𝗣𝖮𝗟𝗔𝗥𝖨𝗭𝗘 ➣ 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤-𝐑𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 ²

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄: 𝐂𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥

song of the chapter:
Gilded Lily by Cults

"𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐂𝐀."

The world was warm and heavy, and she was so deep into the the comfort that it took several seconds for the word to register.

"Becks." There was a hand making gentle contact to her head, stroking back and forth. "Becca. Can you hear me?"

Becca nodded sleepily, not registering much of what was going on.

There was a low sound, like a snort. Then the warmth was slowly pulled away and she curled up into herself, her face scrunching up unhappily.

The voice snorted again, amusement lacing its words as it spoke. "Yeah, doll, I know. But I need you to wake up for a second, cause you'll be mad at me if you don't."

Becca blinked once, twice, and then a third time to help her vision become less blurry.

Her eyes focused on her brother's face above hers.

"Mornin'," Bucky said, and he was smiling. A real, genuine smile, at seemingly nothing. "You slept for a long time, Becks. You're feeling' good, huh?"

Becca felt her nose scrunch as an infectious smile spread across her own face. She nodded, rubbing her eye with the palm of her hand. "Yes."

Bucky jutted his chin toward the tactical watch on his wrist. "Eight in the morning."

What?

Becca sat up quickly, glancing at his watch to make sure it was right.

It was.

She looked up at him, suddenly wide awake, her entire face morphed into one of panic.

"Hey," Bucky said quickly, realizing where he'd gone wrong. "No, no, no, this is good-"

Becca scrambled to her feet, her entire body ready to fight, before Bucky quickly reached up and grabbed her wrists.

It took a moment- a long, excruciating moment, for her to realize she wasn't breathing. When she did, the rush of air into her lungs was pure bliss, and it re-fueled her movements, clearing her head and letting her register that she wasn't in danger.

And really, what a beautiful feeling that was- even if she was still learning it.

It took another long moment to realize that Bucky was exaggerating his slow breathing, giving her subconscious something to latch onto as it reorganized herself.

"You're okay," Bucky said, tugging on her wrists. His eyes were a bit wide and unsure of what to do. "See? It's just us. No one's comin'."

Long-learned instincts screamed at her to fight, run, hold your ground, get away-

But Bucky's voice was so much kinder; so much safer... she wanted to hold onto that instead.

Bucky was tugging her back down onto the mattress she slept on, tugging her back out of her memories and back to him.