video; un: actualwizard666

[noassgardian]

So, uh, my name is Billy Kaplan.

[And from the looks of it, he's sprawled out on his bed in the communal housing, camera held above him steadily. He makes a face.]

I have no idea what to say about myself. I was a student back home and I know a little magic. [He's a little tentative about that one, but-- he's not sure there's a point in keeping it secret here either.] But marketable skills? I'm not so sure about that one. I guess I need to figure something out though.

[Considering he's going to be here for a while...]

I guess I'm making this to ask what all of you plan to do here? If you have any definite plans at all, I mean.

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text; un: jb.barnes

[anotheroldsoldier]

The fact of the matter is, we're stuck here for the foreseeable future. Until they can finagle their portal to send us back to the right reality, we might as well make things work here.

[Granted, Bucky doesn't exactly trust the people in charge, but he can keep that to himself for the moment. They probably monitor this network, or so his more paranoid side is telling him.]

text;

[noassgardian]

I guess you have a point there. It's going to be a LONG time away from home, from the sounds of it. It's kind of weird, I've never been gone this long...

So, what have you decided to do?

[anotheroldsoldier]

We'll see about that. Until then, it's a day at a time.

I'm going to make things work. I was recruited into the Perimeter Guard.

[noassgardian]

Yeah, I guess. It's just going to be weird being away from home for so long.

Wow, that's cool. Which part? Maybe I can look into joining... my magic might be useful there at least.

[anotheroldsoldier]

I wouldn't know, never spent much time in one place. I guess that'll be strange.

[It's only fairly recently that Bucky has had anything resembling a home.]

Search and Rescue. I'm sure they'd take the help, in whatever division.

[noassgardian]

I have a feeling a lot of people are feeling that, yeah...

[Especially if this is the Barnes he's thinking about.]

I'll stop by and ask them then.

Um, can I ask a quick question?

[anotheroldsoldier]

Yeah, what's the question?

[noassgardian]

Are you actually Bucky Barnes by any chance?

[anotheroldsoldier]

[Billy can't see it, but Bucky is raising both eyebrows at that. He'd kind of already assumed the kid knew who he was. Word travels fast, with Avengers.]

That's me. I know who you are too. How's Eli been?

[Sorry, Billy. Eli is his favorite Young Avenger.]

[noassgardian]

[He's been trying to-- play it safe here. There are a lot of different dimensions out there, different versions of people that all have so many significant differences, and so many different points they've been taken from, that he doesn't really want to make things weird by assuming or acting too familiar.

Especially since seeing a young version of his own sort-of mother running around.

So when he mentions Eli? That's some very real relief that settles over him. It's nice to have people from home that know him, that he knows for sure.]

Oh, good. I've been kind of worried about some of you not recognizing me. Eli is-- good, I think. We text a lot.

[Oh, he kind of feels bad about his next admission then, but-]

He's not Patriot anymore. He's retired and living with his mom now.

[anotheroldsoldier]

Some of them won't, but everyone from our world on floor 5 will recognize you. At least your name.

[Even if they haven't met, they all have access to SHIELD databases, except maybe Stephen. But he's Stephen.]

That's a shame, he was good. But it's his choice, and it's good that he can make that decision.

[noassgardian]

That's kind of a relief to hear, actually. The Young Avengers didn't get the best welcome when we first started and I'd hate to replay that.

Yeah, he was probably one of the best. But-- he's happy now. That's important. Being in this line of work doesn't always allow for that, I guess.

[anotheroldsoldier]

Yeah, I can see Steve not being too happy about things. I started when I was sixteen too, and look what happened to me.

[Bucky is self-aware enough to know that he's the cause of a lot of Steve's trauma and issues, especially regarding his feelings about teenagers on the battlefield.]

No, it doesn't. It's good that he's happy.

[noassgardian]

I mean, he sort of came around... or at least realized we were all too stubborn to stop.

[Also, you know, civil war kinda happened.]

Well, I mean, I still like you as a hero. But point.

[anotheroldsoldier]

Or he's had too many other things going on to babysit.

Please don't start acting like a fan.

[noassgardian]

Well, that too. We had to work together eventually, because of some of those things.

Don't worry, I'm not asking for an autograph or anything.

[anotheroldsoldier]

I know. I was on the fringe at the time, but I saw things going down.

You should look for heroes somewhere else.

[noassgardian]

Okay, but can we at least be friends? Or you know, on the same team...

[anotheroldsoldier]

We're both Avengers. That counts for something.

[noassgardian]

It really does.

Oh, and we're all in this place promising us a fresh start, I guess.

[anotheroldsoldier]

Did you need a fresh start?

[noassgardian]

I probably did, yeah, but I didn't mean for it to be like this. I kind of wanted to stay with my family and boyfriend, you know?

[anotheroldsoldier]

Unfortunately that's not a choice any of us got.

[He would have rather stayed at home with Natasha too, but... it is what it is.]

[noassgardian]

Yeah, I know. All we can really do is try to get back, right?