“What are we doing out here?” James asks as we walk into the middle of a local park in my neighborhood. It’s a cute little place with Cherry Blossom trees and a quaint little feel; it’s the picture perfect place for a picnic.

“It’s a nice day to eat al fresco,” I state, “getting fresh air isn’t going to kill you, James. A picnic is a nice way to talk, freely. Nothing you say will be on record and who doesn’t love New York style Reuben sandwiches?”

“Let me guess, I used to like them?” He questions me as I set up the checkered blanket. “Steve told you that, didn’t he?”

“He gave me a list of all the things you like,” I reply, “for now, the deli sandwiches are the best I can do.”

“And what is eating an old favorite gonna do?” He asks.

“Some people believe revisiting favorite places, eating favorite meals and jumpstart memories,” I reply, putting the basket down. “I always suggest patients do that before prescribing medications and stuff like that. Please sit?” I ask, motioning to the blanket. He gives me a skeptical look before sitting down. A smile appears on my lips as I sit down between him and the basket.

“Why are you doing this off record?” He asks a couple minutes later as I unpack everything.

“You clearly don’t trust me, James,” I begin, “I want to prove that you can talk to me and if that means going off record and just having fun; then so be it. Coke?” I ask, holding one of those old fashioned Coca Cola bottles. A faint smile appears on his lips as he takes the bottle out of my hand.

“Thank you,” he says as he opens it.

“I’m a Pepsi person myself but there is something about drinking Coke out of a glass bottle that just seems so right.” I laugh as I pull out two of the four sandwiches I bought. “Steve says this was your favorite, so if you don’t like it; blame Steve.”

He eyes the sandwich briefly before taking it out of my hand, “I had another dream last night.” He admits, “this one felt like a memory to me too.”

“A good memory or a bad one?” I ask, not as a shrink but a friend.

“I don’t know,” he replies, “I think it was a good one. All I remember was I was in military uniform talking to some guy that I called Steve but he’s nothing like the Steve I see every day. He’s smaller, fragile looking. But we’re on our way to some futuristic thing; something about it involved a flying car.”

“Steve told me this story,” I tell him, “you’re remembering the night before you got deployed. It was before Steve joined the army and become Captain America. So you’re remembering your past more and more; which is good. You’re slowly remembering, your mind is giving you time to accept memories before returning all of your repressed, forgotten memories.”

“That’s good?” He asks confused, “I thought you’d want me to get memories back faster.”

“Getting repressed memories back all at once is a terrible thing,” I explain, “most people can’t handle it and go crazy and do stupid things. Slow progress is sometimes better than fast.”

“You wanted to do this more than just for me,” he notes, before finally taking a bite of his sandwich. “You don’t seem like your collected self today.”

“You picked that up huh?” I ask, a humorless chuckle following.

“We’re friends here, aren’t we?” He questions, “if you want me to open up, you might as well do they same.”

“I never had a patient tell me that before,” I tell him, “even off the record, besides Sam. But you’re right, I didn’t do this just for you but for myself as well. You’re not the only one that’s facing PTSD, James. I am too, just not as bad.”

“What happened?” He looks genuinely interested.

“A bad man came into my life and nearly destroyed any happiness I had.” I reply, vaguely. “He hurt me and haunts me to this day; all because I never talked about what he did to me.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“How about we face your problems first then if we have enough time today, we’ll work on mine?” I suggest with a smile.

Another faint smile appears on James’ lips, “deal.”

**

“So how was lunch?” I ask James as we walk around the park, side by side.

“It was actually pretty good,” he replies, “it was nice to get away from Steve and your office.”

“You don’t get out much do you?” I ask, “like out to see the sights?”

“I only go to the museum to try and get a feel for my old self.” He admits.

“There is this benefit the V.A is holding for Veterans, it’s a salute to the 40’s themed,” I tell him, “it’s in a couple weeks and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me. It’ll be a nice way to get back to your old self as get out of the apartment for a couple hours. Dancing, laughing, having a good time is exactly what you need.”

“You think I’d be ready with for that?”

“With the progress you’re making, you’ll be ready for anything by then.” I smile, “besides you need to have fun too. All work and no play makes James a dull boy.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” he states. A smile appears on my lips and soon we continue our walk in silence. It’s a nice silence, a comforting one.

He’s making a slow progress, I can tell, and that’s all anyone of us can ask of him...

Notes

Erin

Yay for progress and him finally opening up to Erin. Think he's going to be ready by the benefit? Like he'll ever completely open up to Erin?

Also who wants to be a character for the story? I think Erin needs more friends than just Sam. message me the following if you're interested.

character name
age
personality, ties to Erin (keep this short)
character picture.