Here it is, the final chapter to "Flashbulb Memories" – never thought when I started toying around with this idea I'd ever really flush it out and post it for people to read, so I'm glad you all have enjoyed the story.

Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

April 2014

Ryder stood outside of Steve's hospital room, nodding to the patrolling guard that paced the hallway. When he noticed his twin walking up, he smiled and said, "I'm heading to the cafeteria…want anything?"

Case shook her head, "Nah…I'm good."

"When was the last time you ate something?"

"I'm not hungry, Ryder."

"Case—"

"A sandwich then," Case rolled her eyes, too tired to argue with him.

Ryder gave a triumphant grin and turned on his heel, heading toward the exit.

Case gave a sigh and entered the room, listening to the music coming from the device on the table and giving a small smile, "'Trouble Man'."

Sam looked up at her, "Yeah…I felt it was appropriate."

She sat in the chair next to him, looking Steve over. The area near his right eye was split open and scabbed over, just a huge mass of purple skin. His bottom lip was split on the right, the left stitched closed and split like someone had tried to widen his mouth. "God…the Soldier did a number on him, didn't he?"

Sam frowned at her, "The Soldier?"

Case sighed, "If Bucky knew…if he remembered…I don't think he would've done it."

"But he did," Sam pointed out. "He beat him, shot—"

"Yes, Sam, I'm well aware, I heard the same things you did," Case said in an annoyed tone. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists.

All three of them had heard the long laundry list of the injuries Steve had taken, including the multiple gunshot wounds and massive amounts of bruising.

"Case…"

"They erased his memories, Sam…that much I do remember," Case continued, cutting him off. "They took the man Bucky was and obliterated it. And anytime he started remembering…I can only assume…" She closed her eyes, and the image of Bucky in the Chair flashed clearly behind her eyelids. His screams echoed in her ears, "They didn't want him to remember anything."

"Did they…do that to you?"

"No…" Case hissed. "I just had to watch as they did it to him." She ran a hand through her hair, "Seeing him…unlocked what was done to me. And the more I remember…the more I want to forget again."

They grew quiet for a few moments, listening to the beeping of monitors and the song playing from the speakers.

"Look…I get that you want to forget," Sam finally began. "But…when you're ready…if you need to talk about anything…just let me know."

Case folded her arms and stretched her legs out in front of her, "You and everyone else…get in line."

"Fair point," Sam admitted. "We don't necessarily have to talk about all that. Just if you need to talk about anything…and you don't have to go to group therapy to do it."

That earned him a small smile, "Thanks Sam."

The room grew quiet again, the only sounds being the continuous beeping of the monitors and the sound of the song playing.

Until a raspy voice said, "On your left."

June 2015

"Don't worry, sweetheart…you won't remember any of this anyway…"

Ryder had just left the elevator with Sam, and the doors hissed shut behind them as they froze in place.

Case was sitting on the sofa, eyes glued to the laptop. Her face was white, tears were rolling silently down her cheeks, and she had the fingers of her left hand pressed over her mouth.

Ryder got closer, "Case…?"

Case closed the laptop panel, "'The Confession of Cassidy Howlett'…aptly titled."

"Case, I—"

"I wouldn't go into details, so you went behind my back to get them," Case said in a low voice. "Not that far of a leap, Ryder."

"I know, but—"

"So now you know," Case continued. "What really happened."

"To be honest…I really just know Mom's version," Ryder said, walking up next to the couch but not taking a seat. "I don't know how much I trust her to give me everything…and there's pieces missing, that much I can tell."

Case wiped at her cheeks, "I almost bought into it…that she actually cared. I thought…I don't know, maybe underneath it all…"

"Maybe I should—" Sam began, turning toward the elevator.

"Stay!" Both Howlett's barked at him.

Sam frowned and walked over the sofa, taking the seat next to Case, not saying a word.

Case chewed on her lip for a few moments, then said, "She threw me away. I was making their Asset remember the man he used to be. And I wanted to take him with me…so she erased my memories and dropped me in a warehouse and told you where to find me."

Ryder sighed as she got to her feet, "Case—"

"What? What can you possibly say to that?" Case cried out, as more tears rolled down her cheeks. "Our Mother! I was stabbed…my spine was cut! I was paralyzed from the neck down! Beaten within an inch of my life…and what does she care about?"

Ryder flinched, "Case…please…don't—"

"All she wanted was to make sure their Asset was erased and put back in storage like a fuckin' collectible," Case snapped. "Didn't care about me in the slightest—"

"I KNOW!"

Both Sam and Case nearly jumped out of her skin at Ryder's shout, and when they both looked at him, they saw there were tears streaming down his face.

"I know. I know all of it!" Ryder hissed. He shoved his fingers through his hair, "Case…I think Mom does care…but she cares more about keeping us away from Hydra than anything else…and she thinks that because she's in that position that makes her a great mother." He got to his feet and started pacing, "Do you know what I feel when I see this shit?"

"I…" Case hesitated but couldn't seem to find an answer.

Ryder shook his head, "You're the only constant in my life, Case. Yeah…you drive me crazy and vice versa and there's days where we hate each other's guts…but I know that if I needed you, you'd be there. You've always been there when I needed you…"

"I'm not going anywhere," Case said with a frown.

"But you almost did! Don't you get that?" Ryder demanded. "It's all there…clinically you…" He didn't want to say it…he couldn't.

Sam looked at her, "It wasn't just an almost? You actually…?"

"I don't know, Sam," Case admitted. "They told me they thought he was trying to revive a vegetable."

"He?"

"Bucky…he's the only reason I got out of there alive," Case said, folding her arms as she got to her feet. "My mother was too worried about protecting her cover, I don't think she would've done anything to help after that."

"God…I don't know what I would've done if you…" Ryder scrubbed a hand over his face. "I mean…what would have happened if you didn't come back? You would've just been…gone…"

"But I'm not," Case told him firmly. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon…you're not getting rid of me that easily."

Ryder was quiet for a moment, then took a deep breath, "Yeah…I know."

"Good…now, come with me," Case said, heading toward the hallway. "There's something we need to correct before we go into any further details…"

Sam and Ryder exchanged looks before following her.

Case walked into Ryder's guest room/office space and turned on the light. "I'd say you did a pretty decent job on this…timeline fits for the most part…"

The wall was littered with various documents and security stills, creating a timeline of events when Case was taken and held by Hydra, finishing off with a security still from when she was in the SHIELD infirmary.

"Not sure how you got that one," Case said of the one on the end. "Not gonna ask either. But there's one you got out of order…"

"Which one?" Ryder asked. "I mean…I heard Mom was trying to cover everything, and I know there was shit she didn't want to share—"

"This one," Case said, tapping her index finger under a security still of Bucky. "You have this one where I started training with them…this one's out of place."

"What? You mean you started training before then?"

"No, the training part is right," Case explained. "It was the first sight of Bucky…that part's not right."

"When did you first see him then?" Sam asked.

Case's eyebrows rose, "I told you last year…don't you remember?"

Sam racked his brain trying to remember, "We went over a lot of shit last year Case…you'll have to remind me."

"The metal-armed whack-a-doodle who left my closet door open?" Case asked. "It's why I called you in the first place…I remembered the night I was taken…"

April 2014

Case entered her apartment and locked the door behind her – regular lock, deadbolt…she even considered pulling her dining room table in front of it to keep it closed.

Bucky was alive…Bucky had been alive all this time and they hadn't known…but she did. Seeing him again brought back a lot of flashes…he had been in Siberia. They erased his memories…and her mother was the one that gave the order.

Her mother…her own mother was one of them. The mother that had hidden her and Ryder in a closet and disappeared without a trace in nineteen twenty-three. She was a member of Hydra…she had them erase everything when Bucky started remembering her.

And yet…after all that had come back, there was something missing…something that was staring her right in the face…Case didn't have everything from that time, she knew she didn't. Something else was still locked away…

With a sigh she walked deeper into her apartment and headed for her bedroom, having new certainty that the rest would come back with time. She closed and locked the door behind her, and walked over to her bed, plopping down on the comforter.

After a few moments she sat back up and reached for her nightstand, opening the drawer. Nestled inside was a frame, with a drawing Steve had given her for her ninety-fifth birthday. She'd put it in there that same night before she'd been taken.

She was about to put it on her nightstand, but paused, "Why did I put it in there to begin with?"

She could remember holding the frame, wanting to cry at the sight but she loved the drawing, even though the idea was painful, and something she and Bucky had never gotten to, something Bucky had never gotten to see.

Wait…Case gazed at the reflections in the glass, which were showing off the room behind her. I put it in there because…

With the frame in hand, Case walked out to the living room area. She placed the drawing on the counter and sat down on the stool. She repositioned it and got her answer.

The closet had been open…not wide open, but just enough for Case to know that someone was in the apartment with her…and had been hiding in the closet.

Slowly she began to remember…she'd taken notice of the door, smelled the familiar scent in the air. She'd walked to the bedroom to put the frame in the nightstand drawer before all hell broke loose.

Carefully she walked toward the closet door, sniffing the air as she neared it.

Nope, nothing, she thought as she slowly opened the door.

Nothing but a few jackets and a couple of rolls of wrapping paper.

"Get it together, Howlett," Case shook her head.

A floorboard creaked, and suddenly Case was in attack position in the middle of the living room, all six claws extended and gleaming in the light.

She shifted her foot, and recreated the creak, and gave a sigh, retracting her claws. "Okay…this is getting ridiculous." She made a mental note to text Sam about hanging out. Clearly, she needed to talk to someone about all this…

She walked back to her bedroom and grabbed her iPod and the speakers. Going back out to the living room she set up the devices on her kitchen counter and put the songs on shuffle. The lack of silence relaxed her, and she headed to her couch and stretched out across it.

The familiar vocal opening to the song "Pompeii" filled the air.

I was left to my own devices

Many days, fall away, with nothing to show

Case felt herself relax into the cushions, just feeling drained after the last couple of days.

And the walls kept tumbling down

In the City that we love

Grey clouds roll over the hills bringing darkness from above.

Suddenly she was standing before her closet, instead of the late afternoon sun outside her window there was darkness, with moonlight streaming in.

But if you close your eyes

Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?

And if you close your eyes

Does it almost feel like you've been here before?

Within seconds a floorboard creaked behind her and she was dodging out of the way of a metal fist.

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

"Bucky?"

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

"Who the hell is Bucky?"

If you close your eyes

Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?

Case's eyes shot open as she rolled off the couch. She was gasping for air as she hit the floor, crying out and sobbing, vaguely aware she as repeating the phrase, "Not a nightmare, not a nightmare…"

Once she was able to breathe properly, she slowly got to her feet. She grabbed her iPod and cut off all music. She ran into her coat closet and blocked the door behind her.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and sent Sam a text to meet her the next morning, gave him the directions to a diner nearby her apartment, before throwing the device across the small space, and did something she hadn't done since she was seven years old…

She curled up in the corner and cried.

And just to recap I do not own any rights to the song "Pompeii" – never have, never will.

We have now come full circle, back to where the story began, and Case met Sam in the diner to begin this journey.

But for those who want more to the story, fear not!

This is but part one of the Ballad of Case Howlett and Bucky Barnes…stay tuned for part two, which is titled: "I'd Rather Laugh with the Sinners than Cry with the Saints"

COMING SOON