A Shared Cell Wall (Bucky Barnes X OC)

Undeserving

Bucky jostles around on the little mat he had made for himself on the floor, his nightmare taking over his mind and body. It feels so real, so permanent when the handlers rip Birdy away from him only to execute her. Just like the rest of his dreams, this one feels like its a memory and that only scares him even more. Is Birdy okay? This didn't happen in real life did it? It couldn't have, just before he went to sleep he left her in her room.

Sweat collects on his skin, dripping from his forehead and his fist ball into a deadly grip on the sheets as he dreams. For the life of him he can't stop staring at the corpse of Birdy in the handler's arms. He is being held back by operatives with guns and his voice that sounds so unfamiliar cries out in an uncared for desperation. If only he could get out of the hold he is in.

The handler who has killed Birdy in his nightmare laughs at Bucky's struggle before bending down the corpse and ripping a chain from her neck. His dog tags. At some point in the dream he had given them to her.

It is now that he jolts awake with the sound of the chain snapping away from Birdy's neck. James is breathing hard, his flesh hand reaching up to his chest to confirm his tags are there. The worry of the chain is quickly overshadowed by his rising panic attack.

"Jarvis, call for Birdy."

The green fields in Birdy's own dream fade away when she flinches awake from the sound of someone shouting. It had been a muffled shout from the room over but it was loud enough to cause concern, especially because of whose room it is. James' room.

She goes rigid in her spot on the floor, trying to ground herself. It takes all her self control to not sprint to his room just to get a glance of him and prove he is alright. Yet something stops her. Maybe it's the fear that the second she opens her door she will be re-captured or maybe it's the trepidation that comes from her thought that if she opens his door he may not be there.

A voice in the ceiling startles her, encouraging her to shy away further into the corner of her room. But then she remembers that Tony explained that the man in the ceiling is nice and she had James confirm that he is in fact nice and just wants to help.

"Miss Robin, Mr. Barnes requests your presence in his quarters."

Barnes? Oh! James! The name is something she is going to have to get used to, but it seems an easy enough task to adapt to after everything she has been through. Birdy reluctantly stands from her corner and approaches her door with unease. James requested her so surely she is allowed to leave her room.

Deciding not to question herself any further, the need to get to James being too strong, she flings her door open and rushes to the room beside hers. Her hands temple slightly as she opens his door, worried about what she might find.

As his door swings open, she can see he has every single light off and the bed is stripped of all its contents except for a single pillow. A groan brings her back to reality and her eyes catch the sight of James on the floor on a cot he had made for himself with his head in his hands.

"Winter!" She almost yells as her feet waste no time getting to him, not even noticing her slip of the wrong name. She crouches down beside him and assesses his physical state to make sure he isn't injured by some attacker or anything else that could have caused harm. Upon seeing he is unharmed, she registers the familiar actions of what his panic attacks look like.

The strained breath, gripping at his hair, tightness in his shoulders, and worst of all for her to witness, the watery eyes holding back tears. It is obvious he had another nightmare.

His metal fingers grip at his hair in a desperate manner, if he were to hold on any tighter she is sure he would pull the locks out in big handfuls. Birdy knows he rarely responds to any verbal communication, his senses too overwhelmed so she sits herself on the floor in front of him, their knees almost touching and she closes her eyes to project some thoughts his way. She tugs lightly on the blanket he has on his lap to show him that she is right by him.