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tisfan · 7 years ago

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Slack Water, Part Four

Name of Piece: Slack Water Part Four: Palagic Square: S5 - Seeing Red Ship: Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark Rating: M Major Tags: flashbacks of torture, graphic violence Summary: Starfish gets some of his memories back and learns more about the Chimera projects at Hydra. Created For @tonystarkbingo

Part One: Ripples | Part Two: Gyre | Part Three: Phytotelma

Palagic

Starfish didn’t have any time; he could already feel the vibrations in the floor of manthings, at least two, headed their way. He let himself out of the cavern with the tanks, scurried up the wall to the ceiling and shifted color. Just before the manthings touched the portal that would take them to a wailing, crying Tony, Starfish dropped onto one, wrapping two arms around the thing’s neck and squeezing.

He slid another arm down, grasping at the tools of the mansthing, that they wore around their middle.

Gun

The thing in his arm, the mansthing that wasn’t part of him provided the word, slid information into Starfish’s brain of how it worked. Too loud. Another grab and he pulled out a sharp stick --

Blade

-- whatever.

Wrapped another arm around the second mansthing’s chest, pulled it in close. The mansthing opened its mouth to make noise, to call others. Starfish shoved his hand into the mansthing’s mouth, blocking the sound, then yelped, as the mansthing bit him. Its teeth weren’t sharp, but the bite tore his skin, crushed one finger. It hurt.

No. No, you don’t get to eat any more of me.

Monsters. They were all monsters, horrible creatures that died in the water and took from the seas without regard.

Starfish used the sharp stick to stab it, over and over. In its face, in its chest, in its belly until it stopped moving.

It bled the same color that Starfish bled.

The other quit struggling, stopped futilely tearing at Starfish’s thick skin, stopped trying to pry the coils from around its throat.

Starfish stabbed that one, too, just in case.

When they were both dead, Starfish dragged them aside, into another room, full of incomprehensible stuff, the stuff and tools and things of mansthings. The flat things, full of kelps that held and bound him, tools of pain. Tools that cut and bit, that--

Starfish turned away. Even if there were things there that he could use, he couldn’t bring himself to touch them.

A smaller cave, filled with sweet water. Starfish slithered into it, wetting his skin. It was clean, exactly the right level of salt. He curled into the bottom of the tank, breathing in the water. When he climbed out again, sated and feeling much better, the tank rolled away from him. It had… it had manthings on it.

Wheels. The dark voice in his head seemed almost contemptuous, like Starfish was a fry, for not knowing the words of the mansthings. Monsters, beasts, cruel for the sake of cruelty, Starfish knew some of their words, but they were ugly words. Still, the wheeled water that was a thing worth considering. He used yet another arm to drag it along behind him.

The next cavern, past the -- Lab -- (shut up, shut up, leave me alone!) was full of other, useless mansthings.

Computers.

Soft whirs and beeps. The air was cool and dry, uncomfortable against Starfish’s skin. He dragged the mansthing over the floor, found small caverns and stuffed them in. He took the tools of the mansthing--

keycard.

Stop it, stop it, stop it. Starfish pounded himself in the head, the voice was aggravating and insistent and it didn’t belong to him. He didn’t want it.

He stretched out his arms, yanked at the tools that the mansthing carried until Starfish had taken everything he thought he might need. Two other arms were exploring, making sure this cavern was safe, at least for the moment--

“--Winter soldier project,” a voice boomed. Starfish screeched, turned colors to blend, seeking--

computer.

“--is a creature apparently synthesized by the biological pairing of two or more dissimilar living beings into a new, complete form displaying attributes of its components. Residents of deep sea, but adaptable to most climes, chimera are resilient in body. A fragile mental state renders many of the creatures unsuitable for combat --see files Mer001 through Mer105, but several subspecies, as described below, have potential to reach biological weapon stages. Chimeric research has seen very few significant strides and has been described as a science built upon countless dead ends and false starts. The creatures are little more than simple animals, but with proper application of conditioning programs, they can be--”

Starfish drew closer to the computer, head tilted as images flashed.

“--subject Mer107, self-identifies as ‘Bucky’, has been fitted with one of several intended prosthetics, designed for combat applications--”

Bucky.

Starfish leaned even closer, until his nose touched the little tank. Pictures flashed, and he knew himself, screaming as the manthings cut at him, struggling, struggling. Shocks and pain. He mewled, backed away from pain remembered. They had hurt him, hurt him until he gave them his name, and then they’d hurt him again until he’d forgotten it.

Conditioning.

Leave me alone.

“--subject Mer04, not capable of speech. Training has proved ineffective. Continue to modification inserts.” That was Tony, his Tony. A device, glowing and blue and soft. Pretty, like the bioluminescent runners along Tony’s tail. “--rc-reactor almost ready, implantation to begin--”

They were going to put that thing, that soft, pretty thing, on his Tony. If they meant to do it, it was no good thing. Bucky didn’t understand it, that the device, once it touched Tony’s skin, would burrow in, wrap itself around Tony’s heart, would spin its tendrils throughout Tony’s body. To do what?

Compliance and control.

There were voices then, in the connecting cavern, shouts, exclamations. One of the mansthing’s tiny stars lit, red and hostile, swirling and blinking.

The portal to the tank cavern slammed open.

Tony!

Bucky tightened his hold on the weapons. Dragged the wheeled waters behind him. The arm, the mansthing arm, grabbed for the gun, moved itself as if it knew what it was doing with the tool. Bucky let it. He slithered as fast as he could, coils moving him light and easy across the floor, and the tank of water followed behind him, a little heavy, but Bucky could manage. The portal to the tanks was open, there were mansthings in there, threatening his Tony, his! With sharp sticks and guns, demanding answers that Tony couldn’t possibly give them.

They hurt, just to hurt. They caused harm just for the sake of cruelty.

Bucky raised the gun, steady. The metal fingers pulled back.

The thing exploded in his hand, louder than anything Bucky had ever heard in his life. He slammed the end of one tentacle, the fingers of his flesh hand, into his ears and screamed.

The metal arm didn’t hesitate.

Or stop.

Bang!

Moved a little, squeezed again.

The mansthings were screaming, four dead, five dead. Six…

One of them fired its own gun.

The tank that contained his Tony exploded.

Water gushed from the glass like a wound, spilling everywhere. The mansthings fell, were scattered.

The metal arm kept squeezing the life out of them until the gun in its hand stopped making sounds. He threw it aside, ready to go to war with sharp sticks and his teeth if he had to, but there were none left to stand against him.

The water swirled and eddied and flowed away.

Tony was struggling, reaching for the water as if he could hold it, gills flapping uselessly.

Starfish!

I come, I--

But it hadn’t been a plea, had it? Tony was trying to tell him--

A slice of pain across his back, a rush of hot blood. Bucky turned, arms grabbing everything until the mansthing was suspended, stretched out like the starfish that Tony called Bucky. They are cruel, for the sake of cruelty.

Bucky ripped the mansthing into pieces and threw the pieces aside.

Tony…

Tony wasn’t moving. He wasn’t arching and falling and splashing uselessly in the puddles.

Tony, Tony, no!

Bucky scurried across the wet floor, faster than he’d ever moved before. He scooped up the daggerfish, pulling him close. I’ve got you, I’ve got you.

There was no time, and Bucky dropped Tony into the portable tank.

The daggerfish sunk straight to the bottom and didn’t move.

No, Tony!

Bucky beat on the glass, tried to wake him up. Tony. Tony, please, please don’t die, I was as fast as I could be, don’t die, don’t die on me, please…. TONY.

Tony stirred, made a soft, sad sound. Just five more minutes.

Tony! Bucky crawled into the water, wrapping his arms around the daggerfish, cuddling close. Tony, you’re alive.

More cuddles? Tony patted Bucky’s shoulder with weak fingers. More kisses?

All the kisses you want.

#tonystarkbingo2018 #tonystarkbingo #tony stark #Bucky barnes #mermaid AU #dark fic #torture

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