NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT (BUCKY BARNES x OC)

Chapter 9

TW: Details about Howard and Maria's death
Word count: 1641

I spent the next few weeks working on designs for Bucky's arm. He's been coming down to the lab almost every single day since our first meeting. For the first few days, however, I had to accidentally bump into him on his way back from the gym to convince him to come down to the lab.

The first time he came down after the first day was a little awkward. We attempted to make small talk as he sat in a swivel chair next to mine while I worked on the design for his arm.

"So Brooklyn, huh?" he started. "I've never met anyone who's parents were crazy enough to name them that."

"Now you have," I said, writing things down at my desk. "They loved Captain America," I said, switching pen colors.

"Did they know Steve in the 40s? I know Howard did," he said.

"Oh god no," I said with a stifled laugh.

"Why were you named that then?" He asked curiously.

"My father was born when Uncle Howard was like almost twenty. There was an age gap, but Uncle Howard would tell my father all about Steve and how heroic he was. Now that I think of it, I think I remember them talking about you, too."

"Really?" He asked, looking down at his hands.

"Oh yeah," I started. "But that was just Uncle Howard. He'd tell me about how brave you guys were, putting your lives on the line even if you weren't super soldiers yourselves. I can't remember if he said that you guys met. Did you meet?"

"Not particularly," he said quietly. His arm made a weird, unfamiliar noise.

"Well whether you met him or not, you left an impression on him." I could notice he started to look extremely anxious.

"Are you alright?" I asked, rolling myself over to the small fridge, pulling out a water. "Have some water." He took it and drank some immediately.

"I'm fine," he said. "You can keep going."

"I actually think I should look at your arm. It's still making a weird noise," I said with a laugh.

"Oh, okay," he said softly.

"Could you get on the table please?" I asked, turning to the scanner. I calibrated it and made sure it would be accurate. I turned to face him. He looked out of it, maybe lost in thought. I figured he was nervous. "Hey, we did this the other day, right? It won't hurt you," I said, reassuring him. "Nothing to worry about."

He looked at me with an almost guilty look on his face. "Okay," he mumbled, looking straight in front of him with a near emotionless gaze.

I started the scan and decided to try to joke with him to ease his mind. "For the new arm, I'm thinking of adding a compartment for a little pop out hair dryer and comb. If you're ever fighting bad guys and your hair gets messy, you have a comb." I heard him laugh lightly as I continued the scan. "If your hair accidentally gets wet, you're set, my guy," I said, looking up at him. I noticed he looked slightly calmer.

I projected the scan and studied it carefully. I pulled out the first scan and noticed that one of the parts got knocked out of place somehow. I shut the projection down and grabbed some tools.

"One of the parts got knocked out of place, but it'll be an easy fix," I said with a smile. I pulled up my chair and made it a little taller. I went to the section it was at and got to work. When I had the part in my hand, I realized that it couldn't just be popped back in. "I am going to have to use fire on it because it got broken somehow. The fire will mend it together. You won't feel anything. Promise."