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Character: James "Bucky" Barnes &
Time period: Post-CA: TWS
Warnings: Obsessive Bucky on the loose.

At first, independence had seemed like one of his better ideas, but he had begun to revise his opinion once he had verified certain truths, taken noted of the factions searching for him, and realizing that the world was a wide landscape where a man could get lost. After he had rearmed himself from the bodies of two Hydra agents, a drug dealer, and a gang banger, he had come to realize that slipping away, hiding, being nothing at all was very easy, too easy.

He had been built on the foundation of a command structure for more than seventy years. Even before the blurred vagueness of falling, he knew order and military command. Aside from mashed up images, feelings and impressions, he knew that he had to have some manner of structure in his life. With no more commands down the line, he loitered, slipping through the shadows on Washington for awhile, finding the unsavoury places and people, leaving a few bodies in his wake and not particularly caring that they were found and televised either. A weapon bared he moved through the chaos at first because it was all he knew, listless for anything but the violence he had played a role in for so long. It lost it's purpose without the trigger of structure.

His world stagnated as he avoided those who hunted him, and he cared little for the lives he took when they found him. They came to command him because they thought he would simply bow to old standards, that he would go back to being his code name if they applied even electricity to his brain. They hadn't earned the right to command him. They were weaker than he, hadn't even survived a single encounter when he decided to throw his weight back at them. They were weak men, lost in words and hiding behind guns and dying in the shadows of buildings and trees.

Slowly, resolution began to form from the ashes of his lost command structure. He decided he would allow himself to be commanded again, that he yearned to be commanded by someone with the strength of both character and body to overtake him or at least bow him slightly with respect. Pierce had been like that, he reflected. The man hadn't needed to physically harm him to command his respect, though he remembered well being struck when he required the prompt. A few others had commanded a similar reaction deep in his guts, and his attention snapped over to them. One at a time, he decided. One searched, the other could be found if he looked.

He had been lost for a few months, considering leaving to go to Brooklyn for more pieces of an old puzzle, but he was drawn back into Washington because beating information out of a SHIELD agent had satisfied him that he would get what he wanted. As a ghost story, he knew that the only way to get proper attention was to do something not only obvious but dramatic. His depth of dramatic no doubt would be very different from others that he knew existed, but like a well-trained dog returning to his master, he knew how to get the attention that was needed to invite a recall command.

Hydra agents were not easy to find in large quantities in Washington anymore, most arrested or underground and hiding. It took him two days to find a nest of the vipers, using the old underground tunnels that he knew well. He'd ended them to prove he might not be under command, but it was something worth earning given his skills. Their bodies were left in obvious Hydra uniforms and symbols and piled high in front of the Smithsonian. As if the symbol of his loyalty degradation wasn't enough, none of the corpses had heads, and he had piled them in such a way that he could sit atop the whole mess and lounge there as obvious as the start of a new day.

Media and police were one thing, not that interesting, but he let them think they had command of him for a moment. Let them show his face around for SHIELD and Hydra and them to know he was here. Meaningless orders were ignored, people's reactions only earned a turning of his cheek in dismissal before he knew that the police presence would be a problem to slip away from. Instead he slipped from his lounging perch to ignore warnings and breaking into the Smithsonian because it suited him there. It seemed a fitting place to bow to the command of someone worthy.

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This was a very disconcerting situation and she knew something was so wrong, wrong, and wrong in this scenario, but then if she stopped to think about it, just how had she expected this confrontation to be if she had managed to catch him back then? She would be lying if she said she had expected something this, well, smooth and she had kind of been prepared to fight him all over again in the case scenario and, she will ruefully admit this was a bit anticlimactic, despite that she was getting what she had hoped. Now she needed to think how she was going to handle him, she still wasn’t sure about what he might do.

She took a deep breath and she tried not to dwell much on this right now, the first thing she needed to do was get Bucky out of here while she had his cooperation or something, then she was going to think about the proper way to see about keeping a delicate balance between them and find a way to keep Natasha from trying to kill him or the rest for that matter since they didn’t exactly approved of her search for him.

“I guess you’re right.” As it was, she wasn’t sure if people knew she was here or if they were going to send a team in, which might set Bucky off like a bomb and she didn’t needed that. “Alright then, get us out of here and then I will contact Sam.”

He waited for her to make her call, though he knew that it would most likely be tracked by interested parties on what was going on inside. No team was sent in yet, and he was mildly disappointed for that as he had hoped to showcase some of his more elite skills for her, to show her that he was still top of his game regardless of not having a mission commanded to him. He would prove to her that he was worthy of her attention.

Still, wanting to leave was fine by him too. He shrugged and gestured for her to follow, walking away from the entrance and leading with a brisk walk to a metal door that lead down into the engineering area for water pipes and building maintenance. He worked his way through the cement areas until he found one in particular.

"Hydra used New York to show how vulnerable a city could be," he muttered as he shoved a new door open and stepped inside, walking over to a hatch in the floor that was normally covered and hatched. "This way," he said without waiting as he flipped the heavy metal door open and gestured for her to go down first.

"I'd rather not if its all the same to you," He said. "I've kind of hand sucky week you know?" Steve glanced up that the piece in front of him. He smiled broadly.

"So why come here?"

The possibility of the call being tracked was one of the reasons she decided to wait before actually doing it, she didn’t wanted to get Sam further involved in this if things went downhill and without having the aid of SHIELD at the moment she didn’t exactly had safe lines to communicate or at least not till Tony provided with those, since had mentioned something about giving devices to the team just in case, but she had needed to improvise for the time being with cheap and disposable phones, and since had only one shot to contact Sam it was better to do it away from here.

Stephanie hesitated for a few seconds, this could still be a trap after all, before finally sighing and following him, like most of her action here she will need to take her chances and be prepared in case he turned around and attacked her, needing to be ready to take him on as needed. The silence that fell between them wasn’t exactly comfortable, but she was kind of thankful for it since she still didn’t know what she could tell him and she wasn’t sure she wanted a conversation right now.

There was just a small quirk of her eyebrow at that comment, considering how vulnerable New York had proved to be lately she could see a point, but she supposed that regardless the city, New York could still pose a good example to use here in DC or anywhere else, which is proven just right when he does finds his way around. Again there was a moment of hesitation about follow his lead, but she had gotten here so far and she might as well go all the way, so moves down the hatch and it’s not till then that she remembers the security cameras, that were probably still working and will see Captain America leaving with the man that had killed all of those former Hydra agents.

Well damn, now that was a huge damage control she will need to prepare herself for.

Some of the tension that came with anticipation for combat left him at the refusal, and he allowed his arms to dangle more freely at his sides. It was the only obvious sign he had relented on the possibility of combat at this very moment. "Do you want to talk about it?" He hungered to hear about it, to know someone would treat him human for just a few moments.

"I was living in a time where I belonged for awhile," he said simply. "And making a statement, not as broad as yours taking out SHIELD and Hydra, but all the same."

The old cities were nesting grounds for Hydra in the United States; the cities were built on government secrets after all. Some just needed to know where they secrets were hidden and they had free access to the entire grid, though it required quick thinking and a high tolerance for bad smells and wet. He didn't mind as it got him in and out without a fuss, making it so much easier to just disappear.

He didn't care for repercussions to his actions, not yet anyway. His messes were often cleaned up by others, so he had no problem doing his mission and leaving. This was one of those cases as he waited for her to descend before he followed, pulling the hatch shut behind them and casting them in darkness in the thick pipe. He had to bend a bit at the hips to not brush the roof part, but he immediately took the lead again.

"This way," he said instead of touching her to let her know where he was. Normally he would move silently, but he allowed the heels of his boots to make noise for her to follow as he lead them down the pipe, a small light from a flashlight he turned on the only indication of where they were going. "Where do you want to go aside from away from here?" He knew the city well down here and could take them wherever was needed.

The sound of the hatch falling shut echoed around her with such a finality it made her a bit wary, it wasn’t because she was trapped in such a small and questionable place with him, but it felt different –a bit more symbolic perhaps that she was finally leaving behind or quitting to whatever normalcy she had managed to build up when she had woken up in this confusing new era and that things from this point on would either be too damn difficult or not, she was going into the dark here with her former best friend.

She wasn’t even startled at his voice and she only made a small sound of acceptance before going after him, counting on the deliberate sounds he was making to let her know where he was and the slight sliver of light from that flashlight while making their way out of the museum and trying very hard to tell herself this had been the logical action, she couldn’t afford letting anyone confront Bucky just yet, enough people had died already.

“Hmm, anywhere is fine at the moment.” She really didn’t had a place in mind at the moment, mostly because there were other things going on through her mind.

He knew that she would follow him because she really had no other choice at this point. He knew where he was going, and she didn't and apparently had the only source of light for them as well. There was a power in that, knowing that he could slip away and abandon her down here, lost in the dark to needing him. If he hadn't already captured her in his own way, he might have tried it. As it was, he was secure in what they had established together and this power was meaningless if she was pushed too hard, too fast.

So, he allowed himself to decide on a spot and began to head in that direction without pause. He set a brisk pace, marching through the tunnels and only pausing here and there to verify how far they had gone before he continued on in a straight line away from the museum. He came to several pipe intersections, but he ignored them as he kept them walking for over an hour before turning left into a smaller tunnel where he had to duck down to make it through without brushing the ceiling. He headed down that tunnel until he hit a ladder leading up.

He moved up the ladder with an ease that spoke that he had been here and done all this before. He reached the man-hole cover and shouldered it off with ease before coming out next to a park fountain. He flexed his shoulders and stretched before turning to regard her. They were a long way from his kill zone.

It had crossed her mind that he could indeed leave her here, if that’s what he wanted which she somehow doubted since she had a feeling he had gotten what he wanted, but she still took the time to try to learn their steps and the way they were coming from in case she needed to get back, she didn’t had an ability to memorize so many things (some rather useless) for nothing and it was going to aid her in this case if she needed it and it was better to be safe than sorry.

She really had no idea how long they moved, only that they had apparently trekked quite a significant distance from the Smithsonian now and it will clearly take her awhile if she was left down here, but she could still make the trek back. The smaller tunnel was a bit of a bother now that she was taller, of course not as tall as Bucky but she wasn’t as small and the same wisp of a thing she had been before the serum, but she still followed him.

There was no surprise at the ease in which he moved and she followed with probable the same ease in her motions, what caused her to raise an eyebrow was their destination and how desolated the park was, which probably worked on their favor at the moment. While he was stretching, she searched for her means of contact with Sam but didn’t call him right away, could she really take Bucky there or was she going to be placing Sam in danger here? She still had her apartment here but they could track her there, well, damn maybe she should have thought about this better.

Steve looked at his best friend, his mouth hanging open a bit. He couldn't help it. He just started laughing because he couldn't do anything but laugh. Suddenly his shoulders started to shake, and he looked absolutely striken.

It was too much.

"Yeah because that worked out so well didn't it?

Steve sighed and slid down the wall. "What are you really doing here?"

The laughter wasn't reflected from him, and he raised an eyebrow at the reaction. It seemed that 'bad week' might have been an understatement at this point, but the crack in armour, the show of vulnerability was like having a kill blooded. He knew he could use it to his advantage and move in so easily. He didn't resist the allure of it either, slowly walking over to where Steve had sat down.

He didn't sit but hovered close, his expression one of concern even as his eyes flicked around to assess the level of danger to where they were.

"Does it bother you to know you're free of lies?" He shifted at the question and then slowly moved to a crouch in front of Steve. "Waiting for you."

The fact that this park was deserted was one of the reasons that he had picked it. Hydra had once used it as an area to gather and move people around the city, mostly scientists and other medical staff, but with the whole network going underground and his statement in town, he doubted they would be using it much anymore. That was good because he had a preference to use it for the openness that it brought.

He turned to regard Stephanie, his hands flexing and then falling still at his sides. Now that they were free of the Smithsonian, he had to wonder if she was going to throw her lot in completely with him or contact the wingman as she had said she was going to do. He watched her intently, studying what she was doing now that he had lead them to a relatively safe location.

Steve curled up, his knees pulled up close to him, his head resting in them. "If you are going to kill me, could you please just do it already? I'm so tired of fighting."

Steve looked up at his friend then.

"Although, I wondered why you bothered to save me if you are just going to kill me now?"

Steve glanced up quickly, "I'm sick of being fucking used," He said bitterly. "Everything I thought I knew was based on a lie. How would you feel?"

He hadn't left the message out there to draw Steve in to kill the man; that wouldn't serve his purpose, wouldn't provide him with the structure that he needed to be functional. The sheer idea that he would save Steve and then kill the man months later seemed absurd; he didn't waste efforts and didn't change his mind on things.

"I'm not going to kill you," he said slowly, his eyes half-lidding almost casually. "I drew you here to protect you. Hydra is out there, but I've got your back."

There was a twist of odd euphoria as the opening to insert himself in completely just seemed to present itself. If he wasn't already crouching, he might have sat down next to Steve to be close, but he had committed himself to cool, calmness, and he would stick to that. "You're belief was never a lie. Remember what you believed." A look of confusion flashed across his face at the question relating his opinion, his feelings. "I was empty, a blade laid bare... you are strong. You'll make your way; I'll... help you."

There really wasn’t a lot of time to be wasting here and she needed to come with a plan right now, with a small sigh she decided to just go ahead and call Sam, she had also made a promise to him before they went to search for Bucky and she wasn’t in the habit to break those, especially not to a person that had helped her so much all this time when it came to looking for her former best friend. It didn’t take long for Sam to pick up, clearly waiting for her call and sounding relieved she was still alive and fine.

Without really noticing, she moved away from Bucky while she spoke with Sam, telling him what had happened and giving him a head’s up about the new situation. The exchange was quick and right to the point; once the call was over she turned to look at Bucky. “Come on then.” She started to walk, crushing the phone on the way and disposing of it. “I need to figure out what we’re going to do next.”

His gaze followed her as she moved away from him, not entirely respecting her need for privacy as he turned to the side and listened to what words drifted over his way. He put enough together that she was telling the wingman what had happened in the museum, but she clearly was not about to say too many opinions when he was still so close. He watched their surroundings, flexing his hands and stretching a little as if he were getting ready for a considerable exercise. He thought he might eventually need to hunt her, and he would take a certain joy in using his tracking skills to make he realize that in some areas she was so completely outmatched that it was laughable. He tingled with the thought alone, which meant the actuality would be so much sweeter.

He turned his head when it seemed she was finished, watching her before he stalked after her as she headed off. He disregarded the phone remnants as unimportant, coming up behind her and walking at her elbow rather than companionably beside her. "Shower and perhaps cut out some more red? There might be a few stray agents that could leak information for those in the North and South," he said casually. He would let her take the lead in the direction seeing as he expected they would be going somewhere that wouldn't lead them into very many public places.

"Why?" Steve whispered. "Why not just let Hydra kill me, maybe it would be best for everyone." He stated softly as he rested his knees for a moment, just like he did when he was a kid, and had gotten the crap kicked out of him.

"That's bullshit and you know it," Steve said, as he looked up at the Winter Soldier. "My belief was in a system that never existed. It was based on a lie. I can't lie. I am Captain Fucking America," He said bitterly.

"Yeah? How are you going to help me?"

This line of questioning made him shift ever closer, rocking on the balls of his feet to move in until he was crouched right next to Steve. There was so much laid out in front of him to pick from that it was hard to control his enthusiasm to gather up and store away such vulnerability. It was beautiful; this suffering gave the illusion of arousal and so he basked in it. It was all he could do not to lick his lips in anticipation.

"No, you're a symbol, and those need to live on," he said softly, his voice losing the cold hard edge that it normally had when he spoke. "Hydra doesn't deserve you or your death."

He shifted to rest his arms across his knees, peering at the other man, enjoying this talk more than he would have thought. It was delicious. "Your belief system came before you were Captain America. Don't forget it, and you will prevail as you always have."

He leaned forward intently as if he had been waiting for that very question. His hands shifted out to catch him on Steve's knees and they were almost nose-to-nose. "I will kill for you. I will protect you from shadows and light alike. I will be your rock so that you can be the symbol that you are."

And well she never thought she was going to see the day in which his closeness was going to make her just a tad bit wary, but it seems that today was that day since she wasn’t exactly that comfortable with having him in his current position, rather subtly she moved a bit to fell into step at his side rather than having him behind her, well now this was a mockery to how it had been before all of this happened to them. “We’re going to meet with Sam, so please try not to act hostile or worse with him; he’s going to be helping us here after all.”

Since they couldn’t exactly go to Sam’s place now, they had already come up with a bit of a contingency plan (aided by Natasha of course) and prepared another necessary location in case it was needed, and now this felt a bit easier normal, following a series of already set steps with ease and moving through places where they wouldn’t draw much attention, especially her considering what she was wearing, she was thankful Sam knew this place better than her and had been able to give her a quick rundown to where she was supposed to go now.

When they arrived to the point she was –no they were going to meet with Sam, she wasn’t sure if she was happy or not to find him already waiting for them, part of her was glad since being in his presence was probably going to be better than being just alone with Bucky and she was going to owe him so much, still she couldn’t help the fond smile she gave him when she approached him and despite the obvious wary look aimed at Bucky, Sam was still at least willing to help her and that meant the world to her.

“Thank you for coming.” She rested her hand over his arm, before turning to look at Bucky and motioning to the car. “Get in.” She will rather not have the rest of her conversation with Sam with Bucky listening.

They were going to meet with the wingman? He supposed that there were worse things in the world to do, and he suspected that any hunting would require her out of uniform anyway. He decided that it wasn't worth complaining about since he was still spending time with her and had her close. He noted that she dropped back to walk beside him, a swell of warmth in his chest that she wanted to be so companionable with him rather than just let him guard her back. She cared; she had come to give him structure and now care. No one had cared for him in a very, very long time. People didn't care for weapons after all; they kept them in good working order and pulled their trigger.

He walked with an easy killing grace, no movements wasted as they walked through the park, but he knew where they were going before he saw the end point. He knew the man from sight, had planted his boot firmly into the man's chest after removing his ability to fly. There were fond memories about that as well, being shot at bonded men even if they had been enemies at the time. No matter, he assessed the level of threat posed to him with a glance.

Then he caught the smile that Stephanie gifted Sam, and neutrality bled easily to coldness. One hand brushed the edge of the hilt of his knife, so easy to reach, so quick to draw, but she had ordered him to be nice, so he would be nice. He stopped and looked at the car like it might explode before he frowned and did as he was told, moving to the back seat where there was more room in his opinion. His blue eyes flicked to stare at the two, assessing the situation, cataloging it, watching Stephanie most of all.

She was rather thankful that Bucky moved quite easily to follow her direction and didn’t put much objection to it before she focused her attention on Sam, and she tried to ignore the rather worried look he was aiming at her. She looked at Bucky for a few seconds, before she slid in for a few seconds and rummaged in the back, finding the bag they had stashed there ready for any outcome, she opened and dug around for a bit before pulling clothes for him and handing those to him. “Here, you need to change alright, once you’re done please put your uniform in the bag, okay.”

She searched for a bit before pulling clothes for her and moving out of the car closing the door, since she still needed to talk with Sam and it’s not as if the man hadn’t seen her in a low of clothes state. She noticed finally turned to look acknowledge the Sam look was giving her, while using the car as enough of a shield to change, they were the only ones around anyway so it should be fine, it kind of helped that Sam did moved to cover her as well. “It will be fine Sam or at least I hope it will be he seems calm and willing to cooperate.”

Her words clearly didn’t reassure Sam and he let her know as much, yet he was willing to let her do as what was needed now. The rest of their discussion while she changed was just to confirm plans and what Sam was supposed to do now that she will be going, she turned around pried the door open again and reached the bag to put her own uniform inside and then hide her shield on the back, just in case again, before quickly looking at Bucky. “You will need to move to the front passenger seat.”

Stephanie really didn’t waited for him to do as she was told before she turned to look at Sam, feeling a sudden pang of sadness at leaving him behind, he had turned into her constant companion right now and it was a shame they had to go their separate ways right now. “Are…are you sure we can use that place?”

“Wouldn’t have offered otherwise, Steph.”

“Thank you again, Sam, for everything.” She took another quick look around and then moved to hug him, she wasn’t sure when she was going to properly see him again and she was really going to miss him. “I will see you soon; go now before anyone gets suspicious.” There was a small moment of hesitation before she finally let him go and watched him leave in a different direction, he had his own part to fulfill now, once she was out of sight and with a sigh, she turned and moved into the driver seat placing a small smile on her face. “Hope you don’t mind I’m driving.”

Steve just stared at his friend. If he had been thinking more clearly, he would have realized how creepy that sounded, but as if stood he didn't.

He was a broken soul.

"Why me? Why go to the end of the line for me?" He asked quietly.

Yeah. He'd give Bucky what he needed alright. Hopefully, that wouldn't be somebody new to beat up on. He'd done that last time, and he wasn't really all that eager for a repeat. Better being beaten up than shot, he supposed.

He stepped back when Bucky dropped, but stopped when Bucky started walking forward. "Why would that be strange?" he asked, directly. "You were a good person. You deserved better than you got. Building a monument to you's the least you should have gotten." Of course, a lot of people who died in the war should have had their own monuments, but Steve was as biased as anybody else when it came to this. More biased. Bucky was his, and his friend, and he loved the guy.

Monuments to him... those he found weird.

He came to a stop just out of their punch swing zone, able to measure it with a glance and a knowledge of his own limbs. It wouldn't stop anyone from taking it to a fight, but he respected that distance for now. It would only change if someone decided to come inside to investigate what was going on; there would be nasty surprises in that case as he was fully armed.

"They said I'm dead," he replied, and he lifted a hand so he could 'investigate' his gloved fingers. They weren't interesting, but the illusion of a cat was still present. "I have never been more alive. Do you think I should tell them to change the monument for accuracy?" His blue eyes flicked up and stared at his friend, the only thing he had left. "Were a good person?"

The shattering was evident in Steve's eyes, and he enjoyed it as a cat seemed to enjoy tormenting a wounded mouse or bird. He stayed close, protective and cool, a buffer to the outside world in his own mind. He'd protect this vulnerability for himself, to enjoy it at his leisure.

"Because you went the of the line for me," he said softly. He leaned in further and rested his forehead against Steve's. "We made a promise, and I intend to keep it."

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hurrr hurrr hurrr playing with fiyah...this girl is on fiyah

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