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]

Bucky shrugged. "Who knows what they..."

He was interrupted by the waist-high door swinging open again. There was a soldier with a gun aimed inside at them... and crouched next to him was a roly-poly man who looked more like someone's benign, jolly uncle than one of the world's greatest threats.

Zola smiled at him, and Bucky shuddered, inching closer against Len without realizing it. "Sergeant Barnes. I'm so pleased we meet again. This way, please. We have so much to discuss."

[coldlenny]

Len's head came up as the door opened, and he glowered at the short man. He had never seen him before, and he wasn't sure who he was, but Bucky's reaction told him everything he needed to know.

His expression must have been pretty fearsome, because Zola looked at him with curiosity. "Who is this? A loyal member of the Howling Commandos, surely?"

"Sure," Len sneered. "Let's go with that. And let me also make you a personal promise - you're gonna regret all of this."

Zola cocked his head, smirking. "How touching. I didn't know the Commandos were so...close."

[fist_of_hydra]

Bucky squared his shoulders, glaring back at Zola, refusing to show any further fear. He would not give this man the satisfaction.

"We'd all die for each other," he growled. "Because Steve leads through example, and through loyalty. That's something you can never understand, because the only thing you and the Skull are capable of inspiring is fear, and fear will never be as powerful."

[coldlenny]

Zola's smiled without much humour, then gestured to the guards. "Take him. They're stalling."

Len gritted his teeth, but he loosened his grip on Bucky as the guards entered the cell to take him. "I'll get you out," he whispered to Bucky as they seized him by the upper arms to remove him from the cell.

[fist_of_hydra]

"Just keep your head down," Bucky replied, equally soft, as they dragged him away.

The guards slammed the door close again, and left Len for hours in the dark. Screams echoed through the corridors, but it was hard to say whether they came from Bucky or not. When they did finally open the door again, they were dragging Bucky along limp by the arms, his bare feet leaving a bloody trail on the concrete behind him.

They tossed him in unceremoniously, and Bucky landed in a heap beside Len, moaning. "Well," he rasped, his voice so rough it was nearly incomprehensible, "That was fun. Glad to see Zola hasn't... lost his sense of... humour."

[coldlenny]

Len listened to the screams and tried to tell himself it didn't matter. This was nothing compared to the things James would survive in the future, and survival was what mattered. He would survive to be Len's lover, to be a good and strong man who accepted Len for who he was despite their differences and various failings.

He still tasted blood in his mouth, though, and his body pulsed with impotent rage as he listened.

Then Bucky was back, and he was bleeding. Len pushed up and reached for him, despite the chains on his wrists. "Where are you hurt?" he demanded.

[fist_of_hydra]

"Feet," Bucky ground out between clenched teeth, shoving himself slowly and painfully into a sitting position. "Among other things, but I guess Zola figured he'd make sure I couldn't run off, this time. I actually prefer physical pain to the damn drugs, though."

He shuddered, and collapsed sideways against Len despite his best efforts to stay upright. "Sorry. Gimme a minute for the world to stop spinning."

[coldlenny]

Len held him up, then lowered him down to the floor. "Lie down before you fall down, idiot," he snarled. "Let me take a look at your feet." He did not like the way he was leaving bloody footprints behind as he came in.

[fist_of_hydra]

Bucky wasn't sure if he was dizzy from the concussion, the pain, or the drugs, but he supposed it didn't really matter. The end result was the same, either way.

He let Len ease him down, and stayed down this time. When Len touched his ankle, Bucky hissed sharply, unable to bite down entirely on a sound of agony. "Careful. Pretty sure the soles are ribbons. Mighta broke a bone or two."

[coldlenny]

Len bared his teeth with anger when he saw the state of Bucky's feet. "What the hell did he do, go Misery on you?" he snarled, ignoring the fact that the book wouldn't be written for another forty years.

[fist_of_hydra]

"It was pretty miserable," Bucky agreed, breathless with pain. He had no idea Len was making some kind of reference. "Gotta say, lousy as the hospitality was the first time, they've really outdone themselves this time. Here I thought they couldn't go any lower."

A wave of pain swept over him, and he had to pause for a moment for nausea to pass. This wasn't going to be healed up any time soon, and it was going to make getting out of here almost impossible. "I hate having to wait around like a damsel in distress to be rescued."

[coldlenny]

"Neither of us is a damsel," Len growled. He began to rip pieces off of his shirt to bind the worst of the cuts on Bucky's feet, not caring in this case that it would reveal some of the scars he bore. "When we get out of here, we'll prove it by murdering the lot of them."

[fist_of_hydra]

Bucky laughed, a sound of genuine - if rather dark - amusement. "You got yourself a deal, pal. Better yet, let's do it and never let the guys know we got captured. It was part of the plan all along, right?"

Having Len wrap his feet made him hiss and go tense, but he didn't kick or pull away. Once the makeshift bandages were on it did feel a little better. "I dunno what the hell they were doing," he said, once he had his breath back. "Why torture me? They weren't after information. And while I'm the first in line to hate Zola, he's not..."

He frowned, fishing for a better word, but shrugged. "I don't want to say 'needlessly cruel' because it's all fucking needless, but you know what I mean? It was like he was testing something, not torturing me for the fun of it."

[coldlenny]

Len settled back. There was no prison that could hold him - that he was sure of - but he couldn't see a way to do what Bucky suggested just yet.

Not just yet.

"I can't even begin to guess," he murmured, but he wasn't really paying close attention. Did it matter why Zola did this?

He lapsed into a distracted silence. "He hurt your feet," he murmured. "Why?"

[fist_of_hydra]

"Fuck if I know," Bucky muttered. "Stop me from running, maybe? I mean, I did escape the first time HYDRA had me."

He kept trying to find a position that wasn't agony. Not being able to use his feet to brace himself meant he kept sliding down the wall, the concussion still making him dizzy.

In the end he wound up braced against Len's body instead, head on the other man's shoulder just to stop the world from spinning.

[coldlenny]

"...Maybe," Len admitted, glowering even more.

As Bucky settled against him, he wrapped his arm around the other man's shoulders automatically. He was more slender than he was used to, less bulky with powerful muscle than his real lover, but it was still a good and comfortable fit.

"Here," he murmured. He slipped his arms under Bucky's knees and hauled him up sideways, so he was half sitting over Len's lap. Supported by Len's arm around his shoulders, the position kept his feet from being planted fully on the floor as well. It was awkward for Len, having his arms chained together, but not too bad.

[fist_of_hydra]

The last thing Bucky had expected was to be yanked into the guy's lap. He yelped and flailed, but didn't fight the grip. The position they ended up in was embarrassing as hell. The jokes were going to be bad enough as it was; if the Commandos saw him like this, the 'princess' jokes would never stop.

On the other hand, he had to admit there was a lot less agonizing pressure against the flayed soles of his feet, like this. "If I was your fella, I'd sure as hell be objecting to this," he muttered, but didn't argue or try to get free. "Uh, thanks. Can't be comfortable for you."

[coldlenny]

"I'm sure he'll get over it," Len growled, though he wasn't really.

It wasn't terribly comfortable, but it was a lot more comfortable than Bucky obviously had been. His shoulders ached, but that was that. It could be worse.

"How long do you think it'll be before they decide to feed us?"

[fist_of_hydra]

"You're assuming they will," Bucky snorted. "They're probably going to try to soften us up. If we're lucky, we won't be here long enough for it to matter."

He was relaxing slowly, almost reluctantly, but he was relaxing. He was still exhausted, and his head still ached from the earlier blow, though not half as much as his throbbing feet.

"You're putting yourself out an awful lot for a guy you barely know," he pointed out, still not sure what the hell was really going on with the other man. His insistence that Bucky not die had been oddly fervent, almost passionate.

[coldlenny]

"Yeah, they probably will," Len agreed. "Mick'll come for us... or they'll come for us again, and we'll deal with it." He gritted his teeth, lowering his head. "I won't let them take you again without a fight."

But Bucky's question brought up something he didn't want to address. "Don't know what you mean. Shouldn't we have each other's backs?"

[fist_of_hydra]

Funny how the guy denied any particular concern, immediately after declaring he'd fight to prevent HYDRA from hurting Bucky again. This man and his crew were literally some of the strangest people Bucky had ever met, and made no sense at all.

And that was even before he started considering stuff like the flaming man and the bird-winged girl.

"You're just not gonna explain no matter how much I bug you, are you?" he asked with a sigh. He recognized the signs of unbudging stubbornness. He ought to, as much time as he'd spent with Steve over the course of his life.

[coldlenny]

"There's nothing to explain," Len said stubbornly. "I'm just a selfless sort of guy."

He knew Bucky wouldn't believe it, but he didn't know what else to do. He couldn't very well explain the truth - that Bucky and James were the same person. It would surely shatter Bucky's image of himself, at the very least.

[fist_of_hydra]

"Sure," Bucky said, and his tone made it clear he was anything but sure. Snart really didn't strike him as the selfless type, certainly not to that level. Even Steve probably wouldn't have been quite as passionate about saving and defending a total stranger.

There was no point in antagonizing him by trying to pry it out of him now, though. Sighing, he rested his head against the bigger man's shoulder. He wasn't going to sleep, really. He just needed to rest his eyes a moment...

---

Having his arm get un-ripped off wasn't the sort of thing that seemed like it ought to be a handicap. James was just about ready to tear the fucking thing off himself, except he knew that would only make the problem worse.

The lack of the familiar weight of his metal arm was throwing him completely off balance. He was so accustomed to compensating that he now kept listing to the right. If they had to get into a fight, not only was the balance issue going to throw him off, but he'd have to actively remember not to try to use his left arm to block bullets or punch through things.

Worst of all was going through all this struggle in front of Mick fucking Rory, of all people. Not someone he wanted to be showing his vulnerable side.

[coldlenny]

Mick thought it was really fucking weird how Len's fucktoy was acting today. Sure, he didn't have a metal arm anymore - that had to be odd. Okay. Mick could understand that.

But he kept listing to the side like a goddamn overloaded ship, and giving Mick looks like he was going to bite his head off.

Mick helped out by walking past him on the right-hand side - the side James was leaning towards - every so often, and James would jerk upright like he didn't want to get so close to Mick. Then, he seemed to stop noticing so much. After the third time like that, where James didn't straighten up at all, Mick helpfully reached out and pushed him over a few inches.

Then he pointed. "Think that's the place?" There was a squat bunker up ahead, surrounded by razor wire-topped fence and guarded by two guards in what looked like HYDRA uniforms.

[fist_of_hydra]

James growled at the push, but didn't object beyond that. As much as he hated it, he knew Rory was doing it on purpose and he did actually need the help.

The comment made him snort. "You do realize I'm aware you're not anywhere near as stupid as you pretend to be, right?" He settled into a hidden spot in the bushes, scanning the security of the base. "They've let the trees grow too close in the back, we may be able to climb them and get over the fence that way. But there will be patrols."