It happened again, but this time not in the way neither Bucky nor Steve expected. The roles seemed to swap dramatically once again, and it was Steve who had the violent nightmare. Surprisingly, Bucky wasn't plagued with any, and slept quite peacefully. At least until Steve's screams woke him.
He entered his friend's room, seeing Steve rolling around in his bed, yelling the words, "No!" over and over again. Unfortunately, this was all-too familiar to Bucky. When Steve was younger, he had similar reactions to terrifying nightmares, but they were different back then. This time, he could easily predict what they'd be about.
Bucky rushed over to Steve's bedside, gripping his arm with his metal one. "Steve! Steve, wake up, it's just a dream!"
Steve froze for a moment, and, without opening his eyes, turned in Bucky's direction. All of a sudden, his arm lashed out, grabbing him by the neck. He was fully unaware of what he was doing, as he was pretty much completely asleep, but while standing completely upright.
Bucky choked, gripping at Steve's hand with wild eyes. His nightmares had been bad, but never this bad.
"I won't let you take him again!" Steve screamed, his fist suddenly colliding with Bucky's face. He shoved him against the wall, all the while Bucky was struggling desperately to both free himself and calm Steve down.
"Steve!" He croaked. His metal arm slammed roughly down onto Steve's, which, somehow, seemed to snap him out of it. Bucky instantly saw his friend's eyes fly open, revealing the hate-filled, light blue eyes stare back at them. They softened, but quickly turned to horror when Steve saw himself holding Bucky by the neck, along with the bloodied nose he had apparently given him. And a few bruises.
His grip went lax, and Bucky tumbled to the floor, grasping at his neck and gasping wildly for air. He was temporarily paralyzed, both from fear and complete disbelief in what had just occurred.
"Steve-" He coughed, pushing himself to his feet and wiping the blood from his nose with his sleeve.
The man stared at him with wild eyes, which darted to pretty much every bruise and cut across Bucky's face.
He soon saw the tears beginning to form in Steve's eyes. He blinked rapidly, as if trying not to let them show. "I'm sorry…" he whispered.
Bucky saw Steve look at his fist, clenching and opening it, as if to reassure himself he had control over his own body again.
He quickly walked over, leading Steve and sitting the man down on the bed. He sat next to him and stared at him. "Tell me about it," he said firmly. But luckily, Steve seemed to understand. He swallowed and nodded.
"It-" He shook his head, a wretched sob escaping his throat. His hands flew up to cover his face, unable to keep his composure. Bucky watched, his soul shattering, as Steve fell apart.
Despite everything, he'd never. Not EVER, blame Steve for attempting to injure him, like he had months before. He quickly enveloped the man in a hug, rubbing comforting circles on his back. "It's okay...It's not your fault."
Steve remained silent, but his grip on Bucky tightened.
"It was about you.." He finally said, gaze cast toward the ground.
Bucky pulled back, but kept his gaze on Steve, watching his expression gain even more misery than it already had before. "It was about the train...and I was there when they- cut what was left of your arm off..and when they tortured-" Steve swallowed, his breathing shallower.
"They hurt you…" He whispered miserably. "They hurt you...and I couldn't do anything…"
Bucky sighed and looked Steve in the eye. "Steve, don't blame this on yourself. I definitely will never blame you. It's not your fault you fell. It was too far of a distance to reach. And I'm fine. I'm here now. Still trying to recover, but I'm here. I still remember you and I'll never forget," he pulled him into an embrace, burying his head into his shoulder.
Steve embraced his friend in return, allowing the gut-wrenching sobs to take over him as he trembled in Bucky's grip.
Both friends sat there for about an hour, comforting each other, though Bucky was mainly comforting Steve, who broke into uncontrollable sobs each time he recounted his nightmare.
Finally, Bucky got up. "I'll sleep with you..It's only 1:00 in the morning. It might make you feel better."
Steve swallowed and wiped a hand across his tear-streaked face. "No..I don't- It's not a good idea. I might have another nightmare and-and hurt you again. Or worse.."
And Bucky thought he was the one that worried about that..
"You won't. I have a metal arm remember? I can easily subdue you, pal," He replied with a ghost-like smirk.
Steve reluctantly agreed and climbed back into bed. Bucky made himself comfortable beside him. Sensing his friend's discomfort and pain, he draped his flesh arm over Steve's back, as he was laying on his side, and let out a quiet, "It'll be okay, pal.." before drifting back off into sleep.
Neither of them had nightmares that night.