Before the Morning // TFATWS

08

Bucky walked into the main room with a sour expression. Dorothy ran up to her father and hugged him, causing the frown to turn into a smile.

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

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

"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 and I. You too, Wilson. I'll be outside."

John walked away.

Dorothy stalked after John. "Hey! Call my dad an asset again and you've got something else coming."

He frowned at her. "Who are you to threaten me? Don't you know who I am?"

"Not Cap, that's for sure."

"I think the shield and the uniform proves otherwise."

"That just shows that you don't understand who Captain America truly is."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You don't understand who Captain America is. All you see is the symbols. If you can't see who Cap truly is, you don't deserve the symbols or the title."

"And who is Captain America exactly?"

"If you need me to explain that, then that just shows you don't know the answer."

Without another word, she walked away.

John turned to Bucky with a frown. "You'd be wise to control your daughter."

Bucky stared at John with a seething expression, saying nothing.

Dr. Raynor said, "James, condition of your release, session now. 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.

Sam and Bucky sat in the side chairs while Dorothy stood in the back. "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 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 nodded. "Yeah, I agree."

"See?" Dr. Raynor stated. "Making progress already. So, who wants to go first?" The two 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. Are you familiar with the miracle question?"