More new characters, I really hope you like what I did with them too.

TW: mentions of a suicide attempt, general mental health and ptsd mentions

The only army support group I know anything about is the one from One Day at a Time, so I don't have a whole lot to go on. I don't want to offend anybody so if I say something wrong please please please message me and we can work together on those pieces. Also, I wanted the characters here, specifically Bucky and Rhodey, to not suddenly be abled in this fic, I wanted to give them a past that was similar to that of the MCU. However, despite trying my best, whilst I have what Nat does, I do not deal with anything Bucky and Rhodey do and as such, am trying my best to portray them accurately. Like with the army thing, I don't mean to offend anyone so if I accidentally am, please let me now. And also like with the army thing, if there is someone out there who would like to collaborate and help me make this as accurate and true to life as possible, please message me.

/ / / /

6 days earlier

The next few days dragged and dragged and dragged as Bucky waited for his weekly group to roll around.

He'd had a message from the dog trainer, Wanda, and their first session was in five days. He was both nervous and excited for it. Bucky was pretty sure he'd be kinda good at training, if only he knew what to do. If the army had taught him anything, it was that teamwork and a reliable leader were very important.

Clipping Bear's lead onto the bright red collar, Bucky stepped outside into the crisp morning air. The weekly meetings were the only regular thing in his life and he actually looked forward to them at this point. Human contact, people who understood, who got him. The chance to talk about the shit storm in his head with people who wouldn't think he was bat-shit or needed to be locked up. He needed the meetings, he'd come to realize, or he would really be struggling even more than he was.

Riley hadn't been there for a couple of weeks, he'd been taking a break whilst he got his meds sorted out, but he messaged fairly regularly and had told Bucky that he was doing better with the upped dose. He might be there today, but even if he wasn't, Sam would be and it would be nice to see him.

Bucky took the bus this time, since it was a bit of a longer walk. He always got stares on public transport and even though he constantly wore long sleeves, people could see and they treated him differently for it. He'd pretty much gotten over the looks. If people were wary of him, then they were less likely to pet Bear, which was important when he would be training soon. If people asked, that was fine, it could be controlled petting, but random people crowding him and stroking him without permission was too much.

A little girl with her mother sat watching Bucky and Bear for most of the ten minute journey. The girl had a sleeping puppy across her lap and was absently petting it as she watched Bear wind his way around Bucky's feet. The girl's stop was before Bucky's and as she carefully moved down the steps, he couldn't help but notice that she was limping. As she passed him, she waved her hand and beamed at Bear who yipped and pulled at his lead, desperate for the pets he was obviously denied in his everyday life. "Sorry," Bucky shook his head, "he's excitable."

The girl grinned. "'S okay, he's a good dog, huh?" Her hand hovered at her side, her own dogs lead wrapped carefully around her palm.

"You can pet him if you like." Bucky smiled.

The little girl immediately dropped her hand to Bear's head, stroking over the silky fur. "He's so soft," she marveled, "hi Bear, you're so cute, yes you are."

"I like your puppy, he's adorable, ain't he?" Bucky hummed, meeting the eyes of the girl's mother, smiling almost sadly behind the girl.

The bus seemed stuck in traffic, though Bucky didn't mind this time, it gave them a chance for the moment that was going on.

"Mommy got him for me, he's still a baby. He's called Steve ." The girl grinned.

Bucky was barely able to suppress a laugh at that and holy shit he couldn't wait to tell Stevie about that, if he could stop laughing for long enough to get the words out, that was.

"Steve is a great name." Bucky nodded, grinning. He sighed softly as the bus pulled up at the girl's stop. It was rare to have such a nice time when he left the house.

"Aw. Bye Bear," The girl pouted, waving her fingers first at Bear and then Bucky, "Thank you, mister." She smiled sweetly, heading the rest of the way down the bus. She stopped just at the doors, grinning over at Bucky. She pointed at his arm and then down at her leg, which Bucky finally realised was a prosthetic too. "Samesies," She giggled and hopped onto the sidewalk .

The bus pulled away and Bucky silently sat for the rest of the drive as he went over and over the interaction in his head.

Damn.

…

When Bucky got to the VA, he headed straight for the drinks table, pouring a cup of coffee for himself and placing a bowl of water on the floor for Bear. The VA had loads of bowls and treats, since quite a few of those that came for the meetings had service dogs.

Once Bear had lapped up a good amount of the water, Bucky headed over to his usual chair, slumping down and absently sipping at his coffee as he looked around the room.

He was fairly early and there were only a couple of people hanging around, drinking their own drinks or talking quietly to one another. Rhodey was already there, chatting up a pretty blonde woman Bucky'd never seen before. She seemed to only be politely listening and humming quietly when he spoke.

Sam hadn't arrived yet and he still wasn't sure if Riley was going to make it. It was starting to look like it would be quite a small meeting since he knew Montgomery and Jim had shipped back out to service and Gabe was having a rough time of it. DumDum was nowhere to be seen, but he often missed weeks at a time, so Bucky wasn't worrying.

As time passed, a couple more people filtered in, a man and a woman, both new too. The man looked skittish, continuously running his fingers through his black hair. As his hand caught the light, Bucky could see that the knuckles were split open and congealed with dried blood, bruises littering the tan skin.

Ouch

Yeah, Bucky knew too well how much of a bitch split knuckles were.

The man had his other hand tangled in the woman's fingers as his gaze cast around the room, eyes lingering on every single exit, every single person milling around, scanning said people for anything hidden under their clothes, for any hint that someone was about to attack or that there was something planted they should be running from.

Bucky could tell that the man was fairly fresh from service. He had that vibrating, tumultuous energy to him, the one where he was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Compared to him, the dark haired woman seemed completely calm and composed on the outside but anybody who understood could see the pain in her eyes, the tight curl of her lips, the way she gripped the man's hand just as fiercely.

She leaned up to whisper in the man's ear, fingers lightly carding through his hair. After a moment, he nodded, allowing the woman to pull him over to two empty seats.

Just as they sat, Sam came rushing in through the doors, bag slung over his shoulder. "Sorry, sorry! Car broke down again."

Bucky was a little disappointed to see that Riley wasn't with him and he hoped that the other man was okay.

"Okay," Sam shrugged off his jacket and took his seat at the head of the circle, "I see we've got some new faces today. How 'bout we start off with going around and saying names and then whoever wants to talk can have the floor. I'm Sam, I'm the group leader and I've been working here for the past two years."

Next in the circle, Rhodey gave a mock salute. "I'm James, except everyone calls me Rhodey. I've been out of service for a year."

"Also James, 'cept everyone calls me Bucky. Thank God for nicknames, huh, way too many James'. This is Bear, he's very friendly." Bucky rested a hand on the dogs head, smiling softly.

Beside Bucky, the blonde woman Rhodey had been chatting up looked up from her hands. "Sharon." She said quietly.

Bucky narrowed his eyes a little. The name was familiar, though he couldn't quite pinpoint where he knew it from. She looked just a little similar to someone he knew, though he also couldn't figure out who. His brain felt scrambled that morning.

The other two new people in the circle exchanged glances with one another. The woman spoke, "I'm Sky...Daisy, this is Grant."

The man, Grant, hadn't looked up at any of the people, though his gaze kept flitting up to the exits and then back to his and Daisy's joined hands.

"Welcome to the group, guys." Sam said kindly, looking around at the circle. "Does anyone want to get us started?"

Everyone was quiet for a few moments and when it seemed like none of the newbies were going to start, Rhodey piped up. "Is the weather playing havoc with anyone else?" He fiddled with the brake of his wheelchair, grinning, "because I am hurting like a bitch today."

Rhodey, by another twist of fate, knew Tony too. They'd been friends since college and he was the reason, in fact, that Tony had branched out into prosthetics and other such ventures. The scientist/actual genius was coming up with something new for Rhodey, something that didn't cause pain after wearing it for a while, something that would help him walk again, with as little pain as possible. For now, Rhodes was taking a break from the braces and using his chair in the meantime.

Bucky hummed, nodding his head. "My shoulder is driving me crazy. The cold weather always gets to me."

"Right? It's like I can tell a day in advance if the weather's going to turn, I'm like a walking weather report, I could put that guy on the news out of a job like that." He snapped his fingers. "Snow's coming, pain, storm is coming, pain, it's actually going to be sunny out, slightly less pain but still damn pain." He shook his head. "It's BS, if you ask me."

Bucky chuckled, "for sure."

Sam's phone rang then and he groaned softly. "Excuse me guys, sorry." He stood and quickly headed towards the back of the room.

After a beat, Sharon began to quietly chime in about her own experience with weather, particularly about storms and how she began to panic even before it hit, like she knew it was coming.

Bucky hummed and nodded in agreement, though his eyes strayed to Sam, whose back was ram-rod straight, a hand covering his eyes as he spoke in hushed whispers into the phone.

Bucky's stomach twisted uncomfortably as Sam looked over his shoulder. He pressed the phone to his chest for a second. "Buck, can I borrow you for a minute?"

He was immediately pushing back his seat and excusing himself from the circle, moving quickly towards Sam. "What happened?"

Sam looked back at the circle and Sharon talking before meeting Bucky's gaze. His jaw was clenched, his eyes shining. "It's…"

Ice filled Bucky's veins, "who?" he half choked out, hand curling into a fist at his side.

"Gabe." Sam exhaled shakily, rubbing at his forehead. "Riley went over to check on him because he wasn't answering calls and…"

Bucky couldn't breathe. "Is he…is he…?" He couldn't get the word out.

"Barely," Sam murmured, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, "Riley got there just in time, kicked the door down , called the ambulance, put pressure on…" He trailed off, just shaking his head once more.

Having the very sudden urge to slam his fist through the nearest wall, Bucky struggled to take a measured breath. After a very measured breath, he stepped over to Sam, squeezing the man's shoulder . "You should go meet Riley at the hospital, I can take over here."

"Are you sure, man? You're up to this?" Sam asked quietly.

"They need this." Bucky nodded.

I need this.

Bucky looked over at the four others sitting in the circle, "this only comes 'round once a week, y'know? I know I've been waiting for days for group and those new guys, we can't just send them away and expect 'em to come back next time." His gaze had hardened into something determined and he nodded, despite the ache in his chest and the screaming thoughts in his head.

"You're a good man, Barnes." Sam nodded, "I'll call as soon as I hear anything, you'll let Rhodey know?"

"Course, I'll wait until group's finished and pull him aside." Bucky thought that maybe it would be a good idea for him and Rhodey to go out somewhere after, a café or something. Neither of them should be going home to empty apartments after news like that. Self-care and all that shit.

"Okay, take care of yourself. I'll call." As he moved past Bucky to grab his things from his chair, Sam patted his shoulder.

Once Sam was out of sight, Bucky took a moment to compose himself. He drank a cup of water and pulled in a few breaths before schooling his features and heading back to his chair. He sat and Bear immediately lay straight over his feet. He was really started to love the dumb dog, calming just a little as he stroked through soft fur.

Rhodey met his gaze and Bucky shook his head once, needing no words to tell him later.

"So," Bucky sat forward in his chair, "who wants to go next?"