[log] caught in a snowdrift [closed]

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Characters: Flynn and Bucky
Location: Between houses
Date: Day 380
Summary: Flynn gets caught in a snowdrift, Bucky helps, they bond
Warnings: None

[Bucky had really thought that Flynn wouldn't come back, he'd stick with his other friends and his woman, so why had he come back? Bucky isn't exactly a personable travelling companion, he's quiet a lot of the time and doesn't invite confidences, but somehow Flynn isn't put off. It's made him thaw just a little, in small ways, like turning his back while they're travelling without worrying that Flynn might plant a knife in it.

Turns out, turning his back was a bad idea.

There's a crunch and soft thwump of snow, and when he turns around Flynn is half buried under deeply compacted snow. He's not sure whether to be annoyed, concerned, or laugh. In the end, he goes for a mixture of the first two, walking back a couple of paces and looking down.]

You okay?

Comments

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[Somehow this doesn't surprise him, Flynn was running through a booby-trapped temple in the memory that he had seen, and he seems like the kind of idiot who would waltz through danger.]

The waltz wasn't really my scene.

[At least, the few memories he has are of smokey dance halls and lively music, not really conducive to ballroom, more swing and jive.]

Hey-- I need you to keep real still from now on, okay? I don't wanna hit you with this thing. Keep talking, keep focused, just don't move.

[cahooted]

Okay.

... Why? What are you gonna do? What are you trying?

[His eyes shift and he tries to catch a glimpse at Bucky's metal contraption without moving his head too much.]

Maybe you should talk me through it...

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I'm going to dig you out, we don't have a lot of time to waste if we're still going to make lockdown.

[He digs the end of his makeshift spade into the snow and starts to shovel hard.]

Focus on something else.

[cahooted]

'Focus on something else'? Like what? I spy with my little eye and it's white and cold?

[He's really trying not to panic here but it's getting harder and harder and that better not be the sun setting in the distance.]

... Look, you... if it takes too long you... you gotta go.

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Shut the hell up.

[It's hard and firm, though not said with any real anger behind it.]

Tell me to leave again, and I'll knock you out. Probably work faster without you annoying me anyway.

[cahooted]

I'll be back in a couple of days. There's no need for you to die, too.

[But his voice doesn't exactly back up the brave talk and his eyes keep darting between the sun and Bucky's attempts to get him out of there.]

Please don't, that always gives me a terrible headache...

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[He doesn't stop working, they don't have time for him to stop even for a heartfelt moment, and perhaps it's easier to say words like this when his focus is on the makeshift shovel rather than Flynn himself.]

You're a friend, I don't leave friends behind.

[So shut up and let him save you.]

Can you move your right arm at all now that I've loosened this section?

[cahooted]

[He's quiet for once at that, partly touched, partly surprised, and just watches Bucky work for a moment. Eventually,] ... Thanks.

Hang on... yeah, I think I-- wait--

[He puts in some effort, grunting until his arm slips free. Immediately he groans when the movement brings another wave of pain, pressing his forehead down into the snow.]

Ohhhh yeah that's. That's gonna be bruises. My body, just another replica of Starry Night. Mmmh.

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[That doesn't look good, but he's more concerned with getting Flynn out and getting to shelter than his injuries right now. They can deal with those when they're safe inside, but there'll be no curing his injuries if he's dead.

And coming back isn't a sure thing, whatever people here say.]

You can tell your dame that you got them fighting something big and strong, impress her.

[cahooted]

[That draws a short, pained chuckle from him.]

That's good, I l-like that. We should m-make it really d-dramatic. And s-say that I s-saved you.

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Sure, I can go along with that.

[His brow knits together in sympathy as he takes hold of Flynn's free arm.]

This is gonna really hurt, but I have to pull you out of there.

[cahooted]

[Flynn exhales audibly at the warning but he clenches his teeth and gives Bucky a quick nod.]

Well, I'm probably gonna really scream, but okay. I'm ready.

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[He really hopes that Flynn doesn't have a spinal injury, or this could kill him just as easily as leaving him out here, but they don't have a choice. So he hooks one of his gloved hands under Flynn's armpit and braces the other on his forearm, and pulls.

Luckily he's pretty strong, even without the serum, and it only takes about four minutes to painstakingly pull him up. But that's got to be a long four minutes for poor Flynn.]

[cahooted]

[He's not ready! He's SO not ready!

Once the pulling starts Flynn starts to scream because there's pretending to have some semblance of pain tolerance and then there's four minutes of this agony. At least he's staying in control enough to not wildly lash out at Bucky but there are definitely some hysterical willyouhurryups and whatstakingyousolongs in there.]

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[Luckily, even if it's a shit kind of luck, Bucky is really used to people screaming as he works and he's good at blocking it out. Which is why Flynn ends up carefully deposited on the snow in just a few minutes.]

Okay, deep breaths, you've got a minute.

[But only really a minute.]

Then I need you to tell me where hurts.

[cahooted]

Oh God. Ohh God, that is-- that is very painful.

[Right, deep breaths. Can't take deep breaths when talking. Or maybe he can, at least he's trying to do just that.]

C-can't I just tell you where it doesn't hurt because that might be faster...

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[He scrubs a hand over his face and takes a deep breath of his own for patience.]

I just need to know if you're going to get worse if I carry you, because we have to get inside. Soon.

[cahooted]

A-alright, alright.

[Flynn groans and tries to focus but the cold seems to be stabbing into his head and it's so hard to make out where the pain in his body begins and where it... well, no, it doesn't end, he doesn't find an ending right now.]

My... my ribs really h-hurt. Down here, maybe it's c-cracked or... And my left shoulder. And my back. And my arms and legs both but I don't-- don't think they're broken. M-my feet are numb, I'm gonna get t-the worst ant sensation w-when they get warm again, I just k-know it...

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[That's really not a good answer, too vague to tell if there's something more serious inside that he can't see.]

Then you have something to look forward to when you get warm, huh?

[He bends down and winds an arm under Flynn's armpits.]

Hold on, I'll do my best not to jog you.

[cahooted]

I g-guess...

[He hisses when he's being moved again but makes a visible effort to pull himself together.]

Appreciate... it.

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[Flynn is deathly cold against his chest, and he's a little afraid that the man is going to go into shock. He can't let that happen, so he has to give Flynn something to focus on and keep him alert, keep him from sliding. But what? He thinks for a moment or two as he gets Flynn properly situated in his arms, but he can only think of one thing.]

You can ask me three questions. Anything.

[He doesn't like this, but it's always been for the sake of others that he pushes past his comfort zones, and he knows it drives Flynn wild that he's so silent in the face of his endless babble.]

But only if you focus.

[cahooted]

T-three questions...?

[Oh man. That is so much and so little at the same time? Because immediately his mind goes into overdrive with all the things he has wondered about Bucky, the little fragments he's learned, all those things that still remain a mystery...]

O-okay.

[Focus. That's the deal. Flynn clenches his teeth when Bucky starts moving and the rocking motions send various jolts of pain through his body.]

H-how did you escape the people you worked for?

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[He doesn't know what path Flynn is going to dive down first, but he's got himself braced for the worst. From what had been seen before, the memories they both try to forget having shared, he has to have too many questions.

He's not expecting that exact one, but it's not as bad as some of the things that could be asked. It's intimate, though, deeply personal and he has to take a moment to find the right words.]

They sent me to kill someone I used to know. He refused to fight me even though I didn't know who he was, he was gonna let me kill him. Something about him-- the things he said-- it made me not go back. I'm still not really sure how I made that decision, and once I made the decision to go then it was hard for them to find me. They taught me really well.

[cahooted]

[Flynn listens, trying to stifle the sounds of discomfort that escape through his nose from time to time.

So he had some help. That means he must have a friend back in his world. The thought that someone managed to break through that cold persona he met in the horrid dreamscape makes him stupidly happy for some reason and he smiles against Bucky's back.]

I'm g-glad you... got out.

[Two more questions.]

But h-how come you don't age, are you Im-Immortal?

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[He hears those noises as much as Flynn tries to stifle them and it makes him want to slow down, take even more care to not jolt him. But he can't, the sun is already dangerously low and they still have a good half mile to go to reach a house, this is as slow as he dares go.

He'll just have to hope that the questions and answers are enough to keep Flynn from falling unconscious or going into shock, even if the discomfort of them is enough to have all of Bucky's muscles tensing.]

No.

[His fingers twitch where he's holding onto Flynn.]

They put me in cryogenic freeze when I wasn't needed, just another weapon in storage.