hollowvictor: (Seeing red)
Bucky Barnes | Victor of District 10 ([personal profile] hollowvictor) wrote in [community profile] thecapitol2015-08-03 08:11 am

[Closed] Strike a match and I'll burn you to the ground

Who| Bucky Barnes (Panem), some unfortunate Capitolites, Bucky Barnes (MCU), Sam Wilson and Initiate later on
What| Bucky (Panem) is looking for answers, instead he's found by Bucky (MCU) and Sam
Where| A less popular blind spot in a noisy part of the Capitol
When| August 3rd, night time
Warnings/Notes| Violence, torture, not nice things

Lights that were too bright, laughter that was too shallow, whispered gossip, glitz and glamour that drowned every inch of the city, no place in Panem looked and felt like the Capitol did. Beautiful and hollow, like a gilded lie.

It was suffocating.

But he wasn't trying to breathe, or think, he was there to do. He'd wasted so much time not doing, he needed to catch up on years of it in the span of hours. He hid his motorbike in a back alley under an old blanket that no one would look twice at and pulled the hood of his coat low over his head. The fabric rich and the look muted, no one would even notice him passing through the crowds, the only good thing to come of the last Rural Reaper's outfit he owned. Just another eccentric nobody wandering the city's streets. He pulled out the piece of paper he'd scribbled down names and addresses on and gave it a quick pass over. He'd memorized them already, his plan lay like a complete puzzle in his mind, but he checked again to make sure. Everything had to run perfectly for this to succeed. He didn't need to survive, he simply needed to see this through. He stepped out into the street lights and could see the clock begin it's countdown on his plan. The ball was set in motion, there was no stopping now.

It was barely evening and his first stop was Peggy's apartment where he stopped long enough to drop the letter into her box. She'd get it later or in the morning and she'd find out what had happened to him one way or another. His next stop was easy, the target would be on his usual walk around the city right now, his social engagements over for the day and on his way to an empty home full of no one who would miss him except his pet muttation. He'd been a big name once and nothing but age and time and up and coming new faces had knocked him down to an honorary position. One that meant no one would miss him until it was too late. Bucky found him exactly where he ought to be: three blocks from his plush Capitolite apartment and just drunk enough to make this more easy than he'd initially planned. A quick yank into an alcove with Bucky's hand pinching his nose closed while his other hand clamped tight over his throat proved effective enough to knock the aging man out. He was shorter and soft from a pleasure-filled life, he didn't stand a chance.

The Capitol's Reaper snuck like a shadow through the back alleys of the city and into a blind spot few even knew about much less used. He tied and gagged the man, leaving him blindfolded and stuffed into a corner where the limited light couldn't reach him. Bucky would be back soon enough.

The next target was a little harder, he was younger, in his political prime and more likely to be missed. But today was his unlucky day, his schedule was nearly clear and his day over early. However, it was well known how much care and attention he gave his exotic plants and that was sure to be where he was this time of night, especially with his wife and daughter out at some event or another, they weren't a concern. With the right strings pulled and Hannah nice enough to point him in the direction he needed, finding the information necessary to carry out this plan had been easy. It was the uncontrollable factors that could screw it all up.

Bucky slipped into the target's house through a carelessly opened window and easily clocked his target on the head with something blunt and heavy he picked up on the way. A typed note he'd made before hand took care of any suspicion as to why he wasn't home and then he was back out of there with his 'prize' in record time. Capitolites were so easy: one surprise party to call you away and your life could easily be overlooked for a few precious hours. Once they were back to the blind spot, he tied and gagged the other man and arranged them to lean against a wall, completely at his mercy.

A small curved blade not unlike a smaller version of his sickle sword came out of the pocket it was tucked into and his empty hand smacked hard against both of their faces to rouse them. "Wake up." He didn't bother trying to mask his voice, he spoke tersely and with a dangerous edge in his voice and they were too far removed from the tributes to know it instantly. The moment he thought they were awake enough, he knelt between them, a gun pressed to the temple of one and the knife held to the other's throat.

"You two have information I need, so we're gonna have a little talk." He pressed the muzzle of the gun harder against the younger politician's temple and pulled the trigger, a quiet click the only answer to the man's obvious flinch. "That was the only empty round, so I suggest you listen to unless you want to find out of I'm lying or not. If your friend here plays along, nothing bad's gonna happen to you, so keep your trap shut. And you-" He pressed the blade to the older man's loosening skin, slicing into it a little. "-you better start talking. What can you tell me about Steve Rogers of District 10?"
etcircenses: (Default)

[personal profile] etcircenses 2015-08-03 03:18 pm (UTC)(link)
The older captive whimpers, the knife drawing very little blood but causing enough pain from the cut to make him shudder miserably. This is not a man possessed of much courage. "I'll tell you everything I know! Don't kill me, just don't kill me, I have a wife, a son!!"

Terrified as he is, he doesn't even take a breath between his pleas and his answer, thinking the latter would save his life. "H-he was taken from Ten just after the Games and brought here. They kept him for observation in a hospital uptown! That's all I know, I swear!"

The younger man doesn't tremble or stutter. He's tense as a wire but his eyes are alert, watching their captor with a shrewd gaze. It holds fear - he'd nearly been shot, of course it holds fear - but there are wheels turning behind it, working through it.

He knows something.
etcircenses: (Default)

[personal profile] etcircenses 2015-08-03 05:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"I-I don't--" The man manages to squeak. "Please, p-please..."

He's too frightened to tell the truth or to lie, only able to sit there and simper, quiet 'oh, oh..'s coming from him as he watches his life's blood spill from his arm, unable to do anything to stop it. "S..ixty... eight? Nine?"

He's pale, unnaturally so, and been through too many Games to remember which is which so he hazards a guess

The other man pipes up, all to eager now to save himself from a similar fate as he watches the light go from his fellow captive's eyes. He doesn't give everything, not yet, but he gives enough to perhaps be worth keeping. "Sixty-ninth. He was a friend of the Victor."

A swallow. "And if you do that to me, you'll get nothing else."

It would be more impressive a stand if his voice didn't crack.
etcircenses: (Default)

[personal profile] etcircenses 2015-08-03 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
With the old man gone, the remaining victim's bravado crumples. He thought he could handle this. He'd seen torture after all, he's involved with the Avox trade and has to look at it every day. But this, when it's visited on him, it's too much.

He screams when the knife goes into his leg and immediately starts talking, logic dictating that it is better to die quickly than slowly, either at this man's hands or that of the Capitol if he by some miracle escapes. He has no illusions that it would be without giving up this information.

"The man you want is dead. He was grabbed to use as leverage, but when that Victor from 10 he was close to died, they Avoxed him. He was put in a good home, taken care of. It was a cushy gig, honestly! All he had to do was clean. But the Quell started and that Tribute version of him came in and there were orders." He grimaces, his thigh pulsing with the knife still in it. "They tried to make him the same. Didn't work, even though they're base genetic twins."
etcircenses: (Default)

[personal profile] etcircenses 2015-08-03 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"I swear! I sw--" He cuts himself off, not wanting the movement of his adam's apple to run into the knife and bring his death that much quicker. The whites around his eyes are visible to the point of almost bulging as he looks up at Bucky with abject terror. Pleading does no good, but he does it anyway silently with that gaze.

I'll do anything you want, just don't kill me!
sizeofyourbaggage: (if you eat that sort of thing)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-08-04 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
Sam'd asked Bucky to come out with him that night, to get out of the training center and, well, to go looking for a blind spot. He needed to pass on what Terezi told him, so they could work out some kind of plan.

But then there'd been the gunshot, when they were near one of the blind spots, and that definitely takes precedent, as far as Sam's concerned. He keeps quiet, not wanting to draw attention to them before they can figure out what the hell - which means he hears what the Capitolite says, and then he hears Bucky.

Sam's eyes widen, and flick over at Bucky - the one not currently threatening people in a blind spot back alley - quietly signaling to him that Sam is going in, good idea or not.

He'd be a lot more surprised to find Bucky standing there with one dead body and one bleeding, a bloody sickle-shaped knife in hand, if he hadn't seen Bucky with blood on his hands and the full-sized sword in his dreams. His surprise comes more from Bucky being in the Capitol, and it fades right into shit. There's nothing good going on here.

"Bucky," he greets, his voice calm and hands spread out, palms up. "You making a house call?"
tookthewheel: (By your side)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-08-04 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
The gunshot has an immediate effect on Bucky, has him tensing as he tilts his head, accounting for the direction it came from and becoming painfully aware of exactly how many excellent places there were to hide a sniper around here. The Capitol was a strategic nightmare, one he'd thought about sometimes late at night when he had nothing else to do.

Things had been better since confirming that Steve was alive and in Thirteen, but not much. He'd kept up the act of grieving best friend well enough.

Bucky scowls at Sam when he heads into the alley and Bucky reaches up to tug his hood further down over his head, following him without question. Sam won't be facing whatever's in there alone.

What's in there shocks him into stillness.

It's him.

It's not him. Not the older version of himself who was here before either, the one with brown eyes who the Capitol twisted to their own ends before killing for real. This one is exactly like him except maybe younger and maybe now Bucky feels less sure about having asked Peggy to sheer off his long hair.

He doesn't say anything, head cocked, body looking deceptively at ease as his eyes flicker between the other version of himself - confirmed when Sam speaks - the corpse on the ground and the still living one at the man's feet.

The memory of a dream, filled with snow, blood and a voice telling him to get up through his pain roars to the forefront of his mind.
etcircenses: (Default)

[personal profile] etcircenses 2015-08-04 02:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh thank god. He's crazy!" All too aware of the gun to his head, Bucky's captive takes a chance and starts yelling down the alley to Sam and the other Bucky. "You've got to help me! You're Tributes, right? I can pay you! You'll never have to work in your lives, just stop him!!"
sizeofyourbaggage: (debating)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-08-05 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
Sorry, Bucky, but Sam wouldn't be an Avenger if he didn't have a little bit of a reckless streak. There's no way he's not going into that alley after what he heard, scowl or no.

He doesn't bother looking at the Capitolite shouting at him. Whatever the guy thinks, Sam isn't here for him, and he isn't willing to look away from Bucky long enough to give the guy any attention.

Sam lowers his hands as soon as Bucky sees that it's him, stepping into the blind spot enough that he can't seen from around the alley, but not getting too close. He doesn't believe that Bucky'd hurt him, but that's not what he's worried about right now.

"Okay. Say I do, say we leave and you shoot him. What's going to happen after that?"
tookthewheel: (lost before I started)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-08-05 11:32 am (UTC)(link)
He watched, face stuck in a stony non-expression as he watched, listened, took in what information there was to be read about the situation. Bucky thinks he's still in mild shock at seeing this other him there, but he's getting over it fast.

"Fuck." he mutters, quiet, following the thread of emotion he feels at the scene... irritated.

A gun. He's using a gun, without a suppressor, in a populated area -- loud enough that Sam and he overheard it. It's sloppy. His fingers twitch because the other him even has a knife he could use to slit his targets throat; he could strangle him, snap his neck, any other number of quieter ways that would give him chance to stow the bodies away and lower his risk of detection by Peacekeeper forces. The longer he waited and gave the man on the floor time to yell the more chance of unfriendly discovery.

There are many days where Bucky wishes he could stop thinking like an assassin.

If the... he wrangled with his thoughts for a moment on how to refer to the guy, then just goes with 'guy' for now, was distracted by Sam there was a chance he could get close enough to disarm him. The prospect of shooting a man with his own face might also cause him to hesitate.

He takes a step to the side, slowly forward, head moving like he's looking out for danger from other directions than the guy in front of him. Let Sam talk and take the brunt of his attention.
sizeofyourbaggage: (all right good point)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-08-06 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
Sam watches Bucky move out of the corner of his eye, more of a peripheral awareness of him than really keeping an eye on him. He's worked with Bucky enough in the arena to get a sense of him, and he has a feeling Bucky has something in mind.

He takes another step into the alley, arms spread wide and palms up in a hold on - more for the Bucky from his world's benefit than the one from 13. Give him a minute, man, let him try this first.

That expression worries him just a little. He's seen one like it too many times - hell, he's seen it looking in the mirror. But Sam's eyes are still on Bucky's, and he can read that, too. "You giving up on me, Buck?" he asks quietly, letting the question sit for a brief moment before he raises his voice back up to normal conversation level.

"You really think I'm gonna leave you alone here with that sad ass plan? Come on, man. Put the gun down, let's get out of here."
tookthewheel: (Creep)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-08-07 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Sloppy, he thought, the whole thing was sloppy. There was something in it though that he knew from himself, a faint sense of desperation read into the violence and its execution.

He stayed still, both out of respect for Sam and what he was trying to do as well continuing not to draw attention to himself.

It was hard, and he bit down on the inside of his cheek to stay quiet, because he really wanted to ask.
sizeofyourbaggage: (it's my resume)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-08-09 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
Bucky's response to that question is real damn important to him, whether or not he actually uses words to reply to it, so Sam keeps a close eye on him. They'd told each other they wouldn't give up, and maybe it had't exactly been a promise. But Bucky is one of Sam's reasons - both of them are - and he can't handle sitting by and watching Bucky give up anymore than he could when it was Clint looking to pack it in during the arena or Bucky trying to go off on a suicide mission after Steve.

Something in his chest loosens a little when Bucky drops his aim a bit, but Sam knows they aren't out of the woods here yet.

In more ways than one, but he's going to focus on making sure Bucky isn't going to kill anyone first.

"Killing him isn't gonna stop any of that. Maybe there's no cameras here, but there's ones close by, and as soon as they find two bodies, they're gonna look. They're gonna see you dragging these two in here and us coming in after you."

Sam has a response for that other question, too, about one life being more important than another - but it's not his question to answer, so he keeps his mouth shut, and his gaze darts over to Bucky.
tookthewheel: (But whhhhy)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-08-10 01:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Bucky knows the answer Sam wants him to give, it wouldn't be the honest one.

His gaze slides down to the men on the ground; one breathing, one not. His eyes run over the damage already dealt, marking what he can see and guessing at what he can't. There's something about this, something personal.

No, he thinks, these men's lives aren't worth Sam's, probably not his either. Bucky loathes the Capitol and it's people for how they look at the Tribute's, how they use their pain and suffering for their games. Maybe the ordinary people aren't to blame, being lead around by ignorance and gross conditioning, but the higher ups...

He narrows his eyes. There's pieces missing. "What did he do?"

The answer probably won't change his mind from the option he's already leaning towards but at least if he knows the answer he'll be making the informed decision. He won't be condemning just anyone to die without knowing if they deserve it or not. Not that he thinks he has a right to decide who should live or die but... he's not a mindless killer anymore, he's not.

"Shooting him would be stupid though." he can't help but add, "You don't even have a suppressor on that gun."

Was that purposeful? Did this other self not actually want to walk away from this?
sizeofyourbaggage: (upset)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-08-13 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
Honestly, Sam doesn't think this guy's life is worth any of theirs. If it was really about protecting himself, Sam would kill him with barely a second thought - even less if it was about protecting either of them. But they're not in any immediate danger, not directly from the guy laying at Bucky's feet.

The danger they're in right now is more because of Bucky's actions, and the ripple effect that they're going to have. And, well, Sam not being able to leave shit alone.

This is revenge killing, and that's where the line gets fuzzy. That's where Sam has to be real damn careful not to be a gigantic hypocrite, the way he felt after Riley, after Albert and Kurloz and Steve and Jet. Shit, the way he feels right now, even though it wasn't his Steve - there's a big part of him that wants to say fuck it, kill the bastard.

The only reason he doesn't is because of Bucky, because he knows killing the guy in cold blood like this is probably going to do Bucky more hurt than it will good.

"And then what? You gonna hunt down the people that did get their hands dirty, find everyone involved in it and kill them, too? Let it take over your whole life? Cause it ain't gonna end, Buck, believe me. I know." He knows, he remembers staring down the guy who'd been the reason Riley was dead - their last mission, not the guy who fired the RPG, but Sam could've killed every one of that faction and never known who did.

"You kill him now and you might as well be giving up."
tookthewheel: (Dead-eyed stare)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-08-14 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"There are quieter ways, a lot of them." he points out.

Bucky shuts up though when the other gives his explanation and maybe there might have been a chance of him playing along with Sam throughout this meeting, a chance he'd play it his way; that chance is ruined as soon as the name 'Steve Rogers' passes the kids lips. His posture changes, freezes, as he stares at the still breathing man on the floor.

Not his Steve, no, but a man enough like him to make Bucky dangerously empathise with the doppelgänger in front of him.

He thinks about his Steve in that place and a time only so recently when Bucky had thought his death to be real and true, right before Steve revealed himself to be alive and well in District 13. He thinks of a man like him, still small and skinny but with all the same gumption, the man that the Peggy of this world had told him about with such heartbreak in her voice.

If looks could kill Vitus Albinair would be dead already.

"If he walks he finds the nearest Peacekeeper and tells him about all of this." Bucky says to Sam, not taking his eyes off the Capitolite.
sizeofyourbaggage: (this could be bad)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-08-16 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe it would be as far as Bucky would go. Maybe he'd kill this guy and that would be the end of it, maybe he wouldn't feel the need to keep going, maybe he'd just let himself stop.

But Sam's seen too many people who said 'just this one and that's it, then I'm done, then it'll be over, then I can move on' and it was never true. And maybe Sam's being a little bit selfish here, trying to get Bucky not to let himself play judge and executioner, because Sam's too scared to take that risk.

To watch Bucky kill this guy, whether he deserves it or not, and hope that it isn't going to lead him down a path he's seen too many people go.

At the word 'peacekeeper,' Sam's eyes flick up towards the end of the alley, where Kate's perched, but she's still just sitting there, alert, so he looks back over at Bucky.

"And if he dies, they know he's missing and they check their cameras and find out what happened anyway, that doesn't matter."

Honestly, he doesn't know how to feel when Bucky puts the gun away. He doesn't have a lot of time to figure out before Bucky starts talking again, and Sam - doesn't know how to react to that, either.

It's stupid to say no, to say that he'll stay here and stall for time while they both get out - he knows the Bucky from his world wouldn't go for it, and he isn't sure the Bucky from this world would, either. But more than that, he isn't even sure how much time he could buy, if it would matter.

"Not without Initiate," he says instead, before he even thinks about it. "He's part of the reason 13's still standing and he got Avoxed for it, I'm not leaving him here. I made him a promise."

He made the same one to Clint, but Sam has less options there. Clint's a big boy; he can make the choice for himself, even if Sam doesn't like it. Kurloz can't, not anymore.
Edited 2015-08-16 05:21 (UTC)
tookthewheel: (confused)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-08-17 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
It'd buy us more time. he starts to say but bites it back before the words can pass his lips. Sam is determined it seems, "Then let's move them so they're better hidden than this." Some place that wouldn't be immediately noticeable by anyone who happened to glance down the alley. Every second is going to count here.

The other him puts the gun away, so at least they're safe for now from a gunshot summoning the enemy down upon them.

"What?" he blinks, stilling as he looks first at the kid, James -- James is safe, and then at Sam. Leave the Capitol? Go to District 13 now?

When the chance came he'd always thought he'd be ready and willing without regret, Steve is in 13 after all, but he's shocked to find he's not. Instead his thoughts flash to everyone else, to all the friends that it would mean leaving behind at the Capitol's mercy still. A number of people Bucky cares for have already made it to the lost district but not all. Aang, he thinks, Clint, Tony...

James might be right in that they don't have a choice but it won't make things any easier.

"We'd have to go back to the Tower," Bucky says to Sam, a little incredulous but not against him. He has a point and Initiate is Bucky's friend too. "That's risky." but at the same time he thinks maybe not impossible, not if they move fast.

Bucky knows where the Avox quarters are.
sizeofyourbaggage: (hmmm)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-08-25 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
"It's worth the risk."

He doesn't think he has to tell Bucky that, not really, but he's gearing up in case he has to convince the Bucky who didn't know Kurloz. So it's a relief when Bucky gives them twenty minutes - it's not a lot, but they can do it.

Sam looks up at Kate, tilting his head at her until she swoops down to land on his outstretched arm. He fumbles in his pocket, pulling out a scrap of paper and scribbling a series of dots and dashes onto it before tucking it into a bag around her talon. "Go back home, okay Katie Kate?" he murmurs to her, stroking a hand over her back as he pushes his arm up and she launches off. He hates watching her go, but he can't bring her to 13.

Then he glances back up at Bucky, the one from his world.

"We got enough time to swing by and grab what we've been holding onto for Steve?"

Everything else Sam'd want he already has in the bag he carries with him, thanks to Terezi.
tookthewheel: (Blank slate)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-08-28 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"If we split up." He's already turning, starting to move and eat up the distance back to the tower with long strides. "I can tell you where to find the Avox quarters, he showed me before, while I go for the bag."

Realistically it might be easier for him to get the Initiate but Bucky thinks he'll probably respond better to Sam - which is something of an excuse for him to be able to be the one who gets Steve's shield back.
sizeofyourbaggage: (all right good point)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-08-30 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
Sam raises his eyebrows a little at Bucky as he keeps pace with him. It makes more sense for Bucky to go get Kurloz, instead of wasting time telling Sam where it is, and Sam's pretty sure that Kurloz isn't going to respond all that well to being taken from the Avox quarters no matter which one of them does it.

But if this is what Bucky wants, Sam's not going to try to take it from him. Bucky's had enough of that over the years, and Sam can handle not being the one to bring Steve his shield.

"Point me in the right way, then, and I'll meet you at the Speakeasy. Just-" There's a pause, then he adds, "If you run into Clint, will you think about grabbing him?"
tookthewheel: (Looking outwards)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-09-01 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
"Good." Bucky fills Sam in on where he'll need to go as they walk, not too fast or they run the risk of arousing suspicion from the Peacekeepers they pass on the street. He's glad Sam doesn't question him, doesn't ask why. It's selfish and Bucky doesn't want to explain himself over it one damn bit.

The request catches him by surprise and he glances behind them, almost as if the other version of himself is watching before looking back at Sam. "Of course I will."

If they had time there'd be a few other people he'd try to grab besides.
sizeofyourbaggage: (not where i want to be right now)

[personal profile] sizeofyourbaggage 2015-09-12 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
There’s not really any time to argue, even if Sam wanted to. It’s easier just to go with it and go grab Kurloz. Ultimately, that’s the job that Sam’d prefer, anyway - he’s doing this to get Kurloz and Bucky out of the Capitol, and a little bit to try to support Bucky after what just happened. If it wasn’t for that, Sam would have maybe fought a little bit harder to try to figure out a way to stay in the Capitol.

So he just listens to Bucky’s directions as they walk, committing it to memory and already trying to figure out how the hell he’s going to get Kurloz out of there short of just swinging Kurloz over his shoulders and carrying him out.

He ducks his head a little at Bucky’s surprise, and he hopes he doesn’t ask, because he doesn’t want to explain himself, either. “Thanks.”
tookthewheel: (Advance)

[personal profile] tookthewheel 2015-09-23 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"No problem."

They reach the Tribute Tower, and Bucky spares a moment to reach over and squeeze Sam's shoulder before they part ways on their separate missions. It's reassurance, it's a promise that he'll be back here when Sam is to make their escape.

Then he goes for the elevator to head up to the hiding place of Steve's shield and Thor's hammer.