[Quiet in the Chaos]

~51~

I've changed the timeline of the series to match this story, so just go with it <3 Thank you all so much for your continued support, i love you all <3

                                      ~51~

HER FOOT taps anxiously on the floor, her jaw grinding impatiently. Despite her best efforts she can't restrain herself from glancing to her phone every two seconds.

"Danielle." She looks up, Doctor Raynor watching her carefully, her lips pressed in a line. "He will be fine."

The girl nods a little, breathing an exhale through her nose. He would be fine. She knows that. But this is the first time that he's been on a mission on his own since -

She blinks. He isn't on his own. He's with Sam. He's just without her. And he would be fine.

A month and a half ago she got the news about her sterilising. A month and a half she has been  back home, staying with her sister on occasion, talking with her sister and her brothers (by Bucky's strict orders). But Sam had text two days ago saying he needed help with John Walker. And Bucky, credit to him, had said no, until Dani found out and told him to go.

She didn't feel ready to face anything like that, not yet, not when she wasn't needed.

But she's needed here. Finding her way back into her own family. So she's in therapy - finishing her therapy sessions - for her family. Because she owes it to them.

"I know this session is almost over, but it doesn't mean you have to stop talking. Tell me what's on your mind."

She looks over at the woman, offering an apologetic smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "I'm fine. I'll be happier once I hear from him. But I'm fine."

"And you're talking with your mother?"

She smirks slightly. "You could say that. Yeah, I guess so. We're... getting somewhere at least."

A silence falls between the pair again and Danielle can't help but feel a little bad for her lack of cooperation. Her eyes flicker towards the window and she leans back into the chair, clasping her hands over her lap.

Dr. Raynor opens her mouth, taking a breath but is cut across by a vibration from Dani's phone. She jerks forward, grasping her phone, Bucky's name popping up on the screen. She looks up to her therapist. "I'm sorry, I have to-"

She holds up a hand nodding. Dani rushes from the room, answering the call as fast as she can manage. "Buck?"

"Hey, Doll."

"Are you alright? Is Sam alright? I saw the news," she says slowly, calmer than she feels. She hears him laugh a little on the other side of the phone.

"Yeah, everyone's OK, just a little sore."

"And the shield?"

"We have it. Are you OK?"

She rolls her eyes. "Of course I am."