Star Dust (A Paladin Adventure)

End of year

I hastily set up a furnace in the back yard so that I could make the alloy for Bucky's arm. Samuel had also sent along a form that had arrived a couple days after the delivery of the vibranium. What he'd done was a 3D mapping of Bucky's right arm and shoulder, then made a mirror-image copy, reduced the size slightly to accommodate the metal, then had it printed out. It enabled me to make  his arm like a glove that slipped over the form and would be as close to perfectly symmetrical as possible. While I was at it, I made two arms, in case he did something stupid like punching an alien jet again, although the second arm was just the form. I was sure that Samuel would want to level up on the electronics until it was indistinguishable from Bucky's organic arm. Then maybe make it better. We had a couple of surprises, too. Plus there was a sensory net; think a fabric much finer than the tulle used to fluff out skirts. This really was a glove; once I very carefully slid it over the arm, I fused the metal between the sensors to the arm. It used something like a WiFi signal to transmit the data from the sensors to connectors inside the arm. Then there was an electroconductive liquid that the arm had to be dipped into repeatedly to both protect the sensors and to provide an adequate coating. I knew it was done when the surface was all level. The coating provided a matte surface that also didn't conduct heat very well, so the metal didn't heat up in the sun any more than skin would. Samuel had supplied me with "fingerprints;" reverse versions of the friction ridges on Bucky's right hand and palm. I applied these; they would allow for an improved ability to pick up things. Fingerprints: they're not just for identification. With every iteration, hooking up the chipsets and wiring got easier and faster.

Four days before Christmas, I presented Bucky with his new arm. I used my laptop to Skype Samuel, and we all waited in anticipation as I carefully attached the arm after snapping the connectors together. We watched breathlessly as Bucky started to move the hand and arm, grinning broadly as he did. Samuel had sent along some gizmos to precisely measure function in the hand and help Bucky calibrate his grip strength to his other hand. There were sensory tests; he giggled when I ran a feather  on the inside of his bicep and made a face at the ice cube test. He reported sensations very close to what he felt with his organic arm, except for feeling air currents; there for some reason, the artificial arm tested much better sensitivity. There was another version of the disabling feature I'd used when he'd had the nightmares, then the fun things. If he moved his pinky finger a certain way, the tip opened up for a powerful LED flashlight. It didn't protrude,  the light was positioned very close to the end and ran on the energy produced by his body. A movement that immobilized the middle finger and opened the top there as well concealed a taser, and Samuel had sent along a whole boxful of replacement cartridges. This was connected to a next-gen battery that was recharged over time with the same energy that powered his flashlight.  The index finger had a small switchblade; it telescoped into itself so the finger joints all had full articulation and could punch through the end of the finger if necessary, although obviously, that wasn't the optimal solution. The thumb had a compartment for storage of something small. Bucky was thrilled with the additional features.

I gave Batman a set of cufflinks that had a bold design in enamel; the decorative element were disks concealing a tracking device so that even if he was Bruce Wayne, professional billionaire, he could still drop a tracker into a pocket or briefcase of somebody suspicious to follow up with later. I made Batgirl a pendant that looked like solid silver but which contained a small USB drive; she'd said she liked computers. I sent that along with a small pendant for Selina. I also had a small gift for Deadpool. I sent presents to my non-hero friends like Pepper and May.

Christmas morning, Bucky and Steve came over to exchange presents. Steve didn't sleep over  on nights when I patrolled or he was going to be late. Sometimes he even stayed up at the tower. I was still plagued by nightmares, and they were worse when he wasn't snuggled up beside me, but I didn't want to be greedy. I'd gotten Bucky a lambswool mattress pad in a (not so stealthy) bid to make his bed more comfortable. It really bothered me for some reason that his bed was so hard. It would also make him warmer; his down comforter was plenty warm, but it seemed he felt colder when he was under stress or in less than a positive state of mind.  For Steve, I'd gotten some leather-bound sketchbooks and an assortment of pens, pencils, and erasers.