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(no subject)

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The security room was supposed to be impressive, but he was only here for the use of the cameras to watch the few cleaners and security leaving. Apparently they didn't appreciate his entry and felt safer with the headless corpse pile as well as the police. No doubt someone was going to have a try for fame, but he wasn't interested in humanity very much. There were few that stole his attention, and he watched on the camera as she came.

There was nothing to be impressed about when it came to the uniform because it was the person under it that was far more than a symbol. There was a commanding officer; there was structure; there was his new world all dressed up and breaking free of the same strings he had cut from himself when he walked away from the only life he had once known.

Easing out of the security room, he ghosted through the hallways, making certain that he eased around her position to check for traps and other people she might have hidden away. Windows were secure, the doors were shut, and the sound of police sirens was really just a good backdrop to such a reunion.

'James' stepped out around a model of an old World War II war plane, and he regarded her for a long moment in silence. "You gave up on me," he said softly. "I knew the moment you stopped following me; have you lost all hope?"

The sound of the sirens worried her just a bit, she really hoped no one tried to make their way in before she was done scooping the situation here, she had no doubt that it was probably going to add to the already impressive body count and that was the last thing she wanted right now, the best thing she could do was to see what he wanted, try to deal with it as best as she could before anyone had the bright idea of breaking in.

She knew she could go looking for him, but considering how that had gone all of these months, it was best for her to remain where she was and let him come to her, because she knew he was going to come and she stood as tall and calm as the situation allowed it to her. But her mind was maybe a bit of a mess, maybe what had happened all those months ago, the fact that he had saved her life had been a fluke and he was coming to finish that? But then that didn’t explain his display, since the message had been clear, brutal but clear.

To her credit she didn’t flinched or showed anything that could be perceived as weakness when he appeared, her eyes just quickly looked him over, to check if he was hurt and know if he was poised to attack –which he wasn’t not yet, before meeting his eyes unflinchingly. “I didn’t give up on you.” And she really hadn’t. “And I haven’t lost my hope either, but you didn’t wanted to be found then, were you Bucky? So I assumed that you were going to be the one to find me or let me know somehow you were ready for me to find you.”

She refrains from saying that she doesn’t quite appreciate the way he had to deliver that message, she doesn’t needs to do so, he probably knew already.

That was something that he noted and picked up right away about her now as she had always been in his foggy memories and that was first checking him over. Like she cared. Like he meant something to her and that warmed him to the idea that he could bow his head, slide to his knees before her if it was ordered and let her direct his hand to missions and targets. She would give him structure, but the warm compassion that he had so far lacked in the last seventy years. There was no compassion when one was a weapon to be set loose.

"I was lost," he said simply to her reasoning that he didn't want to be found. That might have been true, but he had never stopped looking over his shoulder watching her give chase. It had been the only thing keeping him going before he realized what he needed, but she was here now. She would put things right, uniform or no.

"You saw my message then," he added with a tip of his head so his dark hair fell partially over his face. "I had hoped you'd recognized my sign for you."

Somehow she wasn’t surprised that he didn’t appeared wounded, but what exactly would she have done if he had been? It’s not as if she could easily approach him as it had happened in the past, he was still a bit of blank for her when it came to his motivations. Stephanie raised a small eyebrow at that lost comment, she hadn’t exactly been waiting an answer from him and much less one like that, briefly she wondered if she should take the chance to ask if he remembered anything, but probably this wasn’t the best time for it.

Her fingers curled into fists, she really didn’t appreciate having seen his message and it had taken her just a bit to get over the shock of it. “It would have been a bit hard to miss, don’t you think?”

A pile of bodies with a man easily lounging on them as it was a throne straight from anyone’s nightmares was blatant enough, but not a lot of people would have been able to truly know the real messages the uniforms and probably the decapitation was meant to convey, which had been a very loud and clear for her. “And now here we are.” She tilted her head a bit. “Now what was supposed to happen after I answered to your message, Bucky?”

While he might have been passive or appearing so, he watched her like a hawk, his brown eyes keen and hungry for her reactions even if his expression showed nothing. She was so pure and honest, giving him what he wanted to see, showing him the bits and pieces that he knew made up her person and the steel spine that would allow her to direct him as Hydra never could. Compassion was for her to worry about; he had left compassion behind when he had began his bloody trail through history. He recognized that she could temper his sharpness or set him to her enemies with a single command. A thrill ran through him at the sheer thought, so the real thing would no doubt be much, much better.

"Few would have seen the layers of the messaging in it, but you have always been smart to that sort of thing," he said softly as he stepped away from the plane to bring himself closer to her. He put himself in the open as a sign that he wouldn't hurt her, though he still could if he wanted to. "Hydra is without its fist, and the heads of the beasts are being reduced faster than they an regenerate. Think of a world free of that ideology."

He stepped closer bit by bit until they were within striking distance with fists. He took another larger step forward, staring at her eye-to-eye. "Who is Bucky to you?"

The weight of his gaze on her was just a bit disconcerting, mostly since she wasn’t sure she could properly identify exactly the feelings that were flickering on them and maybe it was better if she didn’t, the last thing she needed was further distraction and she was quite adept at ignoring certain things and be able to focus on what was the most important thing at the moment.

She wasn’t sure if that was meant to be a compliment or not, but she supposed she had to be smart enough to recognize that, after all, wasn’t she a symbol herself and it would have really been rather sad if she hadn’t been able to understand his message. When he moved, she kept her position, knowing by experience that she shouldn’t completely trust he wouldn’t attack her just yet. “I thought I was in a world free of that ideology already.” And she truly had, she had thought she had taken the one responsible for this already. “Yet here they are still, there can be fewer heads but they might always come back.”

How long it had taken Zola to single handedly recover the organization, in the shadows and right under the noses of SHIELD, it was something she will rather not think about since thinking about Zola, sent her to the path of thinking about what they had done to the man in front of her.

Noticing the now close distance between them, she took a little step back and braced herself for anything while she met his eyes firmly, refusing to look away. “You were the closest person in my life, my closest friend and companion, even when I had nothing you were always at my side.” It was hard to put into simple words what Bucky, what he meant to her.

He wasn't so naive to think that Hydra was gone; he had worked too long in various places not to know that they were there, that they existed all over the world and no where would be free of them without significant hard work. He had no direction though, not real need to go and hunt them down because he didn't care enough about this world to think of saving it. Right now, he had to be selfish; he had to find a balance and purpose for himself and if it lead him in the direction of freedom and death to Hydra, he would focus on it only then.

"Hydra lives somewhere in every country of the world," he said simply, shrugging his shoulders as he were unconcerned about the spread. "Defeating the heads here simply means there's new ranks for advancement. Every last one of them needs to be eliminated if you want a world free of it."

He didn't mind her taking a step back, pleased that she recognized the danger that he presented. Yet, he felt a well of disappointment to her answer, his eyebrows drawing together as his lips twisted into a disapproving frown. "I 'was' all that, was I? Now I am nothing to you?" He turned his face aside, letting his hair slide over his cheek to obscure his wounded expression but not before he made certain she caught a glimpse of it. "I have nothing, Stephanie. If you've truly left me behind, I have nothing at all."

She knew he was right and well she had known that even before he had told her that, she had realized that Hydra was going to be an entity that was never going to truly disappear, the realization had hit her since the moment she had discovered the organization was still alive and thriving within the one that she was slowly dedicating her life to and that Peggy had helped to create, something that had enraged her a bit, and she could probably dedicate her life to try to eradicate it, but then she couldn’t quite oversee the world had also other threats asides from them.

“I am quite aware of that.” Though it was probable that their ideas of elimination differed like an abysm, she had seen his methods and idea to achieve that mean piled outside the museum, and in truth she was still on the fence about what exactly could be done to contain them, killing just wasn’t her style but then there was also a part of her that hated them so much, she didn’t wanted to lose sight of herself when it came to this.

There was a small frown on her face at his words. “I never said you didn’t mean anything to me, I wouldn’t have gone after you if you were nothing to me.” And yes the wounded look hurt her, it did, but she tried to keep her expression composed, not knowing what could be perceived as weakness for him right now. “I never left you behind, but I couldn’t force you to something you might not have wanted or felt ready for, we made a promise a long time ago and I always keep those, Bucky.”

She might have been aware of it, but he knew from the reading in this place that it had to rub her the wrong way that all those years, all those efforts, all those lives sacrificed that Hydra would continue on and kill and kill and manipulate this world to strip freedom from people. While he might not remember things about them, their time together, he knew how a good person worked having seen enough of the self-sacrificing types around. As his memories returned and perhaps the emotions that went with it, he might not feel the need to manipulate her as he was.

"I could be of use to you," he said softly, glancing at her through strands of dark hair. "I remember... a few things here and there about Hydra, and I could help if you wanted to focus on that." He knew a lot actually, and because Hydra often considered him docile and slumbering in the cooling process, he listened to things best left unsaid. He could be of help to her, but it would be for his benefit, so he obtained what he was missing and settled himself into a task that she could so easily direct him at. She knew how to command; he knew how to take orders as well as give them.

He gazed at her through his hair, and his expression shifted to an almost childish vulnerability. "To the end of the line," he whispered with a slight bob of his head. He did remember that now. "Do you... can you someday think of me fondly again, or has all I've done with Hydra tainted your opinion of me?"

For a few moments she didn’t said anything to his offer, is that the reason he had lured her here? To make this kind of offer to her and it was quite a good one, an offer that appealed to the side of her that hated Hydra so much, the one that also wanted her best friend back, to have him close and be able to help him. She was sure that he probably knew more than what the organization itself probably expected him to and she was so torn right now, about what to do and think.

“So is that why you brought me here, to offer me your help to hunt down Hydra?” Well it would make sense in a bit, wouldn’t it? He was free from his ties of them and wanted to get even. She took a deep breath and slowly uncurled her fist, her fingers tingling a bit since she hadn’t realized how tight the motion had been and she shifted her fingers a bit, trying to get rid of the sensation.

Her frame tensed a bit, those words strangely hurt right now and she just gazed at him again, with a soft expression. “I have never stopped being fond of you, Buck; I don’t think a lot can change that.” And she didn’t exactly blame him for what he had done under Hydra orders.

"No, I wanted to see you again," he murmured softly. He could have really made the offer, but this place had seemed the most fitting for this kind of reunion and uniting of purpose. This was the monument to lost soldiers, to a history long forgotten or mocked after all they had sacrificed. It seemed fitting that he would be remade here, that he would gather up a little of what he lost because of her. Even when he had nothing, he would make certain that he always had Stephanie. She had no choice; they had promised to the end of the line.

"Hydra is hunting me anyway, and they are hunting you. Remember how well we did as a group against them? I want... I wish I could remember what it was like," he murmured softly before he stepped closer to her when she had uncurled her fists, a sign of the tension leaving her, a sign he could weasel his way in close and hopefully not get brained for it either.

Slowly, he submitted as he faced her, his kneed buckling in slow motion as he settled on them before her. His arms reached out so that they could curl around her upper thighs, hoping to draw her in where he could rest his cheek against the swell of her right hip... always her right hand man. "Don't leave me in this darkness. Help me, Stevie," he whispered brokenly.

And wasn’t it oddly and bittersweet ironic that he had picked this place for this reunion, no, it wasn’t ironic. He had picked this place on purpose, it was strategic of him to bring her and lure her here after all, this place held so many meanings to her and then there was his memorial, something that she couldn’t help but thing as one of her greatest failure and regret when she had failed to save him, this was done on purpose and now…now she wasn’t sure if he had done it to hurt her further or taunt her. It made something in her twist at any of those possibilities.

“Of course I remember, just like old times, right?” And maybe that sounded a bit bitter and wistful, back then it had been them and the commandos against the world, they were the only remaining two and still seventy years later they still needed to take care of them. But if she went that way, well, they wouldn’t exactly be alone, there was Sam and maybe the others might be willing to help.

She was snapped back at his sudden motion, everything in her coiled and she reacted, barely managing to stop the hit when she realized what he was doing. Her eyes widened in sheer shock and her body trembled a bit, still getting down from the sudden rush of adrenaline and waiting for her muscles and body to relax. Her arms fell to her sides and she stood there for a bit, processing this, she couldn’t ignore the plea from her friend, the person she had been searching and hunting to be able to help out, bring him out of that darkness and here he was asking that.

Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath and tries to relax herself even further before opening her eyes again and looking at him, she hated seeing him in this position, had Hydra ever forced him to do this and she couldn’t help to feel a bit angry at that. “Get up!” And she nearly winced at how her voice sounded at that, before taking a deep breath. “Get up; you don’t need to kneel in front of me.”

She might have remembered, but he didn't and words on a monument only seemed to mock him. Words didn't bring with it the tide of memories to him, and that angered him. Only people seemed to draw him out of the fog, but he supposed he could accept it now that he had someone who recognized and had shared similar difficulties as he had back then, had been there in the flesh along with him. She would bring him back from the brink of nothingness, draw him out of the fog and release him when it suited him to be on the loose.

"I remember being cold," he murmured softly, peering up at her. He knew the risks of being in close to her when she knew he was a threat to her and could potentially turn on her in a moment's notice. However, down on his knees was a surrender that he had offered no other before, and it was a vulnerability he needed to use to keep her from knocking his head off or injure him. Only those worthy of him could ever bring him down to this level of loyalty.

He turned his face along her hip, peering up the length and curves of her body to peer at her face. His expression softened and almost produced a smile, but he made certain it appeared hard to come by, like he had nothing happy right now but her. Like a loyal deadly wraith chained to her for the purpose that she would decide. "Stephanie," he breathed hopefully at her closed expression.

Yet, his ears burned with command and the sharpness in her voice. His arms slithered away from her waist, and he rolled smoothly to his feet again with a crisp abruptness of a soldier. "I've missed you, Stevie. I'll be with you until the end of the line. I'll help you with anything, just... don't leave me. I don't want to go back to... that."

It was quite hard for her to be the only to remember all of those things, all those memories and times they have shared in the past, it always hurt to know that she was nothing but glimpses of memories of the two people that had meant the world to her, Bucky barely remembered her and Peggy eventually forgot and then was back to acting as if she was seeing for the first time, it was a bit discouraging and she tried not to let that take her down and settle herself with the knowledge they were still alive at least.

There was a small stutter in her breath when he mentioned the cold, she also remembered being cold, when she had crashed that plane and then it had only been the rush of icy cold water, the freezing temperature seeping into her bones and then she had slipped into sweet oblivion and darkness, at the very least comforted she had managed to save many lives and was probably going to see her mother and Bucky soon, but nothing was easy and here she was.

It has rather hopeful whisper of her name, it brought something that she wasn’t sure how to interpret, it sounded as the kind of whispers she had heard men and women alike expel on the few times she had been in church and they had been praying to any holy being that was listening and it made her feel as if chains were being wrapped around her, tangling her to him in a way that she might dread in a future.

She didn’t fail to notice how quickly he followed her instructions and it just made that invisible thing between them tighten more, it worried her just a bit and she took a deep breath. “Alright…alright, I’m not going to leave you.” And why couldn’t she help but feeling as if she had sold her soul to the devil. “I…I need to call Sam, give me a second.”

In his own way, he was confident that being close to her would enable him to gather back all the pieces that seemed to jab his mind at times but with little context. He knew that she knew everything there was about him, and he could have it back if they stayed close to each other, protected each other like old times because that's what friends did for each other. He had already decided on this, and he would see it through to the end as well.

On his feet again, he allowed his arms to dangle loosely at his sides as he watched her with great interest. She had accepted him as easily as he had hoped that she would, like the best friend that she was and always would be to him. Her heart was kind, her spine made of steel, and her mind willing to accept things or change them to suit her moral code. It was exactly what he wanted, what he believed he needed, and it felt so good to have it presented to him.

He nodded and wallowed in the warm feelings in his chest when she said she wouldn't leave. Perhaps she had no idea how right she was about that. At the mention of 'Sam', he shrugged his shoulders. "He probably shouldn't come here. I can get us out just fine so no one knows."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Responsibility is considered shouldered

welp damn hitting where it hurts buck -_-

manipulation commencing in 3, 2, 1

darn him and trying to manipulate her

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