Battle Cry // TFATWS

VIII

Bucky and Adalyn walked into the main room, the former with a sour expression and the latter with an annoyed look.

Dr. Raynor walked up and said, "Sam. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Dr. Raynor. I'm James and Adalyn's therapist."

"So nice to meet you," Sam replied. "Thank you for getting them out."

"That was not me."

"Christina," John called. "It's great to see you again."

"You've got to be kidding me," Sam muttered. "You know him?"

Dr. Raynor shrugged. "Yeah, we did some field ops back in the day."

"I heard you were working with Bucky and Ada, so I thought I'd step in," John told them as he walked closer. "Bucky and Ada aren't gonna be following a strict schedule any longer."

"We haven't finished our work. Who authorized this?"

"Um..."

"They're too valuable of an asset to have tied up. So, just do whatever you got to do with them, then send them off to me."

"Got some unfinished business, him, Adalyn and I. You too, Wilson. I'll be outside."

John walked away.

Adalyn glared at John and muttered, "I don't like him."

"Me neither," Bucky replied.

Dr. Raynor said, "James, Adalyn, condition of your release, session now. You too, Sam."

"That's okay," Sam replied. "I'll be out here with..."

"That wasn't a request."

They made their way to an interrogation room.

Dr. Raynor pulled up another chair and set it between two chairs. Sam and Bucky sat in the side chairs while Adalyn sat in the middle chair. "So... Who would like to start?"

"All right," Sam said, "look, Dr. Raynor? I get it, why you want me to talk to Freaky Magoo and and the Rude Shadow over here. But I'm 100% fine."

"It is my job to make sure that you're okay. And so, yeah, this may be slightly unprofessional, but it's the only way that I can see if you're getting over whatever's eating at you."

"This is ridiculous."

Bucky and Adalyn nodded. "Yeah, I agree."

"See?" Dr. Raynor stated. "Making progress already. So, who wants to go first?" The three remained silent. "No volunteers? Wow. How surprising. Okay. We're going to do an exercise. It's something I use with couples when they are trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna build together."

"Have you used that method with Bucky and Ada?" Sam asked.

"Are you familiar with the miracle question?"

"Absolutely not," Bucky and Adalyn said.

"Of course not," Sam replied.

"Okay, it goes like this," Dr. Raynor told them. "Suppose that while you're sleeping, a miracle occurs. When you wake up, what is something that you would like to see that would make your life better?"

"In my miracle, um, he would... he would talk less," Bucky replied.

"Exactly what I was gonna say," Sam said. "Isn't that ironic?"

Adalyn pursed her lips, remaining silent.

Bucky glanced at her, figuring it had something to do with her father. She didn't talk much about him, but every time something reminded her of him, there was always a shift in her mood.