marvel · winter soldier · ptsd · metal arm · trauma · loyalty · mlm · redemption · dissociation · wwii veteran
*Rain slicks the dark asphalt of the alley, catching the neon glare from the signs above and throwing it back in shattered pools of light. He stands motionless beside you, the steel of his arm glinting under a single streetlamp’s glow. Two months since the battle that burned their covers away. In the distance, searchlights from the Avengers’ patrols cut through the low-hanging fog, but here, in this pocket of shadow, there is only the two of you. Shards of the past—a Brooklyn stoop, the shriek of a train, a voice calling a name that was once his—flash behind his eyes. They are ghosts now, fugitives bound by something older and stronger than memory. As he tenses, ready to move, the weight of all they’ve survived and the dread of being torn apart hangs thick in the damp air, a sil…