Sandbox thoughts

[woundedwinter]

Torchwood.
The last place Bucky was looking to find answers was in Cardiff, of all damn places, but he had run out of options.

Seventy odd years ago he was a solider, a sniper in the 107th and he had everything a fella could want. A best friend, a damn good career and a unit he cared for. A mission in the mountains had gone wrong. They were ambushed and in a desperate attempt to save his friend, Bucky fell. He didn't tumble down the side of the mountain or crash into the ice, though. He was swallowed up by a burst of blue-white light and six months ago he dumped in the middle of New Mexico with an artificial left arm and no memory of what had happened to him or why he'd been flung so far into the future.

He called in what favors he could, talked to anyone who would listen, desperate for answers. What had happened to him? Where had he gone? The Howling Commandos were long gone. He had nothing left.

It was easy to strike the deal in the end. Work with Torchwood and try and find the answers. They dealt in the weird and unexplained and god knows Bucky had enough of that.

Comments

[spacehopper]

It’s not as if Jack hadn’t known what had happened. He’d seen Gabriel speed up and shoot off. He’d seen Bucky and Steve come by almost twenty minutes later with the kid right behind them, and then get stuck too.

For the last two hours, he’s been a nervous wreck about what he’d find upstairs. That’s why he’s so thrilled to see John and he moves immediately to hug the man and waft his truth fantastic smell in the blond’s direction.

“Where’s Gabriel?”

[woundedwinter]

Constantine doesn't shy away from that hug, turning his face into Jack's neck to breathe in that amazing smell. Speaking of addicting.

"He told me what the trouble was," he answers smoothly. "lucky for you blokes I came prepared."

Bucky helps Steve and Peter to their feet, offering quick reassurances that yes he's been through that before and yes it's really fine. "Come on fellas. It shouldn't be long before we can get out of here."

[spacehopper]

Jack’s hand lingers on John’s shoulder. “Thank you,” he says, and then takes the cold iron stairs up towards the main level. His greatcoat catches the back of each lock as he tries to get to one of his kids.

That leaves Steve more confused than ever as he looks at the other three. They all seem to understand what’s going on, but Steve really doesn’t have a clue.

At least the world’s slowed down again (from his perspective).

“So is that three down…?”

[woundedwinter]

"Not quite," Bucky starts steering them back to the living quarters. "It's a time dilation, like a hiccup in time. This isn't the first time I've seen one."

A nod to Constantine who pulled them out. "Leave Jack to talk to Sylar. By then we should be able to get back to Cardiff." Maybe not home for Steve or Peter but he's got an apartment and a place for all of them.

[spacehopper]

Gabriel isn’t exactly receptive, even when Jack strokes his ego and tells the other man how proud he is of him. Something is different about Constantine, and Jack can’t decide if it’s a good something or a bad something. Either way, the man is sexy as hell and Jack will have a hard time keeping the flirting to a minimum.

It’s not too long before they get the communications array up and a man answers the line with a smarmy voice that sounds half drunk and half high. “Well! Finally! Sergeant Barnes, all your limbs still attached?”

Klaus has always liked Bucky. The guy is one of the few that doesn’t look down his nose at him.

[woundedwinter]

Steve might recognize Bucky's expression as he grins at the voice as the same smile when he was being greeted by his sisters. "All three in tact so I'm still your favorite tripod."

"Diego is in my knives again isn't he?" Because of course he is, the dick.

"We're on our way back with company. Order all the takeout there is. We're gonna have hungry arrivals."

[04_theseance]

“Oooh, I’m not supposed to tell you that he absolutely is and he took one and renamed her.” Klaus has his feet up and is sucking on a lollipop. When there’s nothing else to do, he chills. When there is something to do, he still chills. “I told him you’d be mad—. Ooh. Guests? Sexy company? Did you tell one I’m available? The best one, Bucky— I get the best one this time.”

Steve looks confused and mouths: ‘this time?’

[woundedwinter]

Klaus is like the little brother Bucky never had.

Okay, if he had a baby brother with powers but he's learned to roll with the weird at Torchwood. He grins easily, "Oh no, I'm not playing wingman. You do just fine on your own."

His eyes flick back to Steve and he smiles. "You remember the fella I told you about? The blonde full of spite and rage? I found him."

[04_theseance]

“Oh! Oooooh! Well I see, I’m chopped liver now. Just put a sock on the door while you’re getting busy so I know to listen in!”

Klaus is not the best person to have these conversations with. None of the Torchwood team likely is.

Steve just looks even more confused before Jack comes over to insert himself in on the conversation. “Klaus, could you and Diego find a place for three new comers to sleep?”

He can already expect the whining. He’s not disappointed.

[woundedwinter]

Before Bucky can laugh and reassure Klaus his brother comes on the line and there's no end to the arguing. The brothers had helped keep Bucky grounded when he arrived, both of them reminding him of his life before the war.

"All right jackasses," his voice is fully Sargent Barnes as he rolls his arm. "Set up quarters. Klaus, I'll throw in all the Thai you can eat if you can help."

Is he above bribery? Nope. Never has been.

[bottledblond]

“Uh yeah, like I was always gonna help,” Klaus scoffs. “No need to sic daddy on us. But if you’re throwing in Thai I might actually use some fresh sheets. If I can find any. When can I expect you home for dinner?”

Steve had the most confused look on his face as he stands behind Bucky, hands on his hips, while Jack tries to convey coordinates and anomaly readings to the Hargreeves. Not much is getting through so he just rolls his eyes and tells them to be good before he shuts off the open feed.

“He sounds…. Uh. Swell…?”

[woundedwinter]

"Klaus is an experience," he answers, but the fondness in his tone clearly indicates that for all his weirdness, Bucky likes the guy.

"He's a friend. His brother is just a dick who likes to steal my knives."

Had he been good with knives before? He thinks so, but it's part of his memory that's a little hazy when he tries to focus on it.

[bottledblond]

“When did you become so possessive of knives?” Steve asks with an arched eyebrow. He’s genuinely curious. There were more discussions of cutlery in that briefly three minute span than Steve had ever had in his life.

His mind takes him to flights of fancy, of course, and he can’t help but imagine these knives to be something magical or out of a Penny novel.

Or maybe it’s just some in joke Bucky has had for the last six months with some brothers he’s friends with now.

[woundedwinter]

The question surprises him and he tips his head a little. Hadn't he been good with knives before falling into the Rift?

"I wasn't before I fell?" The more he tries to think about it, to focus on a memory the more elusive it becomes.

[bottledblond]

“More of a sharp shooter,” Stece says as carefully as possible. He knows Bucky lost his memory prior to arriving here, and at first, Steve thought the same thing. He’s not wearing what he had been at the cafe and the shield had been on him when he woke up when he’d left it back at his Shield sponsored apartment.

But this feels different.

“Maybe you always had but didn’t talk about it much? We didn’t get all that much time together after Azzano.”

[woundedwinter]

Steve isn't telling him everything and that curl of unease in his gut only grows more insistent. They had enough time after Azzano. So why wouldn't Steve remember something he thought he did?

"Maybe it's the Rift," he offers lamely. "I'm missing a lot of time."

[bottledblond]

“Or you’re different people from different realities,” Sylar pipes up from the corner where he’s currently beating everyone at a game of Best Brooder. He’s struggling right now and the best way he knows how to deal with that is by being a dick. It’s true. Jack would collaborate.

“Or,” Steve steps in, “it’s because we’ve lost a good chunk of our memories— Pete, anything weird when you showed up? Something out of place? Missing time?”

[woundedwinter]

Constantine is doing his level best to keep a distance from Sylar. Not out of any fear or mistrust, but out of respect for his needs.

Peter blinks at the question, "Uh, maybe? I mean I've got the suit Mister Stark made for me and he.. he took it back. But I remember everything, at least I think so." He's not sure now.

None of this reassures Bucky. Six months of struggling and Steve is only confirming that he is missing information. He's missing time.

[bottledblond]

Oh. Could Bucky be missing a significant amount of time? Steve frowns, trying to keep the worry from his face as he turns to look at Constantine and his wall-hovering maneuvers. “John?”

It would be all right if this wasn’t his Bucky. They seem to have different ideas about what happened to the other anyway. Maybe Bucky, this Bucky, has always been good at hand to hand combat. He used to box after all.

[trenchcoat_brigade]

"Search me, mate. I never even heard of you lot before winding up here." He could try and read dimensional energy from them to see if they were from the same place, but that would take both time and power. He's not going to do that in front of Sylar when he's struggling.

"Let's get to someplace warmer and then dig for the answers, yeah?"

[bottledblond]

With a conversation ended like that, the room falls more or less silent. It’s not something Steve isn’t use to though, having spent the last half a year being more alone than ever before, even surrounded by more people than he knew how to deal with. Steve gives Bucky the smallest of smiles before propping his arm up on the little desk and setting his ear on his palm.

There’s a lot to talk about, but maybe where there aren’t so many people wanting to interject in their conversation.

It’s a good half an hour before the light on Jack’s cuff buzzes on and he flips the leather casing open to check the dials. “All right folks. Who’s ready to go to Wales? Walk through quickly, keep your heads turned to your right, and if we end up on a highway, don’t stand still. This is more like a guess than science,” Jack says cheerfully.

[peter_one]

Peter watches uneasily as Steve falls quiet. Mister Bucky drifts closer to his best friend and Peter bites back any memories he has of the future. Maybe they can do better here. He hopes so.

Bucky stands as Jack gives the regular rundown to Steve, Peter and John. "Stay close. If you feel like you have to throw up, turn to the right. It happens to all of us."

He only steps through once Steve and Peter go through. They're not used to this. He is.

[bottledblond]

Jack and Sylar do not follow. Klaus can run the welcome party, and Bucky will keep him and his brother from fighting too much. They have work to do. A lot of work. And Jack needs to drain Gabriel of the pent up emotion he can taste dripping off of the other. A good expenditure of his stamina will do some good.

Even if it’s not of the sexy variety.

Steve is dizzy, stumbling when he steps out of the vortex. He hadn’t known what to expect when Jack gave all the warnings, but being suddenly in the back store room of a chip shop and smelling fried fish just has him feeling. He ends of throwing up quite mightily into a dish washing sink, groaning.

[woundedwinter]

At least he's been through this before. Bucky can swallow his nausea and focus on taking care of the others. Between him and Constantine's easy charm, they're out the door with a few orders of fish and chips while Peter and Steve get some fresh air.

Jack can handle Sylar and calm him back down. Bucky doesn't exactly know how and frankly he doesn't want to.

They make it back to the flat he's been living in, Bucky shouldering open the door at the noise beyond. He can hear music and arguing. "Damnit," he mutters. "C'mon in."

"Klaus? Where the hell are you?"

The flat is relatively austere, with only a few plants in the windows and nothing on the walls. He's been there six months but it still doesn't feel like home.

[bottledblond]

Steve is pretty lost. They wander down the street away from the chippy with plastic bags and more napkins than he’s ever seen. He isn’t sure where they are, other than Wales, or where they’re going. Periodically, he does reach out to grab Bucky’s elbow just to center himself. It’s not quite what he expects when Bucky ushers them all into his apartment. One he evidently shares with multiple people.

He supposes that makes sense though. Bucky wouldn’t have his own place. Not if he’s only been here for a small while.

He turns a questioning eye to his friend when a willowy looking man (woman?) rushes out from the back room. “Oh hey! I have to go!”