Roleplay Section

Steve hopped out of his helicopter and onto the runway around him, duffel bag over his shoulder and shield on his back. It had been a long mission on the other side of the country, not helped by it turning out to be completely pointless. Right after he'd finished his scouting and interrogation, Fury had informed him that Bucky had come back on his own. To put it lightly, Steve was exasperated. One minute he had his best friend back and they were doing fine, and the next, Bucky was just gone without a trace. Now he was just back. No warning, no nothing. How could Bucky do that to him? Steve knew that Bucky was troubled, but they'd always tackled problems better together. United we stand, divided we fall. It wasn't fair of him to be mad, he knew, but he was. He just was.


Still, he couldn't let any of that get to him too much. Steve needed to find Bucky before they could deal with anything. At least he had a smaller area to search this time.


Steve approached a woman who looked to be taking notes on the aircraft around the hangar. He had to start somewhere.


"'scuse me, ma'am?" he called to her.


She turned about and her cold, professional expression momentarily turned to surprise.


"Can I help you?" she asked slowly.


"You wouldn't happen to know where James Barnes is, would you?"


"I'm afraid I don't, no," she said. "But there is a breakfast orientation happening right now. You might catch him or someone who knows where he is there."


A lead; that was all Steve needed.


"I'll have a look there, thank you," he said, turning to leave.


"And welcome back, Captain," she added with a nod.


Steve glanced back at her with a smile, but he didn't say anything. It still struck him odd, being addressed formally. He should have been used to it, but he wasn't really. He held her gaze for a moment or two before continuing on his way out of the hangar. Steve had Bucky to find and some catching up to do. No reason to waste any more time.
 
Joe (Club A)


With everything apparently now sorted out and with him now in the babe's @myvalentina good graces, Joe decided to take his leave of the situation. He had no idea what they were on about when they started talking about "Hunting Death". Whatever they meant by "hunting death", it sounded like a bad idea to him. If they meant Death as in death, the end, the big finale who in their right mind would want to go chasing after it unless they had a few marbles loose. 


Joe looked over his shoulder, back to where Natasha @Jessy753 was sitting only to find her chair now empty. He grumbled to himself but he knew she would be back. He was Joe Fixit after all. On a positive note though at least it meant he got to spend more time with "Vampira" here without Natasha getting jealous. The ladies had to learn sooner or later though that he wasn't a one woman man. After all how could he be so selfish to let only one woman enjoy his company. He was doing this for every woman's benefit not his own. He was selfless in that way.


So Joe decided to stay with the group @fanaticalferret @slachance6 @NerdyBirdy at least for a little while longer.
 
Two hours, forty minutes, and fifty-nine seconds. That was how far ahead of Steve he was supposed to be. Steve had, of course, offered Sam a ride in the helicopter, but the chance for a long flight with his wings was too good to resist. So he had strapped on his pack, calculated how much faster he would be than the helicopter, and jumped into the sky. It wasn't a race, strictly speaking, but he did enjoy showing off his wings every now and then. Which was probably why the wings had malfunctioned halfway to the academy. They weren't out of fuel or just being temerapmental. He had simply forgotten to tune them up recently. 


Which led to him hitch-hiking the rest of the way to the academy. He gave the driver a polite smile that was actually more of a grimace, and crawled out of the rust-bucket that doubled as a car. He groaned as he stretched, feeling his muscles expand back to their normal length after being curled up for hours. He slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way up to the gates of Avengers Academy. The gates swung open to admit him and he went inside, trying to ignore his mixed feelings about being here. Glancing to the side, he noticed a helicopter on the heli-pad which meant that Steve was probably wandering around somewhere already. After months of searching for Bucky with Steve, he wasn't about to miss out on their reunion, so he quickened his pace towards one of the larger buildings. Judging by the steady stream of people going inside, that was probably the place to be. He smiled and nodded at the few people who acknowledged him, holding his shoulder bag close to protect the priceless cargo inside. Following the majority of the crowd, he found himself in a cafeteria of sorts. Trying to ignore the alluring smell of food, he looked around for Steve and/or Bucky. Hopefully he wasn't too late to miss out on the once-in-a-century drama that was sure to follow their reunion.
 
Steve took a detour to drop off his things at Avengers dorm. He didn't expect things to get too hairy anytime soon, so there was no reason to be lugging around anything too heavy-duty. From there, Steve took his time crossing the campus over to where the breakfast was being held. It felt like forever since he'd been able to stroll the academy, and, who knew? Maybe he'd catch Bucky slinking around somewhere. Probably not, but, then again, maybe he just wanted to delay the inevitable.


Sooner or later, he had to get to the cafe. A few students were milling around outside and gave a sideways glance as he passed by. He stepped inside and found his way into the dining hall, where a good crowd had formed. Most of them seemed ordinary enough, but Steve picked out a fair share of what must have been aliens or mutants among them. Odd features and vibrant complexions. It was something he still wasn't used to.


Finally, his eyes landed on someone familiar: Sam, looking like he was searching for someone just as much as he was.


"Sam, was wondering when I'd see you," Steve said, stepping up from behind to give him a playful shove and a smile. "How was your flight?" @Shadow
 
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Even though it seemed like the chances of a fight had gone down, Sersi was still thoroughly confused as to what had just happened. Most people seemed to have not seen this woman, but a few had, and everyone was whispering about who it might have been.


Before she could get any more of an idea of what was going on, Pietro zipped in front of her and thanked her for taking his side. "No problem," she responded with a smile. "I can't blame you too much for that push either. I don't think anyone really knows what's going on. But Joe's lucky he was smart enough to back down." @fanaticalferret


Sersi was still annoyed at that crazy kid in the red hoodie, who was sitting behind her, stuffing his face with a chimichanga. But something told her that he might be something more to him. There was something weird about how... casual he seemed to be acting in this situation. It seemed like he might have seen this girl before. But she could only guess, because this guy's mind was almost impossible to read. That was also kind of scary.


Sersi reluctantly turned around spoke to him, hoping he would drop his food and notice. She could barely stand being near him; he smelled like a corpse that had died of eating too much Taco Bell. She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Hey, dude," she said, clearly irritated. This guy wasn't worth it. "What the hell was that comment for? You have any idea who that was? She didn't seem very friendly." Sersi stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, waiting for him to respond. @NerdyBirdy


Before he even said anything, Sersi swore she heard gunshots and shouts coming from outside. And now that she thought of it, Bucky and Natalia had already left the building. "My god," she said under her breath. "Does this place get attacked every single day?" She decided to leave it to them for now. As far as she could tell, they were just normal human thugs, which wouldn't be too much of an issue in a school full of superhumans. If she had to, she could disintegrate them all with a wave of her hand, but it probably wouldn't come to that.
 
Wade chewed on his chimichanga for a moment, ignoring the gunshots outside. He looked at the green woman and pointed the half eaten food at her. "I don't know who she is, but The Cheat here may have an inkling." He said, pointing at the golden woman. He looked around to see confused looks on the face of a few SHIELD agents. "The Cheat? Homestar Runner? You know what, not every Internet reference works." He threw the chimichanga at a robot and looked at the woman. "So spill it, sweet cheeks. What do you know about Short Dark and Bodacious? Like does she have a boyfriend and would she be cool with a guy in a onesie?"


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One of the Hydra agents opened his eyes and sat up. He noticed his view was a tad askew. Mostly because he remembered that the red head had snapped his neck. He slowly sat up, noticing the others starting to stand. A few of his squad had holes in their chests from gunshots and a few were pulling blades from their hearts and backs. The Hydra agent held up his broken neck and joined them.


"What the hell?" 


"How are we still alive?"


"I got holes in my chest, dude! HOLES IN MY CHEST!"


"QUIET!"


The agents turned to Broken Neck as he sternly (and diagonally) glared at them.


"It doesn't matter how we're still living. We have a mission. Bring back the Winter Soldier and kill any Academy in our way. We'll worry about this zombie crap later. Get the guns, reset your bones and let's get the mission done." The agents nodded in agreement and began to gather their armaments. Broken Neck grunted and turned around to see a girl in a black hoodie staring him down. 


"What the?"


The girl looked dour and gave Broken Neck a depressed look. 


"Sorry I'm late, boys. Normally I would get you all without you knowing but I recently got pulled into the mortal plane. I've been freaking out in the bushes. But hey, I still have a job. Now how about you guys line up and we can do this fast so I can go back to freaking out?"


Broken Neck gave the girl a confused look before sighing and shifting his head to one hand. The other hand unpinned the holster on his hip and he pulled a large pistol from it. He cocked the hammer back and put a bullet right between the goth chick's eyes, sending her crumpling to the ground. Broken Neck holstered his weapon and spit on her corpse before turning around.


"Alright, men. Roll out!"


The agents followed Neck, stepping on the girl's body as they started their undead crusade. That was, until they heard a voice behind them.


"You. Jerks."


The agents stopped and turned to see the girl standing up. She pulled her sweatshirt between two fingers, mud and blood caked on the front. She pointed to the spit spot and gave them a dark look.


"I LIKED this hoodie." She said simply before pulling it over her head, revealing a black band shirt that read "The Mary Janes". She slowly began to march forward, malice in her eyes. "You know, I was going to make this easy. A little tap on the chest and it would be like falling asleep. I was in a professional mood, despite the day I had. First I had to escape a living prison planet and mask my trail so that I didn't have some creepy dude I know following me to this world. I get here and I only got a few minutes to ogle my blonde brown eyed boy crush while he was sleeping. And he wore underpants to bed, so that really sucked. Then his roommate comes in drunk and sees me and I had to kill him. I follow him to breakfast and who is there? The cosmic sister of the creeper and she sees me. Then she probes my boyfriend's brain without my permission, so I have to break her connection with my own thoughts and she gets some leather bound blood sucking she whorlock to pull me into the mortal plane. Now I get shot in the face, spit on and my hoodie is trampled. I was gonna give you all the nice end. Now," she advanced on the group, her eyes hollowing and brow turning into a skeletal brim, her voice deepening to a demonic octave, "we do this the HARD WAY!"


The screams echoed across the campus.


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@Karcen @slachance6
 
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Natasha Romanoff
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Natasha looked at him as his face changed. It would almost be comical, if things weren’t so serious for her. He more than obviously acted like he didn’t know her at all. Even he wasn’t such a good actor. Apparently they had done a really good job in taking memories away. Again the thought pained her, she knew how it was to be made that way. All the pain and headaches that came with that. They must’ve been really radical after Budapest, if he didn’t remember anything about her anymore. It only steeled her suspicion of him being sent to kill her. The only query left was why Fury allowed someone like the Winter Soldier to study here. Then again he allowed her to stay so why not give him the benefit of doubt.


He thanked her after she mocked him and seemed to snap out of some kind of thoughts. He definitely seemed to be more scattered than what she was used to. He looked at her almost lost to her and it made her frown. Yet his own tease and calling her by her real name made her halt. He had acted like he didn’t know her anymore but the way her name came of his lips - almost like no time had passed - made her stop and a smirk played on her lips. So he did allow his cover to slip, it challenged her and her curiosity rose. This was a trap, she wanted to step in.


“And I sense a bit of an uncalled for party pooper, Winter.”, she told him choosing her words carefully as she stepped over a corpse to get closer to him. Her old nickname for him rolled of her tongue way too easy. It almost felt like they were back at the Red Room. The memories with him were the only positive ones she had from that time since graduating under Kudrin. But she was sure they made him forget. Besides this felt like some kind of power play between them. He wanted to use her actual name, she could do the same and show him that she still knew who he was despite of his apparent try to cover up the metal and spoke testing her limits in Russian “It’s easier the blank mindset, isn’t it? So many thing one doesn’t have to think of.” @FarFlungDreamer







Tony Stark
​




The young genius seemed kinda bored and watched the whole fighting take place. To him this was kind of pointless to discuss this matter. That weird girl had already materialised and left in a hurry. It might be smarter to  actually go looking for her and asked if she needed help instead of fighting about this nonsense.


But it was none of his business anyways. So he took out his phone and did what he did best: Hacking. It didn't take him long to actually hack the Club's systems and start playing Black Sabbath at full volume. Yet the tortured screams of some people were still heard and he frowned knowing it didn't belong to the music.
 
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Bucky's eyes snapped to her face and his eyes narrowed as she suddenly called him 'Winter'. Coincidence? He didn't think so. "My name's Bucky," He growled. The overwhelming need to run overtook him, run or put her down. He swallowed the panicked feeling, as half memories of being restrained, of pain coursing through his head, and people hanging over him threatened his resolve to stay. If these thugs were here, and suddenly some woman who knew him as... knew he was the Winter Soldier, was suddenly here, it must mean they had come for him. Before a week ago he hadn't even know there had been a 'they'. He still didn't know exactly who, but Hydra at any rate... wanting their human weapon back.


 


But he could simply be overreacting, maybe she had knowledge of him... if she were in the same circles. It was just his fear making him wonder if she wasn't some agent sent to take him in quietly when it was clear they couldn't take him by force. She'd been here at the academy before all that, he had to remind himself.



Bucky was never going back to that, never going to be used as a tool again, never become so mindless... to... kill all the people he had. He wouldn't do it again. She suddenly spoke again, but in Russian. Russian he somehow understood, but he couldn't dwell on the surprising fact, because her words snapped something within him. Some basic instinct to protect himself.


 


His hardening blue eyes snapped to hers, as she spoke of the Winter Soldier's focus as if it was some alluring thing, when really she meant it as a threat. In Russian? She was part of some effort to get him back, he realized. The mix of fear and adrenaline pounding in his chest from an anticipating fight, made him launch suddenly forward towards her at an incredible speed.  He didn't know what sort of tricks they had, but he wouldn't give her the chance to use them. His metal hand grasped around her neck, knocking them backwards onto the ground.


 


He held her there loosely, not enough to cut off any oxygen but enough to keep her there and make it uncomfortable to breath.


 


"If you bastards think this grandstand is going to work, you're wrong," He snarled, hand tightening minimally around her throat. Was that how he'd known her name? Was she one of the handlers? One of the dark faces in his memory, surrounding Zola as they remade him into Hydra's Soldier?
 

Natasha Romanoff
​


 
​


She watched him react to her statement. He leaped forward and Natasha reacted a moment too late. His sudden move had caught her off guard even though she should've seen it coming. A mistake she wouldn't do twice. She had guessed that this part of James Barnes, her James Barnes, wouldn't hurt her. It was only a faint memory anymore. But she still saw them standing in the kitchen after making their first move in their second mission together. She had told him about his name and he had almost broke her wrist in an effort to get more information. But she hadn't given him any only told him to trust her. He had come to  apologise later. 


<"I wouldn't hurt you Natalia."> He insisted.  <"I don't want you to think I will now."> It was only a faint memory anymore. One the Red Room's scientists had tried to take from her. But she had tried to hold onto it like her life had depended on it.


Her back painfully hit the ground with him on top of her. His metal hand tightly wrapped around her neck and it hurt. Almost instinctively her hand went to his metal wrist like she was able to pull his hand away but she wasn't. Natalia was sure his grip would leave bruises as she had difficulty to breathe. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes for a moment before she managed to conceal it.


She ignored his comment and spit at him from gritted teeth "You're nothing more than an ungrateful idiot, James. One that breaks his promises!" Natasha refused to call him Bucky as she wanted to attack the man she once knew. Make him feel the same pain, she did by something so simple like a broken promise. To her own surprise this betrayal hurt more than she wanted to admit. It felt like someone had teared out her heart once again. She looked up feeling how her oxygen was slowly running low and he threatened to strangle her.


By now she knew he was capable and would kill her in case he still worked with them. His demeanour spoke otherwise but she didn't know this person in front of her. So she wouldn't do the mistake of underestimating him twice. Suddenly she moved. She brought her knee up to his groin and a punch to his face. It would hopefully inflict enough pain for her to quickly raise and leave, if she landed her hits.


@FarFlungDreamer
 
Kate-Hawkeye


Kate completely ignored Wade's request to have Lucky track Death because that idea was just too stupid to warrant a response. Kate notices Tony hacking something and then music playing really loudly from the speakers. Kate quickly responds by shooting arrows at every one of speakers in the club. "You should be spending your time to work on the big problems of the world like quivers never having enough space to hold enough arrows to beat an entire army". Kate then remembers that Tony helped invent some of Clint's trick arrows. "Can you make me some arrows? I only brought 20 boxes of arrows with me when I came to this school".  Of the things  Kate brought  with her to the academy 88% of it was arrows 6% clothes 3% shoes and 2% other with the remaining 1% being even more arrows.


@Jessy753
 
He blinked, take aback, as she called him James. No one called him James, really. His mother... Rebecca or the twins sometimes but he'd grown a shine to Bucky after he and Steve became fast friends. Also why not Winter Soldier, if she were one of them. But... his sudden hesitation was from more than simply his name... it was the way she said it. It seemed so familiar. The angry look, covering something else up, some vulnerability, that seemed to sink into his chest, too. Like it was personal, even if he had nothing to go off of. That feeling from before returned and he almost decided it had been to do with her. Did he know her in another capacity during his time as the Winter Soldier?


Bucky had become very distracted by those thoughts, and so her attack came by him completely by surprise. He grunted painfully as she hit him between the knees and her fist made light contact against his face, as he'd jerked back out of reaction from her first attack. Instinct both argued to tighten and loosen his fist, but his hand loosened without him thinking too, so his instinct to let go of her must have been stronger.


He rolled away from her, coming up in an unsteady crouch. Bucky looked up at the redhead as she sprung to her feet and struggled with what he should do. Fight her, maybe... but the compulsion to seemed to have left him with his name. But what did he say, then? "Do I know you?" He called to her, the question seeming to burn in his mind. @Jessy753
 

Natasha Romanoff
​




He finally let go off her throat and she almost instantly jumped to her feet. She looked down on him thinking that he didn't look like the man she once knew. He was only a shell but still he had proved to still be more than deadly. She looked at him a last time as he asked her something. But she quickly dismissed it and simply strolled causally away. She held her head high pretending that her ego hadn't just been bruised. @FarFlungDreamer


Eventually she was sure that she was out of his view and hurried away. Her heart was pounding hard, knowing that a little longer with his metal hand around her neck and she would've died. Natasha made a mental note to stay away from the Winter Soldier in the future. Seeing that he indeed didn't remember her anymore hurt more than the time he had shot straight through her in Odessa to kill his target. She had dismissed the thought of him hurting her because he hadn't killed her. Foolishly enough she had thought, he had spared her life because of his promise. Apparently that was not the case.


So it was back to her initial plan of keeping Joe close for protection. She was sure even the Winter Soldier wouldn't try kill her if she kept that grey macho around. With a frown she stopped as she heard an almost silent meow from a bush nearby. She walked closer and spotted a black cat. It looked starved and made Natasha reach out for it. <"Hey you.">, she spoke in Russian and stroke the cat's fur "Who do you belong to?" Natasha looked around but of course no-one was around in the campus. The cat walked out of the bushes and seemed to instantly take a liking at the redheaded assassin as she rubbed herself against Nat's legs. @Scatterbrain @Ilikepie (because of Liho)


Natasha was about to take the cat up as she suddenly heard screams on the campus. Alarmed she looked up to see what was going on but she wasn't able to spot anything. @NerdyBirdy







Tony Stark
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​


Tony looked up as someone shot the speakers and addressed him. He rose his eyebrow but was secretly pleased that someone seemed to want his help. Not to mind Rictor but it was better people knew themselves. "Well, my dear, I highly doubt how to carry more than 20 arrows is considered one of the big mysteries in this universe. But still you asked the right person.", he grinned at her and continued "But still you asked the right person. Just for the record it might be more polite to allow people to listen to their favourite music, if you want a favour from them, darling."


He turned more interesting to the girl, now, and glanced at her. A smirk formed on his lips. "By any chance, do you know the other archer? What was his name? Clint or something?" @Ilikepie
 
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Sam's face fell into an easy smile when he saw that Steve was the one who had bumped him. He playfully shoved Steve back, but the wall-of-muscle was almost entirely unmoved by his attempt at payback. "Oh, you know. Smooth flying the whole way. I would have beaten you here, but I decided to give you a few hour head-start and I guess I underestimated your helicopter." He said, turning away slightly so Steve wouldn't catch his little white lie. He would rather die than admit that his jet-wings had failed him. 


"Have you...seen Bucky yet?" He asked after a moment's hesitation. While Steve seemed to be in fairly good spirits, the fact that he was here without his one-armed annoyance suggested that their reunion either hadn't gone well, or just hadn't happened yet. For Steve's sake, he hoped the second option was true. After all, he had been there for most of Steve's searching and it was about time the guy caught a break.


He couldn't help but be distracted by the assortment of odd characters that filled the cafeteria. There were several massive people-slash-creatures, a few that were weird colors, and many more that were decidedly alien. "Interesting crowd." He commented absent-mindedly, wishing that he recognized more of them. Sure, the Academy was a unique opportunity, but it would be nice to have some friends to hang out with when he wasn't slaving over class-work. After all, Steve -his only friend here- was one of those magical people who is somehow friends with everyone, which made his time precious; especially since he would probably want to catch up with Bucky. 


@Hammy
 
"I told you it'd be faster in the 'copter," Steve laughed. He really doubted that Sam had given him any kind of head start, but Steve was too happy to see him to bother bringing it up. Whatever had happened, Sam could deal with it on his own, Steve knew.


His smile paled a bit at the mention of Bucky and he glanced away from Sam.


"No, I haven't yet," he admitted, doing his best to keep his tone lighthearted. "But I'm sure he's around here somewhere. Likes to hide sometimes, you know. I'll find him."


Bucky had better have been around the campus somewhere. God help James if he'd decided to run off again. If that were the case, then Steve was gonna- well, he didn't know exactly what he was gonna do, but it wouldn't be good for anyone. Steve was really not in the mood to go hunting for him again. He didn't even know what he might do when he found Bucky just then.


Steve followed Sam's eyes over the crowd and gave a casual nod.


"Yeah, aren't they though?" he offered. "Guess we'll be getting to know at least some of them. Have to learn to work in a unit, no matter what." @Shadow
 
Emma entered campus, tanned, blonde curls arranged like a model, walking through the golden gates like some goddess. 


She studied the map in her hands, attempting to locate her dormitory. She adjusted her short-short jean shorts, and tugged at her white cropped shirt. 


"Hmm...what a confusing layout...I think I need to go...left, here?" 


She ended up wandering into club A, searching for someone to ask for directions. The sudden freezing of the room at her appearance would have been comical, if it wasn't the reaction she received whenever she walked into a room. A hot blonde in skimpy clothes with a look of confusion on her pouty lips was often an eye catcher. 


"Um, hey, anyone know where the Avenger's dorm is? I'm kinda lost." She said, looking around with a doe eyed gaze of feigned innocence. If someone didn't help her now, she'd be shocked. Considering she could read the mind of everyone in the room, she could hear the exact directions like a navigator in her mind. 


"Thanks." She said abruptly, and turned to leave, Louie V suitcase in tow.


(open to anyone)
 
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Joe (Club A)


Joe had heard a two guys @Hammy @Shadow enter the club but he was too caught up ogling Selene @myvalentina to really pay much attention. That was until he heard the voice of another new arrival. It was so sensual especially the accent. He turned his head and his jaw literally dropped.


She looked almost like she had walked out of an adult show back in Las Vegas. Joe was beginning to wonder why he was hesitant to come here in the first place. If Berengetti had just told him this place was full of the finest women outside of Las Vegas in the first place he would have signed the papers then and there. The boss always told him he was always looking out for Joe's best interests and now he was a fervent believer. He made a mental note to himself, Never question the boss again.


When he saw she was about to leave, Joe made a beeline for the door. He moved so fast, he could of given Pietro a run for his money @fanaticalferret. The blonde was about to open the door, when he literally barrelled into it. He could see the door was barely hanging from it's hinges but he couldn't care less. Fury @Twist had made the damage from the attack the night before disappear so a set of doors was probably nothing.


"Hey there, beautiful." Joe said, leaning on the wall, trying to act cool. His brow furrowed. "I could show you the way but you sure you wanna go there?" He stroked his chin. "A little advice, Maverick dorm's the place to be. We got plenty of room and if not? You could always bunk with me.... hehehe." @Rui
 
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The afforementioned woman scoffed, rosy lips moving to a grimace. 


Oh god, another greaseball. So it begins...


Her face quickly corrected itself, a small smile creeping onto her lips, a seductive light shining through her eyes. 


"Oh? Maybe I'll come visit some time, love." A mix of British and Bostonian accents sounded rather sensual when used in the right way, as it was by her. 


"Walk me to the Avenger's dorm?" She asked (less of a question, more of a command), crystal blue eyes looking up at him with her usual feigned naivety. "I'm afraid I might get lost again."


A casual shift of her hips, and those itty-bitty low riding shorts seemed even shorter, her bronze legs appearing even longer. Emma knew how to reel in a following of goons that could, and would be useful in the future. Especially the big guys; muscle was a bonus. 


She stepped out, heading off with the big grey man to find her dorm.


@fanaticalferret (this is your chance~)


@Scatterbrain
 
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Pepper ticked her list as another one of their latest students entered, the psychic Emma Frost @Rui, who took one of her welcoming folders but had otherwise ignored the reliable redhead completely. Pepper pursed her lips slightly in irritation but quickly let it slide, worse things were bound to happen sooner or later around the Campus, and the "White Queen" was most definitely going to be an asset to the school as well as some of the other students, her thoughts turning to Logan @slachance6 and Bucky @FarFlungDreamer.


She checked her tablet noting how many more students had yet to arrive but her growling stomach began to distract her. She thought about leaving her post at the gate as so far she had been relatively ignored by the all the newcomers but she had to look professional, for the parents and the new students and leaving the gate wide open might leave a bad impression.


Thankfully the Director was heading her way now, the usual scowl on his face, so Pepper headed other to meet him. However he seemed to be a little more perturbed than usual, letting her head off without a word. Pepper was mildly concerned, but Director Fury wasn't one to share his feelings so she left him to his thoughts as she headed to the Club. She hoped there had been no incidents, as well as some eggs leftover, but hopefully the former.
 
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The dame walked off... just like that. Calm, collected, and no answer in sight. He frowned after her, and for some reason his mind didn't catch up quick enough to follow after her. He should... but his mind had grown a little fuzzy and he felt the old feelings of pain there. Something... he didn't know, but she was already turning the corner of a building off the side of the quad, red hair swishing out of view. 


Bucky sat another few moments before he slowly looked around himself and remembered her words about cleaning up the mess. He bit off a groan and slowly rose to begin to correct his mistakes. He didn't like it, and looking at the dead men, Hydra thugs or not... bad people or not... he felt shame that he'd done this again. He didn't push that shame aside though... that guilt, it was the only thing that truly separated Bucky from the Winter Soldier right now. Since clearly he'd been just as capable of doing this.... it was in moving their bodies and feeling bad... maybe in that he could start his atonement.


Besides, he didn't want to be caught by the other students. Anyone who might later report back to Steve if he ever came back... he sighed again, but hunkered down to attend to his work. He had finished with the last body, disposing of them off property when the head of the school, Director of SHIELD walked by him. The look he gave Bucky said he knew everything that happened... and yet strangely enough he didn't say much.


"It can't happen again, Barnes," The Director said cooly and Bucky averted his gaze before nodding to his superior. Yes... he knew that, this wasn't a place for the Winter Soldier, or a killer, it could maybe in time be a place for him, for James, for Bucky, but he couldn't let this keep happening. Anywhere, he told himself, he couldn't let himself do anything like this anymore. Alone for less than a day, without Steve, without the Runaways.... and he'd already broken his vow not to hurt anyone anymore.


Resigned, Bucky walked towards the doors before thinking better of it and heading back to Club A. It was the last place he wanted to be. But the noisy breakfast and his attendance there before classes might make Fury less suspicious with him. If the director saw the effort perhaps it could be forgotten... his mistake. As he stepped through (which was difficult with the grey giant and a woman who had hardly any clothes on he considered it may actually be public indecency standing so close to the doorway) he kept his head down uncharacteristically and made his way along the outer wall. Hopefully he could find a table farther away from the ruckus of everyone else. @Hammy
 
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Steve took a good, thorough stroll around the place, poking his nose into corners where he thought Bucky might have hidden. No luck. Lots of odd characters giving him an odd look here and there, but not even a sniff of Bucky. It was almost a relief, not finding him. He wanted to, he really did, but at the same time, he didn't. Cognitive dissonance was what that was, if Steve was remembering his psychology right. Steve wasn't a fan of the feeling.


He rounded back to Sam, a forlorn frown on his face.


"Well, he's not here, that's for sure," he said, barely looking at Sam. "Can't say I'm surprised."


It almost seemed hopeless. He couldn't give up on Bucky, though; just the thought of that made his blood boil with how wrong it was. Steve knew Bucky was there and he couldn't stop when he was this close.


"I've got another idea of where to look. Won't ask you to come along any more, but I'm going if you want to come." @Shadow


It wouldn't have been fair to drag Sam along, even if Steve knew in his gut that Sam would keep following him. Steve hadn't met anyone else quite as loyal since he'd been dragged into the 21st century. It was a nice thing, having him around.


With that said, Steve made his way out of the building and made a beeline for Club A. He didn't run, but he didn't walk slowly either; his pace was practically a saunter. Maybe it was nerves and uncertainty, or maybe he just a want to take it slow. Steve couldn't say for sure. Somehow, it still felt like too soon as he approached the club's doors. It was a bit of wishful thinking, the idea that Bucky would happen to be somewhere that Steve had had to push him into many times before, but it was something.


As he entered, Steve was greeted with a cacophony of voices in his ears, followed quickly by the sight of the club, even more crowded than usual. Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised; it was still relatively early after all.


Much the same as before, Steve made rounds across the place. Still not too many people he recognized, much less Bucky. It made for less distractions at least. The more steps he took, the more silly the decision seemed in Steve's head. Bucky, going to a loud, crowded place when he didn't need to? When he had no real reason to? When would that ever happen? He was way more likely to have gone back to his dorm or somewhere outside or the library or-


Steve stopped in his tracks. Sitting a table along the far end of the wall and doing his best to make himself scarce, there was Bucky. It would have been impossible to mistake him for anyone else. A smile darted across his face and a quiet laugh of relief escaped his throat, but both were quickly silenced. Steve couldn't move all of a sudden. He could only stare as a flood of emotions crashed through him and made him ask too many questions. What now? What do I say? What do I do? What's Bucky going to do? All that and more kept him frozen for a long moment. @FarFlungDreamer
 
Sam couldn't help but chuckle when Steve saw right through his attempted cover-up. "Well on any other day I would have beaten you. Seriously, race me anytime." He said, giving Steve a teasing grin. Most of the time, Steve didn't bother to rise to his challenges; either because he thought it was childish or maybe he was just saving Sam's ego. Either way, Sam would probably be better off not racing anyone for a while in case the jet-wings gave out again. 


Sam frowned slightly as he recognized that Steve's optimism was a bit more forced after he had mentioned Bucky. He instantly regretted bringing up the one-armed menace, but sooner or later Steve would have to face his old friend anyway. "Yeah...don't worry, we'll find him. I mean, we've practically searched the whole world for him, so now that he's on the same campus there's no way he can get away now." He said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. 


"Yeah..." Sam said hesitantly, not looking forward to teaming up with a bunch of hormonal, power-crazy teenagers. He continued to observe the crowd with his back against the wall, while Steve searched the room for Bucky. He frowned when Steve came back with that kicked-puppy look on his face. "Well, like I said, we've searched the world over for him, so searching a campus won't take long in comparison." He said, resting a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.


"After all this time, you really think I'm going to let you end the search on your own? Hell no. I'm coming." He said firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. 


He followed Steve, trying to keep up with the super-soldier's quick pace. He knew how anxious Steve was about the whole situation, so he certainly couldn't blame him for hurrying. Pulling off a bandage quickly is supposed to be less painful, after all. Suddenly Steve froze and Sam followed his gaze to a table at the other side of the room. One eyebrow raised slightly, almost a silent query if this was really the infamous Bucky Barnes. A quick glance at Steve's reaction answered that question quite decisively. "Steve?" He said quietly, trying to get him to move....or even just blink. 


@Hammy   @FarFlungDreamer
 
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Bucky ran a hand across his forehead, trying to sort his head out as he fiddled with an apple he'd grabbed. He'd meant to look casual but he got lost in his thoughts, his mind kept trying to track back to that girl... figure out how he knew her... had he tried to buy her something at a fair once? He remembered losing money or something. That seemed familiar, but it didn't feel right...


Eventually he gave in, but it didn't help matters. He had nothing else to think about but what he'd done. How easily slipped into fighting those thugs, that he killed them without thinking. Even now, did he think if he went back he'd be able to stop himself? He wanted to blame everything on what happened to him, on being turned into this... but the thoughts that were always there... tugged in the back of his mind.


Sure, they'd turned him into something... taken away every part of him. But... what was underneath memories and morals, wasn't that still him? He knew if he'd had memories he would have resisted... but wasn't it also true to say what was underneath everything that was Bucky was still him. Didn't he always have a sort of darkness he fought? Even back then... 


It was dark, the moon hidden beneath a thick cloud cover that night. He glanced anxiously over his shoulder and knocked one more time. Another couple of seconds and Bucky grumbled to himself for coming and started to walk down the stairs. A door creaked and paused on the steps, hands shoved in his pockets.


"Buck?" Steve muttered questioning, into the night air, glancing over his shoulder into his apartment. James turned back and looked at his friend, hesitating. 


"I woulda phoned first... but I ran outta tin, sides the hour," He offered in way of an explanation from the stairs.


"It's okay," Steve assured him.


"I wake you?" He asked, and turned to walk up the two steps so they didn't need to be loud out in the middle of the morning. 


"No, I was up studying. Behind the grind after last week, you know?"


"Yeah," He nodded, Steve had been out of school for a solid week after having a pretty bad asthma attack. Buck told him to leave that kid be in homeroom. It was a trip for biscuits to get into a fight with him. But as usual, Steve only half agreed until he saw the bully pestering some freshy after class at tryouts and he had to get himself going. He hadn't been around and the pill kicked Steve up real good. The dust from the baseball field got Steve's asthma going and he'd only been back to school yesterday.



"Sorry for the hour," Bucky muttered, his usual luster seemed impossible as he glanced at Steve. He barely managed a grim smile. His friend must have noticed because he took a step back.


"Moms asleep, so just keep down."



Bucky nodded and stepped in as Steve stepped aside and shut the door. He stepped around the coat stand he knew instinctively was there and walked towards the light of the kitchen. Sure enough, school papers were stretched across the counter there. Only half done, Steve's doodles sketched across the headers and on the back of one paper he'd apparently caught the evening sun coming down instead of studying. Bucky's trance looking over the drawings was broken by Steve coming up behind him.


"Is everything okay?" Steve asked him, worry filling his tone and Bucky took a moment before shaking his head in a silent no. Steve glanced at him once before gesturing towards Bucky's jacket. "What happened?"


Bucky sighed and moved to take up one of the two stools sitting against the counter. His eyes seemed glued to the papers and he reached up to run a hand across his face. "I don't know, Steve, I just lost it," He groaned, rubbing his eyes harder. Steve stayed silent but took up the stool next to him. "I just didn't want to head home, have to explain it to the folks. Rebecca always hears me comes in and wakes them coming out to see me"


"Yeah, your pops might not take that well," Steve muttered, pointing unabashed at the stains on Bucky's jacket. He stood up suddenly, looking at the dried brown specks and stepping over to Steve's sink to yank his sleeves up and run some water over his hands and get it off.


"I took that gal, Norma, to the dancehall, and a few of us were hanging around after, you know. I should have split when the dames went home... " He paused and remembered seeing Wilson picking a fight with someone else. It hadn't gotten physical, the boy had backed off afraid of Wilson and the grifter had just looked so pleased with himself. King of the hill, living off the 'glory' of putting Steve down so hard earlier in the week. "Wilson was peacocking," He looked down, avoiding Steve's face now. "Like he was all shine... and I couldn't help myself. First chance I got, I picked a fight... and I could have stopped Steve... he was half off his feet, too much hooch earlier..." He admitted, looking up in a sad way to his best friend. "I just... was so spittin mad. The other guys had to pull me off him," He finished rubbing his arm as he replayed the fight in his head. It hadn't been pretty, and he knew he shoulda stopped... but he just kept seeing Steve laid up in bed, wheezing and trying to catch his breath for hours on end. All thanks to that greaseball.


"Buck..." Steve sighed, but he could hear the disappointment there. It was a weird tone to get from his friend. "You shouldn't have gone after him."



"He nearly killed you," Bucky snapped a little, eyes darkening as an angry frown worked over his face. Steve glanced down, and Bucky hadn't wanted to bring it up, he tried not to... but it was true all the same.


"Wilson didn't know that," Steve pointed out. "Hell he probably doesn't now. "


"I don't see why that changes anything, he still did it," Bucky added. 


"My asthma did that, Bucky, not some beating from Wilson."


Bucky shook his head, knowing he wouldn't get anything from Steve when he was like this. Honestly, he didn't want to be coddled, or told it was okay... Bucky knew it wasn't. Not when he knew he'd started that fight. He should know when to finish one, when it was done... and he'd just kept going. Because Wilson had hurt Steve, and he'd been worried all week that it would get worse like the last one he had... he nearly hadn't come out of that one.


In a way... Bucky needed that disappointed tone from Steve, in a way he wouldn't hear it from his parents. Because despite how weak Steve was physically... the punk was made of sterner stuff than anyone else he knew. Bucky respected Steve's pure stubborn nature to do what he thought was proper. Nothing could stop him, not really. Even getting a beating and having an episode like he'd had. He'd be right back at it as soon as he could, sure as anything. It inspired Bucky to be that way to him, give Steve back some of what he gave everyone else unwaveringly... and maybe he just felt like he'd failed Steve in that way tonight.


"Look I know he's a real pill. I sort of went after him too. But that doesn't make it right, to do the same," Steve said calmly. Bucky looked at him and ducked his gaze again. Yeah... he knew that now. He knew from the way it felt to get pulled off and see the guy's swollen face as he spit up blood. He'd crossed the line, just like Wilson had with Steve, and that would make Bucky as bad as Wilson in a way.


"I know Steve..." Bucky said, wrapping his fingers around his thumb and running them across the tabletop. He knew it now... but there wasn't much he could do to change it. They stayed in silence for awhile until Steve forced a chuckle next to him. 

"I'm really getting nowhere with all this paper," He gestured across the table. Bucky took the distraction gladly and looked over them himself. 


"Oh I got this test already," He offered and picked up one of the history papers. "Minus the flag," He chuckled and flicked the corner where there were detailed variations of the american flag sketched roughly.


"Do any good?" Steve asked.


"Depends... is a half mark up to your standards?" He grinned and tapped it. "You know history's boring. I can't keep all the details straight."


"Oh, no it's not," Steve complained and they ended up finishing half his missed work before Steve offered Bucky the couch and they retired for the night. "That way your folks can ask Mom if you were here tonight."


"You think of it all," Bucky chuckled and flopped down on the couch.


<"I don't... think you should judge yourself against me,"> He started and glanced at her to see if that made sense. It was hard, almost painful to grasp ahold of these thoughts for him. <"I'm... I'm not whole,"> He explained, James wasn't quite... broken, he was effective in his missions and fully capable. But he wasn't whole, either.... not in the way she was.


<"You're the only one I have left to compare myself with. And I don't think you're a bad comparison. There's a really good man inside there.">, 


<"There are others around you,"> He told her, because of course there were many people to compare herself against than he. James gripped her smaller hand tighter upon his declaration though. A sour smile pulled on his lips. Was there? Was there much of a man at all? Perhaps that was what made him the perfect Asset. He could never regress because there was nothing to regress to. The fact that he'd never worried about being a good man or not, must mean that he was not one. Natalia saw too much sometimes. There was hardly a man in him, much less a good one.


"That's why it is important for you to question, Winter."


<"There are no questions to be answered for me. It does not matter if I want to know or not, there is nothing to find, дорогой,"> He sighed, his eyes falling sadly. He was the Winter Soldier and there was nothing behind him, and nothing forward. That painful ache was back in his head though, and his face tightened against it


Actual pain, and not a phantom of it in some disorganized memory shot across his skull and stopped the images that seemed to fall over him when his thoughts ran away with him. He swallowed, feeling hot in the room that seemed to only grow smaller. Bucky glanced down, and realized he'd crushed the apple he'd had entirely in his metal hand at some point. 


He was wiping the crushed fruit off the metal, eyes scanning the room in case anyone saw him when he saw him. Bucky blinked, eyes double, even triple checking that he actually saw his best friend standing across the hall. That he wasn't some distant memory coming back from the recess of his mind. No... it was Steve. A lost smile twitched on Bucky's face and he looked around the club before he quickly stood up from the table. 


So he'd come back... maybe he heard? Was contacted? Bucky had inquired... and, well suddenly the courage he had before to find Steve was fleeting. He was already standing, though, and he couldn't run away a second time. So instead he stood, and faced what he had done as he should, he had to face whatever would happen with Steve as much as he needed to face the memories of the Winter Soldier. Otherwise he couldn't make sense of any new direction in his life.


Besides, it wouldn't be fair to Steve to do anything else. 


"Steve," He said as he approached him, taking the man besides him in for a cold moment before he returned his cautious gaze to Steve. @Hammy @Shadow
 
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Steve could hardly breathe as Bucky stepped over to him. He couldn't read Bucky's expression at all, but whether that was because of his own mind racing or Bucky's face being genuinely unreadable was uncertain.


"Huh," Steve breathed, half a laugh, half a whisper. He wasn't sure what else he could say. With every emotion known to man bubbling in his head, it almost hurt to speak at all. One second a smile tugged at his lips, the next he felt tears pricking at his eyes, and the next he wanted to scream at Bucky. Joy, sadness, anger, whirling like a merry-go-round in his head. Joy. Sadness. Anger. Joy...


Anger.


Without any warning, Steve lunged forward and socked Bucky hard in the chest. It wasn't his full strength, nor did he hit Bucky where it would have done permanent damage, but it was gonna hurt.


"You jerk!" Steve shouted over the ruckus in the club. He hadn't called Bucky that in a long time, and he'd never called him that with such thick rage in his voice. "What were you thinking?! Leaving like that?! Don't you ever do that to me again, do you hear me?! Do you hear me?!"


It wasn't fair to yell, Steve knew. Bucky had his own problems to deal with and his reasons for leaving. But God was it cathartic to give him a piece of Steve's mind. @FarFlungDreamer
 
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He barely let out a laugh and Steve looked so relieved it almost killed him. Damn... guilt. He thought he felt guilty enough, but the look on Steve's face made him feel nearly worse than he did when he remembered all the victims of the Winter Soldier. It was a lesser offense, maybe, but Steve meant so much more to him than those nameless faces. He was looking away from Steve out of guilt, and only saw the sudden movement from the corner of his eye.


He sure as hell felt it though, as Steve threw a hard fist right in the center of his chest. He coughed out any air he'd had in his lungs and only buckled a little from the wind leaving him.


"Hey! Punk," Bucky exclaimed breathlessly, mildly offended. In a prompt of Steve's own reaction, Bucky's voice and face transformed back to his boyish light hearted youth. Before his time at war and as Zola's captured American took a chunk of his soul, before the the endless winter had taken the rest of it. Back when it was just fun and games, Bucky and Steve marking their place in the streets of a young Brooklyn.


He knew Steve'd pulled the punch, but even a pulled punch from his super soldier best friend was a little rough. It wasn't painful to him, though, now that he was also in some ways closer to this newer version of Steve. Even if all Bucky saw was the Steve he'd always known. "Well I don't know Steve!" Bucky barked with none of the venom Steve had, the only trace of a difference in him was his long hair, the rest of him was thrown right back into Nineteen-Thirty-Nine. "I know, I know..." He muttered as Steve yelled at him not to do it again. He reached up and rubbed his flesh hand in his hair, as if it were short, but it just pulled at the tie in his hair and loosened it. "I shouldna split... I just..." His eyes lost the very limited return of youth and darkened again as he thought of the library and when he first remembered the Soldat. "I panicked." He sighed, eyes darting up to Steve's face bashfully. "But, somehow, I didn't think ya'd go an follow me!" He exclaimed.


"Pretty stupid, huh?" He offered, blue eyes lightening mischievously as he looked at Steve with a slight grin. The one he usually had when he'd spent all their cash on something stupid, or didn't heed one of Steve's wise warnings and his friend had to bail him out of it late one night. That night he'd gotten the bus time wrong, told Steve he knew what he was talking about, and they had to walk back to their borough on the coldest night of the year.  @Hammy
 
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Steve's anger wilted away soon after he'd thrown the punch. The way Bucky called him "punk" and the familiar expression that Steve could only describe as pure Bucky, it tickled something inside of him. Made him think back to happier, simpler times. It faded briefly, into something different and alien, but returned shortly after. Bucky was more himself than Winter Soldier now, Steve could discern that much. He'd take what he could get.


"Yeah, pretty stupid," Steve agreed, half-smiling and mirroring the mischief that had cropped up in Bucky's eyes.


With that said, Steve took a step forward and locked an arm around Bucky's shoulders, pulling him into a half-hug. It was nice, being able to do that again. He might have held on a little too tight, but after running around the world looking for Bucky, Steve figured he'd earned that much.


"Just leave a note or call or something next time you gotta go somewhere. I want to be sure you're not running off to get yourself killed, that's all." His tone was light, but he was only half-joking. "Go off without a word like that and I want to fly out save you, y'know."


it sounded a little ridiculous on his part when Steve put it like that. Bucky could take care of himself just fine. Yet, still, the inclination was there, deep-seated in Steve's mind. He guessed that was just how it went when you grew up looking out for each other. Well. Bucky mostly looked after him as far as keeping the two of them from getting killed, but six of one, half dozen of the other. @FarFlungDreamer
 
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