Snarky ColdWinter #2

[fist_of_hydra]

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."

Comments

[fist_of_hydra]

Not really, but James wasn't about to admit that. Not with Palmer just a few feet away, staring around himself like a tourist who'd never seen a forest before.

"Not like I heard any better suggestions back there." He ran a hand through his now-short hair, and grimaced as he realized he'd forgotten to slick it back. Fuck it, half the time out in the field he'd let it do its own thing, nobody would remark on it.

His left hand was covered in bandages - he'd even had Gideon grub those up, put some faded fake blood on them for realism. It was the only way he could think of to hide the metal.

The camp came into sight as they crested a ridge, and James paused. Staring down at the rows of tents, he felt his shoulders going tight. God, it looked so familiar. He'd spent two years operating out of this camp. At the time, he'd thought of them as two years of Hell.

He'd had no idea what Hell really was.

"Hey, James." Palmer sounded concerned, this time. "You sure you can do this?"

Drawing a deep breath, James concentrated on the man he'd been the last time he was in that camp. His posture loosened, some of his ever-presented paranoid wariness dropping away. A cocky smile crossed his lips, and he slung his synthesized sniper rifle more comfortably on its strap across his back.

"Bucky," he corrected Palmer, rolling his eyes. "Only my mom calls me 'James', gimme a break. Let's move, gentlemen. The sooner we get to camp, the sooner we can all get a hot meal."

[coldlenny]

"Stay out of it, haircut," Mick growled as they walked down the hill. "You don't know what he can handle."

Len straightened his uniform, smoothing the synthesized wrinkles out of it, and smirked in a cocksure manner as they walked into the camp. Mick just plodded along stolidly as he always did. Ray looked like he was going to let in the blackflies as they walked, staring around the working military camp like a tourist. Hopefully no one would notice.

"Where should we head first, sir?" Len asked, glancing towards his 'commanding officer'.

[fist_of_hydra]

Oh, hell. Was it too late to change his mind and declare this a bad idea? Maybe he could say Steve had sent him back with a group, but they'd been caught by a Nazi patrol and he was the only one who'd survived?

Looking around quickly, James spotted a relatively quiet area behind a row of unoccupied tents, and waved them over quickly. As soon as they were out of sight he turned on them. "Okay, fastest fucking Basic Training anyone has ever received - I ain't an officer, I work for a living, so it's Sergeant, not sir. And for God's sake don't salute anyone while you're standing with me, I'm the highest rank in the unit so I'm the one who interacts with everyone else."

Was it his imagination, or did Palmer look disappointed? Christ, it really should have occurred to him that none of these guys had even been near an Army base before - unless it was to steal something out of one. Literally everyone James had worked with since joining the Army more than seventy years ago - or last year, depending on how you looked at it, since it was currently 1944 - had been at least paramilitary if not outright Army.

[coldlenny]

Len saw the moment James realized he'd made a mistake, and cursed under his breath as his lover pulled them aside. He took mental notes, looking around at the others as James lectured them.

"Sorry, Sarge," he said with a twisted grin. "Look, how about this? We don't say a damn word, and you do all the talking, and we try not to fuck this up." He looked at Ray. "All right, Raymond?"

"Hey!" Ray exclaimed, wounded. "Why are you looking at me?"

"Because you're the one whose mouth gets us in trouble, pretty-boy," Mick rumbled.

"Not always."

[fist_of_hydra]

"Tell you what," James growled, looking between Rory and Palmer, then back to Rory again. "Every time he opens says anything between here and the ship, you get to punch him once we get back."

Rory's eyes lit up, and he gave a psychotic grin. "Sounds good to me. Sarge."

Palmer gaped a them. "Hey, you can't just..."

Grinning all the wider, Mick held up a single finger. One infraction already. Gulping hard, Palmer shut his mouth.

"Stay close. Don't wander off." Raking a hand through his hair, James shoved it back in an approximation of his old style, still trying to get used to the way it ended far sooner than it should have.

Straightening his shoulders, he ducked back out of the tent alley. They managed to make it the rest of the way to the command tent without any further problems, thank God. Even better, the man coming out of the tent was exactly who James wanted to see.

"Colonel Phillips! Sir." James drew to a textbook halt and saluted, waiting until the Colonel saluted him back before dropping it.

"Sergeant. What the hell are you doing here?" Phillips scowled at him, his gaze flicking back to the other three before dismissing them as unimportant. "You're supposed to be fifty miles outside of Vienna right now. Where's Rogers?"

"Fifty miles outside Vienna," James told him - entirely truthful. "We ran into a snag - there's a new player on the field. Vandal Savage. Looks like he's after an alliance with HYDRA. Captain Rogers didn't want to abandon position, but he wanted more info so he sent me and some of the others back."

"Savage, huh? Sounds made up." Phillips grunted. "Better than the 'Red Skull', I suppose. You're in luck, Sergeant. Agent Carter just got back from the field, I haven't even read the report yet. I suspect that's where you'll find everything you need."

Carter. Of course. Exactly the person James hadn't wanted to have to talk to. He saluted again, and Phillips returned it. "Sir. Thank you, sir. I'll get right on it."

Turning on his heel, he marched back to where the others had been a few steps back. "Looks like we're hunting down Carter," he told them, as if they'd know exactly who that was.

[coldlenny]

Len grinned as Mick raised a finger, and Ray shut up. Well, there was a way. Too bad Rip probably wouldn't let it happen.

They all followed along behind James, but the General didn't seem to be all that helpful. Len tried to stand at attention, to blend in, and it appeared to work.

He cocked his head at the name. "Okay, that's something. Where would he be?"

[fist_of_hydra]

James rubbed at the bridge of his nose, feeling a nasty headache threatening. Normally he would never show weakness like that, especially in front of Rory or Palmer, let alone a whole camp full of people he barely knew anymore.

Having to talk to Carter was enough of a pain to warrant breaking his usual discipline, though.

"If she's just back from the field, she'll be in her tent, probably," he finally said, dropping his hand. He suspected there was probably still a pinched expression on his face. Well, he was supposedly just back from a hundred mile round trip hike and had an injury, so maybe she wouldn't remark on it.

Yeah, right.

"Listen, Carter is sharp, and her whole job is spotting things that are out of place and patterns that don't make sense," he told them as they moved to the other end of the camp. Carter's tent was near the infirmary area, so she'd be next to the only other women in camp, the nurses.

"A woman? As an agent?" Ray perked up. Mick smirked and lifted two fingers this time, but Ray rolled his eyes and apparently figured since he was already taking the punch for the infraction, he might as well keep talking for the moment. "That's incredibly unusual for this time period, isn't it? I know there were women in the army, but..."

"Yeah, it is, and it means she's ten times as good at her job as a guy would be in the same position. So..."

"Why, thank you Sergeant. Glad to know I rank so highly in your estimation." The very woman in question came around the corner of a tent, her smile puzzled and hiding a hint of worry.

James hastily wiped his scowl, trying for something approaching a friendly expression. Judging by the way her eyes narrowed and the worry increased, he hadn't succeeded. "Agent Carter. Just the lady I needed to see."

[coldlenny]

Len nearly let his jaw drop when he realized that he'd been so wrong. He had assumed that this 'Carter' was a man - a natural assumption to make - but James hadn't called him on it.

Of course, Ray had to make a big deal about it instead of just being surprised quietly, and Len rather wondered if Mick would let him get in a shot or two.

Then he heard a British accent, and wheeled around, looking her up and down. Well, she was definitely badass for her time. He could immediately see how she could hold her own in a situation like this.

"What's going on, Sergeant?" she asked sharply, though her eyes weren't nearly so sharp. She was clearly concerned about James, as if he was more to her than just a subordinate. "What happened to your hand?"

[fist_of_hydra]

"Just a scratch," James assured her, trying hard for a light tone. "Everything's fine, Steve just needed some updated intel so he sent me back."

As he'd hoped, the implied statement that Steve was okay made her relax slightly, though she still looked concerned. For him. He was touched to realize it; he didn't remember interacting all that often with her, was pretty sure he'd spent more time covering for her and Steve than hanging with the two of them.

Then again, who knew. Maybe they'd had long, deep conversations and he just didn't remember.

"Rumour has it Schmidt is looking for an alliance with a guy named Vandal Savage," James told her. "Phillips said you were the one to talk to. What can you give me?" Hopefully one of her connections in the Resistance or the other Allied Forces would have something that could point them in the right direction.

[coldlenny]

"Vandal Savage," Peggy echoed, recognition alighting dimly in her eyes. "Well, he's certainly crazy enough to attract Schmidt. Rumour has it he believes he's an Egyptian god, and he's got a bit of a cult following who think he can make them immortal."

Len and Ray exchanged glances, and Len narrowly held himself back from making a comment out loud. That definitely sounded like Savage.

[fist_of_hydra]

"Great. 'Cause that's exactly what this war needs. Somebody crazier than the Red Skull." James thought he'd done a pretty good job of catching his old dry, amused tone. He wasn't so sure about the expression, but at least he wasn't scowling.

God, this was exhausting. He had to triple think everything, second guess and guess again. Why had he thought this was a good idea? It would have been fine if he'd only been dealing with Phillips.

He needed to wrap this up as fast as possible, before Carter really got suspicious. "I wanna get this back to Steve as fast as I can. We got any clue where the guy's at now? What kinda heat he's packing? Rumours, anything."

[coldlenny]

Peggy's expression of concern wasn't going away. If anything, it was deepening, but it had to be Len's imagination. She certainly didn't hesitate, as she smiled at James.

"I'll give you my file, Sergeant. Everything we've got on Savage is yours." She gestured towards her tent. "Follow me, soldiers."

[fist_of_hydra]

Okay, a file was good. That was something she could hand them and then he could leave, get out from under her too-knowing gaze. James was already preparing excuses in his head, about taking advantage of being at the base to grab a quick wash and some hot food. Something, anything.

His gut was tying itself in knots. Surreptitiously he dropped back beside Len for a moment, letting their shoulders brush together, using the contact to steady himself.

[coldlenny]

Len glanced at James when he felt the other man's arm brush against his, and then did his best to studiously ignore it. Carter didn't seem to have noticed the little interchange, nor did she appear suspicious, so hopefully they could get through this without getting arrested or anything.

She rummaged through a file cabinet and handed James a rather slender file folder. "You'll return this to me when you're done, won't you?" she asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

[fist_of_hydra]

James gave her a smile. "Absolutely." Hell, no. The farther they could keep the Commandos from Savage, the better. They hadn't ever hunted Savage that he could remember, but the mere fact that he'd come into camp and asked after the man could cause Steve to decide he needed looking into.

Especially once Carter ran into his past self and demanded the report back, which past Bucky would of course have no idea what she was talking about. The Waverider needed to be gone before that happened.

"Steve wanted this as soon as possible, so we should probably go get ready to head out again," he told her. "Thanks, Carter. This could make a real difference."

[coldlenny]

Her face didn't move, though Len thought for a moment that she held onto the file just a bit longer than was natural. She smiled at James in a natural, friendly manner, though, so he must have imagined it.

"Of course. Wouldn't want to keep Steve waiting. Do give him my best when you see him, won't you?"

[fist_of_hydra]

That made James pause for the barest instant, all too aware of the fact that his best friend's love story had been a tragedy. "Always," he replied, soft but genuine. He had no intention of encountering the Steve in this time period if he could possibly avoid it, but if and when he did see the Steve in the future again, he would be sure to pass on the sentiment.

Taking the file, he tucked it under his arm and offered her a half-mocking salute. She wasn't an officer, she didn't actually rate one, but he recalled doing it on several occasions. It might be a joke, but the other half was genuine respect. "Couldn't do what we do without you. I'm sure I'll see you again soon."

[coldlenny]

Len couldn't help but wonder about this woman. She was obviously competent, but there was something more. Some kind of connection between her and James that had nothing to do with him being her subordinate.

And if he had to guess, he'd say that whatever was going on between them, it had to do with Steve.

Whatever their relationship, Carter kept things professional in front of the other "soldiers". She smiled and gave him a nod, and they all filed out of the tent.

[fist_of_hydra]

Right up to the edge of the camp, James held his breath. He kept waiting for the shout of alarm behind them, someone realizing something was wrong.

Even once they were in the trees, his shoulders stayed tight and his teeth ground together. It felt like he couldn't breathe properly. He doubted he'd be able to until they were back on the ship.

"Wow, okay, that was really... hey!" Palmer objected as Rory held up three fingers. "We're out of the camp, I'm not giving us away, doesn't count."

"Fine. I'll take what I can get." Rory cracked his knuckles.

"Not until we're on the ship," James snarled, temper frayed by the strain he'd been putting on himself. "There's patrols to worry about, still. Move."

[coldlenny]

As Ray began to talk and banter with Mick, Len glanced around, ensuring that they were definitely alone. There definitely didn't seem to be anyone around.

He reached out and grabbed James' flesh hand, raising it up to press the back of James' knuckles to his lips.

"You're fine," he said.

[fist_of_hydra]

"Thanks." James tried hard not to tighten his fingers too much around Len's, knowing he could hurt the other man if he wasn't careful. This hand wasn't as strong as the metal one, but still strong enough to break bones.

Worse, his hand was shaking. His whole body was shaking, really, but the tremors were tiny enough to go unnoticed. Unless someone was actually touching him, of course.

Tugging on their joined hands, he turned the tables and brushed his lips over Len's hand as well. "Let's get the hell out of here. I wanna see if Gideon's got some miracle potion that'll grow my hair back."

[coldlenny]

"I bet you, she does," Ray spoke up eagerly, not at all discomfited by the display of affection. "Probably like some kind of hair-growing ray in the medical wing."

Len withdrew his fingers at the attention of the younger man, though he still offered a smile to James, trying to reassure him that it wasn't anything he'd done.

Still, his fingers fidgeted together as he walked, twisting the ring on his pinkie finger.

They moved through the forest for an hour, until they reached the vicinity of the Waverider. At their approach, the ship seemed to materialize, becoming visible as the hatch opened to admit them.

And behind them in the trees, there was a soft gasp. Len grabbed for his cold gun, but of course he clutched at air. As he whirled, he saw Peggy Carter come striding out of the trees, a gun trained on them and an angry look on her face. "What in the blazes is that?"

[fist_of_hydra]

James had his gun out at the first gasp, the draw gesture so reflexive he hardly even registered carrying it out. As he spun and drew a bead on their spy, his eyes went cold and calculating. A killer's gaze; soulless, remorseless.

When he saw who it was, his teeth ground again. He lowered the gun enough to not be pointing directly at her, but he could bring it up again in an instant. At the same time he flung his arm out to block the men behind him and tell them not to act against her.

"Damn it, Carter," he growled, the ice still in his eyes. "Couldn't you for once not have poked your nose into it?"

[coldlenny]

Peggy's gun didn't waver. Though she covered James most directly, her eyes flicked to the other three men, and Len felt that if any of them made a move, she would easily be able to shoot them.

"If you knew me, then you'd know that's not in my nature," she said, and jerked the muzzle of the gun. "Answer my question."

Ray had his hands up at shoulder height. He stepped forward just a bit, hands coming up even more as the gun swung to point at him. "Hey, hey, let's talk about this, okay? I know this is pretty confusing, but we're all on the same side, here, I promise. All we want is to stop Savage."

"You lied to me once," Peggy snapped. "Why should I believe you, now?"

[fist_of_hydra]

"Because we only did it to get the info we needed without causing a scene like this," James growled. "We didn't have time to march in openly and try to convince Phillips to give us what we need. I wouldn't be doing this if we'd had any other way. You don't want Savage allying with the Skull. We want him dead. Simple solution."

Except it wasn't, really, and that was the whole problem. Sighing, James holstered his gun again, using slow movements so Carter would see what he intended. He could stop her bullets with his arm if necessary, he'd done it before, and it was clear he was going to have to stand down first.

"Think of us like the Commandos, only without official Army backing." He stressed the official to make her conclude they were perhaps an unofficial group running under the radar. "You can't hope to take all four of us by yourself, let alone our teammates inside. Leave now and we won't try to stop you."

It wouldn't matter if she made a full report to Phillips. The Waverider would be gone before any squads could make it out here, and by the time the information got to someone who could do something about it - like Steve - they'd either have succeeded in killing Savage or failed once again and moved on to the next possible point in the timeline.