"Done? Done with what?"
"This," he stopped, turning to face you. In his hands was a headset type of device that looked like a pair of high-tech glasses, still blinking and active as he held it up for you to see. "It's something that I worked on back at MIT. It's uh...retro-framer to block traumatic memories in the hippocampus. Expensive as hell, but at the time I was pretty desperate to block a lot of shit. Seemed easier than just dealing with it at the time, but you know me, better to just cut the wire."
"So what were you doing with it in there?"
"I don't know what the hell it is about that guy in there," he answered, pointing the device towards the room with an angry scowl, "but when your little experiment failed and almost got everyone killed, Rogers came to me, practically begging to try this on the jackass. So I thought about it," he paused, purposefully dropping the anger from his posture, "and I thought that if you were so determined to help, then...there has to be a redeeming quality in the guy somewhere. But even more than that..." he stopped again, this time staying silent and lowering his gaze to the floor.
"More than what, Tony?" you pressed, taking a step forward only to have him take one back.
"If I could do something to help...to fix him...then maybe there would be something for you to be proud of me for. And I know, you don't feel the same about me, and I get that-"
"Tony-"
"No, don't," he interrupted, a hand up to stop you and with another step back, "it's okay, (Y/N). You're right, we're too different, and it was a bad idea. I just want you to think that I'm not such a bad guy at least, and that I can...I can forgive. If you think that Barnes is worth another chance, then I'll give him one."
With that, before you could give chase, he turned away and left, his steps quickening with each one in the hopes that you weren't following. You thought about going after him, but you didn't know what you would say if you caught up to him anyway, so you held your place. You watched him until he was fully out of sight, wanting him to turn around to at least look back at you so that you knew there was still something there, a connection if nothing else. When he didn't, for the first time, you felt as if he were a stranger to you, but it was at your own doing. You had told him that you didn't love him because Bucky's memories were stealing your own mind from you, but now that they were gone, you were left with the pain you had inflicted, and no way to heal it. Maybe Tony would forgive you if you explained it, but the look in his eyes when he turned away was like nothing you had ever seen from him before, and it left you afraid to try.
"(Y/N)? Are you coming in?"
You took a deep breath and turned back to the voice coming from the doorway, letting out a heavy exhalation of relief at the sight of Bucky standing there, looking like himself and almost happy if that could be the right word for it. "Buck? Are you...did Tony..."
"Come here," was all he said, rushing forward with his arms open wide to lift you to him in a tight hug, spinning you around with a hum of contentment from his throat. "See, nothing's happening. You don't have to be afraid of me, and I don't have to be afraid to hurt you anymore."
"Oh my god, it worked," you smiled widely, pushing back to look at him. "It worked, didn't it?"
"I think so!"
"Bucky, that's amazing!"
"What's amazing is that Stark agreed," Steve joined in. He walked up to the two of you as Bucky rested you back down onto your feet, his arm still around you as if it were natural to keep it there. "I thanked him when he left, but I need to do more. He had no reason to do this, and I've been scouring my brain to figure out why he did."
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Not All Wounds Heal
FanfictionWith her powers as a healer, the reader has been working with the Avengers since the fall of SHIELD, but her new role with the high-profile team has made her into an easy target for Hydra. When Nick takes the action to fake her death and remove fro...
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