Searching for James

Ch. 2: Voices in the Rain

They ended up in an empty shed hiding behind some decrepit apartments.

Those men had definitely been HYDRA. Bucky was sure this woman was with them, but then she had killed one of them. Was it to trick him? And even if she wasn’t HYDRA, that didn’t mean she was trustworthy.

Then there were the dog tags. He didn’t recognize him, although he had a feeling he should. There were few memories Bucky still had and the rest were returning so slowly he wondered if they were actually coming back or if they were just figments of his imagination. He mostly saw scattered images, out-of-focus. Him and Rogers in an alleyway. A battlefield. A room full of children. The images plagued his mind and almost made him miss the days when his head was empty; focused. But even if he wanted to, he couldn’t go back to being that version of himself. He was someone else now, who carried the name Bucky. Unfortunately he didn’t know who “Bucky” was.

The woman stood across from him in the small room. The light from one small window  covered her face. Bucky had sat down on a large box lining the wall. For some reason, he’d decided to listen to her.

“I’m called Scythe,” she said with a smile. Her voice was warm as if she was speaking to a friend and not someone who’d been ready to kill her ten minutes ago. “It’s nice to meet you James.”

He didn’t bother correcting the name. “Start talking.”

“Right. Steve Rogers recently tracked you down and told you he wanted to meet but you didn’t go. So he sent me to talk to you for him.”

“I have nothing to say to him or to you.”

 Bucky got up to leave but Scythe stopped him. “You should really stay put for now,” she warned in a quiet voice. “HYDRA just tried to kill you, and there will be more. There’s a whole lot of them hidden in D.C.  Rogers and Natasha are trying to find them, but it’s not going to happen today. For all we know, those men could be coming from separate headquarters. I don’t doubt they’ll be sending reinforcements. The less movements we make, the less chance of them finding us.”

Bucky assessed her reasoning and sat down again. “I’ve listened to you. So leave.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I can’t leave. Not until you agree to meet with Rogers. That was part of my deal with him.”

This woman was getting on his nerves. “Leave, before I mark up that pretty face of yours.”

“Oh, there’s no need to threaten me, and I think you could use some company. Thank you for the compliment by the way.”

He stared at her.

“I mean, thanks for calling me pretty,” she clarified.

He ground his teeth. “That’s not-“

“-if I may, you’re rather handsome yourself. Although you could use a shower.”

Bucky felt a surge of irritation, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. He never talked to people long enough to feel irritated.

“Where did you go after you left HYDRA?” she contined. “I bet you’ve been sleeping in alley ways. My flat is near here, if you’d like to wash up. Oh – sorry. Apartment. That confuses people sometimes.”

“Shut up,” he said loudly. The silence that followed was just as loud.

Scythe caught a spark of life in his eyes and tried not to smile. Instead her face grew apologetic. “I didn’t come here to annoy you,” she admitted, sitting down in front of him and crossing her legs. “I just…” she paused, realizing something. “You haven’t had…a conversation with someone in quite a while have you?” He didn’t say anything, which was answer enough. “Talking has a healing effect,” she murmured. “It helps you get out,” she pointed to her head, “of here.”