stark_spangled | [PSL] Steve & Bucky, post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Even with the serum, it took a small coma and a lot of PT to get over the physical wounds he sustained when the helicarriers went down. The emotional ones would take a little longer.

"You're my mission!"

Bucky was out there, and Steve was going to find him. He should have died in the crash, but he didn't, and something in his gut tells him Bucky's the reason why. Whether it was mercy, loyalty, or sick curiosity, he knew Bucky would always bail him out of trouble. Steve owed him a fight. He'd fight for him, for their friendship, for their history, till the end of the line.

With Sam's help, it wasn't too difficult tracking Buck back to Kiev, and from there Steve could guess where he was going. The old Hydra facilities where they gave him his cybernetic arm and wiped his memories has been long defunct, a hollowed-out shell of former greatness, but they still housed information. Steve wanted to know what they did to Bucky, surely Buck would be wondering the same thing.

He's got his uniform on under nondescript civvies, but it's kind of hard to get his shield to blend in. He doesn't look all that different than he did on the bridge, but if he finds Bucky here he hopes that's not the first thing he's reminded of. He steps over tipped filing cabinets and loose wires, footfalls quiet and precise. There's no guarantee he'll find Bucky in here, but if he doesn't it's going to take weeks to figure out what his next move would be. Steve's hanging on hope when he rounds a corner, and discovers a dust-covered chair straight out of a horror movie, leather straps decaying from time and neglect, but metal clamps still imposing. He steps inside the room, eyeing the machine with dull horror.

At first, he doesn't even see the shadow in the corner.

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Choice in and of itself is such a strange thing; because he doesn't doubt for a moment he could turn away now, move back into the shadows and forget this-- that Steve would be hurt but in the end it would be for the best. Bucky wasn't the person Steve wanted to save, not anymore, and he didn't know if he ever could be. But he knew he would try, he was too stubborn, always stubborn, and Bucky could trust in that enduring quality if nothing else.

"Yeah." His lips press, a wet line, thoughtful if not a little absent. It's still strange to be called something, anything, more than the Asset more than just a soldier; he had a name, and someone knew that name.

Steve nods almost imperceptibly, clenching his jaw once, twice, three times, and then he allows himself to relax at last. It's a start. A good start.

"Good," he says, voice soft. "Because I'm with you till the end of the line."

From here on out, nothing's going to stand between them again. "Come on. Let's get out of here, if you're ready."

It's those words again, twisting something in his stomach that he doesn't know how to deal with. He's been hurt before, he's been broken plenty of times, but he's only ever pulled the pieces back together himself, did what he can to make it to the next day, the next fight. Now Steve is trying to help him and the weight doesn't feel as heavy, but it's stranger, frightening, because he can't just dive into another fight. He can't ignore the way being around him is like walking through ice water.

"There's nothing left here." He forces himself not to look back, to not linger on that chair, because just thinking about it lets him feel the burn on his skin, down his throat, the way everything convulsed and he struggled without really struggling.

Steve's hand slips to Bucky's jaw.

"There's nothing left of them anywhere," he rumbles, cradling his best friend's face. "I promise. No matter where they try to hide, no matter how deep underground they go, I'll find every last Hydra agent and destroy every last lab. No one's gonna put you in that chair again, Buck. I swear."

Steve desperately wants to protect him from that, but maybe he can even offer him something better. The both of them, working side-by-side the way they used to. Together, they'll make his captors pay for the last seventy years, once Bucky's back on his feet again.

It was hard for him to think HYDRA was gone, they had been his everything for so long that Bucky doesn't know how well he'll function in the absence. He's been doing decently, but mostly relishing in the idea of breaking the pieces of HYDRA he could find. Even the mention of the chair makes his lips press together, that little throb of an ache in his chest, but he doesn't want to mention it. He doesn't know if he likes Steve knowing about it, what had happened in that chair, the way the electricity had burned into his skin.

Leaning forward he let his forehead press against Steve's own, just staring up at him for a long second. There's something in him that finds a bit of peace he's been missing in staring at Steve.

"I believe you."

He lets out a slow breath, leaning into Bucky's touch. Part of him wants to close his eyes, pretend they're boys again and Bucky's just pulled him from a fight, salved his wounds, hugged him close and called him an idiot, but he keeps his eyes open. He holds Bucky's gaze until he can feel his eyes burn.

'You ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?'

"It's you and me, Buck," he whispers. "Just like old times."

Well, not exactly like old times. They're both a little worse for the wear, but together Steve knows they can rebuild home. He shifts his weight, wrapping his arm around Bucky's shoulders like he's congratulating him on a good test score, but his smile is a little dim compared to what it used to be.

He stomps on the edge of his shield to send it up high enough for him to catch it with his free hand, and points them in the direction of the door. "I don't expect you to remember all at once, and that's OK. I just want to get to know you; the man I missed out on for the last 70 years."

Edited 2014-06-11 19:34 (UTC)

( ooc: I've stared at this tag forever ~~its so lovely, btw~~ but I'm not sure where to go from here so I was thinking, maybe a new thread. Skip forward a biiiiit? )

( ooc: Sure thing, that's fine by me! ^__^ I figured we were probably close to a fade or a wrap anyway. Let's hash out the details and pick up wherever you like. )

( ooc: Okay, I'm thinkinggggggg... maybe been home for a few days, but Bucky's avoiding Steve (kinda, watching him when he doesn't think Steve's looking) and basically trying to figure out who Steve is, and by proxy who he was to Steve, and more so... who he is to Steve now. )

( ooc: Guh, yes. That sounds good to me! Steve will be very conflicted about giving Bucky his space while wanting to hover. Do you want to set it up or shall I? New sub-thread, or fresh post? )

( ooc: I guess since you set this one up, I should, haha. /lazybum. That said, probably just a subthread unless you wanna take this to my musebox. I'm lazy and dont post in my own journal because i dont wanna organize it.

Is Steve gonna be living in his apartment for this or in Avengers Tower? )

( ooc: I'm pretty flexible about both these things. Musebox or subthread, either one. If you prefer I set something up, I can do the subthread, but if you have an idea we can move? Whichever!

I figured on going to his apartment, but wouldn't be opposed to Avengers Tower. You got a preference for the latter? )

[PSL] Steve & Bucky, post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier

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