bracchium: (Default)
ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪɴᴛᴇʀ sᴏʟᴅɪᴇʀ ([personal profile] bracchium) wrote2019-04-27 09:50 am

some saw the sun; (for fossils)


[The Soldier stood statuesque before the prisoner, rifle in hand, loaded and cocked despite orders to not kill. There's something about this man that disturbs the programming buzzing under his skin, something that unsettles the natural order that confines the Soldier to his duties. Even with his full mask and goggles, The Soldier feels bare- exposed- before this one man.

Maybe it's because the Soldier doesn't know why he was sent for an extraction mission instead of an assassination, because he can hear distant voices in his ear, cries for help that end in a bark of gunfire. Why did this man deserve to live when all the others met terrible ends? It's not his place to question, but the Soldier doubts and he's not entirely sure it's the first time either.

He remembers waking up in the chair, screaming until his voice broke. Mission details about capture and extraction to Siberia. Do not, under any circumstances, kill the target. Holding back had been difficult, not pushing for death at every swing of his knife, but then the Soldier was able to land a few shots he'll be reprimanded for later.

But he did it. The prisoner is here and alive, mostly. The Soldier wants to run, to hand off to the next handler, rather than stand in this awfully small room with a man that unsettles him so deeply, but his orders were to not allow the prisoner to die. So here he is, watching for breathing and consciousness.
fossils: (pic#8295186)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-04-27 03:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Settling up after New York took some time. Fury offered him a job with SHIELD, and he took it, thinking it might be his best shot at answers. Must've immediately told Romanoff to keep an eye on him too, because more than once she seemed conveniently be in his way when he was sticking his head somewhere it didn't belong. He can't say if she trusted him after New York or if she was just curious.

They found building plans for facilities never registered, which wouldn't be so strange for a classified para-military organization except for some of the names that signed off on them. That rabbit hole eventually led them into the crossfire of a man with a metal arm, and no past, except for a file Natasha had dug up out of Kyiv, typed and scrawled over in a mix of english and cyrillic.

And two photos.

When he wakes up he doesn't know how long he's been out or where he's been taken. He's restrained, bleeding, and no amount of shouting the name of the man behind the mask and goggles seemed to get through to him.

Steve's face is pale, his gaze fixed on the man standing there like a statue.

He shifts uncomfortably in his binds, air hissing past his lips. ]


You leave me like this and I'm gonna bleed out, Buck.

[ His voice is soft, and he's only half lying. Bucky nicked him good with that knife of his, Steve's white shirt is drenched in dark red at his shoulder where the blade had gone in. Missed anything major, but it's enough to make him legitimately light-headed at this point, however long he's been left like this. ]
fossils: (pic#8363492)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-04-27 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He swallows dryly. ]

You wanna bet?

[ Like a challenge. Like words that would've passed through his lips while the sun heated up the pavement beneath their feet, a raised eyebrow at a bar, laughed out in the cold winter of some city neither of them knew the name of before the war.

There's no humor in them now.

Did they tell your your target is a bad combination of stubborn an stupid?

He's back to struggling. ]
fossils: (pic#10792279)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-04-28 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ Steve ignores the rifle, staring into his own black reflection in the goggles.

He knew what he was getting into. Romanoff-- Natasha helped him translate the parts of the file he couldn't read himself. Told him about her encounter with him in Odessa. She meant it all as a warning that there was a good chance that there wasn't anyone Steve knew left in the soldier.

He understood, but that wasn't going to stop him.

His head lolls forward again, he's not aware of it until his chin's nearly at his chest. He lets out another hard breath, muscles purposely going tense. ]


I need your help, Buck.

[ I need you to let me help you. ]
fossils: (pic#8295185)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-04-28 03:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He immediately braces himself for the strike. It still rattles his head like all hell, and for a minute he says nothing because he can't, pain blossoming into knives on the side of his face and his vision nothing but a dark sea of grey stars.

He spits out some blood, swallows the rest.

A rush of air escapes his nose. ]


When you... said we were going to the future... didn't think it'd be like this. [ Hurts to talk now, his jaw screaming in protest with every word. If you wanted him to stop though, you should've made sure to break it. ] Your... name is James Buchanan Barnes. You had four younger siblings. You'd say that's why you... you were always coming to my place. I didn't have any brothers or sisters... just me and my ma. And you... after the funeral-- [ His head starts to droop again and he trails off. ]
fossils: (pic#8295186)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-04-29 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There's a sharp wince when he feels pressure on his shoulder, air sucked in instead of pushed out. He looks up, meeting his friend eye to eye for the first time in months. In that short moment he's not searching desperately for any sign of recognition. Even with the file, the photos as proof, this whole search had been a leap of faith.

The restraints around his hands and arms creak like he's straining again, then go quiet. ]


... should've gone back for you.

[ I'm sorry. Feels like he's talking for his own benefit at this point. It's like scrambling for purchase on a ice block. He'll keep trying, as many times as it takes,

But there's gotta be something else. ]
fossils: (pic#8212145)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-05-03 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Steve... [ Breathes his own name out, jaw aching. ] My name is Steve.

[ You know me, he'd said.

His gaze lowers a bit, tracking the arm and hand on his wound. ]


... you got a sewing kit?

[ He's gotta say, really doesn't want to die here after finally finding you. ]
fossils: (pic#8295169)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-05-27 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
Should've been a medic with how often I had you patching me up...

[ In his kitchen. In the bathroom at some club. In the field, when they'd been separated from their unit--

A soft breathy sound like a laugh punctuated with another wince, his gaze trying to focus on what Bucky's digging around for. ]
fossils: (pic#8363510)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-05-27 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
Why?

[ Is he distracting you? Because talking is about the only thing keeping him awake right now, so he's going to keep doing it. He rolls his jaw. Softly, studying his features: ]

If you want me to shut up, then you've gotta talk.
fossils: (pic#8704350)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-05-27 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ Talk to me. Please--

He grits his teeth, his head tilting to one side-- hard to say if it's entirely intentional. ]


You should go. Leave. Before they get back.

[ His handlers. If he can't convince you to let him go-- ]
fossils: (pic#8363511)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-05-27 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ He hears the sound of someone else moving in the distance, somehow, through the buzzing in his ears. Sees the confusion in Bucky's eyes through the growing haze. His eyebrows knit together and it's fear and frustration creeping up his chest-- ]

Go--

[ The last thing he manages to say as he starts to pass out again. ]
fossils: (pic#8452386)

[personal profile] fossils 2019-06-04 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He doesn't see the knife coming out, just feels his arms slip from the binding and fall to his sides. Without anything holding him up he starts slumping forward, a hand balancing on his knee at the last second before he falls out of the chair.

There are voices coming from the stairs now. Steve doesn't look as though he's got much fight in him, though he's struggling to get to his feet. Reaches out to Bucky's shoulder. ]


C'mon...

[ They have to move.

Or, rather, Bucky's going to have to do most of the moving for them.

(it's like seventy years ago, you scraping him off the pavement) ]
fossils: (pic#7652128)

i am forever slow

[personal profile] fossils 2019-06-25 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ He steadies himself against a wall instead, one forearm braced against cold concrete. ]

Exits?

[ Blocking the door keeps the men on the other side out, but they're stuck if that's also they're only way out.

They need a plan.

He needs to stand up straight. ]