𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄 | 𝟏𝟖+

prologue

One Week Earlier

        Amelia crossed her arms in front of her chest. 

        She pursed her lips unequivocally at the three men that stood in front of her, wanting to be sure she had their attention before starting, while lifting her chin slightly. Her silky, black hair framed her round cheeks and fell down to the middle of her back in waves. 

        "I want to work with James Buchanan Barnes." 

        Steve Rogers was the only person who knew about her plan. He was her very first patient during her internship year. If it hadn't been for Amelia, he would have followed through with his decision on quitting - throwing away his life of being Captain America and succumbing to his dark thoughts. Thoughts he didn't particularly like to look back on. 

        Therefore, it didn't surprise her when Steve remained unfazed by her comment. He knew how good Amelia was at her job, he'd witnessed it firsthand. The looks she was given by Tony Stark and Nick Fury, however, didn't replicate Steve's in the slightest. 

       "Don't get me wrong, I love a good joke, but this?" Tony grunted sarcastically, his hand rubbing his forehead in disbelief. "This one takes the cake."

        "I wasn't joking, sir," Amelia persisted firmly. 

        "I want to make sure we are talking about the same person," Nick commented as he rubbed his chin, looking at her with his uncovered eye. "You want to work with Bucky Barnes?"  

        Something about the stories that Steve had described to her about James piqued her interest. Bucky was a frequent subject during her sessions with Rogers, thus, beginning her adamant decision to fix him, too. Amelia was always curious about the "hopeless" and "incurable" types. 

        "She's very good at her job," Steve advocated with his hands placed behind his back. "She was my therapist roughly a year ago for about seven months."

        Tony's eyebrow raised dubiously at Steve before his eyes returned back to Amelia. "No offense here, but you look strangely young to be a psychologist." 

        "I graduated high school early, when I was sixteen years old," she explained without hesitation. "I received my undergraduate in Psychology by the time I was twenty, finished my doctoral program when I was twenty-five, and completed a one-year internship under a clinical psychologist after that." 

          "I assume that you heard about James through Steve, then," Nick presumed slowly. "What on Earth made you decide that you want to work with that man?" 

        "I hope Rogers also mentioned the important fact that Barnes has murdered at least two dozen people over the last fifty years," Tony chimed in curtly. She hadn't missed the last few times that his eyes had darted down to the length of her beige skirt. 

        Amelia was well aware of the assassinations performed by James. It wasn't like his life was exactly kept private from the world - in fact, it was spread across most museums for everyone to read about. Steve had told her how much trouble Barnes had given the team since arriving at the Avengers Headquarters - he preferred to stay down in his corridors by himself most of the time. If her dark past was exploited the way his was, she would want to hide herself away from the world just the same. 

        "I like to believe that people can change," she clarified in a clear tone, uncrossing her arms and placing them firmly on the table that separated her from the men. "I believe that everyone can be helped. In fact, I know that they can be. As Steve mentioned before, I am very good at what I do."

        "Say we let you do this, what is your plan?" Tony asked. 

        Amelia stepped away from the table and began to stride back and forth in front of it instead as she animatedly started to talk with her hands. "I want to stay in his corridors with him - study him, interview him, form a strategy that works best to identify the problems. Once I identify the source of what is going on inside, I can create an accurate treatment plan." 

        "What makes you think that he would be okay with any of this?" Fury challenged with one raised eyebrow. "I'm telling you, that ... difficult man is not going to be okay with it." 

        She had heard the stories. The way Barnes always yelled at anyone who intruded in his corridors, slammed things, broke things, threatened people, etc. To her, it just sounded like someone crying out for help without actually asking for it. 

        "We won't give him the option of being okay with it," Amelia said casually, stopping to face them again. "In a case as severe as his, there won't be any progress if he has any choice in the matter. Just say that it's ... orders." 

        The glances that were shared between the three of them made her smile pleasantly to herself. She had worked her case remarkably enough for them to consider it. What other options were available at this point? It seemed as though they were at their wits end when it came to James Barnes. 

        "Okay. Let's get you briefed, then."