Titanium ~A Bucky Barnes Love Story~

Chapter Eight

  Caden awoke with a start.

"What time is it?" She muttered, stretching her stiff back from a night of sleeping against a wall before leaning back against whatever she had been resting her head on.

What exactly was her head on anyway? She opened one eye, looking up.

It was Bucky.

"Ah!" She whisper-yelled, resisting the urge to jump up, for his arms were still tightly wrapped around her. "How did this happen?" She rubbed her forehead, her memory still foggy from sleep, as she tried to remember how exactly she had ended up in this particular position.

Then she remembered.

The nightmare. Bucky had had a nightmare. He had relapsed into the Winter Soldier again, he had attacked her, thrown her against a wall. For some reason, her hand really hurt.

She glanced down at her wrist. The bruise had intensified, growing an ugly bluish-green overnight..

"Maybe it is broken," she muttered, running a hand along it, wincing as her fingers made minimum contact with the swollen skin.

She dropped her hand to her side, making a mental note to have Banner x-ray it later on, and, very slowly, she removed Bucky's arm, wiggling out of his vice like grip.

She glanced at the bedside table as she stood up, reading the time on the digital clock. "Nine o'clock?" She exclaimed quietly.

How had she slept so long?

Grabbing a blanket off of the bed, she gently draped it over Bucky's sleeping frame. He shuttered slightly as the soft material made contact with his body, but he stayed asleep.

'Poor thing needs it,' Caden thought sympathetically as she quietly slipped out of the room.

Out in the hallway, Caden sighed, running a hand through her tangled brown curls. What a night it had been, a long, painful, emotional night.

And boy, was she tired.

Walking into her room, she took in the sight. The lamp light was still on, its light blending in with the soft rays of the morning sun. Her StarkPad lay face up, tossed carelessly across the unmade bed, probably drained of its battery. She walked over, picking up her quilt that had been thrown to the ground in last night's scare.

She shuddered, trying to forget the being thrown into a wall part as she changed into a pair of dark jeans and a S.H.I.E.L.D. t-shirt. She quickly plugged in her StarkPad to charge and turned her bedroom light off as she walked out, heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.

"I wonder what Bucky likes for breakfast," Caden mused, opening her pantry door.

"Pancakes," came a voice as the elevator dinged.

"STEVE!" Caden screamed, jumping in fright. "Stop scaring me! What do you want?"

"I heard last night's nightmare and came up to check on you."

"You heard it or heard about it?" Caden asked carefully.

"Heard it..." Rogers said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I wanted to come up last night, I was actually almost to your door, but Banner stopped me. He said it could trigger more bad memories in Bucky and make him even more unpredictable," Rogers explained.

"That was smart," Caden nodded. "Still, it doesn't atone for nearly giving me a heart attack. Twice. You know," she crossed her arms, giving a small, unamused chuckle, "there IS a reason my elevator is private. Next time just use the front door," she scolded as she pulled out the pancake mix.