For neverdanced and chernaya

[trainwrecked]

It was easier, these days. He was staying away from some of the things that he remembered more clearly, and reading up on things that he wanted to remember, but couldn't. It made him less volatile, and he knew he'd caused plenty enough damage already. He needed to stop, somehow.

Maybe, one day, try to atone for it, but he had no idea how to be that man, the man that people admired.

It wasn't easy. His memories were still a mushy mess. But it was easier. He'd lay low, away from DC and NYC, but close enough that he could use a good library. He'd use the traces of his programming to get resources, but wasn't braving an actual job, yet. He'd hide, until he knew he wasn't just going to maim somebody by lashing out at them for saying the wrong thing, innocent as it might seem to them.

He'd been doing fine. Right?

Comments

[neverdanced]

Steve knew that he could get through to Bucky, that it hadn't been too late to save him. Others may have doubted, but they had no way of knowing the magnitude of the bond that Steve and Bucky shared. Back when Bucky knew who he was.

The fact that Steve was alive right now was proof that Bucky had to remember at last something. If he was just a weapon and only that, he would've let Steve drown in the Potomac, right?

He'd time to heal up, and while there were still many things that were chaotic, Steve had time to try tracking his best friend down. 'Time' was a bit of an understatement though, since it was now his top priority. He'd narrowed down the potential location to a potential hundred mile radius.

That was still a lot of ground to cover, which meant that any leads could go cold before he even caught up with Bucky, but it was better than playing a never-ending game of Where in the World is James Buchanan Barnes?

Sam had been a lot of help in this endeavour, but for this particular plan today, Steve needed Natasha's help. He was well aware that she was more capable of providing an element of surprise than he or Sam were. Thus he shot her a text to meet up with him. He was quite fond of technology, but considering the sensitive nature of this entire thing, he preferred talking in person.

[vdova]

She hadn't expected the text. This had been Steve's project, after all, and while she'd given him the thread, she'd never thought he'd want her in on it. They trusted one another, sure, they were friends, forged as such in the explosions of battle. But this was something distinctly from his past, even with the connections to hers.

If it was her, she'd be doing this on her own.

Still, she responded quickly, firing back that she'd been there as soon as she could. She arrived after he did, pulling up in her sleek black car, climbing out and shutting the door behind her with a soft thump.

"You rang, Cap?"

[neverdanced]

Steve offered her a small smile as he headed over to meet her halfway. In his hand was a portfolio of all his findings. Not just the file she obtained for him, but some of the things he uncovered as well, of the more recent variety.

He used the hood of her car as a makeshift table and laid his map out for viewing. "I've been trying to pinpoint where Bucky is. I think he's somewhere in here-" He pointed to the area he outlined in a red circle. "I haven't narrowed it down more than that. A lot of this area is suburban, but there are still cities with a decent enough size that it'd be easy enough to disappear."

That was the problem. Steve looked over at her. "Will you help me find him? I don't want to give him a chance to run off again."