[log] A Matter of Trust [closed]

[jumpthegun]

Characters: John Watson and Bucky Barnes
Location Building 235 (the Aquarium)
Date: Day 160 - Night
Summary: John's come to try to help Bucky with his frostbitten arm. Bucky was using that as a lure for a trap to interrogate Watson about what he knows. It's not going to end well for anyone.
Warnings: Excessive violence, blood, gangrene grossness

[The aquarium has the feel of a small-town tourist attraction, the sort built to give people just stopping to fuel up on petrol a reason to stay for an hour or two. As John makes it into the place, it's early evening. There are various aquariums inside that, according to plaques beside them, once showcased various Alaskan fish; they're empty now. He checks in the bathroom and finds that the water does, indeed run hot, and that's a relief. The whole atmosphere is kind of eerie, with the water casting rippling patterns on the walls, ceilings, and floors, but there's warm water, and John's just going to have to wait for Bucky since a look around tells him he's alone.

After washing up, himself in the sink, and taking the moment to shave and wash his hair, John goes looking in the gift shop. He finds a stuffed dolphin that he decides to keep for Ecks. As that leaves him still with no Bucky and time to occupy himself, the doctor sends a brief message out:]

@jwatson > @username
I'm here.

[When Bucky arrives, John is entirely preoccupied using his tablet light to read some of the plaques. His ears are tuned for the sounds of others, but someone making the effort could probably sneak up on him.]

Comments

[jumpthegun]

[John doesn't attack because he sees his tablet right there, his arm is free, and he's going to try to make another mad dash for the bathrooms. It's scooping up his tablet that probably gives Bucky the best chance to aim that he could ask for.

There's a sudden weight at his backside, and then the scalpel is slicing through his jeans, and John cries out in pain as his leg gives out and he goes down to the floor. Not good. Very not good.

If Bucky comes down on top of the doctor, he'll find some part of him, likely his chest or stomach, getting elbowed sharply as John struggles to turn over and get his good leg up so that he can kick. His efforts are hampered somewhat by a coughing fit, the blood from his nosebleed becoming too much to handle.]

[advanced]

[This is getting out of hand.

He just wants to get Watson under control, and somehow he's ended up half crippling him. He'll feel guilt for it later, there's no time now, not when he finally has the upper hand. He pushes his advantage for all its worth, grunting with the effort of ignoring the blows to his chest and stomach and the kicking of the man underneath him.

He's going for the throat again, this time using his hand to try and clasp around his airways and squeeze until he's out cold so he can finally tie him up and wait for him to come around again.]

[jumpthegun]

[The problem with getting that close is that it brings Bucky very effectively into John's range. He doesn't bother to punch, just grasping hold of the hand around his throat and trying to pry that off. His leg is still there, though, and if Bucky is in any position for it, the good doctor will be aiming to knee or kick him right between the legs.

It's not fighting fair, but John doesn't much care about what's fair at the moment. He's got maybe a minute of consciousness left.

Black begins edging at his vision because apparently Bucky knows where to grip to cut off blood flow, not just air.

Strike that, he has about 20 seconds left, and he plans to make use of them to prevent this, if he can.]

[advanced]

[He has to make use of this advantage now, because he can feel himself flagging.

That knee strikes true and he exhales with a grunt of pain, vision whiting out for a moment as he half curls over Watson. But he doesn't let up with his hand, instinct and training hammered into him to complete a mission as the top priority allows him to do that even while the rest of him is cringing from the blow.

He resists the urge to squeeze harder or try and knock Watson's head against the ground, he doesn't want to accidentally kill him or give him a concussion so that he can't answer questions. He just needs him out cold. So he hangs on as best he can, a battle of stamina.]

[jumpthegun]

[That last attack was his final line of defense, and unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be working. John struggles harder, strangulation and choking both taking their toll.

It's a tense ten seconds later that his eyes flutter closed, and his body goes slack.]

[advanced]

[He holds on for a further five seconds to make absolutely certain, his hand pressed to Watson's pulse point so he can feel if he goes too far and it starts to slow. Only when he's certain the other man is unconscious does he slide off him.

He'll do his best to get finished in his preparations before Watson wakes up, but he's slow because of his own injuries and limitations. He'll pull a chair over from behind the gift shop counter and try and sit Watson in it. He doesn't have any rope, but he'll take off his shirt and use it to bind Watson's legs, and then use his spare shirt to bind his arms. Tight and well knotted.

If he manages to get all that done before Watson comes around, then the poor man will wake up to a shirtless Bucky sitting opposite him on the floor. His metal arm is exposed now, and the shoulder looks in dreadful condition. It smells foul as though it's begun to rot, large parts of the skin black, and most of it drenched in blood where the pull to the shoulder just sloughed off more skin.]

[jumpthegun]

[John wakes hacking up blood a minute or two after Bucky finishes tying him up. His entire face hurts, his throat is raw, the back of his thigh is on fire and... probably going to leave a lovely stain on his jeans for the blood, and there's a stench of rotting flesh. The doctor takes a second or two to gasp and get his coughing under control before looking up at Bucky.

That arm earns a sympathetic wince, but it doesn't last long as John's eyes slide to the other man's face. John's expression hardens, and then he just drops his eyes to Bucky's midsection, not saying a word. Silence. It's the first tactic in resisting interrogation. John's used to sitting in silence. He'd done it enough with Sherlock.]

[advanced]

[Guilt is already curling around his stomach, mingled with resignation for what he had to do. He doesn't move from where he's sat, no longer looming over him or behaving threateningly. But he doesn't have to, not yet.

His voice is quiet, but it still sounds too loud after neither of them speaking during the whole fight.]

I'm sorry.

[It actually sounds half genuine.]

I said I didn't want to hurt you. But I promised to get this information, so you need to tell me.

[jumpthegun]

Who did you promise?

[John's voice is rough, nasally. He doesn't look up at Bucky, just keeps his eyes lowered, draws up his walls.]

[advanced]

Tony.

[There's no reason to hide it, once he starts asking leading questions to find out the information he wants then it would be obvious anyway.]

Tell me what you know about him.

[jumpthegun]

[It's like a punch to the gut. Tony sent Bucky after him? Really? That's not... they'd yelled at each other, but did the man not think he could...? No. No, of course he doesn't trust John. He'd made that abundantly clear in their last conversation. But there's a part of him that can't believe Tony would ask Bucky to do this. These are Bucky's tactics, not Tony's.]

No.

[advanced]

[He scrubs his good hand over his face, weary and conflicted. It feels so very different to threaten him now he can't fight back, a line he hasn't quite crossed yet.]

Why not? You know I'm here from him, there's no confidentiality issue.

[jumpthegun]

Because he can ask me himself, if he wants to know. I don't care for playing telephone.

[advanced]

I was coming to speak with you anyway, to find out what you knew about me, and you haven't been very forthcoming with him.

[At least Tony gave the impression that all he and Watson had managed to do was snipe at each other.]

[jumpthegun]

He hasn't asked me anything specific since my casebook came out, Sergeant Barnes. I'm not going to volunteer that information unless someone asks for it. It's uncomfortable. When he asked me about something I knew about him, I told him as much as I could tell him. We found out things were different between his universe and the one I knew.

[advanced]

Stop calling me that.

[He hasn't been Sergeant Barnes in a very long time, and the man that had been Sergeant Barnes would never have done what he's done today. It just heightens his guilt, regret.]

You don't have movies about them too?

[jumpthegun]

What would you like me to call you? Bucky?

[John's well aware that rapport is a tactic that can be employed on both sides of an interrogation.]

We have films about a lot of things. Your shoulder still needs looking at and my leg is bleeding. I have medical supplies in my pack.

[advanced]

[It's probably obvious from the subtle shift in his expression that he doesn't want to be called Bucky either, it just makes the guilt worse. He can see Steve's disappointed face in his head, and he knows this isn't the good man he's trying to be.

He was doing so much better before he came to this place, he feels like he's slid backwards so far.

Part of him wants to untie Watson, but the paranoid niggling at the back of his head just can't let him. Not without finding out everything he knows. But he does stand up slowly.]

Where's your bag? I'll fetch it.

[He's not going to untie him, but he will bring something to bind his leg with.]

In return, tell me about the movies you have seen. The relevant ones.

[He makes sure to tack that on, or he's bound to get a bland reply about some nonsense kid's cartoon movie or something.]

[jumpthegun]

It's in the 'loo. I can tell you about you in the one I've seen for Captain America.

[That's all you're getting, Bucky.]

[advanced]

[He nods, it's a start. This might be able to turn into a negotiation and answer game, something he would vastly prefer.

He's not long, ten seconds or so, before he reappears with the bag. He's fairly confident of his ability with knots that Watson won't be free so swiftly, but he could be wrong. Assuming his captive is still seated and bound, he'll come and crouch next to him.]

Talk.

[He'll fish about one handed for any bandages and gauze to deal with this leg wound.]

[jumpthegun]

[There isn't any gauze, but there's a thin hospital sheet that's been cut up into long strips and balled away neatly. There's also hand sanitizer, grapefruit-scented wipes and dry tissues.

While Bucky's away, John tests the give on the shirts he's been bound with. There's just burning pain when he tries to move his left leg. Yeah, even if he could escape, that's not going to end well. By the feel of it, he did at least nick a tendon. The warm blood beginning to pool beneath his leg is also indication of that...]

Bucky Barnes was drafted, even though it was Steve Rogers who wanted to join the Army. He spent a lot of time trying to convince Steve to give up on joining, there were other important things he could be doing to help the war effort. Steve wouldn't listen and ended up finding a way around his medical exclusion. Sergeant Barnes shipped out the day after Steve managed to join up. Sergeant Barnes was captured as a prisoner of war and was taken to some sort of facility where they were doing experiments. Steve Rogers broke into the facility and rescued him and the other POWs. Sergeant Barnes was recruited to the Howling Commandos after that.

[He says it like he's giving a mission report, although it's broken up by fits of coughing and silent winces following them as his face and particularly his nose, protest. That's still dripping blood, but at least it isn't gushing.]

[advanced]

[It's intensely disturbing to hear parts of his own life parroted back at him, even though it's so bare bones and he asked for it. How deep does this go? There are films about Sergeant Barnes and Steve Rogers, about the Howling Commandos, in his world. Is this something similar.]

Be more specific. Can you remember any-- dialogue?

[Just the word makes his skin crawl, like he's accepting he might well be fictional.

It's hard to get the strips of sheet out and wound around Watson's leg with one hand, but he compensates by using his teeth to pull it into a tight tourniquet rather than a moderately tight bandage.]

What do you know about HYDRA, and the experiments they were doing?

[jumpthegun]

[John can't speak for several seconds. He just grits his teeth against the pain, face going very pale. Or it would be if there was much more than ambient light from his dropped tablet to see by. It's nearly half a minute before he replies.]

'I'm with you to the end of the line.'

[This movie was two years ago for him, and he saw it once at the cinema, Bucky. What do you want from him?]

HYDRA was studying the Tesseract. I think their experiments were supposed to be part of it. I dunno.

[advanced]

[Those words hit him like solid blows to the face. He can't even begin to hide how much that disturbs him, his eyes wide and his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallows reflexively a few times. How-- how could that be in the movie?

He feels suddenly very sick.

He can hear himself saying those words to Steve so long ago, and then again only two nights past while he died. He can hear Steve saying them to him as they fought above the Potomac. What would Steve say if he knew what Bucky was doing now? It takes a good long while for him to wrest control back and continue.]

But you didn't see anything after I fell? Convenient.

[Given that he felt most betrayed for telling secrets after that point.]

[jumpthegun]

I've just told you they do these films in trilogies, Bucky. [Bucky didn't say not to call him that directly.] This one focused on what happened with Captain Rogers after, getting the Tesseract away from the Red Skull and HYDRA.