2015-09-01 Intrepid Encounter
This scene is rated Everybody
Warning: N/A
2015-09-01
Players: Steve and James
GMed by Who GMed?
Title: Intrepid Encounter

Located at Pier 86 on the west side of Manhattan, the Intrepid Air and Space museum is an impressive sight, to say the least. The World War II and Korean era aircraft carrier sits with a small fleet of other ships, including a destroyer and a submarine. Static displays are set up on the deck of the carrier with various aircraft from different generations. Below deck, a fully interactive museum is set up with displays like one for the Enterprise space shuttle, or the Cold-War era submarine, Growler.

What used to be the pilots' mess hall has been converted into classroom and lecture space, and today, the Intrepid is hosting a special guest - Doctor Elizabeth Conrad, a leading authority on the unknown histories of the Second World War.

Having just completed a book on the secret history of Sergeant Fury and the Howling Commandos, she is scheduled to give a lecture in a few hours on what became of the Commandos at the end of the war. It was with that in mind that she had scheduled to meet with one of her personal heroes before the actual lecture - one Steve Rogers. She knows of the super solider program, but that isn't what she wants to discuss. She has a few files and display pieces with her - such as Bucky's original uniform, Dum Dum's bowler, and on loan from the Triplett family, the Howling Commandos gear pack with Zip-line gun, cigarette laser, EMP Joy Buzzer, Hand-Held Hypno beam, the Noisemaker, UHF Pin, the Quarter Walkie-talkie, Portable X-Ray scanner and transitorized blast gun. She also has several files with her as she looks over one of them in particular as she waits for Steve to arrive.

Thanks to the impending lecture, this part of the Intrepid is unusually quiet and still; unlike the rest of the museum. Such public circumstances demanded discretion of the highest order to fulfill the goals of the mission. Fortunately, the museum's location on the water gave it (relatively) easy access for those longing to enter its steely hold semi-unnoticed.

Swimming was never a problem for Bucky, and cold was never a problem for the Soldier. He'd never given it much thought. And today was nearly the same. Nearly.

A vague sense of dejavu washes over the Soldier as he lingers in one of the museum's darkest corners. He's been here for some time, but then, this was a slow mission; designed for stealth and shadow.

Mask and goggles securely tugged over the Soldier's eyes and face, the black figure blends with the shadow; a fortunate trick of the light lest the pang of silver arm be seen. In a vessel adjacent to where the good doctor awaits her guest, quietly, the Soldier grasps the sniper rifle, and sets the scope.

He was always a sharp-shooter.

An opening of a door announces the presence of others arriving in the room. First is Steve Rogers himself, as he moves towards the table and extends his hand. "Doctor Conrad, I'm Captain Steve Rogers. I was told you wanted to speak with me?" he asks with a cordial smile.

Accepting the hand, the blonde woman actually lets out a breath. "Oh my gosh, it's true - you're really - you!"

"Uh. Well. Yes. I'm me." Steve offers lamely, after shaking the Doctor's hand and he rubs his hand against the back of his head. "I had invited Agent Carter to come with me, but she was held up at work. Something about advertisers and SHIELD and earning revenue from it.. it was all above my pay grade." he says with a mild chuckle, the Captain clears his throat. "So, I was told you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, well.. it's so weird. I was looking through some old files, and I think I may know what happened to Bucky.. I mean Sergeant James Barnes." she explains as she starts to filter through her files. "I still can't believe it.. and how alike your stories are." she starts to explain. "I mean. Except with the the added angle of what he's gone through.." she starts to say.

As James is setting up in the corner, the second person that had come in with the Captain makes his presence known. A young boy, no more than eight has found the corner that James has set up and looks up at him. "Hi!" he announces brightly, carrying a plastic Captain American shield in his hands and wearing a homemade Cap cowl, with a sewn on 'A' beams up at James with bright blue eyes. "Are you Captain America? My name is Steven James, mom says she named me after you and your best friend. Wanna play? I have a gun too!" He holds up a plastic Nerf gun to show to James.

With the scope in place, the Soldier aligns the shot only to be interrupted, finger still on the trigger. The Soldier turns his head to face the boy speaking to him, his alien-like mask a source of concealment as he squints behind the goggles. But squinting doesn't orient him. It's a futile process.

The flash of light that enters his gaze exists only in his mind's eye, but its reality is undeniable. His hands, ungloved, remain open in front of him, and the bomber jacket that lines his arms would never fit over his metallic prosthetic. The sense of free-falling, the smell of the crisp mountain air, and the evergreens that enter his vision burn his senses. A single voice wakes him from his pseudo-dream, 'James,' she speaks, as any mother would. A familiar voice. Known. Warm. Pleasant. Clumsy teenager feet move beneath him and…

THUD

…he falls out of bed. The wooden floor breaks his fall.

CRACK

In the waking world, the one the rest of the world remains privy to, his finger pulls the trigger without aim. This is beyond sloppy. Decisively, the kid is reached for, and, for some reason unknown to himself, amid generally unfelt and unknown sentiment, safety is sought for the small child. "Steve," there's a deadpanned deepness to his voice, "we need to get you somewhere safe."

"Peggy's alive?!" the Doctor asks, clearly confused, and then her face lights up. "Oh my goodness, if dad were alive, he'd be estatic!" she starts to say, before she finds herself having to backtrack in order to explain. "…I'm sorry, you probably are confused. My maiden name is Dugan." she explains. "My father was Dum Dum Dugan, and he always let it weigh so heavily on him that he thought he let Peggy die on a mission in Russia.." Any further explanation is suddenly cut off as the sharp report of a rifle interupts her, and a water pipe above is hit, sending out a spray of mist.

Despite the Captain's broken arm, Steve is already starting to react to the attack. "…find cover, Doctor, I'll see what's happening."

"My son's out there!" she cries out, panic filling her voice. "Steven James!" she calls out, fear in her tone, worry, the exact opposite of the warm tones that the Winter Soldier was experiencing. He illicited this response.

The boy stares up at James, suddenly scared. "You shot at mommy!" he cries out, and fires his nerf dart up at the Winter Soldier before trying to run away, coming out of the shadows. "Mommy!" he cries out again. "I'll protect you!" he has his shield after all.

Steve moves quickly, coming between the young child and mother and the would-be assassin. He didn't bring his shield with him, so the Captain instead goes on the offensive and charges forward, trying to reach James before he can regain his bearings, reload and fire upon the mother, child, or him again.

A nerf dart ricochets off the Soldier's goggles, prompting him to lift up the set from his steely blue eyes. The fired nerf gun heralds no further response from the Soldier, just cool, collected demeanour behind the black mask — not that anyone can really see.

"You broke my concentration," the words are muffled beneath the mask, warranting an eye roll (more Bucky than Soldier), and a sharp tug, drawing it away. It's always easier to breathe without anyways. The metallic arm reaches out for the child's shield, and while just a play thing, it's promptly hurled with his metallic arm towards the charging Captain America. Child's play thing or not, the cybernetic arm packs quite the punch, but then so does a super soldier body. He reaches for the boy, still entirely unsure why, and jumps the railing the rifle had just been set upon, abandoning the weapon, but not the mission, it would seem.

Fool me once.. Steve has had a chance to adapt to the tactics of the Winter Soldier. As he flings the plastic shield at the Captain, Steve slides on the deck, foot extended to catch the side of the railing. The shield flies just over his head before rebounding off of the wall and falling to the plating before. He looks down to where the child and Soldier disappeared to. "…I'll get him back for you, Doctor.." he promises as he prepares to go over the railing himself to pursue the Soldier and his hostage to the decks below.

"Captain, take this!" the Doctor says, tossing Steve the EMP hand-buzzer. Catching it in his free hand, he slides it onto his index finger, opposite his wedding ring. "Thanks." he offers quickly as he drops over the railing and into the darkness.

Landing on the lower deck, he listens for the the child to cry out, before he speaks. "Steven James, listen to me!" he calls out, as Steve cautiously makes his way along the gangway. "..he won't hurt you, I promise. I know that man," At least he wants to think he does. "…he's a good man."

"He tried to shoot mommy!" Steven James yells out.

"I know, son, I know. He's really confused." Steve offers, his voice turning reassuring, even in the current crisis. "James.. Bucky.. I know that's you. And I don't know what HYDRA did to you, but we can fix it. Peggy and I.." he starts to say, and then he considers. "…even Natasha." he adds in thought as he flexes his hand, body turned to the left to defend his broken arm with his shoulder as he works the small charging device on the EMP buzzer. "Just come out and release the child, James. Noone has to be hurt.. you don't want that blood on your hands."

A quick sprint sees the Soldier moving back towards the other vessel. It's only Steve's words that slow the pace, but possibly not as much as intended. The name Bucky stands out enough to warrant a sharp draw of his eyebrows. Disconcerted, he turns to face the Captain, confusion almost visibly written across each of his features. "I don't know you," he says, sharper than his usual nearly-mechanical speech. A quick glance upwards, however, and the child is ushered towards the outside wall of the vessel; whatever he thinks is the danger is not Steve. Blue eyes scan the rest of the building, seeking some semblance of safety for this kid. Eyebrows draw together as he hitches the boy over his shoulder.

Again, he picks up the pace, moving back towards the vessel, and climbing upwards to board it. If he cannot possibly shoot from afar, he has to find a way to close the distance.

The inside, however, bears with it surprises he couldn't have anticipated. The WWII lecture area prompts his lips to part wordlessly. His pace slows considerably as his eyes catch the semi-familiar paraphernalia. The bowler, the uniform, and the tools all leave him in a silent state of confusion. He treads further into the room and reaches out for the files. One piece of the mission accomplished. One thwarted.

Carefully, he moves the kid to an upper shelf of the mess hall, safely barricaded by the steel of the haul. "Stay there," he instructs.

While James may not know who Steve is, Steve is still trying to assure himself that this is truly his friend - or once friend - or whatever this is now. "You do know, Bucky.." he tries as the Captain continues to make his way along the gangway. As he realizes that the two of them have circled back around, Steve considers the layout of the ship. He hasn't spent a ton of time on aircraft carriers, but he knows that there has to be at least multiple ways to get into the messhall. Instead of following James up back into the main area, Steve goes quiet, his footfalls silenting as he slowly makes his way along the chef's route - the route that the cooks used to avoid the chowline.

Coming around the corner of the cafe where the chowline used to be, Steve uses the cover of the buffet line to keep protected as he reaches up to grab a steel tray to hold onto. It's not his shield, and he won't use it as such, but it gives him something of a physical weapon. He moves to place his back against the counter and slowly peeks out towards the former sniper nest to try to ascertain the Soldier's position as the Captain continues his cautious hunt.

The Doctor in the meantime is still searching for her child. "Steven James!" she calls out, worry and fear in her throat, as tears well up in her eyes. "Please, please, let my son go. He can't hurt you, he won't even hurt a fly. Please.." she begs.

The boy, hearing the cries of his mother, can't stay hidden any longer, and moves from where he was hidden to try to run towards his mother. "Momma, I'm coming!" he yells out, trying to get back to her.

Steve's words fall on deaf ears, particularly as the Soldier stares at Bucky's uniform. It's painfully familiar.

The light flashes in his vision again, and a distinct image writes across his mind. His hands lift from their spot on the bed, but only one is flesh, the other metal. Pain, not physical, shoots through his senses. Mental anguish clouds him, and all he can hear is the sounds of that place. The whirring of a saw. The beeping of machines. The electrical charge popping through the machine in an effort to boost its efforts. 'Strong willed, aren't we Sergeant?' the words, though in English, drip with a distinctly German accent.

In the waking world, the Soldier's skin pales. His eyes whiten. His breathing labours. It's only the mother's call for her son that bring him away from the nightmare.

The calling of the mother and the movement of the child draw an irritated string of syllables from the Soldier. "Chert poberi," he curses in Russian, as he turns to try to catch the kid again. He barrels for the child to pluck him up again.

CRACK

This gunshot echoes through the Intrepid, fired from some unknown location across the museum. The second sniper shoots wide, and isn't as good a shot as the Soldier.

"You need to stay still." It's not a request.

The Captain was waiting for the moment for the Soldier to reappear. When the child bolts into the open, he sees James in hot pursuit. Rising from behind the buffet even as the Doctor takes cover from the second shot, Steve bumrushes at James, lowering his left shoulder as he attempts to come in on the Soldier's blindside. "Run!" he yells at the boy, likewise, not a request.

"That's enough trying to kill people, I don't care if you look like my friend or not!" the Captain rumbles as he uses the steel platter to put a little oomph into his attempting barreling of the soldier.

The Captain manages to surprise the Soldier, barreling into him and setting him off balance for a moment, and granting Captain America some force against the Soldier. Through gritted teeth, the Soldier warns as he pushes back against Steve (with a fraction of the force), "Running is a bad idea." As counterintuitive as it seems.

He twists so his metallic side faces the platter. Rather than trying to continue meeting the Captain's momentum, he dives for the ground, metallic hand hitting the steel beneath him, thereby attempting to throw Captain America off-balance again.

By all rights, he is James Buchanan Barnes. One some level, anyways.

Steven Grant Rogers recognizes the move - not that it doesn't surprise him. It does. As he's twisted in the air, his own mind flashes.

"Com'on, Steve, if you let me throw you around, what's going to happen when you get into a real fight?" a teenage Bucky asks, looking down at skinny Steve on the ground.

The beanpole offers a devil-may-care smile that masks his determination, "…doesn't matter how many times they knock me down, Bucky. Only how many I can get up."

Bucky sighs, "One of these days, you're going to get knocked down and you won't get back up."

"Well.. that's what you're going to be there for." Steve can't help but to grin.

A flash of recognition as the Captain moves, rolling across the attempted throw. The platter is released, it's use as leverage completed as Steve reaches out with his left hand. As he does so, the vibranium ring and joy buzzer latch onto the metallic arm of the Winter Soldier and Steve squeezes, unleashing over fifty thousand volts of electromagnetic energy into James' arm. The platter - sticks in place, magnatized to the soldier as Steve continues his roll to land in a crouch on the other side, his body already twisting around with his right leg out to try to sweep the smaller soldier's legs at the knee.

The cybernetic arm deadens beneath the influence of the EMP. The electromagnetic pulse doesn't let his neurological impulses to control it anymore, leaving it relatively limp for the time being. It'll need a reset, this much is obvious.

The leg that sweeps beneath him disrupts his centre of gravity and has him falling backwards onto his one good hand to spring back up.

//Memory surfaces again, bubbling to his consciousness. Bucky falls to the ground with a groan. His lips hitch into a lopsided grin, "Definitely smart to use your opponent's strength as his weakness." //

Steve grins back, "You know what they say, the bigger they are — "

"— Yeah, I know what they say."

Having sprung up from his position, the Soldier straightens. His flesh arm reaches to his shoulder and grasps the hunter's knife in its sheath.

He turns it in his wrist, and his blue eyes watch Steve with rapt interest before returning it to its home on his vest.

"Who are you?"

The question, however, is interrupted again by another loud, echoing noise.

CRACK

"Com'on, James.. you know who I am.." Steve starts to say, as the sudden crack of a rifle catches his attention because it's accompanied with a scream. Turning his attention to the Doctor he was supposed to be protecting, she cries out, "STEVEN JAMES!"

The young boy with the startling blue eyes and Captain America cowl is curled in his mother's arm, blood coming from his shoulder where a bullet has caught him.

The anger rises in the Capatin, but he doesn't go after James, not this time. Instead, he's already running towards the Doctor and her son. "…go, go, get him to the deck, I'll cover you." he says, the Captain's blue eyes leveling a glare towards where James still is. "I don't know who you are." he manages, anger mixing with confusion and a deep sadness at who.. or what.. Bucky has become. He forces open the door of the meeting room, staying close to the retreating civilians.

The final shot, followed by the Captain's accusations, warrant something very different form the Soldier. His jaw tightens. His good hand balls into a fist.

Something cracks.

The scream he remembers his own. It wasn't pain, it was anger. He could feel it — the way they were slowly unmaking him one layer at a time. The room echoed with his voice, resisting every treatment they sought. Something snapped. His metallic hand reached out and strangled one. Laughter. Not his.

Shaking his head, the Soldier returns to the moment, losing that snippet of some other reality once lived. His hand reaches up for the hunter's knife again. The Soldier bounds through the window of the vessel, and jumps to the one he had been perched upon to carry out his mission.

Knife still in hand, he sprints from one vessel to the next, making the required jumps with ease. Evidently, even with the cybernetic deadweight, the Winter Soldier has some level of balance and physical prowess.

He journey ends in the northwest corner of the room.

With deadly accuracy he thrusts the knife through the air, cutting at the second sniper with ease. "That. Was. Not. The. Mission," his voice clips.

He continues his path, venturing to where he'd come in, towards the chilly waters. Back to the deep unknown.

At HYDRA command, an agent leans back in his chair, and removes his headphones. "Sir…" he murmurs. "I think the asset may be at large…"

"Abort the mission." comes the response, disappointed in the Soldier's performance this day.

Steve stays with the Doctor and her child up to the deck, where already police and fire units are converging with medical groups.

"Who was that..?" the doctor asks Steve, fear and worry in her voice as she watches the EMTs tend to her son.

"I don't know, Doctor. I.. don't know." he says, turning his attention to where James is retreating. He has no chance of ctaching him this time.

But there will be another time. Another reckoning.

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