WinterIron one shots

Damsel-In-Distress

Word count: 788

Summery: Tony is kidnapped ( again!) and is taken as bait for the winter soldier - but tony stark is no damsel in distress.

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Just once, just once, it would be nice to wake up after a kidnapping to have a head that wasn't pounding like he'd been on a three day bender of mixed tequila and vodka.

"Rise and shine, Stark," grated a deep voice. "I know you're awake in there."

Tony pried one eye open to see a big guy looming over him. He was wearing a mask, an unimaginative thing made out to look sort of like a skull. "Are you kidding me?" he groaned. "I am sleeping with the scariest ghost story the intelligence world has ever known; you are not going to spook me with a dimestore mask, Jumbo." Tony rolled his eyes and closed them again. "Speaking of which, grabbing me was a pretty dumb move — I mean, all your moves have been pretty dumb so far, but picking me for your target was right at the top of the list. Bucky will be coming for me, you know."

"You think I don't know that?" the big guy chuckled. "You're nothing but bait in the trap, Stark. Do you know how grateful Hydra will be when I bring the Winter Soldier back into the fold? And don't get any funny ideas. You won't be able to get any signals through these walls and we confiscated all the gadgets you had in your pockets. You just sit tight until your little boy toy shows up, and if you don't make any trouble, we might let you go after we've got him back in custody."

Tony ignored that — it wasn't even a credible lie — to do a quick scan of the cell: thin mattress on a spring-shot cot, prison-style sink and toilet, two different surveillance cameras mounted in the ceiling, and a heavy steel door with a speaker grille.

As he turned to leave, the guy cow-kicked the chair Tony was tied to, knocking it over and making his head hurt a lot worse, and now... Well, now Tony was just pissed.

***

Bucky jumped out of the helicopter while it was still a good twenty feet off the ground, Steve close on his heels, leaving Clint and Tasha to land the thing and cover them. Bucky strode across the open ground between the clear landing area and the small cement building, not breaking stride even when he saw it was Tony on his feet and some other guy laying on his side in the dirt. "Tony," he bellowed over the noise of the helicopter's blades, "tell me you know me."

Tony cocked his head in apparent confusion and Bucky's stomach nearly dropped through the ground, but then Tony shouted back, "Why the hell wouldn't I know you? You're supposed to be happy when you successfully rescue your boyfriend, you dummy!"

Bucky nearly sagged with relief, but then broke into a run and caught Tony up in a rib-creaking hug. "Tasha says radio waves in the area are swamped with a signature that looks like the one the mindwipe," he said into Tony's ear, fighting through the lump in his throat. "Fuck, I was so scared."

"Hey, babe, it's okay, I'm fine, give or take a few bruises. This asshole didn't even— Wait. The mindwipe? They had it here? Is that what I cannibalized to make that static gun? The mindwipe machine?" Tony burst into laughter and leaned back in Bucky's embrace to toe his masked prisoner none-too-gently in the ribs. "No wonder you fell apart so fast. I thought I'd miscalibrated the damn thing!" He giggled some more until Bucky shut him up with a kiss.

Steve, in the meantime, checked the prisoner's bonds and then ripped the mask off his. "Oh, you."

Bucky looked over at the sound of disgust in Steve's voice, and felt his own innards turn to ice. Rumlow.

"You were the prize," Tony told Bucky. "I was just the bait. You know. Helpless, fragile, damsel -in-distress that I am." He pretended to swoon, and Bucky laughed and caught him as he fell over in a "faint".

"Poor little me," Tony sighed, hamming ridiculously. "Without my armor, I can barely even lift my feet to walk. You might have to carry me back to the helicopter."

"Whatever you say, dollface," Bucky said, scooping Tony up into his arms and grinning at Tony's shout of laughter. "C'mon, let's get you settled so I can have a look at those bruises. Steve can drag this idiot along." He kicked Rumlow in the stomach as he turned back toward the helicopter. "Oops, I slipped."