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.

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[starkingenuity]

If Tony knew about Bucky’s optimism, he might actually feel something other than dread. In his mind, the reason the quinjets are all out is because the Avengers scrambled and were taken down.

He doesn’t know what they’ll find in the damaged vehicle but he’s too surprised to begin voicing his thoughts on it in preparation. “You want— That’s smart, but not if you’re going to freak out again,” he points out. “You’re going to have to trust me a little.”

The thought makes him smirk, even as he goes back out into the hallway to step inside his own armor. He’s not used to using it this way anymore but until he cleans off the blood, he doesn’t really want to risk having it dissolve back into the reactor on his chest.

[endof_theline]

Bucky doesn't work in teams. He doesn't remember what it's like. Every man for himself, he figures. Except that's not what the Avengers are about. Bucky just doesn't think that far ahead when it comes to teamwork- he also doesn't know how many quinjets there were in the first place, or how many people were at that compound. He remembers Steve mentioning it once, but that's about it. It's less about optimism, and more about him not having a clue.

Bucky presses his lips together. The fact that Tony is asking him to trust him- well, maybe that's enough for Bucky to trust him. Before this he would have been wary of it. He would have said no way- but this is a dire situation.

They have to trust each other

"I'm not gonna freak out again," he mutters. But he also means I'll trust you, even if he doesn't say it out loud.

Once they reach the rooftop, Bucky is on high alert again. Everything smells of smoke and fire. The color of the city is changing as well. "I think... it would help if you gave me a little more information." Just a quick rundown of the suit and how it functions, maybe. Something he can focus on while he gets inside.

[starkingenuity]

Tony’s lips curl. It might be the smell. It might be the ludicrous possibility that they will survive another day. It might just be that Bucky wants him to describe the armor in a way he’d understand. As if he could. In fact, Tony’s first instinct is to be insulting.

Everyone would roll their eyes and slap an ‘eccentric’ label on him before he got a pass. There just isn’t an everyone anymore. Standing up on the roof is driving that point home.

So, against his better judgement, and without too many nicknames, Tony goes through the mechanisms and the commands that Bucky will need to learn to control the armor. “Talk to FRIDAY like she’s a person.” Because she is. “She will keep you safe. And make sure you don’t turtle out.”

[endof_theline]

Bucky doesn't know Tony well enough. Doesn't know him at all really, aside from those few short encounters where things didn't go so well. Tony's tenacious, stubborn, doesn't back down. Tony is willing to listen when he's not faced with an impossible choice. That's what he knows.

He'd appreciate Tony explaining and going through the mechanisms a lot more if he knew this wasn't how Tony really went about things. The explanations, the tone, it all helps.

Bucky takes it all in, trying to stay clinical about it. He's been through far worse than this so he clenches his jaw, gives a nod and climbs into the suit, waiting for it to close around him again. "Talk to FRIDAY like she's a person. Got it. I'll be fine this time."

[starkingenuity]

Again. Rude. You’ve been with Tony for almost half a day now. How can you not know him intrinsically by now?

Tony would scoff at Barnes’ neglect. He believes himself to be top of everyone’s mind. Perhaps that’s why he gets so invested in people. And why he feels so let down by them even if the feelings are so often one sided or manufactured.

Side eying Bucky, Tony nods. “Good. I don’t want you busting that armor open.” It means a lot to him. Even if Cap never knew about it. “Resources might end up being pretty scarce for repairs. No more premade parts and I’m not about to make my own screws.”

[endof_theline]

They'll get to know each other well enough, it seems. They're all they've got.

That's another thing to think about, though. Resources and supplies. They have a few things now, but they'll run out soon enough- especially collecting more survivors. Bucky doesn't know how to be around people, but he's gonna have to get used to it soon enough.

"Alright- close it up." He isn't going to bust it open. He doesn't think he can anyway. He's seen just how tough this armor is. "Let's find this quinjet." He's assuming the coordinates will be in this suit as well. FRIDAY is in charge of both of them now.

[starkingenuity]

“Be gentle,” Tony says to FRIDAY under his breath, out of amusement rather than kindness. He doesn’t feel too much towards Bucky, which is actually a pretty big achievement. The general dislike and anger has faded. It’s a step firmly in the right direction.

The armor closes up around Bucky, and the faceplate reforms over Tony’s face. He knows there is still blood, dead but walking around blood, over the front of his armor. He does his best not think about it, but if he should happen to find himself over water, he is going to take a dip.

Unfortunately, that is not where FRIDAY is sending them. On the border of Brooklyn, closer to Queens than Manhattan, is where the quinjet lies. Tony frowns as he zooms in on the wreckage. The thing looks damaged. The area around it is quiet. “Barnes? Holding up?”

[endof_theline]

It's hard to feel things when the world is ending around them. Bucky's just grateful that Tony isn't trying to blow his arm off again. Anything could happen in this suit, he imagines, but- he feels like they really are in this now.

Together.

Bucky tries to breath slowly as the armor closes around him. The feeling of it makes his skin crawl, but he doesn't freak out the way he did before. Tony's run through helped. Flying is a whole other thing. It takes a lot of getting used to. Once they're up in the air though, heading toward their destination, he has that to focus on. Is FRIDAY calibrating his moves? He's not sure, but he still moves forward, still beside Tony. It would actually be quite magnificent, of all of this didn't feel so damn devastating.

"Yeah- yeah I'm here." He's holding up enough. The wreckage below is not. "Looks clear, but I can do a quick fly around the perimeter just to make sure."

[starkingenuity]

Bucky Barnes had gone from a full clown panic attack to “quick fly around” in record time. It does make him laugh, though Tony’s voice doesn’t travel outside of the helmet. He lands, and his face appears on the HUD inside of Bucky’s suit. “That might be a good idea. Cover me.”

He doesn’t wait for any confirmation. Tony is used to being solo, though there been some synergy developed between the Avengers during their time together. He tells himself he doesn’t miss it. Especially because the last time he’d fought alongside a friend, that friend lost his ability to walk unaided.

And was currently dead and eating people.

Tony is careful, letting the armor take the weight of the debris that had fallen on the quinjet. He moves cement and rebar slowly, scanning for any movement.

[endof_theline]

Bucky is quick to adapt in mission settings, Tony will probably realize. Sooner rather than later. It's how he's been programmed for decades and this really isn't much different from a mission.

Oddly enough, Tony's face on the HUD is more comforting than disconcerting. How about that.

He'll cover Tony, flying around the area to make sure it's clear. So far there's no movement, nothing indicating that there's anyone around- not dead or alive. "Does this suit have heat sensors?" He's supposed to ask FRIDAY, but he isn't used to talking to an AI.

[starkingenuity]

“There are, Sergeant. I’ve illuminated the screen for you,” FRIDAY answers. Tony is too busy cutting into the hull of the quinjet.

True to her word, the AI flashes the border of the sensor screen and it shows bright only around the melting metal. Even Tony isn’t pinging the sensors.

As if anticipating the question, the AI responds: “the reactor doesn’t give off heat and has shielding. You won’t show while inside the armor either, Sergeant.”

[endof_theline]

It's still strange to hear that voice in his head, but Tony seems to trust it... her completely, so he's going to have to work on trusting it as well. So far she hasn't led them astray.

He scans the screen for heat signatures, about to ask why he can't see Tony, when FRIDAY speaks up again. "That's creepy," he mutters, and he definitely means both that Tony doesn't show up, and that she knew exactly what he was going to ask.

"I don't see any heat signatures. Or... anything else," he tells Tony, then flies back over to him to help with the quinjet salvage mission. He clears more debris from the side of the jet, then comes to help remove the melting metal.

"This thing looks pretty damaged."

[starkingenuity]

“The engine should be all right,” Tony responds, not saying no to the help. Barnes is strong already and the armor will just enhance it. That’s what it was made for. “That panel should be ready to push in,” he directs the other man, stepping back to let FRIDAY fully assess the structural integrity of the ship.

She confirms it’s safe, at least from collapse, and will be able to take their weight once inside. Good enough for him.

“Go slow. The armor is loud if you don’t ease into each step. Let’s not try to rouse suspicion. No lights.” The armor will put up a wire display for Barnes. It looks like a video game in his helmet.

[endof_theline]

Bucky gives a nod, acutely aware of his movements. He can be as quiet as a ghost when he moves, and he intends to keep it that way, even in this armor. It really is as intuitive as Stark said it would be.

He goes slow, pushing the panel in, then hesitates as he sees everything on the screen. He's never played a video game before. "What am I looking at? Do you know what to do with this?"

[starkingenuity]

Even with the simulation, the darkness, and the overall quiet that the helmets provide them, Tony still whispers. “It’s a grid outline of what’s in front of you. Sensor display without Doppler radar. Night vision without the need for pinprick light at the lens.”

The hallway in front of them is meshed in green. The utility box is orange, the edges visible to avoid tripping. Iron Man stands out on blue as a humanoid shape.

“Don’t move your head quickly or the image will distort too badly.”

So far, though, everything looks normal. The damage outside the quinjet did not make it to the interior.

“If anyone is here, it’ll be at the cockpit.”