advanced: (blend in)
Bucky Barnes ([personal profile] advanced) wrote in [community profile] riverviewlogs2017-03-08 06:05 pm

survival of the fittest

who: Bucky and anyone!
what: Bucky is a big old thief, tracks down his name twin, and also goes monster fighting with Clark
when: Anytime between March 8th and March 12th
where: Around Quarantine
warnings: Probably violence

[i: Around Quarantine; open to anyone]

[Bucky has chosen to eschew the communal housing gifted to him, as well as all the benefits that affords. Like food, shelter, and access to a shower. The last two aren't such a big deal, but he needs a lot of food to keep him going, the bastardised serum in his veins makes him burn through calories at a ridiculous rate.

Which is why he's ghosting through Quarantine on the look out for empty housing or possible a not very well attended street food stall, in order to snatch a hand out and take something. He can be found shoplifting in the street; or, if you'd prefer, breaking into your character's housing in search of food.]


[ii: Down a back alley somewhere; closed to Bucky Barnes]

[Ever since he saw that name on the network, his own name, Bucky has been in overdrive trying to figure out what's going on. It takes him a day or so to track down who owns the username, and then another day to just follow them around and try and figure out who they are. It's only when he catches the imposter out alone, whatever he might be doing, that he reveals himself by trying to drag the other man down an alleyway in an explosion of movement and bad decisions.]

[iii: Monster hunting; closed to Clark Kent]

[The perimeter is of interest to Bucky, partially because it means an escape from this town and partially because he knows that Stark is going to be making upgrades to it. It's why he's scouting around it today.

He's too focused on the possible security measures, trying to find surveillance equipment or defence mechanisms, that he has completely failed to notice the large monster shaped like a monstrous caterpillar creeping up behind him on silent feet.]
anotheroldsoldier: (bucky smash)

ii

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-08 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[The fact that it takes a bit for Bucky to catch on that he's being followed says a lot about the skill of his stalker. When he does finally realize, he doesn't let on, goes about his business like normal (this isn't normal, nothing about this place is normal). Who knows who else from their world came through that portal? It could be literally anybody with a grudge against Captain America, or anybody who has beef with him. The list is much too long to narrow down just yet.

First, he tries to find out for himself who it is, in subtle ways, while he spends time with the other Avengers or around his floor-mates. It gives him a smokescreen to act normally. Unfortunately, his stalker is good.

Finally, he decides to go out alone, thinking maybe then he can either lose the guy and figure it out, or draw him out into the open. On the way back from an innocuous grocery shopping trip, taking a different way back to the building, the latter happens, with the stalker trying to drag him down the alleyway.

Bucky drops the bag of food immediately and lashes out with a metal fist to try and escape his hold, slipping easily from his pretend-relaxed civilian demeanor to highly trained soldier in an instant.]
Who the fuck are you?!
anotheroldsoldier: (angry tirade)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-08 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[When the other man raises an arm to block his punch, he's expecting the crack of bone, not- the distinct clash of metal on metal as fist thunders into forearm. Bucky is wearing long sleeves at the moment, but he hasn't worn a glove, the metal fingers exposed.

He pulls back from his attacker, gives himself a bit of space, tense and ready, his brows furrowed and brown eyes fixed on the man in front of him. He needs to reassess this threat, clearly, and his gaze is calculating.]
You're the one who's been stalking me, pal. [His accent is natural, very American, fairly Midwestern.]

It's my name. The hell do you think it means?
anotheroldsoldier: (well that's not good)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-08 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
It's what my parents put on my birth certificate. [Sorry, were you not looking for snippy, not-helpful non-answers? Because that's what you're getting. Bucky doesn't launch himself into an attack just yet; that arm is covered, but something is going on. It's not normal flesh and bone or he could have cracked it like a chicken wing.]

Why the interrogation over a name?
anotheroldsoldier: (explain that again)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-09 06:41 am (UTC)(link)
[That blank face is a little spooky at this point. What the hell is going on?]

There are at least four people here who can independently confirm that yeah, it is my name. I'm not playing any games. I was going about my business before you started stalking me.
Edited 2017-03-09 06:41 (UTC)
anotheroldsoldier: (ew no)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-10 07:20 am (UTC)(link)
[The longer this goes on, the more Bucky's feeling of unease grows, a knot of instinct his chest that tells him he's missing something important about this whole mess. What is he missing? The suspicion is there, sure, but he can't say definitively what's going on here.

The pieces are there. s.rogers and sg.rogers on the network, the way some people were acting strangely toward Tony. But Bucky doesn't want to put the last two pieces in place, maybe.]


Show you mine if you show me yours. [He says, voice hard, but he's rolling up the sleeve on his left arm, revealing inch after inch of shiny metal, smoothly sculpted to match his right arm in shape. He pushes the fabric up over his shoulder, and there, on the curve, is the painted white star inside a blue circle, surrounded with a thin ring of red. His shield.]
anotheroldsoldier: (eye roll)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-10 03:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[He watches the glove come off, the sleeve get rolled up. The design is just a little bit different to his own, another model maybe. The red star on the shoulder confirms that - Bucky had gotten himself an upgrade when he'd started working with Fury, and then Stark. It definitely means one thing, though.

They're both James Buchanan Barnes. Just different versions.

Bucky straightens slightly, slipping halfway out of his attack stance (but still standing ready, wary), and breathes out a long sigh through his nose.]


Well, fuck.
anotheroldsoldier: (skeptical)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-10 03:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Bucky doesn't bother to roll down his sleeve. He doesn't care so much about being incognito here; it's not even his home reality, so he doesn't have to deal with his tentative legal status or the fact that he's wanted by Norman Osborn's jackass fake Avengers.

He quirks an eyebrow.]
Little egotistical there, huh? I didn't even know you were here until you started followin' me around.
anotheroldsoldier: (i'll explain it again)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-10 03:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maybe not that someone was trying to fuck with you specifically, Buck. He looks mildly confused by the question.]

Because it's a roof over my head? Besides the sorcerers, it ain't much different from the barracks. And Steve is there. My Steve.
Edited 2017-03-10 15:47 (UTC)
anotheroldsoldier: (neutral)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-11 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[God, please stop looking like that, other him. Bucky is getting real bad Winter Soldier vibes, and tensing slightly, just a little more on edge.]

How do you mean?
anotheroldsoldier: (side)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-11 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
If you're going around with my name, then yeah it does. [That's the selfish reason, anyway, not wanting another timeline's version of him to ruin the reputation he's starting to build in his time here. It'll be easier in the meantime, until the portal can take him back to Earth-616.]

Maybe I can help. I think I'm uniquely qualified.
anotheroldsoldier: (ugh no)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-11 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[They aren't exactly the same, but from the way this version acts, Bucky would be shocked if they didn't have at least one large, traumatic, decades-spanning event in common. The clarification he gives just confirms it. His voice lowers a little, as if he's afraid they might be overheard, or like it's just something he doesn't like to talk about.]

You're afraid of any lingering programming or trigger words. [Whether this Bucky means himself, or he means in James, that's up in the air.]
anotheroldsoldier: (sad puppy man)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-13 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's a slight difference in perspective, a skew to their experiences, not that Bucky gets that yet. He won't, unless they decide to hash out the differences in their timelines together.]

I work with SHIELD now, unofficially. [He decides to leave out the Captain America part.] Tony is- was, the Director. One of my conditions was that they remove all of that from my brain, so no one could turn me against my country again.

I'm as safe as I ever will be.
anotheroldsoldier: (well that's not good)

[personal profile] anotheroldsoldier 2017-03-21 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
[Bucky doesn't make a move to stop him from going. This is a lot to take in for him too, he can only guess how he'd take it if he were less stable. But he does regard him with a level gaze, standing up a little straighter. (It's hard to tell, but he thinks the other Bucky has a few inches on him.)]

Likewise, you know. But let's not let it come to that.