(no subject)

[bottledblond]

Not every universe in the far and wide cosmos is as lucky (however unlucky itself that seems) to encounter Thanos during a time where people live who can do something about it. Steve Rogers, a particular version of Steve Rogers who had only just suffered through his first night of basic training in New Jersey as part of the Army’s Project Rebirth and thus had not yet become Captain America, bent to untie his shoes and saw his hands begin to disintegrate. He doesn’t panic, panicking is for people who do not live like every breath is their last. Instead, he blinks in surprise as the barracks fill with shouting. He has time to contemplate two things. One, he wishes he’d done more with his life. And two, he hopes Bucky will do all right.

He’s still thinking about that last issue when he exhales his last in a universe where Captain America never existed and finishes it bent over in the ruins of the barracks, roof half open to the sky and walls a burnt and ashy gray.

It takes him an hour to get to the road and by then, his asthma is already getting the best of him. He blacks out for the second time ‘that day’ and wakes up staring at the ceiling of what is obviously a hospital.

It just doesn’t sound or smell like a hospital. Sure. People are running around and yelling, but it smells painfully clean, artificially so, and there are machines he’s never seen before connected by wires to his body. He does the thing people should never do and yanks them loose. The machines squawk strangely and frantically and Steve is almost out of bed when two large men in green pajamas force him back.

Nothing makes sense to him for days. People come to talk to him, to find out who he is and who his family is. Evidently Steve Rogers is a popular name, because they bring in more people to talk to him, to ask him questions about his life, but no one has any answers.

He explodes, as he’s wont to do when frustrated, demands answers, but nothing they say makes sense.

By then, the war is over. Not World War II, which has evidently been over for over half a century, but this new war. And Bucky Barnes had been told of his presence. Steve is in bed, arms crossed, looking dour and getting an infusion of something that honestly is helping him breathe better when Bucky bursts into his now private room. It’s been two months

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[bottledblond]

“Like red lightning,” Steve says, mumbles really, standing at door that leads from the baseball and track fields back into the school. The gym has to be in there, and while it would be easy to just have Bucky break open the door, he’s really not sure his body could take it.

Steve’s not used to these sorts of feelings. The display of strength had been more of an eye opener than just his notable attraction to his friend. The latter he’s had forever, along with an attraction to dark haired women. He’s just never acted on those things because he’d never been too attractive to anyone else, sodomy was illegal, and girls tended to wait until they were almost twenty-five to settle for the sickly guy.

Plus, he’d had too many things to focus on. Like getting into the war.

This is opening more cans of worms than he’s willing to get into right now, so he prays hard for a moment that the gymnasium door will just open if he pulls—.

And what do you know, it does!

He’s beyond relieved as he enters the school, heading down the long hallway towards the locker room. Something shimmering red catches his eye through another door before he gets there. A supply closet?

[woundedwinter]

"Hey wait--" Bucky falls to a stop and rubs his forehead with a muttered curse. It really would have helped if they had comms right about now.

He examines the corner of the building, does some quick mental calculations and tic tacs up the side of the school until he can vault himself to the roof.

If Steve is looking inside he can check to make sure nothing weird was left behind at the scene of the incident.

[bottledblond]

Lucky for Bucky, Sam’s got eyes on the wall crawling and is building up a mental joke repository for it. Given his job at retcon in the air, Red Wing has been busy mapping out the area. As Bucky hits the roof Sam flies the drone down to Bucky’s eye level.

“You just love to show off,” he says through the voice modulator before Darcy calls out that here’s a dot on the low frequency radar at the gate around the school. “Do we have company?” he asks before he sends Red Wing down to edge of the roof and grumbles at the footage returned. “Damn it. Barnes, we’ve got four people on Halloween masks and army fatigues headed towards the school. Any chance they’re old buddies?”

[woundedwinter]

He scowls at the drone as it drops down to his level. Then there's a call about inbound and he jogs to the edge of the roof. "Not any of mine." He can count his current friends on one hand.

"And I don't know anyone into masks." He gauges the drop from the roof. Doable but it was going to hurt.

"Steve's inside the school." So over the edge he goes. "Where are they headed?"

[bottledblond]

"Why is Steve inside and you're on the roof?" Sam almost shouts before he draws his voice back to a muttering through gritted teeth. "One job, Barnes," he says. Bucky's supposed to protect Steve. It's the whole reason that Sam looped Barnes in at all on the fact that a new Steve had appeared.

Now, he's pretty sure that he's getting the kid version of one of his best friends killed.

"I'm suiting up." There's no need for Barnes to protest. Sam's not letting Steve down.

Of course, the man in question has no idea what's going on. He's already determined that the door to the equiptment room is locked and has moved down the hall to find an office or a lockbox with keys in it. It's not like he can just pull open the door himself. He has no idea that there's company in the school with him, a group of masked people having just broken in through the front doors.

[woundedwinter]

Because I think I scared him by breaking that lock.
Because I've been looking after him most of our lives and the last thing Steve has ever wanted is a babysitter.
Because he needs to know we trust him on the job.

He says none of this, not even arguing with Sam when he said he was suiting up. This was supposed to be a simple recovery operation, not a goddamn fight. Barnes charges in the front entrance, grimacing at the network of corridors.

"They've split up. Take left, I'm going right."

[bottledblond]

"On it," Sam confirms.

A floor below, Steve has managed to find what he assumes is the head coach office and it takes very little forcing to open it. Evidently, times don't really change too much. There's never enough money to fix little things like locks on teachers doors. He's in the office when he hears a bang above him, followed by some shouting.

Well. That's not good.

He grabs a keyring he'd found hanging on the back of the door knob and scurries back to the equipment room. Thankfully, there's only five keys to try and the third opens the lock. He grabs the glowing length of rope, coiled around itself, and slips it over his shoulder before he heads towards the sound.

It's dumb, he knows that, but he'd rather be with Bucky than risk facing something alone.

[woundedwinter]

The first thrown punch is absolutely a warning and one hell of a problem. Bucky crashes back into the lockers hard, ignoring the give of metal behind him as he charges forward. "We've got enhanced!" he shouts into the comms. He can take their hits better than Sam and for the first time since the battle that took down Thanos, Bucky Barnes doesn't hold back.

Every hit is meant to cripple, to disable and every blow would have killed an ordinary human.

He can't call out to Sam to find Steve, can't give away anything as he fights.

Duck, block, twist and throw and another opponent goes slamming through a wall in a violent explosion of desks, rebar and cinderblocks. He puts on a burst of speed. They have to get Steve out of there. They can deal with who their enemies are later.

A crash above him and a hum of energy as Redwing goes darting by tell him that Sam isn't far away. Good.

[bottledblond]

At the end of the hall, double doors flung open so hard that one is now embedded in the cinderblock wall, a large masked man waits holding onto a squirming, angry little blond with one hand. Steve's toes are nearly off of the floor, but he doesn't stop trying to dig his elbow or fist into the guy holding him. He'd been snatched at the top of the stairs, though he had stashed the artifact in a fire extinguisher case before he'd rounded the landing and was nabbed.

"I'm okay," he grunts, seeing Bucky arrive. He plants one foot on the larger man's knee to try and kick himself away, but it doesn't do any good. "I almost got him where I want him." By that point, Steve is twisting around, flailing onto the door as the guy shakes him to try and get him to be still.

That does cause distraction enough for his captor to focus his attention on the crazy kid he's hanging onto.

[woundedwinter]

And with that image, Bucky forgets all about the rules that Dr. Rainor had all but drummed into him when he started his mandated therapy. Steve is okay and fighting like hell and that's probably the only reason he doesn't draw down on the asshole that has him scruffed like an angry pup.

The distraction is all the opportunity he needs bolting forward and driving his vibranium shoulder hard into the man, forcing him to drop Steve as they both go tumbling backwards towards the stairs.

"Wilson! Stairs!" It's all the warning he can bark out before he's lost in the rhythm of a fight. Dodge, block, attack. Steve is safe and he can handle the masked attacker now.

[bottledblond]

"Hey!" I said I got him!" Steve grunts, staying on the ground for a moment to make sure nothing is broken. He can't just take tumbles-- Or maybe he can? He doesn't feel like anything is about to break and so he gets to his feet just as the red and white painted drone flies passed him and down the stairs to wherever Bucky and his attacker went. Steve doesn't think about following too closely, but he does follow, right up until Sam appears where Bucky had been before.

"You go up," Sam tells Steve even as he glides down the stairs. Well, that's not happening. Steve wants to see what's going on, and besides, if there's one guy, there's going to be others.

Sam grabs the masked man from off of Bucky and tosses him through a doorway, a grip on his mask causing it to be dislodged. Sam drops it, about to go after the guy when a woman in a mask charges as it from the door Steve had entered the building by. She doesn't do more than knock him out of the way to gather up her friend and escape through the drop ceiling.

Smoke rolls down the hallway, and a few moments later, the room the pair disappeared from explodes. Steve doesn't just linger on the stairs after that, he rushes down into the aftermath, face tucked into the crook of his arm. "BUCKY!"

[woundedwinter]

Bucky moves when Sam pulls his attacker off and tosses him back. He's ready to press forward when he sees it, the detonator. Vibranium can absorb damn near anything and instead of escape he throws himself forward, curling his hand and arm around it and then his body.

It was going to hurt like hell but he'd taken worse.

The explosion throws him downward into the floor, a limp body in a linoleum crater in the stairwell. Bucky coughs and groans. Yep, broken ribs, burned skin, probably a concussion but he could already hear Steve shouting and Sam moving. They were safe and that's what mattered.

"..fuck.."

[bottledblond]

Steve would very clearly and very loudly have to tell Bucky that being safe is not the only thing that matters, but that will come later. Steve is already on his knees by Bucky's head and shoulders, almost afraid to touch him, and Sam is no where to be seen. He'd taken off to try and locate the other assailants, though they would all be gone by the time he made it upstairs and outside.

The blond is stricken, worried sick, as he gently, very gently wipes from soot from Bucky's forehead and tries to gauge if he's breathing.

Luckily, that 'fuck' and the way he moves while he groans gives Steve every indication that his near heart attack was for nothing.

He gives Bucky's fleshy should an innocuous hit with his opened fist and sits back, the shin of one leg still against his friend.

"Could you just stop being so totally impressive for five minutes? Jesus Christ."

[woundedwinter]

There's a hand on his forehead and Bucky blinks through the double vision to see soft blonde hair and worried blue eyes. He's still in pain but the sight makes him smile all the same.

Steve.

"Hey."

The slap pulls a laugh from him and he immediately regrets it. Stupid broken ribs. "Ow.. fuck. Don't do that." Bucky curls on his side, shoving his arm beneath him to start pushing himself up.

"Are you okay? Where the hell is Sam?"

[bottledblond]

"Sam is off being an angel and a hero and you're stuck with me." He gives Bucky another little slap, though it's actually a lot more gentle then the last time just in case he'd actually caused Bucky pain. Steve shifts again to lean over his friend, picking at the tattered leather around his vibranium arm.

A normal arm would have been shredded, but Bucky's looks just fine.

"How are you... I'm not saying that I'm mad about it, but I should be scraping you off of the walls right now! God-- Can you get up? Should I call Darcy?"

[woundedwinter]

"Angel and a hero?" He coughs again, using his free arm to brace his ribs because Sam is going to be insufferable when he hears that.

His pained expression shifts into something fond and soft as he pulls himself upright. "I'm okay Stevie, I promise. This arm is made of the strongest metal on the planet. It can handle a little knock like that."

Bucky winces as his comms crackle in his ear, tugging it out with a grimace. It was fried and they were going to have to look for Sam and Darcy directly. "Did you find the rope inside? If they were looking for it we need to secure it and fast."

[bottledblond]

Listen. He calls em as he sees em. And if Bucky hadn’t almost died (in Steve’s mind at least) maybe there could be some praise there too. The younger man just doesn’t have it in him.

Steve places his hand on Bucky’s chest for reasons even he doesn’t quite fathom as he isn’t actually trying to feel Bucky’s pulse or make sure he’s breathing, and lets his own heart rate relax again.

His head turns towards the place he’d stashed the rope and his eyebrows lift before he gets to his feet. The case opens easily and he fishes the red glowing rope from behind the extinguisher.

“Still the brains of the operation I see,” he says, laughing.

[woundedwinter]

The hand on his chest is nice and Bucky rests his hand over Steve's for a moment. They're both safe. They're okay.

Then Steven Grant Rogers, his best friend and constant walking heart attack, goes and picks up the red glowing rope that was only supposed to be held by the guy with the artificial vibranium arm. Honestly he's half tempted to just drop back into the rubble and wait for the inevitable fallout.

"My comms are fried, we're going to have to go find them." He offers his hand for the rope. "Let me carry it before Sam has a stroke."

[bottledblond]

It’s not the first time he’s held it. He’s not had any desire to go up to the roof and jump. Steve doesn’t really understand the precautions, the reasons for them, or what this has to do with anything. Glowing rope, instant communication, robot arms and wings. It’s like just one of those future things or something.

He does hand over the rope, though.

“You look a mess. You might want to comb your hair before Doctor Lewis sees you.” He’d seen the way she looked at Bucky after all.

Sam, thankfully sans stroke, is waiting for them outside. He looks annoyed. “All we have is this mask. They all got away.”

[woundedwinter]

Huh. It's not affecting him. That's something for Darcy to sort out, not him. The only thing that matters is Steve and Sam are okay.

Bucky snorts, "I'm sure she's seen worse."

"All of them? Great. So all we have is a mask and explosives."

[bottledblond]

“No, we have a mask and a ruined school,” Sam says, hands on his hips, obviously angry. He holds the mask out to Bucky, seeing as he’s evidently the pack mule now for all of their things. “Hey, Steve, you doing all right?”

Steve smooths a hand through his hair to try to set it all back in place.

The blond nods. “Better than Buck. Unless one armed jackets are cool now...?”

“Yeah, kind of,” Sam snorts. “You got the rope? Think you can keep up, Old Head?”

[woundedwinter]

"Oh I'm fine, only sat on some explosives to save your ass," he drawls as he takes the mask. He can carry it all, it's fine.

He rolls his eyes at Sam, "I can do damn more than keep up and you know it. Did Redwing get anything on our party crashers?"

[bottledblond]

“Yeah,” Sam says, gesturing for Steve and Bucky to follow him. “It’s going to take a minute to get at it. Darcy can analyze the footage.”

Steve isn’t sure what they’re talking about but he has a spring in his step as he does his best to keep pace. Bucky at least waits for him, and the blond finds himself smiling at the ground as they head back to the van.

“Buck. You’ve got some smudges— Oh sorry. That’s just your face,” Steve quiet whispers as they approach and Darcy turns her head towards them. Or, really, towards Bucky.

[woundedwinter]

Bucky snort chuckles and nudges Steve as they get to the van. He hands off the rope to Jimmy and sets down the mask so they all can get a better look at it.

If Darcy is vying for his attention she's wasting her time. She's beautiful, smart and curvy, but he's only got eyes for the guy standing next to him.

Flag Smashers. People who wanted the world like it was during the Blip, when half of the universe was gone. Bucky sets his jaw because he had been at that final fight and how desperately they had all battled to save those lives.

"Great. More extremists."

[bottledblond]

“Why would they want half of humanity dead?” Steve asks, leaning in towards the mask.

Darcy explains it all in her scientific, cute way. There’s over population, death of wildlife, pollution, all things that Steve’s generation never worried about because they never knew they had to. “And you know. War, famine, poverty— people living in your old house, your wife married to someone else... it’s pretty messy.”

Steve sighs. “Sounds complicated. But that’s no reason to want people dead. Is that why they’re trying to collect these artifacts?”

“That would be my guess,” Jimmy steps in. “Good work out there. As soon as we get more information, we’ll call you up again.”