[for Coulson]

[onlyapassenger]

It's not every day that a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent washes up on their shores. It's even rarer that they're brought into the Clinic by the man who'd stabbed them. While things aren't quite yet back to normal between him and Steve following the events of the previous month, they're still talking, and one of Fury's showing up here was worth a mention -- even if the guy is from an alternate take on the universe.

The Clinic isn't among Bucky's favorite places on the Island -- if he had a choice, he'd never step foot in the damn room ever again -- but it seems like the best place to start looking for him. Hoping to sneak past the doctor on duty to avoid any awkward questions about how he's been doing lately, he slips into the nearest patient wing. His eyes immediately fall on a strangely familiar man and he quickly ascribes the familiarity to the fact that all government types seem to have a look about them.

"Agent Coulson?"

Comments

[shieldsupernanny]

Not many people had been calling him Agent and he certainly hadn't really been introducing himself as that to anyone outside the resident Avengers. But when he turned to see who was talking to him, it didn't take long for his mind to place the face. Well, then, it was a veritable old heroes week. He wouldn't be a true history fan if he didn't know about the ill-fated Bucky Barnes.

"Mister Barnes, I presume?" It was best to ask and not to outright assume, not after hearing about alternate versions of the people he knew from Captain America himself.

[onlyapassenger]

"Are you just a history buff or have you managed to do reconnaissance from bed?" Bucky asks, not daring to consider that there might be another option tucked away in there somewhere. From what he's learned of his counterpart through Peggy, the Bucky Barnes of her reality doesn't hold much in common with him in terms of the finer details of their backgrounds, but she's still from the forties. Whether or not he becomes the Winter Soldier in that world, too, is a complete mystery to him, though given how classified that information was in his world, he doesn't know that anyone short of an alternate Nick Fury would be able to tell him as much.

[shieldsupernanny]

"The former. Reconnaissance is a little difficult at the moment. It's an honor to meet you." Phil offered his hand, ignoring the twinge from his back. It wasn't as bad as it had been, but it was still there and manners were important.

Even on a magical desert island. Maybe especially there, after all, Phil didn't really have anything else to hold onto. Wasn't like Fury was going to arrive and hand him orders, he was on his own for this one. "What can I do for you today?"

[onlyapassenger]

"You don't seem surprised to see a dead man," notes Bucky, though he wouldn't have expected any less from one of Fury's, not matter which version he was dealing with. He gives the man's hand a solid shake, though he's mindful of his injury.

"Then again, I guess you've been here long enough to get the welcome speech a couple of times... I take it you've heard not everyone's from the same universe by now, too?"

[shieldsupernanny]

"Captain Rogers was kind enough to break that one to me, but yes. I heard it." Not that it had demonstrably changed his opinion of the man. He had the feeling that Captain America in any world would still be a paragon of decency and someone worth looking up to. "Not that it really matters, but are you from his world, or mine?"

[onlyapassenger]

"His. It's my understanding that my history deviates fairly significantly from the Barnes in your world," Bucky replies. He doesn't have to wonder if they'd get along; he can barely stand his own reflection these days. He can only imagine what running into another version of himself would be like, given his admittedly shoddy track record with men who've taken just his codename.

"I was never a Sergeant, for one."

[shieldsupernanny]

"I'll try not to hold that against you, Mr. Barnes." Phil was nothing if not polite, although he was curious as to why the other man had come to see him. Not that everyone here hadn't been polite to the point of making him a little nervous, but still. Mr. Barnes hadn't been wandering through, he'd come specifically to see him and all of this seemed like a preamble to something.

[onlyapassenger]

Bucky smiles briefly, little more than a quirk of his lips before his expression settled back into one more thoughtful. This guy was government alright.

"I appreciate that," he says. "You worked under Nick Fury?"

[shieldsupernanny]

"I do, yes, back home. Wasn't planning on quitting any time soon." Although he wondered what kind of condition he was in there. As bad as the wound was when he arrived, he had the sneaking suspicion that Loki wouldn't stop at something akin to a steak knife in the back.

That scepter had looked a lot larger than the wound he'd arrived with.

"Why do you ask? Looking for a reference?"

[onlyapassenger]

"Something like that," says Bucky, inviting himself to a chair as he takes a seat by Coulson's bedside.

"Not too many people wash up here who're fans of the guy, let alone employees. Me and Nick go all the way back to the War... I don't always agree with him, but I know he's one of the good guys and that he picks good people. 'Course, I only know my version, not yours... How high up were you?"

[shieldsupernanny]

"Level seven if that means anything to you, I have the Director's trust more than most." No one else would have been trusted to wrangle the likes of Stark and investigate strange hammers falling from the sky.

Although some days he wondered if that was a compliment or not.

"I ran a number of operations for the Director personally." Phil straightened a bit, ignoring the pain it brought, but his patience was wearing a little thin. He had a great deal of respect for Barnes, but he was getting tired of this. "Listen, I know you don't know me, but I don't appreciate being interrogated and that's that this is starting to sound like. If there's something you want, I'd rather you just ask."

[onlyapassenger]

"Woah, easy, this isn't an interrogation, I swear," says Bucky, lifting his hands in placation. An easy position to take when he's telling the truth.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s just a big place. Plenty of agents who work there don't even get to meet the real Fury. Didn't want to waste either of our time asking after a friend -- even a different version of him -- if you were just an office drone... Which you obviously aren't. I mean, look, I help run the local task force -- you want a position with us, it's yours once you can pass the fitness test, but I'm not really here on business. It's just like I said: not everyday someone from S.H.I.E.L.D. washes up. Wouldn't wish this place on anyone, but I'd be lying if I told you it's not nice to have folks around with similar frames of reference."

[shieldsupernanny]

"This place doesn't seem the sort to attract office drones, Mr. Barnes." At least, not based on his guest list. Well, there was the waitress, but even then, she didn't act much like the waitresses he knew.

Considering the mileage he got every year, that was an impressive number.

"Tell me more about this task force. I'm not committing to anything, but is it something that's really needed. Seems like a peaceful place to me."

[onlyapassenger]

"Oh, it's needed," says Bucky, leaning back.

"We're a small operation, but the intent is to have a group of ex-military on-call who've been trained to work as a team in case of emergency -- fires, drastic changes of environment, invasions, etc. We're not short for freelancers around here, but there are a still a number of untrained, run-of-the-mill civilians counted among the population. As I'm sure you're well aware, even a small united front can be more effective than a discordant one. Our only ongoing duty at present is the monitoring of the underwater city known as Rapture, which arrived last July, and constituted one of the greater threats I've seen since my arrival nearly two years ago... A list of threats that includes giant lizard monsters, homicidal carnival toys, a falling space station, and our current priority, an unknowable number of Islanders' nightmares brought to life on Halloween...

"This place likes to lure people into a false sense of security, Agent Coulson. Nothing'll happen for weeks, months, and then disaster'll strike out of nowhere. My suggestion to you is enjoy the good weather, but don't for one second forget that you were brought here against your will for unknown purposes."

Getting the sense he's overstayed his welcome, he pulls himself up to his feet. "I don't need a decision right away, but if you ever want to swap stories once you're out of here, my house is on the map."

[shieldsupernanny]

Phil wasn't sure, but he was beginning to suspect that his definition of impossible was swinging to a place he didn't want it to. The only thing in that list that really threw him was the homicidal carnival toys. Not the fact that the toys had come alive - given the state of technology, that was simple - but he was wondering where the carnival came from in the first place.

Which, considering his own appearance on the island, shouldn't have been that much of a mystery when he thought about it.

"It's something to think about Mr. Barnes, and thanks. And speaking of that map, it have a list of places to stay on it?"