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Chapter Text

The Asset quickly packed what he needed into a backpack and black duffel bag, the safehouse silent around him. This was one of a list of HYDRA safehouses the Asset had access to around the world, one set-up especially for him and STRIKE at the Director's order. A place to house them when the Asset wasn't at the Vault, either in the chair or cryofreeze, or the Director wanted the team close. This particular house sat in an upper-class suburb across the Potomac in Virginia, near the Pierce's own home.

It was also an address which had been announced to the world when all HYDRA's information had been dumped on the Internet by his targets. Not that SHIELD had the ability at the moment to try and capture him. There were very few who'd be able to track him if he didn't want them to, with the possible exception of one of the Widows. After all, the Asset had encountered this Window before, or so he'd remembered when he'd seen her on the bridge.

His lips curled into a sneer at the thought of getting caught. As far as he could determine, the HYDRA handlers who were aware of this safehouse were now dead, however, he hadn't survived as long as he had by making assumptions. Most of the HYDRA handlers he'd served thought he was brainless; no independent thoughts, emotionless, and malleable. The Asset had never tried to correct the assumption, having learned to remain silent unless forced to speak. Speaking often lead to pain, something the Asset had endured far too often.

Cinching up the drawstring at the top of the backpack, the Asset buckled the outer flap. He'd been trained to operate independently when given a mission, to be able to observe and plan, analyze and reassess when encountering unexpected glitches, and return to HYDRA. The tracking device in the arm had been crushed in the fight on the helicarrier, but there was still an embedded failsafe which needed to be removed before it incapacitated him. The Asset had enough HYDRA cash to stay hidden for a while, but had a pressing need to have his arm fixed. His last mission, Captain America, had done significant damage to the arm with his shield, and to be at top efficiency, it needed to be repaired.

Retrieving his newest journal from its hiding place, he slid it into the front pocket of the backpack, and swung it onto his back. He picked up the duffel bag with his flesh hand, balancing out the weight of the metal arm so he could move quickly. He patted his leg to confirm the envelope with the newest ID and several hundred in cash was in the cargo pocket on his right thigh. The sun had sunk behind the horizon, dusk but not twilight yet, as he stepped out the back door. A cap jammed onto his head, hair hiding much of his face, and his black tactical gear making him almost invisible, the Asset headed for the HYDRA sedan he'd appropriated from the parking lot of the Vault.

After surveilling the car for half an hour, the Asset soundlessly approached it; his sharp eyes looking for any signs of tampering with the boobytraps he'd left behind. Finding none, he popped the trunk and loaded the bags, before starting the vehicle and pulling onto the roadway, still blacked out. The streetlights of the neighborhood cast sufficient light for him to navigate, until he'd reach the highway.

Following the beltway around DC, the Asset merged on to I95 and headed north, keeping his speed consistently at five miles above the posted speed limit to avoid suspicion. The non-descript gray car was chosen for that specific reason, and he drove on as traffic thinned out around him. He kept the visor down to avoid being photographed by toll cameras, his mind finally reducing its hypervigilance level slightly on the north side of Baltimore.

Driving on autopilot, the Asset allowed the analytical section of his mind to go over all the information he'd accessed since he'd been given the mission to kill Captain America and Black Widow, by the Secretary himself. The Widow had taken a bullet and then disappeared. The blond man, Captain America, was a conundrum. He had refused to fight back after he'd completed sabotaging Project Insight, even dropping the oddly familiar round shield he carried, and proclaimed he was a friend. And kept calling the Asset "Bucky". The name made the Asset's head pulse with intense pain, and he had just wanted to silence the man, couldn't seem to hit him any longer when he malfunctioned and he saw flashes of a small, frail blond boy erupted in his mind. He'd chosen to fall into the Potomac after the man, and then abandoned his mission, which triggered even more pain through his mind.

After he had hauled the man's limp body up onto the silty riverbank, the Asset had paused, and looked down at the bruised and bloody face, ensuring he was breathing. His brain felt foggy, the pain having increased as disconnected images swirled up from deep within his mind. Blinking his eyes, he stood for a moment, doing an internal statis check and the first thing he became aware of, was the compulsion to return to HYDRA was gone. Pressing deeper, the obligation to obey any HYDRA handler, as well as the directive to immediately present himself for a wipe in the chair, were also absent.

Taking one last look at the man, the Asset then lost himself in the strip of forest along the Potomac, moving in expanding circles until he'd was sure no one was following him. He was able to reach the Vault by mid-afternoon to find it abandoned. Gathering what intel he could find, he searched through the old bank vault where he'd been kept, looking for the maintenance folder the technician always had, casual clothing, money, and a new set of keys. Destroying the chair with his bare hands and bashing the controls to the cryochamber were logical moves – if they were destroyed; they couldn't inflict any more pain.

Before heading to the Virginia safe-house, the Asset had stopped at a museum. Slipping through the light crowds, most of whom were chattering about the accident over the Potomac, he located the section dedicated to Captain America. The Asset kept his head down, listening to the film clips and the voice describing each section. When his eyes had landed on the tribute to James "Bucky" Barnes, the Asset had frozen. This face was the one that stared back at him from the mirror every time he was told to shave. Apparently, he was Bucky.

Pulling off at Christiana, Delaware, the Asset quickly found the small HYDRA facility near the airport, keeping watch long enough to know the building was deserted. No alarms sounded as he slipped inside and silently searched for additional supplies, money, and keys to a new vehicle. Transferring everything to an unremarkable black SUV, he used backroads until he was out of the city. He took the beltway around Wilmington, before merging back onto I95, before his mind went back to integrating the information he'd found in the abandoned Vault. Recovering his own file had provided more details concerning his conditioning, the trigger words, and his arm. The ache in his shoulder was almost unbearable now and the functionality of his arm was down 25%; finding a technician with appropriate skills now moved to the top of his mission list.

HYDRA had brutally honed his skills, concentrating on lethality, combat training, analytical thinking, and strategy. The memory wipes they had conditioned him to endure, were used routinely prior to him being returned to cryofreeze, to prevent memory flashes or malfunctions from occurring while he was under. Upon being awoken, the Asset was able to recall his skills after the initial fog he'd experience from being frozen dissipated, however, the longer he went between wipes the more often he got flashes of fragmented memories. The fall into the Potomac had jarred something in his head, increasing the amount of the past he remembered, although it was still pretty scrambled.

A stop at the edge of a truck stop allowed the Asset to take care of his bodily needs, as well as retrieve a couple nutrition shakes from his duffel bag. Cutting northwest, he circled Trenton before returning to I95 and his swirling thoughts. Ruthlessly sweeping away a memory of fighting alongside the blond man in a different war, both his arms intact, the Asset concentrated on his next steps. He knew he was done killing people at someone else's direction, nor was he going to permit anyone to hurt him again with either discipline or mindwipes. The Asset wanted to once again have a name, like picture of the man in the museum exhibit he'd seen.

For the first time in his memory, the Asset made a conscious, independent choice; a choice not to allow HYDRA to recapture him, no matter the personal danger. A decision to retrieve the name which was given to him so many years ago.

Tony Stark dropped in low over the Potomac River, his eyes and JARVIS' sensors searching for survivors or at least, heat signatures, from the helicarriers that had crashed into the water. Steve Rogers had been found on the bank of the river just hours ago and Tony had gotten the formal request from the President's office to assist in finding any others. His platypus was also on the way to help in the rescue and recovery operation, from that undisclosed base overseas he'd been stationed at. The main concern from the military was the survivors they found had a high chance of being HYDRA, and therefore a danger to anyone who might find them.

"JARVIS, is there an update on the progress of the data retrieval?"

"Dr. Banner is advising slow success overall, Sir, however we have managed to scrub all information on special operations, along with undercover SHIELD operatives and their families, including Agent Barton. Although, with the HYDRA infiltration so deeply entrenched in SHIELD, they already had access to all this data."

"You’ve sent all the pertinent information on any extractions to Rhodey to disseminate?"

"Yes, as well as cutting off all of the funding sources to the organization which originate from within Stark Industries and the Stark Family Trust."

Tony’s mind threatened to blue screen. "What! How can that be?"

"I will compile a report and forward it to Ms. Potts, shall I, Sir?"

Spotting three bodies washed up on the Virginia side of the river took Tony’s attention and he breathed in sharply, as he verified they were beyond help, before geotagging them for the coroner. Two more bodies were just a hundred feet further along the bank. Tony gritted his teeth as he sent the geotag coordinates to the Command Post. His total was up to eighteen dead and no survivors in the three hours he'd been working the river. Tony couldn't help but wonder how many people had been trapped in the helicarriers as they fell.

"Sure, J, and see if we can retrieve any of those funds as well, for fuck's sake! What about the HYDRA data?"

Pivoting, Tony flew over the river below the visible debris and began to work his way up the Washington side of the riverbank again. There was a staging area at the location for firefighters, various law enforcement officers, and EMS, many sounding their sirens when they saw Iron Man fly overhead. Tony sent up a flare and a peace sign to acknowledge to the first responders.

"The majority of the data which was released has been captured and downloaded to the secure server farm upstate at the Compound building site, Sir. We are endeavoring to separate true SHIELD information from the HYDRA data."

As darkness fell, Tony engaged the spotlight from the main arc reactor in the center of his chest, watching for obstacles as he flew lower, and heat signatures on his HUD.

"Any surprises?"

"Several, Sir."

JARVIS’ tone was flat and Tony pulled up, hovering in the air. "Anything earth shattering?"

"Indeed."

The AI's pause concerned Tony, his heart beating a bit faster. "JARVIS?"

"Perhaps you should conclude your sweep, Sir, and return to the Tower first."

His blood ran cold when Tony heard this, his mind trying to bring up all kinds of possibilities and he shoved them ruthlessly to the back of his mind. "Any halfway good news, J?"

‘I believe I have several bits for you, Sir."

"Let the authorities know I have completed my sweeps for tonight and am headed home now, please. And lay that good news on me, J."

"Despite news reports to the contrary, Director Fury did not succumb to his injuries and is secretly directing the clean-up of the Triskelion and HYDRA mess."

"Good to know." This news didn't surprise Tony.

"Captain Rogers is currently hospitalized with several broken bones, including a right orbital fracture and a concussion. Former Air Force Pararescueman Sam Wilson is with him. Agent Romanoff was been treated and released, whereabouts currently unknown."

Tony rolled his eyes. An insane amount of havoc had been created in the last 72 hours by Rogers and Romanoff, accompanied by Wilson, apparently with the Stark Exo-Wings Tony had invented for the military. He was in a Board meeting at the Tower when the news came of the attempt on Fury's life, and within hours, Captain America was a wanted fugitive, with Natasha disappearing as well. Not even JARVIS could locate either Avenger. Neither Bruce, who was in his lab at the Tower, or, more troubling, Barton, who was on an undercover assignment but had actually managed to call Tony wanting information, knew what was going on. The only contact Tony had from SHIELD was from Maria Hill, asking for access to a secure communications satellite for their ultra secret operation. Tony could only approve the request, hoping it helped whatever they were doing.

Not twelve hours after that, JARVIS had alerted him to reports of a missile attack on Camp Lehigh, running gun battles through the streets of Washington DC, and then the very public arrest of Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson. Tony had set his attorneys on their case, working through the night trying to get some idea of what had led up to his fellow Avengers going rogue. He'd waited in vain for a call from either Steve or Natasha.

Tony had finally managed a few short hours of sleep the next morning when JARVIS woke him by advising him of the dumping of all SHIELD files on to the Internet. Pulling in Bruce and SI's entire IT Division, they had all gone to work on trying to limit the impact of releasing the secrets of a hidden government agency to the world. Tony had JARVIS seek out and remove any files which had the Stark name in them, knowing there could be embarrassing information on both he and Howard in SHIELD's files. Not to mention what HYDRA might have on Stark Industries.

The data dump had originated from SHIELD Headquarters, but wasn't the only activity going on. The massive helicarriers Tony had helped design began to lift out of Triskelion Base and moved to deploy over DC. Almost immediately, JARVIS announced the targeting matrix were online and getting ready to fire. Frantically, Tony had pulled up the schematics of the engines, opened the failsafe he'd built into the engines to shut them down safely; while JARVIS attempted to call every number they had for anyone connected with SHIELD. JARVIS was able to bring up the video feed from one of the helicarriers and Tony had watched, his heart threatening to beat out of his newly repaired sternum, as a black-clad HYDRA assassin tried his best to kill Captain America.

"If you recall earlier today, Sir, when Captain Rogers and his assailant fell from the helicarrier—" The AI seemed to hesitate.

Tony sighed, feeling weary. "Was there more to that statement, J?"

"Facial recognition shows the HYDRA assassin who was attempting to kill both Director Fury and Captain Rogers, was Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes."

"What the fuck! J, how can that be?" Tony sputtered in disbelief.

A picture appeared on Tony's HUD, showing a clear, close-up picture of a white male with shoulder-length dark hair and cold blue eyes. Another picture appeared alongside the first; one of the Bucky Barnes Tony was familiar with, clad in his blue Howling Commando uniform. There was no denying it was the same person. The HYDRA assassin looked, at most, a handful of years older than Bucky did when he was lost, his face showing none of the laugh lines Tony's own face was starting to show. He was also considerably more bulked up than Bucky, able to withstand the blows Rogers was throwing at him as they fought.

"He has the serum, or some attempt at it," Tony guessed, comparing the two photos. "Is it possible Bucky Barnes survived the fall from that train in 1945?"

"That would be the assumption, Sir. It has been noted that Captain Rogers has successfully survived jumping from airplanes on several occasions."

"Holy shit!" Tony tried to wrap his head around the fact that Bucky Barnes was alive. "Did Rogers recognize him?"

Blurry CCTV footage appeared, showing the two men fighting in an intersection. Tony watched as the mask Barnes had been wearing was flung off when Rogers landed a punch. He could tell the moment Rogers recognized Barnes, as he stiffened and his jaw went slack. Barnes turned back toward him, just as SHIELD tactical agents surrounded them and took Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson into custody.

"What was it they said to each other, J?"

"Captain Rogers asked 'Bucky?' and Sergeant Barnes responded 'Who the hell is Bucky?'"

Tony closed his eyes tightly, his brain running through likely scenarios, knowing JARVIS was guiding his trajectory. "Somehow HYDRA found Barnes after the fall and, I assume, brainwashed him to the point that he has no memory of Cap."

"There is information contained in the data we have retrieved from HYDRA, setting a pattern of torture and what appears to be some type of memory eradication. Additional documentation shows Sergeant Barnes was particularly resistant to HYDRA's conditioning."

Wincing at that, Tony shook his head, his stomach growling, and his head starting to pound. "Fuck! Hold on to the rest, JARVIS. I'm about ten minutes out from the Tower now. If you will order me a couple cheese burgers, I'll look over the information while I eat."

"Certainly, Sir."

Thirty minutes later, Tony was freshly showered, dressed in comfortable sweats, and seated on the couch in the lab. The cheeseburgers had been eaten and washed down with coffee. He realized he needed to sleep, having been awake since he'd received word of Nick Fury's attack, but Tony also knew he wouldn't be able to until he'd heard what JARVIS had uncovered.

"All right, J, I have a feeling that Bucky Barnes being alive isn't the only life altering revelation you have for me, but I'd like to continue with the information on what happened to him before we move on. Summarize it for me, please."

JARVIS brought up the large holoscreen in front of Tony and began to page through the information found among the HYDRA data. He sat and listened to the descriptions of the inhumane torture Barnes had been subjected to, the electro-pulse machine which had been developed to specifically short out the long-term memory receptors within the hippocampus, without damaging learning and short-term recall, and the cryonic chamber the Winter Solider was kept in between missions. Documentation also showed Barnes' first HYDRA mission wasn't until the early 1950s and he'd escaped more than once. The information was hard to stomach, just as the systematic torture of the man for almost seventy years, but the description of the forced body modification and way the prosthetic arm had been attached was too much.

Tony slid to his knees and vomited into the trash can at the side of his workbench. Dum-E beeped in distress as he rolled over to Tony, a bottle of water in his claw. Being a genius, Tony's mind, unfortunately, visualized everything Barnes had been through. Making it worse, Tony swore he could feel everything they had done, hoping the assholes at least had something to knock the man unconscious – he knew what surgery without anesthesia felt like.

After emptying his stomach, Tony crawled back to the couch and took the bottle of water from Dum-E. Sipping slowly, he waited until his stomach settled before he looked back up to the now, thankfully, empty screen.

"Start running facial recognition for Barnes, J, especially around the DC area. Someone pulled Rogers out of the Potomac River and I'm beginning to think it might have been his bestie."

"Quite possibly, Sir, as they fell together and no one else was reported in the area."

"I'd like to find him before someone else does. The Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing technology Beck is developing sounds like it might be helpful with Barnes, especially in restoring his memories." Tony finished the water and tossed the bottle to Dum-E, who was still loitering near the couch. "Finish with the information you've got, JARVIS."

"You might be more comfortable in the penthouse, Sir, along with something to fortify yourself."

"You know, I haven't had anything since the Mandarin, J, but I've got a bottle of bourbon down here if it comes to that."

"As you wish, Sir. Through the HYDRA data released we find a number of successful Mission Reports attributed to the Winter Soldier, many of them of highly politically significant, including the Congo in 1961, Dealey Plaza in 1963, Memphis in 1968, Egypt in 1981, and Pakistan in 2007."

"Holy crap! All of those assassinations were really HYDRA?" Tony gasped. "And they used Barnes as their weapon? For fuck's sake, this keeps getting worse and worse for the poor guy."

"There is more, Sir."

"Jesus," he wiped his hand over his face, signaled the AI to go on.

"Obadiah Stane figured in the records, as well."

Tony stiffened at the name.

"There are records which indicate he reached out to Secretary Pierce for information on how to make contact with the Ten Rings terrorist group in 2005."

"The bastard!" His hands balled into fists as anger welled in him.

"However, this wasn't the first collaboration Stane had with HYDRA. He was also in contact with them in 1991, and his name appears in a successful Mission Report from December 16, 1991."

Rage surged through him at the words. His father's business partner had ordered a hit on Howard. A hit through HYDRA. Guilt was added to the mix as Tony remembered how he'd blamed his dad for driving drunk and killing his mother. On top of it, they had sent a tortured and brainwashed assassin, one who had actually known his father during World War II. Tony wanted to summon a gauntlet and destroy something, anything he could find. He wanted to bury himself at the bottom of the bourbon bottle, drinking until he passed out, until he'd dulled the pain. Mostly, though, he wanted to cry in misery as he realized his mother only died because she'd been in the car that night. She was just collateral damage to HYDRA and to Shane.

A tear ran down his cheek as Tony began to shake.

"I've called Colonel Rhodes, Sir."

Chapter Text

The Asset made it to the safe-house near Grand Central station just before sunrise. He'd left the SUV in Midtown and jogged in a circular route through Manhattan, utilizing shadows and back alleys. His head throbbed relentlessly as he finally made it inside, having chosen to observe the area for thirty long minutes, and then after a thorough check of his booby traps. None had been triggered and he cleared the small studio apartment, finding only a fine layer of undisturbed dust.

This safe-house was his, bought with HYDRA funds, but no one else knew of its existence. The handler who had orchestrated the purchase, had been killed on the same mission which he'd brought the Asset for. It was here he kept items he didn't want HYDRA to take from him; the weapons he'd acquired over time, the journals he'd managed to record the fragments of memories he had, and a stash of clothing. The townhouse had been acquired on the first mission after he was permanently moved from the Siberian base to the Vault, the relocation at the order of the Secretary. Pierce had been one of the Asset's handlers since he'd been appointed assistant director of SHIELD.

Due to the memory wipes, the Asset had hidden the address in the lining of one of his boots, so he would always be able to return. If discovered, especially the journals, he would have faced severe discipline, as he was supposed to report any memories or flashbacks he had. However, the Asset had never agreed with the rules the handlers set, something in his brain screaming at him not to. That feeling grew stronger, as those who maintained him, technicians, doctors, and even some of the handlers, acted as if he were invisible while they complained about SHIELD personnel, their duties, and their superiors. He stood silently, staring at the floor, and gave no indication he was listening. Intelligence, even from within HYDRA's lower ranks, was worth having.

Stripping off his gear and clothing, the Asset repacked it and a selection of weapons, money, and other necessities into the duffel bag, which he then put under a floorboard in the living room. He stacked his journals together, added the folder from the Vault, and placed them next to his backpack on the bed. Stepping naked into the bathroom, the Asset checked the supplies before he entered the shower. Setting the water temperature at warm, the Asset smiled at the small rebellion against his HYDRA programming, remembering all too well the freezing cold showers he was forced to take before being put back into cryofreeze.

He pulled a towel from the cupboard, and gave it a good shake to dislodge any dust, before drying off. A glance in the mirror showed the worse of the visible injuries he'd received were already healing, and in a few hours, the laceration below his left eye would be gone, with only bruising left. Returning to the bedroom, the Asset pulled another protein shake from his backpack while weighing the advantages of a sleep period. He'd not slept since he was brought out of cryo for Project Insight and the Fury mission. Sleep was mandated after 96 hours and he had bypassed that by at least twelve. It would be a constructive way to utilize the hours until he could attempt to make contact with the technician he had chosen.

Dressed in clean underwear, the Asset made the bed with quick, sure motions, his corners done regulation. It was one of those skills he knew, without remembering where he'd learned it from. There were other skills he seemed to have, ones he'd utilized on other missions, from binding wounds to cooking a simple meal. He wondered if these were things he'd learned from before, something which had resisted the wipes, as he couldn't see HYDRA teaching him how to properly make a bed. He did another visible check of the perimeter, used a sniper scope to check the vehicles parked along the street, and a final check of the interior before laying down. Ruthlessly, he shut down the thoughts swirling in his mind and fell into a light sleep.

Six hours later, the Asset returned to awareness without moving or opening his eyes. He used his senses to take stock of the room around him. His enhanced ears allowed him to hear conversation on the sidewalk in front of the apartments, traffic driving by in the street, but there was no other breathing or heartbeat in the room with him. Slowly, he sat up and stretched, doing an internal assessment as he did. His right arm continued to be painful, which meant he'd fracture the bone and needed to be careful using it. His head was relatively pain-free at the moment, but his ribs were tender, and the perpetual ache in his left shoulder was elevated.

A trip to the bathroom, a protein shake, and two hours of careful exercise later, the Asset indulged in a second shower, before pulling on two layers of shirts and clean black tactical pants. A black jacket was thrown over the back of the kitchen chair as the Asset heated water to reconstitute two of the food packages he had stored in the cupboard. He'd been fed a similar meal while he was briefed on the Fury mission, but had only protein bars and shakes since. He knew he needed a minimum number of calories to remain in prime condition when out of cryofreeze, especially with his enhanced metabolism.

Methodically, he then began to erase the signs that he'd been in the apartment, stripping the sheets off the bed, gathered the trash, and wiped down all the surfaces. His gloves back on his hands, the Asset turned the television on to the evening news, looking for updates on HYDRA's status, and whether there was a public search for him. He retrieved his newest journal, documenting the glimpses of the small, blond haired boy and other fragments of memories he'd had since the plunge into the river. After that, the Asset began to make lists of things he would need, HYDRA facilities, names of double agents, and anything else he believed might assist in the eradication of the organization.

Tony's eyes blinked open, all his senses instantly engaged, to his silent bedroom. Cocooned in warmth, Tony searched his mind for what had happened. He struggled to bring the last forty-eight-hours into focus. Remembered being in the lab before Rhodey arrived and dragged him to the penthouse. He vaguely remembered crying into Rhodey's shoulder, beating up an innocent punching bag until his arms trembled with fatigue, sleeping with Rhodey cuddled against him, eating actual real food, and sleeping again – not necessarily in that order. Despite the occasional bumps in the road, James Rhodes had remained steady, supportive, and strong presence since their freshman year at MIT. Rhodey had been the one person in his life who could call bullshit on Tony's shenanigans or be his silent pillar of strength.

"Sir?" JARVIS' voice was at a conversational level, suggesting this wasn't the first time the AI had tried to get Tony's attention.

"Rhodey get off okay, J?" Tonyn threw back the blankets and swung his legs over side.

"Colonel Rhodes departed on time last night, Sir, however—"

"What time is it now?" Tony grabbed a pair of clean jeans as he walked into the bathroom to relieve himself.

"It is 3:45am, Sir, and you have a guest."

If an AI could sound exasperated, JARVIS would, Tony decided. He looked up as he brushed his teeth.

"I what?"

"The Winter Solider is waiting for you in your lab, Sir."

Tony spat into the sink, his heart suddenly pounding. "You could have led with that, J!"

"Sergeant Barnes appeared at the garage elevator after a thorough check of the building's perimeter. He was allowed into elevator after he specifically requested to be taken to the floor where your 'maintenance area' was. He states he means you no harm, and voluntarily removed all his weapons, allowing them to be locked away."

Tony scrambled into the rest of his clothes, jammed his feet into his shoes, and grabbed his phone. "How long has he been down there and what's he doing?"

"He arrived 30 minutes ago, is standing at attention, and I believe he needs repair to his prosthetic arm."

Tony took a deep breath and grabbed his watch gauntlet, before getting in the elevator.

"Run scans on the arm as best as you can, make sure there aren't any active tracking devices or weapons."

His hands were shaking with nerves as the elevator door opened and Tony took another deep breath, hoping to calm his heart, before stepping out. It just didn't feel right to put on the cocky, arrogant front he usually did, especially to this man, who had been lied to and tortured for years. He also determinedly let go of the lingering anger he felt toward Barnes over his parents' death; Tony doubted Barnes even remembered the mission, from what he'd read about the memory wiping HYDRA had done.

Tony genuinely wanted to help this man; he'd been dealt a shit hand in life, thanks to HYDRA.

The lab door was open and Tony could see James Barnes standing inside, next to his workbench, but the man's eyes were on Dum-E, who was holding out a bottle of water. Tony stood in the entrance as he watched Barnes stare at his bot, deliberately scraping his foot on the threshold of the door. The last thing he wanted to do was to startle a HYDRA assassin.

"You can take the bottle; it's only water and Dum-E is just trying to be nice."

Barnes turned his head slightly, blue eyes piercing, and Tony felt a shiver run down his spine. With slow movements, Barnes took the bottle from Dum-E's claw with a nod, before turning back to Tony.

"Do you know who I am?" Tony asked quietly.

Barnes continued to stare at Tony for several minutes, his blank eyes taking on an intense look. "Stark, Anthony Edward, HYDRA threat level eight – Do not engage order. Also, Iron Man, level seven - Defensive response only."

Tony just nodded, too nervous to react. "Are you here to kill me?"

"Negative, the Asset has no mission. You are the only technician skilled enough to remove the kill switch and repair the damage to the arm."

"Kill switch?" Tony frowned, taking a step closer. "JARVIS, were you able to get the arm scanned?"

"Preliminary scans completed, Sir, and there is an active device imbedded near the top of the deltoid muscle and two tracking devices, one of which has been deactivated."

Barnes flinched slightly when JARVIS spoke, but his eyes remained focused on Tony as he moved closer. Tony took a moment to consider how to best approach Barnes, who stiffened as Tony moved within arm's reach. It was then Tony noticed the tattered file folder and a small stack of notebooks sitting on the edge of his workbench.

Tony saw Barnes twitch as he watched, but remained standing where he was, unopened water bottle still clenched in his right hand. Tony slowly pulled the spare stool up to his work bench and gestured for Barnes to sit, purposely turning his back to reach for the rolling cabinet which held his fine tools. He moved them to the area he would be working and found Barnes had sat down, positioned so he could comfortably put the metal arm on the workbench. The water bottle sat beside the arm and Barnes held out the tattered folder to him.

Tony first reaction was to back away, his phobia about being handed things rearing up. Taking a breath, he pushed through it and gingerly gripped the corner of the folder, before almost throwing it onto the workbench. Barnes eyed him, observing his actions without judgement.

"Kill switch activation will occur in 19 minutes," Barnes stated in a voice devoid of emotion.

"All right, I need to get to the back of your shoulder," Tony told him, sliding open a small drawer and removing several tools.

Barnes stood, removing his jacket, Henley, and tee shirt before sitting back down on the stool, his back to Tony. Taking in the area where the prosthetic had been attached to Barnes shoulder, Tony almost heaved. He had to swallow several times, pushing the bile down as he remembered the notes from the butcher who had operated on the man. Tony distracted himself by dropping his eyes to the muscled expanse of the man’s back, before shaking himself mentally.

"JARVIS, display the shoulder area and highlight the maintenance panels."

Tony watched the scan of the arm pop up, the panel he needed highlighted. "I'm going to start by opening the panel back here," he said, describing each step as he was doing it.

The folder sat next to his tools, but Tony doubted it contained details of how to remove the device HYDRA installed to disable their assassin. The panel popped open relatively easily, positioned for the comfort of the handlers, where they knew Barnes would never be able to access it himself. He could see also see damage just above the elbow, probably caused by Rogers’ shield. He was relieved to find his hands were steady as he gently began to delve into the inner workings of the prosthetic. The design and mechanics were advanced and Tony was impressed with the way the arm was constructed. Despite that, he could tell that it was too heavy, causing Barnes to have to lean to compensate and Tony would bet his shares in SI that the shoulder connection ached constantly.

"Listen, er, what would you like me to call you? And before you say Asset, I will not use the designation HYDRA gave you."

He was able to see the device, nestled among the wiring, up against an artificial shoulder blade. Using a pick, Tony gently separated the wires from around a small tube of what was probably some type of neuro-neutralizer. He continued to work as he waited for an answer, which took several minutes.

"The museum exhibit listed the name James."

The response was said in a soft, unsure voice and Tony wondered when the last time this man had been given a choice about anything.

"James it is, then," Tony responded. "You might feel a little pressure as I pull this out. Dum-E, bring me one of the steel jars with the sealing lids, please."

The device fought Tony at first, as if it had been installed years before and was jammed in place. Tony was very careful as he wiggled it side to side until it finally slid out, a miniature vial attached to a trigger device, designed to incapacitate instead of kill he would guess. HYDRA was apparently not very confident in their brainwashing as it appeared to have been in place for quite some time. Setting the device into the jar Dum-E held, Tony sealed the top and had the bot take it back to a steel lockbox at the back of the lab.

"James, do you know whether the schematics, the map of the wiring, is in the folder here?" Tony asked as he peered into the panel. "JARVIS, some light, please."

"Of course, Sir."

"There are some drawings in the folder," Barnes’ voice seemed stronger, sounding surer of himself.

"Great!"

Tony was still going through the interior wiring, checking for exposed wires and damaged circuits. The arm worked on hydraulics, which meant there should be pumps built into the shoulder piece, at least, depending on their size. If they had been miniaturized, the forearm and biceps could also house them. It took only a minute to recognize the steel ‘veins’ running along the superstructure which served as the ‘bones’ of the arm. Blowing out the bit of dust and sand he found, Tony carefully closed the panel and sat back.

"One kill switch eliminated. J, bring up the placement of the trackers."

Barnes shifted around on the stool until he was facing Tony and watched as the holo screen showed a 3D rendering of his arm. One tracker, highlighted in yellow, was pulsing in the forearm and the other, highlighted in red, just above the elbow joint when the shield had dented the arm.

"I take it you have disabled the one in his forearm. JARVIS?"

"Indeed, Sir. Also, there are two additional trackers on the weapons James brought with him."

Barnes’ head snapped up, and Tony laid a careful hand on the man’s arm.

"JARVIS has disabled the tracking devices on the weapons, James; we need to get the ones out of your arm, first."

Barnes gave him a long, penetrating look before nodding his head and settling back on the stool. He extended the arm toward Tony, who brought his stool closer and propped the arm up on his knee. Tony could see how closely the blue eyes followed what he was doing. This close to the man, Tony could feel the heat radiating off his body, and wondered if that was normal or something caused by the knock-off Super Soldier Serum he'd been injected with. While Barnes appeared tired, he looked relatively healthy. He was much more muscular than he had been in the photos Tony had seen from his military service, likely due to whichever version of the serum he had been given. The HYDRA data had also mentioned storing Barnes, sometimes for years at a time, between missions, but Tony was still surprised Barnes appeared be in his late twenties.

Tony reached over and picked up the file Barnes had brought, his stomach lurching as he flipped through pages documenting mind wipes and time spent in his cryochamber. Towards the back, there were a set of blue prints and a wiring schematic, which Tony pulled out and laid on the workbench.

"Scan these, JARVIS, and redisplay the image. Outline the panels for the trackers and the areas of damage."

Keeping his one hand on the metal arm and using the other to rotate the image, Tony asked for an enlargement of the area in the forearm. He found the correct panel and opened it, using the pick again to separate the tiny tracking device from the surrounding structures. It was wired into a button battery the size of a breath mint and he easily lifted it out. Glancing up, Tony was surprised to find Barnes watching the hologram intently as well.

Tony had kept up a running monologue on what he was doing and why, but as he lifted the tracker out, Barnes had twisted his arm, and held out his metal hand. With a blink, Tony extended the tracker toward him and allowed Barnes to puck it from the tweezers he'd used to extract it. Without a word, Barnes crushed the device between his fingers. Dum-E appeared beside the man, extending another steel jar for the debris. He might have been mistaken, but Tony thought he saw the assassin's lips twitch.

Repeating what he'd done in the shoulder, Tony checked the condition of the wiring and cleaned out any debris, before closing up the panel. He sat back for a moment, straightening his back to ease the slight ache.

"Let me grab a cup of coffee, James, and we will take care of the elbow," he said as the arm was lifted from his lap. "Would you like a cup?"

The Asset, no, James was his new designation, tilted his head. The technician, Stark, was giving him another choice, something the—James wasn't used to receiving. The first choice had thrown his mind into turmoil – a name – and he had expected Stark to become impatient and abusive like his previous handlers, but Stark had waited quietly for his answer. The another of many surprises this morning.

James gave a short nod and Stark disappear into the back of the room, continuing to speak. He found the chatter, especially Stark explaining what he was doing with his arm, put him at ease. None of this was what he'd expected, having read the HYDRA file on Stark. While it had played up his intellect and inventiveness, it had also highlighted his self-destructive tendencies and arrogance. This Stark had not displayed any of the negative traits, even though James could feel his nervousness and how his hands had shaken initially. Yet, he hadn’t hurt the — James while he worked.

Tony Stark knew what James was, knew about HYDRA, but also seemed to know who he had been, which was something James felt driven to learn for himself.

"Here," Stark was back and held out a large mug. "I don't know how you like it, so its black."

Taking it with his right hand, James brought the mug to his face and inhaled the steam. The smell stirred memories, fragments really, of cold, mud, and fear, of the large blond man – Steve, of a cheery kitchen and a woman with his eyes smiling at him. Carefully, James took a sip, the hot, bitter flavor exploding in his mouth. He contemplated for a moment; it was vaguely familiar, it warmed him as he swallowed, and he didn't dislike it.

Stark grinned at him, swallowing a large amount of the steaming liquid, causing James to internally wince. Holding on to the mug, James rearranged himself on the stool so Stark had access to the panel in the back of his arm, above the elbow. He knew this panel would be harder to access, as it had been damaged by the round shield. The robot with one arm hovered nearby, another steel jar in his hand.

"JARVIS, give me the back view of the elbow and bicep, highlighting the access panel."

Turning his head, James watch the display of his arm rotate in the air, highlighting the panel and tracker. He glanced at Stark to make sure the man wasn’t glowering at him, like the HYDRA technicians did anytime he tried to watch. The damage caused in the fight was outlined in red and Stark was muttering to himself as he struggled to pry open the maintenance panel.

"Capsicle got a good whack in here, it’s going to take a bit of force to get the panel open. I’m hoping there’s no damage to the wiring or the hydraulics."

James braced himself for the jerking he was familiar with. It was the reason the technicians claimed he had to be fully restrained before they would do maintenance on the arm. Handlers always took the opportunity to dole out physical retribution if he so much as twitched during the procedures. He felt Stark working and then a single, sharp tug.

"Gotcha!" Stark exclaimed. "J, focus light on the opening."

There was silence for a moment as Stark began to peer into the panel. James prepared for the sting of electrical shock which always seemed to happen anytime the arm was repaired. When it didn’t come, he found himself slowly relaxing, his eyes watching the diagram hanging in the air.

"Well, less damage inside than I would have expected, but the tracker is buried deeper here, and it’ll take a bit of time to remove it."

James nodded sharply to indicate his understanding. Still, the expected pain never came.

"James?" Stark’s voice was calm, his fingers still working inside his arm. "Why did you come here?"

There wasn’t any thought required and honesty had, literally, been tortured into him. "You are the best technician outside of HYDRA. The others talked about your knowledge when they had difficulty with the maintenance. HYDRA is also afraid of you and won’t attempt to retrieve me if I am with you."

"So, after the past three days of running gun battles, information dumps, and helicarriers falling from the sky, you think there is enough HYDRA left to try and hunt you down?"

"Affirmative," James answered immediately. "I have made a list of HYDRA assets and facilities for the blond man."

"For Rogers? Why?"

"They need to be eliminated," he reasoned. "And I will not let HYDRA take me back alive."

Stark stopped and leaned over into James’ range of vision. "What hold do they have on you?" He asked softly.

"Words," James told him. "Words that trigger the Winter Solider, the Asset."

"Well, shit," Stark slid back and continued to work on the arm. "If it's your wish to stay out of HYDRA's hands and get rid of those words, then I want you to stay here, in the Tower. It’s the most protected and secure building in New York. Along with having the space, I have experimental technology which may be helpful in trying to eliminate the trigger words and I want to do an overhaul on the arm." Stark moved the arm slightly with the pressure he was exerting, before giving a triumphant cry.

James looked over his shoulder and saw the last tracking device was held in the tweezers. The robot came up with another jar and James watched as Stark dropped it inside, the robot rolling to the far end of the room.

"What do you want?" James asked suspiciously.

Stark closed the panel with a snap and rolled his stool around to face James. "To help you regain a life."

"Why?" James didn’t understand.

"Because you’ve been tortured, held prisoner, and used as a weapon by HYDRA for the past seventy year, James. And I have the means and the resources available to help."

James held Stark's eyes steadily. "I'm dangerous and my brain is scrambled, and what memory I have is fragmented and foggy at best. I could hurt you or someone else."

He watched Stark take a deep breath and, while James could still see the fear, he could also see the sincerity in the man's eyes. There was no deceit in Stark's words or actions and the Asset knew how to read deception.

"I have been forced to hurt many people, for so long, and I can't even remember who!" his words came out agonized as emotions he hadn't felt in years bleed through HYDRA programing. "I don't want to do that anymore."

Stark rubbed a hand over his face. "I was able to secure all the HYDA files concerning the Winter Soldier program when Romanoff and Rogers dumped them on the internet. When you are ready, we can go through the mission reports."

Unease flited through James. He knew those files would devastate him, but he needed to know, so he gave a sharp nod. Even Stark looked pale at the thought of going through those files. Stark glanced at the journals, bringing another question.

"You said you wrote down the things you’ve remembered?"

Nodding, James looked at the three notebooks. "When they left me out of cryofreeze for too long, I would begin to remember things from the past. I wrote down every fragment I could, before I reported back to my handler, so I would have them to read over after they'd wiped the memories again."

Chapter Text

Tony flinched at Barnes' statement, a headache building behind his eyes. "Okay, so maybe that should be where we start while I get things lined up for the trigger words."

Barnes gave him a small nod.

"Now, I live in the penthouse by myself, no girlfriend or boyfriend, and very limited access to anyone else. I will ask JARVIS to cut off all access without my specific approval, with the exception of my best friend, Rhodey. He's also War Machine, so he would probably use the landing pad anyway."

Tony waited until he got another nod. "There is a safe room on my floor that looks like you are going into a linen closet; the room is concrete and steel lined, with its own water and air supply. You'll be able to lock it from the inside when you feel the need and I'm the only other person who can enter – biometric locks. JARVIS can lock or unlock the door, but only in the event of an emergency, in case you are sick or having a violent nightmare."

Barnes stared at him, his eyes narrowing. Tony held up his hands.

"It's not a trap; you'll be the one to decide whether you lock the door or not, but no one will be able to locate the room or get into it, including HYDRA. I'll also have my lawyers begin the process of restoring your identity, very quietly."

"Will HYDRA be able to track me?"

"No!" Tony caught the tinge of panic in Barnes voice. "We can use a derivative of your name, like James Buchanan, or something. I just think it would do you good to have some autonomy; your own phone, your own wallet, money – that type of thing."

"I have plenty of money." Barnes answered, voice calmer. "But a name, a real name, yes."

Tony nodded, knowing JARVIS would notify his lawyers to start the process. "Good, we can start with James Buchanan, then." He turned away, packing up his tools for now. "That leaves the question of what you want to do about Steve Rogers."

Barnes gave him a wide-eyed look, a strange blend of apprehension and resignation.

Tony sighed. "I made floors for each of the Avengers, along with a common floor for communal meals, entertainment, and socializing. Steve moved into his floor, initially, but then went to DC to work with SHIELD, same as Natasha." He rubbed his neck. "I'm not sure what they'll do now, but both their Washington apartments' information was in the data dump, so I doubt it will be safe for them to go back."

Barnes' head was down. "He's going to try and find me. He said I was his friend."

Frowning, Tony gave a reluctant nod. "Yeah, I suspect you're right. Not that I blame him, James. If I'd just discovered the best friend, who I thought was dead, was actually alive, I'd move heaven and earth to find you."

"Even if I don't remember him? Can he even do that, with SHIELD and HYDRA gone?"

Tony was sure someone had mentioned Steve receiving sixty-seven years of back pay from the Army, with interest. "I believe he has some money, but I'm not sure how much. JARVIS, cut off any SI or Stark funding sources either Steve or Nastasha have access to. Also, recall any SI owned aircraft, including Quinjets. If Steve discovers I've cut off funding, maybe he'll call before he goes wildly hunting HYDRA bases around the world."

"Yes, Sir."

"Can your, uh, JARVIS compile my notes on the bases I know about? There are other facilities in America and more in Eastern Europe."

Tony felt his stomach clench at that news, filing it away for later.

"Certainly, James," JARVIS responded himself. "Both Dum-E and U are able to assist with the scanning, if you will indicate the appropriate journal."

Tony couldn't help but smile as the two bots rolled up from the back of the lab and stopped beside the workbench with a series of quiet beeps. James stood up and took the black journal off the top and opened it to a point about halfway through the book, before gingerly handing it to Dum-E. While James' face remained neutral, Tony could see his hands clench as the bots rolled away. A glance at the window showed it was still mostly dark outside and Tony felt suddenly exhausted. His new guest looked even more haggard than Tony felt.

"James?"

The man's head snapped up and he turned to face Tony.

"Would it be alright if I had JARVIS scan you for injuries?" Tony kept his voice calm and at a conversational tone, keeping in mind the man's history.

James blinked. "The—I heal quickly, but if you want to—"

"JARVIS?"

A blue light illuminated James where he stood and Tony had a brief moment of panic as James stiffened, his breathing rate increasing. The scan took less than a minute and his breathing eased as soon as the light shut off.

"Sir, according to the scan, James has several fractures, including ribs, right ulna and radius, left talus, and a mild concussion. All appear to be healing at an advanced rate, along with the numerous soft tissue injuries he suffered. James does appear to be lacking nutrients which would accelerate the healing process."

"Okay," Tony dragged his fingers through his hair. "Thanks, J. Come on, Winter Wonder, let's go up to the penthouse and find something to eat."

Picking up the tattered folder, Tony waited until James had redressed, gathered the remainder of his journals in his hand, and his weapon-ladened backpack, trackers removed, was firmly over his shoulder. As far as Tony was concerned, the Winter Soldier could have killed him many times over in the ninety-minutes they'd been in the lab, no need to trigger a panic attack by refusing to let him store his weapons in his room.

"Is this all you have?"

James stared at him for a moment. "I have another bag stashed at a safehouse close by."

Tony nodded at that. "JARVIS, is the journal information scanned?"

"Yes, Sir, analyzing now."

Dum-E appeared from the back, the black journal in his grasp. Tony took it, slid it under the folder and patted the bot's strut. "Go charge, baby boy, you did good."

With a tilt of his head, Tony led the way to the elevator, leaving JARVIS to secure the lab. There was a slight hesitation on James' part as he stepped in behind Tony, but he remained silent as they rode up to the penthouse. A slight lightening of the sky in the east announced the approach of sunrise and Tony knew he needed to get James settled before the Tower became a hum of activity.

"This is my apartment, including this floor, the one above it, and the one below it. The living room, kitchen, a bathroom and storage areas are on this level. To the right are the stairs down to several guest bedrooms, and my personal lab where I work on the Iron Man suits. The stairs to the left lead up to my bedroom suite and the linen closet."

Tony started up the curving staircase and turned left, heading away from his bedroom. He opened the door at the end of the short hallway to a large closet lined with towels and sheets. When they stepped in, the shelving on the right slid back into the wall, and another door appeared with a retina scan and palm reader interface locking system. Demonstrating the process on how to unlock the door, Tony had James repeat the steps so JARVIS could add his bioinformation into the matrix.

It was apparent to Tony, as he watched James easily go through the motions necessary to unlock and relock the door, that the man was intelligent. HYDRA had kept him up to date on technology and at least some of the current global affairs. It was something you would expect, if you had an operative who needed to fit in and move unnoticed through a populace. The bastards may have wiped James' memory of the past and of who he was, but they kept him honed on the skills he needed to kill for them. A ball of rage twisted in his stomach every time Tony thought about it.

Pushing open the door, James looked back at him before stepping into the room. The room was about the size of a standard hotel suite, with a small living room and kitchenette area, and a bedroom and bathroom through another door. The room was outfitted much like the rest of Tony's living spaces were, with leather couches, marble and hard wood floors, and soft rugs. The finishes were high-end and of sturdy construction, especially as this was the safe room Tony had created for himself, his family, and friends. The alien invasion had been an eye-opener in so many ways for Tony, including, how would he have kept Pepper and Happy safe if they had been in the Tower that day.

Now it seemed, this would be the safest, most protected place to house the weapon HYDRA had used to kill his parents, while he helped the man undo the programming HYDRA had subjected him to and find himself again after seventy years.

James set his backpack down just inside the door and took the step down to the living room. Three tall slender windows, although not wide enough to allow a human to get in, on the only outer wall of the room, allowed in natural light. The off-white walls and dark wood floors lent the area a feeling of warmth, fortified by the soft-looking rugs and dark wood cabinetry built into the walls. It was a complete contrast to the old bank vault and cryochamber the Asset had been kept in by Secretary Pierce and HYDRA for years.

Stark stepped in behind James, his fingers taping on his chest in a nervous gesture.

"The bedroom has no windows or outside walls and is the more secure of the two rooms. Even if somehow, someone got this far, the bedroom has a reenforced door, blast resistant up to withstanding a direct hit from a small SAM."

Nodding, James turned toward the bedroom and repeated the process of retina scan and palm print to access the area. The room was large enough to fit two king-sized beds, with two sets of bunkbeds against the far wall, where a door opened into a large bathroom.

"The beds all have adjustable air mattresses," Stark explained as he waved a hand. "The kind you can adjust how soft or hard the mattress is." He looked up at James. "After my living conditions in Afghanistan, when I came home, I ended up sleeping more on the couch in my lab than my bed, because it was too soft. I found it was nice to be able to adjust it to what felt right."

Stark walked back out into the living area, and James followed behind him.

"Thank you," James said softly, still befuddled as to why Stark was helping him.

Stark stopped and turned toward him, blinking as if he'd never been thanked before for his generosity, then waving it off. James' eyes narrowed at the reaction.

"Why don't you put your things where you want them, James? I'll make us something to eat – are you hungry?" Stark didn't wait for him to answer. "I'm hungry! Are you good with eggs, or is there something else you'd like?"

HYDRA had given him protein bars and shakes, which had the required calorie counts his body needed. They had not thought of the taste or his preferences. MREs aside, James could not remember how long it had been since he'd had a real cooked meal or been asked what he might want. Stark stood waiting for his answer.

"I think I like eggs." A memory of a pile of fluffy yellow on a plate rose into his mind, but he didn't remember the taste or the texture of the food.

"I'm no chef, but I do know how to scramble eggs," Stark stated, giving him a wink. "And we need to talk about a couple things before you get some rest."

He was gone before James could answer him, leaving him off-balance. Stark was an enigma, which puzzled him. Having been subjected to harsh treatment by handlers, who were either scornful or terrified of him; to Pierce, who had always assured him the work he did for HYDRA was for the good of the world. He knew it wasn't. Conflict had surrounded him for so long; from those who controlled him and those he had been sent to terrorize and kill. No one had treated him as anything other than the Asset. Yet Stark had helped him, took out the kill-switch, repaired damage to his arm, and was now willing to shelter him, without asking for anything in return. As the Asset, he should be looking for a trap, but as the ember of who he'd once been began to flicker, James just wanted it to continue, just wanted to be human again.

Moving his backpack to the bedroom, James hung his jacket up and organized the weapons he'd brought with him. He replaced several knifes into their places on his body and stuck a handgun under his shirt at the small of his back. He had only a few things, most were still in the apartment. James would need to retrieve them soon, before he could fully settle in here.

Exploring the bathroom, checking to make sure every corner was secure, James' thoughts returned to the man Stark wanted to discuss – Steve. Another flash of memory surfaced, one of a scrawny, blond-haired boy wearing an expression of fierce determination on his face. Followed almost immediately by a much larger man with the same blond hair, reaching desperately to grasp his hand before James was falling. These were replaced in turn by Captain America, chasing him over rooftops and fighting him desperately on the helicarrier. Which of these was the man who was supposed to be his best friend?

And if he were once 'Bucky', could he ever be that person again? HYDRA had scrapped every bit of the man and his humanity out of him, would he be able to gain it back? Was there anything behind the scars left in his mind. The only thing that gave him hope were the dreams he would have when they returned him to the cryochamber without wiping him. Pierce, in particular, made sure he was wiped at regular intervals, to prevent malfunctions which could compromise a mission, and James remembered each agonizing session.

He shook head and forced himself to concentrate. Captain America would want to destroy HYDRA looking for him, some instinct told him. The man would use anyone and any resource available to do it, unless he was persuaded not to. There wasn’t a world war going on which would justifying search and destroy missions by a vigilante. Even HYDRA had known the world would not take kindly to those types of operations. The Asset had been trained in stealth and precision strikes, a snipe’s bullet to create havoc.

"James! Come eat."

His ears picked up the call from Stark and James made his way out of the bedroom, carefully closing the door and then out of the room. He closed the linen closet door behind him before taking the stairs. He headed toward the large, modern kitchen, glancing around at several small machines on the counters he didn't recognize. The smell of something tantalized his nose and made his stomach rumble, but it took a minute to identify it: bacon. He found himself moving just a little faster. The protein shakes his handlers had given him as food contained the vitamins, minerals, and chemicals he needed to remain at peak physical form, however they also suppressed other bodily functions like hunger, pain response, and desire.

His stomach rumbling almost made him miss a step, he hadn't heard that noise in a long time. Quickly recovering, James made it to the table to find a large plate of food waiting for him. Stark was already seated, a cup in his hand and a smaller amount of food in front of him. A wave of his hand indicated James was to sit, which he did, easing gingerly into the chair.

"I figured if your appetite is anything like Rogers, you would need at least as much to eat." Stark waved his fork toward James' plate. "Simple stuff: scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon."

For a moment, James watched Stark before he hesitantly picked up the fork with his right hand. "I was fed shakes and protein bars, so I'm not sure how much real food I should eat."

Concentrating on the plate, James scooped a bit of egg up with his fork and brought it to his mouth. They are soft and warm, easy to chew. James decided he liked them and ate through the pile of eggs. The bacon presented him with a challenge on how to maneuver it onto the fork, until he watched Stark pick his up with his fingers and eat it. James copied him and bit a piece in half, his eyes immediately widening. Salty meat flavor burst on his tongue and the crunch just added to the taste. He heard Stark huff a laugh as James quickly jammed the rest of the piece into his mouth and reached for another.

"Bacon is one of the tastiest things on the planet," Stark announced, stuffing another piece into his own mouth.

James could only nod his agreement as he continued to eat. He kept an eye on Stark, to figure out how different things were eaten. He decided toasted bread was okay, but bland. He did discover he liked jelly quite a bit, its sweet flavor something he hadn't had in a long time. He was careful, however, only to eat what he was given, which had filled his stomach more than he was used to, but not uncomfortably so. He laid his fork across the plate, as Stark had, and reached for the mug of coffee.

Stark wrapped both his hands around his own mug and watched James. His eyes were assessing, but not harsh, like his handlers often were, nor was there the pointed mixture of intense fear and hatred the Asset was used to seeing. The over-riding emotion in the brown eyes seemed to be sadness, which James didn't know how to react to.

"I have a couple of questions, James, if you're okay with that," Stark told him, fingers drumming on his chest again.

Nodding, James' fingers tightened on the mug in apprehension.

"When these trigger words are used, what happens?"

James shuddered as a chill ran down his spine, just thinking about the words brought back the feeling of being put in the chair. "It's like pressure building in my mind when they start and I want to fight against them before they push me out, but I can't and then everything goes black…"

His voice was a whisper by the time he was finished and he took a deep breath. "The Asset, the one called the Winter Soldier takes control and I don't remember anything until the mission is done."

Stark was watching him intensely. "Like someone else takes over your mind, or that the Soldier is another part of you?"

This wasn't something James had ever considered. Just talking about losing control made him feel raw. The fall from the helicarrier into the river had jarred something and his mind was clearer than he could ever remembered. The longer he stayed out of cryo, the more the control would fade.

"I, uh, he's part of me? The part that obeys and carries out the missions they made me do."

"Do you remember the missions, afterwards?" Stark ask, his voice still quiet and even.

James shook his head. "They wipe me in the chair before putting me back into the cryochamber, but the longer I am out of cryo, the more I seem to remember." He rubbed at his temple. "The blond man knew me and I thought I should know him, but I couldn't remember – when I told Secretary Pierce, he ordered me wiped again."

Stark rubbed at his eyes with one hand. "I read the files; the ones dumped on the internet. You fought HYDRA when they captured you and it took years before they succeeded in making you compliant, James. I think the soldier, Winter?"

James nodded shakily.

"I think he is the part of your subconsciousness; your mind created him to protect you."

A derisive snort escaped him at the suggestion. "I created a ruthless assassin in my head as a protector?"

"Yes, I think so," Stark answered with sincerity, before standing up from the chair and grabbing his coffee mug. "You want a refill?"

Shaking his head, James was still considering what Stark had said. If there was another personality in his mind, why didn't he know that? Or even remember anything, instead of the blankness of the time when the Asset was activated for a mission? If the Asset was protecting him, shouldn't he know it?

"So, what do you want to do about Steve Rogers?"

Tony took a sip of his coffee, giving the man across from him a moment to think. This James Barnes was nothing like the newsreels had portrayed him, when he was Captain America's second in command of the Howling Commandos. That man had been cocky, quick-witted, confident, and Cap's best friend. James was nothing like Bucky Barnes, quiet, skittish, and cautious, but with more than a hint of predator to his movements. He couldn't help but wonder how much of Bucky had been lost over sixty-eight years of captivity, torture, and brainwashing.

James shifted, as if uneasy or uncertain. "He refused to fight me, at the end. Said I could kill him, because he wouldn't hurt me anymore."

Nodding his understanding, Tony remained quiet. He'd learned over the last year how stubborn Steve could be. Tony had participated in several search and rescue missions for natural disaster situations since the Battle of New York and the whole Mandarin debacle. Some by himself and others with Rhodey. There had not been a call for the Avengers to reassemble. Bruce was living and working in the Tower, the rest had floors available to them, but only Steve had set up his as a living area. However, since he'd relocated to DC to work for SHIELD, Tony hadn't seen the man.

"He will start searching for me," James stated emphatically, glancing up.

"He will," Tony agreed, more like scorched-earth tactics, tearing the remainders of HYDRA apart searching. "If I know anything about Steve Rogers, he will not stop until he finds you." He shrugged. "There are HYDRA bases whose locations were uncovered in the data dump, specifically, where there has been experimentation going on."

"Siberia."

Tony blinked. "What?"

James pushed his mug to the side and clasped his hands in front of him. "A bunker in Siberia was where they kept me, until the Secretary brought me to Washington."

"Can you identify the building you were held in there?"

"Yes," James said, his right hand reaching up to rub his forehead. "But he can't go alone."

"Why not?" Tony was puzzled by the quiet assertion.

"There are five more Super Soldiers there in cryofreeze," James related. "Five trained HYDRA assassins, who were already ruthless, volunteered to become Winter Soldiers and were given the Serum." He paused, shaking his head. "The Serum they received made them mentally unstable." James met his eyes, his stormy blue eyes beseeching Tony. "They are even stronger than I am."

His eyes widened before Tony gave him a nod. "All right, which means we are going to need to bring Steve into this, but somehow convince him you need treatment before you can join him."

"They need to be killed; if they get out, they will be uncontrollable," James told him. "Even though I don't want to do that kind of thing anymore, I will if I have to."

"So, Steve will be in the hospital until later today at least, according to JARVIS. Romanoff is testifying in front of Congress tomorrow, and Nick Fury's supposed funeral the day after. I'll reach out to he and Wilson to come to the Tower on Saturday." Tony scratched his goatee, lining things up in his mind. "I can send the plane down—"

"Sir?"

JARVIS' voice interrupted him, something the AI would not normally do.

Tony looked into the closest camera. "Yes, J?"

"I am still monitoring various SHIELD frequencies and communications arrays, where I have picked up a querier into information relating to the Winter Soldier. The call went to an unlisted number which is associated with a former high ranking KGB official in Kiev."

Tony bit off a sigh. "Romanoff?"

"So it would seem, sir."

"Well, we'll just have to make sure we get to Rogers before he does something stupid." Tony looked at James, really looked at him; taking in the black circles under his eyes, the still healing bruises, and the sheer weariness he seemed to project. "You need to try and get some sleep. The bathroom should be fully stocked and I'll have some sweats brought up for you to wear. We'll take up our planning later tonight."

James stood and turned toward the stairs.

"Oh, and James?" Tony waited for the man to turn his head. "I'd like you to take charge of the security of our floor now, as you know what to look for. We'll pick up the rest of your gear tonight, after we go over everything else."

James nodded, before disappearing up the stairs.

Watching the man until he was out of sight, Tony took a deep breath before getting up to pour himself another cup of coffee. Walking over to the floor to ceiling windows, he watched the city come to life, his mind swirling with everything that had happened in the past four days. The mind-boggling revelations had been almost more than Tony could wrap his brain around, from the attempt on Fury's life, to the data dump and its revelations, to the helicarriers being allowed to even launch. How many casualties had been caused by these acts?

The information coming out on his father, murdered as a HYDRA hit for the Serum he was transporting and his mother's death, collateral damage, like so many good SHIELD agents and citizens two days ago. And the revelation that Bucky Barnes had survived, if you wanted to call it that, tortured and honed into an assassin. He wasn't sure whose story, Steve, James, or his own, was the most tragic – although his money was on James. To have every memory of yourself, your life, your personality wiped from your brain, forced to slaughter targets, but taking that memory as well. Knowing what you've done, even in a general sense, had to be excruciating to a man like James Barnes.

The only good things at the moment were Pepper being safe in California, and Happy there to protect her. They were both still targets, if the HYDRA data was to be believed. Rhodey was on active duty, which he'd return to after he helped search the Potomac. He was part of the elite force guarding the president, scheduled to leave in two days on a Latin American trip. He would keep his platypus updated on what was happening, knowing he'd take extra precautions.

"J, send Happy a text to tighten all security, as HYDRA has been exposed and there are many desperate agents on the run."

"Yes, Sir. And what level of clearance should I give Sergeant Barnes, in his new capacity as security officer."

Tony grinned. "Are you being cheeky, JARVIS?"

"I would never, Sir."

"Hmm," Tony hummed. "I'll leave that to your discretion, J. He needs to have some purpose or I'm afraid he'll feel trap and useless. Putting him in charge of our security is in his skill set. Put him on the payroll, J, under the Buchanan name."

"As you wish, Sir."

"And keep an eye on Rogers and Wilson, please."

"Of course."

Tony cleaned up the kitchen and decided to work from his rarely used office, under the staircase. JARVIS has gone through the notes James had in his journal and put them in order by country and size. The Siberian bunker was at the top of the list, complete with satellite maps and blueprints when available. Information datamined out of the material Romanoff had dumped was attached to the applicable locations, including the purpose for each facility, if known. The sheer number of research labs around the world horrified Tony and his stomach churned at what the sadistic organization could be experimenting on.

The bunker at Camp Lehigh was one Tony could cross off the list. He sat and stared at the CCTV footage of Steve and Natasha going in, then the missile blowing it sky high. Lehigh was where SHIELD was headquartered around the time Tony had been born and he knew Howard had refined his work on the arc reactor there. He wondered if his father was aware that his own organization had basically been HYDRA from the beginning; whether he knew about Bucky Barnes or about the Tesseract being used to create weapons, just as Red Skull had done in World War II.

"JARVIS, prepare briefing packets for each of the locations, with the exception of Siberia and DC. Send a copy to the UN Security Council and the heads of the appropriate state agencies in each country involved. We want to be sure to get a favorable response."

"Yes, Sir."

Fielding a secure call from Pepper, Tony was hit with another blow when he found out how much money Howard had committed to supporting SHIELD since its creation. Funding Obadiah Stane had continued in Tony's name after his parents' murder. He instructed Pepper to immediate shutdown all outside funding, except to certified charities, until an audit could be done. He also authorized money released, via the Maria Stark Foundation, to assist the victims of the helicarrier mess in Washington.

They had already put out the word that Stark Industries was hiring any verified SHIELD employees who met the job qualifications, especially in the sciences, IT, and security divisions. The background checks would be painfully complete. Tony also let her know that he'd temporarily cut-off Romanoff and Rogers access to the funds he put aside for the Avengers until they contacted him. Especially after he told her about James Barnes and Tony's fear the others would take it upon themselves to go on a scorched-earth campaign to eradicate HYDRA, regardless of international law or country borders.

Tony sat in on a meeting of the Board of Directors via video conferencing, reassuring them he had not been involved with the events of the last week, but was providing disaster relief teams to help with the clean-up. PR would release a statement on SI's efforts, through the both the Foundation and SI, along with how to apply for funds.

Waving away the holographic screen, Tony sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. It was now mid-afternoon, and Tony's short night was catching up with him. Technically, he was still recovering from the surgery which had removed the arc reactor from his chest and utilized the stabilized Extremis to rebuild his sternum.

"JARVIS, how has James settled in?"

"After a thorough search of the rooms and ensuring their security, James did utilize the shower, seeming delighted to find he could use warm water. He almost shot the delivery bot when it brought the clothing you ordered, but recognized it in time. For lunch, he drank what looked like a protein shake from his bag. At present, he has been asleep for approximately three hours."

"Thanks, J," Tony answered, glad there hadn't been any issues. "Can you locate Rogers' wingman – the one who used the EXO wings to help him with the helicarriers – and get me his phone number?" He sighed. "I'm sure he's at the hospital babysitting Rogers, just as I'm pretty confident Cap's phone didn't survive the last battle."

"It last pinged at the bottom of the Potomac, Sir," JARVIS informed him dryly.

"That's fine, J, it was a SHIELD issue phone. Have the Washington office deliver two new Starkphones to the hospital as soon as possible, with Rogers old number and already activated." He thought for a moment. "And before you do the same thing for Wilson, send him a text message: Replacements enroute for surveilled comms, call when secure – need help with a Brooklyn issue."

"Were you attempting humor, Sir?"

Tony grinned. "Not really, J, more an attempt to intrigue them so they'll call. Oh, and relay that position to Rhodey, as Cap’s shield should be somewhere near the phone."

"Certainly, sir."

Stretching, Tony decided a short nap would be in order, ignoring the siren call of his lab. Pepper would have been impressed by his newly learned ability to prioritize his health. Tony shut down that though immediately, they had split amicably – Pepper took care of SI and Tony didn't have to give up being Iron Man.

Chapter Text

James woke up abruptly, all his senses fully engaged and his heart pounding. It was opposite of the slow, groggy way he usually came out of cryo but it took him a moment to remember where he was. Amazingly, he had full recall of his action since the fall from the helicarrier. Extending his senses, James was able to confirm he was in a soft bed, in a silent and darkened room, the safe room in the technician's Tower. He was alone, no other heartbeats or breathing detected.

Opening his eyes, James sat up on the top bunk bed, furthest from the bedroom door. At his movement, the lights slowly brightened in the room and he frowned as he looked up at the ceiling. The computer who ran the building, he remembered. As he stretched, James could feel that his body had healed and he was once again at optimum efficiency for a mission.

"Good afternoon, James, it is 1835 hours, and Sir is enquiring if you are ready for dinner?"

"Yes," he answered as he moved to slide his feet over the edge.

An old routine seemed to be guiding his actions as James went into the bathroom, relieved himself and brushed his teeth with the toothbrush he'd found. HYDRA had never provided him with a toothbrush or the soft clothing he'd received earlier. He was tempted to rub the shirt against his cheek again, but didn't. Glancing at his heavy boots, James ignored them as he padded his way out of the safe room and into the hallway. He stopped, listening, but heard only one other heartbeat, and moved silently down the stairs.

Stark stood in front of the wall of windows, looking out at the skyline. James stopped at the bottom of the stairs, taking in the rounded shoulders and the air of sadness he'd noticed before. The Asset had been trained extensively on how to read and interpret human behavior, an essential skill to have. James wasn't sure if Stark's demeanor had anything to do with his arrival, but he would watch to make sure he didn't add to the distress.

He must have shifted as Stark spun around suddenly and stared at James.

"Jeez, give a guy a heart attack!" Stark proclaimed dramatically, grabbing his chest. "Come on, Manchurian Candidate, I ordered dinner."

James followed the man into the kitchen, his forehead furrowing as he struggled to figure out how to address him. The table held several pizza boxes and Stark flipped one open. The aroma sparked a memory, something old and buried in his brain, but James wasn’t able to pull it forward. He sat in the same seat he had that morning and copied Stark’s movements as he grabbed a slice of pizza from one of the boxes, folded it, and took a bite from the tip. Hot cheese flavor burst in his mouth; a slightly spicy taste mixed with what James thought was tomato, combined together wonderfully. James closed his eyes as he savored the mix of flavors, even as he realized he would have to be careful, again, with how much he ate. His stomach wasn't used to so much solid food. He still had several protein shakes in his bag and could use those to supplement his caloric intake for the moment.

Stark had devoured his piece and James looked up to see his eyes intent on James’ face.

"What do I call you?" He blurted out.

Blinking, Stark gave have him a half-smile. "Tony is fine. Everyone calls me that. How was the room?"

"Functional," James replied without thinking.

Stark—Tony's smile dimmed a little. "I would assume as much, but was it comfortable, was the bed adequate, the clothes soft enough?"

It was James’ turn to blink. It wasn’t a question he could ever remember being asked. Handlers had no interest in his comfort, nor did they care about anything other than his operational status. He could see that Tony actually desired an answer to the questions he asked, and now waited patiently for those answers, as if it was something which mattered. As if the As-James mattered.

"Yes, yes, and yes, they are," he responded, trying to remember what came next. "Er, thank you."

Tony grinned at him. "Good and the pizza seems to agree with you, however, you probably need to watch the grease, if you aren't used to it."

"I have protein shakes in my bag if I need to add to the calorie intake."

"Premade ones?" Tony asked and looked thoughtful at his nod. "Can I have one to analyze? Just to make sure there aren’t additives or chemicals."

James stared at him for a moment, before slowly nodding. That was something he hadn’t ever thought of. Had HYDRA extended their control of him through what they gave him to eat? Of course they had, he realized, as they depressed appetite and increased stamina.

"And I’m sure we can come up with smoothies you can make for yourself that are better for you." Tony told him, his second piece of pizza already eaten. "JARVIS, order in some fresh and frozen fruits, ice cream, and whatever we need to make smoothies."

"Are these to be made with or without chlorophyll, sir?"

James was pretty sure computers weren’t supposed to be able to express emotion, but Tony’s managed to convey dry humor. The man himself seemed to agree as he squinted up at the nearest camera.

"Not unless one of us is dying of heavy metal poisoning, J, I think we’re good without it."

"Dum-E will be overjoyed to assist, sir."

James finished his slice of pizza as he listened, watching Tony roll his eyes.

"James, do not take any smoothie that my bot makes you – he seems to feel motor oil is a key ingredient for them."

He could only look at Tony, before quietly agreeing. HYDRA had kept files on this man and required him to read them every time he had been removed from cryofreeze, Stark, Fury, and other threats he might encounter, but James could see now they were inadequate. They did not document his humanity.

"Come on, Frosty, let’s go see what we have to make you up something."

Tony grabbed another piece of pizza and headed into the kitchen; James followed him with his second piece. Opening the large refrigerator, Tony began to pull out various fruits, some of which James knew and some he didn’t. A small dark red fruit rolled toward him and James caught it before it could roll off the edge of the counter. Tony glanced at him and waved his hand toward it.

"You should eat the plum, they aren’t really good in smoothies—well, they are, but too much work because you have to peel them and then cut the stone out—"

Tony continued to ramble, but James had stopped listening as he set the pizza down and brought the fruit to his mouth, taking a bite. Juices squirted into his mouth and down his chin as his teeth sunk into the delicious fruit. James pulled his hand back to look at the yellowish flesh in wonder. He devoured the fruit, making a mess of his hand and his chin, but smiled in delight. Looking up, he saw Tony staring at him. Tony seemed to be lost for words for once.

"Damn, James, you—" Tony cleared his throat. "J, order more plums please, I think James likes them." He handed James a towel to wipe his face and hand.

"Very good, Sir. And I have a response from Pararescueman Wilson, if now is a good time?"

Tony caught James’ eyes and he stood still, trying to determine what the man wanted.

"Do you want to hear the message from Wilson, James?"

James’ eyes widened, again not used to being consulted on what he might want. He thought for a moment, before answering. "Yes."

Tony gave him a small smile. "Go ahead, JARVIS."

"Phones arrived, should be released this evening. When did you want to meet?" JARVIS quoted.

Tony looked at him, but James wasn’t sure if he was looking for an answer or not. "J, sent back that there will be a jet waiting for them at JFK and to come straight to the Tower. We can meet at ten in the morning."

"Certainly, Sir."

That done, James watched Tony throw a selection of things into a piece of equipment he didn’t recognize. He winced at the loud noise it made when turned on, but found himself curious about the resulting red slush Tony poured into a glass for him. He slowly raised it to his nose, sniffing it before taking a swallow. It tasted nothing like the gritty protein shakes he was used to; it was sweet and fruity, much more palatable, and he downed the rest.

"Not too fast, James, we don’t want you to throw it up," Tony directed him, pouring the rest of the shake into his glass.

After their meal was done and James curiously watched Tony clean up, he headed to the safe room to change. Putting on his clean set of tactical gear, James pulled the straps tight across his chest and picked up his weapons before heading back to the kitchen. Stark had also changed, a black under suit with a leather jacket thrown over it. He was wearing a large watch on his left wrist, which housed a gauntlet, according to Tony. Riding down the private elevator, they were taking one of Tony’s cars, the one housing a suit of armor in the trunk.

Before they left, James had drawn out a floor plan of the brownstone, given Tony the layout and where he'd placed booby-traps. As they drove over, James guided him on a circular path back to the safe house, checking meticulously that they weren’t being followed. There was no movement as they surveilled the building from down the block and JARVIS reported no one inside. Leaving Tony to watch the front door, James slipped around the corner into the rear window, and managed to grab the second bag from its hiding place, before he was attacked by what could only be a HYDRA STRIKE team.

Tony was already on alert, knowing his position was exposed. He’d stayed outside by the car initially, while James slipped down the street and around the corner of the brownstone. Tony cautiously crossed the street to follow him. The first bullet bounced off the pavement in front of him at that moment, the second one spraying his face with rock chips from the wall he'd used as cover. Recognizing an elevated sniper, Tony swung around, immediately summoning the suit as he dodged into the front entrance of the building. The armor formed around him in seconds, closing just in time for him to have a round hit his chest above the reactor, not puncturing the armor, but spinning him into the brick. He could hear someone yelling in Russian and Tony’s heart sank, just knowing they were the words James had told him about. If Barnes were triggered again, he’d be unstoppable.

Bursting through the two heavily armed men attempting to stop him, Tony threw both into the next building. He blasted the door with his repulsor, just in time to see a smug looking man in a cheap suit, and as he stepped into the room, James screamed at the man. His face was scrunched up in pain, and four tactical officers were attempting to restrain him. Without hesitation, Tony hit the suit guy with a repulsor blast, bouncing him hard off the wall, while a grime-faced James began to tear through the remaining HYDRA agents.

Still unsure as to whether the bastard had reactivated the Winter Soldier, Tony leapt into the fight, dragging two of the agents off James, and pitching them through a wall. More agents appeared and Tony wasn’t sure where they were coming from, but James had his head low and was plowing through them. Seeing the discarded duffel bag, Tony grabbed it and threw it over his shoulder when an explosion hurtled both he and James out of the house. Stunned and battered but protected by the armor, Tony grabbed James, who had been thrown headfirst into the brick façade, and blasted off. He evaded the bullets being fired at them the best he could, trying to protect James as they shot up and out or range.

"JARVIS, get the car out of there!" Tony headed up, knowing JARVIS would navigate them to the Tower.

Tony tightened his arms around James, pulling him up against the armor until his back rested against the front of the suit, and accelerated. He made it back to the Tower roof and used the armor to carry James inside, taking him directly to the safe room. Tony laid James out on the bed closest to the door and stepped back, allowing the helmet to retract.

"J, can you scan him for injuries?"

The blue light ran over James' prone form and Tony could see a trickle of blood from one side of his face.

"Sergeant Barnes has a concussion, bruised ribs, and was grazed by a bullet at the temple."

"Does he need anything other than pain meds and his ribs wrapped?"

"I don’t believe that will be necessary, Sir, as the bruises are already receding and the wound healing. It is more the concussion which it worrisome."

"Good to know." Tony was beyond impressed with James’ healing, but still didn’t know whether he’d been triggered again. "I’ll stay here, J, until he wakes up, just in case. Lock us in here, until you hear further."

Putting the armor in sentry mode, Tony stepped out of the suit and slumped down on the other bed. He ran a weary hand down his face, before another thought struck him.

"J, scan the duffle bag for trackers."

"There are three, Sir, one in the handle and two additional in the gear. I have disabled them."

"Thank goodness!" Tony slumped back against a pillow, suddenly exhausted. "Wake me if he starts to stir, please."

"Your own injuries, Sir?"

"Will deal with them later." Tony slurred, passing out.

He woke with a start, with no idea how long he’d been asleep. Glancing over to the other bed, he could see James was exactly where Tony left him, the armor still standing sentry by the door.

"JARVIS, time?" Tony whispered, sitting up with a quiet groan as his left shoulder reminded him of the hit he took.

"You’ve slept for almost six hours, sir. It is 6:05am, Captain Rogers and Pararescueman Wilson arrived just prior to midnight and are now both stirring in their rooms. I believe they are planning a run prior to your meeting this morning."

"Thanks, J. Please have the cafeteria send up a sufficient amount of breakfast to the common floor, their choice what, but make sure there is a selection of fruit and if possible, a couple fruit smoothies."

"Of course, Sir."

Tony rubbed his hands over his face, finding a couple sore spots.

"You’re bleeding."

James’ voice startled Tony and he bolted upright, his head snapping to his left. Blue eyes looked clear and while James had a blank expression on his face, it wasn’t the empty, haunted look he’d worn for much of the last thirty hours. Sliding his legs over the edge of the bed, Tony continued to study James.

"I heard that agent trying to active you last night, so do you want me to call you James, or Bucky or Winter?"

The man threw him a side-eyed look. "James is fine for now, although I remember a lot more now."

"Huh, must have been cognitive recalibration." Tony sighed in relief, his body relaxing at James' calm voice. "How much more do you remember?"

Slowly sitting up, James stretched his back and then rotated his left arm. "I remember being a kid with a smaller Steve and growing up in Brooklyn, although its pretty scrambled still. I remember being drafted and Zola experimenting on me at Azzano, before Steve stormed the place and set us free."

Tony watched him swallow before continuing.

"I remember the train, falling, but then just fragments of what was done to me." James looked up at Tony, a lost look on his face. "Will you, could you please help me? I’m not really Bucky Barnes, but I'm not what HYDRA made me, not the Asset, either, and I need time to figure out who I am now? If I remember right, Steve may be my best friend, but he’s pretty bullheaded and stubborn — he won’t have the patience to help me find a happy medium."

Tony tried not to snort at the statement. "Seems your memory is correct in that aspect, Frosty, but why me?"

"You don't have any expectations of me – you've proven that since my unexpected arrival on your doorstep. Plus, you have the level of security necessary to contain the Asset, as I won’t be safe until I get these trigger words out of my head." James said truthfully. "It might be safest just to put me back into cryofreeze until there’s a way—"

"I may have something that will help," Tony cut across his words. "Something SI is working on to help with PTSD—"

James gave him a confused look.

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or Shell Shock, I think they called it back during the war."

James nodded; he understood, they had also called it combat fatigue. "That would help and Iron Man has the ability to contain the Asset if I am triggered." He blew out a breath and Tony could see his right hand shaking slightly.

A low throb had started at Tony's temple and he lifted a hand to rub at it, again.

"Stop!" James said sharply, moving around the bed to stand beside Tony. "Tilt your head this way."

"Bleeding?" Tony inquired, remembering the stone shards he'd been hit with the night before.

"Yes," James replied absently, the fingers of his right hand gently feeling the skin around Tony's cheekbone. "There's a couple slivers of something—"

"Stone, I think."

"—under the skin. This may sting."

Tony sat stiffly as the fingers palpitate the area and hissed as pain and his headache flared. They were close enough that Tony could feel the heat radiating off James, but he was, surprisingly, comfortable with the man invading his personal space. It was a struggle not to lean into the warmth and Tony pressed his fingers painfully into his thighs, pushing that inappropriate thought ruthlessly away.

James removed a large sliver from Tony's cheekbone, just below his left eye, tossing it on to the top of the bedside table. His left-hand kept Tony's face tilted a little away from him as James gently used his fingertips to probe the bruised and bloody area. An unfamiliar warmth settled in his chest and James blinked at the sensation, resting his fingertips on Tony's cheek for a moment, before stepping back.

"Do you have a first-aid kit?" he asked softly.

"Under the sink in the bathroom, James," the AI directed him.

James made his way into the bathroom, pausing to use the toilet and wash his hands. He looked up at the reflection in the mirror, studying the fading bruise at his temple, the grime in his hair and stubble, and pale skin. He avoided looking at his face as he leaned down to open the cupboard below. With the kit in hand, James returned to the bedroom to find Tony waiting on the bed.

The man looked up as James returned. "JARVIS, why don't you scan both of us just to make sure we're okay."

James stood stiffly as the blue light passed over him and then moved over Tony. He knew he felt better than he had in a while, even with the lingering soreness from the night before. His head felt amazingly clear, despite the influx of memories which had made his head spin when he first opened his eyes. He was still working on processing everything.

"James' scan shows his ribs have healed, as has the wound at his temple. His brain shows signs of rapid, in-depth healing since the scan which was conducted when he first arrived at the Tower. Meeting his nutritional needs and adequate rest apparently optimize his healing factor."

That would explain the clarity, James thought, knowing his healing factor would doggedly try to heal the damage from the wipes when he was out of cryo. He'd heard the scientists and handlers discuss it whenever he malfunctioned, as generally the malfunction was really memories beginning to surface.

"You have strained your left shoulder, otherwise are within acceptable perimeters, Sir."

Tony waved a hand at the ceiling. "Thanks, J."

James stepped closer, opening the first-aid kit before he set it down beside Tony. Rooting around, he found an antibacterial wipe and tore it open, dabbing it gingerly over the laceration on Tony's cheek. The wound had clean lines and wasn't deep enough to warrant any stitches.

"All right, enough fussing, Frosty." Tony caught his hand gently by the wrist. "Thank you."

As James moved backwards, his fingers clenched on the wipe in his hand, Tony stood up with a crooked smile on his face. "Sounds like we came out okay and we'll start working on getting rid of those trigger words as soon as possible. I'm sure the BARF technology can help with reframing your reaction to each of the words—"

James felt his lips twitch up as Tony continued to ramble, the closest to a smile he'd come to in a long time. Relief washed through him, Tony would let him stay and would help him. He knew Rogers, Steve would want to stay with him, but James had been alone, either in cryostasis or on missions, for a long time and he wasn't sure how he'd react to having someone constantly with him.

"James?"

His eyes snapped up to Tony's face, refocusing his attention. "Sorry—"

Tony waved his apologies away. "Why don't we get cleaned up and meet in the kitchen? I know I could do with a shower and a shave." He ran a critical eye over James. "I can try and trim your hair for you if you would like, never tried to do that before."

Dragging his hand through his hair, James shakes his head. "Maybe not this morning, Tony."

"Then I'll see you in the kitchen in twenty minutes." Tony pointed to his duffle bag sitting on the floor. "JARVIS disabled the trackers in the bag, one under the handle and two more in your gear, just so you know."

"Thank you," James said, watching as Tony walked out of the bedroom, the Iron Man armor following him with clanking footsteps.

When the bedroom door closed, James sank down on the closest bed and took a deep breath. His head ached from the constant swirl of conflicting memories and he closed his eyes tightly as he tried to slot them into real and false categories. He knew he'd been indoctrinated by Zola and his handlers, wiped and given his mission, always something for the good of the world. Pierce had been especially good at this. Except he always remembered the pain – of the wipes and of his punishments when he failed to adhere to the mission parameters. James knew he had fought the conditioning, memories of the time after he'd fallen had resurfaced immediately, the agony he'd suffered at HYDRA's hands, and the devastation when they had told him his best friend had died.

"James?" JARVIS' voice startled him. "There is a delivery bot coming in with a fresh set of clothing."

James rolled his eyes as he attempted to calm his heart. "Thank you."

With a shake of his head, James stripped out of his gear and padded to the bathroom. The shower was hot and James thoroughly enjoyed it, allowing the water to beat on his shoulders and ease the remaining aches. A safety razor, much nicer than the ones HYDRA provided after his cold showers, was in a drawer next to the sink. After he'd removed the stubble and rinsed his face, he wasn't sure who stared back at him in that moment, his eyes shadowed and haunted.

Shaking off his thoughts for the moment, James quickly dressed, marveling at how comfortable the long-sleeved shirt and black pants are. He ran a hand down his chest, the softness of the fabric amazing him. With quick efficiency, James put on the clean socks provided and then laced up his boots. He hesitated for a moment, before sliding a knife into each boot, and the handgun into the small of his back. Tony hadn't said he couldn't be armed and James felt naked, exposed, without his weapons.

Taking two of the protein drinks from his duffle bag, James left the bedroom, carefully locking the door before he left the safe room. The linen room reappeared as soon as he stepped out and he nodded with approval. As he came down the stairs, James could hear Tony moving around the kitchen and moved on silent feet to join him. Tony glanced over his shoulder as he poured a cup of coffee, and James could see his eyes assessing his appearance.

"You clean up nice, Frosty," Tony announced with a grin and slid a cup of coffee across the counter.

James set the shakes down in front of him and Tony picked one up curiously. There was nothing on the packaging, except the HYDRA symbol on the bottle. As James picked up his coffee and blew across the surface, an old habit resurfacing, he watched Tony. The technician twisted off the cap and brought it up to his nose, sniffling the contents. A grimace crossed Tony's face, yet he still took a swig of the shake.

Just containing a smirk at the expected revolted look, he observed as Tony swallowed convulsively and dragged his hand over his mouth.

"That is disgusting!"

James shrugged; the shakes had been the main source of nutrition he'd been given. It was easy to get used to the taste when it was all he had. The disgusted look continued on Tony's face as he seemed to analyze the components even as he tried to scrap the taste off his tongue. He had the strangest desire to laugh, something he hadn't done in many years. The Asset had not been allowed to smile, let alone laugh.

"Damn, I can taste the chemicals in this, and I'm sure there's some type of stimulant as well, based on the way my heart rate just skyrocketed."

Tony picked up his coffee and gulped down half of the mug. James could see him swish it around in his mouth before he swallowed. "Have you ever experienced withdrawal when you've run out of these shakes?"

James sipped at his coffee and thought for a moment, before he shook his head. "Not that I remember, but I burn off medication fast, I think. They sometimes gave me injections, instead."

"Probably," Tony answered, still staring at the shake in his hand. "Serum burns through the drugs at an accelerated rate. I know Steve's metabolism does."

"Sir, Captain Rogers and Pararescueman Wilson are headed toward the conference room," JARVIS announced.

An unfamiliar feeling impacted his stomach, not unlike an unexpected fall. And James took a breath. He felt Tony's eyes on him as he stood up.

"Thanks, J," Tony acknowledged. "Have Dum-E come up and get this protein shake for Bruce, so he can analyze it."

"Of course, Sir."

Tony looked at James. "Are you ready?"

James smoothed a hand down his shirt and nodded him head. "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Following Tony toward the elevator, James took a deep breath and allowed his face to fall into a neutral mask. He may not want to be the Winter Soldier anymore, but that training was still a part of him and he would use it to his benefit. James could hear a low conversation from a room with an open door as soon as the elevator doors open. Tony immediately stepped into the room, but James held back for a moment.

"Cap! Glad to see you on your feet! And you brought your literal wingman with you!" Tony's tone was mildly sarcastic. "Military should have let me upgrade those wings for them, but they didn't seem very interested in doing that."

"Tony."

Came Steve Rogers clipped voice, a sound that resonated through the memories in James' mind. He heard Steve introduce Tony to the other man, Sam Wilson.

"You said you had information for us?" While the tone was friendly, it had an impatient inflection to it.

James stood stiffly, listening. When had the punk become more idiotic than he was before?

"I have a shit ton of information for you, Steve, but before I give it to you—"

"Please don't lecture me, Tony. Everything came down so fast, there was no time to try to make contact with you. So, I'm sorry if you felt left out, but I didn't even know if you were back in New York!"

"You had enough time to recruit a new friend, Cap. And if you had reached out or even just answered your phone, you'd have discovered I had a failsafe built into the helicarriers which could have shut them down without the carnage. That, however, is not the reason I asked you to come to the Tower."

James heard Tony take a deep breath and he decided it was time. He stepped into the doorway, his eyes flicking over the rectangular table, Steve at the far end and his friend to his right. Both sitting at the farthest point of the room, backs against the large wall of windows. Both were dressed casually, Steve in a plaid shirt over a white tee-shirt and the other man similarly to James himself. The end of the table nearest the door had number of foot service containers which Tony was going through, along with a large carafe he decided had to hold coffee.

"What I was going to say, is I had an unexpected guest show-up seeking my help."

Steve Rogers' eyes were narrowed on Tony, irritation clear to James.

"Damn, Tony, that's dangerous, with the HYDRA situation. We're not even sure who we can trust anymore! Who was it?"

"Me," James spoke softly, but it was enough to have both men's heads snap his direction.

Steve leapt to his feet, but didn't attempt to approach him, and his confusion clear. "Tony, do you know who this is?"

Tony was loading up a plate from the boxes and didn't look up. "I do."

Steve hadn't taken his eyes off James. "Which Bucky am I talking to?"

Inhaling a calming breath, James stepped further into the room. "I'm not the Asset, not the Winter Soldier now. I don't want to do that anymore."

"And you're just gonna believe he's your pal Bucky, man?" Wilson asked Steve, still sitting tensely, holding his fork as if it were a weapon.

"Your mother's name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes. And most of the time you were a scrawny, stubborn punk."

Steve's body seemed to sag, despite the sidelong look Wilson gave him. James met his eyes, before a hand gently wrapped around his left wrist.

"Get yourself a plate, James, no need to have this conversation on an empty stomach."

James moved toward the food, his eyes still on Steve as he sat back down in his chair. There was silence as he scooped scrambled eggs on the plate, located the bacon, and left the rest of the food alone, until he saw a stack of something familiar. He glanced up and pointed to them with his fork, silently asking a question.

"Pancakes." Wilson was the one who answered, looking at him curiously. "Butter and syrup over there." He pointed with his fork.

James looked at the plate in his hand and the size of the pancakes, Tony slid a clean plate toward him. He added several of the cakes and carried his plates over to sit down in the chair between Tony and Steve at the end of the table. He saw Tony had started on his own breakfast, Wilson was eating, and Steve alternated between eating and staring him. Despite his unsettled stomach, James ducked his head and began to eat.

That had gone better than expected, he thought.

Chapter Text

"What happened?"

Tony looked up at Steve's quiet question. Glancing at James, he could see the man intensely studying his plain pancakes as he ate his eggs. Steve Rogers was staring intently at his one-time best friend. With a sigh, Tony reached over and slid the plate with butter and syrup closer to James, who looked at it and then Tony, before reaching for the knife.

"I had been working for about seventy-two hours, trying to give you guys what support I could after Hill made the request for a SI communications satellite. When Romanoff dumped all the files online, Bruce and I, along with JARVIS, attempted to mitigate the danger to undercover SHIELD agents and their families. We also downloaded and wiped as much of the sensitive information we could on the experimentation both SHIELD and HYDRA had done and atrocities they committed." He paused to take a deep breath. "Among those was the information on the Winter Soldier, the conditioning he had been subject to, as well as his Mission Reports."

James grimaced at his words and, surprisingly, Rogers looked stricken, abandoning his plate. Tony narrowed his eyes at the man but continued.

"Those reports, as well as the notes we found on exactly how they tortured, brainwashed, and experimented on James Barnes have been locked away until we can utilize them to reverse the programming for James."

"Tony, there was a video when Nat and I were at Camp Lehigh, Zola—"

"I am aware, Steve," Tony interrupted him sharply. "Now is not the time."

Taking in Tony's look, Steve averted his eyes and sat back in his chair, with his hands clasped in front of him and face pale, while Wilson pushed his plate away, crossing his arms over his chest. James looked between the two, before focusing on Tony again.

"Anyway, about forty-eight hours after the whole helicarrier fiasco, JARVIS woke me to report I had a visitor in the lab. It was—"

"The Asset," James interjected, pushing away his half-eaten plate of pancakes. "My right arm was injured, and the left had been damaged in the fight on the helicarrier. The metal arm also held a kill-switch and trackers. I needed a skilled mechanic who could remove them. From what the HYDRA handlers and technicians always said, Tony was the only person with the knowledge and skills to help me, so I came here." He met Tony's eyes before looking at Steve. "The words you said to me when we were fighting, broke through some of what they had done to me; that's why I pulled you out of the water. The fall from the helicarrier also jarred something in my mind and I knew I didn't want to be the Asset anymore. I was going to have Tony remove the kill-switch and trackers, then I was going to disappear."

Steve's face crumbled; his eyes anguished. "Bucky, no!"

James gave him a glare. "I will not be taken by HYDRA again – I'd rather die!"

Tony jumped in, setting his hand on James' shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "There are a couple other things we need to tell you before we get off track." He glanced between them before he began again. "Before he got here, James had done a detour through the Smithsonian, read about his history, and when I asked him what name he wanted me to call him, he chose James."

He paused, letting James confirm his choice with a nod.

"We took care of the arm, and I asked him to stay. There is a project I have in development that should help desensitize him to the trigger words HYDRA put in his head. James agreed and I sent you that message yesterday, because we both thought it was a good idea to bring Steve in to help James." Tony took a breath.

"Last night, we went to the HYDRA safehouse that no one was supposed to know of," James picked up the story. "Except they did and we walked into an ambush. There was a handler there who knew the trigger words and he used them—"

Steve gasped, but Tony just closed his eyes tightly. He hadn't been sure.

"Luckily, Tony had his Iron Man armor and was able to help subdue the agents. I was thrown into a wall and lost consciousness, and don't even remember Tony getting us out of there. When I woke up this morning, I remembered everything." James looked at Steve. "I remember when we were kids, you being a punk, and me getting drafted. Some things are still foggy, or just not there, I'm not sure, but I'm hoping I'll be able to remember more at some point."

"Cognitive recalibration," Steve said, wrapping both hands around his mug. "Or that's what Natasha called it back during the alien invasion."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "That may have helped to clear some of the blocks on a surface level, but I wouldn't want to test it with any more hits to the head. Two concussions in the last four or five days is plenty."

"I would think not!" Wilson interjected, a frown creasing his forehead as he looked at Tony. "Has he seen anyone yet to make sure he's okay?"

"He is sitting right here," James snarked as he glared at Wilson. "I heal really fast and should be fine by tomorrow. The bullet wound was just a graze, so—"

"Bullet wound! Bucky!" Steve was on his feet again, before James waved him off.

"Tony had JARVIS scan me and make sure I was okay, Steve."

Taking a deep breath, Steve eased back into his chair, looking between Tony and James again. "What is it you need us to do?"

Tony stood and moved to refill his coffee cup, before sitting again. "Well, for one, we were afraid you'd dive into searching for James and he didn't want you to do that when he was here and safe. Another was that whatever is left of HYDRA is going to do what they can to get their Asset back and, while the Tower's security is second to none, I would feel better if there were more people here who could fight, if there is an attack."

The men exchanged a look and nodded in agreement. Tony felt relief, as he knew their being in the Tower would be a deterrent to HYDRA and he didn't want to put his employees in jeopardy. He was going to have to talk to Happy, but HR was already hiring as many of the qualified SHIELD agents as they could, and Tony was going to beef up his security force.

"I also thought Steve could help in James' treatment, especially with recovering the memories them growing up together."

"Of course, I'd be happy to help Buck—James any way I can!"

James met Steve's eyes for the first time since he'd come into the room and Tony held his breath.

"You can call me Bucky, 'cause you always have, Steve, but I need you to know that HYDRA did their best to scrape anything that made me Bucky out of me years ago." He looked down at his hands. "I don't know how much of Bucky we're going to find left."

Steve leaned toward him, extended his hand slowly and placed it on James' arm. "I'll always be here for you, Bucky, till the end of the line."

James gave him a tiny smile as Tony watched, realizing what this meant to Steve. He saw Wilson give Steve a sideways glance, his mouth pressed in a line and sighed. While he was grateful that Steve didn't hesitate to accept his friend, it would take Wilson a bit longer to be comfortable with the man who had tried to kill them several times.

"I'll refabricate the EXO-wings, Wilson, with a few upgrades for you and the same for Cap's suit. Maybe put you both in the new Kevlar weave I've developed for the military."

"That would be great, Tony, but—"

"There's more, Steve," James interrupted him. "There are more HYDRA facilities and, worse, I'm not the only Winter Soldier."

Steve stiffened and Wilson groaned, clapping a hand over his face.

"Shit, man! Please, don't tell me they're as bad as you are!"

James gave him a hard look. "They are worse. HYDRA took their top team of assassins, who were already psychotic killers, and gave them the Super Soldier Serum developed by SHIELD. The version of the serum they received made them even more mentally unstable. I was brought in to test their abilities and they were brutal, killed a whole team of guards and several handlers before they were subdued. They were put into cryofreeze in 1993 and, up to the time I was moved to Washington, were still frozen." He looked from Wilson to Steve. "They speak thirty different languages, are skilled in stealth and infiltration, and as a team, they could take down a country overnight."

Tony closed his eyes. He knew Siberian would have to be a priority when James had told him about the other Winter Soldiers last night, but it sounded like it would need to be an Avenger level mission. If any of them were let loose—Tony swallowed suddenly, if all of them were released to recapture James, it would be disastrous.

"Do you know if they are activated the same way you are, James?"

James turned and looked at him, shaking his head. "No, there was no need to program them, they were HYDRA through and through. Once they're awake, they are deadly."

"Shit!" Both Steve and Wilson said in unison.

Tony smiled tightly at Steve's language, but bit his tongue on the sarcastic retort that popped into his head. "It sounds like it will take all of us for the mission," he commented instead, meeting Steve's eyes.

"The safest plan would be to blow up the bunker without going in." James' voice was cold and devoid of emotion. "There is no redeeming them, there is no deprograming them; they need to die."

"Bucky—"

"No, Steve!" James cut him off, pinning him with a look. "Think Zola or Schmidt! Would you try to change their minds? Try to rehabilitate them?"

Tony watched as understanding dawned for Steve, while Wilson was nodding in agreement. His eyes drifted to James and noticed how pale he'd gone, realizing this conversation was wearing on the man. Steve opened his mouth again, but Tony stepped in first.

"I'll have JARVIS forward you everything we've been able to gather on the bunker and the other soldiers. Steve, you and Wilson going to Fury's thing tomorrow?"

Both men stared at him and he waved them off.

"Yes, yes, I know he's alive, but I'm not sure what he's going to do now." Tony rolled his eyes. "If Romanoff shows up, she will probably have a file on James, courtesy of old Kremlin contacts." He glanced at James, who was staring hard at the table. "I really think it's imperative we keep James a secret for the moment, not so much from Natasha, but from Fury."

"We had planned on being there," Wilson answered for the two.

Tony nodded his agreement. "It'll keep up appearances, which we need to do. There's a Quinjet in the hanger on the roof at your disposal, and I'll have JARVIS start with fabrication this afternoon." He looked between the two men. "Is there anything else you need right now, Steve, because your credit card won't work at the moment. SI is doing a complete audit on the company financials, as well as the Stark Family Trust, to see how much money was being funneled into SHIELD. I'll be financing the Avengers personally from now on."

"How about a new car?" Wilson grumbled under his breath.

Tony had seen the footage of the battle on the highway and couldn’t help but grin. "What make and model, Birdman?"

"I liked the one I had!" Wilson groused.

"Had a weak roof and the steering wheel was loose," James decreed with a deadpan expression.

Wilson sputtered and Tony laughed; Steve just shook his head, hiding a smile. They talked logistics for the following day and whether or not to bring Romanoff back with them. Tony described how BARF worked and the way he planned to use it to desensitize the trigger words for James. The fact that HYDRA wanted their Asset back, getting the trigger words out of James’ head was a priority.

"Then we’ll work on a plan to hit the bunker in Siberia," Steve announced. "While you and Bucky are working on the words, Sam and I can work on eliminating those smaller experimentation facilities."

"I’ve sent the information to the various governments involved, but it would be helpful if they were able to liaison with you and at least offer support." Tony tapped his fingers on his chest out of habit. "I’ll get all the information to Rhodey, so he can read the military in as well." He looked at Steve. "There is no need to take all the risk on ourselves, especially when SHIELD was a government agency."

Sam and Steve looked at each other for a moment, before Steve leaned toward him.

"Wouldn’t if be better to take the facilities ourselves? That way we’ll have control of the information we collect."

"And we aren't sure who was really HYDRA," Wilson added.

Tony bit back a sigh, trying not to let his irritation show, but James wasn’t as cautious.

"You dumped all of SHIELD and HYDRA’s files on to the internet less than a week go, Steve. Why would you want to hide what you found now?" His tone was exasperated.

Steve look stricken. "I just don’t want any more information on the Winter Soldier to fall into the wrong hands!"

The irritation bubbling in Tony’s chest flared. "The damage is already done, damn it! We tried to scrub as much as we could, but there’s no way to know who may have also retrieved the information before we were able to delete it!"

James swallowed hard, knowing Tony was right. While he could not clearly remember his victims, he remembered all too well the blood, mayhem, and death he’d caused. There was no way to make it right, but he knew he was done being HYDRA’s puppet.

"I’m going to have to face it, however the information gets out, Steve. Might as well—"

"No! Bucky, that wasn’t you! You were tortured and brainwashed! It’s not your fault!"

James noticed that Tony had gone still beside him.

"My hands killed them all, punk, no way out of that." James tried to keep his voice matter-of-fact, but it sounded pained to his ears.

"He’s right, Steve," Wilson interjected. "It’s almost better to let the details of what Barnes suffered come out, public sentiment would be on his side."

Nausea swirled in his stomach at the thought of everyone knowing what he’d had to endure; what HYDRA had done to him. He closed his eyes for a moment and saw the recalibration chair that had made his brain feel like liquid fire was swirling through it. A warm hand closed around his wrist, grounding him and James took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and gave Tony a small smile.

"As soon as we have deactivated the HYDRA programming, I’ll have the SI PR team begin a public relation campaign." Tony announced. "By then the President should have gone through all the documents we've collected and decided whether he wants a public trial, or if he’ll just issue a pardon."

"Not sure Ellis is going to want any of this put in front of the public," Wilson responded. "Especially after the AIM fiasco – they were almost as bad as HYDRA."

James knew if he hadn’t been looking at Tony, he would have missed the way his face paled.

"Well, Ellis does still owe me a favorite over that whole situation." Tony released his wrist and drummed his fingers on the table.

Steve frowned that. "Closer to home, I know the Tower is fortified, Tony, but how well trained are your security staff?" He gave Wilson a look. "We could do some training with them if you think it would help?"

James looked up to see Tony nodding absently, a thoughtful look on his face. "That will certainly help. I'll let Happy know to expect you in a few days to talk about it."

Their eyes met for an instant and James was suffused in a feeling he couldn't even identify, certainly something he hadn't felt in decades.

"We are going to have to make certain none of these SHEILD agents we are hiring are HYDRA. Can you guys help with that?"

"I think we can handle that." Wilson even grinned at Tony. "Slimy bastards."

"Bucky?" Steve caught his attention, his voice soft. "There's a spare bedroom on my floor you can use, if you want."

James was already shaking his head, Tony staying silent. "I have a secure safe room Tony gave me to stay in." He purposely met Steve's eyes. "It's one that can contain me if, for some reason, I'm triggered, as well as keep out anyone trying to get in. I feel—safe there, and want to stay in the room."

Steve narrowed his eyes, looking at Tony. "Are you sure it's secure?"

James sighed. "Is it all right if I show him?" he asked quietly and Tony nodded as they both stood.

Of all the things James remembered, it was Steve's stubbornness that he recalled the most. Leaving Tony and Wilson negotiating over the new car he wanted, James took the stairs up to the penthouse, taking a moment to orient himself as they came out on to the floor. Steve silently followed James up the stairs and watched as he opened the closet door and unlocked the inner door. He looked over the security of the rooms with a critical eye, as James stood to the side, flashes of a smaller, scrawnier Steve in the apartment they had shared before the war. He paused in the doorway to the bedroom.

"Well, at least there are extra beds if you need me to stay and keep you company."

James shook his head. "Until I know I'm not going to be triggered somehow, I don't want anyone here."

"But, Buck—"

"Steve, no," James cut him off quietly. "All it would take is a nightmare of being triggered, to actually be triggered and I won't put anyone else in danger!"

"I just want to help, Bucky, in anyway I can," Steve begged, his voice sincere.

James remembered that look, the memory of a much smaller Steve using it to justify trying to enlist in the Army in particular.

"And you will help, Steve, as no one knew me better than you, then," he answered truthfully. "I know I had a family, but I can't even remember what they looked like at the moment. You can help me fill in the holes in my memories – as soon as we get these damn words out!"

Steve nodded, his expression anxious. "I will do whatever I need to to help you, Buck. You’ve always been my brother and always will be."

James tensed as Steve stepped closer. "I’d really like to hug you, Bucky."

Giving Steve a jerky nod, James leaned closer and allowed Steve to envelop him in a tight embrace. He was able to stand it for several long seconds before he gently pulled back. He patted Steve on the arm and led the way out of the bedroom. In the doorway of the living room area, James saw several plastic bags sitting on the floor.

"Your groceries have arrived, James." JARVIS announced and James blinked.

"I can help you put them away, Bucky," Steve announced, walking over to the bags and grabbing them.

Following him into the small kitchen, James watched as Steve put the groceries away, describing each item and what it was used for. James swallowed a laugh. He might have been a prisoner of HYDRA for decades, but James was pretty sure he had more current information than his old buddy did. Knowing it was just easier to keep his mouth shut and nod, James watch Steve organize the kitchen like their cold-water flat had been organized before he was drafted. It was something familiar for him, and he did appreciate Steve for thinking of it.

"James, Sir and Mr. Wilson have gone down to his personal workshop, whenever you and Captain Rogers are finished." JARVIS announced.

"Thank you," James muttered automatically.

"Do you really want to be here, Bucky?" Steve asked him quietly.

James turned to face him, searching Steve's face for any hidden meaning. "I chose to come here, Steve. Chose to seek help from Tony because, for some reason, I knew I would receive it." He stared at Steve for a moment. "I didn't want you here, initially, but Tony talked me into it."

"Why not?" Both Steve's tone and his face were wounded.

"Because fixing me isn't going to be easy and I was afraid you would interfere with what was best for me, especially when things get tough and painful."

"But—"

James stood his ground. "No, Steve! Maybe you need to give this situation some thought before you commit to helping me!" He drew a deep breath. "It's going to be rough, of that I have no doubt – I've undergone too many years of programing for it not to be! Stark has been tortured, he knows what that means and won't go easy on me. If you can't handle it, then maybe you shouldn't be involved."

"I want to be here for you, Bucky! You trust me and know I will take care of you when you need me to!" Steve pleaded.

"Then I need you to trust Tony! He's your team mate, Steve, and that should mean something – it certainly did among the Howlies as I remember!" James wasn't backing down. "Because I could still run—"

"No, Bucky!" Steve blew out a breath. "I do trust Tony and I want to help."

"Okay, good," James ran his hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face. "I'm gonna need my friend, Stevie."

Tony gave Wilson – Sam a tour of his personal workshop, pointing out the various upgrades in progress for the Avengers' equipment. The Iron Man suits lined the back wall in their custom glass cases. The current armor stood on a platform near his work bench, ready to launch at any moment. For once, Tony didn't babble on, allowing the man to look around the lab with an expression of wonder. He didn't know much about Sam, other than he'd been one of the best flyers with the EXO wings during his deployments. His records reflected that he was an intuitive flyer, excelled at rescue and extraction, and a crack shot.

"Stark—"

"Tony, please."

"Sam," the man instructed, giving him a smile. "How much do you know about Barnes' trigger words?"

Tony tapped the top of the warn folder James had brought with him. "They are listed in here, in Russian, but it does reference a manual for the Winter Soldier, which worries me."

"So we don't know whether the words have to be in Russian to work, or if any other language would trigger him?"

"No, from what I can decipher, all ten words have to be said in sequence and I suspect within a short period of time."

"They always used Russian," James said, as he and Steve walked into the workshop. "No one ever stopped once they started, so I'm not sure about a timeframe."

Tony frowned; James looked a bit pale. "Did you ever see a manual, like a binder or book that any of the handlers had?" He moved to the side of the workbench and pulled an orange juice out of the minifridge and tossed it to James.

"Yes, red journal type book with a black star on the front." James opened the bottle and drained half of it. "I think I last saw it in Siberia, as one of the doctors was adding information on the other Winter Soldiers."

Tony nodded, glancing at Sam and then Steve. "James made some detailed lists of facilities he remembers for you, but he mentioned he was kept in DC since Pierce became Secretary."

James' hand tightened around the bottle he was hold. "The Vault, underneath the Ideal Federal Savings Bank – I took the folder from there."

Tony almost laughed at the self-satisfied smirk that erupted on James' face.

"I'm afraid I left a bit of a mess behind as I destroyed the chair they used to wipe my memories and the controls for the cryochamber they kept me in."

Throwing his head back, Tony laughed. "Sounds to me like you made sure they couldn't torture you again."

"At least not there," James growled. "And never again, anywhere."

"We'll damn well make sure of that," Sam stated before Steve could get a word out.

Tony eyed the two. "So, JARVIS can have the EXO wings refabricated this afternoon and new suits by tomorrow morning." He arched an eyebrow at Steve.

"So, how do you feel about a little side trip tomorrow, Sam?"

Chapter Text

James sat perfectly still on a stool in Tony’s personal workshop, somewhat comforted by the Iron Man suit standing ready behind him. Only the fingers of his right hand tracing the inner seam of the jeans he wore with increasing pressure showed his concern. JARVIS had pulled up a hologram showing where Steve and the wing guy were as they moved toward the side entrance to the old bank building.

"No movement inside the subterranean rooms detected, Sir." JARVIS advised Tony.

"Launching Redwing," Wilson's voice sounded over the comm.

"What's Redwing?" James asked quietly, his eyes darting to where Tony was standing, manipulating a holographic display of the building's floor plan.

"It's his drone," Tony answered immediately. "It's small and nimble, can be deployed into tight spaces to gather intel, and has a couple of defensive weapons in it."

"Good idea," James agreed, impressed at the tactical advantage, before turning his head to look at Tony. "You put lasers in it, didn’t you?"

Tony’s lips twitched up into a smirk. "Probably."

Snorting, James turned back to watch the holograph, as a small dot preceded the two men into the building. Tony let the men know there were no other heat signatures in the building or below ground areas. James didn’t want to remind them the Asset wouldn’t have left anyone alive, but as he’d told them in their briefing, no one had been there when he’d been there three days ago. A smug feeling welled in his chest; he had cleaned out HYDRA’s stash of money and his own file, before destroying their instruments of torture. He hadn’t touched the computers or any of the other research that was being conducted in the Vault.

A video feed popped up in one corner of the hologram, probably from the wing man’s drone. It showed the cell he’d been kept in while being readied for a mission, then the cryochamber—

"James?" Tony’s voice had an underlining emotion in it.

James turned to look at him, arching an eyebrow.

"I don’t think you should watch if anything there that might upset you."

Staring at the man, James knew that Tony’s comment was sincere, not because he was concerned about the Winter Soldier, but because James might become emotionally compromised while watching. It filled him with an unfamiliar warmth, bring up another fleeting emotion that James couldn’t readily identify. Even the Asset preened at the feeling.

"I think I’ll be all right," he said softly. "I did as much damage as I could before I left."

"I bet that felt good!" Tony laughed, glancing at him again before returning his attention back to the video feed.

"It was cathartic," James acknowledged, not sure where he’d pulled that word up from.

Tony laughed. "I just bet it was, snowflake."

Lapsing into silence, they watched as Steve and Wilson entered the room where the chair was. Steve had stiffened, before unleashing even more damage, by tearing the chair to pieces, while Wilson set a device on top of the computer sitting on one of the counters. Tony had explained that his AI could download any usable data from HYDRA’s system with it. Once done with the chair, Steve began to gingerly pull open cabinet and closet doors.

"What’s he looking for?"

Tony watched for another moment. "HYDRA weapons, I think." He reached up and a holographic keyboard appeared, which Tony began to type on rapidly. "While the video is still coming through, their audio – their voices aren’t. Do you know if HYDRA had any type of signal blockers?"

James shook his head. "Not that was ever mentioned in front of me, but—"

A sudden memory, just a piece of dialogue surfacing in his mind, caused James to leap to his feet.

"Tell them to get out! Grab what they have and leave, now! I think HYDRA has the ability to explode the building remotely." James wasn’t sure how he would prove this, if Tony questioned him. "I think blocking signals in and out are the first step to blowing it up."

"Steve, Sam, if you can hear me, get out of the building!"

There was no acknowledgement of Tony’s statement. He hit another button on the keyboard and a red light began to flash in front of the video. "Redwing has an alert light, hopefully they'll see it. JARVIS, send text messages to both their phones—"

"Already done, Sir."

The video link cut out and James stood tensed as he watched Tony typing furiously on the floating keyboard. "Pull up the CCTV footage from the redlight camera and the ATM across the street, JARVIS."

Standing stiffly as he waited to hear something, James took a deep breath. He wasn't used to not being in control of a mission, and HYDRA had found early that he was not much of a team player. While they had honed him into a master assassin, they had never left him with enough emotional range to work effectively as part of a team. They had also had to drop the notion that he could be used to infiltrate or use subterfuge, for the same reason. Between the wipes and the chemical suppressants, HYDRA had turned him into a killing machine. Since Tony had insisted he stop drinking the protein shakes, James had been dealing with the return of emotions he hadn't felt in years.

"They're out!" Tony shouted, reaching out a hand to tap on his forearm, getting his attention.

Refocusing on the video feeds, James could see movement on the street in front of the old Bank and the figures of two men, leaning on each other, appeared as the building lifted a foot, before collapsing in on itself. He almost laughed. It was apparent a disgruntled scientist had rigged the explosion with a medium-size propane tank, causing the building to be displaced, but not a sufficient amount to destroy it. Steve was limping, but both seem otherwise fine.

Relief made his head swim and James reached out as the room began to turn. Strong hands grabbed him.

"Woah, Frosty!"

The hands guided him onto a soft surface, and helped him lie down, before everything went black.

Tony stood back and watched as Bruce quickly examined James' prone form. It wasn't all that surprising to him, if he thought about what the man had been through in just the past seventy-two hours.

"JARVIS, can you compare today's scan from the scans you've done since he appeared at the Tower?"

"Of course, Dr. Banner. James has had fluctuations in his heart rate and blood pressure, an elevated body temperature, and sighs of dehydration."

"Damn it!" Bruce exclaimed, never looking up from where he was tapping on a Starkpad. "I should have anticipated this!"

Tony frowned, going over the last few days in his mind.

"The chemical suppressants in the shakes he was drinking! HYDRA has had him on these for years!" Bruce's eyes had a green tinge to them. "I'll bet they even had him on an IV while he was in cryostasis. Bastards!" he spat.

He could feel the color leave his face. Tony had done several stints in rehab as a teenager and knew what the withdrawal from substances felt like. He remembered alcohol had been the worst, with the nightmares, the nausea, and the hallucinations. He'd hated the Lithium he'd been forced to take, along with the other mood stabilizers. Half the time, he'd hidden them in his mouth before spitting them out – and learned the hard way how bad he could feel without them.

Then, there was detoxing in a cave in the Afghani desert while trying to recover from open-chest surgery. Without any type of chemical intervention. Tony had never let his drinking get to the dependency level since, despite the drunken birthday bash at the height of the Palladium poisoning. Especially with the PTSD he'd developed in the aftermath of the New York battle.

Straightening his shoulders, Tony rolled a stool over to the couch and sat down. "All right, I guess no one around here knows as much about withdrawals than I do, Brucie. What should I watch for with the suppressants he was subjected to?"

Taking off his glasses and cleaning them with the bottom of his shirt, Bruce looked thoughtful for a moment. "I wouldn't be surprised if the withdraws are over quickly, with his metabolism, so for the next maybe twelve hours, he will be fatigued, nauseated, probably lightheaded, and his mood up and down as the suppressed emotions begin to reemerge. After that, James may be restless and more emotional than he's been." Bruce paused and gave Tony a significant look. "He's been touch starved for seventy
years, Tony, he may be a bit clingy." He sighed. "I'm really not that kind of a doctor, but I'd watch for depression as well."

"And it would defeat the purpose to have him take anything." It was Tony's turn to sigh, a half-dozen different things taking up space in his head.

Bruce nodded his head. "He'd metabolize it too quickly. I do have some of the analgesic medication we made up for Steve, which would take the edge off the fever and body aches, as well as the soreness he must have from that arm."

"Sir, Captain Rogers is calling."

"Thanks, Bruce. Put him through, J." He waved up the holographic screen and Steve appeared, out of breath and looking a bit rumpled

"Tony!"

"You guys okay, Cap?" Tony asked immediately, Bruce beside him.

"We're a little banged up, but okay. Thank goodness for the warning light you put on Redwing! With the comms out, it was the only warning—"

"Well, you'll have to thank James for that," Tony interrupted, "he apparently remembered that the building could be blown up if HYDRA needed to."

"It came just in time, man!" Sam Wilson was dabbing at a laceration on his arm with an antiseptic wipe. "He doesn't have any other last-minute memories we need to know about, does he?"

"Not that he's mentioned, birdman," Tony retorted, glancing down at an unconscious James on the couch. "I'll be sure to pass on any further revelations."

"We're going to swing over and check the safehouse Bucky mentioned, before we come back." Steve gave him a hard look. "Where is Bucky?"

"On the couch, Cap," Tony widened the view so Steve could see his friend curled up, a blanket thrown over him. "Some of the withdrawal symptoms caught up with him."

He could see Steve stiffen and watched as his eyes narrowed on James. Bruce shifted uncomfortably and he tapped Tony on the shoulder, before leaving. Taking a deep breath, Tony did his best to calm himself and not fly off the handle, having already seen how overprotective of James the man was.

That lasted until Steve's mouth opened and Tony knew the look.

"Look, Cap, Bruce is going up to get some of your meds to give James, which should take care of the low-grade fever and the body aches he no doubt has. He needs to hydrate and eat, otherwise, sleep is the best thing for him." Tony was trying to be honest. "Bruce and I can take care of him until you get back, but if you and Sam want to check the other safehouse, it would be better done sooner than later, with the address out there on the internet."

"That makes sense, Cap," Sam added, eyes scanning the area they were standing in. "And we need to approach it carefully, in case HYDRA has it booby-trapped."

Steve nodded in agreement (although it appeared reluctant to Tony) and sighed. "Let me know if you need me, Tony."

"I will, Cap."

The video cut off as Steve turned to get into a nondescript gray sedan, Tony sighed in relief. He grabbed one of his stools and rolled it over to the couch.

"Dum-E, will you get me one of the soft blankets out of the cupboard, please?"

The bot gave him a chirp as he rolled toward the back of the workshop. Sitting down, Tony visibly examined James' face and noted his cheeks were flushed, even though he was still pale. Slowly, Tony reached out and gently brushed the hair off of James' forehead, pushing away the memory of Anna Jarvis kissing his forehead to see if he had a fever. He wasn't sure whether the Winter Solider would appreciate him doing the same, but his fingers could feel the heat radiated off James. He laid the back of his hand on James' check and frowned.

"JARVIS, do a scan of James, please, specifically for fever—"

"Still elevated at 103, Sir," JARVIS cut across his request. "No sign of infection or injury detected; however, elevated brainwaves have been recorded."

Bruce stepped back into the workshop, looking relieved at JARVIS' words, and handed Tony a medicine bottle. "That might not necessarily be bad, Tony – it could just be indicative of his brain trying to repair the damage that HYDRA did to him. Give him one of these to start, but you can double it if one doesn't bring down the fever. Let me know if you need anything else," Bruce threw over his shoulder as he left.

James started to stir as Bruce walked out. His eyes popped out and looked around wildly. His breathing became shallow and Tony slowly laid a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention.

"Easy, big guy," he reassured him, softening his voice. "You're fine. You're at Stark Tower and safe."

James struggled to sit up and Tony stood to help him, repositioning the blanket around his shoulders. Dum-E rolled forward with a bottle of water in his claw, which James took without hesitation. Tony grabbed the bottle of pills he'd set down on his work bench and sat back down, rolling closer to the couch.

Extending the bottle, Tony met James' eyes which had narrowed in suspicion. "These are like super aspirin Bruce made up for your spangled pal when he had a fever or injured himself. You can take one or two, depending on how bad you feel, because you have a fever now, and I'm pretty sure you're in pain."

He continued to hold out the bottle while maintaining eye contact with James. "There are no other drugs in those, frosty, I swear," Tony told him firmly. "Trust has to begin somewhere, James, and I am telling you now, I won't ever lie to you."

The blue eyes searched Tony's face, before James' flesh hand extended to take the medication. "I do trust you, Tony." His voice was rough, like he was trying to speak around an obstruction. "It'll just take a while to get used to not always being hurt."

Understanding dawned and Tony felt his lips twitch upwards. "I promise I'll never intentionally hurt you, James, but I can't guarantee getting those words out of your head is going to be easy."

James snorted as he set the water bottle on the floor and tried to figure out how to open the bottle. "Never made it easy for them to put those fuckers in my head, figured it would be hell getting them out."

Nodding, Tony watched him figure out the child safety top with a smirk. "At least you know you won't be alone this time."

James felt a calm settle over him at Tony's earnest words, as he shook out two pills from the bottle. He knew his fever was high, high enough for the serum to be lagging in bringing it down, and he ached all over. It wasn't like he hadn't gone through withdrawals from HYDRA's chemical control before. That first time he'd managed to stay hidden for almost a month, before he'd been found. The trackers had been added shortly afterwards and the kill-switch sometime later, but James never stopped trying, once he started to remember.

"Where are Steve and the wing guy?" he asked after swallowing the pills.

Tony, who'd been watching him intently, seemed to startle out of what ever thought he'd had. "They're headed to the safe house in Virginia you told them about."

James' heart skipped a beat and he tried to stand up. Tony was there to support him as his legs felt rubbery. "No! They can't go there! It's rigged to explode!"

JARVIS spoke up before Tony answered. "Captain Roger's is on the line, Sir."

"Give me video, J," Tony instructed, his arm around James' waist.

Steve's face popped up in a holographic screen immediately. "Tony? What do you need, we're only about half a mile from—"

"Steve! Stop!" James said urgently. "You can't go there!"

He could see Wilson's beyond Steve's shoulder, turn toward the camera with a questioning look.

"What's going on, Buck?" Steve's voice was terse.

James signed; someone needed to teach the jerk some patience. "Number one, I stripped it of anything valuable. Number two, there are HYDRA-type explosives with pressure plates, which will vaporize anyone without the proper code and fingerprint combination. Third, it was the last safehouse I was known to be in before New York and it may now be set up as an ambush for me. And fucking fourth, the address was released in the data dump the Widow did!"

He was breathing hard by the time he was done, wondering how he could have ever forgotten what a stubborn asshole Steven Grant Rogers was! His vision began to darken at the edges and James would have fallen if it hadn't been for Tony's arm and the robot's metal strut he was able to clamp his metal hand around. James leaned heavily on Tony, who he heard yelling something at Steve, before they were moving slowly.

James just followed where he was led, not even sure when he had closed his eyes.

He awoke to a dark, but familiar room as the mattress moved slightly beside him. A quick self-check, something James had learned to do as the Asset, assured him his body had recovered from the withdrawal symptoms, at least as far as nausea and fever went. The back of his head still ached, a nagging throb, but otherwise James felt much better. He carefully stretched out his limbs, relieved when everything worked with out pain.

Turning his head slightly, James caught sight of Tony slipping out the door of his bedroom in the safe room, leaving it ajar. Another set of footsteps were walking closer and, suddenly, every sense was alert. James sat up, soundlessly throwing the blanket aside as he took stock of the room and tried to figure out what the situation was. He did note that he still wore the clothes he'd dressed in the morning Steve and Wilson left for DC.

"Tony?"

James didn't recognize the male voice, tensing as he listened for Tony's response.

"Platypus! When did you get back from your double-secret mission with the President?"

The footsteps came together. "I came right here from DC! I wanted to check and see how you were holding up, Tones."

Tony snorted, moving away from James. "You just wanted to make sure I hadn't done anything stupid, Honey Bear! Stay here for a second – I need to go get the meds Bruce made up."

"Meds? Tony—"

"Just stay here for a second, I don't want James waking up alone."

"But I'm James! And I'm not sleeping," the man sound petulant. "What the hell is he talking about? JARVIS!"

"Yes, Colonel Rhodes?"

Tony's voice had receding and James felt a moment of panic. He moved to the doorway on feet and peered through the crack. A tall black man in a military flight suit stood in the entrance of the safe room, muttering to himself as he looked around. This had to be Tony's best friend, Rhodey, or Colonel James Rhodes, the pilot of War Machine. HYRDA's file hadn't had much on the man except his friendship with Tony and his military record.

James stepped out of the room. "I am James," his voice soft and nonconfrontational, his hands out from his sides.

Rhodes swung toward him and stared at him, eyes going wide. "Oh, hell no! Tony! Get your ass back up here!"

Tony ran back into the room, gripping the medication bottle in one hand as he held the other out toward Rhodes. "Rhodey! It's fine! James remembers who he is, although not his missions! He even recognized Capsicle!"

James spread his hands away from his body and held Rhodes eyes. "I would never hurt Tony, Colonel Rhodes – I'd rather die first!"

Tony sent Rhodes an imploring look and moved to stand beside James, sliding his arm around James' waist. "You still look unsteady, snowflake."

Allowing himself to be led to the couch, James sat down with a sigh. He felt much better than he had earlier in the lab, with the exception of his headache, and gladly accepted the bottle from Tony. By the time he'd managed to get the cap off, bottle of water appeared on the low table in front of him. Shaking out one of the pills, James tossed it back and drank half the bottle of water, as Tony and his friend stood by.

"Steve and the wing man?" James asked quietly, carefully putting the meds and bottle on the table.

"They're about an hour out," Tony told him, before grabbing Rhodes and tugging him closer. "James, I'd like you to meet my best friend, James Rhodes. Platypus, this is James Buchanan Barnes, of the Howling Commandos."

The colonel, arms crossed over his chest, gave James a nod, a scowl still on his face. James knew he wanted to make a good impression, standing as a show of respect.

"Colonel Rhodes, sir."

Tony shot a glare at his friend as he grabbed James' arm and guided him back down on to the couch. "You need to sit until I can make you a smoothie. Your bestie would kill me if you keel over again!"

Tony disappeared into the kitchen while Rhodes continued to stare at him, before he let out a put upon sigh, and sat across from him. Leaning over, Rhodes propped his elbows on his thighs and rubbed his face, before making eye contact with James.

"I will hold you to that promise, Barnes. Tony is a genius and very generous," he said in a low voice. "People tend to friend him with the idea of using him and his money, until they get tired of him. If Tony has a fault, beyond his babbling—"

"I don't babble, Honey Bear!"

"—it's that he cares too much and gives too many chances to those he cares for." Rhodes gave him a hard look. "Don't be one of those."

"I won't, sir," James said earnestly. "Tony has already done more for me than anyone in the past almost seventy years. I can only hope to repay him for his kindness by protecting him."

While he held Rhodes eyes, James was glad Tony couldn't hear him over the blender. Rhodes was silent for long enough to make James squirm inside, before he gave a sharp nod. James relaxed back in his seat.

"You're not making a blueberry smoothie, are you, Tones?" Rhodes called, with a wink to James. "You know I like strawberry better, right?"

Tony rolled his eyes as he divided the smoothies he made into glasses and set them on a tray. He loved Rhodey, especially when he was in overprotective, mother hen mode; the man had been one of the few constants in Tony's life since he was fourteen. That didn't mean he wouldn't mess with the man at any opportunity. Carrying the tray out of the kitchen, Tony set one of each smoothie in front of James, the red smoothie for Rhodey, and the blueberry one for him, before sitting down.

James didn't hesitate to pick up the blueberry smoothie and take a sip. Tony hid a grin as the man's eyes widened and gulped the rest down. Rhodey shook his head before taking a large swig of his smoothie, his face shocked as he swallowed.

"Son of a bitch!"

Rhodey yelped as Tony couldn’t help but shot James a grin. "Don't you like it, Honey Bear?"

"You said it was strawberry!" he accused, taking another swig of the smoothie. "You're such an asshole, Tones!"

James was actually smiling at Rhodey's overdramatic reaction to the flavor and Tony grinned back at him. "But you like raspberry, Platypus."

His friend sent the patented Rhodes glare he'd learned from his mama at Tony, who attempted to look innocent.

"But I was expecting strawberry," Rhodey pouted.

"Sir, the Quinjet is on approach." JARVIS announced, interrupting their silliness.

Tony drank down the rest of his smoothie and put the glass in the sink with the dirty blenders. "We can clean that up later, James. I'm going to go change my shirt and then we'll go down to the conference room – if you're up to it."

James nodded before looking up as Tony headed out, with Rhodey behind him. "Do I have time for a quick shower?"

Pausing, Tony looked back. "Actually, that's a good idea. JARVIS, tell Steve and Sam to meet us in the conference room in thirty minutes. Order in some pizza, too."

"Of course, Sir."

Rhodey trailed him into his bedroom as Tony stripped off his clothing, grabbing him by the shoulders when he was down to his briefs. Tony found himself wrapped in a tight hug, before Rhodey stepped back and gave him an intense look.

"You are a good man, Tones," he told Tony softly, "but don't get in over your head until you're sure where you are going. And remember, I'm only a call away if you need any help."

"Thanks, platypus," he answered, his chest warm with love for his best friend. "You're sticking around for the debrief?"

The smirk Rhodey gave him wasn't particularly pleasant. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. Go scrub your ass while I make some coffee."

Tony was still chuckling as he did as instructed, not lingering under the steaming water. He quickly toweled dry before rubbing his hair briskly with another towel. Grabbing clean sweats and a long-sleeved tee shirt, Tony pulled them on as he stuffed his feet into his favorite sneakers. A quick brushing of his damp hair completed his task and Tony followed the smell of coffee back down to the kitchen. James was seated at the island as he came in, dressed similarly to Tony, while Rhodey hadn't bothered to change.

Tony took a long sip of the coffee his friend had waiting for him, in his favorite red and gold mug, before he looked at Rhodey.

"Gonna give 'em hell, Colonel?" he quipped.

Rhodey raised an eyebrow, his eyes darting to James, before he gave a nod. "I want him to know he owes me for retrieving that shield – the Potomac was disgusting!"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure he knows your suit is waterproof, Honey Bear."

A shudder went through Rhodey. "It was still disgusting, Tones!"

"He's right, it was pretty disgusting," James interjected quietly. "And I didn't have a suit."

Throwing up his hands, Tony moved to refill his mug and headed toward the elevator, shaking his head. "Come on, you whiners."

Steve and Sam were already in the conference room, eating pizza and talking softly as Tony led the way into the room. He dropped down into the middle seat across from the two and wasn't as surprised as he should have been when James sat on the side of him closest to Steve. Rhodey remained standing, as he paused in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

"Captain Rogers."

Steve looked up and immediately stood at attention, Wilson mirroring his actions. "Uh, Colonel—"

"I am Colonel James Rhodes, Military Liaison to Stark Industries, Special Attache to President Ellis, and I pilot the Iron—"

"War Machine!" Tony interrupted, smiling.

"—Patriot armor." He glanced at Tony. "And have been this one's best friend since he was fourteen."

Steve stepped forward and offered his hand. "Captain Steve Rogers, Colonel."

Sam offered his hand next. "Sam Wilson, uh, retired sergeant, 58th Pararescue Squadron."

"Gentlemen," Rhodey inclined his head before sitting down on Tony's other side. "President Ellis asked me to convey a message to you, reassuring you that he is not a HYDRA agent. He has also given me leave to assist you in the HYDRA bases you will be clearing, as long as the raids are coordinated through me and to the local authorities."

Rhodey fixed Steve with a look. "Personally, Rogers, you owe me a case of beer for retrieving that shield from the bottom of the Potomic!"

James smiled at this, having stayed quiet while he watched the interaction beside Tony. He stiffened when Rhodey turned toward him and Tony was tempted to put a reassuring hand on his arm. He must have telegraphed his desire somehow, as Steve's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, before Wilson nudged him.

"Sergeant Barnes, President Ellis expressed his apologies that you were held as a prisoner of war for so many years and for the treatment you went through at the hands of your captors. The documentation Tony sent him is being reviewed and processed in order to obtain your past military benefits, as well as a pardon."

Tony heard Jame's intake of breath along with his whispered thanks, and threw caution to the wind and reached out a reassuring hand to pat the metal arm. A pardon was appropriate, which Tony had written to Ellis, even though he was one of the Winter Soldier's victims. It would probably come with conditions – remove the trigger words, mandated therapy, making amends, etc., but Tony knew they would all help James get through it.

"That's wonderful!" Steve Rogers beamed, looking at James. "Are you feeling better, Bucky?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw James give a sharp nod to Steve's question, before grimacing. Even Tony knew Steve wouldn't settle for that, and James opened his mouth again.

"I think the fever is down and my stomach feels better," he admitted, his flesh hand going up to brush back the strands of hair falling into his eyes. "My muscles ache a bit, and my head is still throbbing."

"Where in your head, James?" Tony asked quietly.

"The area between my temples and ears." James muttered, hands coming up to rub his temples. "Just a low-level throb, more than anything."

Tony nodded. "The hippocampus, one on each side, help to formulate and store memories. So, you may be feeling it trying to repair itself from the damage caused by the mind wipes."

A hopeful look flashed across James' face before he schooled it. "It's better than it was earlier and Steve's medication helps."

"Oh, good," Steve said, still beaming at James. "I'm really glad you're feeling better."

Tony hid a smirk as Rhodey and Sam both rolled their eyes. The hippocampus was the area targeted by the BARF technology and the lead scientist on the project, Beck, insisted the device was ready for testing. Tony pulled up a hologram while Steve and Sam were explaining what they had encountered at the bank building. They had managed to download the computer hard drive to JARVIS, who would shift through the data recovered.

"We need to concentrate on Siberia," Steve announced as he drummed his fingers on the top of the table, drawing Tony's attention back to the conversation.

"Not without everyone," James interjected, with Rhodey nodding. "I don't know if there is anyone left who actually remembers the Winter Soldiers are there. Karpov was the chief handler before he retired, and Pierce brought me over to DC. Sitwell was his right hand, but he's dead. Rumlow was more psychotic, more ruthless – more like Karpov. None of them were able to handle the five."

"We're not going in until we get the trigger words managed," Tony figured he'd been quiet long enough and he met Steve's eyes. "I think we need to see if we can gather information on where Loki's scepter went, seeing how that entire STRIKE team turned out to be HYDRA."

"Dammit, I'd forgotten about that," Steve groaned. "Just what HYDRA needed, a mind-controlling scepter!"

"Well, shit." Both Rhodey and Sam said at the same time.

Tony nodded. "Exactly!" He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when James moved restlessly beside him. "You know about the scepter, snowflake?"

James narrowed his eyes. "I don't think I've ever seen it, but the handlers never bothered to watch their gossip around me, figuring I'd forget when they wiped me." He took a breath. "Rumor said there were a pair of twins, HYDRA volunteers, they used the scepter on – he developed extremely enhanced speed and she was able to invade and manipulate minds, as will as use her power to move things." He scrunched up his eyes. "They should be in the early to mid-twenties now. The girl was allowed to hone her skills on HYDRA prisoners, ripping through their minds for any secrets and manipulate what they saw."

"You never saw them, then?" Tony asked as a shiver ran down his back.

James shook his head. "I don't know whether they were afraid she'd set me off or get into my mind and do something to my programming."

"Any idea where this base was?" Steve questioned.

James rubbed his temples again, his eyes scrunching shut in concentration. "Somewhere in Eastern Europe, from what I remember of the accent." He dropped his hands and shook his head. "It wasn't Russian they were speaking, but softer, not as harsh – similar to Romanian."

Tony pondered James' words, going through the different languages of the region in his head, when James spoke again.

"There was a HYDRA doctor they brought in to the Vault several times – List. That's all I remember right now." James blew out a breath, his face pale.

Steve was out of his seat and crouching by James' chair as Tony passed him a new bottle of water. The two began talking quietly as Steve, almost comically, went into mother hen mode, a hand to James' forehead, before James batted it away. Steve accompanied James upstairs to get him settled after James had looked to Tony for permission. It was a reasonable assumption Steve would want to spend some time with his returned-from-the-dead best friend.

Wilson took over the debriefing of what they found in the bank building as Tony listened with half an ear. His eyes were back on the hologram of the BARF equipment and the lines of code that made it work. He frowned as he went over what looked like a newly added line of code, an instruction to retain all the patient's memories the device projected.

That was directly opposite of what Tony had approved and an illegal invasion of privacy.

Chapter Text

"James?"

The familiar voice jolted James, into instant awareness, taking in the room around him without blinking an eye. He was alone, in the safe room bedroom Tony had set him up in ten days ago. He sat up abruptly.

"JARVIS?"

Tony's AI had only spoken to him in the past at Tony's direction or if James slipped into the fragment of a memory, making his vitals spike. James had even gotten used to JARVIS being there to answer his questions in a nonjudgemental way, although he was beginning to recognize the sarcasm Tony always accused the AI of learning.

"If you could assist Sir, please, as I am unable to wake him and he seems to be having a rather vivid nightmare."

James slid off the top bunk immediately, pausing only to slip into sweat pants, before he headed toward the bedroom door. He heard the lock disengage and knew JARVIS had opened it for him, knowing the entry door would be unlocked by the time he got there. He'd learned the layout of the penthouse as soon as he'd been over the chemical withdrawals and now, moved on silent feet to Tony's bedroom.

The past ten days had been spent going over layouts of small HYDRA facilities along the eastern seaboard with Steve, Sam, and Rhodey. He'd even talked the others into allowing him to stay on comms in the workshop during the raids, feeding them information from JARVIS, remembered information that randomly popped into his mind, and running commentary from Tony in the background.

Tony had been working to revise something on the new system which was going to help desensitize him to the trigger words. They had been scheduled to start a week ago, until Tony had found something wrong. James had stayed in the safe room while Tony had gone to speak with the head scientist, but it was telling that both Steve and Rhodey had gone with him. When they'd returned, Steve was muttering about knuckleheads, Tony about fuckheads, and Rhodes looking grime. All James could get out if the trio was someone had been fired and threatened with arrest.

Steve had spent as much time with him as he could, between his other duties, which meant a couple hours a day. Enough to satisfy Steve without overwhelming James. They had been working to find pictures of James' family and Steve's mother, as James remembered who they were, but not what they looked like. It was helping him fill in some of the holes in his memories. Tony had managed to dig up both James and Steve's military trunks, which Howard had somehow acquired, instead of the Barnes family. Even Steve had frowned at that news, knowing he'd listed James as his next of kin, and all his possessions should have gone to the family.

James had also learned over the time he had been at the Tower, that Anthony Stark was a closeted softie, according to JARVIS. The man had made sure all of James' needs were taken care of, had Dr. Banner come up with a food plan which wouldn't cause his stomach to rebel, and had actually made James his personal bodyguard. All of which James appreciated and tried to thank his host for repeatedly. While Steve was trying to help James remember Bucky, Tony had given James his humanity back by urging him to embrace what have been taken from him: his autonomy. He had been given back choice: in what he ate, what he wore, and what he did. James could sleep, knowing he was safe there in the Tower.

Steve had hovered whenever they spent time together, his desire to have his old friend back so overwhelming, it threatened to choke James at times. As much as he wanted to be the confident, quick-witted Bucky Barnes, Captain America's sidekick, too much had happened to him. Their relationship was slowly becoming easier, as Steve started to accept this new him, and James was all right with that.

In the midst of the turmoil of the learning, unlearning, relearning, and fear that the past would catch up to him, taking him back to remake their killing machine, was Tony. The flashbacks and subsequent panic attacks were bad enough, but the nightmares, when his mind was at its most vulnerable, were devastating. James had refused Steve's continued offers to stay with him at night, despite having memories of them sharing a bed before the war. His nightmares were usually of violent conditioning or the brutal murders he was forced to commit, things Steve couldn't imagine.

It had been Tony who had been there for him, almost every night, when the night terrors preyed on his relaxed brain. Tony who had learned that carding his fingers through James' hair was the fastest way to bring him out of the night terrors, as none of his HYDRA handlers who have treated him with such kindness. When James couldn't go back to sleep, Tony took him down to the workshop, rambling on about whatever he was working on. James would drink hot coffee or tea, wrapped in a soft blanket, and watch as Tony made the future come alive.

As he silently pushed open the door to Tony's bedroom, his enhanced senses picked up the man's panicked breathing and rapid heartbeat. James made his way to the huge bed near the wall of windows.

"Tony?" he called softly, seeing Tony's figure curled in a ball in the middle of the bed.

Sliding onto the bed, James froze as Tony began to thrash around, as if he was being held down, panicked groans escalating into pained ones. James moved to sit beside Tony, being careful not to pull on the covers too tightly, so they didn't restrain him at all. He remembered how Tony had pulled him out of his nightmares and gingerly slid his fingers into Tony's hair.

"You're okay, Tony. You are safe in the Tower and no one is going to hurt you, I promise."

James kept talking softly, his hand carding through Tony's hair. It took several minutes before his frantic movements stopped and Tony's heart rate slowed, his breathing easing into normal. Just as James began to move away, a hand wrapped itself in the front of his shirt, tugging him down, but Tony didn't wake up. James eased himself down to lay on the bed, startled when Tony immediately turned and buried his face in James' shoulder. James gave a mental shrug and relaxed. He would wait until the man relaxed and then slip away, saving Tony any embarrassment.

Tony woke up slowly, cocooned in warmth and ear pressed against a hard chest, listening to the reassuring sound of a strongly beating heart. Except for the slight smile that curved his lips, Tony didn't move, too comfortable to disturb his bedmate. He felt his own heart beat sync up with the one he was listening to, something Tony was sure he could thank the modified Extremis Dr. Cho had used to rebuild his ribcage and sternum. While there'd been a little concern about the stability of the serum, after fixing Pepper, Tony had no doubt Maya's formula would work with Cho's cradle. It was more the other effects Tony was still researching.

His chest-shaped pillow moved minutely, Tony holding himself still until it settled again with a soft sigh. Carefully opening his eyes, Tony wasn't at all surprised to see a metal hand splayed over his hip. James was the only one currently in the Tower who JARVIS would have allowed into his bedroom, especially if Tony were having a nightmare. Warmth surged through Tony, knowing how much progress James had made in the time he'd been in the Tower, and much change there had been from the Asset to the man.

A slight change in James' breathing and a stillness in his body, told Tony James had started to wake up, and the last thing he wanted was to embarrass the man. He slowly sat up, stopping only to untangle his hand from the front of James' shirt and then shake it out.

"Something tells me JARVIS ratted me out for having a nightmare," Tony spoke quietly, rubbing his cramped fingers. "I must have koala'd you, like I do Rhodey."

"Koala'd?" came James' sleep-rough voice, blue eyes blinking open.

Tony could feel his face heat. "That's when I, uh, grab onto someone and refuse to let them go." He threw back the coverings on his side of the bed and slid out. "Thanks for helping."

Glad he'd decided to sleep in loose silk boxers, Tony disappeared into the ensuite bathroom and, hopefully, concealed his morning erection. Once in the shower, Tony took a deep breath to quiet his swirling thoughts and calm his confused body. Generally, when he had suffered a bad nightmare, or flashback really, his body didn't react normally. It was one of the issues between he and Pepper, especially after the wormhole and the fight against AIM, had been the negative impact his trauma had on his libido and intimacy.

Closing his fingers around his cock, Tony enjoyed the feel of his hand working his erection, with a swipe of his thumb of the tip. As he neared his orgasm, James' face appeared in his mind and pushed him over the edge. Leaning against the cool tiles, Tony waited as his pounding heart calmed, not at all surprised at that his thoughts, desires, had brought up James. No one could deny that the man was goodlooking, whether as the clean-cut Bucky Barnes of the Howling Commandos or the beefier, scruffy Winter Soldier. Both appealed to Tony's attraction to bad boys starting with the disastrous teenaged relationship with Ty Stone.

Sighing, Tony finished washing quickly, turning his thoughts to the BARF technology which was ready for a trail run with James. He resolved to keep his ill-timed lusting after Captain America's bestie to himself, not needing another reason for Steve to dislike him. While Tony had never hid his bi-sexuality, rubbing it in the face of a 1940's super soldier was probably not a good idea.

By the time he walked into the kitchen, groomed and dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, Tony felt ready for the day. James was chopping up mushrooms and onions, a bowl of beaten eggs ready beside the stove. A blender filled with what looked like a blueberry smoothy sat near the sink.

"Omelets this morning, snowflake?" Tony asked as he looked over the preparations.

James glanced up from his chopping, his fingers continuing the knife work. "Or we can just add the eggs to the vegetables and scramble all of it." He looked thoughtful. "I seem to remember doing it, but I can't remember what it was called."

"Sounds delicious to me," Tony answered, "what do you need me to do?"

The egg creation actually turned out very well and Tony thought James was more surprised than he was at its success. Tony refrained from mentioning Steve's story of how Bucky had cooked for the two of them when they lived together before the war. Finishing his eggs, Tony sat back with a sigh and sipped at his third cup of coffee. It was still early for him, just going on 7am, and a glance out the window showed dark gray skies and heavy rain falling.

"Wonder how the dynamic duo's run this morning went," Tony mused, taking another mouthful of coffee.

"Moist," James retorted, his voice dry.

Tony almost snorted his coffee and had to try to swallow while laughing. "Oh my God, Frosty's got snark!" He gave James a huge grin, taking in the man's reddened cheeks.

James just gave him a smirk, making Tony laugh harder until James gave in and chuckled quietly.

"The guy's always been a punk," he murmurs, before focusing on the last of his eggs.

Still cackling, Tony pushed his plate away and stared at the rivers of water running down the wall of windows. May was coming in dreary, setting up the perfect subdued atmosphere to begin the deprograming, Tony thought with a grimace. As he watched James drink the last of his smoothie, Tony stood up and grabbed both dirty plates. James had cleaned up as he cooked, leaving just want they had used at the table to be put in the dishwasher, which Tony took care of.

"Come on, snowflake, we have work to do this morning," Tony directed, trying for a cheery voice, but James still looked as if he was headed to the gallows.

Bruce was already at the computer console when they arrived, twirling around in a rolling chair as they entered. The large, reenforced room had been built to Bruce's specifications in the event they needed to contain the Hulk. It was sparsely furnished, with bean bag chairs and large cushions on the floor, and painted in pastel blues and greens. The holographic framing was built into an antennae array above an area of clear floorspace with a thickly padded carpet.

James, after nodding to Bruce, had stopped in the doorway and looked around the room. Tony watched him take a deep breath and step into the room, closing the door behind him. Gesturing toward the one arm chair in the room, Tony waited until James sat down.

"All right, James, if it's okay with you, JARVIS is going to scan you and get an updated baseline reading on you." Tony held up his hand when James opened his mouth to speak. "I understand you are feeling a little anxious, but JARVIS will be able to give us a heads up – a warning if your vital signs drop too low or spike too high."

The stoic expression James adopted looked more like a pout to Tony, but he nodded his head sharply and Tony grinned. While they had talked about what would happen, Tony went over the way the BARF interface worked and how best to start deprogramming the trigger words. The specialists Tony had consulted, two neurologists, several psychologists, and an expert on brainwashing and indoctrination, had agreed that disassociating the words from the string used on James for so long, would erase conditioned response.

James nodded his understanding and Tony took a deep breath, the BARF glasses in his hand.

"Then let's get started," Tony said, stepping into the area that had been padded.

Surging to his feet, James followed him, standing rigid on the cushy floor several feet away. Tony showed him the glasses, before sliding the glasses onto his own face.

"Let me show you how these work."

Tony thought back to the night the Asset had shown up in his workshop and a holographic picture appeared around him. Tony and James watched as Tony walked into the room, the Asset glaring at Dum-E and his bottle of water. Instead of telling him to take the bottle, Tony burst into song and the Asset began to dance with him. James gawked at the scene until Tony took the glasses off, canceling the hologram.

"All you have to do, snowflake, is to use your mind to change what happened in your memory." Tony handed him the glasses. "It works best if you make tiny changes to start, just enough to change the effect of the words on you."

Bruce spoke up for the first time. "We thought we would start with the words which are numbers in the string, and have you associate them to something else of significance."

"I understand," James answered.

Tony clapped his hands and took a step back. "I want to be close enough that I can help you, if necessary, but not in your space."

Again, James acknowledged him.

"All right, so, the first number in the sequence is one." Tony paused, letting the word settle into James' consciousness. "What comes to mind when you hear the word?"

Blinking, James frowned. "Nothing specific."

"Does hearing that word, or any of the words by themselves have any impact on you?" Bruce looked up from the holographic keyboard.

"No," James looked over at him. "The first word, anytime I hear it, in any language, makes me tense up. Although, the handlers only ever said the trigger words in Russian."

An idea popped into Tony's head. "How many languages do you speak, James?"

James crunched up his face. "I'm not sure – a dozen?"

"Great news, Frosty! Tony told him in Hindi, knowing Bruce spoke the language as well. "Now we just have to see if thinking in a different language might help with the words."

Bruce gave him a put upon look. "I think it will work better if we keep him thinking in English right now."

Tony waved a hand. "James, I'd like you to bring up a mental image when you hear the word one. Whether it's yourself as you were the only son your parents had, the one person or thing you like the best, or the sniper rifle Howard made for you – he seemed to think you slept with it!"

Snorting, James took a deep breath and Tony stepped back. "I want you to cement the image you chose in your mind and every time you hear one, allow the image to come to mind, as well as the reason."

He turned away to give James a moment to think and walked back to where Bruce was sitting. Bruce looked up and gave him a deadpan look. Tony threw his hands into the air.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!"

Bruce snorted. "Not you, HYDRA. The idiots used James' year of birth for three of the words, one, nine, and seventeen. Absolutely no imagination at all! I can't fathom the other words are any more imaginative."

"They aren't," Tony told him grimly, his eyes on James as he stared at his hands. "It seems like they were chosen to remind him of his captivity and everything he'd lost, even though they brutally wiped those memories from his mind."

"Well, they thought they wiped them," Bruce muttered, pulling off his glasses to wipe them with his shirt. "They just fried the pathways to his memories and his brain repaired them any time he was out of cryofreeze long enough. Those blows to the head James suffered only accelerated the healing, as whatever serum they gave him went into healing overdrive. "

Tony nodded at his explanation. It certainly matched up with what had happened. "Will he eventually remember everything?"

Bruce nodded and slid his glasses back on. "There may be some trauma related amnesia going on at the moment, like his brain is protecting him from remembering certain traumatic memories."

"I'm ready," James announced.

Slipping the glasses onto his face, James let the memory he'd chosen swirl upward from the memories he'd gained back. Tony had explained how the machine worked and he remembered not to force it, but allow it to take form. He opened his eyes and almost sighed, as he watched a hologram of himself turn into a dirty alleyway to discover little Stevie Rogers taking ineffective swings at a burly, bearded dock worker. James can see he is dressed in his Army uniform, new sergeant stripes sown on the sleeves. His image did huff a sigh and punched the bully without creasing his uniform. The kick to his ass, designed to get his point across, didn't dirty his boots.

"Pick on someone your own size, asshole!"

The image grinned as the guy fled and he turned to grab Steve by the arm, helping him to his feet. Steve was wiping blood off his face with the back of his hand.

"I had him on the ropes, Buck!"

James thought hard about the change he wanted to make and his glowing image shook its head as he threw an arm over his friend's shoulders. "You're one of a kind, punk! One of a fucking kind!"

Letting go of the image, James staggered forward a step before Tony grabbed his arm and steadied him.

"BARF off," Dr. Banner announced.

Leaning a bit against Tony, James reached up and took the glasses off carefully. The computer program had done exactly as Tony explained it would, allowing him to alter a memory, changing the outcome. According to the genius, desensitizing him of the trigger words started by changing how he reacted to each individual word. If they could accomplish that, then the string of words should not have the same impact on him. James drew in a deep breath. It also meant he needed to stop thinking in Russian, which is what he'd been doing for so many years, and it allowed the trigger words to have their effect on him.

"Are you okay, James?" Tony asked him, still holding onto his arm.

James made a conscious effort to not translate the words in his mind before he answered. "Yeah, 'm alright."

A grin appeared on Tony's face as he released James' arm. "That almost sounded Brooklyn there, snowflake!"

Narrowing his eyes, James searched Tony’s face for any ill-intent, but didn’t see any. "Steve’ll like that." He spoiled the sentiment by grunting it out and even Bruce snorted.

Rolling his eyes, Tony stepped back. "You changed the memory?"

James handed him the BARF glasses as he nodded. "It was one of the first memories that came back to me, on the bridge – dragging Steve out of a fight in an alley. I changed the ending, so I could think of it when I hear the word."

The intense brown eyes surveyed him critically. "You didn’t have any trouble with the technology? Did it take a lot of effort to change the memory?"

Shaking his head, James gave Tony an even, and hopefully encouraging look. "No trouble and no effort for the memory, but I’m not unrealistic, I realize this is probably the easiest word to have started with."

"True." Tony tapped his fingers on his chest, something he tended to do when thinking. "We could do one of the other numbers, if you can think of a memory. Fucking HYDRA! See if you can tie it into your birth year." The man snarked.

After a few minutes of gentle probing what memories he’d recovered, James chose one of his little sister, Rebecca, who had been seventeen when he last saw her. An overwhelming feeling of sadness when James watched his sister’s animated face as he teased her about her crush on a neighborhood boy. He managed to alter the memory by pulling out his Army ID with his birth year of 1917 listed. By the time the memory ended, James felt wrung out and Tony nudged hm into the chair before Dr. Banner handed him a chocolate bar.

"It's good for the effects of Dementors," he told James with a wink.

Staring after the scientist, James looked at the large chocolate bar in his hand labeled Hershey's and felt a jolt of surprise – he recognized the name. "I know this name," James began, before frowning. "What are Dementors?"

Tony snickered as Bruce grumbled under his breath. "JARVIS, order James the Harry Potter books, please."

"Certainly, Sir."

James looked between Tony and the ceiling, before shaking his head and ripping the covering off the chocolate. He broke off the top row of the bar and took a bite. A long-forgotten flavor fill his mouth and James shoved in the rest of the row before he could stop himself. The image of brown paper wrapped around a rectangle, the words US Military Ration "D" Bar flashed in his mind.

He swallowed tightly. "We had these, during the war—" James frowned, before breaking off another row and offering it to Tony, who took it with a smile. "These are better." He proceeded to eat the rest of the bar, square by square.

"It was one of the first things that delighted Steve when he came to live in the Tower," Tony relayed, licking chocolate off the tip of his finger. "I thought you might appreciate it."

James gave him a small smile. "I do. Thank you, Tony."

The man waved it away, not like he had no use for the thanks, but more like they were unnecessary. James didn't agree – he might not have a clear memory of what his mom looked like, but he did remember her lessons on manners. Somehow, he would show Tony Stark kindness was very necessary.

Tony clapped his hands. "Okay, let's run through the numbers again – in English, and see how you feel, snowflake!"

By the end of the session, James was exhausted. He'd been able to hear the words they had worked on with no reaction, in English and Russian. He wasn't sure whether to be more surprise at their success or the fact that Tony spoke flawless Russian. He fell into bed that night, and slept soundly for almost eight hours, nightmare-free.

Over the course of the next week, Tony spent at least part of each day in the BARF room with James. They took the trigger words at random, making sure never to say two sequential words when giving out the eight words James had managed to alter his reaction to. Benign had been one of the hardest, as it wasn't a word James had ever used. Tony had handed him an old dictionary Bruce had stashed in his lab and had him look up the word himself, so that whatever memory he used to modify the word would be his alone.

Not that Tony thought James had been the recipient of any kindness since his fall sixty-nine years ago, but he hoped there was a childhood memory clear enough to use. Tony had been shocked when James had used the memory of the Winter Soldier's arrival in his workshop to change his response to the word. It was humbling to view the scene from James' perspective, and have him apply kind to Tony's actions that night.

Likewise, freight car had been a word Tony was concerned would dredge up an intense reaction from James. It focused on the causation of the beginning of James' decades long nightmare; just the fall itself being horrendous. Tony had been hesitant when James requested Steve be allowed to join them for the session, but ultimately agreed, knowing Steve also had nightmares of James' fall. While James had few memories of what Zola had done to him at Anzano, Steve remembered him being strapped on a metal table when he'd found James.

Steve had been even more nervous than James was when he stepped into the room, wiping the palms of his hands on his pants as he stood next to Tony. Tony concentrated on checking the equipment as James prepared himself, looking up as James signaled he was ready. Tony wasn't surprised when the image that manifested showed the two men already engaged in battle with black-clad HYDRA soldiers. James being able to wield Steve's shield as well as he did was surprising.

As the scene played out, Tony felt himself tense further. This was going to be exceedingly hard for James to concentrate hard enough to change the outcome. Steve already had tears streaming down his face when the door of the freight car blew open and James tumbled out. Holding his breath, Tony was poised to hit the manual override on the BARF computer if James wasn't successful – there was no need to retraumatize both men.

Just as Tony was surreptitiously reaching for the button, the image of James was able to grasp ahold of Steve's outstretched hand and be pulled back into the car. Hitting the button for good measure, Tony looked up to find James on his knees, Steve wrapped around him, and both men crying. Feeling for like a voyeur, Tony silently signaled JARVIS to shutdown the equipment and stepped out of the room.

It wasn't a surprise when JARVIS woke him up that night to tell him James was having a nightmare. Tony was pleased to find James in the king bed furthest away from the door, however, as it was a sign of the trust the man had in how safe he was in the Tower. When Tony gently woke James, he found himself wrapped tightly in James arms and ended up falling asleep in James' bed.

"Any word on List?" James asked the next day. "I'm not sure, but the number of times he was at the Vault over the last year makes me think he was involved in whatever project HYDRA was trying to create."

Steve and Sam had occupied their time while Tony and James were working on the trigger words by searching out and raiding smaller HYDRA facilities around the country. Rhodey accompanied them when he could. The group had even teamed with local special ops units in some areas, mostly at the request of the local law enforcement agencies. The data they were bringing back was alarming; HYDRA had never stopped trying to recreate the Super Soldier serum which had gotten Tony's parents killed.

The members of the overcite committee had requested Bruce gather the information to compile the research and see if there was a common denominator among the attempts. This information was kept under as tight of security as James himself was, especially when several of the facilities had turned out to still have large numbers of soldiers, as well as scientists.

Steve shook his head. "These are all small facilities – at best they were working on a component of the larger project."

"For the size of them, they were incredibly well protected," Sam interjected, rubbing a bandage on his left forearm. "If the larger facilities are staffed to an equivalent level, it would probably take all the Avengers to take them down."

Rhodey nodded. "You're absolutely right, Sam, and maybe more, depending on the intel we are getting from some of the known HYDRA bases in Europe. We already have the one in Siberia flagged as an Avenger mission and there are several more in Eastern Europe as well."

"Any idea where Loki's scepter is?" Tony asked, lifting his eyes from the map Rhodey had brought up on the table top.

"From the amount of communications intercepted, either Belarus or Sokovia." Steve pointed to each base. "I know there are people working on both the encryption and the cyphers they are using, but progress has been slow."

"But we can't go in blind, Cap," Sam argued. "We have to have some idea of their defenses before we try to raid them."

Bucky cleared his throat and Tony turned to look at him with the others. "If I remember right, Belarus was one of the Red Room training facilities."

Somewhere, Tony had been told of the Red Room, but couldn't pull up what it was.

"The Black Widow program?" Steve questioned, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Yes," James answered. "They brought me in at one point to teach the girls how to—" he cut himself off, looking down at the table.

"To kill," Steve added softly, trying to catch James' eye. "Natasha told me a little about it when we were running from HYDRA."

"I thought the data dump had something about the Red Room having been destroyed?" Rhodey had a quizzical look.

"I think the original location was, but there were other facilities," James told them.

"So," Sam interjected. "You're leaning toward Sokovia?"

"Pierce met with Baron Strucker, who accompanied List to the Vault, some time before the alien invasion, as List wanted more blood from me." James spoke up sharply and winced. "They woke me up from cryofreeze to take it."

"And Strucker is Sokovian," Tony muttered, paging through an index on his table. "It was in the data dump."

Rhodey tapped his finger on the map. "Let's concentrate on finding everything we can about the Sokovia site. Sam and I can do some aerial surveillance and at least get an idea of the size."

"Be better if we sent Red Wing in for the closer views," Sam rubbed his chin. "If they have the same type of defenses the small facilities had, he'd be the best to go in undetected."

"You just love that thing," Bucky snarked, smiling at the affronted look on Sam's face.

Tony snorted, before coughing to cover it. "Have you heard from Natasha or Clint, Steve?"

Shaking his head, Steve frowned, his finger tapping on the map. "Natasha just said she had something she had to do. And from what you said about Clint, he may just be laying low until he's sure his family is safe."

"Maybe Red Wing needs to do a flyover of Barton's place," Rhodey suggested, seriously.

Tony clapped his hands. "That sounds like a great idea, Platypus!"

"How close are you to finishing the trigger words?" Steve asked without looking up.

Bruce answered before he could. "Actually, we only have two left, but none of us want to rush through as these are the two critical words. So, I'd say at least another two weeks?" he looked at Tony for confirmation.

Tapping his fingers on his chest, Tony was aware of how intensely James was watching him. "Yes, probably a good estimate."

The meeting broke up a few minutes later and Tony headed for the elevator as they all disbursed. He had a project to finish for SI that he'd promised Pepper he'd have finished by the weekend. And tomorrow was Friday.

"The workshop, J," he sighed. No rest for the weary.

Chapter Text

James closed his eyes, concentrating as he searched for a memory to associate with the second to last trigger word, longing. He knew he craved his freedom, sought acceptance by those around him, and hungered to regain his full humanity. A memory fragment swirled before him, and he lifted his hand to signal Bruce as he opened his eyes.

The blue of the hologram lit the area before a picture developed within the fog. It was Stark Tower and he watched intently as it coalesced into Tony's lab, where the man was bent over James' arm, the maintenance plate in his forearm open, with a screwdriver in his hand. James remembered the session, just a few days before. His face heated as he looked at the expression on his own face and James ignored the noise Tony made as his image reached as if to run his fingers through Tony's tousled hair.

This is where the image changed, when he'd pulled his hand back, afraid.

James focused on the image, channeling the longing flooding through him, and watched as he gently brushed Tony's hair off his forehead. Steve stepped out of the shadow, watching with a knowing expression, You always did go for the mouthy brunettes, Buck.

The image faded, and, as he took off the BARF glasses, James felt how red his cheeks were, but he knew the image was powerful enough to alter the programming. Bruce slipped out the door as James stared at the glasses in his metal hand. Tony took a step closer and laid his hand over the glasses. James sucked in a deep breath.

"I'm sor—"

"Nope," Tony cut him off, lifting the glasses out of his hand and set them on the computer behind him. "James, look at me."

There was warmth in Tony's voice and James brought his head up, eyes focused on the pulse point at the base of Tony's throat. A warm finger under his chin brought James' head up until his eyes met Tony's eyes. James held them as they examined his own.

"I think I'd really like to explore whatever this is between us," Tony told him softly. "As soon as you feel ready and at whatever pace you need."

Leaning up, Tony brushed James' lips with his own and a jolt of electricity went through James' body. Something he hadn't felt in decades expanded within him and he brought his fingers up to touch his tingling lips. Taking a step back, Tony smiled at him, before squaring his shoulders and waited for James to give him a nod.

"Seventeen, daybreak, furnace," Tony intoned in Italian.

James stood stiffly, hands clenching into fists, as he waited for his head to react to the words. Usually, by the time HYDRA handlers had been this far into the sequence, his head would be in excruciating pain and his body stiffening. He dragged in a gasp of breath as he realized there was no pain. His eyes widened in surprise and James gave Tony a tentative smile.

"Nothing!"

Tony nodded, fingers tapping on his chest. "Did you translate the words into English or just go with the Italian?"

Blinking at him, James considered his words. "Translated, I think."

"Let's try a few in English and see how it goes."

James braced himself as Tony took three-word fragments of the trigger phrase but was pleased when none of them caused him any discomfort. When Tony abruptly switched to Russian, his accent a tad off but better than most of the American handlers he'd had, his brain twinged slightly. Thinking of what Tony had asked, James concentrated on translating each word into English and was able to keep himself from reacting. By the time they were done, James had a tension headache pulsing at his temples.

Tony took one look at him and handed him the bottle of Steve's medication, which James took gratefully. Shaking one out into his hand, Tony traded the bottle for a bottle of water, which he immediately emptied. Tossing the bottle into the recycle bin against the wall, James swayed slightly where he stood.

"Woah," Tony grabbed his arm to steady him. "You okay, snowflake?"

Leaning into Tony's side, James sighed. "Yeah, these just seem to take a lot out of he," he said quietly. "I don't know if it's actually working through the words or the fear that they might trigger me."

Tony slid his arm down to wrap around James' waist, turning him towards the door. "Well, why don't we take a break, get some lunch, and see whether your BFF has made it back from their operation this morning."

James hummed as he slung his flesh arm over Tony's shoulder, feeling how warm he was. "You seem to run as warm as I do, Tony."

Tony steered them into a waiting elevator and tucked himself into James' side. "It's one of the side benefits of using the modified Extremis when they removed the arc reactor from my chest."

James gave him a questioning look. "Extremis? You mentioned that before, but—"

"It was created by a brilliant scientist as a serum with the goal of regrow limbs, until it was bastardized in an attempt to make a Super Solider-type serum. It was extremely unstable and turned the human test subjects in to bombs. Pepper was kidnapped and given a full dose, so I was forced to find a way to modify it, so she wouldn't explode."

Tony fell silent for a moment, pulling away slightly to look at James. "Dr. Cho used the Extremis I modified to regrow my sternum when they took the reactor out of my chest. Consequently, I have some of the other benefits of the serum: age slower, heal quicker, I'm stronger, a move bit faster, and my body runs warmer than average."

A memory popped into his mind. "The Mandarin?"

"That's the one," Tony smirked. "The guy was a front, an actor hired by Killian, but yes, that fiasco."

"I was pulled from cryo by Pierce – I don't know if he knew about the Extremis or just saw the guy as a rival, but you took him out before HYDRA could get me in position."

The elevator doors opening prevented Tony from answering, but he didn't move away from James as they stepped out on to the common floor. Steve was sitting at the kitchen island with a sketch pad, while Wilson was moving around the kitchen. Both men looked up, and James immediately ignored the smug look Wilson threw him and Tony as Steve stood up.

"Bucky? Are you all right? Did something happen?" Steve's hands were clenched in front of him.

Tony tightened the arm around him for a second, before dropping it as Steve took another step toward James. His eyes followed Tony as he walked into the kitchen to interrogate Wilson. Steve slung an arm over his shoulders and looked him over closely, frowning as he did.

"You look pale, Buck," he asked in a concerned tone. "You sure you feel okay?"

Nodding, James allowed Steve to guide him over to one of the long couches. "My head's throbbing, like usual after we do the BARF stuff. I already took one of your pills, so it should be better soon."

Steve eased him down and sat beside him, hands clasped in front of him. "I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this, Buck—"

"Steve," James laid a hand on his arm. "Your survivor guilt is choking me, not your fault."

Steve's head popped up and James shook his, pinning him with look.

"I shoulda—"

"No, you did everything you could to grab my hand!" James cut him off forcefully. "HYDRA and the Soviets are the ones to blame! Used your death to torture and break me, but it was also thoughts of you that gave me the will to hang on, whenever my mind was clear! And it was you, on that goddammed helicarrier who fractured the programming, again giving me the strength to escape the bastards!" His hand tightened. "If it hadn't been for you—"

James shivered as a tendril of cold slithered down his spine, pulling his mind away from 'what-might-have-beens'. Steve searched his eyes and James knew when he finally accepted the truth, a small smile twisting his lips. A mischievous glint appeared in Steve's eyes and James knew to be wary of that.

"Can I also claim credit for you choosing the mouthiest brunette in history?" Steve smirked.

"Absolutely not," James shot back at him, cheeks heating when he thought of the BARF image. "That was all my good taste!"

"Breakfast," Sam Wilson leaned out of the kitchen, and looked between the two of them, eyeing them suspiciously. "If you Super Soldiers eat that kind of thing."

Tony appeared beside him, a jug of orange juice in his hand. "Come on, Wingman made bacon and cheese omelets and French toast!"

Tony stared out at the sleeping city, the lack of a moon made the sky a velvety black, despite the ambient glow of city lights. April was over and May was going to be just as busy, he knew, even without a repeat of the HYDRA shit. There was still a lot of clean-up to do over that incident, even with dozens of HYDRA strongholds already cleared out. The two most significant locations were in the planning stage, first Siberia and then the search for the scepter in Sokovia.

He was lucky Pepper had SI well in hand. The company remained the leading manufacturer of tech, protection gear, and green energy in the world, with a third of the profits funneled into charitable organizations. Every upgrade Tony had made for the Avengers gear had been refashioned to protect the military, as well as law enforcement and other first responders. Even James' arm had given Tony several ideas for more lifelike prosthetics, the preliminary blueprints and schematics had been shipped to R&D yesterday.

Tomorrow they would take on the last of trigger words HYDRA had used to program the Winter Solider and Tony couldn't wait until they were done. His attraction to James had grown stronger as they had spent the last week setting up for the final BARF session, but it wasn't merely a physical attraction, as so many of Tony's relationships had been. He respected the man's sheer determination, both to escape HYDRA's programming and to regain a life, and was awed by his strength of character. He knew James had started to remember his missions and the guilt was eating at him, despite the circumstances. Tony realized how badly James could take the revelation.

And Tony was determined to tell James about his involvement in his parents' deaths as soon as they had verified the programming gone. He couldn't go into any kind of a deeper relationship without James being aware of that mission, as horrendous as it was all around. Based on the way James had responded to the returned memories of other missions, Tony was concerned—

A whisper of sound drew him out of his thoughts, a shadow moving at the edge of his vision.

"Having trouble sleeping, snowflake?" Tony asked without turning around.

James moved silently to stand beside him. "The nightmares start every time I close my eyes." He shifted a little beside Tony. "I was wondering if I could sleep with you?"

Turning his head, Tony studied James' profile. "Of course you can, unless you'd rather Steve—"

"Steve is smothering, Tony. I feel safe and warm with you."

A lump in his throat, Tony turned and held out his hand, interlacing their fingers as James grasped it. He led the way into his bedroom, careful to shut his steel-reenforced door, knowing JARVIS would secure it. Stripping off the sweatpants and tee shirt he'd been wearing, Tony padded into the bathroom to take care of business. James was already under the covers on what Tony had dubbed 'his side' of the bed, curled on his side toward the wall. Tony slid in on his side, settling back against his pillow. He'd just closed his eyes when he felt James move, turning over to tuck himself into Tony's side. It was amazing and sad, how small James could make himself at times.

With a sigh, Tony brought his arm around James' broad back and leaned his head against the tousled hair. While Tony woke up around daybreak, he was too comfortable to move with James now spooning him and slid back into sleep. Sunlight woke him, his head pillowed on James' shoulder and he knew it was time to get up. Patting the firm muscles of James' abdomen, Tony sat up and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Come on. Sleeping Beauty, time to get up." Tony stumbled toward the bathroom.

James was in the kitchen making coffee by the time Tony had made himself presentable, handing him a cup of coffee as Tony leaned in to kiss his cheek. Dressed in soft sweat pants and a hooded sweat shirt, James looked comfortable, but Tony knew the soft clothing helped reassure him he wasn't still in HYDRA's custody. Breakfast was simple toast and fruit; Tony knew both their stomachs were already uneasy. They ate silently and James finally stood up, signaling its end.

Tony pushed to his feet and silently led the way to the elevator. JARVIS took them down to the floor housing the BARF room, where Bruce and Steve were already waiting. As Tony watched, James picked up the special glasses and took a deep breath, his forehead furrowing for a moment, before he nodded that he was ready.

"Give me just a minute, James," Bruce responded, finetuning something on the BARF computer.

Steve moved to squeeze James' shoulder and then move back to stand beside Tony, near the wall. They were close enough to grab James if something went wrong, which Tony was confident would not. Once James had completed the deprogramming the final trigger word, Tony was going to say all the words, starting with English first, before saying them in Russian.

"All right, James, whenever you are ready," Bruce called, his eyes focused on the holoscreen in front of him.

Without hesitation, James slid the glasses on and pulled up the memory Tony knew he'd carefully chosen, as Tony intoned homecoming. He was a bit surprised when Stark Tower materialized out of the swirl of fog, James still the Asset when he entered. The scene morphed into Tony's lab, where he was bent over James' arm, maintenance panel open, Dum-E was holding out a water bottle to Steve who was sitting on the couch. The smile on James' face warmed something in Tony's chest.

The memory morphed again, Steve's beaten and bloody face was the focus, his lips moving. "I'm not going to fight you – I'm with you 'til the end of the line, pal."

James, his own face bruised, his arm cocked back for the next punch, froze. "Steve—"

"Yes, Bucky!" Steve tried to smile up at him, reaching for him, as James visibly relaxed.

Instead of dissipating into fog, the scene changed abruptly and Tony gasped as he saw his father's face, also bloody, next to the car he died in, reaching toward the Asset. "Sergeant Barnes?"

"Shut it down!" Tony yelled to Bruce as he saw James slide to his knees, an anguished howl ripped from his throat.

Both he and Steve dropped to their knees, one on each side of James. Steve wrapped his arms around James, while Tony cupped his face, turning James' face toward him. The expression of complete devastation pierced him to the soul and the tiny tendril of anger he'd harbored for the Winter Soldier killing his parents withered and died. Tears ran down James' face and he refused to look into Tony's eyes.

"I'm sorry! I can't—I didn't remember! I'm so, so sorry!" James mumbled, his breath hitching.

"It wasn't you, Bucky! It was HYDRA! You didn't do that!"

"But I did! It was my hands—"

"James," Tony said quietly. "Steve is right. It wasn't your fault; you were just the weapon HYDRA aimed at them."

His eyes darted up and then skittered away. "How can you even look at me?" he whispered. "How could you ever forgi—-"

Tony brushed his thumbs along James’ cheekbones, wiping away the tears as Steve continued to hold onto him. "I forgave you before you appeared in my lab that night, James.”

Taking a deep breath, Tony stood up and made eye contact with Steve. James continued to shake his head slightly, even after Steve practically lifted him to his feet and they headed to the elevator. Tony reached out and grabbed James’ right hand, easing it out of the fist he’d made and interlacing their fingers. He tossed a grateful look over his shoulder at Bruce, knowing the other scientist would secure the BARF system.

JARVIS took them directly to the penthouse, the heavy silence in the elevator broken only by James’ ragged breathing. Tony felt heartsick. This was not the way he’d wanted James to find out about his parents, knowing the devastation he had to be feeling. It seemed the ultimate accomplishment for HYDRA, sending their toy soldier to kill someone he had considered a friend – the perfect test of their skills in torturing and breaking James Barnes.

And it seemed to have been instigated by Obadiah Stane.

Tony swallowed hard on the bile in his throat, his hand tightening on James’ hand. He would not let that son-of-a bitch take anything else from him!

The elevator slid open, and Tony stepped out first, Steve supporting James behind him.

"Where do you want to go, James?”

"Safe room, please,” James whispered, his eyes still downcast.

Tony led the way up the stairs and disengaged the locks on the inner door before stepping back to let the other two in first. "JARVIS, please send up a couple of the softest blankets you can find and have the cafeteria fix up some soup and sandwiches for us.”

"Immediately, Sir.” Even his AI sounded subdued.

The living room was empty as Tony stepped into the room and he paused to secure the door behind him. James' voice filtered in from the bedroom, the secure door left ajar.

"I'm not sure I'm worth all of this, Steve," James' voice was bleak.

"It's not your fault, Buck," Steve reiterated, his voice earnest. "You had no choice in what HYDRA made you do."

"It was my hand that did it," Bucky rejoined simple, his voice barely over a whisper. "There's blood on—"

"— their hands, James," Tony asserted as he stepped into the room. "You had no autonomy, no choice in any of your missions. I have no doubt your handlers punished you harshly for any transgression, real or imagined."

James sat on the end of the closest bed, his hands buried in his hair, elbows on his thighs. Steve sat beside him, close but not touching him, and he looked up at Tony with eyes that were profoundly sad. Tony reached out to squeeze his shoulder as he walked by to sit on James' other side. Pressing his leg against James', hoping the contact would help ground the distraught man. They all sat in silence for a long while, just letting James process what he'd remembered.

"How—" James began, stumbling over his words. "How did you find out?"

Tony looked over to Steve, before answering. "JARVIS found the Mission Report and video in the data dump," he said simply.

"Zola was—" Steve straightened up, his posture stiff. "Fury gave me a data drive just before—in my apartment and it pointed toward Camp Lehigh in New Jersey."

"SHIELD's original headquarters, both Howard and Peggy worked out of there after the war," Tony added helpfully.

Steve nodded. "Yes, and there was a hidden underground bunker where, apparently, Zola ran HYDRA from inside SHIELD. He died in 1972, but before he did, he managed to put himself into a computer."

Tony opened his mouth to correct Steve terminology, but snapped it closed when the man held up a hand.

"I don't understand it, but he knew Natasha and I, told us how HYDRA had grown within SHIELD and other government agencies. He told us gleefully what they were planning to do with the helicarriers. During his monologue, he played a video where historical events were shown, ones HYDRA were responsible for – one of which was the accident which—", Steve's voice broke. "I didn't know it was you, specifically, but the next image was of your arm."

Tony's breath caught in his throat and he turned toward Steve. "Were you going to tell me?" he asked in a hoarse tone.

"I was, Tony!" Steve's eyes beseeched him. "I just—I've figured out you and Howard didn't have a good relationship and I wasn't sure how to bring it up. I thought it might bring up bad memories."

"And you wondered how you could tell him and yet protect me at the same time," James interjected wryly and Steve winced.

Blowing out a breath, Tony gave a sharp nod. Part of him wanted to believe Steve would have come to him as soon as he had been released from the hospital, but another part, one buried deep under the weigh of Howard Stark's neglectful treatment of his son, argued that Steve would have done anything to protect his Bucky – even withhold the information. It didn't take much to imagine the fallout between them if Tony had found out that way.

The contrite look Steve threw him when he lifted his head to meet those blue eyes, seemed to confirm his belief. James' hand found his and grasped it, anchoring Tony and reassuring him. Tony returned the squeeze, leaning a bit more against James side. The silence they fell into felt comfortable at that moment.

James woke up cocooned in warmth, held in place by a band around his waist. Instantly alert, James assessed his surroundings: he could hear two other heartbeats, the steady slow rate associated with sleep. It took a moment for his brain to process where he was, but when it did, James opened his eyes and instantly recognized his bedroom in Stark Tower. Steve was sound asleep in an uncomfortable chair next to the bed and James knew it was Tony who was spooned behind him. The room was silent, except for their soft breathing.

James carefully lifted the hand, placed almost possessively on his hip, freezing when Tony made a small sound, before settling back down. Sliding out of the bed silently, James crept out of the room and carefully closed the door behind him. James made his way out of the saferoom and to the small bathroom off the living room. After relieving himself, James washed his hands and avoided looking at himself in the vanity mirror. He knew what his eyes would reflect: sadness and remorse.

Stumbling out of the room, James headed toward the door to the stairwell. He headed up, taking the stairs two at a time, until he reached the last door, on the top level. With a push, the door swung open and he found himself on a small roof area, near an array of metal structures - antennas - his mind supplied. Near one corner, there were a set of metal steps up to a small platform, probably designed for some type of maintenance. James climbed them, grasping the handrails to sit on the step at the top, looking out over the city.

Below him, almost one hundred stories down, is a patchwork of smaller structures, separated by wide streets and narrow alleyways. It was similar to what he saw the time he and Stevie had snuck up to the top of the Williamsburgh Bank building when it was finished in 1929, and that building was half as high as the Tower. Looking toward the east, James could see the horizon starting to lighten. It would be daylight soon, and Tony and Steve would be waking up, and he wasn't sure how to feel.

On one hand, yesterday's revelation had been the first of his crimes that he remembered clearly, but he knew there were many more he'd been forced to do. James was terrified of the details which would come to light, the lives he'd taken over the years he was HYDRAs pawn. He wasn't sure he could live with the knowledge of what his hands had done or the crippling guilt he felt.

Looking down the side of the building, James wondered if he would survive the thousand-foot fall. A shutter run through him – he remembered falling from Zola's train in excruciating detail, thankfully unconscious by the time he hit the ground, but there weren't any trees here to break his fall. Jumping would be the coward's way out, James knew, and he didn't think he could hurt Steve like that again. And Tony, who he had become close to, on top of what he'd done to the Starks, could he abandon Tony that way?

Soft footsteps behind him drew James out of his thoughts and he wasn't surprised when Tony squeezed himself in beside him on the step. The heavier steps of Steve Rogers came behind him – Steve had always stomped when he walked, even as a 90-pound weakling.

"James?" Tony's voice was soft, his tone questioning. "Are you okay?"

Sighing, James allowed himself to lean into Tony's side, enjoying the warmth he found there. "I was just clearing my head."

"Kinda unusual place to clear one's head," Tony said softly, understanding woven through it. "You sure you're all right?"

James looked down at his hands and drew in a deep breath. "I'll admit, for a second or two, I might have considered—something, but I also knew I couldn't do that to Stevie," his voice softened, "or to you. I need to make amends, take responsibility for what I did."

A large hand landed on each shoulder and gave them a light squeeze, and James could feel the slight tremble in them. He brought his free arm up and covered one of Steve's hands with his own. His metal arm snaked around Tony's waist, holding him firmly to Tony's side.

"I'm not sure how I am going to cope with all these returning memories, all the horrific things HYDRA made me do, but as long as I have the two of you supporting me, I won't do—anything stupid."

"I'll take that as a promise, jerk," Steve responded firmly.

A comfortable silence settled over them and James looked to the east, where the sun was just below the horizon. Golden orange, pink, and purple were beginning to color the sky and the scattered clouds. For the first time in forever, James felt content and safe. He clung to the feeling, happy to let the moment stretch out.

"James? I'd like to run through the trigger words with you, if you agree?"

Tony's words made James tense, before he purposely took several deep breaths. "Let's try it, but Tony?"

James kept his arm around the man, and waited until he turned his head to look at him. "If it fails, just tell me you are my new handler and to stand down, then wait it out. Steve, stay behind me, so I don't try to complete that failed last mission."

Tony jerked his head up and down, Steve's hands tightening on his shoulders.

In English, Tony began reciting the words. " Longing."

James closed his eyes, pulling up the pictures of Tony in his lab.

"Rusted."

"Seventeen."

"Daybreak."

Something twisted in James' stomach as he recognized that HYDRA had tried to take everything he took pleasure in, away from him.

"Furnace."

"Nine."

"Benign."

James almost laughed, remembering how the word had flabbergasted him during this process.

"Homecoming."

Steve and Tony, playing with Dum-E in the lab.

"One."

Tony's voice was tight as he spoke the last word.

"Freight car."

James gasped, almost unable to believe that he felt nothing. "Please, say them in Russian!" He had to know, now!

Tony hesitated a heartbeat, before he spoke again, going through the word in his uniquely accented Russian, James' stomach churning with anxiety. Steve's hands tightened, almost painfully. Halfway through, tears welled up in James' eyes, spilling over and streaming down his face by the time Tony got to daybreak. When he hit freight car, James was sobbing; there was no pressure in his mind, not searing pain in his brain. He felt no compulsion to do anything but sit there, close to these two men, to his friends.

As Tony finished, James felt both he and Steve's eyes on him, but he couldn't stop crying. Steve slid down to press his face into James' back and he could feel the warmth of his friend's, his brother's tears. Tony cupped his cheek with one hand and pressed a gently kiss to his lip, despite his tears.

"You're free, James! They no longer have any hold on you," Tony told him, his own voice containing a suspicious warble. "You're truly home."

James felt overwhelmed and elated at turns. For decades, whenever he had come back to himself enough to have some autonomy, James had dreamed of a day he'd be free.

"Come on, both of you." Steve stood up, his hand still on James' shoulder. "Let's watch this sunrise from somewhere more comfortable."

James stood up at his urging and allowed Tony and Steve to guide him off the step. They ended up standing on the landing platform for the Quinjets, James between the two men with their arms wrapped around him as the colors intensified and the sun rose above the horizon. James couldn't remember the last time he'd had the luxury of watching the sunrise, and said as much.

"Well, today seems like a day for special things," Tony told him. "It is the first day of the start of your new, free life."

Chapter Text

Tony stepped out of the elevator with a heartfelt sigh, his fingers making quick work of his loosened tie. Tossing it over the back of a chair, his jacked soon joined it as Tony moved over to the wall of windows, undoing the buttons on his vest. The gray skies and drizzle made him yearn for the Malibu house – mid-May would look very different there. Closing his eyes, Tony stretched his arms over his head, trying to ease the tension in his shoulders the board meeting had caused.

Maybe he should think about rebuilding the house.

Part of his stress this afternoon was the anticipation of the raid on one of the largest HYDRA bases they had recently learned of in Pennsylvania. Off the Appalachian Trail, near Swatara State Park, with easy access to Interstate 81, it was a sparsely area. The base's location was discovered in the data acquired from the Vault. Rhodey, Steve, and Sam had led the mission, with state and federal resources. JARVIS had advised him they were on scene as the meeting broke, but he'd had no update since.

One hand still working the buttons of his vest, Tony grabbed a bottle of sparkling water with the other and headed down to his personal lab. They had set it up as a communications hub, so James could monitor the missions, without leaving the Tower, and still be near the safe room. Tony knew it allowed James to feel like he was contributing, both with information from JARVIS, which he relayed, as well as any memories he had of similar HYDRA facilities.

While they had removed the trigger words from James' mind, he was still working on remembering the missions HYDRA had sent him on. He'd been making headway, both working with Sam on his PTSD symptoms and a trauma psychologist Rhodey had recommended. She was a world renown expert on the effects of long-term captivity. A tall, slender blonde, Dr. Clark had caused a bit of apprehension in Tony, knowing she and James would be working together. It only took the first instance of James suffering Tonic Human Immobility during a particularly bad flashback of a mission, when Tony was the only one who could bring James back, that eased his anxiety.

Stepping into his lab, Tony scanned the room as James turned toward him, a welcoming smile on his face. A smile that did funny things to Tony's stomach.

"Your meeting must have gotten over early," James commented before titling his head. "Or you walked out and Pepper is hunting you?"

Tony laughed, feeling lighter as he walked over to where James sat, several video fields displayed around him. "I may have hurried it along, but I stayed the whole time." He glanced over the information displayed as he laid his hand on James' shoulder. "How goes the eradication of the assholes?"

The metal arm slid around his waist and drew Tony closer. They had both learned over the past few weeks how comforting the other's casual touch was. James especially, who had been touch-starved for almost seventy years. And while both had stuck to their commitment to take things slowly, they ended up sharing a bed most nights. Being able to curl up with each other kept the nightmares at bay and allowed both if them to actually sleep. Even Steve understood, when James sat him down and explained how good it felt for James to initiate contact, as opposed to being grabbed in an uninvited touch; James had thrown him across the room after an unexpected attempt to hug him.

Sam apparently thought the incident was hilarious, and Tony might have had JARVIS save the video of the encounter.

"Well—" James stopped abruptly, frowning as he watched the video feed from Redwing.

Tony leaned in, wrapping his arm around James' shoulders. "What's happening?"

James took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The facility apparently is the main training complex for HYDRA's elite forces and they were fired on as soon as they came into range. Rhodes said something about their comms being tracked, so they went on radio silence."

He pointed at the video. "Redwing is looking for an office or communication center where the information files may be kept."

Together they watched the agile little drone fly in and out of open doorways. Tony could feel his stress levels climbing.

"JARVIS, can you pull in Rhodey's video feed?"

One of the other holographic screens began to display an all-out battle between the black-clad HYDRA agents and the camouflage-clad members of the Army Rangers who were assisting on the raid. Steve's shield flashed in and out of the view point several times. Tony could tell Rhodey was doing aerial acrobatics to avoid getting hit by large caliber rounds. Sam came into focus at one point, flying below Rhodey, in an attempt to retrieve Redwing, Tony suspected. He could tell Rhodey was deploying some of his larger weapons when the video began to shudder.

James tightened his arm around Tony as the watched. "Is there any other camera in the area, JARVIS?"

"None that I have located, James."

A flash caught Tony's eye and his breath froze in his chest as they watched Falcon spiraled out of control. James pulled Tony closer, his fingers tight on Tony's hip. The view dipped precariously and Tony knew what Rhodey was doing.

"Rhodey's going to catch him!"

"No parachute?" James harshly, his jaw clenched.

"No," Tony whispered. "Air Force didn't think the bulk was worth the loss of speed." He swallowed as they watched the video camera blocked by Wilson's Kevlar suit. "He's got him!"

James was silent as they watched and finally Rhodey backed away, allowing them to see the inside of the Quinjet. Wilson was sitting up with Steve at his side.

"JARVIS, open the comms, please." Tony requested, waiting only a heartbeat before talking. "Is Sam okay?"

Steve looked up from where he'd been checking Sam's suit. "I think so, nothing made it through the suit. But he's going to have quite a bruise."

"And a parachute before he uses those wings again!" Tony's relief made him sag furth into James. "You, too, Platypus!"

"I'm not objecting, Tones," Rhodey responded tightly.

"Tony?" Steve stared at the camera. "What are you doing sitting in Bucky's lap?"

Looking down, Tony was surprised to find himself half-perched on James' thighs, James giving him a crooked smile. Letting himself relax, Tony ended up fully in James' lap and he smirked up at JARVIS' camera.

"Because it's comfortable, Capsicle!"

James laughed as he leaned back, breath warm in his ear, but held him tight.

"Sergeant Barnes." JARVIS' voice was even but formal.

James looked up from the list of HYDRA agents Steve had found on the last raid and gave the AI his full attention.

"Yes, JARVIS?"

"You asked to be advised to any discernable pattern within the Tower."

"Yes."

"Seven individuals have entered the lobby of Stark Tower at least once every day this week. Two woman and five men, between the ages of twenty-five and fifty, various ethnicities, enter the lobby, look around, and then leave. One man and one woman have made it into the museum on prior visits; all have been alone and have not spoken with any of the employees while in the Tower."

Seven pictures appear on a holoscreen.

"Biometrics, JARVIS?"

"Within normal range, nothing to suggest they are enhanced," JARVIS reported. "At the moment, five of the group are meeting with two Stark Industries employees at the coffee shop at East 45th and Park Avenue."

James was on his feet and heading toward the safe room. "Let me guess, recently hired security and transportation employees?"

"Remarkably correct, sir," JARVIS acknowledged, pulling up two additional pictures. "Bailey from transportation and Murphy from security."

Gaining entry into the rooms, James immediately went to the reenforced cabinet Tony had added to the bedroom, stripping as he went. "Is Steve back from his run?"

"He is and I've notified him. Captain Rogers will join you in approximately one minute."

"Please, have him meet me here, I left the door open. Happy and the others?"

"Mr. Hogan is with Ms. Potts and Sir on the seventy-fifth floor, however they are currently on a video call with Prince Charles, concerning the Arc Reactor technology."

James had on the Kevlar tactical pants and one sleeved shirt, before adding his tactical vest over it, beginning to fasten the straps. He slid two knifed into their sheaths at the small of his back, the Tec-38 into the holster between his shoulder blades.

"Bucky!" Steve's voice was tense as he came into the safe room.

"Gearing up, Steve," James answered, sliding the twin Sig-Sauer P226s into the holsters at his hips.

He double checked what was pre-packed in the pockets of his pants and made sure he had spare ammunition on his belt. Grabbing the glasses and the ear piece Tony had made for him, James plucked his phone off the bed and met Steve, already geared up, in the living room.

"JARVIS should have sent you pictures," James told him as Steve inserted his own ear piece.

"JARVIS has read us in," James Rhodes' voice came through the comms. "Falcon and I are about three minutes out."

"All right," Steve acknowledged. "JARVIS has informed Bruce and asked him to lockdown in his lab. I don't think we need Hulk at the moment."

"Good call, Cap. I've put a call into the local precinct to exp-lain the situation and they are putting their ESU on standby until we know what we are dealing with." Rhodes let them know. "I've also sent a text to Tony and Happy to stay put as the rear guard. Stark Tower has hundreds of employees and we don't want any of them hurt. Tony will do a hard lockdown of the building if needed."

James agreed. "JARVIS, can you have one of those disruption pulses ready if any air support appears near the Tower?" He glanced at Steve. "Any idea why they would pick midmorning on a random Tuesday to try and infiltrate the Tower with such a small force?"

"Maybe they think you're here by yourself, Buck, and if they can slip in, they can take you back," Steve reasoned.

James snorted as he made sure everything was secure. "Well, they must have something special with them, as anyone who was HYDRA would know seven people weren't even a warm up for the Asset."

Steve snorted. "I took out an entire STRIKE in an elevator at the Triskelion. Any update, JARVIS?"

The group was on the move, dividing up and circling around the building. The front lobby and loading dock in the rear of the Tower were the most vulnerable areas to the untrained eye, but both could be hardened quickly. Anything that looked like simple glass was actually reenforced and bulletproof. Likewise, the elevators would shut down if used without authorization codes, trapping anyone inside, and JARVIS had complete control over the stairwell doors.

"JARVIS, notify Happy and lock down the front lobby, have the employees evacuate to the cafeteria." Steve decided as they watched three of the suspects approach the front of the building.

"Which stairwell is closest to the loading dock, JARVIS?"

"You'll have to descend to the eightieth floor and switch to the public access stairwell on the East side."

"Is there a way to access the public stairwell from the outside of the building, J?" Steve led the way towards the elevator.

"Yes, Captain Rogers, on the West side of the building, an emergency exit. The door is reinforced and should not be accessible from the outside."

The faint sounds of an explosion and the slight shake of the building had the men freeze in place, before for both headed toward the stairs.

"The stairwell from the loading dock has been breached," JARVIS said through the comms. "All employees are being evacuated or are headed to the safe zone."

James half-vaulted down each flight of stairs, keeping pace with Steve. A second explosion was heard as they exited on to the eightieth floor.

"The West stairwell door has been breached."

"JARVIS, where are Tony and the others now?" James asked, skidding to a stop.

"Sir has sent Ms. Potts and the others to the safe room on the sixty-fifth floor and has summoned the Mark X armor, designed for close quarter fighting. The suspects from the loading dock have jetpacks and will arrive at your location in less than two minutes."

Steve frowned. "Any idea what are they doing?"

"They are after something," Tony's voice sounded in his ear. "Rhodey, Wilson, where are you?"

"Two out, Tones."

" Bucky and I are at the elevator foyer on the eightieth floor, we have one group coming up the West stairwell and the other coming up the East stairwell with jetpacks." Steve moved to stand back-to-back with James, each facing one of the stairwells.

"I'll be there in—"

Tony's voice was drowned out by the sound of the West stairwell door exploding inward.

"JARVIS, open the window on the eightieth floor!"

All the windows in the Tower had been replaced with missile-resistant reinforced glass after the invasion and Tony didn't want to damage the lightweight suit he wore trying to fly through it. Instead, he'd designed at least one window per floor which would slide open to allow him to fly in. This window gave him access at the other end of the eightieth floor corridor opposite the elevator, Tony flew in and immediately flew toward the fight. He could see James and Steve working together seamlessly, falling back on ingrained habits, no doubt, as they dealt with the armed intruders. It was interesting to see Steve using the shield more as a defensive tool than a weapon in the close quarters.

"There he is!"

A cry went up from one of the combatants and several charged Tony, who hit them with a low-powered repulsor blast, intended to stun them. It pushed them back toward the elevator foyer, where Steve and James took them down, until there was only one left. The woman reached into a pocket and threw something at James.

"Sir, the EMP being thrown will short-circuit James' arm and his nervous system—"

Without another thought, Tony threw himself between the object and James. He heard something hit the chest piece and the suit seemed to spasm, then everything went black—

Tony clawed his way toward consciousness, a sense of danger tearing at him as he felt the manual releases on his armor pop open. Hands grabbed him and Tony fought back, trying to strike out as he struggled to get his eyes open. Voices shouted at him and Tony panicked as he was restrained.

"Tony!"

Rhodey's sharp tone got through to him more than anything and Tony knew if his Honey Bear was there, he was safe. He stopped thrashing and took a deep breath. His legs were still pinned, but Tony could feel the armor fall away from his torso. As he calmed his breathing, his eyes opened, and showed he was still in the elevator foyer with several of the suspects unconscious around them. Tony frowned as he saw James collapsed across his legs.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice raspy.

Steve knelt on one side of him and Rhodey the other, both easing him out of the torso of his armor so he could sit up.

"The EMP you stepped in front of, sent you into convulsions. James grabbed you, putting himself into the path of a dart aimed at you, which seems to have paralyzed him." Rhodey used his colonel's voice. "Damn it, Tones! Now you have help giving me a heart attack!"

"I know how you feel," Steve muttered, moving down Tony's side to lift James' upper half off of Tony's legs. "Nice to see HYDRA wasn't able to scrape all the stupid out of Bucky."

Tony rubbed a hand down his face, his eyes widening when he saw the blood on it. Rhodey lifted him to his feet as soon as the armor released his legs. Tony's head swam and he knew he would have crumpled if Rhodey hadn't held him up. When he looked around, Tony saw Wilson and Happy directing security guards to secure the intruders. Most were unconscious, but the two who weren't, glared daggers at Tony.

Leaning heavily against Rhodey, Tony walked to the elevator JARVIS had waiting. Steve stepped in beside them, hefting James in a fireman's carry.

"Penthouse, JARVIS," Rhodey instructed. "Can you ask Dr. Banner join us?"

"My bedroom, J," Tony got out, still feeling wobbly.

"Yes, Sir," JARVIS acknowledged. "The safe room is secured."

Tony nodded, his eyes on the unnervingly still form draped over Steve's shoulder. He wasn't sure whether the ache in his chest was from the EMP or his worry over James. As soon as the doors opened, Rhodey eased him out of the elevator and into his room. With practice that made Tony blush, Rhodey striped him down to his briefs in minutes, and eased him down on the bed – a talent learned when they were at MIT.

With a sigh, Tony turned his head to see Steve struggling with James, until Rhodey stepped over and began stripping off his tactical gear, while Steve supported him. He even grinned as his friend grumbled over the number of weapons James had hidden on his person. As the two laid James beside him, Tony heard the elevator arrive and Bruce, with Sam in tow, stepped into the room.

"Hey Tony, JARVIS tells me you've gotten yourself in trouble again," Bruce greeted him.

Tony sputtered as Bruce ignored his attempt to respond and asked JARVIS to scan both of them. Still grumbling, he watched as Bruce prick James' finger, squeezing out a drop of blood into a miniaturized biochemical analyzer. It was one he and Bruce had created with Helen Cho's assistance.

JARVIS announced that James' vitals were elevated slightly for him, but Tony's were within normal parameters. He sighed when the AI announced no concussion, only a gash over his right eye and contusions wherever his suit didn't have adequate padding. Just starting to relax, his hand searching for James, when Sam handed Bruce a device Tony was very familiar with.

"Bruce! I'm fine – I don't need you to do an EEG!"

Bruce gave him a deadpan look. "You suffered some type of a convulsion or seizure, Tony. An EEG is a routine, to make sure you haven't done yourself any damage." He held up the two pads with a band between them. "Now, you can let me do this, or I'll have to call the medical to—"

"Fine!" Tony groused, one hand gripping the bedding as the other found James' forearm.

"Is Bucky going to be all right, Bruce?" Steve asked quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed beside James.

"JARVIS is trying to analyze the neurotoxin that was used, as some of them can be deadly, but I think the serum James was given, has been able to burn through the toxin and there won't be any lasting effects. It's just going to take a while for the effects to wear off." Bruce finished attaching the electrodes onto Tony's forehead and patted his shoulder. "Now, lay there and don't move!"

"What did they want?" Sam asked, looking between Rhodey and Steve. "They didn't act like the HYDRA goons we've been encountering."

"I think they were after Tony, actually," Steve spoke up. "Initially, Bucky and I thought they were after him, or the Winter Soldier really, but they seemed very surprised to encounter us."

"Tony's public lab is on the other side of the eightieth floor," Rhodey told them as Tony opened his mouth to speak. "Shut-up, Tones. Although he's rarely there, unless he's helping R&D with a problem."

Rhodey pivoted to grab Tony's favorite blanket from his couch and draped it over Tony and James. "Who's doing the interrogation?"

"Maria Hill, according to Happy."

"Alright, Sam and I'll go down and help them out, if you're going to stay here with them."

"And I'll let you both know as soon as I get the test results back."

Tony heard the three left, wondering when his eyes had closed. He was fine, just worried about James, he thought, back on his feet as soon as they take this thing off my head. The ache in his head faded a bit as he let himself float, warm and safe, with his hand wrapped around James' arm.

James came awake with a suddenness that made his heart pound. His body was stiff, his head ached, and something held down his right side. A slight shift and a warm nose burying itself in his neck told him it was Tony was cuddled in close, pinning that side down. There was a third heartbeat in the room, the slightly off-normal beat James had always known: Steve.

The man huffed and James felt a tap on his left thigh. "I know you're awake, jerk," came the whisper.

James opened his eyes to find the room dimly lit, and Steve sitting in a chair beside the bed, a smile on his face. He raised an eyebrow, tightening the arm he had wrapped around Tony.

Steve gave him a knowing smirk. "So, he jumps in front of something which would've taken out your arm and probably done damage to your nervous system, even though it killed his armor. Then you had to step in front of a dart loaded with a toxin that would have killed you if you weren't enhanced." He crossed his arms over his chest. "And you tell me not to do anything stupid! And now, there are two of you!"

"Says the man who jumps out of airplanes without a parachute," Tony muttered, his breath warm against James' throat.

James narrowed his eyes at his best friend, who immediately tried to stop the firestorm he knew was coming.

"I—it's not like it sounds, Buck! It was over water and—"

Tony huffed out a laugh and shook his head, as he turned slightly in James' arms. Steve jumped up to help and, James wasn't sure how in the chaos that was Steve, managed to prop James up against a stack of pillows. Tony was still leaning into his side, James' right arm around him. A warmth built in his chest as Tony got comfortable and James attributed it to decades only receiving painful touches. He was grateful once again for Tony taking him in.

The lights came up as they moved around, and the window wall lightened to show the late afternoon sky. Steve grabbed a bottle of water off the nightstand and handed it to James, before handing another to Tony. James drained the bottle before handing it back, shifting Tony into a more comfortable position. He froze when Tony stiffened for a moment, before relaxing with a sigh. Steve was on his feet instantly, back into hoovering mode.

"Tony? You okay?" James loosened his arm around the man.

Tony shook his head. "I'm fine, just a bit sore from bouncing off the inside of the suit." He gave James a crooked smile. "JARVIS and I need to revisit the lining in some areas."

Steve snorted as James gave Tony his best Asset stare.

"And a parachute,"

Tony shifted against his side. "Yes, a parachute."

James gave a pleased hum, however, the smug expression on his face slid off as his stomach gave a loud rumble. Tony and Steve both laughed, and James felt his face heat.

"What's going on?" Rhodes stood in the doorway, looking at them. "JARVIS said—"

"Platypus!" Tony pulled away from James with a groan and opened his arms.

Moving into the room, Rhodes sat gingerly on the edge of the bed and gave Tony a careful hug. Rhodes looked over and caught James' eyes before giving him a slight nod and James found himself smiling in return.

"Alright, Princess, stand up and let's see how bad the bruises are," Rhodes kept one hand on Tony's shoulder and drew him into a full sitting position.

James' hand slid down and he found his hand cupping the warm curve of Tony's hip, an emotion he hadn't felt in years expanding in his chest. He bit his lip to keep from smiling as Rhodes practically lifted Tony to his feet, steadied him, and then stepped back to survey the damage. Seeing the darkening smudges on both shoulder blades and down Tony's ribs, James made a note of the areas. Between he and JARVIS, they should be able to make sure Tony's suit was better insulated. If his eyes lingered on the lithe, muscular body, James wasn't admitting it to anyone.

"Remember that undersuit you were talking about designing, Tones?" Rhodes said quietly and James watched as Tony nodded. "It's time to fabricate one."

James' stomach growled again and Steve snickered as he threw the duvet off of James, grabbing his arm to help him sit up. Letting Steve steady him, James reached for the sweatpants that had appeared from somewhere. He could feel Tony's eyes pinned on him as he bent over to pull them on, but kept his back to the other man as he put on the sweatshirt. He was still self-conscious about the scars around his shoulder.

Sam's voice carried from outside the room. "Move it, people! I have food ready!"

Following Steve out the door and toward the kitchen, James moved slower than normal, more so that Tony, supported by Rhodes' arm around his waist, could keep up, than any lingering injuries himself.

"Come on, old man," Rhodes chided his friend. "At least keep up with the grandpas!"

As they moved towards the stairs, James' stomach grumbled again, his nose picking up delicious smells coming from the kitchen. He could see Bruce had joined Sam in cooking, and though James couldn't identify most of the spices he was smelling, he couldn't wait to try the food. He eased himself down into a chair at the already set table and Tony sat beside him, then leaned over the serving bowls, taking a deep sniff.

"I'm not sure what this is, but it smells really good." James was sure he'd said more this afternoon, than he usually said in an entire day.

"Coconut curry chicken," Bruce said, sitting down across from him.

"Along with Cajun mac and cheese, shrimp and grits, and a nice Greek salad for those into green leaves." Sam set the salad down next to Bruce.

There were several minutes of silence as everyone dished up their plates, James shooting a look at Steve, as his old friend made a plate of food for him. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Rhodes set a plate in front of Tony, and stifled a snicker. Noticing his glance, Tony slid his hand onto James' thigh. With a smile, James took a small bite of what looked like yellow chicken and found he liked it, a lot.

"You find anything out from those goons?" Tony asked several minutes later.

Sam shot a look at Rhodes, before he answered. "They are highly trained mercenaries, excellent at infiltration and asset protection, not so good on retrieval missions."

"And what were they trying to retrieve?" James questioned.

"They were sent to get whatever Tony had on the Extremis project he took from AIM last December," Steve replied, a fork full of grits paused half-way to his mouth.

"They were an elite group, most former government agents from Eastern European countries, paid very well by a pharmaceutical company in Sokovia." Rhodes interjected.

James felt Tony stiffen.

"They want to turn people into glowing bombs or try to re-engineer their own variety of Super Soldier serum?" Tony asked harshly.

"I think the serum," Sam responded. "Said there was a doctor who thought he was on the brink of a breakthrough – named Lusk or Lisk or something."

James froze, a shiver of cold running down his back, and quietly set down his fork. "Doctor List?"

"Yeah," Sam leaned forward, his eyes slightly unfocused, as if he was reviewing the information in his head. "Said they'd been sent by List, on behalf of someone, to gather any remaining samples and any notes. They were told speed would be rewarded."

Raking his right hand through his hair, List's face surfacing from his memories. "You should be able to find him in the dumped data, I think. He came to the Vault several times, sometimes taking blood from—me, and others just to observe my training. I don't think he worked there, though." He felt an ache start near his left temple. "Pierce once referred to a Baron, who was high in the HYDRA hierarchy."

"JARVIS, see what you can data mine from the files, both on List and whoever this Baron is," Tony instructed, his hand tightening on James' thigh.

"They didn't expect to see James here," Steve commented. "I think only one or two knew who he was."

"And we need to keep it that way," Tony growled. "We need to redo our security. Bailey was hired in the past three months, but Murphy had been with Security for at least two years."

"I shall begin a deep dive into both those departments, Sir."

JARVIS sounded affronted and James couldn't help but smile.

"Follow the money," Rhodes piped up. "Any large payments to, or in the name of, an employee or their family members."

"Of course, Colonel Rhodes."

As everyone returned to their food, James tasted the grits, which seemed familiar in texture, but spicier than most of the food he'd eaten since his escape. He found he enjoyed all the dishes on the table, even when the Cajun mac and cheese had caused his mouth to tingle with heat. The glass of milk Sam poured for him with a smirk, seemed to cut through the worst of the burning, and James gave him a nod of thanks, even if he were still suspicious of the man's timing.

Steve reached for the curry again as the rest were finishing up their meal, but James felt pleasantly full. He pushed his plate away and moved his hand down to cover Tony's on his thigh. Remembering what Tony had said about Extremis, and while James was sure Rhodes knew, he didn't think anyone else did. Steve had never even mentioned the event; JARVIS had brought up the story when James had asked about it.

His eyes narrowed as Steve sighed with contentment and sat back in his chair.

"So, this Extremis thing?" James said as casually as he could, hand tightening under Tony's hand, but his eyes on Steve. "Where were you guys when all of than was going on?"

Rhodes opened his mouth, but James felt Tony move toward him, probably to elbow the man in the side. Sam frowned disapprovingly at him, which James ignored. The wingman apparently hadn't even met Steve until months after the Mandarin destroyed Tony's California home. Bruce looked guilty, shifting in his seat, and Steve wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I was here," Bruce said quietly. "Working on some projects SHIELD requested. That and I was keeping a low-profile, or trying to." He looked up at Tony, who was looking back. "I know that I didn't believe Tony was dead, although losing contact with JARVIS scared me to death." He shook his head. "I was surprised Fury didn't call me or the Avengers in to help, especially when President Ellis was taken."

Steve nodded as he listened, James saw, his face grim. "I was on my first mission with STRIKE, volunteered actually, as I didn't want to spend my first Christmas out of the ice by myself. We were out of touch for ten days, rescuing hostages from a drug cartel, and I didn't find out until we got back. When I asked Fury about it, he said Tony was fine and the Mandarin captured." He shook his head. "I didn't know about the house or Pepper until much later, when I ran into Clint and Natasha, who were pretty pissed about not being contacted."

Feeling a wave of relief, James nodded. "Well, I know if one of my friends were in danger, nothing could hold me back from helping them," he told them. "Maybe not like Steve, who stormed a HYDRA stronghold at Anzano, by himself, without a plan!"

"Hey! I had a plan!" Steve protested.

"You did?" Sam asked.

"No," James deadpanned. "He did not – I was there."

Steve sputtered as the rest of them laughed.

"Sir?"

The tone and volume of JARVIS' voice told Tony this wasn't the first time the AI had tried to get his attention. He looked up from the code he was typing, an idea for an improvement to the Operating System of the newest Starkphone, automatically hitting the save button, Tony stood and arched his back.

"What's up, J?"

"Colonel Rhodes requested I inform you that President Ellis has issued a full pardon for James, with the only parameters being to get treatment for what he endured during the time he was held prisoner, including a mental health professional with expertise in working with POWs. The second parameter being James will be required to live with the you, personally, for the next two years, if you agree."

Elation warmed his chest, at the same time a wave of relief hit him, so strong Tony had to sit back down and grab the workbench. "It's final, JARVIS?"

"Already signed by the President and has been in effect since midnight last night. Colonel Rhodes has been given the paper documents, which he will bring to the Tower at the weekend."

"Does James know?" Tony was taking in deep lungfuls of breath.

"It was my belief you would prefer to give him the news yourself, Sir."

Tony snorted, feeling more stable. "You know me too well, J. Where are our Super Soldiers at the moment?"

"Captain Rogers and Sergeant Wilson are currently meeting with local and federal agencies regarding their next mission."

"And James?"

"Is right here, coming to kidnap you for lunch," James said from behind him.

Tony jumped a foot and swung around to glare at James as his heart raced. "Damn it, Frosty! Scared the hell out of me!"

James gave an unrepentant smile and Tony huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He made a point of dragging his eyes down James' length, taking in the long-sleeved Henley and black sweatpants.

"How would you like to get lunch out?" Tony asked, trying to affect a casual demeanor.

James titled his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "You mean, like a restaurant or something?"

"Yes," Tony turning to save his changes to the coding. "You've been stuck in this Tower, even if it is the best in the world, for three months. Think it's time to get you out and blow the stink off of you."

James sputtered as Tony walked toward the elevator, reaching out to snag his hand as he walked by. "How did you know my ma used to say that to me, whenever Steve and I hung around the kitchen too long?"

"Believe it or not, my godmother was fond of using that phrase, especially if I had been working in the lab too long." Tony tugged on him into the elevator. "Come on, James!"

It was less than an hour later; they had cleared the dense neighborhoods of New York City, heading up Highway 9, running parallel to the Hudson River . Tony worked his way through the gears of the R8 until they were humming along at just above the speed limit. He had no desire to be pulled over this afternoon. Coldplay's Viva La Vida was playing on the radio and Tony hit the button to retract the convertible top. James flashed him a grin, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. Reaching over, Tony slipped his hand in James' and tugged it over to the center console. The day was sunny and bright, the Hudson a blue-green ribbon whenever the highway gave them a glimpse of it.

"I don't think I've ever been to this area before," James leaned close to shout out. "Where are we going?"

"Staatsburgh," Tony told him. "We're going to have a picnic by the river."

Exiting the highway, Tony pulled up to the River and Post restaurant, where one of the servers carried out a large wicker picnic basket. He placed it into the rear seat and Tony got out of the car to thank him, slipping the man several bills when he shook his hand. James watched with a bemused expression as Tony drove on, maneuvering through the quaint town and onto a recently paved road along side the Hudson. He knew the hidden sensors and JARVIS would have already alerted the security force in place, as well as open the heavy gate for them.

Just after they had cleared the security gate, the steel and concrete frame of several large buildings became visible. Tony was glad to see the construction crews had made good progress once the old warehouses had been demolished. James' head swiveled as he took in the massive construction project that came into view.

"What is all this?' he asked, turning back to Tony.

Tony circled around the structures taking shape and across the Quinjet landing area, parking where they could see the river. "JARVIS was doing an inventory of all the SI properties and we discovered this piece of land. Howard used it as an ordinance storage location, but it hadn't been used in forty years. There were several large, dilapidated warehouses here, but nothing else."

Opening the door, Tony stepped out, motioning to James to join him. He grabbed the picnic basket out of the back and moved around the front of the car. "It dawned on me, after the several attacks at the Tower, that headquartering the Avengers in a huge tower in the middle of New York City might not be the best idea. So, when this property came up, I figured we could utilize this compound to house and train the Avengers."

"It's huge, Tony!" James took the basket from him and grabbed his hand. "It's quiet and beautiful here, kinda peaceful."

Tony watched as James took it all in, his eyes finally stopping on the river. Tugging on his hand, Tony led him to the loading dock and pointed out the benches to one side.

"I thought we could eat here," Tony suggested as they walked over. "There aren't any deliveries scheduled until tomorrow."

James was quiet as he sat down, watching Tony as he unpacked the basket. Tony, who prided himself on his cool, calm demeanor, swallowed down his jitters as he took out the pile of fried chicken sandwiches, charred Brussel sprouts, homemade pita and hummus, and coconut flan with blueberry compote. He arranged them on the bench between them, before sitting down, tucking one leg up so he could sit sideways on the bench and face James.

"Eat first and then I'll tell you about the compound."

Tony unwrapped the silverware and plates, handing a set to James, before he took a bite of his sandwich. Crispy on the outside and moist inside, the chicken was amazing and Tony found he was a lot hungrier than he thought. For several minutes, there was silence as both men consumed the delicious food. Pouncing on the last Brussel sprout, Tony popped it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as he watched James start on another sandwich.

"The compound will be organized into a building for laboratories, for both SI and the Avengers, a building for office and conference room space, a medical wing, a training complex, and a residential building for the Avengers and their families." Tony paused and pointed to the building going up a short distance from the dock, looking over the water. "That will be the residential tower, and I expect to actually move out of the Tower to live here once it is completed."

Pausing to take a breath, Tony leaned toward James as he finished his food. "The architect wants me to do a final mark-up on the blueprint for the personal living spaces, which is why I've called a meeting tonight to discuss it with the others, but I wanted to talk to you before the meeting."

James was giving him his full attention, his face a neutral mask – an expression Tony had come to hate.

"First, I need to tell you that President Ellis has signed a full pardon for any and all crimes with prejudice for you. The only caveats being you attend therapy with a therapist of your choice for your PTSD, and you're to continue to live with me for the next two years."

James' face went through several different expressions, surprise, guilt, remorse, and, finally, a smile broke through. He was on his feet in an instant and grabbed Tony's hand, tugging him into his arms, twirling him around. Tony could only laugh and hang on as James held him tightly. When he stopped moving, Tony felt himself lowered slowly until his feet touched the wood, James looking at him intently. One hand cupped Tony's cheek, and James slowly lowered his head. Tony lifted his to meet James halfway.

The kiss began as a sweet brushing of their lips, but quickly becoming heated and needy. Tony had kissed other people and been kissed, many times in his life, but it had never felt like this. He could lose himself in the warm feelings and sparks James was drawing from him, and gave a low whimper when James pulled back. He panted as he laid a cheek against Tony's temple.

"Sorry – got carried away," James muttered, but didn't step back.

Tony took a deep breath, one of his hands running up and down James' back. "I was going to ask you if you would help me design our floor here."

James stilled; so still Tony wasn't even sure he was breathing. Never one for patience, Tony leaned back in the circle of James' arms, eyebrow arched, and his heart pounding.

It took James a minute before he looked at Tony, and eyebrow arching. "Are you asking me to move in with you, Mr. Stark?" A crooked grin curving his lips. "On our first date?"

His legs almost gave out at the teasing. "I always work quickly to secure the best," Tony said with a huff. "It's not like we don't already occupy the same space."

A metal arm wrapped around his waist and dragged Tony flush against James' body. "But that was before I had the right to touch." His hand dropped to Tony's cheek.

Tightening his arms, Tony lifted his head with a grin. "Steve's gonna kill me, isn't he?"

"Well, you have corrupted his best friend," James' blue eyes laughed at him as Tony groaned. "Besides, he has no idea what a shovel talk is."

Tony suddenly grinned. "Rhodey's will be vicious!"

James unexpectedly grinned. "I'll be sure to give him my best assassin stare."

Tony snickered, imagining the scene.

Chapter Text

It was late afternoon, the sun dropping toward the horizon when Tony pulled into the underground parking area of the Tower. Most of the ride back had been done in comfortable silence, both men enjoying the warm sunshine and the wind in their hair. James was out of the vehicle and waiting at the front of the car for Tony to pass the keys to a waiting security guard, before heading to the elevator. As soon as the door closed behind them, James slid his arm around Tony and pulled him into his side.

"Penthouse, JARVIS," Tony murmured as he titled his head up to James in invitation.

"Certainly, Sir, however Captain Rogers has requested your presence on the communal floor."

Tony leaned toward him, sighing heavily, and buried his face in James' shirt. "All right, J."

"When's the meeting?" James asked, his arms tightening around Tony.

"In about an hour," Tony grumbled. "I guess reality is intruding sooner than I would have liked."

Staying pressed together as they rose through the floors of the building, James was convinced JARVIS was purposely slowing the elevator speed. He took advantage of the time to bury his nose in Tony's hair and press a kiss to the crown of his head, not straightening until the elevator slowed. James eased away, but kept his arm firmly around Tony's waist. He hoped Steve had good news for them.

The elevator door opened and James drew Tony out, stepping into the communal area and heading toward the lounge, where he could hear the murmur of conversation. As the room came into view, James saw several people were seated, Steve being one of them. Of the other two, James' eyes were instantly drawn toward a woman with dark red hair, a fragment of a memory triggered. She looked up and their eyes met for an instant, hers widening in recognition and she exploded into motion.

James immediately sprang into action, pushing Tony protectively behind him as he brought his left arm up to deflect any projectiles, and his Sig-Sauer in his right hand.

"Bucky!" Steve exclaimed, a grin splitting his face, until he saw the weapon in his friend's hand. "What are you—"

He could hear Tony hit the floor behind him, trusting James' instincts. James dropped into a crouch, minimizing himself as a target, eyes now darting between the woman with twin Glocks in her hands and an unfamiliar man who stood beside her.

"Natasha! Stop!" Steve yelled, grabbing for the woman.

"Romanoff! For fucks sake!" Tony yelled, just as a sharp whistle was heard in the room.

"Stand down, Agent Romanoff." JARVIS' voice had a hard edge to it, as a large ominous-looking gun lowered from the ceiling and pointed at her. "Neither Mr. Stark, nor Sergeant Barnes is a threat to anyone here."

Steve vaulted the couch and placed himself in front of James, who barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Taking a half step to the side of his best friend, James watched as the woman slowly holstered her weapons. The man beside her relaxed slightly, although the suspicious looks on both their faces remained. James took two steps back, never taking his eyes off the threat, reaching down to help Tony to his feet and brushed him off.

James could see the man was furious, but was trying to reign it in. His voice was sharp as he stood beside James.

"I'm not sure what—"

"He's the Winter Soldier, Stark!" Romanoff spat at him, hands still hovering around her hips. "The guy who did his best to kill Nick Fury!"

"Not anymore, he's not!" Steve protested loudly. "You've been gone and out of contact for months, Nat! A lot has happened."

His own gun was already tucked again into the small of his back, James finally recognizing the woman. "I'm sorry I shot you," he told the woman, his voice a bit sheepish.

"Which time?" she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

James hesitated for a moment as the fragment of a memory resurfaced in his mind – a mission in Odessa. "Er, both, I guess."

Steve made a noise, indicating the agent, Romanoff if he remembered correctly, had to have told him about it. Tony's head swiveled between him, Steve, and Romanoff.

"Obviously, you two have met before."

James grimaced, then nodded. "She was transporting a scientist Hydra wanted assassinated—"

"And he shot through me to do it!" Romanoff informed him tightly. "Plus shooting me during the whole Project Insight debacle."

"Well," James drawled, "you were shooting at me, too."

Romanoff and Steve sputtered at the same time, while the other man continued to stare at him with narrowed eyes. James could see the man's eyes suddenly widen in recognition as he stared at his metal hand and braced himself.

"Mother fucker! It was you in Madrid!" The man's face flushed red. "Only time I've ever missed a shot!"

James could feel his lips curve into a small smile. "Well, I did have to deflect the arrow with the metal arm, if that makes you feel better."

"It does, weirdly enough," he answered, before sighing, brushing his hair back before extending his hand. "I'm Clint Barton."

"James Barnes," he responded as he shook it gingerly. Stepping back, James grasped Tony's hand, and allowed him to pull them over to one of the couches.

"Nice to see you two again," Tony said as James settled beside him, eyes on the guests. "Heard there was a bit of excitement near Belarus."

"Taking care of a loose end," Romanoff's eyes flicked toward Tony, before settling back on James. "How did this happen?"

"Arm needed a mechanic," James deadpanned. "Hydra said Tony was the best. So I came to see him."

Romanoff frowned, switching to Russian. "Zola showed us a video—"

"I've seen it, " Tony answered in the same language.

James leaned forward, his thigh pressed against Tony. "Tony helped me and then let me stay here where I would be safe. I wanted to disappear, and I wasn't going to let Hydra take me back alive."

"James—" Tony started, only to have Steve interrupt him.

"Neither of us was going to let that happen," Steve stated emphatically. "They contacted Sam and I, and we've been here since we last saw you."

"Well," Romanoff drawled. "That explains why you had a Quinjet in DC, especially knowing neither of you knew how to fly it."

"They do now," Tony told them. "We've been working hard over the past couple months, removing James' programming and trigger words, mapping out the Hydra bases we've found, and taking out the smaller ones."

Nodding, Barton spoke up. "Makes sense now - got a message from Fury saying you and Steve might need help with a mission."

Rhodes, Banner, and Wilson were already seated in the conference room when Tony and the others arrived. Natasha moving around the table to sit beside Bruce, exchanging a quiet greeting. Steve took the far end of the table with Sam on one side, Tony and James on the other. Clint nodded to Bruce as he seated himself across from Rhodey. Tony opened his mouth to introduce Rhodey, when the door swung open forcefully, Marie Hill and Fury striding into the room.

Relieved to see the former Director of SHIELD, Tony leaned back and eyed Fury hard. "Nice to see you on your feet, Nicky."

Fury barely gave him a glance, his eye zeroing in on James. "I'm going to assume you've been deprogramed, Sergeant Barnes."

"I have," James answered, rising to his feet. "I'm very glad to see that you aren't dead."

"Well, it wasn't for lack of trying." Fury turned away, scanning the conference room. "Your's the only eyes in here, Stark?"

"JARVIS has it locked down, no signals in or out," Tony confirmed.

Fury moved to the head of the table and Tony tapped on the left temple of his glasses, subtly letting JARVIS know to display whatever Fury needed.

"It is my understanding that Barnes has assisted special forces by detailing the locations and information on a number of Hydra bases and laboratories."

A section of the window wall darkened and a hologram of a topographic map appear. There were yellow circles around a number of the areas, along with red X's superimposed over a dozen different circles. The image of North America shrunk as the map pulled out and two pulsing orange circles appear, one in Eastern Europe and one in Siberia.

"These are the two sites which have been deemed Avenger-level targets." Fury ignored Tony's eye roll. "The larger of the two is a Hydra research base on the outskirts of Novi Grad, Sokovia. It is housed in a large castle-like complex and headed by Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker, and his chiel scientist, Dr. List. Sokovian Special Forces, EKO Scorpion, has been gathering information on the base and trying to get an agent on the inside. The Sokovian government has expressed the desire to let their own team see how far they can get before we are brought in."

The hologram changed, presenting a 3D image of what looked like a walled fortress about the size of a village. It was built in a heavily wooded area, Tony noted, making the approach easier. They would have to see if there was intel on the security measures of the surrounding area, as from what they had witnessed in DC, Hydra was sure to have something advanced in place. Luckily, Tony thought, most of Hydra's devices utilized Stark technology in some form or the other, which meant an specially designed EMP for a localized area—

"Tony?"

Rhodey voice startled him and Tony focused back into the conversation. "Sorry, I got sidetracked."

"Nat was just saying that she and Barton had run into some difficulties on their way to New York. It seems their resources had suddenly dried up."

Catching the gleam in his friend's eyes, Tony kept a tight hold on the anger he felt welling up. James' hand closed around his forearm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Even Fury, the bastard, had paused and was giving him an accessing look.

"I would think with the fall of SHIELD, its finances would have been locked down by whomever was in charge," Tony said in an inquisitive tone, glancing at Fury. "Although, someone managed to access a clandestine fund about six weeks ago for over a hundred thousand dollars."

"And the account was immediately closed." Natasha crossed her arms and glared at him.

Tony shrugged. "I would think that is a topic former Director Fury would be able to give some insight into that."

"It would seem," Fury said, eye focused on Tony. "One of the main, independent, funding sources for SHIELD has withdrawn their support. I haven't had a chance to inquiry about it. We are currently receiving financial support from the Federal government, as well as some funding from the pool established by NATO countries to eradicate terrorism. These funds are being deposited into an account in a new bank."

"Since the old one was a Hydra front," James groused.

"How does that impact our ability to carry out either of these two missions?" Steve asked, looking up from the notebook he'd been making notes in.

Tony kept his face neutral, knowing the new accounts had been insisted on by all the governments involved, after being informed that the old accounts had still been accessible by what remained of Hydra. It was one of the areas his lawyers had been hard at work on, culminating in an agreement with Tony to personally fund the Avengers, their missions, and equipment. He'd drawn a hard line at any money from SI being involved, rescinding everything Howard had put in place and Stane had continued. He was also contemplating selling the Tower once the Compound was operational, and reinvesting that money as a continuous funding source.

Fury shifted minutely, his eye going around the table. "If we are asked to assist in the Sokovia base, part of the funding will be provided by the government—"

"Yes," Tony interrupted. "There will be money available for Sokovia, when it's time, as well as the Siberia base." He left it at that, James giving his arm another gently squeeze.

"Siberia possess unique challenges." Fury launched into the mission briefing without missing a beat. "While we have a rough layout of the inside, thanks to Barnes, we don't know how active this base has been. From the current surveillance, no one has been seen entering the base since the helicarrier situation in DC."

JARVIS helpfully displayed the satellite images, the diagram of the bunker, and the 3D image which showed how far under the surface the building went. James had been as accurate as he could, remembering the placement of the cryotubes, the holding cells, and the control center. Tony knew they might need an explosive charge to breech the outside doors, but he was hoping between his lasers and the Super Soldiers raw strength, they could get through the blast doors. They would be, at least, heavily reinforced steel doors, and could weigh several thousand pounds.

"As you see, the majority of the facility is underground, which presents problems for a silent approach. We are also unaware of whether there are any specific alarms or protocols which could be triggered by entering the facility."

Sam leaned forward. "How long have these people been in cryofreeze?"

Tony felt James stiffen slightly, his eyes staring at a point over Sam's shoulder. "At least twenty years," James told them softly. "They were so unstable, the handlers and Karpov determined they should remain in cryostasis until they could be controlled."

"Can you describe what you mean by unstable, Bucky?" Steve asked. "I know you told Sam and I, but these guys need to know that there is no chance any of these individuals can be redeemed."

James took a deep breath. "Picture an elite assassination squad, where one of the requirements was a predisposition to enjoy killing, train them on infiltration, teach them thirty different languages, top-level hacking skills, and then give them an untested Super Soldier serum. It enhanced every physical attribute, but greatly impacted their sanity and delusions of grandeur. They no longer listened to handlers or Hydra bosses." He took a deep breath. "I was brought in to help train them, but they were stronger and faster than I was. One of the guards had to step in when I was knocked to the ground, and Josef killed him immediately. The others joined in and killed the entire squad of guards, as well as all the scientists present. I was ordered to protect my handler and ended up locking us in a cell to stay alive."

"Let me make this abundantly clear," Fury stated, looking around the table. "This is not a rescue or extraction mission. What Barnes is saying is true, and I have seen video which documents what he is describing." He gave them all another look. "One of my contacts and his people in Siberia are in place, and will hold an outer perimeter around the facility for the next forty-eight hours. They will act as a last defense to make sure none of these soldiers remain alive."

"We will also have Delta Force, Seal Team 6, and a specialized British SAS Team joining us on the ground, all under the guise of an international demolition training exercise. They will be rigging the site to imploded." Rhodey pointed out. "They will not be entering the facility unless absolutely necessary."

"Weather forecast, JARVIS?" Tony asked.

"Cloud cover over of the area for the next twenty-four hours, Sir, with moderate temperatures and light winds. The daytime high will be zero degrees Fahrenheit with a low of -20 Fahrenheit."

"Balmy," Sam muttered dryly.

Fury stepped away from the table. "It's fifteen hours of travel time, so I suggest you pack fast."

With that, he was gone, the silence left behind a little unnerving. Tony drummed his fingers on the table in irritation for a beat, before he sighed and stood up.

"I had something else I wanted to bring up, but I guess we can go over that when we get back." He glanced at Steve. "How much time do we have, Cap?"

"How long for the military support to be in position, Colonel?" Steve asked.

"They should already be enroute and they were all coming from Europe, so as long as we arrive in the next eighteen hours, we should be good."

Steve nodded. "All right, let's pack what we need and meet on the roof in an hour."

There were no questions, so everyone walked out, with Tony and James bringing up the rear. He mentally went over all the gear he would need, along with the armor and the new, insulated undersuit. He'd managed to design a parachute, with Rhodey's help, which fit under the shoulder strut for the armor and Sam's Exo suit. Inspired by James' old Howlies uniform, Tony fabricated a similar jacket in navy with the same bullet-resistant material Steve wore. The black pants were made of the same material, but crafted like the tactical pants James favored. Steve hadn't seen the uniform yet and Tony had purposely stayed away from making the pants brown, as he felt that would bring back too many emotions for both men.

Tony went to the right at the top of the stairs, while James headed left to the safe room. By the time Tony had pulled on the newly designed undersuit, James had joined him, black pants hanging low on his hips. Arching an eye brow, Tony swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. James grinned at him as he set his blue jacket on the bed, along with a black tee shirt, his eyes traveling down Tony's length. He held up the undershirt Tony had made him.

"You sure I need this?"

Tony blinked and then huffed. "Of course! It’s reinforced in the torso, ribs, and around the seam of your shoulder."

He stepped over as James pulled the shirt over his head, slapping his hands out of the way as Tony smoothed the fabric down his chest. Grabbing the one-arm jacket, Tony held it out as James slid his arms into it and settled it over his shoulders for a perfect fit. James leaned in suddenly and stole a kiss, distracting Tony from the straps designed to tighten the fabric around James' chest. He leaned down and grabbed his black duffel bag, before heading for the door.

"Come on, doll, let's get to the jet before Steve comes looking for us."

Tony groaned, pausing only to grab his own jacket, tablet, and phone before following James. JARVIS had already walked his armor onboard and Dum-E had taken up a crate of supplies, including food and water, for their flight. As he and James walked up the ramp, Tony saw they weren't the last ones; Bruce and Natasha weren't there yet. Rhodey was bent over a tablet, going through a pre-flight checklist with Clint and Steve was stowing his shield in the compartment Tony had customized for it.

"All right, boys," Nat's voice was all business as she and Bruce joined them. "Let's get this show on the road."

Everyone settled in, the thick cushions at least making the seats comfortable – although it paled in comparison to his private jets. James sat on his left, lending his right shoulder for Tony to catch a nap, until turbulence over the Barents Sea woke him up. A glance out the window just showed a deep blackness and Tony shivered, despite the Extremis. James' arm pulled him closer and Tony shifted readily, seeking the man's warmth as he looked around.

Clint was in the pilot's seat, looking over the console, while Steve and Rhodey were bent over a hologram, which displayed their target. Tony listened as the two debated how close they should establish an inner perimeter for the special services personnel, while the Siberian militia manned an outer perimeter. The Seal team, guarded by the other special forces, would move to the outside of the bunker in order to lay explosive charges, while Steve, James, and Clint would place the inside charges.

"Thirty minutes out, Cap," Clint said softly.

Tony pressed a kiss to James' cheek, before standing up. He needed to empty his bladder and choke down a protein bar before he got into his suit. Slowly, the rest of them began to stir as he moved around, silently getting ready for the operation.

Tony just hoped the updated heater in his suit would hold up.

A shudder worked its way down James' spine as they approached the metal door into the bunker. Just the sight of the facility had brought back so many bits of memories; of pain, hunger, and cold. While he only remembered fragments of the torture Hydra had subject him to, he was sure his coming nightmares would flesh the memories out. Tony's laser was able to cut through the metal with ease, and he stepped back, allowing James and Steve to go in first.

He kept his gun up and ready, Steve covered them with his shield as they moved into the building, both of them wearing a backpack loaded with explosive charges. When no alarm immediately sounded, Tony, Natasha, and Clint followed them, leaving Rhodes and Sam outside for aerial support. Bruce was monitoring from the Quinjet, ready to jump in if needed. James led the way at a steady pace, quietly, maneuvering easily despite the minimal lighting. JARVIS' scan having found only five heartbeats in the bunker, their measured beats indicative of being still in cryofreeze.

His stomach churned with anxiety as they neared the door into the main control center of the base, four levels below the surface, where the permafrost kept the temperature just above freezing. James couldn't help but flinch as the door swung open with a loud squeak, activating the lights in the large room eerily quiet beyond. Immediately heading toward the right, James followed the contour of the wall to the room that held the cryochambers. A metal control panel set beside the heavy metal door was blinking green. Looking into the thick glass window, James could see five of the six chambers back lit, and all of them occupied.

"They're all here," James said softly, looking at the unconscious faces of Hydra's Super Soldiers. "We need to get this done."

Tony stayed by the cryochamber door, seeming to survey the room through the small window, before shifted his gaze to the central area, and James knew he was having JARVIS scan as much of the building as he could. While he'd never given the facility's design any thought as the Asset, even he could see now that it was some type of missile launching and storage bunker. Hopefully, the AI could confirm there was no old nukes within the complex. It was one thing to implode an old abandoned bunker, quite another to set off some huge underground explosion.

"Barnes, is there a way to open that silo hatch above us?" Clint asked, standing beside another control panel on the opposite side of the room and pointing upward. "It would make it much easier if we could just go straight up after we have everything wired."

James, who had already started to unload explosives from his pack, looked up. "Can't help you, pal. Hydra didn't exactly teach me those types of things."

Natasha appeared from the doorway behind Clint, and peered at the panel. She pointed toward a large silver toggle switch. "That one says Power."

"I don't think—" Steve began, but was cut off by a flash of sparks as Clint threw the switch.

"Shit!"

Clint jumped back as electricity arched through the panel. The concrete floor rumble with a vibration from deep below where they stood. Lights around the control room flashed on, the control panel itself turned read, and, ominously, the cryotubes lit up. Tony, turned sharply, pivoting back toward the chamber.

"The cryotubes had been deactivated!" He called over to James. "Any idea how long it takes these things to defrost?"

Above them, the silo hatch creaked, shuddered, and began to retract. His head shot upward, before turning toward Tony. "I don't know for certain, an hour, maybe. I know I was still pretty shaky on my feet and freezing cold when I first became aware after cryo, but I was thawed, I guess."

"Damn it!" Steve cursed. "So, we have less than an hour to get out of here!" He tapped the comm in his ear. "Falcon and War Machine, you copied the last?"

"We did," Rhodes voice acknowledge in the cooms. "I'm headed your way. Falcon is going to stay up as air support until the demolition team has completed their task."

"Copy."

A speaker crackled and issues a burst of static, before a deep voice spat out a word in Russian.

"Soldier!"

The harsh word and the hated voice of one of his primary torturers spat out. James froze for a second, expecting his body to have a physical reaction to Handler Karpov's implied order to come to attention. Mentally knowing the man no longer had any hold on him and was long dead, James pushed through his body's conditioned reaction and grabbed several of the explosive devices. He heard Tony take a step toward him in the armor as he straightened up.

"Bucky?" Steve's voice was cautious.

"I'm fine, " James told him. "It's a recording, Steve. One they used to bring me into line if they needed to." He paused, taking a deep breath. "In fact, the trigger words should be next."

Tony stepped further away from the door to the cryochamber, while James set several of the devices around the support walls. He knew he needed to put a charge next to each of the tubes, to make sure the Hydra soldiers didn't make it out of the bunker alive.

The speaker crackled again and Karpov's voice began to recite the trigger words, making James flinch, despite the knowledge they no longer had a hold over him. He couldn't help the shudders the words caused, his body still not fully immune yet, James steadfastly ignored them and focused on setting the charges. Tony moved closer, still scanning for animalities or the presence of any one else entering the site.

"Steve, we need to set charges by each of the cryotubes in the chamber," James moved to the control panel and hit the power switch, followed by a green flashing button before the door started to open with a screech of metal on metal.

"Rhodes, can you start transporting Widow and Hawkeye out of here, while we get these set?" Steve asked, carrying an armful of explosive devices over. "Synchronize watches, 30 minutes…mark!"

James didn't even look up at the sound of War Machine's repulsors approaching. The minutes were ticking down as he slipped passed the creaking door, which halted half-open and refused to go any further. He went to the furthest point of the room and wired the first one into Josef's tube. The leader of the Soldiers, he would be the most dangerous of all if he was freed. James was surprised at the readings on the front of the device, the gauges showing they had less time than they believed.

Steve had stepped into the chamber behind him and wired a device into the first of the tube. They worked silently, until they met in the middle at the final cryotube. Josef's tube beeped several times and James swore under his breath.

"The cryotubes are almost thawed!" James grabbed the last explosive charge and waved Steve out. "Make sure everyone else is out and I'll finish this one."

Steve hesitanted for a fraction of a second, before nodding and slipping back out of the chamber. James could hear him talking to Tony, before asking Rhodes for a status report. He could hear the sound of repulsors again, and snippets of conversation from the outer room, but ignored them. Just as James had finished activating the device, he heard the chamber door creak back to life and start to close.

Dropping everything, James ran toward the rapidly closing door and slid, feet first, through the remaining opening. He had cleared his body through, only to feel the door clamp onto his metal arm, just above the elbow, and screech to a stop. He didn't really feel pain in the arm, but he certainly felt the vise-like pressure on his arm. The pressure was immense and unrelenting. Steve and Tony were there, but the door wouldn't budge despite the Steve's super strength or Tony's armor.

"We don't have time," James gasped out, his vision darkening at the edges. "Just cut it off, Tony!"

He could heard JARVIS advising they had thirty seconds until detonation. Tony and Steve tried one more time, before Steve wrapped himself around James and used his shield to protect them the repulsor blast Tony shot at his arm, freeing him.

James' world abruptly went black.

A narrow-beamed repulsor shot blasted through the metal arm and Tony's heart missed a beat as James went slack in Steve's hold. Jumping toward the men, Tony grabbed onto both as JARVIS took over and engaged the emergency boosters, piloting the armor toward the hatch above them. Concentrating on keeping his arms around the two men, Tony punched through the opening just as the countdown JARVIS was reciting reached zero. He saw Rhodey and Sam hoovering over the outer perimeter, taking that as a good sign that everyone had been able to pull back.

The first blast wave hit him when he was still a good thirty feet in the air and Tony cartwheeled off course.

"Drop us, Tony! We'll be fine!" Steve's voice yelled through the comms.

Feeling Steve's grip on James shifted and the shield move to cover them, Tony released his grip and they fell away. Before Tony could recover his balance from the absence of weight, he was slamming into the ground, plowing a furrow across the tundra. Pain sheered through his left shoulder, but the new padding in the undersuit protected him from the worst of the bruising. Tony slid to a stop, his head ringing, but otherwise he seemed to be intact. Rhodey landed beside him, retracting his helmet, and reached out his hand to help Tony to his feet.

"You okay, Tones?"

Tony nodded before grimacing at the throb in his shoulder, retracting his own helmet and looking around. "Where are James and Steve?"

"They're fine," he told Tony, pointing over his shoulder. "Steve and Sam are helping James into the Quinjet. All the special forces teams pulled back after the detonation and the Siberian Federal forces are moving their perimeter closer to the bunker. They will check that the implosion worked as soon as the debris settles."

Nodding, Tony pivoted to where Rhodey was pointing and started walking toward the waiting jet. He listened to Rhodey as he described the synchronized movements of all the units involved, but his mind was on James. His gut clenched as Tony thought about what had happened, how much pain he'd caused, and how much damage he'd done to James' metal arm. His thoughts were spiraling, when a metal hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Tony!" Rhodey's voice was sharp. "Stop! I can tell you are second guessing yourself and ramping up to panic."

"I blew James' arm off!" Tony wrenched his shoulder away from the comforting gesture. "I should have thought of a better way to—"

"You had less than thirty seconds left before the first charge went off, man! There was nothing else you could have done, and if you'd hesitated, all of you would be dead!"

Rhodey was yelling at him by the time he was through, cutting through Tony's twisting thoughts. He pulled Tony to a stop at the bottom of the loading ramp and gave him a small shake.

"Take a deep breath, man! Barnes isn't going to blame you; besides, if I know you, and I do, you're already working on a replacement arm because you know how much he hates that Hydra junk!"

Tony drew in a lungful of the frigid air and let it out slowly. The shock of frigid air helped pull his back from his panic and he took another, before giving Rhodey a nod. His best friend wasn't wrong; Tony had been working on the schematics for a new arm for James. Shoulder to shoulder, they walked up the ramp and Tony had JARVIS open the suit. Grimacing as he stepped out, Tony reached up to rub his shoulder.

"Tony?"

James' voice was barely a whisper, but Tony heard it. He whipped around, his eyes immediately finding James laying on one of the portable medical cots. Hurrying over, Tony sank into the seat Steve vacated and grabbed the hand James extended to him. He opened him mouth to apologize when James tugged him closer, kissed him soundly, before pulling back, his eyes glistening.

"Thank you, Tony, for saving me!"

Tony swallowed. "But I had to cut-off your arm!"

James gave him a pointed looked, despite the glassiness of his eyes. "You, of all people, knew how much I hated the weapon Hydra forced on me."

Taking a deep breath, Tony gave him a nod and slumped toward him, hand coming up to rub his shoulder. "Then you can't object to me building you a better one."

"Can I help?" James muttered as Tony relaxed against his flesh shoulder.

"Of course, snowflake," Tony replied, the relief going through him making him dizzy.

"Ah, Bruce? Can you take a look at Tony, please?" Steve's voice sounded far away.

He meant to protest, but Tony couldn't be bothered as he let his eyes close. They'd taken care of the other Super Soldiers and had earned a rest. He'd tell them about the compound when they got back.