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“You know, when Steve said he wanted us to spend time more time together I don’t think this is what he had in mind.”
“Well,” Tony said with an upside down grin as his body slowly turned back to face Bucky, “he did say he wanted us to hang out more.”
Bucky closed his eyes and sighed as the ropes they dangled from slowly turned them away from each other once more. Tony cackled.
“Sorry,” Tony said with a slight grin still on his face, “humor is how I deal with stress. It’s a coping mechanism.”
“Great,” Bucky deadpanned.
“But hey!” Tony said as they once again turned to face each other, “Now you’ve learned a thing about me! We’re bonding. Steve will be happy.”
“Oh yeah,” Bucky said as he glanced up to where the ropes that held them were attached. His arms were pinned to his sides by the rope, and while he was sure he could just use brute strength to break them, he wasn’t entirely sure how he’d get Stark down after.
“I’m sure he’d find this whole situation delightful .”
“Exactly!”
“You know, you are awfully giddy for someone who got kidnapped and is now hanging upside down by a rope.”
“Eh,” Tony said, slowly turning to face Bucky once more, “I get kidnapped a lot, it happens. Someone will show up eventually. Probably. I hope.”
“I’m sure it has nothing to do with the blood that is slowly rushing towards your head.”
“Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit light headed, yes,” Tony said, his face scrunching up in an, admittedly, adorable way. “And I… think I’m seeing spots? But really, I’m fine.”
They hung and turned in silence for a few minutes before Tony spoke up again.
“So, uh. Got any plans on how to get out of here?”
“I got one,” Bucky said with a smirk, “I could just break the ropes and leave. Doesn’t help you much though.”
“Well that’s just rude,” Tony said as they happened to turn and face each other again. Tony’s face was turning an alarming shade of red.
“It’s what I got.”
“Right,” Tony said, lifting his head a bit to look around the room. “Well, maybe if we-”
Before he could finish there was a clicking noise, and suddenly they were falling. Bucky tried to turn his body so he wouldn’t be too hurt, and he let out a grunt when he hit the ground. He heard a thud, a crack, and a hiss from behind him which he could only assume was Tony also falling.
He flexed his arms and felt the ropes trapping his arms tear and fall away from him. He turned around to face Tony, who was looking at him with an impressed look.
“Why didn’t you do that earlier?” He asked, wiggling around to sit up. When he placed weight on his left arm he flinched back and let out a pained hiss.
“That involved the plan where I left you behind,” Bucky said. “Didn’t think you’d appreciate that. What’d you do to your arm?”
“I landed on it wrong,” Tony said, hunched over his left side a little as his face contorted in pain. “I think it’s broken.”
“I’m gonna have to get the ropes off,” Bucky said, eyeing the ropes wound tightly around Tony’s chest. “There’s really no gentle way to do it… it’s probably gonna hurt your arm.”
“Yeah, pain,” Tony sighed, sitting up a little straighter, “who doesn’t love a little pain. My favorite thing.”
Bucky kneeled down beside and his grabbed the ropes where they rested on Tony’s back.
“Ok, count of three. Ready?”
“Yes. Wait, you’re not gonna do that thing where you count to like two and then ri-- FUCKING OW SHIT.”
Bucky had pulled the ropes apart while Tony had been rambling and smirked when Tony turned to glare at him. The pressure release on the break in his arm had to hurt, but at least Tony hadn’t had time to think about it and tense up.
“Three,” Bucky said as he held up the ropes in front of him.
“Son of a bitch,” Tony spat, glaring at Bucky and holding his arm gingerly against his chest. “You did that on purpose!”
“Maybe,” Bucky said, looking around.
The room they were in was pretty bare from what he could see. Though to be fair, it was pretty dark. Lighter now than it was before since Tony’s arc reactor wasn’t covered by the ropes anymore, but still pretty dark. There was a door on the other side of the room that he could make out, but other than that the walls seemed bare and the room appeared empty.
“Where do you think we are?” Tony asked as he clambered to his knees.
“I don’t know,” Bucky said, offering Tony a hand to help him stand. Tony took it and pulled himself up with a grimace. “Why don’t you make yourself useful as a human flashlight and walk around, see what’s in this place.”
“Oh gee, thanks,” Tony said dryly. He rolled his eyes with a huff but did as he was told and started walking.
The room wasn’t terribly large, but it wasn’t too small either, maybe 20 by 20 feet. Unfortunately Bucky’s original analysis was correct: there wasn’t anything in the room besides the two of them and a door to the outside.
“Well, now what,” Tony said as he walked back over to Bucky, arm still clutched against his stomach.
“I’m not sure,” Bucky said. “Maybe we can try and get that door open?”
Tony didn’t respond, which Bucky thought was strange, considering the guy hadn’t shut up the whole time they’d been there.
He glanced over at Tony, who was slumped against the wall. He was breathing deeply through his nose, but every intake of air seemed to jostle his arm against his stomach. His eyes were closed and his face twitched and flinched with every intake of breath.
“We need to set your arm,” Bucky said, nodding toward it. “Or at least make a sling or something.”
“Yes, let’s do that,” Tony snapped. Sweat was beading on his forehead and it was obvious he was trying to keep his breathing steady. “And how exactly do you propose we do that, in this empty room devoid of any supplies except for some torn rope?”
Bucky glanced around the room again and down at the ropes before looking down at himself.
Without much thought he grabbed onto the hem of his shirt and pulled. The shirt gave easily to his strength, and he felt the cool air hit his skin as it fell away from his body.
He turned back to Tony, who was looking at the shirt in Bucky’s hand with wide eyes, his mouth open just a fraction.
“Holy shit,” Tony said softly, pain apparently forgotten.
Bucky smirked.
“I can’t set the break,” Bucky said as he tied a knot with the two sides of the torn shirt. “But we can use this as a sling so it doesn’t get jostled quite as much.”
Tony watched him as Bucky stepped forward to slip the makeshift sling over Tony’s head.
“You could’ve just used the rope,” Tony said quietly. He sucked in a breath between clenched teeth when Bucky lifted Tony’s arm to slide into the sling.
“Sorry,” Bucky whispered, trying to be as gentle as possible. “This is more comfortable than the rope. No rope burn.”
“True,” Tony said, still eyeing Bucky as he stepped away. “And this option comes with a view.”
Tony’s eyes roamed down over Bucky’s body quite obviously, a slight smirk on his lips. Bucky tried to fight the heat he could feel rising in his face, turning instead to look at the door.
“What do you think the odds are the door is unlocked,” Bucky said as Tony stepped over to stand beside him.
“Very, very low odds, I’d say,” Tony said, giving Bucky a side glance before also looking at the door. “Wouldn’t hurt to try though. Not like there are any other options right now.”
Bucky nodded and took the few steps to get to the door. He placed his hand on the knob, turned, and pulled.
With no resistance the door opened wide, revealing a dimly lit corridor beyond.
“You know what, I’m actually offended,” Tony said as looked at the open door in shock, eyebrows furrowed. “They kidnapped Iron Man and The Winter Soldier and they didn’t think to lock the door? Either they are very stupid or they don’t think very highly of us. I think I’d be more offended if it’s the first option. Kidnapped by dumbasses. How embarrassing.”
“You sure do talk a lot,” Bucky said as he slowly poked his head out the door, glancing down the corridor. It was empty and there were no other doors to be seen from his point of view.
“I ramble when I’m stressed, it’s how I cope.”
“I thought you coped with humor,” Bucky smirked as he turned back to face Tony.
“I have many coping mechanisms,” Tony said walking past Bucky and pushing past him with his good shoulder. “Maybe if you’re lucky you’ll get to experience my favorite one.”
He looked back at Bucky and gave him another once-over, eyes lingering obviously over the crotch of his jeans. He looked back at his face and smirked, giving him a quick wink before turning and walking out of the room and down the corridor.
“Tony!” Bucky hissed, rushing after him.
“What? There’s nothing for us in that room so we might as well move on,” Tony said diplomatically. “There wasn’t even anything we could use as a weapon. We have to move on eventually.”
“Well, at least let me go first,” Bucky said, rushing forward to get ahead of Tony. He turned to face him, forcing Tony to stop in front of him. “I have a metal arm and the serum to protect me. You don’t have the suit and you’re hurt.”
The corridor was extremely dim, the only light in their area of the hall coming from the arc reactor shining between them. The blue light cast shadows over Tony’s face. His eyes had a bit of a shine to them as he looked up at Bucky through his eyelashes, exasperated amusement crossing his face.
“You super soldiers sure are the chivalrous, protective type,” he said, a slight smile gracing his lips.
“Yeah, well,” Bucky licked his lips, suddenly flustered, “you geniuses sure are the reckless, mouthy types.”
“Met many geniuses, have you?”
Was it just him or was Tony getting closer?
“Oh yeah,” Bucky said, his eyes flicking down to Tony’s lips. “Lot’s of geniuses.”
“Right,” Tony smirked. Suddenly Bucky felt like they were standing much to close to each other to be normal. Tony’s sling kept brushing against Bucky’s chest.
“We should keep going,” Tony whispered, not moving. “There could be someone in this hallway. We need to find a way out.”
“Right,” Bucky whispered back, “yeah, that's- yeah.”
They stood there staring at each other for a minute before Tony spoke again.
“I thought you wanted to lead the way here, tough guy.”
Bucky jerked out of his daze and tried to ignore Tony’s amused smirk. The hallway really felt a lot warmer all of a sudden.
“Yeah, yeah” Bucky said, turning and looking down the corridor. There was another light a little further down, which hopefully meant there was another door coming up soon. Maybe if they were lucky, the other doors would be unlocked too.
“Right. Let’s go.”