The Adventures Of Venom

nightmares

When Alex opened her eyes slowly. Her face was wet, nose stuffy, body covered in sweat, hair rustled around, and it stuck to her forehead slightly.

Nightmares. Something that happened to Alex more than she would like to admit.

Alex took a shaky breath as she rolled onto her back. Her hands rose to her eyes as she pressed her palms into her eyes.

After a moment, she wiped the tears off her face and took a look around the room as she sat up and curled her legs up to her chest.

It was dark. The only light was the mechanical eyes of Bart and Bowie glowing faintly as they charged in a corner. Despite the low light, Alex could see the layout of her room. Technically, it wasn't her room. It was just where she slept in the tower.

Normally, the room brought her comfort, but in this moment, it just made her feel uneasy.

Alex winced as sharp talons dug into her shoulder. It was Wednesday. The raven didn't need sleep, so it just watched over everything.

The pain from Wednesday's talons digging into her skin brought Alex a sick sense of comfort. At least she knew this moment was real.

Alex wiped at her face once more before she uncurled her legs from her chest and slipped out of bed with the raven still clinging to her shoulder.

She made a small clicking noise with her tongue, causing Wednesday to fly off her shoulder and hover mid-air for a moment. This allowed Alex to tug on an old gray hoodie of hers before she turned to Wednesday, "Stay," she ordered.

The bird listened, and Wednesday always did. Perks of it being magic and all.

As Alex moved out of her room and into the hallways, she resisted the urge to cry, throw up, slide down a wall with her arms over her head, or stumble around blindly.

All of those took more work than she was willing to give.

She moved through the quiet halls of Stark Tower like a ghost. The only noise she made was her bare feet padding against the cold floor.

Soon enough, the wind was blowing against Alex's face as she sat curled up on the roof. Alex liked the stars, and despite the air pollution, she could always see a few out in the night sky.

Alex's fingers rubbed over the material of her sweater as she tried to breathe slowly.

Alex didn't like nightmares. She especially didn't like waking up after nightmares.

She didn't like looking around trying to decide if the moment was real, she didn't like the way she would be covered in sweat, she didn't like the sting of tears on her face, she didn't like how sometimes she couldn't breath for a moment, she didn't like how her body would be trapped in the blankets.

She didn't like nightmares at all.

So now here Alex was, on the roof of Stark Tower, in an old hoodie, knees up to her chest, arms around her legs, shoulders shaking, tears rolling down her face.

Alex stiffened as she heard the sound of footsteps. Can't people just leave her alone for one fucking second?

Apparently not, because the steps got louder until the door was pushed open and a person walked out onto the roof.

Bucky looked around for a moment before his eyes settled on Alex. The girl avoided his gaze by turning her head to the side.

A shadow loomed over Alex as Bucky stood over her, "Can I sit?" He asked lightly as he pointed beside Alex.

The moon light up Bucky's face slightly, not enough for Alex to see him fully, but enough that she could see his expressions.

Alex made a noise between a grunt and a huff as one of her hands waved at the spot beside her before Alex used her sleeve to wipe at her face.