[Bucky doesn’t bother trying to argue with DC cops about fault. There are enough of the other group to condemn him to an overnight, if not longer, stay behind bars. The more he tries to relax, the less trouble he’ll get into.
He hopes.
Knowing Steve is on the way is a small relief. The handcuffs that circle his wrists could never really hold him, but he’s keeping them on. Let cooler heads prevail until Steve can try to do something to possibly bail him out before they put him in a cell with someone who hates him or worse, solitary.]
[It takes him a while, but Steve eventually gets to the station. He's done his best to follow the traffic laws. He's even stopped and got cash for bail. He also has a sharpie in his breast pocket, just in case he can get them out of there with nothing more than a few autographs. God. The things he does for Bucky.
And that's the thing, isn't it? It's for Bucky. Because as ready as he is to play the role of law abiding citizen and bail his friend out, Steve is also just as ready to break him out of there as well.
When he walks into the station he's got a polite smile on his face as he greets the desk clerk.]
"Hi there. I got a call from a friend. Something about a scuffle?"
[The clerk looks up at Steve and is immediately starstruck. Her jaw drops a couple centimeters before nodding along with his words. She clearly knows what he’s talking about and is eager to share.]
You here for the scruffy looking one? Long hair? He’s in processing, just down the hall, dear.
[She points to her left, along the way Steve had already been travelling.]
Let me radio the officers to let them know you’re coming.
[And and she leans to the right side of her chest, talking in a low voice to the shoulder mic mounted there. Never does she ever fully take her eyes off of Steve.]
Go on ahead.
[It’s through those double doors that Bucky is slouched on a bench, hands cuffed, bruised and, in some places, still bleeding. He’d been holding back during the fight, significantly. No one else needed to get hurt. Staring at the wall does little to raise his spirits, but the sound of Steve’s voice (thanks super soldier hearing) at least promises that someone came for him.]
[The scruffy looking one, she says. Yup, that's the one. He ducks his head and gives a bashful little smile.]
"Great, thanks. I appreciate it, ma'am."
[He gives her a little wink as he heads off. He doesn't look back, but he can feel her gaze still lingering. He lets himself shake off the feeling once he walks past the doors. It's just a few steps before Bucky's in sight and Steve lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.]
"Hey, Buck."
[He turns the officers nearby and they stand up just a bit straighter. One officer tries to hold back a smile, while the other seems to be sizing Steve up. He takes a few minutes to talk to them, make casual conversation. It goes on a little longer than he'd like, but he finally manages to defrost the second officer. He offers to give a few autographs after bailing Bucky out, and that seems to appease them.
They step outside, and as Steve hears the sound of scurrying, he figures he'll have more than a few things to sign before they leave. When he finally turns back to Bucky, he shrugs his shoulders.]
"So, what was this about me hugging you? 'Cause so far, a bar fight doesn't seem very hug-worthy."
[Bucky raises his head when Steve comes through the door. He’s used to this: people talking around but not directly to him. He appreciates being acknowledged before the schmoozing starts, but it still reminds him a bit of HYDRA.
When Steve turns toward him, Bucky shrugs, looking away.]
I called you. Thought that counted for something.
[A few months ago, he would have let himself sit in jail instead of calling for help.]
"Technically, you didn't call. You texted. But still a fair point."
[Steve looks him over a bit and lets out a small tsk. He can still see some blood on his temple, a bit on the lip, and probably dirt on his face as well. He doesn't look bad, but he definitely looks worse than normal.]
"Did you win?"
[He pulls a handkerchief from his back pocket with one hand, and gestures for Bucky to get closer. Sure, it's a little out dated, but it comes in handy at times. He can't wait for them to get home so he can get Bucky cleaned up.]
"You got some blood at on your face. C'mere. Anywhere hurt more than it should?"
[Bucky really isn't that bad off, especially since he can take more of a beating than any one else in the group that decided his face wasn't up to par. As Steve starts cleaning him up, Bucky shakes his head.]
I got jumped by six guys. [Nevermind that he's really trying to keep away from violence since emerging from HYDRA.] There's no winning that fight.
[Either he technically wins and there's six dead people to atone for or he takes a beating and wins on a different metric while losing the fight.]
[Steve goes quiet at that. Six? He takes a deep breath in through his nose, and hands Bucky the handkerchief. He has half a mind to go out there and start raising hell.
SIX?! If it were any other person that could be attempted murder! The only reason they're still alive, is because Bucky has enough self control for the both of them. The more Steve thinks about it, the more furious he becomes.
SIX.]
"You keep cleaning up. I'm going to go...have a chat with...someone."
[He can practically feel the thread his control is hanging off of snap. If he goes out there, he's raising hell. Bucky's going to have to be the one to bail him out. Maybe they should call Stark, or Pepper.]
Steve. [Bucky tries to say something, but the bruising on his jaw has started to really hurt. He's not about to try and start a fight with anyone else tonight. Hell, if they still want to put him behind bars, he won't argue with them. He's far too tired to deal with all of that.
However, he's pretty sure Steve won't let him sit behind bars.]
Steve.
[Don't do this, he wants to say. I'm not worth it, he wants to follow up with, but the swelling in his jaw is silencing him.]
[When people say 'it takes everything inside him to...' most of the time they don't understand, but not Steve. He's given everything inside him, and more, several times over, but when he hears Bucky call out to him...
He's back there, keeping the chopper from flying away, holding onto the railing for dear life. He can feel his muscles tear and heal, tear and heal as he tries to bring it down.
He's right back there again, except this time he's in the police station downtown and the chopper is his own anger. And Bucky?
He takes a deep breath, then turns around.]
"I can't just let them do this to ya. It's not right."
[Instead of leaving, though, he goes back and inspects Bucky's jaw. His body needing to do something.]
"What did they tell you? They pressin' charges? Do we need to get Pepper down here?"
He’s in for disorderly conduct, Captain. [One of the officers provides and Bucky sighs quietly. He could break out of these cuffs in an instant but he doesn’t want to cause more trouble.]
[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.]
[He feels someone else nearby before he's even fully awake, but that takes a backseat as he takes stock of his body and injuries. He's used to waking up aching and stinging, but after the serum, it didn't happen as much. Sometimes, after big nasty fights, one's where even the Hulk gets tossed around, he wakes up and he still has injuries. It would be masochistic of him to say he kind of missed it, or that revels in the times when he can still the bruises and cuts the next day, but they wouldn't be wrong.
Now isn't one of those times. His body aches but his head feels like someone took out his brain, put it in a blender until smooth, then through the whole blender into the ocean during a storm. He's alive, and functioning, but he's not safe. And that needs to be dealt with.
He doesn't hear any other sounds, but he doesn't allow himself to listen for too long. He opens his eyes and straightens his head, and by the time the room stops spinning, his eyes land on the other presence in the room.
Bucky.
Some of the tension leaves his shoulders, as if his body recognizes safety, home. But that's not right. It nearly got him killed once before, letting his guard down once he saw Bucky's face. He subtly tests his restraints, but he's in no position to try anything yet.
He opens his mouth to speak, but his jaw hurts something fierce. He takes a little extra time to adjust before speaking.]
[The Soldier stands near the door, watching the prisoner return to consciousness with every beat of his heart. He stirs a quiet curiosity in the Soldier, but nothing the Soldier could ever explore. Such a thing is beyond the Soldier's parameters, like the question posed to him. The Soldier doesn't have an answer for the captive and instead shakes its head. No, no water that the Soldier knows about, but that could change. After all, the Soldier can hear footsteps, could be his handlers, who know better than the Soldier.]
Handlers will decide.
[And true to the Soldier's word, two handlers are twisting keys into the door. One faces Steve square on and the other turns to the Soldier.] Back in cold storage for you.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Prison Time!
He hopes.
Knowing Steve is on the way is a small relief. The handcuffs that circle his wrists could never really hold him, but he’s keeping them on. Let cooler heads prevail until Steve can try to do something to possibly bail him out before they put him in a cell with someone who hates him or worse, solitary.]
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And that's the thing, isn't it? It's for Bucky. Because as ready as he is to play the role of law abiding citizen and bail his friend out, Steve is also just as ready to break him out of there as well.
When he walks into the station he's got a polite smile on his face as he greets the desk clerk.]
"Hi there. I got a call from a friend. Something about a scuffle?"
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You here for the scruffy looking one? Long hair? He’s in processing, just down the hall, dear.
[She points to her left, along the way Steve had already been travelling.]
Let me radio the officers to let them know you’re coming.
[And and she leans to the right side of her chest, talking in a low voice to the shoulder mic mounted there. Never does she ever fully take her eyes off of Steve.]
Go on ahead.
[It’s through those double doors that Bucky is slouched on a bench, hands cuffed, bruised and, in some places, still bleeding. He’d been holding back during the fight, significantly. No one else needed to get hurt. Staring at the wall does little to raise his spirits, but the sound of Steve’s voice (thanks super soldier hearing) at least promises that someone came for him.]
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"Great, thanks. I appreciate it, ma'am."
[He gives her a little wink as he heads off. He doesn't look back, but he can feel her gaze still lingering. He lets himself shake off the feeling once he walks past the doors. It's just a few steps before Bucky's in sight and Steve lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.]
"Hey, Buck."
[He turns the officers nearby and they stand up just a bit straighter. One officer tries to hold back a smile, while the other seems to be sizing Steve up. He takes a few minutes to talk to them, make casual conversation. It goes on a little longer than he'd like, but he finally manages to defrost the second officer. He offers to give a few autographs after bailing Bucky out, and that seems to appease them.
They step outside, and as Steve hears the sound of scurrying, he figures he'll have more than a few things to sign before they leave. When he finally turns back to Bucky, he shrugs his shoulders.]
"So, what was this about me hugging you? 'Cause so far, a bar fight doesn't seem very hug-worthy."
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When Steve turns toward him, Bucky shrugs, looking away.]
I called you. Thought that counted for something.
[A few months ago, he would have let himself sit in jail instead of calling for help.]
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[Steve looks him over a bit and lets out a small tsk. He can still see some blood on his temple, a bit on the lip, and probably dirt on his face as well. He doesn't look bad, but he definitely looks worse than normal.]
"Did you win?"
[He pulls a handkerchief from his back pocket with one hand, and gestures for Bucky to get closer. Sure, it's a little out dated, but it comes in handy at times. He can't wait for them to get home so he can get Bucky cleaned up.]
"You got some blood at on your face. C'mere. Anywhere hurt more than it should?"
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I got jumped by six guys. [Nevermind that he's really trying to keep away from violence since emerging from HYDRA.] There's no winning that fight.
[Either he technically wins and there's six dead people to atone for or he takes a beating and wins on a different metric while losing the fight.]
Nothing that won't heal on its own.
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SIX?! If it were any other person that could be attempted murder! The only reason they're still alive, is because Bucky has enough self control for the both of them. The more Steve thinks about it, the more furious he becomes.
SIX.]
"You keep cleaning up. I'm going to go...have a chat with...someone."
[He can practically feel the thread his control is hanging off of snap. If he goes out there, he's raising hell. Bucky's going to have to be the one to bail him out. Maybe they should call Stark, or Pepper.]
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However, he's pretty sure Steve won't let him sit behind bars.]
Steve.
[Don't do this, he wants to say. I'm not worth it, he wants to follow up with, but the swelling in his jaw is silencing him.]
no subject
He's back there, keeping the chopper from flying away, holding onto the railing for dear life. He can feel his muscles tear and heal, tear and heal as he tries to bring it down.
He's right back there again, except this time he's in the police station downtown and the chopper is his own anger. And Bucky?
He takes a deep breath, then turns around.]
"I can't just let them do this to ya. It's not right."
[Instead of leaving, though, he goes back and inspects Bucky's jaw. His body needing to do something.]
"What did they tell you? They pressin' charges? Do we need to get Pepper down here?"
no subject
You don’t gotta get anyone involved.
Capture! lmk if you'd like me to change anything!
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.]
sorry for the delay! Work got crazy T-T
Now isn't one of those times. His body aches but his head feels like someone took out his brain, put it in a blender until smooth, then through the whole blender into the ocean during a storm. He's alive, and functioning, but he's not safe. And that needs to be dealt with.
He doesn't hear any other sounds, but he doesn't allow himself to listen for too long. He opens his eyes and straightens his head, and by the time the room stops spinning, his eyes land on the other presence in the room.
Bucky.
Some of the tension leaves his shoulders, as if his body recognizes safety, home. But that's not right. It nearly got him killed once before, letting his guard down once he saw Bucky's face. He subtly tests his restraints, but he's in no position to try anything yet.
He opens his mouth to speak, but his jaw hurts something fierce. He takes a little extra time to adjust before speaking.]
"Am I allowed water?"
All good!
Handlers will decide.
[And true to the Soldier's word, two handlers are twisting keys into the door. One faces Steve square on and the other turns to the Soldier.] Back in cold storage for you.
[The Soldier's expresion falls, but it nods.]