cap."

"Iron Man, Winter Soldier – you got this?"

"Already there."

"Alright Terminator, let's give 'em hell."

"Stark, would knocking you round the head make you less obnoxious?"

"Probably. It may also give me brain damage, so I think it would be a bad idea for everyone if you gave in to your carnal, half-robotic desires."

"I am not a fucking cyborg!"

"You mean you actually know what –"

Frowning at the sudden cut-off, Clint tapped his aids. It seemed he wasn't the only one who was confused; "Iron Man?" Steve called. "Iron Man, you still there? Winter Soldier?"

"Their comms are down," Coulson informed them. "We've also lost track of their vitals, but their trackers are still showing. The area they were clearing has lost all power."

"Could be an EMP," Hank suggested.

"That means they're in trouble. Hawkeye, Ms Marvel," Steve said, "get them out of there. Quickly!"

"Understood," Carol responded, and Clint scanned the skies to see her taking off not too far away.

"Going my way?" he called, and she swooped down to pick him up off the roof he'd been stationed on, soon dropping him onto the ground at the factory's North entrance; then he was firing off a net arrow, snagging his own bunch of AIM cronies and starting a mini frenzy of panic and firing. He and Carol quickly worked their way inside, where Tony and Bucky had been attempting to reach the core of the second group, and arrived just in time.

Kicking open the doors to what looked like a canteen area, Clint let off an explosive arrow before ducking behind the upturned tables Bucky had tucked himself against. "Where's Stark?" he asked, and Bucky jerked his head ahead of them. An Iron Man-shaped figure lay unmoving in the middle of the floor. "Ah, shit."

"EMP took the suit out," Bucky explained, "among other things."

Clint glanced down and saw his metal arm resting uselessly at Bucky's side. "It's not EMP-proof?"

"Guess who made it." He snorted.

"I have a plan," Carol said, appearing beside them as Bucky fired a few rounds off to keep AIM away from Tony. "Hawkeye, you have any smoke arrows left?"

"Think I packed a spare, yeah."

"Let it fly, then you help the Soldier out and I'll grab Iron Man."

"Wait," Bucky said. "The second core for their cannon's straight through those doors." He waved his gun towards the opposite side of the room. "Two of us can make it across there easy enough."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "This isn't going to be another Luxembourg, is it?"

"I wish."

"No way," Carol was saying, shaking her head. "You arm's down Barnes. It's too risky."

Nocking a smoke arrow, Clint flashed her a grin. "Don't sweat it Carol, we got this. You take care of Stark."

"Hawkeye –"

"We'll be fine. Trust us." Before she could argue further, he stood up and fired the smoke arrow. Almost immediately Bucky shot up and over the tables, a knife glinting in his working hand, and as the sound of AIM goons falling to the floor started sounding out across the canteen Clint sent a pointed look in Carol's direction. "See?"

Carol sighed, jumping forward to grab Tony. "Help me get him to the doors?" By the time they'd dragged him the few metres to the exit (ignoring his pleas to watch the paintwork), the smoke had cleared a little, and they could see Bucky taking care of the disoriented AIM soldiers as if there wasn't a dead weight hanging off his left shoulder. He was somehow still using it to deflect bullets, getting close enough to the yellow-clad men that they couldn't fire at him without mowing each other down in the process. His knife was making quick work of them too, flashing as he whipped it back and forth and flipped it round to switch his grip, all the while perfectly balanced and focused. "You know, sometimes your boyfriend scares me a little," Carol deadpanned.

Laughing loudly, Clint picked out another arrow and joined the fray, coming up to Bucky's vulnerable side and keeping his back to the metal arm. It took them a few minutes to work their way to the faintly-glowing double doors, but once they were inside it took one explosive arrow, six normal arrows and one well-wielded knife to put an end to the second AIM group that had overrun the factory. As extraction was called out over comms, Clint relayed the information to Bucky and the two of them slumped down against the wall.

"You know what?" Bucky said as he tried to catch his breath. "Think that was on a par with Luxembourg."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone remember these things differently to me?"

Dirty fingers brushed at something on his temple. "You're bleeding."

In return, he lightly prodded a shallow bullet wound in Bucky's right side. "So are you." Bucky pulled a face, and Clint nudged his arm. "Don't worry, I'll patch you up on the jet."

"Same," he promised, smiling at him wearily before gently pressing a kiss to his injured temple.

Back on the jet, they'd managed to get Tony out of his suit, and the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist was in full-rant mode about the damage AIM had done. "I mean, it's like they know how much work I'm going to have to put into repairs on this. I'll have to completely re-work the interior electronics of almost every single component, not to mention re-install JARVIS and make sure there aren't any blown-out circuits within the framework. And now I'll have to make modifications to accommodate an EMP back-up in both this and Barnes' arm –"

"Don't bother," Bucky told him, "I promised FitzSimmons they could have a go at making one if yours conked out on me."

Tony blinked at him. "FitzSimmons?" he repeated. "You don't want to do that."

"I already promised them, Stark."

"But you should know that I'd make something infinitely better suited to your needs and style. I've been using your specs for months."

"They got very excited at the prospect. You really want me to make FitzSimmons get all upset and disappointed?"

"Cruel man, Tony," Sam commented, shaking his head disapprovingly.

Tony narrowed his eyes, jabbing a finger at Clint. "You said you'd never go to them again."

First aid kit in his lap, Clint concentrated on threading a sewing needle as he replied, "Bucky just took out a third of the goon squad that KOed you in a single move with one arm. I say he gets go to whoever he wants for a new one and you should be grateful your precious suit is still intact for you to play with later." He slapped Jan a hi-five as Tony went to sulk on the other side of the jet, leaning in to start mending the hole in Bucky's side when Carol appeared in his peripheral vision.

"So what happened in Luxembourg?"

The two men froze. Swallowing, Bucky told her, "Maybe it's best you don't know."

AN: Prompt: "something in which Bucky's arm bothers him? Either the metal one and he shows that he's terrifyingly capable even with one functional ram, or the flesh-and-blood one and he's worried about the injury not healing properly?"