Thawing Out

Thawing Out

A.N. Okay you guys, Bucky being forgiven by Tony and joining the Avengers needs to be a thing. Since it is not yet a thing, we have to get by with fanfiction. My take on how that ice-breaking (hehe) conversation would go (of course, I must actually physically confine them to get them talking lol). Please review and let me know if it's any good. It really makes my day

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"You could do it now, you know" a pair of piercing eyes fixed themselves on Tony. He was currently trapped under what remained of an upended bus and a sizeable portion of the bridge it had been travelling under with both legs out of action. The armour had shorted out, leaving him virtually paralysed below the waist until assistance arrived. Not the best position to be in. It was made considerably worse by the present company.

Almost buried by rubble a few paces away from him lay the Winter Soldier. Former Winter Soldier, Tony reminded himself. This man was one of the reasons that the Avengers were all assembled for the first time in over a year in a small city in the middle of northern Europe, fighting off marauding ice giants. He was the reason Tony hadn't spoken to Steve Rogers in as long. He was also the reason that Tony hadn't had parents since he was in his late teens. Tony had almost ended his life the day the Avengers had separated, the day he had seen how his mother and father had died. A flash of lethal lights from the gauntlets of the Iron Man suit was all it would have taken if Steve hadn't intervened. Tony was glad now that he hadn't killed Barnes that day. Being glad to see him though? He was still working on that.

"Do what, exactly?" snapped Tony, dark eyes flashing in annoyance "in case you haven't noticed, I can't move!"

"You can shoot, though" the soft voice spoke again.

Tony realised his meaning "I'm not gonna kill you" he growled.

"What's changed since Siberia?"

"I did some reading. Looked at your file. Enough to give a guy nightmares. The most deadly assassin of his age. Terrifyingly good with pretty much any weapon and all that. Mind you, the really sick stuff doesn't start until the intel on HYDRA itself. They mucked you up pretty good, didn't they, Barnes?"

'Mucking up' was putting it lightly. Tony had vaguely heard of what they did to him but he hadn't truly understood until he saw the file. For decades, they had burned away his memory and identity, used pretty much every torture technique and mind-altering drug going to condition him into complete obedience and trained him to be the perfect killer. Then they periodically let their dog loose on the world. Once his work was done, his reward was to be shoved back into cryofreeze. If he put a toe out of line, they would start the process again. To his own disgust, Tony had watched the footage, unable to fathom how one person could survive such agony for so long.

Yet here he was, virtually daring Tony to kill him.

Barnes nodded thoughtfully.

"When you said you remembered...what you did. You telling the truth?" Tony asked him.

"Yeah. I..." He stopped, seeming to realise the inadequacy of 'sorry'. "Your father, he was a brilliant man. I knew him. From the War. He made Steve all his gear. We didn't get the chance to talk that much but...I had a lot of respect for him."

"Not enough to stop yourself murdering him though!" the words were out before Tony could stop them. They looked sharply at each other before Tony added a hasty "sorry, that was uncalled for."

"You wouldn't believe how much I want to take it all back" Barnes sighed, closing his eyes against a grimace of shame and pain with a sharp intake of breath, his chest shuddering slightly.

Tony thought back, to his pre-Iron Man days. Those years of feckless profiteering from war, never caring as much about the results of the deals he profited from as where his next fix of sex and alcohol was going to come from. Ever since his parents died, Tony had lived a life of hedonistic abandon. He had barely even glanced at what Obadiah was doing with the company his parents built. As long as the money and good times kept flowing then he was happy. Or at least what could pass for happy. Thank God for flying shrapnel and wake up calls. And he had chosen to live his life that way. Barnes had had no say in his. He could almost hear the first conversation he had had with Wanda, the day he had got her released from the Raft.

"You know what he's protecting? The Winter Soldier. The guy who killed God knows how many people including, might I add, my folks."

"Like you killed mine, Mr. Stark?" She had asked, tilting her head "this man had no more control than you did. In fact, from what I heard, he had less." That had given him pause. The letter from Steve had been the final straw. He had to know whether he had been right about Barnes. Apart from reviewing the files, he had visited the remains of the Smithsonian exhibit on the Howling Commandos, currently in storage after the Accords fiasco. Barnes had been a war hero and by all the accounts of his comrades, a compassionate, fiercely loyal and brave human being. Tony considered the pictures of a smiling, charming guy with shorter hair from the 40's and the image his eyes were sending him of the man before him now. Were they of the same person? Could they be?  Steve firmly believed it.

"I think I would" Tony eventually replied. Barnes opened his eyes and faced Tony with a puzzled frown "Let's just say I wasn't one for responsibility until a few years ago when I started to give a damn about what Stark Industries were doing and, uh, people got hurt. Innocent people."

"You used to make weapons. HYDRA got hold of some." Barnes said half to himself.

"That doesn't really make me feel better, Soldier."

"Not your fault. And please don't call me that. My name is Bucky."

"Fine." Another slightly awkward silence broke out. Tony hated those so attempted to fill it "I was always closer to my Mom. My old man, well, he always measured me up to other people, Steve mainly. Wanted me to join the army for a while. Thought it might make me step up a bit. I shot down that idea pretty quick."

"S'not for everyone. Steve was desperate." Barnes mused "He tried to enlist nearly ten goddam times. Funny thing is, I had to get called up. Didn't wanna leave him on his own."

"Yeah. He told me. Seems he had a bit of an inferiority complex."

"Steve was never inferior. To anyone." a hint of anger flashed in those intense blue eyes.

"I'd be the last person to say he was." Tony held up a placating hand "looks like you're getting that addled brain of yours in order, anyway." Another silence. They were getting less awkward now. Being trapped was getting more uncomfortable though. Tony was beginning to get concerned about the circulation in his legs.

"So, Barnes, how'd you get us this gig, anyway?"

"The giant glowing portal was hard to miss. I called Steve in. He called everyone."

Tony laughed in spite of himself. 'Well damn me if I'm not starting to actually like this guy' he thought. "You know this whole fugitive thing is gonna get old, don't you? What would you say to coming back in the world? I have the Tower in New York refurbished."

"You want us to join the team? We can't. We're criminals remember?" Tony was impressed at the relative lack of bitterness in his tone.

"True. Saving the world, though...that might just get you a pardon. Or at least a fair hearing."

"What about you?"

"What d'ya mean?"

"Do you forgive me for what...the Soldier did? Cause if I'm on the team, I can't spend every minute looking over my shoulder. I've been doing that for too long."

After all he had found out Tony finally meant it "hey, I just offered you a place, didn't I? Yeah, I do. I forgive you. Reckon the world should too."

"Well that makes one of us." A shadow passed over Barnes' expression. Tony recognised the toll that guilt could take on a person.

"Hey, look HYDRA were the killers. You were another victim. I see that now. They just didn't have the guts to actually pull the trigger."

A slow, tired smile spread across Bucky's face "I'll think about it, coming back. Gotta run it past Steve first."

"'Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers, inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield'" Tony quoted "You gonna keep following him around, huh?" Tony shook his head.

"Why not? I've been doing it my whole life. Besides, I owe him."

"You and me both, Barnes. He could do with hurrying up a bit though. Pretty soon my legs won't ever move again!" Tony groused.

"He's coming. He always does. Give him another minute."

At that moment, a red, white and blue disc of vibranium smashed through one of the windows. Barnes shot Tony a look that screamed 'what did I tell you?'