Chapter 7
Sam was waiting for him when he returned, guarding the laboratory entrance with a frown. Not being in the mood to argue anymore, Steve dragged his feet across the floor as he walked to one of the chairs and sat down again.
He busied himself with counting the square tiles on the ceiling for awhile and ignored Sam's searching gaze. Well, he was trying to ignore Sam altogether but his friend wasn't having it.
"I'm sorry," the agent said, sighing. "I shouldn't have dropped all of that on you. If Bucky wants to stay, then he can stay."
"He-"
"But," Sam continued in his most serious business voice. "But, you're stubborn ass will call me if anything happens okay?"
"Emergencies only, yeah. I know," Steve grumbled as Tony stepped out of the lab and almost ran into Sam's back. Steve scrambled to his feet, trying to look over Sam's shoulder to talk to Tony directly. "Is Buck okay?"
Tony stepped around Sam and flashed them both a stained smile, "Your man has nerves of steel, Rogers. The rewiring wasn't too difficult but the damage was more extensive than we thought."
Sam slipped his sunglasses on- for what, Steve had no idea- and fished out his phone while Tony continued to explain Bucky's condition.
"I wasn't flattering Hydra when I said it was their best work because it is but by all means, that arm shouldn't be functioning with that level of precision," he stuffed a hand down his purple space suit that looked suspiciously like a human tuxedo and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"Fury wants answers, Stark." Sam said, aggressively typing something on his phone's screen. "Now, if possible."
Steve took the paper from Tony's hands and began unfolding it, "What's this?"
"C'mon Cap, you've never seen the periodic table before?" They seemed surprised by Steve's confusion and Tony rambled on. "Really? It's this handy chart that the humans made to organize and categorize the elements they have on their planet andddddd everything I'm saying is going right over your pretty little head, isn't it?
"Why the hell are you carrying this around in your space suit, Tony?" He asked, trying to make sense of the little squares stacked on each other.
Tony rolled his eyes, "To make a point. Look at it, is there anything called vibranium on it?"
Sam and Steve both looked at the paper and shook their heads, not seeing anything with that name. Nodding, Tony snatched the paper back and folded it up to put in his pocket again.
"Because it's the rarest metal on Earth, only found in a remote country in Africa," he said. "Initially, that's what I thought Bucko's arm was made of, or some kind of alloy like it except- it didn't match any element when we tested it."
"So it's not a metal from Earth," Sam chimed in and Tony ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
"No, it didn't come up as any element saved in the universal data base," Tony stressed with growing concern. "Whatever it is, has never been officially discovered as an element in the entire universe."
Steve twisted his fingers together and tried to piece it all together, "Maybe it's an element only found in one of the galaxies under Hydra?"
"Mhm, that's what I thought too," Tony agreed, tapping a finger to his chin. "Whatever it is, is super rare. We x-rayed him and that arm is attached to his spine. It seems like they removed his limb themselves, they then fused the metal one to his skeletal system and…"
He shot Steve a wary glance, "I'm assuming they didn't give him any kind of medication while experimenting on him."
As expected- Steve took one shaky breath before he exploded.
"THEY EXPERIMENTED ON HIM WHILE HE WAS AWAKE AND AWARE OF THE PAIN? THEY CUT OFF HIS FUCKING ARM? WHAT KIND OF-," he balled his hands up into fists and turned to Sam, eyes blazing. "Can they get away with that?!"
"Earth falls under a protected part of the galaxy so no," the agent told him calmly. Hands coming to rest on Steve's shoulders. "But first and foremost, my main concern is making sure Bucky is okay."
Tony snorted, "Physically, he's fine. His body has already healed from the abuse and the arm is almost as good as a real one. Not as flexible but way stronger. Doc is more worried about his mental state."
Now Steve was pacing, furious at Hydra and struggling to contain the sudden urge to stomp into the lab, hug Bucky, and never let anything hurt him ever again.
He isn't sure how Bucky had lived through that torture…
"Fury wants to know how it's affected his mental health as well," Sam asked the alien. Holding up his phone to show Tony a series of messages. "He's the only Hydra abductee returned other than the twins and Coulson is livid."
"Client confidentiality aside, because I'm not an actual doctor, Buckaroo is lucky he isn't brain dead with how many times he's been subjected to electro shocks," Tony scratched his head. "It's a damn miracle he can remember his name. I'd guess a few more years and they would have erased his identity completely."
"ELECTRO WHAT-"
"Steve," Sam interrupted while dialing Fury. "Not now. Let's take Bucky back to your cabin and we'll discuss the details when the MIB decided what direction they want to take."
He let out a groan, collapsing into the chair again dramatically. Sam spoke lowly into his cell, asking Tony questions here and there to clarify a few things while Steve took in careful, measured breaths.
"Steve?" Bruce called to him from the doorway, "You can come into the lab now."
He was still seething when they made it back home. Doctor Banner had strongly recommended therapy and medication but Bucky declined both before they had a chance to discuss it despite Steve's many attempts to do so.
Sam drove them home in tense silence, Bucky had stared out the window and Steve couldn't decide whether he wanted to pester Sam for more answers or take this time to really look at Bucky.
The drive was long and by the time they made it back to Steve's cabin the sun had begun to set. Fury insisted that Sam return to the Stark Tower immediately and they gave their clipped goodbyes to him before he drove away.
Bucky looked dead tired, the series of examinations and prolonged exposure to Tony had drained him. He moved slowly, keeping his metal arm hidden in the deep pocket of his hoodie and yup- still ignoring Steve.
Usually Steve would be fine with the quiet. He liked the quiet but now that he's gotten used to Bucky's constant chatter it felt wrong to keep the silence. Especially now that they were home again.
Surprisingly, Steve wasn't the one to speak first.
"Um, Stevie…?" Bucky whispered, throwing his flesh arm out to keep Steve from getting any closer to the front door. "Did you leave the door unlocked?"
"No?"
"Now it is," Bucky murmured, putting Steve behind him as he stepped into the cabin stealthily. "Who's here?!" He yelled into the house, letting Steve grip the back of his hoodie as he peered into the living room.
There was a blonde blur, a short bark, and suddenly they had a dog circling them. It yipped at them in glee, wagging it's tail and demanding to be given attention.
Steve bent down to run a hand through the golden retriever's soft fur, "How'd you get in here, fella?"
"Aw, no. Lucky was supposed to be a surprise," Clint whined, walking into view with a mouthful of pizza. He had a stained shirt on and no shoes, looking like he's been lounging around the cabin for hours.
"What surprise?" Bucky asked, eyes moving from Lucky to Steve to Clint in rapid succession. "Did you get Steve a dog?"
Clint bit into his pizza, chewing noisily and talking with his mouth full, "No. He's for you."
Steve hugged the dog to his body, seeking comfort after the day he's had and maybe a dog would be good for Bucky? Help him calm down and feel more secure here in the cabin.
"You got me a dog?" Bucky asked flatly, eyeing Lucky's wagging tail like it was a stick of dynamite. "You broke into Steve's cabin to give me a dog? Why?"
Tossing the pizza crust to Lucky, Clint shrugged, "He's actually my dog but Nat said that animals can help with anxiety and man, I'm just trying to make this whole recovery thing easier for you."
In his defense, Bucky handled the newly sore topic of recovery a lot better than Steve would've predicted. Instead of kindly telling Clint to fuck off, he let out a resigned sigh and face planted on the couch.
All things considered, it could've been worse.
Steve thanked him and walked to the kitchen to get food for himself but something shiny stopped him halfway there. Curious, he picked the shiny green envelope up from their pile of junk mail and felt the bottom of his stomach drop.
"Clint, did you get this too?" He asked, spinning around to show the envelope to the man that was now trying to lure Bucky off the couch with a slice of half eaten pizza. "Clint."
His head snapped up and looked at it with a grin, "Course I did. It's the official invite to Thor and Loki's anniversary party."
Steve hummed, opening the invite to reveal a cream colored card with more information on it. He frowned as he read the last line and threw the invite back onto the table.
"It says I have to bring a date," he huffed- not whined- even if it sounded as miserable as he felt. "Last year, I took you but now..."
Clint gave him a sheepish grin, "This year I'm taking Nat, dude. Oh! Maybe you can invite that Brock guy, he had the hots for you, right?"
Steve wrinkled his nose in disgust, "I'd rather gnaw off my own foot than get within ten yards of that guy." And his hatred was justified, Rumlow had thought picking up the little guy at the bar would be an easy way to get laid and ended up with a swift kick to the balls only two drinks in.
To this day, Steve couldn't think of the guy without wanting to rearrange his face.
"Wow, tell us how you really feel, Stevie," Bucky mumbled from the couch.
"You didn't meet him! He kept calling me Stan and wouldn't take no for an answer," not until Steve splashed his expensive alcohol in the jerk's face, that was.
"Sounds like a real catch." Bucky's head popped up from the couch and he gave Steve a flat look, "Take me. I'll promise to remember your name. What was it… Sunny?"
Steve smiled, rocking forward on his heels and shaking his head as Bucky pulled a dumbstruck look.
"Sid? No? Not Sid, " he tsked, his own smirk growing as Steve inched closer and closer to the couch. "Wait, I wrote it on my hand. One sec-"
Clint watched them from the recliner near the fireplace but didn't make any move to join them while Bucky hummed loudly, squinting at his own hand.
He tilted his head, and Steve's breath caught when the flickering light from the small fire highlighted the sharp cut of Bucky's cheekbones just right. He looked ethereal, grinning like he had not a worry in the world and Steve found himself willing to give just about anything to keep that expression on Bucky's face.
"Hm, what does this say?" He asked, tilting his head more and looking up at Steve with those heart stopping eyes. "Stark? Is it Stark?"
Giggling (and since when did Steve giggle?), he sat down beside Bucky to punch his arm. "Don't be such a jerk."
"I'm just tryin' to see that smile, doll," he said while reaching up to ruffle his blonde hair. "But seriously, I'll go as your plus one. Can't have you gnawing off your own foot, right?"
Steve bit his lip, "I'm a terrible dancer, you know, and Tony and Pepper will be there…"
He waved away Steve's concerns and pulled him close, all the tension and awkward silence from earlier was gone now. Replaced with familiar smiles and the warm weight of Bucky's hand carding through Steve's hair.
"I think I can deal with it for you," he stage whispered confidentially, like he was sharing something top secret. "If you'll have me," he added shyly as an after thought and Steve couldn't name anyone else he'd want to go with.
"Buck, of course-," he choked out, eyes darting to Bucky's lips nervously. Steve leaned just the smallest bit forward when Clint loudly (obnoxiously) cleared his throat. Steve coughed, his entire face flushing hotly. "But, um. You should know…"
Steve trailed off, looking over at Clint who was pretending to be incredibly interested in the snow falling outside.
"Hm? Know what?" Bucky asked, squinting at Steve. "Do you turn into a pumpkin at midnight?"
"N-no, Thor and Loki are, um, hm," he tried to get Clint's attention discreetly but the man was refusing to help. "They're uh… gods."
Bucky's mouth fell open, lashes fluttering and Steve's useless brain wondered what would happen if he licked at the humans plump lower lip.
He'd probably get punched. Or pushed. Pushed then punched and left alone to grow old in his cabin and it'd be his impulsive brain's fault.
"What now?"
Clint laughed, aiming a finger gun at Bucky, "That's EXACTLY what I said when I found out."