Fight, Flight, or Freeze
Tony Stark would consider himself a rational being, for all intents and purposes. Sure, he's had his moments, but hasn't everyone who's lost their parents right around Christmas at 21 years old gotten completely blasted and wrapped their car around a tree in the middle of nowhere?
Besides, that's not the story for today. Today, Tony's standing in the middle of his lab at the Tower, staring as the room around him goes up in flames, heat biting at his skin and tearing at his clothes.
Rationally, he knows he needs to move. He needs to get the hell out of here. He's too far from the exit to just stand here and stare, but he's stuck. He can't get his feet to move, his brain to wake up, his body to react. He's cemented to the spot as the flames get closer. He can feel the heat on his arm, twisting up from his hand, eating away at his skin, and God, it hurts. Yet, he can't move.
Then, there are arms around him, firm and strong and tugging. Suddenly, the world around him is moving and he's not the one making it happen, but he needed to get the hell out of there anyway, so this is a good thing. Right? Someone is helping him to safety.
He's only vaguely aware of stopping in the stairwell, emergency crews rushing past to get to the lab and work on putting out the fire. He knows he'll have to look into why the suppression system didn't kick in. As he ponders what could have gone wrong, those same strong hands are pulling his shirt up and over his head and Tony doesn't fight it.
He lets whoever is with him take hold of his right arm, turning it over in their own hands and examining it. That's the arm that he could feel burning. The fire ate up everything, and it was still hungry. It came for Tony. It started with his right arm. He still isn't sure how.
He doesn't fully register that the hands holding him are giving opposite temperatures, one hot and calloused and the other cold and smooth. He doesn't see the face of his savior. All he sees are the flames, still roaring and destroying his suits, his projects, his life's works.
—
"Shock?" Bucky runs a hand through his hair and looks at Dr. Helen Cho, raising an eyebrow. "Is that why I couldn't get him to answer me?"
It had been luck that Bucky was able to get into the lab and get Tony out of the fire. He didn't know why the genius was just standing in the middle of it all, but when the alarm went up, he'd gone running. The rest of the team was out on various versions of their own personal business, and while Bucky's pardon is in the works, he hasn't felt comfortable leaving the comfort and safeties that Tony's tower provides.
He's grateful he'd been here, looking at how badly burned Tony's arm got. If Bucky hadn't stepped in, Tony might not be here right now. Even with how fast the emergency crews got there, they weren't able to salvage a lot of the lab. Bucky's pretty sure that's going to hurt for Tony when he's actually able to recognize the fact.
"That's probably exactly why," Dr. Cho sighs, glancing back at Tony, who's now asleep in a bed in medical. His arm is wrapped and they've got him on oxygen for now, but his vitals have been steady. Bucky got him out just in time. "I'm not expecting that to last. Once he's awake, he'll probably start demanding I let him out of the bed right away."
Bucky snorts. "And what would you recommend, as his doctor?"
Helen looks at Bucky and gives him an amused look. "Sedatives."
Bucky brings his right hand up and covers his mouth, looking away for a second to try not to laugh. It doesn't exactly work. "Is he that bad?"
"Imagine wrestling a cat in a bath," Helen sighs. "Then make it six cats, and they can hear their favorite toy being played with on the other side of the closed door."
Bucky nods and drops his hand. "That was Stevie when he got sick when we were kids. Never wanted to sit still. Hated bein' cooped up in bed. I had to hold him some nights just so he wouldn't go running off on me."
"So you understand my plight," Helen chuckles.
Bucky moves to the bed, resting his hands on the railing and looking down at Tony. "It was like he wasn't even there," he whispers. "I called to him, to get him to run to me, but there was nothin'. I had to go in and grab him, and he was just… like a rag doll in my arms. Didn't fight me, but he didn't help either."
Helen sighs and looks away. "That makes sense. I imagine there had to have been something going on in there, but he just wasn't connecting. Hard drive was on, but the mouse and keyboard weren't plugged in."
Bucky squints and turns to Helen, then presses his lips together in a thin line.
"I'm sorry," Helen whispers. "Are computer analogies too modern?"
Bucky shakes his head. "Too close to home," he says softly. "Sometimes, I dither I'm not a machine. S'what they wanted me to be. A program. Computer analogy works perfectly. They would reset me, shut me down, boot me back up. Even update the software."
"Sounds like a helluva life, kid."
Bucky and Helen both turn toward the voice. It's rough and scratchy and muffled by the oxygen mask, but there's no denying that's Tony. He's looking up at the ceiling, eyes clouded and tired. The fingers of his right hand twitch slightly and he grimaces in pain, then turns his gaze toward Bucky.
"Guess you're older than me," Tony says after a second. "Kid doesn't quite apply to you."
Bucky raises an eyebrow. "Are you okay, Stark? You caught yourself on fire down there and… didn't do anything."
"I've been through worse." Carefully, Tony reaches up and pulls the mask away. Then, he pushes himself to a seated position, shifting with a grunt of pain and cradling his right arm to his chest, all his weight on his left as he moves.
That is, until Bucky shifts forward and helps him get settled.
Tony looks at Bucky with a soft smile. "Thanks. It still doesn't feel real? I couldn't believe what was happening."
"But it did happen," Bucky insists, "and you could have died. Why- why'd you lock up?"
Tony looks down at his bandaged arm. "My guess is that seeing my entire life going up in flames broke my heart a little bit. I didn't know what to do. Seeing-" He pauses, taking a shaking breath in. "Seeing DUM-E on fire hurt." He wipes at his eyes. "I watched him stop moving when it burned through his circuitry and that's when everything went kind of numb."
Bucky hums and looks down at his hands on the railing. "I guess that makes sense. I just- Stark, you were on fire."
Tony nods softly. "I know. I shut down. It's not helpful, but I got to fight, flight, or freeze, and I hit that freeze button hard."
"You crash landed into that freeze button, pal."
Tony looks up at Bucky, then shakes his head and chuckles a little. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. I'm grateful you showed up. Thank you."
Bucky shrugs. "I couldn't leave a friend to die."