Lives We've Lived

Covert

Tony and Peter slipped away easily enough. All it took was a little finagling of stories - Tony had told the team he was taking Peter overseas to see some historical sights, and the teen told Pepper he needed some help with a school project and Tony was taking him overseas. It was a remarkably well-accepted lie, but not without cause. Tony definitely would splurge on taking Peter overseas to help with school work.

The two were "borrowing" one of the planes from the SHIELD base. Peter had stripped down the GPS units and tracking, and the automatic remote piloting, while Tony had quickly uploaded his own cloaking device. As far as anyone could tell, there was a completely unmarked plane flying to the outskirts of Cherykaw, Belarus.

"Think it's him?"

"Winter, you mean?" Tony looked over at Peter with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe. Could be a little Bucky, a little Winter. You never told me how you knew him."

Peter has a fond smile on his face, one that made Tony in turn smile.

"We were on mission together, actually." Tony's eyes widened a bit. He hadn't known Peter was assigned to missions of that caliber. "It was the first time I was working with him. He took one look at me, barely 10 years old and shaking like a leaf, and he just goes 'этот ребенок не протянет и дня'. I didn't know who he was, not really, so I just go launching over the table and at his face, and he was almost too startled to stop me. I got a good few hits in before he starts laughing, like, really laughing. I had no idea what was going on. He told me later that night, when we were being deployed, that he liked my spunk. Said I reminded him of an old friend and he wanted to be there for me. He ended up saving my life on that mission, and we just sort of gravitated to one another." (Translation: This child won't last a day.)

Tony started laughing hard, his own shoulder shaking with his huffs. "Oh, God, that's almost exactly how I introduced myself! I nearly took his eyes out when he heard I was going to work on the arm. He just said 'он собирается это исправить?' and I hated the way he emphasized 'he' so I just came at his face." (Translation: he's going to fix it?)

Peter laughed his own shaking laugh, and suddenly the plane was a lot less tense.

"I wonder if he'll recognize me," Peter murmured. "It's been so long."

"I'm sure he will. You saw him more recently than I did."

Peter hummed a little. He didn't want to overstep any boundaries with Tony, and he certainly didn't want to alienate the only living, blood relative he had, but... "Winter was kind of like my dad. He looked out for me and protected me. Used to patch me up after missions, too, and he always waited until the Handlers had their backs turned and then he would kiss my hands."

Tony smiled a little. "Sounds just like him."

Peter looked up at Tony with squinted eyes. "So what exactly happened between you two?"

"Excuse me?"

"Were you like brothers? Secret comrades plotting an escape? Lovers?" Peter wiggled his eyebrows and Tony shoved his shoulder playfully.

"Knock it off, kid." Tony looked back over the control panel and out into the dark sky. His eyes were unfocused, like he was staring past the nose of the plane into the nothingness around them. After a moment or two, he whispered "он был моим лучшим другом." (Translation: He was my best friend.)

"Что случилось?" (Translation: What happened?)

Tony just shook his head. "Я ушел." (Translation: I left.)

The rest of the plane ride was silent and tense once again.

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As soon as Peter spotted the nice motel-like hostel on the edge of the town, he knew that's where they would find Winter. Tony didn't question it.

"Мы ищем друга," Tony said to the lady at the front desk, launching into a description of Winter's hair and eyes. The lady nodded along, her own eyes lighting up when she recognized who they were looking for. (Translation: We're looking for a friend.)

"Третья дверь на втором этаже." (Translation: Third door on the second floor.)

Tony and Peter made their way upstairs, carefully watching out for any HYDRA agents or SHEILD agents looking for Winter. "Why here?" Tony asked in English, hoping it would be less likely overheard in a predominantly Russian-speaking country.

"Winter told me once that if you want to disappear, you have to pick something unexpected. HYDRA and SHIELD are going to be looking for the shittiest place in the village, and when that doesn't pan out, they'll look for the nicest. This is the mid-ground. This is the last choice for HYDRA, so it's the first choice for Winter."

Tony smirked a little. "I don't know if I should be proud or disappointed at how wonderful my son is as a spy."

Peter gave him a lopsided smile.

Tony found the room which was supposed to be Winter's and rapt his knuckles against it. There was shuffling inside, then the door swung open and there he was. Winter. Bucky. Winter.

"Anoshka? Petya?"

Peter rocketed past Tony and into Winter's chest, wrapping his arms around Winter's middle. The startled man returned the hug tentatively, then with all the fierceness he could muster. Winter picked Peter up and spun him around before setting him back down and pulling Tony into the room.

"Что ты здесь делаешь? Как вы познакомились? Что... Что здесь происходит?" (Translation: What are you doing here? How do you know each other? What is... What's going on here?)

Tony looked over his shoulder again and pushed the door shut with his foot. "Ты все еще говоришь по-английски?" (Translation: You speaking English still?)

"A little," Winter said, his voice rough and heavily accented. "Why?"

"Safer. People don't speak it as much here." Peter was checking the windows carefully, pulling the blinds closed and making sure the room was secure. "Are you Winter right now? Or Bucky?"

"Both," Winter said quietly. "It... confusing."

Tony and Peter looked at one another. Tony was starting to get worried, but it was nothing they hadn't prepared for. "Want to come home with us? We can fix you up and make it less confusing."

Winter looked between his two best friends - his mechanical engineer and the boy he'd saved more times than he could count. He bit his lip, worrying the pale pink between white teeth. There was risk, sure, but was it any worse than hiding in some half-way decent hostel? Was it really such a risk if it was Tony and Peter, though? Would they betray him? Where did they even live now? Where would they take him? What would-

The spiraling panic in his chest wasn't easing up at all, so Winter just cut his thought off and looked up at the two people he trusted most.

"Yes."