Bucky Barnes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fossilised2019-03-13 10:13 am
advanced) wrote in fossilised2019-03-13 10:13 am
HYDRA world AU
The world changed the day that Steve Rogers went into the ice.
Troops that had been following his exploits across the Allied Nations lost hope and lost morale, thinking that if even a super soldier could be defeated then what was the good of them fighting? Conversely, the Axis Powers grew more confident, hailing the defeat of Captain America, and that became a symbol for them to rally around. Technically, the Nazi Party won that war, but they were only in power for a year before HYDRA grew tired of being merely a part of a whole and decided to subsume their former masters.
They, after all, had no real interest in eugenics or genocide, that was the way to rule a single country. They wanted world domination, and they got there through careful promises, through underhand dealings, and by convincing the public that the freedoms they were giving over were for the greater good. After all, how could HYDRA protect them without knowledge, without obedience?
Years turned into decades and what had begun as a tentative regime had become all-powerful and tyrannical as technology boomed and citizens were born into this new world order. Children were taught from a young age, scared with stories of the Soldier. A boogieman to most, a whispered secret of its actual existence to others, the Weapon sent in when all else had failed. At least fifteen organised rebellions had been quelled by its deadly presence alone, and now most feared to even try.
The Soldier was an obedient tool.
Until the day it disappeared.
It had been a fairly routine mission, just reconnaissance on a boarding school down in Texas to make sure that nothing subversive was being taught on the curriculum after rumours to the contrary had reached powerful ears. It had sat and stared down a scope for 72 hours and seen nothing, heard nothing, and so it left as ordered, neither disappointed or elated at not having to kill that day. Its next mission was to take out a tanker of supplies on the Arctic ocean, kill all souls aboard, and make it look as though one of their enemies to the East had done it.
Simple.
The Soldier didn't like the cold. It wasn't supposed to like or dislike anything, and so it carefully guarded that secret, but it didn't like the cold. It was reminiscent of storage, and of a place coated in snow that was synonymous with pain. But that dislike didn't cause any hesitation, and the Soldier dived into the frigid waters from its dinghy to swim toward the ship. But something stopped that progress. Something sighted under the water, something inside frozen ice. A face that caused more pain than even the freezing water, that made the Soldier believe its heart was about to stop dead. Something in its head broke, a reset button to the orders given, and suddenly nothing seemed more important than to collect that someone frozen in ice and protect him. Keep him.
It took nearly 40 hours to drag the ice floe to the surface and chip away enough to retrieve the body inside, and another 24 to get to shore. Even the Soldier's enhanced body was pushed to its limits from the prolonged exposure to the cold, and the extreme physical effort it took. But eventually the Soldier and its captive (Ste--?) were ensconced in a small abandoned building.
Steve would wake up naked, on the floor, and being stared at by a man all in black leather with a mask hiding his face.
Troops that had been following his exploits across the Allied Nations lost hope and lost morale, thinking that if even a super soldier could be defeated then what was the good of them fighting? Conversely, the Axis Powers grew more confident, hailing the defeat of Captain America, and that became a symbol for them to rally around. Technically, the Nazi Party won that war, but they were only in power for a year before HYDRA grew tired of being merely a part of a whole and decided to subsume their former masters.
They, after all, had no real interest in eugenics or genocide, that was the way to rule a single country. They wanted world domination, and they got there through careful promises, through underhand dealings, and by convincing the public that the freedoms they were giving over were for the greater good. After all, how could HYDRA protect them without knowledge, without obedience?
Years turned into decades and what had begun as a tentative regime had become all-powerful and tyrannical as technology boomed and citizens were born into this new world order. Children were taught from a young age, scared with stories of the Soldier. A boogieman to most, a whispered secret of its actual existence to others, the Weapon sent in when all else had failed. At least fifteen organised rebellions had been quelled by its deadly presence alone, and now most feared to even try.
The Soldier was an obedient tool.
Until the day it disappeared.
It had been a fairly routine mission, just reconnaissance on a boarding school down in Texas to make sure that nothing subversive was being taught on the curriculum after rumours to the contrary had reached powerful ears. It had sat and stared down a scope for 72 hours and seen nothing, heard nothing, and so it left as ordered, neither disappointed or elated at not having to kill that day. Its next mission was to take out a tanker of supplies on the Arctic ocean, kill all souls aboard, and make it look as though one of their enemies to the East had done it.
Simple.
The Soldier didn't like the cold. It wasn't supposed to like or dislike anything, and so it carefully guarded that secret, but it didn't like the cold. It was reminiscent of storage, and of a place coated in snow that was synonymous with pain. But that dislike didn't cause any hesitation, and the Soldier dived into the frigid waters from its dinghy to swim toward the ship. But something stopped that progress. Something sighted under the water, something inside frozen ice. A face that caused more pain than even the freezing water, that made the Soldier believe its heart was about to stop dead. Something in its head broke, a reset button to the orders given, and suddenly nothing seemed more important than to collect that someone frozen in ice and protect him. Keep him.
It took nearly 40 hours to drag the ice floe to the surface and chip away enough to retrieve the body inside, and another 24 to get to shore. Even the Soldier's enhanced body was pushed to its limits from the prolonged exposure to the cold, and the extreme physical effort it took. But eventually the Soldier and its captive (Ste--?) were ensconced in a small abandoned building.
Steve would wake up naked, on the floor, and being stared at by a man all in black leather with a mask hiding his face.
no subject
He needed Steve to talk, not about Tony but about himself. Steve was just being a piece of shit about it.
Standing up carefully, JARVIS hidden under his pillow, Tony sighed and tapped the faint glow in the center of his chest.
“Arc reactor. Not getting into it. Sorry it sometimes smells. Gives me a faint coconut taste in my mouth to be honest. Can you stop now?”
no subject
He sighed and shrugged his shoulders, though there was a stubborn set to his jaw that said he might stop talking about it for now but he wouldn't forget.
"Fine. So how long do you think they plan to keep us here? Because if it's longer than another day, we should just move ourselves, it's not safe to stay in one place too long."
no subject
There had to be a way off of the island, however. Unless the Soldier was a vampire or could turn into mist, there had to be an explanation for how he was coming and going. A motorboat they would have heard. It didn’t dawn on him that super soldiers could likely swim for vast distances and even if it did, he’d have to picture James punching sharks that came up on him in the water. And that would bring this nonsense full circle.
“This island isn’t on a map, Captain. Purposefully.” He’d kept it free of HYDRA for decades. “We’re safe here. Probably. Except from boredom.”
no subject
Steve stood up, restless energy thrumming under his skin. He wasn't the sort of man who was built for inaction, for waiting around on other people's pleasure. He was the sort of man who needed to take action against injustice when he saw it, and the whole damn world was injustice now.
"We can't just sit here for the rest of our lives, safe on our little spit of beach while HYDRA keep control of the world."
no subject
As much as storming across the beach to no where would be, dramatically kicking up sand in his wake, Tony couldn’t just let that little bit of misplaced patriotism go.
“Woah, hang on, Encino Man. You think you can change sixty plus years of the way the fucking world is...? Before your little war, there was segregation and poverty... now there isn’t. We can’t go back anywhere, Rogers. You can take down HYDRA. Even the Resistance knows that. It’s too good for too many people. All we can do is carve out a place for ourselves to be different.”
Tony was under no disillusions here. He grew up in this world. He didn’t always like it but from what he gathered, that was pretty normal throughout history. Toppling HYDRA was impossible. They were too big. Too strong. HYDRA would always be in control until something bigger and badder and stronger took over.
And he didn’t care if the Resistance heard that. They needed sense knocked into them too.
no subject
He would never want anyone to live that way.
For a moment he just sat, shoulders slumped, before shaking his head with determination. "That doesn't mean the world doesn't need to be changed. I bet some people said the same when there were slaves, that the country was prosperous and life was good. But things can change, whole establishments can change, and the few good things can be carved out and taken along for the ride. I'm not going to give up."
no subject
“I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m just trying to make sure you’re being realistic.” Tony didn’t want to put a good man down, but this was not the world he was used to. This was what happened because they lost the war. Sometimes you couldn’t just fix things because you want to. Or because you’re stubborn.
Tony’s philosophy was simple. Help where he could. Keep his nose just as dirty as he could afford without getting caught. Help in his own way. He and Steve had some fundamental differences there.
“When they come back for us, and they will, after they’ve decided that you’re an innocent bystander and HYDRA isn’t lurking in the wings, you’ll find some friends in the Resistance. So just sit tight until then.”
no subject
He sank down onto the sand, face set in gloomy resignation.
"...you know, my Mom used to say that patience got left out the day I was made. Pretty sure that didn't alter along with everything else."
no subject
“I think the impatience grew like everything else,” Tony remarked, giving Steve a purposeful once over that he truly hoped with get the blond to leave him alone for awhile. There was nothing he could really do for JARVIS at the moment but he wanted to get him cleaned up and to make sure all of the parts of his motherboard were in order. He had no idea what the Soldier has done to pry it out of the mainframe but the blood didn’t bode well for some of the working parts.
Tony decided to give Steve a little bit of a hint by wandering off himself, mostly to get his feet wet in the water and to trail the island looking for the Resistance boat.
He just hoped Steve wouldn’t think to snoop around the tent.
no subject
So Steve spent his afternoon in as productive a manner as he could. He gathered wood for a fire, he attempted to make some fishing lines from the most flexible sticks he could find, and he methodically swept the little beach five times looking for any approach.
By the time evening fell, he was utterly sick of being here, and hoping for company. Even abrasive company like Tony Stark.
no subject
It was like the whole world was just gone. Tony could sit and gaze at the ocean for hours but there might as well be nothing beyond the horizon. The more time he spent alone, the less time he liked it. Tony had been extremely social, despite what he liked most people to think, and being locked away alone without a project he could tackle was too much for him.
So of course he came crawling back, almost literally. He kicked up sand as he walked and then dropped beside Steve, wordlessly, as another day came to an end.
“Everyone is always watching. It’s just a new set of eyes watching us now. And I don’t like it. So tell you what, Cap. I’m with you. Let’s remake the world.” He didn’t once look at Steve, just kept his eyes trained out on the water. The wind messed with his hair. “I think it’s time to stop waiting.”