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Summary: Bucky avoided sleep to stop the nightmares, least he could do was help Tony through his.
Rated: K
Genre: General
Warnings: Nightmares; Panic Attacks; Insomnia
Competition/Challenge Block
Written for/Stacked with: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Term 14); Monthly Challenges for All (Year 4)
Hogwarts: Auction: D1A3 [Word: Whiffle-Whaffle (Meaning: An indecisive, time-wasting ditherer.)]
MC4A: Ship War (Pillow/Cushion)
Dedication: DobbyRocksSocks
Word Count: 880
Cooling Iron
It was going to be a long night already for Bucky. Adjusting to living in the Compound with the rest of the Avengers had been more difficult than what Steve had assured. Of course he knew it was a weak attempt for him to offer comfort and help him settle, but there were certain people that lived there along with him that he simply refused to drop his guard around. So, instead of residing in the safety of his room, a space that was meticulously put together to suit his likes and comforts, Bucky roamed around the Compound to continue to gather a better feel of the place as a whole for the third night now.
He had mostly kept to himself since the group gathering earlier in the week. Steve and Tony taking the reins together to give everyone the general rundown on everything. The tension in the room never broke, however, and it kept everyone else on edge with good reason. He was surprised another fight didn't break out, honestly…
Deciding on checking out more of the lower levels (the grounds and private airport were well scoped out already) where the others rooms were along with a few extra spaces he was curious about. The upper levels were easy, identical to the one another where everyone was currently sleeping, but he scouted through them anyway as a natural response to his training and locating potential threats. It was when he started getting lower when things got truly interesting. One pathway led inland, and if Bucky's mental mapping of the place was correct, he was directly underneath the training course. What was there caught his interest immediately.
Approaching the blacked out glass walled-windows, the tint faded before his eyes to reveal what looked to be a large laboratory on the other side of it. He could see various suits of armor that Colonel Rhodes and Stark wore in the field lining the far wall and concluded that this was Stark's personal space. He turned to leave before noticing that there was a dim blue glow in the far corner of the darkened room. Cocking his head at this, and after a long few seconds of internal debate imposing on others private space, Bucky found the door to be strangely unlocked when he tested it and stepped in.
He scanned the perimeter while moving toward the misplaced light, freezing in place when he moved around the desk to see Stark passed out on the couch behind it. Based on the twitching and tense state he was in, he wasn't exactly resting but having a nightmare. Bucky knew those all too well and was one of the core reasons he was standing before the genius now in order to avoid them.
Colonel Rhodes was his companion, but he was currently away on military business. Luckily he was there during the group's debriefing or he was certain Stark would've actually snapped without his reassuring presence lingering beside him. It was admirable to see how close they were and reminded him of how close he once was with Steve that had long since been lost.
A more jerking twitch from Stark pulled Bucky from his staring and mental processing. Clearly he was in distress, and the quicker he could be relieved of it the better. Standing around like a whiffle-whaffle wasn't going to help.
Bucky knelt down slowly, close enough now to see the thin veil of sweat on the genius' forehead. He contemplated on what he would want someone else to do for him if he were in this situation while giving his shoulder a gentle nudge, whispering his name.
"Stark?"
No response. He didn't want to come on too strong, so he only nudged a little bit firmer and spoke just a little louder.
"Stark?"
Another nudge and Bucky had to pull back when Stark shot straight up in response, pillow falling to the floor, eyes wide and scanning his surroundings until he locked eyes with him. Bucky had his hands up in front of him indicating he meant no harm. When he concluded there was no threat, Stark released a breath, but the panic still set in.
"Hey, easy… easy…" Bucky said slowly and quietly, lowering his hands to move toward him. "You're okay… you're here in your shop."
Bucky would want to be held at this point, but wasn't sure about Stark's preferences. They barely knew each other, after all, but the few interactions they have had were... civil considering their unsteady short history. Before he could decide on what to do next, Stark leaned into him and tucked his face into his shoulder. He stalled a moment before gently wrapping a loose arm around him and drawing light circles on his back.
"You're safe…" he whispered again, knowing that he probably wasn't fully awake or coherent enough to know it was actually him.
Bucky had a solid feeling that the computer that operated the place (a Stark creation named Friday, he believed) played a quiet hand in allowing him in here to begin with, meaning that there must be some inkling of trust the genius held for him, even if he wasn't exactly sure what he was doing was helping quell the panic Stark was currently going through.
