Dust To Dust- Bucky Barnes

Now The Work Begins...

As I woke, I felt my body tense, though I wasn't sure what had happened. I looked around in the darkness, trying to find the danger. I saw nothing, though my eyes had started to adjust to the sliver of light that leaked in from the outside world. Still, there had to be something. My Fight or Flight was definitely heightened, and it couldn't have been over nothing.

Suddenly, I got struck in the back. It felt like I'd been hit with a baseball bat, knocking me to the ground. With a sharp gasp, I sat up and crawled frantically away from my attacker, reaching the sharp wall, and pausing as my shoulder grinder against a pointed peak. It took me a moment to recover, then I realized it wasn't an attack at all.

Bucky was crying out and hitting the wall with his hand. Each strike produced a metallic, reverberating sound which echoed through the cave. He was still asleep, and having what seemed to be a night terror.

I wanted to help him, but I knew that it wasn't a good idea to wake people having an episode like that. It was probably worse to do so with someone genetically enhanced. Thinking that very thought is when it sunk in how much trouble I was really in. Bucky was a super soldier stuck in his own head. He could crush me under his vibranium fist like a bug, and he was throwing punches.

So, I did the only thing I could think to do in the heat of the moment, I curled up into a tight ball and I hugged the jagged wall to get as far away from him as possible. There was nothing else to do just then but wait it out. I sat with my arms wrapped around my legs, and hummed my favorite song. I repeated it over and over again out loud, until the cave suddenly fell silent around my words.

I sighed heavily, and finally released my legs, not realizing I had cut the blood flow off to my feet. I spread them out, trying to wake them up, but I accidentally tapped Bucky's knee as I stretched. Like a viper snatching up it's prey, Bucky grabbed my ankle and held onto it like a vice. I gasped in pained surprise and tried to pull away, but he wasn't budging. Whimpering, I tried to pry his fingers off.

"Bucky, let go!" I cried softly, taking a sharp breath. "You're hurting me."

Suddenly, he released me, breathing heavily. I withdrew my leg, curling back into a ball. He was up, and kneeling at my side, before I could slide away from him. I tried not to tip him off to the fear building up inside me, as he watched me from the darkness, his breath coming in ragged huffs.

He took a moment to catch his breath, before addressing me.

"Monroe, I hurt you. I'm sorry. Are you alright?" He gasped with a shaky voice.

I sighed through my teeth, "Yeah, I'm fine. You were having night terrors. It's to be expected with your history. I didn't mean to touch you, I'm sorry."

He came closer, sliding his hand across the dirt, until it came into contact with my thigh. I flinched, and moved away. Hesitantly, he tried again, but I let him continue, inspite of my better judgement. He slowly found my hand, and took it in both of his.

"I'm the only one who should be apologizing. They can take the Winter Soldier out of my head, but not the memories of what we did. I hadn't had an episode in some time, but I should have known the stress would trigger one. Are you sure you're alright?" He said with a pained voice.

"Um... I'm fine, really, the cave wall took the brunt of the attack. I'm fine..." I muttered, trying to make it sound trivial, pointless.

"You said that..." He muttered, slightly annoyed.

"Well, I am. The more important question is, are you? Do you need to talk about it?" I asked hesitantly.

He sat quietly for a moment. Suddenly, he pulled me to his chest. I threw my arms out in surprise, unsure what to do as he slid his warm arms around me. Eventually, I relaxed, and hugged him back.