Rumors and Ghosts

viii. therapy session

Bucky walked into the main room with a sour expression.

Dr. Raynor walked up and said, "Sam. Anastasia. 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, Romanov. I'll be outside."

John walked away.

As John walked off, Anastasia said loudly, "Bucky isn't an asset! He's a person, just like you and me!"

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

"That's okay," Sam replied. "Anastasia and 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 Anastasia 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 the Lost Princess 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."

Anastasia shrugged, saying nothing.

"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. Are you familiar with the miracle question?"

"Absolutely not," Bucky and Anastasia 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?"

Anastasia let out a sigh as she leaned back chair.

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

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

"Oh, God," Sam muttered. "He's gonna love this."

"Yeah, I am ready," Bucky replied as he and Anastasia moved their chairs. Bucky pulled Anastasia onto his lap, causing her to let out a faint gasp.