Priceless // TFATWS

08

Bucky and Rosie walked into the main room, the former with a sour expression and the latter with an annoyed expression.

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

"So nice to meet you," Sam replied. "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," Sam muttered. "You know him?"

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

"I heard you were working with Bucky and Rosie, 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. Rosie won't be following her schedule either."

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

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

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

John walked away.

Rosie glared at John and muttered, "Pretentious asshole."

"Agreed," Bucky said.

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

"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 Rosie 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 Time Lady 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 Rosie 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 tried that method with Bucky and Rosie?" Sam asked.

"Are you familiar with the miracle question?"

"Absolutely not," Bucky and Rosie 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?"

Rosie leaned back chair and sighed.

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

"Rosie and I like this one, Doc," Bucky said.

"Oh, God," Sam muttered. "They're gonna love this."

"Yeah, I am ready," Bucky and Rosie replied, moving their chairs. Bucky pulled Rosie onto his lap.