Bucky Barnes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fossilised2017-02-24 01:53 am
advanced) wrote in fossilised2017-02-24 01:53 am
For Steve
[It's been fourteen months, six weeks, and four days since the Soldier pulled Steve from the Potomac and ran from everything he had ever known. Since he had begun to realise which parts of the world he'd been fed were lies, but hadn't quite managed to pin down which were truths. He knows that Steve has been looking for him. Not just him, but his friends too, most of the Avengers have been roped into Steve's unceasing search.
They never find anything.
He's too good, he knows how to hide. He's seen them - Iron Man once, Falcon four times, Steve twice - but they've never seen him. He's a ghost, just rumours that dry up on the wind. He's not too sure if he wants to remain this way for the rest of his life, he knows he's not ready for anything else, and this feels almost comforting. Anonymous. But something in him has pulled him back to America. He hears on the news what's been happening with the Avengers, he sees that there's a new 'compound' that they're using as a base, though none of the news channels know where it is.
It doesn't matter, he finds it.
There's security systems, of course, but he bypasses them all. He slips close enough past Falcon that he can smell the aftershave he used, but he isn't noticed. He finds Steve's room, easy to tell it's his because of the shield inside the door and the way that the whole place is military precision. Not a habit easy to break even once the army is done with you. He isn't even sure why he's here, just that he's following the instincts of his mind at the moment.
He takes a seat on Steve's bed, cross legged, and he waits.]
They never find anything.
He's too good, he knows how to hide. He's seen them - Iron Man once, Falcon four times, Steve twice - but they've never seen him. He's a ghost, just rumours that dry up on the wind. He's not too sure if he wants to remain this way for the rest of his life, he knows he's not ready for anything else, and this feels almost comforting. Anonymous. But something in him has pulled him back to America. He hears on the news what's been happening with the Avengers, he sees that there's a new 'compound' that they're using as a base, though none of the news channels know where it is.
It doesn't matter, he finds it.
There's security systems, of course, but he bypasses them all. He slips close enough past Falcon that he can smell the aftershave he used, but he isn't noticed. He finds Steve's room, easy to tell it's his because of the shield inside the door and the way that the whole place is military precision. Not a habit easy to break even once the army is done with you. He isn't even sure why he's here, just that he's following the instincts of his mind at the moment.
He takes a seat on Steve's bed, cross legged, and he waits.]
no subject
[The words are slipping out like muscle memory now as he takes the cards dealt to him and glances over them, before pushing two cubes of sugar into the centre of the table.]
no subject
And how long has it been since you played, huh?
no subject
[A lifetime ago. It doesn't stop him from analysing Steve's expression and then pushes in another cube to match it with a grin.]
So-- how many cards, Steve?
no subject
Really, he could probably do with another hand entirely, but maybe he'll get lucky.]
Two. So what you're telling me is I really do have a shot to beat you, huh?
no subject
[He deliberately pops the P in the word, accentuating his Brooklyn accent, and deals Steve two cards before taking one of his own.]
You've never beaten me, Steve, and you never will.
no subject
[Except Steve's cards still aren't great. He's got three of a kind, but they're twos, so Bucky could easily beat that hand. He does his best poker face, though who knows how much that fools Bucky. Probably not much.]
Whatcha got?
no subject
Only a winning hand, not much.