How do you heal?

Chapter 31: The More You Know

Bucky walked into the kitchen flexing the fingers on his left arm. "Hey is Stark or Banner around?" He asked Annie who was packing lunches.

"Uh, Tony is in London with Pepper for a few days and Bruce went to visit his cousin in California. Why?"

Bucky sighed. "Shit. Since we got back from Sokovia my arm has been a little on the fritz and I was going to see if one of them could look at it."

Annie finished the bag she was working on and walked over to Bucky taking his hand in hers. "Oh no. What's going on?" She asked, turning his hand over and watching it move.

"It's just been twitchy. Fingers moving when I don't want them to or not moving when I do."

Annie finished her assessment and let go of Bucky's hand. "He and Bruce did scans when you first got here, right, internal and external?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Well there's no external damage that I can see so it's probably just loose wiring. Vision and Wanda are on a walk right now but he could probably look at it when he gets back. Or if you don't want to wait I could."

Bucky raised his eyebrows at her. "No offense, Sweetheart, but this," he said, gesturing to his arm. "Is a little more complicated than deconstructing a recipe."

Annie cocked her head at him and her eyes widened at, what she hoped was an unintentional insult. "Bucky, do you know what I did before I started working here?"

"Uh, no."

"And do you think I would ever offer to do something if I had absolutely no clue how to do it and it could potentially be harmful?"

Bucky's response was barely a whisper. "No."

Annie folded her arms over her chest. "Yes, your arm is a complicated mix of biomechanics and programming but the majority of the delicate stuff is up at the top, near your shoulder where all the nerve connection is. But down here," she said, picking up his hand again. "Is most likely basic circuitry. Wires going from point A to point B so they can transfer the signals created at the top. Sound about right?" Bucky only nodded before Annie continued. "Seeing as Tony took scans when you arrived and knowing him he also updated those scans with everything he and Bruce did anyone who had a basic understanding of electrical schematics could most likely figure out the general mechanics of the lower portion. Do you agree?"

Bucky shuffled on his feet uncomfortably and noticed Nat and Pietro had entered from the elevators and were watching. "Yes."

"All that being said. Would you like to take a guess at what I did before I came to work at the compound? What I went to college for?"

"Uh.." Bucky trailed off and looked over to see Nat and Pietro walking towards them. Nat holding in laughter.

"Natasha, would you like to enlighten your friend on my credentials?" Annie said, returning to the island and grabbing the bags, handing them to Pietro and Nat.

"Graduated magna cum laude with a degree in electrical engineering. Then worked at her local utility as a transmission engineer for eight years. She also has an MBA."

"What's an MBA?" Pietro asked.

"Masters of Business Administration which I got summa cum laude but that's not important to this particular discussion." Annie answered as she walked past the group toward the hall to the bedrooms. She stopped just before entering the hall. "I am not and will never claim to be anywhere near as smart as Tony but I am at least smart enough to have an idea of what I can and can't do. Seeing as you don't seem to think I am, you can wait for Vision." With that she walked down the hall and out of view.

Nat put her hand on Bucky's shoulder. "Wow, you really fucked that one up." She said and moved to follow Annie down the hall.

"Come on, how was I supposed to know that? How did you even know that?" Bucky asked, tossing his hands up in frustration.

Nat stopped where Annie had. "I asked." Then she too was gone.

Bucky sighed and turned to face Pietro who was eating at the island and smiling. "Did you know?"

"Yeah man. But to be fair I had a wonky switch in my bathroom and when she said she would fix it I just trusted that she could and when she did I asked where she learned it."

Bucky groaned when he felt the fingers on his left hand start to twitch uncontrollably. "Fuck. I gotta wait for Vision for this now but how do I fix that?" He asked as he gestured to the hall.

Pietro stood and walked over to the freezer. Reaching in he pulled out a candy bar and tossed it at Bucky. "Sweets and groveling, man."