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[stevegrogers]

text, image, action/prose, prompt & overflow ————

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@soldats

[stevegrogers]

[ the continuation ]

[ damn it. the whole 'ease bucky into help' thing sure worked when he just blurted things out. no wonder no one told him any secrets. rubbing at the back of his neck, he slowly picked up his phone again, wondering idly how frustrated natasha would be later. ]

Did I say Doctor? I meant, okay, no way around that is there?
It's just someone who knows your case and has been offering some suggestions.
Okay, a group.
A team of people.
Everyone is just concerned is all!
It's not like -
Doctor Groves is really nice.

[ex_soldats569]

[ the whole ease bucky into help thing works if you tell him what's going on, without sneaking around behind his back. buck comes very close to smashing his phone, but the white-hot flare of anger fades almost as quickly as it erupts.

He's still pissed, but the dumbass is trying to help. ]

Steve. I'm really not happy right now.
You should have asked me. Before
Where are you?

@takesabeating

[stevegrogers]

[ continuation ]

To win, you see. I've always wanted to out-lawyer a lawyer.

[murdocksboy]

Well, this should prove interesting, then. Bring it on, Captain.

text; un: stark.naked

[amelioraate]

[ you may have only been here a few hours/days but--]

We are having a birthday party for you, all of the yous. Of which there are two but--- still. I have attached the map, you better show up, Sparkles.

AttachmentL MAP 3MB

text; un: s.rogers

[stevegrogers]

[ surprise filtered across steve's face as he read the message and looked at the map. they remembered. despite all the oddness. ]

Is it going to be a big party, Chrome?

[ not the best nickname but he tried. ]

un: redwidow

[krasnaya_vdova]

So, we should do the sparring thing again. That was fun.
And if you have questions- well, I might answer them or just come up with clever diversions. It's kind of 50/50.

un: s.rogers.

[stevegrogers]

Let's see what happens then huh?

Did Natasha teach you to fight?

@advanced

[stevegrogers]

[ continued from x ]

[ a shipping container. must be from somewhere within the two years Steve tried to find him, then. but never quite managed it, proving the whole ghost theory to be a true one. with a nod of his head, he took a shift backwards to make Bucky more comfortable with some distance. ]

I saw a lot of the world in those two years, Buck. I wish I could have helped make it easier for you.

But now I know why I could never get a solid lead on your whereabouts.

[advanced]

It's only been five months for me.

[Which might explain just why he's still so skittish. There's a long road to go before he reaches the place that some of the others have told him about.]

If you found me, it wouldn't have been easier. I had to do that on my own.

@aeturnus

[stevegrogers]

[ continued from x ]

[ sure, made perfect sense and not disturbing at all. with a frown, he tried to take a few more bites of his funnel cake. ]

Can everyone see when they're about to die to try and stop it? Sounds like a lot of chaos that way.

[aeturnus]

[ Totally perfect sense. Cain's still getting used to the idea that some people just don't... know about it. ]

No, just certain people. It's genetic.

@user.name

[advanced]

[It's pretty late at night and Bucky has got himself into a... well, a minor pickle. He might have been staying in an abandoned building and it might have collapsed underneath him and now he might be pinned beneath some rubble.

He could call Clark, he knows the other man would come, but for some reason it's Steve's name and Steve's number that come first to his mind.]

You awake?

[He manages not to sound in pain at all, despite knowing he's definitely been pierced through the side. He's got this.]

@s.rogers

[stevegrogers]

[ Rolling over in bed, Steve startled a little when his device rang, alerting him to someone contacting him. Reaching for it, he pressed the little button and waited for the other person to say something.

Oh.

Bucky.

Contacted him - Willingly. His entire face broke out into a smile as he quickly sat up. ]

Sure am. What's up? You sound - a little breathless. [ Did Bucky honestly think Steve wouldn't notice? Steve happened to have a sixth sense when it came to Bucky, after all. Plus, he tended to think danger first off when anyone contacted him.

That might be a little sad. ]

@bucky

[stevegrogers]

[ the continuation ]

I feel like you want me to say yes I am.

@tony

[stevegrogers]

[ the continuation ]

Times like this I wonder why I'm with you.

[buildsomething]

Uh, because I'm delightful?

[fiercestwarrior]

I am going to teach you how to fight with a sword.

[stevegrogers]

I'm not sure when I'm ever going to fight with a sword!

this is what the kids call a misfire.

[hapertas]

first of all, he asked me what my superpower would be, if i had one. so i said, 'cuddling!' of course! i thought it was obvious. but he didn't think that was such a good answer and so he proceeded to list a lot of superpowers that he thinks are better than cuddling, but i really don't know what good being invisible does anyone! cuddling people absolutely helps, doesn't it? if anything, invisibility should be a super bad guy power. it seems sneaky.

he doesn't agree.

so cute!!

[stevegrogers]

Wrong number, I think but I'm agreeing with you! Invisibility is very sneaky and not a good ability to allow others to have. Nothing wrong with having cuddling be yours. Warm people up rather than spy on them from a distance.

text;

[amelioraate]

[ are you getting a text at 4 am because sleep is for plebeians and sane people? yeah you are.]

I am not completely insane for thinking that creating a virtual space for rehabilitated criminals to practice being in potentially triggering situations is a good idea right? Like that is actually what most people would consider a good idea to, you know, lessen the whole potential relapse of peopl-- ow motherfucking fuck, FRIDAY warn a guy when the fucking armour moves fuck--

[ clearly someone is using voice to text and FRIDAY is a little shit.]

[stevegrogers]

Yeah, Tony, it's a good idea to work on when it's daylight and After some sleep.

Get in bed.

[ are you getting some sass, tony? you better believe because someone was actually sleeping for once. ]

@nat.

[stevegrogers]

[ i, ii, iii, iv ]

post-cw; believe me when i say i carry all my sins.

[armeyets]

A couple months of rehabilitation in Wakanda was all they'd had time for. Shuri did her best to piece together the tattered shreds of his mind, striving to mend the neurological damage from years of being memory-wiped over and over and over, although it wasn't enough. Possibly it can never be enough. But something rankled, too, about knowing that Steve Rogers was a fugitive out in the wild somewhere. For him. Because of him. Bucky couldn't stand the idea of cowering safely in Wakanda for years, while Steve had given up everything and had to live on the run.

("You're not ready," Shuri had said when he announced he wanted to leave early, but all Bucky could say in response as, "Maybe I never will be." And this choice was reckless and foolhardy, but when had he been anything but?)

So it had been a phonecall on an encrypted line, and coordinates offered to wherever Steve was staying, and plane rides on fake IDs, and the man once known as James Barnes shouldering his backpack and crossing the earth to go join his friend in his exile as an unregistered hero. His best friend. That's who Steve is. And he's slowly remembering that, in little fits and starts, glimmers of memory coming back to him: Till the end of the line.

And maybe that's the whole point of this. Just not letting Steve carry the burden alone. At least he had already broken the others out from the Raft, and so at least that one particular stabbing twinge of guilt (like a thorn in Bucky's paw) is gone. He walks up the creaking steps to Steve's latest European hideout — an off-the-books apartment, lived in month-to-month — but then he hesitates on the landing.

He remembers a studio apartment in Romania, and finding a besuited Captain America in his home, poking through his belongings, nosing through his notebooks. Now their positions are reversed, and Bucky's coming to find his fugitive friend — but with an invitation, this time.

And he knocks on the door, in a distinctive (albeit cheesy) little staccato rhythm to show that it's him. Shave and a haircut, two bits.

[stevegrogers]

Morals were an ever shifting thing Steve had found out the past few years; for others, of course, because he tended to hold very tightly to the things he believed in most. Oh, he knew it could often have a downside and there were times he needed to adjust and broaden his viewpoint. Times were always changing but there were a few things he would never bend on and it included his friends being tagged and monitored like animals. Yes, he listened to all the supposed speeches but he knew what it all came down to. What those in power were capable of. How long before they tried to pick apart Wanda, Peter and the others if they went along with it? Look at everything Bucky endured by those who believed in their own 'greater good'. So no, he wouldn't broaden his mind in this regard or feel badly for the lengths he went through to rescue Bucky. The name along caused a pain in his heart, in his entire being, really. Since they met they had always revolved around one another and now the loss of him felt greater than it ever had. But he knew it would be temporary and resolved soon.

Very soon it seemed.

Getting up from the couch, Steve headed over to the door to pull it open and take in the man before him. "Buck," he greeted, opening the door wider to let him in before he went through the motions of all the locks and security. They were practically useless to those who would try to break in but they were still protocol. "I hope you're aware how stupid it is you're here?" he continued, walking into the kitchen to pour them both a glass of water because he figured Bucky needed it. He set both glasses on the island, his hand gesturing towards the hallway. "You can take the last room on the left." Not the greatest accommodations but they had both experienced worse.

He leaned against the island, regarding Bucky for a few long moments. "How are you?" He paused and then added, "Really. Don't talk like you did to the others. Tell me." How much did he remember? Did the pain linger? Were the nightmares still a problem? He knew the latter would always be the case for him because of all his 'unresolved' issues. But when did he ever really have time to attempt to pull himself apart and then back together? No one ever gave him the chance and he had learned how to just deal with it. Swallow it all down and just do what needed to be done.