Title: In The Darkness
Rating: PG-13/T
Originally posted: 17th May 2021
Originally written for: sapphire2309
Characters/Pairings: Bucky/Natasha
Notes: for Drabble Exchange 2021 on Dreamwidth and AO3.
When she wakes and finds him gone, she does not panic. He rarely goes far. Besides, one of them has to maintain some calm in the nightmare moments. Nat's had more practice than him.
She slips out of bed, sits down beside him, reaches for the metal arm, gently but firmly encouraging him to stop. The rapping fist has to have made a mark already. He'll be as bruised by morning, as he is tear-stained.
"That's not helping."
"Nothing does."
"James..."
"Please, just don't."
When he tries to get away, she grips harder, never flinching, even when he turns steel blue eyes on her.
"You're not going through this alone."
It's a statement, a reminder, a promise all in one, and it seems to work.
He suddenly collapses into her, sobbing like a child, and she lets out a breath she hadn't quite known she was holding.
It always goes this way, her cradling his head in her lap, whispering words of comfort into his hair until it passes.
"What did I do to deserve you?" he asks, looking up to meet her eyes.
She never answers that question, just softly kisses his lips and leads him back to bed.