6609/In a New York Minute.

In a New York Minute.
Date of Scene:	18 June 2021
Location:	Central Park
Synopsis:	Fate brings Devan and Shelley together again, but now they're Barnes and Cael. Can Bucky save her again, this time from a world that's about to go to shit on a shingle if SHIELD can't fix it.
Cast of Characters:	James Barnes, Cael Becker

---

James Barnes has posed:
    As much as Bucky is loathe to leave the Sphere and Peggy behind these days, being that far underground takes a toll after a while. He just needed some fresh air and to burn off a little steam. Not wanting to stray far, he decided to head to Central Park rather than any of his typical favorite running spots.
    His hair's pulled up under the his Nike baseball cap, he's sporting a pair of cheap sunglasses and he's dressed for the activity at hand, that is to say not like Bucky at all. Blue and white Adidas running pants, an unseasonably warm matching hoodie - to hide that arm, equally unseasonably warm gloves - hiding the hand... and Adidas running shoes mostly make him look like a college student out for a jog.
    He's holding it back to just a normal jogging pace.
    Is it happenstance or fate that brings him to a stop near Cael to tie a shoe lace? Is she on a park bench for a break, maybe running and lost in thought so she nearly trips over him? Is *anything* really happenstance?

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael has also been jogging - and if there's one thing you're taught to look out for - it's something out of place. Is someone going against the flow of traffic? Is someone carrying a bag that seems unusual or out of place? Is someone - say - dressed in an out-of-season hoodie, with a hat and sunglasses to help hide their identity? It's disconcerting. Could he be hiding a suicide bomb under there? Of a gun in the hoodie's pocket? She follows after Bucky, dressed in running pants of her own and a tank top. She runs past him when he stops - and comes to a halt a short while later, taking a few pulls from a waterbottle in her hand, and squirting some on her head - acting for all the world like she's a little overheated.
    She's not. Not particularly, anyways.

James Barnes has posed:
    It's certainly just happenstance when Bucky stands after tying his shoe and removes his sunglasses so he can reach up with his arm and wipe the sweat from his face with the sleeve of his hoodie.
    Those eyes.
    But it can't *be* him, can it?
    Those pale blue eyes come to land on Cael. His brow furrows ever so slight as a memory dances just out of reach. Who is she? He knows he knows her, but... from where?
    It's not the time since their last meeting that makes that thread so difficult to grasp, no, it's the holes left in his mind after four more years of HYDRA's torturous control.
    ... is it him? He hasn't aged a damned day if it is, but that's explainable.

Cael Becker has posed:
    As the man takes off his glasses and stares at her - Cael does her best not to stare back as a chill runs down her back. Was that- could he really be 'The Winter Soldier'? Was that //Devan//? She takes another sip from her bottle, and then sinks onto a nearby bench as she runs through her options, while keeping the man in the corner of her eyes. Call it in? That's what she's //supposed// to do. Confront him? She could be wrong. And even if she'd right- he hadn't been a threat to here before. ....had he?
    She certainly wouldn't be //here//, wouldn't be working for the Agency, possibly wouldn't even be alive - if not for that encounter.
    ...shit.

James Barnes has posed:
    It seems she'll have a moment or six to think on it. Bucky just stands there, that ninety yard stare, those unblinking blue eyes shadowed by the same unfathomable pain and suffering they held so may years ago. He almost looks as if he's gone into some sort of catatonic state. But really? He's struggling to find that hair thin thread of that memory that's escaping him and pull it gently, coax it closer without letting the thread snap.
    It's not an easy process.     ...almost as if involuntarily, he takes a step closer to Cael and it's like he's unaware of the word coming from his mouth when he says, "Shelley?" Barely a whisper.

Cael Becker has posed:
    It's the first time she's seen someone from //before// since the end of the trials. It's the first time she's heard someone say that name, to her, in years. It's a strange feeling. "'Devan,'" Cael answers - her tone a little wary. "Is this why you told me to move to New York?" she asks - pushing herself back to her feet - warily ready to move if this encounter somehow manages to go sideways.
    "It isn't 'Shelley' anymore, you know."

James Barnes has posed:
    He's said her name, so it's there somewhere, but Bucky still doesn't seem to *have* it yet.
    "Did I hurt you?" he asks in that barely there whisper. He's a little paler than he was just a moment ago. "I... I don't..." Sometimes they get all jumbled up in his head, bits and pieces of memories from those years.
    He shakes his head, trying to clear the fog, trying to remember. Shelley, he knows that much. He knows the name, but...
    "I don't understand..."
    His confusion, that soft tremulous voice, it's kind of heart string tugging that and so much the opposite of anything she's ever heard about The Winter Soldier.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "No, Devan," Cael answers, her brow furrowing in reponse to his unexpected behavior. "You didn't. You were hurt - and I helped you get away from some pursuit. And you gave me..." her lips quirk slightly in amusement, "Well, not really career advice. But some guidance that changed the trajectory of my life, significantly."

James Barnes has posed:
    Devan, he knows the name, still uses it sometimes actually. But he still corrects her, "My name's James, Sergeant James Barnes." He sounds almost like he's reminding himself.
    His fingers on his right hand tap one at a time against his thumb. Again and again, like he's counting in his head with each tap.
    Finally, "Phoenix..." Progress.
    Some of his color starts to rush back, the finger tapping stops and he puts his sunglasses back on.
    "You made them land you here," he says along with a ghost of a little smile. There it is, he found it! It took a little longer than a New York minute, but he found it.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Sargeant Barnes, then," she confirms before adding, "I'm Cael. And... you were right. The Fuzz did alright by me." There's still something uneasy in her expression - before she decides to simply come clean with it. She pulls out her identification, flashing him to him easily recognizeable FBI credentials. "I'm supposed to be calling you in right now," she says - her tone carefully neutral. "But I'm having a lot of trouble making sense of the stuff in your file, compared to my own memories and your comportment today. So, if you'll permit me... What the fuck?"
    Look, he knew her when she was just a street punk. She sees no real reason to stay formal.

James Barnes has posed:
    "You don't wanna do that," Bucky murmurs before gesturing to a nearby bench. "Sit down..."
    He looks a little defeated when he makes his own way toward that bench. Once he's settled, he leans forward, elbows on his knees and stares at the ground.
    "Those men that were after me that night? It was HYDRA." His voice is soft, his tone... flat and distant in a way that makes it seem as if he's trying to tell the story detached from himself. "I never lied to you, not really. I told you I was a military experiment, it just wasn't ours that experimented on me."

Cael Becker has posed:
    There's a momentary hesitation before Cael takes a seat beside Bucky, keeping her hands free. Her credentials have been tucked away out of sight once more as she listens. "You're right," she agrees. "I //don't// want to do that. But I have a sworn duty I'm trying to reconcile, here." To protect the people of New York, the United States - and even the world. To uphold the laws.
    "Alright. Some Russian assholes experimented on you, and used you to commit terrorist acts against your will? Is that the gist of it?" she asks.

James Barnes has posed:
    "Yeah, pretty much, for seventy years," Bucky replies in nothing more than a ghost of a haunted whisper. "I was given the Russian equivalent of the Super Soldier serum during World War II while I was a POW. Later, after I was rescued and the Howling Commandos were formed, I fell from a train. They thought I was dead, HYDRA found me." ...and destroyed his life, is still destroying it to this day.
     He glances toward Cael out of the corner of his eye and adds, "The FBI won't give two shits about you finding The Winter Soldier if that's what you're thinking. The high ups know where I am, or they did..." Just a beat, two... okay maybe three as he weighs his options and his next words, "They would care only in the fact that I'm a Specialist for SHIELD now. ...and well, we've been truly and royally fucked by HYDRA." SHIELD, aren't they... the bad guys now? Or aren't they supposed to be?
    Is there nothing about this dude that's just *easy*?

Cael Becker has posed:
    "The 'higher-ups' know," Cael repeats. That well above her paygrade, as the rookiest of FBI agents. She watches the man - studying his features, trying to figure how much is truth - how much is being held back. "How has SHIELD been 'fucked' by Hydra?" she asks. "And who, specifically, in the FBI knows about where you are and can confirm any of this?" Of course - by the time she confirms it - he's in the wind, and she's already failed in her duty... damnit.

James Barnes has posed:
    Bucky turns his head fully toward Cael now. Something about that damned kid seven years ago pulled at him and whatever it was is still there today. "Shel... Cael, you trusted me before, right? And you're here now because of it? You need to trust me again, okay. You can't tell *anyone* that you've seen me, not until this shit shakes loose and SHIELD is back where they need to be." Because currently, they're persona non grata to the last man.
    "You gotta be careful kid... *nothing* is what it seems. The Goddamned Secretary of Defense is a HYDRA plant."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "The Secretary of Defense is working for Russia?" Cael repeats - there's doubt in her voice. This guy- sure, he did her a solid. Changed the entire course of her life for the better - probably saved her life. But there's enough evidence to imply he may not be the sanest person around. And that's some crazy shit right there. "What evidence you got for that? You're asking me to take an awful lot on faith - Barnes." Still - her hands remain empty. She knows damned well she can't detain him herself. And she's pretty certain he could smash her phone before she got a call out.

James Barnes has posed:
    "None, that's the problem, we can't prove any of it yet," Bucky replies. "But they infiltrated SHIELD and the Triskelion," pretty well known SHIELD headquarters that... "...and made us out to be the monsters in the dark. "But think about it, kid, just *think* about it. How long has SHIELD been protecting national security? Fucking Captain America was associated with them, half the Avengers work for SHIELD too. Do you *really* believe they were terrorists this entire time? Does that make a lick of sense?"
    A beat and a half, "You want proof that I'm on the level? I got one thing I can offer. You can meet with me and Stev... Captain America together."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Honestly - all of it sounds pretty fucking insane," Cael answers. "No matter which way I look at it." Her gaze is on Bucky, studying him - her expression troubled. "Honestly, it'd probably be simpler if it turned out you were just deranged." But is that what she believes? She's unsure. "I know I was trying to help you back in Phoenix - but it turned out //you// did //me// a solid. My whole life... would be different. I'd be dead, or in jail, or... some sort of monster who's dead inside. It's a little crazy to think that so much hinged on just... one moment. One decision."
    She's silent for a moment before asking, "So - you got Cap on speed dial, huh? Can he meet us here?" she asks - with both eyebrows raised.

James Barnes has posed:
    "I do have him on speed dial," Bucky replies along with a little half grin that almost reaches his eyes. "I'm Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, 107th infantry regiment and the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country. ... I'm also Steven Rogers' childhood best friend. Don't you ever visit museums?"
    His smile fades, but there's still a warmth and fondness in his voice. "He's the one that believed in me, brought me in from the cold when everyone else figured I was a lost cause, a rabid dog to be put down. But, I happen to know that he's a mile underneath the city right now, standing guard in some fucked up, messed up giant ass sphere of a computer thing with no cell service. Give me twenty-four hours..."
    ... He pulls his cell phone from his pocket and uses his teeth to pull the glove off his right hand. It takes him much longer than it should to get to where he wants to be in the thing... three years out of the cold isn't a long time to master modern electronics after all.
    "Until then, here..." He holds the phone out. The screen shows a picture of him and Steve, both dressed in modern clothing, casual... Bucky's doing corny 'rabbit ears' with his fingers behind Steve's head. A German Shepherd stands between them. "Peggy Carter...," a SHIELD legend that one and as old as Steve and Bucky, "...took this about five months ago. He gave me that dog, her name's Lili. She's a service dog trained to deal with PTSD. I thought it was joke at first, but that dog's helped me through some bad nights for sure."
    Could he be making all that up? It really really doesn't seem so.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "When do I have time for museums?" Cael answers. "Besides - who pays any attention to history?" Is it possible she's just trying to rib him? It's not clear.
    She studies the picture though, then turns to stare unseeing across Central Park as she considers her options. He's a fuckin' //super soldier// with a metal arm. She's just... an FBI rookie. If she makes this encounter antagonistic, it won't go well for her. And maybe he's on the up-and-up? And even if he isn't - she stands to learn more and accomplish more by stringing him along.
    "Fine," she agrees. "I owe you that much, at least. Twentyfour hours. I meet Cap. ... we go get ice cream or something. What's your flavor?" She's kidding, right? But no - she's looking at him expectantly. As if the answer to this question //matters//.
    What? Everyone should take ice cream seriously.

James Barnes has posed:
    "I'm a vanilla kinda guy, with sprinkles," Bucky replies. It's him in a nutshell really. Beneath it all, way down where it matters, he's still just Bucky Barnes from Brooklyn. Just a simple guy.
    But it's time to get serious again. "Until then, you can't tell *anyone* about anything I've told you. You might not be safe if you do."
    He pushes himself to his feet. "I gotta get, I've been gone too. Meet you here tomorrow, same time?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Vanilla?" Cael groans. "Barnes, there is something //wrong// with you." Yeah. All she already knows about him - but 'vanilla with sprinkles' is the problem.
    As for the question, she considers it - then responds with a nod. "I'll be here," she agrees. Was it an elborate ruse - to set something up? Get back up in place to make it less obvious and dramatic if he tries to get rid of her? But if so - why pick Central Park again? I really does seem unlikely.
    Still. Maybe she can set up a precaution or two of her own. "I won't tell anyone," she promises.
    Yet.