#james buchanon barnes
Okay but you cannot convince me for one second that Clint doesn’t talk to Bucky about his own experiences being brainwashed.
“They’re going to tell you it’s not your fault,” he says one day, maybe in the training room, maybe over a cup of coffee. Bucky looks up, half-listening because he still doesn’t sleep very well and he and Barton haven’t exactly had reason to chat. “What you did when you were brainwashed. And it’s not, it’s not your fault, but somehow, people saying that doesn’t mean a goddamn thing. They weren’t there, they don’t know what it means to get ripped out of your head and see your body used to kill.”
Now he has Bucky’s attention, but Bucky just lifts his coffee cup to his lips and doesn’t make eye contact. “And you do?”
“You were under when Thor’s psycho little brother tried the whole ‘take over the world’ bit, but he used me to do it.” Clint’s voice shakes a little, even after all this time. “I know it wasn’t my fault, and so do you, but that doesn’t make it any easier to wash the blood off.” He swallows a sip of his coffee uncomfortably and stands. He’s said his piece.
“What does?” Bucky says before Clint can go two steps. “What helps?”
“You’ve got to find some kind of redemption,” Clint replies. “And someone to talk to.”
As the archer walks away, Bucky thinks that he may already have the latter.
Brainwash-Buddies
