the team doctor || bucky barnes

32.

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴏɴɢ: ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ - ʙɪʟʟɪᴇ ᴇɪʟɪꜱʜ

~

"WE HAVE IDENTIFIED THE MOLE."

Valerie was sitting across from Bucky again, but in her defense, she sat down first. The team members were all sweaty and tired from training, but Tony insisted they meet tonight. It was currently 10:05 p.m., but he promised it wouldn't take long.

"But we'll get to that," Tony spoke. "First, I want to extend a happy welcome to the members that have joined us,"

Valerie was wondering why there were more team members that funneled in before the meeting started. She recognized a few, but there were some she hadn't met.

"They've come from near and far, but we're happy to have any extra support. So, without further ado, I introduce--"

"Tony, we've met these people before," Rhodey interjected.

"Yeah, what?"

"Harris hasn't," Tony argued.

"Oh, no, that's okay, I can meet them individually," Valerie tried.

Tony huffed. "I had a whole thing planned. I had music and lights--"

"Maybe we should be focusing on the mole," Natasha sighed.

"--I made a PowerPoint!"

"It's true, he did," Bruce added. "He made me animate the slides."

"Can we please get back to the point of this meeting?" Sam spoke up.

"Fine, fine. We have some new people. They'll be staying in the tower as well. Anyways," Tony looked at his notepad. "Right, first up, the serums. Valerie?"

Valerie stood up, holding her research notes. She grew uneasy with the new pairs of eyes on her, only used to speaking in front of the smaller team.

"Um, so," She looked over her notes. "I have a serum for everyone. It's going to improve your adrenaline levels, and increase norepinephrine--"

"Maybe try using small words," Natasha chimed in, offering a reassuring smile.

"Right." She chuckled. "Alright, you'll fight better, harder, and faster. You'll also be able to sleep better. That's about it. I'll be distributing it tomorrow, so you can report to my office--"

"By noon. I want this done as soon as possible so we can continue training." Tony added.

Everyone nodded, signaling for Valerie to sit back down. She caught Bucky's eye, quickly averting her attention back to Tony.

"Now, about the mole," Tony continued. "Natasha was able to uncover him through tracing phone records from the tower. This may come as a surprise to some, but, go ahead Nat."

"It was Cody Myers from the IT department."

Valerie felt her stomach drop.

She blinked, her heart racing. She thought back to every interaction they had, every compliment, every flirtatious encounter. She felt a wave of disappointment cover her like a blanket.

"He was the one that set up our team devices," Bruce thought aloud.

"Exactly. He tapped our phones before we even received them."

Valerie tuned out their voices as she looked down at her hands. How could she not tell? She is trained specifically in studying people, and he played her like a fiddle.