Bucky woke to a series of small nudges in his side. "Mmmmyeah I'm up I'm up," he grunted as he sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. The clock on the bedside table read 3:07 AM. "Steve what the hell it's 3 AM..." Bucky's voice trailed off as he noticed Steve still asleep next to him, twitching in his sleep. He turned on the light to its dimmest setting and saw a thin layer of sweat gleam on Steve's forehead. "...Steve?" Steve's brow was furrowed, his strong jaw visibly clenched. He let out a groan and suddenly muttered, "Buck--"
"Steve I'm right here," Bucky said, concerned. Steve became quiet for a moment, then soon began again. "Stop, Buck you can't," he gasped, then suddenly roared, "MAKE IT STOP--!!"
"STEVE!" Bucky shouted, panicked, and shook his shoulder hard. Panting, Steve bolted upright. His wild eyes met Bucky's, then he melted into Bucky's chest, sobbing violently. Bucky gently rubbed his boyfriend's back, repeating, "It's okay, I'm right here, it's okay."
Finally Steve's heaving sobs calmed into sniffles and he sat back. "'M sorry Bucky, I, uh, I had a nightmare."
"Looked like a bad one, too," Bucky stated, moving to sit next to him, careful not to let his metal arm touch Steve. His fingers traced circles on the lines of Steve's tense muscles as he waited for him to speak.
"I dreamed... I dreamed that you were falling again, but when you fell, I fell with you. We were falling and I kept telling you that I loved you, but--" Steve clutched his broad shoulders and inhaled shakily, his blue eyes unfocused. "...you were already dead. And then we were in a HYDRA facility and I watched you get turned into the Winter Soldier. You were walking towards me and all of my friends were running in front of me, trying to protect me, and I knew that they would get killed so I was yelling for them to stop, for you not to kill them, but you kept coming and killing them off one by one and I could hear you saying you loved me..." Tears began trickling down Steve's face again.
Bucky turned and cupped his boyfriend's face, kissing him softly. "The Winter Soldier is gone now, Steve. I love you with all my heart and more, you know that. Don't worry, okay? I won't leave you."
Steve leaned in and put his arms around Bucky, playing with his hair. "I know."
They sat for a while in comfortable silence. Steve eventually said, "I think I like your hair better long like this."
Bucky smiled and turned his head, tickling Steve's nose lightly with the tips of his hair. "You like getting tickled? Well that's new..."
Grinning, Steve pulled away. "No, I just like your hair. And everything else about you." He kissed Bucky long and sweet. "Love you, Buck."
"Love ya too, punk."
"Jerk."