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?"

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[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.