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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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)

"HYDRA had tech that was far advanced for our time." He was sure that Tony would know about that a little bit at least, it was probably in the SHIELD files and Howard probably talked about it a bit. Stark knew about all things technology, well most at least, and he was able to talk with Dr. Banner about all that biology stuff.

And Dr. Erskine's formula for him still hadn't been replicated fully.

Bucky's reaction confirmed his guess about HYDRA though. It made him sick that they got their hands on his friend again, but this time, he wasn't there to rescue him. Come to think of it... he probably survived the fall due to whatever Zola did to him. But HYDRA was supposed to be gone now, right?

"Is... HYDRA still using you? Even in the present?"

Of course Tony knew HYDRA's tech had always been advanced, but... He looked at the metal arm. This was advanced even by his standards, and if he were truly honest almost beyond his skill to even cook up from the beginning. That this would have been built by somebody in HYDRA 70 years ago was painfully humbling.

Ugh, what was that HYDRA scientist's name? He was in Operation Paperclip, Tony remembered. He always kept track of tech guys in history, especially his father's era, occasionally trying to one-up them for shits and giggles.

His eyes were still on the arm and the little gap where he could peek at the inner workings when Rogers asked the question, and Tony was immediately sidetracked by a sickening realization. Oh. Oh. The arm was shiny, and Barnes said it had been only a month since he got it serviced. He looked perhaps a touch on the thin side, but still fit and strong--Tony could testify to the strength of his grip--enough to make a personal trainer cry. He seemed to lack personal skills but could become a deadly killing machine at the drop of a hat. He hadn't attacked Tony until he saw his face.

"You're their hit-man," Tony said abruptly, distrust coming to his expression.

His breathing sped up slightly, as if he was working himself up for a fight that might happen at any moment, and his working hand tightened around his knee.

He hadn't thought that he'd be found out so quickly, but he should have known that he wouldn't be able to keep such a vital piece of information away from Steve, especially when he had an equally intelligent ally to help. He averted his gaze from the both of them as he thought of some way to salvage the situation, despite the danger of not keeping them in his sight.

At least they still didn't know about his last mission. But if he didn't say something to appease them, for both the fact that he worked for HYDRA and having kept that from them, he'd surely be--something. Attacked, punished, he didn't know. He didn't think it would be pleasant. He licked his lips as he prepared to speak.

"I'm not... following their orders anymore," he said, sparing a brief glance at Steve and Tony in turn before turning his eyes to the corner of the room.

To hear Bucky confirm his deepest suspicions... it didn't make anything better. He felt his throat tighten up and he couldn't focus on what was happening anymore. HYDRA survived. Or rebuilt itself after Steve dove into the ice. Everything that they fought for during the war... was it for nothing?

Steve shook his head, no. What they did was still important. They stopped Schmidt and prevented millions of deaths. That still mattered. He just didn't finish the job when he should had.

Instead, they captured Bucky and tortured him this entire time, probably forced him to fight. It was probably why they were going to fight in the future. But then, why didn't Bucky remember all that? Steve guessed that they kept him under ice until recently, which explained why he wasn't any older.

"I believe you, Bucky. And you won't have to follow their orders anymore."

That quick glance was met with level stare as Tony calculated the likelihood of the assassin's claim. On the one hand, he couldn't have been here for longer than around two weeks, so that still left some time for him to have defected. And his arm was pretty beat up after a month, which he agreed was a long time.

Of course, that was with the big assumption that anything he said could be trusted. And since he'd kept a pretty damn big secret from Rogers, Tony wasn't too sure about trusting him. Not to mention the fact that this shifty guy who had tension in every fiber of his body and looked pointedly away from everyone else couldn't be more different than the cold, vicious killer who met his eyes unflinchingly last week. One of those personas had to be an act, and Tony knew which was easier to fake.

He also knew how easy it would be for someone who looked like Rogers' best friend to tug on his stupid heartstrings and get exactly what he wanted.

"Hm," Tony grunted, sounding unimpressed. He stared directly at the side of the guy's shaggy head with highly skeptical expression.

"Next time I'd lead with that. You know, instead of angry Russian and strangulation."

Though the look on Steve's face and the way he shook his head initially worried the soldier, the words seemed sincere and calmed him a bit. Hopefully he could keep any more incriminating information under wraps, though he figured it was likely only a matter of time. He didn't have enough experience in long-term plans or keeping secrets, and had quickly discovered he was not really great at either.

He largely ignored Stark's quip but returned his attention to the engineer, giving him a look between resentment and acceptance of the fact he'd made a mistake. He decided that the sooner the man was concentrated on his task again, the better.

"Can you fix it?"

He gave the engineer a small glare at that comment. Steve knew that Stark had his reasons for being wary around Bucky and he knew that they were legitimate reasons, but he couldn't stop himself from being upset still. "He's not going to hurt you again, Tony."

Steve believed that Bucky wouldn't hurt Tony anymore, especially since he was helping him with the arm. Additionally, Bucky seemed to listen to Steve about a lot of things and he told him not to attack. He felt a little bitter that he had to 'order' Bucky around, but he didn't want anyone hurt.

The statement from Rogers merited nothing more than a scornful glance. Talk about wishful thinking. Tony turned his attention back to Barnes immediately, pursing his lips in obvious distaste. What the hell kind of question was "Can you fix it?" An insulting question, that's what. He looked down at the metal arm.

"Well, it's the most advanced articulated manipulator I've ever seen," Tony began after a very brief pause, voice level but somewhat softer than his usual boisterous tone.

"But not much more complicated than my suits. Probably some damage to the links due to external trauma. Easy fix with the application of a little heat and grease, and it could be the source of the noise. A lot of your issues could probably be solved with some lubrication."

He stopped for a full second, realized nobody else in the room would hear how that sounded, and continued.

"I need to check out what kind of actuator you've got, but I'm willing to bet it's an AC servo motor, maybe more than one. That's a longer fix, I'd need to take it out and take it apart. Connections from the controller to the motor, easy, I've got like ten of those lying around. Cross your fingers it's not a problem with the controller system, though. I'm working on a budget now, so I'd have to actually repair whatever's messed up instead of just replacing it. So why should I trust you when you say you're out of HYDRA?"

No, there wasn't any segue there, barely even a pause. The only acknowledgement at all was Tony looking up at Barnes somewhat smugly after the question.

The basics of the explanation were simple enough to follow for the assassin, and for a few moments he thought he was successful in getting Stark to move on from the topic of HYDRA. He quickly found he was wrong.

He paused and stared at Stark, searching his mind for a concrete reason, but despite a few seconds' worth of thinking he could come up with nothing. He'd been HYDRA's asset for decades, executed who knows how many missions without fail until the most recent one. The only reason he left was because of a feeling he hadn't understood that conflicted directly with his orders.

So all he could give the engineer was his word, which wasn't very good, especially not when he still viewed the man as a threat. He looked to Steve, a plea for help in his eyes. He couldn't give a reason, but he really didn't want to answer the question with you shouldn't.

Edited (ew wtf) 2014-07-25 19:25 (UTC)

He saw the scornful look Tony sent him, but he just decided to not respond to it for now. Instead, Steve just kept quiet while Tony talked, he figured that Bucky wanted to hear all this anyway. Not to mention, he wanted to listen on it as well.

...Admittedly though, a lot of what Tony was saying didn't make much sense to him. It was a good thing that he could recognize everything in Bucky's arm though, because Steve sure wouldn't have. Something about actuators and control systems? There was a reason why Steve just carried a shield and did battle strategies, the ins and outs of a mechanical arm was a little beyond him.

Steve noticed Tony's last remark and he scowled a little at it. He trusted Bucky, he believed that he wasn't a part of HYDRA anymore. Besides, the look he was getting from his friend... he couldn't ignore something like that. Bucky wouldn't fake that kind of expression. He really wanted Steve's help.

"Bucky wouldn't follow them willingly and he's out of their hold now. And I'm HYDRA's enemy, if they wanted me dead, Bucky would've done it already." Bucky knew where he lived, he could have easily killed him by now. But so far, Bucky had only tried to reach Steve for help, help with his memories and just basic social interactions. A HYDRA agent wouldn't go through all that just to kill him.

Tony didn't take his eyes off of Barnes despite Rogers speaking.

"Mm, yeah," he replied, as if he were actually considering Steve's idiotic claim for a moment.

"Unless he's using your big bleeding heart and non-violent social skills to get his busted arm all fixed up before he knifes you in your sleep. Speaking of--"

He snapped his fingers next to Bucky's face.

"Hey, Anastasia, focus up. Don't look at him, he can't help you. If you want me to believe you, you gotta be a man, look me in the eye, and tell me you're not HYDRA. Got it?"

Edited (you didn't see anything....) 2014-07-26 07:06 (UTC)

The soldier forced himself to look away from Steve when the topic of him being a target was breached, and he clenched his jaw to remind himself to keep silent. But Steve's reassurance apparently wasn't enough for the engineer. He was used to being talked about while in the room and saying nothing, so he didn't bother to argue, though he was tempted.

He didn't flinch or blink at the snapping, but it did get his attention. Stark only wanted him to look at him and say it? Would that really get him to believe the soldier? It was worth a try, he guessed.

"I'm not..."

He paused, not daring to break eye contact as he wondered if the statement was true. For so long, he was HYDRA, and that was all he knew. In some ways he thought he must still be what HYDRA wanted, though he had no intention of doing as they asked.

He didn't know what he was, but he did know what he was doing.

"I'm not following HYDRA."

"I'm not being used, Stark. I trust him." Bucky hadn't done anything so far that would break his trust in him. The only thing he did that was bad was attacking Tony, but he stopped and won't do it again. Maybe if Bucky did something else, he would start to question things a little more, but right now, he had no doubts about him.

He was going to continue on with his speech until Tony turned towards Bucky again. Would Tony believe him if he really did that? Steve wasn't sure but he looked towards his friend, watching as he slowly started to talk. He was taking a little while to respond, but he did admit that he wasn't following HYDRA while looking Tony in the eye.

"He said he's not, Tony."

He supposed that was the best he was going to get. Tony peered at the guy with Bucky Barnes' face--he was almost definitely hiding something, was acting way too weaselly to not be, but Tony couldn't see any signs in his body language or expression that he was lying about not following HYDRA. Tony finally pulled his eyes away from the assassin and looked up at Rogers for a moment. Hope you know what you're doing, Cap.

"Fantastic," he grumbled with a sigh, at last turning his attention back to the metal arm.

"Fixing a Russian Nazi guy's crazy cyborg arm on Independence Day. Happy Fourth of July."

Given that the engineer was apparently satisfied with his answer, he allowed himself to relax a bit and was prepared to ignore Stark's comment--he was obviously American, even if he knew Russian, and he didn't really know what a Nazi was exactly--but he paused as he began to realize something. For a moment he frowned slightly to himself, not out of confusion but curiosity, and he looked over to Steve again.

"Today is your birthday." He'd read it on the exhibit. It seemed like an interesting coincidence.

Tony looked satisfied for now, so Steve left it at that. He knew that Stark probably didn't trust Bucky all that much still, but Bucky would just have to work on that. Of course Steve would support him along the way, he would always have his back. Make sure that he didn't get into any more trouble either.

Steve was a little surprised when Bucky brought up his birthday, but he smiled and nodded to the comment. "You remembered?"

Tony'd coaxed off three more plates by the time Barnes spoke. Great, remembering stuff. That would keep him busy so Tony could work undisturbed. He had a fourth halfway off when the realization hit him.

He looked up at Rogers, an expression of barely restrained glee on his face.

"Captain America's birthday is July the Fourth?"

"I read it in the Smithsonian," the assassin corrected Steve, not realizing that it might cause the man to be disappointed. He spared a glance at Stark when he spoke, noting how pleased he seemed at the information. For some reason, the coincidence must have been a good thing.

That look. On Tony's face.

It could only mean trouble for him in the future. ~~Thanks Bucky.~~

Steve resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose as he answered Tony's question. "It always has been." He tried to ignore Tony again and keep his attention on Bucky, but it was a little difficult when the engineer was standing so close to him.

Although, what Bucky said made it easier to just focus on him.

So, he didn't remember. Didn't remember all the times Bucky tried to get something for Steve's birthday or say that the fireworks were really for him, no matter how cheesy that sounded. It always made him smile.

Steve couldn't stop himself from looking disappointed.

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somewhere an actual robotics person is crying

shh... no one has to know

it will be our secret

i... googled a lot...?

that's all that anyone can ask you to do

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