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Tony immediately moved to his son's side, despite the protests the Aurors made as they continued to scan the area. Harry had tears running down his face and Tony could see blood on his small hands. Sirius, wand in hand, took in the scene before disappearing into the house, as Tony surged forward. The man's breathing was ragged.

"Get a healer out here!" Tony shouted after him as he dropped to his knees next to the where Harry was trying to stop the bleeding from a wound below the man's left shoulder. "Are you hurt, Harry?"

Relieved when his son shook his head, Tony covered Harry's hands with both of his own. "Move your hands out of the way, bambino, so I can press harder."

Sliding them out, Harry immediately pressed himself against Tony's side. "I'm not hurt, Papa, 'cause As'et saved me! He jumped front of me when the bad man over there tried to shot Helena and me!"

Sirius appeared on the other side of the fallen man, carefully taking off the goggles the man wore. "Everyone is fine in the house, Tony. Jodi says two HYDRA assassins, male and female are down, one came up the cliff here and the other over there on the rise. Along with another male, different emblem on his uniform." He unhooked the mask around from the man's face. "Do you know this man, Harry?"

Nodding, Harry sniffled, wiping his face on his sleeve. "He's As'et. He saved me once when I lived with nasty Aunt 'Tunia and gave me something to eat and kept me warm with his jacket."

A man, clad in healer's robes, appeared beside Tony, waving him away as he began casting on the man, the bleeding slowed to almost imperceptible. Sitting back on his heels, Tony shifted Harry into his lap and looked at the man's uncovered face, only to do a double take. Recognition hit him hard enough to feel like a punch to the gut.

"Get him inside," Tony snapped, his words directed to the healer. "Taffy!"

The house-elf was there instantly. "Master Tony?"

"Direct the healer to the guest bedroom on this floor and make sure the healer has everything he needs." Surging to his feet with Harry, Tony motioned Sirius inside. "JARVIS! Get me Aunt Peggy, like yesterday!"

Remus met them as they stepped into the living room, Helena still firmly attached to him, but at least no longer crying. Tony's eyes swept the house, taking note of a grim-faced Jodi Proudfoot snapping out orders to her Aurors. He caught her eye and tilted his head, knowing she would have the most information on what had happened.

"Tony? What's wrong?" A woman's voice, crisp British accent, came out of the speakers and Tony pivoted to face the closest TV screen.

Harry's head came off Tony's shoulder, looking around. "Papa, that lady sounds like me and Daddy!"

Director Margret Carter's eyes narrowed on the child Tony was holding. "Anthony?" She snapped out at him. "Why does that child have blood all over him?"

Drawing in a deep breath, Tony shot her a hard look. "I need you here, as soon as possible!"

Aunt Peggy blinked and took one look at his face. "You have your memories back."

"Yes!" he grounded out. "Seriously, Aunt Peggy, now!"

The screen went black and as Tony took a deep breath, there was a knock on the front door. Tony shook his head as he signaled the Auror by the door. Of course, Aunt Peggy knew about magic. The woman strode up the stairs dressed in brown tailored slacks and a cardigan, despite her seventy-odd years, slowing as she approached Tony, eyes sweeping the room. Sirius had stepped closer, and Harry watched her with huge eyes as Tony rubbed his back, both of them with blood on their hands and clothes.

"Tony, who is this?" Carter's voice had a sharp edge to it.

His posture straightened and Tony faced his godmother. "Tesoro, this is my Aunt Peggy. Peggy, my son, Harry, and his godfather, my partner, Sirius Black."

Harry bobbed his head, as Tony taught him to, before burying his face in Tony's neck. "Papa, we got to go see As'et!" he whispered loudly.

"We're going, son," Tony told him as he gave Carter another significant look. "The house is clear and safe, protected by a shit load of wards and spells. Even with that, it looks like somehow, a group of assassins managed to climb up the cliff face and take shots at Harry and his classmate. However, one of them jumped in front of a bullet meant for Harry, and you'll never believe who he is."

Leading the way down the hall, Tony stepped inside the room, but staying close to the doorway. The healer had managed to remove the leather tactical vest covering the man's torso and had stopped the bleeding from the wound above his heart. Jodi Proudfoot stood with her arms crossed over her chest as she watched the healer casting Tony thought was a diagnostic spell at the unconscious man's head. Tony could see the man's chest and abdomen were littered with scars, particularly around where an implant had replaced his shoulder, and his left arm appeared to be made of metal. If this was who Tony thought it was, he should be around Peggy's age, however, he didn't look much older than Tony or Sirius.

Peggy Carter gasped as soon as her eyes landed on the figure in the bed. "Bloody hell, Tony! That's the Winter Soldier – the one they call the Ghost! We need to get him out of here before he kills us all!"

"NO!" Harry screamed, lunging for the bed before Tony could tighten his hold. "He's not a ghost, he's As'et! He saved me!"

Tony awkwardly grabbed Harry's legs and eased him down on the bed, before looking at the healer, who gave him a small nod. "Stay out of the healer's way, Harry."

A hand grabbed Tony's arm as he straightened up and he turned his head to take in Peggy's pale face. "Aunt Peggy, he may be this Winter Soldier, but he's also someone you should know! Look at his face!"

Harry looked up as everyone in the room watched the older woman lean closer to the bed and gasp a second time. "Bucky Barnes?"

Tony nodded grimly, he'd actually hoped he was wrong, because it meant the man in front of them had been held somewhere for the last fifty years. "Looks like someone found him after he fell from that train." His mind swirled with possibilities, especially as he took in the red star on the prosthetic arm and the HYDRA patches that had been on the female assassin's uniform.

"Harry?" Sirius crouched down to where Harry was sitting at the foot of the bed, his hand on the wounded man's leg. "How do you know this man?"

Harry's eyes flitted toward the healer, who was still concentrating on Barnes' head. "When I was littler, Dudley's aunt came to visit, and she had a really mean dog. The dog bit me and chased me until I climbed up really high in a tree in the backyard. It was dark when they took the dog inside, but nobody came to help me down. It was really cold, and I was hungry and sleepy, an' I wasn't sure I could hang on all night. Then Mr. As'et was there and he got me down, kept me warm with his jacket, and gave me some food. We stayed in the shed, As'et let me sit on his lap and I fell asleep, but when I woke up, I was back in my cupboard. As'et told me he was watching me and would keep me safe."

Sirius kissed the top of Harry's head and asked him another question in a soft voice as Jodi moved around the bed to stand next to Tony and his godmother.

"He's calling Barnes iAsset/i," Jodi murmured, shaking her head.

"It's likely what he called himself," Peggy interjected, then held out her hand. "Director Peggy Carter, SHIELD."

Jodi reached over and shook Peggy's hand. "Auror Captain Jodi Proudfoot, Director. Am I to understand you believe you know this man?"

"James Buchanan Barnes, best friend of Steve Rogers, Captain America. He fell from a train in early February 1945, in the Alps, trying to the capture the chief scientist for HYDRA, Hitler's scientific branch of the Nazis."

Jodi glanced at Tony and then met Peggy's eyes. "Anyone who fought in that war should be in their seventies, this man looks about thirty."

"Mr. Stark?" The healer interrupted them.

Flexing his wrist, Tony cast the privacy spell Sirius had taught him, not wanting Harry to hear. "How is he, Healer Peck?"

The healer crossed his arms over his chest. "The man was lucky; the bullet went through his body above the heart and below the prosthetic implant. It did pass through his lung, causing it to collapse, but he seems to have some type of enhanced healing ability and it was quickly dealt with. Physically, he is otherwise intact and uninjured, however, his mind shows evidence of chronic, long-term exposure to massive charges of electric current." The man shook his head, looking distressed. "The damage is not unlike an overpowered iObliviate/i or a very focused iCruciatus Curse/i. There are areas within his brain that have been shielded, I'm not sure how, but it shows it might be possible to heal him."

"He saved my son," Tony said simply. "I owe him a life debt and want everything possible done to make him better."

Peck nodded, a small smile on his face. "The absolute courage and will it took to break through that kind of torture, to save even a small part of himself is amazing. I have requested the foremost mind healer to come in and evaluate him."

"And until they get here? How are we to keep the world's most successful assassin from killing us all?" Peggy demanded.

"That shouldn't be an issue, ma'am," Peck assured her. "He should be in a healing sleep for at least the rest of the day and, if I could ask you, Mr. Stark?" Peck motioned him over to the bedside. "This prosthesis appears to be very heavy and will interfere with the man's healing. Do you think you could figure out how to remove it?"

"Of course," Tony answered and moved to the head of the bed, exchanging a glance with Sirius, who moved closer to Harry. "JARVIS, can you scan the arm for any bugs or trackers?"

A moment passed before JARVIS spoke. "There are two tracking devices within the prosthetic arm, another in the shoulder implant, as well as several on the clothing Sgt. Barnes was wearing. I believe it would be prudent to check the attackers as well. Sir."

"Damn it!" Tony swore as he and the doctor closely examined the shoulder implant. "JARVIS, send Dum-E up with my toolbox, please. Jodi, did you ever identify the assassins' handler?"

"No, but perhaps Director Carter can accompany me and see if she recognizes him."

At Peggy's nod, Jodi grabbed her elbow and Apparated, just as Dum-E enter the room with a red toolbox in his claw. With a muttered thanks, Tony took the box, set it on the bed, and opened it. Harry patted Dum-E's arm as the bot headed back out of the room. With the healer's help, Tony managed to open a plate on the front of the shoulder implant and trace it to the arm joint. He quickly located a lever which released the arm from the joint, the heavy prosthetic dropping into his hand.

"Sirius!" he yelped as the arm began to slip.

Sirius jumped from his position next to Harry and grabbed the forearm, lifting it to set it down on the top of the dresser. Tony threw him a smile and leaned back over the bed, his fingers tracing along the back of the metal shoulder joint. The healer helped prop up the man's torso as Tony located a plate and popped it open. Less than a minute later, Tony had found and torn out a crude tracking device.

"JARVIS, can you scan Barnes again and see if there is anything else in the implant?" Tony asked as he and the healer lowered the man back on the bed.

"You have located the only device which was broadcasting in the shoulder, Sir, however, the devices in the arm are still transmitting on an unknown frequency. I would advise destroying them with all due haste."

Tony straightened and lifted the toolbox. He dropped a kiss on the top of Harry's head as he stopped to grab the prosthetic arm and made eye contact with Sirius who nodded. As he passed through the living room, Tony could see there were still Aurors on the lawn outside, but the living room was empty. He continued down the stairs to his workshop.

"JARVIS, open the door please, my hands are full."

"Certainly, Sir."

Laying the arm on his work bench, Tony set the toolbox down, and selected a small pry tool. He went to work locating the tracking devices with JARVIS' help. He'd just located the second device and was prying it out of the arm when the door to his lab opened.

"Tony?"

Tony finished extracting the tracker and snipping the wires before looking up to see Aunt Peggy standing just inside the door. He straightened up, tossing the tool and the deactivated tracker onto the bench.

"Were you able to identify the handler?" he asked, frowning at the solemn look on the older woman's face.

"Actually, he's one of SHIELD's – a squad leader of the STRIKE team," she admitted, clearly unhappy with the discovery.

"What?" Tony couldn't believe his ears.

With a deep sigh, Peggy moved further into the lab. "I have always worried, with Operation Paperclip after the war, that we had willing brought Nazis and HYDRA into some of our most secret agencies, Zola being a perfect example. Howard and Phillips didn't seem worried about them and over the years, there were no hints or instances of impropriety within SHIELD and I'm afraid we all grew complacent."

"A high-ranking SHIELD officer turning out to be the handler of a team of HYDRA assassins seems to be a pretty good clue," Tony retorted, pushing the metal arm to the side.

"Oh, it's far worse than that, Tony, the handler happens to be Pierce's right-hand man."

"The man who has already been selected as your replacement?" Tony questioned, a bad feeling welling in him.

Peggy nodded; arms wrapped around her stomach. "I'd heard snippets of information over the years, knew HYDRA and, after them, the Soviets, tried to replicate the Super Solider Serum. Bucky himself told Howard and I that HYDRA had experimented on several of the 107th when they were captured the first time. What I didn't know, was that Howard had apparently continued to try and perfect the Serum as well."

Tony scrubbed his hands over his face. "Why?"

Peggy shook her head. "I don't know, but I suspect he wasn't working alone." She blew out a breath. "Tony, I suspect whomever he was working with was secretly HYDRA and the crash that killed your parents wasn't an accident. I think HYDRA ordered their deaths, as the Serum Howard was working on vanished at the same time. And, if that man upstairs is actually the one they call the Winter Solider, he may have been the weapon HYDRA used to kill them."

It felt as if he'd been punched in the solar plexus, taking all the breath out of his body, and Tony pressed a hand to his chest as he stumbled back, collapsing on his stool. Nothing could have prepared him for this type of news, compounded by the fact that HYDRA had tortured a friend of Howard's and then force him to kill his own friend. And the thought of his mother as collateral damage made his stomach churn, and his eyes prickle with tears.

"God, Peggy, that makes it even worse! They tortured and brainwashed Barnes for decades before sending him to kill one of his own friends! How could SHIELD have signed off on it as a car crash if they were murdered?"

Her face turned even more grim. "Pierce was the supervising agent on the case, Tony, he could have sanitized the crime scene photos and made it appear like it was an accident."

Taking several deep breaths, trying to stop his head from spinning, Tony struggled to calm himself. Peggy took a step forward and laid her hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"I'll start digging, Tony," Peggy promised him. "Quietly and carefully, but I will get to the bottom of this, I promise you."

Tony grabbed her hand and held it between both of his. "How are you going to know who to trust? HYDRA won't hesitate to make you have an iaccident/i, too!"

"There are a few people I know who are trustworthy," she told him.

"Let me send a couple of the Potter house-elves to protect you, please."

Peggy gave him a small smile. "How do you think I got here so quickly, Anthony? My Mipsy is still with me."

The memory of the little elf his mother had gifted Aunt Peggy surfaced and Tony nodded, relieved that someone was watching over her. "Good, and I'll give you contact information for Robert Graves, who is a MACUSA Auror Captain who will be retiring at the beginning of December and will be in charge of SI Security on the east coast. He is absolutely trustworthy."

"Thank you," Peggy replied, pulling Tony to his feet and giving him a hug. "And do be careful, Anthony, please. I realize Bucky saved your son's life, but if his mind can't be healed, he won't be safe for anyone to be around."

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It took three days for any progress to be made with the man known as the Winter Solider. When he wasn't in class or with Tony or Sirius, the little boy could be found sitting at the foot of the man's bed. They had disabled the trackers on his clothing and turned them in to the Aurors, along with the firearms Barnes had carried. The two other intruders had also had trackers, as did the SHIELD agent, which the Aurors collected to try and trace back to their source. Any other property had been sanitized and put away. The mind heeler, a silver-haired older woman with a grandmotherly personality, had arrived the first night and began to physically heal Barnes' brain, trying to regrow the scarred brain tissue she had encountered. Healer Addison had kept Barnes in an enchanted sleep, which was easier on him that a magical coma, and utilized Legilimency to safely deprogram him from the Winter Solider.

"It appears Sgt. Barnes was programed with certain words to bring forth the Winter Solider, which had to be used in the proper order and within a minute of each other," Healer Addison told Tony, Graves, Proudfoot, and Rhodey over coffee that Sunday morning, looking out over a stormy swell and threatening black clouds. "I've isolated five of the words and erased those from his programming, so the other words should not affect him, even if the trigger words are used."

"You still have concerns, though," Tony interjected, his head tilted a little to hear Harry as he read one of his story books to Barnes and Sirius.

Addison nodded her head, setting her cup down. "Without knowing all of the other words, I can't declare him free of the programming, even if the chances are nil he'll trigger. I am concerned there is another word, probably something Russian which will shut him down completely – his handlers would not leave themselves vulnerable to attach without a way to drop him in his tracks."

"And?" Jodi prompted this time.

Addison took a bite of a blueberry scone and washed it down with a sip of coffee before she spoke. "I am concerned for his mental health, frankly. I believe it took them years to program Sgt. Barnes, as the first records we've been able to even suggest he was involved in aren't until the late 1950s, which would indicate almost fifteen years of progressive torture. There is also evidence of freezing and thawing within his tissues, which could mean cryogenic freezing, which makes sense, as it would be a safe place to 'store' him, considering his enhanced abilities. That mental strength could work against him when he wakes up, depending on how many of his memories returned." She looked at Tony. "Especially if he remembers the assassination he was forced to carry out against his own friends."

"From what I've found of his military record and what Director Carter has told me about his younger years, Barnes will internalize it, disappear, then attempt suicide." Graves looked thoughtful. "I've put an Auror grade Tracking Charm on him, and I'm sure Tony will include one in the upgraded arm he's working on."

"I am a bit puzzled with Barnes' previous encounter with Harry," Jodi interjected. "More why he was in Little Whinging than why he decided to protect him."

Tony nodded to both Graves' statement and Proudfoot's. "I think—"

"Sir, my sensors indicate Sgt. Barnes is waking up."

"Thank you, J," Tony answered, on his feet immediately. He looked around the table. "Why don't I go in the room, but you all stay in the hallway until I signal."

"That is a good idea, Tony," Addison agreed, pushing back her chair.

Taking the steps two at a time, Tony was in the large guest room in under half a minute. Harry was still reading from his story book about the adventures of two dads and their kids, as he sat next to Barnes' legs on the bed. Sirius was sitting on the floor, his back propped against the side, dozing in a patch of sunlight. Tony almost snickered as he took in the view, wondering why his lover hadn't just transformed into Padfoot to do the same thing.

"Hi, Papa!" Harry chirped as Tony entered and stood next to the bed.

"Hi, munchkin," Tony stroked a hand through his hair as he turned to look at the man in the bed. There was movement under the closed eyes and Tony was sure the man was trying to get a bearing on his surroundings before he chanced opening his eyes. "Are you reading to Sgt. Barnes?"

Harry sent him a stern look, and Tony had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing. "He's Mr. As'et, Papa, he told himself."

"Well, bambino, what if your friend wants you to call him a new name when he wakes up?" Tony could see Barnes' eye crack open at Harry's statement.

Tilting his head, Harry turned towards Barnes. "You mean like I'm now a Stark because you came and took me away from my mean relatives?"

"Exactly, baby."

Harry studied Barnes, before leaning over onto the uninjured side of Barnes' chest. "Mr. As'et, I want to ask you a question, can you wake up now, please?"

As Tony watched, Barnes' eyes flickered open, but eerily, not another muscle in his body moved. The blue-gray eyes flicked around the room, pausing for a few seconds on Tony and then rested on Harry. Barnes blinked and Tony held his breath, hoping the man would be able to remember what he'd done for Harry, as he was sure Harry would be devastated if he didn't.

"Kid?" Barnes' voice was barely a whisper, but it made a brilliant smile blossom on Harry's face.

"Mr. As'et!" Harry scooting up to hug Barnes. "You saved me again! Thank you!"

Barnes wrapped his right arm around Harry, awkwardly patting his back, looking completely baffled and his eyes darting around the room again, touching on Tony. Sirius stood up, taking Barnes' attention, and moved to stand at the end of the bed. The man's eyes swung back, meet Tony's eyes and holding them. Tony leaned in slightly.

"Thank you, Sgt. Barnes, for protecting Harry, this week and before," Tony said quietly. "I owe you a debt I can't even begin to pay."

"No…" Barnes' voice was rough, as if he'd not used it in a while. "I need to lea—"

The man struggled to sit up and Tony stepped forward to help him, Sirius moving to stack pillows behind him. His eyes seemed more alert now, the man shook his head once as Harry patted his chest. Barnes glanced around, before his eyes once again zeroed in on Tony. His eyes flicked down at Harry and back up to Tony with an unspoken question. Tony nodded slowly, holding his hand out, palm up.

"Everything is fine, Buckaroo. We know who you are, and you are safe here. None of those handlers can get to you, nor can HYDRA or SHIELD."

"Tony Stark?"

"I am, and I have removed the trackers which were implanted in your arm and in your shoulder." Tony watched as Harry wiggled around so he could sit up but kept Barnes' arm around his waist. "How do you feel?"

Barnes frowned as Tony waited. Having learned about Barnes' accelerated healing factor, he assumed the bullet damage was almost completely healed, but manners dictated he ask. Addison had remarked on how quickly the man's brain tissues had healed while she was working on him. It was also part of why Barnes had been able to resist the brainwashing for such a long period of time.

"I…good, I think." Barnes met Tony's eyes again. "My head is—it doesn't hurt and feels—clearer?"

"It's magic!" Harry chirped and Tony grinned, even the Winter Soldier's face unfroze enough to look fond. "What do you want me to call you now they fixed your brain, Mr. As'et?"

Tony scrutinized Barnes' face as the man looked down at Harry, sitting in his lap. He could almost see the tumbling thoughts and memories whirling in Barnes' mind and Tony knew it would take time to assimilate everything. Barnes opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again before finally speaking.

"I think they called me Bucky."

Grinning, Harry wrapped his arms around Barnes' waist and hugged him. "Okay, Uncle Bucky!"

Snorting, Tony shook his head at his kid and glanced at Sirius. He knew the others were waiting to come in, but he didn't want Harry in the room for the conversation they needed to have. Sirius must have understood his silent plea as he moved around the side of the bed, on hand brushing against Tony's back. Bucky's eyes followed Sirius as he approached Harry.

"This is my other half, Sirius Black," Tony explained as Sirius held his hands out to Harry.

"Come on, pup. Let's go see if Taffy will give us something for your Uncle Bucky to eat. He must be very hungry."

"Ok, Daddy!" Harry allowed Sirius to pick him up, waving goodbye as Sirius carried him out of the room.

Healer Addison entered as soon as they left, her wand casting on Barnes before he could say a word. Apprehension flickered in Barnes' eyes, but not surprise.

"You know about magic," Tony stated as he moved to Barnes' left side and out of the healer's way.

Barnes nodded; eyes glued to the wand. "Yeah, Stevie's ma and mine had magic, my father as well, I think. I didn't have enough for a wand, though."

"That is how you were able to see the house," Tony guessed, "and the others who were here?"

"They chose those of us in the 107th who had some magic to experiment on."

Addison completed her scan and glanced at Tony, before turning to Barnes. "Sgt. Barnes, I am Healer Addison and I was asked to heal the damage done to your mind, including restoring as much of your memory as possible. How are you feeling?"

Opening his mouth to speak, Tony was sure Barnes was going to say what he thought would placate the healer, but the man hesitated, an astonished expression lighting his face. "I feel good and my mind is—clear! I can remember—" Barnes balled his hand into a fist and pressed it against his mouth, visibly overwhelmed.

Addison slipped out of the room and Tony stood awkwardly for a moment, before making a decision, sitting into the chair next to the bed. "You've been through quite an ordeal, Sgt. Barnes, and I can promise you are safe here. I also promise we will make sure you get whatever help you need and get started on the legal matters."

"Even though I've been used to kill so many people since I was captured," Barnes whispered bitterly.

Swallowing hard, Tony managed to push out. "You were the weapon, Barnes, but HYDRA pulled the trigger and Howard was an idiot for trusting Zola enough to try to recreate the Serum."

He didn't know which of them was breathing harder and Tony forced himself to draw in a lung full of air and blow it out slowly. "You saved my son twice, why I don't know, but it tells me that there is still some Bucky Barnes in you. The healer thinks she's been able to repair most of the damage done to your mind, but it might be a bit fragmented. I don't think it's going to be a cake walk for you, but we'll help you through it."

"Thank you."

Tony scrubbed his face with his hands, hearing Jodi and Graves move into the bedroom. He introduced both of them and slumped into the chair as they began to ask him questions. While Tony knew the Death Eaters had allies within America and they had believed HYDRA was also active, but as Barnes began to answer questions, the extent to which they were intertwined was chilling. And who knew HYDRA had a watchlist?

iTony Stark: Do Not Engage/i

And HYDRA had been watching Harry since he had defeated the bastard who murdered Lily and James. The Death Eaters wanted Harry's blood and HYDRA wanted to experiment on him, to see why he was so powerful.

Tony ran both hands through his hair. They would not get his son.

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