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"Stark, can I talk to you?" Steve's voice soft, gentle. Unlike anything he'd ever sounded like before.
Tony held up his hand at Happy, stopping the boxing lesson. "You only call me Stark when I've done something naughty." Tony says with a smirk. "What's up Cap?"
Steve glances at the body guard for a second. "I don't mean to be rude, but can we-?" He gestured aside. Happy rolled his eyes as Tony nodded, stepping out of the ring. As they headed toward a small table filled with a coffee pot and mini fridge, Steve cleared his throat. "I... I found some things out. About the winter soldier. He's...he was an assassin. For anyone in Hydra favor, and that mostly included Americans in power."
Tony hummed over his water bottle. "Get to the parts I don't already know, Cap. I'm already behind with Hap-"
"Tony." Steve said. Tony shut his mouth at the familiar in command tone usually only pulled out in the middle of battle. "He was a political assassin. The Soldier was."
"Yeah, I got that much. Killed JFK, allegedly. And I assume other 'Americans in Power'. What does...?"
"I found out a while ago that Hydra kept tabs on people of interest in the SSR and the beginning of SHIELD. People like Peggy. People like..."
Tony's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Howard. You're saying..." He set his bottle down with a decisive thud, breath coming in quickly.
"I'm sorry Tony. I should have told you sooner. As soon as I found out, but the soldier... Howard is part of the reason I am who I am today, but Hydra took my best friend and made him into a killing machine." Tony froze completely for a long moment. "Tony, Bucky's alive. Bucky Barnes. But he's been." Steve choked for a second. "He's been tortured. Brainwashed." His blue eyes met Tony's desperately.
"Your friend Barnes... is the soldier. He killed my parents. He killed my mom."
Steve's breath hitched. "I found him, Tony. I found Bucky, or the Winter Soldier. I'm not sure which. I do know they took out his mind and molded it into something they could use. Against America, against me." His fists clenched and he was glad he wasn't holding anything.
"He killed my parents." Tony sat dazed in a nearby chair.
"I know the soldier did. But I believe Bucky is still in there somewhere. I want... I think I can get him back, but I'm going to need help." He stared at Tony, his eyes not able to meet the mechanic's. "I'm out of my depths here. I've talked to Bruce, but even he can only do so much. It's your technology, your lab that we think...we hope can help. With your permission."
"My Mom, Steve. I don't think..." Tony rubbed a hand over his face, leaving it cupped over his mouth. His brown eyes were distant, reliving- rewriting- a past he had thought he'd buried.
"I understand if you can't... If you decide not to help. I will try to understand. He's all I have left from...before. I need to help him. If I can. If he'll let me." Steve's eyes filled with tears, but he stood, and left Tony to his thoughts.
Several days passed and then like an answer to prayers Steve hadn't been able to bear voicing, the phone rang. With a painfully hopeful glance at the caller, Steve answered.
"Hello?" A silence greeted him for a moment before Tony's voice cracked through, both flat and full of emotion.
"...bring him home, Cap. Let's see what we can do."