Bucky wasn't dead, which meant Mario couldn't stuff him into his inventory like a block of cobblestone. Inconvenient, but not insurmountable.
He dragged his prize, wrapped so tightly in capture nets that he looked like a mummy, back up to the second floor of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. The fight was winding down.
Fury was deep in conversation with an Army officer when Mario emerged from the stairwell. The moment Fury spotted him, he broke away and walked over.
"Coulson's been shot."
Mario dropped Bucky on the floor and nodded. "I know. Already gave him medicine for it. He's fine."
Fury's expression shifted.
"No, I mean he got shot again. Natasha's with him now. We need you to—"
"Again?" Mario was already moving before Fury finished. "Where?"
He burst into Fury's office to find Coulson unconscious on the floor, Natasha kneeling beside him with both hands pressed against his abdomen. Blood seeped between her fingers.
"What the hell happened? How did he get shot twice in one day?"
He dropped to his knees and pulled a healing potion from his inventory. He pried Coulson's mouth open and poured the glowing liquid down his throat.
The bullet wound in his abdomen began to close. The bullet itself was pushed out as new tissue formed, clinking onto the floor in a pool of blood.
Color returned to Coulson's face almost instantly. Mario let out a breath.
Natasha had seen the healing potions work before, but witnessing them again surprised her by how effective they were.
If we could take a few bottles of that on missions, our survival rate would increase exponentially.
She stood up, and looked at Mario. "Can it heal internal injuries?"
Her hand moved unconsciously to her lower abdomen.
Mario caught the gesture and raised an eyebrow. He knew exactly what she was asking about. The Red Room's "graduation ceremony," mandatory sterilization to make their agents more efficient operatives. It was one of her deepest regrets, something that would haunt her for years.
"No idea. But there's one way to find out."
He pulled another healing potion from his inventory and held it out. "Try it. See what happens."
Natasha stared at the bottle for a long moment, then took it and drank it down in one gulp.
Warmth spread through her body immediately. Years of accumulated damage from countless fights, falls, and near-death experiences seemed to melt away. She closed her eyes, savoring the sensation.
When she opened them again, there was something different in her expression.
"Thank you."
Mario waved it off. "Don't mention it. Though you'll have to get yourself checked out to see if it actually worked."
"Ahem." Coulson's voice came from the floor. "Could you two maybe remember there's a wounded agent down here? I think I'm still worth saving."
Mario looked down to see him staring up at them. The wound had healed, but the potion didn't restore stamina or energy. He looked exhausted.
"How you feeling? Can you stand?"
He extended a hand. Coulson grabbed it and hauled himself upright, moving like every muscle in his body hurt.
"I was hiding in the corner. That bullet must have ricocheted at least twice to hit me. There's no other explanation."
Usually Coulson was all charm. Right now he just looked fed up with the entire situation.
"At least it didn't hit anything vital."
Natasha picked up the bullet from the floor and tossed it to him. "Souvenir. That's a rare experience, getting shot twice in one day."
Coulson caught it, examined it briefly, then reached into his jacket and pulled out another bullet. "You're right. Very rare indeed."
Natasha stared. "You kept the bullet from last time?"
"Call me sentimental."
Mario decided to intervene before this could get any weirder. "Alright, looks like Fury brought in military backup. Hydra's getting their asses kicked, which means my work here is pretty much done."
He glanced at Fury, who had entered the office during the healing. "Though I have a feeling you're about to get very busy. We crushed the Hydra cells at headquarters, but the organization has branches worldwide. They'll regroup, choose a new leader, and go back underground."
Fury's expression was grim. "That's what I'm afraid of. Pierce's death will force them to reorganize, but it won't stop them."
"Which is why you need to move fast," Mario said. "But that's your problem, not mine. Can someone give me a ride home? I've got cargo to deliver."
Tony's voice came from the doorway, accompanied by the sound of armored footsteps. "I'll go with you."
---
The S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter touched down on the landing pad outside Mario's workshop twenty minutes later. Mario emerged first, dragging Bucky's cocooned form behind him. Tony followed.
"Why did you bring him back?" he asked the moment they were off the helipad. His armor's sensors had identified the body inside the netting within seconds.
Mario turned to face Tony with a grin. "All my equipment got destroyed by Hydra. Rebuilding from scratch would take forever, so I figured I'd trade for some supplies."
Tony felt uncomfortable under that grin. Of course, he wasn't stupid; he knew exactly what Mario was planning. Ever since becoming Iron Man, Stark Industries' stock had skyrocketed uncontrollably anyway. Now he was mostly curious to see how Mario planned to convince him.
He followed Mario into the workshop and down into the underground lab. The space had been completely transformed since his last visit. The entire floor had been transformed into a reinforced underground bunker and laboratory. The space was several times larger now, and a team of researchers were deep in discussion about various experiments.
Since they'd lost their original equipment, they were using cheap, hastily purchased laptops to simulate their experiments.
The arrival of Mario and Tony immediately drew every eye in the room.
Mario addressed the group with a casual wave. "Everyone, take five. The guys who attacked us have paid the price, and our exosuit project can finally move forward."
Excitement spread instantly across the room. Several of them were eyeing Tony like he was a puzzle they desperately wanted to solve, or possibly dissect.
Tony stepped out of his armor, which folded itself into a compact form behind him. His eyes immediately found Ivan, who was working at a bench with only one arm.
For a moment, he looked like he wanted to say something. Then his better judgment kicked in and he kept his mouth shut.
Mario dragged Bucky over to Ivan's workspace and started removing the capture nets. "This is what I promised you. The metal arm."
Ivan stared at the unconscious man, then at Mario.
"You want me to take his arm?" He hadn't expected Mario's idea of "acquiring" a metal arm to be quite this literal. But considering what Mario had already done for him and his father, he wasn't about to complain.
"Unless you know another way to get a cybernetic limb on short notice."
"..."
That's when things got awkward.
Bucky's eyes were open, staring straight up at them. Apparently he'd regained consciousness at some point during the trip, but wrapped in a dozen layers of capture netting, even his enhanced strength and cybernetic arm weren't enough to break free.
Mario and Bucky locked eyes.
Mario spoke first. "Should I knock you out again, or are you going to close your eyes and play dead?"
Bucky just stared at him with an expression that clearly said: what the fuck is wrong with you?
Even brainwashed into a killing machine, and with most of his memories wiped, he couldn't quite suppress the urge to tell this asshole exactly what he thought of him.
Seeing that Bucky had no intention of cooperating, Mario turned to Ivan. "Knock him out. What's about to happen isn't something he needs to see."
Ivan glanced at Bucky, then reached under his shirt and pulled out a massive wrench that had no business fitting under there. Noticing Mario's stunned expression, he just grinned.
Tony quickly stepped forward. "Whoa, hold up. If you hit him with that thing, he's not going to pass out, he's going to die. Let me handle this."
He pulled a small device from his pocket and pressed it against Bucky's neck. Instantly, the Winter Soldier's body went rigid, muscles trembling uncontrollably as electricity coursed through him.
The device worked fast. Bucky lasted maybe fifteen seconds before his eyes rolled back and he went limp.
Mario nodded in satisfaction. "Nice gadget. Compact, effective. We should make some of these ourselves, I bet they'd come in handy."
He was already planning a full line of vampire hunter equipment, clothing, weapons, and useful tools that he could lend to members. They'd pay him back from their bounties after killing vampires.
"It's just a basic taser, nothing complicated."
Ivan nodded and studied the unconscious Bucky. He ran through his mental database trying to place the man, but came up empty. He'd never seen this person before.
"Who is he?"
Mario finished removing the last of the capture nets. "The Winter Soldier. Hydra's project, brainwashed, enhanced, and turned into their personal attack puppet."
He tapped Bucky's metal arm with his knuckles. "And this is the arm I promised you. See if you can figure out how to remove it."
Ivan crouched down to examine the limb more closely. Tony, unable to resist, moved over to join the inspection.
Mario stayed back, letting the engineers work.
Half an hour later, after what could generously be called a "technical discussion" between Ivan and Tony, which mostly involved Ivan proving that even with one arm, he could still physically intimidate a billionaire genius, they'd reached a conclusion.
Ivan looked up at Mario. "This arm is fully integrated with his skeletal and nervous systems. We can't remove it without amputating the entire arm at the shoulder."
Mario's response was to pull out a healing potion and toss it onto the workbench.
Ivan caught the bottle.
"But let's wait a bit. He was a hero during World War II, after all. At least give the man anesthetic."
Even though the basement had been nicely renovated, they didn't have proper surgical equipment. Removing Bucky's arm the way they'd have to do it, with basic tools and no pain management, would be brutal. And while Bucky had done terrible things under Hydra's control, that didn't erase who he'd been before. Mario could be ruthless, but that ruthlessness was reserved for people who deserved it.
Tony perked up at Ivan's comment. "Wait, WWII hero? Hold on—" He turned toward his armor. "JARVIS, pull up information on World War II soldier James Buchanan Barnes, codename Bucky."
J.A.R.V.I.S.'s response was fast. "James Buchanan Barnes. Born 1917. Sergeant in the 107th Infantry Regiment. Member of the Howling Commandos under Captain Steve Rogers. Presumed killed in action 1945 after falling from a train in the Alps during a mission against HYDRA."
Tony's expression shifted as he processed the information. He'd seen that name before, prominently displayed in the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian.
He was a businessman through and through, but he had respect for the WWII generation. He might relentlessly mock Rogers, but he still accepted Cap's leadership of the Avengers without serious argument.
After J.A.R.V.I.S. finished his report, Ivan showed no particular reaction. Neither did Mario. They weren't American, the history didn't carry the same emotional weight for them.
Tony stepped closer to the unconscious Bucky. "If you need a mechanical arm, I can build one for you. I guarantee its performance will match or exceed his."
His meaning was clear: he was hoping Mario wouldn't torture a war hero.
Mario met Tony's gaze.
"We'll handle the arm ourselves. I'm pretty sure Ivan already has ideas after examining this one." He wasn't about to let Tony get involved with something this crucial, even though he knew Tony wouldn't sabotage it.
"But I do need you to help me acquire equipment and materials. I'll need your name and connections, you know there are things money alone can't buy."
Tony agreed. As long as he wasn't being completely taken advantage of, he could work with it. He glanced down at the still-unconscious Bucky.
"What are you planning to do with him after you take the arm?"
Mario's grin carried multiple layers of meaning. "I'll keep him. Feed him well, make sure he's healthy. Eventually, someone's going to show up with either a big pile of cash to rescue him or orders to eliminate him."
For someone like Bucky, brainwashed and conditioned by Hydra, the solution was simple in Mario's mind. A bucket of milk would cure the mental conditioning. After that, he'd fatten the guy up and negotiate a good price when the time came.