dreams are never free;

bucky barnes // closed rp "I'm with you 'til the end of the line."

[vintageamnesiac]

@formerlyfalcon

That was a lot of blood.

Things were a bit of a blur after that realization hit him, and after what felt like a few seconds he was stumbling across a familiar tiled floor. He was glancing behind him, eyes struggling to focus as they followed the path of blood droplets back to the elevator where he came from. He blinked, hard, brows furrowing together before he opened he opened his eyes again with a groan.

Bucky knew where he was. Getting himself here hadn't even been a conscious thought— as soon as he found himself flat on his back on the pavement, ears ringing and nose broken and stomach slashed open, he knew he had to get himself somewhere.. not here. There were unanswered calls and texts from Val and the team waiting for him, practically burning a hole in his pocket, but he ignored them all and limped his way through the streets towards the only safe landing his rattled brain could think of.

"Shit.. I'm making a fuckin' mess.." He sucked in a sharp breath, keeping one arm wrapped over the gash on his abdomen as he started fumbling around for the key. Not his key, just the key. The one that he knew he shouldn't be using. The one that he desperately hoped Sam hadn't moved.

All he needed to do was rest for a bit. Clean himself up. Maybe slap on a bandage or two. He would be fine. Sam wouldn't have a clue. They could stay at arm's length, avoid any awkwardness. Bucky would be out before Captain America had any idea that he had been there. That would be best for the both of them.

Bucky's forehead was resting against the door as he finally found the key and made a few unsuccessful attempts to fit it into the lock. "C'mon.. c'mon! Shit!"

[formerlyfalcon]

It was with Carol that Sam exited the room. His heart was still thudding in his chest, an angry patter that reminded him of how much he had screwed up — again. Or, at least, that's how it felt. His transition into being Captain America could be described as difficult at best, and his attempt at forming the Avengers seemed preordained to head in the same direction.

Sam Wilson: veteran, human, Captain America. Once upon a time, he had been just another guy in Louisiana doing his best. Then, he had been an airman trying to do good. He became the Falcon because he felt called to help people, to make something of himself. His transition to Captain America was complicated, but he felt compelled to rise to the challenge. Now, he laid awake at night wondering if this really was all an ego trip. Was he just mad because someone else had gotten what he thought should be his? As the sun rose and shone through his blinds, he had decided no. He wanted the Avengers to be real. To be good. The team that Steve, Nat, and the others had sacrificed so much to create deserved to be more than some cheap government imitation.

The firm grip on his arm slowed Sam to a stop. It was loose enough that he could break free if he wanted to, but Bucky was his friend. His best friend, even if he didn't want to admit it at times. They had come a long ways over the years, which is why it felt absurd to be in a goddamn legal battle over a name of all things. No, not over a name. Over a legacy.

"I'll catch up with you, Cap." Sam murmured to Carol when the blonde turned to look over her shoulder with a raised brow. They had the space thing to deal with, but they weren't breathing a word of that around the New Avengers. Sam would need to figure out how Yelena knew about it later. Without comment, Carol left.

As the people filtered away into the night, Sam pursed his lips and took a second to take his friend in. The hair looked good, but Bucky seemed tired. There was a weight pressing down against his shoulders. How had it only been a few months since they had stood in Joaquin's hospital room? He had been terrified then; terrified of losing the bright eyed kid who followed him into battle, terrified of letting the world down, terrified of failing. Bucky had known just what to say. Now, Sam was speechless.

"We've been talking, Bucky." His head shook. "And we don't agree. You know I'm not gonna back down. I can't." Not after the blood, sweat, and tears he had poured into this. Still, something stopped him from blowing Bucky off and leaving him standing there. He frowned, a sigh building in his chest. "—There's a bar, not far from here. Let's keep it civil. After that shit, I need a drink." Or three.

[vintageamnesiac]

There was a pause between Sam's words, and Bucky felt like he couldn't breathe as he waited to see what else he would say. He was surprised that the other man stopped at all, that he didn't pull his arm out of Bucky's grasp and leave without a word. Bucky wouldn't have blamed him if he did, but the fact that he got an actual response had his head spinning.

Bucky let out a sigh of relief, the tension in his shoulders visibly falling away when Sam brought up the bar. That's when he let go of his arm, less desperate to keep him close now that they were going somewhere else to talk.

"Yeah, I know the one." He tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he nodded, exhaling through his nose and taking a small step back. "Give me uh.. uh, half an hour. Thirty minutes. I'll be there." He needed to get out of this damn uniform, and make sure that his people weren't going to cause any more problems while he was gone. He needed to make sure they were all okay.

Bucky started backing away, tilting his head as he pointed at Sam with the smallest hint of a smile. "Drinks are on me tonight." That felt like the least he could do, considering the circumstances. There was a sense of urgency that quickly overcame him, and there was almost a skip to his step as he jaunted back and away to get everything settled and situated before he left for the bar.

He had to take a moment once he got there, his feet stilling a few feet from the entrance. People passed him on the sidewalk as he stared at the door, but after someone opened it from the inside and left Bucky forced himself to take a deep breath. He tucked a few loose strands of hair behind his ears, pushed the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, and then he finally went in.

Sam was waiting for him at the bar inside, and Bucky slid onto the stool next to him. "Hey." He gave him a nod and a tight-lipped, awkward smile. "Did you get yourself anything yet?"

[vintageamnesiac]

@formerlyfalcon

Well that went horribly. Bucky hadn't really expected that meeting to go well, but he had hoped that something good would have come out of it. Looking back, that was oddly optimistic of him. And truthfully he was glad that things didn't turn out worse.

There were still a few conversations happening in the room as they all began to disband— he could hear Yelena and Alexei mumbling about something that he knew he would have to deal with later, but that wasn't his focus at the moment. Bucky completely ignored Val, waiting for her to give up and leave the room while he kept an eye on who he really wanted to talk to.

As soon as Sam was standing, so was Bucky. For a moment he hesitated, wondering if he should simply let his friend go. Their last talk didn't exactly go as planned, and it was entirely possible that Bucky would screw things up even more by trying to make them better. He was good at that— it often felt like for every step forward he took, he inadvertently threw himself a step or two back. But he also had a hard time letting things go, and that stubbornness often got the best of him.

Bucky's feet were moving before he made the conscious decision to do anything, and he was heading straight for Sam. He wove his way around the crowd as they all made their way to the elevator, parting the small sea of people at a diagonal.

"Sam— wait." Bucky reached out and grasped at his friend's arm, gently pulling him back and away from the crowd to try and get him to stop. "Can we talk? Please?"

[vintageamnesiac]

“—is there a normal reaction we’re supposed to have to this?”

[haflacky]

It’s time

[vintageamnesiac]

@formerlyfalcon

[auroresarchive]

“My brother may have created a team to figure out my murder, but it looks I chose the right time to kick the can. I’m glad to see death is still so messy.”

[vintageamnesiac]

Bucky shrugged. “Timing is everything, isn’t it? Dying at the right time or the wrong time makes all the difference.”

[pclariisarchive]

“So, let me make sure I have this right: my father is apparently the worst person who just decided to be a less shitty person and everyone is cool with that?”

[vintageamnesiac]

“It’s surprising.. seems like you’ve got some thoughts about it. More than I do, at least.”

[spiiderscn]

“Yeah… The world’s boned. Who wants boba?”

[vintageamnesiac]

"Gotta admit, it took me a while to get used to the texture of those things.”

[wulfsbne]

Lupine features were out and proud, and Rahne may or may not have been surrounded by the carnage of a few shredded punching bags and training dummies, a sheepish but halfhearted grin on her face, “Listen – I’m tryin’ somethin’ new, alright? Everybody’s gotta cope somehow.”

Scratching the back of her head, she glanced around awkwardly, “I’ll er– clean it up later.”

[vintageamnesiac]

“New stress relief method huh?” Bucky scoffed, smiling and crossing his arms. “How’s it workin’ for you so far?”

[captainbritainsarchive]

“Does anyone know why I have a sword? I’m working very hard to not stab anyone with it.”

[vintageamnesiac]

“Are you trying to tell me someone slipped you a sword without you realizing it?”

[scarletwitchiing]

“I’m sorry – can you repeat that?”

[vintageamnesiac]

With one arm holding the fridge open, Bucky motioned inside it as he glanced at her over his shoulder. “You want anything? Water? Orange juice?”

[formerlyfalconarchive]

“I’d say now is when we’d get a second to catch our breath, but it never does work out like that. Does it?”

[vintageamnesiac]

“Course not. The second we stop is the second things have a chance to pick back up again. C’mon, what would you even do with spare time? You’re tellin’ me you’ve got hobbies I don’t know about?”

[vintageamnesiac]

wreakhavk​:

“Fair enough. I can vibe with that. Although, I’ll thank you for not immediately pulling the ‘what’s your deal?’ card.”

“I’m in the business of avoiding premature judgement. I think we could all use a little slack sometimes, you know?”

[vintageamnesiac]

blackxwidxw​:

“It’s good to see you back, Bucky. For those five years Steve was… well, everyone is better this way.” She paused momentarily. “To say the least. I didn’t really expect to wake up when I died.”

Bucky understood. He smiled softly, let her words land for a few seconds before taking in a sharp breath. “No one ever does-- speaking from experience.” His comment was light, even if the subject matter wasn’t. “And being brought for someone else’s selfish reasons doesn’t make things any easier. I’d understand if you stayed pissed off for a pretty long time.”

[vintageamnesiac]

heartbuilt​:

“probably not.” he offered a poor excuse of a smile. “but it’ll taste good.” steve pushed the coffee away and turned to bucky. “i just miss her–that’s all.” a shrug of his shoulders. “there’s a new korean place on penn ave–wanna go?”

Bucky’s lips tightened into an empathetic smile. “Yeah, sure. You go, I follow.” That’s the way it had always been, and he was content to let it continue that way now that Steve was back. “Is this what normal people feel like? Going out into the city, grabbing food.. this is gonna sound cliche, but something this mundane probably shouldn’t feel so foreign. But it does.”

[hypersonicmaximofffs]

“Is he gone?” 

[vintageamnesiac]

“What the hell are you doing? And why?”

[webtanglement]

“how can there be so many different spider people? i mean I’ve personally met five others, and somehow i’m still seeing faces i’ve never seen before.” 

[vintageamnesiac]

“You’ve met five others already? That’s.. well, incredible. But that’s when I’d start to get them mixed up.”