Unexpected

XXXV

Nina had fallen asleep on the copilot seat of their jet. She woke up with someone's screams. Her eyes jolted open when she realised it was Bucky. It wasn't a scream like the ones he let out fighting, killing people. It wasn't a scream of frustration. It was fear. Fear and pain. He was probably having a nightmare. It was the middle of the night.

Nina stood up and walked to Bucky. He was moving a lot, and he had a pained expression on his face. Nina approached. She knew she was risking getting punched or even judo flipped, but she placed her hands on his arms and shook him a little.

"Bucky," she tried to wake him up. It didn't work, Bucky screamed again. It hurt Nina to see him like this, so she tried again. She shook him a little harder. "Bucky!"

He jolted awake in fear, sitting up. Nina held his hands as he looked down, tears visibly stinging his eyes. His breathing was very fast, and Nina could feel his heart beating incredibly fast through his wrists. He turned his legs to put them on the ground and sit correctly on the couch.

"Hey," Nina said, sitting beside him on the small couch. She passed her arms around him and held him. He was shaking. Nina wondered what it is that he had dreamt about. "You're okay, it was just a dream. I'm here."

Nina pulled him closer, making him lean against her. Her hand wandered all over him, caressing his arm and torso, hoping to calm him down. They stayed in that position for at least five minutes, until his breathing slowed and he calmed down.

"Are you okay?" Nina asked him. Bucky nodded.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Sometimes I have these nightmares..."

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly, her hand playing in his hair. Nina guessed he had probably dreamt about some painful memory of his past.

"No," Bucky admitted.

"Okay," Nina told him. "I'm here if you want to talk. "

The two ended up falling asleep. Nina was sitting down, and Bucky was laying peacefully on her lap.

♧♧♧

Bucky woke with the sunlight in his face. At first, he thought there was someone standing over him, and his reflexes kicked in, causing him to punch the air, and miss by an inch or two Nina's face.

"Holy -"

"Sorry," Bucky said, lowering his arm and sitting back down.

"It's fine," she assured him, standing up to walk up to the front of the jet. "Are you okay?" Nina asked, remembering last night.

"Yeah, I guess. How far are we?" Bucky asked her. Nina noticed how he was avoiding the subject. He definetly didn't want to talk about it. Nina had no idea what it was that he had dreamed of that made him so agitated, but he would have to tell her sooner or later.

"We've been out for about two hours," she said, checking her watch. "Which means it's about 5 in the morning, and we'll be arriving in about thirty minutes." Bucky stared at her, eyes wide in surprise.

"How do you-- you know what, forget it," he dismissed it. "Time Lords."