You Will Remember Me

Cracks in the Mask

BB

"Did you find her?" Bucky asked as he strode out of the elevator and into the lab. When he looked around for Tony, he didn't see him.

"When I sent you a text saying I needed to work on your arm, I really meant it." Tony said from around a corner. "Although it's not so much as 'work on it' as 'I wanna show you something.'"

Bucky followed his voice and rounded the corner to see Tony working on a brand new arm. This one was, for the most part, the same, but there were minute differences in the joints and the way the plates fit together. It wasn't all of the arm, only from the elbow down, but it was still amazing.

"They ever tell you how much your arm weighs?" Tony asked.

"I didn't need to know." Bucky replied, amazed at the new prosthetic on the table.

"Well," Tony said, sitting up from whatever it was he was working on in the arm. Bucky could see he had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and knew he probably hadn't slept last night either. "I can tell you this is going to weigh less. About what a normal arm weighs, actually. But it's even stronger than the one you've got now."

Bucky tentatively reached out to touch the smooth metal of the forearm.

"Wow," he breathed.

"And it's vibranium. Same stuff Cap's shield is made of."

"I thought that was all there was." Bucky said.

"There's a little place called Wakanda. I've got a few connections down there. I give a few billion bucks, they give me vibranium. That sort of thing." Tony shrugged.

Bucky's eyes widened at the mention of the concept of a few billion dollars. Let alone how nonchalant Tony was when he said he'd paid that much for what was sitting in front of him.

"Just wanted to show you what it looked like so far." Tony said.

"It's amazing." Bucky breathed. "Thanks, Tony."

"No problem. I still need to finish up the top half, but that shouldn't take long. Then, all we gotta do is swap 'em out. I'll have to call Bruce in for that; he knows more about all the nerve connections and stuff than I do, but you should have a new arm by the end of the week."

"Did you get it ready- oh." Bruce called, stopping when he saw Bucky. This time he wasn't wearing the lab coat and instead wore a dark purple button-up with the sleeves cuffed.

"Dr. Banner." Bucky said with a nod.

"Bucky." Bruce returned. "I see Tony was showing you your new arm."

"Yeah, and I figured you could fill him in on all the medical stuff." Tony said, once again busying himself with constructing the arm.

"Medical stuff?" Bucky asked.

"Nothing big, just what's going to happen when we attach the arm." Bruce replied, turning to Bucky. "In order to do this, you're going to have to be put under heavy anesthesia. As usual with those types of operations, no food or drink is permitted 12 hours prior."

Bucky's brow scrunched. He'd never had to have surgery done, so he was never familiar with that rule.

"It's so you don't get sick while we're working." Bruce provided, noticing his confused expression. Bucky gave a small nod. "Now as for the actual transfer, we're not exactly sure how long it's going to take. Depending on the damage done to the nerves already and how long it'll take to safely remove the appendage without causing further damage, it could take anywhere from three to six hours. This is extremely precise equipment we're working with, and it takes a while to connect it."