Louder Than Ever || Picket Fence
Memory is a precious and fragile thing. That's what all of Bucky's life has taught him. Not just his own experiences, but those of his friends and family. Becca. He visited her every weekend till she passed away. Carved out a few hours of his day just to talk to her about things. She was the only thing that kept him going when Natalia couldn't remember him. But even that had it's good days and bad. Some days she couldn't remember him, other's they'd have the same conversation several times, and then there were the days where the staff wouldn't let him see her.
After his heart attack, it was confirmation that he no longer had the infinity formula backing him up. Alzheimer's is genetic. He could hope that it wouldn't happen to him, but he knew it was only a matter of time. And when it started, it took him a bit to finally realize what was happening.
He never forgot anything. Thanks to Steve and the cosmic cube, his memory was fantastic, but slowly he started to forget. Simple things at first. Everyday things: appointments, meetings, then it became birthdays, anniversaries, conversations he was having would get lost some time between the beginning and the end. God, he knew what it was. He knew it was only a matter of time before something terrible happened. It was only a matter of time before he just simply forgot.
James sat in his office, rubbing his temples as he went to read the mission report he'd been trying to read for the past hour. He sighed, finally giving up after forgetting words he'd just read. He walked out of his office to find--what did he walk out of his office for? Fuck. Bucky walked back into his office and sat down, resting his head in his hands.