Multifandom Oneshots

WinterWitch ↬ Nightmares

Wanda always woke up before Bucky. She would often just lie there for hours running her hands through his hair, scaring away the occasional nightmare. She would never leave the bed until he was awake unless she was sure he wouldn't wake up in the short time she may be gone.

Bucky always found it difficult to sleep alone. There had been too many nights that he'd spent alone, victim to the nightmares that HYDRA had left in his brain. So whenever he was by himself at nights, he would fall back into old memories, flashbacks of all the things he had done.

It was on one particular night when Wanda wasn't there. Bucky was sound asleep when she had left, so she had no worries about him panicking over her lack of presence. Even though he was asleep when she left, he didn't stay that way for long. Nightmares filled his mind without Wanda there to comfort them, and he slipped back into his old mindset, the one where he didn't have the young witch to save him at nights.

He'd woken up in a cold sweat and shivering. He clung to the blanket and his hands searched in the dark for Wanda on the other side of the bed; she wasn't there. Bucky curled further into the blankets trying to hide himself from the images plaguing his mind. Soft whimpers escaped his lips and tears streamed down his face yet he didn't seem to notice either. He was stuck in his own personal hell.

Wanda was completely unaware of the soldiers suffering, she slipped out to grab a drink from the kitchen. She was confident he'd still be asleep when she got back. Her bare feet padding along the floor was the only sound throughout the tower; it was still the middle of the night so everyone else appeared to be in their rooms.

She'd just filled a glass of water when JARVIS lit up the countertop. Tony had installed smaller devices throughout the tower that could be used during the night as not to wake everyone else up. The AI's quiet voice alerted Wanda of what was currently happening in her and Bucky's room. She raced off down the hall, drink forgotten on the counter in her attempt to get to Bucky.

When she opened the door, she could faintly see Bucky gently rocking himself back and forth on the bed, sobbing to himself quietly. His head snapped up at the sound of someone approaching and he shifted further away from the door, his mind not letting him make the connection that it was Wanda.

The witch made quiet attempts to sooth him, avoiding sudden movements and loud noises; either could wake up the soldier portion of his brain and encourage an attack, or, he would break down further. Wanda didn't want either to happen to she took gentle steps to the bed, hands outstretched to bring him into an embrace.

Her voice seemed to trigger something in him. He stopped all movement and sounds and just listened to her angelic voice bring him down from his nightmare fuelled haze.

Wanda paused once she sat on the bed, not wanting to scare him away any further. She was beyond relieved when he crawled towards her and curled himself in her arms. His shoulders still shook from his sobbs and his whimpers didn't cease. But Wanda was there, that had to be progress.

No words were exchanged between the pair, just soothing murmurs. Wanda let her hands run through his hair, removing the tangles from his tossing and turning. Her hand lit up in a dull glow of magic, often when Bucky's nightmares were this bad she'd use her magic to only let the peaceful memories in.

Bucky's arms held tighter onto Wanda. "Please..."

Not much was needed to be said other than that simple word. Wanda let her magic flow through her hands and into the soldiers brain. His tense posture slowly relaxed as the red glow seeped through his muscles, lulling him to sleep.

Wanda repositioned herself against the pillows, Bucky's head lying on her chest. She didn't sleep for the rest of the night, her thoughts not allowing her too. All she could think of during the dark hours of the night was how much she wanted HYDRA to pay for what they did to the now sleeping soldier. He didn't deserve this life, to be woken up screaming from nightmares. Shaking every time he heard a russian phrase that used to be said around the base he was kept in.

He didn't any deserve it.