rekindleme | time to bite the bullet

Entry tags:

time to bite the bullet

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.]

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"The second district," he replied as he began to walk forward. Though he didn't intend to explain what exactly was going on with him and his neighbor, he wasn't opposed to answering a few questions about it, or stating his intentions for his destination.

"To look for a good place to watch the surroundings."

Kit followed at James' heels, having to take at least two steps for every one of his in order to keep up. "OK," she said. "I'm good a finding hiding places, so maybe I could help out." From the tone of his reply it sounded as though he planned on finding a spot where he could watch without being seen himself.

"Course," Kit said thoughtfully as they walked, "it might be a little bit harder to hide you, since you're so much bigger than me, but we should still be able to find a good place."

He wouldn't refuse the girl's assistance; it wasn't a particularly dangerous situation, looking for a good place to observe and remain hidden.

"I'm used to finding places I can stay out of sight," he says, wanting to reassure her that it shouldn't be a difficult task. "We'll find one."

Kit nodded. "OK," she said. "With two of us looking, it should be easy." Because with two expert hiding-spot-finders like them on the job, they were bound to find a good spot.

"Too bad we can't just turn invisible, like Tygra can," Kit commented as they walked. "But that's kinda cheating; it means he doesn't actually have to be any good at hiding, long as he doesn't make a lot of noise."

Turn invisible? He certainly knew of technology like that, but for a single person to be able to hide in plain sight with so little effort...

"It must be useful," he remarked, thinking of the things he'd be capable of if he had such a skill.

Kit nodded. "Yeah it is," she said. "Wish I knew how he did it. I know it's some kind of magic, but I think it has something to do with his whip too, since I don't think I've ever seen him turn invisible without it."

She sighed a bit. "I dunno," she said as they walked along. "Maybe it's something only he can do, like I'm the only one who can use my flupe's magic."

Skills unique to a single person... the soldier didn't know if he had anything like that. Although his arm certainly was unique, it only acted as an enhanced version of the opposite limb. But he didn't need any special abilities. He'd survived this far, after all.

"Doesn't matter," he said after a moment. "We use what we have."

Their arrival in the second district was obvious enough by the sight of the welcome center so close, but at a glance the area around it didn't appear to be particularly conducive to stealth. It might be worth checking later, but there were other places that would probably be better to check for the time being.

Kit nodded in response to James' statement. "Yeah," she said. "That's usually the best way to do things." Not that she was ever opposed to having a bit of extra help, of course.

Kit also glanced around the area surrounding the Welcome Center, hands on her hips and expression thoughtful. There were a few places she could see that might conceivably be able to conceal her, but nothing that would accommodate a grown man. Even the few bushes were the wrong shape to effectively hide someone. Well, that was annoying.

"I don't really see any place you could hide around here," Kit said. "There's a couple places I might fit, but they'd be too small for you. Think we should look someplace else?"

"Probably meant to be open," he said, not much louder than a mumble as he gave the surroundings another look over. It was a place where a lot of people were likely to gather, compared to the rest of the district. Though the people of the city still seemed to work, the shopping district was the place that was most crowded. Kit's suggestion to move elsewhere was met with a nod as he turned.

"South. There should be more buildings and alleys."

"Yeah, probly," Kit said, agreeing with James' mumbled comment on the area. It was where everyone first arrived, after all, so it had to be able to accommodate a lot of people.

"Right," she said, and followed followed along with James as he turned heading in the direction he'd indicated. Alleys and buildings tended to make an area much more conducive to hiding, after all.

The soldier kept his mismatched hands in loose fists at his sides, his left arm stiffer than usual. Despite the difficulties he was having physically and mentally, his senses were still as sharp as ever, thankfully--that was one thing that stayed constant unless he was completely out of it.

He hadn't quite reached that point, and he was hoping to get the help he needed to stay far away from it. But he had to take precautions first, so he walked along the road, carefully taking note of the angle of the buildings, the locations of the streetlights, and the structures that would give him the best cover.

After making a turn down a road a minute later, he seemed to find a location he was more interested in--a building that appeared to be unoccupied (or at least largely unused) by its dusty windows. The alley next to it was small and shaded, and included a handy fire escape as well, which meant it was easier to get in and out of even with the problems in his mechanical arm.

He took a few steps towards the shadowed path and shot a glance over his shoulder to make a better guess of what might be visible from the location.

Kit had noticed the stiffness, but hadn't commented. Still, she wondered if James had been getting enough touch to keep from getting sick. She hoped so, but wasn't sure if she should ask about it. He might get all grumpy about it, like Panthro would, which would probably just complicate things.

That particular mental debate was put on hold for the moment as they entered an area much more conducive to hiding than the open plaza had been. A shady alley between two buildings, one of them seemingly unused, with a nice, handy fire escape; definitely promising. "This looks a lot better," she commented.

Curious how it might look from above (since James apparently had the same penchant for climbing around on rooftops that she did), she announced, "I'm gonna see what it looks like from the roof." She scampered over to the fire escape, leaping easily up onto the lowest platform without the benefit of the ladder being down, then scrambled easily up the building's wall, using a combination of leaping fire-escape platforms and climbing the wall itself to get to the roof fairly quickly.

She then peered down over the edge, seeing what she could see. Several potential hiding spots suggested themselves to her from up here. The roof itself would make a good hiding place in a pinch as well, especially if the sun was overhead, since whoever was in the shadowed alley below would have to look straight up at the bright sky. This would definitely be a better spot for what James wanted to do.

The soldier's attention went from examining the building to Kit when she spoke her intentions, and he watched her climb with some amount of interest. She certainly was skilled at such a thing for someone so young--but he guessed it might have something to do with being a cat. Still, her agility was somewhat impressive, even to him.

He began to walk towards the same fire escape, though his last few steps were used as a running start for him to jump up and grab the edge of the platform with his right hand. His left came up shortly afterwards though with less graceful a motion than he'd prefer, and he pulled himself up so he could then climb to the third floor's platform.

For a few moments he surveyed the surroundings again just to be thorough; a hiding spot would do him no good if he couldn't also observe. After that, however, his attention went to the window nearby and he approached it to test how difficult it would be to open it. A quick attempt to do so showed it to be locked.

Kit's agility had a great deal to with being a cat, yes. Though if James was impressed with Kit, she'd love to introduce him to the other Thundercats; doubtless they'd be far more impressive (if not nearly as cute).

Currently, though Kit watched as James took a running jump to the lowest platform of the fire escape, then climbed up to the third floor. He tested the window there, only to apparently find it locked. Well, that wouldn't do.

Kit climbed down the fire escape to join him. "Locked, huh?", she said. "Maybe I can fix that." She reached into her pouch and pulled out her set of lockpicks by way of explanation. "Want me to give it a try?"

He was a bit tempted to shove the window open by force, but it would likely leave a mark; Kit's offer to open the window with a more subtle approach seems more appealing, as it should leave less of a mark and thus be less noticeable.

The soldier steps back from the window to give her enough space to pick the lock and nods at her offer just to confirm. Her presence has already been helpful, he realizes, and it puts him a little more at ease; the entire reason for this particular outing has been to hide from someone who may or may not turn out to be an ally. He's been too unsure to relax at all since yesterday thanks to his flashbacks, at least until now.

Kit is glad to notice James relaxing a bit as she goes to work on picking the lock. And yes, her way made much less of a mess.

It took a few minutes during which neither of them really talked- Kit concentrating on her work, and James watching- before there was a faint click. Kit grinned, removing her lockpicks and opening the window with a triumphant grin. "Ta-da!", she said, gesturing to the now open window with er free hand while sticking her lockpicks back in the pouch where they belonged.

"You wanna go first, or should I?", she asked. Because now that they'd gone to the trouble of opening the window, they needed to see what was inside. It was a rule. Or something.

Though it took some time, the soldier was in no hurry, and with Kit's help, the location he'd be observing from would be less obvious. All the better for giving him the opportunity to escape, if it came down to it...

He tried not to focus on the worst-case scenario, despite almost always having a contingency plan. Something in him couldn't stand to imagine the super soldier he arranged to see attacking him.

Once the window was open, he spared an appreciative glance towards the tools she used before acknowledging her question by moving forward. Inside, the building was just as empty as it appeared, with dust covering most of the surfaces, including some furniture that had been left behind.

The soldier inspected the surroundings with a few purposeful glances, thinking that this might even be a reasonable place to stay should he need to remain out of the apartment he'd been given--something of a safe house, just without any of the supplies.

Kit smiled at the appreciative glance as she tucked her lockpicks away, then followed James in through the window. The place was apparently as abandoned as it had looked, with nothing inside but an empty, dusty room and a few equally dusty pieces of furniture.

The only thing that looked remotely interesting, in fact, was an old chest of drawers. One of its legs was broken off- probably why it had been left behind- so it leaned against the nearby bedframe at an odd angle. Curious, Kit crossed the room and pulled open the bottom drawer, on the off chance that there might be something interesting. But no; other than a few dead bugs, the drawer was empty. The next drawer up proved equally empty.

When she tried the third drawer though, the last one she could reach without help, she distinctly heard something shift inside it. "Hey, there's something in here!", Kit said. She reached into the drawer, feeling around a bit, before her hand closed on something, pulling out what turned out to be an old necklace of purple and blue beads.

"Ooh, pretty!", Kit said, examining it in the dim, dusty light that filtered in from outside. "Guess whoever used to live here forgot this when they left." She examined it for a few more moments before shrugging. "Oh well. Finders keepers, I guess." She tucked the necklace into one of her pouches before turning back to James.

"Do you think this looks like it'd be a good hiding place?" she said. "I don't think anybody's been here for years. There would've been footprints or something in the dust if there had."

The soldier had no qualms about letting the girl have her prize; she'd worked to get them in here in the first place, so to him, she may have even deserved the reward, even if it seemed insignificant to him. She appeared to value it in some way, at least.

He approached some of the windows facing the front of the building, careful not to stand in the light as he examined each to see that they were all locked. A few were even boarded.

"Abandoned, no security active nearby, most entrances blocked," he said, looking through the glass to judge how well he could observe from there. With the angle of the street lights, in his current position he would be well out of sight when night fell. Finally, he nodded, turning back to the girl.

"It should work."

Kit nodded at James' assessment of the place. It was thoroughly unremarkable, which made it a perfect spot to hide out. That was how she and Kat had selected the abandoned house they'd called home back in Thundara. There was absolutely nothing special about it, other than it was convenient to their local scrounging grounds, thus there was little to draw the guards' attention to it, or them.

"Good," she said, moving to join the older man. "I hope whatever you're planning works out OK. And that you don't have to keep climbing out windows all the time afterwards. It kinda loses some of the fun when you have to do it."

He stared at her a moment after she spoke before finally moving his gaze away, working his jaw nervously. He started back towards the window they'd used as an entrance.

"I'm used to it."

Even if it was true, he was uneasy with the thought that it wouldn't turn out well. He wouldn't admit it, but having his former target as an enemy once more was just about the worst case scenario.

Kit frowned a little in a mix of thoughtfulness and concern at James' remark before following him to the window. "Well, even so...", she said, letting it trail off. She still hoped it went well for him.

After a moment of consideration, she spoke again as the reached the window. "Hey, James?", she said. "If you eve need a place to stay a little while where you won't have to climb out windows, you could stay with me. I'm in Building 2, apartment 2-16. It's a big apartment, and I don't take up much room."

Indeed, sometimes it seemed a bit too big. She'd welcome any of her friends who wanted to stay over awhile.

The soldier was taken aback by the offer, stopping with his right hand on the frame and turning to look at Kit. It seemed a strange one to make to him--for one, it was essentially giving a dangerous stranger her address, and he couldn't think of any real benefit she might get with having him there. Well, there was the possibility that he would protect her from dangers should they appear, he supposed, but he hadn't done anything to earn that trust.

Still, he wasn't exactly conditioned to refuse offers, even if he wasn't necessarily going to take her up on it.

"Okay," he said after a moment, the uncertainty in his expression clear enough.

Little did James knows that Kit generally hung out with a lot of dangerous people back home. Just not dangerous to her. And she felt much the same about James.

Besides, despite his obvious strength, there was something vulnerable about him too. He was someone who needed.... well no, protected was the wrong word. He needed a friend. And while Kit couldn't do much, she was definitely capable of being a friend.

Kit smiled encouragingly at his acceptance of her offer. "Good," she said. She then reached up to lightly rest her hand on his metal arm for a moment. "It'll be OK," she said. "You'll see."

When the moment passed, though, she ducked around him and out the window, perching on the railing of the fire-escape outside, clearly intending to head off. "I'll see you around, OK?", she said, then grinned a bit and gave him a little wink. "Try not to get into too much trouble."

The soldier wouldn't--couldn't--be sure that things would turn out alright until they actually did, but he didn't move away at the gesture of comfort. It seemed odd to hear such words from someone so young, and he had no need of reassurances, but he said nothing.

His eyes followed her as she exited through the window, making no move to leave yet, himself.

He had no intention of getting into trouble at all--that was the last thing he needed right now, so he nodded silently in reply.

And wrapped!

alley_kit - 2014-11-14 03:29 (UTC) - Expand

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time to bite the bullet

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/FOREVER APOLOGIZES FOR LATENESS

/aggresively accepts your apology

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And wrapped!