fist_of_hydra | Snarky ColdWinter #2

Snarky ColdWinter #2

The team had been arguing for a while now, and getting nowhere. They'd narrowed Savage's location down to Italy in September of 1944, but couldn't get any farther than that. James thought he had a pretty good guess what Savage wanted - this was where HYDRA had most of their facilities, and the Red Skull would be the perfect ally to Savage.

The only people who would have any further intelligence about Savage's possible movements were the Allied or Axis forces. Neither were going to hand the information over to a bunch of strangers. Ray wanted to play dress up and march in, pretend to be an officer and demand the information. Sara wanted to go in at night and steal it. There were half a dozen other ideas floating around, and all of them were bad. Quite a few of them were likely to get them shot at.

Ray might be onto something, though. At least, if you turned your head and looked at the idea sideways. Trying to march in and claim to be an officer nobody in the camp had ever seen was asking for a swift visit from the MPs.

Marching in and claiming to be an officer everyone in the camp had seen was another matter.

James had been lurking by the doorway, as was his habit, rather than sitting around the table with the others. He hadn't been contributing, so he was able to slip out without inciting comment. Once in the hall, he strode toward the fabrication room. "Gideon. Do you have any footage or photos of me in uniform in this time period?"

"Of course, Mr. Barnes."

"Good. I need a copy made, and make sure it looks worn and used. Can you do that?"

"Certainly."

"Then do it." James strode into the fabrication area, where a uniform was already synthesizing. He paused, looking at it, and rubbed a hand over the scruff on his chin.

Five minutes later he strode back toward the main room. It felt odd to be back in this uniform. Gideon had even managed to make it smell right - which was to say, like blood and gunpowder and harsh lye soap. Even stranger was not feeling his hair brushing against his cheeks and neck. He hadn't had short hair since HYDRA took him, and he found he already missed it long.

This wasn't him, anymore. It felt like the ghost of Bucky Barnes was riding his shoulders, and the weight was pressing him down.

"...are we supposed to do, walk in and ask them nicely?" Sara was saying, her tone full of exasperation as she threw her hands up at Ray.

"That's exactly what we're gonna do." James rose his voice enough to cut through the babble. Everyone turned to look at him, and most of them did a wide-eyed double-take. He raised an eyebrow at them. "It's just a matter of the right person doing the asking."

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"Better you get a chance to decide for sure what you want, rather than regretting later that you didn't do something," Len pointed out softly.

He leaned into the kiss, drinking it in and doing what he could with hands and lips to convey to James that he cared for him, and wanted what was best for him, no matter what that might be.

"I'm yours, too," he murmured warmly. "Shall we go in? Raymond's probably unconscious by now and I wanted to get a few shots in."

Edited 2016-06-04 20:48 (UTC)

"Yeah." Sighing, James reluctantly disengaged from his lover, turning to head for the ramp into the ship. "I want my damn hair back. If there's any chance we might run into the Commandos, I need to look as little like my old self as I can."

He paused, frowning, as an unwelcome thought occurred to him. Unwelcoming, but almost certainly necessary. "I should probably do the full Winter Soldier thing. Show off the arm, wear the mask, maybe even the goggles. Steve didn't recognize me in the future until he yanked my mask off, fighting me."

"Mask and goggles," Len echoed, frowning. He'd seen pictures of James on the news - searched out after the fact when he realized who James was. He didn't much like the look. The mask looked too much like a muzzle to him, though otherwise it was hot as hell. "Gideon can probably make them for you. But you'll have to keep quiet, too."

"Keep quiet?" Mick called as they came up the ramp. "Think you can manage that? I might have to punch you for every word you say."

Ray was sitting slumped over in a chair, jaw swelling. Mick was gently drawing on his face in magic marker. Everyone else was trying not to stare.

"You can try," James retorted, rolling his eyes at his sometimes-nemesis. He did quirk a smile at the marker on Palmer's face, however.

"Gideon can fabricate a synthesizer into the mask that will shift your voice enough to be unrecognizable," Hunter proclaimed. He still looked entirely too pleased about this whole mess, even with Peggy following them back to the ship.

"I can even give you an accent if you like, Sergeant Barnes," Gideon offered, cheerful as ever.

James flinched at the title, though he did his best to hide the reaction. "Don't call me that. I'm not a sergeant anymore." Thank God she'd never done it before this, though she'd clearly known exactly who he was.

Belatedly it occurred to him that everyone had probably been listening in on the discussion with Peggy. Hunter would have wanted to know what went on, and the others were just nosy. That certainly explained the look of awestruck disbelief Stein was giving him.

They'd damn well better not have listened in on his private moment with Len after, though.

Len assumed at first that the others had only just heard the last bit, but he also realized eventually that they were looking entirely too smug. He sighed and walked over to Ray, grabbing him by the chin and inspecting his face, but deciding that Mick hadn't done too much damage.

"Nice," he complimented Mick, leaving it open as to whether he was talking about the artwork or the punch. Then he threw himself into a seat.

"So, now that you've all finished gawking, can we figure out our plan for getting Savage, now that we know where he is?"

Reluctantly, the others allowed themselves to be coaxed into a discussion, which Len led and dominated, giving James more time to collect himself.

Peggy's information gave them a general area in which to search for Savage. Most of the reports about him had been coming from two towns not far from one of HYDRA's bases. Unfortunately, it was indeed the base that the Howling Commandos were out there preparing to raid.

It was unlikely they could get through the area without attracting attention from his old team, but they had to try. If Savage was so close to HYDRA it probably was because the man was attempting to negotiate an alliance. The sort of power Savage held was exactly the type of mysticism that would appeal to the Skull.

James knew he should stay on the ship, keep out of this mission lest one of his old friends see him. The problem was, he was also the one who knew this terrain best, and how to handle any Allied patrols they might run into.

The best way to do the latter would have been for him to continue being Bucky, but they couldn't risk that even if he'd been willing to do so. Instead Ray got to play dress up after all, since he'd only need to pretend long enough to acknowledge a 'friendly force', show their faked orders, and move on.

James got to dress up, too, but he wasn't happy about it. Looking in the mirror and seeing the Winter Soldier stare back, mask and goggles and all, was chilling. He kept fearing that seeing himself this way would cause his mind to revert, as well. He couldn't seem to make himself move away from the mirror in their quarters, feeling like he'd somehow grown rooted to the ground.

He'd grabbed the journal he was currently keeping, scanned the contents in Gideon just in case it got lost, and had it clutched in both hands like a lifeline. He'd give it to Len to carry, and that way hopefully if something did go wrong, they might be able to snap him out of it. It was the only safety precaution he could think of.

It sure was taking James a long time. Everyone was getting restless, all dolled up and armed up and ready to go. Finally Len ordered them all to stay put, and then headed back to the room he shared with James.

He walked in and saw James looking like something out of a nightmare, just staring at himself in the mirror.

"Time to head out, lover," he drawled, trying to pretend the sight of him in that muzzle didn't make him want to spit nails. "You finished prettying yourself up?"

The sound of his lover's voice finally jolted James out of the near-trance he'd been in. When Len stepped up next to him, reflection joining the Soldier's in the mirror, James shuddered.

He didn't like that image. He didn't want to see Len next to that monster. The monster that was him. God, this was such a bad idea.

There was no other choice. Well, there was, but the other choice was to sit here in the ship and wait helplessly for the others to come back. He couldn't d that, he'd go crazy.

"I'm done." The mask shifted his voice deeper, distorting it slightly. It sounded wrong, but it certainly fit the image, dangerous and menacing. "Sorry, didn't mean to take so long."

"It's fine." Len put a hand on his flesh shoulder, though with the thick jacket, he wasn't sure it was any more sensitive than his metal one up there. "You good?"

He didn't think James was good. He also wasn't sure he had a choice.

"I'm okay." He really wasn't. He wished he could get a kiss, but if he took the mask off he wasn't sure he could bring himself to put it back on again.

At least once they were off the ship, there was little chance he'd catch a reflection. Once he got used to the mask and goggles again he'd be better able to ignore them. Hopefully.

When they emerged from the ship he heard a few startled noises among the crowd. Sara gave him a sharp, assessing look, eyeing the metal arm revealed by his half sleeveless jacket. No surprise a League of Assassins member would know all the stories about the Winter Soldier.

Jax and Ray he was pretty sure were just intimidated by the look. That was almost amusing enough to calm him. "Let's get this show on the road. The sooner we get this done, the happier I'll be."

"Are you ever actually happy?" Jax muttered under his breath, probably figuring James wouldn't be able to hear him.

"No," James replied flatly. "But I can be less happy. Move."

If there was one thing Len did like about this look - James' grumbliness was sexy as hell.

They headed out, travelling towards the location that Peggy Carter's file indicated they could find Savage. But they were only halfway there when they heard gunfire through the trees.

"We shouldn't interf--" Rip tried, but Jax, Stein, and Ray had already taken off through the trees.

Len cursed and raced off after them. "Try not to blow anything up in front of the muggles!" he snapped at the three of them. Ray had his suit in his pocket, but all Jax and Stein needed to do was join together and there'd be a lot of fire.

For a long moment James stood frozen, struggling with himself. Gunfire in this area could only mean one thing. For the last hour they'd been travelling through terrain that was hauntingly familiar to him, and he knew they were skirting the edge of where the Commandos had passed.

And he remembered getting into a skirmish with a Nazi patrol, a few days before they reached the base itself. Which meant running toward that sound was running toward himself.

When Len took off after the others, however, he shook himself and followed his lover. Nobody would recognize him. Nobody could recognize him. They wouldn't even be looking, because Bucky would be right beside them.

The Waverider team hit the enemy flank hard. Gideon had made them period appropriate weapons, including a sniper rifle for him, so he slid to his knees behind a tree and started taking potshots at the Nazis.

At least it was easy to tell friend from foe, with the uniforms. Not so much for them - both sides turned and started firing at the Waveriders when they joined it. Cursing, James touched a button that would disengage the voice sythesizer, then whistled the trilling bird call that was the Commandos' signal for a friendly party. He was a little surprised he remembered it so clearly.

Immediately the Commandos switched their aim solely back to the Nazis. At that point, taking fire from two sides, the German forces went down quickly.

Of course, once the last one died, they had another problem. Captain America himself stepped out of the treeline, slinging his shield onto his back. "Who's out there?" he demanded. "How did you know that signal?"

Len had been getting worried things were going to go really badly, when suddenly that odd trilling call came out of the trees from where he had seen James stop, and abruptly everything changed.

And then. Fucking. Captain America. Looking all dirty and blond and like the person that James had known and loved his whole life. Also the most arrow-straight person Len could think of, and that included Barry Allen.

God, he hated him.

He strode up to Steve Rogers. "We're on your side Cap," he purred. "Met with Carter this morning, and she gave us intel. We're after an ally of the Skull - not trying to horn in on your party - but we saw you were having a little problem, so we thought we'd lend a hand."

"Really." Rogers seemed unimpressed with the assertion. His sharp blue eyes scanned their group, taking in Sara and Kendra, Jax and Stein. "Funny, 'cause she never mentioned you to me. Not been in any of my briefings."

"How 'bout that sniper of yours shows himself, too?" a new voice called, from the trees on the opposite end of the area. An all too familiar voice, to James - it was his own. Of course he'd noticed there was another sniper.

Slinging his rifle onto his back, he dropped down from where he'd settled himself, landing not far from Len. He kept his hands up, palms out, to show he wasn't carrying any weapons. He knew he should be watching Steve, but he couldn't take his eyes off the spot where his voice had come from.

"Show your face," Steve demanded, scowling.

James opened his mouth, and nearly bit his tongue as he realized hadn't turned the synthesizer back on. He brushed the switch. "Not going to happen, Captain." He finally tore his eyes away from the trees, and looked at Len. Silently naming him the leader with the action. He didn't trust Hunter to handle this.

Len turned his head towards the familiar voice when he heard Bucky call out, cursing inwardly. Rogers wasn't looking as gullible as he'd hoped, and James had nearly blown their cover. He was obviously distracted.

Len was distracted.

But he couldn't allow any of the others to take control here. None of them were good enough at this. Especially since James had just designated him the leader.

"Don't get distracted, Cap," Len said, attracting Steve's attention. "You asked how we know the signal, and I told you. You think I'm HYDRA, because you haven't heard about our unit? We aren't after the Red Skull, so why would they have to run it by you?"

Edited 2016-06-05 03:35 (UTC)

"We are a multi-national group, not unlike yourselves," Hunter piped up. James glared at him, but the effect was probably entirely blunted by the goggles he wore. "We report directly to Allied Command. It's..."

"Not relevant," James interrupted, his altered voice cold. "We're wasting daylight. The longer we stand here chattering, the more likely Savage and Schmidt make that alliance and we're all screwed."

"I've been hearing some nasty rumours about this Savage guy," Rogers said. He still looked wary, but not like he was about to grab the shield and throw it at any second. "If what you're saying is true, maybe we should combine forces for the moment. The patrols in this area are double thick."

Len was actually almost pleased that Rip spoke up. Maybe the British accent would help a bit. Who knew? It couldn't hurt.

"Savage is as bad as they come. I hear the same about Schmidt. So if they get together, it'll be all over for the Allies, I figure," Len said.

He paused and considered the offer. If he said no, that would only look more suspicious. His eyes flicked towards Bucky. "We're all on the same team here. Of course, we should help each other out."

For a long moment more Rogers stared at them, clearly assessing. Finally he nodded. "All right. Fall in with my men. We've got a base camp half a mile to the east of here, we were on our way back after scouting. We can compare notes and figure out a plan of attack from there."

Turning, he gestured at the trees. "Buck? Stick close to them, all right?" He gave Len a smile that still held an edge of mistrust. "Sergeant Barnes will stay with you. In case we get separated."

"You got it." Bucky stepped into sight, slinging his rifle over his back the same way James held his. His blue eyes flicked to James, scanning his mask and goggles and metal arms with curiosity. Of course it would be Bucky that Rogers would send with them.

It was weird, because James didn't remember any of this happening. Shouldn't he remember it, since it was now in his past? Stein didn't forget who his wife was, though. Even when his ring physically disappeared.

Len gave Steve a smile in return that didn't come anywhere near reaching his eyes. "Sure, we'd love to have Barnes tag along." But they'd have to find a way to ditch him before they found Savage. Couldn't risk having his lover's past self die.

He saw the odd similarity and tried not to stare. The resemblance was incredible - and a moment later, he shook himself for the thought. Of course the resemblance was incredible - they were the same person.

He walked over to Bucky and stuck out his hand. "Good to meet you, Sergeant Barnes. I'm Leonard Snart."

Bucky shook hands without hesitation, but he gave Len the same curious once-over he'd given James. "Pleasure. We'll have plenty of time to get acquainted on the way back, so why don't we head out?"

"Good plan. Commandos, let's head out." Steve made a sweeping hand gesture and pointed toward the camp, and the rest of the Commandos slung their weapons away and started moving in the indicated direction.

Again James felt a pang. He remembered the old hand codes, found them rushing back to him the same way the identification call had. He was drowning in memories, sort of like what had happened when Steve first triggered his true personality, but magnified a hundred times over.

He was grateful to have the memories back; he was going to fill whole books with new information after this trip. At the same time, he wished he could just get a moment to breathe among the onslaught.

Stein drifted closer to Bucky, eyes shining with excitement. He was doing the same thing Barry and Cisco had done to 'the Winter Soldier' when they'd first realized who he was - Lisa had called it 'fanboying'. Hopefully he didn't give them away by asking too many pointed questions about things he shouldn't have known.

Falling in beside Snart, Bucky eyed the motley group, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. The two women, well, he'd gotten a pretty thorough lesson from Peggy about underestimating what a woman could do in the field. The black kid didn't bug him, not after working with Gabe for so long. But the old guy? He had to be sixty if he was a day, what the hell was he doing in the field?

And then there was the guy in the mask, his whole face obscured and his vice somehow distorted. It gave Bucky the weirdest feeling just to be near him. He was creepy, that was for sure. Turning his attention back to Len, he tried to ignore the masked guy stalking along at his back. "So, what can you tell me? Since I'm guessing you're gonna refuse to answer half my questions."

Len hoped that James was doing okay. At least with the mask, if he was having a breakdown, no one would notice. He was already trying to plan the best way to ditch Bucky before they got anywhere near Savage.

But for now, it just hadn't seemed like they had any choice but to let him tag along.

So he walked and plotted and glanced at Bucky when the Sergeant asked him his question. "Savage is bad news, and we're gonna take care of it," he said. "They say he's magic, that he can't be killed, but we have a special weapon that's the only way to take him out."

"Yeah, well, Schmidt thinks he can do magic, too," Bucky said, skeptical. "Guarantee a bullet in the head will still take him down, we're just trying to get to a place where we can put it there. Why does your guy need a 'special weapon'? You gonna do the whole vampire thing, stake him, cut his heart out and head off?"

"Magic is just science we don't understand, yet," James murmured, vaguely recalling a quote about something like that. He'd certainly had it demonstrated to him - many of the things they could do in 2016 would seem like magic to these people, let alone the things from 2166.

"More like have Kendra here deliver the killing blow," Ray said cheerfully, having obviously been eavesdropping, too. "We really don't know what it is that's keeping him alive - I mean, obviously it's got to be science - but I assure you, it's true that he's hard to kill."

Kendra elbowed Ray fiercely.

"All we know, is that there's something to it," Len growled. "So I'm telling you so you don't blunder in and get yourself killed because you don't believe in magic, okay?"

"Sure, okay." Bucky still clearly wasn't buying any.

James sighed. "They've made Rogers a hell of a lot harder to hurt than a normal person. Why is it so hard to believe someone might go even farther on that scale? Think of it like personal armour, if it helps. Knights were the biggest, baddest thing on the battlefield for centuries. Nobody could touch them... until they invented guns. We're bringing the gun to the knife fight."

That seemed to make Bucky think about it, at least. He cocked his head at James. "So why the fancy get-up?"

Len rolled his eyes as Bucky obviously didn't believe them, but then James said something and it appeared to be the right thing. Then again, that shouldn't have been surprising. James would know what would be persuasive to himself.

But he saw James freeze at the question, and quickly jumped in. "It's a security measure." At Bucky's questioning look, he smirked, slow and suggestively. "He's so gorgeous that if he took off the mask, everyone would fall in love with him."

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