daybreak. / bucky barnes

7 | NINE

(девять)

SCREAMS. ALL THAT could be heard was screams. Blood curdling, tear jerking screams. The high-pitched sounds racked the walls around the apartment, banging and thumping accompanying it. It sounded violent, painful even. It was enough to bring attention to Bucky, who never really slept in the first place, but when he actually got a little shut eye tonight, he was woken up by these violent screams. Screams that even brought caution to him.

   The minute the screams had begun to pierce the air, he was up, pacing the room to pinpoint the sound and who the hell it was coming from. Whoever it is coming from is obviously in pain, he thought. He breathed heavily for a moment before the realization hit him in the face like a wave trampling upon him.

   Gray.

   In only seconds, he was to the door to her temporary room, his hands quickly fumbling with the somehow locked door. His strong arms shoved against the door as he unlocked it, flinging it open with a loud thud as the handle hit the wall on the inside, ricocheting off the wall and without a doubt leaving a dent in it.

   Not even a full second after the door had opened, a cold, metal hand was shoved against his throat, shoving him against the opposite wall of the hallway with such force that the back of his head felt like a thousand lightening bolts were prickling through it with the hard hit put there. Gray's eyes burned hard into his with tears filling them. The familiar, warm, and comforting brown that usually adorned them now gone, only to be replaced by a dark, threatening brown color that was closer to the color black than brown.

   She looked menacing as Bucky stood still, keeping his palms flat against the wall, though he was starting to feel lightheaded with the force being put on his throat nearly completely closing his airways.

   "Gray—"

"If you ever lock me in a room when I'm like this ever again, I will fucking kill you," Gray says with a break in her tone. Her voice sounded stern yet strangled because of the overwhelming screaming that overtook it only minutes before, making her sound weaker.

Bucky nods, keeping eye contact with her and trying his hardest to keep her calm without saying a word in risk of provoking her. He knew how this went. He knew how she felt to the fucking point. He couldn't help but to feel sorry for her because he knew how much she was currently physically and emotionally hurting.

It stayed silent as Gray lowered her arms, laying them at her sides as she backed up against the wall, letting herself slide slowly down the wall until she was left at a sitting position directly across from Bucky, his eyes looking down at her.

A tear ran down her cheek as she stared blankly at the wall, leaving a glossy stream in its wake. Her teeth were clenched, making her jaw seem more prominent in the soft light cast upon her from the window in the kitchen. Bucky only stared at her, slowly sinking down to her level and sitting across from her, looking at her carefully as she stared off into space as her eyelids slightly fluttered, hot tears running down her face every minute or so.

I could help, Bucky thought, his eyes still not leaving her face. He had been through a lot of these episodes before, too. So perhaps he could help talk her down from this one.

"Gray?" His voice was soft and cooing as he spoke, hairs flying in his face that had come loose from the bun that was settled on the top of his head. It made him look softer, Gray had thought as she finally looked at him. She thought she would compliment him, tell him how pretty he looked, but she stayed silent, pressing her lips together in a firm line and waiting for him to speak again. His eyes held hers as he waited, his face neutral as he watched her. "What happened?"