PSL for Serene_Rage

[irememberedhim]

The Soldier still hadn't remembered his name. Most of the mutants in the base had taken to calling him Winter after he'd given his code name when Erik had captured him. He knew he was still being watched. That the telepaths closest to Erik were doing everything they could to make sure he was still stable and mostly sane.

Over the weeks since they're fight and being taken in by Erik he had started to see things the way the man saw them. It wasn't much different from HYDRA. Honestly, in a way he thought Erik's view was better. The special people of the world, the mutants, people like him even, who had powers of different kinds...Erik wanted a better world for them because they were the future.

Well, who was he to argue, right? He just leaned into his bed, closing his eyes and sighing before shifting a bit to lay down. His memories, some of them anyway, had been coming back. He remembered a scrawny guy, remembered being close to him. But that guy would be long gone by then, even if he could remember his name.

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[serene_rage]

It was another two weeks -and a handful of training sessions that Bucky was involved in- before Erik summoned him to the office.

"We've found something." He said, "We aren't sure what, we can't even guess whether or not it's him, but we're putting together a team to investigate."

[irememberedhim]

Bucky looked hopeful and he nodded quickly. "I want to go with them, if thats alright with you." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

[serene_rage]

He nodded once, "I suspected as much, which is why I asked you here, I want to make sure you're prepared in the chance that it isn't him." A pause, "Or ore importantly, if it's merely his remains."

Erik wasn't going to bar him from going in any case, he just needed to know so he could assemble a team that would be able to handle the fallout.

[irememberedhim]

That thought had his metal hand clenching in the back of the chair he'd been standing next to and he ended up snapping the wood without meaning to. Though he understood that it was a very real possibility. He closed his eyes, taking a breath before nodding. "Yes I know. Its not something...I am trying to hold out hope that its him...that he is alive, but I know he might not be."

[serene_rage]

The physical reaction as well as the verbal one told Erik all he needed to know and he nodded once more, "We'll leave this afternoon, sixteen hundred." That would get them to the location during the warmest part of the day, not that it would make much difference, considering that was just the difference of slightly above zero instead of slightly below.

[irememberedhim]

He nodded again before turning and leaving to go get ready. Once it was time he met up with the team that would be heading out to go see if they could find Steve, or at least what possibly remained of the man.

[serene_rage]

The team was, for the most part, the same team he usually ran drills with, Thorne, Pearl, Rocky, Kite, Tempest, who could control the weather at least enough to keep the snow off of them, Pulse, who was one of the team's healers, and Magneto himself.

Pearl was the one to transport them, her usual shimmering blue-green rift opening in the hangar, stepping through herself to verify the location and that the snow would hold them all, followed by everyone else. They all immediately went about their assigned tasks, Kite keeping a lookout from above, Tempest keeping the snow off and even warming the air around them a few degrees, and Erik leading the rest of the team to the area they were going to be searching.

[irememberedhim]

They started looking, though Bucky knew he wasn't exactly much help. He was just human, albeit enhanced by whatever serum they'd engineered and given him, just liked they'd given Steve. Well, and he had his arm. But he didn't have powers like the others here did. He had nothing that would help find Steve.

He just watched them all in the hopes that someone would locate the plane and he suddenly perked up when he heard that one of them had. His eyes widened and he went running.

[serene_rage]

Magneto had been scanning as deeply as he could in the ice for any metal, and something as large as a plane would be difficult for him to miss, but he nearly had all the same.

After that it was up to Thorne and Rocky working together to actually get through the layers of ice to get to the pane, or at least clear enough space for Pearl to open a portal without overworking herself, but between the two of them -along with a handful of gravel and another handful of bean sprouts, they managed to do just that, Rocky finding natural cracks in the ice and dropping rocks in before causing them to explode like firecrackers, and Thorne sending tendrils of bean-vine down after to shift the larger pieces of ice out of the way.

Between the two of them they soon had the hatch cleared, and an easy slope through the ice to get down to it.

[irememberedhim]

Bucky had taken to mostly just pacing, keeping an eye out just in case someone showed up, anyone really. Thankfully no one did. Once the hatch was cleared though he moved over to the slope and then he looked at Magneto, swallowing hard before ducking his head and slowly making his way down. He was scared, more nervous than he could admit about what they could possibly be about to find.

[serene_rage]

Even with the hatch cleared, and even once Magneto had managed to pry it open, the inside of the Valkyrie was filled with ice as well, which meant that either the hatch had broken, or had deliberately been breached, or, perhaps, that some other portion of the plane had allowed water into the interior.

Whatever the case was, it made retrieving the Captain somewhat more difficult than first suspected, though Thorne and Rocky were using the same tactic they had before, if somewhat more carefully now, diligent as ever. Pulse had already made her way down as well, only able to confirm that whatever was in the ice was human, she couldn't yet confirm whether he was still alive or not.

[irememberedhim]

He just stayed as close as he could, eyes on the team working to make their way through the ice. Every once in a while he would look at Magneto or Pulse, but mostly he just watched the progress of the two, waiting until he could get into the plane. All he could think about was getting to Steve and he silently prayed to whatever God or power out there was listening that he was still alive.

[serene_rage]

Pulse was waiting, not quite chewing her nails, but giving the impression that she should be, coiled, not-quite tense while Rocky and Thorne continued chipping away at the ice little by little, having to be careful not to cause any damage to the body beneath it.

Finally, however, she startled forward, "Heartbeat! We've got a heartbeat." She ducked under Thorne's outstretched arm, dropping into the knee-deep pit of slush around what was turning into an ice sarcophagus around the body, "It's thready, but it's there."

[irememberedhim]

By that point it was taking everything Bucky had not to pull the three away so he could start working on the ice himself with his metal arm. He made a sound though at the revelation, one of relief at knowing that there was something there. Steve was alive under there, but they still had to get to him.

His fists clenched when suddenly he tilted his head, seeing something familiar to one side. He moved in closer to the three himself and reached down. "Wait." He curled his metal fingers in around the edge of something just barely visible above a patch of slushy ice before he started pulling. He let out a growl before a part of the ice cracked and split to reveal Steve's old shield.

[serene_rage]

Erik hadn't even differentiated the shield from the rest of the metal of the Valkyrie, and he just nodded once, smiling faintly as Bucky pulled it free. It was only fair, really, that he keep it.

Finally Thorne and Rocky had managed to free the Captain's body -still entombed in a six-inch-thick shell of ice- from the surrounding ice-pack, and that thickness was needed to keep him still, at least until they got back to the base and could thaw him out properly.

It also proved no problem for Erik to still catch hold of the man's armor beneath the ice, using it to maneuver the whole works out of the pit they were all standing in, prepared to get him back home in as short a time as possible.

[irememberedhim]

He wasn't far behind Erik, wanting to stay close. He didn't see how there was any way that there was a heartbeat coming from his friend in that thick block of ice, but somehow there was and all he could do was count his blessings for that. He just had to be patient and wait for them to get him out of there.

Much as he wanted to just punch his way through the block, he knew it wouldn't work like that. It couldn't. Doing something so drastic could end up hurting Steve and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

[serene_rage]

Returning to base caused a flurry of movement, Pearl holding the portal open until everyone could get through, all but collapsing into a chair once they had, kneading at her temples, Rocky darting off to go get her a soda because he knew her blood-sugar had taken a dive.

Thorne and Erik got the block containing the Captain onto an exam table and Pulse stayed close, already rattling off the supplies she was going to need, the rest of them hurrying to collect them.

[irememberedhim]

Bucky stopped to check on Pearl, knowing that they wouldn't take Steve far. After all, these people had become like family to him after all this time with them. Once he'd made sure she was okay he was following after the others where they had taken Steve.

He found them easily enough and he stood to the side, seeing if they needed anything from him before sitting in a chair and waiting nervously. He watched, eyes never really leaving that block of ice as he continued to pray silently.

[serene_rage]

Erik clasped his shoulder briefly, "Pulse says it's going to be hours, have to work on bringing his core temperature up before the ice is fully thawed." She'd given him the briefest, most succinct explanation she could, already gathering the rest of the healing types to help.

"You can stay as long as you like, but don't forget that you need food and rest as well."

[irememberedhim]

He looked up when he felt the hand, staring at Erik for a long moment. He sighed, brushing his fingers through his hair. "I don't want to leave, but I know my being here doesn't really do anything for him. It won't at least until he wakes up." He said softly before patting the man's hand.

"I should probably at least get some rest. Do you think you could ask someone to come get me the moment it seems like he is going to wake up?"

[serene_rage]

He nodded once, giving Bucky's shoulder a squeeze before stepping back to give him space to move again, "Of course, you'll be the first to know if there's any change."

For the better or for the worse, Erik was going to keep him in the loop because he deserved to know.

[irememberedhim]

He finally stood up, giving the ice and his friend one final look before turning and walking out of the room. He really did hate leaving but he couldn't just stay. It wouldn't be doing either of them any good and if he was honest with himself, he was hungry and tired from the trip.

"Thank you for all of this, Erik." He said to the man.

[serene_rage]

He just nodded again, "You're welcome, James."

The first report, some six hours later, was that they'd had to extend the timetable just to make sure that Steve stayed stable, afterward the updates every hour or hour and a half were that things were still on track and there was no change yet.

All in all it was nearly a full day after they'd first found him that Erik went to find Bucky again to explain: "He's back up to body temperature. Breathing and heart rate are normal according to Pulse, and there's brain activity, but he hasn't woken up yet, we honestly can't be sure if he will or not, the human body, even enhanced as his is, isn't meant to be in a hibernation state, especially not for so long."

[irememberedhim]

"Can I go see him?" Bucky asked hesitantly, pushing fingers through his hair before pulling it back in a low ponytail just to keep it out of his eyes. He needed to see his best friend. Even if Steve didn't wake up, he needed to see him, to talk to him.

[serene_rage]

"Of course." He replied, nodding once, "I wouldn't give you an update otherwise." Even if Steve hadn't made it, he would have told Bucky as much and still let him go see.

At least in this case there was a chance that a familiar voice might help.