the team doctor || bucky barnes (EDITING IN PROGRESS)

80.

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴏɴɢ: ᴅɪᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ꜱᴍɪʟᴇ - ʙʀᴜɴᴏ ᴍᴀʀꜱ & ʟᴀᴅʏ ɢᴀɢᴀ

"𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡."

~

SHE THOUGHT THINGS WERE GETTING BETTER.

They weren't.

Since the night they watched Inside Out, he refused to continue their sessions. He didn't even respond to Valerie's threats of going back in the cell, which was really her only motivator. She scoured her notes, looking for any ideas on how to get him back. The doubt in her mind was so potent she even considered bringing him back and forgetting this entire experiment ever happened. But, then she remembered the promise she made to Bucky.

"If he doesn't hurt you, then keep me there. Until I've remembered everything. Until the Winter Soldier isn't some parasite, but just...me."

She couldn't fathom breaking such an oath. She yearned for the day he wasn't a prisoner to those words. For the day he didn't wake up in a cold sweat from a dream where someone was after him. For the day he was free. But now, he was making those dreams of hers extremely difficult.

And she'd had enough.

After she'd made a pitiful attempt at falling asleep, she decided to throw on a sweatshirt and march over there. If he was going to be stubborn, so would she. She wasn't going to allow him to give up when they were so close. At least not without a really good reason. In her worn out slippers, she stood at his doorstep, knocking loudly. When he didn't open the door right away, she continued to knock. Once she heard footsteps, she stepped back and crossed her arms. As the door opened, a very-annoyed Winter Soldier was revealed. This time, it didn't even phase her that he was shirtless.

He took her in, gazing down at her oversized sweatshirt and sleep shorts. "Nice shorts."

She didn't even wait for him to invite her in as she stepped around him into his unit, arms still crossed. He huffed as he shut the door, swiping a hand over his face as he turned in her direction. Her lips were pursed into a frown.

"Don't pretend you were sleeping." She deadpanned.

"How do you know I wasn't?"

"Please," She scoffed. "You forget I know you better than you know yourself right now."

"So, what, did you come for another reason then? Should've led with that, doc,"

She had run out of patience. "Do I look like that's what I'm here for?"

Mockingly, he made a show of considering her question as he looked over. "I guess not. You have nicer garments for that."

"See," She stuck a finger in his direction. "That's what gets me. You remember things. You're just avoiding them."

He chuckled darkly. "Alright, you caught me. I remember what you liked to wear when you were underneath me. Happy?"

Ignoring her pounding heart, she was determined to dig deeper. If she needed to fight through all of his pushback to uncover how much he remembered, she would. Even if it took all night.

"Thought you said you'd let me know when you remember things,"

"I'm sorry, did you want me to recount all the details? You didn't seem happy when I started to in your office."

"It actually would help this whole process, James, so yeah."

His eyes perked up at her words, like she had fallen into his trap. "Do I have permission to touch you?"