Apartment 102 (B. Barnes) (AU)

Chapter Sixteen: Jodie's Nightmare

"Some things are better left buried."
- Kol Mikaelson

Song: Level of Concern by Twenty One Pilots

"Cause I told you my level of concern, but you walked by like you never heard."

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The night had been dark and cold. Summer was coming, but the nights were still cold. In a few weeks, the nights would finally be just a little warmer. Eventually, once summer came, the nights would be warm, and some nights may even be hot. Harlow had an air conditioner in each room, other than the bathroom, and she always had all the rooms at a nice temperature.

Bucky was use to weather, even extreme heat and frigid cold, but that was because HYDRA never cared to give any of their prisoners, experiments, soliders-whatever a person wanted to call them-air conditioning or heating. They didn't even get fans, and Bucky was somewhat surprised they had oxygen to breathe and survive.

Bucky knew they practically starved their soldiers, he remembered how poorly he was treated. He remembered going days without water, and sometimes almost a week without food. When he was given food, it wasn't good at all. It was tasteless, looked disgusting, and sometimes was only small portions. He didn't have to eat often though, since he was put in cryofreeze after most of his missions.

His best friend Steve had been his last mission, but he ran away, and he was somewhat happy that he ran away. If he didn't, he could've killed his old friend. Also, if he hadn't have run, he might've been stuck in government hands. He didn't want to be imprisoned by the government, just like he didn't want to he imprisoned once again by HYDRA.

Thinking about Steve, HYDRA, all the torture he endured, among other things made Bucky's mind run wild. He wasn't able to sleep all night, but he didn't think he really wanted to be asleep. He knew his wild mind would've caused worse nightmares for him. While he was laying in his bed trying to calm his mind, he heard terrified screaming coming from Harlow and Jodie's apartment. He could tell almost immediately that the screams were from Jodie.

"Jodie! Open your eyes! It's just a nightmare!" He heard, causing his heart to clench.

Harlow had woken up at one in the morning to Jodie screaming. The terrified screams of Jodie caused Harlow's blood to run cold. She jumped out of her bed and ran into Jodie's room. When she entered the room, Jodie was sitting up in the bed screaming. Her eyes were still closed, and Harlow could tell that the child was still asleep.

"Jodie! Open your eyes! It's just a nightmare!" Harlow exclaimed, as she rubbed Jodie's hair comfortingly.

When Jodie had successfully been woken up, she started bawling her eyes out. Her cries made Harlow's heart break. Jodie buried her face in her mother's neck, holding tightly to her shoulders.

"What happened, darling? What did you see?" Harlow asked, causing Jodie to sit up slightly.

"A bad guy. A bad guy tried to hurt us, Mummy. There was a lot of blood. I was so scared," She cried, making Harlow frown.

"Oh, love, nothing is going to happen. There isn't a bad guy trying to hurt us, I promise," Harlow cooed, as she kissed the side of Jodie's head.

"No, 'cause Bucky will save us," Jodie replied, looking up at Harlow.

"What? Bucky?" Harlow questioned, furrowing her eyebrows.

"He saved us from the bad guy, Mummy," She answered, before gasping,"We have to check on Bucky! He was hurt! I need to make sure he's okay!" She cried out, jumping from her bed.

Jodie began to pull on her mother's arm, but Harlow tried to stop her. Jodie had so much force in her pull, she was almost yanking Harlow from the bed.

"No, Jodie. Bucky's sleeping. We can't wake him up. If your screams haven't woken him, knocking on his door sure will," Harlow argued, but Jodie wasn't having it.

"Please, Mummy! I have to see he's okay! He's my best friend! Please!" She cried, tears falling down her face again.

"Fine," Harlow murmured,"I really hope he's already awake," She whispered to herself, walking her daughter to the door.

Harlow was glad she wore a bra to bed, mostly because she had accidentally fallen asleep with it on, but with it, she wouldn't have to worry about the cold causing her breasts to be too noticable. She already had a noticable bust, and she didn't want help making it even more known.

Opening the front door, Jodie ran to Bucky's door and began to knock on the door. She kept calling his name every second, but when he opened the door, Jodie didn't even give him a second before she wrapped her arms around his leg.

"You're okay," She murmured, holding tightly to him.

"Yes, I was just in bed. Are you okay? What happened?" He asked, patting the top of her head.

Bucky was happy that he had kept on his hoodie because of the cold, otherwise they would've seen his hand. He just barely slipped on a glove to cover his hand before he had opened the door.

"She had a nightmare. She wanted to see you," Harlow said, causing Bucky to nod.

"They hurt you, Bucky. The bad guy. He hurt Mummy, and he was gonna hurt me. You stopped him. You saved me, but he hurt you," Jodie explained, making Bucky frown.

Bucky crouched down to Jodie's height and placed his hand on her shoulder, lightly rubbing her cheek with his thumb.

"As long as I'm around, nothing and no one will ever hurt you-you or your mother," Bucky said, looking directly in her eyes,"I promise," He murmured, and she nodded lightly.

"I'm happy you're okay," Jodie commented, as she carefully wrapped her arms around Bucky's neck.

Bucky stiffened for a moment, but after realizing it was a simple hug, he loosened up and gently pat the girl's back.

"I think it's time for you to go to bed, Jodie. It's late, and you have school tomorrow," Bucky said, and Harlow nodded in agreement.

Harlow doubted she'd send Jodie to school after such a horrible nightmare, but the little girl still needed sleep. She just hoped the little girl would get the sleep she desperately needed...