Run

The car ride to the airport was silent. The silver briefcase with Bucky’s arm in it sat between them and Bucky shifted his shoulders uncomfortably, looking at it. After a while, he looked away.
“You aren’t going to fight me about putting your arm back on,” Tony commented and Bucky only glanced over at him from where he had been staring out the window and glared with poison in his eyes.
Tony pulled into the airport and led Bucky to the plane. Bucky didn’t want to take the plane. He didn’t want to leave DC or his hotel room and he didn’t want to go to Stark Tower with this man he was still somewhat suspicious of, but Tony refused to take no for an answer. He ushered Bucky onto the plane and gave his pilot the okay.
“Cheer up,” Tony said, settling into his seat by the window and glancing across the spacious plane where Bucky had taken a seat as far away from him as possible. “It’ll be thirty, forty minutes tops.”
One nearly silent plane ride later and Bucky and Tony arrived at Stark Tower. The tower was huge and it drew attention to itself. Bucky looked away from it. He didn’t like it. Tony strode up into the building, Bucky trailing behind, his one hand in his pocket. He kept a wary eye out for Steve.
“I’ve got Bruce over, if you don’t mind,” Tony commented over his shoulder to Bucky, briefcase in hand, as he led him onto an elevator. “He was curious about your arm, too.”
“Who’s Bruce?” Bucky asked.
“A friend,” Tony replied. “Avenger.” Tony looked over at him, standing together on the elevator and used his hands to demonstrate. “Big, green sometimes. Got a bit of a temper. Ring a bell?” Bucky shook his head. “Huh. Well, I guess you were a soldier-cicle as well, you’re a bit behind, right?”
“I was a what,” Bucky said, caught off-guard by the awkward phrase, but Tony didn’t explain. They were already at the top of the tower and the elevator doors opened.
“Bruce! Steve! I’m back with soldier-cicle number two,” Tony said loudly, striding into the lobby. Bucky followed him, taking in the large room quickly, his shoulders hunched. He was suddenly overly aware of his missing arm and felt embarrassed. He saw Steve across the room standing slowly from where he had been sitting on the couch and their eyes met. Bucky looked away quickly. He didn’t want to linger on Steve, who looked like his heart had been broken all over again just to see Bucky walk into the room.
“He doesn’t want to be here,” Tony explained patronizingly to the man beside Steve, presumably Bruce. “He’s a little surly.”
Everyone looked at Bucky as though they expected him to make some sort of comment about his so-called surliness, but Bucky only looked away and remained silent. He didn’t have anything to say.
“It’s not so bad,” Bruce said in a quiet voice, a smile on his mouth, as though he meant to cheer Bucky up. “Tony is only annoying seventy percent of the time.” Bucky saw Steve crack a grin out of the corner of his eye.
“Excuse me?” Tony retorted. “I’m supposed to be the funny one!”
They really did seem like nice guys, from what Bucky could tell. He’d certainly known worse, that was for sure. And Bucky felt the urge to smile a little, to say something, to joke with them, but he found he’d completely forgotten how to do that. Instead, he ground his teeth and swallowed, staring into the ground, feeling not for the first time another part of himself that he’d lost.
While Bucky had been thinking, Steve had approached him and spoke now. Bucky looked up.
“Do you have any luggage?” Steve was asking. “I’ll help you with your room, if you want. Tony has a bunch of guest rooms around here.”
“I didn’t bring anything,” Bucky said. What he really meant was that he didn’t have anything, but he didn’t want to sound like he was complaining. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of his lack of things. He didn’t want Steve’s pity.
Steve was still surprised.
“Nothing?” He said incredulously. “No extra clothes or…” He trailed off and Bucky didn’t respond. He didn’t shake his head. The question hanging in the air answered itself. Steve took a breath in through his nose. “Alright,” he said, attempting to recover. “Okay, well, we can get you something later.”
“I just need a laundromat,” Bucky said. He wasn’t keen on a shopping date.
“Well, you can have one of those, too,” Steve said stubbornly. Bucky frowned. He looked to Tony.
"How long do I have to be here," he asked. Tony shrugged.
“Bruce and I’ll look at your arm and take a guess. Hopefully not long,” Tony said. Bucky wasn’t sure if he was supposed to feel offended or not, but either way, he didn’t mind the dig. The Winter Soldier wasn’t exactly fun to be around.
"Here, come on," Steve was saying, a bit gently, a little hesitantly, and Bucky looked over at him again. “Let me show you where you’re staying at?”
Something in Bucky wanted to run.