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Tony knew better than to let a good opportunity pass him by. Howard had made sure of that, and the desperation he had known in Afghanistan had been sure to remind him of it. Perhaps it was because the Ten Rings was on his mind from the attacks, but he couldn’t help but recognize extremis as the opportunity it was. Learning thermonuclear astrophysics overnight was nothing compared to the difficulty of learning about epigenetics and genetic engineering.
He’d promised Pepper he’d help her get rid of extremis. He had promised her he’d given up the suits too, but he hadn’t been able to keep that promise nearly as well. Tony had even considered taking out the arc reactor as some kind of gesture. But he and Pepper weren’t made to last.
Once it was clear he couldn’t give it up, she left. Tony couldn’t even blame her. He wanted her to be happy, and he couldn’t provide it. Especially not once his attention had turned back to extremis.
Extremis was an opportunity for self-improvement, even if he had to improve extremis first.
***
“Upload at sixty-seven percent,” JARVIS’ crisp British tone rang out from the speakers. Tony was starting to feel a little queasy, but he was mostly impatient. He had been working on extremis for months now. It had been easy to modify it to make sure Pepper didn’t accidentally turn herself into a bomb. Making it self-modifiable had been another challenge entirely. Still, they didn’t call Tony a genius for nothing.
“Upload at seventy-four percent, sir,” JARVIS said, pulling Tony from his thoughts. Soon, he and Tony would be able to communicate digitally, purely through the extremis interface. Tony would be able to eliminate the pain he felt in his chest. He would be able to literally delete any longing he had for alcohol. He’d be able to control the suits externally without the headset. Tony had always loved computers, and he was about to turn himself into the strongest one of all.
“Upload at ninety-three percent.” Tony could hear JARVIS externally, but he could swear it was more than that now. It was almost complete. If he had been Howard Stark’s greatest creation, then now he would truly be a self made man. Rhodey would probably freak out a bit, but what his friend didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Tony would make sure of that.
“Upload complete.”
***
Macy hated her fucking job. She was paid well enough, sure, but she hated her job. It had been way more fun when they had her writing scripts but her ‘promotion’ after D.C. meant that she was monitoring all the incoming data looking for anomalies. Anomalies meant that a formerly secure server was vulnerable.
There was a ping, and Macy turned to the readout that had accompanied it. The firewalls at Stark Tower were down.
Suddenly she hated her job just a little bit less.
Especially when she realized exactly what she was working with. There was the main system and Stark’s private system, of course, but there was a third system as well. Unlabeled, but that contained a multitude of file types and was being added to.
It took Macy another hour to realize the system wasn’t a server at all, but Tony Stark himself. And well, if he wanted to be a computer, Hydra would hack him.
Stark’s brain was complex, but she was able to install malware that would give her time to figure it out. And be able to control him, once she heard back from her superiors. The malware had two simple directives.
Directive 1: Stark was not to tell anybody about his computerized mind.
Directive 2: All data relevant to the Avengers would be forwarded to their servers until they can decide to make a plan on how to use it.
All other business would be as usual, and an agent would be monitoring the incoming feeds at all times.
Hail fucking Hydra.
***
If Tony felt a little different after the events in Sokovia, he told himself it was just the guilt over destroying a city, the death of Pietro, the loss of his AI, and the fact that a witch had screwed around with his head.
He deleted the sense of unease and slept peacefully.
***
“Don’t give me shit Rogers. Did you know?” Tony asked, anger boiling within him. He already knew the answer, really. He’d know it when he asked the first time, and when Steve gave a non-answer. Tony wonders if some part of him hadn’t known already, deep down. If that data was being stored somewhere and he just hadn’t turned his attention to it yet. Still, some part of him had thought they were friends, that Steve might have thought enough of him to tell him the truth when he’d learnt it.
Steve’s answer was quiet, but true.
“Yes.”
Tony stepped away as though he’d been burnt. Maybe Steve didn’t think that much of him after all. He turned back to the screen, blinking down at the ground.
He was going to fucking kill Barnes for what he did, but he’d have to at least take Steve down first.
Tony took a breath, about to swing out at Steve, but his arm didn’t move.
The Asset was not to be removed from the equation. Especially not with the knowledge that it could still be controlled. He was to protect the Asset and learn its procedures.
“Fuck you, Steve. I’m glad you think so much of me that I would blame him for what Hydra made him do. Even to my mom,” the words were out of his mouth before he could even think about them.
Tony took another breath, and turned to Barnes. The man still had his gun pointed toward the ground, his face trembling. “I’ve got the evidence that you’re innocent of the bombing. I don’t like you very much right now, but I can’t exactly hold it against you. Let’s go.”
The witness needed to be eliminated. It knew the Asset’s commands. Hydra could be the only ones with that knowledge. Zemo had no ties to the world. No loyalty to anyone but his family. He would not make a good follower.
The target was in a bunker that his weapons would likely not pierce. He would have to wait.
Tony shook his head and started back out the way they came. He could hear Zemo shouting in the background. Maybe if he got angry enough he would leave the safety of the observation room. He would have to keep going to find out.
Turning the corner, he paused for a moment to see T’Challa standing there, his head tilted slightly in a considering manner. “Barnes didn’t kill your father. I’ve got the proof,” he promised. “Zemo is the one to blame.” If the young king let his rage transfer to the new target, perhaps he would complete Tony’s task for him.
He wondered briefly why Zemo needed to die, but the question was gone as quickly as it had come.
Time to head back to New York. He would hack the CIA surveillance for footage of Zemo or the little red book along the way.
***
Tony was beginning to feel like he was forgetting something. Only it actually felt like he was finally remembering something too.
But there was nothing wrong with him. He had an eidetic memory with extremis. He kept a record of the things he deleted. Nothing important was on it. He was fine.
***
The Accords were under constant revision. Steve, Bucky, and the other Avengers had been released and all charges dropped, given the circumstances and that most laws went into affect some period after they were signed and they had hardly been given time to prepare.
Tony had rooms for them all at the compound upstate. He gave Bucky one across from himself and Steve. He needed to be close to the Asset to make sure it would still be functional when Hydra regained control.
Tony found the proximity to Bucky quite pleasant. With any residual anger at him for his parent’s death long faded, Tony actually enjoyed spending time with him. He was pretty funny, once he got out of his shell enough to actually interact with the team. And once he was up to it, he started coming with them on missions. He took over sniper duty for Clint, who was spending time with his family. And damn if Bucky wasn’t the hottest sniper Tony had ever worked with.
He’d never tell Bucky, of course, but he sure was nice to look at. The metal arm didn’t hurt, and neither did his perfect aim. Competence had always been a turn on, it was part of why he’d fallen for Pepper after all, but with Bucky it was a completely different beast.
He found himself watching the man during training and at the gun range. The asset’s aim, speed, and stamina were all well within mission functionality.
He’d found the trigger words ages ago. The problem was keeping Asset still long enough to say them. Zemo had the right idea doing it while the Asset was contained. Tony had the Hulk room, but tricking a wary Barnes into it was an impossible task.
It wasn’t until the next battle when a building had collapsed on top of the two that Tony could make his move. He could feel the weight of the building on his arm. He couldn’t move, couldn’t see anything but the glow of the reactor against the concrete above him. But his heat scanners told him Bucky was just on the other side of the concrete slab to his left, held down by the same weight he was. If Tony couldn’t move the rubble with the help of his armor, the Asset was just as trapped as he was.
“You alive, Barnes?” he asked, even though his scans told him the affirmative. He needed to establish that he was conscious though, and could hear him on the other side of that slab.
“I told you this was a dumb ass move, Stark,” he heard Barnes shout back.
Perfect.
“zelaniye,” Tony began.
“Stark, what the hell are you doing?” he heard Barnes ask, his voice bewildered and raw.
“rzhavyy. Semnadtsat’. Rassvet,” he continued, ignoring the screams that were coming from the other side of the slab.
”Pech’. Devyat’. dobroserdechnyy. vozvrashcheniye na rodinu. Odin. gruzovoy vagon.”
His accent had been flawless.
“YA gotov otvechat’,” the Asset answered.
“Pretend you’re Bucky Barnes until further notice,” Tony answered. They couldn’t let the Avengers know until they were out and could get the Asset back to Hydra.
It wasn’t until a few seconds later that he felt the blood seeping toward his chest. The weight of the building was bending the suit into his arm. He deleted the pain, but he still couldn’t calm his breathing. The building would crush the suit. He was running out of oxygen. He kept breathing but it wasn’t working.
It wasn’t working.
He was going to pass out.
He couldn’t pass out. The Asset needed a handler.
Reboot the system.
***
Bucky didn’t know what the hell was going on. There was no way Tony was Hydra. No fucking way, but there was no other explanation for what just happened.
After T’Challa’s scientists had removed the triggers, they had all agreed to keep quiet about it. They figured it would give Bucky an upper hand the next time some bastard tried to use it on him, but he never imagined it would be Stark.
Maybe this was a long-awaited payback for killing his mom. Bucky wouldn’t exactly blame him. It worked. Even if the triggers didn’t work, they still brought back terrible memories.
It hurt because Bucky had thought he and Tony had been getting close. He had hoped they might be going somewhere, but apparently not. It had been stupid to hope, but Tony had forgiven him. He’d upgraded his arm and given him combat tips and introduced him to Jurassic Park. All for what? To make him better when he was handed back over to Hydra? To have more happy memories, more friends and another person he cared for to lose when Hydra wiped him? It hurt more than he cared to think about.
And now Bucky had to figure out how to act like nothing was wrong until he could get away from Tony.
***
It was a few more hours before Ant-Man crawled through a crack in the rubble.
“Found you! I told Sam I could handle it. Hold tight, okay Barnes? I’m gonna go big and get this building off you and Stark. He’s passed out over there though, but Viz is gonna go dense so none of it adds any more weight on that side. Ready? Great.”
Before Bucky could even respond, Lang was messing with his belt. He lifted the rubble off and shoved it to the side as he changed into giant man.
Bucky would be all right, but they needed to contain Tony.
***
System Reboot Complete.
Tony opened his eyes and looked around. He was in the medical bay at the compound, handcuffed to a bed, at least on the hand he had left to cuff. This was not ideal. He had been found out. The Asset must not have acted well enough. He would be punished.
Tony was confused when the part of him that felt nauseas at that though was deleted. Why were things being deleted? This was all wrong.
He called out for Friday but got no response.
Fuck.
The Asset walked in, and Tony breathed a sigh of relief.
“Get me out of this. We’re headed to a safe house in Iowa,” he ordered.
The Asset let out a huff, almost like laughter.
“Now I know you must be brainwashed. You once told me the only good thing in the Midwest was Chicago and even they ruined pizza. No way you’d go to Iowa by choice,” the Asset explained. He was not complying. Had the triggers worn off? How long was he out?
“Asset, Status report.”
“I’m not your fucking Asset. What happened to you? You aren’t an LMD cause we had to operate on you. You decide that Hydra killed your parents so fuck it, let’s join ‘em?”
The Asset was angry. No, Bucky was angry. When did he become the Asset?
April 24, 2015.
The Asset could be retrieved later. Break out, get a suit, and head to base.
Tony ignored Bucky’s horrified face as he dislocated his thumb against the metal cot and slid his hand out of the cuff.
“Tony please don’t make me fight you. I’m sick of fighting people I care about,” he begged.
Tony needed to get out. He didn’t have a functional hand. The Asset was a more powerful and experienced fighter. All Tony had was his mind, but luckily that wasn’t insignificant, even without Friday.
He cut the lights and kicked the cot toward the Asset and made a run for it. He projected several fakes around the room, hopefully just enough to slow him down.
Unfortunately, the door was locked. Of course it was, and it was a manual lock. With more time he could pick it, but Tony was running out of time.
“Tony, c’mon. I know you hate me but you could’ve just asked me to leave,” he joked.
“I don’t hate you,” Tony protested without thinking.
Bucky tilted his head ever so slightly at that.
“Could’ve fooled me,” he spat out. “You did, actually. That just makes it worse, of course. But I thought we were friends. I hoped we might even be more one day but I thought you were better than this. I broke out of Hydra’s brainwashing because I didn’t want to hurt Steve, hurt my friend. God knows the last time Hydra would have been able to do anything to you but it stuck well enough for you to keep hurting me. Why do you keep hurting me?” The last questioned came out a bit strangled, but Tony’s mind still supplied him with the answer.
Package H616 imported April 24, 2015. Last referenced, thirty seconds ago.
He’d been hacked. He hadn’t thought it was possible but April 24 had been when Ultron took out JARVIS. The firewalls had been down for long enough, apparently.
The deletions all made sense now, and Tony had to stop this from being deleted too. He had to shut down extremis. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he could feel the scripts everywhere. They had taken over his life and Tony was done working for terrorists.
Luckily, he was a genius. He could hack anything, even Hydra, especially when they had left him a back door.
Nobody fucks with Tony Stark and gets away with it.
“I’m done hurting you,” he whispered as he closed his eyes. It was time to get to work.
***
Bucky watched as Tony stood next to the door, completely motionless. He couldn’t let his guard down in case this was some kind of trick.
“Tony?”
He asked, but there was no response. None. And he was trained to notice responses. Even if he wasn’t, he’d gotten to know Tony so well over the last few months. Well, at least he thought he had. He wasn’t really sure what to think anymore.
“Tony, please come back to me. Maybe you don’t hate me but I care about you. I have for a while now. I thought maybe it could grow a little, with time. Maybe you would care about me too one day.” Bucky paused as the glow from the arc reactor began to dim, and then glow, again and again. After a moment, he decided to keep going. “It’s alright if you don’t feel that way. Even if you don’t, you’ve helped me by showing me I can feel this way about someone again. I just wanted you to know because you deserve to. No more secrets. Just come back. Rhodey’ll kill me if you don’t, if only so Pepper doesn’t go to jail for it.”
Bucky sighed. This was way over his head.
“Rhodey doesn’t kill the people I care about,” Tony said, his eyes opening. “You might have to race him to kill the Hydra agents who hacked my brains though, by the sound of it.”
“Hacked your brain?” Bucky said, trying not to smile too widely because of Tony’s admission that he cared about him. Plus, this could still be a trick.
“I kinda installed a computer in my brain. It got hacked when Ultron took out JARVIS. I uh, took care of that though. And blew up their base in Iowa. Hydra still hasn’t lost their proclivity for self-destruction, apparently. I like that you knew I was brainwashed and not a traitor by my distaste for the Midwest,” he rambled.
Tony wouldn’t meet his eye. Looking down at his feet, Tony frowned.
“If you guys ever decide to trust me again we’re going to match,” he joked, waving his bandaged remnant of an arm. “I plan on making some upgrades for mine though,” he said, a glint in his eye that Bucky knew was pure Tony.
“I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather match,” he admitted quietly.
“Me neither, Bucky,” Tony said with a smile.
Bucky couldn’t help but return it.