Work Text:
"Uh, Tony? Why is there an ice cream truck full of plants in your lab?"
Bucky eyed the vehicle warily even as Tony hustled him across the space to sit by a lab table so the genius could get better access to his arm. It was clearly an older truck, with rust showing in spots and stickers peeling off the sides. Tony sent a glance in its direction before refocusing on Bucky's arm, popping open the access panel and plugging up some wires to run diagnostics.
"Yeah, it's in pretty rough shape. I got it for a great price, though. Guy was asking $500 for it. Obviously I gave him $5,000 instead. It'll look great once I've got it all fixed up just right. The kids are gonna love it."
Bucky froze under his boyfriend's hands, the skrull incident they'd had with Steve not eight months beforehand springing instantly to mind. Tony was damn near allergic to kids. He was known to flee at the sight of mothers with small children in their arms. Bucky eyed the wires running into his arm warily and moved his flesh hand just so to press the emergency alert button on the side of his phone through the fabric of his pants pocket.
"The kids?"
Best to keep imposter-Tony talking. Hopefully he wouldn't realize the others were on their way until it was too late. They needed him captured and alive, after all, and Bucky would be only too happy to join Natasha in convincing the piece of scum to tell them where the real Tony was. Didn't matter that they'd only been in a relationship for a couple of months. Bucky didn't like it when other people took what was his.
"Sure," imposter-Tony bounced happily in his seat, "down at St. Claire's. They're trying to teach the kids about sustainable living and responsibility while cutting down on living expenses, you know?" He shot Bucky a conspiratorial look. "I think those boys might be able to out-eat Thor and Steve. And the girls aren't much better!"
St. Claire's…Bucky had heard that name before, in one-sided conversations while Tony was on the phone. There'd been a few times Tony had to miss a team meal or activity because he was heading there. Imposter-Tony clearly had enough knowledge of Tony's behavior to know about his movements. Bucky would have to tread carefully so as not to tip him off. At least he wouldn't have to stall long, not with the others on their way.
"Yeah? What're you going to do to it?"
Because Tony loved talking about his project and it would be fun watching the imposter trying to keep up with Tony's usual flair and speed. Bucky wasn't above watching whoever this was squirm a bit now. He'd squirm a lot more once Bucky and Natasha were left in a room with him.
"Oh, it's gonna be awesome!" Imposter-Tony reached a bit further into Bucky's arm with his tools, tilting his head just so to get a better look. Bucky had to force himself not to yank away from the other's grasp. God, were they hurting Tony somewhere? "I'm gonna strip out the interior and set up some lighting units so they can grow more stuff inside. It'll have to be run on arc tech, of course, but don't go telling Suze or she'll whack me with a rolling pin again." He sounded downright affronted and if Bucky hadn't already known this wasn't his Tony, he'd be completely fooled. "They're a charity, for god's sake. Aren't they supposed to be better about taking donations?"
The barest hint of movement overhead caught Bucky's eye. Clint had arrived via the vents. Bucky dropped his flesh hand out of imposter-Tony's line of sight so he could update Clint of the situation with sign language. Clint would take care of informing the rest of the team.
"Remind me, is this one of the Maria Stark Foundation places?" Bucky directed at the imposter.
Imposter-Tony actually looked surprised and Bucky fought back the urge to curse. Had he blown it? Tipped his hand? He certainly hoped not, for Tony's sake.
"No, it's-Haven't I told you about when Obie was controlling my inheritance? Rationing how much I had access to?"
Tony had, in hours of the night so late it was really morning. It wasn't a subject he spoke of lightly. The chances that this was a skrull grew ever more likely. They were the only ones who could have gotten their hands on this kind of personal information.
"You've spoken of it a bit."
Imposter-Tony pressed his lips into a thin line, clearly displeased with Bucky's non-answer. Or maybe it was just at the prospect of deciding to give up more information.
"You remember me saying how tight money was? How if I tried to take on any contracts or odd jobs Obie would shut me down and put a stop to it? 'For my own good' he said." Imposter-Tony scoffed bitterly, deep pain radiating from his eyes. Bucky blinked. Skrull-Steve hadn't been able to fake that kind of emotion. That's how the team had caught him out. "Greedy bastard was hoping I'd kick the bucket before I came of age. St. Claire's is the only reason I survived. Suze's mother was running the house back then, found me rooting through a dumpster for food scraps. She took me in, even though I wasn't a ward of the state. Obie tried to stop her but…She never would tell me what she said to him to make him back off. I helped out around the place in exchange for food and a room for the few years I was there. Figured it was the least I could do to keep giving back once I was out of there."
A cold suspicion began to grow in the back of Bucky's mind. He quickly ran through their entire conversation again in his head.
"You thought I knew…And the kids? They're the ones living there now?"
Tony gave up all pretenses of working on the metal arm, fixing Bucky with a confused look.
"Yeah. They're trying to build a garden so I'm using some upcycling techniques I learned back in the day to give them more space. The kids will take care of the plants and they'll be able to eat all the food they grow. I figured using an ice cream truck would be kind of fun. I mean, kids like ice cream, right? What's going on?"
Bucky dragged a hand over his face, already dreading explaining this one to the rest of the Avengers.
"I…got a little panicked, carried away. I'm just jumpy, you know? After Stevie. I thought-"
He never got to finish the sentence as a dart flew from the vents above and buried itself in Tony's shoulder. The genius squawked and started to stand before the sedative kicked in and he tumbled to the side. Bucky was barely fast enough to catch him before he cracked his head open on the edge of the worktable. Clint flipped down from the vents.
"That do it? Nat thought it would be a high enough dosage but I've got another one lined up just in case."
Bucky groaned. Yeah, this was going to be a tough one to explain.