Bucky Barnes ★ The Winter Soldier

Codename Winter Soldier does not meet her handlers at the extraction site. The assassination goes off without a hitch, arranged flawlessly to seem like an accident. To HYDRA's knowledge, the Asset did not experience any stimulus that would cause her programming to break down. An extensive search reveals she was spotted on a train to Chicago and again on a bus to New York, but the passengers questioned could only say that she seemed disoriented and jumpy. Some believed her to be ill.

After a full five days with her gone, it's suggested that if anyone could track her down, it would be the Captain. During the time it takes to prep him for coming out of cryo, the agents and doctors assigned to handling the two of them consult on the best way to ensure that he will find her and bring her back, not go rogue with her.

When he's conscious and tested for cognitive and physical functioning, his handler approaches him for briefing. "Captain. Your comrade requires your assistance."

Actually going out for a date without being mobbed by reporters required waiting until what the those around the Tower affectionately dubbed the Bucky Bonanza had died down a little. SHIELD fielded most of the questions about her, confirming that yes, she was Sergeant Jane Barnes, long-dead member of the Howling Commandos; yes, the circumstances of her revival were similar to those of Steve Rogers', though the details were classified; no, she did not plan to join the Avengers as anything more than, at best, an emergency volunteer; and no, the prosthetic arm she was wearing would not be available to civilians for at least several years, though Stark Industries was working on making it more efficient and cost-effective. Bucky herself got away with only a few brief statements thanks to SHIELD making it clear that she was still recovering from her revival and subsequent culture shock. (It doesn't thrill her to be thought of as the fragile vet who couldn't handle the modern age, but it's still better than being the recovering brainwashed assassin who personally made certain sections of the last century hell for a lot of people.)

It's Pepper Potts, Stark's Girl Friday, who does most of the arranging by finding them a private place they can go and discreet transportation. She's also Bucky's personal savior for helping her find something to wear - her wardrobe up until then consisted mostly of serviceable everyday clothes, not something she could wear on a date (even with Steve. especially with Steve). Apparently she has plenty of money to spend on something frivolous like this since she's been officially changed from KIA to MIA and awarded a portion of the backpay she's apparently set to receive. Pepper directs her to some places she can find dresses in the kind of styles she'd have worn in the 1940s, then arranges for her to have an appointment with someone who does hair and makeup with some kind of magic, apparently, because by the end of things she looks a hell of a lot nicer than she has in about half a century.

Now, all she has to do is wait for her evening's escort to show up.

Much as she feels like a piece of shit for giving Steve that hurt look on his face, she still figures it's better she keep her distance for now. It's what she came to the Tower to do, and it's supposed to be good for her. So she spends the next couple days sitting around in her rooms, sometimes watching whatever movies Stark's AI recommends for her, sometimes staring at the wall and thinking about nothing.

After that, the voice of the house politely suggests that she may benefit from venturing outside for at least a little while until she finally leaves just to shut it up. Bucky picks a direction at random and starts walking, left cybernetic hand - the only thing visible underneath her long sleeves - shoved into her pocket to hide it from view. Finding some kind of disaster is honestly one of the last things on her mind, but she still somehow finds herself staring at a house fire. The emergency workers have the actual fire under control - she hears them say something about keeping it from spreading and letting it burn itself out in the one building - but she also overhears a few of them talking about how unstable the structure's gotten and if they can send anyone in to check for a kid that's still unaccounted for, and she just. Runs.

It's a house, thank god, not an apartment, so there's a limited number of rooms to search. The place is unstable, though, and she finds herself eying floors and walls and the ceiling, trying to gauge how much strength they've got left in them. Bucky finds the kid trapped behind a piece of caved-in ceiling and hugging a golden retriever that's more ash-colored than yellow at this point. When she clears a path to him, putting that metal arm of hers to use for once, he blinks at her in confusion. "Are you Captain America?"

For a second, she wonders if he's hallucinating, but then she realizes that the jacket she'd grabbed on the way out had been one of the ones Stark left for her, and it's covered in a large picture of Steve's shield. "No, not him. Know him, though. Come on." She offers out a hand and curses her own stupidity when she realizes she'd unthinkingly offered him the metal one. Not a great idea; not only does it cause the kid to flinch back a little, but she figures it's absorbed a hell of a lot of heat at this point. "No, it's okay, look - " She switches to her other hand swiftly, showing him that it's flesh-and-blood. "I'm human. I'm just a little bit robot."

He lets her grab hold of him and the dog, then, and she clears another path out of the building, asking him his name (Jeffrey) and the dog's name (Oscar) and chatting with him quietly about how she knew Captain America when he was just some punk kid in Brooklyn, until she's got them in the clear. After that, it's all questions and concern and someone sticks a microphone in her face and asks her if she's a new Avenger when she tries to say something about going back to the Tower, and it's all too much and she just bolts.

Bucky doesn't even realize she's lost until the phone in her pocket starts ringing out, and she finds that JARVIS has sent her directions on how to get back along with a recommendation that she allow herself to be checked over for injuries and smoke inhalation. It's still almost half an hour before she's finally making her way through the doors, and that's just... worse, honestly, because the bottom couple floors of the Tower contain public space and people who are somewhat inclined to stare when a woman enters the building who's covered in ash and a few burns that are already healing and smells like smoke.