ʙᴀʀɴᴇs (wintertime) wrote in thecityof, @ 2018-01-07 12:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | !plot: the soulless, bucky barnes, kate bishop |
WHO: Kate Bishop and Bucky Barnes
WHERE: A safehouse somewhere
WHEN: After the demon who has Bucky's soul is taken care of
WHAT: The sleeping soldier awakens
WARNINGS: Nada~
STATUS: Complete
The truth was she had no idea if it had worked. If the right demon had been killed, if the person who was about to wake up in front of her was Bucky Barnes, the surprisingly sweet buyer of teddy bears, or the Winter Soldier, assassin who would kill her without hesitating. Kate’s heart was hammering in her chest, and there was a big part of her that wanted to run away or possibly go and throw up from nerves somewhere. But she was an Avenger, and a Hawkeye and Hawkeyes did not run. Even if their knees felt like jelly. Kate knew she probably looked a complete mess. It had been days since she had properly slept, and it showed in the dark circles under her eyes and how pale her skin was looking. Not exactly the attractive look she would have chosen Bucky to see her with, but she certainly wasn’t about to go and get changed. Didn’t want to leave him on his own, no matter which of him he was. At least she had managed to get him somewhere secluded, and even on a vaguely comfy mattress. Super strong and teleporting best friends were a godsend. She was still frantically worried about Clint, but one person at a time. Right then it was Bucky who needed her the most and that was how she had ended up perched on the edge of her chair, watching him intently for any sign of waking up. Bucky hated this place, he really did - he hated this city and he would have preferred the deep, dark chilling sleep of being in the cryo chamber. At least that had been his choice, to go back under. At least then he couldn’t hurt anyone or be hurt, but what was the difference? No matter where he went pain radiated with lethal accuracy to parallel his own lethal accuracy with a weapon, whether it be physically from the metal arm (a constant, chronic ache) or otherwise. Maybe he deserved it though. Given how many people he had killed, taken from families and friends without batting an eyelash (Steve insisted that he didn’t have a choice but it was still him who had done it), ending up trapped in a city where he repeated the cycle of being unable to make any of his own choices seemed fitting. Like some kinda purgatory. Maybe he wouldn’t even know what he’d want anyway. He was coming out of that pessimistic cloud when lashes fluttered open and he stirred on the mattress - but Winter Soldiers didn’t even come out of unconsciousness gracefully, especially after his soul floated back to his body and wedged itself back in there, so he sat up with a start, hand to his chest and ice blue eyes automatically alert. Then he saw Kate. “I’d ask what happened but I’m not even sure I want to know,” he groaned, metal fist clasping and unclasping, just to bring himself back to the present a little more. Despite watching him so closely, Kate actually jumped a little bit when he sat up so quickly, not used to anyone being able to switch from sleep to awake so abruptly. She needed several cups of coffee before being even a fraction of as alert as Bucky was looking right then. For a long moment she held her breath, waiting for the first clue of what, or rather who she was facing. When he spoke, she let out that long breath, a woosh of air as she relaxed just a little bit. Of course, it could have been a trick, but that wasn’t exactly the style of the Winter Soldier, from what she knew of him. “Long story short, a demon stole your soul,” she gave him a slightly lopsided smile. “And I basically stole it back.” Not alone, she’d had help, but she was going for the short version. “At least I hope I did,” Kate chewed on her lip for a moment, still anxious. “You are you right now? The Bucky who drinks Starbucks and not super scary soldier Bucky? Because this is my first demon experience, so I’m really hoping I didn’t screw it all up.” Really really really hoping. “Yeah, I’m...Starbucks,” he repeated, running a hand through his hair - he still needed to get it cut, and he needed a shave, maybe to not look like so much of a hobo. But clearly such menial tasks had fallen by the wayside after he had his soul ripped from his body. That was a new one - and here he thought he didn’t even have a soul. Guess he’d been proven wrong. “Gingerbread. And a cranberry bliss bar. Consider me president of the Starbucks cult.” He shook his head, fingertips touching the tender bump that was a reminder of him having been knocked out thanks to Wanda’s brother - but it was for the best. Bucky wouldn’t have wanted to carry on as he had been. “Sorry,” he glanced at Kate. “I didn’t...want to hurt anyone.” Yet it seemed he couldn’t escape that. Since he’d gotten here, he wasn’t exactly helping his progress at doing constructive things with his time and learning how to not be the Winter Soldier. “I really wish I could tell you how tired I am of hurting people.” Hell, maybe she could pick up on it regardless. It was etched all on his face, in his eyes, deep regret and sorrow. The tension in her body melted away as she felt an overwhelming relief. “If you’re the president, I’m the treasurer. And we are so getting a cranberry bliss bar later on.” They both deserved one. Kate slid off her chair and moved to sit next to Bucky, putting her hand on his arm in some attempt to comfort him. “It wasn’t your fault.” There was a vehemence in her tone. “These demons, what they did, what they’re still doing to people. I don’t know how much you saw on the network, but a lot of people have been suffering from this.” She reached up and softly brushed her thumb over where he had touched his head, a wince of sympathy appearing on her face. “Sorry about that. You took some effort to slow down, we had to work our asses off.” The group of them working together, finding Bucky, finding the demon responsible. “But you didn’t hurt anyone. It was the demon’s fault, not yours.” “It was still me.” Deja vu, right? Felt like he’d had this conversation before. Just add the whole experience to his tab - maybe one day Bucky would come to terms with all the literal and metaphorical trauma that had basically concussed him, it just wouldn’t be anytime soon. Especially if he kept continuing to go backward. But he would attempt to not drown in angst and self-pity. That wasn’t him either. He also attempted not to flinch when Kate touched him - mostly, he wasn’t accustomed to anyone touching him, unless it was to attack him. Or drag him to the chair - when they took everything away from him, when they wiped him clean and started over. That was why he flinched, when being touched. However, it was simply an involuntary reaction. He didn’t...dislike it. “So you rescued my soul,” he stated, and it sounded so strange. He would have chuckled if he didn’t feel sick. “Can’t say anyone’s ever done that for me before. And I don’t know why you went to all the trouble but...thank you.” Then he realized he was still carrying around the bag from the antique shop with him. It was stuffed into his jacket, and he took out the box to hand it over. “Here, this was - I’m not great at giving gifts so I wanted to do better,” he offered; inside the box was a locket and it was probably even older than he was, but not by much. “But not of your own free will,” Kate insisted gently. “You didn’t choose for this to happen to you.” And really, she wasn’t sure anymore quite what the ‘this’ was that she was referring to. The demon taking his soul. The abuse he had suffered being the Winter Soldier. Having a metal arm. None of it had been the choice or fault of Bucky Barnes. For a moment she wondered if she had hurt him when he flinched before it occurred to her that maybe it had been way too long since anyone touched him with any caring. So she didn’t stop the gentle touch, because if she had any say in the matter he would get used to having someone around who cared. Even if it took a long while to get him there. “You are worth the trouble,” she gave him a half smile. “Can’t say I’ve ever rescued a soul before, so I’m just glad it worked. I was not sure what my plan B was going to be if it hadn’t.” She wouldn’t have given up, of course not. She would have kept going until the person who she cared about was safe. A look of curiosity appeared on her face as she took the offered box, and Kate did have to stop touching him in order to open it. Her eyes widened with a sense of wonder at the gift inside. “Oh my god, it’s beautiful, thank you so much.” The rest of her outfit was utterly shabby in comparison, but that didn’t stop her taking the locket out of the box and slipping the chain around her neck. “I love it.” Bucky returned the half-smile; it was more like a baby version that would one day be a grownup, but it was a wonder he even smiled at all. A wonder that the expression didn’t crack his face. “Next time I’ll just skip the teddy bear,” he promised, scooting behind Kate to fasten the necklace - the fingers of his metal arm were precise enough to assist in that, and he had enough control with the limb to do more than just wear it as an accessory. “Well - “ The brief look of contentment faded. He wasn’t so dead-eyed anymore, but he still needed a minute to process everything. And likely Kate had other problems to worry about besides him. “You need to help Clint, don’t you?” It wasn’t a question, more like a statement. There were probably other people still in trouble too, people who had lost their souls. “I can come with you.” Her own smile grew a little brighter as she swept her hair out of the way so he could fasten the necklace for her. “Hey now, I love that teddy bear too, he sits by my bed, thank you.” And was so cute. And now she was having little butterfly feelings, which were not appearing at the best time. Best to emotionally file those away for later. Possibly while having some level of flail at America. Over drinks, because those kinds of carefree times would be happening again. Just like that, her expression mirrored his and her smile dropped. “I do. I don’t even know where to begin on that. Or rebegin.” Kate let out a long sigh and lowered her head for a moment. “With you, you told me where you had been, so I tracked CCTV in the area, found where you’d encountered the demon. Went from there. Clint hasn’t been so helpful.” There was genuine pain in her voice, fear for her mentor. “We’ve been trying to find him, but even when we do, I don’t know how to find the right demon to get his soul back.” It was all so much, but the idea of failing wasn’t even an option. “And after that, there’s still my roommate, Cami. And I’m not even sure how many other people still affected in this city. It’s chaos out there.” Still, she reached over and took his hand, a loose grip that he could easily move from if he wanted, in gratitude. “I would really appreciate that, thank you.” “It doesn’t matter where he is, don’t worry about trying to find him,” Bucky said. “His soul will go back to him once the demon is dead, so let’s kill the demon.” As for how to locate the exact demon - that was a whole other issue. If Clint wasn’t going to volunteer the information, then they’d have to track the location of his soul using other methods. He was about to suggest a few things when Kate took his hand - his fingers twitched, surprise radiated throughout his body and there was that quick, lightning-fast assessment of whether or not the action was unsanctioned, and thus whether or not he should suppress the physical reaction. But he didn’t pull away. Because a part of him didn’t care what was sanctioned and what wasn’t - it was just that HYDRA was very good at what they did. The conditioning was difficult to break. “Let’s start at the coffee shop where he works.” Bucky continued. “Follow the trail, take note if anything seems off. There might be a divergence, from where the demon went after it took his soul and where soulless Clint split off.” For a moment Kate was almost tempted to hug Bucky, before she reigned in that urge. Given how he had reacted to her physical touches so far, hugging him might be just that bit too much to handle. Baby steps. But she did curl her fingers around his just that little bit more as she smiled at him. “Thought I was supposed to be the PI around here, you’re going to out detective me.” Still, there was still the worry in her eyes as she mentally went through everything Clint had told her. “I think he’s hurting people. And he told me not to get in his way.” So of course, that was exactly what she was planning on doing, in her usual obnoxious manner. When it came to her people, Kate did not back down. Though she did have to pause with the briefest flash of a smirk. “Clearly the men in my life are required to be skilled badasses.” It was just possible that she had a type. Maybe. “Pietro’s out looking and so’s America, but if we could find a way to narrow the search, it can only help. Fastest man alive and teleporting powers are awesome, but this is still a huge city.” She nodded with a refreshed resolve in her eyes. “So the coffee shop. I think I know when it happened, roughly. We find that demon and we kill it and save Clint, and then we go for ice cream. Wait, no, save anyone else who still needs it and then ice cream. Or maybe waffles.” Bucky wasn’t sure what to say - he was a bit flummoxed, but not in a bad way. More like a quietly amused way. “Ice cream and waffles? An ice cream sandwich with waffles as the wafer part?” he suggested - if he felt hungrier, that might actually sound good. But there was work to be done. Giving Kate’s hand a ghost of a squeeze, he stood up and rubbed his shoulder, attempting to knead out some of the kinks. He was somewhat stiff and sore, since being in a fight and then being unconscious for a bit aided in that - a hot shower would do him good, and he reached for the hem of his shirt to just pull it off completely. Not caring about half-nakedness or nudity at all - probably because for so long he hadn’t seen himself as a person (just a weapon who sometimes didn’t wear clothes) and his handlers had seen him naked anyway. Multiple times. “Let me just wash up and we can go. If you think you know when it happened, I can help take it from there.” He was good at tracking; advanced sensors would help, but overall, he had a knack for these things. The idea of ice cream and waffles actually sounded perfect, and Kate was reminded that it had been a few days since she had eaten more than snacks and protein bars, her mouth watering slightly at the concept of proper food. If sugary waffles and sweet ice cream, drenched in chocolate sauce counted as proper food and… Okay, if thinking of food made her mouth water, seeing Bucky just pulling his shirt off like that made her jaw drop and she only just about managed to not drool. Holy crap, that is one nice view. Kate didn’t even notice that she had actually murmured that out loud, she was too busy running her eyes over those wonderfully defined abs. “Right, washing up, finding demons, saving my partner, getting ice cream, we’ve got this.” And if Bucky could do all of that shirtless, that would be absolutely perfect. If not all that realistic, but a girl could dream. And quite probably would. What did she just say? Bucky turned, did a double take - because he thought he heard something about the view, but couldn’t be sure. However, he might have blushed a little - just a little, since weapons weren’t supposed to blush at all. It was new, yet he could recall similar experiences in a past that was fuzzy and murky, glimpsed through his mind’s eye and looking like he was underwater - he could even recall being touched, a lot, back before HYDRA added their special touch. It was different now. But he’d get there. “I won’t be long,” he promised, and disappeared into the bathroom. Then they’d find Hawkeye’s soul and take care of this. Maybe that wouldn’t erase what he’d done while soulless, but it would help make up for things slightly. That was all he could do - each day, day by day, and back to that mantra once more. |