Work Text:
Harley was dreading today. Well dread probably wasn’t an accurate word choice; avoiding for the sake of his blood pressure and vocal cords was a better description. Today the Ex-Vengers, as he had taken to calling them, had a meeting with Stark Industries (i/e Pepper and Tony) to see if they were going to be employed in the section of the company run by what was left of SHIELD agents. This was the compromise made when the rogue avengers were pardoned after signing the amended Accords that Tony spent over a year sculpting to save their asses. Harley was the gatekeeper, so to speak. Pepper and the rest of Tony’s family were concerned about how he would react to seeing them in person for the first time since Siberia, and it was decided that Harley was the best choice for assessing whether or not they were civil enough to be in Tony’s presence. Peter was staying with Tony at all times as a hidden bodyguard. None of the Ex-Vengers knew who he was so they would definitely not look twice at the nerdy kid in the corner.
Harley was waiting in a conference room midway up the Tower when the old team was shown into the room. He was seated at the head of the table, kicked back and drinking a large coffee from the shop across the street. Rogers faltered when he made eye-contact with Harley, probably due to the amount of sheer hatred he knew was radiating from his face. He didn’t do well-mannered on the best of days and today was a shit-show. Harley raised an eyebrows and gestured towards the empty chairs. Once everyone was seated, he took a long sip of his coffee before leaning forward and meeting Roger’s eyes once again.
“So, what do y’all think qualifies you to work in the Security and Enforcement sector of Stark Industries?”
Scoffs echoed around the room before Cap could speak, “Son, do you know who we are? Of course we’re qualified.”
“Don’t call me son. And really? From your records, it doesn’t seem like it. We work as a team here, trust is imperative for functionality, and y’all don’t seem to be capable of teamwork based on your individual and combined histories.” Romanoff rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, turning her head away and towards the window. I guess she’s made up her mind about all of this.
Barton piped in then, without looking up, “We work fine as a team. It’s that egotistical asshole you’re so fond of that doesn’t know what teamwork means.” Well, then. The gloves are off.
“Y’all need to get one thing straight, I don’t give a flying fuck about any of you. You’re all a waste of time, money, and resources, and I personally wouldn’t spit on any of you to put you out if you were on fire. The only one of y’all even mildly innocent is the fucking Winter Soldier, and isn’t that just a kick in the pants. Oh, does that surprise you? My feelings on Bucky Barnes are complicated at best. I think he’s a tortured soul who was led around by his supposed best friend when he wasn’t even fully aware of his mental stability or cognitive functioning skills. A case could be made, that Steven Grant Rogers ‘bullied’ Bucky into doing what he said when Bucky was confused and didn’t seem to agree with the esteemed leader. Which is fucking ironic when he’s always going on about how he ‘hates a bully’. At best, Rogers could be considered overbearing and pushy; at worst a narcissistic, sociopath with a god-tier hero-complex. Everyone calls Tony the narcissist, but when was the last time he did something that only benefited himself? He’s always making shit for others, sacrificing his health and time to keep everyone else safe. No one ever acknowledges that, though do they? Because Rogers doesn’t believe it to be true and everyone else just falls in line. A team full of yes-men (and women). So much so, that three of you just blindly followed him, never even knowing what the fight was about. Did any of y’all even read the fucking Accords? Make it past the first page? Because Mr. Spangly pants over here didn’t make it past the first paragraph. And don’t even get me started on witchy-bitch over there. An actual Hydra terrorist is on the team and no one has a problem with it because Rogers says she's okay now. She volunteered to be experimented on! She used her abilities to torture others! How do you think she knows how to implant ideas into our minds? Practice makes perfect after all. Then there’s her whole vendetta against Tony. He didn’t kill her parents, he wasn’t even making weapons when the bombing happened. Plus, when’s the last time any of you remember a bomb made by Tony Stark not performing perfectly? It was obviously a knock-off. But instead of telling her that, you all have encouraged her hatred of Tony because it keeps him ‘in his place’. Like y’all don’t just leech off of him for every second of your miserable lives! He is not a bank account, he’s a person! And the best of all of you! So sit down, shut up, and wait your god-dammed turn before I call Happy to have you forcibly removed from the building. Good luck slumming it with your pittance of a salary from what used to be SHIELD.”
With that, Harley walked away and the Rogues stared at each other in shock. Bucky shot out of his chair and darted after him before the door could close fully. Steve tried to follow but the door locked before he could reach it.
Bucky slowed down after the door shut, startled to find Harley standing right in front of him instead of moving down the hallway. Harley was glaring at him with his right eyebrow raised, almost daring him to try and get past him.
Bucky looked down, gathering his thoughts and courage, before saying, “I’m not going to try and strong-arm my way past you, so stand down, will ya? I just wanted to say thank you for your… neutral opinion, I guess, and to apologize for what was done to Tony on my behalf. I would’ve never let Stevie do any of what he did if I had been aware of what was going on around me. I was in a pretty dark place, and didn’t really know what was happening most of the time. I was in fight-or-flight mode and reacted based on Hydra instincts. Not the best impression, I’m sure. I know I don’t deserve to see Tony or to even have a job working for him, but if you would just tell him how sorry I am, I would really appreciate it?”
Harley stared at him for a few moments more before nodding, “Huh. Petey said you weren’t all bad; seems he was right. C’mon, let’s go introduce you to the old man.” With that said, Harley walked off toward the elevator at the north end of the hallway. Bucky stayed frozen for a couple of seconds before his brain re-engaged and he lunged forward to catch up with Harley. He made it just in time to enter the elevator as the doors were closing. Bucky didn’t know who “Petey” was, but apparently he didn’t think too poorly of him, despite his frankly alarmingly high kill count. Normally, Bucky would consider that as an indicator of idiocy, but he doubted anyone in Tony’s inner circle was even remotely close to stupid. He’s pretty sure there’s an IQ test just to meet him properly. Hopefully not, he wasn’t sure he would pass it.
The doors opened onto another floor eerily similar to the one they just left (were they trying to trick him?), and Harley stepped out and led Bucky down to a door on the right side of the hallway, halfway down. The younger man smirked at Bucky before opening the door and walking in. Bucky took a deep breath before following. His subconscious logged the exits and did a headcount as he closed the door and stood at the head of a small conference table. Only three people were seated at the table, four once Harley sat down, and another teenage boy was standing guard in the corner. At least, that’s what it looked like though he looked as if a strong breeze could take him out.
Tony was staring at him, face slightly shocked. Pepper was leaning towards him, speaking softly. Harley said something low under his breath to the two of them, and Tony relaxed his death grip on the table. It seems as if he was still afraid of what Bucky would do when he saw him next, which is…fair. He had tried his best to kill him the last time Tony had seen him. Bucky was surprised that he would even stay in the same room as him, surprised he even gave him another chance after Siberia.
“Well, hello there Tasty Freeze,” Tony smirked at Bucky, then asked Harley, “He’s the only one that made it through your interrogation? I thought Katniss would, for sure.” Bucky was confused. Natasha and Wanda were the only girls on the team, who was this Katniss?
Harley rolled his eyes and said, “Clint was just as much of an unrepentant asswipe as the others. Barnes, here, at least apologized for his behavior and for Cap’s assumptions about what he would want when he wasn’t able to decide for himself. Cap just kept calling me son, like I need another deadbeat dad.”
Tony laughed out loud, head thrown back to rest on the top of his chair. Bucky just stood there, waiting to be told to leave and never come back. “Alright, Snowflake. What do you want from me, then? A job? Money? An island in the Caribbean where SHIELD and Captain Eyepatch can’t find you?”
Bucky shifted uncomfortably and stared at the floor. He didn’t want any of those things. “I… just wanted to make sure you were okay. I don’t want anything from you.” Tony seemed surprised so Bucky continued, “Look, I’ve already taken a lot from you. I know Steve was using your money to find me, not to mention what was done as the Soldier. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay after Siberia. After Shuri fixed my head, I asked what happened and was appalled at what they did. You never leave someone behind, especially a teammate. Steve knew better, but he didn’t care because of his damn one-track mind. I wanted to check on you and apologize. That’s all. I don’t expect you to forgive me or employ me.”
No one said anything, everyone but Harley frozen in shock. I guess they all thought he would be on Steve’s side in this. Tony appeared to be deep in thought, but the skinny kid behind him was full-on grinning. “I knew you were a good person. I just hope you don’t hold our first meeting against me. I was told to subdue you and webbing you up seemed like the best option. I really do like your arm, though. Can we upgrade it?”
Wow that kid talks a mile a minute. He reminded Bucky of that spider fellow Stark brought in in Germany….wait what did he say?
“Way to out yourself, Underroos.”
Bucky blinked, then said, “Well now I understand why you’re in the bodyguard position despite your small stature. You must be Petey. No, I won’t hold it against you. You did what you had to do, and it’s not like you hurt me or anything.”
Harley leaned back in his chair, smirking, “Told ya he was smart enough to work here. Pete opens his mouth and Barnes figures out he’s Spider-Man.”
“Fair enough. So if you don’t want anything and you’re not trying to kill me, how do you feel about an actual job here? I could use a real bodyguard, whose looks might actually deter people from trying to kill me.”
Bucky stood still and thought about it. “Sure, first thing is throwing out the old team, right?”
“You got it in one, Bucky-boy. Let’s get to work!”