missing pieces

[advanced]

who: Bucky Barnes (MCU), Ivar Ragnarsson, Dick Grayson, Stephen Strange, Ellie, Tony Stark, Suigetsu Houzuki, Clark Kent, Fatima Merali, Eichi Tenshouin, Shai Ebbisaryn, Steve Rogers (MCU), Líadan Ní Donnabháin, Bucky Barnes (616), and Jonathan Kent
what: Various prompts
when: April 1st/2nd
where: Abandoned city
warnings: Probable violence
note: Though this log has closed prompts, if you would like to do anything with Bucky please just send me a PM or hit me up at bibbety and I will be more than happy to add in a prompt for you!

[i: Sparring partners; CLOSED to Ivar Ragnarsson]

[Bucky spends a lot of his time out in the abandoned city, even sleeping there some nights when the feel of people all around him becomes a bit too much to handle. He's doing better than he was when he arrived here, he's even spoken to Steve fairly courteously once, but he's got a long way to go and he still prefers to do it alone.

Which is why he's out in the city training himself, running between buildings, jumping and vaulting various debris fields, and occasionally testing his acrobatic skills with flips and kicks off one surface to catch hold of another. What he's not expecting, after jumping one particularly large gap between rooftops, is to land by a man on the ground.

At first he thinks it's someone hurt, until he recognises the man that fought him when he was recently arrived and remembers how he couldn't use his legs. It's pretty impressive that he got up this far, let alone out here to the abandoned city in the first place.]

You okay?

[He was just going to go, but maybe Ivar really is hurt and can't get down.]

[ii: Meals on wheels; CLOSED to Dick Grayson]

[There have been a couple of times while Bucky has been skulking around the city that he's seen the man he doused in yoghurt, still patrolling in that costume. He knows his name now, made sure to look it up based on the usernames and the apartment - Dick Grayson. Not that he plans on using it, he just likes to have all the information, it can be the difference between life and death.

But what he doesn't realise is that he's the one that's been spotted tonight by Dick, as he slips out into the abandoned city and turns into one of the nearby ruins. A sleeping bag and rucksack are already stashed there, along with a surprising array of weapons. He slides into his sleeping bag, sat up against the wall, completely unaware that he's not alone... for now.]

[iii: Magic and Mayhem; CLOSED to Stephen Strange]

[Bucky has very few things that he would count as personal possessions. His weapons, clothes, and sleeping bag were all just tools that could pass in and out of his ownership without him caring that much. Though he would never like to be unarmed, he could always find more weapons if he lost these.

But he had a book that was precious to him. Just a tattered little notebook which was a quarter full of news clippings of all the various Avengers, some information both bought and stolen from the Smithsonian gift shop, and several choppy paragraphs in his own handwriting. Notes on information he's found out, memories that have resurfaced, that sort of thing.

He's sitting on the rooftop of one of the buildings in the main city, riffling through the book, when a sudden gust of wind catches it and sends it out of his hands and over the side to land at either at the feet of, or directly on the head of, the poor unsuspecting person walking by.

Sorry, Stephen.]

[iv: Dance lessons; CLOSED to Ellie]

[The flower festival isn't exactly Bucky's natural habitat, but he keeps finding himself drawn to the dance lessons and performances in the various open park areas. He doesn't really remember dancing himself, it's definitely not something the Soldier has ever done even though he has the dexterity for it, but it feels familiar.

So even though spending so much time in the crowds goes against a lot of his instincts, Bucky keeps finding himself back in the throng.

It's where he is that morning, sat with his back against a tree to make it slightly harder to sneak up on him from behind, intently watching a couple perform an exhibition piece in the style of swing dancing. These are the ones he likes the best, the ones that feel the most oddly familiar, and he has an almost peaceful expression as he watches.]

[v: Running into you; CLOSED to Tony Stark]

[Bucky spends a lot of his time either hiding, skulking in the shadows, or moving at a carefully steady pace through crowds so as not to attract attention. But sometimes he just needs to blow off steam, sometimes he just needs to burn through the excess energy that the bastardised serum gives him.

Which is why he's running.

He's at least chosen a time when he doesn't think anyone else will be near the outskirts of the city, and he's running down side streets and back alleys rather than the main streets, but he is pushing himself all out. Running faster than a normal human could, vaulting trash cans and practically skidding around corners.

It's probably lucky he hasn't crashed into anyone before now...]

[vi: Festival Fun; CLOSED to Suigetsu Houzuki]

[This festival, much like the last festival, is a good place to gather free food. The stall vendors are often so busy that they don't notice a little something here or there going missing, and lots of people end up buying food that they can't finish and just abandon. Which is why one suspicious hobo type is now casually wandering the picnic area, stooping as if to tie his shoe every so often when he's really stealing leftovers.

Don't mind him...]

[vii: A serious talk; CLOSED to Clark Kent]

[See the comments for starter.]

[viii: Kites and trees; SEMI-OPEN to anyone plotted with on the CR meme]

[Bucky has spent most of the flower festival skirting the main events, on the fringes of the crowds, or watching from a distance. But some things keep drawing him in deeper, like leftovers at the picnic area, or dance contests, or the smell of food.

To anyone wandering, he can be found in the following places:

i) staring into the window of a bakery as if the pies on display have the answer to life.
ii) up a tree in the park, watching a dance demonstration like a skulking creeper
iii) flying a kite that he got pressured into buying, sitting on the grass in a relatively secluded area. If this kite accidentally drops and wraps around your character, more's the pity.]

[ix: Football; CLOSED to Jonathan Kent]

[Bucky doesn't look like someone who's in the park to play a nice game of football... for one, he doesn't actually have a football. He's also skulking under the trees, wearing a long hoodie and gloves despite the warm weather, and is looking around at everyone entering the park as if they might be a threat to him.

But he said he wanted to do this, so he's here.

Even after he got the message from Clark that said he had somewhere else to be that morning, he was sorry, but hopefully Bucky could still have fun with Jonathan. Which was why Bucky was skulking out of place, waiting for a kid and hoping that said kid brought a football with him. Or they might be kind of scuppered.]

Comments

[advanced]

[Seems like it might have been something he could remember, except for one thing.]

I was never in England during the war.

[He can thank the Smithsonian for that piece of information.]

[anotheroldsoldier]

Our careers don't sync up much. I already spoke to Carter. [She hadn't told him much in the way of personal info, but she'd told him a few things about the other Steve and Bucky's army careers.] I was with the Invaders, not the Howlies.

The brass sent Steve and me all over the place. Don't think we ever spent more than a month at a time in one spot.

[advanced]

You weren't with the 107th?

[That's so strange. Even if he doesn't remember them, it seems odd that this other him is almost nothing like him, and yet had still ended up with that hateful arm and a head full of programming.]

Tell me about you.

[It's an order rather than a question, but he needs to know.]

[anotheroldsoldier]

No. I was a... special operative from the start, I guess you could say. [More like he was an unregistered sixteen year old who had been covertly trained to do wetwork, because who would miss an Army orphan anyway?

The corners of his lips quirk up wryly at the order.] Haven't re-learned how to ask nice, huh? What do you want to know?

[advanced]

[What does he want to know? The worst thing is that he couldn't even match up most of what he might get told because he doesn't remember huge chunks of his life. It's probably safer to go with what he learned at the Smithsonian and match them up that way.]

How did you meet Steve?

[Surely that has to be the same, it was so early in life. The exhibit said they met when they were still little kids in school.]

[anotheroldsoldier]

[That's an easy enough question to answer. There's a version in all the comic books and history books, that he stumbled on Steve while he was changing in his tent and became Captain America's partner, but... he's never liked that version. And what's the point in telling a lie?]

I was sixteen. I remember that much, I got shipped out to Britain to train with the SAS the day after my birthday, for a special assignment. Never told me what it was, but when I saw Captain America in a newsreel, part of me just knew.

General Phillips introduced us, back in the States. I was gonna be Cap's partner. As for me and Steve... we hit it off real fast, real hard. It was always the two of us, back then. Still is.

[advanced]

[Literally none of that is right. Oddly, it makes him relax a bit more, it would be much more disturbing if they shared all the same past, for it would be too personal and private.]

Seems to me like all we share is a name and an arm.

[They might as well not even be the same person.]

None of that is right for me-- my world.

[anotheroldsoldier]

[It's right to Bucky, the truth he holds in his heart. His own memories. Maybe it isn't the same, though, and that's probably a good thing. They aren't clones, just two men whose lives were similar in a few places.]

Maybe so. [A name, an arm, and a bloody history. He knows that much.] How did you meet Steve?

[advanced]

[He frowns for a moment in thought, trying to piece together what's his own memory and what comes from the Smithsonian. It feels uncomfortable to talk about, like recounting someone else's life, and that's probably obvious from the blank tone of voice.]

Sometime when he was a kid, at school, helped him fight off some bullies.

[He's careful never to say 'I' did this, just the facts.]

[anotheroldsoldier]

[Somehow, he notices. That tone of voice, the way he doesn't own what happened. Bucky used to feel like that a lot, like those things couldn't have possibly been his life. Feeling a little old and a little tired, he sits down against the trunk of the tree, one knee up, arm draped over it. Casual.]

So you knew him before the serum, huh. [He wonders how alike they were. Did his Steve ever get bullied?] It's wild, how some things can be so different, and some still the same.

[advanced]

[He tenses up on his branch when the other Bucky settles at the base of the tree, but he doesn't come down or tell him to leave.]

...I think I remember some things from before the serum.

[At least the other him will be the most likely to understand why that's only 'I think'.]

He was a skinny little punk.

[anotheroldsoldier]

[If he notices, he doesn't say anything. His attention is elsewhere at the moment, and he assumed the attempt at conversation was as good as an invitation to stick around for a little bit.

He snorts out a laugh.] Yeah, I bet. He's always been a punk, no matter what size. He always acted so straight-laced and uptight around the brass, but I knew him better.

[advanced]

Different there too. From what I-- everything I can remember is him being a punk, even after the serum changed him. He disobeyed orders to find me, and then pretty much ran his own unit the way he wanted to.

[Steve had too much fire in him to ever be a perfect straight-laced soldier.]

[anotheroldsoldier]

Nah, not that different. He'd go off the reservation the moment he thought he had to. We all did. It was mostly when we had to keep our identities on the down low and play Corporal Rogers and Private Barnes. [He waves a hand vaguely in an aborted gesture.] I meant, more- it was a little harder to get him to have fun. To stop focusing on the war for a couple hours.

[He tilts his head up, mildly curious.] He ever had orders not to go find you? The brass didn't appreciate what you did?

[advanced]

He wasn't an active soldier then.

[Bucky frowns, trying to remember, but there's nothing there and the rest of this has to come from the Smithsonian exhibit.]

He helped sell war bonds in a USO show, he found out most of the unit had been wiped out by a HYDRA attack and his friend was one of the ones MIA. He stole a helmet and a plane and came in, even though it was behind enemy lines and he'd been told not to. I don't think I was anything to appreciate, just another soldier MIA.

[anotheroldsoldier]

Huh. [That seems weird to him. He leans his chin in his hand, watching the dancers and not watching them at the same time.]

They managed to make one super soldier and they put him in a USO show? Christ. [It's a damn crying shame that their brass apparently never really appreciated just what they could do.] I guess they had a different approach.

Me, if I'd known how valuable I was the US government after my SAS training, I woulda pawned myself for a profit.

[advanced]

[He's nearly positive that they've just had completely different lives now, nothing Bucky says makes any sense with what he's learned or remembers.]

...So how did you become the Soldier?

[It's blunt and harsh, but it's the only bit of their lives that he knows they share if the arm is any indication.]

[anotheroldsoldier]

[And there it is, the million dollar misery question. 'How did your life get absolutely ruined', he might as well have asked. Bucky doesn't like talking about it, isn't entirely sure he wants to answer that, but the two of them are so different... It's not a bad thing to know just how different.]

After the drone plane went down, I died in the water and froze, I guess. A Russian submarine picked me up. They thawed me out, thinking I had the serum, and managed to... resuscitate me. Even with most of my memories back, it's all fuzzy, you know? But according to the- the files, I had severe brain damage. Didn't remember a damn thing, except languages and how to fight.

I was a KGB operative from then on, til Steve found me. Every time I started to get uppity, to disobey orders, they'd... re-brainwash me, stick me back in the ice.

[advanced]

[The fingers of his left hand twitch when he hears about being brainwashed and put back on ice, he knows that all too well, but the rest of it is different. It's all so different.]

You don't have the serum.

[It's not a question, not after what he just said, more an astonished repeat.]

I do. Not the same one, a bastardised version of it, but it makes me stronger, faster.

[anotheroldsoldier]

[So different, and yet, at the same time, here they both are - two James Barneses, with bionic prosthetic arms. Hearing that this Bucky has some kind of serum, though, makes him huff out a breath and lean back a little.]

I don't. Nothing like that. I have to keep up with superhuman assholes all on my own. [At least he's learned to take a punch, he guesses. He glances up slightly.] How did you...? Did they try again, or was it-?

[advanced]

HYDRA.

[This, in some bitterly ironic twist of fate, is actually something he remembers.]

My unit was captured, most of them killed. Some of us were experimented on, I was the only one who survived it, I didn't even know what they'd done to me until much later. That's where I was when Steve came to get me out.

[anotheroldsoldier]

Shoulda seen that one coming. [He remarks dryly.

But if he was the one they experimented with serums on, does that mean they didn't have a Master Man? Bucky refrains from saying maybe it was a lucky thing.] I have to ask... How did HYDRA get involved in the Winter Soldier project later on? They were never part of it, for me. It was all the Red Room, Department X...

[advanced]

[He shrugs, but it's not a deflection, he really doesn't know.]

They were always involved, it was Arnim Zola that helped create the Soldier. The Soviets were just the branch of HYDRA I was involved with during-- when they made me.

[anotheroldsoldier]

Arnim Zola. He was behind your serum too. [It's a statement, not a question, he almost doesn't even need it confirmed. Arnim Zola is a familiar name behind pretty much anything to do with HYDRA weird science.]

What about your Red Skull? Is he gone by now?

[advanced]

Yeah, a long time ago. He died before the end of the war, HYDRA has moved on a long way from what he wanted to do with it.

[People like Alexander Pierce were at the top now. Had been at the top. A different sort of madness and evil.]