Still | B. BARNES

Chapter 14

📍Brooklyn, New York | April 2024

"Do you still think about her?" Christina asked Bucky.

"No," he lied.

"So, Mr. Barnes, are you still having nightmares?"

Bucky didn't reply and stared at her.

"James, I asked you a question. Are you still having nightmares?"

"No."

"We've been doing this long enough that I can tell when you're lying. Well, you seem a little off today. Did something happen recently?" Christina sighed.

"No," Bucky answered with a flat tone.

"You're a civilian now. With your history, the government needs to know that you're not gonna... It's a condition of your pardon," She reminded him. "So, tell me about your most recent nightmare."

"I didn't have a nightmare," he replied making his doctor breathe deeply before writing on her notes.

"Oh, come on. Really?" Bucky said in disbelief. "You're gonna do the notebook thing? Why? It's passive-aggressive."

"You don't talk. I write."

Bucky sighed, "Okay. Okay. I crossed a name off the list of my amends yesterday. Don't worry. I used all your three rules."

"Senator Atwood," he continued. "She was a HYDRA pawn for years. Helped her get into office when I was the Winter Soldier. And after HYDRA disbanded, she continued to abuse the power I gave her."

Bucky narrated, remembering attaching a small to her car to control it.

"So, rule number one, you can't do anything illegal," Dr. Raynor reminded him.

"All I did was give some intel to the aide to convict her. And I wasn't involved in anything else," Bucky said.

"Rule number two?" Christina told him.

"What was rule number two?" Bucky asked.

"Nobody gets hurt. It's a big one."

"Then why isn't it rule number one?" Bucky was confused. After he saw that Christina was having none of his shit.

"I didn't hurt anybody. I promise," He reassured her, grunting.

"And what about rule number three?" And when Christina didn't receive any feedback she said, "The whole point of making amends is to fulfill rule number three."

"You know, you're a cynic, Doc. Of course, I completed rule number three." Then, he recited, "I am no longer the Winter Soldier.

I am James Bucky Barnes... And you're part of my efforts to make amends." He ended it with a smile.

"So, you did it all right, but it didn't help with the nightmares."

"Well, like I said, I didn't have any," Bucky insisted.

"Look... one day, you're gonna have to open up and understand that some people really do want to help you and that they can be trusted," She said.

"I trust people," Bucky replied with a pair of steel eyes at the back of his mind.

"Yeah? Give me your phone," Christina reached her hand out before Bucky groaned and handing his phone to her.

"You don't have ten phone numbers on this thing," Dr. Raynor scanned through his phone. "Oh, and you've been ignoring the texts from Sam."

She smacked her lips, "Look, you've gotta nurture friendships. I am the only person you have called all week. That is so sad."

She put the phone down on the table with a thud, "You're alone. You're a hundred years old. You used to have a girl before you left. You have no history, no family..."