War of Change // TFATWS

VIII

Bucky walked into the main room with a sour expression.

Dr. Raynor walked up and said, "Hello, Michaela. Sam. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Dr. Raynor. I'm James and Michaela's therapist."

"So nice to meet you," Sam replied, standing and shaking her hand before glancing at Michaela with a smile. "Thank you for getting him out."

"That was not me."

"Christina," John called. "It's great to see you again."

"You've got to be kidding me," Michaela mumbled as she stood and joined Sam's side. "You know him?"

Dr. Raynor shrugged. "Yeah, we did some field ops back in the day."

"I heard you were working with Bucky, so I thought I'd step in," John told them as he walked closer. "Bucky's not gonna be following a strict schedule any longer."

Michaela narrowed her eyes and walked up to John. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. He needs therapy. As do I. It helps him, us, and you're taking that away!"

Dr. Raynor frowned. "Michaela is right. We haven't finished our work. Who authorized this?"

"Um..." John trailed. "He's too valuable of an asset to have tied up. So, just do whatever you got to do with him, then send him off to me."

"Got some unfinished business, him, Michaela and I. You too, Wilson. I'll be outside."

John walked away.

Michaela frowned. "Hang on, he's human, just like you and me. He's seen enough war in his life. Thank you, Mr. Walker for getting him out, but you can go."

John turned to the blonde. "It's Captain America."

"Not to me it's not. I already told you such."

As Michaela turned away, she noticed Bucky standing in a slouched position at the desk. She ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

Bucky wrapped an arm around her waist. "Told you I'd be okay, doll." He kissed her and brushed her hair back.

"Dr. Raynor's here," Michaela said.

He frowned. "I can see that. What's she doing here?"

"To give all three of us a session I suspect."

"All three of us?"

"Yup."

Dr. Raynor said, "James, condition of your release, session now. You too, Michaela, Sam."

"That's okay," Sam replied. "I'll be out here with..."

"That wasn't a request."

They made their way to an interrogation room.

Dr. Raynor pulled up another chair and set it between two chairs. Sam and Bucky sat in the side chairs while Michaela sat in the middle chair. "So... Who would like to start?"

"All right," Sam said, "look, Dr. Raynor? I get it, why you want me to talk to Freaky Magoo and Blondie over here. But I'm 100% fine."

"It is my job to make sure that you're okay. And so, yeah, this may be slightly unprofessional, but it's the only way that I can see if you're getting over whatever's eating at you."

"This is ridiculous."

Bucky and Michaela nodded. "Yeah, I agree."

"See?" Dr. Raynor stated. "Making progress already. So, who wants to go first?" The three remained silent. "No volunteers? Wow. How surprising. Okay. We're going to do an exercise. It's something I use with couples when they are trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna build together."