After the battle against Thanos and his armies, Marlow Hendrix is tasked with helping Steve Rogers return the Infinity Stones to their rightful times. When her mission goes awry in 1970, she keeps her resolve, waiting to find a way out of an increas...
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TW: This chapter deals with mentions of sexual assault and rape.
Nothing is explicit or seen, however, please avoid the chapter if this is something that will upset you.
Take care,
Steve
⁂
It was shocking to wake up to the sound of something crashing to the ground—and it took Marlow a dozen breaths to locate herself in Brooklyn, not within the bowels of a Siberian mountain.
But that was almost as scary because what would be crashing within her apartment?
She was out of bed immediately, silent as she slipped through the darkness and into the hall before her nerves sparked at the sight of Bucky on the ground in front of the island, one of the barstools on its side beside him. He was crouched forward, his elbows digging into his propped-up knees while his fingers were gripping his hair so tightly she thought it must hurt.
What made it worse were the ragged breaths that he was trying and failing to suck in.
She was in front of him in a heartbeat, hands wrapping tentatively over his when he jumped slightly, his head snapping up to reveal a grimace as he watched her and struggled to breathe.
"Let go, Bucky," she said gently, urging at his fingers to release their grip.
He just stared at her, almost as if he didn't hear her.
"Bucky," she repeated, squeezing his hands slightly.
It seemed to be enough to knock him into awareness as he loosened his fingers. "I can't breathe," he wheezed.
"I know," she nodded. "Try to follow my breaths, alright? The way you do with me. In..." she ordered gently.
He tried, but it seemed to pain him to breathe. "I can't."
"You can, come on, try again."
"No—I can't. It's... it's not fair—I choked—"
She clenched her jaw and nodded. "Don't think about that. Just think about us, here, right now. Listen to my breathing," she soothed, taking a slow breath that she hoped he would follow.
"Marlow," he called weakly.
"I'm here. But come on, follow my breathing."
She took a paced breath, hoping to hear him follow, but he didn't.
"You weren't breathing. I—I choked you—"
She froze at that, mind turning until it finally made sense; she must have been in his nightmare...
