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For Tony Stark

[He's been on the run for what feels like decades, but is really only a few months. He knows he's doing a good job at being hidden because ever since the helicarriers fell out of the air there hasn't been a single confirmed sighting of him, and he knows that Steve is looking. Not just Steve, either. He's just not ready to be found yet.

The easiest way to move between countries, he's found, is by stowing away on private chartered flights. They're usually less attended than commercial flights, and if he can get on board then it's fairly easy to avoid the one or two passengers and crew. He has no idea that the flight he's stowed away on is Tony Stark's private jet, and that it's only Tony himself on board.

At least not until he hears a disembodied voice speaking throughout the plane once they're in the air. It's JARVIS, not that he has any idea who that is.]

Sir, scans of the plane show that there's a man crouching in your cargo hold. I wasn't aware you were transporting any men today.

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Fine, then you give me the number and I'll do it from a payphone.

[His jaw sets as if he's preparing for an argument on that.]

You're my mission. [It slips out without him really noticing.] That means you listen to what I say.

[ Both of Tony's eyebrows shoot straight upwards. ]

Okay first, I'm pretty sure that's not how it works, and second, when exactly did we agree on that?

[ Not even going to get into the idea of Barnes chatting with JARVIS. The very idea is weird enough. ]

[His brow furrows as he catches up to what he's said and tries to sort through the implications.]

We didn't, I decided. So give me the number to call.

Oh my god. Fine.

[ Much as Tony enjoys a good argument, this is not the hill he want to die on. At the moment, anyway. And he also doesn't want JARVIS to accidentally call the cavalry and really put Barnes on edge.

So he gives him a number, a direct line through, and just has to hope he won't realize exactly what it is. ]

Tell him Lazarus Protocol not required. He'll know what it means.

Fine.

[He drives them about two miles into the city until he sees a payphone and pulls up at the side of the road, giving Stark a glare that says 'stay here until I get back or I'll break one of your feet to keep you from running away again', and disappears to call the provided number.

It's weird, talking to an AI, but he gives the message as directed and heads back to the car. Stark better still be there.]

[ Tony is in fact still there, feet up on the dashboard while he messes with his phone like he's just been waiting for Barnes to get back from a bathroom break or something. He shoots the man a sardonic look as he climbs back behind the wheel. ]

Satisfied? Or do we need to be on the lookout for aliens too?

[ Okay it, might be a joke about the paranoia, but the sad thing about Tony's life lately is that it could genuinely be a concern. ]

I don't know, have you pissed off some aliens recently too?

[It's only half serious for him, but it's not like they don't know aliens exist at this point. He might have been in cold storage during the Chitauri invasion, but he's heard about it since.]

You can be an annoying guy.

You've known me for like an hour, you don't get to have opinions on my character.

[ Which isn't a denial, notably. And even if he was feeling like actually being offended, Tony is much more interested in teasing out those little moments of actual personality from the guy. They're fleeting, but they make an interesting picture when they do show up. ]

I've been researching you longer than that.

[It's on the tip of his tongue to say that Howard had been just as bad, but he recoils from the thought almost physically. There's something there that he doesn't want to touch right now, a bad road for both of them.]

I'm flattered.

[ It comes out deadpan, but there's a hint of something almost curious underneath. What exactly had an assassin been looking for? ]

Find anything good?

You weren't classified as a threat.

[He was a threat to HYDRA, but in Bucky's own research he hadn't factored as more than a minor threat.]

You weren't likely to help anyone with the search for me.

Rude.

[ He doesn't sound particularly offended, though. More like curious. ]

How do you know I didn't help?

Everything I found said that you don't get on too well with Steve, and you have your own projects. Seemed likely you wouldn't abandon them for a wild goose chase after a dead man.

[Also, there was a small possibility at the time that Tony had already known who had killed his parents. But that's obviously not so.]

[ Well that's...both true and not true, and Tony shifts a little bit in his seat. ]

Steve and I get on fine.

[ Which is not the main issue here, but it is the easiest one to speak to. Sort of. ]

Besides, he didn't ask.

[Bucky raises an eyebrow, a pretty expressive show of scepticism for him, though it doesn't bleed into his voice.]

Sure, if you say so.

[He still thinks he's right.]

So you would've helped?

Might've. Guess we'll never know.

[ Since he's already promised that he won't tell Steve. Tony is actually intending to hold to that. For now. ]

What do you care, anyway? You're still hiding.

It's good to know if my profiling is wrong, helps for the future.

[He has no shame at all about spying on the Avengers.]

What, you just going to keep stalking us? Because that's not creepy at all.

[ Though if it means he has an interest, maybe he won't go quite as far to ground. It's probably a good thing, even if Tony's thinking more for his sake than for Steve's at the moment. Barnes is apparently plenty damn amusing on his own, and Tony's kind of appreciating his take not shit attitude. When it's not directed at him, anyway. ]

Is it?

[The question is asked with a tiny ring of genuine curiosity to it. He's lost so much of what it means to be human and is only getting it piecemeal, and he's never really thought of his surveillance in any other terms than survival before. Is it creepy? Does that matter?]

Guess a lot of people would say that I'm creepy anyway.

You could work on that, you know.

[ Not that Tony Stark is an expert on social graces. But he at least knows the rules he's breaking. ]

Step one is probably to get a haircut.

I don't think I care if people think I'm creepy.

[Maybe he will one day, that would be nice.]

I don't socialise, and it's better if people don't get too close usually, so maybe it's a good thing.

Yeah, for someone who doesn't want people close, you've been doing a lot of following me.

[ He doesn't sound all that upset about it, really. Hard to have a problem with someone saving your ass. Even if Tony totally had it covered. ]

You're not doing to badly at the socializing thing anyway.

Maybe that's just proof that you're pretty bad at socialising too.

[But it's oddly nice to hear, and he's warming to the concept of company much more than he thought he would.]

Besides, following someone isn't the same, that's just surveillance or protection detail.

I'll have you know I am extremely charming.

[ Sometimes, anyway. But that's not the point. His eyes flick towards Bucky like he's registered that small break in his armor. And it's never really a good idea to encourage him. ]

Still means you're getting close to someone, technically. And here we are!

[ He gestures around them with excessive cheer. ]

[There's an almost overwhelming urge to just bolt there and then, and leave Stark to his stupid posturing about getting close to people. Instead, he just rolls his eyes.]

You're not charming, you're rich, and people'll think anything is charming for enough money.

[He's not intending to be overly cruel, mostly because he thinks that's a fairly obvious truth.]

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