stars and no stripes

[advanced]

who: Bucky and OPEN
what: Various prompts
when: Throughout December
where: Around Quarantine and just outside the perimeter
warnings: None yet, any content warnings that crop up will appear in the subject line

[i: Around Quarantine; OPEN]

[Ever since Steve went home, making the decision to leave him behind, Bucky has regretted how he behaved. He should have made more of an effort to work past his fear and paranoia, be more of a part of Steve's life. Not just Steve's life, the life that's bustling around him all the time. The people that he's met here have, by and large, been good to him. He has to stop hiding.

It's not exactly stopping hiding, but it's a step in the right direction when he decides to start prowling the streets looking for crimes to stop, or people to help. Has your character been set upon by a mugger? Got hit by a car? Accidentally dropped their ice cream? Never fear, for a threatening looking man in a ratty hoodie and torn jeans is coming to the rescue!]

[ii: A series of rooftops around Quarantine; OPEN]

[Ever since receiving an old record from Ava for Thanksgiving, an unexpected present, Bucky has felt like he should be doing something with it. It feels wrong to let a present, one of his first proper ones in a long time, just languish and gather dust in his backpack. So he's taken the second hand gramophone he got his hands on up to a variety of flat rooftops over the first couple of weeks of December, and started practising dance steps.

They're rusty. Very rusty. But they're not all completely gone, as he feared they might have been, so anyone drawn by the sounds of old 1940s music might catch sight of a man in jeans and a hoodie swing dancing on his own.]

[iii: Mission report, December 16 1991; CLOSED to Tony Stark]

[The significance of the date has passed him by. He's from before when Zemo came to drag all of that out into the open, and if he marked every day that he murdered someone then he'd do nothing else all the year round.

He's just scavenging out in one of the buildings outside of town, looking for anything useful or interesting to gather up. It's an unstable building, but he's being relatively careful as he prowls through the gloom, but he has no idea that someone else is also in the building. He climbs a set of stairs and as soon as he puts his weight on the new floor it combines with the weight of the man already there, and the whole thing cracks and collapses.

Well... great. Just great. Now he's trapped under a bunch of rubble with someone he didn't even get a good look at before everything went dark and slightly painful.]

You alive?

Comments

[buildsomething]

[All Tony had wanted was a distraction. Something to keep him from thinking too hard about the date.

He'd...not come to terms with it, he very much hadn't managed that, but Tony had at least been able to get through it before. It had been over twenty years, the ache had to fade at least a little. But that was before the old wound had been ripped wide open and been thoroughly salted. And since getting incredibly, mind-blowingly plastered would probably raise questions he didn't feel like answering, Tony had gone for burying himself in work instead. The Abandoned City was good for that kind of thing.

Or at least it was, until he finds himself with half a building on top of him.]

Debatable. [It's grunted back on pure reflex as Tony takes stock of himself. Nothing seems broken, at least. So there's a plus.

It takes a moment or so later for him to realize the voice sounds familiar, and Tony goes utterly still in the process of trying to shove a piece of plaster away. His luck can't possibly be this bad...]

Barnes?

[advanced]

[Oh, this can't be a good thing.

He has managed to form an uneasy truce with Stark whenever they come across each other, but he certainly doesn't want to be trapped with him for any length of time. The significance of the date still doesn't come to him, but it's always in the back of his mind that he's been told about how badly Stark reacted when he found out about who killed his parents.]

Yeah.

[He pushes a chunk of masonry off one of his legs and crouches in the small space that they've been left beneath the building.]

You hurt?

[buildsomething]

[Fuck. It's enough to make Tony just close his eyes for a long moment, trying to keep himself under control. Before he realizes that just sitting there taking deep breaths inside a collapsed building probably isn't going to do great things for already damaged lungs, and he makes himself finish shoving the plaster off to to a quick internal inventory.

Nothing feels broken, and thank god for that. Bruised yes, but Tony's used to bruises. Those, he can ignore. He still lets out a low groan as he climbs unsteadily to his feet. Like he needs any more reminders that he's getting old.]

Think I'll live.

[His tone is clipped in a way Tony hasn't been with him in a while, but he's nowhere near ready to process everything spinning through his head at the moment. Let him focus on the task at hand, instead. He's good at that.

Which is why he makes himself ask,] You?

[advanced]

[Part of how he survives and hides so successfully is being able to observe and extrapolate information from just the smallest cues, so it doesn't escape his attention that Stark is being cooler towards him again. Is this because he blames him for the building falling?

No, he couldn't have known that, could he?

Why else? He's silent, brain pushing through all the different reasons it could be at high speed instead of answering the return question. When it hits him, it hits him with the force of a bullet, knocking the air from his lungs.]

December 16. Damn.

[buildsomething]

[Tony's head snaps sharply in the voice's direction, for all that he can't actually see the man. That's the sound of a realization happening, and Tony can't tell if he's relieved or even more annoyed that it's obviously just clicked. Why should he have known? Just another set of regrets, probably. I remember all of them.

It's not that he blames Barnes, not really. Not even now. But on this day, with him right there, it's hard not to take out some of the emotion roiling at the back of Tony's head on him.]

Well spotted.

[Though even Tony can register that being snide will only get him so far. He lets out a long breath and takes a moment or two to count backwards and pull out some of the maturity he supposedly has.]

Can you see a way out or anything? Looks like we hit the basement.

[advanced]

[He can hardly blame Stark for being snide, he deserves a hell of a lot worse than just some sarcasm. He's never really had to have contact with any of the families of his victims before, but he can imagine it's probably harder for Stark than it is for him. Howard and Maria are just two more names on top of a huge mound of them, but Stark only has one name on his 'people who murdered my parents' list.

He shifts a bit to take in what little of his surroundings that he can see in the gloom, which really isn't much at all, and breathes in deeply to try and taste fresh air in any direction.]

No, not immediately. We might have to try and dig out.

[This would be the point where a suit of reinforced armour would be helpful.]

I guess you didn't bring your suit?

[buildsomething]

Left it in my other pants.

[Which was one hell of an oversight, now that he thinks about it, but Tony wasn't really expecting to run into any Iron Man-ready problems today.

And part of him is a little concerned about how he might have reacted to Barnes being there if he had brought it. But he's calmer now. Really.

He's quiet for a moment, weighing his options. Is admitting a possible weak spot better or worse than being stuck down here with Barnes?]

But I can call it.

[ i ]

[supersweet]

[ While he's met Bucky plenty of times around and about in Riverview, it still takes Jon by surprise. With a smile, he approaches the man (but keeping his distance in case Bucky wants to play it that way) ]

Hey, Bucky. Gonna do some Christmas shopping?

[advanced]

[He hasn't really gone looking for Jon since they collided in dreams, it felt too awkward, but apparently Jon doesn't seem to hold any of the same reservations if that smile is anything to go by.

He shrugs, looking awkward.]

No. I was just--

[Trawling for people to rescue. He can't say that.]

--walking.

[Good. Excellent excuse.]

[supersweet]

[ Uh . . . huh. ]

Walking where?

[advanced]

Uh.

[Felled at the first hurdle.]

To... the store?

[supersweet]

[ Okay that's a little funny. ]

You really make me look good at this secret identity stuff, not gonna lie.

[advanced]

[His lips turn down, but he can hardly deny it.]

I'm not trying to have a secret identity, I was just-- I thought maybe there might be people in trouble, that's all.

ii.

[krasnaya_vdova]

[Ava had tested the records, to make sure they played before she gave them to him, so the song sounds familiar when she hears it. Old forties tunes, that rising cadence and the warmth of the sound. She follows it to the source of the music, and she can't help smiling softly, leaning against the edge of the fire escape she'd jumped onto like a whisper. Her chin braced in her hands, as she watches him while he dances, partnerless.

She's sure that he's noticed her, but she stays quiet, doesn't interrupt for as long as he keeps moving. It's only when he stills that she finally straightens a little, her voice just loud enough for him to hear her from across the rooftop.]

You're pretty good.

[advanced]

[He very nearly stops as soon as he knows she's there, but in a show of the small amount of trust that she's managed to accrue with him, he keeps going until the end of the song.]

Pretty sure that I used to be better.

[He pushes his hair out of his face.]

I think I remember dames lining up to dance with me.

[krasnaya_vdova]

[She smiles a little, slips off the fire escape and onto the roof, taking a few steps closer. He brushes hair out of his face, and she shakes her head with a soft hum of amusement.]

Practicing helps.

[She knows swing dance better than she should; memories that aren't hers, but she's still familiar with it. She could recognize it as she watched him. She likes dancing, even if for her own experiences it was nothing but a subtle weapon left in her memory, or following Sana someplace she didn't want to be.]

I wouldn't be surprised. You could probably still manage a partner or two once you work up to it.

[advanced]

I don't think so.

[It's not a harsh rebuttal, more thoughtful than anything else. He's enjoying this much, even as bittersweet as it is to only have an echo of what he used to have.]

I don't like people being that close, especially not people that I don't know.

[He can't trust himself to be safe.]

[krasnaya_vdova]

That's fair. I just think it's good that you're dancing.

[It had been important to him. His reasoning does make sense to her, though. She understands it, the worry of not being safe (understands that too well). She's quiet for a moment, considering. She can't help wondering if there's a way to make it work without pushing against his comfort level.]

If you're able to telegraph and read gestures across a distance... It'd be possible to give you a bit of a buffer. Sort of like dancing in a mirror, except with another person.

[The implied is, of course, that he's sharp enough there's no question that he can. She does like seeing him like this. Here, with the music. She tries to be nice to him, where she can, without pushing too hard. She tries to engage, encourage him.]

If you ever wanted to try.

[She leaves it casual; only half an offer.]

[advanced]

You can't swing dance like a mirror.

[Somehow he knows what he's talking about, even though he can't remember working or the actual dancing. He just knows deep in his bones that this whole dance is about feeling the partner in your arms.]

It's all lifts, spins, it's very contact heavy.

[Though he does understand what she was trying to offer him, so after a moment his expression softens.]

But thanks.

ii

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar's passing by a building when he hears swing music coming down from the rooftop. Now, who would be out listening to that? He remembers when Bucky had played the music for him a few months ago. With a pang, he recalled it was right after Letha had left him. Is he up there on the roof? It definitely is one of the places he seems to feel most comfortable.

Fortunately, this particular building has an elevator that goes almost all the way to the top. He leaves the wheelchair behind at the short set of stairs that lead to the door out onto the roof. He opens it up with a slight creak. Ivar watches Bucky for a while, long enough for the song to peter out on the record.]

Interesting way to spend your spare time.

[advanced]

[His head snaps around when the voice comes from behind him. His music had drowned out the sound of Ivar climbing the last set of stairs at a crawl, and his concentration on remembering the steps had narrowed his focus to just that and nothing else, so he hadn't noticed anyone coming.

That's a lapse he needs to not repeat again. At least it's only Ivar this time, not an enemy, but he needs to be more alert.]

I used to be a dancer. Before.

[ragnarsson]

Yeah, I remember you told me you liked to dance once.

[ Way back when the chalice had brought forth alternate versions of themselves. It had been an interesting time to learn about how Bucky had been before he'd ended up getting turned into the Soldier.]

Looks like fun.

[There's some excited energy brimming about Ivar, something that usually only happens when he's in the middle of training or getting into a fight. Don't worry, Bucky, he's done nothing bad. This time, anyway.]

I've got good news and wanted to tell you.

[advanced]

[He wouldn't do anything as insensitive as offer to teach Ivar, when it's obvious that dancing really isn't something that he's going to be able to do. It's good, actually, that he changes the subject so that Bucky doesn't have to struggle to find a way to do it without being rude.]

Yeah?

[That could be anything from Winter doing something cute, to managing to kill an enemy in a difficult battle.]

[ragnarsson]

I have family in the city now. My sister and father both came through the portal.

[For all that Ivar was tough as nails, he was still a teenager far from home. To have family here, even if he had never known his sister before now, and to have his father from years before Ivar was even born, it meant a lot to the Viking. As an added bonus, Ragnar was probably one of the only people that could put a leash on Ivar's psychotic tendencies besides Bucky and Thor.]

[advanced]

[It's obvious that Ivar is happy about this, and so Bucky responds with a small smile of his own. That's good, people like Ivar need the steadying influence of people around them to help keep them on the right path.]

Lucky them to have you here, it's got to be a big help to have someone able to show them around and explain things.

[He won't ask to meet them, but if Ivar wants to introduce him then he might not fight it.]