12016/Time out of Time

Time out of Time
Date of Scene:	17 August 2020
Location:	Gymnasium, The Triskelion
Synopsis:	Peggy Carter and James Barnes meet for the first time in decades.
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Winter Soldier

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Peggy Carter has posed:
It's not exactly a normal time to be working out, somewhere after 10 at night and most of the gym is empty by now. But Peg knows she won't be sleeping for hours and sometimes it's been very nice to just push off some of that excess energy into a bag as long as she wants. So, she's set up shop at one of the bag and kick stands near the boxing ring. She's been here long enough that a fine sheen of sweat makes some of her dark, softly curling hair stick to her forehead where it's fallen out of the tie at the back of her neck. She's in simple work out clothes -- a pair of close fitting black yoga pants and a matching black sports bra with a small SHIELD logo across the heart. Probably standard issue. It shows off the fact that she's still mostly toned muscle that just manages to keep her curves in check and a lifetime of scars. One of the worst being a heavy gunshot wound just above her left hip. His doing -- decades ago and not a killing shot when he should have been putting her down -- but the memory is still there.

Winter Soldier has posed:
    It's the perfect time to be working out. Somewhere after 10 at night, and most of the gym would be empty. For someone who values privacy, for someone who'd prefer not to be talking to random strangers or even lesser known colleagues when putting in some hard work, it's the absolute best time to put in an appearance.

    The door opens, and through comes the man, accompanied by the dog. The furry companion is a German Shepherd, who trots along happily and takes a spot on a bench by the door so she can continue to watch her human. Pets might be rare in the Triskelion, but this canine looks like she's fitted in for some time now.

    As for the human side of the duo, he's wearing issue sweatpants, with an issue tanktop, showing the decidedly non-issue metal left arm as it glints in the light. Shoulder length brown hair, pale blue eyes... an expression that is tolerantly neutral, even as he surveys the gym and finds that only one other person is here. It'll do, it's not too horrible.

    Rolling his shoulders, James Buchanan Barnes steps up to one of the heavy bags and starts to tape up his right hand, ready for some good old fashioned bare knuckle catharsis.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Dark eyes mainly keep to the bag in front of her for a few moments, getting through the most recent combination completely so she doesn't lose focus on her form or the well abused bag in front of her. It's clear that whoever else is working out in the room is excellent at what they do, the snaps and cracks of the bag in quick, fierce repetition, only slightly muffled by the fact she does have her hands taped to protect easily cracked knuckles.

Breath echoes the quick pattern of fists and kicks, definitely in the zone of someone who is operating on years of muscle memory for these routines. But all that comes to a strange halt when she finally lets her gaze flicker up from the bag for just a moment, just making certain the person who entered is supposed to be there. Old, paranoid habits die hard.

... The person who entered is most decidedly NOT supposed to be there. He's supposed to be dead. Her muscles don't quite get the message she's stopped, and her body goes to throw another cross that should reset the combination cycle, but her eyes are no where near the bag. The punch goes wide, body jerking to the side and shoulder running into the bag instead as she catches herself from the stumble, the comforting pattern of her previous work out completely broken. She's staring at him now, openly staring.

Winter Soldier has posed:
    The sound of a fist hitting the bag is distinctive, even the lighter warm-up taps from the right hand putting a visible dent in the heavy bag. The left... there's no helping it, whenever the left fist hits the bag, the whole thing jerks back and rattles in its chains, giving the ever accelerating combinations an oddly musical tone. A concerto for exercise, written for metal and leather...

    Honestly, it's suddenly a bit disconcerting to be stared at, and a frown starts to appear on the man's features. A particularly heavy punch makes the stand groan, and with a deliberately slow motion, Bucky turns to the agent who seems to have found something interesting about him. Not too fast, he doesn't want to spook people. Not too slow, because he doesn't want to give the impression that he's angry either.

    "Is there something..." Blink. The pale blue eyes look at Agent Carter, for the first time in decades. No. It couldn't. Eyebrows raise, and a curious expression of disbelief appears. Is this a granddaughter? It couldn't be...

    "... You... you can't be..."

Peggy Carter has posed:
If she didn't know Steve was alive, this would seem a true impossibility. But the world seems full of impossibilities. Peggy stands there, raw shock on her features as she completely abandons the bag behind her, still slightly catching her breath for abruptly stopping mid work out without any cool down. Sneaker clad feet carry her a few uncertain steps in his direction, dark eyes frantically searching his face for some hint of who it could truly be. Then they drop to his arm, a concerned twitch coming across her protective gaze for that loss alone.

"...I... I was about to say the same to you." Peg finally breathes out, and her accent alone probably gives her away as being the real thing. Still clipped and quietly British, a touch of that sardonic humor behind words full of too much emotion to process. But there are other hints it's her -- a scar across her shoulder she got when they were out on mission together in '44, the strong, unapologetic set of her shoulders. The fact she's still somehow wearing her classic red lipstick even at the gym. Maybe even that scar on her side, if he remembers things he did when he wasn't himself.

Winter Soldier has posed:
    In a flash, Bucky's eyes are looking for proof, or if he's honest with himself, proof that he's actually asleep and having a very vivid dream. But there it all is. The posture, the accent... and yes, his eyes flick down for a second towards where the scar must be, a memento of the last time they met. It was a shock to know that Steve was still alive, but now Peggy?

    Two steps take him close to her quickly, and his hands find her shoulders, looking into her eyes, looking for just a hint of duplicity, finding none. He has to take two deep breaths, staring across time at a face he was certain never to see again, until very slowly a smile starts to appear. Yes, an actual smile.

    Mark it on the calendar.

    "How?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
As he approaches her, there isn't a hint of fear or distrust. Maybe she truly never knew it was him on the other end of that gun, or it simply doesn't matter now. Peggy lets her shoulders be taken, swallowing a bit tighter as her own gaze does the same dance as his. Looking for a scar or two she knows should be there, the glint of mischief behind his eyes. Even that touch, at least the heavy warmth of his human hand, that's a touch she knows.

Her hand comes up, not quite touching his metal arm but hovering just over the carefully made prosthetic, ache behind her eyes as a thousand possibiities of what happened cross her mind. Finally she lets her fingertips come up to rest on the edge of his cheek, the pad of her thumb tracing the scruff of a later night on his jaw.

The smile which finally cracks through on her red lips is breathless and bittersweet. She cracks out a bit of a laugh, almost drunk on a mix of relief and heartache. "Buck? I... I should be asking you... the same." But he asked her. She shakes her head slightly, trying to clear it and find words, "...H-howard... bloody... sweet... Idiot Howard. I got caught in something... experimental he was doing. Not exactly time travel but... I was stuck there until they unearthed a few old boxes and... it... well, spit me back out? I know, it sounds mad. I sound absolutely mad."

Winter Soldier has posed:
    There's no hesitation when Bucky places his own hand over top of Peggy's. The smile would look odd on his face for people who only know him as the Winter Soldier, but for his old friends... that's the well known Buchanan Smile. Even his eyes seem to smile with him, transformed as if the intervening years never happened, as if this is still 1944 and to hell with whatever the world might think.

    "Leave it up to Howard to get something so wrong it comes back around to be right again." But he can also tell from her glances that she needs to know, wants to know about what happened to him, and that's a tale that's harder to summarize. "I... was captured. Long story, bad story, needs at least two straight shots of bourbon to tell it right. Short version, I got Rogered..." and there he breaks off, remembering suddenly the colloquialism that exists in British, and closes his eyes with a groan, shaking his head.

    "I mean super soldier serum. Kind of, more like..." and he sighs, smiling, looking amused and slightly embarrassed. "No saving that one, is there?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
Feeling his hand overtop of her's and just seeing that smile? It's enough to dash away any doubts. Her eyes close a moment as he speaks about Howard, another little laugh escaping her throat but, without looking, it feels like they really could just be back on one of those old convoys together. Somethings never change.

But then he goes into just the edge of his story. Brown eyes reopen, not daring to move her hand though her other palm comes down to rest against his flesh and blood shoulder, holding him just a bit tighter like she could help keep him here instead of back in whatever hell situation he was caught in. Her smile falls away as she processes that he was captured. Another person gone, who they should have been looking for, whom they abandoned to years of torture.

She was going to say something, but his use of a word that is decidedly not what he meant it to be in her head... Peggy blinks, staring at him with a bit more of a tight line to her lips as she fights back a laugh or trying to correct what he meant. Fortunately, he catches it, but it does lend some levity to the whole, too-heavy situation. She finally coughs out a laugh, a hint of blush rising on her cheeks that isn't from working out even if she's still a sweaty mess.

"N-no... No, I... got what you meant. Eventually. It's... just... I won't even *ask* how you knew what it means back home. I've got my guesses." She's smirking to him now, too-amused at memories of ways he did 'tour' around England on leave.

And then, almost out of no where, she shifts to just pull him into a too-tight hug. It's him -- really him. She clutches both arms around him, a sweaty mess but neither probably care, her chest tight and heart galloping a bit too hard between them as she hangs on for death life. "...James, I... I'm so sorry. I didn't know... god, I didn't know. There were some rumors they had an...operative. Some photos...I thought there was no way it was you. You were dead and... fuck. I didn't know..."

Winter Soldier has posed:
    "Nobody did." Bucky reassures Peggy, his own arms around her in a protective embrace. Old friends, displaced in time, together only by a miracle. A hug is the least he can provide... "Hell, I didn't know. Everything was just... people. Places. Targets. Bad times."

    It seems like he's not going to move anywhere until Peggy is ready to let him go, figuring he owes her that much. "Better times now. Much, much better."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...I'm a sweaty mess and need a shower. Though, I suppose this is still better than what we were like in the back of those trucks." Peggy admits with another little laugh, still not sorry for the embrace. She's not much of a hugger, generally too stiffly British and proper for such things, but this one is worth it. Her temple rests against his cheek, taking in a deep breath of that scent. Smell alone is enough to bring up a dozen memories she'd put away ages ago.

"... You missed VE day. It was... just Lucky Logan and I. We drank one for you. For... Steve..." She admits as she finally, slightly pulls away. Her dark eyes are slightly glimmering with tears she's absolutley NOT going to let herself cry or even aknowledge. But they are there. "And now...now I'm just getting into it. You were here to work out. I... was too. Don't let me stop you." There's the old Peggy, slightly embarrassed that she dare let any emotion show, too British for all of it. Trying to button everything back up neat and proper.

Winter Soldier has posed:
    "You know me, always late for the good parties." He gives Peggy one last squeeze as she steps back, and then takes a deep breath, giving a wink toward Lili who seems extremely happy to see the two humans in the room happy. "Tomorrow, we'll find a bar, grab Steve, and drink one for Logan... and the rest of the crew. All of 'em. I mean, there's three Howling Commandos still alive, and that's two more than we've ever needed to get the job done."

    Rolling his shoulders again, Bucky looks at the bags, and then nods to the one Peggy was pummeling with gusto just as he arrived. "Nah, I interrupted you, so I'll spot you. That's only fair."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...Alright, soldier. I won't go easy on you." Peg clips back to him as he offers to spot her. It's like the sparring of old, just falling back into the easy, comfortable habits of people who lived in the field together way too long. There's a lot more to be said, to be asked, but for tonight? Peggy's content to move back to the bag and finish tonight's work out with a familiar face behind the bag.

She's also gotten better since their days in the field. A *lot* better. Not a super soldier, but for her size and shape, Peg is as impressive as ever.