Chapter Text
“I found Bucky.”
“What… what do you mean you found Bucky?” Steve asked in disbelieve. He didn’t even know that Tony had been looking for him.
After the events of the past year and his take-down of Hydra, and subsequently S.H.I.E.L.D, after he had found out who the Winter Soldier really was, Steve had spend every free minute that he wasn’t with Tony or dealing with the regular Avengers business, looking for his long lost friend.
Not once had Steve asked Tony to help him with his search, he felt like that it was his job, his duty to find Bucky. Sure, they had talked about Bucky, more than once, Steve told him all about what happened on the helicarrier. Told him that Bucky seemed to remember him. Told him how he would do anything to get his friend back.
And now there was this file in his hands. He almost didn’t dare to open it.
“I-I noticed that you were looking for him and… well the other night I couldn’t sleep and I got curious and since Nat made all of S.H.I.E.L.D.s files public and with the help of J.A.R.V.I.S. it wasn’t too hard to find a trace of him.” What Tony didn’t tell him was that it was actually more than just one sleepless night he had spend digging through old files, following cold and false trails, until two weeks ago he finally digged Bucky up in Bucharest.
Two weeks where he didn’t know what to do, how to tell Steve about finding Bucky. It shouldn’t have been so difficult. He should just have been able to come up to Steve and given him the file right away. But he was scared.
Even before the Winter Soldier showed up, Steve was always talking about Bucky. About how he had been his only friend, about how they grew up together, about the brief time they spend together in the army.
So, some part of Tony was scared. Scared that Steve would leave as soon as he had someone better to go to. Scared that if given the choice Steve would choose Bucky over him. It was incredibly selfish, and he knew that, but still couldn’t help himself.
The whole time he had reasoned with himself how ridiculous it was to think that, had even asked Rhodey for advice and frankly was lucky not to get hit over the head by him.
“Are you shitting me Stark? That man is crazy about you! And trust me if he’s gonna leave your ass it’s gonna be because of the snoring and not some deep freeze killer soldier who’s messed up eyeliner makes him look like a racoon.” Rhodey was as lovingly as usual. And as usual his words had managed to calm Tony down. There was a reason they had stayed friends for so long.
Now, standing in front of Steve, looking at the expression on his face, Tony’s anxiety roared back to life. Had he done the right thing by looking for Bucky?
The longer Steve stayed silent, the more Tony began to panic.
“I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have done that. He’s your friend. Not mine. I should have just stayed out of it. I just-“ Before he could dive headfirst into a full blown panic ramble, Steve finally got off the bed and pulled Tony into a kiss. His worries melted immediately in Steve’s arms and for the first time in weeks he truly allowed himself to relax.
“This is amazing! I don’t know how to thank you Tony.” Steve breathed against Tony’s now smiling lips.
“Oh, I could think of a way, Captain.”
The next morning Steve was up early as usual. Tony was still lying in bed on his belly, putting a chainsaw to shame with his snoring. On any other morning Steve would have been out and about by this time, either on one of his morning runs or down in the kitchen, sitting at the counter with Bruce having breakfast. Not this morning though. This morning his head was buried in a thick file labelled “Secret Santa”.
Yesterday, when Tony said that he would give Steve his present later when they were alone, Steve had expected everything from mattress gymnastics to a complicated tech gimmick, but certainly not this. This… this was more than he could ever hoped for.
All the information he needed to get his friend back, rested in the palm of his hands and he couldn’t help but grin like an idiot.
According to the file, Bucky was in Bucharest in a small shitty apartment that reminded Steve so much of the first apartment he and Bucky had shared back in Brooklyn. Before the war. Before the serum. When things were easy.
Did Bucky choose it because he remembered it too? Or was it just a convenient hide-out?
There were pictures of him too. Long hair, the hint of a beard, like he hadn’t had the time to shave properly, an olive-green cap pulled deep over his face, almost completely shading his blue eyes. Tired eyes. Panicked eyes. He looked, by every definition, like a man on the run. Chased. Hunted.
The man on the pictures barely looked like the man he knew. The man he knew would never leave the house without shaving, would never have let his hair grow that long. Steve remembered fondly making fun of Bucky and how vain he was about his hair. He remembered all the bickering when Bucky took too long in the bathroom again, before they left to go out for the night.
But the what had changed the most were his eyes. They used to have a certain sparkle in them, used to be so full of life.
Reading the information Tony had been able to collect, regarding Bucky’s time as the Winter Soldier, as a Hydra-puppet, Steve wasn’t surprised about the look on Bucky’s face. He was sure the information in this folder was just the tip of the iceberg and he couldn’t, didn’t want to, imagine the things they must have done to him.
For now, the important thing was to get him back, keep him safe and let him know that he was no longer alone.
Steve always had an emergency bag ready, so he was good to go on a moment’s notice. Yet for some reason something held him back from just taking his bag and flying to Romania. It felt wrong to leave without telling the others, or at least telling Tony.
So, he was sitting here instead, file in hand, bag at his feet, waiting. He didn’t want to wake Tony because Heavens knew that was a bad idea. The man slept little enough as it was.
It took another hour before Tony started to stir and it wasn’t a moment too soon. Steve had gotten more restless by the minute, pacing up and down in the living room of Tony’s penthouse apartment and was about to scribble a note explaining where he was going when a barely audible voice carried over from the bedroom.
“’S the time?”
“It is 7.34am, sir.” J.A.R.V.I.S. answered.
“Fuck that.”
Steve could hear Tony huffing and the rustling of the sheets. This was his chance. Steve made his way to the bedroom, quick long strides. He already lost enough time.
“Tony?” Steve stood in the doorframe, file in one hand, bag in the other. Tony had his back turned towards the door, one leg poking out from under the blanket, hair sticking up in all directions. He looked adorable and Steve had to fight the impulse of just climbing back into bed with him.
“Mmh?” Steve knew that sound. It meant “unless the world is ending, you have coffee, or some other hot stuff to give to me you better walk away quickly”. It made Steve smile every time.
“Darlin’ I just wanted to let you know I’ll be gone for a few days.”
That did the trick. Tony turned around to face him, his barely open eye widened, darting between the bag and the file up to Steve’s face. Gone was his sleepy morning face, replaced by a deep frown, the one he only had when something was wrong.
“What?” Steve asked, suddenly defensive.
Tony sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Steve, don’t you think that’s a bit, I don’t know rushed?”
“Rushed?! Tony he’s been on the run for almost a year! I need to find him. Now!”
“Hey, I’m all with you, why do you think I gave you this? But he was brainwashed for decades and might still not be himself.”
Steve clenched his jaw and tightened the grip on his bag. “He remembered me.”
“Honey, he hesitated for a second-“
“He remembered!” Steve’s voice was raised now, his hands shaking in anger. Why was Tony like this now? Didn’t he want him to have Bucky back? What was the point in giving him this file, if he just sat at home, comfortable, ignoring that his friend needed help?
Tony sighed, shaking his head. “Okay, let’s say he does remember you, say he remembers who he was or is. Let’s pretend he will come with you willingly and without putting up a fight. Bucky is still a wanted man. Do you think you can just march into the country with him, without the government having something to say about that?”
“Fuck the government! And since when did you care what they think?”
“Since it could get you arrested for helping a murderer.”
“He is not-“
“Yes I know, he was brainwashed and forced to do it, but that doesn’t change the governments opinion of him.”
On top of being angry, Steve was getting immensely frustrated right now. “What do you want to do then?” He snapped.
Tony’s frown deepened, but his voice remained calm. “All I’m saying is that we need a plan. Not just rush into it headfirst.”
It was like they changed roles. Tony was the voice of reason, suggesting forming a plan of action first, and Steve had turned into the impulsive, irresponsible hothead.
Of course, he knew that Tony was right, but every second spend not helping Bucky seemed like wasted time to him.
“Fine! Fine, we’ll make a plan first.” He sounded less than happy about it, avoiding eye contact with Tony.
“Hey J, tell the team to meet me and Captain Rogers in the briefing room in ten minutes.”
Tony had called him Captain Rogers. He only did that in two situations, when he was pissed off or when he was teasing Steve. This was definitely not the latter.
Precisely ten minutes later the team had assembled in the briefing room. Clint was still in his pyjamas, his head resting on the table. The others only looked scarcely more awake than the archer, but at least they were dressed.
Tony and Steve were the last to join, the tension between them virtually graspable.
Tony took a seat in the back, arms crossed, jaw set. Nat sat up a little straighter, now certain that something was very wrong and not just there-is-a-new-baddie-in-town-wrong. She nudged Clint and before he could start to complain, Natasha raised her brow, nodding her head towards Tony.
Clint blinked a few times and huffed. “What’s up, trouble in paradise?” It was hard to tell who kicked him first under the table, Nat or Bruce. “OW!”
Steve chose to ignore them and instead got straight to the point. He told them all about the file and his plans to go and get Bucky home.
For a moment everyone was silent, looking from Steve to Tony.
“Am I right to assume, that you don’t quite see eye to eye with that?” Bruce asked.
Steve didn’t reply, just stared at Tony, who shook his head.
“All I was saying was that we need a plan.”
Natasha narrowed her eyes slightly, fixing her gaze on Steve, but he was avoiding everyone’s eyes. “As much as I hate to agree with Stark,”
“Thanks, Romanoff.”
“I think he’s right. We shouldn’t rush into this. We need to be careful. After all he is a hitman with a price on his head.”
“So were you.” Steve shot back.
Natasha flinched ever so slightly at the harsh comeback, earning Steve a death glare from Clint. He knew that Steve knew how sensitive a topic that was for Nat and how much she tried to leave her past in the past. Bringing it up like this in front of everyone was far from okay.
Clint was about to retort, but Natasha’s shaking hand taking hold of his under the table stopped him. This was her fight, not his. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t pissed.
“This Soldier of Winter, he is your friend?” Thor asked, breaking the awkward silence.
Steve nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“Then I say we help him.”
“Of course, we’re going to help him Thor, but we need a plan! What if he is still hostile? What if he doesn’t want to come with us? Where are we going to hide him?” Tony asked.
“I don’t understand how this is any of your concern. There is no we. He is my friend and I need to help him!” Steve seemed to be determined to antagonise everyone today.
Tony lowered his eyes, staring at his hands, trying his best to hide how much that hurt him. All the sleepless nights trying to find Bucky, the days of doubt and uncertainty about telling Steve and now his nightmare had come true.
“I think you need to dial it down Steve. We’re on your side and we’re just trying to help.” Bruce spoke up. Tony was one of the closest friends he ever had and witnessing him being spoken to like that made him… angry.
“Listen, we are in this together if you like it or not. We are a family and if you want to get Bucky back then we will find a way to do that. Together!” Natasha’s tone allowed no room for backtalk. “Now, first we need somewhere to hide him. Ideas?”
“How about the new compound? The government has no idea where it is, it has more than enough room and it’s about as secure as it can get.” Clint suggested.
Bruce nodded in agreement. “The only ones outside of this room who know about it are Vision and Wanda and they are there right now.”
“Fine.”
“Good. Now, who is going to Romania?”
“I’m going alone.”
“No, you’re not. We are a team and we do this as one.”
Everyone watched Natasha and Steve’s exchange, eyes darting between them like in a tennis match. Neither of them was willing to back down, and of the first time Tony was happy about her stubbornness.
“Then I’ll take Sam with me.”
“Fine. You, Sam and me.” Nat was having none of his nonsense. “I can speak the language and as you pointed out so rightly, I know what it is like to be a hunted assassin.”
Steve knew he had lost the fight, that there was no way he was going to Romania without her. He also knew that he had gone too far with her and most of all with Tony, but they didn’t know. Didn’t know about his agony, about how guilty he felt about Bucky. He should have kept him safe, just like Bucky had when Steve was young.
If it weren’t for him, Bucky would never have fallen off the train, wouldn’t have ended up as a Hydra experiment.
Bucky was his responsibility.
Looking around the table he realized that even if they didn’t know how he felt and even though he had been a dick, they were with him.
After all, that’s what family is.
Steve nodded slowly. “Yes. Okay. We leave in an hour.”