Let's Go Back

He Was With Her

"Who are you people?" JJ demands.

They all look at each other in concern. They are praying that this is some sort of joke. When no one answers, he continues.

"Where am I?" He asks.

Steve is the first of the bunch to recover.

"Wakanda, it's in Africa," Steve says.

"Why am I here?" JJ asks.

Sarah can't stand to see her cousin like this. He was more than a cousin to her, he was like her brother and he had no idea who she was. She wanted to run away and cry but she had to stay for JJ.

"You got hurt. We brought you here to get better," Bucky explains.

He was terrified for his son. He doesn't remember who he is. Bucky knows that feeling better than anyone. It is a horrible feeling when someone you love knows you but you don't know them.

JJ asks this next question really quietly and avoids eye contact with everyone.

"And who am I?" JJ asks softly.

This is worse than any of them could have imagined. Whatever happened to him wiped his entire memory. Everything that made JJ, JJ.

Steven doesn't want to overwhelm him so he thinks of the simplest introduction he can manage.

"Your name is James Buchanan Barnes II. We call you JJ," Steven says.

"And who are you?" JJ asks.

"My name is Steven and I'm your brother. Your twin," Steven explains.

JJ eyes him suspiciously but he doesn't hear any duplicity in his voice. Plus, he has no idea who he is but he seems familiar.

"Are the rest of you my family?" JJ asks.

"Yes, I'm your dad," Bucky admits.

"I'm your cousin, Sarah," Sarah says.

"I'm your uncle, Steve," Steve says.

He looks at Natasha last. Is this his mother?

Natasha doesn't know how to describe their relationship. They are family even if they aren't blood but she doesn't know how to explain that.

"I'm... a friend. My name is Natasha," Natasha says.

JJ looks around the room but there is no one else. He looks at Bucky.

"Where's my mother?" He asks.

They couldn't just spring everything on him all at once so Bucky goes for the simplest answer.

"She's gone but she was amazing. She loved you so much," Bucky says.

Bucky holds back tears because in that moment, he almost feels like a widow. He hopes that that's not what Lizzie felt like when she lost him all those years ago. He hopes she moved on even though he knows he never will. His boys are mostly grown but he never fully realized that he has to be both parents for them now.

JJ can tell from his father's voice that he misses her greatly. He knows that when he says gone, they didn't just get a divorce. She must have died somehow.

"Oh," JJ says.

JJ feels like he should be crying but he didn't really know her. He doesn't know any of them.

"Ah, Mr. Barnes, you are awake," Shuri says as she walks in the room.

"Am I supposed to know her?" JJ asks.

"No," Steve reassures him.

Shuri raises in eyebrow and looks at Steve.

"Um, JJ is experiencing some memory problems," Steve admits.