fossilised | it's a new plot!

Bucky's assessment, and his pointed declaration of where he would be for the foreseeable future just made Steve nod in acceptance. They weren't going to move back in together and be roommates, after all. "Tony will never come out and say it, but I needs to have people around. He's been spending too much time alone and not even Rhodey can get him out of that shell of his. I'm sure he does appreciate that you're there."

He could never guess what the two were getting themselves signed up for by staying together, and so he just smiled, shoulders relaxing further.

"I really don't know what's going to happen. Thor sounds happy about a fight, but he always is. And you know I can handle myself. Nothing that I can't handle. But I guess once I've got em on the ropes, you could come in and mop up?"

Steve had fallen back into their usual banter. It had been years of life and decades of sleep between then and now but Bucky had been a fast and easy friend. And it wasn't the wisecracking.

It was just that Steve felt safe and whole when he looked at him. His eyes were the same. Yes, they were clogged up with angst and wounded, maybe beyond repair, but Steve loved him anyway.

This was a difficult situation. Perhaps the right thing to do now would be to confess and tell Steve exactly what a reprobate he was, so that they didn't even try for a fledgling friendship before everything got ruined. But he just couldn't, which meant that they were both in for a world more pain when Steve finally figured out that the man he glorified as his former best friend was a monster beneath it all for reasons that had nothing to do with how many people he had killed.

He stepped towards Steve, as if to lay a hand on his shoulder, but he was interrupted by an explosion that rocked the building and sent debris crashing down towards them. The mainframe of the compound was directly linked to FRIDAY, so how had anyone snuck up on them without them noticing?

A swarm of black clad soldiers flooded in through the holes in the walls and surrounded the pair of them, barking orders in a language that even Bucky didn't recognise with all his training as the Soldier. Something was wrong here, very wrong. His hand went for one of the guns hidden about his person, but there were so many of them.

"--run!"

It was their only option until they got backup, go for one of the windows and run for cover.

Steve Rogers didn't run, not even when it seemed like the only option. He used a chair to throw out and pin one of the soldiers rushing towards them. It bounced off. Steve turned to grab another when Bucky shot out the window. He wasn't about to let his friend go alone and he was right here, there was no other choice but retreat. Steve ran after Bucky, clearing the window easily, and ran in a zig-zag down the side of the hill.

The Avengers that were still at the Compound circled them, ran with them or flew above them. There was smoke everywhere. The buildings were destroyed, coughing up black memories that no longer mattered. They had to flee for their lives, and so Steve led that charge, as always, yelling for FRIDAY to let the others know.

Not that she needed to. Creatures, some humanoid and some absolutely anything but, had descended upon every major city in the world. Tony and Peter had watched the portal open up as they left New York City traffic behind. The Asgardian Arc had just landed over Norway in time to see another in the distance over Tromseo.

DC was overrun much too quickly, leave the Avengers there almost no ability to rendezvous with Steve.

Rogers hunkered down in the woods as FRIDAY gave him the status report. Tony raced to get Peter somewhere safe. And Thor charged across the ship to find Loki.

As the Avengers from the Compound fled into the woods, it was only natural that some of them would get separated. Wanda never made it to the small clearing where they were supposed to be gathering, and nor did James. Both of them had been snatched by humanoid soldiers and rendered unconscious quickly. These were not Thanos' forces, not yet, these were merely forerunners who knew that the Mad Titan was coming and wanted to pick over the spoils of a doomed world.

Loki could be found in his room, having not seen the portals open up because he had been sleeping at the time. Curled up on his side and looking, as he ever did in slumber, more like a boy than a man grown for how he still pillowed his face on his hand.

Of course he snapped awake as soon as the door opened, brow furrowed in annoyance. "What is the meaning of this?"

"While you have slept away your troubles, Midgard is under attack!" Thor didn't sound too heartbroken about that. The smile might have something to do with it. "It's not Thanos.... I believe it's the Grandmaster! I have many words to say to him!" In truth, Thor was wrong. The Grandmaster was dead, but the scrapers that had killed him had come to enjoy the technology he had profited from... And then some of the others left had turned that technology on it's head.

Why wait for universal refuse when they could enjoy the sport of finding prizes themselves?

The source didn't much matter to Thor, who was now as always itching for a fight. He might have mellowed a bit along the way to this point, but after Ragnarok, all he wanted to do was beat things. It was tough to be All-Father. A little bit of recreation to blow off steam was well needed and appreciated.

"Join me in battle!"

It was good that Thor stated this wasn't Thanos because Loki might have been tempted to flee right then and there. It seemed that he still had some grace period before the Titan arrived, though, so this might be a worthwhile way to kill some hours. He would like to leave Thor and the Asgardians with a positive image of him, in order to counteract the hatred they would feel after he left them to die.

So he stretched and let his clothes materialise around him as he did, stiff leathers and soft green fabrics, and the helm that he was so proud of to adorn his head. He might not have the raw power of his brother, but he was hardly a slouch on the battlefield either.

"Then let us go, our enemies will not wait for us to finish talking, and we have a realm of weak mortals to protect."

Like heroes. And wasn't that a funny turnabout?

Thor wouldn’t think so. That Loki had taken to this life easily was just a test of his strength of character. Their father had made a similar turn in his life. He’d turned from battle and blood and chaos to a kind and gentle ruler. And wasn’t that good enough of a precise time for Thor to back? He liked to think so.

It was a merry time for the most part, Thor and Loki waging war on the enemies of Midgard, especially in a town where people still revered them. It would bolster Loki even further to find himself cheered for, even worshiped.

For Thor, that was par for the course. But this would be completely new for his brother. And it glasses the All-Father intensely.

Together, with Hulk and Valkyrie, Korg and Miek, they boarded one of the massive ships that had landed. Thor didn’t recognize any of the technology, but that was usual. He did, however, note the surprising amount of people that they had collected. More gladiators?

“Is this happening elsewhere?” FRIDAY, on a chip Stark had given him long ago, was capable of answering the question. It made Thor angry to day the least. “We must return to New York!”

"To focus all of our attention on one place would be foolish, Midgard is not like Asgard, all of its principle holding cannot be found in one location. We must split our forces and strike wherever they are striking - look, they are scavengers, nothing to be worried about."

Perhaps too strong for the humans and their weaponry, but they should be able to fight back easily enough when Valkyrie alone could bring down whole squadrons of these things while utterly drunk.

"I shall take the rock and the bug with me."

"Um, our names are actually Korg and Miek, mate, just for future reference."

Loki ignored him completely.

Splitting up was wise indeed. Valkyrie and Hulk would work together leaving Thor on his own. He was quite used to that. Thor alone went to New York, leaving the others to go as they saw fit. The city itself was not under much of an invasion, however, but HQ absolutely was overrun by black clothed soldiers carrying a wide array of scavenged weaponry. They were not easy to render lifeless, but Thor had a few new tricks up his sleeve.

He was still sparking when Tony and Peter screeched into the compound. “What the hell happened?” Tony asked just as FRIDAY enveloped him in his armor. He looked half annoyed by it, stepping back so that the plates were fitted better to his body.

Thor set his hands on his hips after he tossed away a helmet (head still inside, whoops). “I was saving the day.”

“Where are the rest of the Avengers?” Tony barked, frustrated. Especially when Thor just looked confused. “You know? Our friends?”

“I know not. There were several of your workers huddled together. I believe some may have been harvested. I have seen no face I know.”

That was bad. “Okay, Flash Dancer, you stay here.” He had to look for Bucky. “Look after my Bug.”

It probably wasn't very heartening to Thor, having killed all of his opponents, to receive no accolades and only be told to look after a child as if he were a nanny and not a warrior in his own right. But he wouldn't be the only one put out; Peter was already scrambling into his suit, skinny chest still on show as he looked up at Tony pleadingly.

"Aww, come on, Mr. Stark, let me come with you. I can handle it, I really can. I'm strong, I'm fast, and I swear I'll follow orders. Not that it's not super cool to meet you, Thor, you're-- wow, look at your arms, they're bigger than some trees I've seen, that's amazing. It's just that I want to help, not be protected like some kid."

He gave Tony his best puppydog eyes as FRIDAY relayed an incoming call to him from Steve.

"Tony? Do you read me, are you okay? There was an attack at the compound, we've mostly dealt with it but we have some injured and some missing. Could really use your help when you get this."

At least Peter was good at accolades. Thor gave him quite the appreciative nod. Yes. He was indeed pleased. Very good. This boy that was somehow in Stark’s charge could stay. Even if he turned right around wanting to go with Stark. That was the problem with Earth. They had some odd ideas about who their heroes ought to really be. What was cooler than a King?

Tony held up a hand to keep Peter’s whining down to a low roar. “Cap?” He knew the man wasn’t anymore but old names died hard. “James with you?”

There was a crackle and then silence before Steve answered in the negative. “One of the missing.”

Thor opened his mouth to reply but Tony snapped his fingers in his face to shut him up and the startled Asgardian did just that as the humans squabbles on the radio about who was meant to be safe guarding whom. When he could stand it no longer, Thor plucked the device from Tony’s hand. “Enough of this pettiness. We must find the main ship in this area. It is where your friends are.”

And that meant that Steve was stuck tending to wounded on his own but Peter was in luck. They could use his web shooters where they were going. Tony nodded to Thor. “Show me.”

But Thor’s face blanked. “About that. My flight is somewhat more limited now that I no longer focus my strength through Mjolnir—“

No one could see it, but Iron Man rolled his eyes and opened his arms. “Jesus Christ. All right, hug fest. Hold tight. You fall, that’s on you.”

"Oh-- oh, okay, hug fest, that's cool."

Peter babbled in a mix of nerves and excitement as he wiggled his way into the awkward three way hug that was going on, pretending as if he weren't nestling his head against Thor's chest and wondering just how many sit-ups to Captain America's workout he'd have to do in order to become quite that ripped.

Not that James was still on the ship. The scavengers, after all, were primarily interested in monetary reward or gifts of greater value for anything that they found. The dregs of HYDRA had made themselves known pretty quickly and paid a good price for him, so he was already gone. They still had Wanda, as well as Sam, Scott, and a bunch of high ranking politicians that had obviously been worth something.

"Um, Mr. Thor?" That would be Peter, even as they flew closer. "I'm not really sure how to address you. Can I just call you Thor? No, wow, that's way too familiar, right? We're not there yet. Maybe we can get there one day, but not yet. Mr. Odin's Son? Or is it Your Majesty? Or Your Highness? What's the difference? Or is there an address for a God that I don't know? Does it matter that I'm an atheist?"

“My rightful title is All-Father, though friends call me Thor,” the largest of the three boasted with a full heart he couldn’t help but laugh in his enjoyment of this battle. What he had assumed would take place alone had become a merry band indeed. And though Peter was young, he was an Avenger. And that was a group Thor held above many. They felt a great deal like family, even if they could never truly be.

It mattered not. Their storming of the ship was full of glory and Thor gave praise to the small one that Tony called his Bug. He was much like Thor’s bug too, save that he spoke a great deal more than Miek ever did.

They freed the people onboard but even that did not seem to make Stark pleased and he once more left the Bug in Thor’s care.

The tall one eyed man turned to Peter with a frown. “I would like to celebrate this victory with you. Lead the way to the Starbucks!”

The Asgardians cemented their place with the Earthlings by the end of the single day siege. Hulk and Valkyrie made a game of it and spent the following day hunting down those that had initially evaded them. That was two full days of James Barnes being lost.

Luckily, Tony was a resourceful sort. FRIDAY picked up on coded communication, on key words that Tony was always listening out for. And the Asset? Well that was one of them.

He at least knew better than to go it alone on a rescue mission. Steve had his hands full, but the rest of the team was already making quick work of binding governments together to combat future planet wide catastrophe. “Rogers. Found him. We’re shipping out,” Tony said as he swooped in over HQ and landed with a thud. “Suit up.”

The thing that made Steve a hero was his selflessness. He wanted to abandon everything and search for Buck-- James, he wanted to ignore all the stupid backbiting politicians who said one thing to his face and another thing behind his back, but he didn't. He did his duty and he kept his focus on the good of the world, because he wasn't about to let the people here get hurt if he could help it. Maybe Thanos was a bigger bully than he was used to, but he was still a bully and Steve Rogers fought bullies.

He was out of the compound faster than Tony could land, there before he even finished saying suit up, uniform on and shield in hand. It had been overwhelming - the public called for him to be reinstated, the other Avengers called for it, but he still hesitated when he saw Tony. It had been Tony, after all, who told him that he didn't deserve to carry the shield any more. Would he still feel that way?

"Where is he?"

He'd go to the ends of the earth and back to track him down if he had to, blue eyes earnest and worried.

There was a lot to Steve that Tony was not sure about. The guy had dropped a giant shipping container on a child he didn’t know would be able to survive. He’d destroyed millions of dollars in property trying to clear the name of a guy he couldn’t even find because they were best friends. And Tony could have forgiven that. He could have forgiven all of that if Steve had tried trusting him. Just a little bit.

But all of that was a year behind them. James had mended their fences, just with duct tape but it was a start. Now they didn’t have the time to try and regain each others’ trust but they could still work together.

Despite their differences, they had always worked together so well.

“You’re not gonna like this, Cap. HYDRA has him. He’s in Siberia—. You’d think they’d learn but I guess it’s more economical not to abandon perfectly good bases.”

Tony didn’t know what they’d be walking into but it wasn’t going to be good.

A lot of people thought that Captain America wasn't a killer, like a soldier could be a soldier without having blood on their hands. Just because he didn't like bullies and he wouldn't commit cold blooded murder, that didn't mean that he wasn't okay with killing in a fight. It was a strange dichotomy that people seemed to have about him.

He honestly didn't have the energy to dissect it most days, letting people have whatever impression of him they wanted. But if they went into a HYDRA base in search of Bucky, then he would kill with exactly the same amount of hesitation and compassion he had shown when he busted him out of that first experimental chamber - literally none.

"Right. We'll be faster if we take the quinjet, but we can't spare it right now. So you're gonna have to carry me and fly us fast, hard, and silent."

“Okay cool. I’ll just carry you for forty-five hundred miles...”. If Steve died on him, that was going to be a problem. A huge problem. A James would never ever forgive him problem. “Luckily I’ve got something better—“

If it wasn’t destroyed in the attack. The single person mini-jet that James and he had flown over in (being squealed together with the man hadn’t been all that bad for Tony) was just under the brush. Tony had been using the prototype for a week or so now, ever since he located Bucky up in Canada on that train. It worked pretty well but it was a bumpy ride.

He would not be climbing in there with Steve Rogers, however. He’d let Cap take it all on his lonesome.

Tony took off first, but the jet would beat him. He just couldn’t sustain flight against headwinds the same way a jet could. And so ten minutes after Steve landed, Tony tumbled into rock hard ice next to him, sliding on the slick surface because he hadn’t wanted to use his vents to brace himself. This was supposed to be a stealth mission.

The base looked desolate from the surface but heat readings a few meters down proved that HYDRA was as stupid as the intelligence. That was both good and bad.

All it took was a few words to undo James completely.

Iron Man glanced at Cap. “Let’s just kill everyone else and not bother with each other this time.”

That really wasn't funny, and the look that he shot the red and gold helmet covered head to his left said that clearly. He didn't think that what had happened between them had been at all worthy of joking about, even after the fact, but then he dealt with his emotions in a different way to Tony.

"If we can get to him, we have no way of knowing if he'll even come with us willingly. It's entirely possible that he'll attack us."

It killed him to say that. He didn't want to distrust Bucky, but what was in there might not be his Bucky, it might be whatever they had hollowed him out with and put their own creature inside. God forgive him, but he really did want to get his hands on every person in there and kill them slowly. He wanted revenge for what was done to the best and bravest man he ever knew.

"You speak Russian, don't you? Do you think we could get you infiltrated if we managed to get hold of a uniform and shaved your beard off, make you less recognisable?"

“You want to shave my beard.” Tony lifted a hand to his faceplate, as if trying to offer it an extra level of protection. “Really? Don’t you think I’ll look the same without it? My Russian is pretty rusty.” He listed of another ten reasons why it was a bad idea to shave off his beard for a plan that wouldn’t work but after half an hour or so, Steve had him sheared and stuffed into a HYDRA uniform.

The truth was that they both knew that if James had been triggered, Tony was his best shot at getting him out. He would have to take over the position of handler. Infiltration was honestly their only option of James would not only get away, he would probably join up with a HYDRA extraction team before they could track him down.

Definitely not an option.

And so off Tony went, whiskers left behind, into the bowels of the base. No one asked for his ID. He just saluted and said a few words in Russian, mostly demanding to know where the Asset was, as Steve stayed in the mini-jet and monitored the situation.

Ten minutes after he entered the base, someone showed him to where James was being kept. This group was leaderless. HYDRA had been fractured and this just proved it. In a way, that upped the stakes. These men were so much more dangerous.

Fractured societies were dangerous, and these ones were desperate for any semblance of control that they could get back. That they had recovered the Asset had been such a massive moral boost that they had begun to rest on their laurels, and they had also made sure to take out their frustrations and pent up energy on the one target that wasn't allowed to fight back.

The Soldier wasn't alone when Tony was shown into him, though he was naked and bruised all over. His expression was completely blank, knelt on the floor as a man with blond hair and eyes so pale blue that they almost seemed colourless washed his hair for him in an oddly intimate way.

The HYDRA soldier looked up, jealous of another come to interrupt him. He was the Soldier's handler, the one with the phrases, and that gave him immense importance here. He was, truthfully, just a junior handler who had been in training when HYDRA fell, but there was nobody there now to tell him that he couldn't be in charge.

"What is it?" His Russian had an appalling accent, he was clearly American by birth, probably somewhere in the Southern states.

Tony was furious and without a beard to hide the way he clenched his jaw, there was literally no way to hide that anger growing in the pit of his stomach. James wasn’t his by any right, but they’d come to the understanding that they’d hold hands and play video games sometimes. There was no covenant with any pretty blond boy for hair washing that Tony was aware of and the desire to just shoot the kid in the face was pretty much through the roof.

It made the soldier get to his feet and ask again in a louder voice what Tony wanted.

He used that to his advantage. “I’ve come for the Asset,” Tony said, his Russian far from perfect but it was good enough. He lowered the pitch and the timbre, letting it vibrate through his throat. “What are you doing? There were no orders to give him a handler. I don’t care how accurate your hair color is, you’re breaking protocol. I’ll have this in your file. Soldier—“

And this time, Tony addressed James with authority, pushing down the heartbreak.

“You will come with me. Immediately. There is a mission. Your target was spotted in the area. Where are his clothes? Why is he bruised?”

It was obvious that the kid hardly understood what he was saying and so Tony switched to English, but made sure to affect the proper Russian accent. “His clothing! This is not play time. We are at war!”

The Soldier looked up at Tony out of huge brown eyes, like one of those beaten dogs in a commercial for animal charities, but he didn't move despite the order to. All of his handlers were the same, they all had the hair and the eyes and the words, this one didn't have any of those and he hadn't been given leave to follow him.

The young HYDRA operative rose frowned at Tony, half concerned that he might have actually found himself in the presence of a superior, and half indignant that his prize might be taken away from him. So he shook his head, taking a gamble on it, and replied in English since this goddamn demanding bastard actually spoke a civilised language.

"The Asset is under my command, I'm his handler, so any missions have to go through me first. What exactly is it that he's needed for? You know that he shouldn't be deployed for grunt work."

“Do you believe that I would be here for ‘grunt work?’ No. I would never be sent to this god forsaken outpost unless it was for a damned good reason. Captain America is nearby.” And since Tony had the tech with him, he pulled it s holographic display screen to show Steve Rogers, sitting inside the mini-jet. It was a calculated risk.

Tony stormed forward, his entire attitude making the younger man flinch and draw back. He even rolled down his own sleeves.

“If you had thought that you would be well rewarded for securing the Asset once more, your current attitude is ruining your prospects for any reward at all.” Tony flashed the salute, one meant to intimidate, to ferret out supporters. He even gave a nice, crisp, “Hail HYDRA,” which his junior more or less fell over himself to do the same.

Young men, no matter their affiliation or alignment, were all the same. The puffed at first until the big dog approached and bit their necks.

“As he’s imprinted on you, foolish boy, and we do not have the time to wipe him, you’ll accompany the Asset on his mission. Understood? Now. Get. Him. Dressed.”

Even though Tony was smaller and unknown, he gave off an air of command that came from experience and from years of being the head of his own company, that made the young man leap to obey him. He muttered a command in Russian that had the Soldier rising to his feet and jogging out of the room, heedless as to his injuries and nakedness both.

"Fifteen minutes and he'll be mission ready, sir. We can rendezvous with you by East Gate six, is that okay?"

He really didn't want to go out into the field. It was why he had gone into the training to control the Asset; he wasn't a natural at combat, but he had the delight of psychological torture and the love of being in control that made him a natural to control their living weapon. He wasn't supposed to go near the Avengers, that was supposed to be other people with big guns, but he couldn't argue with a superior, so-- well, he'd just have to hope the Soldier protected him.

As promised, the Soldier and his handler would be at the cold and barred metal gates on time. Now the Soldier was decked out in black leather tactical gear, most of the bruises well hidden, and a whole armoury worth of weapons hung from various straps and belts.

Tony had no intention of telling this twisted little child to go with them. He found East Gate Six with FRIDAY’s help and before he even got there, everyone on the base was calling him Sir and saluting him. Good. Very good. That boded well for this little exercise, if he was really thought to be sent from some other, more centralized HYDRA facility.

Once James and the Handler arrived, Tony looked over the latter very carefully, criticized the way that he held his gun (it was the way he himself would hold a weapon so he knew the kid learned it from movies and not the way a trained soldier would), and rolled his eyes.

“Give me verbal control over the Asset until we complete our mission. You will wait here and prepare the medical bay. Captain America will not go without a fight and the Asset is sure to take some damage before we bring the target in. I do not want us to being our weapon back home looking like he was in a meat grinder,” Tony said, accenting heavily, and watched relief form in the Handler’s eyes. Tony hit on two things the kid wanted... to be recognized as James’s handler and not to have to go and fight.

The kid gave over control to Tony, giving the proper instruction that the Asset was to heed whatever Tony said until they returned here to base.

Well guess what? The joke was on that kid because they were not returning to the base. Tony was going to nuke it.

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idk why I wrote brown when I know his eyes are blue

i read it as brown eyed dogs anyway!!