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I don't know. That was the original idea, wasn't it? [ An army full of super-soldiers, every American man the best American man they could be. ]
I'm not anyone special. [ A pause. ] I know where Steve's pod is, though. My Steve.
I'm not anyone special. [ A pause. ] I know where Steve's pod is, though. My Steve.
I don't spend too much time around the pods.
[ Howard is in one of those. So is his son. So are all the people from Bucky's past that he never wants to face. He's got a bug out bag ready to go and he'll be a hermit in the woods if he has to be. ]
What's your Steve like? Could the world even handle two of them?
[ Howard is in one of those. So is his son. So are all the people from Bucky's past that he never wants to face. He's got a bug out bag ready to go and he'll be a hermit in the woods if he has to be. ]
What's your Steve like? Could the world even handle two of them?
They're not my favorite place, either.
Steve is… he's terrific. Everything you've heard about, except I guess you haven't heard at all. [ Bucky thinks of the first time he saw him, in the theater back in Scotland, how he knew then that the country was going to war. He thinks of how Steve died, the footage that replayed for days and days on the news. That was before he learned that people come back to life all the time these days. ] I don't know if the world can even handle one of him.
Steve is… he's terrific. Everything you've heard about, except I guess you haven't heard at all. [ Bucky thinks of the first time he saw him, in the theater back in Scotland, how he knew then that the country was going to war. He thinks of how Steve died, the footage that replayed for days and days on the news. That was before he learned that people come back to life all the time these days. ] I don't know if the world can even handle one of him.
Good point.
[ It's hard not to look a little fond, though, watching some other version of him wax poetical about some other version of Steve and even if a million details about them are completely off, there are some real constants that Bucky's thankful to know remain. ]
World might just have to change to suit him.
[ It's hard not to look a little fond, though, watching some other version of him wax poetical about some other version of Steve and even if a million details about them are completely off, there are some real constants that Bucky's thankful to know remain. ]
World might just have to change to suit him.
We can hope.
[ He looks at the table, then, his lips pressing into a line.
We could hope. I guess. [ Though part of him still believes Steve will wake up and fix everything because that's what he does. ]
[ He looks at the table, then, his lips pressing into a line.
We could hope. I guess. [ Though part of him still believes Steve will wake up and fix everything because that's what he does. ]
I think I just might.
[ Maybe the world doesn't have to be all doom and gloom and sullenly frowning Bucky Barneses, right? ]
Can't see too many changes any Steve Rogers would try to make that I wouldn't get behind.
[ Maybe the world doesn't have to be all doom and gloom and sullenly frowning Bucky Barneses, right? ]
Can't see too many changes any Steve Rogers would try to make that I wouldn't get behind.
[ Bucky decides that he's just never going to mention the evil Nazi Steve that recently blew up a good chunk of Nevada. ]
Don't tell him that. His head'll get big enough for his shoulders. [ His impossibly broad shoulders. ]
Don't tell him that. His head'll get big enough for his shoulders. [ His impossibly broad shoulders. ]
[ And that gets a real, genuine laugh out of Bucky. Hell, it sounds like something he'd say. Maybe he has. ]
Oh, I'd never tell him that. Can't have the man looking proportional. No one will recognize him.
Oh, I'd never tell him that. Can't have the man looking proportional. No one will recognize him.
[ He doesn't laugh at his own joke. He's not an amateur. ]
Did you really know him before they hit him with serum?
[ Because he did not, and he's always been curious. ]
Did you really know him before they hit him with serum?
[ Because he did not, and he's always been curious. ]
Oh, yeah. We grew up together. He was always exactly like that, just got beat up more for it.
[ Not that Bucky didn't jump right into the fray when he could. A guy's got to have his friend's back and even if Steve had started some of those fights himself, Bucky hadn't been about to let the other guys finish it. ]
[ Not that Bucky didn't jump right into the fray when he could. A guy's got to have his friend's back and even if Steve had started some of those fights himself, Bucky hadn't been about to let the other guys finish it. ]
Huh.
[ He blinks, like that'll bring the picture into focus, It's still hard for him to see it. Not— Steve, being stubborn, or even Steve being skinny. But having a friend like that, growing up. ]
[ He blinks, like that'll bring the picture into focus, It's still hard for him to see it. Not— Steve, being stubborn, or even Steve being skinny. But having a friend like that, growing up. ]
[ Meanwhile, Bucky can't imagine his life without Steve. He's family. Bucky can't imagine even a fraction of his life without that, save for when he'd been too young to form particularly coherent memories. ]
Best guy I've ever known.
Best guy I've ever known.
[She laughs softly, an amused crook of her lips as they walk. Her posture is casual, even if they're likely walking into danger.]
Please. You know if we were really taking clients, we'd be vetting them ourselves. Maybe find someone to handle the paperwork for us.
[Her tone has that edge of someone for who this wasn't theory or conjecture. She'd done it, selling her work to fund the victims of who she'd been. As if she could buy off the guilt. Isaiah had been very good at his job.
If she's honest, she misses him, just like other people she'd had in her life.]
Please. You know if we were really taking clients, we'd be vetting them ourselves. Maybe find someone to handle the paperwork for us.
[Her tone has that edge of someone for who this wasn't theory or conjecture. She'd done it, selling her work to fund the victims of who she'd been. As if she could buy off the guilt. Isaiah had been very good at his job.
If she's honest, she misses him, just like other people she'd had in her life.]
Hey
Have you seen Steve, lately?
Have you seen Steve, lately?
cryo
[ And Bucky's just fine and dandy about that! Doing just fine now that he's alone in the apartment he shares with Peggy and Steve who are in cryo and who knows when or if either of them are coming back. Bucky is great, though! Just great! ]
[ And Bucky's just fine and dandy about that! Doing just fine now that he's alone in the apartment he shares with Peggy and Steve who are in cryo and who knows when or if either of them are coming back. Bucky is great, though! Just great! ]
I wondered
[ Pep talks are one of those things Steve was always better at. ]
[ Pep talks are one of those things Steve was always better at. ]
yeah
[ Bucky isn't sure what else he's supposed to say. He has other friends here. He isn't alone. Without Steve, though, everything feels a little off. ]
really wish I could get drunk easier right about now
[ Bucky isn't sure what else he's supposed to say. He has other friends here. He isn't alone. Without Steve, though, everything feels a little off. ]
really wish I could get drunk easier right about now
helps less when you drink a ton and you're still sober at the end
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