There is no light without shadow

[wearingthestars]

WHO: Billy, OTA
WHERE: The city, downtown-ish
WHAT: Rescue?
WHEN: Event Start
WARNINGS: TBD



Billy shoved his stubborn text book into his side bag as he hurried to try and catch his bus, arriving just in time to watch it pull away. He sighed in frustration, slowing to a halt. It felt like everything was going wrong lately. Like there was this dark shadow looming over him. He couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong.

School was fine. Better than high-school at least. He enjoyed his classes, and there was less opportunity for him to be hounded in the halls. It was...good. Fine. But no matter how good things were, it couldn't stop that strange ache in felt inside.

Maybe it was jealousy? Tommy had sailed right through school. Good job. Good guy. Powers. But he didn't think that could account for all of it. He loved his brother, he was happy for him. This was...something else.

He shook the feeling and stepped out onto the street- it wasn't that far of a walk home, he could make it on foot- and a strange shadow seemed to fall over the intersection. There was the distant sound of screeching breaks, and sirens could be heard in the distance before a car seemed to come out of no where and blow through the red light, heading straight for him.

Comments

[sinistral]

"Yeah, I am." For better or worse, and mostly it was better. But sometimes explaining it made Bucky fall pretty deep into the worse end of things. Billy asked though; Bucky wasn't going to shut him down. "But Captain America doesn't have to be Bucky Barnes, if that makes sense."

He took the phone back, saved the number, and pressed the call button just to check. Hopefully Billy's phone would ring, and it should show Bucky's personal phone, not his SHIELD number.

[wearingthestars]

It does make sense, but the realization makes Billy's shoulder droop a little at the unfairness of it all. He shouldn't have to have his life dictated to him, not after everything Cap does for people.

He's shaken from those thoughts by the ring of his phone, a jingle version of a retro super hero theme, and he flushes, fishing it out to answer the call with a surprised smile, quickly saving the number to his contacts. "...You didn't have to do all this."

[sinistral]

Maybe it was unfair, but Bucky didn't view it that way. The world needed the symbol of Captain America; being that symbol gave a lot of other heroes the freedom to just be themselves, to be accepted for being themselves. That alone was worth the carefully crafted image, the coached appearances, the restrictions on things that he did. He'd had a whole life lived, several lifetimes ago. Surviving decades in hibernation in the Arctic? That meant he was here for a reason.

He smiled at the ringtone, holding in a chuckle. He didn't want Billy to get the impression that Bucky was laughing at him, because that certainly wasn't the case. "I know I didn't have to. I wanted to. Sometimes this whole hero thing is lonely business, you know? It was nice to just sit and talk and get to be Bucky for a while."

[wearingthestars]

"Yeah...I guess I get that?" Not first hand exactly, but...well he knows what it's like to be lonely. And he knows how hard the hero thing is on the rest of his family.

"If you ever just wanna be Bucky...I'm pretty much always free," he offers, "If that's not...weird, you know?" he finishes awkwardly. He's sure Bucky's just being nice, he doesn't need the added pressure of letting down some loser kid gently.

[sinistral]

"Doesn't have to be weird, does it?" Enough of Bucky's day to day life was weird, after all. The whole super hero thing had some amazing encounters, but it also had its share of off-the-wall, strange stuff. Even the swan dive off the bike with Billy wasn't the strangest thing he'd done. "We're already gonna hang out when I get a new bike, right? I'm looking forward to it."

He wasn't just saying it either; Bucky really was looking forward to spending a few hours together. Not just for bike safety or whatever, but because he liked just hanging out like this, without the pressure of his public persona. "Look, that's my personal number, not my work phone. Just don't give it out and you can text it any time, okay? I just might be slow to answer sometimes." For obvious reasons.

[wearingthestars]

"I won't," he promised, "And uh- I'm gonna pay you back for the bike. In installments probably, but- I am," he adds with a determination that says he won't accept any arguments.

Billy doesn't really know if Bucky has to pay for those out of pocket or if there was a whole garage full of them at his disposal, but either way, Billy still felt it was his responsibility.

[sinistral]

"Billy, no, you don't have to." Bucky shook his head. "I have— insurance is the best word for it, it's a whole thing, Captain America and all that, property damage incurred in the line of duty, et cetera, et cetera. It'll be covered in full, just gotta do the incident report." Not that he liked doing those reports, but it was fine.

"So don't worry about it, okay? I'll submit the paperwork, they'll tell me what I should get, I'll argue, we'll go back and forth a bit until I get the bike I want anyway because they love the image as much as I love riding the things."

[wearingthestars]

"I want to. Or least...part of it. I don't actually know how expensive those things are. Probably a lot, isn't it?"

Still. Important gesture. Responsibility, all that stuff.

[sinistral]

"A decent amount. I get them modified." Extra power, bulletproof plating around the vital bits, some other fun things. "You wanna help, I'll drag you shopping with me. Might make my handlers back off a little."

Or it might make them think to turn it into some PR stunt, motorcycle safety with Captain America. Bucky made a mental note to shut down anything like that; an offer to Bully was meant just for the two of them.

[wearingthestars]

Handlers. It still felt...creepy. Did Mom and Dad have handlers? Tommy didn't, but he wasn't public. It felt so...dehumanizing.

"Hey- I'm good at that. Grade A people repellant," he teased, "Awkwardness to the rescue."

[sinistral]

It really wasn't that creepy. Or he was just used to it. But everyone Bucky worked with, he'd approved, shook all least or wouldn't be people he didn't at least somewhat tolerate.

Face of an organization and all, combined with a title after the entire country. It was a Thing.

"Thought you said you don't have any powers," he joked, with another one of those shoulder bumps. "Seriously, it'd be nice to just have a friend along."

[wearingthestars]

"I mean- I think I also said I was cursed or something? I dunno. I'm still pretty convinced half of all this is just me in shock still talking to a wall or something."

A friend...Yeah. Billy smiles softly, and nods, finally offering one of those bumps in return. "Then yeah, count me in."

[sinistral]

"I mean, I do make a pretty good looking wall." Something something wall of muscle, whatever. "What can I do to convince you it's not a hallucination?"

His smile widened at Billy returning the gesture; it might have taken a bit of doing but the kid was finally relaxing. That made Bucky feel better too, because he didn't just want this to be a one-sided conversation. He didn't think a lot of people really wanted to know Bucky, not when they were so caught up with Cap. "Good. You let me know when your schedule is looking a little free and we'll make it happen."

[wearingthestars]

Oh hell. He can feel his face burning, and he glances away, trying to laugh it off with a flustered smile. A damn good looking wall. "Heh- uh...I dunno. I mean...you seem pretty real." Pretty solid.

He considers a moment before attempting a move he might regret, offering up an outstretched pinky finger. "Promise."

[sinistral]

Bucky had no intention of calling attention to that blush. You just didn't do that to someone; it'd be cruel. "I'm real. This is the real Bucky Barnes."

He couldn't hold in the chuckle that time, raising his own hand to link their pinkies. It was totally dorky and he loved it. "Promise."

[wearingthestars]

"...I'm glad we met...Bucky." It feels a little strange to call him that, but a good strange.

Billy doesn't mind the laugh, giving a pleased one of his own before releasing, feeling like he had this private knowledge that Cap was secretly a total dork like him. Which felt good.

[sinistral]

"Me too, Billy. Me too." The warmth in his voice was completely genuine.

Bucky looked up; most of the cleanup of bad guys and vehicle mess looked to be wrapping up, which meant they'd eventually have to stop sitting in the street soon. Back to reality and all that. "You have a reliable way to get home? Because eventually they're gonna come over here and ask me things and I'm gonna have to go full Cap, and that means throwing my weight around to get you where you need to be, too."

[wearingthestars]

"Yeah, I uh-" he nodded vaguely off in the distance, "I don't live too far. I missed my bus before, so I was just going to walk it. Or...I can always call my brother, he can probably swing by," he assured.

Bucky's probably spared him more time than he should of, especially considering Billy's not sure what level of importance that chase might have been before he interrupted it.

[sinistral]

"You realize that I have a little pull with these guys, right? You want a ride, you can ride with me." Bucky was going to have to go back to SHIELD after this; a detour to drop the younger man off wouldn't take long at all. "Save some mileage on that bus pass."

Really it wasn't that big a deal, nor that big a crime. Just run of the mill crooks, no powers, nothing. Paperwork would be the worst of it.

[wearingthestars]

"...Yeah?" Billy looks a little nervous to accept, but it really doesn't take much convincing. "...If it's really okay. You don't have to, but...yeah. That'd be-...thanks."

[sinistral]

"Yeah. You're with me, okay?" Bucky rolled his shoulders, then shrugged the shield off his back, propping it against Billy's knee. "Keep an eye on it for me?"

If Billy agreed he'd roll to his feet a moment later, still wincing over the bruising. Fortunately wrap up wouldn't take too long, just a quick statement to police and a handoff of keys from the SHIELD agent now on the scene; the agent would ride to the police station instead of Bucky, who would take the jeep back to headquarters.

A quick detour to the wreck of his bike to grab his keys and made his way back to Billy's side. "Hey."

[wearingthestars]

''Kay."

He hesitated a moment before nodding, reaching to help steady the shield, a sympathetic wince following that pain he could still see on Bucky's face.

Once he was left alone he traced a finger lightly over the rim of the shield, a buzz with a barely contained excitement.

His head jerked up in surprise at Bucky's return, lost in his imagination, and he flushed, pushing to his feet and offering the shield back to him.

"It's uh...lighter than I expected," he noted, "You okay? Did they check you out?"

[sinistral]

"It is, isn't it? Enough weight to do what I need it to do." Vibranium was wonderful stuff.

He took the shield back, sliding his arm into the straps, feeling the familiar weight settle at his side. "Yeah, I'm fine, just bruised. It'll heal by the morning." A hot shower wouldn't go amiss either, but he had a few hours ahead before he could realize that luxury.

"But Simmons is gonna ride to the station with our perps, so I get his jeep. Won't be as cool as my bike, you'll have to forgive me for that one." He was totally glossing over being checked out; he knew he was fine.

[wearingthestars]

"Pretty sure we could ride in a clown car and it'd still be pretty cool with you there," Billy argues.

He doesn't quite buy that he's fine. He knows this is what he does every day, and in the grand scheme of things this isn't a huge deal, but he can't shake that worry, or that feeling that he should be offering to help some how. As if there's anything he can do that an actual medic couldn't 1000x better.

[sinistral]

"I mean, is that a request?" Bucky could make it happen. Maybe. Were there even actual clown cars in the city? He had no idea.

But the jeep would do for now, for getting them to where they needed to be. Bucky clapped Billy on the shoulder, leading him toward the vehicle. "Honestly, we're getting off pretty easy this time. Can't complain."