advanced | For Tony Stark

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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[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.]

You know, you've got a lot of opinions for a guy that looks like a hobo.

[ Tony might start to feel offended in a moment. Not that he's expecting everyone to flatter him at all times, but jesus. ]

But fine, call it what you want. Where are we going again?

Someplace safe.

[He'd rather that Stark didn't know the exact location of one of his safe houses, but that can't be avoided with the amount of tech the man has at his disposal, he'll be able to pinpoint his own location with GPS in a microsecond.]

Where we can figure out if it'll be too dangerous to even attend this meeting, or if you should just go home.

[ There's that we again, but Tony's already learned that calling him on it will just make Barnes clam up again. It doesn't stop Tony from looking faintly amused, though. ]

Okay fine, have your secrets.

[ Honestly, Tony's oddly entertained by the whole thing. He doesn't often manage anything like secrecy or stealth, for obvious reasons. Having it done for him for something thats not quite a kidnapping is more interesting than it really should be. ]

[Bucky will have his secrets, thank you very much.

It takes almost a full hour for them to reach his safe house. Partly because he drives a convoluted route to make sure they're not being tailed, and partly because he insists on dumping the car over a mile away and taking to the warren of back streets and alleys.

Eventually he lets Stark into what looks like a bookshop. The shelves are still stocked and everything looks well maintained, but the only clue of what might have happened to keep it closed and currently empty is a faint smell of bleach in the air.]

[ Tony's eyebrows lift as he gets a good look at the place, but honestly he has been in worse. It's easy enough to save the bitching for when it will be really annoying. ]

You know, if you were just luring me somewhere creepy to kill me, we could have saved a whole lot of time.

[ There's no actual bite to the comment, though, and Tony's already wandering closer to peer at the shelves. ]

So now what?

I could've killed you on the plane if that was my intention.

[He moves to the back of the shop and opens a door, through which the smell of blood becomes sharp and a head with a bullet wound right in the middle of the forehead can be seen on the floor. Bucky ignores it, stepping over the corpse to pick up a duffel on the side and then return to the main room.]

Now we monitor the situation, work out if I get you into the meeting or extract you from the country.

Yeah that's kinda my point.

[ He turns to call after him, then goes completely still at the sight of the corpse in the other room. And Tony keeps staring even as Barnes reappears. ]

Did you -- did you seriously bring me to a safe house with a corpse in it? What about the term 'safe house' is it that eludes you, exactly?

[He glances back at the corpse with a small frown of confusion.]

It's safe in here, a corpse can't hurt you. It's dead.

[Obviously.]

That...

[ He trails off, staring. ]

Are you purposefully missing the point or what?

[ And then, just to be sure Bucky gets it, Tony folds his arms and makes sure to enunciate clearly. ]

Why is there a corpse here?

Because I killed him earlier.

[He doesn't see the problem with this.]

It's a HYDRA safehouse, but he was the only one manning it. He didn't get a chance to send off an alarm, relax.

[ He tips his head back to stare at the ceiling, searching for some kind of patience. Somehow, this is the guy who's managed to evade everyone for months. ]

And you couldn't have at least gotten rid of the body? I hate to be the one to tell you this, but they don't smell great after a while.

[ The fact that they're sitting in a Hydra facility, that Tony's going to have to deal with later. ]

We're not gonna be here long enough for it to start to smell, and if we leave it here then the only ones who find it will be HYDRA.

[Something ever so slightly darkly satisfied flickers across his face.]

I'd like them to see that I'm keeping my skills sharp.

[ Tony stares at him for a long moment, then throws his arms up in utter exasperation. ]

Great. I'm stuck an in enclosed space with an angry housecat.

[ He spins to get a look at the whole place, still irked, then turns to shoot Bucky a glance out of the corners of his eyes. ]

So what is the plan, then?

[The plan should have been to let Stark deal with his own kidnapper, disappear into the night, and forget he ever ran into one of the Avengers. But no, he's somehow given himself this stupid protect mission to pay back the kindness shown to him by someone who didn't have to, so now he's stood in an old HYDRA safe house with an obnoxious billionaire and not much idea what to do next.]

...I don't know.

[He very nearly sounds forlorn about it.]

[ ...okay not what he expected. Tony was kind of hoping there was some actual idea here and not just hiding in a small area with a dead body, but he should really know better than to hope for these kinds of things by now. ]

Right. Fine. Do you have some kind of line to the outside world?

[ First step: find out if anyone is still looking for him. ]

There's a phone in back, but you shouldn't use that, it'll be bugged.

[HYDRA safe house, after all, it would be remiss of them not to keep an eye on their own property.]

I can get you a phone, though.

[That's good, that's soothing, to have a sub-mission that's easy to achieve in the short term.]

[ Tony takes a long breath and lets it out slowly, but it does give him a moment to think it through. A burner is probably the better option, and there's a ton of things you can do with even the cheapest phones, if you know what you're doing. And he does.

He hasn't missed the way Barnes perked up at the thought, either. ]

Yeah, okay. Grab me a couple, if you can.

[He hesitates a moment before drawing a gun from the back of his waistband. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, easily concealable. He holds it out.]

Don’t move from here. Anyone arrives that’s not me, shoot them.

[ This time he makes absolutely no attempt to hide a very dramatic eyeroll, and holds up his still-gauntleted hand to wiggle the fingers. ]

I'm all set, remember? Believe me, it'll be quieter than a gunshot.

[Hmmmm, he’s unsure about this, but he doesn’t push the issue this time. He’s not even sure why he’s decided that Stark is under his protection right now, so why bother digging deeper into that.]

If I’m not back within an hour then I’ll have been compromised. Leave immediately because it won’t be safe any more.

[This is apparently how he mother hens now.]

You do remember I've done this kind of thing before, right?

[ It's mild, and more amused than not. Tony's a grown-ass superhero, thank you. ]

Go out and play, I can entertain myself.

[Stark is so irritatingly blase that Bucky is struck with a sudden urge to punch him in the face. As it is, he settles for glowering silently before disappearing out of the store and down the street.

He'll be gone for almost forty five minutes. It's not hard to get what he needs, people these days are so blind about what they don't want to see, and so he barely makes an impression on anyone as he gathers some money, a couple of burner phones, and some food supplies.

He pokes his head warily back into the store when he returns, checking for Stark.]

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