A River Made of Silver
Part 13 of the Untraveled Road Universe
The Asset—no, he was Bucky…or was he? How was he supposed to trust that man from the bridge, the one so damnably familiar? And when did he want to trust people? That man…he said they were friends, but why didn't he remember him?
He slammed his head against the wall of the alley and groaned. His brain felt like it was swelling in his skull. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to ignore the god awful stench coming from his clothes that overpowered the smell of the garbage beside him.
"What'cha doing?" His head jerked up and he flinched as the young child stared curiously at him. He didn't…no, he had killed children before, but now he didn't want to, now that he had a choice.
"Nothing." His voice was raspy, like nails scratching over bone. He didn't want to know how he knew what that sounded like. "What are you doing here?"
"I lurk in more alleys than Batman!" His eyes narrowed. What was a Batman? An enemy? Should he prepare to fight it or try to get this child away if this foe is too strong? "I'm Harry! Who are you?"
"I…don't know." There was something…something about this small, skinny child that was so bright in spirit that was familiar. Familiar like the man on the bridge was familiar. God, why did his head hurt so much!?
"You don't remember?" Harry sat down on the wet concrete beside him and he found that focusing on the boy's oddly patterned sweatshirt helped with his headache. "That's bad. You should go to the doctor. That's where Petey takes me when I'm sick. Wady's usually freaking out to be a help."
The thought of doctors sent shivers down his spine. "No. No doctors."
Harry frowned. "Well, you gotta do somethin', or else you're not going to remember anything."
"I…I have a friend, I think,…but I don't know if they were telling the truth, if I should trust them."
The boy nodded solemnly. "Yeah, not trusting your friend is bad. But you can get passed it! My brother and Petey used to not trust each other, but now they're hubbies!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Harry groaned loudly. "I meeeeeaaaaan, go to your friend and try to explain 'bout the no memories thing. If he really is your friend, then he will try to help and it will be great and you two can be hubbies! If he isn't, then he'll do something mean and you can just kill him and look for your memories elsewhere."
That made a weird sort of sense is a way. Carefully, he reached out with his flesh arm and ruffled Harry's hair. The boy giggled. "Thanks."
Harry smiled and saluted, causing him to jolt. It looked so familiar… "No problem!" Harry chirped. "Bye, Mr. No Name!"
Harry ran off before he could reply and Bucky was left staring hazily after him. "Bye…Steve."