Playlist
• when the party's over - Billie Eilish
• Whoever She Is - The Maine
• Bird Set Free - Sia
• Happy Hour - Weezer
• Merry Happy - Kate Nash
• Addicted - Saving Abel

James Barnes. I'm going to be counseling James Barnes, Willow thought. Her skin broke out in goosebumps.

She didn't know what feeling overcame her. A cocktail of fear, excitement, nausea and adrenaline brewed in her stomach.

She turned to talk to Sharon who had just gotten off the phone. "When does he want me to meet with Barnes?"

Sharon smiled. "I was just speaking with Steve. They'll be in tomorrow at noon."

Willow nodded. "Do we have a file on Barnes that I can take home tonight?"

"Steve brought over his paperwork earlier this week." She turned around and began rifling through the filing cabinet on her left. She pulled out a manila folder and handed it to Willow.

"Thank you, Sharon. I think I'm gonna go home and look over this." Willow looked at the clock that read 5:30pm.

Sharon pursed her lips. "The bags under your eyes are getting darker. Don't lose sleep over your new client, honey."

Willow sighed. She grabbed her bag from the counter. "I'll try."

>•<>•<>•<>•<

The walk home seemed longer than usual. Wind tousled Willow's short blonde hair and chilled her to the bone.

Her thoughts kept floating to the folder in her bag. What would tomorrow bring?

She twisted the handle on her door and pushed it open. Setting her bag down on the kitchen counter, Willow slipped her heels off. She curled her now free toes.

Now for the folder. She grabbed the folder and flipped through it. Pictures of the rugged man littered her counter. A page of text appeared beneath the photos. Willow's eyes scanned the document.

James Buchanan (Bucky) Barnes, The Winter Soldier. Charged with the murder of hundreds, including one Howard Stark, from 1991 till 2014. Pled not guilty having acted under duress. Jury found him not guilty but court-ordered him to attend psychotherapy to help recover from Hydra brainwashing.

"Damn," she muttered to herself.

Willow closed the file and sat on her couch, flipping through the channels on her tv. She settled on Law And Order: Special Victims Unit. Her eyelids drooped and within a half an hour, she was asleep.

>•<>•<>•<>•<

"Steve, I'm not going."

Steve grabbed his baseball cap and threw it on the counter. "Oh come on! You know you need it. Besides, it's court-ordered."

He crossed his arms. "No, I've done the 14 months of court-ordered therapy. Anything else is personal."

Steve rested his hands on the counter top. "I know the other therapists were terrible, but my therapist recommend this one. A new hire. It won't kill you to just visit."

"Fine. I'll go one time. But you have to come with me, and you can't force me to go again. If I like it, I'll go again."

This satisfied Steve who grinned and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Great! She's scheduled to meet with you at noon tomorrow."

"She?"

>•<>•<>•<>•<

Willow stretched as her eyes fluttered open and took in the sights of her living room. Oh shit, she bolted up and changed into new clothes.

Walking to her bathroom, she took the bottle of dry shampoo and tried to tame the yellow frizzy mess on her head. When it looked just right, she spritzed a bit of hairspray and prayed it'd last all day.

She slipped the pair of heels she left at the door on, put the folder back in her bag, and left.

>•<>•<>•<>•<

He looked in the mirror and sighed. The face that stared back was unfamiliar. The dark circles under his eyes, the scars littering his cheeks. The lack of life in his blue eyes scared him the most. The eyes that once were filled with joy and laughter had grown dim.

He turned on the faucet and splashed his face with water. After drying his face with one of Steve's soft towels, he walked into his bedroom and put on a shirt.

He'd only agreed to going today to get Steve off his case. He didn't want to spill his thoughts on another person who would, in turn, run the other direction.

He didn't blame them, however. He was a monster. He'd killed so many, and tortured even more than that. If he were in their position, he'd probably run too.

"Hey old man," Steve knocked on the door. "Time to go!"

>•<>•<>•<>•<

Willow hurried into the office past Sharon. She set her bag down, grabbed her pen and notepad then walked back out to the front desk.

"Goodness gracious, missy. Wake up late?" Sharon giggled.

Willow half-grinned and nodded. "Yep. You were right, I needed the sleep."

Just as she said this, the door opened and two men stepped in. One had blonde hair and a black leather jacket, the other had his long dark hair pulled back into a bun and was wearing a red Henley.

The blonde stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Steve. We're here for James Barnes' appointment with Ms. Veda."

The dark-haired man's eyes lingered on Willow, who handed him a clipboard with a form on it.

"I just need you to sign here. I'm Willow Veda, by the way," she shook Steve's hand.

Steve grinned. "Yes, perfect. This is James," he said, gesturing to his friend.

"Yeah uh... Hi," he stammered.

Steve sat down and began filling out the form.

"James, if you wanna follow me to my office, that'd be great."

Willow started walking while he looked back at Steve for reassurance.

"You can do it, man," Steve said to his friend, giving two thumbs up.

Once they were in the office, Willow shut the door. "Feel free to take a seat, James."

He looked at the couch and hesitantly sat down. "It's Bucky," he said quietly.

"Pardon?"

"The name's Bucky."

A/N:

Hey guys! I know this is a longggg filler chapter, but it's necessary to get the story  going! Hope you guys like it! Like, comment, follow! Love ya!
Emma x