7914/Just a tiny favor

Just a tiny favor
Date of Scene:	17 June 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Bucky gets to murder some people at Loki's request.
Cast of Characters:	Winter Soldier, Loki
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

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Winter Soldier has posed:
Steve's busy, so Buck's going to do this all by himself. He's healed enough from his encounter with the Sentinels in Russia - thanks, Doctor Zola - and now he's taken some of the time off to go pursue this favor. Off the rez, as it were, and without SHIELD's blessing. Lili the dog's at home in Peggy's care, and he's brought only what he has in a given safehouse, not issued courtesy of the Triskelion.

It's from there that he'll leave, an anonymous, echoing loft on the edge of Little Odessa, not one that's yet been turned into hip apartments, but remains an echoing, dusty space. He's brought an assault rifle and ammo, a few flashbang grenades, the Skorpion machine pistol that rides at the crest of his back, a plain pistol, and of course, a ridiculous number of knives.....with the weapon of last resort being a stranglewire behind his belt buckle.

Loki has posed:
The styrofoam cup has got to feel entirely ridiculous. It's sticky from the residue of the frozen yogurt that was in it, the spoon long since stuck to the inside of it.

The instructions were to flip it over, but it must feel really silly to actually do that action. From the cup, though, as it is inverted, flutters a swell of magic. Blue and tendrils of purple slither into a pool on the ground, creating a bizarre puddle. A circle begins to form, as the magic laps outwards towards the size of perhaps a hula hoop....

Winter Soldier has posed:
It is ridiculous. Utterly so. But Buck doesn't flinch from it....and as the magic manifests, he paces towards it. He's got mask and goggles on, army jacket with sleeves long enough to hide the arm. Not immediately recognizable as the Soldier, at least.

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home," he mutters, as he squares up and steps firmly into the circle.

Loki has posed:
The portal solidifies, and the other side can suddenly be viewed. It isn't interesting, it's the interior of a closet. There's some cleaning equipment, a shelf with gloves and a bucket, a compacted half-ladder, a mop and mop bin. There's a hazardous waste bucket, suggesting they are in a medical facility.

Stepping through is in an awkward spot, because of course Loki wouldn't make it easy. It's up on top of the shelf, and will require some wriggling. On the upside, the portal seems to remain open, and stable. How long it will remain is entirely an unknown, though, seeing as it's Loki's magic.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Well, at least he's not waltzing through the lunchroom like a Spider might. Swinging through and down - no superhero landings here, not with the gear he's carrying - takes a moment. Then he's pausing, listening, before he cracks the closet door to peek out. No use jumping out and right into the face of a security patrol.

Loki has posed:
The sounds of the corridor are horrific. There's wailing, crying. Begging. It resounds up and down the corridor, after the heavy door is opened even a little bit. The cool air was evident in the closet, and has a different smell from the hallway. The closet had the reek of cleaning supplies, and the corridor... needs to be cleaned, the air isn't good, not at all.

The closet is on the end of a looping hall, part of a long chain of hallway with lots and lots of cell-like doors, and towards the end, the clear shapes of scientists and technicians working away.

Bucky's in the heart of something truly awful.

Winter Soldier has posed:
They are echoed by, in the halls of memory, his own voice raised in pleas, in curses, in wordless screams. He knows this place. He knows it. He's been here, in that most terrible, general sense. It raises the hair at his nape, roils his stomach, and brings that awful, metallic taste to a mouth suddenly gone dry. Even if it were inhuman monsters making those noises....nothing living should be crying out like that.

But it doesn't *quite* enrage him enough to foolishness. He remembers himself and his mission sufficiently to keep up what stealth is possible. No charging in and just slaughtering all of them. Not *yet*.

Instead, he advances, carefully. The rifle's unslung and brought to readiness, as he stalks down the corridor, silent as he can be.

Loki has posed:
Most of the cell doors are shut, and have some kind of keypads outside of them. There aren't windows, just the keypads, which mutes the visual horror, but not the audio. There's sounds inside those: human, probably, not animal, at least. It comes in volleys: some yell, others as well, then silence, until new screams come from the labs in front of Bucky's front.

One of the doors of a cell is open, though, and Bucky will have to go past it. The inside is itty-bitty, barely a cleaning closet. This particular one has a standing restraint dolley in it, with a human person strapped in. The person is muzzled, strapped to it, but the eyes roll and move, and register Bucky right away. Huge and dilated eyes, the person is in a state of panic, but doesn't look harmed otherwise.

Winter Soldier has posed:
....even with rage and fear jacking his heartrate up, some voice of reason whispers that he has to make sure that these aren't just madmen or monsters in earnest. There's Arkham Asylum in Gotham, after all....and Loki delights in causing chaos. So he pads into that tiny cell, angles himself so he's not squarely visible but can keep an eye on the hall, and says, in a whisper, "Do you speak English. Blink twice if you do."

Loki has posed:
It's a male, he's young. High teens is likely, probably twenty at most. His race is hard to pin down, but he immediately blinks once at Bucky, eyes flashing to the hallway, then back, as if unsure what to make of the visitor. Is it a trick?

Winter Soldier has posed:
He might well be a frightening figure even to a mind not deranged by fear or drugs or torment. For Buck's in full Soldier drag - the ruby-lens goggles and tactical mask, black jacket and fatigues. The only thing visibly human about him is the long, dark hair pulled back. Voice flat, almost metallic, he reiterates, "Do you understand me?"

Loki has posed:
There's a double blink for 'yes' as the man calms a tiny bit, and a lot more of wide-eyed staring. The man can't really move, so there isn't a lot of other response. A howl of pain comes from the lab area, and he shudders with a worried anticipation, trying to wriggle in his restraints, fingers curved into the metal.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"I'm going to undo your mask....but don't make any sound until I tell you, or I'll kill you," The god of Mischief may have razed that internal architecture like a madman with a magical bulldozer, but he still remembers what it felt like to be the Soldier. That's one among those bitter ironies that haunts him - the life he originally lived is something of shadows and tatters, but he remembers the blood and violence with crystal clarity. And he can summon Winter's mannerisms, his cold detachment, a bulwark against his own fury and creeping fear.

Loki has posed:
The young man releases one terrified little moan-like sound but bonks his head back a small bit, and blinks his eyes twice. He's heard, he understands, he'll do that. With the gag pulled, the young guy tries not to cry or sob at all, but he's breathing very heavily and fast.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Take deep breaths....and then tell me what this place is, and who you are. Be quick," Buck's trying for calm of his own, keeping an ear out for any possible foes coming along the corridor.

Loki has posed:
"I, yes. I do not know what this place is. They are hurting us. My friends, are they alive? I am Kirren," answers the young man. There's an accent on his words, hard to pin exactly down what it is with the deep scared breaths. "Please let me free," he says, without actually begging about it. "Are you here to rescue us?" He's clearly not sure, what with the threat on his life not long ago.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck, in turn, isn't sure. He doesn't answer the questions directly....but he's got a knife out in an instant, reaching to cut the man's bonds. "Stay here. Do not go out into the hall yet," is his answer. "I may be able to find them and free them, but not if you give me away by panicking and running out. Understand?"

Loki has posed:
The young man falls off the prisoner-mover dolley when cut loose, directly onto the floor. He hurts his wrists from the fall, and whimpers, nodding a little from the floor. He's dressed just in some shorts, nothing more. He has some clear wounds and scarring: he's had some recent surgeries, by the appearance of those: at least two in the abdomen, and one in the back. His hair is shaved off. "Yes, I will," agrees the youth.

"I... the doctors are HERE. Now. Dr. Jeloza. Dr. Weiss. They're here. I just saw Weiss. Please."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"I'm here for them," he replies, flatly. "Stay here." Then he's got the rifle up again, and is checking to make sure the hall's clear before he resumes his forward progress. This place is making his skin crawl....and behind the wall of Winter's borrowed control, anger is running red like magma under the surface.

It's too bad Steve isn't here, because Steve's determined devotion to non-lethality is likely going to be needed if any doctor is to make it out of here alive. He's got nearly seventy five years of pressure to relieve, after all - revenge served as cold as possible.

Loki has posed:
"No, six," laughs one doctor to an assistant, in Russian. "Did you want to make a bet?" he adds, mockingly. "No sir," answers the assistant quickly. They are both bent over a subject, fully dressed in black rubber gear. For good reason, the room is messy. Things spray.

There's four subjects out, all of them clearly either dead or unconscious, on the right side of the room. And on the left, are two awake ones, screaming off and on, while they are prodded. All of the subjects have various states of cybernetic attachments: it looks like they're doing something specifically related to their chests or abdomens.

As for staff, there's five of them total, and one is clearly in the lead of the whole situation, directing and talking, and offering bets.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Speaking of irony - they may not be HYDRA directly, but this whole place is clearly kin to the kind of medical horrors that created him. Fitting that their creation should boomerang back and start wreaking destruction.

The facility at large doesn't seem to be aware of his presence, and rather than alert everyone and their brother with gunfire, he goes for the knives first. Two for the furthest assistant drones - they're falling before they even realize what's happening. One of the nearer has his throat cut; things spray, indeed. The fourth he downs with simply with a blow from the metal hand. Human skulls weren't meant to hold up to that alloy.

Then he's stalking towards the doctor, his longest knife in hand.

Loki has posed:
The doctor didn't expect this, very clearly. He had a blade out, himself, but it's not for fighting or throwing, but for delicate work. He doesn't overreact, he glowers at the Soldier, and starts to pivot around the patient, trying to keep something between them. He clearly doesn't care about his own people, though he does step over the assistant that's bleeding out from the neck with care so as to not slip in his blood. "What do you think you're doing here? You will die here," the man snorts in Russian. He then raises his voice, "ELI!" he begins, clearly to shout further warnings.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Another blow from the alloy hand, though this one is pulled, just a little. Aimed to knock down and stun, but not kill. He's following the doctor down, kneeling on him, the metal fingers over his mouth. In Russian, in turn, he says, "Hush. If you answer my questions, I may let you live."

Loki has posed:
The doctor hadn't fully seen the metal hand. He takes it in now. He stops fighting very very quickly, and drops the knife. He figured out what he needed to do really damn quickly.

If 'Eli' or whoever is warned or is coming, they're taking their time, as they don't immediately arrive. A little bit later, there's a yell from Eli, "WHAT?" from the corridor, irritated.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"I'm going to lift my hand and you're going to tell him 'Nevermind'," Barnes hisses, softly. "If you do or say anything else, I will carve your guts out and leave you here. You're a doctor, you know what it's like to die from a perforated bowel."

Loki has posed:
The doctor glowers at him, but looks at the hand. The doctor hasn't actually panicked at all, there's an emotionless nature to him. Robotic, in his own way. There isn't a visible cyborg part related to him, but his eyes are a bleached, weird pale hazel. When the hand drops, he does call, "FUCK OFF, ELI," In response.

"EEEHHHH, fuck you," yells Eli. It's clearly a normal response for them. The doctor didn't play games.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Hand back over the doctor's mouth. "Do you know who I am? Nod if you do." Lucky Eli. He's bought himself a few more minutes of life, at the very least.

There's tiny little seed of something too dark and vicious to be really called hope in the back of his brain. What if this is one of his creators?

Loki has posed:
The super pale eyes narrow just a little, looking back into the eyes of the Winder Soldier. He nods his head, but it is in a slow, deliberate way. The doctor isn't afraid of him: though it probably isn't personal. This type of mask holds a sadisticness behind it that doesn't process emotions normally.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Though all those pale eyes see are the scarlet reflections in the goggles's lenses. The confirmation makes that little seed sprout further. But pragmatism wins out over blood lust....and there are suffering prisoners here, as well as god only knows how many unknown enemies.

"I'm going to lift my hand and you're going to answer my questions. The same punishment applies for any attempt to alert other personnel - I'll unzip you like a pair of jeans. First - how many personnel are there in this facility? Guards and scientists?"

Loki has posed:
The doctor appears to need to tally that; he looks up and aside a little bit as if to figure it out. "Four fewer," he begins with, deadpan. "Our team is one dozen; guards, I don't know. Perhaps thirty. More if you count our robotics," he answers, cool, and deadly. He does seem to believe he has some kind of weird upper hand. Masochism could also be a part of it.

Winter Soldier has posed:
A joke? Here, now? That is chutzpah, indeed. And...robotics. Great. "What are the experiments here intended to accomplish? And where are we located?" How does he not know where he is?

Loki has posed:
There is, indeed, skeptism. "You are in level B-4," answers the doctor, tolerantly, and misunderstanding the question. "In my personal laboratories," he continues, still staring. In a way, there may be some mirror to look into: something is wrong with this doctor, in a pretty manner. "We are testing cybernetics; you are perhaps working for Trask?" guesses the doctor. "He has no right to be angry; he stole from us first. Perhaps you are misinformed."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Where is this facility located, geographically. Coordinates if you have them." Wait. These guys aren't the ones making Sentinels? There are rival cyborg makers out there? Wonderful. "Who are you working for?"

Loki has posed:
"Whoever wants our services, but many here work for /me/," answers the doctor, a little peevishly. That's where the power's coming from: seems the guy is used to bossing minions around, or even being untouchable in some way. He then rather incredulously describes the location; they are, as it turns out, in China.

Winter Soldier has posed:
With the mask and goggles, the doctor can't see him pull a face. But he can, considering how close they are, likely feel the fractional reaction in Barnes's body. That was good news. The cavalry is within shouting distance - he's going to need them. Now it's more a matter of finding a means of reaching them, and letting them know what's here. He doesn't have to do the whole damn thing as Bucky Barnes, One Man Band.

Even if that's how Steve would do it.

"Who are your clients?"

Loki has posed:
There's some sound from the hallway opposite, where Eli's voice floated in from. Someone is moving around, or coming down the corridor. The doctor under Bucky's foot looks at him, suspecting staying silent is more desired than him speaking up about clients.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Staying silent, indeed. Buck hits him, carefully. Another blow intended to knock out, but not kill. He wants more time with this one....but not to be stabbed in the back, either literally or figuratively. Then he's rolling silently off the doctor's body and trying to find a place where he can see what's coming down the corridor without being seen - readying himself for an ambush.

Loki has posed:
The doctor doesn't quite fully pass out. There's something hard and metal in his skull that absorbs a lot of the blow. A second one, which no doubt comes quickly, does land him with his face in the floor, though, and his body slack. Whether the doctor will recover abnormally soon is another question.

From the hallway comes someone, and the sound gets more obvious: one of the prisoners is being wheeled down the corridor. Wheel-wheel.... then stop. The person comes out from around the prisoner he was wheeling, to look into the room of chaos.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Which is when Buck pounces on whatever goon was transporting the subject. This time, he's trying to strike with the pommel of one of his knives, another blow intended to stun and subdue, rather than kill. It's like he's actually listened to Steve.

Loki has posed:
The prisoner shrieks in panic, over and over. Not that that would summon anybody, of course: there's alot of screaming and moaning that they are all conditioned to entirely ignore. The assistant, as it looks like it was much like the others, went down without any real pressure. The subject he was wheeling has cybernetic lower body, and it's really uncomfortable to look at.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Rather than leave the gurney out in the hall - Buck hastily wheels it into the lab. Then he's ziptieing both doctor and attendant hastily, before leaning over the prisoner. "I know it hurts," he tells the patient - boy howdy, does he ever know - "But hush. Rescue is coming."

Then he's slinking back the way he came, as fast as stealth permits. All the better to see if that portal's still open. He can make the call he needs to with Brooklyn cell reception, after all.

Loki has posed:
Wheeling the prisoner into the area where he's been tortured doesn't make him hush, but turning him to face the wall ... also doesn't work. Wheeling the poor guy into the torture chamber just isn't a way to make him quiet, but, well, that's the way it is.

The portal IS open. On the other side of the portal, there is a relaxed looking black and white tuxedo tomcat. It's just sitting there on the other side, tail flicking nonchalantly.

Winter Soldier has posed:
The kitty is treated to the spectacle of Buck's head and shoulders popping up out of the portal. But not the rest of him, no. He squints at the jellicle from behind his goggles, even as he hastily reports the facility and its coordinates, and the need for immediate SHIELD backup. The SHIELD dispatcher is a little too busy relaying the information to wonder how Buck knows this from somewhere in hipster Brooklyn.

He's also requesting extraction. Apparently he doesn't intend to climb all the way out and just go get a frappucino. Not when there are more HYDRA goons to slaughter. Once the call is over, he looks at the cat levelly for a long moment. "I'm not done yet," he tells it. "See you in a day or two. But please keep the door open, just in case." On the off chance he's talking to who he thinks he's talking to. Then he's prairie-dogging back down.

Loki has posed:
The cat looks at Bucky. Rolls over a little, cleans it's belly. Cleans it's crotch. Looks at Bucky.

The portal stays open, at least. The call is made successfully, as well.