dated June 29th

[prodigaljaybird]

Jason moves away from the hut at a jog, face masked in casual expectation for the day ahead while his heart threatens to beat right out of his chest. His steps are easy, eyes fixed only on the path, and the instant the trees swallow him Jason doubles back at a dead run.

Something's wrong with Bucky. Something is wrong, and even without knowing what it is, Jason has seen enough to know that when things are wrong with Bucky, people die.

He slips right through Steve's window, trusting that this man, at least, won't kill him just for startling him. "Steve," Jason calls, voice pitched just loud enough to carry inside these four walls.

God, please be home. "Are you here?"

Comments

[prodigaljaybird]

Jason's never seen Bucky be anything but on his game, even one-armed and half-sedated, and as the Winter Soldier he cuts deftly through the brush. The fact Bucky has no idea where he's going is the only thing Jason can be grateful for.

With Bucky headed towards a copse too thick to swiftly push through, Jason angles sideways, passing easily through the lighter brush to reappear in front of him.

"Bucky," he tries again, both hands up and breathing hard. "Please." With nothing left, Jason tries in Russian. "You don't know what you're doing."

[onlyapassenger]

The Winter Soldier doesn't stop to listen, instead using his momentum to carry forward his first punch. No matter what training this kid's obviously had, he's confident that his own is better. This is his fight to lose.

"I could say the same about your Russian."

[prodigaljaybird]

The stop! gets stuck in Jason's throat, leaving him instead as a gasp when Bucky's hand flies forward. Jason darts just in time to catch it as a mere graze against his temple, and, not wishing to addle Bucky's brains anymore than they already are, aims a hard strike at Bucky's solar plexus.

[onlyapassenger]

He rolls with the hit, though the suit takes the brunt of the impact; it's designed to withstand a hell of a lot more than a punch. Taking advantage of the kid's extended arm, the Winter Soldier reaches for it with his gleaming metal one, intent on twisting it behind the kid's back, as his free hand produces the knife from his belt to end this before it even gets started.

[prodigaljaybird]

It's less than one breath, and yet Jason feels so many things when he sees that knife catch the light. It's been more than a year since Jason watched Bucky slide a scalpel through his heart as smoothly as if he were butter. More than a year, and still there's a moment when Jason's so afraid he can't breathe, but then his body remembers what to do.

Catching Bucky's knife hand at the wrist, Jason bends and heaves with all his might, throwing Bucky over the wedge of his body and onto the ground.

[onlyapassenger]

Kid's got some chops. Too bad they won't be enough.

Kicking forward, the Winter Soldier all but dives into the throw, propelling himself back onto his feet -- only he doesn't straighten. Staying low in a crouch, he quickly pivots around, throwing out his leg to sweep under the backs of the kid's knees.

[prodigaljaybird]

Jason leaps just in time, and though he doesn't have his gauntlets or his grappling lines, instinct carries him higher, and he lands neatly in the branches over their heads.

"Bucky," Jason tries, he can't seem to stop, "Just wait a minute!"

[onlyforthedream]

There is no waiting with the Winter Soldier, and I don't even slow down before I slam into him, arms folded in front of me to hit him low in the back. It's almost impossible to get the Winter Soldier off balance, but that's my first goal.

I roll after the impact, knowing he'll be coming up to his feet just as prepared as I am.

"Enough."

[onlyapassenger]

He's no less deadly close-up than he is at a distance, but the Winter Soldier knows going against Rogers without a plan of attack could prove disastrous. Already he's paying for missing his shot; another mistake's just not in the cards. He needs an exit strategy, fast, and once again, it's the kid that provides his next move, safe in his nest and ripe for a fall.

Recovering from Rogers' wrecking ball routine, the Winter Soldier regains his footing in a matter of seconds, replacing his knife so he can withdraw the shield instead. It's an elegant weapon, beautifully balanced, and surely worthy of a better man than Captain America despite its patriotic paint job. Though the Winter Soldier has no memory of ever wielding it, his muscles tell a different story, his throw as graceful as any of its previous owner's. Humming through the air, the shield spins towards its intended target: the kid's head.

[prodigaljaybird]

Steve comes out of nowhere, huge and terrifying even from Jason's vantage point, and he watches as that same body he'd bounced off only minutes before slams into Bucky's from behind. It's brutal enough that Jason half expects to hear Bucky's spine crack, but the suit must absorb most of the impact, because he's on his feet again before Jason can blink twice.

Breathless, Jason watches the shield come up, and for a moment he's almost relieved, that Bucky's on the defense, that Bucky can defend himself if Steve strikes at him in earnest. Gaze tracking to Steve to see what he'll do next, Jason doesn't realize what's happening before it's too late.

He twists, but the shield catches him on the side of the head. Consciousness stolen in an instant, Jason falls like a stone, face a bloody mess before he ever hits the ground.

[onlyforthedream]

"Jason-!" I move to him, drop defensively in front of him, never turning my back to the Soldier, eyes narrowed, defenses up, but I can already see he's going to run.

There's so much going on in my head, concern for Jason, a deep and raw anger at seeing The Shield used that way, a raw fear at Bucky's state.

[onlyapassenger]

This isn't how he cares to operate. The kid's a liability and ought to be killed, but he's more useful alive than dead, a fact the Captain's just confirmed from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. A corpse doesn't bear protecting, but a young man in desperate need of medical attention surely does, and with this action alone, the Winter Soldier has earned himself a way out of here.

Though he'll have to go without the shield. Lodged in the tree after bouncing off the kid's head, there's no way to retrieve it without passing through Rogers first. Counter-intuitive. It's another acceptable loss, and one he can make up for later.

Gaze darting from the kid back to Rogers, the Winter Soldier leaves the pair with a question before he goes: "How much more collateral are you willing to risk, flag man?"

[onlyforthedream]

He knows I won't give chase, not now, not with Jason bleeding from the head and passed out cold. I watch him fade into the underbrush before turning back and leaning down, gently pushing dark, matted hair aside, checking Jason's pulse, starting to move him, carefully, into a neutral position.

I stand only to jump up, catching a branch and pulling myself onto it to retrieve the Shield then drop back down again. I kneel, use my belt looped over my shoulder to carry the shield on my back, then scoop Jason up as carefully as I can.

I turn and begin to run, as smoothly and carefully as I can, for the clinic, and try to mentally map out where it's most likely I'll find Bucky next.