Fun with canon divergence

[lednikovyy]

He's been running for a long time. It all runs together sometimes, but he tries to watch the dates because the longer he's been on his own the more the memories come to disorient him. At least he thinks they're memories. There's still so much he needs to pieces together, but a few things are clear: the people who want to find him most are HYDRA and Steve Rogers and he knows he can't let HYDRA do it.

Eventually it's evading HYDRA that has him pausing enough to let Steve's friend find him. Of course, HYDRA's right on Wilson's tail and Bucky can't remember much past the fight. He remembers taking out most of them, but then he'd been hit with something.

That's how he wakes up in a white room with a spike of adrenaline running through his veins. He only opens his eyes enough for a quick look, closing them again to try to do a risk assessment. HYDRA has him. Wilson might be dead or he might be here somewhere. He's important to Steve, so Bucky shouldn't leave him behind if he's still alive, but that's going to complicate things, especially if whoever has him here knows how to activate his programming.

What he doesn't know is that JARVIS has already alerted someone that his vitals are indicating he's finally awake, even as he lies there with his eyes closed.

Comments

[notjustarmor]

"Looks like it." He should probably be more intimidated, but he's too wrapped up in the problem of the arm to care about the threat he represents. Besides, that had sounded properly sarcastic, and Tony relaxes in the presence of sarcasm. He notices the examination the honeymoon suite is getting, but he isn't concerning himself with that right now. He knows the room is secure. Incredibly too secure for this.

"So that means you get to introduce yourself," he continues like he'd never left off in the middle of speaking to count the plates in the arm and start mentally calculating flexibility and rigidity. "First impressions are everything, so make it a good one if you're picking a new name."

[lednikovyy]

Bucky's brain is still a mess. He knows who he's supposed to be, but he doesn't remember it. Not entirely. Worse, though, is that he remembers times when things had slipped through and he'd been punished for it. His mind wiped blank until he'd been more pliable. If this is a trick and he admits to too much, it'll be worse for him. They'll watch him that much closer and wipe him that much more thoroughly.

"I don't know." He repeats it like a mantra. It's how he'll answer any question that he's not supposed to know the answer to. If he can lower their guard, maybe he can escape with his mind intact, at least as much as it is now.

[notjustarmor]

"Okay, or don't." But it finally gets Tony's attention, their guest going back to responding with nothing more than the bare minimum, the examination of the room, the way he's holding himself stiff and apart like he's braced for anything. Well, he'd wanted an answer, and he supposes "I don't know" is technically an answer.

So he slips his hands in his pockets, opting consciously for a more open stance instead of crossing his arms the way he wants to when he realizes what the guy is braced for. Punishment. Must be. He's waiting for either a way out, or for the hammer to fall. "You're in New York," he says instead, changing the subject, a little quieter now. "Manhattan. Avengers Tower. Wilson got you out, but they hit you with something. You're shaking it off now, Jarvis says it didn't do anything permanent, you'll feel better once you get some food in you, you want out of there?"

Yeah. He isn't a fan of the caged-bird look.