Dead without you ~ stucky

"Well, for starters, I removed Hydra's tracking device, which they installed in your arm. That's probably how the sniper knew where to find you. With that little gadget gone, they'll have a hard time tracking you down," he says smugly, obviously pleased by having detected the tracking device.

"I didn't know it was there..." If I had known I would have told Steve and have searched for a way to remove it. Fuck, that means I endangered him; by staying with him I made him into a walking target! That was never my intention. Why didn't I think of that possibility? I never wondered why Hydra always found me once I completed a mission. The notion of them using some sort of tracking device should have occurred to me!

"There's more, do you want to know?"

The tone Tony uses causes me to grow suspicious. I doubt he has good news for me. Do I want to know? But what choice do I have? What if I'm still endangering Steve without even knowing it? I nod. "Tell me."

"There's actually a lot of technology in your arm that lies dormant. Hydra installed it, but never activated it. Your bionic arm is capable of much more than you think," Tony says enthusiastically.

I don't share his enthusiasm though. I really don't want to know, but I should find out. I need to know what I'm up against in case Hydra decides to use it against me.

"What did they do?" How bad is it?

"Your stabilization sensors and sensory array were always active. It gives you certain advantages you're probably unaware of because you use them instinctively. But, and here is the new and exciting stuff, you should also be able to discharge bolts of electric energy from the palm of your hand. Hydra never activated that ability so I guess they didn't want you to know about that little gimmick. Maybe it made you too difficult to control and they feared you might use it against them."

Tony shrugs before he continues. It is getting harder for him to control his excitement.

"Another ability they switched off is being able to discharge an EMP. By doing that, you can render electronic devices useless. I suspect you could even sabotage my armor, but let's not find out. I might have to take you down otherwise. Last, but certainly not least, you can create holograms to make your arm appear normal. One could argue that you could learn to create more complex holograms eventually. I guess you understand why Hydra left these abilities dormant. You could have vanished on them at any given time if those abilities were turned on. Hydra wouldn't have been able to find you."

I need time to progress all that new information. I never suspected a thing. Hydra never told me about those abilities and why would they? They wouldn't want me to have such power, I get that. I was a weapon, to be used, and set aside when no longer needed. The last thing Hydra would have wanted was for me to get away and disappear on them.

"Please tell me you didn't switch them on?" I hope he didn't as I have no idea how to control them. I would end up endangering everyone around me and not just Steve.

"What do you prefer?" Tony asks in a deceptively sweet tone.

I can tell from his expression that he would love to switch them on, but I don't agree. I'm dangerous enough as it is. "Don't, at least not yet. I don't want to cause problems by using powers I can't control," I tell them. Tony looks disappointed, but then shrugs.

"I don't agree," Tony says, "But I can't change your mind either. What you need to understand is that you're stronger than you think. You don't have to fear Hydra. With your arm operating on full capacity, Hydra should be afraid of you instead."

"Bucky, you should give it some thought," Steve says, apparently agreeing with Tony. "Hydra IS afraid of you; that's why they never switched those abilities on. Imagine what you can do if those powers were activated. You could stop running."