A/N: And now that I'm done making the weird a bit less weird... on with the story. Many thanks to FictionWriter for the perspective, Re: Dr. Knutz. I wasn't originally going to include a scene. Scene is now included... now with a bonus cameo.

A week or so ago...

Dr. Knutz was surprised to see his reluctant patient show up during the 6PM free hour reserved for drop-ins, and the duffle bag made him suspicious. "Mr. Stark?"

Tony paused, then set the duffle back on the floor. "Would you believe a doctor I know that lives in Siberia requested a psychological consult on our joint project?"

He paused, not having expected that. "I might. What's in the bag?"

"Well... it'd be easier to just show you." So saying, Tony opened the bag and lifted what turned out to be a metal arm that had been badly severed up near the shoulder and was burnt on that end. "I told you part of the story of how this happened."

Not sure of how to respond as Tony set it down on his desk, Dr. Knutz leaned in closer to get a better look. "All right. So it's an arm. What about it?"

"Not it, but rather the body horror of something like this."

That gave him pause as he straightened up to look at his patient, and heard the door open and close in the outer office. Frowning, he glanced at his desk calendar, calculating with his eyes... "Body horror?" Who could it be, that would arrive during free hour on a Wednesday?

The answer to his personal question turned out to be a familiar young woman, about twenty-five, blonde, and carrying a journal like always. It had been years since her last regular appointment as his patient, but he was always glad to see her. Hand still on the doorknob, she blinked, startled as anyone would have had the right to be. "Oh. I'm sorry, Dr.K. Your receptionist isn't here, and I thought free hour was open."

Dr. Knutz smiled, glad for the momentary distraction. "No, that's okay, Mia. How are you?"

She calmly looked first at Tony, then at the silver prosthetic on the desk. "You seem busy. My child development questions can wait, and Mom might be right about Rocky having a normal kid phase. Tomorrow?"

It wasn't an emergency, then. If it had been, she would have made up a story about J.P., even though she hadn't seen or talked to him in years. "All right. See you tomorrow." He looked over her shoulder, nodded to Lars in acknowledgement, who nodded back.

Mia nodded respectfully to Tony. "Mr. Stark, I apologize for the interruption."

Tony watched as she hurriedly closed the door again. "Who was that?"

"Former patient of mine. Stops by sometimes to chat and catch up," Dr. Knutz explained. If he didn't recognize the Princess of Genovia when he saw her, then Stark could continue to wonder. "So... the arm?"

Unsettled by the interruption, Tony nodded and pulled a tablet out of the other bag he'd been carrying. "Elley really did want a consult and he's usually up about now. It's a fourteen hour time difference."

Dr. Knutz watched as Tony turned the tablet on and then made a Skype call. "So this doctor's name is Elley?"

Tony nodded. "He said it was a traditional Yakut name." Then he smiled, and Dr. Knutz was surprised at how his face lit up. "Hiya Doc!"

"He there?" a male voice asked, and Tony turned the tablet so he could see a man who appeared on the Asian spectrum or somewhere in between. "Hello, shrink person!"

Dr. Knutz laughed at that. "Hello, Mr. Elley."

Tony chuckled. "Don't mind him. His first language isn't English."

"Stark, can find way to make fun of you from here," Elley said, mild annoyance clearly in his tone. "This your Doctor Nut?"

"Yes, this is my Doctor Nut. Ask him what I tried asking you."

Elley sighed. "Been discussing that arm. Arm have... bad history. Not my question, but his. Process grafting. Unpleasant biological. Worse on mind?"

Dr. Knutz glanced at the arm, frowned at it, then looked again at Tony. "I'd have to see how it was being used to answer that. Whose arm was this again?" He knew the answer, but wanted to hear him say it.

"Barnes. The Winter Soldier."

"Oh. Now it makes sense." Reaching over, he tried to pick it up, only to discover how heavy it was. "Goodness."

"That's pretty much what Michil said," Tony muttered as he set up the tablet with the Skype call so it was propped up, giving Elley a good view of the room, and then pulled another one out, booted it, and sorted through what looked like video clips until he found what he was looking for, then handed that tablet over. "Here."

Dr. Knutz accepted the second tablet and looked at the footage of the man in question, who looked very tired, relaxing his stance, noting how the muzzle of the gun wavered. "Is that gun as heavy as it looks?"

Tony nodded. "Yes."

"He looks weary here. When was this?"

"Siberia. There's scattered footage from the airport, but I was doing other things away from where-ever he was, and didn't see him again until Siberia."

Dr Knutz processed that information in his mind before glancing at Elley. "I'd think it'd have to be nearly as bad on the mind as it would be on the body."

"Circumstances?"

"Yes. Depending on the circumstances."

Elley smiled. "I leave you with your patient now, Doctor Nut. Issues. Lots. He showed up here. Dented armor, cardiac symptoms. Had to get him out with town tools."

Now that was an interesting tidbit that his patient should have already told him. "Can I call you back?"

"Anytime."

With that, they were alone, and Tony sighed. "I don't-"

"Mr. Stark? Your friend the doctor? Smart man. Crafty. I like him."

"I really don't want-"

"Is life fair?"

"No."

"Then it really doesn't matter if you want to discuss this or not, does it?"

Tony sighed again. "No."

"I'm glad you're aware of that fact. Now... about this arm. Why are you looking into it like this?" He could guess, based on how much better his patient related to mechanical things than people, but wanted to hear him explain.

"To understand it. To... build a better one?"

"Oh?"

At the end of the session, which had been very interesting, Dr. Knutz handed him a book from the bookshelf. "Have you heard of a man named Louis Zamperini?"

Tony nodded slowly. "A bit. Didn't he break the four minute mile or something?" Then he looked down at the book in his hand and frowned at it. "You must really like Laura Hillenbrand."

"What's not to like? She writes good, well informed, books while battling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome."

"Huh?"

He motioned to the arm still on his desk. "Our topic. I know you were a prisoner of terrorists, but were you ever a POW? Unbroken is an interesting perspective on that, and it's good to learn things about people."

"Oh."

"You mind if I keep the tablet? Maybe call Elley?"

Tony smiled tiredly and pulled out a charging cord from the bag that had held the tablets. "Not at all. And the more he practices his English, the better. I really don't like the reading assignments, Doc."

"Builds character, doing things we don't like."

"But does it have to be-"

Dr. Knutz held up a hand, stopped him from speaking. "You were starting with the technology rather than the person. I'm making you read that so you can get a better idea of the person rather than the shiny tech, and go from there."

"You're mean, and I already have so much reading to do."

Dr. Knutz smiled. "Ah, but is it helping you?"

Tony sighed again. "If I say yes, will it get me out of more therapy reading assignments?"

"No." Silence lingered for a moment, then he shrugged. "Could also have you watch Hogan's Heroes, but that wouldn't give you the right understanding, as funny as those are."

"Hogan's Heroes?"

"Did you know that one of the actors was a concentration camp survivor?"

Tony could honestly say that he hadn't.

Now...

"Aunt Hazel suspected something."

Miriam had just put the key in the ignition of her car when Mason muttered something that caused her to turn in her seat and stare at him, only to find that he was staring out of the passenger side window at the cars in the parking lot of Brooklyn Hospital Center. "What was that?"

Something in his posture seemed off as he shook his head. "Just what I said, though I have no idea how true it is or if the messenger was pulling my leg. I didn't even know what they meant until you and Aunt Becca explained the near miss to Jane this morning. Aunt Hazel suspected something, even if she wasn't sure what."

"Mason?"

"Yeah?"

"That makes no sense."

He sighed and continued to look out the window. "It didn't make sense to me until today, why anyone would want to tell me that Aunt Hazel went to look for a random homeless guy that reminded her of her brother, alone, either." Now he turned to look at her. "I wasn't sure how to say it in front of Aunt Becca this morning, so I didn't try. She's right, by the way. Aunt Hazel did the exact right thing."

Miriam wasn't quite sure what to make of Mason's sudden intuition or what he'd said about her grandmother suspecting something, even if she hadn't known exactly what, and it didn't make it hurt any less that he'd been so close and they'd just left him there. But... it helped to hear, now, even if she wasn't certain how Mason knew what he did. Glancing out at the parked cars beyond the windshield, she felt an odd connection with her grandmother across the years and the distance. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but settled for turning the ignition to start the engine.

"Miriam?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember which market it was?"

She smiled. "Of course. I still go there sometimes. Why?"

He brandished the camera. "Because we need to make a stop before going to the office."

Miriam stared at the camera for a long moment, then smiled again. Yes. They did indeed have a stop to make.

She'd been watching everything all morning and for half the afternoon before finally deciding to talk to Sam the next time he stood up to leave the room. When he did, she motioned to Steve to come with her while Jill changed out DVD's and asked Bucky his opinion on Native Americans.

Bucky frowned at her. "My opinion on what? Why?"

"Indians," Jill corrected.

"Oh. Fine, I think." He glanced at Steve, who was in the process of standing up. "Why is she asking that?"

Steve shook his head, smiling at the awkwardness. "She's asking that because this is probably that movie with the bounty hunter civil servant and the professor."

"Yes," Damian confirmed with a grin. "You've seen it!"

Steve shrugged. "That was actually one of the first movies I watched in the present, probably because Becca didn't trust me with war movies so soon after the Battle of New York."

Damian nodded in understanding, then looked at Bucky. "This one treats the subject with dignity."

"Right. Not sure why you're worried about my reaction to Indians, but..."

Steve motioned to Clint to join Bucky on the couch while he followed Pepper out into the hallway, where Fujo was still seated, reading her book. "You don't have to sit out here, you know."

"Too crowded in there," Fujo responded without looking up at him. "And at least this way, I get to listen to the happy cooking going on in the kitchen. How awake is the Sergeant, by the way?"

"Enough to question why Jill would be asking his opinion on Native Americans," Steve answered.

Now she looked up at him, smiled, and handed her book to him as she stood up. "Awake enough for pictures, then."

Steve watched her disappear into the kitchen, then looked at the cover of the book in his hands. "Pepper?"

"Hmmm?"

"Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?"

Pepper blinked in surprise, then chuckled at the over of the Ultimate Edition of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. "Well, she did say it was good earlier."

"Oh. Why'd you want me to come out here?"

"Sam left something out of his after-action report," she explained as she lead him farther from the common room. "Regarding Tony."

"Oh?"

"And I think I know what, from having reviewed all of the A/V footage, but I need him to confirm it."

Steve frowned at her. "That's a lot of footage to review."

Pepper sighed, leaned against the wall and folded her arms across her chest. "I needed to know what happened, to better understand. After Rhodey showed Rebecca part of the airport confrontation, and your letter, I had to review all of it, not just what happened in Siberia."

Sam came back just then and watched as Fujo darted back out of the kitchen with one of the photo albums and ducked into the common room, purpose in her stature. "What's up?"

Pepper regarded him with a passive expression. "I need to know if Tony hit you with a repulsor blast like I suspect he did, based on the suit readings, right after Rhodey crashed."

Sam glanced at Steve, then nodded. "He did."

"And you left it out of your report."

He nodded again. "Didn't seem worth mentioning, and I get it. We'd failed-"

"Stop," Pepper told him, interrupting as she pushed herself off the wall to put a hand on his arm. "No, Sam. I was present for Tony testing those repulsors, early on. It was not done in self-defense that he hit you, and he does not get a pass for hitting you when you were not attacking him, no matter how upset he was."

"But we failed to catch-"

"No," Pepper said again, daring to glance at Steve, who had an expression of total understanding on his face. "That was not your fault, either. Was it, Steve?"

"No," Steve answered and gently put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "And I've been on the receiving end of those blasts more than once. They hurt."

Sam nodded. "My chest was sore for a while. Khamisi said if he'd hit any harder, and I'd not been wearing tactical armor, there could have been broken ribs."

"Which makes twice in the same day," Pepper concurred as she turned her gaze to Steve. "James protected him from the kid that Tony dragged into this mess before that." She let silence reign for a moment or two, then sighed. "His highness told me about you in Siberia, passing out at his feet."

Steve nodded. "I remember making it to the surface door, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up to Khamisi's concerned face, asking me if I could recite Henry the Fifth at Agincourt again." At Sam's frown, he shrugged. "I liked to read a lot, growing up. Ma would get me books from the library when I couldn't go myself. Bucky and his sisters, too."

"Henry the Fifth?"

"'We few, we happy few?'"

Sam paused. "Oh. Right."

"And Sam," Pepper spoke up. "Jill might not actually be here for you, but... she is here, and a willing ear to listen, should you need to talk about what happened at the airport. I saw Rhodey fall from Tony's A/V log, and it bothered me so much that I ended up in session with Dr. Knutz while we were discussing Tony. And from what I understand-"

"Pepper," Steve said, cutting her off in a tone that caused her to startle and blink in reflex. "Enough. Thank you for bringing this up. He will also be talking to Jill." Sam sighed. "Hey, if I don't get out of Art Therapy or uncomfortable discussions for my mental health, what makes you think you can skip the talking thing?" Sam didn't even get a chance to verbally protest before Steve hauled him into a tight hug.

They returned to the common room to find Clint on the couch with Nathaniel on his lap, watching as Bucky looked through one of the photo albums with an expression of confusion on his face. Fujo sat on his other side, grinning.

Bucky looked up at Steve, then down at the pictures again. "Oh. That's why I'm confused. Steve, you're still a punk."

"Poo?" Nathaniel asked as Steve sat down on the floor in front of the couch with the book still in his hands, while Pepper reclaimed her chair from Lila, and Sam sat down on Fujo's other side. Steve frowned at the book, then set it down.

Bucky glanced at him, smirked. "Yes, Nathaniel. That is Poo."

Nathaniel surprised Clint by launching himself at Steve, and Steve caught him. "Poo!"

"James, really," Jill said, teasing him. "He's a year old!"

"Imagine Becca at three or four, following us around with a Whinnie The Pooh book," Steve explained with a grin as he tickled Nathaniel and made him laugh. "Only she couldn't say it right, so it sounded like she was calling us Poo, instead of asking anyone to read to her."

"Poo!" Nathaniel said again. "Bug!"

Bucky smiled. "Not rescuing you from the tickle monster, kid."

Steve tickled him one more time, then returned him to Clint's lap. "See anything interesting in there, Buck?"

"Your Ma's in here."

"Really?" Sam asked as he leaned over Fujo to look and Bucky pointed at the picture. "Oh."

"Sam?" Fujo asked, pointedly.

Sam suddenly realized what he was doing and straightened up. "Sorry."

"Rebecca gave me a copy of Whinnie The Pooh," Jill spoke up, startling them. "As a baby shower gift. She didn't tell me it was one of her favorites as a child."

Bucky frowned at her. "What?"

"Story for another time, James." She motioned to the album on his lap that Nathaniel was pawing at. "Kid there wants to see more pictures."

Bucky blinked and looked at Nathaniel. "More pictures, Nate?"

"Bug," Nathaniel told him in agreement.

They sat together for a while, watching Bucky discover the past in picture form, Steve occasionally providing information when he got confused.