Amnesia

C6: Nightmares

The night was filled with screams.

I recognized them, but they weren't mine.

They were Steve's.

I bolted upright from the sound, and looked around trying to identify him in the dark.

Steve...

Steve...

The door. His door.

I got up and ran over to it, opening it with a force that slammed it back against the wall.

"Steve?"

I got mumbles as a reply, and the yelling started up again.

I ran over to the side of his bed and watched as his face buried into the pillow beside him, muffling his voice.

"Steve. Steve. Hey, wake up!" I whispered to him as I shook his shoulders.

His breathing was becoming faster and he was starting to shake.

"Steve!"

I climbed up beside him on the bed, and put my hand on his face.

"Wake up!" I said gently shaking him.

Then without any notice, flashes of a memory started again...

"STEVE WAKE UP PLEASE!" A younger me pleaded as I shook his frail little body in his bed.

His nightmares were always bad, and my attempts to wake him up always failed.

"Steve..."

He reached out and grabbed my arm, holding tightly as I reached up to play with his hair with my other hand.

"Sssshhh you're gonna be alright." I whispered to him.

"Don't... leave..." he whimpered as I curled up next to him on his bed.

"Shhhh I'm not going to leave... calm down Stevie." I said still weaving his blonde hair through my fingers.

"I'm right here..."

"I'm not leaving you."

Without realizing what I was doing, I immediately laid down next to him and grabbed his shoulder.

"You're gonna be alright. Shhh I'm right here."

I reached my hand up towards his face and wiped a strand of hair away from his forehead.

"It's okay Stevie..."

The shaking stopped.

"Bucky?" He whispered with a terrified voice.

"Yeah Steve it's me. It's me."

He clung to my shirt as his breathing was starting to calm down. I could feel his heart beat slowing, and it was actually calming to me too.

I closed my eyes and kept shushing him, relaxing him and me at the same time.

I reached up to play with his hair again, but as I did, I started to fall asleep, drifting off to the familiar feel of his arms around me.

************

I woke up to the staring gaze of two blue eyes.

Steve's blue eyes.

"Hey Bucky?" He whispered as I closed my eyes again.

"Hmm?" I mumbled.

"What are you doing in my bed?"

In his bed?

What?

I opened my eyes again and looked around.

"Oh sorry... I... well..." I sat up embarrassed and searching to put the pieces together.

"You were having a nightmare last night, so I was just... helping you?"

"Helping me?" He questioned, sounding like the little old Steve I knew from my dreams.

"Yeah... I guess... I don't know... I just remembered something about your nightmares as a kid and... it just worked..." I rambled on as I brushed my hands over my face, standing up from the bed.

He looked over to me and smiled.

"You remember me having nightmares?" He quietly laughed.

"Um yeah... it just kinda came to me in the moment."

He walked into the bathroom and fished around with some stuff underneath the mirror.

"Damn I look like crap." He said looking up.

I laughed, falling back into the bed, running my hands through my hair.

"So what were you dreaming about?" I taunted him.

"Shut up Barnes." I heard from the bathroom as a towel landed over my face.

"Hey!"

He laughed as I picked it up and threw it back at him.

"Go take a shower, punk." I teased.

"Jerk." He called as he shut the door. "I hate you."

"No you don't!"

"No... I don't." I heard mumbled from behind the door.