baby got buck. [ voicetesting, canon + au-y. ]

[wwii]

Just pick a year. You don't need two of me in your head -- I don't need two of me in my head. You think if you stick a label on a bunch of little pictures, suddenly it's easy to tell one from the other? It's not that simple.

Pick a year.

Comments

[like_a_gerbil]

[Steve always did have good aim with his shield...

And there's no one he would ever trust more to take up his shield and everything else that went with being Cap.]

I won't be giving it to a former soviet assassin. I'll be giving it to the guy who protected me from bullies in alleys and watched my back when we were overseas. It'll go to my friend who will know how much it meant to me and will take care of it.

[wwii]

[ STEVE YOU HAVE TO STAWP.

bucky's james's eye narrow. it's one thing to know who he used to be; it's another to have someone else remind him. it feels like a memory of childhood. halcyon. unattainable. gone. ]

You'll be giving it to a guy who shot down entire families because their members were suspected of conspiring against the government. You'll be giving it to the man who trained KGB agents how to walk, talk, and kill like Americans. It'll go to a traitor to not just one, but two countries.

My record's gotten a lot longer since 1943. [ you can't just ignore it. he'd love to just ignore it. ]

[like_a_gerbil]

[Steve doesn't know how to stop, remember? Or Bucky should remember...stubborn punk who wouldn't stay down even when the bullies were trying to tear him apart.]

That's part of your past, Buck, but it isn't all you are. You're my friend no matter what you did back then. That wasn't you. They did things to you, forced you do those things. It wasn't your fault. You didn't volunteer for that.

I don't care how long your record is. Deep down, you're still the good man who was always beside me. If anyone's to blame for what happened, it's me. [Pausing, he forces a smile.] Y'know there's only one way I'll give up my shield. You really going to say no when it comes to that?

i'm sobbing over a dear_mun thread what is my life

[wwii]

[ but he has to remember. vividly, inconsistently but in those brief flashes, with such perfect clarity, and he's left to reconcile everything he's done with everything he thought he defended, believed, was. it would be easier to feel as though it were another person, but the blood will always be on his hands. one of which was a gift from the enemy. seventy years of nothing but sleep and death.

of course, he has no idea how to explain that. he starts to smile along with steve, lets himself lifted along by his optimism that keeps him from understanding. ]

You sick of it already?

I'm glad I'm not the only one *sob* It's heartbreaking but I love this thread

[like_a_gerbil]

[Steve will never completely understand what Bucky had been through, but he will always have faith in him. No matter how much blood was spilled, it hasn't changed who Bucky is - the stubborn, courageous kid who stood up for an orphan boy and became one of the most important people in Steve's life. Nothing can change that. Steve won't let it.

He shakes his head, looking almost wistful at Bucky's question.]

No. I'm not going to get sick of it. Something's gonna happen to me. I - I fought for what I believed in and - a lot of people are going to get hurt. Some aren't going to make it through...

I'm going to want you to keep it, Buck. I know nothing'll ever be the same and I won't ask you to fight for what I believed in, but...protect the people who can't protect themselves. Use it for that.

it's like early depressing christmas with a stockingful of angst

[wwii]

[ well that's heavy, but at least it isn't about him. (he is aware this is a horrible thing to think, more aware because he's talking to steve.) except for the fact that if he thinks about handling the cap mantle right now he feels as though the already loose seams are straining. give him a couple movies to get used to the idea. ]

Maybe when I'm sure I'm not what they need protection from.

It is! Would you be interested in playing somewhere else?

[like_a_gerbil]

[Steve can be patient. It's not his fault that his mundane's first venture in comic canon was the Death of Captain America.]

I'm not planning on it happening now. [The wry smile turns to a grin.] I'm still getting used to the new tights. Gotta prance around in them some more before I consider someone else wearing them.

[Pausing, he gives Bucky the kind of look that's common when Steve's was sketching, mentally considering angles and light and...] I think you can pull them off.

[He's probably going to get smacked for that...actually, he's hoping he will.]

pm me! c:

[wwii]

Okay, now I'm definitely saying no.

[ his humour's a little drier these days, steve. picturing himself in full captain america regalia is just too hideously symbolic. he'll never be the shining emblem steve is, and honestly he doesn't think anyone can replace the man the suit was made for. also, tights. no thank you to tights. ]

I will! *pings*

[like_a_gerbil]

[Steve knows part of the refusal is because of what Cap represents and the other is the hated tights. He'd consider convincing SHIELD to do away with the design except Agent Coulson had believed it was needed in the new world Steve had found himself in so the uniform would stay mostly unchanged.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't harass Bucky about them.]

C'mon, Bucky. You'd be great. The tights. A few chorus girls dancing behind you while singing the Star Spangled Man...