The Dead

[starkingenuity]

It might seem counterintuitive for the most connected person on the planet to be the last to know something is happening, but when Tony Stark is working, Hell could swallow the world up and he would make an off handed, disinterested remark that he would have to check the AC. Up in his hi-tech Tower, where he had meant to spend the week finishing up boxing the more precious pieces of unfinished projects, Tony had gotten himself caught procrastinating the only way a man like him is capable of procrastinating: by rebuilding hardware to help him finish a gadget rather than packing that gadget away.

FRIDAY had already been installed in the compound Upstate, though she never left his back pocket really. Tony didn’t hear her alerting him, therefore, when people started dying. How could he with the sound of heavy metal playing and the grinder in his hands?

Tony had stayed in his mostly disassembled, partly reassembled lab for thirty-two hours before deciding he was hungry enough to stop making do with granola bars and dried fruit and call in some pizza.

The alerts on his phone are terrifying when he finally sees them. The number of missed calls leave his mouth dry.

Despite everything, Tony’s first thought is to call Steve Rogers of all people, even before he puts the armor back on. He has no idea that Captain America fell with the rest of the country he loved hours ago.

Comments

[endof_theline]

They both fucked it up. Tony's right. They should've been there.

Bucky feels like he's stuck in this spot, his gaze following Tony around the apartment. The fridge it stocked with foods that Steve has been trying to get Bucky to eat. Bucky's been terrible about it. Now.... god, he wishes he wouldn't have given Steve such a hard time. He wishes he could have pulled himself together faster.

He's having to pull it together real fast now, isn't he.

Bucky hears the voice- mechanical yet real- is it Tony's phone? He doesn't quite get it. He does hear the names being said out loud, though. Everyone's they've lost. Probably more. Everyone.

And yet- not everyone, not yet. Not as far as Tony's computer can see, anyway. "Who are you talking to?" Maybe not the most important thing right now, but Bucky needs something to ground him.

[starkingenuity]

The blatant question pulls Tony out of his head just enough to make the man blink owlishly at the other. He’s confused. It’s so rare to make him feel that way.

Back in his pocket his hand goes and he pulls the phone from it. “Barnes. This is FRIDAY. Part of her. The rest was transferred to the compound. There’s a piece of her in the armor too. Will be in the one she’s flying over to us.”

“Pleased to meet you, Sergeant Barnes.” Her brogue is lovely and she seems friendly enough.

“She’s an AI assistant, if you’re curious.”

[endof_theline]

Bucky's eyebrows furrow as he looks at the device. The cellphone- only this one seems to be more than the one Steve had. This one talks, and.... has a name. Not only a name, but addresses him- speaks to him.

Bucky looks at it suspiciously, as if it was an actual person. Maybe that's already progress. "How does it... how does she know my name?" Paranoia. Can anyone blame him?

"What is an AI assistant?" Is this distracting them enough from their grief? Maybe it'll be enough to get their heads back in the game.

[starkingenuity]

Somehow, Barnes is worse than Steve had ever been. Most of the time, the blond played off what he didn’t understand. Tony had found the boyish, sheepish looks in Steve’s eyes endearing. It’s why he picked on him so much before their solitary natures pushed them back to being occasional colleagues. Little more, really, though Tony clung to a friendship that wasn’t actually ever there.

He glances at the phone in his hand. “I made her. Programmed her. She’s artificial.”

“But still happy to help,” FRIDAY chimes in. “I know a lot about you, Sergeant Barnes. Public record, private—“

“Thanks, FRIDAY,” Tony hushes her and puts his phone back in his pocket.

[endof_theline]

The difference is probably that Steve had tried hard to integrate. Bucky had tried even harder to stay off the grid. He doesn't want to join the modern age, as much as he knows he has to. As much as Steve had tried to get him to.

He should have tried harder.

That thought is the only reason why he tries now, eying the phone, but not pulling back from it completely. "That's... interesting. She sounds smart." FRIDAY knowing about his public and private records, though? Well....most people do these days.

"It's ok," he says quietly. "I get it...or. I think I do." Steve would have wanted him to.

[starkingenuity]

That is a surprising compliment and Tony takes it whole heartedly as one. There is even a touch of a smile to his lips. “She did that herself,” he says, giving the disembodied voice personhood. “Right now, it’s just us and her. Until we find more people.”

“Three minutes for the armor to touchdown, Boss,” FRIDAY confirms. “Roof all right?”

“Roof is good.” He glances Barnes’ way and picks up his helmet. “She’ll help you pilot. What were you saying about getting a van and helping people? Those streets are a mess. We might want to secure a place to stay first.”

[endof_theline]

"Right. Us and her, until we find more people." Bucky breathes out, thinking about that, about the two of them- three of them? It's a moment of respite, and it's enough to get his head back in the game.

He pushes off the wall, giving Tony a nod. "Rooftops seem like the safest place right now. I'm sure there are more secure spots along the way though."

Does Tony have a better one? He's all high tech... "We can secure people back here, unless you've got a better, bigger place."

Not towering into the sky, though.

[starkingenuity]

The Tower would not work. It’s hard to defend. He knows that very, very well. But this building? That might be doable.

“Have you gone door to door asking for a cup of sugar yet?” There might be survivors here. Or the place might be crawling with the dead. Being in the middle of New York isn’t exactly ideal but it’s a good place to start.

[endof_theline]

Bucky thinks that if they have at least one good stronghold, they can defend it. Maybe something more underground would help, but for now a safe house is- well- the safest place. This apartment only has one small window, and it's already boarded up. Bucky worked quickly once he got back here.

"I did. Most people were out. There is a man, a woman, couple upstairs, I told them to lock all their doors and board up the windows if they could. Everyone else was out as far as I could tell." No one had attacked him, so that was a plus.

Now that they're formulating some kind of plan, Bucky has that to focus on. The grief can wait till later.

"Should we bring them in here? Have them stay together?" Or maybe they're just safer where they are for the time being. He isn't sure.

[starkingenuity]

“Not here,” Tony says. “I don’t like sharing my things.” He means the space. It’s already cramped in here with the two of them. “But we can clear out the floor. If the other units are empty, there will be plenty of room for everyone else.”

At least, until they find something better.

Tony tilts his head towards the door. “Think there’s a penthouse?” What? He does have a standard of living to uphold.

[endof_theline]

Bucky raises an eyebrow at the comment, wanting to remind Tony that this isn't his. Not his place, not his things- but it isn't really Bucky's either. It's Steve's, and now the two of them are here in his stead. He hates it.

"Yeah. Alright. I can do another run through just in case." And if anyone has turned, well... they'll have to deal with that as well, so that others can survive.

He's not sure about the penthouse, so he shrugs. There's a larger apartment on the top floor so he figures that's probably considered one. He feels a little tapped out with answering questions right now- even talking in general.

[starkingenuity]

“Armor first.” It’s not really like Tony to be so safety focused but Steve Rogers had a little ding on the neck, possibly from one of the Pym Particle brigade, and now he’s a roving dead man. Tony genuinely does not want to be alone. He’d take anyone over that.

Barnes, unfortunately, is the only one he has right now and he’s better than nothing.

At least the stairwells are quiet. Tony taps the reactor in his chest to glad his arms and legs in armor, holding the helmet under one arm. It leaves his torso exposed but if they are attacked, he can protect himself quickly. It beats trying to climb steps in plate mail.

There is a red streak closing in towards them as they step back out into the air. The smoke is intense. So is the smell of death.

The suit coming towards them is one he’d made with Steve’s fighting style in mind. It’s a little taller than his regular armors but it will still fit Barnes well.

[endof_theline]

Bucky gives a single, quiet nod, heading back out with Tony- back up to the roof. He listens for any disturbing sounds along the way, but it sounds eerily quiet for an NYC apartment complex. He really hopes the people he instructed to stay actually stayed.

The sounds of the city from above are eerie as well. It feels like a nightmare, and god he's so damn tired of those.

It's quite alarming to see the red streak in the air. Mostly because Bucky doesn't want it being followed. It seems like these zombies don't have enough thought to fly anything, but that's just wishful thinking. They don't really know anything about this infection, aside from that it's bloodborne and it's turning people into... something else. Zombies.

"Will my.... metal arm fit in that thing?"

[starkingenuity]

Tony obviously has a penchant for standing with his hands in his pockets. It’s more nonchalant than he actually is feeling. Rocking back on his heels, he turns his head slightly to glance at Barnes. His gaze shift over his body, literally eyeing him up. “Same size as the real arm. The plates shift.”

He never had Rogers try the suit on. He’d just gone a little overboard with building after Pepper left him.

“Two steps back,” he warns just as the armor lands, reverse thrusters making it a gentle one, and unfolds itself. The red is brighter, but the suit is mostly blue, with the arc reactor star shaped. Tony does look at least partially sorry for the armor’s design.

[endof_theline]

Bucky isn't really paying attention to Tony's body language right now. He's busy trying to figure out what their odds are in all of this. Bucky lays low, he's good at it. Tony is flashy suits and armor. The two don't seem like they'll mix. What choice do they have, though?

He gives Tony another quiet nod when he says the plates will shift. He curls his metal hand into a fist at his side, then shoves his hands into his pockets as well.

When the armor lands, he looks it up and down. Flashy. Red and blue, with a star.... he looks at Tony. "Did you... you made this for Steve?"

[starkingenuity]

“I made a lot of things for Steve,” Tony says, grumbled under his breath, before he walks around the armor to carefully check it out. The thing is solid enough, though he can’t remember the last time he had taken it out for calibration testing. Tapping on the star, the suit splits down the center like a cocoon.

Perhaps it’s not the most inviting thing for a man previously locked in various cryo chambers.

“FRIDAY will figure out the way you move and adapt. But you’re both boxers. It has a lot of that built in.”

[endof_theline]

Bucky eyes Tony, feeling a knot forming in his throat. They were friends- Tony and Steve. Bucky came along and messed everything up, and here Tony was with a suit of armor for Steve. If only...

He swallows thickly, pushing that grief back down again as Tony starts working the suit open. Bucky eyes the suit now, instead of watching Tony, another wave of anxiety hitting him. He has to get in that thing and it'll close around him. He could be stepping into his own death here.

Dramatic and paranoid.

"How am I gonna figure out how to work this thing? I'm not- not real good at technological things." And he's been avoiding it like the plague, still so stuck in the past, in so many ways.

[starkingenuity]

That does get a little lift of the lip from Stark. “You just do. You’re wearing it. It’s fool proof.” The system is intuitive. There are built in stabilizers. It’s been trained. The armor has muscle memory of a sort, all programmed and calibrated. “And like I said. You’ll have FRIDAY. She won’t let you fall.”

Tony can’t afford letting Barnes get hurt right now. Not even if it would make him so very pleased to see. This is the first time in the last hour that Tony remembers that he really doesn’t like Barnes. That he killed his mother. That it matters, even if Rogers didn’t think so.

Tony can’t rub the bridge of his nose or muss up his hair in the half armor he has on but he wants the tactile distraction just the same.

“You can give it verbal commands too, if you can’t figure something out. Like a search bar.”

[endof_theline]

Foolproof for someone who knows how to work things like this, but he barely even knows how to use a computer. And that's being generous. It would be great to hear what Tony is thinking on the inside, because all of that information would be useful to him, but all he gets is fool proof. Not very helpful.

"So I just tell it what to do and it does it?" He's still extremely hesitant about this. It almost feels like letting something else be in control of him again, even if Tony says he's the one giving commands. "A search bar?"

Does he know what that is? Vaguely.

Mostly he's just circling the suit, knowing he has to put it on, but feeling wildly uncomfortable about it.

[starkingenuity]

Rolling his eyes, Tony huffs loudly under his breath and gestures to the open armor. “Just get in.” There’s a reason Tony doesn’t teach, though MIT has been on him for years. The occasional talk he gives is bad enough. Someone always complains, usually because he can’t help but be superior to just about everyone. His brain is wired differently. “You’ll see. It’s intuitive.”

And he doesn’t have to try and figure out which words Bucky knows the meanings of.

The inside of the armor is dark, and hardly inviting. Tony isn’t claustrophobic and he takes for granted what it must be like for someone to be enveloped in armor. The fear would only be temporary of course. Once the helmet is in place, the face mask comes to life and the view is better than the regularly binocular vision of a standard human.

[endof_theline]

Bucky is about to narrow his eyes at Tony, but he catches himself before he does so. Tony doesn't deserve that. No matter what happened, he has every right to be angry, to be short with him- and he really hasn't even been.

Bucky's grateful for that, now that he has a moment to think about it.

"Intuitive..." he mutters to himself, coming back around to the front of the suit. He presses his lips together, then gets into the suit, eyes on the other man once he does so. He doesn't know if he's claustrophobic or not, but he hates this, so maybe he is. It wouldn't be surprising, considering he went from cryo, to being strapped down in a machine, or tossed into a small, dark cell.

His breathing speeds up as he looks over at Tony, trying not to freak out. "I don't know if I can do this."

[starkingenuity]

Is that…panic? Tony doesn’t intend to be heartless but he also revels in Barnes’ dismay and discomfort. The gauntlets around his hands and arms dissolve so he can tap the chest plate on the other armor and watch it zip itself up around Barnes. “Sure you can.”

The armor closes quickly, bathing Bucky in black for almost a full five seconds before the helmet’s dim blue light flashes on and the screen spread across Bucky’s vision. “Hello, Sergeant Barnes. Please give me thirty seconds to calibrate to your specifications.” FRIDAY is professional, even if Bucky is panicking.

[endof_theline]

Bucky wants to scream. Giving such a full blown weapon with armor to a broken super soldier who has been tortured for decades might not be the smartest thing. When everything goes black he considers punching right through it, his eyes squeezing shut as panic starts to take over.

It's five seconds and then the darkness is gone, but it doesn't feel that much better. The voice that sounds like it's in his head makes him jump in the suit, and he tries to move his arms.

How does this thing even know what his specifications are?!

"Stark!"

[starkingenuity]

“One moment, Sergeant,” FRIDAY insists, each of the screens coming online showing Bucky far too much information. He can literally see completely around his head, darting eyes switching the view until FRIDAY can calm his erratic twitches by turning down the screen sensitivity. “Weapons will be offline until the security clearance is given, but you can try to walk now. I will need to test your balance.”

Outside of the suit, Tony takes a step back. The lock on the limbs should be just about over and he doesn’t want to catch a super powered punch to the chest.

He vaguely hears Bucky’s voice from inside the helmet, and he tilts his head in front of the other helmet. “FRIDAY, visor up.”

[endof_theline]

One moment feels like another decade of being trapped in a thing where he can't think or move and he does try, but the whole suit seems solid around him.

He's seconds away from thrashing around, but then the visor on the suit goes up, and Bucky looks at Tony with wild eyes. He doesn't even register the voice in his head telling him that he needs to walk around and test his balance.

"Get me outta this thing. Get me out!"