Do You Hear the People Sing // TFATWS

08

Flora entered the main room with a sour expression. Bucky walked up to her and her expression morphed into a small smile.

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

"So nice to meet you," Sam replied. "Thank you for getting her out."

"That was not me."

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

"You've got to be kidding me," Sam muttered. "You know him?"

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

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

"We haven't finished our work. Who authorized this?"

"Um..."

"She's too valuable of an asset to have tied up. So, just do whatever you got to do with her, then send her off to me."

Bucky narrowed his eyes, hearing Flora being called an asset. She was much more than an asset. He'd honestly never wanted to hurt someone more.

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

John walked away.

Flora glared at John and huffed, "Unfinished business? Please."

Dr. Raynor said, "Flora, condition of your release, session now. James, let's go. You too, 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 Flora 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 and the rude Sergeant 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 Flora 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."

"Have you used that method with Bucky and Flora?" Sam asked.

"Are you familiar with the miracle question?"

"Absolutely not," Bucky and Flora said.

"Of course not," Sam replied.

"Okay, it goes like this," Dr. Raynor told them. "Suppose that while you're sleeping, a miracle occurs. When you wake up, what is something that you would like to see that would make your life better?"

"In my miracle, um, he would... he would talk less," Bucky replied.

"Exactly what I was gonna say," Sam said. "Isn't that ironic?"

Flora leaned back and crossed her arms, but remained silent.

"You guys are leaving me with no choice," Dr. Raynor told them. "It's time for the soul-gazing exercise."