The Hurt And The Healing: Bucky X OC

Chapter Eighteen: The People vs. James Barnes

"Knowing the US Government this is going to take me a few hours," Sia explained as they began to type. "I'll come up to your apartment when I have something." They looked back at Mara and smiled. "Don't worry, I have new mouse pads. They give me great wrist support."

"Thank you, Sia, really," Mara replied. "If there is anything I can do to repay you-"

"Nah, don't worry about it," Sia replied. "This will give me great practice for Insomni'hack. Turn up the music on my record player on your way out, okay?"

Mara let herself out and went back to her apartment. The knot in her stomach had only grown tighter over the past few hours, and the tea was beginning to make a comeback. She dug through the red tool box, looking for something to stop the nausea when she found them. The little white pills that a doctor had prescribed Nonna when she stopped sleeping in the aftermath of the Snap. "Take one pill by mouth thirty minutes before bed," she read to herself. It had been a few years, but they should still work.

Mara took two with a glass of water and collapsed onto her bed. She hadn't slept since she threw Bucky out last night had it really only been last night but that wasn't enough to trump the anxiety that had been mounting all morning. And the nightmares- it had been years since Mara had a nightmare about Alex's death. But the knowledge that he had been murdered, by a world renowned assassin no less, all but guaranteed that the nightmares would come back unless she slipped into a drug induced sleep.

When Mara woke up again it was dark out, and Nonna was shaking her awake.

"Mia cara, you need to wake up. Sia is here to see you!"

Mara stirred with a groan and swatted Nonna's hands away. "What time is it?" she asked bearily.

"It's almost nine," Nonna answered. "You've been asleep since I came home around lunchtime. Does your tummy feel better?"

Mara sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, a bit," she replied. The anxiety was still there, coiling in her stomach, but if Sia was here almost ten hours later maybe they had answers that would put Mara at ease.

Mara followed Nonna out of her room to the living area, where Sia was sitting and nibbling at Nonna's famous ricotta cookies. A shoebox bound with twine was at their feet.

"Mara! How was your nap?" they asked kindly. Mara smiled and took a cookie.

"It was good! Did you find the thing I had asked about?" she replied, arching her eyebrow. Sia glanced at Nonna who was making herself comfortable in the armchair and nodded knowingly.

"Yup!" They handed the shoebox to Mara who was caught off guard by the weight of it. "I think you'll be-" Sia paused, "satisfied."

"What did you need Sia's help with?" Nonna asked, looking back and forth between the two.

"One of my PT patients loves Black Widow and I wanted to get her an action figure, but they are not very common," Mara lied. Sia nodded, picking up on the story. Mara would tell Nonna the truth once she herself understood it.

"You'd think that an original Avenger would have more merchandise, but no!" Sia chuckled and shook their head. "I got into a very heated bidding war with a fanboy on eBay, but I hacked his mainframe and made his computer glitch at the last second." They brushed imaginary dust off of their shoulders.

"I don't know how you kids do it," Nonna shook her head. "I can barely get onto dating websites, let alone mess with other people's computers!"

"I could help you set up some profiles!" Sia offered eagerly. "You're a catch, Nonna! You should absolutely put yourself out there!"