Aftermath [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Seven

SARAH'S POV

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of Bucky screaming. His rough, scratchy scream cut through the silent night, jolting me awake. I immediately sat up and leaned over, softly rubbing his shoulder and arm. His screams were filled with pure pain; they were sickening to listen to.

My lips murmured comforts against his skin but his cries of agony continued. They lasted for a few more minutes, tearing through the otherwise silent night and reminding me of just how broken he still is.

Eventually his screams let up, and I was glad Calypso wasn't in here, and that she was still with Nat. I didn't want her to be exposed to this kind of pain yet.

When the screams stopped, I laid back down next to him and wrapped my arm around his middle, pulling him close to protect him. I could only imagine what horrors he saw at night; subconsciously, I wondered how much worse they probably were when I was gone.

Hours later I was awoken by another scream, this one a few doors down from me. I guessed it was Tony.

I heard one more just before I succumbed to exhaustion, but I was too far gone to figure out who's it was. Sleep had finally dragged me under, and I wasn't about to claw my way to the surface. Not when it's so hard to slip beneath it.

--

MORNING

When I woke up again, the bed beside me was cold. Bucky had to have been up for a while by now.

I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, and checked the clock. The blinking numbers read eleven AM, the latest I have slept since probably before the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. Shocked, I immediately got up, slipping on a bra, black tank top and grey sweatpants. Undoing my loose and extremely ugly ponytail I pulled my curly disaster to the side, forcing it into a braid. I hadn't done anything nice with my hair in a very long time.

Opening my room door, I walked downstairs. Natasha, Cara and Clint were on the couch, chatting idly while glancing every now and then at the TV. Tony and Bruce were tinkering with something in the middle of the room while Tony argued with Pepper, who was irritated that they were working in the middle of everyone. John sat at the kitchen counter, casually flipping through a newspaper, while Thor stood over his shoulder and asked him something I couldn't quite make out. Steve and Bucky were nowhere to be seen.

I wrapped my arms around myself, as it was freezing down here (it must've been really cold for it to bother me) and asked Nat where Steve and Buck were.

"I think they are in the gym. Bucky has been in there for a few hours now- Steve went to check on him," she replied, giving me a slightly concerned look. I shrugged and headed to the elevator, where JARVIS took me to the gym/training level.

The doors dinged and parted, revealing Steve and his partner in crime in the middle of a heavy fist fight. Bucky swung his metal fist towards Steve, who dodged it just in time. Steve twisted, using the momentum from the dodge to turn and knee Bucky in his abdomen. Buck's eyes flashed with annoyance before dropping to the floor, swinging his foot around and knocking Steve to the ground. He looked up right as Steve went down, locking eyes with me, and released his hold on Cap.

"Good morning sleepyhead," he said, giving me an amused look. I smiled.

"First time I've slept in since before I met you," I replied, just as Steve recovered. He tackled Bucky as he opened his mouth to reply, the two of them wrestling on the floor. I shook my head at their shenanigans, deciding to mess with them.

"Boys, boys, you're both pretty! No need to fight over who's prettiest!" I called, and they immediately stopped and gave me weird looks that made me burst out laughing. I leaned over, out of breath, and clung to the nearest bench for dear life. Slowly they scooted away from each other, and I swear I could cut the tension with a knife.

"I...the looks on your faces....I can't!" I choked out between laughs, and they couldn't help but start laughing too. By the time I stopped laughing my sides were aching, and it was the best feeling in the world.

The giggles died down and we all recovered, slowly getting back to work. Bucky stood and grabbed a weight ball off the nearest rack, turning around and tossing it to me with a sudden, "think fast!" that scared the shit out of me. Luckily, I caught it.

We began with a set of sit ups, passing the weight ball between us after each one. After that, Steve decided that cardio should be our top priority, and proceeded to make us run for thirty freaking minutes.

Him and Bucky? They were fine.

Me? Im pretty sure I blacked out like twice due to a lack of oxygen, which can't possibly be good for my body at the moment.

After that horrific half hour was over, we did some more leg workouts before breaking for lunch.

As I walked downstairs, the smell of sweat and death was replaced by the scent of grilled cheese, courtesy of the wonderfully perfect Pepper. Steve and Bucky grabbed like five each (which luckily Pepper had prepared for, as the stack of grilled cheeses was taller than me) and began hurriedly stuffing themselves. I, on the other hand, laid down in the middle of the living room, right under the fan with an ice pack on my head.

I didn't move for twenty minutes.

Afterwards, I grabbed two of the grilled cheese sandwiches, which were absolutely amazing. I sat at the kitchen table next to Calypso, whom Nat had placed in a high chair already. I gave her a kiss on the nose and talked to her about my day so far even though she didn't understand a single word of it. I then stuffed myself full of gooey grilled cheese and elected to not participate in the afternoon portion of Bucky and Steve's training, on account of I signed up for training, not certain death. Instead, I sat and watched a little bit of TV with the gang, letting Tony watch Doctor Who for once. He was very excited, but I'm not sure anyone else particularly enjoyed the show. Calypso laid on my lap, sleeping heavily in my arms and ignoring Tony's lame commentary, just as I was.

Halfway through the first episode, I began to fall asleep on Nat, Calypso still asleep in my arms. The sound of Doctor Who faded away as I pulled Calypso closer and drifted to sleep.

Finally, my body was able to rest after a tiring day.

--

AN

soo how was it? a bit of fluff, as we haven't had that in a while!

please comment & message me more guys! I freaking love reading them and will always reply to messages 😀

-Jordan💕