disassembling: (Locked on target)
тнє ωιηтєя ѕσℓ∂ιєя ([personal profile] disassembling) wrote in [community profile] spaces_between2014-05-29 07:53 pm

(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.
eleutheria: DNT (Default)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-09 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
She really didn’t felt comfortable calling him James, she had only called him that when she had been angry with him and had wanted to let him know she was, which had been kind of rare since they rarely had fights, some spats here and there, but nothing out of the extraordinary when it came to their interactions, so it was really going to take her awhile and a conscious effort to call him by his given name and not the nickname that everyone had knew him with, it was a bit hard right now and it had only been a few minutes, but it was something they both needed right now, plus addressing him like that might make it easier for them to move around.

There was a miniscule smile in response to his murmur about earning it back, it at least assured her that he was going to make an effort and try to move on from what he had been reduced to be by Hydra, she knew some aspects were going to remain and she could, no, she was going to deal and accept them. “Alright then, it’s settled then.”

She decided not to question on how he was going to address her, she was going to let him decide that on his own and she was going to willingly accept it as he had, though she hoped he didn’t used captain or something similar. There was a light tensing up at his words and her fingers tightened against the armrest, before she allowed herself to relax again. “Then I guess we will need to be very careful and to avoid something like that happening to either of us, right?”
eleutheria: DNT (➒)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-09 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
She snorted just a bit at that comment and rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah I will try to be.” But then she had always been careful, even when she went out in public she had managed to keep her presence low key and not a lot of people had realized they had been walking or near Captain America, it was quite amazing how easily she had been able to hide herself in the middle of a crowd, and maybe that might come in handy for them later. “Don’t you think being close to me is going to make people also know more about you?

That if people didn’t knew him already as a killer, considering his image at the very least was all over the news and maybe if they were lucky his face wouldn’t exactly be visible enough for people to recognize him right away, the arm could be easily concealed if they needed it. She looked away again and became aware of the sound of music from the distance, probably from the same place she had heard the laugher coming from, and she couldn’t help but smile and trying to see if she could identify the song. “Oh I think that’s the look of love.”
eleutheria: DNT (➑)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-10 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
“You do realize I have some very dedicated fans out there and they might recognize your face as that of my…best friend right?” She knew that there were other fans like Coulson out there, people that apparently loved the idea of Captain America and all the things she apparently represented for all of them, she had met some of them outside of Coulson sometimes and they could be quite eager in their zealous and happiness of meeting her, she wasn’t really sure how he was going to react if any of them decided to question him about his resemblance to Bucky Barnes. “We will just work on blending in; I don’t like drawing much attention to myself anyway.”

She followed the rhythm and tune from the song in her mind, being able to put the necessary words when it was necessary to complete the song, she could even hear Dusty’s voice in the back of her mind now. “The Look of Love, it’s a love song and apparently a rather favored one to dance with.” And it reminded her a bit of the quick dance lesson Sam had given her, claiming it was needed when she finally went and had that dance with Peggy. “I was never a good dancer."
eleutheria: DNT (➌)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-10 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
“Oh yes impossible and crazy, like that crazy thing with Captain America being back after seventy years and turning out that she wasn’t dead, oh yes what I was thinking.” She was technically not supposed to be here either, but here she was, sitting with a man that had been her best friend once upon a lifetime ago, so anyone could think something like that had happened with him. “No, you tried it once when you wanted to appear older; it didn’t look that good on you.”

She was aware of his motions out of the corner of her eye, registering it and wondering what he was going to do now, she hadn’t expected the offer and she stared at the offered hand for a few seconds, processing what she was going to do now and it was then that she also noticed he had finally changed, looking rather well put and now she felt a bit sloppy considering she was only wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, but whatever is not as if he had ever judged her for what she decided to wear.

Finally she decided to risk it and accepted his extended hand, and moved to stand up. “I told you that I couldn’t dance.”
eleutheria: DNT (➑)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-10 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
It was more like something that shouldn’t have happened outside of fiction, but Fate was certainly having quite a good laugh at their situation, probably finding it amusing that people that had been so close in the first stages of their lives, could be in such different places at the moment, close but at the same time so far away from each that really that first life they shared could have not happened at all. “You’re not exactly that old, or at least not technically.” They were probably around the same age if they counted the seventy years that have passed; Bucky was just a year older than her after all. “…No beard.”

There was a small shrug in answer to his question. “I don’t know, maybe you will due to muscle memory.” Which might account to the fact of her being able to fight her way out of SHIELD that first time not long after she had woken up and still feeling a bit dazed, not to mention confused at the sheer lie they had tried to feed her with and to apparently ease her into this century, they had clearly failed with that.

Remembering whatever dance knowledge she had and certainly made easier when he seemed to react more naturally than her, her hand came to rest on his shoulder and she took a bit of steadier hold of his hand, also out of habit she looked down to make sure she wasn’t stepping on him and was just a bit surprised she seemed to fall rather naturally into pace with him, easily letting him lead her in this. When she looked up, she wasn’t surprised when she noticed that he was staring at her and she looked back at him steadily, trying not to feel so weird that they were having their first slow dance under these kinds of circumstances. “I guess not, at least I don’t seem to have two left feet as I did before.”
eleutheria: DNT (➐)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-10 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
“Only by a year not much of a significant difference,” But now she wasn’t sure if that was right, she had been out at least a year before he was considered active again, maybe they were probable in the same age range or not, but then he had been in and out of activity in all the time she had been frozen, which means he could have spent less time in the ice compared to her through the years and just thinking about that was enough to give her a bit of a headache and she decided to ignore it for the time being. “Yes, I am.”

And she really had no shame admitting that, the one time he had let it grow (not only to look older but also due to a girl that had said in passing it could be a good look for him) hadn’t lasted more than two days before she had kind of forced him to get rid of it, in a way strangely showing her opinion was a bit more valued than the one of a possible girlfriend, no wonder so many people had wondered about their relationship. And she was sure that right now, if anyone were to see them swaying slowly and almost gently to the music in the distance, even bigger and more important questions will be raised –mostly about her sanity.

She laughed just a bit and shook her head. “You said kind of the same thing when you started to coach me into it back then, that it was not only going to make me a bit stronger but might improve my dancing as well.” And she decided not to mention the other reason why Bucky had started to train her and introduce her to boxing, he might remember eventually. She tilted her head a bit to the side, pondering if she should also mention that Sam had helped her as well, in the end she decided it was better not to do so. “I am not wholly sure if that helped, I might still stumble.”
eleutheria: DNT (➑)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-10 11:08 pm (UTC)(link)
The matter of age was irrelevant for both of them, after all they had been through, it was clear that aging was one of the many things that didn’t happened normally for them, hell, they had even managed to survive things that would have easily killed a normal person, but that was the thing was it? They were not exactly normal anymore, even Schmidt had mention that to her, hadn’t he? But those had been words she had never dwelled much upon. “Hmm, thank you, I really appreciate it.”

She knew this moment wasn’t going to last forever and the best she could do was enjoy it for as long as she could, it was probably going to be awhile before something like this could happen again and they were back to what had been their default interactions and atmosphere since she found him. It was a bit of a shame when the song ended but she will make do with what they have done already, it was better than nothing, when he didn’t immediately let her go and instead drew her tighter, she felt a small brief second of panic.

Which was quickly smothered when he easily transitioned to a new set of steps, to go in pace with the new song she could hear in the distance, and well she was a bit startled and so not prepared for the new change, she had never been a smooth or graceful dancer after all, but she was stubborn and could now learn more easily than before. She felt the slide of his body against her, felt his motions and a quick look downwards to check the footwork, and she found herself following his lead and steps before she looked up at him with a rather pleased smile. “And how is my performance in this test going, Barnes?”
eleutheria: DNT (➊➋)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-11 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
She wasn’t surprised when he wasn’t as graceful, at least dancing wise, as he had been in the past, back then he had been the best dancer and every dame wanted his attention when he dragged her to clubs, where she will just sit and watch before slinking away, much to his annoyance when he got back to their dingy little apartment to find her there. Yes, they were not graceful, at least not as much as when they were in battle, and there was some bumping and he was the one that stepped on her, but it was good and nice, spontaneous and happy enough that she couldn’t the smile on her face, in this moment she could easily make herself believe they were just like they were before and get lost in the moment.

And a moment that eventually came to an end when the song did, for a few seconds she had just looked at him and a small voice in her mind had expecting him to…of course not, when he released her, well, she didn’t complained and maybe even took a step back, trying to keep whatever composure she had left and not think on what could have happened. “Yes, maybe we do.” Once again she could hear laughter in the distance and she couldn’t help the small pang of longing. “I…am going to look for something to ear. Are you hungry?”

She turned around and slowly slid the door open, this was the best way she had to kind of try to put things into normalcy and not let it fall into anything awkward or make her dwell on other thoughts.
eleutheria: DNT (➊➊)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-11 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
She took a deep breath and pushed whatever that moment had been to the back of her mind, locking it away in a certain part and special part of her mind designed for that to never ponder on it again, they really were not in a situation in which she could waste time thinking about that and maybe it was better this way. Feeling somehow back to her usual self, or as usual as it could be considered in this situation, she stepped inside firmly leaving that moment behind and focusing on more pressing matters.

Though she nearly froze again when he mentioned the milk, mostly because she wasn’t sure if there was, but then maybe if Natasha had been here then she could have been magnanimous enough to leave something, oh God, please let it be so. “Hmm, I will check.”

With rather measured steps she moved to the kitchen, still maintaining her calmness despite that the place had more than enough things Bucky could use as a weapon and opened the fridge, they really needed to turn on the lights or something, and was thankful to notice that Natasha had indeed left something (mostly those tv dinners and hot pockets but beggars couldn’t be choosers) with a sigh she took the milk cartoon, checked the date and then placed it on the counter. “Use a glass.”
eleutheria: DNT (➊➊)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-12 09:26 am (UTC)(link)
When he moved to close to her, luckily enough, she didn’t reacted like she had done the first time it had happened –which had involved nearly smashing his head with her fist, besides they had breached whatever codes there was about personal space with that little number they had back there with that dancing deal and she just allowed it, it’s not as if he didn’t stayed long enough for his presence to matter that much in her personal space and once he was gone she focused once again on the contents of the fridge.

It’s not as if she was hungry, she had just used it an excuse, but then maybe she was hungry but she wanted something sweet –which was her won’t do when she was stressed, but it didn’t seem as if there was anything and no…wait…yes she was definitely going to kiss Natasha or something the next time she saw her, now she had no doubt Natasha could foresee nearly everything or she already knew how frustrating her situation was going to be, but whatever the case bless her for leaving her a slice, still carefully stashed in the plastic container of whatever bakery Nat had gone, of what she thought was devil’s food cake, yes bless Natasha.

“Ah yes sure.” That was probably going to help with the cake, with her little treasure found and safely in her hand, she finally stopped her search and closed the door only to stop and look at him and the huge glass of milk. “…Are you seriously going to drink all of that?” But then again maybe he was used consuming this much now, she eyed the glass before moving to one of the drawers and search for a fork. “If you are, try to pace yourself when you do.”
eleutheria: DNT (➒)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-12 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Her search for a fork was done quicker than expected, considering she was more familiar with the place and where everything was, there was a small hum at his comment and turned to look at him. “If you say so, then I guess you will know better, right?” Maybe she should stop worrying so much about little things, she didn’t know if that bothered him and there was the fact he was probably able to handle mostly everything since he will know his limits. “Hmm thank you.”

Rather carefully she took her own glass of milk and moved out of the kitchen, she wasn’t sure if he was going to stay there and follow her but it was clear he could do as he wished at the moment, and moved into the living room, fumbling a bit to turn on the lights, and settled down on the couch. She set her glass on the coffee table, over what looked like an old magazine, and worked on having her pathetic excuse for a dinner and well she really couldn’t help the small sound of pleasure when she had her first bite, God, this was what she had needed right now.
eleutheria: DNT (➊➎)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-13 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
When he didn’t followed she didn’t thought anything of it, they were not going to spend all their time together and they needed the space after all, it was also good for him to get used to being apart from her in case anything happened and not grow to dependant of her presence or whatever she was representing to him right now, he needed to be his own person without having to follow anyone and she was going to call Sam to see how she could accomplish that, she wasn’t knowledgeable enough to do it herself.

There was also the fact she will need to think what to tell to Natasha about not picking the most logical choice by her perception, but she really couldn’t do that to Bucky and the idea of it just made her stomach churn and she suddenly felt sick, sick of the image of leading him to a trap and then watching as he was subdued and put in a cage or whatever Tony had created…just the thought of that made her shudder and whatever hunger she had left her.

She just finished what she had taken, mostly to try to avoid any questions if Bucky decided to ask her if she returned those back kind of untouched, but then when she walked back to the kitchen in a rather somber and quiet mood it was probably going to draw his attention, hence the reason she moved quickly there, washing the glass and the fork she had used, then throwing away the package the cake came in and moving back out. “I’m going to try to sleep, we will talk about what we will do tomorrow.”
eleutheria: DNT (➊➊)

[personal profile] eleutheria 2014-06-13 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
She stopped when she heard his question and briefly turned to look at him. “No, just…tired I guess, it was quite an active day.” And it wasn’t exactly a lie was it, this day had been long and with so many turns that had now effectively changed her life for the foreseeable future. “Yes thank you, try to get some sleep as well; if something happens or you need anything, you know where I am.”

Not that she thought he was going to bother her unless it was truly important or they were in danger, which she might be able to sense, as it was it would have been wiser to stay close in case they needed to bolt and escape as soon as possible, but she concluded they were safe enough as it was and she could dare doing this for the moment. They will need to have a long talk about their plans and they both needed to have a clear head for it, which being away from each other might help a bit.

She let herself fall into the bed and just laid there, not feeling exactly sleepy, she felt tired but not the kind of tired that needed sleep to get rid of it, she turned to lie on her side and stared at the wall, taking deep breaths and calming herself, sometime between the breathing and thinking some of the stories her mother used to tell her when she was younger and sick, she fell into a light sleep.