#tho i may write some serious background for bucky if anyone is interested

[wintersoldierland]

The Universe Out There

To say that Tony has been having one hell of a day would be an understatement. 

He’s still not exactly sure what happened, and he’s a certified genius. That’s saying something about the level of crazy happening on Earth. Aliens. Aliens are pretty crazy.

Also, his small suicidal stunt.

Now, Tony isn’t suicidal. At least not really openly and he doesn’t exactly want to die, but he’s ready to do it, if necessary. A bomb flying towards New York is a pretty big thing, pretty understandable too, and Tony was the only one capable of taking care of it.

Well, apparently not the only one, which brings him to the other thing making this day crazy.

Namely, the handsome man holding him in his arms, smiling down at him. Tony’s brain is usually pretty fast, but he just was in space and saw a big ass ship explode, so he’s allowed to be a bit slow.

The man has those gorgeous blue eyes that still shine with a bit of residual energy that Tony saw back in space. Because he’s pretty sure he didn’t make up the man actually shining with some weird internal energy and flying with him into the portal.

He looks around and, from his teammates’ faces, concludes that no, he didn’t make it up.

“What the hell?” Steve asks, and wow, Tony was not expecting to hear Captain America swearing. “Bucky?”

Okay, that’s something.

Tony looks up ay the man holding him, hazy brain finally connecting the dots. Now, that he has some confirmation it’s not hard to recognize James Barnes, a decorated war hero who died in World War 2 but is somehow standing there, smirking.

“How?”

Barnes winces and finally sets him down carefully. Tony doesn't even stumble, his suit suddenly light and lively. And oh, how much he wants to find out what the hell did Barnes do to his suit to make him survive the outer space. 

“That’s a long story, punk,” Barnes rasps. Holy shit, even his voice is sexy. Tony really needs to get a grip on himself. “Can we at least, I dunno, get outta here?”

Tony looks around and agrees. Everything is trashed and he suddenly feels ravenous.

“Want some shwarma?” he asks lightly, smirking at the others.

“Never had that,” Barnes chimes in, and Tony turns to him with a gasp. The other man shrugs. “They don’t have that in space, I think.”

That just brings more questions than answers, and Tony’s itching to ask them all, but they really should get going. A quick glance at Rogers tells him that he’s not the only one with questions, and wow, Barton makes a good impression of a fish. They’re all shaken, apparently.

Somehow, they manage to get into a miraculously open place and settle around a table. It’s silent, just the city around them slowly coming back to life, but Rogers is staring at Barnes as if he’s seeing a ghost and Tony can’t even try to read Romanoff. Everything is weird.

Questions ask when they finally get their food.

“Buck,” Rogers starts, suddenly misty-eyed. “H-how?”

Barnes winces again. “That’s a very long story, Stevie,” he mutters, before rolling his eyes. “Well, obviously, I’m gonna tell ‘em everythin’! I’m not an idiot, Hal.”

“Who’s Hal?” Tony asks before he can stop himself. Everyone glares at him, but Barnes just laughs. 

“He’s an A.I.,” he explains fondly. “And a mother-hen if I ever saw one.”

“You have an A.I? I have one too, his name is Jarvis!” Jarvis has been quiet, but Tony knows he’s fine, all the information he usually displays is there, and the suit is functioning so… “What did you do to my suit?”

“Saved your life, dumbass,” Barnes rolls his eyes and then laughs when Tony scowls. He needs some answers. “I saw that your suit was failing, so I lent you some of my nanites, to make sure you won’t die.”

“Die?” Rogers chokes, making Tony wince. He never wanted to actually tell his teammates what happened up there.

“Doe-eyed there,” Barnes starts, motioning towards Tony and making him blush lightly. He can’t remember the last time he blushed. “Flew up there knowing that his suit won’t keep him alive, so when I noticed that, I gave him some of the nanites that made my suit. There was already an A.I to keep everything together, so they worked as a power source for the cute reactor you have there.”

Tony stares. That’s...something he never thought possible. Now that he thinks of it, yeah, Barnes was wearing something else than what he’s wearing now - a black and navy skintight suit with golden stripes on the arm. It looks kind of soft and not suited for the battle.

“Nanites?” he asks again, recovering before anyone else does. “How?”

Barnes shrugs and smiles at him. “Earth ain‘t the most advanced, y’know. My tech is probably years ahead of yours, but gotta say, you’re doing somethin’ else. Your tech is awesome.”

Tony preens under the praise. It’s one thing to be complimented by his friends, and another by a hot man that’s from space apparently and has tech that Tony can only dream about now.

“Thanks, I try,” he replies dryly, trying to keep up his image. Barnes winks.

“Bucky,” Rogers speaks up again, apparently back in game. “How did you survive.”

“You always ask the worst questions, don’t’chu?” Barnes laughs. “I fell, Stevie, and HYDRA got me.”

In the silence that falls after that statement, Tony can almost feel everyone’s heartbeat. Out of all the things he expected, this wasn't one of that.

“HYDRA?” he croaks, throat dry.

Barnes nods, eyes suddenly dark and haunted, dangerous. “If I hadn’t gotten away when I did, I suspect many things would be different. They called it project Winter Soldier.”

“International assassin,” Natasha mutters, drawing everyone’s eyes. “He existed, at least until a few years ago. They probably wanted to recreate it on a different person but…”

“I was kidnapped in World War 2,” Barnes sighs. “They did some experiments, won’t bore you with details, but basically they made me a perfect candidate. When they found me, they kept me there for 15 years, until I escaped.”

Seeing their shocked gazes Barnes adds, “Brainwashing with electrotherapy and ingrained commands to activate the Soldier. A work in progress when I escaped.”

Tony now wishes he didn’t ask. Brainwashing, mind-control… He shudders at the thought of what torture would one has to go through to make it stick.

“But I did escape!” Barnes chimes in with a smile, lifting the mood. “Stop thinkin’ ‘bout what would’ve been, punk, nothin’ good comes from it. I escaped after 15 years and, with the help of powers and coincidences that I still don’t fully understand, ended up in space. Deep space.”

They all make shocked noises, even Natasha. It’s one thing to mention it in passing, and another to actually say it like it’s nothing.

“For a while, I thought it would’ve been better if I stayed with HYDRA,” Barnes says jokingly, but Tony can see the darkness in his eyes. There’s a story behind those words, maybe more than one, but he won’t push. There are some stories that no one is allowed to hear. “But it god better, kind of. And look at me now! I’ve seen things I never dreamed about. I do things and help so many people, so many different species. I have the universe in front of me, with endless possibilities.”

Wonder almost radiates from those words. Suddenly, Tony finds himself longing to see what Barnes see, to find out if it’s really as amazing as the man is describing. From what little he saw of outer space, it always seemed dark and cold and lonely. But Barnes’ eyes shine when he speaks of space and Tony is a weak weak man.

“The universe out there is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Barnes finishes quietly. “Especially from the bridge of my ship, with my crew.”

 That catches his attention. “That ship in space…” Tony starts.

“Yeah,” Barnes shrugs. “That’s my ship, Event Horizon.”

“Named after a phenomenon in general relativity,” Bruce chuckles quietly, smiling. “That’s clever.”

Barnes laughs and rubs the back of his neck, suddenly bashful. “Yeah, kind of.” A light blush works its way into his face. “At first, it was named Singularity, but then I checked in with Earth and saw this shitty shitty movie, called Event Horizon, from 1997…”

For a while, Tony is silent, and then he bursts out laughing.

“O-oh my God,” he chokes. “You named your ship after a shitty sci-fi horror movie?!”

“Yeah,” Barnes shrugs, still blushing. “I couldn’t help myself! And then I checked the translation and it actually fit my fascination with black holes and everything.”

Bruce is also chuckling, visibly more relaxed now, and Tony really really likes Barnes. Even with his whole mysterious aura (that’s kind of hot), he’s cheeky and down to Earth, which is kind of ironic. 

Then, Fury calls and ruins everything. “Avengers? Report!”

Suddenly, Barnes sits up straight and smirks. “Avengers, Nick?” he purrs, chuckling at the silence on the other side of the comm. “I’m sure Carol will be honoured. And also pissed. A bomb? Really?”

A few moments of silence, and then, “I’ll be waiting in the Tower.”

Barnes smirks and stands up. “Ready? That’s gonna be fun.”

Maybe Tony didn’t imagine his day getting this weird, and maybe if Barnes weren’t here things would be different, but for some reason, he prefers the more crazy version.

Crazy has never been so hot, after all.

Part 1