James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes (
nerves_of_ice) wrote in
milliways_bar2021-02-21 03:24 pm
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"Go. Go! Take this journal and write down everything you can remember. It will help, I promise you."
"Princess--"
"Do not argue. Find somewhere quiet, where you won't be bothered."
"The kids aren't a bother."
"They are also not quiet."
* * * * * * *
It's been a long time since he's been here, enough that if pressed he couldn't actually say how long. He hadn't exactly meant to come, either, but he'd been thinking about finding somewhere out of the way when he walked out of Shuri's lab, and there's no question that Milliways fits that description better than anywhere else.
About ten minutes later, Bucky Barnes is settled in at one of the quieter booths in the back, the journal open in front of him. (A close observer might notice that each page is subtly embossed with the logo of the Wakandan Design Group.)
He's holding a pen in his right hand and tapping it against the blank page. From time to time he sets down the pen and picks up the cup of coffee waiting beside him instead. A swallow or two later, he repeats the process, swapping cup for pen.
His left hand is immaterial to the whole process, as it's entirely absent. A series of gauze bandages are barely visible under the collar of his shirt, and his left sleeve is neatly pinned shut over where his arm used to be.
"Princess--"
"Do not argue. Find somewhere quiet, where you won't be bothered."
"The kids aren't a bother."
"They are also not quiet."
It's been a long time since he's been here, enough that if pressed he couldn't actually say how long. He hadn't exactly meant to come, either, but he'd been thinking about finding somewhere out of the way when he walked out of Shuri's lab, and there's no question that Milliways fits that description better than anywhere else.
About ten minutes later, Bucky Barnes is settled in at one of the quieter booths in the back, the journal open in front of him. (A close observer might notice that each page is subtly embossed with the logo of the Wakandan Design Group.)
He's holding a pen in his right hand and tapping it against the blank page. From time to time he sets down the pen and picks up the cup of coffee waiting beside him instead. A swallow or two later, he repeats the process, swapping cup for pen.
His left hand is immaterial to the whole process, as it's entirely absent. A series of gauze bandages are barely visible under the collar of his shirt, and his left sleeve is neatly pinned shut over where his arm used to be.
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"That's... a lot."
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"Clone army."
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"Okay." A beat. "Like you said. Big galaxy."
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The idea of a war spreading to encompass hundreds and thousands of worlds is a grim one, he finds. Fives's army is as large as Russia's had been at the end of World War II, and his country--
--wait. No. No.
He gives himself a hard mental shake, and refocuses his attention.
"Here's hoping your war's won soon, so you guys can retire and do whatever else you want."
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Retirement's for people who have lives to get back to.
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"I'm not liking the sound of that."
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"I'm not - "like you " - someone who left a normal life and a family and whatever, and gets to go back to a woman and kids. I was born and raised for one life. Rapid aging, remember?
"If I'm lucky I'll spend the last few years of my life training my younger brothers."
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A beat.
"How rapid? If you don't mind my asking."
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"I'm ten years old, Galactic standard years."
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In his mind's eye, he sees the facility in Siberia, the softly glowing cryo capsules, the still, frozen bodies. What would have happened if HYDRA had figured out how to clone him? Any of them?
He can feel his throat trying to close, and reaches for the coffee to wash it clear again.
He doubts that Fives would be receptive at all to the comparison. He's loyal to his Republic, as loyal as Bucky had been to Russia, once.
Once.
"So." Another long swallow, as he tries to think of something else to say; he's going to need a refill soon. "How'd you find this place, anyway?"
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He chuckles for a moment. "Spent days trying to get my brothers in here too. Turns out it doesn't work like that."
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Bucky gives him a quizzical look, surprised at that.
"My best friend was the one who showed me how to get here."
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"My... Echo," he decides against saying 'my brother' three times in one conversation " - we grew up together in the training facility, he's the only one left of our training squad..."
He pauses, to check Bucky gets the implication.
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He nods for Fives to continue - and as he does so, it's clear he hasn't missed the point, or what's likely to have happened to the rest of them.
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This isn't difficult at all to pick up on.
"...we've been on the same deployments ever since. Tried to physically pull him through a bunch of times but the door was a fucker for that. I'd easily give my access to him, the guy could do with the time off."
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He gives the door a long, level look before turning back to Fives.
"I've got no idea how to change that, man, I'm sorry. I'd tell you how we did it if I could."
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(And Jedha was a planet, anyway, not a person, as he recalls.)
"No, I was more thinking about a couple of people here. Mages. What's a Jedi?"
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