Snarky ColdWinter #2
May. 28th, 2016 08:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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."
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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Date: 2016-07-01 03:35 am (UTC)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.
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Date: 2016-07-01 04:00 am (UTC)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.
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Date: 2016-07-01 04:06 am (UTC)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.
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Date: 2016-07-01 05:28 pm (UTC)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."
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Date: 2016-07-01 06:20 pm (UTC)"You sneak in the back," he growled. "I'm going in the front. They've got my partner. They're gonna fucking burn."
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Date: 2016-07-02 12:51 am (UTC)Not that the idea of seeing a HYDRA base go up in flames was unappealing, mind. "The moment we've got Len and Barnes out, I'll damn well help you set the fires. I suggest starting with the ammo storage, just for best effect."
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Date: 2016-07-02 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-02 04:41 am (UTC)He didn't dismiss the idea out of hand, however. Mick did have a point. "If they're hurt, though, I'll need help getting them out. I can't carry them both, couldn't even if I still had the arm."
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Date: 2016-07-02 05:42 am (UTC)He clapped Bucky on the back and then jerked his head. "Stop pussy-footing around and go. I'll give you ten minutes before I start shooting."
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Date: 2016-07-02 05:50 am (UTC)However, that didn't mean it wouldn't work. He pushed up and jogged for the back of the compound, ghosting silently through the underbrush. At least he was finally starting to figure out how to compensate for the loss of his metal arm.
Hopefully, just in time to have to relearn how to deal with the weight, once he got his past self out of this damn HYDRA prison.
The first indication Len and Bucky had that something was up was shouting out in the corridor. Bucky jerked away from a half doze, still draped over Snart's lap to keep his feet off the floor.
The German cursing grew fainter and louder by turns as men raced along the hallways. More importantly, it went from angry to frantic. A strange whine overlaid the sound of rifle fire, and a whistling sound accompanying by the whoosh of flames.
"Sounds like the cavalry has arrived," Bucky commented, grinning and trying to hide his immense relief.
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Date: 2016-07-02 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-02 08:54 pm (UTC)The other unidentifiable noise sounded again, and Bucky saw ice creep across the wall across from the slits in their door. Snart's ice weapon, then - the one he'd dropped when they fell. One of his friends must have picked it up.
Bucky wasn't entirely surprised when it was the masked James who appeared at the door a moment later. "Back up," he ordered them. "I'll freeze the door off."
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Date: 2016-07-02 09:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-02 09:38 pm (UTC)Without the extra power granted by his metal arm, he had to freeze it far more than he normally would have needed. By the time it was fragile enough for him to punch through it, ice had crept along the walls of the cell and nearly reached the two men inside.
James tossed the gun to its rightful owner and stepped aside so they could crawl out. He frowned as the sharp scent of blood reached him, and scanned them both anxiously. "Are you hurt? How bad?"
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Date: 2016-07-03 02:17 am (UTC)Then they crawled awkwardly out of the room. Len stood up, watching Bucky with concern until he was out, but he didn't miss a change in his boyfriend.
"Sergeant Barnes got the soles of his feet ripped off. But more importantly, what the hell happened to you?" he growled, glaring at the bare arm sticking out of James' jacket.
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Date: 2016-07-03 03:55 am (UTC)He was still pissed off about losing the arm, and hoping it wasn't going to be a permanent change. Maybe that made no sense, but it was a part of him, and he'd reclaimed it as part of his new identity as James.
The strange thing was, he could understand why getting captured early would mean that he wouldn't lose the arm - he'd never fall from the train, because HYDRA already had him. But shouldn't rescuing himself change things back?
Maybe it took time for the changes to happen. To cement in place, like Hunter was always talking about. Right now, the only thing he truly cared about was that Len was safe, and unharmed. The thought of HYDRA hurting his lover, taking away the one good thing they'd hadn't already ripped out of James' life, had been unbearable.
Forgetting for a moment just who was watching, he caught Len by the arm, yanked his mask off with the other hand, and kissed the other man fiercely. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, asshole," he growled when he finally broke for air.
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Date: 2016-07-03 09:40 pm (UTC)But then James really screwed the pooch by pulling off his mask and kissing Len right there in front of his past self. Len slipped his arms around James' waist and leaned into the kiss, trying to turn to hide James' face as best he could, but he doubted it would matter. Bucky had to have gotten a good look at him.
"Hey, how about we just get out of here before you yell at me," he murmured affectionately, giving James a squeeze. "You're being an idiot, and my partner is fighting HYDRA single-handedly."
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Date: 2016-07-04 12:42 am (UTC)Even when he remembered Barnes was watching, he couldn't bring himself to regret it. He did slide the mask back on before he turned to his past self, but sure enough, Barnes was staring at them in wide-eyed shock.
"What the fuck?" Barnes demanded.
"Escape now, talk later," James replied, cold and flat. He eyed Barnes, who was still kneeling on the floor for the obvious reason that the soles of his feet were bloody ribbons. Give his past self this much, that had to be agony but he wasn't so much as whimpering. "I'll have to carry you out."
Barnes snorted. "You ain't gonna get far unless you're as strong as Steve..."
"Yes," James interrupted him, and leaned down to scoop him up.
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Date: 2016-07-04 01:45 am (UTC)Len sighed when he saw the look on Bucky's face. "Let's get going and talk later."
He didn't miss the fact, though, that James struggled more than usual picking Bucky up. "You all right?" he asked. "And where's my gun?"
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Date: 2016-07-04 02:38 am (UTC)"You know, I'm starting to think everything after the concussion has been a hallucination," Barnes muttered as they jogged down the hall. His younger self was staring up at him with narrowed eyes, and from this close, having caught the glimpse without the mask, the similarities of their features were probably undeniable.
"Good. That's a perfect explanation," James replied, biting the words off in frustrated anger. "Keep believing that. You'll be a lot happier."
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Date: 2016-07-04 04:06 am (UTC)"Shut up, James," Len snarled, though he sounded more excited than angry. "You're not helping."
Then they rounded a corner to see a group of HYDRA goons, clearly singed and running for their lives, and Len opened up with a laugh, turning them all into popsicles.
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Date: 2016-07-04 04:42 am (UTC)He had every intention of re-staking his claim with far more than just a kiss, first chance he got. Unfortunately, with Barnes along for the ride, that was likely to take a while.
"There's a full-auto submachine gun clipped to my spine holster," he told Barnes. "You might as well be using it, since I can't."
"Right." Barnes reached around James' shoulder and grabbed the gun, then whistled when he got a good look at it. "Never seen one of these before. What..."
"It works the same as the guns you're used to," James interrupted him, not wanting to get into a discussion about who made it. "Point and shoot. Simple."
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Date: 2016-07-04 05:01 am (UTC)Assuming Mick was paying any attention.
"Just don't shoot my partner," he shouted to Bucky, as another group of HYDRA agents appeared and he started shooting again.
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Date: 2016-07-04 05:04 am (UTC)Barnes seemed to be getting heavier the further James carried him, and that made no sense at all. Even without the metal arm, he was far stronger than a normal person. Not Captain America strong, but not far off, either.
Then the hit the perimeter of the base, and a wave of weakness swept over him. James staggered a few more steps, then lost his balance and hit his knees hard. Barnes cried out as James dropped him in the dirt, but it was all James could do to stay on his hands and knees as he fought the urge to be sick.
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Date: 2016-07-04 05:08 am (UTC)"You can't burn everyone, Mick. Just the bad guys!" Len laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder, before they all legged it out of there.
When James collapsed, Len shouted his name and ran to his side, grabbing him by the shoulder. "What the hell, James? What's wrong?"
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