You Must Remember This

Chapter 3 - Journey to the past

Wakanda, 2016

Bucky scowled at the strongbox Shuri brought in. This couldn't be it. This couldn't be all that remained of Evelyn's life. It was barely bigger than a jack-in-the-box! He glanced over to the other side of the table. Steve gave no reaction; he just stared at the box, eyes glazed over with tears. Poor guy hadn't said a word since he found out how his twin sister died. He was devastated. Completely broken.

When his memories started to return, the first thing Bucky wanted to know was what had happened to his family. He remembered his mother Winifred had died young, back when he was still a little rugrat. But his father George, and his sister Rebecca... Bucky had been so relieved to learn they kept on living their lives after that fateful train raid. His father died in his sleep when he was in his seventies and was buried next to his mom. Becca got married and moved to the countryside, where she had a couple of kids. It had been so weird to discover he still had relatives somewhere. But he never looked for them. He wouldn't put them in harm's way by having them associated with the Winter Soldier.
Bucky had hoped his best friend learned something similar when he got out of the ice. Steve's father died during the first war before he was even born, and his mom got TB from working as a nurse, so Evelyn had been the only one left for him. She'd been the strong one, the one who didn't take any crap from anyone and who had more than once proven she could handle anyone who tried to take her on. She could've lived a long and happy life, even made it as far as getting a real doctor's degree if she put her mind to it (Lord knows she was stubborn and arrogant enough to screw the rules and just sit in at classes sometimes). She could've gone anywhere and married anyone. But instead, she stayed home in Brooklyn with no husband and no children. And now here they were, about to go over what was classified as evidence in a presumed homicide investigation.

Dammit, Evelyn... I always knew that big mouth of yours would get you into trouble someday. You just couldn't settle down, could ya?

"Shuri, are you sure this is all they had?" asked Bucky.

"Positive. We made it very clear to the U.S. embassy that if they withheld any possessions of anyone related to Captain Rogers, Wakanda would see this as an insult and withdraw from any further talks at the next U.N. conference. They were most cooperative after that. I suppose it helps that to the outside world, we still consider you both to be criminals. And I checked the records of the Brooklyn precinct where Evelyn's belongings were kept as well; I guarantee you, it is all here."

Bucky gave a deep sigh. He took the lock in his hand and looked it over.

"Is there a key?"

"No. Howard Stark assured everyone nothing dangerous was kept inside and insisted on the box remaining locked. Customs scanned it before they sent it to us. There are two packages inside. One appears to be a bundle of letters. I can get you your arm to..."

But Bucky had already yanked the padlock off, throwing it on the table. He didn't look up at Shuri's surprised gaze. He'd seen it a hundred times before. People saw the amputee and assumed he was weak. They saw the metal arm and assumed his strength came from HYDRA. But Bucky had the same serum Steve had running through his veins (more or less, anyway). He was more than the arm. He was more than the amputated hundred-year-old soldier. He just didn't quite understand what exactly yet.

"I will leave you to it then," said Shuri. "If you need anything else, I will be in my lab. Agent Romanoff and Sergeant Wilson are there as well."

Bucky just nodded back and waited until she was gone. He and Steve were alone in the medical room again. It seemed odd to stay there, but if Steve had another breakdown, he might as well have one in the one place that was full of drugs.