he’d heard about the other - not just from Rogers, with the few but significant memories the other had chosen to share with him. most of it had been whenever the blond dropped in on him with coffee, or the promise of something almost resembling real food, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t memorized each & every comment, filing it away on the OFF CHANCE he might possibly, maybe need it n the future. he hadn’t really envisioned actually needing it but the moment JARVIS had pinged him to let him know there was a breach, there was a small part of him that just wondered. not a lot of people could DROP IN UNANNOUNCED but a former Soviet assassin… that might make the list of maybes.
the last thing he expects is the word help but blinking, he can see the tangle of electrical wires, some sparking, all of them some varying degree of exposed. ‘ … right, ’ he says with a sense of resignation. there’s a semi-stable assassin in my workshop doesn’t really cross his mind fully before the more curious part of his brain shelves the thought in the face of a potential project. ‘ JARVIS, scan and upload for me. ’ he already knows that Steve isn’t too far away, & if need be JARVIS can definitely ping the star spangled MAN WITH A PLAN, but for now he’s content to find out how bad this damage is while the others go on, blissfully unaware a bit longer.
this is the same reckless curiosity that had him confront Loki alone in his tower over a drink. the trip out the penthouse window had ended well enough, so it was hardly a reason for him to be deterred now.… right? ‘ what happened? ’ he asks, tapping the arm a little harder than necessary & feeling some of the plating give. ‘ someone pull out the QUEEN OF DIAMONDS at a bad time? ’ the arm is a lot more complex than he’d thought. ‘ here, lay out for me. I’m taking the entire thing off if I can. easier for me to figure out what went wrong. ’
he’s not calling that voice in the walls, so that’s a good sign. god, he’s still fucking unnerved that there’s a voice in the walls. hydra had technology, but ai systems were years off. the only voices he’d heard were pa communications and even then, they weren’t as intellectual as . . . jarvis? james’ brows furrow at that. what the fuck is a jarvis?
he gets his answer in the form of sudden blaring light, and tension coils through his spine, his muscles tightening and causing jolts of pain that run straight up and down his spinal column. they register as bright flares on the sudden image of himself in front of him, one that rapidly shifts into something that’s skeletal and muscular, showing key points of damage. from this view, he can see how the arm’s structure is bolted into his sternum, his hip. the way the wires are twisted all through his spine.
his eyes widen, and he’s too fixated on the image to register how close tony is until the man is tapping at his arm, and the plates give with a soft noise. more sparks fizzle, and james grinds his teeth in defense against the pain. the reference flies over his head, and he furrows his brows, but he carefully lays himself down, only to inhale sharp. “ take it off? ” he doesn’t even know if the damn thing does that, with how it’s attached to him. “ . . . does it come off? ” there’s a press of his tongue against the backs of his teeth, and he turns his head away.
“ thought a safehouse was abandoned. not as empty as i thought. ” it’s an easy admittance that he’d fucked up, and gotten involved with hydra, who were all too keen to get their hands on him again. the rest of it is a strange blur.
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