[GP/EP] Check-in Day

[st_oneswidow]

The woodwinds in her collection were for noodling mostly, and the violin was for memory of her family, but when Curnen really wanted to play she turned again and again to her guitar. This would probably always be her best instrument. It was the first of the month, she’d been here over a year, and it was probably a check-in day. So she sat on the lawn with her instrument in her lap, sending out a subtle magic to call anyone stranded in their little world this way.

At one point, though, she set aside the guitar and turned her face to the sky. For just a few minutes she required a different kind of magic.

It had been a week now since Scanlan had vanished in the battle. And Pike, too, though Curnen honestly couldn’t have cared less about her going away if she tried. Still. The two of them were family to people very dear to her, people who missed them. And Scanlan had been her friend. You marked something like that with a song.

Of all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

It was a traditional Irish goodbye, a farewell to friends said with love, drinking, well wishes, and the hope of meeting again. She couldn’t think of a better one for the occasion. And as she sang she twined her magic into her voice in a new way, sending the song to any ears that needed it, ears of those who knew and missed the departed. Not all of them might understand it, not all of them knew what she was, but she didn’t particularly care about that right now. The song was more important than the hiding.

Once the last note had dissipated she picked up her guitar again and resumed her work. If there were anybody out there, they had to know where to go.

Comments

[st_ranger]

The pieces begin to really fit together the more that Peter speaks. Steve and Tony were fighting. He was on Steve's side and Peter was on Tony's. Bucky could only imagine what the cause of it was. Me. His head shook. No wonder Tony had reacted so badly to him. It wasn't just what he'd done to Howard. He wondered what he'd done to Tony. He had to have done something to make the man aim at him instinctively.

A small sigh slipped out.

"I... Yes, but... I am not sure I want to go up there just yet." Bucky looked up at Peter, trying to force a smile for him. "Why were you in Berlin? How could Stark drag you into all that. You shouldn't have to do that. You... You are a kid. You have your life ahead of you. Why would you even want to fight a stranger?"

[st_arkintern]

On some level, Peter understands not wanting to go up to his room; he didn't particularly want to when he first arrived either, because a small part of him felt like the second he turned that key was the second time he was committing to making this his home.

He was right on the verge of empathizing when Bucky asked why he was in Berlin, and suddenly, Peter felt embarrassed.

"He didn't drag me," Peter says. He's clearly on the defensive. "I went to Berlin because I wanted to. Mr. Stark needed my help."

[st_ranger]

The soldier frowned. "I... Sorry?" Bucky shook his head. The kid reminded him of Steve in a lot of ways. He didn't even want to fight, but Stark had needed him, so he went. Just like Steve. "I... I don't want to fight you," he said softly. He paused, his shoulders slumping and he took a step back.

"This place," he said with a sigh. "Can you tell me more about it?" Turning away from Peter, Bucky looked around the room. He felt slightly awkward about putting the kid on the defensive. And honestly, he didn't really want to talk about Tony Stark. The man had almost shot him just today. "It looks... Big?"

[st_arkintern]

Peter relaxes just as Bucky's voice lowers.

"I don't want to fight you, either," Peter says, scratching the back of his head. He looks around, taking in the sight of the foyer and remembers that at one point, this place that seemed so small to him once seemed really large.

"People think this place might be a pocket dimension," he says. You can go four hours out before you start heading back, no matter what direction your start running from. That's four hours. It doesn't matter how fast you go. Four hours, you always start coming back."

[st_ranger]

"Huh. Out of time and space," he said. Just like River had told him. He nods his head and turns back to Peter. "Four hours?" He was tempted in trying to test that theory, but that could wait till another day. "Like, it turns you around or you just wind up back here, hmm? Poof?" Bucky bit his lip.

"No contact," he murmured. "No going home." Even if he wasn't sure he wanted to go home, he still wanted to be able to have his choice and not have it taken away from him. He'd been used to controlling choices. "Who... Who else is here? I... I saw Tony." He looks over at Peter and his face says everything. "Stark... He... He wasn't happy."

[st_arkintern]

"Other people you might know?" Peter pauses and thinks. "There's Mr. Star-Lord and Rocket," he says. "They're from outer space. Thor, too." Also from outer space. "Other than that, there's no one else from our world."

At least that Peter knows of. Still, there's one last thing that Peter needs to address.

"I don't really know what's going on with Mr. Stark," Peter says, honestly. If Mr. Stark wasn't happy, there had to be a reason for it, though, right? "I can try talking to him if you want me to."

[st_ranger]

"No!" Bucky raised his hands, shaking his head slowly. The last thing Peter needed to do was anger Stark, especially when he was probably on his good side, not his bad side like Bucky. "I mean, er, no. Don't. I..." He sighed. "You're his friend. Don't ruin that. Don't mention me, he..." His voice trailed off a little. "I don't blame him, if what you say is true about us fighting. He... He has every right to kill me. I'd deserve it."

Bucky shook his head, sighing as he began to slowly pace in front of Peter. "I... I don't know them. Just Stark, well and you now. And Steve." Steve Rogers, who he had not seen and almost hoped the man wasn't here.

"Our world," he said softly. The more he said it out loud, the more he really came to grips with the fact he wasn't going home anytime soon. "Huh. Okay then..."

[st_arkintern]

Peter isn't sure what Bucky would have done to believe that he deserved to die, but Peter doesn't believe that anyone deserves to die. Even if they did really terrible things.

"It'll be okay, though," Peter says encouragingly. "I didn't know anyone at first. People knew other versions of me, but they didn't know me-me. Just alternate mes. Things'll get easier once you start making friends."

[st_ranger]

Oh, if he knew. If Peter knew, he wouldn't want to be friends with Bucky either. And the former asset can accept that. People had been rough with him over lesser atrocities. Tony had every right to hate him and want him dead. Bucky toyed with the idea of just going up to his room and staying there for a while.

He really wanted to at least scope out the hotel and make acquaintances. Trust meant trusting and he wasn't sure he was ready to do that yet, even with the kid. "You sound like him, Rogers." There was a hint of positivity in his eyes and in his smile that he could see in Steve too. Rogers had never given up, not really and truly. He would always be the kid on the ropes.

[st_arkintern]

"Really?"

There's no mistaking the light in Peter's eyes when he utters that word. He looks down, grinning, then manages to (mostly) push that smile away to look back at Bucky's face again.

"We only kinda talked once," he says. "During the fight. He said I had heart. He also asked where I was from. We're from neighboring boroughs."

[st_ranger]

"Oh, you're a New Yorker." That made Bucky smile, just a little. It was a very small smile, but it was there. "New York. The city lights up at Christmas." His voice was soft, quiet as he remembered how the streets used to light up. When they were younger, Steve and Bucky would to take it all in. A free show was a free show.

His head nodded and he gave Peter a fond look. "He'd like you. When he wasn't fighting you." They both grinned just like a kid at Christmastime, that was what made him trigger his memory. "I miss New York."

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, Queens," Peter says. "Cap said he was from Brooklyn. Are you from Brooklyn, too?"

Bucky certainly talks like it.

"I know Mr. Stark's trying to find some way to get us all back home," he says. "I've been here over a year now. I thought I'd stop missing it eventually, or that I wouldn't miss it as much, but... that never really happened."

He still really, really misses it.

"Have you ever been to Delmar's?" he asks. "They were rebuilding when I wound up here, but they made the best sandwiches in Queens, easy."

[st_ranger]

"I... I am." Bucky sighed. He might as well rip of the bandage, he thought to himself. "Steve and I grew up together. Were friends." Best friends, he thought to himself. His heart still aches, unsure about the memories that fly in and out of his mind. "Kids together," he said sadly.

Bucky chuckled. If anyone could get them home, it would probably be Tony. Stark and his technology were known back home. Why would this be any different. "It's hard not to miss what you know." Bucky wished he knew more.

His eyes widened and he stared at Peter. "Sounds... Familiar?" He was sure it was something he passed or seen, but he didn't have any immediate memories of the location. "Understandable. Small bodega? Usually better than large chain that knows nothing," he murmured. "Numbers don't compute. Masses always like the smaller stuff." The ones that made them feel like home. Most people empathized with that.

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, it's great. Not too much bread like the other places." Peter's not happy with the fillings-to-bread ratio at a lot of other places.

"What was Mr. Rogers like when he was a kid?" Peter asks. "There's all this stuff about him at the Smithsonian, but there was never a lot about his early life. Just a lot about everything that happened afterwards."

[st_ranger]

Bucky looked at him with a very serious expression. It wouldn't be clear if he was joking or not. "Bread to meat ratio is very important."

And that did it. The mention of Steve made Bucky's eyes twitch, but in a good way. The corners of his lips turned up as he remembered some of the memories that he'd still been unlocking in his own mind. "He was smaller," he murmured. "Sick. Frail. He..." Bucky frowned. "They wouldn't let him enlist right away. Not healthy enough. Before he was big, he had a big heart."

There was something in Bucky's voice, the way he spoke about Steve when he wasn't around. Even as confused as he was about everything, he could feel how important Steve was to him. It scared him.

"Fighter. Even then. Many fights. Too small to fend for himself, so... I think I jumped in." He chuckled. "Awkward. With women. Didn't know how to talk to them. Was... Was always there. Every memory, he's in it," he whispered. "Art... Liked art. Drew. Sketches... All over the walls."

[st_arkintern]

Peter can appreciate that Bucky regards this serious issue with the appropriate amount of seriousness. He doesn't remark upon it, though -- he just listens as Bucky talks about Steve.

A few things become a little clearer when Bucky talks about Steve. And not just about Steve's personality or his physique or his almost-not-ever-military history.

"So you guys were best friends."

[st_ranger]

Best friends...

The words seem to jolt Bucky. He's slow to respond, his head moving at almost a snails pace. "I... Yes?" He doesn't sound sure of himself. "Complicated. Parted, for a while." His brow furrows and he turns to look at Peter directly.

"HYDRA. I... Weapon." His hand clenches beside him and his shoulders tense up. "Didn't die. Like Steve didn't. Hard to..." His hand moved back and forth, gesturing as if he was struggling for words. He wasn't sure he should trust Peter, especially after knowing he was Team Tony, for lack of a better descriptor.

"We were. I'm not the same now. Don't know how he sees me anymore."

[st_arkintern]

Bucky had been a little quiet, a little twitchy before now, but there's something in the shift in his voice when he mentions HYDRA that gives Peter some room for worry.

"You can always ask him," he suggests. Maybe Steve wouldn't show up here, but Bucky could always ask him when he went back.

"Hey, did you want to get some water?" Peter asks, suddenly. He's sure that it seems like it's coming out of nowhere, but he really is worried and he's not sure what else to do.

[st_ranger]

"Water... Yes. Important to stay hydrated." Bucky nods his head, as if water and fuel were important factors to consider. They were, though perhaps not as important as they seemed in Bucky's mind.

He paused, considering Peter's words. "If I make it back home, I... I might." He had been on the run from everyone, including Steve and his friend that flew. He was not sure if he wanted to speak to Steve or what the Captain might say to him.

"Thank you."

[st_arkintern]

Peter begins to lead the way to the Copper Cafe. After Bucky tells him thank you Peter glances over at him, clearly puzzled.

"Mm... For what?"

[st_ranger]

Bucky hesitates. "For... For listening." He didn't have to. He could have reacted as Tony did, full of anger and frustration. He hadn't. "I just... He what? He wasn't sure what he wanted to say or how to phrase the words.

He tries to smile for Peter, a real one and not one that's fake or forced. "So... Thank you."

[st_arkintern]

"You're welcome," Peter says, smiling. It doesn't take long for them to get to the Copper Cafe and when they do, Peter jumps easily over the circular bar at the cafe's center.

He finds two glasses easily enough and scoops cubes into them both.

"Do you know about the Captain America Fitness Challenge?" Peter asks as he sets both glasses (sans water, for now) on the bar. It's hard for him not to talk about Captain America when he's talking to Captain America's best friend.