Red White and You

|13| Longing •1

long·ing
/ˈlôNGiNG/

желание
/zhelaniye/

—————

One word used by many to describe a one James Buchanan Barnes would be: wistful.

Why, you might ask. Well, the whole story of it is quite long, but the message behind it is truly a sweet one.

While most called him Bucky, there was one man in particular that called him Buck. This man wasn't just one with whom he was acquainted. Between them, a love had sprouted. An unbreakable bond that would hold them together into infinity.

It was after enduring many years of torture and after fighting back against the people who took him all those years ago that he realized something marvelously important.

Knowing someone is different than loving them.

Sure, it seems simple. But it goes deeper than you would think.

Allow me to ask you this. Why fight a battle you know you're not likely to win? Why bother expending time and energy doing something that seems hopeless?

If not for the bond tying him to the love of his life, Bucky would have asked himself the same questions. Yet, instead, he fought. Sure, he lost a few battles along the way. And sure, they told him it was hopeless. But at the end of the line, it was the little victories that brought him back.

That man that wouldn't stop. Steve, that is. He wouldn't give up. He knew his chances of beating a heavily armed super soldier with a metal arm were slim but, he tried anyway.

He picked a fight with the bigger guy because it was the right thing to do.

His voice. So distant, yet familiar all the same. The way he whispered that noise. That one thing he said... what was it?

Bucky...?

The clothes he wore. They looked like something out of a long gone memory. Something he thought he recognized but wasn't totally sure.

His old uniform.

The way he stood up, audaciously, to the man above him. Death looming in the corner, yet refusing to give up.

Then finish it. 'Cause I'm with you 'till the— end of the line.

And after all this time, they remained who they were. Two kids from Brooklyn.

Now, they've got him. Bucky, that is. Locked up. After Zemo brainwashed him again, he was taken into custody to be re-evaluated regarding his mental state.

And this is where we are now.

—————

"I really don't see how this is necessary," I said to the guard as I sat chained up and heavily guarded in my brick laden cell. No response. As per usual. What could I do? I had been trapped there for the past week and no one had said a word to me the whole time about... well, anything.

Ksssssh— kuh the guards' walkie-talkie's turned on. "Yea we got a, uh, visitor for cell number 91... James B. Barnes" ksssh.

One of them picked it up and pressed the button asking, "does he have pre-authorized access from Director Fury?" Ksssh.

"Yessir. It appears that he does." Kuh.

"Who is it?" Kssssh— kuh.

"Uh..." kssh, "I can't tell sir. What's your name, boy?" He asked. The man answered: "Grant Stevens, sir." Ksssh.