[closed]

[deadthenred]

Who: Annie Walker (smithsonian) & Bucky Barnes (deadthenred)
What: Rise of the Ryders quest.
When: Late September.
Where: Somewhere slummy in Wyver.
Warning(s): Possible violence?

[ The first time he was here, Bucky joined the Olympian Royal Guard, because it was the first place to ask. He'd been less skeptical of his orders, back in those days, more unblinkingly loyal. Less inclined to asking questions. This time around, he has more doubts. For one, the Natha were gone, the space station in shambles. And on the ground things weren't much better. Bucky wanted to get a better look at Wyver and he wanted to do what he could to help the people in the aftermath of the apparent disaster. So he took Heryn up on her quest to try and root out the old guard turned bad. And if he can get a better idea of what is really going on, well, so much the better.

He tracks down one of Rasyc’s old followers to an underground gambling house outside of the city proper, hidden in an abandoned warehouse. Bucky's there to scope out the scene— see who comes in and out, maybe get a few more leads before shutting the place down. But the first person he sees isn't one of Rasyc’s men. It's a vaguely familiar blonde. ]

Hey. [ He says, approaching her, not a little confused. ] You're… Annie, right?

[ The "what are you doing here?" question goes unsaid. At least for a moment. ]

Comments

[smithsonian]

[Though Annie still hasn't picked a true side, she understands the need for an organized force of good, no matter the area that it takes place in. To that end, she'd overheard someone talking about finding Rasyc's followers - apparently reponsible for a lot of the chaos currently going on - and she'd offered to help.

Following people who appear shady is something she's used to. It's her job, and it feels like old times as she hovers inside the warehouse, watching the different tables. She's good with cards, not so much with dice (despite her history), and though she hasn't been asked to prove herself, she holds a drink and watches... until someone says her name.

She recognizes him, the man who'd helped her when she'd first woken up and she glances around to make sure no one else is listening.]

Right.

[Ask if you wanna ask, Bucky.]

[deadthenred]

[ "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this," would be a cliche, right?

What Bucky actually thinks is that she could have gotten deep into the criminal gang in her limited time here. So either she's here looking for a way up the ladder, or she's here for the same reason he is. He's gonna assume the latter. Which might be a mistake, but, well, he's made a few of those before. ]

Just a warning. [ He follows her lead pitches his voice so that any onlookers won't be able to hear them. ] Things go south pretty quick when I get involved. [ He expects fighting, is what he means, even if he's not exactly looking for a fight. The next thing he says a bit louder, for the benefit of any onlookers. ]

Do you know where the bar is?

[smithsonian]

I'll walk you.

[She's wearing four inch heels, but her stride isn't hampered in any way and she's wearing black slacks to go with the red blouse she's acquired so she could either be a criminal mastermind or someone working to bring it all down. As they walk, she drops her voice to intimate in order to look as though they might be discussing plans for later to any outsider, but what she says is:]

South doesn't bother me. I can hold my own. [At the bar, she leans over and asks for whiskey before turning back and looking him up and down.] What brings you in?

[deadthenred]

[ Bucky is not wearing four-inch heels, just a nondescript leather jacket and dark pants. He asks for vodka. When the bartender's back is turned, he says: ]

This place is full of Rasyc's followers. [ And maybe a few sketchy bystanders, too. He wasn't sure how deep this thread went, and what would unravel if he pulled at it. ] It could be an asset.

[ And maybe he's being naive to just tell her that, too trusting. She could definitely blow whatever cover he has. ]

[smithsonian]

So. [She looks back around the bar, curious now how he's going to do whatever it is he's going to do.

As soon as the bartender gives Bucky the vodka and slides over the whiskey - which Annie thanks him for with a smile - she takes a breath, but doesn't drink right away.] What's your current plan?

[Hopefully, she's giving him no reason to distrust her; her goal is to prove that he can trust her with whatever he's trying to do without giving any obvious signs to anyone who might be watching.]

[deadthenred]

Plan A is seeing who comes in and out, and who leaves with who. [ He leans back from the countertop, giving the place a casual once over, but keeping his voice close. ] People watching.

[ He takes a sip of his vodka and raises an eyebrow, recalling something Nick Fury told him once about HYDRA. ] Plan B is we burn it down.

[ But he's willing to listen if she has other ideas. ]

[smithsonian]

Sounds like a good plan.

[Her tone may have been dry, but she fixed him with half a smile to let him know that she was totally on board. Maybe not with burning the place down - he'd be on his own for that, probably - but the rest of it? She was good at observations and she'd definitely have his back no matter what.]

Seen anything so far?

[She's aware she arrived late to the metaphorical party.]

[deadthenred]

[ Bucky hopes this sting doesn't go bad. If there's fighting, the asset is blown.

But he knows he has a bit of a track record. ]

At your two o' clock. [ He doesn't move or gesture, and hopes she doesn't either. No point in letting a mark know he's been marked. ] He's had three meetings so far. Someone comes in, sits down, talks for half an hour, and leaves. He pays for all their drinks.

[ And it seems like the current meeting is going sour, based on how the two people at the table are gesturing. ]

[smithsonian]

[Annie doesn't move any muscles, but her eyes turn slightly to check out the man there as she lifts her glass to take a small sip. It allows her to finish listening to Bucky and watch for a moment.]

Someone's not happy.

[deadthenred]

Can you hear what they're saying?

[ Bucky thinks he can make out the word "weapon" but it's hard to be sure. But maybe her hearing is better than his— that's not new to him. either back home, or here, where a lot of people have powers that he doesn't. ]

[smithsonian]

[She's just a normal human, no special powers whatsoever (though she can speak several different languages).

Annie still doesn't look at the table, but she drops her chin a little so she can concentrate on listening from that direction.]

No. [She tilts her head in the negative, then risks a glance in the direction of the table.] Something was stolen from him?

[She's honestly not sure. Was it a double cross? Someone working against him from his team?]

[deadthenred]

[ He leans his head to the side but doesn't change the way his eyes are pointed. He's a little less worried about being made, now, as the other table is causing enough of a commotion that it's easy to be distracted. No one else in the place is turning to watch, though. ]

Wanna try and get closer?

[ It's a bit more risky, but maybe they could hear something more definite. ]

fastforward

[deadthenred]

[ After clearing out the gang, they head to another bar, one that isn't a terrorist front, because clearly there are some things to discuss. The place is quiet and discreet— not the sort of bar with ears in the walls, but Bucky still plans to sit in a shadowy booth by the corner, and not where the bartender can overhear them.

But first, they have to order drinks. ]

I'm buying. [ He's a gentleman. ] The first round, anyway. [ Sort of. ]

[smithsonian]

[Such a gentleman.]

Then I'm still drinking whiskey.

[She sits across from him, her back to the rest of the bar. She doesn't feel like it's a bad position to be in, considering he's had her back for the rest of the night. If something else were to happen, she has a feeling he'd still be on her side. If not, well, she'll deal with that then.

For now, she watches him carefully.] So. Maybe not actually an acquisitions specialist for the Smithsonian.

[She remembers what she told him when they met on the Station.]

[deadthenred]

[ He figured. ]

So what. FBI? Langley? [ She wouldn't have a cover like that if she wasn't based in DC, is his thinking. ]

For the record, I really was in the army.

[smithsonian]

I believe you.

[She lifts a shoulder and, because she's fairly sure that there's no one left awake to judge her for her confession, she tells him the truth.] I was - am - an operations officer for the CIA.

[She inhales and looks around.]

Right before all this, my boss had walked into my kitchen and shot me. Twice. In the chest. Next thing I know? I'm waking up in one of those pods.

[deadthenred]

[ Bucky's never been directly betrayed by a superior— not like that, anyway. He keeps his gaze low. ]

Hell of a cliffhanger.

[ He could make a joke. "The medical care's pretty good here." But he swallows that instinct. ]

I wasn't just in the Army. I had an OSS clearance, during the war.

[ His voice trails off, unsure of how to come to the next part of that story. ]

[smithsonian]

[For his comment, Bucky gets a huff of a laugh; it's not funny, but it kind of is.

Then he goes on with his own - is it a confession, given what he says? - and Annie tips her head at him before looking around the bar, then focusing back on his face.]

The OSS was dissolved in 1945. [She blinks once, then looks him over.] So, you mean the war.

[deadthenred]

I guess I do.

[ He runs a hand through his hair, defeated. The war was a habitual reference point, how he ordered his life. And things to so mixed up here that it was easy to forget how strange that really was. ]

The one with the Nazis, anyway.

[smithsonian]

Yeah.

[She breathes it, still watching him.]

You said it was 2016 for you. That you were thirty-one.

[deadthenred]

I look thirty-one, right?

[ He wasn't lying, exactly. It just got hard to keep track.

Okay, definitely at least a fib. ]

[smithsonian]

That's not an answer. [To a question she hasn't asked.] How did you fight Nazis in World War Two and still...

[A breath.]

How?

[deadthenred]

Same way everyone got here, more or less. You woke up on that ship after being in stasis for who knows how long, and it wasn't like any time passed at all, right?

[ He hesitates. ]

Could've been a day. Could've been a century.

[smithsonian]

No. [She shakes her head.] That's not what you said.

You specifically said it'd been 2016 before-- [She stops and sits back, looking at him before she reaches for her drink, which she downs.]

Thanks for the drink.

[deadthenred]

It was 2016 for me. [ He isn't trying to be evasive. ] I'm 93. But I wasn't awake for most of it. [ The years, he means.

His life, or whatever passes for it. ]