Chapter 9
Nat's eyes snapped open suddenly to find Barnes leaning over her, with a strangled cry she leapt back as Barnes merely stood and… watched her. "B-Barnes! What in the blazes are you doing?!" the Black Widow demanded, her chest rising and falling with the shock.
"You said we would talk today, it's late" Barnes responded simply, his head tilted to the side as if he thought this woman was crazy. Barnes had been stood there for five minutes; his movements so deathly silent that it unnerved Nat to know that she had not been aware of his presence. Frowning to herself, she thought she must be becoming careless. Steve rushed in after hearing Nat's voice call out, heart pounding in his chest and fearing the worst. Seeing Barnes standing unnaturally still in the centre of his living room, Steve looked around and spotted Nat looking shocked, her chest rising and falling with speed. Steve's mouth dropped open in shock, sure that he was missing something, then without warning, a laugh escaped him. As Steve doubled up laughing, Nat frowned at him and rolled her eyes while Barnes seemed to be concerned by Steve's sudden outburst. Tears streamed down Steve's face as he fought to catch his breath as Barnes (who continued to frown at Steve) demanded, "Why are you laughing", his icy blue eyes fixed unblinking on the other man. Catching his breath, Steve levelled Barnes with an expression filled with mirth as he responded with "Nat does not scare easily, I don't know how you did it, but you'll have to show me". Steve's features scrunched up as he started howling again. Barnes stared at Steve with unfathomable eyes, sneaking up on people was his specialty and he briefly wondered if he should say so. Opting instead to offer a shrug, Barnes made his way to the sofa and Steve, noting the sudden change, chuckled once more before jostling Nat for position on the sofa. Scowling, Nat moved over before she turned to Barnes and fixed him with an intense glare, hoping to stare him out. When she was met with a rivalling stare, the two sat there eyeballing each other until Steve cleared his throat loudly. Both heads whipped around as Steve broke the silence, "Right… so. Nat, Barnes turned up the night before last," Steve paused, thinking before continuing again; he didn't think it would be fair to Barnes to explain the nature of the visit. "He doesn't seem to remember much, but I think there's something there, right?" Turning towards his friend, Steve waited with bated breath until Barnes nodded his assent. "Anyway, we spent the night discussing things, we were continuing the conversation from the night before and then you smashed down my door."
Nat fixed Steve with an unwavering stare as she again noted the bruising around her friends' neck. Turning to glare at Barnes, she spoke with resolve: "You hurt him, why." Barnes frowned, unsure what to say as Steve unconsciously rubbed his neck. Steve responded quickly instead, "Nat, it was a miscommunication… Barnes didn't mean to. It's fine." Before Nat could disagree, the Soldier broke his silence, "I sought to incapacitate a perceived threat. I let go though" as he shrugged. Steve stared at Barnes in horror as Nat's face darkened, "a perceived threat?! How could Steve be a threat to anyone? You are the only threat here."
Barnes locked eyes with Nat, not daring to break eye contact, "He moved suddenly, I thought he was going on the offensive. I let go", he added a little more defensively again. Steve exhaled the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding, "Barnes was bleeding, I acted in error and moved too fast; it's not Barnes' fault". Nat scowled at Steve's words, there was no kinder person on the planet, and she couldn't understand why Steve was so forgiving of Barnes, especially with his history – he had even shot her in the past! Deciding to let it go for the moment, she turned her head towards Barnes, asking why he was there to begin with. Barnes briefly explained about the assassin he had incapacitated in Steve's kitchen that same night as Steve nodded vehemently. After the next hour had passed filling Nat in, she found it difficult to process what she had been told, she stood up without warning and noticed Barnes flinch automatically. Frowning to herself, she ignored it and let Steve know that she had things to do, quickly adding that she'd be back and that he'd better answer his phone this time. Steve watched her go, feeling a sense of dread at her words; he knew you didn't piss off the Black Widow.
As Nat left the apartment, Steve turned to Barnes and watched as the latter kept his gaze locked on him. Sighing, Steve stood up and asked Barnes if he wanted more information. Barnes stared back at Steve, unsure of what to say as his mind tried piecing together the information that Steve had already supplied. Barnes also searched his mind for any information he could remember of the Black Widow, she made him feel uneasy in this seemingly otherwise safe place.
Steve took Barnes' silence as an affirmative, leaving Barnes sat on his sofa, Steve retrieved the box he had picked up from storage a few days ago and headed back into the living room. Pulling its contents out, he handed Barnes a photo to look at, taking it in his right hand, Barnes noted that the photo seemed to be 2 boys together. Steve explained quickly that it was he and Bucky, that Bucky had found Steve being beaten up in an alley one day and had intervened on his behalf. Steve couldn't help but feel saddened that the Bucky he knew so well had been changed so drastically. Barnes eyed the photograph and found a faint memory surfacing of himself standing over a skinny Steve with a busted nose as he helped him to his feet. Eyes darting back to Steve, he asked whether Steve had been ambushed a lot. When Steve stated he had, Barnes felt a sudden desire to protect the young Steve in his mind. A spike of curiosity flared within Barnes as more images entered his head of the other man battered and bruised when he was small. Steve watched Barnes' face change as the emotions played across it but before the silence stretched too long, he broke it. "Buc-Barnes, sorry – habit. What do you remember?"
Barnes stared at Steve and for the first time, he felt uncomfortable. He truthfully supplied that he seemed to remember random flashes of a small, sickly-looking boy from an unknown time but nothing concrete. Steve felt heartened at Barnes' words and asked if he'd like to go somewhere together. Barnes mulled the question over and then nodded once, before standing suddenly which caused Steve to nearly fall off the sofa; he wasn't used to being around others who moved similarly to himself. Once both men had changed, Steve led Barnes out the front door and they headed off down the street. Walking for a while in silence, Barnes noted that Steve seemed comfortable in this environment, and he couldn't shake the piqued interest budding within him. After walking for several more minutes, Barnes became aware that Steve was leading him to the Smithsonian. Frowning, he queried why they'd come here, when Steve responded that there was an exhibit about himself and Bucky inside, Barnes surprised him when he stated he'd seen it recently. Stepping through the doors, both men found themselves among a bustling crowd, Barnes instantly slipping into high alert as he assessed the space for threats. Finding none, he locked eyes with Steve who seemed to be monitoring Barnes' reactions, Barnes nodded curtly and led the way towards the Captain America exhibit. Re-reading the information there, Barnes found the familiar words he had read before surprisingly comfortable this time, thinking that maybe if it was true, it reaffirmed that he had once lived a life like countless others around him outside of HYDRA. Steve watched Barnes taking it all in and was startled when Barnes suddenly fixed him with a pensive look. Unable to hold back any longer, Barnes asked a question that made Steve swallow. "This Bucky… could it really be me?" Steve eyed Barnes with a look of sympathy, "I know it's you, Buc-Barnes. We are brothers, 'til the end of the line…" Barnes frowned at that, asking why Steve kept reiterating that last bit.
Looking down, Steve responded, "When my mother died, and you attended the funeral with me, I was alone. You walked back to my place with me, you said that line to me on that day when I felt the most lost. It's something we say to each other, it means I've got your back, that you're my brother." Steve slipped into silence, waiting for Barnes' reaction to his words. Barnes seemed to be chewing Steve's explanation over in his mind, a look of irritation on his face. "Those words, they resonate somewhere in my mind… but I can't grasp them." He found it increasingly frustrating to hear half whispers of past conversations and not be able to identify them. With a huff, Barnes noticed another exhibit a bit further on, with sudden determination, he stalked forwards towards a section with WW2 paraphernalia displayed along the far wall. Steve followed with interest, curious of his friends' sudden change of direction. Coming to a stop near a SIG-Sauer P226R, Barnes' eyes stared at the display with intrigue as he recalled being quite fond of this particular gun in some distant past. Steve watched passively as Barnes eyed the weapon and read the stats. Another memory surfaced, but this time it was as clear as the room he stood in. A cold memory involving himself shooting one of these guns at an unsuspecting victim, doing HYDRAs dirty work. Barnes' mood shifted suddenly as he scowled to himself, he turned on his heel and walked briskly away leaving Steve following behind as he wondered what had happened. As they both walked back through the Captain America visit intending on exiting the museum, Barnes became aware something was amiss.
Without warning, he grabbed Steve by the arm and dragged him out of the crowd just as bullets started raining down. Pushing the startled Captain into a corner, Barnes whipped his head around and launched himself at the nearest assailant and knocked the gun out of his hands. Applying pressure to the attackers' arm there was a sickening crack as the crowd around them surged for freedom. Spinning around, he noted another target aiming for himself, running forwards he blocked the flying bullets with his metal arm as he reached the shooter. Barnes jumped to a great height, landing behind the startled man before placing both hands gently around the shooter's neck and twisting suddenly. As the man dropped like a sack of potatoes, dead, Barnes became aware of a third member stalking towards him with purpose. He was about to incapacitate the third with cold, calculated precision when Steve came out of nowhere and knocked the man out with his fist. Eyeing each other in the now-empty museum, they both left through the exit quickly. The sound of Police sirens caused Barnes to pull Steve into a nearby alley, as he started to climb up a vertical pipe attached to a building. Steve frowned at Barnes from below, before copying his movements and once they had reached the roof of the building, Barnes scoped the area for more threats. Finding none, he cast a critical eye over Rogers, checking for injuries. When he was satisfied that he found none, he waited for Rogers to speak first.
Rogers eyed Barnes, disbelief shrouding his face before he barked out a simple question: "who were they?" Barnes responded without missing a beat, informing Rogers that they were HYDRA and that they had been trying to capture himself and Steve ever since he had absconded from their cause. Steve exhaled, air leaving his body in defeat as he thought of the other people who weren't as lucky as they were to escape the masked executioners.
