sixteen ✪ video

[imfollowinghim]

For anyone who's confused, I'm still here, not twelve years old, [Somewhere, other Bucky is indignantly pointing out that he's sixteen, asshole.] And not wearing red and blue pajamas.

Anyone else got a clone bothering people?

[He smirks, somewhere between irritated and genuinely amused by the whole thing. He's back in his room in all its spartan, World War II vintage glory, and he's wearing his Commandos jacket.]

This is Sergeant James Barnes. Everyone else's already done the explaining, so if you're out there and you wanna talk, you know how to find me.

[There are a handful of people out there he'd like to talk to - Peggy, Howard, the other Commandos, but he knows better than to get his hopes up about them actually answering back.

Still.]

And Dum Dum, if you're out there, you still owe me five bucks.

[ooc: No Winter Soldier related spoilers please, but everything else is totally fair game. c8]

Comments

[imfollowinghim]

Cool stories? I don't know about that. Embarrassing stories, now that I can help you with.

You wanna hear about the war, or before? [This is maybe a little bit of a test. Answer wisely, Sam.]

[manshutthehellup]

Are you kidding me? Oh - I definitely want to hear about before.

[imfollowinghim]

[Good, you have passed the test, you can stay. c8]

When we were kids, we had this neighbor who lived down the street from us. She had to be about a million years old, didn't really have the best memory, and when she'd catch me dragging him back with a black eye or a bloody nose or whatever, she'd yell at me for getting "my baby brother" in trouble again. She must've thought he was maybe seven or eight when we were around eleven?

One time, I was pretty mad at him - for something stupid, I don't even remember what - and I tried telling her Steve was the one who started the fight, and she slapped me and started hollering about how she was telling my dad I was lying and accusing "poor little Steve" to cover my own ass.

Lemme tell you, Steve picked almost every single damn one of those fights all by himself. I was always trying to talk him out of it.

[And he absolutely sounds fond instead of pissed off or regretful.]

[manshutthehellup]

[Sam laughs quietly, his eyes lighting up at that whole tale. He can sure see it, all right. It's hard to remember that Steve started out as a scrawny guy, but everything he's read and heard about Barnes makes him believe there was a time when they were just two kids, getting into trouble.]

He's the kind of guy you can't really talk out of anything. I can tell you, that hasn't changed.

[Like standing on a bridge before they went in for the final firefight, Steve refusing to accept the idea there might not be enough left of Bucky in the Soldier to save. Even if it meant he might get killed doing it.]

[imfollowinghim]

I'd say that's too bad because maybe he'd stop getting himself into shit, but I guess then he wouldn't be Steve.

[And it's not like he'd ever want him to change anyway.]

So, what about you? Steve said he just kinda ran into you.

[manshutthehellup]

Ran past me, is more like. Maybe a couple...half dozen times. [He sounds exasperated, just winded thinking about it.]

We were both doing morning laps around the same path near the monuments in Washington, and well...hey, I try to stay in shape, but I'm no super soldier.

[He's still smiling, though. This is good-natured grousing. "Let's both poke fun at Steve being Steve".]

I know he doesn't do it on purpose, but man. You can only hear the same guy go "On your left" so many times before you start to get a little pissed off.

[imfollowinghim]

Yeah, he's a pain in the ass like that. Making up for lost time, I guess.

[Since he hadn't been able to run like, practically at all before the serum and everything.]

How long were you with the Air Force?

[manshutthehellup]

I guess so. [That, and the long nap he had. Seventy years or so is a lot of not-running too.]

I joined up right out of college. They scooped me up early to specialize, probably since I was younger it was easy to get me versed on some special equipment. Steve tell you what I fly?

[imfollowinghim]

He just said you weren't a pilot.

[Share!! He's very curious.]

[manshutthehellup]

I wish I could show it to you, but uh. It got broken. Torn up in that last fight. [By...you. Sort of. Probably best not to get into that.]

But they called it an EXO-07 unit, codenamed 'Falcon'. It's a metal exoskeleton harness, top secret level stuff. It's got some weapons built in, but mainly? It's got rockets. And wings.

When I'm in that baby, I can fly. Not like driving a plane, or drifting in a hang-glider. Really, truly fly.

[imfollowinghim]

Holy cow.

[HE WANTS ONE. CAN HE HAVE ONE?

dammit future self why did you destroy it]

Can you get a new one? Steve told me Howard had a kid. If he's anything like his old man, he'll be more than happy to throw something together.

[manshutthehellup]

Tony Stark. I've heard of him. [It's a little deadpan, a joke Bucky doesn't have the context to get.] We haven't met, though.

[imfollowinghim]

Make Steve introduce you.

[manshutthehellup]

I think I wanted him to introduce me to the aliens first. But, I'm sure we'll get to that. He gets to know all the interesting people.

[imfollowinghim]

Part of the job, I guess. Even back when he was in the tights.

I'm still mad he never got to meet Greta Garbo, though.