Reaching Out | Bucky Barnes

12 | Saturday, June 12th

"You're sure you're okay doing this?" Bucky asks as we reach the bottom of the stairs.

"Bucky, I promise, I'm okay doing it. Vision and I went over everything and nothing is going to go wrong. It's fine," I say, giving him a quick kiss.

"And it's safe? Vision said last night that he wanted to make some changes."

"It's safe. If he thinks we need to change something that just means it's safer. I've reviewed the intensities of what we're going to do and it's little more than static shocks. I've done the research on possible side effects, and everything says I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Kinda hard not to worry."

"Do you trust me?" I ask, stopping beside him in the hallway.

"Yes."

"Then trust me when I tell you the risk is low."

He watches me a moment before nodding, and I find his hand, squeezing gently before pulling him down the hall towards the med bay. When I push the door open, my mouth drops in surprise, my eyes skip from Tony and Vision who stand at the side of the room, to a woman in a lab coat.

"Doctor Hof?"

She looks up from the papers on a desk and smiles. "Y/N! It's good to see you. I hope you are doing—Oh my, what happened to your neck?"

"Training accident," I say confused, letting go of Bucky's hand and walking towards the desk. "It's good to see you as well. But I didn't know you were coming—what are you doing here?"

"The Vision contacted me last night about some questions in regard to the shock tests, and he told me that you found something that I missed. I am so sorry," she says, brows drawn in worry. "I have been studying those results since I left and I have no idea how I missed such a big connection. I must be getting older than I think," she smiles guiltily.

"No, no, it's alright. There was so much data, I can understand how you missed it. But you didn't have to come all the way here; I didn't want to call you back, I'm sure you're busy."

"Nonsense. I have a lab crew for a reason, right? They can handle the work while I am gone. Now, why don't we begin? I have already looked over the test guidelines that the Vision gave me, and I believe you have a good plan. I would, however, suggest we push post-experiment monitoring to 12 hours."

"Whatever you feel is appropriate," I nod.

She is the expert.

"Y/N, before you get started, can I talk to you for a minute?" Tony asks, shifting from one leg to the other.

I nod and follow him into the hall, but before he has a chance to say anything, my thoughts escape my mouth.

"Did you know Vision contacted Doctor Hof?"

"No. But he didn't know we were avoiding bringing her here. Plus, she didn't tell anyone she was coming. Vision was just as surprised as we were when she came in this morning," he says. "You don't have to go ahead with the test if you don't want to," he adds.

"No, it's fine. She is qualified to do the tests, so I bet you're more comfortable with her here," I laugh quietly.

"You're not wrong... But her vibe was off," he teases sarcastically.

"Well, we can't send her home now. Besides, when this is all done, I won't be participating in her eugenics research, so might as well make use of the situation."

"Who doesn't like a little eugenics anyways? Designer babies were going to be all the rage before ethics boards got involved."

"Tony?"