Avengers RP Lost Souls Brought by Forgotten Memories - ABANDONED

The Winter Soldier had been lost in his thoughts, the Captain was correct. So, Kerica and Steve - that was his name, wasn't it? - were a thing, or so he believed. It was difficult to tell, he had been learning basic human emotions and actions all over again slowly. His body language dictionary consisted of "I want to fight you" and "I surrender". So, even if he saw how gently but firmly Quicksilver was holding J.J., and found Kerica's actions amusing in some part of his brain he hadn't unlocked yet, everything just didn't make sense in the long run. He couldn't figure it out and it frustrated him.

Finally he realized the Captain had addressed him and he looked up, "Then talk. Unless of course, it's private...in which case I don't see a place we could do that," Bucky arched a brow at him, tossing his head to get his long hair from his face. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and looking at him expectantly.

Clint snorted and Tony shook his head as Steve faltered again, but composed himself. Steve let go his Captain persona for a bit. This was information he wanted to know personally too. "What made you betray Hydra?" It was the only thing that surrounded the multitude of questions he had. "You wanted to find me, so you did...but what for?" Was it for the same reason Steve and Falcon had looked for him? Not even finding a trace of the ghost so to speak?

What did Bucky remember? Steve wanted so desperately to find out, but the only way he was going to get that information was by being specific.

"You've no idea what they've done to me," Bucky grunted, "Electro-therapy, torture, basically brainwashing me. Anyone in their right mind would get out the moment they could, which I did," he shook his head, "I want to remember who I was. You keep calling me Bucky, and it's nice to actually have a name instead of just /Soldier/ or Winter Soldier. I haven't had a reason to distrust you. You were following orders and trying to not die, and I even though my orders were to kill you, I really don't see why besides you're in Hydra's way."

It pained him to know how much his best friend went through. He couldn't imagine, didn't want to imagine. He been in war, he knew the techniques even though he never would approve of them. It didn't surprise him one bit that Hydra would be brutal to him. However, that meant that Bucky carried a lot of scars and a lot of triggers. Steve took a breath and let it out slowly, his mind wrapping around the story. "So you don't care that I call you that?" Steve questioned. "It was a nickname from your middle name." He offered that to him. It was only fair that he had the option of knowing his full name. "What about her?" Steve gestured towards J.J.

He'd get to see records of who he was eventually, so Bucky didn't ask, "I'm fine with Bucky for now. Anyway, as for her...it was in Germany. They were too focused on the twins in Russia, pooling resources and talking among themselves to get ready to face the lot of you. They didn't really care about me, so I slipped out going on a "mission"," he did air quotes, something he'd picked up from the little one, "She was being chased by some soldiers. She is a traveler, has almost been around the world, but she'd lost her passport. The guy caught her and I was just watching, didn't much care for what was happening...but then I watched the guy go from pissed off to docile and friendly. She did it after touching her hands to his skin. /That/ was what intrigued me. So I followed her after she got away."

This is where Bucky rubbed his forehead in exasperation, "She did it almost to everyone she met if they acted hostile towards her. I noticed she was a bit clumsy, too, mostly tripping over her two left feet. I didn't realize...just how /bad/ she is though until later. She was train hopping, and was going to head to Russia next. The damn klutz tripped off the ledge as the train was coming by. Reflex took over and I jumped down to move her out of the way and onto the gravel on the other side. I yelled at her, told her she should watch where she was going. She was so confused why she couldn't do anything to me until she realized this is a prosthetic," he flexed his metal arm. "It kind of just...went from there. I realized her potential but she was in no way a fighter, so if I went in somewhere and didn't want too much trouble, she'd go in for me first to get people off guard and then they'd be easy pickings. She's gotten hurt several times, almost died once, but she's a tough one. She keeps coming back just as determined to help me as she was before. She has her ways on getting you to spill your deep dark secrets. It's scary...but a relief in a way. Hard to explain."

Clint took all of this in just as Steve was listening to this as well. He shared a look with the Black Widow. Sounds like she's not as useless as we thought.

Steve whistled, that was a wild story from start to finish. But it was starting to make sense. Well, now he could relax a little. If she almost died once, then a bomb explosion must have just been another day. "Goddamn." He shook his head and, sighed. "I don't know what kind of story I was expecting, but not that." He eyed Bucky a little wearily. "I'm taking that you traveled for a bit, trying to get more information. What did you learn and made you decide to face me again? I've been searching, looking all over for you if I thought I heard a hint about you. But either you knew I was and avoided me, or we kept missing each other."

"I think it's because we kept missing each other," Bucky nodded, "I wasn't actively avoiding you, at least. I decided to find you because everywhere I looked it was always the same thing. Stuff about my body, how it worked, what I went through, the research, but just nothing about who I was before I became...this," he looked down at himself a bit before looking back at Steve, "I knew that the only one who could help me was you. I attacked this building hoping the information room would have what I wanted, but it probably would've been another dead end anyway."

"So it was more coincidence that we crossed paths than anything else," Natasha looked at the USB drive, "I'm not sure if we even got what we were after. The computers were acting strange and the information just looked...off. We won't know anymore until we can plug it in, though."

"It could be a throw-away." Tony added from his position in the cockpick. "Though why they'd set up something that elaborate is beyond me. Whatever works. We fell for it hook line and sinker if the information's faulty."

Clint clicked his tongue. "It'd be a waste of our time if it was. It'll mean that Hydra's getting picky about where they're hiding and we'll have to start being more thorough about where we hit. As if we weren't already combing the places with a fine tooth comb."

The air was freezing cold, J.J realized as she started to open her eyes. Her head started to pound the moment light touched her eyes and she closed them.Like someone was beating her with a bat, or with a club. Something hard and heavy. She let out a soft groan of pain as she wiggled, trying to get more comfortable and to get closer to the warmth, but unable to. Her body was aching, throbbing in time with her migraine that she managed to get. She opened her eyes again, keeping them half-lidded. The less light the better. She caught on that they were talking about the USB and how the information might be cooked. She was somewhere with people and she knew Bucky was around because she heard his voice. She felt...safe knowing that. "Coulda...saved y'all some time." Her voice was thick with her southern accent since she was so tired and her voice barely carried over the sound of the engines.

"What do ya mean by that, J.J.?" Pietro asked gently, trying not to talk too loudly, "Ya have a concussion, so don't exert yourself."

"Did you know it would be a waste of time?" Bucky frowned at her.

J.J tried shaking her head, but let out a sharp whine and hiss. Right...concussion. That explains why the light was killing her worse than a migraine would. She really hoped that the plane ride wouldn't take too long. She'd prefer her feet on the ground and curled up in a ball somewhere. "No..." She said after a moment. "But if I...saw the thing that you guys saw...it wouldn't take me long to figure out if it's fake. Wish I touched a Hydra agent...probably know more too..."

That explained a bit why she was trying to get to the information room. Not only was she trying to subdue the Hydra agents, she was going to go up to see if there was anything worth stealing. Now things were starting to click. "Photographic memory." Tony spoke up, turning around to face them now that the Jet was running on autopilot for now. "Are you telling me you're a genius too? Man we got Banner, we got me...we got Vision. We're going to be a team of super geniuses."

"Please no, we don't need you to have more of bloated ego and corrupting a kid." Clint rolled his eyes. "You already have Banner and Vision. You don't need anymore people here."

"Yes but you have the twins." Tony pointed out. "And Natasha."

"I highly doubt I'm corrupting Wanda and Pietro." Clint turned to look at the two of them. "Am I corrupting you two?"

Wanda blinked. Sometimes when the team started talking like this, she didn't know what the correct answer was or what to say. She knew it was all in good fun however. "I don't think I've been corrupted..." She looked at her brother and then paused. "Vell...I can't say the same for my brother. He picks up your vit sometimes."

Pietro snickered, "Dah, old man, you're definitely corruptin' me. Dat's okay, though, I much prefer being corrupted by ya than Hydra."

"Having a photographic memory makes her smart but not a super genius," Buck went back to the topic at hand, not entirely sure how to deal with the funny banter, "Another reason why I kept her around. She could remember things by taking a glance at it if we were in a hurry."

"It's not much longer until we reach our new base," Vision piped up after a while, "We can figure out more complicated matters when we arrive. Some of you need rest I'm sure." He looked at Scarlet mainly, but she wasn't the only one who had fought.

Steve nodded. "Resting comes first...and we should get you to Dr. Rivera when we land." He looked over at J.J but she had fallen back asleep. He shook his head from side to side keeping his eyes away from Bucky for right now. He didn't want him to see that he was troubled. He was a little worried. He was worried about how the Agents were going to react seeing him there. He was worried about the fight that he'd have to put up.

He looked over at Kerica. She wasn't pouting anymore, whatever she had going on seemed to have worn off even though he kept a mental note to ask her about it. She was calm, listening to what was going on, saying nothing. She was a good listener, knowing that sometimes it was better to stay silent than to speak. He knew that out of everyone on the ship, Kerica would support him against Fury should something go down. Kerica, Natasha, and Clint would be able to get Bucky some sort of appeal should Steve fail.

But if all that failed...

He didn't want to lose his best friend again. He couldn't.

()

"Tessa, we have two new patients for you, but don't freak out," Kerica called and let Bucky through the door, Quicksilver following behind him with a semi-conscious J.J. in his arms. She wobbled too much to walk, and after hearing how clumsy she was, it was just easier to carry her. "No one else is hurt. Steve's just got some cuts on his arms he's cleaning up as he changes out of his uniform. He'll be right over," she added.

Bucky looked around the room, noting it was large enough to hold several of the Avengers at once. Dr. Rivera was bustling about getting supplies, but didn't look up until she had what she wanted. He stiffened, expecting her to give him a similar look the other S.H.I.E.L.D agents gave him.

The woman looked like a model. Had to be a model. Her skin was a tanned gold and her hair was tied up in a professional ponytail. She wore the lab-coat and she was tall. Her legs were lean and made up most of her body. She wore a nude high heels which made her legs look even more fantastic really. "For once I had hoped to not have to treat injuries." Teresa clicked her tongue as she looked over at the girl. "Set her on the bed, Pietro, I'll tend to her first."

Her attention was caught when she looked over to see who the "second" patient was and had to pause. He was...a lot more muscular than she had originally thought and he was good looking. Harsh around the eyes and he had a protective stance. Was he worried about the girl, or was he worried about something else? "Steven talks about you." She offered in a way of a greeting. "You're...Bucky yes? I'm Teresa Rivera. It's a pleasure to meet you finally. Maybe now he'll shut up or find something else to worry about, like finding a way to ask Keri on a date."

"I like her." J.J slurred a little as she felt something against her back. Oh was this a bed? It was a bed right? She could fall asleep...once she had a blanket or something. And maybe the lights dimmed. God they hurt and it was just easier to keep her eyes closed. "Good vibes."

Teresa snapped into professional mode all of the sudden and walked away from Bucky. She couldn't believe herself. "You can sit on the bed next to your companion if you want." She told Bucky as she took off her stethoscope and pressed it against J.J's chest. "It may help her relax knowing she has a familiar face."

Kerica's face was beat red from the date comment, but Bucky didn't acknowledge her, too focused on the woman. The height had been the first thing he noticed, the hair second. It was mostly brown, with blond highlights of sorts. When she had turned around the way her skin glowed in the light of the room made him give pause. Her eyes were dark. A brown color, but he couldn't make out the shade.

Slowly walking over to a bed, he sat down upon it and reached over to pat J.J.'s cheek, "You should stay awake. Let the Doctor treat you, tell her what hurts and when she's done you can sleep."

Quicksilver shifted, "I'm going to go get changed, too, and get something to eat. Take care of her, Doc." He headed for the door, but kept looking back at her until he had rounded the corner outside the infirmary.

Teresa watched as J.J hummed her consent to both Bucky's comment and that she acknowledged that Pietro was leaving. Huh, Pietro usually showed that kind of reluctance towards his twins sister when she was in here. "Already can guess you have a headache." A slight nod. "A concussion probably..." She took out a miniature flashlight and tried to look at J.J's pupils, but she jerked her head away quickly. She clicked her tongue. "Do you see halos around the lights?" A nod. "Do you usually have headaches? Migraines?" Another nod. "Considering Pietro carried you here, I'm going to take a good guess that you couldn't walk straight." She looked at J.J. "Do you remember how you got the concussion?"

"'xplosion." J.J murmured, squeezing her eyes shut at the talk. Too much. Too much. But she'll deal. She could feel Bucky's hand against her skin and it was soothing in it's own way. She wasn't feeding off of him and she wasn't trying to send any emotions to him. It was just a comfort...something safe. "Got thrown."

Steve walked into the medi-bay just as J.J explained how she got so badly injured and had to do a double-take. Bucky was leaning over J.J, being very careful not to get into Dr. Rivera's way and was gently brushing her cheek and hair with his hand, in a soothing, big brother way. Steve's heart lurched. He remembered how Bucky would soothe Rebecca, his little sister, that way. How Rebe would calm down with just a touch. J.J was an empath, she probably didn't take to touching unless she had to...and was melting in Bucky's petting. It looked like it kind of brought Bucky at ease as well.

Without saying a word, he got to Kerica's side, watching the two of them mutely.

"Yeah you have a nasty cut on your forehead." Teresa agreed as she pushed J.J's hair back to see if there was a reason for the headaches besides the concussion. "Doesn't need regular stitches though, but you could use some butterfly bandages. What else hurts? Can you tell with the headache?"

"Can't...really move my wrist. I think's my right."

Teresa nodded briskly as she quickly turned her attention to the right wrist and gently started to move it, trying to see if it was broken or what. "I might want to get an x-ray of this." She said softly as J.J whined. "It's not broken, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Thankfully we don't have to move you so if you pass out you get to skip the boring stuff."

"'Tis is far from borin'." J.J replied solemnly.

"Sounds like you've been through the ringer then." Teresa replied lightly. "Have you injured your wrist before? Could it be an old injury acting up?"

"Fell down on it when I was little." J.J yawned, covering her mouth with her left hand before bringing it down. "Long time ago."

Teresa nodded, quickly jolting all of this down as she listened to J.J. "Okay. I don't mean to be mean, but Bucky switch places with Kerica. Kerica close the curtains for me and help me get her into a gown so that she doesn't have to sleep in something tight." And so she could easily check the rest of her body without her feeling self-conscious.

"You make it sound like he's never seen me nude before." J.J teased.

Steve had to raise an eyebrow, but then remembered that she was a traveler and she had been with Bucky for a good few months. To her it must be a little overrated to have privacy around him since she's been with him for so long. Or it was just J.J. Steve didn't know.

"Just trying to preserve what little dignity you must have left." Teresa responded in a teasing manner.

Kerica giggled and Bucky stood up, doing as the doctor ordered. The gruff man looked back as the curtains were being shut, "We'll be right out the door." With that, he patted Steve's arm and walked out of the immediate area, but just leaned against a nearby wall so he could keep an eye on the curtains through the glass, "So...Steve?" he said as the door closed all the way, "Even Dr. Rivera said maybe you could focus on something other than me, like asking Kerica on a date. Are you being skittish or do you really not care about her /that/ way?"

~

Back inside Kerica looked at the two women, "Tessa...is it stupid to want to take care of him even if he doesn't really need it?" she started helping remove J.J.'s clothes, starting with her shoes, "Quicky was using Wanda's handkerchief to clean up her forehead injury, and all I could do was wipe off a stupid little dirt smudge on his chin."

Steve blinked, a little surprised that Bucky was asking him that kind of question. At the same time, he was kind of pleased. "Well..." He paused, wondering how he was going to talk about this. "I do care about her." He said slowly. "Granted I don't know much about her lifestory, but I do know that she joined S.H.I.E.L.D in order to protect herself and learn how to do that. She has wit, determination, and hell lot of guts. She's a survivor. I suppose when it all boils down to it, I'm a little on the skittish side. Natasha's been trying to hook me up with someone for a long time."

~
"It's not stupid." Tessa disagreed as she helped J.J pull off her shirt as Kerica was busy working on the shoes. She was kind of thankful that the woman didn't mind sitting up for a bit to help and she was also doing her best to do some of the undressing. She decided to let Kerica worry about taking off her jeans while she went to the cupboard above the bed and took down a gown for J.J to wear. "What's stupid is your comparison. You want to take care of him. No one /needs/ to be taken care of. I can bet you that if you asked J.J or Bucky if they needed someone to take care of them, they'd scoff at you."

"Huh?" J.J was a little surprised to being brought into a conversation. "What?"

"Hush." Teresa said gently as she adjusted the gown to fit J.J's form. "But they'd also tell you that it's not a need, it's a want. They want to take care of each other. So...all you have to do, Keri, is figure out how you want to take care of Steve. If bandaging his wounds isn't the road, then there's something else."

"Hug him." J.J offered weakly. "He doesn't get a lot of those."

Teresa gestured as if to say "and there you go, there's your start."

"What kind of person is she? I know J.J. doesn't much like being touched, considering her powers. It does overwhelm her from time to time - like how she was all wound up after touching Quicksilver. Does Kerica like being touched? Have you seen how she acts around people she's comfortable with?" Bucky's brows furrowed deeply as he thought of how she'd acted in the short time she's been in the picture, "Her body twitches a lot."

~

"Hug him?" Kerica's face tinted pink all over again, "Um...I'll uh...start slower, find out if it's okay to touch him first of all. Maybe a shoulder massage if he's sitting down somewhere. Natasha says my massages are sinful."

"Kerica's a person that thrives on touch." Steve agreed. "She gives Pietro, Silver I mean, drive-by hug every chance she runs passed him if he's stationary. She gives out massages to those that need it. She reminds me a lot of a cat if I'm perfectly honest." A complete opposite from J.J it seemed.
~

J.J snickered as Teresa helped the girl into a lying position and reached up into the cupboard to bring out a blanket. Once she tossed it over the girl, she looked over at Kerica. The clothes were dirty as hell and were torn in places. Probably would be better to see if there was a way to borrow clothes else where. "Then start there." She told Kerica seriously. "Offer him a place of solitude so he can wind down before you start though. He's a Captain through and through." She walked out from the curtains and gave the guys a wave as she hunted down her x-ray machine.

Once she found it, she walked back through the curtains and turned it on. It was a little bigger than the body scanner Natasha and Tony had in the Jet's first-aid kit, but it was more detailed and precise. She picked up J.J's wrist, and carefully scanned it. "Yeah...just a sprain." She murmured as she put her wrist back down, noticing that J.J was truly out cold. "That poor thing's going to sleep through tomorrow I'm willing to bet." She sighed. "Tuckered out and everything." She looked at Kerica. "So...you have an idea on how you want to take care of your man now? Cuz if you do, then we open the curtain."

"Sounds like she makes friends quickly. If you like me, great, if you don't fuck off type of girl." Bucky chuckled, "I...am not really sure, but something tells me you're not really a flirt. Hell, I'm not...at least, not anymore. I don't know what I used to be, but this is me now. Instead of flirting, though...just be a gentleman. You're Captain America, you and I are both from the old times - I do know that much. I have seen what American women are like these days, but the way she dashed forward to open the door for Silver to help, I think she'd be perfectly happy if you're chivalrous and simple. She's not very fancy, not like Natasha. Start at the bottom and work your way up."

~

"I am grateful for you help. I mean...you're not really a romanticist, but you're realistic," Kerica smiled and reached for the curtain. Bucky saw her and nodded, moving to open the door. Waving at Tessa, she moved to join Steve, "Hey...um...how do you feel about a midnight snack in the cafeteria? Dinner was a while ago, and all that stress and fighting I'm sure made you hungry. I'm not overly hungry, I just want something to munch on." She really wanted to get to a calmer situation were they could just chill out and relax. Fury wasn't going to show up and start throwing a shit-storm until tomorrow, anyway. Tessa was right, she needed to get him out of Captain Mode.

Steve blinked, a little surprised by the offer, but smiled warmly. "I could use a bite." He agreed. Dinner had been a while ago, but he could use something to eat. "Allow me to escort you?" he offered her his arm to her in a gentlemanly way. "If you don't mind that is."
~
Teresa watched them from the glass, eyeing how Steve offered his arm to Kerica and rolled her eyes. "I swear." She murmured fondly as she finished wrapping J.J's wrist into a splint. "Ice...compression..." She muttered to herself as she left to go to the freezer to get ice. "You're welcome to stay here for the night. Though J.J's probably going to sleep for a long time. I wouldn't worry." She offered him. "Of course, I should ask this first anyway: Are you injured too?"

Kerica's eyes widened at the offered arm and she felt like a school-girl, "Y-Yeah, sure..." she bit her lip shyly and slowly put her arm through his, taking the liberty to feel the muscles under her fingers. Her stomach had butterflies in it...she hadn't expected this. She felt like she was being led to a party, not the cafeteria.

Once there, she'd gotten used to it and she didn't want to let go. They looked at the glass display and she pointed at a ham, egg and cheese sandwich. The person behind the counter started up the order, and after addressing what Steve wanted, she disappeared to the kitchen. "Do you feel better after taking a shower and cleaning up?" she asked to make small-talk while they waited, "I will probably take one in the morning."

~

"No...my clothes are ripped but I am not bleeding. I am sure Kerica will bring something for J.J. to wear in the morning, as well," Bucky said firmly, going back to the previous bed and he kicked off his boots, grunting with relief.

Steve nodded his head, exhaustion was starting to become clear on his expression. Now that he was out of the room, out of the excitement, and just about to eat and chat, he felt the burden on his shoulders slowly fall. "Yeah." He agreed. "I feel better when I can just...let everything go. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight...it's been a wild ride." It was too much. Bucky came back, willingly, they had a new companion that they had to figure out what to do with and injured for that matter...he was just thankful that there wasn't anymore injuries, otherwise he was for certain that he wouldn't sleep for a week or longer.

The woman came back with their food and Steve took the tray. "It's free pickings." He offered to her. "Where do you want to sit?"

~

"I'm sure Steve will find you something to wear." Teresa assured. "You're bigger than he is, but...I know Tony and he likes to spend money. I wouldn't be surprised if he offers you two a way to shop for clothes." Once she was certain that J.J was all fixed up, she sighed. "Remind her that she has to stay off that wrist for a week at the most." She looked at Bucky and smiled a little. "Do you want me to grab you a blanket?"

"Why don't you find a nearby spot for us and I'll grab some water from the machine?" Kerica smiled at him. After hearing him say he probably wouldn't sleep, she felt a little more determined to give him that massage. Both of their orders was on one plate so she didn't have to worry, and pulled away to get two cups from the woman. Immediately she felt the loss of touch and warmth, but tried to ignore it. Steve probably wanted coffee, but if she was going to get him to relax, that wasn't the way to go.

~

"I've slept in the freezing cold weather of Russia. This is warm," Bucky shrugged. Though he did feel...exposed. He'd wait until the good doctor was gone, though, until he did anything. "Thank you for your help. J.J. can be stubborn but she'll listen to me, so you don't have to worry. How bad was the concussion, before you go? Should she really be sleeping?"