Ch. 2

Bucky cringed as she slowly edged away from him. "I'm not like that anymore." He took a deep breath, searching for the right words. "At least, I hope I'm not. That's why I'm here." He waved at the room in general. "Steve thought it would help."

"Steve Rogers? As in Captain America?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

Bucky nodded and then smiled as he saw the tension begin to melt from her body. "How did you know? About me?"

"Um . . . I guess you could call it six degrees of separation. Less actually. I'm an intern for Dr. Foster. Thor's her . . . . I guess boyfriend doesn't really seem like the right word for it." She scowled and wrinkled her brow. "Interstellar cuddlebunny?"

Bucky bit his lower lip. He'd only met Thor once, but he couldn't quite imagine he'd like that nickname. "And Thor's part of the Avengers with Steve."

"So, more like four degrees." She paused for a moment, reassessing him. "So, a PTSD support meeting . . . makes sense after all you went through with the whole Hydra thing," she said. She winced as Bucky visibly flinched at name of his captors. "Sorry. My mouth works faster than my brain sometimes."

"Don't worry about it. And you?" He didn't really want to talk about his past.

Her face fell. "I didn't want to come. Jane . . . . that's Dr. Foster. She made me."

"Why?"

She looked down, not meeting his eyes. "Um . . . it's stupid. It's nothing."

"No, it isn't," he insisted. He could see the dark circles under her eyes. For someone so young, it aged her. "You're not sleeping."

She looked up at him and gave him a bright, false smile complete with "jazz hands". "That's because I live a wild and crazy life. Party all night, sleep . . . never."

"And now you're lying."

She gritted her teeth. "I have bad dreams," she admitted in a small voice.

"And why do you have them?" he prompted, taking a small step towards her.

"Stupid aliens keep trying to kill me." She snorted. "See, I told you it was dumb."

"Repeated attempts on your life seem like a pretty solid reason for having PTSD." He searched his memory for what Steve had told him about Thor. He'd been in quite a few devastating battles since he made his way to Earth. If Darcy had been in the middle of them, he could she why she was so shook up.

She shrugged. "So, you how did you get convinced to come to these meetings?"

"I already have to go to a shrink. She thought it'd help to go to a group support meeting . . . see that I'm not alone."

"Do you feel alone?"

Bucky shook his head. "Nah. I mean . . . not really. Steve's watching out for me. Sam, too." He remembered them finding him, getting him cleaned up, promising him that he didn't have to run anymore, that Hydra wasn't going to get him.

He wished he believed them.

"Falcon? You know him?" Her eyes lit up.

Bucky gave her a knowing look. Sam was quite the ladies' man. He could see how she'd like him. "Yeah. You know him, too?"

"Not personally. He's a hottie, though."

Bucky couldn't conceal his grin. "I'll have to let him know you approve."

Her eyes went wide and she shook her head violently. "No . . . you can't tell him that! You can't break the confidentiality of a support meeting. What happens here, stays here," she teased, giving him her first genuine smile.

"Alright," he relented. When she smiled, he was struck by how very beautiful she was. Bright blue eyes, full lips.

The noise in the room began to grow as more and more people began to enter, each taking a seat in rows facing a podium. "I guess we should sit?" Bucky suggested abruptly, gesturing towards the folding chairs.

She nodded and followed him to the back row, taking the seat next to him.

Bucky looked over at her, assessing her once again. Maybe going to a support meeting wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Author's Note- I meant this to be a one-shot. Then, I got such lovely reviews, I decided it was worth making into a two-shot. Now, I'm contemplating writing a third chapter. We'll see.