Fire and Ice - (Bucky Barnes x OC) 18+

Chapter 12

Alex spent the better half of her night tossing and turning then being woken up by a hair raising scream. The kind of scream that makes you think someone's being murdered. Shooting upright in her bed, she waited and when it came again, she scrambled off her bed and ran out the door.

Another blood curdling scream sounded just as she stood before the door to the room next to hers. The sound made her flinch but she grasped the handle and twisted it, pushing the door open and walking in. The room was dark save the soft glow that came from the bed-side lamp. 

Bucky laid on the floor, curled up clutching the blanket to his chest. She noticed a tray with untouched food from dinner and water placed beside him. He screamed again and she bore the brunt of how horrific it was because she was within the room. 

Closing the door, her back pressed against it and she could hear his heart beating incredibly fast. He was so lost in whatever nightmare he was having that he couldn't wake up from it. Alex hurried over and kneeled beside him. Reaching a hand forwards she hesitated for a second before touching his right shoulder. 

"Bucky..." She tried to wake him. "Bucky, Bucky wake up!" 

Alex shook him slightly but the move was a mistake because he shot awake with a gasp and instantly grabbed her neck with his vibranium hand, slamming her backwards down on the floor as he lunged at her. 

Her eyes widened and a strained groan stuttered from her lips. She shoved the heel of her fists against his chest a few times but it didn't work, so she slapped him across the face, hard. 

Bucky came back to himself and realised what he was doing, he retracted his hand instantly and scrambled backwards till his back came up against the wall and even then he tried to push further back. His knees instantly bent and came to meet his chest while he took rapid shaky breaths and his eyes filled with a scared horror. 

"I-i'm....i'm sorry.." He stuttered, trying to steady his breathing but she knew panic when she saw it. Alex swiped her legs around so she could kneel and look at him with a softened gaze. 

"Hey, it's okay.." she whispered, keeping her tone gentle. She was torn between wanting to physically comfort him with a hug or a squeeze to his hand, or just stay where she was. 

Bucky averted his gaze in shame, and she swore she never wanted to see that look in his eyes. He had nothing to be ashamed about.

Alex now noticed that he still had on his Hydra gear, his face was dirty and his hair was messed up, sticking to his skin from sweat and debris. No one had helped him clean up because they feared he was too unstable. 

"Hey, look at me.. you're okay, just breathe." she assured him, finding other ways to try and calm him without touching him.

Bringing his attention back to her, Bucky couldn't keep eye contact for more than a few seconds at a time, he kept averting his gaze and it killed her because he was always the confident guy. The dim lighting in the room casted shadows to one side of his face, and she saw the pain in those blue eyes, the colour looked so dark. 

Bucky scanned her face in-between those few seconds at a time, and she looked so much like he remembered her before he shipped out yet there was differences now. The brown eyes that had a spark of hope and adventure when she was with him now held a lifetime and more of pain and suffering. 

She gazed at him with such softness, a softness he didn't believe should be for him, that he was unworthy of. He'd just choked and slammed her against the floor and she was still there trying to help him. 

Alex averted her gaze from him to the tray with food on it, the sight triggered an unwanted flashback. 

FLASHBACK