time to bite the bullet

[heismymission]

Who: The Winter Soldier and YOU. Later: Steve Rogers enters the fray.
Where: A) Outside housing building 1 and elsewhere; B) an alleyway in district 3; C) district 2
When: A) The last week of June, day or night; B) July 1, day; C) July 2, night
Summary: Bucky A) climbs out windows, B) has a bad flashback, and C) confronts Captain America.
Warnings: Possible violence, allusions to torture and amputation and stuff?? His life is awful basically.

The Winter Soldier was not having a good time.

For one, the past two weeks had been used getting accustomed to the fact that he was not only still not HYDRA's asset anymore, but that he was on an entirely different planet that somehow looked very much like his own from what he could tell, not to mention the aliens, the touch quota that he was largely ignoring, being both more and less noticeable in a way that made him uneasy, people trying to talk to him when he had no idea how to carry on a conversation, and fighting some asshole in a flying metal suit.

Oh, and there was the fact that whoever was in charge of assigning the newcomers rooms put him right next to Steve Fucking Rogers, otherwise known as the giant mess of memories and emotion he couldn't handle right now, or any time in the near future. It had been a miracle that he managed to avoid being seen when he first entered his room, and in the days after he learned the man was there, he listened carefully to his neighbor and for the most part, used his window as an entrance and exit. He didn't care about anyone else noticing him; HYDRA wasn't here. The mission was the only one whose attention he was particularly interested in avoiding. But at least he had the presence of mind to wear long sleeves and make his metal arm less conspicuous.

-

He'd done a bit of hunting, in the meantime; he was particularly good at remaining hidden when he tried, and had scoped out the people Rogers interacted with both in person and on the network, taking note of each and whether they were likely to share any information about the assassin, should they encounter him. Much to his irritation a few of those he'd encountered appeared to know Rogers, and though he hadn't observed them speaking to him about the man with the metal arm, it seemed likely to him that they would inform him of a local threat. As soon as he heard a description of him, certainly Steve would try to find him. So why had he seen no attempts to locate or contact him...?

As the days passed, he started to become more distracted by the increasing lack of mobility in his arm, which was thanks to the damage incurred during the only fights in his memory and the amount of time that had passed without maintenance; it put him at a major disadvantage. He wasn't about to trust any of the people who were involved in bringing him here, so he decided to search for anyone who might be able to repair it, clad in his long sleeved jacket and cap to help keep him from being noticed. But he wasn't certain if he would trust anyone to do it even if he did find someone.

The soldier was deep in thought as he made his way through a quiet, dark alley on his way to do some surveillance, wondering about his arm and if he'd ever had it in such a terrible state before. The technicians always did their work quietly, he was fairly certain, so he never knew much about the details. The most he could recall was shortly after they attached it--

"The procedure has already started--"

--how he came inches from breaking the man's neck, not caring about whatever he had to say about the way his new, gleaming arm functioned--

"You are to be the new fist of HYDRA--"

--and without knowing why or when he'd started screaming, or where his anger had come from, he slammed his malfunctioning fist into the brick wall, causing it to crumble. But the anger didn't fade, and the images didn't either. The recollection of a saw whirring and cutting into the remnants of his arm nearly caused his knees to give, and he fell back against the opposite wall to support himself before slamming his elbow into that and letting out another, shorter yell that ended almost like a whimper.

He was a short way from the main roads, but to say it was audible was an understatement. Unfortunately for him, he may have attracted some attention--hopefully attention that would either not startle him or that would be prepared for his volatile state of mind.

-

He realized the day after that he was malfunctioning both physically and mentally, and that he wasn't certain if he could keep moving forward like this on his own. As much as he hated it, he needed help. And the one person who could help him the most was his mission neighbor target--Steve.

He might have prayed that the man's claim that they were friends were true if he knew what praying was or trusted that any higher power would want to assist him.

Instead he prepared for the worst; he had no intention of meeting the man in either of their apartments or inside a building; it would be safest to meet him in some neutral ground, where he could possibly escape and remain hidden until... until he no longer needed to. He found the thought unpleasant, so he didn't plan very far ahead.

He sent an anonymous text message to Steve on the network in the early morning hours: 2200 hours d2 2 blocks ne of hospital. alone

The soldier found a dark place he could see the entire street there and waited, hidden.

[OOC: Make sure to tell me what option you'd like: either noticing him using a window like a door and what date, OR noticing the ruckus he's causing from the flashback and if you have a preference for a more violent Bucky or a more catatonic one.]

Comments

District 3

[demimaudite]

[A violent Bucky is okay with me, since Shura cannot be hurt by physical attacks.]

Shura was grateful for having her eye bandages removed, even if that meant wearing very dark sunglasses until her eyes were completely okay again. With her vision mostly restored, she could go out and use the government stipend to buy herself a nice sundress and sandals instead of being stuck in her shorts and running shoes, or in one of Kanji's huge shirts.

As she was walking back to Kanji and Naoto's, though, she heard something that made her hair stand on end: yelling, fighting, bricks crumbling. Before she had time to think about it, she had thrown the bag containing her Vortex clothes in a hidden corner before running to the source of the noise. She wasn't doing it out of heroism: she didn't care much for Saeng Seong and most of the people inhabiting it. She was doing it because it might be a threat to her now; God may have influence even here, and she had come too far to just die here.

So, unfortunately for Bucky, a young Japanese woman with what looks like a black full body tattoo and wearing a yellow sundress suddenly bursts in from a nearby alley, looking ready for a fight. Probably not what he needed to see right now.

[heismymission]

Images came to him unbidden, and as his mind was filled with memories of struggling, that was all he could think of doing. When Shura came into sight, all of the figments he wanted to fight against finally had a physical vessel.

All the soldier registered was the movement in the corner of his eye and an aggressive stance, and without thinking (because he was largely unable to think), he moved. A high-pitched noise echoed in the alley from the inner workings of his arm as he grasped a drainpipe and yanked a portion off, throwing it at the only threat he could physically see with a yell, but the motion was jerky thanks to the malfunctioning state of his arm, causing his aim to be off.

[demimaudite]

"Whoa!" Shura raised her arms in defence, then watched the pipe bounce off the asphalt nearly a foot away beside her before continuing its course down the alley. Uhm, okay. She didn't know this guy, and normally she'd throw herself screaming at anyone who'd dare attack her, but now she hesitated. Was he really a threat if he couldn't throw straight? Not to mention he didn't look like an angel. Although he could be a fanatic. That was hard to tell.

[heismymission]

He stumbled slightly as the pipe clattered uselessly on the ground, and had to use his functioning arm to balance himself against the wall, panting for breath as if he'd been struggling to fight for his life. It felt as if he had been, and he was unable to catch his breath, caught in the memory of being locked into the metal chair where the gaping holes in him were made.

He honestly wasn't in much of a state to take on anything, but that didn't stop him from throwing himself at Shura with a noise through his grit teeth, throwing a punch with his working arm.

B-District 3 (More catatonic than violent because Diarmuid is bitty and easy to break...)

[smallspot]

Diarmuid is on his way out on yet another shopping trip to get things to prepare for his festival when he hears the screaming. At first the boy is terrified. Nothing human should be making a sound like that! After a few moments, though, he manages to push his fear down and starts moving in the direction of the sound. He's a knight--little or not--and someone is obviously in trouble. He has to help them!

A bit of Diarmuid's fear returns when he sees James in the alley. Well, perhaps 'worry' is a better word than 'fear.' He's worried to see his friend so obviously in distress. What if he can't help him?

"Lord James! Lord James! What happened? Do I need to get help?"

aye aye cap'n!

[heismymission]

The brick crumbles under his elbow, the ruined leather jacket keeping his arm from scraping against it as he tries to stay up and fails, but the sound of his fingertips against the wall as he slides down is terrible enough on its own.

He doesn't register the boy running up to him, nor does he see anything past his eyelids, but he hears, vaguely, someone calling him.

James--

He remembers being strapped to a table, syringes, scalpels, pain...

"Sergeant--" he wheezes, his right shoulder shaking and his left jerky as his hand falls to the ground with a clunk. "Three-two-five--"

[smallspot]

The sound makes Diarmuid wince. More sounds that shouldn't be. Things crying out in pain that shouldn't be able to do so. It almost makes Diarmuid want to cry, because he doesn't know what to do to help and wants to so much. Finally, he reaches out a small hand to touch James' shoulder. It's probably dangerous. After all, at the moment his friend seems Fae-Touched and not in his right mind, but that just means someone needs to bring him back.

Diarmuid won't leave him alone wherever his mind might be trapped at!

"Lord James, there is no one named Sir-gant here. Are you hurt? Do I need to go find this Sir-gant? What happened?"

my heart couldn't take putting the bitty through any more non-responsive bucky than this :'|

[heismymission]

The touch makes the assassin go rigid, his mouth half-open and his breath coming in slow, ragged pants. He stares straight ahead unblinkingly, pupils dilated, the sound of the boy's words no longer reaching him.

Instead, there's the sound of an explosion in his ears, then a rush of wind and the name that was supposed to be his echoing in different volumes, different tones, but in the same voice.

He breathes out, his mouth barely moving to form the name, "Steve."

B, either state works for me!

[shadowsgambit]

That attention came from an eight-foot-tall lady with horns and two combat drones following along behind her. She might have had a chocobo to protect too, had it not been night and the bird in question asleep at the stables. That she, herself couldn't sleep, well that was something she'd rather not dwell on.

The sound of breaking bricks, of someone screaming, reached her ears and she hurried off as quickly as she could towards the source.

For a second, confronted with the sight of a man with a metal arm in a poorly lit alley, she forgot she wasn't home, and the response (and a reflexive search for signs of drugging) came easy.

"Hey, pal, you okay? What happened?"

[heismymission]

The only thing the soldier saw when the woman arrived was the machines following her, and he could only think of them as weapons--either those he used to kill or those HYDRA used to strip him of everything.

The memory of his own screams became a reality in the present as he took a full trashcan from nearby and tossed it as hard as he could at one of the drones, the artificial muscles in his left arm audibly whirring.

[shadowsgambit]

"Whoa! Hey!" Fortuna only barely registered that something was wrong with that cyberarm, ducking aside to avoid the trash can, only to hear it hit the Steel Lynx behind her.

"The hell's your problem!?"

No chip slot, eyes wide...could be any number of things but she's ruled out simsense gone wrong. She glances back at her drone. It's a little beat up, but this is a combat drone - it can take bullet rounds and keep on ticking.

She has her assault rifle hidden under her coat like always, but she doesn't immediately take it out, instead raising her hands to emphasize she meant no harm. Whatever this man's issue is, he's not out to kill, specifically. That doesn't fit how he's acting at all.

"Cut that out now, guy, I didn't come here asking for a fight. The drones aren't active."

[heismymission]

The force of the follow-through on his throw was too much for his knees to support, and he ended up stumbling towards the opposite wall of the alley again where his first punch had made cracks. He intended to support himself with his sturdier arm, but unfortunately a halt in its movement meant he ended up supporting himself with his face.

With Fortuna's words as only background noise, he grit his teeth and screwed his eyes shut, trying to pull out of the image and the fear of metal clamping around his head. Though it was jerky, he slammed his gloved fist against the wall once again, more mechanical noises echoing in the alley.

[noparachute]

It was the first time Steve had ever gotten an anonymous message since arriving in Saeng Seong. It caught him by surprise to see something like that addressed to him in a place like this. A lot of his instincts kicked in when he read the text, most of them saying that this was a trap of some sort. But he brushed them aside, Steve wasn't about to back down from whoever wanted to see him.

He never really ran away before and he wasn't going to start now.

Steve wasn't sure what to expect, he doubted it was anyone that he knew. None of his friends would send a message like this, so it could be a newcomer. Although, why would they be interested in him at all? Didn't make much sense, but there was really only one way to find out.

He arrived at the designated spot on time, his guard up and his shield strapped to his back. Even if this place was relatively peaceful, he was still a soldier and he didn't want to be caught unprepared.

[heismymission]

The assassin wasted no time quietly getting himself down to street level when he saw that Steve had arrived, and he left his leather jacket behind. He intended to make it obvious who he was, and if there was anything distinctive about him, it was his arm. So he left it in plain sight.

Swallowing down his nerves, he told himself that the Winter Soldier does not feel fear or anxiety.

He stepped forward from an alley shaded from the streetlights, letting his footsteps announce his presence, and approached the captain carefully, intending to meet his eyes.

He'd managed a shave despite not remembering how to do it himself; knowing how to handle a blade and remembering how HYDRA's techs had done it was enough for him to accomplish it without any issues. But his face wasn't clear of injuries--there were still a few scrapes on his cheek and forehead from his fight a few days prior that were, for some reason, healing slowly.

He didn't know what to expect from the man in front of him, but he thought he was ready for the worst.

[noparachute]

This wasn't the first time he was out so late, far from it actually. He walked around like this even when he was tiny, but this situation was a bit new for him. Because of that, Steve was a lot more tense even if the area really hadn't changed since his last walk around here.

He reached back to grip his shield when he heard someone approach. It didn't sound like the person was trying to be too dangerous, especially since they probably would have attacked by now if they wanted to harm him. But Steve still wasn't letting his guard down.

The sight of a metal arm was a little unusual; this obviously was a person and not one of those giant robots that have been populating the city lately. But a metal arm was definitely not the strangest thing he had seen since coming here. Different, but not too worrying really. So Steve just watched as the man walked into the streetlight, finally revealing his face.

And he felt all of his breath leave him at once.

What?

...Bucky?

That wasn't...

Steve was frozen in his spot, just staring at the man with a pale face. The grip on his shield was gone, his arm just lowered to his side as he looked on in disbelief. For some reason, it seemed difficult to breathe again, but he shouldn't be having those problems anymore.

"Bucky?"

What was going on?

[heismymission]

The shock he could understand in some ways. He didn't imagine that many would expect to find someone they knew in an entirely different world, especially not best friends separated by 70 years and a lot of missing memories.

So he didn't suspect anything was wrong at first, staying where he stood and watching Steve carefully. His jaw tense, he nodded a few times very slightly, almost as if he was unsure. But the man called him that the last time they met, and he'd seen it written above his face, so he acknowledged it was what used to be his name.

A because wtf do you think you're doing, son

[toughtalk]

Chromia spent a lot of time either locked up in her room or off on her own wandering the city. It was easier to adjust to it without anyone else's problems getting in the way. Adjusting to her significantly smaller height was the easiest thing--while finding just how far this place stretched was on the other end of the spectrum. In fact, that's what she's doing right now as she rolls through the streets in her vehicle mode.

Were she on more familiar ground, she'd be booking it for the outskirts by now. But before she can do that...she might as well get used to the more urban part of this place, weaving in and out of the alleyways.

That is, until something catches her eye from above. It doesn't take her long to transform back into her root mode, eyes squinting as she looks up to see just who...or what is fiddling around up there. To her surprise, it was that man she'd met at the party. The one who spoke little and emoted even less. Congrats, Bucky, you've definitely caught her interest now.

Walking closer, those arms go to her hips, waiting just under where he's climbing out.

"Going somewhere, sparky?"

most excellent

[heismymission]

His metal arm still in a hold on the wall, he's shuffling his window mostly-closed with the other when he hears Chromia's voice from below, and he looks to her much more calmly than he did their first meeting.

After examining her for a moment, he drops to the ground with his knees slightly bent and stands like he'd only fallen two feet instead of ten.

"Surveillance," he answers.

[toughtalk]

It's good--despite his little ninja behavior he's got going on--that he's not as high strung as when they first met. One could even call it an improvement. Her eyes follow as he drops down hands going from behind to folding over her chest, one gestured out.

"Getting the layout of the place too, I imagine. Have to say I'm doing the same. If things go sour, I wanna know the lay of the land."

...Which leads her to her next thought.

"Most humans use a door, from what I've seen."

A - general 'last few days of June'

[earthshards]

For as long as he had lived in this apartment building, Terra could honestly say that he had never seen anyone leave and enter their apartment using the window. The first day, he'd shrugged it off at the initial surprise and gone about his day like he normally would.

The second day of seeing this, he'd started to wonder - people used the window when they were trying their damnedest to not be noticed or caught by someone. With the physical contact requirement , trying to avoid being seen seemed... counter-productive.

The next day, he decides to do something.... incredibly reckless, even for him.

When the neighbor two floors down opens their window to leave, Terra's there on the man's balcony waiting with an amused look on his face. "I could get one or two days, but three? I'm starting to think you're allergic to doors."

Terra. Terra, it's not nice to troll people you don't know.

[heismymission]

The Winter Soldier does not like being taken by surprise.

His immediate reaction to the unfamiliar face and voice is to vault over the window sill and land on said balcony as his metal hand goes for the young man's collar with a shrill whirr.

Rolled a 2, there's no way he's dodging this.

[earthshards]

Hand. Metal. Whirring, and headed right for his throat. The speed of the reaction coupled with Terra's own surprise over it cuts his reaction time enough that dodging is just out of the question.

Of all the reactions Terra could have expected, getting grabbed by the collar of his shirt was not one of them. Fighting his first instinct to try and dislodge that hand is going to be difficult, but for now, he's managing.

"Okay - you don't like surprises." Which means he actually has to plan what he wants to say next carefully if he doesn't want this to escalate further.

A) Climbing out windows, July 2

[alley_kit]

If there was one universal fact about kittens, it was that they were curious, and Thunderkittens were no exception. Thus, Kit had taken to exploring the residential area of the city. And thanks to the ease of climbing provided by her claws, not all her explorations were confined to ground level.

Today, in fact, found her climbing around on rooftops and building ledges. Which was how she came to spot James climbing out of a window. His window? Or somebody else's? One way to find out, she supposed. She had to climb down a few levels til she reached the one above his, but that was simple enough, and a little scampering along the ledge brought her into reasonable conversational distance. Chances were he'd hear or see her approach, though, as she really wasn't making any attempt at stealth.

"Hi, James," she greeted him in a friendly manner, giving a little wave from the ledge above him. "Fancy meeting you here." She sounded a little amused; this was, after all, hardly a place or situation in which one would normally expect to meet someone.

[heismymission]

He had no problems detecting the cat girl as she approached, and when she greeted him, he gave a cautious glance at the window next to the one he just left and the surrounding area before turning his attention to her. His metal hand was still working well enough that he could keep a solid grip on things, thankfully, so he was steady enough to stay where he was just outside the window.

"What are you doing?" he asked, though there was no accusation in it, only mild curiosity. It was possible she had the same general idea that he did, and she looked comfortable enough with climbing around. Maybe it was a cat thing.

[alley_kit]

"Exploring," came the ready answer to his question. "It's faster to do it on roofs and things because it's not as crowded as on the ground. And besides, climbing around like this is fun!"

"What are you doing?", Kit asked in return, equally without accusation, though there was definite curiosity. "Why're you climbing out a window?"