Chapter 6
Bucky eyed the metal tools as Tony set them out in a neat line, "And you won't be the one doing the actual rewiring, right?" He asked for what had to be the fifth time since stepping into Tony's 'personal tower'.
Both Bucky and Steve had no idea why he would need an entire building for himself when he had a perfectly good space station. The alien really just liked having lots of extravagant things on as many planets as he possibly could.
"Don't worry, Bucko, these alien fingers will keep to themselves," Tony gestured to the short, soft spoken man beside him. "Dr. Banner here will conduct all the health tests and whatnot but like I said before, I'll be here the entire time."
Bruce dug a pen out of his lab coat and began to write something down on a notepad, "If Tony's presence makes you uncomfortable, Mr. Barnes, I can have him leave."
"What?" The alien exclaimed, looking at Bruce as if he grew another head. "You're a smart human being, Banner but this is Hydra's best work. The only one who can figure it out is me so you kinda need me here."
A muscle jumped in the doctor's jaw as he said, extremely calmly, "Tony, the most important thing is that he feels safe and comfortable for the body scans."
Steve had been watching them argue and snip at each other all morning while he sat in one of the spinning chairs near the window. He wasn't too excited to be so far from his secure cabin but if there was anywhere that was the safest place for him, it was the Stark Tower.
Not that he'd ever tell Tony that.
"If you let me have Jarvis run the scans, they'd be done in seconds," Tony hissed.
"I won't have him exposed to alien technology without his consent," Bruce snapped, the pen he was holding now splintered plastic and spreading ink in his fist. "There's different protocol for abduction victims and you're going to follow them if you want to stay in this room."
Steve raised his brows as Tony muttered under his breath and let the doctor clean his hand before returning to Bucky's side.
"Mr. Barnes, before we begin the examination I am required to ask if you would like Mr. Stark to leave," when Bucky shook his head, Bruce continued with a small smile. "Okay then, have you had any trouble breathing since you've been back?"
Confusion flickered across Bucky's face, "Why would I?"
Tony sighed, fingers steepled under his chin as he gave Bucky a once-over, "Pressure."
"Tony-"
"No, doc, I can explain it to the class," the alien said with a short eye roll as he poked at the ball of rubber bands on the table. "When you were in space, there's a good chance your organs had adjusted to the atmospheric pressure there and now that you're back on Earth, the pressure is different."
Bucky nodded slowly, "Okay and that's not good because…?"
"Well you could implode-"
"Tony!" Bruce yelled, glaring at the snickering alien that turned his attention back to the computer screen. "He's right but if that was an issue, it would've happened days ago. You said you're breathing's fine, no chest trouble or frequent nosebleeds?"
Again, Bucky shook his head and caught Steve's eye with a wince. He was there as a buffer, to keep Bucky calmed with a familiar face.
"Good, very good," he commented, pulling another pen from his pocket. "Nosebleeds are horrible, I got them a lot when I was returned. Nasty things, so I'm assuming there is no bleeding of any sort then?"
There it was, Steve had really been hoping that Bruce wouldn't bring that detail up. The universe didn't care to be nice to Steve apparently since (of course) Bucky latched onto it.
"You were…?" He asked quietly, eyes taking the doctor's appearance in with furrowed brows.
"You usually can't tell by looking but yes, I was abducted a few years ago," Bruce told him plainly, like they had been talking about what the baseball scores were. "Tony said that it was likely you weren't genetically mutated like I had been but we'll have to run blood work just in case."
Tony yawned, seemingly bored but his fingers were flying across the keyboard and his eyes were focused intently. Both aliens knew Bruce's horror story and it wasn't something Steve would've been able to tell.
Because really, how do you explain that your anger could literally turn you into a green monster?
"And you'll need to remove your shirt so that I can examine the prosthetic without hindrance," Bruce turned to Steve, who he had ignored up until this point. "I'll need you to wait outside of the lab for this part, Steve."
"But-"
"This tech is weaponry," Tony snipped, cutting Steve off. "Scientists like myself and Doc are equipped to handle it but not uh, humans like you."
Steve's mouth hung open, gob smacked that Tony would really play that card, "Fine." He gritted out, stomping to the door with a scowl.
Tony smirked as Steve waved a meek goodbye to Bucky and left. Was he upset? Yeah, he wanted to be there for Bucky while he had to get poked and operated on. But he wasn't going to argue with Tony when he got into one of his moods.
He found Sam standing outside of the lab, finishing a conversation on the phone and drinking something out of a Starbucks cup.
"Has it been authorized yet? Okay, call me back when it is. Bye," Sam ended the call quickly and gave Steve his full attention. "Banner kick you out?"
Steve pouted, upset that he was so transparent and nodded, "According to Tony it's dangerous for 'humans like me'." He said sulkily, with finger quotes and all.
Sam threw his head back with a laugh, "He's just concerned for you humans, Steve."
"No, he's being difficult because Doctor Banner snapped at him," Steve said, putting his hands on his hips with a glare. "I thought you said I would be able to stay in the lab through the entire process."
He shrugged, "I did but what the doctor says, goes."
Groaning, Steve folded himself into one of the little chairs outside of the lab. Already, he was feeling homesick. The white, sterilized surroundings on this floor of the tower had Steve's skin crawling.
"I've been wanting to talk to you anyway," Sam confessed. Steve raised a single brow in question, "About the human's living conditions."
"He agreed to staying with me," Steve said quickly, crossing his arms defensively and squaring his shoulders.
Sam lifted both his hands in surrender, "I'm not going to kidnap him, Rogers. Don't worry. I do, however, have to act in his best interest. He has a phobia of extraterrestrials and him staying at your residence without knowing… It isn't in his best interest."
He was pulling at his jacket sleeves now, the oversized hoodie was long enough to almost cover his knees and even the familiar weight of it wasn't enough to calm his rising anxiety.
"I'm not a threat to him," Steve whispered, voice wobbling in fear of having Bucky taken away.
"Yeah but let's say hypothetically, he finds out and doesn't take it well. Let's say he has an episode and blacks out. Let's say… he hurts you," Steve spluttered nonsense at the accusation. "He's been through a lot and trauma like that can stick with you for a lifetime. I'm worried for the both of you."
Blood roared in Steve's ears and he could feel his face growing hot, "Bucky would never-!"
"You don't know that," Sam insisted, pleading with his eyes for Steve to understand. "Anything could set him off, PTSD is not a pretty thing to deal with. You could potentially do more harm than help while he's recovering."
"So I'm just supposed to let him go through it alone?" Sam sighed as Steve's voice began to drop into a growl. "He has no one left! I'm not going to leave him unless he wants me to."
He could see Sam start and stop several sentences, deciding to rub his brow in irritation instead.
"And if he finds out you're not human, he won't want…," his words faded out, realizing where that sentence was going before he finished it but Steve was nothing if not stubborn and stood up to face Sam directly.
"Won't want what? To be friends with me?" Steve asked venomously as Sam's eyebrows climbed higher.
"Is that what you guys are? Friends?" Sam countered cautiously. "Because the last thing you need to do is get attached to another human that's going to leave."
Steve reeled back, hurt that his best friend would hint at his mother's death so callously. "You and Natasha both need to mind your own business. I love you guys but I'm not a delicate flower. I can handle things for myself."
The agent gave him a pitying look that had Steve's hackles rising, "I'm just worried, okay? He has a metal arm that's a literal weapon and you're not exactly in tip top shape to protect yourself if he flips out. "
"I can handle it," he repeated icily.
"For the sake of both of you, I hope you're telling the truth!" Sam called after him as he began to walk to the elevators- desperate for fresh air and space away from Sam and the smell of sanitizer. "Dammit, Steve!"
It was the last thing he heard as the elevator doors clicked shut.