Avengers/X-Men One Shots - The Blood/White Phoenix Saga

ONE-SHOT XXIX: Therapy: Day One

Set two days after previous one-shot

Amanda Parks' POV

I compiled my notes for the morning on my desk. It's going to be a busy one, I thought. I had read through Agent Lehnsherr's case file, and apparently, she was one of SHIELD's best. I was ready. But nothing was to be expected in this profession. Any number of broken, damaged, hurt, lonely or angry people had walked through my doors before. I was no stranger to the unexpected, and I figured neither was she. I smiled to myself when I heard a knock on my door.

'Come in, Ms. Lehnsherr.' She slipped through, closing the door. She was a pleasant woman right from the get-go. Kept herself tidy, brown hair, blue eyes, little makeup. A very pretty sight. I was surprised that Steve, or Captain Rogers as he was known within SHIELD, didn't just go ahead and get some the day he met her. But he wasn't like that, and he had asked me personally if I could help her. Even though Director Fury caught onto the trail and asked me next. I was hesitant when Steve had first asked me, but then when I got the call from Fury, I had accepted.

'Please, call me Adelaide. Nearly everyone here calls me Ms. Lehnsherr or Agent Lehnsherr, or just Agent. I prefer Adelaide.'

'Please sit, Adelaide.' She sat. I thought she'd be wearing a pencil skirt and blouse like every other female agent in this building. Apparently not. She was wearing a pair of skin-tight legging-like jeans. On top was a green shirt and over that, a long, black leather jacket. She wore a gold locket around her neck that looked to have old red stains on it. Catching me eyeing her up, she thrust the locket inside her shirt.

'You're staring,' she said. 'It's making me nervous.' I tore my eyes away from her scarred, bruised fingers.

'Right. Sorry. Force of habit.'

'It's okay. I do things like that too. Shall we get started?'

'Absolutely,' I said, getting out of my chair. 'Want coffee?'

'Yeah, sure. Latte. Vanilla if you have it.'

'Alright. Just a second.' I paged into the receptionist, asking for coffee. I could see Adelaide rifling through papers, the files on her. I turned. 'I'd rather you not do that.' She looked up.

'Did I - do something I shouldn't have?'

'Those are confidential. From Director Fury's office.'

'Oh, right. Sorry.' She sat back, looking extremely bored. Picking up her phone, she scrolled through it absentmindedly, then put it down, still looking around. I came over to sit in front of her, on my side of the desk.

'Look at me.' She glanced up. 'I want to help you, nothing more. I like you, a lot. But you're gonna need to tell me some stuff if we are to go forward with this.'

'Alright. I'll hear you out,' she said, leaning back in the chair.

'I'm here for you. And only you. You're my only appointment today. Not to brag or anything, but I was the last option in a long line of therapists wanting to treat you. A lot of them, I assume, only wanted the money, let alone the publicity of psychologically treating an Avenger. Now I like all of those things, but that's not the priority. You is the priority right now. My top priority is seeing you safe, seeing you happy and healthy. Not just in your body, but also in your mind.'

'Okay.'

'Now, first things first, I completely sympathise with your situation. I was a military person as well, a soldier, if you will. Followed orders to the letter. The Marines was my purpose. Fury told me about what your purpose was.'