PTR Arachnid 24601

Ch 34 - Baby's first Christmas

I had absolutely no clue what I was gonna do in this chapter (even with my plot already planned out) so I'm sorry if it's not as good as my other chapters thus far. Bear with me here.

3rd POV

Bucky was troubled, to say the very least. 

The evening before, Peter had sobbed about a voice in his head. HYDRA, he believed. When Bucky told his friend that he did not have any crude voices in his head, Spider had only wailed louder.

Bucky didn't really understand. A voice that wasn't his own? What does that mean? Was he being possessed? And since Peter was in no condition to talk about it––as he was going through an onslaught of panic and anxiety attacks––Bucky had to go to the only person that might know what was going on.

"Bruce," Soldier's smooth, levelled voice announced his silent presence.

The doctor jumped, startled, and turned around. "Bucky. How can I help?"

Bucky double-checked that nobody else was in the lab. "I think there's somethin' else wrong with Peter."

"Something else wrong with Peter?" Banner's brows creased with concern and curiosity. He pulled up two chairs and sat in one. "Come, sit."

The (technically) older man strode over and took the other seat. "Can you keep a secret? Peter doesn't know I'm doin' this but he wasn't in good condition last night."

Bruce nodded seriously. "Of course. This will be between us until you want to share with others."

Bucky dragged out a deep sigh. "Peter was talking about a voice in his head last night. Somethin' HYDRA might've left behind with the chip, maybe? He was crying lots and had a few seconds of his episodes." It pained the ex-assassin to think of what had happened the previous night. Peter's form had looked so small and broken, just like when they first found him at the base. "Asked me if I had a voice too. I don't. I think–– He definitely felt worse after that."

Bruce's eyes turned cloudy with worry, his expression increasingly, internally frantic by the second. You could tell he was trying to keep his professional and calm facade. "Did he– did he say anything else?"

"He said he could talk to the voice if he wanted. And that it was always there, even when it wasn't talkin' to him. He could sorta feel it in the back of his head." Bucky scrunched his face up a little. "Peter thinks it's been there since the time before the chip was put in. But not by a lot."

Bruce nodded silently and got up, haphazardly rummaging through the different drawers in the lab. He was searching for something. "Anything else?"

"Think he just hates the voice. Said it's been bothering him and being not-so-nice sometimes. He wants to get rid of it but doesn't know how."

Dr. Banner pulled a small business card out of a stack of papers. "Aha! Here it is." The man walked back to where Barnes was sitting. "I'm afraid I don't have much knowledge in the field of psychology. I never studied it aside from to control my anger. However, I think I know someone who could help."

Bucky quirked a brow, urging him to continue.

Bruce handed him the card. It was Dorothy's business card.

Psychologist of 9 years

It read, printed out in the neat Helvetica font.

"I'm not a psychologist," Bruce repeats, "but Ms. Matthews is. And if you think it's in Peter's best nature to talk to her about it, then she's the person we should turn to. Tony too, he's got half guardianship over Peter, so he's also responsible for his well-being. I know they're really close."