Broken Together

Chapter 13

Bucky POV

    I wake up on the couch and hear a noise coming from the other side of the room. It takes me a minute to remember where I am. I sit up completely and look towards the noise. I see a figure sitting up on the bed and the sound I hear is the soft sobs of the person.

    I don't think I am in Steve's room. The figure on the bed is far to small. It is then that I realise that I am in my own room, and Cassie is crying on my bed. I get up from the couch and find a light. I turn on the light and look at Cassie, She is sitting up in bed crying, but she is not awake. She is sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest, and rocking back and forth.

        "Cassie?" I walk towards the bed slowly. She could light up at any moment, and I don't want that to happen. "Cassie." I continue to call out to her quietly. I reach the bed and hesitate touching her shoulder. I debate on whether I should call Natasha or not.

      I decide against getting her when Cassie screams and fights the air around her. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone, please! Leave me alone!" She moves herself to the head of the bed and presses her back against the wall. She cries even harder and that's when I notice the marks on her wrist.

         I rush over and grab her shoulders. "Cassie. Cassie, wake up." I grab her shoulders and know that the chances of her lighting up are even more likely now than ever. "Cassie, I need you to wake up, please."

She punches me hard and I see her body start to turn red, I know the flames are coming.

          I jump from the bed and grab a cup from the cabinets and then I fill it with cold water. I rush back to the bed just as her fingers start to flame up. I throw the water at her face and she opens her eyes. The flames on her fingers go away.

          "Cassie?" I speak to her again, this time she responds. She looks up at me and shakes off the water on her hands and face.

         "Yeah," She responds.

         "Are you okay?" I don't know what to do really. I see the cuts on her wrist are fresh and her nails are dirty with blood.

          "I don't know, what happened?" She looked around the room and then looks at her wrists, she covers them quickly and then stares away from me.

         "I don't know what happened, but I am guessing you had a really bad nightmare. Then you sat up, screamed, cried and almost burnt down the place. I splashed you with water to see if you would wake up, I'm really sorry if it hurt you. It was my last chance." She continued to stare away from me and kept her wrists away from my vision. She sat in silence for a while, then I walked to the bed and held out my hand to her.

           "What are you doing?" She asked.

           "Showing you it's okay." Then I took her arm and placed it in my metal hand. I knew I wouldn't hurt her, and I knew I needed to get bandages on her wrists now.

           "You don't have to feel sorry for me, or take care of me. I'll be okay now that the nightmare is gone." I can see the tears in her eyes and I know that she doesn't want to be alone but I don't want to call her out. Rather, I tell her about myself.

           "You know Cassie," I begin, and she looks at her wrist in my hand. "I have nightmares too. That's why I don't sleep. I haven't slept in months until just now. I have been scared this entire time. I, the big and bad Winter Soldier, am scared of all this. I am scared of HYDRA catching me again and doing the same things to me. I fear that they will come back and take you away from me, and that you will never escape again. I don't want them to hurt anyone again and that scares me. It hurts me to see that they are still messing with you and to see the harm right here in my hands just kills me." I take a deep breath and think of all I just said and instantly regret some of it. But I also mean every word I say.

        Cassie blinks and I see the tears fall from her face and onto the bed. She pulls her wrist away from me and then wraps both arms around my neck, and her head against my chest. I slowly wrap my arms around her small figure, shocked by this. I pick her body up and move so my back is against the wall and she is still hugging me. I know she will fall asleep. I can just tell.

            "Thank you," she whispers.

            "I'll go stand outside if you want." As soon as I finish I feel her head shake against my chest.

            "No. Stay with me please." I hold her until she falls asleep and is laying on top of me. I can't really move so I fall asleep with her under my arm. I squeeze her close to make sure this is real and that she is okay. Her soft breaths calm me enough to let me drift to sleep again.

          Before I am out completely, I hear her mutter one last thing, "I feel safe right here." Something hits my emotions and I fall asleep with a smile on my face.