One-shots

Therapy- Bucky Barnes

               Bucky sat in Bruce's lab, waiting for him to come back with some test result or another, when he met her. She walked in like she owned the place, all pastels and colored hair, as modern as it could get. She saw him sitting there and walked up to him, hopping up on the counter across from him. He looked down at his hands uncomfortably as he felt her eyes on him, sizing him up.

"It's rude to stare you know," he muttered gruffly. She snickered and he glared up at her.

"I know. I just wanted to see what your tolerance is for awkward silences." He stared at her beaming face hard as she laughed. "Alright, alright. You have a cut on your arm, right? Let me see it."

"I'm not letting you see anything until I know who you are." She looked surprised, and then sighed.

"Ugh. They didn't tell you. Sorry." She cleared her throat and saluted him. "Lorelei Banner, at your service! Bruce sent me here to bandage you up while he's doing god knows what with your blood samples." Bucky raised his eyebrows.

"Dr. Banner has a sister?" Her face fell mockingly and she shook her head.

"Jeez, they don't talk about me at all? Rude." He held out his arm hesitantly, and despite her quirky and goofy manner, she peeled his sleeve back gently as she chattered about how she was sick of picking up her brother's slack. He almost tuned her out, but zoned back in when she tied off the bandage. He blinked at his arm, surprised that he didn't feel any pain or discomfort from the wrapping. "By the way, who might you be? I don't think we've met." His eyes flicked up to hers, and she shrugged. "Nobody tells me shit around here."

"The name's Bucky." She stared at him blankly.

"You know that's the name of a convenience store right? I doubt they named it after you though. The mascot's a beaver, so they probably named it after a beaver's buck teeth." They stared at each other in silence, his face full of annoyance and confusion, and hers clearly mulling over the reasoning for the name of the convenience store. They both snapped back to attention when the door to the lab opened and Steve strolled in whistling. He stopped when he noticed the mood, and gave a big grin when he saw Lorelei there.

"I see you've met the resident pain in the ass." He wrapped an arm around Lorelei's shoulders, and she pouted.

"Um, rude. Don't insult me and hug me in the same breath, meathead." He chuckled and let her go, and she glared up at him playfully. "Anyways, got to go! I can hear Bruce calling me." She slipped off the counter right as they heard Dr. Banner cursing loudly from the other room. Lorelei smirked at them and went towards the sound of anger, leaving the two of them alone. Bucky stared after her, still confused by the interaction.

"So," Steve started, snapping Bucky out of his trance, "what did she say to you?"

"She said a lot of things. She started talking about a convenience store when I told her my name, and that's the last thing she said before you walked in." Steve laughed.

"Yeah, she's an odd duck. She grows on you." Bucky was still confused.

"Why is she here? She didn't seem as interested in Banner's research as he is, but she also seems to be his assistant or something?" Steve shook his head.

"No, definitely not his assistant. Lorelei is our resident therapist. Her methods are... questionable... but you'll understand in time. Now come on. Let's get something to eat." Bucky followed Steve out of the lab, glancing curiously at the door that Lorelei had walked through before going upstairs to the kitchen.