Who the Hell is Bucky?

[starkingenuity]

"So you cut your hair, destroyed SHIELD, get Fury killed and now you want to team up again?"  Tony turned in his swivel chair three quarters to the left and two to the right like some evil super villain while Bruce Banner rolled his eyes behind him.  Wisely, he stayed quiet.  Being Tony's 'other half' and his 'soul mate' and worse, his therapist, was enough to give him a good enough idea of what staying quiet tended to do for him.

Chiefly?  He didn't get pulled into these sorts of conversations.

"And did you like grow another three inches around your biceps?  It's people like you that make it harder for ordinary guys to get dates on Friday night."

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[starspangledspandex]

Steve puts his bag down and drops the file on top of it, then carefully shifts to crouch in front of the chair. He doesn't really have the answers for him.

"You're not a monster," he says finally. "They made you one. You don't have to be one now. You just have to figure out who you are again."

[whothehellisbucky]

They made you one. That still makes him a monster. Bucky looks up, his brows furrowed. "I know who you want me to be. I don't know that guy, Steve. And I don't know you either."

But he remembers couch cushion beds. He remembers a very sick woman and Steve constantly running home to her. He remembers a funeral--

There are tears in his eyes when he stands up abruptly. "Are you ready to go?"

[starspangledspandex]

No, that makes what he'd turned into a monster. Bucky is a good man and he's still in there somewhere; Steve believes that completely. Steve hesitates trying to figure out how to say what he's thinking. "I want you to be something more the Winter Soldier. I don't care who that person is but I would like you to at least remember who you used to be."

The tears make his forehead crease and he stands up, wetting his lips. "I am, yeah." A pause and he asks, "Did you... remember something?" He hopes he can prompt him to at least think about asking questions about what he sees.

[whothehellisbucky]

"It comes and goes," he says. "Pieces. Like I have to glue together fragments of a glass and-- No. I don't remember anything real."

It feels like a dream, more of a dream than the last mission. Every small piece doesn't seem to make a lick of sense. The edges are smooth and he doesn't know how they fit together.

"Where are we going?"

[starspangledspandex]

He tilts his head as he listens to Bucky and he frowns slightly--nothing real? "How do you know it isn't real?" he asks carefully. He also adds, "I don't promise to know every moment but if you have questions about something you see, you just have to ask."

Steve shifts to collect his bag and the file. "New York," he replies as he pulls out his key to lock the door behind him. He wishes his bike hadn't been wrecked but what can you do? "I borrowed a car from a teammate so don't go thinking it's mine."

The vehicle in the parking area downstairs that he walks over to is flashy and has a license plate that declares it STARK 13.

[whothehellisbucky]

The maroonish-purple convertible with cherry red interior is not Strve's style and for a moment, Bucky almost smiles. The light in his eyes does a moment later, as if he realized what he'd done and he climbs into the passenger seat with a jump over the door.

He does it without thinking. His fingers lightly touch the interior before he glances at Steve. "Howard...?"

He doesn't know why he can place the name. The face eludes him.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve nearly misses the door handle when he reaches for it and then shakes his head, "...no, not Howard. He was..." He hesitates, "He was in a car accident caused by Hydra and didn't make it out."

He slides into the driver's seat, "This is Tony's." He gives Bucky a small grin, "Close though, Tony is Howard's son. There's some resemblance there."

[whothehellisbucky]

Killed by Hydra. A friend. A friend of both of theirs.

"Did I...?"

It's one thing to find out you've killed other people and so much more to know you've killed people you use to care for. He turns bright eyes towards Steve, almost afraid of the answer.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve is quiet for a moment before he turns the key in the ignition and he says, "I'm not sure. I'll admit I skipped that part of the file. It... looks pretty likely."

[whothehellisbucky]

Bucky is alone with his thoughts after that, his head aching and his heart... He tries to convince himself that he doesn't feel a thing anyway so it doesn't matter. Wind in his hair causes the long strands to come free of their tie and he lets the elastic blow away too. The drive from DC to New York takes time, but it's time that Bucky refuses to talk during-- At least until they see the familiar skyline.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve's hair is short enough that it just fluffs up a little. It's more disheveled than he normally looks but it doesn't bother him. He doesn't force chatter on Bucky. If the man wants silence, he has it. It's big news to take in but Steve marks that he at least remembers Howard a little as a win, despite the circumstances.

"It's a little different than it used to be," he says as they come up to the city.

[starkingenuity]

"So this is the Winter Soldier? Looks a little short," Tony quips as he smiles at Bucky's scowl. "And less salt and pepper. I guess I just assume that all of Cap's old war buddies to need walkers. And oxygen tanks. And... You know. Life support."

Bucky doesn't move as Tony comes closer.

"Tony Stark. You've heard of me," Tony replies to the silence. "You had to have heard of me. Iron Man? No? I miss my groupies."

[starspangledspandex]

"Tony," Steve responds sharply, scowling at the man's attitude. Bucky's had a hard enough life without Tony poking at him verbally. "I'm moving in today. He's going to bunk in my spare room. He's here to give us a hand with Hydra."

At the very least. At the most, Steve is going to help him remember.

[whothehellisbucky]

"Wow, Cap. Cheating on me? I thought we had this connection--" Bucky's gazed turns towards Tony finally and then towards Steve. There's a questioning look in his eyes before that gaze hardens again. When Bucky is unprepared by something, confused by it, it is easier for him to go blank.

He doesn't know how to live. He certainly doesn't know about social cues.

Eventually, when the ribbing is over, Bucky finds himself in the spare room just off of Steve's. He's never had a room that he remembers before and he touches the pillow gently with his bare hand.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve is convinced that Tony is doing his best to make his life difficult. It'd been hard enough to get Bucky to come back here as it is and now the man is confusing him with jokes. He can't miss the look or the way the other man goes blank and he shoots Tony a flat look. "We've talked about the jokes, Stark."

He only waits a minute or so more before he tells Bucky, "I think we're both ready to see where you'll be staying."

He shows him out and upstairs. Steve had been here a time or two for missions and Tony always tries to get him to stay. He's still going to keep his apartment because he loves it and the area it's in but this is a good temporary home. He leaves Bucky alone for a little bit so he can stash his suitcase and things in his room before he goes to find the other man. He's quiet watching him for a moment before he says, "I'm sorry about Tony."

[whothehellisbucky]

Bucky hasn't changed out of his things save to remove one glove. His hat is still in place, his jacket and his boots. In the bright light on the journey up to New York, Steve had seen (and smelled), just how Bucky had been getting on the last few weeks. Not well. Not well at all. He hadn't showered and he'd hardly eaten and now that they were alone in a room overlooking New York a hundred feet into the sky, it was obvious how Bucky had been so very ingrained towards a mission that he no longer knew how to care for himself.

"He's your friend?" An innocent question, yes, but there's so much behind it too. Howard had been Steve's friend too.

And, perhaps, rival. Is Tony the same way?

He presses a hand against the glass, just to feel the coolness of it, and looks down at the sprawling city he'd never noticed before.

[starspangledspandex]

All things that he'd noticed but not things he's sure how to bring up. Steve knows that it's likely because of his training--how can it not be? He's spent seventy years not taking care of himself and being told what to do and when.

"Yeah, and just a friend, despite what he says about it," Steve sighs and rubs at his neck. "He can be a little over the top but he's a good man and he turned this building into an HQ for us. He's just a little..."

Steve trails off, trying to come up with a word to describe him that isn't mean because while Tony is still a little in your face, that doesn't make him a bad person or less of a friend. "Complicated."

[whothehellisbucky]

"It's not my business." He means that. He says it firmly as he turns, trying to take in all of this space. He has never had so much space and as long as he is here, he knows that this is his space. It's unnerving, and not in the giddy way it can be for newly arrived freshmen at a dorm or kids in their first apartment.

So much space means that there's so much to remember and to be constantly aware of. He misses his cell. He misses his bunk and his tent in the field--

Slowly, Bucky heads to the connecting bathroom and shuts the door. Firmly. One less entry way to worry over.

[starspangledspandex]

He glances to the side and then back at Bucky. This isn't easy for either of them. Steve takes a deep breath and says quietly, "It used to be your business. I know it's different now but you used to look out for me in that department."

...and more, though that's been awhile and then some at this point. It doesn't remove the fact that they had dated once upon a time or that Bucky had incessantly tried to find him a date even before all of that.

"You're welcome to shower if you want," he adds as he watches him shut the door. "There are very few people allowed to be on this floor. JARVIS will usually let us know if we're going to have a visitor."

[whothehellisbucky]

They had dated once. Just once. And it had been so much more-- But. It was wrong, they could have been killed over it, but... He thinks back on a moment, tries to breathe it all in, and it disapears again. Thankfully. He doesn't need to be reminded of some things. Not when he can't reconcile the rest.

The mention of a shower makes Bucky turn towards the door he just shut. His eyes cloud over slightly and he opens the door again.

"All right." Chances are, he'll just stand there for awhile until JARVIS takes pity on him and turns on the faucets.

[starspangledspandex]

He drags a hand over his face when Bucky is out of view again and then frowns, adding, "You should probably undress before you turn the water on."

Steve hates to have to add things like that. He doesn't know if some kind of structured schedule would be better for Bucky or if it's better for him to realize that he can do his own things. He just... doesn't know. He could ask but he's not sure he'll get an answer.

"There should be shampoo and soap in there," he tells him. "Go ahead and use them."

[whothehellisbucky]

Commands. He can work with commands. When he's told to undress, Bucky undresses. His coat is hung up but the rest ends up on the floor. He smells worse than before, and the clothing likely has to be thrown out. His hair is horrible, greasy and unmanageable.

He doesn't touch it except to remove the elastic. It more or less stays molded to his head.

[starspangledspandex]

He averts his eyes but only slightly as the other man undresses. It's more upward than away. His nose wrinkles slightly at the stench and decides he needs to find some of his own things that Bucky can wear.

It's clear the man is responding to being told to do things. He hates to do it but he doesn't know how to form things as orders and still give the man a choice in it. He drags a hand through his hair.

"You need a shower," he tells him again. "There's shampoo and conditioner for your hair. Soap for your body. Use them both. Take as long as you need to get yourself clean. I'll find you some clothes to wear when you're out."

[whothehellisbucky]

The water is as much a relief as the new commands are. He can figure out what to do once he has the soap. He uses a little too much shampoo and frowns ever so slightly at the three different languages on the bottle. They all say the same thing and it doesn't make a bit of sense to him why they have it written out like that. For the conditioner, he counts out to three minutes by seconds and his timing is so precise that he's only four seconds off.

Tony mentions that to Steve when passing the Captain, hard at work piecing together an outfit for his friend. Yes. Stark had been eavesdropping. Bruce had to be off for some conference or some demonstration or whatever and with him, his general conscience was gone.

He leans against the wall with a smirk.

"Go with the red. It'll match that star."

[starspangledspandex]

He waits to make sure that Bucky gets himself in the shower and situated before he grabs the dirty clothes the man had been wearing. He dumps them down the garbage chute before he heads into his room.

A lot of what he has here are just his training clothes. He'll have to go shopping to outfit the other man properly. He'll be alright in the meantime with a few pairs of workout pants and shirts.

"Do you ever knock?" he shoots back, frowning at the red shirt in his hands. Steve is stressing out a little. He wants Bucky to remember but he also wants him to be comfortable. "Can you make him a uniform? His is gone but it was probably ruined anyway. Black is fine."