Ascertainment || Bucky Barnes (2)

1

The halls of the Smithsonian air and space building was empty as Basil strode in. His footsteps echoing as he walked passed the aeroplanes and small scale models of bombs and rockets. All of them stuck in glass or hung from strings. It was hauntingly quiet as he kept on walking. Hands stuffed into the pockets of his black jeans. Boots clicking on the polished marble. His shirt was slightly itchy from ironing and his rainbow pin stuck out from the collar. His leather suspenders hung loose around his legs from where he had no bothered to pulled them up after the taxi ride. His hair had been cut recently and it was short in a way he was unused to. He hadn't kept it this short since he had first enrolled in the army.

The escalator up to the captain America exhibit wasn't working but Basil didn't mind taking the stairs. Steve had offered to come with him but Basil wanted to do this himself. He needed to do this himself. Tony had helped with the scheduling, closing the building for him and everything. It was nice but Tony had done so much for him. After the alien invasion of New York, Basil had quit shield. He didn't want to be stuck fighting another war. Fury still held the right to bring him back in on world threatening missions, avenger only type things, but Basil had reserved his right to avoid all other missions. He wasn't a soldier anymore, not matter how hard it was to get through his head.

His nerves rose in his stomach as he entered the exhibit. It had been given to the Smithsonian when they had first found Steve and him in the ice. Since then all the facts about captain America and the howling commandos were public knowledge. Basil walked passed the quotes from the president and the giant mural on the wall of Steve saluting patriotically. He barely glanced at the walls detailing the super soldier experiment and the changes. He ignore the section on Steve's show life completely. When he reached the part of the exhibit on the howling commandos he looked up and paused. There was a section of walls for each of them. Names, photos, backstory. On a pedestal opposite were mannequins with their uniforms. Steve at the forefront with Bucky's on his left and Basil's on his right. The old shield in his hands. Basil smiled nostalgically at the worn and stitched uniform, the red and white patch still on it's arm, before continuing.

The next wall was about Bucky. His and Steve's childhood together in Brooklyn and their long lasting friendship. Bucky's black and white photograph was caught in glass. In it his head was tilted slightly back. Eyes regarding the camera with nonchalance but also assessment. Basil remembered how Bucky would come across as a confident, cocky smooth talker but he was so smart. The friendly cocky act a thing that kept him on the best side of the men while his actual brain worked, the way he would shoot a man without hesitation to protect his men. The calculation of a battle and the way he easily organised their supplies made him a leader. Basil smiled at the photo. If he ignored the years spent in the ice he was the same age Bucky was when he died. Twenty three. Two and a half years since he woke from the ice. Two years since he became an avenger. One year since he became a legal doctor and got his medical license.

"Mr Parrish", a woman was waiting for him. Basil turned and offered her a charming smile. She was in her early flurries but looked remarkably glamorous. Her red lipstick reminded his of Peggy Carter and her curled brown hair lay in ringlets round her shoulders. She smiled and pushed her glasses up her nose as she stepped forward to shake his hand. "My name is Alice Turner. We spoke on the phone".

"Ah. Nice to meet you in person", Basil's smile grew more genuine. Alice returned it.

"Thank you for agreeing to do this interview. I could only imagine what this must be like for you".

Basil stuck his hands back into his pockets and glanced around again. He took a deep breath. "It's weird. I can tell you that much. For me, the war and my friends were less than three years ago. For you, well there's been whole generations of people who never experienced it".

Alice nodded. "Feel free to only say what you want. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable at all during this". Basil thanked her for the consideration. She smiled and began walking further down the corridor. The corridor twisted round a corner and Basil followed. After the section on Steve's and Bucky's friendship, the corridor came to a wider section. There was a mini movie area where filmed interviews about Steve were being played. Basil knew there to be one from Peggy, filmed in the sixties and one from Howard Stark. Various memorabilia from their crusade against hydra lined the walls. There was a model of one of Steve's motorbikes. (Basil knew it was a model because Steve kept on blowing his up). He spotted his own medical kit on the wall and his trusted rifle. His knife was there too. The same knife that he had Sam send home to Phillip. The memory made him smile.

The rest of the film crew and the band were waiting for them halfway down the corridor. Basil hesitated as Alice led on. His eyes taking in the new topic in the walls. 'The love story of Basil and Bucky' proclaimed it in big letters. The story took up almost four walls worth of information. Beyond he could see the topic of the plane crash further down the exhibit and then a small section about the invasion of New York and the return of captain America and the medic. (That was what he was called now. Apparently they thought the 'Crazy doctor' was too old. Steve had grumbled about it when Basil had mentioned it).

He glanced around the section of the exhibit he was in. On one wall he could see image of him and Bucky, taken from filmed interviews and sketches of them together that Steve must have drawn at some point. Them by the fire talking. Basil reading to the squad. Basil bandaging up a gash on Bucky's hand. Bucky doing the same to the old flesh wound on Basil's arm. (He still had the scar although now it was joined with the raised skin of a stab wound). Black and white images of Basil throwing knives at him, Bucky's arm around Basil's shoulders. There were even small video screens without sound. The image zoomed in to then in the background talking together. (His chest hurt as he watched his younger self look at Bucky as if the man held the world in his palms).

On another wall were his letters to his brother. The pages framed so that the visitors could read them too. Basil wondered if he should feel violated at this, his personal words written in confidence out in display for the world to see but he found that he didn't really care. He was tired. On another wall was his books. The bullet still lodged in the back of his notebook. It made his lips quirk up slightly.

"Mr Parrish?" Alice was waiting for him. Her film crew was small. A camera man, a sound man and a few musicians. Basil shook himself out of his thoughts and plastered a smile on his face as he strolled over.

"Are you ready?" She asked. Basil nodded. He was as ready as he'd ever be.

Unedited