"So tell me again why we're in Virginia?" Steve asked as they got out of Sam's car. "Some sort of creepy guy got spotted? Has it reached the point that we're just going to hunt down anything that sounds slightly abnormal?"
"Hey man, I know you're frustrated, but you've got to cool your jets." Sam looked around for the right address. "The report described the 'creepy guy' that was spotted as athletic with long, dark hair and a metal arm. That's pretty specific."
They began walking toward an apartment building. "Ok. So we'll just have to search the entire area. How long ago was this report? We can split up and canvas the neighborhood…."
"Whoa whoa whoa! You think I didn't think of all this Cap?" Sam said with a chuckle. "The local PD canvassed the area already. One officer reported someone acting strange and thinking he saw what might have been blood and muddy clothing in her living room behind her. We're going to check out that apartment. It has been about a few weeks, but I think this woman might have some useful information. And here we are." Sam said indicating the door in front of them. "Shall we?"
Just as Sam lifted his arm to knock, the door swung open, and in front of them was a pretty young woman with green eyes, auburn hair, and a very startled look on her face.
"Caaaan I help you?" She asked, confused, with a soft southern lilt to her voice.
Sam launched into his explanation, but her eyes were glued to the Captain.
"Oh my god." She said softly, interrupting Sam's monologue. "You're Steve." She looked as though all the puzzle pieces had just clicked into place.
Steve was familiar by now with the occasional fan, but had never really gotten used to it. He chuckled awkwardly "Uh, yes. I'm Steve Rogers, err, Captain America. Listen, we were wondering if you could do us a favor, you see, I'm looking for a friend of mine…"
She seemed to suddenly come out of her shocked stupor and grabbed him by the forearm. "Come inside! Quick! I can't believe this!".
Steve looked back at Sam, who just shrugged at him, as he allowed himself to be pulled into the apartment. As soon as they were all inside, she closed the door and turned to them.
"A week and a half ago, I found someone badly injured on the side of the road. He refused to go to a hospital, so I brought him here. Stupid, I know, but for some reason, he just looked so helpless and lost and… Anyway, at first he couldn't remember anything, but then things started coming back to him. He said his name was Bucky, and that he had a friend named Steve… He didn't remember a lot about what happened to him, but he started remembering everything about his childhood…
He's told me hundreds of stories about growing up with his best friend Steve, he kept saying "that little guy" and laughing about getting his friend out of trouble all the time… I just never put two and two together until I saw you just now!" She rattled off her explanation talking faster and faster, until Steve took her hand to steady her and get her attention. She stopped talking on a gasp, and stared up into his face. "I can't believe this!" she repeated again.
"Do you know where he is now? I need to find him. He's been badly hurt by some truly evil people, and I think they've messed with his memories. They're mostly gone now, but I need to help him." Steve's heart was racing. Finally they had found a solid lead! He glanced at Sam who was smiling at him, excitement running across his face.
Norah gave him a funny smile, "Of course I know were he is. He's been in really bad shape, physically and mentally. The night terrors would have been bad enough without all the memory loss and physical trauma… I couldn't just let him wander off now could I?" She chuckled.
"He's in the shower".
"Are you serious?!" Sam asked.
Norah glanced over to him, and then back to the shocked face of Steve. "Uhh, yeah. I'm serious. Is that a bad thing?"
Steve's face finally began to unfreeze, and shock slowly faded into joy. "How did all this happen? You're saying he just showed up on your doorstep?"
Norah smiled again, "well, not exactly on my doorstep. Like I said, I found him, he needed help, I helped him. Pretty simple."
Sam chuckled, "Maybe for you! We've been hunting him for weeks. I was starting to feel like we were hunting a ghost." He paused for a moment. "But, I thought he would be pretty messed up. He just told you his name? And who Steve was? Why didn't he contact us?"
At this, Steve looked up. "Is he ok? You said he needed a hospital when you found him."
"Why don't you both come sit down. Bucky will be out in a few minutes, and until then I can fill you in on what I know - which honestly isn't much." Norah lead them to the couch to sit. "As I said before, I found him, but he wouldn't let me take him to the hospital. He kept saying 'they' would find him there. I've grown up around the military, so I figured out pretty quickly that the was was from some sort of military or paramilitary background, and he just looked so lost. Kind of like a puppy." She said sheepishly, her cheek lifting in a soft smile. "After I got him cleaned up a little, I realized that his wounds were not life threatening as long as I fought off any infection, and that he mostly just needed a lot of rest."
"When did all this happen?" Steve asked.
"About two weeks ago."
"Were you ever going to find someone to help?" Sam said.
"Of course I was! I just... wasn't really sure where to begin to be honest. I'm a psychologist and I've done quite a bit of research involving traumatic memories, so I thought I would do as much as I could from here, and then if he wasn't progressing, we would look into more options."
Steve seemed to accept this, as he just shook his head at the story.
Sam looked over at him. "To be honest Cap, her story is too bizarre to make up."
"Well if you don't believe me yet, you will in a minute." She said, glancing between the two men. "I've got about 200 lbs of flesh and blood proof in my bathroom."
