GET WELL SOON!

[sidecars]

WHO: Bucky Barnes sidecars and YOU!
WHERE: Nonah General Hospital
WHEN:11/26 - 12/30
WHAT: Bucky has returned after being ported out briefly. He came back no arm and no memories of his life. His probation officer is making calls to the few friends/family Bucky has here to come visit him.
WARNINGS: None yet



[ This is the first time since he regained consciousness that he's been able to stay conscious for longer than a few bleary scans around the hospital room. Maybe if he wasn't so hopped up on morphine he would be concerned by this, but instead he simply turns his head slowly to the door trying so hard to keep his brown eyes open.

A nurse comes in with a bright smile and asks him how he's doing, but she doesn't stay still long enough for an answer. It's clear she doesn't expect one and, sure enough, he can't even provide one. It's all just too much work right now. What he can do his follow her around the bed with a watery gaze.

Then it feels like only a blink of an eye that he startles back awake and she's gone. In fact it's gone from night to day. Warm sunlight is hidden away behind thin curtains. The foreign sounds of machinery wreck his thought process of where he is and why he's even here. His left side hurts distantly, nothing too acute. His other side is fairly immobilized with an IV running up it. He's not sure how, but he knows it's morphine. The metallic taste in his mouth simply tells him so.

Everything around him is as he remembers the last time he woke up. And the time before that. He is much calmer this time, less prone to straining himself or hyperventilating. There's no easy way to tell a man he is missing an arm, but he wonders if the doctors had expected more decorum out of him. Well, they didn't get it. From what he remembers he broke one man's nose and wriggled out of the orderlies' restraints. The sting still remains in the back of his throat, but it's dull. Maybe because of the morphine. ]

Mister Barnes? [ A woman with that same staple smile stands in his doorway, cautious of his mood. ] Would you feel up to a visit from a friend?

[ He wouldn't be much company, but he nods in spite of it. Call it curiosity. ]

Comments

[sentielemental]

[How could he not come as soon as he heard. He hadn't seen Bucky for days and then to find out he's in the hospital? That something happened and he came back without an arm.

Well wasn't this just all the bad options he'd been thinking about come to life. One arm down and missing his memories just as he would have been all those years ago, when Toro had thought him dead and he'd never see his best friend again.

He's grateful that Barnaby thought to inform him, but he's dreading what he's going to find when he walks into that hospital room. Not enough to stay away, but enough that he's forcing his fist to unclench as he smiles weakly at the nurse who opens the door to allow him entry.

He walks in, hiding most of his hesitation as best he can and calls out a soft greeting.]

Hey, Buck.

[sidecars]

Hi.

[ There's no recognition in James' eyes for Toro. No one's called him anything but Mister Barnes or James since waking up. He waits expectantly for the guy to say something since he sure has nothing to offer. ]

[sentielemental]

[What would he have wanted when he woke up in the hospital with no real memory except how much he hated everyone around him? It definitely wasn't strangers showing up telling him that everything he thought he knew was a lie and that he would need weeks before he even felt like a real person again.

But he had needed friends. The only one he'd had still at the time had been Jim.]

Uh, I'm Tom...Tom Raymond. You cal--You can call me Toro, if you like.

[He smiles and opens up his coat, looking behind him lightly to make sure the nurse had gone off to do her rounds before pulling a bag from inside.]

I thought you might want some real food? It ain't much, just a couple sandwiches from a diner we visit. I didn't think I could smuggle in anything bigger.

[sidecars]

[ That name is familiar. It's in his communicator with a younger face attached to it, though, as if he had taken it himself at the worst conceivable moment for the guy. ]

With all the morphine they've got me on, I don't know if I could keep 'em down. But thanks. Better than one more day of hospital food... [ But with a considering stare at Toro, he returns to his previous train of thought. ] Have we known each other for awhile? Were you younger?

[sentielemental]

[Oh--right. He should have thought of that. Toro comes in next to the bed on Bucky's right side, setting the bag down on the table. He scratches at the back of his head with a laugh.]

Uh...yeah, I did. I was--well, we've known each other for a long time. When I first showed up, I was from the same time you are, but...then I left. Kind of like you did. And came back older.

[attainment]

[Barnaby's never been under the impression that Barnes ever thought of him as a friend (at least, not in this reality). An acquaintance, certainly. A colleague, perhaps. While Kotetsu may claim letting a man watch some movies on your flat screen automatically makes them a friend, Barnaby is generally much more cautious with that word. Besides, there are other imPorts here who fit that description much better, and they're all people Barnaby has already contacted.

In this case, though, it's probably not such a bad idea for the nurse to describe him as such. To say he's Bucky's "probational officer" wouldn't be doing him any favors.

After assuring the nurse he would contact someone if Bucky needed anything, she steps out of the room, leaving Barnaby to turn his green eyes back onto the shell of a man lying in front of him. The sight leaves him numb, as though he just walked into someone else's dream. Or perhaps, a small cynical part of himself wonders, he just isn't capable of feeling much of anything.

In any case, all he can do now is fall back on his impeccable manners, and he quietly asks:]

...Do you mind if I take a seat?

[sidecars]

Okay. [ James can't see why not. ] You a friend of mine?

[attainment]

[That word again. Barnaby fingers lightly dig into the back of the chair, and he glances down at the floor before answering.]

...Yes.

["In a manner of speaking" very nearly gets attached onto his answer as a qualifier, but there's no need to make this anymore complicated than it needs to be. The man just lost his memory, for god's sake, and Barnaby is honestly only here to help.

He settles down into the chair.]

I brought something for you.

[sidecars]

Is it a puppy?

[ Driest joke ever. ]

[ex_honourable379]

[ A 'friend'. Steve hopes he's that, at least. But, frankly, he doesn't know what to expect. Or how to react other than a blind panic that's lasted from the moment the Brooks guy on the phone explained about an accident and a hospital room until ... pretty much now, to be honest. Getting from De Chima to Nonah is something of a blur, although it wouldn't take more than a few moments to dredge up the real-time memory of traveling between Porter bases.

But now he's here and so is Bucky, and the soldier can hardly remember to breath. Walking in as a mess won't help his friend, though, so Steve takes a minute or two to linger out in the hallway and pull himself together. Breath in, breath out, ignore the looks of the nurses and he thinks he can do this without falling apart.

Or maybe he can't, because the figure under the blankets isn't exactly the Bucky he knows. But it is Bucky. A younger Bucky, his brain helpfully supplies after a few seconds of trying to turn off on him. ]

Hey.

[ Multiple worlds, multiple heroes. It stands to reason, in some twisted cosmic way, that there's a second James Barnes out there. Out there, right in front of him, somewhere back in his own world. The logistics shouldn't matter. And, he decides, they don't. Bucky is Bucky. Steve offers a small smile, genuine and tinged with fading shock. ]

I got a call ... [ He trails off briefly, and clears his throat. ] from someone claiming to be a parole officer.

[sidecars]

[ Here's another one. He supposes it's good that he has plenty of people wanting to visit him. That means friends. This one, however, he's fairly sure he already knows, even if there's no recognition in his brown eyes. ]

Barney. Apparently I've got a record. [ A long one, really. Nothing too major, but plenty of calls to break up fights. Oh, and then that one time he tried to assassinate all of the Ambassador elects. Though Barnaby kindly kept that one a secret. ] You're Steve, aren't you?

[ex_honourable379]

[ Plenty of people wanting to visit is better than no one wanting to, in Steve's estimation. The latter would be extremely lonely, and he knows it from long experience. But that's aside to deal with the lack of .. well, anything familiar in the gaze. Something in his chest constricts, though he does his best to keep the reaction off his face. Because he's already done this once. Facing a Bucky who doesn't know him. ]

Yeah, I'm Steve.

[ Suck it up, Rogers. The kid in the bed matters right now, not your wounded sense of pride. Steve looks around, then gestures to a chair obviously meant for visitors. ]

Mind if I sit down?

[sidecars]

Go wild. [ He gestures with the only hand he has left. It's a little awkward because of the IV line wrapped tightly around his wrist, but he gets his point across. ] So. We "worked" together, I've heard.

[ Although he's still a little fuzzy on just what they did as partners. There was a war and they were super hero soldiers. That's quite a life to lead and then forget. ]

[use_everything]

[Perhaps the Dendarii are listed as an employeer, or perhaps the probation officer is just particularly diligent in researching connections. Either way, it's not particularly long after the call that a stout, reserved military man stands in the shadow of the doorway.

A deep voice, now unfamiliar, thanks the nurse as she waves him in. And in contrast with his withdrawn appearances, the flowers he carries and sets at the bedside are particularly vibrantly colorful.]

Mr. Barnes.

[Aral's face screws up with a wince at the young man's injuries, and then drifts off, politely not looking again.]

I've come to see if you require anything.

[sidecars]

[ At first he wonders if this is his father or uncle, but when he addresses him as Mister, that idea goes out the window. ]

Sorry to be rude, but [ Not really. ] you are...?

[use_everything]

[As much as he may have been corrected otherwise, his comfort zone always defaults to formal.

On the other hand, the lack of recognition is... Unusual. Though the Dendarii meetings were certainly large enough to rationalize it.]

Admiral Vorkosigan, [He answers with a nod, setting the arrangement down.] on behalf of your employers.

[sidecars]

Oh. Am I still in the Army? [ A few of his apparent friends told him vaguely about his time working in the Army during a war and fighting with "Captain America," but little else was really uncovered. Maybe that's how his accident happened. ] Am I being—What's it called?—discharged?

[performance]

[ To tell the truth, Dick almost hadn't come at all. Maybe he's a coward, or maybe he's just tired of— of everything, if that's even an option. But in the end, he went with what he hoped was the right thing to do, still unsure whether he was doing it for Bucky's sake or his own.

He'd asked the nurses what to expect, trying to steel himself for it beforehand. It's not... good. There's an almost painful knot in the pit of Dick's stomach as he walks through the door, a backpack slung over one shoulder, but he tries to look casual. Friendly. The kind of visitor he'd want to get. He doesn't quite manage — his smile is a little wobbly — but he's trying. ]

So. Tired of visits from strangers yet?

[sidecars]

No. You guys keep bringing me food out of guilt. It's great.

[ His brown eyes take the kid in, but there's absolutely no recognition. ]

[performance]

[ He tries not to let his heart sink, but it does anyway. He doesn't bother waiting for an invitation, just sitting in a chair next to the bed. ]

Sorry, no food. I brought some books, though. Hospitals get really boring after they stop giving you the good medication. I figured you'd need something to do besides flirting with nurses and eating lime Jello.

[sidecars]

I'm outta here as soon as they pull the plug on the morphine, you'll see...

[ Or once he gets that Steve guy to sneak him out. Soon enough James will wear him down. ]

What books did you bring?

[heliophilic]

[M had known Bucky had been gone for a few days, but suspected the chiahuahua'd been ported out, sent home like all of the other people that had come and gone in M's time on this alternate Earth. While he certainly can see how things end, he's not psychic, and sometimes the beginnnings are a little foggier. Things like getting a phone call from a virtual stranger saying Bucky was in the hospital take him just as much in surprise as the next person.

When M walks through the door, he's only half dressed in civvies--his leather pants swapped out for jeans, and his breastplate and cowl tucked away in the duffel over his shoulder. He'd been working when he got the call, and didn't bother to waste time fully changing back to see him.]

C--

[The words catch in his throat. He may not fully understand people, but joking didn't seem appropriate right now.]

How are you holding up?

[sidecars]

So far so good.

[ His eyes are sweeping up and down this guy like a metal detector. ]

You look like a loan shark. Are you a loan shark?

[ Because after the things he's learned about himself from others, he wouldn't be surprised if someone was out to break his knees. ]

[heliophilic]

[An expression briefly flashes across M's face the moment he notices the lack of recognition from Bucky, one that comes dangerously close to resembling sadness, but it's gone as soon as it came, replaced by his usual smirk at the question of being a debt collector.]

If anything, I'm the bigger shark who bites the head off loan sharks. [That's how sharks work, right?]

We're... we were friends. My name's Midnighter, and yes that's the only name I've got. Most people just call me M.

[sidecars]

M. Okay. I'm starting to see I've got a weird variety of friends.

[ He has his probation officer, a guy that fought with him, another one that's huge and blond that also fought with him, a kid with blue eyes, and now this brunette mountain. ]

So. What do you do besides bite people?