Not Who We Were
Bucky was seated at the bar as Sam went downstairs. He didn’t order any drinks and subtly glanced at the people that passed him, hoping for some sign of the trio they’d come to find.
After what seemed like forever, he decided to order a drink. As he lifted his hand to hail a bartender, the bartenders switched shifts. The bartender that was now in charge, had his back turned. He then turned his head to try and get a better look at him.
The bartender was a young man with pale skin, light eyes, and black hair. He took a second look and realized that this boy’s face was familiar, but from where?
The bartender took notice of him and walked over, “How can I help you?” He spoke with a German accent. Now that he was facing him, he spotted a splint on his nose.
“Just a whiskey please,” He spoke quietly, still trying to figure out where he knew that face from and now that voice. Then it clicked. Paws. The boy set the full glass down in front of him.
“You’re not blue,” He said suddenly.
“Du bist schlau!” Paws chuckled, “But ja, I am not currently blue. Zat vould not be very zneaky vould it?”
“You’re right, but how?” He picked up his drink, looking at the liquid with suspicion to see if it was poisoned perhaps.
“Ze vatch,” Kurt held up the gray watch with the orange screen proudly.
“That thing makes you look human.. That’s pretty advanced,” Bucky commented with a nod and lifted the glass to his lips.
“Und I zuppose ze serum keeps you from being drunk?” Kurt asked, looking at him innocently.
Bucky lowered the glass without taking a sip, looking confounded, “And how would you know that?”
“Agents aren’t allowed to drink on missions which means zat you are eizer immune to ze effects of alcohol or you do not care,” He grinned and then took a glass from the counter and began to clean it off, “Und I believe it is ze former.”
“And you would be right,” Bucky replied reluctantly and finally took a sip of the whiskey.
“Und is it a blessing or a curse?” Kurt pulled out a clean rag from behind the counter and continued his endeavor of cleaning it.
“The serum or the ability to not get drunk?” He countered and crossed his arms, leaning against the bar.
“Both, I zuppose,” Kurt replied with a shrug, showing genuine interest.
Bucky watched him, still unsure of his true intentions. He was still trying to see if this boy was ex-HYDRA like him, “Feels like a curse.”
Kurt nodded and expressed, “Feels like no matter how hard you try, you cannot vash avay all ze bad memories. All ze nightmares never fade and instead of feeling miserable you’re left feeling incurably numb.” He held up the glass he'd been cleaning up to his eye, distorting his face. Bucky noticed how the distortion of the glass messed somewhat with the image inducing abilities of the watch, causing a bit of his blue skin and his original yellow eyes to mix with the curvature of the glass. Kurt lowered the glass and then set it behind the counter.
Bucky watched him, feeling that familiar wave of remorse crash over him again. All he managed to say was, “Exactly.”
Kurt adjusted the watch on his wrist and fidgeted with the bartender outfit he was wearing. Bucky took the moment to look down at the gallery, seeking out Sam. He spotted Sam standing by a little sculpture. Next to him looked to be a girl in a dark green jumpsuit. The two seemed to be in deep conversation.
Bucky was brought out of his thoughts as he heard Kurt’s voice again, “Do you.. Recognize her?”
“It’s hard to see her from here,” Bucky responded, turning his body to face the bar again and taking another sip of his drink.
Kurt nodded. Now he looked unsure, like he was debating saying something. Finally, he blurted out, “She knew you.”
As the Winter Soldier, he thought to himself. He sighed, his tone laced with that long lasting guilt, “Who did I kill?”
“No one,” Kurt looked baffled, “I mean vizin HYDRA. She met you.”
“So you and her were HYDRA,” Bucky took a large swig of his drink, finishing it off and then added, “You must have been a part of that one program.”
“She told me she fought you,” Kurt confirmed with a nod.
The realization slapped him in the face, “The phaser.”
“Yes,” Kurt replied quietly. He’d been nervous to bring this up.
“She hates me, doesn’t she?” Bucky couldn’t make eye contact. The crushing guilt and self-hatred was all rushing back now. He was part of another problem.
Kurt looked at him with sympathy, “I do not zink she hates you. I know her vell and I know zat she harbors little hatred in her heart.”
Bucky stayed quiet, getting lost in his head again.
Kurt tried to bring him back, “She hasn’t spoken much about it, but everyzing she has said has led me to the conclusion that she doesn’t resent you. She’s just scared.”
“And that’s why you’re talking to me and she isn’t,” Bucky assumed.
“She needs time to heal. You know zat better zan anyone,” Kurt spoke solemnly, picking up the empty glass in front of Bucky and began cleaning it off.
“Why did you ask us to come here?” Bucky asked, trying to make the horrible feelings go away by changing the topic.
“Ve have a zimilar enemy. Ki- Ariel is explaining everyzing to ze Captain,” He stated and continued to clean his glass, “All I can say is that all that ve vant is a better vorld and that vorking togezer is the best vay to go about it.”
Bucky stayed quiet, “Fine.”
“Vhich means don’t try and find us. Ve’ll find you once ve find a lead ve can follow. But for now you just need to get SHIELD to stop chasing us,” Kurt requested, storing away the cup and the rag.
“I can’t make that promise, I don’t control SHIELD,” Bucky looked back at him. Now he knew the motive for their meeting.
“But zey respect you und once you and ze Captain explain ze zituation, zey might leave us alone,” Kurt said rapidly, “If zey leave us alone, ve can finish zis quicker.”
“Listen, SHIELD’s going to try and find you three no matter what I say,” Bucky seemed to be refusing, he knew the outcome.
“Zen zings vill only get more complicated. It vill be a great mistake to not even try,” Kurt warned.
Down in the gallery, Sam and Kitty finished their conversation. Kitty stayed by the sculpture for a few minutes longer while Sam made his way up the stairs and to the bar. As Sam was traveling up the stairs, Kurt’s watch blinked twice. He then noticed Sam approaching and hurriedly hailed another bartender to take his place. Before he left, all Kurt said was, “At least consider vhat I am zaying.”
Bucky opened his mouth to speak but Kurt was gone in a flash. When he looked back, Sam stood by him at the bar.
“Well, I got to meet Ariel,” Sam brought up, “I heard Paws got to talk with you. Where’s he now?”
“He’s gone, just about vanished the second you started walking up the stairs,” Bucky spoke and then turned in his seat, now facing out towards Sam.
“They’re kids, Buck. Claiming they want to save the world,” Sam leaned against the bar.
“Kids that have been trained by one of the most ruthless organizations on the planet,” Bucky mumbled.
“So you agree, we should be cautious with this. We don’t want to end up in another Karli and the Flagsmashers situation,” Sam suggested.
“Maybe, maybe not, but this might be worth taking the risk,” Bucky paused, “We just need to see if they’re willing to cross the line and do the unthinkable to get what they want. So far, we don’t know enough about them to know the outcome of this.”
“And therefore we should trust them?” Sam raised a brow.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think this is the same as the situation with Karli,” He sighed and then got off the barstool, standing next to Sam, “Like you said, we need to be cautious, but we also need to be willing to listen to what they have to say. And most of all, we need to be ready for a fight.”
“Alright, I’ll trust you on this,” Sam nodded and then gestured for them to start heading for the door.
The two men walked out the door of the massive casino and headed into the streets. Their plane home was on the edge of town, so they had a bit of a walk before they could fly home. As they were walking, Redwing flew in and landed in Sam’s hand. He inspected the drone as if he were looking for something, causing all his attention to be focused on the technology rather than where they were walking. As a result, Bucky had to lead him through the city with one hand on Sam’s shoulder guiding him around and keeping him from walking into traffic.
Finally, Sam stopped and then stood next to Bucky to show him something. What he saw was a small screen that looked to be showing surveillance footage. Surveillance footage of the casino. Then Sam tapped on three individuals in the casino. Now, he realized, they had full face footage of Claws, Paws and Ariel.
“Looks like we got ‘em,” Sam spoke triumphantly.
“Looks like it,” Bucky repeated, now putting his hands in his pockets since Sam was now focused enough on where he was going.
“We can find their real identities now, Buck,” Sam grinned, “Now we might actually have the upper hand.”