bracchium | c o n t a c t

[ Waypoint's a big place, but Sam's patient - and this time he doesn't have to physically find him, just has to get close enough that he's within range of their connection.

He'd given Bucky his space, turned his attention on the mission, gone out drinking with Misato and Damon, tried to get his mind off their fight and his thoughts sorted. And honestly, he's not sure he's been completely successful, but he's had enough of the empty ache where Bucky's connection should be and the feeling that he let Bucky down. Eventually, he goes looking for him, until he can once again brush his mind against Bucky's. ]

( They miss you. ) [ It's accompanied by the impression of the little alien birds they'd been looking after. ] ( Buchanan won't stop pecking me. )

[For a while, Bucky hoped he'd finally burned the connection stringing him and Sam together- not out of any malice but a deep desire to somehow spare the rest of the Nest from the Soldier. Days of trying to braid his own hair and nights of attempting to find any sign of feathery friends bring nothing but more guilt for having taken comfort in such things in the past. More of his memories return in time, of the Station and Concordia, each colored with regret. Eventually, Bucky stopped moving from place to place, stopped going into crowds for anything--- every time he brushes against someone, he worries the symbiote will do something and bring the Soldier to life.

His freeze-dried food, carefully rationed, will only last for another day unless he thins the portions further. He's familiar enough with hunger to know that it stops hurting eventually.

When another mind brushes against his, Bucky recoils. Sam's mind is still distant and it's like talking through a tin can for the buffer between them. ]

( Should've named him Steve. )

[ Even with the distance, even though he gets the feeling that Bucky sure as hell isn't taking care of himself, it's still something of a relief to have Bucky's presence back in his mind. He moves as he talks, not necessarily trying to find Bucky, just trying to get closer so their connection isn't so distant. ]

( Steve ain't the only stubborn jackass I know. )

[Bucky gets a thorough dose of that well-being and belonging that comes with re-connecting to the Nest and it's enough to get him on his feet. He doesn't have time to pack up the remainder of his food, so he leaves it as he shoulders his pack and questions whether the risk of innocent bystanders is worth putting more distance between him and the Nest. He can hear the crowd bustling on the street outside, the constant noise of the Waypoint.

He takes the risk and the stairs to avoid the elevator.]

( You guys competing? )

( Always. But right now you're the one giving us both a run for our money. )

[ Buchanan pecks the hand of a nearby alien who gets too close, and Sam shushes him as he keeps moving, circling around to try to keep himself in range. ]

( You punishing yourself isn't gonna change what happened, sunshine, and it doesn't make anyone any safer. It just hurts us both. )

[Bucky doesn't see how he's the one being stubborn when he can feel Sam getting closer. His heart clamors into his throat as he pounds down the stairs and thrusts himself out into the crowd. Walking one way strengthens the connection, so he turns on his heel to go the other, but there's so many beings it's almost like being caught in the ocean. It takes moving diagonal to get moving in the correct direction, stretching their connection thin.]

( I'm not. )

[Punishing himself, that is. Or at least in his mind he's not. Keeping away makes sense to him and agrees enough with the programming to keep it at a tolerable level.]

( Sure could've fooled me. )

[ Sam slows down, tucking himself awkwardly against the wall of a pawn shop he was pretty sure wasn't here yesterday. ]

( I'm not trying to come after you, all right, I just wanna talk. )

[A touch of anger bubbles out from Sam's words. Even if he were punishing himself, he deserves every part of it for what he's inflicted on others during his lifetime. He doesn't stop when Sam says he's not coming after him, pushing himself deeper into the crowd.]

( Already are. )

[ There it is. The talk about what Bucky deserves again, but Sam knows now isn't the time to go into that. Right now he'll consider himself lucky if he can just convince Bucky to stop running long enough to talk with him. ]

( What exactly is this supposed to do, huh, who's this supposed to make safer? You running doesn't make the Soldier any less likely to come out. )

( Everyone. The Nest. You. Steve. ) [Bucky's mind turns to the remains of their brood, to the empty holes of little Sam and Giorno, to the young minds of Katie and Parker. They wouldn't stand a chance against the Soldier and Bucky doesn't want to run that chance.

So he keeps moving, following the sensation of their line ebbing. It flickers in and out as he walks.]

[ Sam curses under his breath and starts moving again, just trying to stay in range. His mind goes there with Bucky's, then flinches away. He tries not to think about it too much, tries to ignore the way it makes him feel less whole - the way it makes him feel dangerously close to his bad days after he lost Riley. ]

( We've managed to keep everyone in the Nest safe so far, and that was with us flying blind. Now we know what's causing it, and we know how to fight it. We can get better at it. )

[Bucky can feel the connection wax and his heart surges into his throat. He has to do this, he has to lose Sam somehow. The warmth of belonging comes with nausea, with the feeling of being boxed in.]

( No. ) [He thinks this might be the first time he's said no to anyone and the programming digs into his skull as a result. Off balance, he stumbles into a passerby as he struggles with a sudden vertigo.]

[ Oh, now that's not fair. Sam knows how hard it is for Bucky to disagree even indirectly, let alone actually telling him no, and that's something he's been trying to get Bucky to do since they first met. There's no other option for him than to stop. ]

( Thank you for telling me no. )

[ He struggles with himself for a long moment, and doesn't bother to hide the way it hurts that Bucky doesn't trust him, that he isn't willing to at least stop and listen. But he doesn't move, doesn't keep going after Bucky. He keeps talking, though, he'll keep talking as long as he can. ]

( I don't want you to protect me from yourself. I want you to let me be there. We can protect the Nest from you, and if it's stuff like a couple of nights ago that you're worried about, running isn't going to stop that. Just think about that, please. )

[HYDRA doesn't need to exist to continue to hurt Bucky in new ways. He gets a flash of Siberia, something he hasn't remembered before. When he woke up with a metal arm, tried to fight, and found a needle plunged into his guts. Another time they pulled him from the ice, when he- no, the old Bucky- told them no and earned more needles in him. Before the chair, before they could wipe him, they tried conditioning him in other ways.

Bucky knocks over a couple people on his way to anywhere he can clear his head, but all he can feel are those needles under his skin, the chemical burn in his veins.

He tries to remember why he said it, why he said no, as heat sears through him, suffocating. His resolve is quickly crumbling in the face of the flashback or whatever it is. He needs something cold, ice water, anything.

His words are suddenly gone, his resistance melted, and he only offers the mental equivalent of a disgruntled sigh.]

[ Sam sucks in a breath at that flash of memory, but refuses to let himself get stuck in it, letting it drift away as he exhales. Fire burns under his skin, and it's - Sam's usual specialty is warmth but it doesn't feel like that's gonna help here.

He tries anyway, reaching out like fingers lacing through Bucky's, like the press of a hand to his forehead - like he can sooth away the burn if he just tries. ]

( You're okay, sunshine, you're okay. Stay here with me, you got your coin? )

[ Whatever the answer, Sam has his, and he pulls it out to run his thumb over the etched in wings. His other hand tangles in Buchanan's soft, feathery fur, and he focuses on both of them, on the way Buchanan nips lightly at his hand. Keeps his mind on those sensations, and passes them across the mental link. ]

[The connection is still so distant that Bucky worries for a moment that he might have to deal with this all on his own- whatever this is. Slowing down doesn't seem to quench the heat so he strives instead for a bathroom, but the bond is flickering and he can't bring himself to break it. Instead, he turns back, trying to find the convenience store he passed a couple blocks ago. Ice. They should sell ice. He just needs something to cool him down.

Coin? That's right. It's in his knapsack, but he can't stop to open it with so many people around him, washing him closer to Sam.

He can't seem to focus, but the sensation of feathers under his fingers anchors him.]

( Backpack. )

( It's okay, I got you. )

[ Sam starts moving forward again, chasing the feel of their bond growing stronger. After this, if Bucky even so much as hints that he wants Sam gone, he'll go - at least for another day or two - but right now he can feel Bucky moving closer, too. And Sam would never leave Bucky alone to deal with anything like this, whether it's a flashback or a side effect of the programming.

Buchanan seems to realize that something's up, and he keeps still, butting his head against Sam's arm where Sam's holding him as Sam keeps petting him, keeps sending the sensations through their link.

He keeps their connection wide open as he feels it grow stronger, an open invitation for Bucky to slide into Sam's mind if he wants - at the same time as he lets himself flow more into Bucky's head, hands in his hair and feathers against his skin as he tries to give Bucky something to keep himself grounded in. ]

[Bucky finds a store- he thinks, he's not sure, nothing seems sure right now- and makes a beeline for a bright neon sign reading cool as ice. It's some kind of walk-in cooler for liquor, but that doesn't stop Bucky from marching right in. He picks up the nearest bottle and presses it to his neck even as the refrigeration kicks on, spraying the room with some kind of liquid. He doesn't care. The cold glass against his neck is a godsend as his body continues to burn like a wildfire.

He can feel Sam growing closer, their connection widening and fanning out. His fingers curl tighter around the bottle, desperate for relief.]

( Sam. ) [This time, he's bidding his broodmate closer, though he can't express it directly.]

[ I'm here, I'm coming.

He doesn't exactly say it, but by now he's close enough that he doesn't have to. Sam can feel the relief from the cold, feel that it's not enough, that Bucky's still burning, and he picks up his pace, weaving in and out of the crowd quick as he can.

It's not long before he zeros in on the store, and it's pretty damn easy to tell where Bucky'd gone.

Sam ducks inside the cooler and makes a beeline for Bucky, ignoring the bite of the refrigeration unit and pausing only to make sure he zips his jacket closed around Buchanan. Then he reaches out, physically and mentally, his mind curling around Bucky's at the same time as he goes to press a hand against Bucky's forehead. Trying to figure out if this is a current physical reaction or a remembered one. ]

[The reaction is largely a remembered one, but so powerfully ingrained in him that it feels as real as the hand pressed to his forehead. Frost has already begun to gather on his skin, freezing the sweat as well as his eyelashes. He continues to clutch the bottle to his neck, though it doesn't seem to bring his body temperature down. He remembers seeing the other Soldiers go through this too, though in a different way, when their bodies were rejecting the serum, overloading their minds.

He blinks up at Sam, gaze glassy in pain. He should've known the consequences of saying no.]

[ Bucky’s pain is obvious, and it pulls at his symbiote ability - but there's nothing to heal, not really. Not that way, though Sam's not gonna let it stop him from trying to sooth the pain another way.

Sam pushes his hand into Bucky's hair, stroking through it as he lets himself settle into their brood bond. He pours himself into Bucky's mind like he can find the source of the pain and drive it away, wings stretching wide to pull Bucky into their shelter at the same time as he pulls Bucky into his arms. ]

( Come here, sunshine, come here. We won't let them hurt you any more; you can say no as many damn times as you want. Focus on right now, all right, on you and me. ) [ He fumbles in his pocket, presses his own coin into the palm of Bucky's hand. ]

[Bucky's heartbeat flutters in his veins as he struggles against the fire coursing through him. He knows Sam would take away the physical ailment if there were one, but as complicated as his conditioning is, of course it isn't that easy. His mind is cloudy and distant, absorbed entirely with the pain even as Sam reaches for him. Mental wings stretch out to shelter him, but everything is too hot before they curl around him. In his mind, the programming is surprisingly quiet, but iridescent red with the heat it's putting off.

His clammy fingers close around the coin as he continues to sweat bullets in the refrigeration unit.]

[ The pain cuts across Sam's mind, and he lets his symbiote ability go anyway, feels it webbing out across their connection and through Bucky's symbiote, searching for anything it can heal. Whether or not it finds anything, it's a struggle to hold it back with this much pain, and he wants to focus all he's got on Bucky.

He breathes, focuses on the way his stomach rises and falls with every breath, and tangles his fingers in Bucky's hair again. ]

( Breathe, Bucky. They can't take you, you're safe here. Just focus with me. )

[ The programming burns in Bucky's mind, and Sam can see it even as he tries to shield him from it - and it's not exactly a conscious decision when his wings melt, holding only the vaguest shape of feathers as they rush over it, as the warm breeze that usually accompanies Sam's mental link chills to try to combat it. ]

[His fingers dig into the coin, trying to re-route his mind, but the programming is burning hot like a brand. The usual chill of his mind is instead molten hot, the snow and ice now knee-deep brine bordering on boiling water. He tries to breathe, but his tongue sits thick and heavy in his mouth. He's not supposed to be able to say no and this is why.

The conditioning makes him want to be frozen, the disobedient Soldier gets locked up.]

[ When Sam first got here, he - well, he probably wouldn't even have gone this far in Bucky's mind, but here would probably be where he stopped. He'd have probably just hunkered down here and tried to provide what support he could while they rode it out, ask Bucky questions about it later.

But now he focuses on their brood bond and pulls. The programming runs deep, and by himself Sam could never hope to fight it for Bucky - but their symbiotes are a part of them, with a vested interest in making sure they survive, making sure their bond is strong. It's instinct, more than anything else, when his calls to Bucky's. When he weaves it tight around both of them, and opens his mind up completely to try to pull Bucky in. To give him an escape, to get around it indirectly instead of fighting it head on.

Come here. ]

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.

a few days after their fight

/plays all the breakup songs

ajagshd Bucky stop being a sad raccoon

never!!

huffs at him

sam is now the big bad wolf

and he'll blow your hovel down bucky!

come out come out little piggy/bucky ??

or at least let him in !!

excuse u mr woof

he promises he won't bite

that would be so rude

too rude for sam

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