I was writing another possibility for Chapter 8 but I decided that it would take a while. That will come later, but for now, here is the new chapter 8! Just so you know, it's now Steve's point of view again.
"Captain Rogers, you may want to wake up." JARVIS said over the intercom. Steve stirred in his bedroom. "Miss Romanoff appears to be having a severe nightmare." Steve lay there, his muddled brain trying to register what JARVIS was saying to him.
"Can you repeat that?" he asked sleepily. If JARVIS could have rolled his eyes, he probably would have.
"Miss Romanoff is having an extreme flashback, sir. You may want to prevent her from causing damage to herself." he said again. Steve blinked, and then he sprang into action. He pulled a tight blue Under Amour shirt and hurried out of his bedroom.
He almost ran through his floor, and he punched the button for Natasha's floor. He bounced on the balls of his heels until the elevator dinged open. He could immediately hear Natasha's whimpers and screams as soon as the door opened. Steve navigated through the dark floor and eventually reached her bedroom. She was flailing around, her eyes tightly shut. He could see the pain and desperation clearly though the light that played on her face. When he stepped on the door, she jumped off the bed and at Steve.
He knew she wasn't awake. Her mind was controlling her, like she was half in the nightmare and half in the real world. He grabbed her wrists and shoved her back onto the bed. He hovered over her, her legs pinned beneath him and her wrists held tightly in his hands. She tried to squirm out from underneath him, but he held on.
"You're okay. It's okay, Natasha. Calm down. You're in the Avengers Tower. No one can hurt you." he repeated over and over again. Eventually, her green-gray eyes flew open. They were nose to nose, Steve on top of her, steady and strong. She was underneath, shaking and wilting like a flower. They were so close that Steve could see the different colors in her eyes.
"Steve?" she breathed, her voice shaky. "What...?"
"JARVIS called me. For Artificial Intelligence, he's actually a pretty decent guy." Steve told her. He sat up, releasing her wrists. They were dark around the bones, and Steve immediately regretted what he had done to restrain her. "I'm so sorry, does it hurt?" Natasha looked with a confused glance to where his eyes were.
"No, no it doesn't. It happens a lot, and it wasn't you." she said softly. "In the Red Room, they handcuffed us to our beds. They didn't want us to escape in the night. I slept with those on for thirteen years. It doesn't do very much for the health of your skin."
"How long has this been going on?" he asked.
"Since we got back. I thought it would wear off after two days in the tower. This was only the third one." she admitted. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. I don't know why JARVIS called you, because it's not a big deal."
"Natasha, you went through all of that because of us. It's a big deal. You're part of the team, and you need to tell us when something like that happens. You could hurt yourself." Steve insisted. "You should never go through that alone. I've had nightmares, too, and someone was always there-"
"I can handle it. Just let me adjust to this, alright? It's only happened three times. It's not something you should get so agitated about, Steve."
"You have saved me multiple times. From the Winter Soldier, in New York, and in Russia. Let me save you from the past." Steve implored. Natasha laid back on her pillow and stared up at the ceiling.
"I feel so useless when it happens. I can feel myself trying to get out of what I'm seeing, but I can't do it. It happens when I least expect it, and then I can't stop it." she whispered. Steve propped himself up on his elbow.
"Hey." he said. He cautiously put his hand on her arm. She looked at him. Suddenly, he was struck by how angel-like she looked. She was beautiful. Her red hair was spread across her pillow and her green eyes were staring at him through the darkness. There in the dark, he finally felt like he could reach out to someone like Natasha. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he had something that he could save. "It's gonna be alright."
This was shorter than normal but I like it. I got the idea from the Incredible Hulk- you know, when Betty and Hulk are side-by-side in the deleted scene and they're just talking? That's how I picture it. If you want to see what it's like, just Google 'motel room scene' from the Hulk. And I suggest watching that movie. Arwen from Lord of the Rings is in it. That makes worth your while. She's an amazing actress, but I will always associate her voice with Elvish in the Lord of the Rings. :))))