Chapter 2:
Puppies Make Everything Better:
It was Sam's idea really.
When Sam visited his apartment last month, he told Bucky that he needed more furniture. He said that he was proud of Bucky for completing his list, but if he wanted to recover fully, he needed to be in a comfortable and safe living space. Bucky tried telling Sam that all he needed was his couch and T.V. to be comfortable and safe, but Sam refused to listen.
And so Bucky found himself outside of a Bed Bath and Beyond at 9:00 at night.
Sam understood that Bucky still had a hard time making decisions. Bucky remembered that day like it was yesterday. He had a panic attack at the Wilson's House when Sarah gave him too many options for dinner. Bucky apologized profusely to her and Sam helped him through the panic attack. The next day, Sam came over with two options for movies and made Bucky choose. Ever since then, Sam has helped him with making decisions, no matter how big or small.
So when Bucky saw how many options they had at the store, Sam pulled him aside and calmed him down. He then went ahead and choose two items for Bucky to choose from. When Bucky couldn't decide, he would tell Sam to make the choice, but Sam always said no and made Bucky do it instead. This process repeated until Sam was happy with the amount of furniture they had collected.
The next day, he had found himself with a fully furnished apartment. Sam insisted that the mattress he got was "just right" and that he wouldn't be "sleeping on a marshmallow". Bucky didn't want to believe him, but it turned out that he was telling the truth. Bucky was able to get a whole 5 hours of sleep last night. According to his therapist, he needed at least 9 hours of sleep. He usually could manage only 2, or sometimes 4, so he considered it a success that he got a full 5 hours.
—
Friday came around and, as usual, Sam came knocking on his door at exactly 5:30. Every Friday since that day at the Wilson's House, Sam would come over with two choices of movies for them to watch.
Bucky opened the door to let Sam in and saw that he had not just two choices, but three.
Sam saw his hesitation and said, "Come on Buck, I know you can do it. We've been working on this for a while and you've gotten pretty good at the two. It's time to try for three."
Bucky swallowed his fear and sorted through the movies that Sam gave him.
"This one," he said, handing the movie back to Sam.
"A Dog's Purpose," Sam read, "Ok then. Be prepared to cry."
Sam popped the D.V.D. into the D.V.D player and sat on the couch with Bucky, already with popcorn.
The movie ended, and as much as Bucky didn't want to admit it, he did cry.
"Wouldn't it be great to get a dog?" Sam asked, out of the blue. Bucky looked at him.
"Sam, I can hardly take care of myself. What makes you think I can take care of a dog?"
"Well, dogs make great companions. And," he paused, "they have service dogs for veterans with PTSD. I tried getting Steve to get one, but he refused. I think it'd be a great idea for you."
Bucky blinked. "Aren't service dogs just for blind people?"
Sam chuckled, "No, not anymore. The service dogs to help veterans do all sorts of things. They can help you through a panic attack and can protect you when people get to be too much. There are other things too, like waking you up from a nightmare."
Bucky thought about this. If he remembered correctly, he had a dog once. But he had to give it away once they realized that Steve was allergic. Maybe a dog wasn't so bad, like Sam said. It would be a great companion. And maybe help in his recovery. The helping with nightmares sounded useful too.
But then the plates in his metal arm shifted (something he noticed he did when he was deep in thought) and he panicked. What if he hurt the dog? It wouldn't have been the first time. A vague memory of dogs at HYDRA flashed before his eyes. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he hurt the dog.
"I'm not sure, Sam," he said, the plates in his metal arm still shifting.
"Hey, it's a lot to think about. Just an idea, that's all," Sam said, reassuringly, "If you want, I can direct you to some articles to read?"
Bucky nodded.
"Alright. Next movie?" Sam asked.
"Sure," Bucky replied and picked up the remaining two movies. He noticed that both of them had dogs on the cover. Sam must of had this idea for a while. Whatever he was doing, it was not subtle.
Bucky picked the next one and put the D.V.D into the player once more.
"A Dog's Journey," Sam said once the title card came up, "This one's the sequel."
Bucky just nodded, his eyes glued to the movie. He was determined to not cry this time.
—
The next morning, Bucky opened his phone with several texts from Sam, all links to articles about service dogs. He read through a few, something that he found difficult on his flip phone.
Sam laughed at him all the time for keeping a flip phone and constantly called him "Grandpa" for it. But Bucky knew from his time at HYDRA that flip phones were harder to trace. He knew that HYRDA was no more, but it still paranoid him that his phone could be tracked. He also found that the keypad on Sam's StarkPhone didn't respond well to his metal hand, and he hadn't worked up the guts to ask Shuri about it.
He finished reading the articles and went about making breakfast. The thought of having a service dog lingered in the back of his mind for the rest of the morning.
After his breakfast, he went out on his usual run. Sam refused to go out with him, something about being on his left. While out, he took notice of every dog that he passed. His mind wandered and he briefly thought about what it would be like to be running with a dog by his side.
He was on his way back to his apartment when he heard it. Small mewling sounds coming from inside the alley across the street. If he didn't have enhanced hearing, Bucky wouldn't have been able to hear it. Apparently no one else did either, as people kept passing by the alley without looking.
Bucky turned back to continue on his way to his apartment when the mewling got louder. He sighed and turned around to cross the street.
In the alley was a cardboard box, and inside of that was a puppy. The puppy was small and thin. Its coat was dirty and matted, making it hard to Bucky to tell what breed it was. When the puppy saw him, it jumped up and down in the box, making excited yapping noises.
Bucky looked around, trying to see whoever left the box here. He felt anger piling up in his chest. Who in their right mind would leave a poor, defenseless puppy out in the cold. With no food nor water, practically guaranteeing that the pup would die.
When he couldn't find anyone, he turned his attention back to the pup. It was shivering from the cold. Wordlessly, Bucky picked up the pup, pulled it close to his chest, and wrapped his jacket around it. The pup cuddled closer to Bucky, and, weirdly enough, started purring. Bucky sighed, once more and started heading to his apartment.
He was totally going soft and would never hear the end of it from Sam.
—
Bucky went back to his apartment and immediately panicked. He had no experience with dogs, much less abandoned puppies. He didn't know what to do or where to start.
Taking a deep breathe, he went to the bathroom and started running warm water in the bathtub.
"Ok, little one," he whispered to the pup, "lets get you warmed up."
The pup was still shivering in his arms. Once the bath was full, he put the pup in. He realized that the water was too high for the pup and drained some out of the tub. Just another example of how unqualified he was for this job.
Quickly the water turned a dirty brown, so Bucky took the pup out, drained all the water, and filled the tub again. The pup didn't seem to mind the bath, in fact, it stayed still the entire time.
Bucky finally decided to check what gender the pup was and found that she was a girl.
"Alright," he muttered, "How to get you clean?"
Bucky knew little to nothing about caring for puppies and searched on his phone How to wash a puppy. He learned that there was special shampoo and conditioner for dogs, which he didn't have of course. But he found out that in emergencies, gentle human shampoo could be used. He had an assortment of shampoos and conditioners now that he was growing out his hair, so he went to his bathroom cabinet to see if he had any gentle ones.
To his surprise, he actually had one. The pup had stayed still in the water the whole time Bucky was looking for the shampoo.
He got a cup from the kitchen, filled it with water, and poured it onto the pup. He was careful to not get any in her eyes like the articles said. He had a brief memory of doing this to Stevie when he was sick.
Once the pup was wet, he squirted some shampoo into his hand (the human one) and gently massaged it into the pup's fur. The pup had a long fur coat, so Bucky made sure to get the shampoo all the way in there. He also, once again, made sure to not get any soap in the pup's eyes or ears. The pup has floppy ears, and the articles he read said that it could get an ear infection if he wasn't careful. Judging by the smell of the pup's ears though, he was sure that she already had one.
After making sure the pup was clean, he picked up the cup again and rinsed her off. The pup had gorgeous pale golden fur that reminded Bucky of the sunsets back in Wakanda. When he was confident that all the shampoo was out of her fur, he drained the water out of the tub and picked up the pup in a towel. He was now glad that Sam convinced him to get furniture and necessities like towels.
Bucky read that he had to dry and brush out the pup's fur so that it wouldn't get matted. He only had human brushes, so that would have to do. He also didn't have a hair dryer, although he kept meaning to get one.
He brought the pup over to his living room, turned on Animal Planet on the T.V., and went about brushing the pup's fur. The pup stayed calm throughout the whole thing.
Once he was done, the pup had fallen asleep. Bucky smiled and petted the pup.
"You're something else, huh," he whispered. He ran his fingers through his hair. It was much longer now, but still not long enough for him to put it up.
Bucky knew that he didn't have the supplies to take care of a dog. He could feel her ribs through her thick coat. He didn't know what vaccines she had, if any. He didn't have any food, toys, a collar, or, or…. Bucky felt his breathing increase. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to even out his breathing. He couldn't panic now.
He felt a pressure on his chest and looked down. The pup had snuggled up close to him and placed her head on his chest. He patted her head.
"Good girl," he told her. Somehow, she knew exactly what would calm him down. Then he thought of Sam's idea. What did a dog have to do to qualify for a service dog? Could this pup qualify as a service dog? He didn't know.
First things first, he needed to feed her and call a vet. If he was going to keep her (which he didn't think he should), then he needed to make sure that she was healthy and safe.
The pup snuggled closer and started purring again. He smiled at her and rubbed her ears, which she seemed to like.
"Fuck," he thought, "I am getting way too attached to her."
—
Bucky eventually got up, trying to not wake up the pup in the process. He made his way over to his kitchen, which was now fully stocked thanks to Sam. He was never a good cook, always leaving that up to his sisters, but he had been learning how to cook as a hobby. His therapist told him that he needed one, something to do when things get too much, and after consulting a list online, he choose cooking.
He pulled out chicken from the fridge and got around to cooking it. He looked up what human food dogs could eat since he didn't have any dog food, and found that meat was ok.
The pup heard him making noise and wandered into that kitchen and sat under his feet. Bucky reached a hand down to pet her.
When the chicken was done, he put some aside for the pup to let it cool and started setting the table. He figured that if he was a normal citizen now then he better act like one. In his research on how to be a normal person (yes, he had a bad night and convinced himself that he wasn't a normal human. That made him look up how to be one), he learned that setting the table was important to meal times.
He put the cooled chicken in a bowl and set it down at the pup's feet. He then put a bowl of water next to it. The pup started eating immediately and Bucky ate his fill of chicken and wondered how long it had been since she had her last meal.
—
The next day, Bucky woke up to a small furry thing on his chest. Despite making a makeshift bed for the pup on the floor, she decided to sleep on him instead. Bucky smiled and patted her on the head. She woke up at this.
"Hey girl," he whispered. Today he decided that he would go to the vet and get supplies for the pup. He figured that at this point, he was too attached to her and it would hurt too much to let her go.
The pup purred.
"You know, dogs aren't supposed to purr. That's something that cats do," he told her. The pup continued to purr anyways.
Instead of going on his morning run that morning, he went to the nearest vet. The place smelled like chemicals and cleaning agents and Bucky had to remind himself that he wasn't with HYDRA. He told the receptionist that he brought in a stray and she told him to sit down and she would call him in soon. The receptionist asked for a name, but he told her that the pup didn't have one.
Bucky sat in one of the plastic seats with the pup on his lap. The vet called him in.
He walked into the room with the pup in his arms. The vet did an examination on her. The pup stayed calm through the whole thing. The vet told Bucky that the pup was about 8 weeks old and a golden retriever. She told him that she would give the pup some vaccines for free, but the medicine for her ear infection would cost him. Bucky was fine with that. The vet said that the pup was malnourished and gave him a recommendation for what food to buy her. He gladly took it.
He was glad when the vet took the pup away to get her vaccines. He was still uncomfortable around any type of medical procedure and didn't want it to trigger a panic attack.
When the vet was done, he took the prescription for the pup ear infection, as well as a book on how to take care of new puppies. The pup snuggled into his arms when he took her home.
—
The next day, he read the book. He took note of the necessities that the pup needed and wrote a list. Bucky then looked up where the nearest pet store was. He didn't have a leash yet, so he carried the pup in his arms, something that was easy for him since he was a super-solider.
The pet store had everything he needed. He freaked out a bit at the number of choices for everything, but the pup was able to calm him down. Bucky decided to start with one thing at a time. He would follow his list.
First, he choose a purple collar for the pup. Check. Then he picked up a matching leash and harness for her (also purple). Check. He picked up the food that the vet recommended. Check. While in the food aisle, he took a look at the treats. The pup seemed very interested in the peanut butter ones, so that's what Bucky choose. He moved onto getting a bowl for food and water. The book recommended that he get plain, stainless steel ones, so that's what he got.
Then the haircare aisle. Since the pup was a golden retriever and had long fur, he needed to take care of it. He choose a non-scented shampoo and conditioner, as well as picking up flea and tick medication, something the book made sure he did. He picked up a regular brush for the pup and moved onto the toys.
There were so many toys. So many options and brands that Bucky wasn't sure where to start. The pup put her head on his chest again, and that seemed to calm him down. He looked down and smiled at her. She smiled back.
Bucky figured that he'd just get one of everything since he didn't know what the pup liked. He picked up a red ball, a tug toy, a few stuffed animals with squeaker, a puzzle toy that he could put treats into, and a few other that the pup seemed interested in.
He moved to the back of the store where they kept the beds. The pup was small now, but the book said that she would get bigger. He decided that he's just get a big bed now and the pup would grow into it. He let the pup sniff a few of the bigger beds and she seemed to like a big, rectangular brown one, so that's the one he choose.
He had almost everything on the list except one. A crate. When he read about crate training in the book, he had to set it down and cried. The pup wandered over to see what made him upset and he spent the next few minutes petting her and crying. He wasn't sure if he could do it.
Part of his time at HYDRA was being spent in a cage. When he wasn't needed on missions and he wasn't in cryo, then he was put in a small cage. Three of the walls were made with cinder blocks, reinforced with metal, and the fourth wall was metal bars. Inside the cage was a stone bench and a bucket in the corner. Of course, he couldn't do anything unless ordered, so the bucket and bench were pretty much useless.
He shook that memory from his head and looked at the crates.
"They were crates," he reminded himself, "There for keeping her safe when I'm not home."
He looked at the crates for a long time. One of the employees came over and asked him if he needed help. He said no. She pet the pup and asked if she had a name. He said no to this too. The employee gave the pup a treat, which she happily ate and left.
Bucky had decided to not get a crate.
He was in the check out line when he saw them. The dog tags for the collars. He forgot that he had to get one. He picked a plain circle one.
When it was time for him to pay, the cashier asked him what engravings he needed on the tag. Bucky couldn't tell her. The cashier told him that there needed to be a name and phone number on the tag. Bucky gave him his phone number to put on the tag. The cashier then asked for the pup's name. Bucky hadn't named the pup yet. He looked behind him. There was no one else in line. The cashier said that he could give him a baby name book. Bucky declined.
He knew that if the pup was a boy, then he would have named him Steve. But the pup was a girl, and he didn't think that naming a girl "Steve" would be a good idea. He thought about naming her after one of his sisters, but he could hardly remember them, and none of them were alive anyways.
After a moment of silence, Bucky asked for the baby names book. The cashier handed to over and Bucky flipped through it. He wasn't really looking for a name with a meaning, just something that sounded right. Within the first few pages, the name Angel popped out at him. It seemed really cliche, but this pup really was an angel.
He told the cashier that her name was Angel and he went to the back to engrave the tag.
A few moments later, he came back. Bucky attached the tag to the collar and petted the pup's, no Angel's, ears. He payed for the rest and left.
—
At home, Bucky unleashed Angel and let her wander about. He placed her food and water bowls in the kitchen, as well as the bag of food. He placed her bed in his bedroom, although judging by last night, he figured that she would just sleep on him. He found an empty laundry basket and put Angel's toys in it. The medicine went in a tupperware in the kitchen.
Bucky took out the bag of treats and Angel immediately came over.
"Good girl," he said and handed her a treat. Bucky knew that he should start training her to at least recognize her own name, so he started on that. He consulted the book the vet gave him and sat down next to Angel.
"Ok," he said, "Angel."
Angel looked at him when he said her name, so he gave her a treat, like the book said. She devoured it. Bucky made a mental note to get more of them next time he was out.
This process repeated until Bucky was confident that Angel knew her name.
"You're a very smart dog, you know that?" he asked Angel, playing with her ears. She licked his hand.
Bucky was still nervous about keeping his metal arm around Angel, so he made sure to keep it as far away from her as possible. On the instances that she leaned against it, or licked the metal hand, she didn't seem to care, but Bucky always tensed up. This made Angel nervous and she stopped whatever she was doing.
Bucky fed Angel her lunch, and ate some himself. He gave the pup her medicine, which she took without complaining.
"So far, so good," he told himself. He was expecting there to be struggles with the pup, but so far, she was doing good. He knew that when it came to potty training, that there might be a problem. He lived in an apartment, and it would take a while to get her outside. The book recommended that he get her a "potty patch", which was a patch of fake grass to put in his house. He made sure to pick one up at the pet store.
Angel had been doing well with it is far, but there were a few times where she forgot to go and Bucky had to spend some time cleaning his floor.
But he loved Angel and he knew that she loved him, so he didn't mind. Only the best for his pup.
—
Friday rolled around and Bucky started wondering if he should hid Angel from Sam. He hadn't told anyone about her (not like he had anyone to tell), and liked being able to have this secret. Every morning he went out on his run with her. She now knew the sit, lie down, shake, here, and stay commands. She had learned those very fast.
Angel had a habit of always knowing when Bucky was upset. No matter if it was something small like forgetting to fill her food bowl, or a full blown panic attack, Angel always would wander over and sit in Bucky's lap until he calmed down.
She had taken a big liking to her chew toys, but never once chewed on any of Bucky furniture, which he was grateful for.
Before Sam came over, Bucky made sure to clean the house, tucking away Angel's food and water, placing her toys back in her basket, and hanging her leash and harness on the hooks by the front door. At 5:00, he sat down and ate dinner with Angel eating hers under his feet. The book said that human food was generally bad for dogs, so he had refrained from giving her any.
Bucky settles down on the couch with Angel on his lap. Now he played the waiting game.
The clock seemed to go incredibly slowly. He had checked that it was still working several times already. Angel, as always, noticed how antsy he was and brought him her tug toy. Bucky smiled, patted her on the head, and got down on the floor to play with her.
5:30 came and the door bell rang. Angel perked up at the door bell, but didn't bark. In fact, she hardly barked. The only time Bucky had heard her bark was when he had a panic attack in the shower and she was unable to get to him.
Bucky got off the couch and told Angel to stay. He took a deep breathe before opening the door.
Sam had in his hands three movies again. Bucky was confident this time that he could pick one. He let Sam into the apartment and waited.
"So you decided to get a dog?" Sam asked when he walked into the living room where Angel was waiting. Angel wagged her tail at him.
"Uh, yeah," Bucky stuttered, "I found her abandoned in an alley and had to save her."
Sam smiled and patted Angel on the head.
"Good for you man. I'm just upset that you didn't tell me."
Bucky didn't respond. He was happy to have Angel as a secret and honestly didn't want to tell Sam that. Sam noticed his silence.
"What's it's name?"
"Her name is Angel," Bucky whispered. He knew it was cliche, and didn't want Sam to laugh at him.
"Angel. That's cute," Sam responded. He sat down on the floor and Angel put her tug toy in his lap.
"I know, it's cliche, but I like it," Bucky told him.
"I wasn't going to ask why, you know," Sam said, "That's just something for you to know."
"Oh. What movies did you bring?" Bucky asked, sitting down on the floor next to Sam. Sam looked at him.
"You get a dog, didn't tell me, and then expect me to ignore her and watch a movie with you?" he chuckled.
"Uh, yeah?" Bucky said, hesitantly. Angel was able to get the tug toy out from Sam's hands and brought it over to Bucky. He pet her head and grabbed onto the toy with his human hand. He knew that if he wanted, he could easily win, but he didn't.
"Well, sorry. We're gonna sit down and play with this little floof ball," Sam said. Bucky would not have pegged Sam as a dog person. Nor a cat person. He wouldn't have thought that Sam liked any animals. Except maybe a falcon.
Bucky nodded and brought out the rest of Angel's toys.
"Here," he said, placing the basket down, "She likes the tug toy, but could play fetch for hours."
Sam smiled, picked up one of her toys, Angel perked up, and they started playing.
Bucky smiled. He could get used to this.
—
At around 7:00, Angel had tired out and was sleeping on Sam's lap. He was rubbing her ears, which made her start purring. Bucky had to explain to Sam that that was just something that she did. Sam laughed at that.
"So," Sam started.
"So, what?"
"So, when you found her, were you thinking of a service dog?"
"Not really. I don't even know what qualifications she would need."
"Well, if you wanted, I know a guy who could help."
Bucky thought about this. A lot of the behaviors that Angel displayed were part of what service dogs did according to the articles Sam sent him. If Angel could qualify as a service dog, would he want to? Would Angel want to? Or was he happy with just her as a companion?
His mind went to the pet store. When he was overwhelmed by choice, Angel was able to calm him down. Dogs weren't allowed in regular stores, so she wouldn't be able to do that in one of them. But if she was a service dog, she could. He wouldn't have to feel scared to go out because someone would be there with him.
"Sure," Bucky decided, "If Angel is good enough, why don't we try it?"
"Did you just agree with me?" Sam asked.
"Uh no, that's not what I meant," Bucky said.
"No no, you totally agreed with me."
"I did not!"
"You can't take it back now!"
Bucky groaned, "Fine, but it won't happen again."
Sam patted him on the back, "Sure, whatever you say."
—
Saturday afternoon, Sam came over and drove him, Bucky, and Angel to D.C. to meet the guy he was talking about.
When they got there, Bucky let Sam do all the talking. Angel was on her leash, but Bucky picked her up and held her closer to his chest. He had just given her a bath and her fur was all smooth and soft.
The man lead Bucky and Sam into another room, this one full of toys and what looked like training equipment.
"Why don't you put her down so I can do an evaluation?" the man asked Bucky. Bucky nodded and put Angel down.
"What commands does she already know?" he asked.
"Uh, sit, stay, shake, here, and lie down," Bucky stuttered.
"Ok, those are great for now" the man responded. And as if he didn't believe Bucky, he took out some treats and made Angel follow those commands. Angel did perfectly. Bucky expected no less from her.
"She's doing good. Did you teach her those yourself?" Sam asked him.
Bucky nodded his head, "Yeah, she's a fast learner."
"That's good. That'll make her a better candidate for a service dog."
Bucky went back to watching the man. The man had picked up an umbrella from a pile of toys.
"Ok, so one aspect of being a service dog is to not be startled by things. So I'm going to open and close this umbrella in front of her to see how she reacts," the man told Bucky and Sam.
The man had Angel sit and stay. Then, right in front of her, he opened and closed the umbrella quickly. Angel hardly batted an eye. The man seemed impressed by this.
"You've got yourself a good one, James," the man said, "That's usually where most dogs fail."
Bucky felt pride at this. His Angel was the best.
The man ran a few more tests, such as making Angel retrieve something and drop it in his lap, picking her up without her making a fuss, and had Angel follow him around the room (she hesitated on this one).
The man seemed happy with the results of the test. When he was done, he brought Angel over to Bucky and Sam.
"I think she has potential," he said, "I would be happy to accept her into the program."
"But I get to keep her, right?" Bucky asked. He didn't like the way the man worded that. It made it sound like he had to give Angel away. The man saw his hesitation.
"Yes, you get to keep her. Since she will be your dog, you will come to training with her. She will learn the commands from you and how to help you specifically."
Bucky was relieved, "Thank you."
"No problem," the man said, "Training is on Tuesday and Thursdays at noon. Don't be late."
Bucky and Sam thanked the man and left. Bucky felt more confident now that he knew that Angel could help him in more ways than just a companion.
"That wasn't so bad," Sam said as they got in the car.
"I wasn't worried," Bucky replied.
"Sure. You were staring with a frown on your face the whole time."
Bucky huffed and buckled his seatbelt with Angel on his lap. She was still small enough to sit in his lap, but he knew that she would get bigger. Sam drove them home.
—
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Sam would come over and drive Bucky and Angel to D.C. where they could go to service dog training. Angel was rapidly growing and had started shedding like crazy in Bucky's apartment. She was a fast learner in training, something that the trainer seemed to like and constantly used Angel as an example to the other service dogs in training.
Bucky slowly made friends with the other veterans there. He used the name James and made up a bit of a backstory for himself. It wasn't like he could go out and say that he was a vet from WWII.
Then came the day where Angel could graduate. She had passed all the tests, even the final one where she would go out with Bucky in public.
Bucky stood proudly with her on the podium as she received her certificate in front of the other vets and their dogs. She received a red harness that said Service Dog on it. When it was over, Bucky made mental note to go out and buy her her favorite peanut butter treats.
Sam was there for the graduation. After Bucky and Angel walked off the podium, he told Angel that he was proud of her. When Bucky asked about him, Sam went.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot your stupid human was here too."
That night, they went out to a restaurant to celebrate. Angel was able to come with them now that she had her vest. Bucky was able to talk more freely and laugh now that Angel was here. He felt more alive now that he had a little sidekick, as he started calling her, than ever.
—
That night, Angel had proved why she was the greatest service dog in the world. Bucky had had a very intense nightmare. Angel was in it, and so was Sam. Bucky had found himself as the Winter Solider again and ordered to kill them. He almost did, but something pulled him out of it.
Angel was licking his face, something that she was trained to do to wake up Bucky from a nightmare. He panicked and pushed Angel away. He couldn't risk hurting her. His metal arm whirled and clicked as he ran to the bathroom.
The drowning feeling started coming into Bucky's chest. He couldn't breathe, everything as too tight, the lights were too bright. He tried to gulp in air, but couldn't. All that came in was water. He was going to drown.
But then, like her name, Angel swooped in a saved him. She opened the door (she was now big enough to do that) and came over to where Bucky was hiding in the tub. She placed her head on Bucky's chest, despite his struggles. She licked his face, a technique used to ground him. Bucky rubbed her ears, something else that seemed to calm him down.
Eventually, he was able to breathe normally.
"Thank you," he muttered to Angel. Angel smiled back at him and purred.
Bucky still had a long way to go in his recovery, but he knew that everything would be better now thanks to his little sidekick, Angel.
—
A/N:
So this was an idea that I had for a long time and a trope that I really like. I think that out of everyone in the MCU, the person who most likely needs a service dog is one James Bucky Barnes. I hope that I did this trope justice.
I know that this is a long one, it was kinda hard making a one shot of a trope that needed multiple chapters to be fleshed out.
Also, this is not the way to get a service dog. If you are interested, there are several articles and organizations on the Internet that can help you out.
Thank you for reading and have a fantastic day!