BLUE [BUCKY BARNES]

I'LL PROTECT YOU

"It's okay."

Elizabeth sat upright on the bed with Bucky's head in her lap as she stroked the hair back from his face gently. "You're fine," she assured him once more as she looked down at his face to see both his eyes shut tightly.

On the sadly not-so-rare occasions that Bucky Barnes woke up from a nightmare he would look around frantically in the dark of the small apartment for Elizabeth. The days that she happened to be there, his breathing would calm ever so slightly when he saw her sleeping figure beside him. Selfishly, he'd wake her up just to hold her in his arms.

But when she wasn't there that was when he spiraled out of control. Every shadow that he saw in the dark place seemed like a threat in his mind. His head feeling like someone was trying to split it open with an axe.

Usually there was nothing to be done except to ride it out, to endure what could be hours of mental torture. If Alpine was there, it would help sometimes to stroke the cat's soft fur. But the animal was usually out at night, not returning till the early morning.

But tonight, much to Bucky's relief, she was there. "It's alright," Elizabeth continued to soothe him. Both with her words and her powers. Making sure that she didn't let him slip back into his own head. "You're here now, with me."

Elizabeth watched as the erratic rise and fall of his chest slowly calmed down to a steady pace. "I'm here?" Bucky asked unsurely as his eyes remained closed with a crease between his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'm here too." She continued to brush back the hair from his face gently. "Come on open your eyes," Elizabeth says as she taps the side of his face with her two fingers, feeling how hard he clenched down on his jaw.

Hesitantly, Bucky opened his eyes slowly to look up at her. His eyes darted around her face for a minute before he reached a hand up to touch her face gingerly. "You're real," he repeated to himself as he stared into the blue of her eyes.

"Of course I'm real," Elizabeth brought her own hand up to place over his with a smile on her face. "You're safe now, you have nothing to worry about," she continued on as Bucky stared up at her with eyes full of love. She felt his fear and panic slowly fade away at her words. "I'll protect you," she tried cheering him up.

Surprising the both of them, Bucky let out a light laugh. His mind now only on the person who smiled down at him. "You gonna protect me, dollface?" He questioned, not knowing that Elizabeth truly meant what she said. The old nickname coming out unexpectedly.

"You got a problem with that?" She retorted, trying to keep his mind off whatever nightmare he had.

"I'm supposed to be the one protecting you," Bucky corrected as his thumb absentmindedly went back and forth across her cheek. He looked up at her face and knew that he'd never let anything bad ever happen to her. He'd make sure of it.

Shaking her head softly, Elizabeth brought his hand away from her face to lay beside her as she played with his fingers. "Says who?" She challenged with a raised eyebrow.

Reaching up once more with a metal hand, he cupped her jaw and brought her down for a light kiss. "Says me," he told her while she rested her forehead against his.

***

The next morning, Bucky and Elizabeth walked side by side with their arms looped together as they approached the farmers market. Both of them wore dark baseball hats pulled down to cover their faces. Alpine sat comfortably inside Bucky's jacket that was zipped halfway up, the cat purring softly.

"No one's gonna know," Elizabeth said once she took note of how her partner constantly looked over his shoulder as if expecting someone to jump up behind them.