bracchium | c o n t a c t

[The Soldier takes every turn as directed, but finds that the hallways open in different ways. When he meets a closed door, the one down the hall warps and slides open. Frowning, the Soldier has little choice but to keep moving forward, to seek all methods of extraction. A dimly-lit T intersection meets him and he moves through the left door to a dimly lit locker room. Numbers dot each metal door, but he has little time to investigate any of them.

Instead, he continues to push on, through the maze of steel to another door. Charging through the door, however, sends him sprawling. He falls upwards, onto what should have been the ceiling. However, it holds a pool, filled with water, surrounded by walkways.

The Soldier struggles to right himself, to make sense of the disorienting change in perspective. Underneath the surface, Bucky attempts to spring to life, to gather the small collection of glass to wrest control back from the programming, but with Sam so far away, his presence growing dimmer, he has no chance and he's shattered once more into the fire.]

[ Sam honestly isn't paying much attention to his surroundings, instead navigating by his sense of where Bucky is and pushing - faster, faster, beyond what should have put him out of breath and panting, but his lungs don't need as much oxygen as they used to.

Still, maybe it's his sense of the Soldier trying to make his way through a maze, but he notices, dimly, that this is a part of the Station he's never been to before.

There's a part of him that thinks come on, help us out, a part that reaches out to the Station liked he'd tried when he first learned it was alive and connected. He still can't feel whether or not the Station responds, but then, most of his focus is on Bucky anyway.

He's unwilling to push his way back into Bucky's mind and get the programming more riled up, but he pours himself into their brood bond, grabbing hold of it with everything he's got.

I'm coming. He won't let the Soldier get away, won't leave Bucky alone. ]

[The Soldier scowls as he rights himself, but the dissonance of his environment are difficult to ignore. Each step seems more dizzying than the last as he makes his way to the door on the far end of the room, far up and out of direct reach of the Soldier. He'd have to climb the diving board and then utilize as much of his horizontal jump as possible to reach it. Frustrated- infuriated- the Soldier strides over to the ladder and begins to climb.

Beneath him, the pool casts waves of aqua light around the room, bright and disorienting as he takes the rungs three at a time.

Bucky reaches out for Sam the same way Sam does to him, buried in the brood link with a brush of cedar and pine as he holds on to the tendrils.]

[ Bucky. Sam breathes in the scent of trees, feeling the trickle of sun gleaming through them and sees them stretching up, their roots spiraling down and out. He pulls Bucky in where ever he can, spilling over their broodlink and into his own mind. He doesn't care, Bucky belongs there just as much as he does, and he thinks - why the hell didn't they try this in the first place, pulling Bucky into the broodlink and letting him bury himself into Sam's own mind while they said the words? Keep part of him safe.

Sam fares... a little bit better when he crashes through the door to the upside down pool, if only because he's used to gravity messing with him. He free falls down - up? - for a moment before instinct kicks in and his wings flare out.

He tailspins, disoriented and struggling to reconcile when his body says he's flying up and his eyes say down, and then says fuck it and slams his eyes shut. He can fly blind, as far as he's concerned, and he lets himself level out before he focuses back in on his sense of where the Soldier is.

Then he opens his eyes, enough to kick his thrusters into gear and pick up the chase again. ]

[Bucky roots himself in Sam’s mind wherever he can, his tiny specs of glass growing into frost-covered pines. Sam’s mind is just as much a home as his, if not more so. His leaves and needles flourish where the sun reaches them and Bucky quietly breathes a mental sigh of relief. Here, he can wait out anything. Here, with Sam, they can take shelter until the firestorm passes.

If it passes.

The Soldier steps onto the diving board as Sam comes roaring into the space, wings out and thrusters burning. No time for an attempt at a jump. Only time to pivot, to try and use the imposter’s momentum against him in an effort to steer Sam toward the water.]

[ There's an element that's something close to mine as he lets Bucky root himself deeper into his mind, wrapping around the tendrils to anchor them protectively - except it's not quite singular, something that's maybe closer to ours. A kind of possessive determination that the programming can't have them when they belong so much to each other.

It'll pass. It always does, and they'll always be stronger.

Even as the Soldier pivots and tries to use Sam's own wings against him. Of course he does, in all the times they've fought against each other Sam's wings have always given him both an edge and a weakness, and the Soldier's always known where to target.

Sam could try to stop his momentum but - it's still disorienting enough to mess with him, and instead he grabs for the Soldier, trying to get a decent enough grip to maybe take him with him, or at least throw him off balance. ]

[Just as the Soldier thinks he's pushed far enough to put the imposter out of reach, a hand snares in the fabric of his shirt and sends both of them tumbling down. Or up. The change in orientation doesn't give him much of a chance to turn midair and instead keeps his grip tight on his assailant.

Fine. He'll drown you first.

He hits the water and stays just as locked onto Sam as before, dragging him down deeper into the diving pool. For a moment, there's a bone-deep instinct to kick, to push to the top- his neck pressed to the side of a shattered glass lid, looking down into crimson water- but the Soldier fights it as he holds his breath.]

[ Apparently they're going to do this then.

Before they came here, Sam would've kicked to get away, because there's no way in hell he was gonna win a contest in who could stay under water the longest with the Soldier. But things are different now that Sam has the symbiote, now that he's worked to modify his own lungs - he wonders dimly if his symbiote ability will kick in if they start to really suffer from lack of oxygen, and which one of them it'll heal if it does.

It doesn't matter right now. Right now he pulls his wings in before they hit the pool and relaxes. He lets the Soldier drag him deeper, lets him be the one to expend energy, reminds himself not to panic don't panic you can do this. Just like the pipeline back in pararescue training. And he waits, arm wrapped around his back and one ankle hooked around the Soldier's.

At the same time he focus more firmly on their brood link, a reassurance that he's not giving up, just in case. He doesn't want Bucky to think that he's just gonna let the Soldier drown him, he's just gonna try to outlast him.

...unless they manage to get all the way to the bottom, then Sam's got plans to kick off and push them back to the surface, but that's not for right now. ]

[The Soldier doesn't expect that. He expects fear, a struggle, something to give way in his opponent, but gets none of it. So he shifts, curling his knee around Sam's leg to free his arm to go for Sam's throat. If he can get Sam to breathe, to mistakenly inhale water, then he can hold Sam down until he drowns.

Except Bucky wants none of this, doesn't want to be in the water and from the safe soil of Sam's mind, he strikes out for the programming like a shoot of a tree. But he meets the same fire of before, the brunt of his assault burned away in an instant. This isn't working and he can't let Sam drown, not like this, not now.]

[ Sam shifts, twisting his body back a little to get his neck out of reach of the Soldier's hand. He can't free himself without a fight thanks to the Soldier's leg around his, but that's all right, he can do this - it's not so different from holding onto someone in a water rescue, someone scared and struggling and he can -

Except he can sense Bucky trying to fight for him from their brood link, and there's a moment where he can't feel anything else but a fierce love.

I got this his mind murmurs, stroking soothingly over Bucky's presence. We got this, we can do it.

But he changes tactics anyway, using the momentum from twisting his upper body away from the Soldier to snap a kick out with his free leg, aiming for the Soldier's stomach. ]

[As Bucky is burned back, the edges of his mind seared and singed as he sinks back into the safe haven of Sam's mind, he wishes he could do more, that could make this an even fight, that he could drown the Soldier and programming both for good, that he could somehow seal them away. Sam doesn't have to fight for him, shouldn't have to, but here they both are and here Sam is fighting for him.

And he wishes he were stronger. He wishes he could do more, even as more of his bark is singed away. There's not much left of him but he would throw it all to the wind if it would guarantee Sam's safety.

The Soldier twists, but not fast enough in the water where every movement slows down to a fraction of the speed. He takes the hit square on and involuntarily gulps down a lungful of water. Suddenly, his fight becomes much more than outlasting. It becomes a simple effort to survive against an assailant.

He moves on instinct, pressing his hand to Sam's throat, but when two points of contact are made- when such energy and hate collides with love and the need to survive- his ability goes off. What would have been a spark before erupts into a storm of electricity that ripples through the water and spikes along the walkways of the pool.]

[ He doesn't have to, maybe, but he wants to. He'd fought for Bucky even before they were broodmates, and that hasn't changed except to make it more personal. If Bucky can throw himself back at the programming to try to protect him, despite everything the programming's done - Sam sure as hell can do the same for him. They're partners.

He's too distracted by the fight to be able to respond to much of that, but there's a jumbled of feeling of disagreement - Bucky is stronger, he's still here, there's a part of him that held on and that never would've happened when they first got here - as well as acknowledgement. He understands wanting to do more, and it strengthens his resolve to see this through.

Pain courses through Sam's body, vision going black as his mouth opens in a silent scream - and then it fades as his own ability activates, though it still leaves his nerves vibrating with the aftershocks. But it does nothing for the water he'd choked down or the lack of oxygen, and he starts trying to pull free.

They know exactly what happens when Bucky uses his ability, and it's an automatic response that has him burying himself more into their brood bond, twining around Bucky and holding tight to the pieces of him he's got, in case the reset tries to scatter them. At the same time, there's the background knowledge that now, he needs to do it now, say the words and take advantage of -

But he has to get them both to the surface and breathing before he can try again, and his hand clenches in the Soldier's shirt as he kicks, desperately trying to haul them both to the surface. ]

[As Bucky reaches out, the electricity sears through him. His presence is stripped back to his roots again and the programming goes dark. The Soldier breaks into a dozen different pieces as he becomes dead weight in the water. There's no fighting back or an attempt to drown both of them. He sucks in water with every involuntary breath as he floats toward the surface even without Sam's help. With those extra kicks, though, his head breaks the surface in a matter of seconds, eyes shut.

Bucky darts for the remains of the jade tower with what few piecemeal fragments he can gather. He doesn't want them to try again, not now. Right now, they need to keep the programming from rising to life again. He can't watch himself hurt Sam anymore.]

[ Sam starts coughing as soon as he reaches the surface, heaving the gulps of water he'd taken in out of his lungs as he fights to keep the Soldier's head above the water. He drags him to the edge of the pool, hauling them both out onto - the ceiling, and man, this disorientation isn't getting that much better - and checks to see if his broodmate is breathing, or if he's gonna need to break out the CPR again. ]

( This is the best chance we got, Buck, while it's reset like this. Best chance we're gonna get to get in there and rewrite it a little. ) [ But he doesn't stop Bucky from running towards his jade tower, because if Bucky really doesn't want to - he won't make him. ] ( I'll stay out of your head this time, all right, and so will you. We'll use the brood bond, it can't get us there. )

[There's a long moment where Bucky doesn't breathe, where he's still, but then water comes spilling from his mouth as he coughs and consciousness returns in flitting spurts. Underneath the surface, Bucky is already at the tower, burning the red book. He doesn't want to take the chance of this backfiring again, doesn't like the Soldier being in charge any longer than necessary.

That and he can't stand the water, fear pushing its way to the top as he tries to get his limbs to work. Work, dammit, work.]

[ For that same long moment, Sam doesn't breathe either - and it's only when he sucks in a ragged breath after Bucky starts coughing that he realizes that he's doing it.

He rolls Bucky over onto his side while he's spitting up water so he doesn't choke, kneeling at his side. He wants to protest - sunshine please we can do this I got you - but he doesn't have the heart to give words to it, not when he can feel Bucky's fear.

Instead he hauls Bucky into his arms, all but cradling him in his lap as he holds him close. ]

( Breathe, baby, I got you. It can't have either of us, I promise. )

[Bucky still can't seem to get his limbs to work as he's scooped from the water and turned on his side. It feels too much like a fever dream, like a hallucination. He thinks he hears Pierce's voice for a second, but then Sam is there, warm and curled around him. It can't have them.

It can't have them.

Maybe-

He can't let it-

He sucks in a breath and coughs. With Sam- With Sam, they can do this.]

[ He pushes wet clumps of hair out of Bucky's face, resting his forehead against Bucky's. If he could chase away Bucky's fears, burn Pierce's voice from his mind, he - well, he wouldn't do the second one, because he'd never take any memory from Bucky. But the first, the first he'll always try for.

We can do this.

Sam takes that as confirmation, but he doesn't let go. He keeps holding on, and while the programming still sleeps - he slips back into Bucky's mind, weaving through the roots and finding every place where he's anchored himself before, every part their brood bond has bleed into. So they can find it again without searching, if they need to, and he focuses on little hidden pockets of warmth. Bread crumbs in case they need to find their way back.

Then he withdraws back into their bond, pulling himself to hide safe in their shared space and tugging on Bucky to stay with him.

We can do this. We'll keep each other safe. ]

желание.

[Sam's here. Bucky breathes and Sam's here. Neither of them are drowning. He tries to remember the trees, the brush of pine needles beyond the remains of his mental landscape. Sam can always be found there, rustling through the woods.

Bucky exhales heavily at the first word, his eyelids fluttering open.

Behind the shattered bark, Bucky ducks into Sam's mind, little more than transparent fragments, but it's all he has and this is the only chance they'll likely get to do this right.]

[ Sam's not going anywhere. Never will, as far as he's concerned - honestly, he's not even sure anything could separate them completely at this point, but he's good with that.

He waits until Bucky's in his mind before continuing, lacing the fragments of him around his mind like he's threading their fingers together. Slotting his pieces right next to Bucky's, the easy slide of a damn near perfect fit despite any ragged edges.

I'm here. ]

ржaвый. Семнадцать. Рассвет. Печь. Девять. добросердечный.

[Bucky stares up at the ceiling, or somewhere in between, eyes glazed as his breath stutters with every word. He forgets where he is, what they're doing. His skin is damp, like he's been pulled fresh from cryo freeze, like he's just been dragged across steel, knees ripped and skull pounding.

He knows what comes next. Even after years in cryo. He knows what comes next and his heart begins to pound in his throat, choking him.

No. Not this. Not again. Please.]

[ If Sam thought he hated himself saying them before, that's got nothing on now. He thought maybe'd be more ready, but it's -

He can feel the way Bucky isn't himself, the way he goes blank to everything but cryo and the words, the way he still knows what's coming.

The way he begs for this not to happen, and god, if that doesn't make Sam want to punch himself in the face a little.

But they need this. This is what was missing the first time they tried this, and this time - this time it's gonna work, Sam knows it. ]

возвращение на родину. Один. грузовой вагон. [ He hears himself finish, calm and steady, and he forces himself to stay out of Bucky's head and keep to their brood bond. ] Good morning, Soldier.

[As the words continue, Bucky grits his teeth against the whole-body shudder that sears through him. No. Not- Not again- and then it's gone. His resistance disappears the moment the final word leaves Sam's mouth. The Soldier blinks, leaves Bucky behind- crouched in the mental link in even more pieces than before- but the programming is exposed. Instead of buried beneath snow and ice, the gears have emerged from the fragmented earth, bloody and burned away in places, but in tact enough to be visible and accessible.

The Soldier responds, this time without even the slightest affect, his voice devoid of emotion.]

Ready to comply.

[ It's hard to resist reaching out to touch the gears once they're exposed. To try to pour into the gaps between them, find every weakness and fill it up, stop some from turning and help others go faster -

But he can't mess with Bucky's head like that, not on that level. Not when neither of them really know what they're doing, and shoving himself in there might just mess things up.

He settles for pulling the pieces of Bucky left in their mental link closer, weaving himself around them and anchoring down before he leans on the mental link to try to access the programming from a distance, give it slightly adjusted orders. ]

( If this happens again, assess the situation. You have the skills to evaluate your surroundings and follow the best course of action; use them. Come find me. Quickly, quietly, no violence unless absolutely necessary. Don't hurt anyone unless they're trying to hurt you - reach out to me and we'll get you back up to speed together. )

[Bucky is little more than fragments, shredded and threadbare as Sam shelters him. The programming continues to sleep; the gears are not yet moving, but still white-hot from their last assault. At the first order, one of those bright gears slides out of place and another one- jade and slightly rusted from disuse- shifts into the gap. Assess the situation. Evaluate surroundings. Find his handler. All of those are familiar but the last few, not as much.

Extraction had been his previous priority and any barriers to be taken down by force. Well, that is, outside of targets. Setting himself to return to a handler cooperates well enough, but non-violence is a different story. One gear is a deep crimson, firmly stuck in place even as the programming attempts to remove it.]

желание I know you are the answer, but I forgot the question.	печь There will always be a lie in believe.
один Whatever is static is dead.	рассвет The world is too quiet.

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lmk if this isn't ok!

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