"How is that feeling, huh darling?" Basil asked as he gently extended the small arm in his grasp. The little girl, who couldn't be more than eight sniffed as he examined the inflamed joint. It was slightly swollen and obviously sore. He was ever so careful as he examined it. The girl sniffing, dried tear tracks on her cheeks. He spared her a warm smile. "It doesn't seem to be broken. Most likely badly sprained".

The girl's mother, a worn woman with tired lines on her face sighed in relief. Her hair hidden behind a worn and old cotton scarf that had obviously seen better days. Her clothing was a size too big and the sleeves were fraying. Basil turned his smile to a more reassuring one. Things had not been easy. For them or anyone.

It had been a few months since everyone had come back. Tony had retired and Captain America was gone. It was a strange new world. People had returned to find the world entirely different than it was when they had left. They were suddenly without homes and without money. People were gone and people had retuned. There had been death and new life. It was strange. He knew that the little girl he was currently treating was one of the ones who had disappeared during the blip and her mother was fretting over her like she would vanish again at any given moment. Basil understood the feeling. (You never got over watching your loved ones turn into nothing but dust before your eyes. Vanish into thin air with no rhyme or reason. Just gone. Poof and you were suddenly untethered and alone). He might have also disappeared but he had seen the others who went before him. The dust driving around the battlefield. He had seen the footage later of the chaos in the cites as dust filled the air. He had heard enough of nightmares and grief. He had lost people enough and had them return again to claim ignorance with what the rest of the world was dealing with. (It seemed in some ways that they caught up to the kind of trauma he had been dealing with ever since Bucky fell off that train in 1945. Now that was a sad and dark thought. He would have never have wished that fear in anyone).

"One of the nurses will wrap it for you. Over the counter pain killers and ice packs until the swelling goes down shall be fine. Just be careful with it for a few weeks. No more climbing trees", he reminded the child. She pouted and he chuckled. He reached for the drawer in his exam room and pulled it open to reveal a selection of sweets. Lollipops, skittles, chocolate. All in little packets. "May I? Since she was so brave", he asked the mother. She nodded with a received look and he gestured to the drawer. "Okay. Since you were so good you can choose one, Ali".

Ali picked out a green lollipop and grinned at him. She was missing one tooth. "Thank you Doctor Basil", she sung as she hopped off the bed. Her mother reaching for her anxiously as her trainers hit the floor.

"My pleasure. If you two wait here while I get a nurse to come and wrap that for you, I will be a second". He spared them another smile before leaving the white room.

As soon as he was out of the door the smile fell and he was yawning tiredly. The world had adapted to the lack of population and the sudden return of them was straining the resources. People were penniless and homeless. Many nonprofit charities had been set up to aid the returns with healthcare and housing. This was one of them, Basil having been volunteering for them for almost three months now. It was unpaid and long hours serving as a GP or A&E doctor to those who could not go to the hospital. People who no longer had insurance since they were written off as dead, or did not have the money any more. It was hard work and he was exhausted. "Townsen", he greeted one of the nurses at the desk. "There's a little girl in my office needing a sprained wrist wrapped. Could you send someone? I haven't eaten all day and I'm already half an hour over my shift". He leaned his elbows against the counter and ran a hand through his curls.

"Sure. You get some rest Doctor Parrish", she nodded with a freshness that Basil definitely did not feel.

"Thank the goddesses", he groaned as he headed round the desk, feet dragging, and into the small backroom that served as the medical staff's small changing rooms. The building they were in a old three story office block that had been renovated to become the clinic. The ground floors becoming emergency rooms. The first floor now minor injuries while the third was storage and staff rooms. Though, there were never enough rooms and hardly any supplies. Luckily after the first few months of working the rush of people needing help had died down as society began to adjust again. Today had started busy but had calmed, much to his relief. Manic to manageable.

He clumsily swapped a doctor's coat for a knitted jumper and comfy trainers for his customary docs. Grabbing a jacket he exited the changing rooms and waved at the nurses left on the desk as he headed for the lifts to the lower floors. Boots sliding on polished floors as he made his way around busy staff. The midmorning air and the bustle of Washington DC greeting him with the sound of blaring traffic. Basil immediately winced at the sunlight and shivered in the crisp air.

"Parrish", a voice greeted. He turned to see Bucky leaning against the wall near the doors. As he turned, the man pushed off and strolled over to greet him. Basil sighed and the tension in his shoulders eased at the sight of his favourite person.

"Sarge", he breathed in slight surprise. "What are you doing here?" The months had changed Bucky. Gone was the long dark hair and instead it was cut short again, shorter than it was when Basil had first met him. He had lost weight too, the last of the hydra drugs leaving his system and along with it the heavy muscle mass that it had given him. It didn't make him any less strong but it did make him less physically imposing. (Basil loved him either way). He moved different too, more sure of himself. It was nice to see. Echoes of him before the solider stronger than ever before and the time had made him comfortable with them, those memories. Basil was aware that he was still working on the memories of after the war and before he and Steve had found him. Those memories had come back too and they were not kind. It was a work in progress.

"Thought I would pick you up", the man held out the black plastic coffee cup Basil had brought a few weeks ago. It had a picture of a cat glaring at the viewer on the side.

"You didn't have too", Basil smiled as he took the cup. He could feel the warmth of the liquid seeping through the plastic. "How was therapy?" He took a sip and hummed at the taste of a mocha.

Bucky shrugged as he stuck his metal hand, hidden by his leather jacket and glove, into his pocket. Basil took the second one, interlocking their fingers together as they headed for the car park down the street. Bucky's skin was warm in his and he let himself focus on it. "It was alright". There was more he wasn't saying but Basil wouldn't push. If Bucky wanted to tell him then he would in due time.

Basil hummed. "How was the rest of your day?"

"I crossed off a name from the list of my amends today". It was spoken calmly as they crossed the street. Bucky's hand warm in his as he walked Basil home. To his home, not yet their home. It was close enough but not that just yet. Though they did live in the same building and Bucky was around Basil's more often than he was in his own flat, they did not live together yet. They were too damaged to be sharing space. They needed the separation when the nights got too bad. PTSD was a bitch and neither man wants to trigger the other during one of their episodes. Bucky having them more than Basil, but the smaller man still got them. Rare but not rare enough.

"Which one was it?" Basil sipped his coffee with a happy little smile. Bucky exhaled and some of the tension released in his shoulders.

"Senator Atwood. I followed my therapist's three rules. I was good".

"Should I give you a treat later?" Basil wriggled an eyebrow and the remaining tension drained from his partner like water in a sieve.

Bucky made a huff of a laugh before a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, fond amusement in his eyes. "Are you going to let me continue Basil?"

Basil put on an innocent expression and continued sipping his coffee. Bucky was rubbing circles on the back of his hand with his thumb as the taller man steered them around a group of people and past a corner. Basil couldn't keep quiet for long though. "Did you say your line?" He piped up eagerly. "The line your therapist makes you say?"

Bucky sighed and rolled his eyes so hard it was almost audible. He stopped at the doorway to their apartment building and they stood there for a second, just staring at each other. Basil grinning while Bucky gave him the familiar dead eyed stare. After a minute, Bucky looked away. "Yes. I told her the line". He tried for a smile but it was sharp and fake.

Basil giggled. "Did you hurt anyone?" His tone was a bit too relaxed and eager for it to be concerned.

"Nope".

"You're lying". He rose up on his tiptoes to bring their faces closer. "No lying Sarge".

"Don't be a brat Parrish", Bucky shot back immediately. Basil just smiled. "I knocked out her bodyguard. He was fine. Atwood, I sent incriminating files to the police and let them have her".

Basil's grin was a beam. He pressed a quick kiss to Bucky's lips with a dramatic 'muuah' noise that had Bucky sighing. "I'm proud of you. Though I would have liked to see it. Remember, don't feel forced to listen to your therapist-"

"-move at the pace you are comfortable with, not the one she dictates", the blue eyed man finished with a sigh. "You tell me every week". The second sentence was supposed to some out in a huff but it was more of a mumble as he leaned down to press his lips to Basil's hair. Soft touches like this, not sexual but romantic and secure, had really helped with his trauma. Basil had never touched Bucky with cruelty and he never would. It was one of the few pairs of hands that the blue eyed man felt safe in. (And if that fact didn't light up Basil's insides each time then that was his problem).

Basil leaned into it for a moment until Bucky pulled away. "Are you coming to mine for dinner tonight?" He asked as they finally trudged through the doors and into the lobby. "Henry is cooking I think. I hope he is. We can watch a movie. Have you seen The Addams Family yet?"

"Don't think so".

"Well, that obviously must be rectified. Morticia and Gomez are iconic. My favourites are the 90s films though, the new stuff just doesn't hit quite right".

"I'll take your word for it".

unedited

Who missed them? Book four guys! Final one!