It’s when Dick says his name that Steve gets his first flash of a memory, like a part of his mind has kicked a single rock out from beneath a landslide. He sees Dick, even younger than he is now, a kid doing trapeze. But it doesn’t make any sense — why would he remember something like that?

But what really works in Dick’s favor, is that Steve doesn’t see any aggression. In fact, he sees a glimmer of sudden loneliness — it’s a look he’s all too familiar with. Steve’s never been one to attack someone who doesn’t mean others harm, so while he stays careful, very careful, his voice isn’t as forceful as it was a moment ago.

“Dick Grayson.”

He says it, like maybe that would trigger another memory, but nothing happens. “I let you stay here?”

It’s hard to process whether this was some kind of trick, or if he’d really lost some part of his memory. If Steve was back home, he’d be heavily learning towards the former, but in Alpha … he remembers getting new memories so clearly that Steve … well, he never thought he’d be thinking this, but maybe it’s possible.