Fic: It's Over When the Fat Man Sings: Bucky-Toro
Title It's Over When the Fat Man Sings
Author ani_bester
Rating PG
Characters Bucky and Toro, mentions of Gwenny Sabuki
Warnings The subject matter of this fic is the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Challenge Inspired by the challenge topic: V is for Victory,
Summery Toro is haunted by the end of WWII.
Note The opinions of the fictional and the non-fictional characters used in this story are belong to those characters NOT the author.
It's Over When the Fat Man Sings
Cigarette smoke hung thick in the air, as though a storm cloud had somehow entered the small café. The cracked plaster walls had long ago shifted from white to a dingy yellow, and the old movie posters that had been haphazardly taped to up all sported the same washed out look. The ceiling fans did almost nothing to beat back the heat of the early August day.
"I swear to god they water down the eggs," Bucky said as he watched the yolk slither off his toast and back into his plate. "Why do we meet here again? For the ecoli?"
He waited for Toro to laugh, but Toro didn't look up. He just kept mashing his hashbrowns beneath his fork. Bucky suppressed a sigh, and tried to think of something else that might draw a smile from his fold friend, but irreverent small talk wasn't him, not anymore. So he let Toro mash his food and just drank his bitter coffee in silence.
After the last bit of greasy potatoes had been mutilated beneath his fork, Toro raised his eyes to glance at Bucky. "Last smoking joint in New York," he mumbled, pulling out a cigarette to add his own smoke to the cloud. He handed one to Bucky as well, then lit them both. Toro, Bucky knew from asking, smoked in defiance of the conventions of this Brave New World. Bucky smoked because it had been the Soviets who'd broke him of the habit. He intended to quit on his own terms now.
"Pair of crazies, that's us," he thought to himself as he inhaled.
Bucky flicked some ash into the ash tray and began tot to talk about it being a hot day when Toro leapt to his feet, slammed his chair back against the table, and muttered something about needing to be somewhere. Bucky protested but couldn't stop him. Instead, he sat in silence as Toro jammed his hand into a pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Without looking, he tossed it onto the table and headed for the door.
A quick glance at the cash pile showed Toro had overpaid by nearly forty dollars. Grabbing one of the extra twenties, Bucky folded it and slid it into his own pocket, then sat worked on finishing his own breakfast. One of the advantages to being a trained spook was he could give his cracked friend some space and track him later.
Three days later, Bucky was leaning against a tree, spending his afternoon watching people come out of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. He checked his watch. It had been three hours since the security cameras had shown Toro go in, and Bucky knew Toro hadn't left. He'd just about gotten annoyed enough to go through the trouble of tracking his friend in a crowded airplane museum when he saw Toro duck out the exit door. His expression seemed oddly blank and he moved swiftly but didn’t seem aware of where he was going. Bucky jogged over to him.
"Coke?" he offered as he put his bionic arm around Toro's shoulders and guided him over toward the picnic tables that lined the outside of the museum. Toro followed without a word; his silence and passivity reminded Bucky of himself when he met his handlers after an assignment. He shivered despite the warm weather.
As he got the cokes from the dirty vending machine, he made sure to keep on eye on Toro. But Toro didn't try to leave. He just sat there, chin resting on his folded hands, gaze decades away.
"What was in there you had to see?" Bucky asked as he handed a bottle to Toro. He watched the plastic begin to warp the moment Toro took it.
"You know they have a little section on the Invaders, because of Namor's plane, I guess." Toro answered as Bucky sat down on the rotted wooden bench "They don't mention Gwenny at all."
"Is that what you went to see?" Bucky asked. "There's actually an Invader exhibit in New York that's got a big section on her and Davey. Woulda been a heck of a lot easier trip then going all the way to Virginia pal. Did you stay close to her or something?"
Toro laughed for the first time in three days, and it was such a broken, stilted laugh that Bucky wished he hadn't.
"No, Gwenny and I didn't stay close. She never did forgive me, I don't think. We had a big fight fall of '51. She wanted me to at least consider I'd been wrong, to say something because the others wouldn't, but-" Toro's hands began to shake. They always did when he was trying to hold himself together. Bucky recalled lying in a trench and thanking god that Toro didn't rely on a gun.
Ignoring the 'no smoking' sign, Bucky pulled a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Toro.
"But?" he prompted.
Toro shrugged. "I can't. I don't, for even a second, think we did the wrong thing."
Bucky waited for Toro to elaborate, but he fell silent again.
"Whose we?" Bucky asked hoping some names would shed light on Toro's inexplicable memories.
"Tippet and Sweeny, a few others."
No help there. Bucky rubbed his temple and sighed. "Toro, I'm sorry, I don't understand. Whatever this was, I was- I was asleep through it."
Toro took a long drag of the cigarette and watched the smoke curl away. He flicked some of the ash away then looked at Bucky, with the kind of expression a person had when they made idle chatter about the weather. "How many civilians do you think you killed?"
It took every ounce of Bucky's self control to not punch Toro. "How can you even ask that," he hissed fighting to keep from shouting, to keep from doing anything that would attract attention.
Toro looked up at the clear sky, far away from Bucky. "I killed over one hundred and eighty thousand. Something like that. Do you think that was worth it to end a war?"
Bucky's anger drained away as he stared in confusion at his friend. "Wha-What?"
"You wanted me to explain, I'm explaining. I never told this to anyone but Gwenny, and when I told her she took it . . . badly, so I'm going out on a big limb here." Toro rolled the cigarette between his fingers and smiled. It was the childish grin that was reserved for Torch. "Pappy, he made them put his name down on the official report, so no one ever would know I was the one 'less I tell 'em."
Bucky waited while Toro fidgeted with his cigarette.
"The brass asked if I wanted to help end the war. Silly question, like we'd been doing anything else, right?" Toro paused and inhaled deeply.
Bucky took his hand.
"All I had to do, they said, was escort a plane. Make sure it got where it needed to go and-and made it's delivery. Didn't seem like such a big thing, though I didn't see how a bomb, any bomb, would make a big difference. We'd been bombing Japan for months after you and Steve disappeared and they wouldn't surrender." Toro laughed softly. "Wouldn't have believed The Bomb could do all that even if they'd told me." Toro closed his eyes. "Anyway, I agreed to serve as escort for Tippet."
Toro shook his head. "Gwenny told me she could have forgiven me for Hiroshima. But she didn't understand how I could agree to make sure Bockscar got over Nagasaki after seeing what the first one had done." Toro flicked his cigarette into the bushes.
"They didn't surrender though, they didn't surrender and we were all so tired, so that's why I agreed again. I had to help end it, Bucky, before we were sent into Japan." Toro took a deep shuddering breath, then looked at Bucky, his expression blank. "Do you understand?" He asked in a very soft voice.
Bucky licked his lips. "You . . you're talking about the atomic bombs?" he said, hoping maybe he was wrong. His American history was still a little shaky and maybe-.
But Toro nodded. "Yeah, Fat Man and Little Boy. I flew escort for the two planes that dropped them, Enola Gay and Bockscar. And-" Toro shook his head, "all things the same, I'd do it again, Bucky. I think we had to."
Bucky felt Toro's hand begin to tremble again.
"But sometimes I really think it isn't fair that you got to be brainwashed when you-." Toro's voice cracked and he looked away.
"It just really isn't fair."
-End
Author ani_bester
Rating PG
Characters Bucky and Toro, mentions of Gwenny Sabuki
Warnings The subject matter of this fic is the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Challenge Inspired by the challenge topic: V is for Victory,
Summery Toro is haunted by the end of WWII.
Note The opinions of the fictional and the non-fictional characters used in this story are belong to those characters NOT the author.
It's Over When the Fat Man Sings
Cigarette smoke hung thick in the air, as though a storm cloud had somehow entered the small café. The cracked plaster walls had long ago shifted from white to a dingy yellow, and the old movie posters that had been haphazardly taped to up all sported the same washed out look. The ceiling fans did almost nothing to beat back the heat of the early August day.
"I swear to god they water down the eggs," Bucky said as he watched the yolk slither off his toast and back into his plate. "Why do we meet here again? For the ecoli?"
He waited for Toro to laugh, but Toro didn't look up. He just kept mashing his hashbrowns beneath his fork. Bucky suppressed a sigh, and tried to think of something else that might draw a smile from his fold friend, but irreverent small talk wasn't him, not anymore. So he let Toro mash his food and just drank his bitter coffee in silence.
After the last bit of greasy potatoes had been mutilated beneath his fork, Toro raised his eyes to glance at Bucky. "Last smoking joint in New York," he mumbled, pulling out a cigarette to add his own smoke to the cloud. He handed one to Bucky as well, then lit them both. Toro, Bucky knew from asking, smoked in defiance of the conventions of this Brave New World. Bucky smoked because it had been the Soviets who'd broke him of the habit. He intended to quit on his own terms now.
"Pair of crazies, that's us," he thought to himself as he inhaled.
Bucky flicked some ash into the ash tray and began tot to talk about it being a hot day when Toro leapt to his feet, slammed his chair back against the table, and muttered something about needing to be somewhere. Bucky protested but couldn't stop him. Instead, he sat in silence as Toro jammed his hand into a pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Without looking, he tossed it onto the table and headed for the door.
A quick glance at the cash pile showed Toro had overpaid by nearly forty dollars. Grabbing one of the extra twenties, Bucky folded it and slid it into his own pocket, then sat worked on finishing his own breakfast. One of the advantages to being a trained spook was he could give his cracked friend some space and track him later.
Three days later, Bucky was leaning against a tree, spending his afternoon watching people come out of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. He checked his watch. It had been three hours since the security cameras had shown Toro go in, and Bucky knew Toro hadn't left. He'd just about gotten annoyed enough to go through the trouble of tracking his friend in a crowded airplane museum when he saw Toro duck out the exit door. His expression seemed oddly blank and he moved swiftly but didn’t seem aware of where he was going. Bucky jogged over to him.
"Coke?" he offered as he put his bionic arm around Toro's shoulders and guided him over toward the picnic tables that lined the outside of the museum. Toro followed without a word; his silence and passivity reminded Bucky of himself when he met his handlers after an assignment. He shivered despite the warm weather.
As he got the cokes from the dirty vending machine, he made sure to keep on eye on Toro. But Toro didn't try to leave. He just sat there, chin resting on his folded hands, gaze decades away.
"What was in there you had to see?" Bucky asked as he handed a bottle to Toro. He watched the plastic begin to warp the moment Toro took it.
"You know they have a little section on the Invaders, because of Namor's plane, I guess." Toro answered as Bucky sat down on the rotted wooden bench "They don't mention Gwenny at all."
"Is that what you went to see?" Bucky asked. "There's actually an Invader exhibit in New York that's got a big section on her and Davey. Woulda been a heck of a lot easier trip then going all the way to Virginia pal. Did you stay close to her or something?"
Toro laughed for the first time in three days, and it was such a broken, stilted laugh that Bucky wished he hadn't.
"No, Gwenny and I didn't stay close. She never did forgive me, I don't think. We had a big fight fall of '51. She wanted me to at least consider I'd been wrong, to say something because the others wouldn't, but-" Toro's hands began to shake. They always did when he was trying to hold himself together. Bucky recalled lying in a trench and thanking god that Toro didn't rely on a gun.
Ignoring the 'no smoking' sign, Bucky pulled a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Toro.
"But?" he prompted.
Toro shrugged. "I can't. I don't, for even a second, think we did the wrong thing."
Bucky waited for Toro to elaborate, but he fell silent again.
"Whose we?" Bucky asked hoping some names would shed light on Toro's inexplicable memories.
"Tippet and Sweeny, a few others."
No help there. Bucky rubbed his temple and sighed. "Toro, I'm sorry, I don't understand. Whatever this was, I was- I was asleep through it."
Toro took a long drag of the cigarette and watched the smoke curl away. He flicked some of the ash away then looked at Bucky, with the kind of expression a person had when they made idle chatter about the weather. "How many civilians do you think you killed?"
It took every ounce of Bucky's self control to not punch Toro. "How can you even ask that," he hissed fighting to keep from shouting, to keep from doing anything that would attract attention.
Toro looked up at the clear sky, far away from Bucky. "I killed over one hundred and eighty thousand. Something like that. Do you think that was worth it to end a war?"
Bucky's anger drained away as he stared in confusion at his friend. "Wha-What?"
"You wanted me to explain, I'm explaining. I never told this to anyone but Gwenny, and when I told her she took it . . . badly, so I'm going out on a big limb here." Toro rolled the cigarette between his fingers and smiled. It was the childish grin that was reserved for Torch. "Pappy, he made them put his name down on the official report, so no one ever would know I was the one 'less I tell 'em."
Bucky waited while Toro fidgeted with his cigarette.
"The brass asked if I wanted to help end the war. Silly question, like we'd been doing anything else, right?" Toro paused and inhaled deeply.
Bucky took his hand.
"All I had to do, they said, was escort a plane. Make sure it got where it needed to go and-and made it's delivery. Didn't seem like such a big thing, though I didn't see how a bomb, any bomb, would make a big difference. We'd been bombing Japan for months after you and Steve disappeared and they wouldn't surrender." Toro laughed softly. "Wouldn't have believed The Bomb could do all that even if they'd told me." Toro closed his eyes. "Anyway, I agreed to serve as escort for Tippet."
Toro shook his head. "Gwenny told me she could have forgiven me for Hiroshima. But she didn't understand how I could agree to make sure Bockscar got over Nagasaki after seeing what the first one had done." Toro flicked his cigarette into the bushes.
"They didn't surrender though, they didn't surrender and we were all so tired, so that's why I agreed again. I had to help end it, Bucky, before we were sent into Japan." Toro took a deep shuddering breath, then looked at Bucky, his expression blank. "Do you understand?" He asked in a very soft voice.
Bucky licked his lips. "You . . you're talking about the atomic bombs?" he said, hoping maybe he was wrong. His American history was still a little shaky and maybe-.
But Toro nodded. "Yeah, Fat Man and Little Boy. I flew escort for the two planes that dropped them, Enola Gay and Bockscar. And-" Toro shook his head, "all things the same, I'd do it again, Bucky. I think we had to."
Bucky felt Toro's hand begin to tremble again.
"But sometimes I really think it isn't fair that you got to be brainwashed when you-." Toro's voice cracked and he looked away.
"It just really isn't fair."
-End