This belongs to my personal Marvel universe also including the Stories 'Starts and Stripes forever' and 'No strings attached'. Have fun!
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It was the in the middle of the afternoon when Dr. Serena Sato's mobile phone rang, and she wouldn't have answered it if it hadn't been that one name to appear on the screen. She had expected, even anticipated this call to happen this day, had even cleared her whole schedule in cause this special patient would need her, she just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.
This wasn't good.
She pressed her lips together. If he already was reaching out for her it might have been a mistake to send him out to something like this at this time of his therapy.
Despite her young age, Serena was one of New York's best psychologists and spend most of her days by working with people dealing with all kinds of mental illnesses. This special client not only was suffering from PTSD but also had been brainwashed and had a coldblooded killer planted in the depths of his mind. For the last decades, that he mostly had spent in a forced sleep, he only had been woken when the assassin was needed and then have his memories deleted after over and over again. What was left behind was a pattern of pictures that he was not able to bring in some kind of order but they all showed the violence that this killer had caused and the horror that all this blood was sticking to his hands despite him not being in control of his body at that time. It only had been a few months since he had managed to free his mind enough to act on his own and now was working with her and with the support of his friends to get rid of the influence of the killer that is called the Winter Soldier.
She had been more than surprised and also honoured when she had gotten the request from the Stark Tower to take care of James Barnes and despite her already being stuffed with appointments, she had accepted. Not only that you simply couldn't deny when the Avenger's ask for your help, she also had been actually very interested in this case. PTSD was a usual thing, but actual brain washing was something you don't come across at all and she not only was curious about how to deal with situation, even thought about the fact that she might be able to publish something if she might be successful.
She did not know what or better who she had expected to walk into her office, when you wait for a man born in the twenties, gone to war and then being experimented on but James definitely hadn't. For once she hadn't expected him to be so attractive. His actual after all would be over ninety but she also had seen pictures of Steve Rogers and it seems that those long-time-sleeps really were beneficial for the appearance. James really was a sight so see with the thick brown hair, the slightly gruff face and his brought frame. Even his metallic prothesis, despite him being a little insecure about it just added to his overall appearance. But what really made this man lightened up was when she was able to get those rare smiles out of him. Then those dark eyes would sparkle, and dimples would show on his cheeks.
Aside from this she found him to be very charming, smart and collected at least after he had started speaking with her. The first few sessions had been very quiet with her asking some basic questions about his well-being and situation and he only answering with a few words or shrugging. It was something she had experienced many times and therefor she neither had been surprised nor annoyed. Starting a therapy and telling a person you don't know so many personal things never is an easy thing to do, and James had to deal with so much more than just telling an alien person about his problems. The world had changed so much while he had been asleep most of the time, had become faster and louder and that was just another thing that he had to get used to. It had been around the fifths session when he had started to speak to her. Still unsure about what he could tell her, about what he wanted to tell her, but she had patiently accepted everything that he had been willing to reveal and soon they did have their first conversation. He had told her about his childhood, about growing up with Steve and join the army. Bit by bit she had been able to put together the picture of the man that he was beyond all the sorrow and the pressure that had been put onto him. This man had been suffocated to long, but he was still there, and he was strong. Strong enough to survive the torture and the mental violence and he was ready to fight himself to the top again. She had been more than impressed about his strong will to get his life back together where so many others would have given up a long time ago. This commitment had been infectious and so she also had put all her efforts in this case and with every little progress that they had been able to achieve, he also had grown more confident and had opened up even more. It was a joy to see him grow and regain more and more of his old self.
