6603/2014: Phoenix AZ - A Temporary Reprieve from the Cold.

2014: Phoenix AZ - A Temporary Reprieve from the Cold.
Date of Scene:	17 June 2021
Location:	Phoenix, AZ
Synopsis:	Cael gives Bucky one extra day out of the cold, but in the end, who really saved who?
Cast of Characters:	James Barnes, Cael Becker

---

James Barnes has posed:
    Maybe Shelly will have time to process what she just saw later. Process things like how did one man throw another ten feet and hard enough to crumble in the side of a building? How did he manage, once she threw open the door to the car and told him to get in, to leap six feet straight up and snag a window sill and use it to push himself out of range of his attackers. How did he manage to land right next to the car without so much as a stagger...
    ...and how in the fuck did he manage to do it all with at least two visible bullet wounds, one to the upper thigh and one to the right shoulder.
    ...and why in the fuck did she get herself into the middle of it to begin with?
    That's right Shells, he's bleeding all over your seat right now.
    "Drive!" Bucky hisses from between clenched teeth. As if she didn't already know that should be the plan? "Now! Go!" There's something a little frantic in his tone, enough to let her know that ... really really fast might be a necessity even though the what? Dozen, ten... men after him are obviously on foot.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Honestly, it's not the first time the car's gotten blood on it. "Yeah, yeah. We're going, we're going!" the kid next to him replies - and really, she's little more than a kid. Right at the age where you're unsure if you should be asking her why she isn't in class, or not. But she //does// know how to drive. She floors it - and the car she's in has definitely been built for speed, as it barrels towards a street light that goes from yellow... to red... She leans into the horn, warning other drivers away, and somehow manages at the same time to turn the corner at that light, rather than barreling through. A side collision would end their get-away real quick.
    "Buckle the fucking safety belt," she adds as an aside, her gaze flicking to the rear view mirror in search of pursuit. She continues in this pattern - weaving through traffic with skill, and making use of sidewalks as necessary - barreling through green lights, and pulling tight, fast right turns at all the red lights and throw them hard into the safety restraints and send the back tires skidding and sliding. She seems to know the city well, which is good - because they're going to need to hide the care and lay low.
    "How bad are you hurt? Are you one of those damned superheroes or something?" She talks without looking at him - her gaze on the road ahead and her mirrors.

James Barnes has posed:
    Her glance into the review reveals that they are, indeed, being pursued. ... by two of those men. They're keeping up! On foot! Jumping onto the top of moving cars, leaping from them... seems Shelly might have really stepped in it this time.
    ...until one of their pursuers missteps and lands in the path of an oncoming bus. Oops.
    Down to one now, and he shows no signs of giving up.
    "Just drive," Bucky replies, that voice, it's cold... flat, a little scary even. The warning to buckle up is ignored. In fact he rolls down the window and slips out so that he's sitting on the door, top half hanging out of the damned car. She won't hear the shot he fires, the weapon is silenced but behind them, the second of the two goes down with a bullet right between his eyes. Even with all the chaos and bobbing and weaving of the car, it took him one shot, just one to hit his mark.
    He slides back in the window. "No, I'm not..." he finally answers as he's buckling his belt. "...I'll live." Because, well, he always does.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "You know. I think the 'or something' definitely applies. Who the fuck were those guys?" Shelley asks in a cool, controlled tone. It was a good thing that the plate on this care wasn't actually connected to her in any way. Even with the pursuit seemingly down, the crazy driving continues - with her swerving at one point and baaaarely missing a pedestrian - an occurance that earns a string of profanity from the girl. The last thing she needs to do is get some innocent killed while saving this asshole.
    Why was she saving this asshole?
    It doesn't take them long to reach the outskirts of Phoenix - and they pull into a garage - with Shelley leaping out to pull shut the metal sliding door. The shop smells of grease and motor oil with a sharp metalic tang. There's another car here - the hood up, and engine half-assembled. With the door closed - Shelley's gaze is now fixed warily on the man she picked up, as if she half expects him to turn on //her// now. "...what the hell is up with your arm, anyways?"

James Barnes has posed:
    He pushes his door open but remains in the car.
    In addition to those two wounds, Bucky is just plain beat to hell. It wasn't as noticeable before with all the chaos. His nose might be broken, one eye is just about swollen shut, his lip is busted... and that's just what can be seen.
    "You mind if I pull these slugs first?" he grouses in regards to the interrogation.
    ...oh GROSS, he's not going to!?
    ...but he does. Bucky starts digging around in his own shoulder with the metal hand of that arm she's going on about. Dude is digging a *bullet* out of himself with his *fingers*.
    He manages it pretty quickly and toss it to the ground with a soft 'ping'. Then he starts on the thigh. Same result.
    "Just find me a needle and thread and you can take me..." he's beginning as he finally stands from the vehicle and promptly ends up down on one knee. Super Soldiers are not bulletproof, they can just keep ticking a little longer than most after the bullet strikes. Loss of blood is catching up.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I should take you to a hospital," Shelley mutters. But she knows //that's// not going to fly. She lets out a sigh. "Look - we keep a pretty well stocked first aid kit in here. In case of... stuff." Not that it'd helped Alis... "You'll need some disinfectants. Plus, there's actually some antibiotics in there." And a genuine suturing needle. It's not the only time someone's had to self-treat a bullet wound. "Plus I have some blankets and a couch." She points to a corner of the shop where an old, battered couch well past its prime can be seen.
    She lets out a sigh, moving towards Bucky to sling one of his arms over his shoulder, and help him back to his feet. "I can't carry you. So you're going to have to help me here..." she urges him - walking him towards the couch while he's still conscious. Who knows if he'll stay that way?

James Barnes has posed:
    He's a man, they're stubborn as mules. Once he's back on his feet, Bucky snarls, "I can walk myself." And he does... and she might realize that that snarl wasn't really directed at her so much as it was the situation and the pain he's in.
    "So, this a chop shop?" he asks as he flops onto that couch. Change the subject and keep his mind focused enough to keep from passing out. "My name's Devan and you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you I'm an escaped military experiment, so I won't." But he just did! It's also not entirely a lie. It's just his name isn't Devan and it wasn't the American military.
    In the little time they've spent together, he's definitely managed to figure out that she's not going to be calling the cops or even the military down on his head. ...he's also hoping that, with her young age, she might just be too afraid to ask more questions after the little misdirection.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Fine. Walk on your own," Shelley agrees, crossing her arms and watching him struggle the short distance to the couch. "It was a chop shop," she confirms, before turning away and going to retrieve a sizeable first aid kit. Accidents can happen in a shop - and you never know when someone in the gang'll need emergency care. She pops the kit open and pulls out some alcohol, the suturing needle and thread, and packages of sterile gauze along with a pill bottle filled with antibiotics. She pours some of the alcohol into a dish and drops the needle into it.
    "You want me to help with this, Devan?" she asks - as she pulls the needle out of the alcohol so she can string it. "You look like you might be a little shakey."

James Barnes has posed:
    It's true, his right hand is shaking quite a bit, of course that shoulder's also been shot so there's that. His left hand is steady as can be, but it's also not his dominant hand. He's pale and sweaty and really should be next to death right now, but he's not.
    Still, "Yeah if you know what you're doing." It's a bit of a struggle, but he manages to shrug off his shirt. Doing so reveals that arm in all its glory, right up to his shoulder. ...and the scars on his shoulder and chest caused by the trauma when his real one was lost and the attachment of the new one.
    It's not really a wild guess on his part, she's young... skilled behind the wheel well beyond her years, she's here and not in school. "Y'know, you seem like a decent kid. Decent kids deserve more than the path you're on...." A beat and he adds, "You lose people in a life like this... people you care about." That also, not a wild guess. He's stating a fact, that she *will* lose people, not a clue that she already has.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I'm not a doctor or nothing," obviously, "but I've done this before," Shelley answers as she pulls on gloves. Yup - gloves. She has enough good sense to know that if it isn't the blood loss that gets you - it's the infection. And intraveneous antibiotics are hard to come by outside of a hospital.
    His words have her gaze fixed down at her supplies - as she makes sure everything's laid out on a sterile cloth - and when she looks up, her gaze flicks off to the side, near where the car sits, half-disassembled. A few bullet holes are lodged in the wall, and she can't help the memories that rise up in her mind. Trying to keep pressure on wounds oozing blood with one hand, while the other reached for her cellphone. How it had been wrenched out of her hand. Alis clinging to her, as she started uncontrolably coughing up blood...
    She takes a deep breath as she focuses back on the task at hand. "How do you know if I'm decent or not?" she asks a bit gruffly, as she lifts the bottle of isopropyl alcohol. "This'll sting," she says about half a second before pouring some onto the first bullet wound.

James Barnes has posed:
    Just a faint hiss of discomfort and nothing more before, "Because you stopped, because I'm still here and you're stitching me up," is pointed out quietly, gently even. If there's one thing he's familiar with it's the look of someone haunted by memories. Bucky sees that look every time he looks in a mirror, even if the memories he has are fleeting things, tiny threads of flashes that he can never hold on to without the thread breaking.
    "Who was it?" Again his tone is gentle and soft, nothing like that icy cold voice that ordered her to drive before.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Shelley sets the bottle down, picking up the suturing needle, as she tries to mentally run through the steps of suturing - learned from youtube, and practiced on friends, and a pig's trotter. "My sister," she says simply, before she inserts the needle through his skin, and out the other side of the wound, carefully looping and tieing the thread, before cutting it off so she can start again. They're proper stitches - but every stitch is very slow and methodical as she runs through each step in her head, concentrating on //that// rather than his question.

James Barnes has posed:
    It's almost as if Bucky doesn't even notice the needle's ins and outs of his skin. Truth told, it's nothing to him. He lets the silence linger though, for a little while at least. She's likely almost done with the shoulder when he finally speaks again.
    "You're young, smart, obviously resourceful. You know you could get out before... it's you." Still gentle, but a little casual, like he might be talking about the weather. He's afraid if he puts too much of a serious note on it, it'll just shut the girl down.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "You think they're just going to let me walk away?" Shelley scoffs, looking up at the man for a moment, then back down at her work. She shakes her head. "After everything I've seen? I'm their //driver//. And I win." There's some pride in her voice there. "I'm valuable to them. And I'm dangerous to them. You don't just let someone like that walk away."
    She shakes her head. "They'd always be after me, and I'd never be safe."

James Barnes has posed:
    "And you're safe now?" Bucky counters. "Was your sister safe?" Even more gentle than anything that came before, he's not trying to rub salt into a painful wound. He's just trying to get through to her. Honestly, he's not even sure *why*, but suddenly this scrappy kid means something to him.
     As for the wound on his thigh, he doesn't stand and strip further, thank goodness? He just rips a larger hole in his pants with his left hand.
    "Look, I know what it's like to be scared." His brow furrows, a moment of quiet thought on his end. "I don't even ... know my own name," he admits. "...and I have some bad people after me." As she's already witnessed. "But I don't have the options that you do. All I can do is run, but you could get out and make a difference."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "How do I get out? HOW?" Shelley shoots back - anger, fueled by fear, leaking into her tone as she glares in Bucky's eyes. "I drive away? And then what - I live alone, always looking over my shoulder? Afraid my //friends// will find me?" she asks. "At least here... at least now, I'm not alone. We... watch each other's backs. It's- It's those Loonies who-"
    She lets out a sigh - and looks down at hands that are trembling slightly. It takes several breaths before she can calm them - then she picks up the bottle of alcohol again, pouring it over his wound.

James Barnes has posed:
    "If you have to be afraid that friends will find you, then they're not friends to begin with," he offers in the face of her anger. He never blinks when she's staring into those pale blues of his. There's a depth of suffering in those eyes that has to be well beyond his apparent twenty-something years. It would be easy to get lost in the suffering in those eyes. Maybe he would never want to look into hers and see the same reflected back? Maybe that's why he's trying so hard here? Or maybe he just wants to make a difference somewhere, a *good* difference.
    "Simple, you turn on them before they have a chance to turn on you." To him? Well, it really does sound simple. If only it were that easy for him to get out of his own mess?
    ...saddest part, it would be if only he remembered who he is.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "What - go to the Loonies?" Shelley scoffs. "//They// killed Alis," she reminds him. Is she being deliberately dense here?
    No. She's just got most of her attention focused on getting the stitches right. Making them straight, and even. Not too tight, not too loose. Can't make the stitches too deep - or too shallow. It's a lot to keep in your head, when you've only learned from a youtube video.

James Barnes has posed:
    "No, you go to the police, turn State's... put them all in their places, both sides." He spells it out clear and loud. "And then you go on to do something great and good with your fucking life, because you deserve that." Bucky's voice is raised, his tone not angry, but heated, passionate.
    It likely makes her job a little more difficult when Bucky leans forward to pull something from one of the many pockets in the legs of his cargos. "Or you take this, ride it as far as it'll take you, and start over." In his and is a rolled up wad of cash, sizable, but probably all he has in the world right now.
    "Either is a viable option, but one of the two will help you sleep better at night."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Hey - hey, I can't do this if you're gonna-" Shelley protests, but cuts off as she stares at the size of that wad of cash. There's uncertainty in her gaze - and maybe a little hope. She doesn't have a passport - so it's not like she could leave the country. Other than Mexico, and what kind of life would //that// be. But it's just a local gang. If she heads east... or maybe to the north west?
    "...turning State's would earn me a lot of enemies," she says dubiously.
    But all she can really picture is Rich snatching the phone out of her hand. Rich just standing by doing nothing - while Alis died.

James Barnes has posed:
    "...and a lot of friends," he seems to have a counter for everything. "They'll start you over, give you a chance to live the life you deserve, the one your sister deserved and would want you to have."
    Bucky's still holding that wad of cash out in offer though. "Either option you choose, try to land in New York." He's not even sure *why* he said that. It's not like he remembers his childhood or Steve, not at this point. But for some reason, New York just... feels right.
    If she pays enough mind to his less serious injuries, like the bruise over his left side in the shape of a footprint or his battered face, she might notice that they're already fading some.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "...if they figure out what I'm doing, they'll kill me," Shelley counters quietly, her gaze flicking back to the money, then to Bucky's features again. Her lips quirk wryly before she adds, "Is this an either/or proposition?" she asks, before turning her attention back to her stitching. She doesn't touch the money yet, though. Money is //not// clean, and she isn't done here.

James Barnes has posed:
    "That's why you don't let them figure it out. You make your move before they even have a chance." Counter for everything. He shakes his head a little, "Nah, you need it more than me either way." It's probably true, mostly. He's skilled, highly trained in many different areas, it's not like he can't manage to replace it with relative ease, if not exactly by legal means.
    "What's your name by the way?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Shelley," she offers simply, in a quiet voice. She lapses into silence - finishing off the last few stitches. She then starts covering the wounds with gauze, and tape. It's not perfect medical treatment - but it's better than you'd expect in a chopshop, for sure.
    As she starts peeling off the gloves at last she adds, "I can't take all of your money... What if you need a burger or something? A place to hole up? Everytime you have to steal or break in - you'll be putting up red flags. And those people... didn't seem like a joke."

James Barnes has posed:
    "Shelley," he repeats quietly as if committing her name to memory... it really seems that way, as if he's trying really, really hard to tuck that name away where no one can steal it from him.
    "Nah, it's okay," Bucky replies. "Take it. I'll get by." He doesn't respond at all in regards to 'those people'. Less she knows about that, the better and now... he's not sure lying to her would be so simple.
    "Honestly, I think I just need a nap now that you've fixed my leaks. And pretty darned well at that."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "You should eat something, as well," Shelley replies, finally accepting the wad of cash. Honestly, saving a guy and fixing up his wounds felt like a pretty legit way to earn a stack of cash. "I've got some pumpkin seeds. They're good for blood loss." She's really done her research, huh? "Anything else I'd have to actually order in." She pushes herself to her feet - leaving the first aid supplies still scattered about for the moment as she starts towards a cupboard to the back of the shop.
    "So, Devan's not your name, huh?"

James Barnes has posed:
    "I guess it is, in as far as it's something to call me," Bucky replies. "One of the somethings anyway. That's what it says on the ID in my pocket."
    He wrinkles his nose a little, "Pumpkin seeds?" But it'll do and he won't complain further
    "Devan Saunders, also known as Steven Grant and a few others." Steven Grant - she wouldn't know it of course, but there's a buried, burned memory seeping up from his subconscious.
    "But none of them are real. I don't remember anything from before..." He cuts himself off, no more talk of that.
    "I'll be out of your hair in a few hours. I heal pretty quick." It's true, his eye's no longer swollen shut and his busted lip is nothing but a scratch now.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "They're high in iron, asshole," Shelley replies casually - amusement quirking the corners of her lips. And she does indeed return with pumpkin seeds - and water. She studies his features - puzzlement starting to show on her expression as she hands over the provisions. "And even if you are some sort of 'freak' - your body's still going to need iron and protein and what not to replace all the blood you lost. The energy from healing has to come from somewhere. That's just... /science/."
    She drops down onto the floor, leaning back on her hands and watching Bucky before she asks, "Why do you really care what happens to me, anyways? I'm just some stupid criminal kid. And seriously - what is //with// that //arm//?"

James Barnes has posed:
    He takes the seeds and the water. Most people wouldn't even be able to us hand attached to a recently shot shoulder. It's not a problem for Bucky. He opens both the bag of seeds and the water with little issue.
    Her question gives him pause though and maybe, just for a second, he's a little... what? Ashamed? But then he rolls that left shoulder in a shrug just like he would if it weren't metal and says, "Experiment remember?" ...and it rings true, because it really is true, that bit.
    "Why did you care to stop and help me? Does there need to be a tangible reason?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "...I didn't want to watch someone else die," Shelley offers - the answer unusually forthcoming, as she explains why she'd let him into her car.
    "Is there any chance they tracked you to here, somehow? Should I be getting another set of wheels, and getting us both out of here? I didn't see any pursuit, but..." There's satellites. There's street cameras. She's not dumb, and people with abilities like //that// have resources. More resources than the Phoenic PD.

James Barnes has posed:
    "Maybe I don't want to see another person lost to a crap life," Bucky muses quietly. He shakes his head. "No, I mean... I can't say for certain the won't. But I can say for certain that I'll be gone, leading them away, before they do." He holds up that metal hand to stave off protests. "I'm used to being lone wolf, Shelley," he pauses on the name, maybe pushing it deeper into his memory. "They won't look twice at this place when I'm gone."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Yeah, well. ...hope you won't take too much offense if I clear off for next couple days or so. More folks like //that// show up, there's not much I'm gonna be able to do 'gainst 'em, anyways." Shelley flashes him a small, grim smile for a moment.
    "...you really think turning State's on the Alhambra and the Loonies is my best play?" she says in a dubious tone. It's a terrifying notion. "Who's to say the Heat'd really care what happens to me - once they get what they want?" Is it any real surprise she distrusts the Police?

James Barnes has posed:
    "By the time they're over caring, you'll be set up far far away," Bucky's finished the pumpkin seeds in short order and down the water in one loooooong ass drink. He lowers the bottle and adds, "...I do. Shelley..." again a pause on the name, little weird that. He even glances over her right shoulder when he says it. It's futile, when they catch him again, she'll be wiped away as if she never existed just like everyone else good and decent that's ever touched his life.
    "... they don't have the resources to come at you if you get far away. New York, tell them that's where you want to land, don't agree to anything until they agree to that."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Why the hell New York?" Shelley asks with an amused smile. "Do I seem the Broadway type to you?" she asks. She couldn't tell you the name of a Broadway musical or song if her life depended on it.
    She lets out a sigh before adding, "The man hasn't exactly done much of anything for me in my life..." She complains. Yes - she's still struggling with this idea. But there's something behind her eyes - a fire. Rich //let Alis die//. He took away her only chance of saving her. And shouldn't he pay for that?

James Barnes has posed:
    Her first question has Bucky staring off at nothing, a ninety yard stare for sure. It's easy to see the almost pained struggle in his expression. God how he's *trying* to find the answer to that question in his Swiss cheese brain. Pain turns briefly to sadness in those blue eyes when they refocus and he answers, "I dunno, it just feels... right."
    He tilts his head, just studying her for a second or two before, "It's not about what the 'man' can do for you, it's about what you'll do for them that they'll owe you for doing."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "And it doesn't do me any good if they don't make good on the debt. Everybody does something, //for// something. That's how the world works." Right? No one does something without thought of what they'll get out of it.
    ...except maybe Carol.
    Shelley runs a hand through her hair in a frustrated gesture, before pushing herself to her feet. "Look. I should get out of here, incase they were able to follow us. Good luck, Devan. I hope you can stay ahead of them."

James Barnes has posed:
    "Me too," he agrees quietly. But in reality, he knows it won't happen. He's never been able to elude HYDRA for long.
    Once she's gone, Bucky drifts off to sleep for that nap. When she returns?
    ...there's been an obvious struggle, the place is pretty trashed. It's unclear as to whether or not he managed to escape just based on the mess alone. She can't possibly know that only hours after she left, they came for him. That only hours after she left, they subdued him long enough for someone to whisper the words that would send him back into the icy Hell of HYDRA's grasp into his ear.
    But when they got him back, just before they wiped him and put him back in the deep freeze until the next mission, one name repeated over and over in his mind, Shelley. Maybe, just maybe, there'd be enough left for him to remember one day.