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JANUARY 15TH, 2017
"ARE YOU READYfor your new arm?" Cynthia asked Bucky, rubbing his shoulder gently. He looked over at her, smiling, and replied, "As long as I can shoot a gun bigger than a pistol, I'll be good."
Cynthia grinned, chuckling as she took his right hand in hers. They'd be putting him under anesthesia, and performing a surgery to attach his new arm that Cynthia had made. In the end, the only prototype that had worked was her second option, so she ended up making the actual arm, which Bucky tried on, and then Cynthia added the wiring to it.
Bucky had made a visit to Cynthia on her birthday, taking her back to their old apartment, and managing to cook her favorite meal for her with only one arm, and they spent the entire day together, Bucky taking her mind off of work and the rest of the world with intimate moments.
The next day she spent with Jamie, going around the city and to the art museums, and the next with Maisie, then Millie. She had been stressing about Bucky's arm since she came to Tony's, so having a few days off made her feel better, especially since it was given to her by Steve and Beck, though Beck did join her on her days with Jamie, Millie, and Maisie.
Once Bucky was under anesthesia, Cynthia followed the doctors towards the operating room, where she would help them attach the arm to Bucky's shoulder without anything going wrong. She hoped to god these doctors were as smart and trained as they looked, otherwise she would have to call Jamie here and have him help her with this.
Even with his degree of knowledge on being a doctor, Jamie was still good. It wasn't his job (his job was actually working as an author), but his degree was in medicine and medical work.
"Okay, you have to be careful," Cynthia instructed them. "We have to connect the wiring first, then we can put his arm on."
The doctors all nodded quietly, three out of four of them getting tweezers to hold the wires, and then Cynthia put on gloves, helping the fourth doctor hold up the robotic arm. After successfully hooking up the wires, Cynthia helped them connecting the arm, the synthetic flesh replacing the old metal version on his old arm making her smile.
He wasn't the Winter Soldier anymore—he was far from that. He was James Buchanan Barnes, former soldier in the 107th Infantry Regiment.
And he would assist Steve Rogers as he once did, again.
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When Bucky woke up five hours later, both Steve and Cynthia were by his side.
Cynthia had been explaining to Steve her idea of giving Bucky a star once again, but instead, she chose a synthetic flesh that would represent his former arm, because she knew how much it meant to him, not seeing the metal. "Hey, buddy," Steve said to Bucky, who smiled back at Steve in response, while Clara reached for the water bottle, handing it to his right hand.
