It's Always Been Just You and Me

Nightmares - James Buchanan Barnes

The familiar chair restraint Bucky back, leather binds freezing him in place. The room was free of HYDRA soldiers, which made him jump when the sound of the door clicking made him jump. Footsteps thumped quickly behind him. Bucky's panic grew as the person grew near, but the fear was washed away quickly when comforting blue eyes meet with his. Steve didn't say anything though, just tugged at Bucky's restraints.

Out of seemingly no where, a bright red tentacle surrounded Steve's waist, then his arms, legs, and neck. Steve started crying blood, whisper something that read "You're killing me, Buck." Bucky shook his head, now desperately pulling and tugging at his restraints. The tentacle made its way down Steve's throat, tearing his cheeks apart and spraying warm blood onto Bucky's face. It then pulled Steve into the darkness, his lifeless body providing no more hope for Bucky.

Bucky was thrown back against the chair, his restraints becoming tighter than before. A rubber mouth guard was forced into his mouth as the machine descended over his head. As it turned on, Bucky shot up in a cold sweat, not entirely sure what was going on. His breath was completely out of his control and he couldn't see a thing. His ears were ringing, he felt like he was going to die.

A hand on his arm made Bucky jump and flee from the bed, crashing hard onto the floor and desperately crawling toward the wall. Bucky pressed himself up against it and pulled his knees up to his chest. He was unable to stop or slowdown his breathing. The ringing in his ears only grew louder, trapping him inside his own head. He started shaking violently and hot tears ran down his cheeks, making his breathing even more uneven and frantic.

"Bucky?" A voice that sounded muffled came from behind the ringing. "Bucky?!" The ringing stopped and Bucky clearly heard Steve's voice from on the bed. Bucky looked toward Steve but didn't say anything. "Hey there, doll. I'm going to move closer, is that alright?" Bucky nodded slowly. Steve moved from the bed onto the floor, switching on the bedside lamp.  Steve crossed the floor slowly and eventually reached Bucky, keeping his eyes trained on Bucky.

"Breath for me, sweetheart." Steve spoke softly. He took deep breaths and moved his hands for Bucky to follow. It took Bucky a moment before he got it and hand control over his breathing once again. "There you go. Is it alright if I touch you?" Steve asked carefully, receiving a nod in response. He slowly reached forward and cupped Bucky's cheeks, wiping away the tears with his thumbs. "Listen to me carefully. You are James Buchanan Barnes. We're in our apartment in Brooklyn, its 2017, I am Steve Rogers, your boyfriend and long time best friend. I am real, you are real, this is real." He went over the normal talk that calmed Bucky down enough to start talking.

Bucky processed the information and started sobbing audible. He crawled into Steve's arms and held onto him as if it was the last, gripping Steve's shirt tightly. He buried his face into Steve's shoulder and Steve shushed him and rubbed his back. "You're alright, I'm okay. Do you wanna tell me what happened?" Steve kissed the side of his head.

"I was at Hydra and then you came to save me." Bucky explained the dream as best he could through his sobs and sniffles. "It hurt you, Stevie, I hurt you..."

"I'm okay, I'm right here, Buck." Steve cooed softly.

"It felt real..." Bucky relaxed slightly in Steve's arms.

"Well, it wasn't. This is real, I've got you." Steve pet Bucky's hair, helping him to calm down.

Steve managed to get Bucky back up on the bed. Steve held him close and hummed an old tune, truing to get Bucky back to sleep. It took an hour before they were both soundly asleep once more. Steve always new just how to make Bucky feel safe, and it always worked.