Working Out
Once progress was made with Bucky, Tony let Rhodey in on the situation as well. He was concerned at first but quickly saw the progress and results. Though Rhodey did suggest, and Maria backed up, that after all the tests were done, and Bucky was no longer triggerable, and could begin being just a person again, that he do so not at the Tower, at least for a while. The Tower was pretty high profile, there were frequently fans and groupies who lurked outside, or in the ground floor lobby, hoping to get an autograph or picture with a real Avenger. Probably didn't help there was a merchandise shop down there also. And while the media didn't camp out there, they moved awful fast whenever there was anything that even smelled like news or something strange at The Tower. Plus, while the actual Avengers and their core support staff wouldn't divulge any information, there were a lot of other people who worked in the building, and if they lifted the restricted access, and let Bucky try to live normal from the Tower, it was likely someone would see him, and possibly gossip to the wrong person.
Bucky passed his triggers test. They'd locked him in The Room, which was made for Hulk, and Natasha had read off his trigger sequence. He had been so nervous. He'd paced the room, and had Thor watching him like a hawk. The feeling had been, if the trigger did still work, and he tried anything, Thor would be able to subdue him with more ease than anyone else. Fortunately, Bucky hadn't found out just how strong Thor was, because the Winter Soldier was not triggered. After a follow-up exam, Bucky was told he could relax the rest of the day. It was early afternoon, so Steve took him down to the gym, on the 81st floor, to work out and burn off some stress. Bucky was stressed from the tests. Steve was stressed from whatever this Halloween thing was, that Bucky still didn't quite understand.
Being in the gym, that one in particular, did bring up thoughts of Darcy, for Steve, but he was trying to keep that to the side. There was so much else going on, he just had to hope that he'd hear from her sometime about wanting to work out again. And maybe if he figured out what happened at Halloween, he'd feel like he could maybe work out what he wasn't remembering about it. Like what he might have talked to her about. It felt too strange to just ask her about it when he didn't remember, and it also seemed weird to talk to her while not knowing what had been said.
Bucky was still getting his senses back, but little memories did seem to be drifting back daily, especially since Steve had found him and brought him back. He could tell Steve's mind was wrapped up with something, or maybe several other things, not just his recovery. He didn't say anything at first. They got going lifting some weights before Bucky spoke. "Hey, Steve? Are you okay? Because, maybe I'm all wrong, my brain is still pretty scrambled, but you seem a little distant at times."
Steve paused his reps and looked over at Bucky. "Yeah, I mean, I'm worried about you recovering. I kind of wish you could just stay here, or that I could come with you, make sure you're alright. And then there's some Avengers stuff that's kind of stressful, I guess."
Bucky stopped his lifting also and sat up straight, "I'll manage on my own. Even though I do wish we could hang out more while I'm piecing things back together. What about this Halloween thing though? You said something the other day about not remembering?"
Steve hadn't elaborated on it, but Bucky had continued to worry about what that meant. Steve sighed softly, "Yeah, I'm not sure what happened that night. Tony had a party here, and besides arriving, getting a drink at the bar, and spotting Sam, I don't recall the rest of the night, or the next morning for that matter. The next memory I have is of Sam standing in my office, snapping me out of some kind of haze, and telling me that Nat had spotted you. And since we started asking around, it sounds like most of the people we know had some kind of strange experience that evening. There's still a lot of people for us to contact from the party, but the people we have, everyone at least woke up feeling kind of fuzzy or off, like they'd drank too much or something, though most of them report not drinking that much alcohol. A couple have said they felt like they had patchy memories of the night. And of course, you heard Bruce felt agitated. Something happened, but we aren't sure what."
"That definitely sounds like something strange. What could do that kind of thing? Does it have to do with whatever Thor was talking about?" Bucky obviously knew, there were ways to mess up someone's mind and memories. And ways to put new thoughts and information there. Though something acting on a whole party full of people was strange, and kind of scary.
"Thor suggested there's some other energy spikes, things often associated with travel between realms. That maybe- " Steve couldn't claim to begin to understand the science of it all. He just knew Tony and Bruce had started calling Jane daily for updates on her research, and were starting to do their own.
"Wait, what?" Bucky could recall a number of things from his time as the Winter Soldier, including how some technologies worked, things like that. But the existence of other realms was new information.
"Yeah, there's different realms." Steve shook his head a little, sometimes it seemed a little wild even to him, even after things like the Chitauri.
"Like other worlds, science fiction, kind of stuff?" Bucky's eyebrows were up, and Steve could see, along with the shock, there was some fascination in his friend's eyes. Bucky had always loved science and technology and imagining things beyond their world.
"Only it's not fiction. Thor is from one of those other realms. So, there are some ideas that there's a connection, but we don't know what it is, yet." Steve did hope some real answers would come sooner, rather than later. Now that everyone was turning their focus toward it, and Jane had gone to do some more intensive research on the energy spikes, or whatever else it was.
"People not remembering things is troubling, but the other realms thing sounds cool." Having met Thor, Bucky figured other realms couldn't be all bad since Thor had seemed nice.
"It is, on both counts." Steve was about to resume his reps when he looked back at Bucky laying back to do the same. "Are you really okay to move into some apartment and be by yourself for the next few weeks?"
Bucky had laid back, but not lifted the bar yet. He nodded at Steve, "I'll be okay. I was managing alone until you found me, I'll be alright for a while until we can visit and check in. I figure I can spend some time seeing what New York is like now. It's been a while. Maybe it'll help jog some memories."
"A lot has changed, there are a few things, old facades, that still looked familiar when I woke up. It was nice to see." Steve felt like he had so many other things he wanted to say. Part of him was desperate to share other things with his best friend. Perhaps more so than he ever had when they were young. Though Bucky had always ultimately gotten him to talk anyway, even when Steve was trying to keep a stiff upper lip. Bucky had always been able to see right through any defense Steve attempted to put up. But, Steve knew Bucky was just starting to gain a better hold on himself, and a life free from Hydra, and he didn't need to be carrying any of Steve's excess baggage along with his own.
"So, I'll be fine. There's probably plenty of things for me to see and do. Lots of things about the present and the past that I never learned because it wasn't relevant to the Winter Soldier missions." Bucky was working on speaking of those things he'd had to do, as things the Winter Soldier did. The psychiatrist he'd worked with the last week and a half had suggested it as a means to try to help his feelings of guilt. It wasn't him, Bucky, who did those things, it was the Hydra weapon, known as the Winter Soldier, that was programmed to do those things. He was trying, but he still felt responsible.
Steve nodded, quiet for a long moment before they both resumed their workout.