![]() |
Laurel accepted that, letting him sit and work through things for a bit. The rest of the evening was quiet, for the most part.
Barnes, however, couldn't sleep. The dreams kept waking him up, though he wasn't sure they were really just dreams. All of them seemed familiar, but not. |
Doreen ended up in the kitchen so late it was early, making herself some tea in the hopes she'd at least calm down enough to relax until an acceptable hour to make breakfast. She didn't have nightmares like Steve or Barnes or the rest of the time, but she was an insomniac, all the same.
So when Jarvis told her that Barnes was still awake as well, she took her tea into his room instead. |
Barnes glanced at the door when he heard a knock. He didn't wonder how anyone knew he was awake; he'd already figured out about the AI in the walls.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice low but enough to carry. |
"Tea," Doreen said, pushing the door open. "Well, okay, sleep would be nice, but that's not happening, so I'll settle for tea. Good enough for tonight." She set the tray down and shut the door again.
|
Barnes considered that for a moment before nodding.
"Sleep would be good," he murmured. "Tea will suffice." |
"Damn straight." Doreen managed to grin and settled on the floor in gray and pink striped sweatpants and a sweatshirt, bare feet curling in the carpet. "I've got other teas too, if you don't like this one."
|
"It's fine," Barnes said shortly, reaching for a mug. He still hadn't been given his mechanical arm back, so he had to carefully balance himself to sit down again with the mug in his only hand. He folded his feet beneath him to sit back down again.
|
Doreen sighed and leaned back against the wall, just holding her tea for the moment. "Do you want me to ask them about your arm?" she asked, glancing over at him before leaning her head back against the wall again.
|
Barnes raised an eyebrow.
"You can't tell me you think they'll give it back," he pointed out, calmly taking a sip of tea. |
"Probably not yet," Doreen admitted. "But I can pester them until they do." She grinned. "I'm good at pestering people. In case you haven't noticed somehow."
|
Barnes snorted.
"They won't give it back," he said. That was a fact. One did not give a potential weapon to a prisoner, it just wasn't done. |
Doreen shrugged. "Probably not, but I'll try anyway. It's not exactly like you're defenseless and harmless without it, anyway."
|
Barnes shrugged as well. He didn't have much faith that he would get his arm back any time soon.
|
Doreen settled in there for a bit, sipping at her tea, her eyes slipping half-way closed. He was talking, and it was late, and she was just tired enough that she didn't care about asking a question that might get him mad.
"So how come you haven't tried to hurt me or threaten me or otherwise use me to get out? And how come you talk to me?" |
The question surprised Barnes.
"Y'don't hurt a dame--" He stopped, looking baffled that the words had even come out of his mouth. They were his words, and not, at the same time. He tried again. "You're not a threat. It's not worth trying to get past everyone to escape." |
Doreen blinked at that, surprised. Okay, she hadn't expected that. That sounded more like Bucky from the video clips, rather than Winter Soldier or even Barnes.
"Huh. Okay." |
Barnes didn't say anything after that, just drinking his tea in silence. He was all tangled up inside, now; it felt like there was some part of him trying to get out when he had no idea what that part of him even was.
|
Doreen ended up kind of dozing there, not actually sleeping but relaxed. She didn't move until after sunrise. Then she yawned, stretched, and managed to get to her feet without falling over again.
"Any opinions on breakfast?" |
"No." Barnes hadn't slept at all, not even dozed. He didn't want to risk dreaming again with someone else around to witness it.
|
Doreen nodded and got up. "You want any coffee, then?" Because of course she was going to make an extra large pot of coffee.
|
"No." Barnes didn't want anything until he was able to sort himself out a little more. Once she was gone, he planned to ask the AI for more footage to watch. He needed to make sure of something.
|
Doreen shot him a worried look but nodded and left, heading back into the kitchen.
"Jarvis, let me know if anything changes with him, please." She started pulling things out for breakfast. |
"Of course," Jarvis replied.
Barnes didn't change until later in the day, when he finally asked for more footage to watch. He needed to find out more about Bucky and Steve and how they worked. |
Steve emerged for breakfast after he'd gone for his run and had taken a shower, sitting quietly at the table. It was tempting to go see Bucky, but it was also too hard still. So he ended up staring at the table holding his coffee cup and staring at it like it held the secrets of the universe.
|
"Pardon the interruption," Javis said, "but the Winter Soldier seems to be asking for you, Captain."
|
| All times are GMT. The time now is 10:51 PM. |