OOM: Bucky, after the cells

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve isn't sure when Bucky will be released from the cells, and so is passing the time at the Caribbean inlet, wondering how to get Orpheus's boat here. If it's possible, which he isn't sure about at all.

(There are boats floating on the perfect blue water. That seems promising.)

Boots off, pants rolled up, face turned up to the sun.

(Remembering, too, days spent at the shore, drawing sunbathers and flirting couples and Bucky as a boy, as a young man.)

His sketchbook is tucked in his coat. He may take it out before much longer.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

"You... will. Someday."

A long, long beat.

"Natasha. Romanova. --Romanoff."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I do know her," Steve says quietly. "She was on my team in SHIELD and in the Avengers. She helped expose the history of HYDRA within SHIELD.

"She's actually great."

[nerves_of_ice]

"You don't know her now," he says, flatly.

He considers the sound of those words, then qualifies them.

"Her now."

Another long beat, as he frowns over what Steve has just said.

"She engineered the intel release?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Yes, she did."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Ah."

He walks several steps in silence.




"I wasn't ... sure."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I trust her, Bucky," Steve says simply.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Okay."

He nods.

"And... I know. Now, I mean. That ..."




"They wouldn't have. Targeted her, with you. If she was ... with them."

A thoughtful beat.

"Probably."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Probably," Steve agrees, wry.

"It's harder than it ever was, knowing who to trust. But when you've fought at somebody's side, that still reveals their character."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Yeah."


There's another long silence, the only sound around them that of their footsteps.


"I knew her, once. Before..."

The barest hesitation.

"... she relocated. To the-- to America. A long time ago."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"You did? Before the--she told me about an engineer in Odessa."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Before that."

He draws a jagged breath, and lets it out again slowly.

"I didn't... remember her. In Odessa. Or why I-- I didn't want to kill her. Then. But I ... didn't, so I shot... through her. Instead."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"You were friends, before Odessa," Steve clarifies, his voice soft. "Before you both were made to forget."

[nerves_of_ice]

"A long time ago..."

His voice is rough.

"... she made me remember what it was to be human."

He glances over at Steve.

"And they punished us both for that, in different ways."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve puts his arm around Bucky's shoulders and squeezes him lightly.

Then lets him go and mutters, "Sorry."

[nerves_of_ice]

This time, he doesn't flinch away the way he has before.

"It's okay."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Okay," Steve says, and smothers another smile.

He doesn't feel much like smiling, anyway. He doesn't need to imagine what they had done to punish Bucky and Natasha.

"But she got out. Do you know how?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He shakes his head.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve sighs and rubs Bucky's back, hoping to comfort him.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Anyway. When I saw her - here - I, I had to, to know, to be sure..."

The corner of his mouth turns up in a wry half-smile.

"... I wasn't too clear. And she thought - and so we, uh, got into it."

And ended up in the cells for a week, goes unsaid.

"It's... earlier. For her. She doesn't... know. What's coming."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"When you put it that way, it's actually understandable. Still, I hope it brought home that when they say no violence in the bar, they mean no violence in the bar."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Yeah. It did."

He opens and closes the fingers of his let hand, carefully.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve rubs Bucky's back again.

"I hope Milliways will be a safe place for you, since God only knows what you'll be facing at home. I need to know you're safe somewhere."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Safe enough."

He glances over at Steve again.

"Sorry I missed Christmas."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"There'll be more. And your gift is still at the bar.

"Should we go get it?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sure. Okay."