James Bucky Barnes, the former soldier, doesn't think he's got any gentleness left in him. But Grace Juniper Cunningham, the former child prodigy, strongly disagrees.
;
"𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯."
"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴�...
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Digging into my own past was strange. It was even stranger to have Wanda and Vision doing it with me. I had set up my SHIELD clearance laptop on the coffee table, and they sat on either side of me, watching and commenting on the contents of my file.
"You never knew your dad, yes?" Wanda asked.
"Yeah. He died when I was a baby. I don't remember him."
"What was his name?"
"I don't know. My mom doesn't like to talk about it. And it's hard to get her to talk when she doesn't want to."
Wanda frowned, and Vision looked up to study me. "What about his surname? Is it Cunningham?" Vision asked.
"Um, I don't know that either. It's my mom's last name, but she doesn't have any family, so I actually don't know if it's her maiden name or not."
"Grace, these are red flags," Wanda said.
"Maybe from an outsider's perspective," I explained. "But if you knew my mom, you'd understand. She's very closed off."
"What's her name?" Wanda asked.
"Juniper."
"Look her up in the database."
"She's not gonna be in a SHIELD database," I said.
"Just try it."
I typed in "Juniper Cunningham," and all that came up was results for my middle and last name, nothing for my mother.
"You might try calling your mom and asking for your dad's name? He might be in here," Wanda suggested.
"It won't work. It'll probably give her a panic attack if I ask," I said.
"The mention of your father will send her into a panic attack? That's certainly worth investigating," Vision said.
"No, it's not like that," I argued. "A lot of things trigger her panic attacks."
"Like what?" Wanda asked.
"Um. Doctors, hospitals, that sort of thing. She doesn't like darkness; there's a ton of light in her house. Domestic stuff, like if the house isn't clean enough. Unexpected guests set her off, including me now that I don't live there. Sometimes expected guests can set her off too. A lot of stuff. She has a really hard time."
"Does she see a therapist? For a diagnosis, I mean. Not to pry."
