A/N: Spoiler alert for various genres, characters, situations, eras, and emotions, and not always Marvel.
For each chapter, the meme that inspired it will be posted as the story pic for reference. Where possible, the owner/creator will be notated either on the pic or in the author's notes. Most were found on the internet and didn't have the creator's info.
In this one, someone theorized that, at first, Bucky would've been as clumsy in his new super-soldier body the way Steve was with his back in the day.
As always, many thanks go out to CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur for the Beta and Winter-Soldier-88 for the brainstorming.
This is another chapter dedicated to Winter-Soldier-88. Happy birthday, my friend!
Namaste,
Sunny
Avengers
Meme Shorts
Falling Down
2014
Hospital Supply Room
Frustrated that Natasha was still keeping secrets from him after all they'd been through together and his inability to find Bucky, Steve grabbed her shoulders, bouncing her against the wall. "I'm not gonna ask you again!"
As usual, Natasha was unfazed by his show of emotion and moved right into dropping a bombshell. "I know who killed Fury." Confused by the seemingly change of subject, Steve's forehead crinkled slightly. Privately, she called that expression the 'eyebrows of disappointment'. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier…"
Late 1946
Secret HYDRA Base
Somewhere in Russia
Bucky jerked awake shackled to a chair surrounded by men and women in white coats. Dreams of being an unwilling subject in HYDRA's super-soldier experiments, surgeries, injections, and torture flashed through his mind. But then, he caught sight of his metal arm and remembered it wasn't a dream. It was all too real.
After more of the same, time after time, he was forced into something called a cryochamber while doctors inserted tubes into his body in places he couldn't tell even Steve about. Then the numbing cold, dark oblivion.
Until the next time.
The arm and leg restraints snapped open. This time, he'd go along with his captors, waiting and watching for a chance to escape.
Pressing his hands to the arms of the chair, he pushed to his feet, and was immediately surrounded by a dozen or more armed men in black uniforms. Careful not to make any sudden moves, Bucky took a few steps, feeling the strength returning to his body, the adrenaline surging, making his muscles shake. The plates in the metal forearm shifted, bringing a surge of he guessed it was more adrenaline though it fell more like electrical power.
The leader of the men stepped forward, gesturing with the barrel of his rifle, and speaking in Russian, "That way. It is time for your training."
Bucky crossed his arms and stood firm, only using a few Russian words. Like most people, he'd learned the dirty words first. "Ti durak, if you think I'm gonna cooperate, pal. When my friends get here, they'll drop you like a bad habit, durak neschastnyi."
The leader lifted his chin, a nasty smile coming over his scruffy features. "You're friends think you are dead, Asset. Soon, we will remove every bit of resistance from your mind and you will do our biding without question, and you will be known as the Winter Soldier."
For the moment, Bucky decided to go along. "Doubt it. But you're welcome to try." Under his breath, he muttered, "Fathead."
The man grinned nastily, thinking he'd won. "I do not know this word fathead, but no matter." He gestured and the guards closed in around him. "Double-time!"
Bucky broke into a jog, or tried to. Instead, he tripped and fell with a muffled thump. "Chyort voz'mi!"
2014
Hospital Supply Room
"…He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years." The look in Steve's eyes told Natasha he still had doubts.
"So he's a ghost story."
Early 1948
Secret HYDRA Base
Somewhere in Russia
Groaning, Bucky climbed to his feet. Now that he was more awake, his body felt different than all the times before. Unwieldy and clumsy. He looked at his right arm and down at his legs, seeing more muscle definition. What the hell did they do to me now?
He was pushed from behind, forcing him to stumble forward. "All right, all right. I'm going. Don't gotta be such an eager beaver."
No one responded. The leader pointed at the door to the training rooms and the barrels of several weapons poked him in the back. He resisted punching their lights out, but only just.
As they reached the door, it was opened from the other side. Bucky turned left and tripped again, falling against the window that looked into another lab. It shattered and he fell into the lab amid loud clattering and tinkling glass, saying out loud, "What the ****?"
2014
Hospital Supply Room
Time to bring it home, Natasha thought. "Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me." She lifted her shirt to show the scar. "Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye-bye bikinis."
"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now," Steve deadpanned.
Fall 1950
Secret HYDRA Base
Somewhere in Russia
Bucky was jerked to his feet and dragged into the hall once more. He pulled free of the guards' and started walking again, stopping at the door to the training room. Another guard, this one behind bulletproof glass, hit a series of switches and the door swung open.
Inside the outer cell, he sighed, resigned to not getting away again.
In the training area, he looked around, taking a deep breath, and letting it out. The shaky feeling was fading, but now his feet and hands felt too big for the rest of him.
The leader didn't have to issue orders. Bucky knew what to do. Several men wearing t-shirts and sweatpants enter through another door. They spread out, flexing their muscles, and staring him down.
Bucky started forward and tripped, knocking over a cabinet filled with equipment, the contents scattering all over him and the floor. Snickering from the others pissed him off. "Govno! Shob tebe deti v sup srali!"
The leader poked him with his rifle barrel, shouting, "On your feet, Asset!"
These Russian jerks were way past getting on Bucky's nerves. "Otva 'li, mu'dak!"
2014
Hospital Supply Room
With a hint of a smile, Natasha dropped her shirt to cover the scar. "Going after him is a dead end. I know. I've tried." She held up the flash drive. "Like you said, he's a ghost story."
Steve took the drive, his expression determined now that he had something to shoot for. "Well, let's find out what the ghost wants."
1952
Secret HYDRA Base
Somewhere in Russia
Sprawled on the floor, Bucky turned over onto his stomach, but his body felt too… he wasn't sure how to describe it. He got his hands under his shoulders and pushed, but couldn't quite make it to his feet. "Will somebody help me up?"
End
Chyort voz'mi! = Dammit! Oh shit!
Ti durak = You're a moron
Durak neschastnyi = You unlucky idiot
Govno! Shob tebe deti v sup srali! = Shit! I wish that your children will crap in your soup!
Otva 'li, mu'dak! = **** off, asshole!
