
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/11651316.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Marvel, The_Avengers_(Marvel)_-_All_Media_Types, Iron_Man_-_All_Media
      Types
  Relationship:
      James_"Bucky"_Barnes/Tony_Stark, Minor_or_Background_Relationship(s)
  Character:
      Tony_Stark, James_"Bucky"_Barnes, James_"Rhodey"_Rhodes, Steve_Rogers,
      Howard_Stark, Nick_Fury, Other_Avengers, Other_Marvel_Characters, Minor
      Characters, Bruce_Banner
  Additional Tags:
      Angst, Angst_with_a_Happy_Ending, AU, Teen!Tony, Howard_Stark's_A+
      Parenting, The_Starks_Are_Still_Alive, reasons, The_Avengers_Exist, Not
      Canon_Compliant, BAMF_Bucky_Barnes, Tony-centric, Hurt_Tony_Stark, Self-
      Harm, Canon-Typical_Violence, Tony_Has_Issues, winteriron, Hydra_
      (Marvel), I'm_Bad_At_Tagging, Why_Did_I_Write_This?, I_Wrote_This_Instead
      of_Sleeping, I'm_Sorry
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-07-30 Updated: 2017-10-11 Chapters: 12/? Words: 26046
****** All You Are Is All I Need ******
by Gothic_Lolita
Summary
     Tony Stark is a teenager living in the shadow of his abusive father,
     who happens to be in close ties with with the government agency
     SHIELD and the Avengers. When Tony finds out about HYDRA's Project
     Winter Soldier, and is brushed off when he tries to bring it to
     authorities, Tony decides to take matters in his own hands. Tony goes
     off to Russia, alone and virtually unarmed, to find and free the
     Winter Soldier. And for better or worse, Tony finds more than he
     could've ever possibly imagined.
Notes
     Hi! I'm here with another work in progress, long, Tony Stark fic!
     Okay, so basically a WinterIron AU, where Tony is a teenager while
     the rest of the Avengers exist (who will consist of Captain America,
     Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, Scarlet Witch, and Black Panther because
     I said so), and Howard and Maria Stark never got killed because fuck
     you. Tony is 17, Bucky is mid 20s, and I'm not sure where this idea
     came from. Read tags for warnings. I tried very hard to nail
     character personalities, because as people pointed out, I made them a
     bit OOC in You Deserve Love, And You'll Get It. ALSO TRIGGER WARNING
     IN CHAPTER 1 I ALMOST FORGOT AGH
See the end of the work for more notes
***** Chapter 1 *****
Tony sighed. He sat on the couch in one of SHIELD's glorified waiting rooms. He
was waiting for Howard to be done with the meeting he was in. He hated the way
SHIELD kissed his father's ass, because of his funding and technological
contributions. Sure, SHIELD was great, it had the Avengers, and was the only
real line of defense the government had when a world-wide crisis like Loki
arose. But Tony just found it rather ridiculous how they fucking worshipped his
father. It didn't help that he knew Captain freaking America, and the two were
just so chummy. That coupled with the money and genius, had SHIELD at Howard's
beck and call. Tony found it disgusting that none of the agents here had any
idea how awful of a man Howard truly was.
A door into the room swung open and good ol' Steve Rogers walked in. God, how
Tony loathed him. All throughout Tony's childhood, all he ever heard was how
perfect the Captain was, how his father was friends with the man, and how Tony
was nothing compared to fucking Steve. And when they went and pulled the hero
out of the ice, that made it worse. Because now Howard could show Tony how
perfect Steve was, and how flawed he was in comparison.
Steve caught sight of Tony and smiled warmly. "Hey, Anthony right?"
"Tony." He corrected, trying not to show his hatred, the last thing he needed
was the patriot going to Howard about how Tony was rude to him. He didn't look
up from his phone in his hand.
Steve nodded. "Tony. Right." He sat down next to Tony, and Tony held back a
scowl. "I'm just waiting for your father, I want to ask him to try to get claw
marks out of my shield. I mean, he made it, so who better to ask?" Tony grunted
in reply, and the stupid blonde kept talking. "You know, it's so strange to
me." Steve said with a chuckle. "Howard, my friend, now is a father, with a son
almost as old as I remember Howard. You're sixteen, seventeen, right? How's
school?" Steve was clearly trying to initiate polite conversation.
Tony flicked his eyes over to Steve, them looked back to his phone. "Seventeen.
And I don't go. I graduated MIT when I was fifteen."
Steve let out a whistle. "Smart, just like your dad." Tony was disgusted that
Steve dared to phrase that as a compliment. No one should be honored to be
compared to Howard Stark.
"Yeah, whatever." Tony ground out, holding back a snide remark.
Steve laughed. "Howard did say you had an attitude. I think he's going a bit
tough on you, you are just a kid." Steve said wistfully, and Tony was positive
he wanted to mutilate Captain America if he was right about the tone having
pity in it.
Tony slammed his phone down on the table in front of him, and looked Steve
Rogers dead in the eyes. Consequences be damned, he was no coward to say what
he thought. Tony was a fucking Stark, for god's sake.
"You know, you can cut the fucking act with me. I don't bother with
formalities." Tony snarled. "Why don't you fucking show any weakness? You know
a lot of people would kill to see you fall, myself included." Tony shook his
head and laughed bitterly. "But no, you're America's fucking golden boy, the
hero." Tony sneered. "How the hell are you an accurate representation of
America? You were just some kid from Brooklyn who was lucky enough to be a part
of an experiment that didn't kill you. And suddenly the world loves you." Tony
stood up, pacing with anger. "You don't represent the American dream, working
hard to earn what you get. No, you got lucky." Tony snapped.
Steve looked like someone had just hit him. "Tony... I'm sorry. I... why do you
hate me? I'm sorry if I offend you, somehow. Just explain it to me. Maybe I can
fix it." Steve coaxed, with a gentle tone.
Tony laughed. "Yeah, you offend me alright. You offend me by
fucking existing. You wanna know why? I may not know you personally, but god I
can't go a day without thinking about you. Without Howard comparing me to you."
Tony fought to keep his voice vile, so that it didn't show pain. "My whole
fucking childhood I was the fuck-up. I couldn't do anything right, still can't.
I was constantly told how much of a fuck-up I was by Howard, your best fucking
buddy. Because I wasn't you. All I ever heard was how I wasn't like you, 'why
can't you be more like Steve Rogers?'" Tony mocked his father's tone. "So yeah,
I hate you, with every bone in my fucking worthless body. And yeah, maybe it's
unfair to you, but it sure as hell isn't fair to me." Tony felt his voice
shaking, the tears threatening to fall.
Tony could see the pity and pain in the Captain's eyes. Steve opened his mouth
to say something, but seemed at a loss for words. Tony shook his head and
smiled bitterly. He knew Rogers would probably tell Howard what he said, but it
was worth it. Tony plunked down on the couch, now sprawled across it, and
grabbed his phone, going back on it.
The door that led to the conference room swung open and SHIELD agents,
including Howard, spilled out, talking and laughing.
Howard caught sight of Steve and immediately approached the man. "Steve! How
are you?" He greeted cheerfully.
Steve glanced at Tony for a moment, but plastered on a smile and turned to
Howard. "I'm great, Howard. I was just having some nice conversation with Tony
while waiting for you." He said. Tony snorted. Huh, looks the Captain wasn't
going to rat out his meltdown. Interesting.
Howard let out a noise of disdain at the mention of his son. "My apologies, I
know Tony can be... a brat, quite frankly. I hope he hasn't left a bad
impression on you of what Stark men are." Howard said with a tight smile.
Tony glanced up, not moving. He saw the frown in Steve's eyes, and the disgust
in Howard's. Tony rolled his eyes and pushed himself to his feet.
"Oh no, Tony is a great kid. I definitely see potential in him." Steve said
with a smile. Tony wanted to punch him.
Howard snorted. "Trust me, you don't know Anthony the way I do." He smiled.
"Now what was it that you were waiting for me for?"
"Oh right!" Steve remembered. "See, my shield got a bit banged up, and I was
hoping you-" Howard cut him off.
"Of course, I'd love to fix your shield. Just bring it into my shop anytime!"
He said cheerfully.
Steve smiled. "Thank you." He checked the clock. "I hate to leave so soon, but
I have an Avengers meeting."
Howard nodded. "Of course, don't let me stop you." He chuckled then turned away
to speak to other SHIELD agents.
Steve paused before leaving, and he turned to Tony. "You're not worthless." He
whispered, so Howard couldn't hear it. "I mean it, don't let Howard dim your
spark, Tony." Steve smiled at him.
Tony shook his head. "I never had a spark, Captain." He said coldly. Steve
frowned at him, but walked out of the room without another word.
After more pointless chatter, Howard turned to Tony and dragged his son out of
the SHIELD headquarters and into the private limousine that was to drive them
back to Stark Manor. As soon as they were secluded in the walls of the sleek
car Howard slapped Tony, who flinched and kept his head turned away in shame.
"You do not ever speak to Steve Rogers, do you understand me?" Howard was
livid. "You do not have the right to talk to someone as good as Captain
America! You'll risk tarnishing the Stark name with your idiocy." Howard
snarled.
"He spoke to me first." Tony whispered, his voice small and pained. He was past
trying to fight his father with defiance and snark.
Howard slapped Tony again, this time hard enough for the ring on Howard's hand
to leave the coloration of a bruise forming on Tony's left cheek. "I. Don't.
Care. I don't want excuses from you, I raised you better than that."
You hardly even raised me, you asshat. Tony thought coldly. He didn't dare say
it out loud. Instead he just glared at the floor of the car and held back
tears.
"No talking to Steve Rogers." Howard repeated, his voice a low growl. Tony
didn't respond, so Howard grabbed Tony's throat, lighting squeezing. "Do you
understand?" He almost yelled.
Tony felt his heart pounding in his chest as he tried not to gasp for air, as
it would show weakness. "Yes, I understand." Tony said quickly.
Howard narrowed his eyes, squeezing tighter. "Yes...?" He prompted.
Tony swallowed. "Yes, sir." He whispered. Howard released him. Tony almost
cried with relief when he saw their car pull into the driveway of the Stark
household. Tony barely even waited for the car to stop before bursting out of
it, running into the house, and up to his room as fast as he could manage.
Tony slammed his door shut, locking it. He then leaned against the wood, and
let his back slowly slide down it, like a movie cliche.
You'll risk tarnishing the Stark name with your idiocy.
I raised you better than that.
Tony can be a brat, quite frankly.
You do not have the right to talk to someone as good as Captain America.
Howard's words spun in Tony's head, as if a sick record stuck on repeat,
tearing him apart from the inside out.
You'll risk tarnishing the Stark name with your idiocy.
I raised you better than that.
Tony can be a brat, quite frankly.
You do not have the right to talk to someone as good as Captain America.
Tony gasped for breath, remembering Howard's hand on his throat.
You'll tarnish the Stark name.
Raised you better.
Brat.
No right to talk to Captain America.
Tony felt hot tears slide down his face. He was shaking, gasping desperately
for air that wouldn't seem to come. He clawed at his chest and throat
desperately. His brain was hot wired to do nothing but remind him how much of a
fuckup he was as he shook and sobbed. He wasn't a good enough son. Wasn't a
good enough person. Tony wanted to scream, but he couldn't even whimper. He was
stuck in his own head, and he didn't even have a way out.
Tony stumbled to his feet, and ran into his private bathroom, shutting and
locking the door for good measure. He stumbled over to the sink above the
mirror.
He looked at himself for a moment, staring into his own brown eyes. Fucking
disgusting. A voice in his head hissed.
Tony threw open the drawer beneath the sink, and rummaged around, pushing
random bathroom objects aside until he found what he was looking for. Tony
sighed shakily and pulled out his best friend. Tony slammed the drawer shut. He
pushed up the white sleeve covering his left arm. 
Time seemed to finally slow down when the first cut dug through Tony's flesh.
He closed his eyes and felt his pounding heart finally slow as the pain
engulfed his wrist. 
A second cut. The pounding voice of Howard slowly receded.
A third cut. Tony could finally breath evenly.
A fourth. Tony stopped shaking.
Fifth. Tony felt the pain burning his wrist, but he wasn't repulsed by it. 
Sixth. The pain was sweet, it was a beautiful relief.
Seventh. Tony put the blade down. 
He opened his eyes. The sink, the razor, and Tony's wrist were painted red.
Tony stared for just a bit, enjoying how gruesomely handsome the sight was.
God, he was fucked up.
After letting the moment of twisted peace sink into his bones, Tony
monotonously cleaned up his own blood. He put the razor away, wiped the sink
down, and wrapped his arm in bandages. It was going to be another week of long
sleeves for Tony Stark.
Tony walked back into his bedroom. He checked the time. It was six, about
dinner time. But he knew with his father's anger at him, he wouldn't risk
leaving his room, not tonight.
He turned off the lights and fell into bed. He didn't bother to change, didn't
bother to even take off his shoes. Tony let the fingers of exhaustion grip him,
feeling emptiness gnawing at his being as he drifted off to a cold sleep.
***** Chapter 2 *****
Chapter Notes
     Oh fyi, I don't do chapter summaries. They're haaaard. Ain't nobody
     got time for that.
Tony woke up with a groan. He checked the time. It was nine am. Normally he
woke up later, but normally he didn't fall asleep at six pm. He dragged himself
out of bed, took a quick shower, got dressed, and headed for the kitchen.
He stumbled into the room, and put a pot of personal coffee on. He went to open
the fridge, but froze at a familiar voice.
"Seriously Howard, thank you so much for fixing the shield, it means a lot to
me."
Howard's laugh filled the space. "It's no trouble, just helping however I can."
Tony turned, and saw his father and Steve Rogers walk past the kitchen. Howard
didn't notice Tony, thankfully, but Steve did. 
"Howard, do you mind if I grab something to eat?" Steve asked. Tony closed his
eyes and wished the coffee would brew faster.
"Of course! Take anything you want, the cupboards should have enough food to
feed a supersoldier, I hope. I'll get headed to my shop with the shield, met me
there when you're ready."
Tony faced away from the entrance he knew Steve was walking in from. He glared
at the coffee pot.
"Hey, Tony." Tony ignored him.
"Tony." The voice was louder, closer. Tony ignored Steve, starting to pour the
finally finished coffee.
A hand landed on Tony's shoulder and the teen screamed and spilled coffee all
over the counter.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Tony swore, trying to clean up the mess with paper towels
that were sitting on the counter as well.
"I'm sorry, Tony. Here, let me help." Steve said, trying to help with the mess.
Tony ignored him and cleaned up the coffee himself. So much for his caffeine.
"Tony, come on. Say something." Steve prodded, his voice sounding sad and
wounded.
"I'm not allowed to speak to you." Tony forced out, his voice clipped. He still
wouldn't look at the super soldier.
"Why?" Steve begged.
Tony spun around to face him. "Why don't you fucking ask Howard?" He snarled.
Steve reached up and touched Tony's cheek. "Tony, what happened to you face?"
The teen snapped his head away from Steve's hand. He internally swore,
remembering the bruise from Howard's ring. "It's nothing. Just an accident from
some machine I was trying to build."
Captain America didn't look convinced. "Are you sure?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "No, Rogers. I'm completely clueless to how I injured
myself." His voice dripped with sarcasm.
Steve took a deep breath. "Did Howard-" He stopped talking when he saw the raw
hatred, anger, and pain in Tony's eyes when he even started to ask. It was the
only answer Steve needed to know the truth, and they both were well aware of
that.
The Captain sighed and ran a hand through his perfect blonde hair. "I hate
knowing how he treats you, you know. I wish so badly I could do something about
it. You're a good person, Tony. I can see it in you. You can do good for this
world, you just have to try. See the potential in yourself, and someday you
could save the world. I wish Howard didn't keep you from seeing that."
Tony laughed coldly and shook his head. "You don't even know me." He said, his
voice frozen over with ice colder than what had once encased Steve Rogers. Tony
didn't give Steve a chance to respond before running back into his room.
Tony plunked down into his desk chair and booted up his personal computer. He
had nothing to do, it was a Saturday, so Howard wouldn't drag him to SHIELD to
'learn about how SHIELD works and learn what good people look like'. He idly
clicked around on his computer. He didn't know what he really planned on doing
with his computer, but he was sure could find something to amuse him.
He dicked around in SHIELD databases for a bit, but it was boring, he had
hacked his way to full access to the databases years ago. He only kept doing it
to stay recent on what SHIELD was up to, just because he was nosy like that.
He sighed. Tony spun his chair around a few times, hating the boredom that was
festering inside of him. He had ideas that he wanted to carry out, but he
didn't have access to a shop, and he sure as hell wouldn't work in the same
place Howard did. Being a genius could be painfully hard, but being a bored
genius was even worse.
He stared at the computer screen again. He skimmed through some SHIELD report.
Something something something, boring boring boring, mission report, HYDRA,
more boring.
The genius tilted his head to the side and smirked. HYDRA. Wouldn't it be fun
to hack into their databases? Hell, maybe he could even learn some interesting
things in the process.
Tony's fingers flew across the keyboard. He worked quickly, enjoying the thrill
of hacking into fucking HYDRA. He was mildly impressed by their firewalls, they
were even better than SHIELD (making Tony wonder whether or not HYDRA had
hacked SHIELD. He filed the thought away for another time). But within ten
minutes, Tony had full access.
Tony smiled triumphantly. It amused him to think about how pissed off HYDRA
would be to know that a cocky seventeen year old had hacked into their system
and was now walking around in it like he owned it.
Tony read some reports and files, none that were too interesting, considering
Tony had read the same things, just from a different point of view, in SHIELD
files. One file however, looked particularly interesting and Tony pulled it up.
Project Winter Soldier. Tony read about it with interest. Apparently HYDRA was
taking people, brainwashing and torturing them, turning them into vicious
assassins, and keeping them in cryogenic chambers when not in use to make them
practically immortal.
It was disturbing, but morbidly brilliant, Tony couldn't deny. He read some
more about the project, and learned that while there were several Winter
Soldiers, only one was still alive, and it seemed to be the original one at
that. Tony skimmed about this Winter Soldier until he found a name. His stomach
dropped.
There had to be a mistake. The teen read more files on the Winter Soldier, and
paled. It added up. 1942, found frozen and almost dead in Russia. Tony couldn't
believe it, his mind couldn't comprehend it. The Winter Soldier was James
Buchanan Barnes. 
Tony's eyes were wide with shock. He just couldn't fucking comprehend it. HYDRA
had found James 'Bucky' Barnes, and made him into a ruthless killing machine.
Bucky Barnes, Captain America's best friend and sidekick, was now the Winter
Soldier.
Before he even knew it, he had his phone in his hand and was dialing a number.
James Rhodes, a senior SHIELD agent that Tony knew and got along with quite
well. Rhodey was one of Tony's few, if not his only, friend. Tony anxiously
waited for the agent to pick up.
"Tony!" The voice crackled through. "Hey, Tones, to what do-"
Tony didn't hesitate to cut his friend off. "Rhodey, hey, look I have big news.
So I hacked into HYDRA to see what all the fuss was about and-" Tony was
talking fast, but his friend still managed to cut him off.
"Tony, you hacked into HYDRA?!"
Tony sighed. "Yes, that's not the important part, I-" Rhodey cut him off again.
"Tony, you can't be talking about HYDRA over the phone!" Rhodey hissed.
"This is a private line, Rhodey. Now would you listen to-"
"Look Tony, your father is a smart man, he can make a line private, but not
unhackable."
The teen scoffed. "Howard didn't make the firewall, I did. Now would you listen
to me?!"
Rhodey sighed. "Alright, fine. This better be good, Tones."
"It is, it is. So like I said hacked into HYDRA, was looking around, and found
something called Project Winter Soldier. Anyhow, I looked into it, and SHIELD
needs to know about this." Tony rambled quickly.
"Tony, SHIELD already knows about Winter Soldier." Rhodey said softly.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Do they know the Winter Soldier is James Buchanan
Barnes?" He demanded.
"Yes."
Tony paused, slightly surprised. "So what are they doing about it?" He asked
finally, slightly deflated that his big find was already known.
Another sigh from Rhodey. "Nothing, as of now."
Tony frowned. "Nothing?" He demanded.
"Look, Tones. I understand your concern, I do. But SHIELD has more immediate
threats. And the Winter Soldier is dangerous, any attempts to save him would
risk agents lives, and no one wants that. There's nothing to do about it. It's
just too difficult of a situation to approach." Rhodey worded carefully.
Tony was livid. "Oh, so in other words SHIELD has better things to do?" He
snapped.
Rhodey winced. "Tony, it's not like that."
The young genius scoffed. "Oh really? Because there's a man, who happens to be
Steve Rogers' best friend, being brainwashed and forced to kill people and do
other awful things for fucking HYDRA, but no, SHIELD has better things to
do than help him." Tony snapped.
"Tony, it's not-"
"Does Rogers even fucking know?!" Tony demanded.
A long pause. "No, he doesn't. And you are not permitted to tell him." Rhodey
ordered, using his SHIELD voice.
Tony felt anger boil in his chest. "Because you know he would drop everything
to go help his friend." He said coldly. Rhodey started to say yes, but Tony
kept going. "Well good to know someone in SHIELD has enough of a conscience
that they would do the right thing." Tony hung up and threw his phone at the
wall.
He felt like crying. Wasn't SHIELD supposed to be the good guys? Weren't they
supposed to protect the innocent? Save the world? How could Tony have faith in
them for ignoring this? An innocent man was being used, and forced to hurt
other innocent people. Bucky Barnes had fought side by side with Captain
America, both in and out of battle. He didn't deserve this.
You're a good person, Tony. I can see it in you. You can do good for this
world, you just have to try. See the potential in yourself, and someday you
could save the world.
Steve's words rang in Tony's head. Tony stood still, breathing hard. Was Steve
right? Could he really do good? There was only one way to know. The best way to
see if a hypothesis is correct, is to test it.
Tony's mind started racing. He needed... stuff. He snapped his fingers and ran
out of his room.
He ran so fast he almost ran straight past the room he needed. Tony looked down
the hall both ways, feeling like some sort of bad spy, before he slipped into
his father's study.
Tony closed and locked the door behind him. He ran over to the wall of books
Howard owned.
"Alright, you've been a pretty shitty dad, but let's see if you can redeem
yourself." Tony muttered. He searched, then snapped his fingers. "Bingo." He
yanked a book off the shelves and then ran around to his father's desk.
"Honestly Howard, you are so predictable." Tony muttered as he hit a secret
button and typed in a passcode. He really felt like a spy now. He turned around
and watched the false wall slid back, to reveal a room-sized safe.
His father kept many safes, everywhere. He even had a few at SHIELD. But this
one had what Tony wanted. Cash. But not American currency. Thankfully, Howard
kept every currency imaginable here, so Tony was able to grab the one he
wanted, grab as big of a stack of it as he dared, grabbed the book, and then
run out of Howard's study, closing the safe and leaving everything the way he
found it.
Tony dashed back to his room. He threw the money and book onto his bed. The
teenager threw open his closet. He searched for a few things, easily finding
all of them. A black, sleek backpack, some clothes, and some of his little pet
projects of tech. Oh, and a gun he stole from SHIELD. He threw all of them on
his bed. He ran into the bathroom, grabbed a small first-aid kit, and almost
ran out. He paused, swore, then threw his razor into the kit, just in case, and
threw the kit into the pile.
Tony rushed back over to his computer. He made sure to use his personal
computer, the one that had more firewalls than SHIELD and would make even
Howard weep. He found an empty flash drive, and filled it with every shred of
information on the Winter Soldier from both HYDRA and SHIELD within ten
minutes. He tossed that on his bed as well. His computer and it's cord went on
the bed also. He considered his phone, then decided it would be too risky. But
just in case, he grabbed one of his old phones, and it's cord, and threw them
into the pile. He could reconfigure the system into what would only be used for
emergencies, but would be usable.
Tony paused, thinking. What else, what else, what else. He snapped his fingers.
Tony flew into the kitchen so fast he made a maid scream. He ignored her. The
eccentric teen grabbed a reusable water bottle, and filled it. He threw the
cupboards open. He grabbed power bars, granola bars, a box of poptarts, and
some trail mix. He threw them all into a plastic bag with his water bottle and
headed out.
"Don't tell me you're going to do one of those damned inventing binges like
your father does! They last days, and you need sleep, you're a growing boy!"
The maid exclaimed.
Tony turned, and offered her a mad grin. "When inspiration strikes, you gotta
do what you gotta do." He ran away, not bothering to even see her reaction.
Tony slammed his door shut, and stopped for a moment, breathing. Alright, he
could do this. He forced himself to slow down a bit. He didn't need to waste
excess energy, here.
He grabbed the bag. It was already empty. Good. First went the laptop. He would
need it to hack into things when necessary and just have it as a piece of tech.
Then his clothes. A pair of black pants, a black long sleeved shirt, black
socks, grey underwear, and a black hoodie. He wanted dark clothes to blend in,
and knew he would be gone enough to want a change of clothes. He carefully
folded them and pushed them into the bag. Next, came the book. An English to
Russian dictionary, the smallest one he could find. He didn't know Russian, so
it was going to be needed. Next, the money. Russian rubles, he ad no idea their
worth, but American dollars wouldn't help. He pushed the bundled stacks in next
to the book. The first-aid kit was slid in next to the book as well. Injures
were not only possible, but probable for this trip. The gun from SHIELD went
into the bags front pocket. He didn't want a gun, but he knew it was going to
be useful. The old phone and cords went in the front pocket with the gun. The
phone to call anyone if things went very south, and the chargers were obvious.
The water bottle was slid into the side pocket and secured in. A few power bars
were put in the other side pocket and secured in, and the rest of the food went
into the main pocket. This was going to be a long trip, and snacks never hurt.
Tony grabbed his tech projects. One looked like nothing more than a watch, but
was a shadow of a big project Tony had been mentally building. When used, it
created an armor like metal glove gauntlet over his hand, that held in it tiny
missiles and a repulsor he had designed. He slipped the watch onto his right
hand. Next was a ring. A ring that when activated caused an explosion that
could level a building. He slipped the ring onto his left middle finger. Then,
a little device that looked like a car key fob, but had many great buttons. One
button emitted a noise that was deafeningly high pitched and disorienting.
Another button sent out an energy wave that would cause a blackout of all power
sources in a mile radius. A third button turned it into a mini cell tower,
giving service and wifi. And the final button turned it into a bomb, just like
the ring. Tony really hoped he wouldn't have to use the final button, he spent
a long time building it. He slid the device into his pants pocket. Next was a
simple-enough looking key. A key that could reconfigure itself to unlock any
lock. Tony slid that into his pocket with the fake fob. Lastly, were a pair of
glasses that had x-ray vision, heat vision, infrared vision, along with a few
others. They looked like lightly tinted shades, but were designed to stay on
Tony's head no matter what. Tony put them on.
Finally, Tony picked up the flash drive. It was everything he knew, the entire
mission and reasoning. Tony took off a metal chain necklace that held a pair of
dog tags, Rhodey's tags from his military days. He had given it them to Tony as
a symbol of friendship, to show he cared for the kid. Tony gently unhooked the
chain and slid the flash drive onto it and the tags off of it. He pulled the
necklace back on, tucking it under his shirt.
Tony stared at the tags. James Rhodes. A man who fought for what was right, for
the good of humanity to protect the innocent. Or at least Tony had thought. He
threw the tags onto the floor. James Rhodes was a stranger to the teenager.
Tony took off his sneakers and pulled on his black boots. His sneakers were
more dynamic, but boots more practical. He grabbed his leather winter coat. It
was thin and lightweight, but damn, it was warm.
He threw the jacket over his shoulder, and pulled the bag into his back. He
walked out of his room, not bothering to look back. He wasn't sentimental about
this place, and he had what he needed.
He jogged down the stairs, headed for the door. No one was around to watch Tony
Stark leave. Tony grabbed one of Howard's cars. He wasn't even thinking
anymore, just acting. He drove the car away from Stark Manor, still not looking
back.
Tony drove fast, but made sure not too fast, so he wasn't pulled over. He got
to the private airport, and grabbed his things, throwing the coat into the now
stuffed bag, for now.
With thanks to it being private, this airport lacked the buzz of a public one,
and was used only by the very important, or the very rich. Most were both.
Here, you didn't wait in lines, or go through customs. Here people waited for
you, and gave you the plane keys without batting an eye.
Tony walked over to the desk clerk, and offered her an award winning smile, one
he learned from Howard Stark himself.
"Hey sweetheart. Could I have the keys to the Patriot?" Tony asked in a sweet
voice. The Patriot was one of Howard's privately own jets, the smallest of
them.
The clerk typed on a computer. "Sorry, but that jet is privately owned by the
Starks. Not open use." She said coldly.
Tony smirked at her. "And don't you recognize a Stark when you see one, honey?"
He teased.
She finally looked up at Tony, and instantly recognized him, paling. "Oh my
god, Tony Stark. I-I am so sorry! Please, forgive me, I didn't-"
Tony cut her off. "Don't worry about it, doll." He winked.
Despite the fact that Tony was a minor, and she was at least mid thirties, she
still blushed at the wink.
She rummaged around in the desk, then pulled out a set of keys and handed them
to Tony. "You're not planning on flying it yourself, are you?" She asked as a
concerned afterthought.
Tony laughed. "I may be Howard Stark's son, but I am seventeen. So I don't know
how to fly a jet, as shocking as it may be." He joked with a light tone. "So
no, I wouldn't dare fly that thing. I'm just waiting for my old man to show up,
and a pilot." He lied.
The women laughed at Tony's jokes. "Where are you going? Nothing is scheduled."
She asked. Damned nosy woman.
Tony leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Can I tell you a secret?" He
grinned. "I have no idea. Old man is dragging me to some business thing, I
don't know. I wasn't really paying attention, he can get boring. But you know,
I'm the heir and all that, gotta learn the ropes. Or something like that." Tony
grinned even more.
The woman laughed again. "Of course. Go right ahead, Mr. Stark. I'll have the
jet brought out to the runway as soon as possible."
Tony winked at her once more, then walked off to the runway. He stood there,
waiting for the jet to roll out. Once it did, Tony smiled to the man and got
into the pilot's seat of the jet.
Tony took a deep breath. He put the keys into the jet. Rhodes really was going
to regret showing Tony how to fly a jet when he was fifteen. Tony put his hands
on the steering, then tilted his head back, looking up.
"I'm not doing this to prove I'm a good person. I'm not doing this to prove
everyone wrong. I'm a fuckup, and I probably won't come back alive. There's no
changing that, no changing how people will see the worthless Tony Stark." He
whispered to no one, feeling a tear slip. "I'm doing this to right a wrong that
SHIELD won't, that everyone else ignores. I can't save the world, Steve Rogers.
But maybe I can save James Barnes."
Tony punched coordinates into the jet. Then finally, finally he looked back.
And he didn't feel wistful or pained. He only felt more sure. Tony lifted off
the jet.
***** Chapter 3 *****
Chapter Notes
     Oh, now we're getting the ball rolling! Time for some action!
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Tony felt his heart pounding. It was a mix of everything, really. Fear,
excitement, exhilaration, determination, anger. Every emotion that fueled this
mission, really. He took a deep breath. 
This was a bad idea. Ah awful, horrid, completely idiotic idea. Tony was aware
of that. He hadn't thought it out, hadn't considered all factors, calculated
the risks. It wasn't a really a plan. The word 'plan' would entail Tony had
details worked out, that he knew what he was doing. Simply put, he didn't. He
just had an idea, to save Bucky Barnes.
Maybe deep down, it was a death wish. Or perhaps Tony had actually gone insane.
He was known for being spontaneous, but this was a whole different level.
Normal people didn't fly to Russia without telling a soul to break into HYDRA
when they were seventeen and completely untrained in espionage. But then again,
Tony was hardly normal.
But Tony had to admit it, he felt alive. He was free, he could finally break
away from rules set by everyone around him. He wished he was leaving something
meaningful behind, but very little had been in his past. Tony didn't have many
people he cared about, or cared about him. His father was abusive, his mother
was absent, his supposed friend Rhodey wasn't the man Tony thought he was.
Sure, Tony had a couple other people. Edwin Jarvis, the family butler, was
nice. But in the end, he was too formal with Tony because of his occupation,
and it made bonding hard. Tony's friend, Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, was amazing
in every respect. His only real friend close to his age. But recently, they...
just had drifted. There had been a vicious fight, and Pepper had said they
should take a break. It hurt, but it wasn't unexpected. Tony knew he deserved
it.
In the end, Tony knew why he was really doing this. It wasn't to prove himself
to anyone. It wasn't to spite anyone. It wasn't for the thrill. It was for the
escape. Even if against all odds, Tony succeeded and things went back to the
usual when he came back, he would at least have the memory of knowing he had
escaped it all. And Tony couldn't ignore knowing that nothing would be done
about Bucky Barnes. He just couldn't. Before he had never had a reason to go on
heroic missions, because he rested assure that SHIELD could and would do that.
The Avengers saved the world. It was common sense. But SHIELD was ignoring the
Winter Soldier for no reason. Rhodey had given Tony excuses, and Tony honestly
couldn't see a real reason that would preserve his view of SHIELD being good,
no matter how hard he tried. So he wasn't trying to be a hero. He didn't want
glory. He didn't need acceptance. He wasn't a savior, regardless of if he
succeeded or not. No, he was just a kid who needed to escape, and finally had a
reason to.
Tony didn't really think much beyond that during the flight, which was a
relief. His mind usually raced with ideas and thoughts at a rate most people
couldn't keep up with. It gave him headaches some days, when he couldn't
silence the endless thoughts cycling through his head. He had found ways to
slow them, most harmful. Drinking when he could steal something alcoholic from
Howard was nice. Cutting had been his latest coping method, and was very
effective. Working also helped, when he got so caught up in an invention or
idea that he tuned everything else out. Beyond that, there wasn't much to slow
Tony' head down, so he was grateful for it.
 
===============================================================================
 
It was hours of mental silence and the roar of a jet engine before Tony landed
the jet on Russian soil, surrounded by the landscape of forests and mountains
in the distance.
Tony wasn't stupid enough to land close enough to the HYDRA base that he would
be noticed in his touchdown, but he wasn't so far away that it would take for
to make his way there.
He reached inside of his bag, and pulled on the leather coat. He slung the bag
onto his back, slid the jet keys into his pocket, and got out.
The frigid Russian winter hit made Tony swear. January probably wasn't the best
time to fly to Russia, he figured. Well it was too late to fix that.
Tony pulled his old phone out of his bag. After powering it up, getting it
connected to some sweet wifi (via fake car fob), Tony pulled up a GPS. 
He was a solid twenty miles from the HYDRA base. With a car, he could make it
in no time, which of course posed his first challenge. Find a damned car.
Tony hiked out of the forest, finding a road that was a mile away from the jet.
He knew that it was wishful thinking to think he would get the jet back. Once
HYDRA realized Tony had gotten into their base (once he managed to do that),
they would most probably find the jet and destroy it. Not that Tony cared, it
was Howard's jet, after all.
Tony considered his options. He could try hitch hiking. Which probably wasn't a
good idea, considering he didn't know Russian, and asking for a ride to a
secret base of a terrorist base was a fatal idea. He would have to steal a car
if he wanted a ride. 
The road was clearly a back road, and Tony watched as a cars only appeared once
about every five minutes while he thought about how to get to the base. How
exactly was he supposed to steal a moving car? Even if he could, his conscience
would protest stealing a car from a random person and leaving them on the
road. 
Then something happened that had to be a fucking gift from above. A black,
armored car slowly slid across the pavement. A car with the HYDRA symbol
painted on it's side. Motherfucking bingo.
Without thinking, Tony ran in front of the car, waving his arms like he was in
distress, praying that even HYDRA agents weren't crazy and heartless enough to
run a teenager over. Tires screeched to a halt and Tony almost sang with joy.
A man dressed like a soldier got out, screaming at Tony in Russian. Tony pulled
out his fake key fob and hit the button that emitted the ear piercing noise,
protecting his own ears and pointing it at the HYDRA agent.
The HYDRA lackie screamed and covered his ears. Tony ran to the car, jumping in
the driver's seat and slamming on the gas pedal before he even had the door
shut. The HYDRA agent, shockingly didn't like that very much. He pulled out a
gun and and started firing at Tony.
"Oh now come on, I can't die now, I seriously just got here. That would make
all my training from shitty spy movies be in vain." Tony muttered, flooring it
hard, doing a sharp U-turn so he was at least headed in the right direction.
He almost ran the HYDRA guy over, and found that to be amusing in itself. He
was thankful that the car was armored and the guy didn't seem smart enough to
aim for a tire. Maybe for once Tony actually had some higher power not taking
an eternal shit on him.
Tony eventually slowed down to a normal speed when he was a safe distance from
the man whom he stole the car from. Double score, would be a lot easier to
break into HYDRA with a HYDRA car. This had to be the literal definition of
luck.
Tony's heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't believe he was doing this. Sure,
it was once thing to steal a jet and fly it around on what could've been seen
as a joy ride. But this, there was no coming back from this. He was in a
fucking HYDRA car that he fucking stole from a HYDRA agent, and oh fucking god
there was no coming back from this.
Tony held back vomit from spewing across the dash. Come on, Tones. Hold your
shit together.
When the HYDRA base came into view, a surge of confidence hit Tony. He could do
this. He was Tony motherfucking Stark. This would be fucking cake.
Act like you own the place, you're only a zebra in a herd of horses if you let
your stripes show.
Tony shifted, as to look comfortable and at complete ease as he drove the car
into the HYDRA base. He parked the car alongside other HYDRA vehicles.
Tony wasn't really sure what he had expected. A place like SHIELD, maybe, where
people were always milling around, the tone seemed like a friendly office
building, with the occasional explosion and/or dismemberment. Normal, to Tony.
What HYDRA was... was like some freaky dungeon bunker thing in a shitty
medieval-era movie. Tony didn't know places like this actually existed. It was
concerning.
There weren't any agents around, and Tony half wondered if the place was
actually still used. He was about to get out to search, when another HYDRA
vehicle drove in.
Tony swore and slunk in his seat to avoid being seen. A man walked out of the
car and walked to the building, shoulders square,  footsteps even and
calculated. Tony used a zoom-in feature on his special glasses and watched the
HYDRA lackie.
The man came up to the steel walls, typed in a passcode that Tony watched and
memorized, causing the doors to open and the man walked in, then the doors slid
shut again.
Tony took a deep breath and cracked his neck. Walk in like you own the place.
Tony slid out of the car, mimicking the way the agent had. He used the same
even and calculated footsteps, shoulders squared. When he got to the door, he
didn't hesitate with the passcode, but didn't rush it. He acted as if this was
natural, like he owned the goddamned place.
Once Tony was inside he slid his hand inside of his pocket. "Lights outs." He
whispered, and pressed the blackout button.
He flicked his glasses onto night vision, and quietly forged forward, freezing
and pressing himself against the wall if he heard or saw someone.
There was shouting in Russian, and soldiers bumbling around, walking into
walls, each other, and just about everything else. Thanks to the thick walls,
it was pitch black without the lights. Tony smirked. Being the only one who
could actually see, he literally felt like he owned the goddamned place,
walking down the halls like he would anywhere else.
Tony turned down carefully remembered corridors, hoping his memory wouldn't
fail him now. He probably should've looked over the blueprints of this place a
bit more. 
Tony stopped in front of a door he knew was what he wanted. "Bingo." His voice
was barely audible, even to himself.
Without any power, the door opened like any other. The sound was masked by the
idiotic HYDRA men around him, trying to get their power back. Good luck, the
prototype had Stark Mansion dark for weeks. He thought smugly.
Without power, the cryogenic chamber had already thawed Bucky Barnes. Tony had
made sure the Winter Soldier wasn't on a mission. He wasn't that stupid.
Tony looked over his shoulder without thinking. God, he really needed to stop
watching spy movies. It was like he expected Ernst Stavro Blofeld to be
standing behind him or something. He shook himself a bit, loosening his
muscles.
He opened the chamber door. A gust of cold air blasted Tony in the face, in a
very climactic, would-make-a-great-movie-reveal way. Tony braced himself
slightly, half expecting Barnes to jump out and body slam him, or something. No
such happened. The Winter Soldier remained perfectly still. He was a wall of
muscle, a metal arm, brown hair that reached past his chin, and a scruffy start
of a beard. Tony had to admit, it was fucking hot, in a you-might-as-well-
enjoy-my-face-because-it's-the-last-thing-you'll-ever-see way.
Tony took a deep breath, and braced himself. He grabbed the Winter Soldier's
lifeless arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, then took a step forward. As
soon as Barnes' full weight fell onto him, Tony swore out loud in
Italian. Fuck. That was not a good idea. That was in fact probably
his worst idea yet, Tony thought, his knees buckling.
Come on, Tones. You're on your own. Stop being the worthless piece of shit you
are long enough to actually get something fucking down. The voice in Tony's
head snarled at him.
Tony felt a fire light inside of him. He started dragging Bucky Barnes out of
the room. He got to the doorway, and felt winded. He wanted to collapse. Bucky
had to weigh at least three times what he did.
Worthless, worthless, worthless, worthless. Howard's right. Piece of shit, a
shame to the Stark name. Are you going to fucking let Howard be right? Tony was
half sure he was delirious now, maybe he actually had gone insane. Either way,
the self loathing voice in his head gave him strength.
The fire inside of him burned even hotter. Tony growled and dragged James
Barnes through the HYDRA corridors. The voice pounded in his head, but it did
more good than harm. In a way it wasn't even loathing. It was really
encouragement, in the most twisted, yet most helpful way.
Prove him fucking wrong. Can you do it, you piece of shit? Come on, even you're
better than this.
Tony ignored the bumbling HYDRA men around him, ignored the burn in his
muscles. It was almost painfully hilarious, for Tony to just be dragging the
Winter Soldier out of HYDRA without them even noticing. He smirked and shook
his head. His idiotic idea was fucking working.
Tony got to the steel doors. This posed a problem, If he opened the doors, they
would see him, with the Winter Soldier over his shoulders. Tony pulled out the
fake fob. 
"I seriously hope this doesn't wake you up, Sleeping Beauty." He muttered, then
slammed his finger down on the ear piercing button. He used Bucky's arm to
block his own ears. He heard what he assumed was Russian cursing all around
him, and smirked again. He opened the doors, got Barnes out, and closed the
door.
"Stay here. I'll bring the car to you." Tony ordered the unconscious man, with
a pointed finger.
Tony ran as fast as he could to the car he had used before. He climbed into the
driver's seat, and sped back over to his unconscious friend. Tony opened the
passenger door.
It probably looked comical, like some cheap cartoon scene, but using his own
leverage, creative angles, and determination, he forced Barnes into the
passenger seat and slammed the door shut triumphantly. He wouldn't offer
himself a moment to breath, considering it was seconds before HYDRA came out of
the building. Tony ran around the car and jumped back into the driver's seat.
He smirked, and floored it.
Chapter End Notes
     Real talk, who caught the James Bond reference?
***** Chapter 4 *****
Chapter Notes
     Some Bucky POV! Finally, Bucky! Also, translations are Google
     Translate, and we all know how that goes. Don't kill me native
     speakers. Please.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Bucky jerked awake. His heart thundered in his chest. He was awake, and he
could remember, they were going to put him in the chair again, god they were
going to fucking-
Wait. Bucky sat up and looked around. That in itself was confusing, he always
woke up in the chair, not lying down. Was he dreaming? He looked around. He was
in some room that looked broken down, like someone had found an abandon
building and just thrown Bucky into it. Was he on a HYDRA mission and had
snapped out of the Winter Soldier somehow? That didn't make sense. He
remembered every single one of his missions, and none of them could fit this.
What the hell was this.
"Oh hey, you finally-" Bucky snapped around and grabbed whoever was speaking
and threw them at the wall without thinking.
He lept to his feet, facing the person whom he had just thrown.
"Owww. That.... fuck... hurt." The person groaned out.
"Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here? Who do you work for? What's going
on?" Bucky growled, a flurry of questions passing his lips as he watched the
guy he had thrown sharply.
"If... ugh... you'd give me a fuckin' second.... I can answer all that...
just... damn... lemme catch m'fucking breath." The guy said pushing himself on
all fours while panting.
Bucky watched him for any sudden moves, arms folded and eyes narrowed.
The guy pushed himself to his feet once he could breath properly, and flinched
when Bucky growled at him. Bucky looked up and down him, not being able to stop
his brain from assessing the guy. Young, had to be in his teens. Small stature,
little muscle, would be easy to subdue if needed. 
The guy held up his hands, as if surrendering. "Hey now, no need to get all
worked up, compadre." The guy said, his voice slightly nervous, but with an
easy tone. "Anyhow, if you promise not to chuck me into the freaking wall
again, I can explain."
Bucky took a deep breath. "Talk. Now." He ordered.
The guy nodded. "Okay, talking, I'm talking. My name is Tony, Tony Stark. Nice
to meet you, and all that. Anyhow, I can promise you I am not the bad guy, and
I don't work for anyone. I'm a lone wolf, you know, all that." He winked and
smirked. "Anyways, what was I saying? Right, not the bad guy. I broke you out
of HYDRA. We're in some abandoned building in Moscow. I've been waiting for you
to wake up before going anywhere else because quite frankly you are really
heavy, and hard to carry. Do you know how hard it was to get you into a damned
car? Seriously, that was probably the hardest part. I break into fucking HYDRA,
and the real struggle is forcing an unconscious Bucky Barnes into the getaway
car. You would not-" He rambled, so Bucky cut him off. 
"How do you know my real name?" He whispered softly. It had been so long since
someone had called him Bucky. He couldn't ignore the emotion he felt when the
guy- Tony- called him Bucky Barnes. Not Soldier, Bucky.
Tony looked startled. "Hm? Oh, I hacked into HYDRA. That's how I found out
about Project Winter Soldier in the first place."
Tony seemed to be very nonchalant about being able to hack into HYDRA. Bucky
filed that information away for further questioning. "Why? Why would you break
into HYDRA to break me out?" Bucky asked, still giving Tony a suspicious look.
That question got a frustrated sigh from Tony. "Because SHIELD knew, they
fucking knew, and they wouldn't do a damned thing. You... it's not your damned
fault HYDRA did this to you! You fucking deserved to be helped, and SHIELD
didn't give a fuck!" He ranted angrily.
Bucky blinked. Seeing Tony's rage at SHIELD supposedly not helping him, it was
clear to Bucky that no matter the circumstances, the kid had his heart in the
right place. He clearly just wanted to help Bucky, for whatever reason.
"So you decided to break me out of HYDRA?" Bucky asked carefully. "Who helped
you?"
Tony smirked. "Yep, I did. And no one, I told you, lone wolf. Pay attention."
Bucky folded his arms. "You expect me to believe that you -a what, sixteen year
old?- broke into HYDRA singlehandedly?" He asked, his voice doubtful.
The teen rolled his eyes and scoffed. "I'm seventeen, first of all. And second
of all, yes, because I did. I'm a genius, you know."
Something clicked. "Wait, you said Stark, as in Howard-" Bucky finish before
Tony cut him off.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Howard Stark, the Howard Stark. I'm his son, and all that."
He said, and Bucky noted a strong amount of distaste in Tony's voice when he
said his father's name.
Bucky didn't doubt the genius that Tony had mentioned. He remembered Howard
from the war, and Howard was singlehandedly the smartest guy he had ever met.
"This is a bad idea. HYDRA will come for me, and you will get caught in the
crossfire. I have a tracker in my arm, if they haven't come yet, it's because
they're probably waiting outside." Bucky warned quietly.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Please. I didn't say I came into this thinking it was a
good idea. Also, HYDRA already came looking for you. I used my pure genius to
fight them off, naturally. And you had a tracker in your arm. I took it out and
used it to make a trap, a trap that mind you worked perfectly." Tony said, his
smirk smug. Bucky saw right through it. Tony wasn't as cocky or egotistical as
he tried to come off. He was scared, and worn down.
"How long was I asleep?" He asked.
Tony hummed. "Three days."
Bucky rubbed his temple. "And what have you been doing during these three
days?"
"Fighting off HYDRA, watching you to make sure you weren't dead, trying to
learn Russian, trying to make an actual plan, you know, the usual." Tony said
with a shrug.
"Trying to make an actual plan." Bucky repeated. "You didn't have a plan going
into this?"
"No."
Bucky stared at him. "That is-"
"Idiotic? Check. Reckless? Check. Impulsive? Check. A death wish? Check.
Insane? Check. But surprisingly working so far? Motherfucking check." Tony
smirked deviously.
"You... you're either selflessly brave, or recklessly stupid." Bucky said
flatly.
Tony laughed. "I'd like to think of myself as a good mix of both. Probably more
of the latter, though." He admitted with a nonchalant shrug.
Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm stuck with you, aren't I?" He
growled.
Tony shrugged again. "I mean, you could ditch me, if you wanted. HYDRA's
already got a price on my head, so it's not like you'll be protecting me or
anything. But," Tony's grin grew and became schemingly disturbing. "If you
stick with me, with you as the brawn and me as the brains, we could fuck some
shit up and kill some evil motherfuckers."  He offered.
Bucky narrowed his eyes. He was still getting used to being Bucky Barnes, not
the Winter Soldier. He couldn't trust his own head, and posed a more of a
threat to Tony than Tony did to him. The only one in danger of them working
together was Tony. Well, both of them if HYDRA got involved, but they wouldn't
kill Bucky. They would kill Tony. Bucky didn't like that thought. Tony was
annoying, but intriguing and slightly charming, in a stupid way. And he was
right, HYDRA had a price on his head regardless of whether or not Bucky decided
to stick with him. All risks considered, Tony at least had a fighting chance if
Bucky fought beside him.
"I'm a liability. I've had HYDRA in my head for so long... I don't trust
myself, with or without HYDRA around. Trusting me with your life... is almost
as idiotic breaking me out of HYDRA. But... I'll-how did you put it?- stick
with you." Bucky forced out, trying to keep his voice stable and strong. Last
thing he needed was Tony thinking the 'muscles' was weak.
Tony grinned. "Fantastic." He paused. "Can I move now, without you throwing me
at the wall? Or are we not to that point of the relationship yet?" Tony joked,
but it was a serious question.
Bucky nodded. "You're fine, I won't throw you at the wall." He smiled slightly.
"You should smile more, Buckeroo. Looks nice on ya." Tony said absently,
walking across the room. Bucky didn't think much of it. With Howard's
reputation as a playboy, it wouldn't be surprising to see that trait passed
down to Tony as well.
Tony grabbed a black backpack and pulled out a sleek laptop and started typing
on it. "I can hack into HYDRA's camera feeds, but it doesn't help that I have
no idea what they're saying. Tony looked over his shoulder at Bucky. "Care to
translate some footage I found of them talking about me and you? I'd like to
know what they're planning, to get the upper hand, and all that." 
Bucky nodded. "Yeah, sure." He walked across the room and stood directly behind
Tony, looking over his shoulder at the screen. He took note of how short Tony
was, the kid's head didn't even get past Bucky's biceps.
"Jeez, Buck. Personal space a thing with you, or no?" Tony muttered. Bucky
ignored the comment. "Anyhow, be a doll and translate."
Bucky watched as Tony clicked on something, and a video showed up. Seeing the
inside of the HYDRA  base made his skin crawl, even on a screen. Two men were
being ordered by a higher ranked HYDRA agent. Bucky vaguely recognized their
faces.
"Любую дополнительную информацию о местонахождении Зимнего солдата?" (any
further information on the location of the Winter Soldier?) The higher ranked
asked.
"Нет, сэр. Трекер, похоже, скомпрометирован." (no sir, the tracker seems to be
compromised.) One of the soldiers replied nervously.
The first speaker was silent for a moment. "Найти его. Верните его живым."
(Find him. Bring him back alive.) He ordered.
"Да сэр. Что мы делаем с Tony Stark?" (Yes sir. What do we do about Tony
Stark?)
"Приведи его тоже. В живых. HYDRA вербует его, он сделает полезное дополнение к
HYDRA." (Bring him in as well. Alive. HYDRA will recruit him, he will make a
useful addition to HYDRA.) He ordered.
"Да сэр." (Yes sir.) The soldiers replied. Tony turned the feed off. He gave
Bucky an expectant look.
"Long story short, HYDRA is coming after both of us. They want both of us
brought in alive.  HYDRA plans to recruit you." Bucky said shortly.
Tony's eyebrows shot up. "Huh. Don't know if I should be flattered or
disgusted."
"Terrified is the word I would use." Bucky said flatly.
"Psh, I got you on my side. HYDRA can suck it." Tony sang.
Bucky froze. He heard thundering footsteps. "Buck? You got that creep
'somebody's gonna die' look on your face again." Tony said with question in his
voice.
"Get down!" Bucky roared and pulled Tony down just as a smoke bomb crashed
through the window.
Tony swore in Italian and quickly shoved his laptop back into his bag, zipping
it up and pulling it on. Bucky stood up, throwing Tony over his shoulder (who
squealed in surprise) and kicking the door down.
There were at least half a dozen HYDRA agents waiting for them. Bucky held up
his metal arm to block bullets and took them out with one arm, his other arm
holding Tony. Bucky was able to wrestle a gun away from one of the HYDRA
agents, and started dropping them like flies. When he ran out of ammo, he threw
the gun at another agent, hitting them hard in the head. 
After flying down flights of stairs, Bucky ran out of the entrance and looked
around for an escape route. Normally he could outrun any normal man, but he had
a human being slung over his shoulder.
"A car, get a fucking car!" Tony demanded. "Any fucking car, just get a car!"
"A car won't work without keys!" Bucky snapped.
"Yeah, and I can hotwire any automobile on the fucking face of the earth, so
keys are irrelevant!"
Bucky didn't bother thinking about that bit of information, and instead ran to
the closest door, ripping the door off and shoving Tony into the driver's seat.
"You better hurry the fuck up."
He ran around to the passengers side, ripping that door off as well, throwing
it at the closest HYDRA agents. He sat down in the seat and turned to Tony, who
already had bare wires in his hands, eyes wide with concentration.
Bucky was about to yell at him to hurry the fuck up, when the engine sprung to
life. "Bingo." Tony muttered, and floored it.
Bucky swore at how fast Tony was driving, and at what ease Tony did it with.
Clearly wasn't the first time the kid floored the gas pedal to see how fast he
could make a car go. Bucky growled when he heard the roar of engines speeding
after them, too close for comfort. 
Suddenly Bucky got hit in the stomach with Tony's black bag. He wondered how
the hell the kid had gotten it off without slowing down. Whatever the hell this
kid was made of, it was a hell of a lot more than money and some smarts.
"Gun. Front pocket." Tony growled, not taking his eyes off the road. The tone
was deep and almost animalistic. Bucky should've been disturbed and worried
that such darkness could be pulled from the teen, but he wasn't. He knew Tony
would need it if he wanted even a shadow of a chance to fight back against
HYDRA. Sometimes you had to fight fire with fire.
Bucky shook off the thoughts and pulled out said gun. He braced himself in the
space where the car door used to be, and looked behind them. Three HYDRA
vehicles followed them, getting closer by the second. 
Bucky took a deep breath, closing one eye to aim. With three calculated and
rapid shots, a tire of each car was blown and they all veered off course and
slammed into each other.
Bucky pulled himself back inside the car. Even with the immediate threats
subdued, Tony didn't slow down. It was a smart move, considering that they
needed the most distance between them and HYDRA as possible.
Bucky didn't know how much time had passed before Tony screeched to a halt in
the back alley of some city, hands still gripping the wheel, white knuckled
with a wild look in his eyes.
"You good?" Bucky asked, cutting the silence.
Tony looked himself over. "Yeah, yeah I'm good. Not hurt too bad anywhere.
You?" He flicked his gaze to Bucky.
"Didn't just mean physically, Tony."
Tony snorted. "You're the one with HYDRA raping your brain, and you're asking
me about my mental stability?" Tony said sarcastically.
"Tony, you just watched me kill a small army, almost got killed, and have a
terrorist organization who wants to kidnap you. You're allowed to say you're
not okay." Bucky said softly.
The genius looked him dead in the eyes. "I'm. Fine." His voice was a deadly
growl. If Bucky were anyone else, he would be pissing himself. But he wasn't.
Bucky didn't push it. "Alright brains, what's your next move?" He asked
instead.
Tony pursed his lips. "Are there hotels in Russia?"
Bucky snorted. "It's Russia, not Mars. Though how the hell do you plan on
paying for a hotel?"
"Bag."
Bucky furrowed his eyebrows. He opened the main pouch of the bag, and amongst
other things worth questioning, he found a considerable amount of rubles.
"Tony, you didn't steal these, did you?" He asked his voice concerned.
Tony scoffed. "I wouldn't- well, sort of. But stealing from Howard should
hardly count as stealing." 
"Howard as in your father?" Bucky asked.
An eye roll. "No, Howard The fucking Duck." He said sarcastically.
Bucky figured that was some reference to pop culture that went over his head,
but he didn't mention it. "Alright then." he mentally noted Tony referring to
Howard by his first name. That coupled by the disgust the mention of the teen's
father made it obvious Tony didn't have a good relationship with Howard.
Tony pulled out his phone,taping around a bit. "Ah. How convenient. There's a
hotel two blocks from us. Only a three star rating, but hey, not like we've got
the money to afford a five star." Tony shrugged. "Anything should be a step up
from abandoned buildings. I feel like some crappy vigilante." He pouted.
Bucky laughed. Tony scowled further. "What? You haven't laughed once since I
met you, what do you now see so funny?"
Bucky shook his head, grinning. "Just... just how sinfully adorable you look
when you pout. I'm pretty sure that pout could end wars and bring people to
their knees."
Tony Stark positively, without a doubt, blushed. "If I didn't know any better,
I'd think you were hitting on me, Buccaneer." He covered with a snarky grin.
Bucky rolled his eyes. God, it felt so good to smile. It felt good to laugh, to
have a moment where he could pretend to be normal.
"Anyhow, we going to the hotel or not, Bucks?" Tony asked.
Bucky nodded. "Lead the way."
Tony grabbed his bag from Bucky's lap. "You may want to put that back in the
bag. I know Russians are considered hardcore and all that, but I still think
walking around waving a gun around may alarm some." Tony said with a pointed
look. Bucky sighed and handed Tony the gun. Tony slid the gun into the bag and
slid the bag onto his back.
"You know, normally I don't have to open doors because they're opened for me.
but you went the whole extra mile of ripping the door off for me. I'm starting
to think you really are hitting on me, Buckeroni." Tony said, his usual smirk
resting on his lips as he got out of the car.
"Shut up. And stop with the stupid nicknames."
"Not happening, Barney."
"I hate you."
"Love you too, sweetums."
"I will seriously kill you for HYDRA if you don't shut up."
"Weren't you paying attention? HYDRA doesn't want me dead, Barnes and Noble.
Also isn't it a bad idea to talk about HYDRA while walking down public
streets?"
"I'm not even understanding half of your nicknames or references, just a
reminder I'm from the 40s. And most Russians don't speak English."
"Right. Well Barney is a purple dinosaur on a kids' show, Barnes and Noble is
like the bookstore of supermarkets, oh and Howard The Duck is this awful movie
that came out in the eighties. Absolutely awful, don't watch it, it was made by
a horrid movie company, by the way. No idea what the hell Marvel was thinking
with that one. And still, it seems all forbidden. Like my spy movie training
has taught me that we shouldn't be talking about this in public right next to
each other, like there should be ear pieces, a code, newspapers, shades, all
that jazz."
"You don't ever stop talking, do you? Also, why would a purple dinosaur be on
a kids' show?"
"No, I don't. And how would I know? Kids' shows are a strange place, no man
should venture into that unknown without proper safety measures taken.
"... Proper safety measures?"
"Smoking a blunt, drinking a bottle of Scotch, listening to One Direction,
watching football. You know, dumbing yourself down to that level."
"Do you smoke blunts, Tony?"
"Ew, god no. Tried one once, just made everything in my head crazy fast, I
thought I was gonna go insane. Ended up slamming my head against the wall until
I could knock myself out just to make it stop."
"That... sounds like it would give anyone a massive headache."
"Yep. And a nasty concussion. Got me out of gym for a couple weeks, guess that
was a plus. Oh hey look, here's the hotel."
Bucky was almost... sad that their pointless conversations had been ended by
the building in front of them.
"You're doing all the talking here, so try to not come across as a scary as
fuck assassin, mkay?" Tony said with a pointed look.
Bucky sighed and nodded. "I'll try."
They walked into the hotel. It wasn't five star quality, but it wasn't trashy.
Bucky figured the prices were going to be decent enough.
He walked up the the woman behind the desk, and offered her a smile,
remembering what Tony said.
After a brief exchange in Russian, Bucky got them a two bedded room. He almost
pissed himself laughing when the clerk raised an eyebrow at the two beds,
realizing how incriminating it looked for a man in his twenties, to be booking
a room with a teenager who was pretty enough (Bucky wasn't afraid to admit
that, Tony was pretty. Sue him) to be a hooker. He booked for two weeks, though
he doubted they would get their full two weeks in. He paid, got the key, and
led Tony up to their room. 
As soon as they got inside, Bucky burst into laughter. Tony arched an eyebrow. 
"Did you take some shit I don't know about?" He asked.
Bucky shook his head and managed to form words through his snorts. "No... it's
just... the woman at the desk... clearly had the idea... that you were a
fucking hooker I had hired."
Tony stood completely still, blinking rapidly. "I... I don't really know how to
take that." It amused Bucky even further to see Tony speechless. 
"I mean, you do give off that look. Scruffy, but pretty, clothes beat up and
tight fitting. Also didn't help that when you opened your bag there was a
considerable amount of money." Bucky said with a shit eating grin.
"Scruffy, but pretty?" Tony questioned. "Dear god, why don't you just bend me
over the counter right now. Because I'm supposed to be the one with the
charming playboy personality, yet so far you've done nothing but flirt with
me." Tony said with an amused look.
Bucky's cheeks tinged with embarrassment. "I haven't had sex since 1942. I'm
bound to flirt with a fucking lamp post at this point." He covered.
Tony snorted. "Sure, soldier boy. Sure." He glanced over his shoulder, and gave
Bucky a quick wink.
Bucky tried not to think about that too much Tony flopped down on one of the
beds and groaned. 
"Ugh, pampered billionaire has been away from a nice bed for too long." He
moaned, face down into the pillows.
"Three days, Tony. You were away from a bed for three days." Bucky said an
eyebrow quirked in amusement.
"Yeah, three days without sleep because I was afraid you would wake up and oh,
I don't know, throw me at a wall." Tony rolled over and faced Bucky with a
smirk.
Bucky gave Tony a glare that held little heat. "You honestly expected me to
wake up in a strange place with no explanation and not react with violence?"
Bucky said, giving Tony a look.
Tony sighed. "Touche." Tony sat up, hurling his bag into a chair, sliding off
his jacket, and taking off his suit shirt as well, leaving him in a tight white
undershirt.
Bucky noticed bandages on Tony's left forearm. "What happened to your arm?"
Tony looked down at his arm, as if surprised by the sight of the bandages, like
he had forgotten about the injury himself. "Oh you know, breaking you out of
HYDRA, some looney tune with a knife, no biggie." Tony shrugged.
"You're lying." Bucky pointed out, his voice cool and easy, but he narrowed his
eyes at the younger.
Tony looked Bucky dead in the eye. "So?"
"So how am I supposed to trust you, if you lie to me?" Bucky questioned, taking
a menacing step towards Tony.
Tony offered Bucky a stone cold glare and while keeping deadly eye contact,
Tony used his right hand to roughly, yet calculatedly, rip off the bandage. He
threw it onto the ground, leaving his arm bare.
Bucky flicked his eyes to the wound. There were seven healing cuts, deep in
Tony's wrist. They were going to scar, and Bucky's sharp eyes noticed they
wouldn't be the only scars on Tony's wrist. The kid's arm was littered with
scars, all similar to the fresh cuts. There was no doubt they had been done
deliberately.
"Self harm." Bucky said, keeping his voice void of emotion. He vaguely knew of
the practice, a few guys in the military had done it back during the war.
Tony snorted. "Yeah, call it what you want." He said coldly. He turned on his
side, facing away from Bucky.
"Why?" Bucky asked. 
"I just fucking met you today. Just because I'll work with you doesn't mean I'm
telling you all my deepest secrets, Barnes." It hit Bucky like a low blow. Tony
had not only given him the cold shoulder, but actually called him by his birth
name. "Wake me up at a reasonable time so I can shower and actually put
something like a plan together. For now, I'm going to sleep." Tony said flatly,
and didn't say anything further.
Bucky paced. Tony slept, and Bucky paced. He was too attached to the kid
already, and he had known him less than twenty four hours. He had been so
starved of human companionship that he was well aware of the fact that he would
take a bullet for Tony Stark. That wasn't good, the Soldier in him whispered.
Bucky hissed and grabbed his head. God, he hated it. Hated having someone else
in his head. Not just your head anymore, Barnes. The Soldier's voice was his in
every sense, but void of... anything. It was a machine, nothing more than a
body waiting to carry out orders. Bucky hated it, hated it so much. He couldn't
even trust himself.
He paced for hours, his body not used to being awake without having a mission
to complete, a course of action to take. He buzzed with excess energy that he
had no way of shaking off.
"Papà, no per favore. Mi dispiace, posso fare di meglio." (Dad, no please. I'm
sorry, I can do better.) Tony mumbled in his sleep, and started to toss and
turn.
Bucky knew Italian, and the words coming out of Tony's mouth concerned him,
considering how he already knew Tony had a bad relationship with Howard Stark.
"Posso fare meglio, prometto. Per favore, papà. Non lo farò questa volta. Per
favore!" (I can do better, I promise. Please, dad. I won't screw it up this
time. Please!) Tony's voice was more distressed, his body starting to tremble.
Tony started thrashing. "Mi dispiace. Sono così dispiaciuto. Mi dispiace che
sono un cazzo. Per favore, mi dispiace, signore." (I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm
sorry I'm a fuck up. Please, I'm sorry, sir.) Tony's voice was so small now,
and he was crying, even in his sleep.
"No, non mi colpisci di nuovo. Per favore, mi dispiace, io-" (No, don't hit me
again, please. I'm sorry, I'm-) Bucky was by Tony's side before he even
realized it.
Bucky gently shook Tony awake. "Hey, hey Tony. Look at me. Just a dream, right?
It's just a dream. You remember where you are? Remember me? Talk to me Tony."
Bucky urged, holding the small teen in his arms.
Tony's eyes shot open, and he stared at Bucky with fear painted on his face. He
seemed to get a bearing of his surroundings, then buried his face into Bucky's
shoulder, sobbing.
"Mi dispiace, mi dispiace, mi dispiace, mi dispiace," Tony chanted like a
mantra, his voice thick with emotion.
Bucky froze for a second. He wasn't really good at consoling people. He had
done it for Stevie a few times, but even then he felt clueless.  But he
couldn't just sit here like an idiot.
Bucky wrapped his metal arm around Tony, and ran his flesh fingers through
Tony's soft hair. "Shh, hey, it's okay. You don't need to apologize for a
thing, Tony." He soothed. Tony eventually calmed down, but stayed in Bucky's
arms. And for just a moment, they both ignored HYDRA, ignored SHIELD, ignored
Tony's obvious daddy issues, ignored the world around them. For just  moment,
they weren't Tony Stark and the Winter Soldier. They were just two men enjoying
each other's company.
Chapter End Notes
     Pop culture references and nicknames for Bucky are great, two in one
     is BETTER. Tony would agree. Also, did you catch the meta reference
     there? Though seriously, don't ever watch Howard The Duck. Weird ass
     movie. Got a cameo in GOTG though, so I guess that's.... something.
***** Chapter 5 *****
Chapter Notes
     I'm here and I'm queer! Heya, how are you today? Good, great. This
     chapter is short, but I end work things the way I want. Mwuahaha.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Tony finally pulled away and let out a shuddered sigh. "I'm gonna go take a
shower. See if this place has free breakfast, will you?" Tony said, quickly
moving to his feet and grabbing his bag, headed towards the bathroom door.
"So we're not going to talk about that?" Bucky asked carefully.
"Nope." The door slammed shut, and locked.
Bucky ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. He knew he shouldn't expect
full confidentiality from Tony, he literally just met the kid. But after being
deprived of true human contact for so long, going so long without being treated
like like an actually human being, he was bound to immediately get attached to
whoever gave him those simple pleasures. Tony not only treated him as a human,
but also had an exuberant personality that would draw anyone in. It terrified
Bucky how quickly he had accepted Tony's presence, even wanted it. You'll
regret this. The soldier warned him. Shut up. Bucky thought back.
Bucky sighed and shook off his thoughts. He rummaged around in the drawers a
bit, and found a rubber band, which he used to pull his hair up into a messy
bun. Using the hotel phone, he called about breakfast, and found out there was
breakfast, but it cost more than Bucky figured Tony was willing to spare.
Bucky was slightly surprised by how quickly Tony got out of the shower, but
nonetheless, Tony stumbled out of the bathroom drying his hair with a towel. He
wore black slacks and a black long sleeved shirt. He was still barefoot.
"You know, I find it a bit concerning that you only manage to
look more terrifying and murder-y with a man bun." Tony pointed out with a
raised eyebrow.
Bucky rolled his eyes and ignored the comment. "They don't have free breakfast,
by the way."
Tony wrinkled his nose. "Great." He said, dragging the word out sarcastically.
"So what's your grand plan, exactly?" Bucky asked, folding his arms.
Tony rubbed the back of his neck. "Still working that one out. HYDRA sort of
blew up my jet." He pouted slightly.
Bucky arched an eyebrow. "You have a jet?"
"Had." Tony corrected. "And sort of. It was technically Howard's, but I
borrowed it."
"Borrowed?" Bucky's lips quirked up.
Tony shrugged. "Well I mean best case scenario, I guess it would've gotten back
to Howard." He paused. "Can't say I'm sad to see something of Howard's blown to
smithereens, though."
Bucky snorted and shook his head. "So, new plan?"
The genius plopped down on one of the beds, running his fingers through his wet
hair. His face was drawn tight with concentration. "Plane tickets would be
suicide... HYDRA's gotta be watching every airport known to man for a buff
metal armed guy and a teen... we can't exactly drive to New York..." Tony
mumbled, mostly to himself.
"New York?" Bucky asked. "Why New York?"
 Tony looked up, startled. "Because that's where the SHIELD headquarters are.
And that's where I live. And that's where the Avengers are." He explained.
Bucky stared at him incredulously. "You think it's a good idea to take the
Winter Soldier into SHIELD? Tony, they'll just throw me into prison." Bucky
said, muscles tense.
"Not if your best friend has anything to say about it." Tony smirked.
Bucky frowned. "I didn't know we were best friends."
Tony snorted. "I didn't mean me, Terminator." He rolled his eyes. "Not like I
have any pull around SHIELD anyways. I meant your actual best friend, the good
ol' Captain, Steve Rogers." Tony said, a slight disgust in his voice.
"Stevie died in a plane crash. It's on HYDRA files." Bucky ground out flatly.
He hated talking about his old friend. It brought back bittersweet memories,
that Bucky just couldn't bare to think about, for the sake of his own sanity.
The teen arched an eyebrow. "You have old news. How could you have avoided the
whole ordeal where they pulled him out of the ice? It was everywhere,
newspapers, tv, seriously, impossible to avoid." Tony thought for a moment.
"Unless of course HYDRA purposely kept you shielded from it so you wouldn't
find out, and revert back to Bucky Barnes because of it." He mused.
"Tony... what the hell are you talking about?" Bucky growled, his heart
speeding up.
Tony paled a bit and flinched away from Bucky. "Okay, I'll slow down a bit.
Steve Rogers? He went down in the ice, and was presumed dead. But when they
found his plane a few years ago,  they found him too. And when he thawed out,
he was alive. The ice preserved him, like the cryogenic chambers HYDRA used for
you. Anyhow, he's on a team of superheroes called the Avengers, he's like their
leader. And yes, he is very much alive." Tony slowly explained.
Bucky's heart pounded. He stared at Tony, his expression shocked, scared, and
confused. "Stevie's alive." He whispered.
Tony nodded. "Here, lemme show you." He grabbed his laptop and set it on the
kitchen counter top. He pulled up a video and clicked play. Bucky watched as
several people in colorful costumes fought against a hoard of robot-looking
things. Tony wasn't lying. Front and center, in the middle of the line of fire,
hurling his shield, was Captain America. Bucky's stomach tightened as he
watched his best friend fight on the screen.
Bucky felt like he couldn't breath. His best friend, that damned punk,
was alive. Alive and healthy, and leading a team of heroes into battle. And
probably risking his life too often. Bucky was gonna kill him.
"Damned punk." He muttered. "Of course he's alive. Only that punk would manage
to live through all that come out swinging."
A darkness flickered across Tony's eyes, but it went as quickly as it came.
"Well no shit. He's Captain America." Tony snarked.
Bucky rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Alright, fine. So we're going back to
SHIELD. That still poses the question, how?"
Tony frowned. "I'm not really sure. I told you, didn't really think it
through."
He stared at Tony. "You know for the brains, you aren't braining very well."
The young genius squared his shoulders, standing up straight, and staring Bucky
down. "Do you have any ideas then?" He said, raising his eyebrows.
Bucky actually chuckled. "Kid, you don't even come up to my shoulder. If you're
trying to be menacing, grow a foot."
Tony pouted. "You're just a brick wall." He shot back.
Bucky arched an eyebrow. "And you're what, four and a half feet tall?"
"I'll have you know, I'm 4'11 on a good day."
"On a good day?"
"You heard me."
"Just admit it Tony. You're abnormally small."
"I'm fun-sized."
"Same difference, pal."
"Pal?"
"I'm from the 40s, cut me some slack."
"Sure thing, pal."
"I will dismember you."
"Please, you need me."
"So far, I'm the one who's done most of the work fighting HYDRA."
"Oh really? Because last time I checked, I broke you out of HYDRA, took the
tracker out of your arm, kept you safe for three days, you know. Actual
productivity, not shooting good."
"'Shooting good'?"
"Well you don't shoot bad."
"I see."
"You know, banter is getting us nowhere."
"You're the one who needs to come up with a brilliant idea."
"I'm working on that." Tony sighed and paced a bit. "Right now, I think it's
best to play defense. Just keep running. Once we get the upper hand, we can
work out getting to SHIELD. Until then, survive, I guess." Tony flicked his
eyes. "Any better ideas?"
Bucky pressed his lips together, thinking. "I mean, it's not the best. But I
don't think we have any better options, for now." Tony nodded with agreement.
The teen threw himself onto the bed he had slept in. "So, how does one amuse
themselves in Russia?" He asked.
"How the hell would I know?" Bucky asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Right." Tony remembered. "Your amazing personality just makes me forget you
were a first class assassin." Tony smiled disarmingly.
Bucky rolled his eyes. "I still am. The Winter Soldier is still in my head,
Tony. Even without him there, I just proved back there I am more than willing
to kill if the situation calls for it." He said, his voice soft.
Tony sighed. "Killjoy, much?" He muttered, but got serious. "Look, when you
were killing those guys, you were doing it for your own survival, and mine.
They were HYDRA, they deserved it and you know it."
"I was HYDRA." Bucky mumbled.
The genius grabbed his arm. "No, you weren't." He said firmly. "The Winter
Soldier was. You aren't the Winter Soldier. You're James Barnes, the guy who
fought next to Captain America in war. You're a good person, Buck. I'm
serious." Tony said firmly.
Bucky stared at the teen. Tony's gaze was sincere, and he didn't break eye
contact. Bucky wondered how the hell he had gotten so lucky to get 'rescued' by
this kid. He wasn't SHIELD, or the government, but god Tony was one hell of a
lot more dangerous.
He smiled and shook his head. "If you say so, kid."
 
Chapter End Notes
     I'm not sure if I'm going to demonize or humanize Winter Soldier yet,
     considering I've already depicted him as his own conscious. Hmm
***** Chapter 6 *****
Chapter Notes
     I'm back! Whoops, this took over a week to update. Didn't mean for
     that to happen. I done goofed. Anyhow, here we are with a new
     chapter! Enjoy.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Tony absently paced in circles. He was bored. Dear god he was so bored out of
his mind he thought his brain might actually leak out of his ears. He stared at
Bucky, who just kept looking back and forth between the window and the door.
"How are you not dying of boredom? Seriously, I almost want HYDRA  to come so
there's something to do." He whined.
Bucky's sharp gaze flicked to him. "Don't say that, Tony. And I'm a trained
soldier. I've stayed in the exact same position for hours waiting for a target.
Right now the only thing annoying me is your whining." He said flatly.
Tony pouted. "Well I'm a genius teenager who's never done this before. I'm
bored." He threw himself onto one of the beds.
Bucky shrugged. "Your fault. You came here. How did you amuse yourself, back at
home?" Bucky asked.
"Not much. Built stuff from scraps I stole from Howard's shops. Hacked into
SHIELD. Pulled pranks during stupid galas I was forced to attend. You should've
seen what I did to this French ambassador once. I would be surprised if his
suit doesn't still smell like bananas to this day." Tony grinned at the memory.
"Aren't you a joy." Bucky said sarcastically.
Tony flashed him a faux sweet smile. "Only the best, sweetums."
"Ya know if I didn't feel the need t'protect your stupid ass I'da left it in
the dust long time ago." Bucky grumbled.
Tony howled with laughter. "Oh my god! Your accent! You sound like you walked
right out of an old movie that takes place in Brooklyn." Tony was beside
himself.
Bucky didn't find it very funny, and instead looked embarrassed. "Shut up." He
said, forcing the Brooklyn accent away, and replacing it with an almost Russian
one.
"Oh hey, come on. I was kidding, Buckeroo. It's cute, seriously. You'll sweep
some girl off her feet with it." Tony tried to fix, giving Bucky a pleading
look. 
"I don't even like gals." Bucky mumbled, looking away.
Tony felt his eyebrows shoot up. "Really? Didn't see you as gay. Not that I'm
judging! Just you know, whenever Captain America talks about his old friend
Bucky, he tells how you had a trail of girls following you." Tony quickly
explained.
Bucky sighed and looked up. "Just 'cause they were followin' didn't mean I
wanted 'em to." He sighed, letting the Brooklyn accent bleed through again, to
Tony's delight. "Sure, I flirted 'round with some gals, but you didn't do it
with gents back then. People didn't like it. Fooled 'round with a few gents
when we could get away with it, but mostly just hadda to fake it." Bucky
explained spreading his hands.
The teen nodded. "Yeah, I get it. People are better with it now-a-days, but
there a still some asshats with their holy books. But most people are generally
cool with it. It's even legal in the States. Mother Russia still isn't so hot
on it, but hey, take what you can get. I swing both ways myself. Why pick, all
people are hot. Howard would have my head if he knew though. Especially if I
fell in love with a guy. Probably over some dumbass reason too, like carrying
on the family name. Not that I care." Tony rambled.
"You like gents and gals?" Bucky asked, cocking his head to the side. Tony
nodded. "Fits you." He said. Bucky was quiet a moment. "What do you wanna do
with your life?" Bucky asked, eyes boring into Tony.
Tony shrugged. "I mean, I'm the heir to Stark Industries, so I'll have to take
over the company as CEO eventually. Howard wants me to be a SHIELD agent as
well, doing both, like him. So the way I see it, I'll spend most of my twenties
doing menial things for SHIELD under the label as 'agent', then whenever Howard
kicks the bucket I'll spend my life stuck doing business crap for a company I
don't really care about." He admitted with a sigh.
Bucky frowned. "Not what I asked. Asked what do you wanna do." He clarified.
"Don't really have a choice, Buck. Why should it matter?" Tony said flatly.
"If you did?" Bucky pressed.
"Never though about it. I guess doing things like this don't seem too bad.
Being a field agent, right in the middle of the action. But I'm not really
built for it. Awful at taking orders, not too great at combat, too small to
really be menacing, you know. All variable factors that SHIELD would consider."
He said with a deep sigh. Admittedly, Tony had thought about these things
before, and had come to the conclusion he'd make an awful agent.
Bucky arched an eyebrow. "You're not doin' t'bad with me and HYDRA." The
assassin pointed out.
Tony rolled his eyes. "Luck. I've been surviving and keeping you alive by the
skin of my teeth. All joking aside, if it weren't for you, I'd probably be
dead." Tony admitted, sitting up and hugging his knees.
"And I'd still be some HYDRA lab rat if it weren't for you. Don't underestimate
yourself. You'd make a good undercover double agent. Charmin', easy t'like,
unpredictable. All good traits 'f an agent." Bucky insisted.
Tony smirked slowly. "Oh I'm charming now?" Bucky's cheeks flushed red. "You
know, now that I know that I know you like dudes, I might actually take your
flirting to heart." Tony winked.
Bucky scowled at the floor. "Shuddup." He mumbled.
"Aw, come on now. Don't pout, you look too cute."  Tony made a face.
Bucky stopped scowling, and a ghost of a smile flickered across his face. "And
here you say I'm th' one flirtin'." Bucky smirked slightly.
Tony grinned. "I'm the son of a playboy. It's in my DNA." He said offhandedly.
"Excuses." 
Tony shifted and sat on his knees, and leaned towards Bucky, getting as close
as he dared, so there was about a foot of space between their faces. "Maybe.
But do you blame me? You're hot, built like a brick wall, and saved my life.
You're my knight with a shining arm." Tony leered, not breaking eye contact.
Bucky was breathing harshly, and had an unreadable expression.
"Tony," He started. "You're not even a legal adult. Whatever you're thinking
about..." His voice became commanding and firm.
"And if I were? Buckeroo, you're like what, ninety something? I think age is
irrelevant." Tony smirked.
"Don't matter, you're not." Bucky put his foot down. Tony scowled slightly, and
leaned in closer.
"You're no fun." Tony pouted. He gave the bridge of Bucky's nose a quick lick,
then threw himself back into the bed, sprawled out across the pale sheets.
Bucky immediately reached up and rubbed his nose. "The hell was that?" He
demanded. Tony shrugged. Bucky's scowl softened a bit, but he still looked a
bit pissed.
"You-" Bucky cut himself off, and looked around, shoulders tense. Tony
recognized the look as the same one he had the first time HYDRA had come for
them. Tony didn't bother to ask, and leapt up, shoving his laptop in his bag
and throwing it over his shoulder. Bucky grabbed the gun from the back pocket
and cocked it. 
"Stay by me, if you aren't in an arm's length, you're too far." Bucky growled.
Tony nodded and stuck to Bucky's side.
They the door was kicked down, and all hell broke loose. There was a volley of
bullets, and Bucky pulled him behind the counter-top, shooting back. Tony
considered hitting the button on his watch to turn it into a gauntlet, but he
figured Bucky just wanted him to stay down.
"желание!" One of the HYDRA agents shouted, and Bucky froze, color draining
from his face.
"ржавый!" Tony realized they were Bucky's trigger words, and Bucky kept
mumbling 'no', being of little help.
"семнадцать!" Bucky was having a full blown panic attack, shaking and breathing
hard. Tony paled when he realized he was going to have to handle this on his
own.
"рассвет!" Tony pressed the button on his watch, and red metal and tech sprang
out, wrapping around his hand. Tony ripped the gun from Bucky's shaking hands,
then stood up, firing.
He pointed his gauntlet at the man shouting the words, blasting him with a
repulsor beam, effectively blasting the man through the wall. Tony only managed
to shot three bullets until he ran out, and relied on his gauntlet. It was
powerful, sure, but there were too many men. Tony was vaguely aware of his own
scream of pain as a bullet hit his arm. He came to the acceptance that he had
failed Bucky. HYDRA was going to get them, pull them apart. He was going to be
brainwashed, and turned into a HYDRA soldier like Bucky. And Bucky. Bucky was
going to have to go through it again. Tony felt fear grasp him.
Then Bucky came out from behind the counter, and began to quite literally tear
men apart. It was animalistic, he literally crushed skulls with his bare hands
and ripped limbs off of them, until the entire room was a bloodbath. Soon
enough, Tony and Bucky were the only ones left alive and standing.
"Bucky?" Tony asked timidly, still slightly shaking. The man spun around and
faced him, eyes livid, and posture tight. Bucky looked Tony up and down, as if
trying to decide if Tony was a threat or not. It dawned on Tony. "Winter
Soldier." 
Bucky -no, the Winter Soldier- grabbed a gun from one of the dead HYDRA men and
pointed it at Tony. Tony held up his hands, knowing that they were shaking.
"Hey, hey, hey. I'm unarmed. I can't hurt you. I promise, I'm on your side.
Tony, remember? I want to help." Tony said quickly, trying to keep his voice
even. The Winter Soldier only glared harder and flicked his eyes to the
gauntlet, then back to Tony's face. "This? Taking it off. I'm taking it off,
see?" Tony said, moving slowly as he slid it off of his hand, then tossed it
onto the counter, purposely out of his reach to be less of a threat.
"You. Hot-wire car?" The Winter Soldier growled.
Tony nodded. "Yeah. Yes, I can hot-wire a car. Any car you need." He assured.
The Winter Soldier snatched up the gauntlet and shoved it in his pocket, then
grabbed Tony's arm. Tony was half dragged to the window that had already been
broken open. Tony was then thrown over the Winter Soldier's shoulder, and the
assassin jumped out of the window and onto the fire escape. It was a blur to
Tony, just the world moving around him, as his head spun from blood loss.
Then they stopped in front of a car that the Winter Soldier ripped the door off
of. Tony scrambled forward and made quick work of hot-wiring it. It took him a
few minutes, considering he could barely see straight, but he got the car
working. The teen climbed over to the passengers' side, figuring the older man
would want to drive. The Winter Soldier slid in beside Tony, and gunned it. The
car flew down the road like some action movie.
Tony didn't bother to check if they were being followed, he figured his
companion could handle that. Instead he checked his rapidly bleeding arm. The
bullet had gone in one side and came out the other, which had the benefit of a
bullet not being in his arm, but the negative effect of two holes he was
bleeding from. It didn't seem to have hit bone, but certainly wasn't
superficial either. Tony knew he should wrap something around his arm to stop
the bleeding. He knew he should do something. But his arm screamed with pain,
and his heart pounded too fast to comprehend anything else. Tony didn't even
bother to fight the darkness that blurred his vision. He wasn't strong enough,
had no idea what he was doing. And besides, it was probably going to be easier
for the Winter Soldier to lug him around if he was unconscious. Hopefully Bucky
came back soon enough to tend to his injuries. Tony felt his eyes roll into the
back of his head, and let the darkness  sweep over him.
Chapter End Notes
     I feel like it's the biggest writing cop-out ever to end a chapter
     with someone passing out. So naturally, that's what I did. If it's of
     any condolence, next chapter will have Winter Soldier pov. *wink
     wink*
***** Chapter 7 *****
Chapter Notes
     I'm here! And as I promised, here's some Winter POV! I was conflicted
     on how to write him, but I tried to imagine myself in that situation,
     and just went with it. Enjoy!
See the end of the chapter for more notes
The Winter Soldier pressed his foot against the gas pedal. The car flew down
the streets. HYDRA tailed them, but no cars came too close to take direct
action. He drove, taking methodical turns down streets. He glanced over to the
boy. He had passed out. Bullet wound, left bicep. Fatal if not treated. The
Winter Soldier scowled. He would be slowed down if he saved the boy. 
The tires screeched as the car slammed to a halt. Abandoned building. Multiple
possible exits. Zero threats. He picked up the boy, slung him over his
shoulder, then walked into the building. The Winter Soldier found a room and
threw the boy onto a table. He tore away the clothing on the boy's upper half.
He searched the black bag. First Aid Kit. At least the boy wasn't completely
mindless.
The Winter Soldier methodically sewed both the entry and exit wound shut,
disinfected it, then bandaged it. He checked the boy's pulse. Weak. Slow. But
present. Blood loss was excessive, though survival is the expected outcome.
Current state, unconscious. Should be expected to wake in a few hours, if not,
should be manually roused.
The Winter Soldier hummed. Eccentric. Unpredictable. Emotional. Prideful. Kind
hearted. Strengths include genius level intellect, relentlessness, quick
thinking, technical capability, personality. Weaknesses include physical size,
lack of combat skills, Howard Stark, self destructiveness, rebellious
tendencies. Threat level dependent on situation. Current threat level, very
low. The boy was a bit of a confusing situation for the Winter Soldier. No
current mission, no forced need to comply, no immediate threat. The entire
situation confused him. Why had this boy broken him out? The boy liked James,
and James liked the boy, which was a weakness. The boy was a threat to the
Winter Soldier by being a weakness to James, however termination of the boy
would only further the problem. The boy had been compliant to the Winter
Soldier, but he was unpredictable, so nothing was to be assumed.
The Winter Soldier frowned and paced, his eyes scanning the room hazardously.
He didn't have a mission. Therefore he had no immediate use. Why was he present
then? James hadn't truly been in control since before the Winter Soldier
existed, would he not want to keep a strong grip on said control? James was
scared of the Winter Soldier, scared of HYDRA, scared of the code words. He
supposed that was why James had let him back in control. The Winter Soldier was
not afraid. He was tactical, built and bred to fight any enemy. HYDRA did not
scare him, but rather controlled him. The Winter Soldier supposed he didn't
like being controlled, as it was human nature to feel such, but he had never
existed without the claws of HYDRA firmly dug into the fabric of his mind.
Therefore he was lost, and confused. And, that, did scare him, slightly.
He continued to pace, his eyes constantly surfing the room for threats. Time
passed, though it didn't affect the Winter Soldier. He had waited for days for
a target. Time was not a nuisance. Within a few hours, as predicted, the boy
woke up with a groan. The Winter Soldier didn't hesitate to pull out the gun
and point it at the waking boy.
As soon as the boy saw the gun pointed at him, he held up his shaking hands.
"Hey. Winter Soldier. Winter, can I call you that? Can I call you Winter?" The
boy asked slowly. The assassin tightened his finger on the trigger and cocked
the gun, ignoring the question. The boy paled and started to shake. "Winter.
I... I don't want to hurt you, okay? I'm trying to help. I'm Tony, Tony Stark.
I don't work for HYDRA or SHIELD, or anyone. I just want to help, okay? You
bandaged my arm? Thank you. I-I appreciate that. C-Can you still be nice to me?
Put the gun down?" The boy, Tony, asked. His voice was shaking and sounded
terrified.
Winter slowly lowered the gun, and the kid almost cried with relief. "Why?" He
asked, his voice rough.
Tony frowned slightly. "Why? Why what, Winter?" He asked slowly.
"Why do you want to help?" Winter growled.
Tony nodded. "Ah. Because... I think you're a good person. You can be a good
person. I... I want you to be able to be your own person, without HYDRA
controlling you." He explained.
Winter frowned. No one had ever wanted to help him before, only use him. Maybe
James was right about liking this boy. That didn't mean Winter trusted him
however. further analysis was needed. Double agent status was a probability.
"I should kill you." Winter thought out loud.
To Winter's slight surprise, Tony nodded again, face grave. "Probably. I'm a
hinderance to your escape, assuming escape is even what you want. It wouldn't
be hard. You're a super soldier, and I'm an injured kid. It would probably take
you less than two seconds to snap that gun up and shoot me in the head. But...
will you?" Tony asked, tilting his head to the side, giving Winter an
unreadable look.
Winter tilted his head to the side. That wasn't an expected answer. Tony was
expected to beg, most of his victims begged. Tony had shown fear before, but
hadn't begged. The boy seemed afraid, but wistful at facing his death. That
truly befuddled Winter. What sort of person did not beg for life? Tony was a
mystery to Winter, and Winter didn't like that.
"No." Winter growled. The boy was a hinderance, but occasionally helpful. He
was also... intriguing. Now that he had the ability to make his own choices,
he... wanted to keep the boy alive. He didn't understand want or emotions. He
was a soldier, not a human being. These things did not belong in his head.
Except, it wasn't his head. It was James' head. Winter was the intruder on a
man, a human being who did experience emotions. A human who did not deserve the
Winter Soldier inside of his head. Winter felt his heart pound. Now that he
could think independently, guilt washed over him. No, you are the Winter
Soldier. You do not experience emotion. You were made to comply. The voices of
the scientists and agents who had used him echoed in his mind. Winter let out a
cry of pain and clutched his pounding head. This didn't make sense. He was the
asset, not a human being. He did not deserve these feelings. But he did not
want to go back to how it was before. He did not want to be controlled.
Winter was unaware that he had fallen to his knees, breathing harshly and
whimpering, until he felt the boy touch his shoulder. Winter looked up to see
Tony on one knee before him, eyes filled with concern.
"Winter?" Tony's voice felt far away. Winter didn't understand. What was
happening? He vaguely felt Tony grab Winter's flesh hand and press it against
the younger's chest. "Winter, can you feel me breathing? Can you try to match
it? Breath with me, Winter. You can do it, I know you can. In and out, nice and
slow. Breath with me, Winter. You can do this. Just breath." Tony's voice was
calm and soothing, patience radiating from it. Winter grit his teeth, but
listened to the boy. It was an order. He could follow orders. Winter knew how
to follow orders. He would take orders from Tony.
When Winter had sufficiently calmed down, he slowly felt the world tilt back
into focus around him. He blinked a few times, then stared at Tony, who still
looked calm and concerned. "What was that?" Winter demanded, his voice small.
Tony offered a tight smile. "It's called a panic attack. They suck, I know,
trust me. Your head starts going too fast, and everything is too much, right?
Your body doesn't know how to react to the onslaught of fear and chemicals
running around in your head, so you start shaking, sweating. It gets hard to
breath, and everything shuts down. Your heart pounds, and it feels like you
can't breathe. They suck ass, but they don't last forever. Eventually, they
end." Tony explained slowly, being patient and caring.
Winter nodded slowly. "Does... everyone have... panic attacks?" He asked
slowly.
Tony shook his head. "No, not everyone. A lot of people do though. Mostly
people who suffer from an anxiety disorder." He said softly.
"Do you?" Winter asked.
The boy pursed his lips. "Yes, I do." He said, his voice small.
"Why?" Winter asked.
Tony sighed and slowly adjusted himself so he was sitting cross legged on the
floor. Winter took this as a social cue to do the same. "A lot of reasons.
Normally I'm convinced I'm not good enough, and get scared that I'm just
destined to be a failure of a human being. Howard sets me off too, sometimes."
Tony admitted.
Winter frowned. "Howard?"
"My father, Howard Stark." Tony explained.
Winter scowled. Weren't fathers supposed to be caring? He didn't know a lot
about family, but why would a parent cause their child such pain? Winter didn't
like panic attacks. Tony didn't seem to like them either. "Why?" 
Tony frowned, seeming to try to understand the question. "Why does Howard give
me panic attacks?" Winter nodded. "Oh. Well, he doesn't mean to. Not that he
would really care if he knew I had them, he would just use it as a reason to
call me weak." Tony tilted his head back and sighed. "Howard... well, I don't
know how much you know about fathers, but Howard isn't a good dad. He
constantly tells me I'm not good enough, makes me hate myself. He calls me a
coward, says I'm a failure of a human being. He... he hits me sometimes, not
badly though. And he chokes me too. But it's not that bad, I mean, it could be
worse. Just sometimes after yelling at me or getting physical with me, I run to
my room and can't help having a panic attack." Tony sounded uncomfortable
talking about it, but still told Winter anyways. Winter wondered why.
"Your father hurts you?" Winter asked, his voice having a slight growl that
made Tony flinch.
"Yeah. See the bruise on my cheek? It's from his ring, when he slapped me a few
days ago." Tony pointed out. Winter flicked his eyes to the yellowing
coloration on Tony's cheek. He didn't stop himself from lifting a hand to brush
his fingers over it gently.
"Why do you let him?" Winter growled.
Tony shrugged. "Don't really have a choice, Winter. He's bigger and stronger
than me. And even if he wasn't, people see him as a god. He's a SHIELD agent,
the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company that he built from the ground. No one
would ever believe that Howard Stark would hit or scream at his own son." Tony
said, his voice pained.
Winter cupped Tony's cheek. He didn't know the boy very well, but he felt a
fierce fire burning inside of him that told him to protect Tony. Maybe James
was right. "Who helps you? When you have a panic attack?" Winter asked.
Tony blinked. "No one. I mean, my friend named Pepper who caught me a few times
helped, but most of the time I'm on my own." Tony admitted.
"How do you stop?" Winter was confused. He wouldn't have been able to calm down
if Tony hadn't helped him. How could Tony manage it?
"Practice. You get used to them. I have coping methods. They aren't entirely
healthy, but they work." Tony shrugged.
Winter cocked his head. "What are they?" 
Tony flinched, then held up a shaking left arm. There were cuts dragging across
his small forearm. Winter brushed his metal fingers against the angry red
lines. "I... hurt myself. It's called self harm. I, ah, it's hard to explain.
But a part of me feels like I deserve pain, deserve to hurt. So when I feel
pain, I can focus on that. And the world slows down, and I feel like I can
function. It's... peaceful, sort of, I guess." Tony sounded awkward and
uncomfortable as he explained the peculiar practice to Winter.
Winter didn't process pain well. He registered it, knew it was there, but it
didn't affect him. To him it was no different than pleasure. Just a sensation
in his body to be brushed aside. Winter frowned. "I don't understand."
"That's okay. Most people don't. There are a lot of things in the world we
don't really understand. It's best to just accept them, and accept that we may
never really understand." Tony's smile was small and sad, and it made Winter's
chest hurt. Did all people feel physical pain when they were emotionally
distraught? Winter filed that question away to ask Tony later.
"You... shouldn't feel pain. Don't deserve it." Winter insisted.
Tony's smile only looked sadder as he shook his head and laughed softly.
"You're gonna have a hard time convincing me of that one, Winter." Winter
scowled. Then he understood. This must be his mission. His mission was to make
Tony happy, and keep Tony safe. Convince Tony that he didn't deserve pain. Tony
was good, Winter decided he liked Tony. Winter nodded to himself.
"What's going on in that head of yours, Winter?" Tony asked, an eyebrow raised.
"You are my mission. Keep Tony safe." Winter growled firmly.
Tony actually laughed, and the sound was nice. Winter liked that too. "If you
say so, Winter."
Chapter End Notes
     I said I would have this chapter up by today. It may be less than an
     hour from midnight, but fuck it, it counts. Don't judge me.
***** Chapter 8 *****
Chapter Notes
     Awe, this chapter is cute. Almost too cute. Jesus, what put me in
     such a happy go lucky mood to write this.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Tony was scared shitless. Sitting cross legged in front of him was a mass
murderer, someone who probably could kill Tony in over hundred different ways
with a blink of an eye. So yeah, Tony figured he had every right to be scared
shitless. But at the same time, Winter was like a kid. Didn't understand much
about how the world worked, and seemed scared, but curious. Tony had to admit,
that was kind of adorable. Yeah, terrifying and adorable. That was how Tony saw
Winter.
"So where are we?" Tony asked, looking around.
Winter's eyes flicked around as well, calculating. "Abandoned building." He
said gruffly.
Tony groaned. "Great. I've seen enough of those to last a lifetime. I'm cold."
He whined, visibly pouting.
Winter tilted his head to the side slightly, then picked up Tony (who may or
may not have squeaked in surprise) and situated Tony into his lap, then began
rubbing Tony's fingers gently. "Excessive blood loss. Chances of hypothermia
high." Winter mumbled, sounding robotic. Tony wouldn't admit to snuggling into
Winter for warmth.
"Ah." Tony squeaked out. "You're fucking warm. Like, is that a super soldier
thing? You're incapable of getting cold?" He asked, rhetorically.
"I get cold." Winter mumbled. "I... register cold, but don't experience it,
like regular people." Winter whispered looking sad, his voice pained.
Tony squirmed and wiggled around until he could turn his head to face Winter
while still sitting in the man's lap. He hoped to god that he wasn't crossing a
line when he gently reached up and cupped Winter's jaw. "Hey, look at me. No,
you're not normal. I won't try to say you are. But you're still human. Maybe
you don't really feel cold or other sensations, but you still feel the more
important things, like emotions. You must at least somewhat like me,
considering you haven't shot me yet." Tony offered a crooked smile. "So maybe
you don't get cold, but you still know how to feel. Maybe you don't understand
it, but that's okay. No one really does." Tony finished his speech, feeling
satisfied that he was being all deep and inspiring.
A smile flickered across Winter's features. "I like you." He said softly.
Tony smiled. "I like you too, big guy."
Winter's eyes flickered with emotion, and his facial expression changed a few
times, making Tony raise an eyebrow slightly. "You're pretty." Winter finally
said, his cheeks flushed red. Tony felt himself blush as well.
"Well you aren't bad looking yourself." Tony teased. A ghost of a shy smile
graced Winter's face.
"Tony?" Winter whispered, his expression looking slightly frightful.
"Yeah?" Tony raised his eyebrows.
"Why do I want to kiss you?" Winter asked, his voice dead serious, head tilted
to the side.
Tony blinked. Well he wasn't expecting that. He searched for an answer in his
head, opening and closing his mouth stupidly. "Because you, ah, you like me.
But not in a regular 'friend' like way, but in... more of a romantic way." Tony
tried to explain slowly, trying to be patient and have his brain not blank out.
"Do you like me romantically?" Winter asked.
Tony closed his eyes. He could do this. He had faced off big HYDRA people with
guns. He could do feelings. He could totally do this. "Winter... I'm not saying
I don't, I'm saying... that well, I've known you less than twenty four hours.
And you're new to all of this stuff, and I don't want you to rush through it or
fall for the first person who helps you, even if it's just me. So I think you
should try to take your feelings slowly, okay? There are a lot of people worth
falling for better than me." He forced out, giving a tight smile.
Winter frowned. "Didn't answer my question." He seemed to think for a moment.
"You're wrong. You're a good person. Don't want anyone else. I like Tony."
Winter insisted, scowling.
"Fine. To answer your question, I guess I do. But I'm young, and no one really
shows much real interest in me, so I'm likely to fall for anyone who genuinely
likes me. So I'm no better at my feelings than you are." Tony said.
Winter leaned forward. "Can I kiss you?" He said, ignoring most of what Tony
said.
"Well, I mean, I would like it, but you probably shouldn't. You deserve
better." Tony repeated, blushing again.
Winter seemed to take that as a yes, or at least whatever translated as a yes
in his head, and dipped his head forward to give Tony a tentative kiss.
Granted, Tony was seventeen and the son of a playboy, so it naturally wasn't
his first kiss, and considering Winter didn't have much experience, wasn't his
best kiss either. But, it was still a fantastic kiss. The type of kiss that
instead of making his groin stir, it make his toes tingle and his chest warm.
Tony smiled when they pulled away.
Winter smiled, and while he looked like Bucky when he did, there was still
something about him that made it clear to Tony that it was Winter, not Bucky in
control. Tony smiled back shyly.
"This is nice. Could almost make a guy forget he's being hunted by HYDRA." Tony
joked, but Winter tensed at the H-word. "Hey, just a joke, big guy, it's okay."
Tony soothed. Winter relaxed a bit.
"Need to stay on the move. Avoid them." Winter decided, standing up. Tony
squeaked with surprise when Winter picked Tony up, holding the teen with one
arm as though it were nothing.
"Where do you suggest, Winter?" Tony asked. Winter grabbed Tony's bag, sweeping
the first aid kit back into it then throwing it over his shoulder.
"Anywhere but here." Winter growled. "Car is trackable. Need a new one." He
said as he started to carry Tony out of the building.
Tony groaned. "Oh come on, does that mean we have to steal another car? This'll
be like, the third one, and I haven't even been in Russia for a week." Tony
complained.
Winter gave him a hard glare. "Need to get out of Russia." Winter mumbled,
seeming to be talking to himself.
Tony snorted. "Then get me a plane." He said sarcastically.
Winter seemed to be actually considering it. "You fly a plane?" He asked.
Tony stared at him as Winter went on a hunt for an unoccupied car. "Winter, I
wasn't serious. I mean yes, I can fly a jet, but we aren't stealing a plane."
Tony said firmly. He was slightly concerned by Winter ignoring him. 
Winter found a car and reached forward to rip the door off.
"Hey hey hey!" Tony stopped him. "Driving down the road with the doors ripped
off is a bit suspicious, Winter. Let me jimmy the lock." Tony said quickly.
Winter scowled, but set Tony down. Tony picked the lock, and hotwired the car
in less than five minutes. He climbed over to the passenger side, wincing when
he put too much weight on his shot arm. 
Winter got in and started the car, his gaze lingering on Tony. "You okay?" 
Tony nodded, forcing a smile. "Never better. Let's go. Off to... somewhere, I
guess. Vámonos."
Chapter End Notes
     And Winter gets his first kiss. Okay, it's adorable. Also sorry this
     chapter is kind of short, but it has fluff to make up for it.
***** Chapter 9 *****
Chapter Notes
     *crawls out of grave* *spits up dirt*
     I'm back! Well, shit. This took FOREVER. Fuck life. First writer's
     block, then I finally was like 'I GOT IT' and then life was like
     'fuck you =D' and shit hit the fan. Long story short, I wanted this
     done on Monday, then I ended up busy until now. Classes start in less
     than a week, so updates may be slower, especially considering I'm
     applying for a job as well. Hopefully once a week, on Thursdays
     maybe, this'll be updated. Until then, *rereads what I wrote* *ducks*
     don't kill me.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Tony sat quietly in the car as Winter drove, neither of them really having a
destination. Tony looked out the window at the passing cities and towns,
blanketed with snow. Was it always snowing in Russia? Not like Tony knew. All
he knew was that he was cold, and he wished he could be back in the States.
Winter cried out in pain, almost swerving off the road. Tony jumped and tense,
looking around. He frowned when he saw no immediate danger.
"Winter?" Tony questioned, studying the pained man.
"James. Trying to take control." Winter growled, rubbing his head.
"Pull over." Tony ordered. Winter ignored him. "Winter, pull over!" Tony
snapped. This time, the man listened, and stopped the car at the side of the
road.
Winter clutched his head, doing a mixture of growling and whimpering. He
started mumbling in Russian, sounding almost afraid.
Tony touched his arm. "Winter, hey, look at me." Tony said in a smooth voice,
trying to keep his control.  Winter slowly looked at Tony, his eyes wide with
fear. "Hey, Winter, breath. Can you breath for me? Just relax, it's okay." Tony
soothed, rubbing Winter's arm.
"James will take control." Winter growled, refusing to relax.
"That's okay. You've done all the hard work, and you did such a good job. Let
Bucky out, okay? He deserves to have a turn too. Let him do some of the hard
work." Tony whispered, keeping his voice soft and gentle.
"I'm afraid." Winter whimpered.
"Of what?" Tony asked softly.
Winter let out another painful sound. "Not being able to come back." Winter
admitted.
Tony sighed. "Winter, I promise you'll come back. You and Bucky will share your
body, and you'll both have your turns, I promise. But for now, let Bucky have
his turn, okay?" Tony persuaded.
Winter stared at him. "See Tony again?" He asked desperately.
"Yes, you'll see me again, I promise." Tony whispered, rubbing his arm.
Winter let out a sigh, and slowly relaxed his body. There was a moment of
twitching, followed by extensive cussing in a Brooklyn accent.
"What the fucking hell? Where, where are we?" Bucky demanded, once he caught
sight of Tony.
Tony looked around. "A car?" Bucky glared at him. "A car in Russia?" The glare
didn't falter. "Okay, that's seriously all I got." Tony shrugged, holding up
his hands in defense.
Bucky sighed, rubbing his temples. "What happened?" He asked quietly.
"Your alter ego made a visit." Tony supplied.
Bucky arched an eyebrow. "What?"
"The Winter Soldier? Well, I kinda started calling him Winter, because 'The
Winter Soldier' is a bit of a mouthful." Tony explained.
Bucky blinked. "He... he can come out? Without the codewords?" He asked
quietly.
Tony nodded. "Well, I think you forced him out. We got ambushed, and some HYDRA
dick started the codewords. He didn't finish, I blasted him through a wall, but
when you came back up, you were Winter."
"He didn't try to kill you?" BUcky said incredulously.
"Well... he sort of pointed a gun at me and thought about it, but he also
bandaged my arm and probably saved my life, so I guess it's a give and take
thing." Tony said nonchalantly.
"Oh." Bucky said dumbly.
"So... you don't remember a thing?" Tony asked. "Not even like glimpses?"
Bucky shook his head. "Last thing I remember is HYDRA in the hotel. It's like I
was just teleported here, it doesn't even feel like there's a gap." Bucky
admitted. Tony resisted the urge to purse his lips. That means Bucky didn't
know Tony kissed Winter. Tony didn't know how he felt about that, or whether it
was a good or bad thing. For now, Tony had to remind himself that Winter and
Bucky were two different people, and he had to differentiate his feelings for
the two, like any other two people.
Tony faked a smile, hoping his practice of having to do it for the cameras was
good enough for fooling Bucky. "Well don't worry Terminator, you didn't miss
anything big. Winter killed a shit ton of HYDRA dicks, found some abandoned
building, bandaged my shot arm, and then hijacked this car with no real
destination. Then he started having headaches and freaking out and bam,
suddenly it was you." Tony glossed over too many details, but he knew it was
for the best.
Bucky considered it for a moment. "That makes sense." He paused, thinking.
"Does... does this mean that Winter can take control? Whenever?" Bucky sounded
slightly panicked.
Tony frowned. He had meant his promise to Winter, but at the same time, didn't
want to freak Bucky out. "I... I think he has the ability to, but it's still
your head. You... you may have to get used to sharing your time out." Tony said
carefully.
"I don't want a mass murderer in control of my body." Bucky ground out.
Tony sighed. "He's really not, though. He's like a kid. Doesn't understand
much, confused, and scared. He's alone. I'm trying to be nice to him, and he's
just not a bad guy. If you met him, you wouldn't even know he was a killer.
You'd think he was a kid trapped in your body." Tony tried to explain, trying
to make Bucky a bit more comfortable with the idea of Winter.
Bucky only scowled. "I just don't fucking like it. I can hear his voice in my
head everytime I fight, telling me what to do. I can hear him warning me
everytime he thinks I make a stupid decision. It's hard to accept that the
voice in my head, is just a kid." Bucky snarled.
"I don't know what you want me to say, Buck. I can't change it. The best you
can do is accept it." Tony said softly.
"How would you fucking feel if there was a killer in your head?!" Bucky
snapped, glaring at Tony.
Tony flinched, feeling his head speed up. "Bucky, I'm sorry. I don't
understand, I won't pretend I do. I'm just trying to help." Tony said, fighting
to keep his voice even. 
"Fuck your help! Fuck all of this!" Bucky screamed, digging his fingernails
into his own skin. "I should've fucking died! When I fell, I should've died!"
Tony shrunk in on himself. "I'm sorry." He said softly, his voice barely
audible. "Mi dispiace." (I'm sorry)
Bucky finally looked at Tony, and calmed down. "Tony? Are you alright?" Bucky
asked, his voice gentler.
"S-sto bene." (I'm fine) Tony mumbled.
"Tony, guarda me. Non ti farò del male. Mi dispiace per urlare. Non è colpa
tua." (Tony, look at me. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm sorry for yelling. It's
not your fault.) Bucky said, his voice gentle and soothing.
Tony slowly looked at Bucky, calming his own breathing. "Mi dispiace." (I'm
sorry.)
Bucky opened his mouth to say something, but something slammed into their car.
Tony screamed as it tumbled down into a snowbank, the car spinning around.
"Bucky!" Tony screamed. Had it not been a dire situation, Tony would've made a
joke about how cliche it was, but right now, he had more pressing matters.
"желание!" A voice shouted. 
Tony widened his eyes. "Not again, not again, not again. Bucky, cover your
damned ears!" Tony shouted as he pushed his door open. The car was now upside
down, and it took awkward crawling and maneuvering to get himself out.
"ржавый! семнадцать!"
"No no no no, Bucky come on! We need to move!" Tony grabbed Bucky's arm,
dragging the man out of the car. Bucky was paralyzed with fear, but a few hard
yanks had him free. Adrenaline, Tony thought in the back of his head.
Tony started to force Bucky away, but he was grabbed by HYDRA agents. He
screamed, fighting. They had his arms, and he couldn't get any of his tech. His
watch was still in Bucky's pocket.
"рассвет! печь! девять!"
They were halfway through. Tony kept kicking and screaming, trying to grab one
of the agent's gun. He thanked god he was small and agile, able to wiggle out
of people's grip.
"доброкачественный! возвращение на родину! один!"
Tony fought, but couldn't help but watch in horror as Bucky kept shaking,
looking terrified. Tony wanted so desperately to break free and run over to
him, cover his ears, hold him, comfort him.
"грузовой вагон!"
Bucky froze, his expression going blank. Tony stared in horror. He stopped
struggling.  His entire focus was on Bucky, heart roaring in his ears, unable
to hear anything else.
"Soldier?"
Bucky pushed himself to his feet, his expression still terrifyingly blank.
"Готов к выполнению." (Ready to comply)
Tony felt tears starting to fall. He didn't resist when a needle sank into his
neck. The last thing he saw before darkness took over his vision was Bucky,
ready to comply.
Chapter End Notes
     Author's writing style: Attack from HYDRA. Escape. Attack. Escape.
     Attack. CAPTURE. I'm evil. And repetitive. Don't worry. It'll get
     better.
***** Chapter 10 *****
Chapter Notes
     Fucking hell. I was going to write this on Thursday, then got hit
     with a shit storm. But on the bright side, I had a bit more time to
     plan this out, and changed my plans for this chapter a bit, but I
     like this version better. And trust me, my other version was so much
     more angsty.
     For anyone who read the note at the beginning of Chap 1, I am editing
     it a slight bit, only so that Hulk isn't an Avenger in this universe
     at this point. Because well, you'll see.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Tony winced, blinking the blur out of his vision. Oh, shit. Well now he wished
he hadn't woken up, remembering how he got to where he was.
He glanced around. He had his arms chained above his head, so high he had to
stand on his tiptoes to take the pressure off of his aching shoulders. Tony
winced. He was cold. He was also missing his shirt, or any top. Well at least
that made sense. The room Tony was in was cold and dank, like a typical cell
should be. There was only one exit, and it had a guard. Tony squinted. It
had Bucky. Still in Winter Soldier mode, guarding Tony's door. HYDRA had a
fucking sick sense of humor.
The door opened, and Winter stepped aside to let someone in, a HYDRA agent.
"Mister Stark." He greeted with a shit eating grin. Tony glowered at him,
refusing to answer. "HYDRA is glad to have you in our hands, you have made some
things a bit... problematic" The agent's smile twisted sourly.
"Go fuck yourself." Tony snarled. A fist connected with his jaw. Tony swore
under his breath, tasting blood in his mouth.
"We're going to have to teach you proper respect when we break you." The agent
mused. "HYDRA has decided that you are going to be put through a program very
similar to Project Winter Soldier, however you'll be the asset's assistant." He
smiled cruelly.
Tony balled up his fists. "Like hell I will. You're insane if you think you'll
be able to keep me caged here like an animal." He growled.
The agent laughed. "The Winter Soldier said similar things when he was first
brought to HYDRA, and look where he is now." He gestured. "However, HYDRA does
recognize that you are rather resourceful." He pulled out a gun and shot Tony
in the kneecap. Tony screamed. "As you can see, we're taking proper measures to
prevent your escape." He smiled darkly and the gun was pressed against Tony's
stomach. "If you do not survive this until a doctor comes, then no matter, it
just means you aren't strong enough for HYDRA." He shrugged, and pulled the
trigger again. Tony didn't scream, his mouth only fell open with shock. He was
punched in his ribcage, making him groan. "Hail HYDRA." The agent left.
Tony was limp in the chains, watching blood paint his stomach and hips. He
hazily looked up at Winter. "Winter." He called out weakly. The Soldier turned
and faced him, but his expression was vacant. Tony winced in pain. "Winter,
please. Do you remember me? Tony, right? Come on Winter, you have to snap out
of this." Tony begged. Winter tilted his head to the side, and something
flickered in his eyes, but he didn't move. "Winter, remember -nngh- remember
when you kissed me? When you bandaged my arm? Come on, I know you have it in
you, you can remember me." Tony coaxed. Winter groaned, and clutched his head,
then he looked back at Tony. His eyes went wide.
"Tony." He strangled out. 
"Yeah, hi." Tony said, smiling.
Winter immediately moved, breaking the cuffs off of Tony's wrists, and catching
Tony when he fell. "You're hurt." Winter said, alarmed. "Don't know how to fix
this." He said, running his fingers over Tony's stomach.
"It's okay. Just get us out of here, then we can find a doctor, okay?" Tony
asked, voice strained. Winter slowly nodded, and picked Tony up bridal style.
He kicked down the door, and Tony could barely focus as they moved down
hallways quickly.
Once they were back outside, Tony vaguely felt himself being shoved into a car.
"Winter... where are we going?" He mumbled, his vision blurring.
"Hospital." Winter ground out.
Tony shook his head. They couldn't go there, HYDRA would know to look there
first, and if someone recognized Tony, it'd be disastrous. He snapped his eyes
open. "No, Winter! I have a better idea." Tony said more clearly, and Winter
glanced over at him. "There's this guy, a doctor that SHIELD keeps tabs on. He
travels around, but he was last in Russia. If he's still here, I remember the
coordinates."
 
===============================================================================
 
Bruce quietly organized his tools. He was in a low profile, low rent apartment.
He only planned to be in Russia for a few more weeks, before moving again.
There were more places that he could go to that would need his help, and
besides, it'd keep the government off his tail.
Granted, he wished he didn't have to do this, live on the run. But it was so
much better than the alternative. Letting the government lock him up and use
him as a weapon they didn't even know the full capacity of. Bruce shuddered at
the thought.
The room was peacefully silent, so when there was a bang of the door being
kicked down, Bruce wasn't ashamed that he screamed a little. In and out. In and
out. He reminded himself. He couldn't freak out, he didn't want a visit from
The Other Guy. But having someone break in wasn't good. It was bad. Very
bad.Was it the government? Had Ross found him? Was SHIELD going to badger him
again?
Bruce frowned when a guy, big and muscular, wearing combat clothing, stormed in
carrying a teenager. The guy plunked the teen down on Bruce's table. Bruce
winced. The kid had a swollen jaw, bruising ribs, and what looked like gunshots
in his kneecap and stomach, and he looked barely conscious.
"Fix him." The guy growled, glaring at Bruce.
"Winter, be nice." The boy slurred, sounding half delirious. Bruce frowned,
looking closer at the mangled and ragged boy. Fucking christ, was that Tony
Stark? Bruce prayed to god it wasn't Tony Stark.
Bruce stared at them. "Who are you? You can't just-" He started, trying to
keeping himself calm. In and out.
"Fix. Him." The guy repeated, this time pulling out a gun and pointing it at
Bruce's head. Bruce closed his eyes for a moment. In and out.
Bruce looked down at the boy. He knew this was wrong on so many levels, but
still. He was a doctor, and even if he wasn't a surgeon -which was clearly what
the kid needed- it was still his duty to help. And besides, he had a gun
pointed at his head by a guy with a metal arm. It wasn't like he really had a
choice. Bruce drew in a deep breath. "Okay."
Chapter End Notes
     A wild Bruce Banner is spotted in it's natural habitat. In all
     honesty, one can get a bit sick of having only two characters to work
     with, and I didn't want this to get boring. And besides, Bruce is
     under appreciated in fanfic anyways.
***** Chapter 11 *****
Chapter Notes
     What is this? An early update? AND a chapter twice as long as my
     usual ones? *looks around suspiciously* *whispers* Do these things
     even exist?
     Bitch, they do now. I have a wicked headache, but hey, I got this
     written. So yay.
     Also, it is to be noted, the first chunk of this chapter is
     chronologically taking place at the same exact time as everything
     else, but is just a switch in POV to Natasha, bringing us back to
     SHIELD. I did this to A, explore Steve's psyche a bit, and B,
     foreshadow just a wee bit. *wink wink* One would almost think I'm
     assembling something.... or am I? Mwahaha, wherever you think this
     story is going, be prepared, I'm the queen of plot twists. I like
     keeping all of you on your toes. ;)
     Anyhow, after Natasha POV, it flips back to Bruce and picks up where
     Chap 10 left off.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Natasha watched Steve pace in tight circles again and again, her lips pursed.
"What if it was something I said?" Steve worried. "I mean everyone is worried
he was kidnapped, but they haven't even gotten a ransom note. He must've run
away, right?" Steve asked, running a hand through his disheveled hair.
Natasha tilted her head to the side. "It's a plausible theory." She said
cryptically.
Steve sighed. "I should've said something, Nat. I could've made SHIELD control
Howard so he didn't abuse his son!  Nat, that's not right! Howard shouldn't
have treated Tony like that!" He exclaimed angrily.
"Steve, even if you said something, you of all people have to realize it
wouldn't have done a thing." Natasha said soothingly. "He's Howard Stark,
he founded SHIELD. They wouldn't take your word over his, Captain America or
not. There's nothing you could've done." She reminded him gently.
"I could've tried." Steve said with dejection. "It's my fault, isn't it?
Howard's been abusing him for years, but the day I say something he disappears.
I pushed him over the edge." Steve said, with so much remorse and guilt it was
heartbreaking. "I just wanted to help the kid, Nat."
"Steven." Natasha said firmly. "This isn't your fault. You weren't the one who
abused Tony. You don't know what else was going on in Tony's life, what
could've potentially pushed him over the edge. And this is all assuming he ran
away." She reminded him. 
"Where would you go?" Steve inquired. "If you were a seventeen year old genius
kid? Where would you run to?" He wondered.
Natasha shrugged. "Hard to say." She studied Steve. "You should ask Fury for
some time off. You don't have your head in the right place. You can offer your
help in finding the Stark kid, but for now, stay out of the field, Steve." She
ordered, giving him a pointed look.
Steve looked like he wanted to fight it, but relented. "Alright. Thank you for
the advice, Nat." He smiled wryly, then left.
Natasha sighed. She understood how Steve felt. In his position, she'd feel the
same. He tries to help Tony, and the same day the kid goes missing. If Natasha
didn't know the full story, she would've assumed that was the cause. But for
better or worse, she knew the full story.
Natasha knew about Tony's phone call with Colonel Rhodes hours before he was
found missing, and how Colonel Rhodes blamed himself for SHIELD's actions. But
Colonel Rhodes, for as good an agent he was, he wasn't considering every angle.
Tony knew Bucky Barnes was the Winter Soldier. Natasha of course had known
that, and it killed her not telling Steve, but she was under orders. And she
understood why Steve couldn't know. He would go ballistic, and it could
compromise him. And besides, Natasha just didn't have the heart to tell Steve
his best friend had been tortured, brainwashed, and forced to kill by the one
thing Steve hated more than anything.
Anyhow, the Winter Soldier's identity aside, Tony knew it, and was upset by
knowing that SHIELD was taking no action about it. He had been described as an
implusive, but brilliant teeanger. And, despite what she told Steve, Natasha
knew exactly what she would've done in Tony's place. She would've gone to
Russia and found the Winter Soldier. And she would bet anything that's what
Tony had done.
Natasha stood up, cracking her neck. She may be a master assassin, raised in
the Red Room, but even she wasn't going to let a teenager take on HYDRA alone.
Especially when Tony was doing it for all the right reasons. And besides, she
admired someone who had enough spunk to do something that wild. She pursed her
lips. It probably wouldn't be hard to track the kid. She would have to tell
Clint she was leaving, and leave him for dealing with alibis. She could have a
bag packed within the hour. Be in Russia within the day, and hopefully track
the kid before tomorrow. She just prayed she wouldn't find a dead body.
 
===============================================================================
 
Bruce drew in a deep breath, and took a closer look at the teenager on his
coffee table. The poor kid was breathing shallowly, and literally bleeding to
death. Bruce shook his head, with his current blood loss, as well as taking
into account blood loss that would occur when Bruce was tending to him, the kid
wouldn't make it without a transfusion.
"Do you know his blood type?" Bruce asked as calmly as he could manage. The guy
only stared blankly at him. Bruce sighed with impatience. "He has a lot of
blood loss, and if he doesn't get more blood in his system, he will die." The
guy growled and glowered at the prospect. "I can't give him my blood, because
my blood has gamma radiation and could seriously hurt his system. Right now,
you're the only current donor, so I'm going to have to ask you to put the gun
down and get over here so I can give the kid blood." Bruce explained. The guy
cocked his head to the side, but slid the gun away and walked towards Bruce,
baring his flesh arm.
Bruce grabbed a blood transfusion kit and made quick work ripping it open.
Thankfully the guy was muscular and his veins stood out "Hold still." Bruce
advised, and plunged a needle into the guy's arm. Finding the kid's vien proved
to be a bit more difficult, but Bruce eventually located it, and pressed the
needle under the now unconscious teen's skin. Red began to fill the tubes, out
one body and into another. "Let me know if you get light headed. I don't need
two patients on my hands." Bruce said firmly, and focused on the kid's wounds.
He pursed his lips. "I'm going to need your help." The guy glanced at him.
"Take this," Bruce handed him a wad of gauze. "and press it against his knee
wound to staunch the blood flow while I focus on his stomach." Bruce ordered.
The guy complied easily, outstretching his right arm to keep the tubes
connected and using his metal left hand to press the gauze to the kids' knee.
Bruce focused on the stomach wound, pressing down gently around it. He needed
an x-ray, needed to see what was going on inside the kid's body. No doctor,
especially one who wasn't a trained surgeon, should cut without knowing what
they were doing. If he did, he was just as much a risk to the kid as the bullet
was. But what other choice did Bruce have? He drew in a deep breath and got to
work. 
 
===============================================================================
 
Bruce collapsed into a chair, exhausted. He was coated with blood, and had
spent over an hour operating on the kid, and god help him, he had actually
succeeded. The kid was still unconscious, but breathing steadily and in stable
condition. The bullet had hit his appendix, thank god. The one in his kneecap
had also done minimal damage, and the kid would be able to walk in a few
months, with physical therapy. All things considered, the kid was a lucky son
of a bitch.
Bruce warily glanced up at his other companion. The guy had followed Bruce's
orders exactly while he worked on Tony, and had given the kid more blood than
should be humanly possible. Bruce didn't know whether he should be impressed or
terrified.
"Ah!" The guy grunted, and fell against the wall, clutching his head in pain.
"Are you okay? What hurts?" Bruce asked, jumping to his feet. He had forgotten
his wariness, and now his only focus on another patient.
"Head..." The guy grunted. "Don't... want to lose control..." He groaned,
shaking with exertion.
Bruce's eyes widened with alarm. He knew what 'losing control' could entail.
"Hey, deep breaths, relax." Bruce soothed, trying to keep his own calm. In and
out.
"Ah!" The guy let out a pained shout, then slumped over, falling to the ground.
Bruce crouched over him, worried. The looked guy looked back up at Bruce, but
with a completely different expression, one of confusion and fear.
"Are you alri-" Bruce tried to say, but then he was airborne, and crashed into
a wall. The guy had just thrown him across the room. In and out. In and out.
Bruce slowly pushed himself to his feet. "You really shouldn't do that again.
I'm warning you for your own safety." Bruce said, almost pleading. He was
holding on with barely a few shreds. In and out. Bruce slowly regained
control. In and out.
"Your eyes were just glowing green." The guy said, sounding confused. Bruce
frowned. His voice and tone sounded vastly different, like one of those sci-fi
scenes where someone's body was being controlled by another.
"Trust me, you do not ever want my eyes to glow green. Because what comes
after, if I can't keep control, is something no one should see." Bruce warned.
The guy frowned. "I won't ask." He looked around, then his eyes focused on the
kid, and he looked horrified. "Tony!" He rushed over to the table. So it was
Tony Stark. Great. The guy looked back up at Bruce. "What the hell happened?"
He demanded angrily.
"You tell me!" Bruce snapped, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In
and out. "Look, all I know is you kicked down my door carrying him in, and held
a gun to my head and demanded I fix him. I don't know who you are or how you
find me, but I don't appreciate high stress situations. They tend to bring out
my bad side." Bruce said, pun completely intended.
The guy stared at the kid for a moment. "Great." He said finally.
Bruce studied him curiously. "Do you have a form of Multiple Personality
Disorder?" He asked. Bruce wasn't that kind of doctor, but that seemed to be
the only only reasonable explanation. But then again, in this world, what was
reasonable?
The guy glowered at him. "No." Then he frowned. "Well, not technically. I'm not
fuckin' crazy. It's not like that." He insisted. Bruce arched an eyebrow. The
guy sighed. "Look, I was brainwashed for seventy years, and it formed an
alternate... ego I guess, in my head. Tony calls him Winter, HYDRA calls him
The Winter Soldier. Either way, he's me, I guess. But he's not. I don't know
how to explain it." His voice was tight with frustration.
"The Winter Soldier?" Bruce asked quietly. "I thought that was a myth." He
muttered.
"You just met him. Trust me, he's not a myth. I have him living in my head."
The guy snapped. 
Bruce nodded slowly. "I see. And you are...?" Bruce prompted.
"Bucky. Bucky Barnes. That's Tony Stark." He pointed to the kid.
"Yeah I noticed." Bruce mumbled, staring at the teen. Then it clicked and his
eyes widened comically. "You said seventy years?" Bucky nodded. "Fucking
Christ, tell me you're not Sergeant James Barnes from World War Two? The one
who was Captain America's sidekick?" He asked quietly.
Bucky narrowed his eyes. "Says who I was Stevie's sidekick? That damned punk
gets shot with some super juice and suddenly I'm the sidekick? The one who kept
his stupid ass alive while he was a scraggly thing from Brooklyn that could get
sick just looking at a germ? I'm that punk's sidekick?!" Bucky exclaimed. "He
better not be tellin' people that. Or I'm gonna beat him with that stupid
shield of his. Sidekick, sidekick my ass." He grumbled. Bruce couldn't help but
chuckle.
"You may not want to read any of the Captain America comics released during the
40s and 50s. You're... well, you're depicted as a teenager, with your own...
costume. You even have a mask." Bruce said, containing his laughter. Bucky
looked horrified at the thought.
"Well that does it." Bucky said flatly. "I am gonna beat that punk's ass."
Bruce laughed. "It wasn't really his fault. He was dead -well, assumed dead-
when they were written." He shrugged. Bruce thought a moment. "But on a more
serious note, you're honored as a hero. There are memorial walls dedicated to
you in museums. You're a hero, in everyone's eyes." Bruce said seriously, with
a small smile.
Bucky looked away. "Well considering I spent the past seventy years killing for
the people I fought against in the war, I sure as hell I don't see myself as a
hero." He said coldly. "I'm a monster." He sounded almost pained, with his
fists balled at his sides.
Bruce felt a pang of sympathy. "You didn't have a choice. Neither did, ah,
Winter. You can't change the past. It is what it is." He said sadly. Bucky only
focused on Tony's form. "I'm Doctor Bruce Banner, by the way." He introduced.
Bucky glanced up at him. "Nice to meet you, Doctor Banner." He said politely,
with a drawl that screamed Brooklyn and vintage.
"Considering I had my hands in your friend's stomach, I think you can call me
Bruce." Bruce smiled.
"Whatever you say, Doc." Bucky said, with a slight grin. He glanced back down
at Tony. "I guess we're gonna have to wait for him to wake up to fill in the
details."
Chapter End Notes
     Cliffhangers are the only real way to end chapters. Also, I can't
     just ignore how Bucky would react to knowing he was seen as Cap's
     'sidekick'. Because that would be wrong. Also we're keeping up the
     wall throwing motif, because I like testing Brucie-bear.
     Also, if you want a teensy spoiler.... one should know this author
     hardcore ships Brutasha/Hulkwidow. So if that relationship may or may
     not appear as a side ship... we'll have to wait and see ;)
***** Chapter 12 *****
Chapter Notes
     Hi, hello, yes, I'm not dead. It's been almost a month, holy shit.
     But I am not dead! And I have an update! Yay!
     Okay, let's get a bit serious for a moment. As yall know, it's been a
     month since I last updated. Anyone following me in general knows my
     writing in a while has slowed a bit. And I have a reason. No, not
     some bullshit funny excuse, an actual reason.
     I'm sick. Like... not flu or cold sick, seriously sick. Not life
     threateningly, but I miss a lot of school for it (I haven't gone a
     full week of school this entire year, so far), I see a doctor at
     least every two weeks, I'm on at least four different medications,
     and I may need a surgery later this year. It'll be my third surgery.
     This year. I don't want to go into details or say specifically what I
     have because I don't want to bother yall with details, but I have
     been getting a bit worse, so I wanted to clear the air as to why my
     updates aren't what I wish they could be. Basically, your grandma is
     probably in better health than I am, and I'm a fricking teenager. So,
     this is going to slow to about an update a month, though I'll try to
     get one out every two weeks. I don't want to push this aside, because
     writing is a real passion, and this fic has gained an amazing
     following. So I promise I'll finish it, I just need time.
     Alright, I'll get off the soap box, yall can read the shit now.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Tony groaned, shielding his eyes from a bright light above his head. "Am I
dead?" Tony mumbled, trying to sit up. "Nevermind, even death shouldn't hurt
this much." He hissed as a fire spread from... well, everywhere across his
body, flames of pain licking across his skin.
 
"Jesus kid, slow down. You're gonna hurt yourself." A pair of arms gently
wrapped around Tony and sat him up.
 
"Bucky?" Tony muttered, his eyes focusing on the concerned man in front of him.
"Oh, hey, you're back." He noted when Tony realized it was definitely Bucky in
front of him.
 
Bucky rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm back. And I want to know what the hell is
going on, Tony." His voice was a firm prompt. "So does he." Bucky jerked his
head over to Doctor Bruce Banner, standing by as well.
 
"Oh, hi. I'm a huge fan. Your work is unparalleled. I'm also a huge fan of the
way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." Tony smiled
cheerfully.
 
"Thanks." Bruce forced out.
 
Tony tried to jump down from the table, but groaned and almost fell to the
floor. Bucky caught him and set him back on the table. “Ow, bad idea. Very bad
idea.” He groaned.
 
“Since I’ve met you, almost everything you’ve done was a bad idea.” Bucky
grumbled under his breath.
 
Tony grinned. “It’s my specialty.”
 
“Okay the small talk is nice, but can we please talk about why you’re here? Or
how you found me?” Bruce cut in, his voice strained.
 
Tony made a face. “You’re on SHIELD files, you know. They track you, keep tabs
on you at all times.” He shrugged. “And their systems lack, well, everything. I
could hack into them when I was twelve.”
 
“You’re a genius. I don’t think judging things off of what you could do when
you were twelve is good gouge of anything.” Bucky deadpanned.
 
“Well damn,you’re in a bad mood.” Tony muttered.
 
Bucky rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m in a fucking bad mood. I keep losing control
of my own head, every time I come back you’re in worse health, and the worst
part is this is the best I’ve probably been in seventy years. I’m allowed to
have some self pity.” He spat.
 
Tony flinched. “I’m sorry.” He said softly, subconsciously scooting away from
Bucky. If Bucky or Bruce noticed Tony’s skittish, they didn’t comment on it.
“Look what happened was, we were driving, then got ambushed by HYDRA, they
activated your codewords, knocked me out, I woke up in a jail cell with Winter
guarding my fucking cell, got shot twice by some asshole, and then was able to
get Winter back in his right mind, and told him where to find Dr. Banner
because I figured hospitals were a bad idea.” He glanced over to Bruce. “I’m
really sorry for dragging you into this, I didn’t know what else to do.” Tony
felt his vigor and confidence draining from him. He felt so very small, and in
over his head. Not for the first time, he thought that there was no way in hell
he was going to make it out of any of this alive.
 
“It’s alright.” Bruce sighed. “Nothing can change it now. Call me Bruce.” He
offered a strained smile.
 
“So, what now?” Bucky asked, folding his arms.
 
Tony held his arms out as an indication for Bucky to pick him up. “Now we get
moving. Come on, gimme a lift, Buckeroo.”
 
“Wait.” Bruce sighed. “You’re clearly not doing too well of a job avoiding
HYDRA. You’ve already made me a target as it is. I know how to avoid people, a
bit more than I’d like to. Let me help. I have money, I can help you guys keep
moving.” He offered.
 
“Seriously?” Tony asked, incredulous.
 
Bruce shrugged. “It can be a bit lonely, I guess.”
 
“How the hell are we supposed to trust you?” Bucky demanded.
 
Tony rolled his eyes. “Barnes And Noble, this guy is harmless. In his current
form. You trusted some kid, you can trust the nice scientist. Now pick me up
and Vamanos, mi amigo.”
 
Bucky hesitated, but groaned, cussing under his breath as he picked up Tony.
“Why do I listen to you?” Bucky grumbled. “You get me into more trouble than
Stevie did.”
 
“Because I saved your life. I’m your knight in shining armor.” Tony said,
shrugging.
 
Bucky’s gaze was unamused. “You’rethe knight.” He repeated.
 
“Yep.” Tony popped the ‘p’.
 
While the spoke, Bruce finished packing his things until he only had two bags.
He glanced back to the pair, then focused on Tony, frowning. “Your jaw is
healing remarkably fast. The bruise is almost gone.” He noticed.
 
Tony’s hand flew up and he gently ran his fingertips over his own jawline.
“Shit. I’m supposed to be the normal one here, what the fuck?” He whined.
 
“Bucky, you have a version of the super soldier serum, right?” Bruce asked
slowly.
 
Bucky nodded. “I think so, why?”
 
Bruce stared at Tony thoughtfully. “I gave Tony a blood transfusion of your
blood. If you have enhanced healing, your blood may be stimulating his to have
the same effects on his body. There could be other lingering effects of the
traces of serum inside of Tony.” He mused, looking deep in thought.
 
“Nothing bad, right?” Tony said, his mind too swamped with paranoia to stop and
consider the science of it.
 
“I don’t know, to be honest. You were given a substantial amount… who knows how
big the impact will be, and how long it’ll last. We don’t exactly have the
equipment to run tests…” He trailed off, eyebrows drawn together.
 
“Well, what’s done is done.” Tony sighed. “Come on, we should get going.”
 
Bruce nodded in agreement. “We have to avoid national airlines.” He said over
his shoulder as they left the apartment, though the kicked down door. “I have a
car, but it won’t get us very far, and it shouldn’t, using one vehicle for too
long is a bad idea. We can get it to the closest city and work our way from
there.”
 
They followed Bruce’s lead, towards Bruce’s car. None of them expected to see a
tall, slender redhead leaning against the car.
 
The woman lifted herself from the car, sliding off her sunglasses and arching
an eyebrow at them. Tony’s eyes widened. He knew exactly who that was.
 
Natasha Romanoff smirked. “Hello, boys.”
Chapter End Notes
     I feel like I'm getting a little OOC here, but it's hard to get
     personalities and characterization right in AUs. Argh, just fuck me.
     I need more tea.
     Also, if this comes out formatted funky with grammar and spelling
     errors galore, it's because I'm using my school laptop instead of my
     personal one. I... I kind of broke my personal laptop. And my school
     can track what I do on this laptop... this wasn't the best idea.
End Notes
     No, I don't have an update schedule. Yes, I write this at 3 am. Yes,
     I have the ending for this one figured out, I just have to get there
     Comment and like, it motivates me.
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