Fragile - A Bucky Barnes Story

I've never liked people, never had any use for them. Sure, I was a licensed psychiatrist but that's the main reason I began to dislike people. It's why I secluded myself on a lovely lavender farm in the northwest. Or I should say that why I did seclude myself, up until yesterday I hadn't left the state in five years.

And then came along Steve Rogers.

And he had a hell of a favor to ask.

Two things I cannot resist, a pretty face and a charity case. And he happens to have both.

I was sweet-talked by Captain America to help save his friend from himself after all the work that was done to help him in Wakanda failed. They had tried and failed to remove the programming that Hydra did but it had been unsuccessful with the trigger words. His memory was still coming back but the Winter Soldier still lurked down deep in his memory, waiting to resurface with just a few words from a red ledger. They had been pardoned for everything that had gone down but for James Barnes to keep his pardon, he had to be in rehabilitation.

How do I know all this?

Because I'm telepathic, all it takes is one touch and I'll know anything I want to know about anybody and sometimes, touch isn't even necessary.

With James Barnes, he's an open book with no defenses and no guards. His mind is just scrambled, trying to put pieces together like a warped puzzle. I read him from across the room. Broken, beaten, battered and bruised is the only way I can describe his mind. And it's now my job to mend it.