rekindleme | closed

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Who: Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark.
Where: Tony's apartment
When: Backdated to July 4th
Summary: Steve brings Bucky to Tony in hopes of him repairing his arm. It doesn't work out so well.
Warnings: People being idiots.

Ever since he reunited with Bucky, Steve had been doing his best to help him adjust to Saeng Seong. Of course he probably didn't need the help in doing so, but Steve just wanted to be there for him now and spend as much time as possible with Bucky. After all, who knew what was going to happen here. Bucky might be sent home or he could go back, something that he didn't want even though he was going to eventually meet him on Earth.

But for now, he wanted to concentrate on what was happening here. His memories of this city were going to disappear later, so he had to make sure that he made the most of their current situation.

Bucky still wouldn't give out any details about what happened, other than he forgot a lot of things. Mostly their childhood. But he couldn't help that if he had amnesia from the fall, even if it really saddened him. He tried a couple of times to bring up some of their shared memories, but he didn't get much of a reaction. It was upsetting, but Steve just had to stick by him, even if the process was going to be slow. It sorta gave him more of a purpose here anyway, someone that he could help.

Of course, he was just as worried about him not giving any details about his future, even if there was probably a reason for it. Steve didn't like it, but he never pushed the topic too much. He wasn't about to force anything out of Bucky and maybe he would eventually give out some details on his own.

But if he was honest about everything, it had been sorta stressful dealing with this new Bucky. Steve didn't regret being around him though, he would gladly deal with the stress and the confusion. Steve just hoped that Bucky would talk to him more or smile more again, instead of that blank gaze he now had. Luckily, Steve wasn't the type to give up on people, especially if it was his best friend.

It didn't take him long to notice that Bucky's metal arm wasn't working all too well. He hadn't moved it since Steve had been around him, so it wasn't hard to figure out. It was a complex piece of technology and he had no idea how to fix something like that, but luckily he knew someone that probably could.

Tony Stark.

It wasn't hard convincing Bucky to go along with him; after Steve promised that he'd stay with him during the procedure he just nodded silently. So, he was here in front of Tony's apartment, knocking on the door and waiting for the engineer to answer. He probably should have let Tony know that he was coming, but he was just so wrapped up in trying to help Bucky that he kinda forgot to be more polite about this.

He really owed him once this was over.

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The soldier had a special talent for tuning out things that weren't currently relevant, and he was using it at this moment, even if it wasn't entirely conscious. He only kept staring at Steve.

"You were so small," he said as if he needed confirmation. His working arm almost moved towards the other man to keep himself on his unsteady feet, but he let it fall back to his side before it even made it halfway to touching him.

"Thought you were gonna... snap like a twig," he said, trailing off before shutting his eyes in a grimace and letting his head fall forward, as if it had taken a great deal of effort to put it all together and get the words out. This time his hand moved to his own face to cover it as he took in a breath through his nose.

Steve wasn't trying to be extra rude to Tony, but answering him didn't seem all too important right now. He would explain everything to him later, but right now he wanted to talk to Bucky about the memory he just regained.

"I was." He confirmed, of course Bucky would remember him when he was still small. He was that size for most of his life and Bucky had the most memories of him when he was in that state. "Spent a lot of my time gettin' my ass handed to me."

He smiled a little, even though he was a bit concerned about the grimace on his face. Probably took a lot to remember just that. But at least he was trying. "And you were always worried about me. Saved my life on numerous occasions too."

"Really? Nothing?"

Tony was displeased. Was he talking to himself here?

"No reaction. At all. Okay."

He glanced around as if looking for support from the rest of the room, but the only answer he got was U slowly raising his claw on the other side of the room. Tony glanced at the magazine still in his hand. Eh, good enough.

He spun around and smacked Barnes in the back of the head again.

He was in the process of thinking of a response--asking a question, most likely--when he was struck again, though not so hard as before. Still, given it was the same spot, it did sting a bit.

His gaze no longer focused on Steve's face, he slowly turned his head to locate the one who hit him, and his eyes landed first on the magazine and then on Stark's face. The expression on his face was slightly irritated, maybe, but nowhere near as murderous or full of rage as it had been.

The whack on top Bucky's head was enough to get his attention this time and Steve sent Tony another agitated look. He was getting through with Bucky, at least somewhat, and Tony had to go do that. Couldn't they just have one moment? He hadn't been able to talk with Bucky like that since he got here, so the interruption put him in a sour mood.

Also, completely unnecessary what he did.

"What is it, Stark?" Yep, Steve was definitely irritated.

"Hey, I exist!" Tony said, with just enough venom behind his words to be noticeable.

"I was wondering, since. You know. No reaction and everything but hey, turns out you were just ignoring me in my own apartment. Weird, right?"

He gave an especially pointed look at Rogers, after a glance showed him Barnes wasn't about to rip his throat out again. Apparently his... seizure or whatever it was had pacified him. Well. Good. He supposed.

"So, ah, touching moment there, but how about we talk about this first?"

He pointed sharply at his own neck, where he knew there had to be bruises starting to form. No way Barnes wasn't enhanced somehow, and Tony was about fed up with super anythings.

"Funny thing, I'm actually not well enough acquainted with attempts on my life to not care about an explanation."

With the automatic reaction out of the way and his brain essentially resetting itself concerning his surroundings, the assassin took a second to reassess the situation.

They'd come here on Steve's suggestion to get his arm back in working order, but now that he knew it was Stark he'd been referring to, it seemed clear to him that it was pointless to pursue that goal any further. They were not on good terms, and even if Stark was willing to do it, the assassin wasn't certain he was willing to let him do it, even with Steve in the room. He didn't trust that Stark wouldn't do something to it to his own advantage.

He looked away a moment later and began to step towards the door. He never owed his targets a reason anyway.

Edited (boo repetition + argh missing a negative I'M SORRY) 2014-07-15 17:26 (UTC)

A lot of his irritation was replaced by guilt when he saw the bruises that were forming around Tony's neck. That was something that shouldn't have happened and he regretted not being able to stop Bucky in time. He should've been more careful about all this.

Steve glanced over at Bucky and noticed that his friend was going to leave, so maybe he should give a quick explanation for now.

"Bucky's memories are gone." Steve finally managed to answer Tony back. "Doesn't remember our childhood or much of anything. I brought him here because his arm wasn't working and I thought you'd be able to fix it." He didn't think Tony was going to fix his arm now and he couldn't hold that against him, even if he wanted Bucky to get better.

It wasn't a very good explanation, and Tony had assumed most of it. Barnes obviously didn't remember their childhood based on that little moment they shared, and it was clear the metal arm wasn't operating up to par. Why else would they come to Tony if not for tech?

He weighed his options. And didn't like any of them.

"I'll fix it," he said with a heavy sigh. It wasn't directed at specifically either of the other two, just the room in general.

He couldn't afford to lose the only other Avenger, not with the (failed) Clean Slate Protocol in place, and it looked like these two were a package deal. Plus, Rogers' kicked puppy look could level cities. Tony's eyes went to Barnes.

"If you're with him, then like it or not we're on the same side. Ish. So I'll, ah, fix your arm."

He halted when he heard Stark's response, and after a moment taken to replay the sound in his mind, he turned his head to look at the man to assess if he was being sincere. It was clear by the soldier's wary expression that he hadn't been expecting that answer.

He found that people were surprising him more often the longer he stayed in this place, and he wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

He was also surprised by the offer, he didn't think Tony would want to help someone that almost killed him. But if he was willing... Steve wasn't about to turn him down. Bucky needed his arm to be fixed and at least Stark's words were able to stop him from leaving as well.

"Thank you, Tony." Have a completely sincere looking expression directed at you Tony. He was so grateful and he really owed him for offering to do this still. Of course he planned on staying here during the operation, he wasn't about to leave those two alone with each other. That wouldn't be a good idea.

Tony met Bucky's wary stare with a flat look before turning his thoroughly unamused and unappreciative scowl to Rogers. As far as he could tell his options were vastly limited: a) avoid Rogers, get stalked by his murderous buddy who now knew where he lived b) not avoid Rogers, not fix robot arm, get stalked by his murderous buddy or c) not avoid Rogers, fix robot arm, maybe make murderous buddy slightly less murderous. None of them were good, due largely to Barnes knowing where he lived thanks to Captain Screw-up, so he could only choose the path with least chance of death.

"Whatever," he grumbled tersely with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

"So you know? I reserve the right to call on you for some pretty huge favors one day. You owe me."

He waved a finger from one geriatric human disaster to the other to indicate that both indeed owed him. Big time. Said gesture remained directed at Barnes, punctuated by a few finger snaps, even as Tony moved further into his apartment to gather a few tools he assumed he'd need.

"You. Kubrick Stare, find a place to sit."

He pointed at Rogers without looking at him.

"You. Bodyguard."

Even as he moved to sit in a chair, the assassin narrowed his eyes and kept Stark in his sight. Although highly suspicious of the man and what he could and might do, he was confident enough that Steve could convince him to keep it to repairs and no modifications. They must have been fairly close allies if Stark was willing to do this despite what the soldier had done and attempted to do.

He only ignored the comment about favors and the strange nickname. Weapons didn't owe anything to the ones that repaired them.

Well, Tony really didn't look happy about fixing Bucky's arm, but he decided to not say anything about it. He figured if Stark really didn't want to do it, he wouldn't bother to. No one was really forcing him to do this, right? Whatever his reasons... he probably just had to ask a bit later.

"Alright, Stark." He was in his debt and it wasn't like he was against helping Tony in the first place. It didn't seem like a bad deal to him.

Steve stayed nearby, but he didn't take a seat. He was fine with standing up and watching over the both of them, he could do that much.

Gathering up a handful of tools, Tony turned back to Barnes, who'd apparently found a seat and was, as expected, giving him a Kubrick Stare. Seriously, he couldn't just lift his head a little? Always staring through the eyebrows? Whatever. There were bigger problems to be addressed.

"Alright, unless your other mechanics can somehow see through shirts, you know what's next, and I know you have to have had other mechanics so don't try to play that card," he said, still sounding grouchy. He dragged a TV tray to Bucky's left side with his free hand, clearly meant for the man to set his arm while Tony worked on it, and nudged a chair with his leg into position in front of it.

"Off. And start listing problems: where it's stiff, where it's twitchy, I don't know. Technical as you can get, I want to know what I'm dealing with here. Gross noise doesn't count, I already know that one."

Being ordered around was nothing new, but the specific person who was giving the orders was what made him aggravated about it.

His jacket and shirt came off after some difficulty, the arm largely unresponsive and useless at his side, but the soldier finally dumped the articles on the floor, showing the arm in its entirety, red star and scars included. He placed it on the tray with a clunk largely using his shoulder to position it, but at least he could bend the elbow slightly to get it where it needed to be.

"Movement below shoulder limited," he said in a monotone, looking at nothing. "Direction and distance correct, response time too long. Grip strength unaffected."

It was the first time Steve saw Bucky's metal arm like this. Usually it was hidden from him, but now... now he got a full view of it. The arm was sleek and very complicated looking, but it also looked a bit foreign on his friend. Kinda cold, which wasn't something he used to associate with Bucky.

But he was now. Bucky had just been staring at Steve most of the time.

He noted the red star and wondered if it had anything to do with communists, but it was hard to say. It could mean something else, only way was to ask him. The scars looked pretty bad too, but guess it wasn't surprising if they had to attach that metal arm to him in the first place.

Must've been painful. His arm too mangled to save. Bucky had been through so much even if he hadn't really told him much yet.

Tony slid into his chair and dumped the tools onto the tray, eyes already glued to the piece of machinery in front of him. Some part of him realized he probably should have been more concerned about the robotic tone and the blankness that had all but replaced anger on Barnes' face, but he couldn't be bothered to care at the moment. Not with the information Barnes gave him and what he could glean with his own senses buzzing around in his brain.

"Well, somebody definitely likes you," he murmured, scratching his beard absently.

"I should've been calling you the six million dollar man."

He paused, tapping his thumb against his chin, and lowered his hand to the metal arm, lightly taking hold of the forearm with the intention of turning it to inspect, watch the movement and the way plates allowed for flexing inside the elbow and feel for any grinding or anything alarming that might be going on in the inner workings.

"Aah, maintenance. How often and when was your last?"

His eyes followed Stark's hand as he took his arm, and soon went to his own hand when he realized he was still wearing his HYDRA-issue glove. It was possible it could get in the way, so he shifted to remove it without disturbing Tony's inspection. The arm's sense of pressure was still relatively functional, so he didn't feel the need to stare at the engineer the entire time.

The soldier paused at the question that he couldn't really answer. He had no knowledge of how maintenance was done on his arm, except that... it was done. He only knew that he was to report in after a mission, and if they needed to do maintenance, they did. When it was needed wasn't information he was privy to.

"I don't know," he said. "At least a month ago."

Steve didn't have much to contribute to this conversation, but he made sure to listen and pay attention to what was going on. It was important and even if he would never be able to fix his arm, it was still good to listen to this. So, he continued to stand by Bucky's side. He said he was going to stay anyway.

Some of his thoughts drifted to Bucky's reaction to the memory. They were definitely going to talk about it later.

That reply got a glance up at Barnes' face. He didn't know? Didn't know how often he needed maintenance or how long it had been? Neither option made much sense. Maybe the amnesia Rogers had mentioned. Still, in that case he'd expect an answer like "I don't remember," rather than "I don't know."

Whatever. Tony let it slide.

"I'm guessing a month is a long time," he said dryly.

Apparently satisfied with whatever he was seeing at the elbow, Tony moved to the now ungloved hand. After "grip strength unaffected" he hesitated just slightly before inspecting it, but Barnes had let him get this far so he could probably trust the guy not to break his fingers. Nevertheless, it was with a slightly careful touch that Tony bent the metal wrist to watch how the plates glided and interlocked so smoothly in such a complicated joint. Damn him but this thing was cool. Tony let out a breath through his mouth.

"Okay, I'm impressed," he said with grudging respect. He glanced at the pile of tools and grabbed a screwdriver with his free hand. Time to get to the real work.

"How's a guy like you get a piece of tech like this, anyway?"

There was only a brief pause before the soldier nodded. A month was a long time. He didn't know it for sure, but he was fairly confident that he hadn't been out of cryo for this long in... probably at least five decades.

He tried not to think very hard about what they must have done to him initially before he was properly calibrated for missions, other than the arm. He did not think those memories were likely to be very pleasant.

Thankfully, the assassin remained still as his hand was examined, though he did twitch just slightly at the feeling of fingers on his exposed hand. He hadn't removed his glove at all except during some very short showers.

The question brought his eyes back to Stark's face as he considered how to answer.

"I don't remember most of the procedure," he admitted. "Only when they were removing parts of my... previous arm."

Despite the brief pause, his tone didn't change. He didn't appear to understand the significance of remembering such a thing.

The arm really was impressive looking and if it even impressed Tony, then it must be something. He wondered if the arm was rather new then, he wasn't sure if HYDRA could put an arm like this on him. But... Zola had all kinds of crazy technology, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility either.

Steve just knew that Bucky lost his arm during the fall. Or it was beyond repair by the time someone found him. Just another thing to blame himself about.

He started to look a little pained as Bucky confirmed his thoughts; that people operated on him and removed his arm because it was too damaged. Not only that, but Bucky was awake for said procedure... remembered what those scientists did to him. How painful it must've been to go through something like that.

"...HYDRA?" Steve managed to ask, his voice strained as he thought about what happened.

Edited 2014-07-22 00:59 (UTC)

Tony was pleasantly surprised to find that he didn't need to use the screwdriver to pry off any of the plates. All it took was a soft touch at just the right angle--and Tony was far more delicate with tech than he ever was with people--to make the first plate slide smoothly off.

And then, bombshell number one: Barnes was awake when somebody was cutting his arm off. Tony froze at that, because he knew far more than was in any way comfortable about having someone cut into you while you couldn't do anything but scream. And as much as he didn't like Barnes, it certainly wasn't something he wished on anybody.

(Un?)Fortunately, bombshell number two distracted him from the cold shudder that went down his spine. HYDRA? His head snapped around to look at Rogers.

"What--Nazis? Rogers, that would make this thing 70 years old."

He turned back to Barnes, searching for--what? Confirmation? Correction? He wasn't totally sure at this point what would be better.

HYDRA. He tensed somewhat, his jaw clenched, when he heard Steve ask him about whose care he'd been under. He knew Steve was an intelligent person, but he had hoped he wouldn't be able to put it together so quickly. Now that he thought over it, it was obvious.

HYDRA had done something to him once before, hadn't they? He'd recalled something like that earlier in the week, when he remembered his own voice repeating a rank and number he didn't know. Not only that, they had likely been on a mission to stop the group when he'd fallen. It would be apparent to anyone with that knowledge that they'd be the ones most likely to find him.

He only paid Tony the barest amount of attention as he looked up to Steve and gave him a very slight nod, as if it was small enough Steve wouldn't be able to see and confirm his suspicions. It was too difficult to lie in the face of the answer, and he was certain he couldn't do it convincingly. But essentially telling the man he was under orders from his enemies left him anxious, and it was obvious in his face and posture.

Edited (bleh too specific) 2014-07-22 17:43 (UTC)

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