Fill the Cracks - Monster and Machine

"I am. I was expecting bad, but damn, Steve. You really don't see it, do you? Funny, considering you were in the hospital earlier this year." Buck grunted. The grey-blue bedding smelled stale anyway from Steve being gone for two weeks. "I like your room, at least. It feels better in here. Hmm...Angel took her own curtain...I think I might order a few emergency things online before I delve onto Pintrest for thrift shopping ideas. I can do blue. A different sort of green to match..." he mumbled to himself mostly now as he fiddled with the bedding, getting it all situated and even redoing the pillow covers.

Steve leaned against the doorframe, letting Bucky have had it. He watched as he tore apart the sheets, and started working on fitting the other ones on there. He didn't say anything for a while, before he finally spoke up. "There's no emergency Buck, at least don't get something spur of the moment that we're only going to toss when we have more ideas of what we wanted to do. Angelina will probably want to have a say in a few things, I did tell her she could. And I know she'll want to bring Dylan and Zan so their opinion would be helpful too. It'll be a family thing. Make a project out of it."

"I guess you're right. I'm sorry. Well, we'll get everything fixed up in no time, so we'll just have to put up with the clashing." Buck finished and put his hands on his hips to observe his work, "At least it fits. That's good. I wonder what Dylan and Zan will contribute to this place. At least being stuck here doesn't mean I can't see them. Zan better be careful, though, or Tony will snag her up." He smiled at Steve.

"I don't think she'd mind the new job." Steve objected, though he smiled as he walked over to Bucky. He placed his hand at the back of Bucky's neck, massaging gently and carefully so that if he didn't like it, he could pull away. "Though dealing with Stark will give her a massive prize. Do you want me to text Angel? Ask her what she thinks about coming up here tomorrow and browsing ideas? Or do you want to call her? God knows you haven't heard her voice in a while."

Bucky practically purred like a cat, leaning into the touch, his head tipping back and he closed his eyes, enjoying it. It took a moment, but he opened them again as he decided, "I'll call her. I do miss her. I'll ask her about coming over in a couple days, I want to spend tomorrow unpacking so there aren't any boxes." He turned into Steve's arms and hugged him, "We should start that now, actually, and think about what we want for lunch. I'll call her tonight after dinner when I've met everyone."

"Okay." Steve let him go with a small smile. "She'll be happy to hear about the adventures. Come on then, we'll tackle a bit, get lunch, tackle the rest and then have dinner if we're not dead yet."
~+~

It was about an hour before dinner was supposed to be, and Steve was down helping things get ready while he was left in the too-bright living space of Steve. His bath could fit about half his old apartment in it. The living room really was huge, that in itself could be the entire old apartment, a giant kitchen, and the bedroom was the size of the apartment living room. How could one guy live in a place like this alone? Well. He wasn't alone anymore.

Right now, Bucky was bored and didn't want to be in the room, but where could he go? He remembered J.A.R.VI.S. and looked up at the ceiling, "Um...Building J.A.R.V.I.S?"

"Yes, James?" J.A.R.V.I.S. responded easily enough.

"Um...would you contact Bruce, and ask him if dinner's supposed to be a surprise?" He shifted nervously.

There was a pause, and after a moment he got a response. "He says no, it's not, and asks if you would like to join him in preparing it? He has heard you are good at cooking as well."

"From a little birdy I assume." Bucky smiled wistfully, "Alright. I'll get in the elevator and you can take me to him."

"Right away, James."

Bucky took the time to grab a cookbook from the kitchen as all of the boxes for it had been taken out first, and then made his way to where Bruce was. the kitchen he ended up walking into was twice the size of Steves, and meant for large preparations, he could tell. There was already the smell of meatloaf ingredients as well as cooked vegetables and maybe...stew? He came closer as he saw a purple shirt and a head of black hair reaching for a pot in the cabinets. He waited until he got it and put it down before speaking, "Hello."

Bruce didn't jump, but tensed before his shoulders rose and fell, probably a breath, and then he turned around. "Hello. So you're Bucky Barnes? May I call you Bucky, or do you prefer James?"

"It depends on the day, but you can call me Bucky." He said honestly, holding his cookbook close and coming further inside the area, "It smells good in here."

"Broccoli in water right now, I was going to pan-fry some chicken with peppers. Miscalculated the size of my mixing pan for the meatloaf since it has been a while since I made it, so I have to switch that over..." Bruce ticked off on his fingers. Then he noticed what Bucky was holding, "What do you have there?"

"A cookbook. I was going to let you look through it, see if there was anything in here you'd enjoy making." Bucky offered it to him, "Things I've made or had before marked with a highlighter and things that sound good to me I've just put a sticky-tab on. I haven't had anything I don't like yet."

"Well, isn't that useful! I was going to make a variety of things, but I already know what everyone else enjoys." Bruce finished closing the distance and took it from him, bringing it to the huge island counter with double-sides and flipped through it.

"I'll switch the meatloaf for you while you look, if you don't mind that I interfere?" Buck suggested carefully.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, that would be a great help. Thank you." Bruce smiled at him and watched the tension fade before going back to the book, trying to find the highlighted things first before he dove further, "There's so many things available, we could probably make everything in here. Since you're living in the Tower now, that could be a possibility."

"Oh! That would be so nice. I could only make what I had on hand, which is why there's more tabs than anything. I had to actually plan ahead if i was going to make anything else." Buck managed to successfully move the meatloaf from one mixing bowl to the other and put it in the sink, washing it and his hands at the same time, but since he didn't know where it went, just put it on the counter elsewhere. There was plenty of space, so it wouldn't get in the way. "What have you added to this already?"

"Mmm..." Bruce thought about it and listed off what he had done and how much, and watched Bucky with interest as he went to the fridge, "What are you doing?"

"Seeing if you have honey mustard..." Bucky filtered through the double-door huge fridge, "My god you could fit a body in here. Probably Steve's, he's bigger than I am. Aha! Now, where would the brown sugar be?"

That got Bruce to laugh, "I can see it. And the brown sugar is here. So sweet meat?" He asked curiously as he showed him where to go.

"Yes, then the honey mustard along with the ketchup will give it a zing. A real explosion of flavor." Bucky grinned right back as he got the bag down. "The brown sugar and ketchup make a wonderful glaze, too."

"Well, this is certainly going to be an experience. We're going to shock everybody. I hope we don't make too much, this could get out of hand quickly once we pick things from the cookbook." Bruce was amused, tapping his chin.

Buck laughed now, too, "Steve and I will take the leftovers, if there are any between the two of us."

Bruce chuckled, "I believe you. Alright, let's get to it!"

~*~

"Angel love?" Bucky said hesitantly when he got lucky and his daughter picked up the phone.

"Tată!" Angelina sounded happy and concerned all at once. "Hello. It's been a long time since we used the phone on each other. Are you done unpacking?"

"Not yet. Tomorrow we should finish up. We did a portion today." He explained, "We had dinner with everyone...except Tony. I haven't met him yet. He went out with Pepper instead because he was upset that he didn't get his party."

"Tony is fond of them. I think he'd be a superhero of disaster parties if he had a choice." She commented dryly but her smile in her voice didn't leave. "Who did you meet? What did you think?"

"I met Clint earlier in the day when I got here, Natasha was the one who greeted us and gave me coffee. I think Zan would be offended, but it was good enough. Clint apparently had been in the rafters, and he secretly promised me to show me how to get around through them, too. I met Building J.A.R.V.I.S., though he startled me in the elevator. He's a good AI. Bruce allowed me to help him cook dinner, so that's when I met him. Everyone was real pleasant to be around, even in a group setting. Not that I would do it too often." Bucky listed for her.

"I met Bruce the same way. He said he liked to sew. I've been wanting to ask him to teach me." Angelina pouted over the phone but she was pleased. "I miss you. A lot. I went to our apartment, but the door was locked."

"Yeah...once the movers took everything out that was that. Steve had to return the keys to the office, but he was allowed to keep the main door key in case he wanted to come visit you." Bucky had an urge to twist his finger around a cord, and thought about the old phones. He instead used the draw-string of his sweatpants, "How...are you? Do you like living with the twins? I bet you get fed lots of baked goods, more so than before."

"I'm learning how to make real food too." Angelina beamed over the phone, clearly pleased. "Dyl-Dal taught me how to make scones. Zan taught me how to make a breaded lemon chicken thing with some sort of sauce, I didn't catch the entire thing. But she has a binder full of recipes. Did you know her dad used to cook? He liked to grill a lot. She misses him. She misses you."

"Grilling is enjoyable. I remember. I used to grill, back in the day." He sounded like an old man when he said that and rolled his eyes, "Maybe I could find a grill when you decide to come over with them and cook something up, just for you guys. That chicken sounds good, and scones? That's fancy. I'm always glad to hear you learning things." He paused and bit his lip, "I miss you, too...I'm sure so does your Uncle. I wanted...to come over, but I wasn't...sure how you'd feel about it. I wanted you to come around instead, but...you never did."

There was a sharp intake of breath and low, soft sigh that came after. "You're always welcome here." She was firm about that. "Always. This is your home too. You belong with us. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I misunderstood. I thought no. I thought you didn't want me to come to the apartment. It was bad, I was in a bad spot. Then you were in a bad spot. I thought you thought Uncle Steve was better."

"Baby, no!" Bucky gasped, his eyes widening. "Hell no. I love Steve, but I love you, too. Like you love Dylan, but you still love me. No one's better than anybody. No no, never. I want you to be welcome here at the Tower, too. I was going to invite you over the day after tomorrow, once we're done with all the boxes. I got ideas. Steve's apartment is awful and I thought of a way to fix it."

"Oh?" Angelina asked, her voice still timid but there was a hitch in the breath. There was a creak on the other end and soft voice mumbling, she whispered something back, a little hard to hear over the phone, but she came back to it easily enough. "I'd like to help. What do you want to do? It's bad isn't it? Real sad."

"I compared it to a hospital." Buck humphed, "Before I explain the apartment ideas, when you come over, go ahead and bring Zan and Dylan. Have Dylan bake some cookies, and I know the cafe Zan works at serves coffee to go, so make a pit-stop there and give Zan an explanation of what everybody's like and have her bring something for everybody. That's..." He did a quick head-count mentally. "...eight people? Plus whatever you guys get for yourselves. Whatever you pay you'll get back, I just want everyone to see what Zan can do on intuition alone."

"I'll bring them." Angelina promised. "Zan'll like the challenge and Dyl-Dal has the best ideas for cookies. We'll figure something out. I was thinking cake, but cookies are probably the better choice. We can make different kinds and not waste material while cupcakes or cakes you're stuck."

"That's very true." Buck smiled, glad to hear her get excited, "As for making this place look better, I was thinking you and your Uncle go to a thrift store and buy antique furniture there. Different patterned things, glass vases, old and worn things. Let Steve wander, he'll have to do at least one round in the store to stock up on what his options are, then he'll start going back. Pay attention to what he looks at, then you can start offering things you like, too. Dylan and Zan might be good for this, too. I was going to bring up Pintrest and we could go through some different tags to get ideas as well while you're here for visuals and things."

"I like pintrest. Zan has a bunch of things on it." Angelina agreed with a smile in her voice. "It sounds like fun. I'll do my best. I'm getting better on crowds. I talked to Uncle Nick today, too. I told him you were gone. He said, "you tell your dad that if he doesn't have that song that I want him practicing down the next time he visits me, he's gonna get extra practice time and sorer fingers"."

Buck grinned at the thought of Nick, "I'll take that threat seriously. I'm glad you had a chat with him. I'll have to find my guitar and maybe do some practice down in the living area, entertain whoever shows up there. It's an idea for another day. We got a lot of work to do on your Uncle's floor. You guys might also have to buy wood and ceramic paint, too. This is sure to get Steve's creative juices flowing."

"We'll make it not so sad." Angelina agreed, "and he'll have a home. You'll have a home. It'll be good. He'll be good. I can't wait to see you and Uncle Steve."

"I'm glad. You have a goodnight, okay, fetiță?" Bucky murmured, "<I love you.>"

"<I love you too.>" Angelina said softly, sadly since she was saying good bye. "<Goodnight, sleep tight.>" And hung up.

Buck stared at the phone a moment before he sighed and put it on the nightstand. Steve had left him alone while he talked, and now he went out to go find him. Reading, on his couch. That made him smile. "She thought I thought you were better than her." He said as he came closer, sitting by his feet since he was stretched out across the cushions.

"At what?" Steve asked, closing the book and setting it aside. He scooted himself up a little so that he could lean against the arm of the couch, worry and concern already on his face.

"At comfort. At being there for me. She misunderstood, and we were both in bad spots. We cleared the air, and she's coming with Dylan and Zan the day after tomorrow. Everyone gets coffee, except Bruce. He will probably get tea." Bucky moved to face Steve and put one of his feet on his knee, starting to give him a foot massage for no other reason than because it was there.

Steve felt his heart sink, "I knew we should have told her that it was safe to come home." He sighed in bliss when Bucky found a good knot on the arch and he tilted his head back. "...You know, I thought about having her come to the hotel a thousand of times when you were in that state of mind. I nearly did, but I was so stubborn with myself."

"It was good you didn't. You learned more that way, hands-on instead of observing someone else. You'll be better prepared next time." Buck continued to work his foot, careful not to do anything that would tickle him, biting his lip a bit at how Steve looked. He'd have to give him massages more often. "She misses you, too. We'll get to see her soon. I should have asked her to bring Precious, but I'll text her and suggest that Nick watch her while they're gone instead. The kitten might not leave if she came here. Though, I do miss the little fluff-ball. Think that's an idea Tony will be down for? Pets?"

"Clint has Lucky so, I wouldn't doubt Tony would be opposed to anything like that, so long as it doesn't get in his lab." Steve said after a moment of thought, letting Bucky do his thing as he tried to think about it. "You thinking of a cat?"

"Yeah. I am. A rescue, maybe from the Pound. They don't usually give pets much time to find a home, not like designated shelters. I'd be fine with an older cat. They need love, too, after feeling abandoned." Buck picked up Steve's other foot next.

"I bet the older cat would love being a momma or a dad to Precious." Steve said with a large smile on his face. "Let's do one thing at a time. First, we gotta make my apartment look nice." He poked Bucky's thigh with his toe. "And after Angelina and you stop making /faces/ at it, can we call it good enough to add a family member, how's that?"

"It's a deal." Buck nodded, feeling glad that things were coming together in their own weird way.

()

The last time Steve saw Angelina, she was in a nightgown with her teeth bared and ready for violence. This time, he was surprised to see her wearing a midriff top that showed off her belly and dark blue tight jeans. She wore make up with a cat eye that was right on point and a bunch of beaded bracelets and cuffs that were made from pony beads. She looked healthier, had more of a glow, and she definitely didn’t hesitate to hug Bucky the moment her eyes were caught on him.

“Tată!” Angelina hugged him tight. “I missed you.”

Zan was wearing the same type of bracelets on hers, but she was wearing torn jeans, a over jacket and a shirt that was clearly a reference to some sort of video game or manga. Steve still wasn’t sure which. She was watching the reunion with misty eyes, but she kept her gaze steady. The last time Steve saw her, she was keeping herself from the edge of crying and probably had lost it when Bucky went to find her. She was also carrying a huge tray of coffee.

“I’m really, really sorry about that night before Zan.” Steve said earnestly as he approached her. “Thank you so much for helping us out. Both of you.” He wasn’t forget what Dylan did anytime soon.

Zan smiled warmly, “It’s no big thing, Steve.” She assured. “I brought coffee. I was going to make my rounds, but decided to come up here first.”

Bucky hugged his daughter close and nosed her shoulder, "It's good to see you, all of you." He looked at the little barista as he pulled away, "You all are lookin' pretty stylish, too. Wanted to impress Stark by being as fancy as you could?"

"More like we knew that this was going to be a shopping adventure and Steve's our chaperone." Zan said smoothly, ignoring Steve’s pointed eye roll. Who knew that he could be just as dramatic with that as with everything else.

“Zan taught me how to make these.” Angelina beamed as she held out her wrists to show off the bracelets. “We’re going to go try to go to a rave later tonight. It’s going to be a lot of people and a lot of noise, and a lot of lights.”

“Yeah, we have a back up plan in case anything goes wrong.” Zan assured, knowing very well that it’s Bucky worst fear. “But damn.” She looked around the apartment building. “Angelina kept telling me to be prepared at how drab it is-“

“Don’t you dare.” Steve glared at her. “I get ragged on it enough.”

“As you should. Brown Steve? I understand wanting to be as minimal as possible, but wouldn’t…I don’t know…yellow be better?” The horrified look at the thought of a yellow room that crossed Steve’s face was worth it.

"Hopefully you won't be too tired to go after you all go to the thrift store with your Uncle." Buck patted her head, "At least the thrift store won't have very many people."

"Yeah, we've been working on that, too." Dylan smiled, "I've been taking her to my work with me, introducing her to some different games that I don't have."

"Are you having fun with that?" Bucky tilted his head at Angel with a raised brow.

"I like the people. I know a lot of people can be rude sometimes, but there's some nice ones and when they don't understand something, it's easy to get an explanation for." Angelina smiled warmly. "The atmosphere's nice too. Full of energy and good times. I like his boss. He's neat."

"Well, a good boss makes for happy workers." Buck agreed, "So, I fully expect there to be a whole moving truck full of things now you twins know what this place looks like, too. There's more space than just what you see here, too."

"Well, that's a good thing. Zan, give the man his coffee before we head off." Dylan nudged his sister.

Zan gave Bucky the cup with a cheerful smile. "Do you want me to stick around and keep you company Bucky? Let Steve be the Uncle and third wheel?"

"Like I haven't been before." Steve sighed long and suffering, but was secretly pleased that Zan was willing to stay behind. He knew that it hurt Bucky couldn't join in...and it made Steve feel guilty.

"Only if you want to. We can take the mass amounts of coffee to their respectful owners, too." Buck brightened just a little bit, and took a tentative sip. It had cooled enough on the way here to be drinkable without scalding his tongue, so he took a larger sip and sighed in content.

"I guess that settles it. C'mon, Steve. Let's go find some fixerupper stuff so we can spice this place up." Dylan grinned.

"Alright alright," Steve sighed and followed Dylan towards the elevator. Angelina hugged her father again, a little bit longer this time before pulling away and running over to grab Steve's hand with a bright smile. He smiled back at her and the elevator doors closed on them.

"So how have things really been?" Buck asked as he leaned against his couch, since they had to wait for the elevator to be free again before they started delivering coffee.

"It's been alright. She had a few stressful nights, a lot of nosebleeds and a few nightmares." Zan said a little hesitant since she didn't like giving Bucky bad news, but at the same time knew that he was worried about her. "She's been flipping through whether or not she should try to call Fury...and expedite the investigation. She wants to have you free asap. She wants you to have a home..." She trailed off. "When you decided to decorate Steve's apartment she said very simply, "He's not coming back." and I was confused. Dylan was on the defensive but she was quick to assure that it was meant to happen. The Tower was home to you now. She just needed to find a way to make it work."

"Yeah...this is the only safe place for me right now. I'm not too happy about her wanting to contact Fury, but...he doesn't have any dirt on her. If Hydra's files are bare, then he has nothing as well. Yet she has information he needs. Base locations, codes, what each one could hold." Buck rubbed his forehead, "That's something I'll have to set time aside to talk to her about, to make sure she's real sure. Because through her knowledge he'd want to know who she is."

"What's the worst case scenario do you think can happen if she tells Fury everything?" Zan bit her lip worriedly. "Mine is that she's going to get arrested, or she's going to get executed. I know...I know that her past isn't pretty. I seen the scars, they're horrible. Dylan is learning how to look past them, but when he saw exactly how bad they were and how deep and stuff, he turned green. It was the first time ever he turned to me and confessed he wished dad taught him how to shoot..."

"Nat's killed just as many people, her ledger's just as red as mine, but she's an Avenger. She was cleared because she does good things now. Angel's more savage. It's her type of fighting that might get her in hot water. I was brainwashed, but she and I are very clean killers. Angel isn't." Buck frowned, "She could probably have Nat's story that she was raised that way at her back, but still. Worst case scenario is they put her behind bars like me."

Zan sighed softly. "I have a feeling that my worst case scenario is kinder than yours and I don't know...that's hard to swallow." She pursed her lips together and she looked up at Bucky. "Do you regret...trying to save her? I mean...your memory was wiped a lot...right? You barely remembered anyone...I know I'm making things worse, but..." She frowned deeply. "You know how you get a thought stuck in your head, and it just doesn't go away till someone confirms or denies it?"

"Yes, I have to do that a lot with Steve, especially concerning us." Buck assured, putting his hand on her shoulder and going towards the elevator, "I don't regret saving Angel. She's an interesting case. I have a connection to her, like I do with Steve, that goes deeper than the brainwashing. Just seeing her, hearing her voice, and I knew she was safe and mine to protect. Even when she was five and I didn't know who or what she was. I was defensive of her."

"She told me once you gave her her name." Zan said with a smile, her eyes watery a bit since her father had done the same thing. Her mother had named Dylan. "One last question and I promise I'll do nothing but talk decor for the rest of the day. Do you think that it's safer for Angelina and Dylan to stay at the apartments? Should I make them run else where?"

"Don't you worry about that, Zan. When and if anything goes wrong, you'll be taken care of." Bucky rubbed her back, taking another drink of his coffee, "So, who should we drop by to see first?"

"Hmmm how about you decide. You know them better than I do." Zan said with a bright smile as she leaned a little towards him when he rubbed her back. It was so nice, to have a fatherly touch again. It made her sad, but also pleased and happy. Her father would've loved him. Winter Solider or not.

"I got just the person." Buck nodded as the doors swished closed behind them.

~*~

"Whosits and whatsits! You're venturing out of your hole? Does that mean Steve's left?" Clint exclaimed as Bucky showed up in the training room. He was decked out in some comfortable athletic gear, his arrow poised on his bow, several moving targets popping in and out from behind props and sliding back and forth.

"It's like watching Legolas in live action without the confused and perplexed silent looks." Zan couldn't help but to say as she watched him shoot every single moving target dead in the bullseye. He even did it without /looking/ a few times, though she wondered if it had something to with reflection, or noise, or just that damn good at paying attention to his surroundings. "Hello."

"Just don't ask me 'what do your elf eyes see' and we'll be good." Clint laughed as he put his bow over his shoulder, "Who's your friend, Bucky?"

"What would you do if someone did ask you that?" Buck couldn't help to ask.

"Shoot an arrow at them, obviously. If I didn't have that, I'd find a way to get back at them later." Clint grinned.

"I'll keep that in mind." Zan said with a smile and picked a cup from the middle and handed it to him. "Angelina told me that you're a coffee person, so I brought you some. Bucky gave me the challenge of trying to impersonate you through coffee. So...when I think of Hawkeye that's what I think. Hope you enjoy it."

"Coffee?! Fantastic!" Clint beamed at her and practically hopped over, "This is what you think of when you think of me, huh? Let's see what it is!" He tested the heat of it and then took a bigger drink for the taste, contemplating and humming as he tilted his head from side to side, thinking, "Well, I am a pretty nutty person, running around with just a bow and arrow with all these super powered heroes." He grinned at her.

Zan smiled warmly. "But that's not why I chose that particular flavor." At his raised eyebrow she explained. "Nuts are actually really difficult to crack. I'm not saying you're not an open book, you're quite welcoming. But depending on the pressure of the nut, you might have to use a cracker and even /then/ that depends on how hard you managed to squeeze. You hold yourself up well with the pressure. Nuts are also seeds, and you're really kind to Angelina. She said that when she spoke to you, you were eager to learn about her and you taught her a few things without you knowing. She figured out that you were a father-figure almost /instantly/. Do you have kids? No, you don't. But you been around them enough to know what they need and what kind of guidance is effective. Not many people can. Not many people do. Also, now that I know that you're actually /really/ good with a bow and arrow. I wouldn't doubt you'd be an awesome hunter too. I'm sorry. I'm getting way to personal with /coffee/ of all things."

"Haha, no no it's alright, I get it. I love it, and that makes a lot of sense." Clint patted her head, "Thank you so much. I'll savor ever last drop." He told her sincerely, "You should hurry along before the other coffees you got there get cold."

"Who do you suggest she meets next? She already knows Nat." Buck asked curiously.

"Hmm, Nat'll no doubt find her eventually. I feel as though Mr. Stark would be most offended if you got to him last and he had cold coffee, so how about him next? You haven't met him yet, either, have you?" Clint arched a brow at Buck.

"Ah, no...I wonder what he'll think of this being my idea. Bruce we might hit last since his drink is tea and it's cold anyway." Buck nodded in thought. "C'mon, Zan. We got a ways to go."

"Sounds like a good idea, I'll talk to you soon Clint." Zan said, carefully maneuvering her tray so that she could give him a wave. She felt the need to knock, but she couldn't since there wasn't a table. Instead she mentally did so before she turned away, moving the tray back in front of her and followed Bucky back into the elevator. "So be prepared for a chatter box right?"

"That's what I've heard." Buck agreed as they stepped into the elevator. "Alert Stark we're coming up to give him coffee."

"Already done, James. I'll take you to him now. He's currently in his lab, but he doesn't mind allowing access 'just this one time' as I quote." J.A.R.V.I.S. told Bucky, sounding just a bit exasperated.

"Oh. Wow." Zan looked at up at ceiling. "I mean, I heard you talk before, but you can emote. That's awesome." She turned to Bucky. "You haven't met Stark then?"

"That's what Clint said, and he's not wrong." Buck shrugged, "He is a busy man, and my first night he got upset he couldn't throw a party and went out with his woman instead."

"As for emoting, Miss, I myself do not feel emotion, but inflection helps those who interact with me to feel more comfortable instead of an automated, robotic voice." J.A.R.V.I.S. explained.

"That would make a lot of sense," Zan mused, "I mean I seen people build actual A.I's, but without the emotion that comes through, it's...creepy. A lifelike doll, but a...blank personality." She shuddered a bit, "I watched too many horror shows with robots. I think you'd make the better A.I J.A.R.V.I.S hands down."

The doors opened after she had said that to a lab that was filled with tables, tools and a bunch of robots. There was a few that were running around, they were clearly not ones that'd talk. There was one that was a bit on the smallish side that had a long arm reach with claws at the end. It rolled around on a square platform, chirping as it went from table to table putting things in Tony's path.

The other robot seemed to have a camera for it's head and was on the same riding platform as the smallish sized one.

"Hey! It's T1000!" Tony said as he glanced up from a blueprint that was he working on. "Whose the fancy chick? Not Angelina."

"I'm Zan. Here." Zan picked out the coffee cup and held it out to him.

"I don't like being handed things. DUM-E go fetch." He motioned to the robot with the claws and the robot came chirping a little excitedly as it went to Zan. She hesitantly placed it in DUM-E's claws and the little thing spun around twice before it went back to Tony, setting it promptly on an electornic screen.

"DUM-E!" Tony grumbled as he picked up the cup and moved it. "Not on the electronics. So you're the mysterious, I can tell people's personalities from coffee flavor voodoo priestess huh?"

"Well if you want to call it a magic power, I'm not gonna stop you." Zan raised an eyebrow. "It's just something I did for fun. Bucky gave me a challenge."

"She gets to call you /Bucky/?" Tony looked over at Bucky curiously. "What in the world did she do to get that honor? Did she jump out a building? Did she save Precious?"

"I would say she gave me coffee and leave it at that, but she gave me a safe space, and then a home." Bucky told him carefully, not too sure how to react or act around him with this first meeting. "She's done a lot more since then, too. Anyway, we came to you next since I figured you wouldn't want cold coffee. Nat is after this, wherever she is. Bruce is last with his tea."

"If you can find the spider in her web, go for it. Though what about Mr. Blonde and Handsome? He doesn't get one?" Tony questioned as he started working again on his gadget. "I'm thoroughly disappointed that you wouldn't let me do a welcome home bash, but this might be alright." He glanced at the coffee. "It's not poisioned is it?"

"If someones' gonna poison it, I don't think they'd tell you." Zan deadpanned.

"Good point, but still gotta ask the question." Tony picked up the coffee cup and took a drink. "Whoa, that's a kick. What's in it?"

"The best dark roast I could find, plus a bit of cinnamon whiskey." Zan smiled a little. "You're passionate enough to burn through the sky."

"Cheesy." Tony gave her a look before turning to Bucky. "So, a home and a safe place huh?" He turned back to Zan. "Chases away the press with the metal tray and make sure that veterans are just as safe as the Avengers. Not that an Avenger needs a civvies' help, but you certainly know how to keep us on the down low." He turned back to Bucky. "Surprised she didn't see you and high tail it."