Never Safe

Chapter Sixty-Two

Bucky persuaded you to have dinner with everyone. You were quiet again now that everyone was around, but no one judged you for it. The Avengers ordered Chinese food and ate in the living room.

You were sat between Bucky and Steve. Bucky had his arm around Natasha, sat on the other side of him, so you cuddled up to Steve. Peter and Wanda were on the floor, leaning back against the sofa. Peter was sat just in front you so you had your hand on his head, playing with his hair. You were focused on the TV, watching Brooklyn 99.

You ended up being there for a couple hours, so you gotten through quite a few episodes. The Avengers had been leaving one or two at a time every now and again. You, however, fell asleep on the couch before getting the chance to go back to your room. You drifted off, leaning against Steve.

***

Steve wasn't there when you woke up.

You'd suddenly startled awake, opening your eyes to escape the nightmare you'd been having. You tiredly pushed yourself to sit up on the couch, on which you were lying alone. Steve had gone. So had Bucky and Natasha. (When Nat had fallen asleep, Bucky carried her back to her room. He'd decided to stay with her since you were already asleep, forgetting about your nightmares.)

Tonight, your dream hadn't been so bad, but you didn't want to be alone. You looked around the room. Thor and Tony were on the other couches. Even if they weren't so fast asleep that they were snoring, they wouldn't be people you'd go to for comfort. So you got up and left, and headed for Bucky's room.

When you got there, you knocked. There was no answer. It made sense as he was probably asleep. You opened the door quietly, hoping to sneak into the bed. But the room was empty.

You turned in the doorway to face the corridor. "Jarvis, where's Bucky?" you whispered.

"Miss Romanoff's room."

You stood still for a minute. You didn't know what to do. You didn't want to go and bother them but you didn't want to go back to sleep on your own, in case the nightmares got worse. You could go back to your own room, but sitting in your bed doing nothing would probably end up with you drifting off again.

You concluded that you'd walk around for a while. You hadn't explored much of the compound, but you could do it now that everyone was out of the way. The Avengers Compound was amazing. You wandered around, finding a gym, a music room, a library, about half a dozen training rooms. You found another kitchen which seemed as if it was used a lot less, given the fact it was a lot cleaner than the other one. This one had an alcohol closet, but it was less of a closet and more of a small room connected to the kitchen. You tried to remember how you got there, for future reference.

You left that room and continued exploring. The more you walked, the less interesting the rooms became. You passed conference rooms with glass walls and empty offices. It had been dark so your eyes had adjusted, but you came across a door slightly ajar, with light spilling out. You edged towards it curiously. You peeked through the doorway.

There was someone in there. You made eye contact with them so you quickly stepped back outside.

"Y/n?" 

You were leaning back against the wall. You took a deep breath before peering back around the door.

"Hi" you mumbled to Maria. 

"You alright?"  

"Mhm." 

"Why are you up?" she asked. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's three am."     

"I had a nightmare and I don't want to go back to sleep in case I have another one."

"Oh."

"Why are you awake? Are you working?"