6980/Back to their roots.

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Back to their roots.
Date of Scene: 17 July 2021
Location: Rural Delaware.
Synopsis: The boys get back to their roots. An old fashioned recon mission reveals something neither one of them were expecting.
Cast of Characters: James Barnes, Steve Rogers




James Barnes has posed:
    So, there's an elephant in the room that people aren't really talking about much. Steve's sick. Tomorrow, it's time to try to make Steve unsick. But tonight? Well, Bucky called his oldest friend.

    Steve, he said, remember back in the day when we were planning a mission and we actually went to the place and ran recon, then came back to camp and planned based on what we found? Let's do that with this one.

    Why? Because Bucky Barnes is tired of surprises, damnit. Sure, there's always going to be surprises, but some of those can be mitigated by good old fashion recon!

    So, he picked Steve up in a four-wheel drive SUV, dark in color; might be greenish, might just be black, it's matte and hard to tell really.

    It's about noon and they have a three hour drive ahead of them, so he likely plans on some distance day watching before creeping in closer at night.

    ...and what in the name of God are those things hooked to his ears? Sure, Steve probably knows who put them there, but what are they exactly.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"I'm using an inhaler, and you've got weird earrings," Steve comments. He looks at the device in his hand, shakes his head, and tucks it in his pocket. It's helping with the respiration issues and suppressing the wracking dry cough. Whatever he got injected with by Zola, the symptoms are progressive and getting harder to suppress with the sort of medications that the Avenger's doctors are willing to prescribe.

"You know, we keep this up and they're going to start making us sit at the dweebs table in the cafeteria." He props one foot on the dash and reaches for the bag of chips. It's carefully unrolled to make it easy to get into; Steve offers the bag to Bucky, since he's driving, then takes a few for himself.

James Barnes has posed:
    "Yeah, well... that'll just be a return to your youth for you," Bucky quips back. But Steve KNOWS it's with about as much fondness and love that one person can have for another and the shit still be platonic.

    "I stopped at that little bakery down the street from your apartment on the way out." He nods over his shoulder to the backseat. Dozen box of donuts, six are GONE. First sign that something's different, that for now, some sort of weight's been lifted off him; he's got that hella appetite he used to have back again. Second, he looks like he slept last night. Takes more than one night for his kind of sleep deprivation to correct the dark circles, but they're retreating.

    ...actually the first sign was probably the joke at the beginning.

    Bucky Barnes drives like he lives, fast and hard. He's always been that way though. At least now he has Super Soldier reflexes to keep them on the road? During the trip, he makes small talk like he hasn't done in years. 'Remember that time we used Rebecca's makeup to paint a face on the dog's butt? Remember when that dame slapped Pinky so hard he saw stars for a week? Remember, remember...

    The trip should take about three hours, they make it in two.

    "We'll walk in from here," he says as he turns the SUV down an old dirt road that leads to an abandoned barn. So, maybe he did SOME of this shit before they left via satellite, but there's still nothing like having real eyes on a place in his mind.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Nothing like a country stroll." Both of them are experienced soldiers with a lot of time in back country. So the load is comparatively light, some emergency rations along with the tools needed to make dinner from whatever they can forage. Rural Delaware isn't exactly lacking in edible flora and fauna.

This isn't a shootin' match though, so Steve's only weaponry for the recon mission is a hunting rifle and his sidearm. The shield's left locked up somewhere safe. Hiking boots, cargo pants, and a loose-fitting long sleeve shirt give him a thoroughly casual look. If anyone stumbles on them there are even hunter reflective vests in the pack to nail down the disguises.

"This reminds me of the time we went hunting in the Appalachians," he tells Bucky while he gets his gear in order. "And you found that game trail, and we followed it half a day before you realized it wasn't the foot path?" He grins over at Bucky. "You're not gonna get us lost again, righT?"

James Barnes has posed:
    "It was the weekend, I didn't want it to end," Bucky replies. His attire pretty much matches Steve's but he's added a baseball cap that he pulls his long hair up under. Maybe, especially with how chipper he seems today, he'll be ready to cut that mop off again and really let go of the past? Because it's not just that he likes to hide behind it, it's almost like a Scarlet Letter W for him. It's a physical reminder of who he used to be and never wants to be again.

    Weapons though? He has a few more tucked away here and there than Steve, at least more in the blade department, like the two in his boot and the one on the hip opposite his own sidearm. The rifle, it's a little longer range than Steve's preference but still passable with the 'disquise'.

    For now, his chattering will continue, but that'll only last until they get closer.

    "Did you ever meet Opal?" he asks as they walk. "She's running a bar in Yonkers, The Corral. You should check it out with me one night."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve shakes his head at the question and falls into an easy, ground-eating lope alongside Bucky. It's a loose-kneed gait that looks cumbersome but can cover the uneven terrain with surprising speed, a crossland jog that for a super-soldier can be maintained almost indefinitely.

"I think you mentioned her in passing a while back, but no, I don't think we've ever crossed paths," he tells Bucky. "What was she doing at the park that day, anyway? It's almost like she knew Jimmy was gonna shank you. Is she like Morrigan, like..." Fingers twitch, and Steve refrains from making the evil eye gesture. "On that topic-- when were you and Sam gonna tell me Morrigan knows magic?"

James Barnes has posed:
    "I didn't know you didn't know," Bucky replies, honest surprise there!

    "Opal? Nah, she's not a witch or ... whatever Morrigan is. She was a double-agent working for the Allies though, Peggy..." His voice does drop a little at the mention of their mutual friend. "... was actually her handler."

    So, that means this Opal is long-lived for *some* reason. "You'll like her. I've been spending a little time at the bar, helpin' out when she gets slammed." Because he has soooo much free time? "She has a place upstairs, sometimes I stay if it gets too late, if you ever need to find me and can't in all the usual places. We've actually been friends of a long time... even through..." The Winter years.

    So a girl, that he's obviously spending most of his free time with if he's spending any time with her at all, 'cause, well, lack of excessive free time and he stays there sometimes, but she's 'just a friend'?

    He switches subjects on a dime though, "So, these things in my ears? They'll keep my head mine, but I won't be much use getting us out if it comes too it. They work by turning those words into a screech that's somewhere between a Ms. Pendington yelling at us for cutting through her yard and a dying Banshee."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"I don't know what Morrigan is, I just know that Sam was pretty keen on her," Steve assures Bucky. "The magic ... tentacles thing, that was a surprise to me, too. Seems you guys are full of surprises these days."

"But if she was one of Peggy's assets, and you, uh..." He vaults a boulder and stands on a toppled tree trunk, peering through the woods from the higher vantage point. "well if you're staying the night at her place, I guess she can't be all bad," Steve allows. "Especially with the new earrings. I'm assuming Nadia came up with those?" he says, and gives the earrings a look containing vast mock criticism.

James Barnes has posed:
    "Yeah, she did." He reaches up and pulls the receiver off one side, the flat piece that's actually attached to the side of his head, behind his ear, not the 'earring' part. "She put something on my..." Bucky fishes for the word. He's not stupid, the man is far far from stupid, but he's also not Science-y or Medical-y. "Chokeular nerve?" Leave it to him to totally botch the word by turning it something that contains the word 'choke'?

    From the higher vantage point, their destination can be seen off in the distance and the place is HUGE. It sits in a little dip that's not quite deep enough to be a valley. To the north is a higher tree lined ridge that they can cut out and around to for the day watch.

    "She's a great gal, really." If asked, he'd insist they were nothing but friends, but if the tone of his voice and the little smile on his face when he talks about her is any indication, someone done went and found himself one of those relationship things? Or at least the start of one?

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve shrugs at Bucky's guess, shaking his head helplessly. He's not a medical guy. "She's a smart kid," Steve reassures Bucky. "And Janet thinks the world of her. I'm glad you two were able to find something to bond over. I'm just surprised you let a former Red Room assassin come near you with a knife."

He lands on the ground next to Bucky and claps his shoulder in passing to stir him from his reverie. "That's progress, Buck," he reassures him with a florid grin.

Steve surveys the distant location with his binoculars. The binos are new, but Steve's fitted some old-school anti-glare tubes to them so the lenses don't sparkle with sunlight. "Big facility. We'll need at least a day to camp on it. There's a ridgeline to the north that might work." He passes the binoculars to Bucky, waiting for his friend's opinion on the tactical approach.

James Barnes has posed:
    Bucky takes the binos after he puts that receiver back in place. "Yeah, I don't need comms anymore, just tune these bad boys in to the right frequency," he murmurs as he studies the lay of the land himself. He completely skips over the whole Red Room thing, which is probably progress too. He can't make himself *talk* about it, but he doesn't totally blip out over it either.

    His head whips from north to south quick, like he's spotted something.

    "Shit, Steve," he whispers, as if he's afraid someone might actually be listening to them or be able to see them? "Look at the trucks just pulling out of the motor pool."

    He passes them over.

    "That's not HYDRA, that's..."

    ...and it's a good bet they'll finish the thought at the same time once Steve has those binos for his own look.

    "...AIM."