Brooklyn Baby || Steve Rogers

ii

Charlie waited an hour before he started to get ready to leave, his handcrafted cane was resting by the door so he knew that was one of the last things he would need to grab. He shakily stood up from the couch that he moved to after he finished breakfast, he let out a quick breath before he limped towards his room and grabbed his old wallet that was on his nightstand, knowing that he didn't need anything else he closed the door behind him and started to walk towards the front door. He let out a sigh of relief when he reached his cane, it took some of the pressure off of his leg and made him able to breathe better.

Opening the door he let out a slight sigh when he saw the steps leading into the street, he had gone down the steps plenty of times but this time he would be genuinely doing it alone considering he didn't have anyone to help him. He was about to wedge his cane under his arm when he heard a familiar voice stopping him in his tracks. "Charlie! Let me help." James Barnes or known as Bucky by his friends yelled out as He and Steve made their way through traffic toward Charlie. Charlie let out a slight sigh of relief. "Thank you." Charlie handed his cane over to Steve who grasped it and held onto the railing watching as Charlie grabbed Bucky's hand that he offered. "Are we still on for the park today?" Bucky asked once Charlie got down the stairs. "Yea, if that's still cool with you two?" Steve nods as he hands the cane over to Charlie who grasps it carefully.

"Charlie, did you know Steve tried to get into the army again?" Bucky raised his eyebrow looking at Steve who let out a sigh. "Seriously Steve, what is this? The 100th time? When are you gonna stop?" Charlie was concerned about Steve, Charlie knew that his lifelong dream was to serve the country, just like Bucky was about to do but with one rejection after the other Charlie was scared that Steve would run ragged trying to get another answer other than no. "I just want to do something, Bucky gets his orders soon and then it's just gonna be us. But I don't think it should be, it's always been the three of us." Steve kicked a pebble that was on the street as they crossed to go down to the park was named Central Park, it didn't have much but Charlie liked to watch the other kids play baseball and get the nice fresh air. "In case you forgot Steve, I'm down a leg. So I can't join you." Steve frowned like he had forgotten that important part.

Bucky bumps his shoulder carefully with Charlie's. "Hey, once I get my orders that means you're gonna have to watch out for Stevie." Charlie chuckles slightly as Steve huffs like he was insulted. "I hate you both." They both knew Steve was joking but Charlie and Bucky looked at each other before they started to fake cry like they were truly hurt by what Steve said, Steve rolled his eyes at the two men's behaviors as he led them towards a long bench that was the perfect spot so they could watch the neighbors kids play ball. "Mister?" A kid's quiet voice piped up, Charlie looked up to see a boy looking at Charlie's leg curiously. "Yes?" Charlie knew what was coming so he tried to keep his anger to a minimum, he knew that kids' curiosity couldn't be blamed but Charlie was tired of all the questions.

"What happened to you?" The kid asked pressing his lips together as he waited for Charlie to answer. Charlie knew he could tell the truth and say that he lost it because someone attacked him but that usually led to more questions that Charlie couldn't be bothered to answer especially with the context of the injury. "Well, one day it just stopped growing because I didn't listen to my Mum and eat enough of my vegetables." Charlie lied easily, his smile grew when the kid gasped and ran off to someone Charlie supposed was his parent.

Charlie looked at Buky and Steve who both started to laugh and it was so contagious that Charlie ended up joining the two of them, they're laughs drifted off and soon they were in a comfortable silence again until Steve ruined that by asking a question. "When are you going to tell us what happened? You don't have to of course but when you didn't give a straight answer to the kid it made me realize all you told the two of us was that you lost it when you were 16 and it was too painful to relive." Charlie sighed before he ran a hand through his hair and let his hands rest on top of his cane which was resting in between his legs. "I don't know, it's not that I don't trust you two but it's just really hard for me to talk about, but I want to tell you both the truth."

Charlie fiddled with his pant leg and frowned slightly when he felt the wood of his prosthetic instead of a flesh leg, sometimes he thinks about what would happen if he hadn't kissed that boy in the alley all those years ago, of course, the older brother never faced charges because that would've involved Charlie having to say what happened which would result in his imprisonment. He's glad that he stayed true to himself but it cost him a lot, and sometimes he isn't sure it's worth it.