I Thought You Were Different: Part 6

Rushed

"Steve?"

The sound of Bucky's voice echoing across the living room normally wouldn't give Steve a start like it just did, but the tone of it was completely wrong. No, that wasn't the word he was going for. It wasn't wrong...it was familiar in a terrifying way. Terrifying and giving him almost a visceral reaction that he hadn't felt since the day he lost his grip and couldn't stop seeing his friend fall from the train. It was only the flash of a few seconds through his mind, but it was enough for Steve to drop his focus and turn it to the only one who mattered in this moment.

"Hey, Buck," he greeted, standing to meet his friend. "What's going on? I thought you were out with Sam today?"

"Steve? What the hell happened? Where are we? How did we get here? And...uh...I thought you were...s-smaller. Is that permanent?"

Steve took in a harsh, restrained breath that barely moved his chest, his muscles rigid in the frightening shock of revelation. They had gone through this conversation before, decades ago, on the day when Bucky first saw his transformation into Captain America. They were words that carried the harsh realization that the Bucky he knew today was gone. "Uh, yeah, Buck. It is. How about we go back to your room and talk about it, okay? We've got some catching up to do."

"Sure," he nodded, "I could go for a nap soon anyway. Your stories are always sure to knock me out." Bucky stretched his arms tall over his head, but he couldn't look away from Steve and the way their height was matched for what he believed to be the first time in as long as he knew the kid. "This is so weird. I don't know if I'm ever gonna get used to this. Did it hurt?"

"Yeah, a little, but I'm good now. Don't worry, you'll figure it out, bud. Come on." Steve took his arm and gently led him to turn back towards the elevator that would take them to the security of the living quarters upstairs. Having Bucky this close to an exit from the building only heightened Steve's worry that he might run. "Tell ya what, after you nap and when Sam gets home later, we can grab some lunch and get some fresh air. How does that sound?"

Bucky smiled contentedly, humming to himself at the idea of getting a little sun on his face after feeling cooped up in this building for too many days in a row. "Sounds great to me, pal. But I do have one more question."

"Shoot."

"Who the hell is Sam?"

~~~

Tony was at his wit's end, and he didn't have much for wits left to begin with. He had been working on a formula for days, barely sleeping or eating except for when Pepper happened to catch him, or when FRIDAY felt like being a little snitch. This was his pattern though, putting himself last when you needed to come first, or when the kids needed him, or even Steve no matter how infrequent that was. It was such a rarity, in fact, that he couldn't turn him away now when it was this important.

"This has to work," he mumbled under his breath, watching as FRIDAY analyzed his latest offering. "Come on, FRIDAY, tell me something good today." The seconds pounded in his head as he waited, each of them droning on and on like an eternity that existed within a mere minute of time. "Please, FRIDAY...just this one time."

"Boss," she finally spoke, "the odds are really slim, but this is the closest you've come to a reparative extraction for Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes. I believe that it's worth a go."

"Are you serious?"

There was a hesitant pause again, leaving a heavy silence around Tony that he could barely stand. If this really was it, and if this was going to save the two men that were so important to him and his family, then there was no time for patience.