Two months after Endgame/Four months before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Irina tossed and turned as flashes from her past played throughout her mind.
The Red Room. Her and Bucky falling from the train. The brainwashing from HYDRA. Zemo brainwashing them. Being dusted.
She woke up with a gasp and made her way to the kitchen quietly as not to wake Bucky or Callie. She poured a drink and sat in the dark, drinking her liquor.
Bucky, who'd noticed that the their bed of sorts was empty, went to look for Irina. He found her in the kitchen.
"Rina? What are you-" He noticed the bottle of whiskey. "It's quarter to two. Why are you drinking?"
"To try to forget," Irina replied simply.
"Haven't you and I had enough forgetting?"
Irina's eyes flashed, making them seem darker. "Don't bring that up."
Bucky moved her glass and took her hands. "Rina, what'd you see?"
Irina's eyes darted back and forth before she looked down. "A lot of things."
"You want to tell me about them?"
"The usual ones." She reached for her glass, intent on downing the contents. While she couldn't get drunk, that didn't mean she didn't want to pretend she could. Bucky moved it further away. "Let me have that glass, James."
"Resorting to alcohol isn't a smart idea."
"I can't get drunk. I'll be fine. Give me the damn glass."
"No."
"I will shoot or stab you."
"We're both expert assassins."
Irina smiled sweetly and ran her hands along Bucky's shoulders and down his arms before pressing a kiss to his cheek and snuck behind him. She grabbed her glass and smirked.
Bucky frowned. "That's cheating."
"You never said that." Her expression fell.
"Rina?"
"Even awake they never stop. I see myself hurting Steve. I see myself hurting and killing all those I've..." She fell silent and fiddled with her hands. "Will they ever stop, Buck? The nightmares?"
Bucky crossed the room and stood in front of her. "I don't know, doll. I wish I could tell you different."
Irina stared blankly at a wall and sighed. "Yeah, me too. Goodnight, Buck." She curled up on the floor, trying to fall asleep.
Bucky stared at Irina a moment with a worried expression before picking her up. Her head cuddled into his chest as she let out a small protesting whine.
"Shh," Bucky said softly. "I'm here, Rina. I'll take the nightmares away." He laid her down and sat next to her, stroking her hair softly.
Irina cuddled into him as she drifted back to sleep.
YOU ARE READING
Fields of Bone // TFATWS
ActionTrying to maintain a normal life whilst being a Super Soldier and a former assassin isn't easy. And being dusted for five years certainly didn't help. New threats emerge and the shield, given by the captain himself to a man who built a pair of wing...
