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

[lady_blackhawk]

I don't think that's gonna work, hon. Once they got that "two (three in your case) charactesr in one!" benefit, they don't let go.

[canbedeceitful]

Call me selfish, but I do like the years where you know who I am.

[like_a_gerbil]

[Steve swallows hard, fighting back memories and the guilt that he's never been able to shake, his voice slightly unsteady.] Y'know what year I'd want your mundane to pick.

[akidfrombrooklyn]

B-Bucky, is it really you?

[ He wants to believe it, he really does, but he's also a little terrified of what that means. ]

[wwii]

I might've stood a chance if her damn friend hadn't sprung for the extra face-time. [ shut up bucky we're very grateful. ]

[wwii]

Not the best ones, but something good came out of them.

[wwii]

[ oh great, his best friend the american avatar. instant guilt trip, do not pass go, do not collect $200. ]

You and me both.

[lady_blackhawk]

I'd say her friend is generous, but really, I think we all benefit from a face like that.
[Dammit, Zinda, just because you've got a little bit in common with the guy...]

[wwii]

Haven't been called that in a while, but yeah. Yeah, it's me, Steve.

[ kind of. ]

[like_a_gerbil]

[That...didn't sound reassuring. The future then but how far along the timeline?]

So...Is it going to be when you were Winter Soldier or after you were given my shield?

[wwii]

[ that sounds so ludicrous he almost laughs. ] Seeing as I can't picture anyone trusting me with that, probably the first.

[wwii]

Well you know what they say about appearances, assuming they still say it.

[like_a_gerbil]

[Despite the guilt and grief, he begins to smile.] And I can't picture anyone else I'd trust with it, Bucky. So it could happen.

[wwii]

[ damn it, steve. right in the feels. the shield might as well be mjolnir for how worthy he feels of it. ]

What other former soviet assassins did I beat out for the spot?

[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. ]

[widowing]

Nothing ever is. I don't think that'll change if and when she does pick a year.

[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?

[recalibration]

At least they're not trying to find parallels between you and everyone else with your face.

[wwii]

Something to be grateful for, I guess. I don't think I'm quite mad as a hatter. [ and she sure knows fuck all about gossip girl oops. ]

[wwii]

Yours hasn't exactly been a moderating influence either.

[widowing]

Sorry about 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?

[wwii]

I'll live. [ it's kind of his thing. ]

[papastark]

Apparently to them, it is simple. You probably shouldn't push the issue.