Chapter Text
. . .
Tony gritted his teeth as he attempted to tighten a stubborn bolt that refused to tighten. He turned his arm and swore aloud when his shaking hand caused his skin to pinch between the wrench and then table where he was working.
He sighed and blinked several times as the room appeared to blur before his eyes. He rubbed them roughly with his palms as a familiar voice was heard in the room now.
“You have been awake for nearly 72 hours. Might I suggest you take a short nap, sir?”
Tony cleared his throat and then relaxed when his vision cleared up again. “I believe you just suggested it anyway. I don’t need… a nap. I need to finish this up.”
He moved the wrench around the bolt and watched as it entered the hole a bit more, but not as much as he wanted. He felt frustrated; it wasn’t as if he was not strong. He had a good bit of muscle, but it was simply because his hands were trembling, the result of a mixture of his insomnia and too much coffee.
“In that case, would you like me to alert Captain Rogers that you require his assistance?”
At the sound of Steve’s surname, the genius’s hand pinched again, but this time he was bleeding a small amount. He cursed again and then threw the wrench across the room before he stood up and suddenly yelled, “Shut up!! I don’t need anyone’s help! Don’t you dare tell him to come here or else so help me, I will terminate you, J!”
There was a slight pause before the AI’s voice came over the system again. “My voice sensors tell me otherwise. Captain Rogers is on his way to you as we speak…”
Tony let out an anguished yell but he knew it wasn’t the AI’s fault. He was just doing what he was built for; to help Tony Stark. He took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together before he walked over to the other side of the room and grabbed a rag before he held it to his bleeding hand.
It wasn’t long before he saw Steve at the transparent glass door and punch in the code before entering the lab. He looked at the inventor a bit cautiously before he moved further into the room.
Tony hated that he was feeling anxiety fill him up so quickly. Just looking at Steve made his mind go back to when he found out about Bucky killing his parents. He had worked so hard to try to forget the event and move on, but it was like poison in his veins. When he wasn’t anxious around Steve or Bucky, he was angry. So angry that he just saw red, and it ended up with either Bruce or Nat having to try to calm him down by attempting to get Tony grounded again, back in the present.
He was a hot mess, and he felt ashamed of himself for being like this. It hurt to look at Barnes and see his bloodied mother, though.
“Jarvis told me you needed help with something?” Steve asked before he saw Tony holding the cloth to his hand, his face now showing concern. “What happened?”
Tony fought back the urge to clench his jaw and shook his head. “It’s nothing. I just…pinched my skin. I don’t need help. Jarvis might need to be rebooted… or something,” he lied pathetically. “You can go back to… your Terminator friend.”
“Stop calling him that, Tony… he has a name.”
Tony shook his head. “I really don’t care if he has a name or not. He may be living here with all of us, but I don’t have to call him by anything other than the preordained names I pick for him.”
Steve’s concern dropped from his face and he turned around, waving Tony off. “Fine, I didn’t come here just to hear you spew your hate for my friend, Stark…”
He had started back towards the door when Tony finally gave in. “Fine! All right… I… need help tightening a loose bolt. That’s what I need your assistance with. You can put those big, steroid muscles to use again.”
Steve turned around and then moved back to where Tony had been working on his project, a simple metal table he had put together himself. He looked around for the tool and then found the wrench that Tony had flung across the room. He grabbed it and then moved back towards the table and knelt down. Steve started to screw in the bolt with the wrench, making it look too easy, as always.
“This is hardly a difficult project for you, Stark. Tell me why you couldn’t do this?” he asked, not unkindly.
Tony hated being reminded how weak he was. He didn’t need this, from Steve or Jarvis. He turned his hands into fists and then as an afterthought, he crossed them in front of his chest, just anything to stop them from shaking. “Haven’t you ever heard you shouldn’t drink and repair?”
Steve glanced over at Stark Tech coffee mug that was sitting on Tony’s desk before he finished screwing the bolt back in. “Unless that cup has alcohol in it, I’m pretty sure that you could have done that,” he gave Tony a once over, taking in the inventor’s appearance before he spoke again.
“Have you been sleeping, Tony?”
The question made Stark scoff and roll his eyes before he moved over to his desk and start to fiddle with the computer screen. “Sleep is for the weak, Rogers. Anyway, get off my back. You’re not my –" He paused. Mother. “Friend. I can stay up past my bedtime if I want.”
Steve’s eyebrows furrowed now. “I’m not your friend, Stark? Okay, well… how about his? I am your teammate. As such, you need to prove to me that you’re okay to fight if the time comes.”
Tony sighed and nodded. “Fine, give me your best shot, Capiscle. I’m ready.”
Steve grabbed a pen from a nearby table. “Catch,” he ordered before he threw it in Tony’s general direction.
Tony reached out and tried to grab it quickly but it hit his palm and bounced off onto the floor. “Doesn’t mean anything. Best out of three.”
Steve shook his head. “It means that you’re not fit to fight with us. I’m grounding you until you get some sleep and some food in you.”
“I had coffee…” Tony argued.
“Coffee isn’t food. You need things with nutrition value.”
He knew he couldn’t argue with the Captain; he had a point. He did need to eat, but the truth was, he had better things to do… like distract himself. If he couldn’t distract himself, then he would be zero value to everyone. Tony didn’t dare tell Steve or anyone else who didn’t already know, about his nightmares he was still having. Steve would keep him grounded and out of action permanently. Too many people counted on him for that to happen.
“I need you and Jarvis to just leave me the hell alone. I’m fine, and I will continue to be fine.”
Steve sighed and was quiet for a few moments before he spoke. “Since you’re so fine, I need you to take a look at Bucky’s… shoulder.”
Tony looked up sharply at the mention of the Winter Soldier. “Why me? In case you haven’t noticed by now, Rogers, I’m not a doctor. Get Banner to do it.”
“He wants you. You know basic medical procedures…”
Tony rolled his eyes and slammed his coffee mug down after taking another sip from it before he looked at Steve with hard eyes. “Yeah, very basic. Like… band aid, antiseptic, done.”
Steve set his jaw. “Damn it, Stark! Just go take a look at him before I make sure that you don’t have an arm!”
Tony was too tired to argue any further so he walked past Steve without another word and started upstairs, glancing around for Bucky and only seeing Clint and Nat talking and joking around in the living room.
“Sergeant Barnes is in his room, Mr. Stark…”
The sound of Jarvis’s voice made Tony feel a bit guilty after having threatened him earlier. “Thanks, J. Appreciate it.”
“Of course, sir. Anytime.”
Tony took the elevator up five floors where he had cleared a room out for Bucky on the same floor as Steve and Clint, but kept Natasha and Bruce on the same floor as himself. He felt like those were the only two people he could confide in, even though he knew Nat had helped Steve. Looking back on it now, he knew that she had done the right thing.
He took his time making his way to the Asset’s room but found himself there all too soon. He rapped on the door, a bit roughly. “It’s Stark. Your pal Cap said you needed my help. Don’t tell me you’re bleeding out in there or else I might have to do something crazy and throw a party…”
Tony was glad that Steve wasn’t here to hear that, but he did feel a slight pang inside of him at the remark. He waited until Bucky opened up the door for him and let him inside. When he closed it though, Tony’s anxiety started to build up again.
“I was… just kidding about that last thing.”
A guarded look spread throughout Bucky’s face before he tensed up slightly and looked up at the circular cameras that were built into the walls. “Shut them off…”
“That’s a bad idea if I ever heard one. If it’s privacy you want, just tell me what you want to tell me. Jarvis can keep a secret if I tell him to.” Bucky’s sudden need for secrecy intrigued the genius and he moved closer inside towards him.
Bucky cleared his throat and then sat down on his bed before he looked up at Tony. “I… want a new arm.”