The Mimic

18

Y/n didn't notice Bucky stood in the doorway. Her hands stayed under the freezing water in attempt to get any sort of relief. She felt as if she was still on fire, the smell of smoke was still prominent in her nose. Y/n hadn't been shaken up by a nightmare like this for a long while, but usually she just suffered through the delusions alone. There had been many times where her fire powers had gone wrong during training, and the amount of burns she'd suffered was immense. So digging up old trauma like that was terrifying for y/n, and brought her straight back to her time in Hydra. 

Bucky frowned deeply when he got no response from y/n, assuming just by her mannerisms that she was still suffering from a bad dream. Steve had had to help him through one like this before, so it was odd to actually be the one helping and not the one breaking down. He slowly made his way toward y/n, setting a careful hand on her back. "Hey, what's going on?" Bucky asked in a soft tone. He'd never seen y/n so broken and distressed before, usually they were pretty good at hiding it from one another. Y/n jumped at the feeling of a hand on her back, immediately assuming it was the man in the suit. She quickly moved away from Bucky's touch, backing herself up in to the wall with eyes wide from fear. Y/n kept her hands out in front of her, shaking them as if she was trying to shake the fire out, but there was nothing there. "I'm on fire. I'm on fire! I'm burning..." She rambled between shaky breaths, tears continuing to roll down her cheeks. Bucky watched with wide eyes as y/n flinched at his touch - god, what did they do to her? His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as y/n spoke about being on fire. She was far from it, her hands soaking wet from the water. Bucky slowly reached out to turn off the faucet before he carefully made a few steps toward y/n. He shook his head slowly, reaching out and holding both of her freezing hands in his. "No you're not, y/n. You're not burning, it was just a nightmare..." He whispered in a calm tone, hoping that it could help calm the distressed girl down. Y/n continued to shake her head, trying her hardest to move her hands away from Bucky's grip. "Stop! I'm burning you, I-" Y/n rambled, her eyes wide as she looked at Bucky, terrified of hurting him. Bucky shook his head with sympathetic eyes, keeping a gentle hold on y/n's hands. "You're not burning me, I promise. There is no fire..." Bucky said reassuringly, carefully squeezing her freezing hands. He took a few steps closer and pulled y/n in to his arms, slowly rubbing her back in attempt to comfort her. "You're okay. You're not there anymore..." He whispered. Y/n broke down in Bucky's arms, holding on to him as tight as she could as she cried in to his chest. She hated how badly Hydra still affected her, the constant memories and nightmares left her with new things to fear every day. 

Bucky soon ended up sat on the bathroom floor with y/n in his arms. He was willing to sit with her for hours on end. Y/n's sobs had turned in to sniffles and hiccups at that point. Her eyes were sore from the tears, and her body ached from shaking so much. Y/n had her head rested on Bucky's chest as she stared down at her hands, still trying to convince herself that they weren't on fire. "I'm sorry..." She whispered quietly. Bucky looked down at y/n with a confused frown when she apologised. "For what? You didn't do anything wrong, y/n. It was a nightmare." He murmured in a calm tone, slowly rubbing her back. Y/n shook her head a little, not moving her gaze from her hands. "You could be asleep right now, but instead I'm keeping you awake." She sighed in a guilty voice. Bucky hummed slightly with a shrug, the back of his head resting against the cold bathroom tile. It wasn't the most comfortable place to be, but at the time he didn't want to move y/n very far. "Why do you think I was awake in the first place?" He asked with a slight chuckle, causing y/n to smile a little. "We're the only people that can even slightly understand what the other is going through. I'm happy to sit up all night just so you're not suffering in your head. And I know you'd do the same for me..." Bucky explained quietly. He didn't mean to go as deep as he did, but he was telling the truth with what he said. He wouldn't let y/n suffer alone. 

The pair ended up sitting with one another for hours. Mostly in comfortable silence, but a conversation was sparked up here and there, especially about y/n's nightmare. Hydra taught her how to control the powers she mimicked, so the fire powers turned from her whole body being set on fire, to her being able to produce fireballs in her palms. But that was a long process, and a lot of burns. Of course her memories were still very broken up, but she explained as much as she could to Bucky without bringing up anything distressing. Bucky did the same to y/n, speaking to her about his nightmares and memories. The first person he'd every properly explained them to other than just writing it down in his notebook.

The morning soon rolled around, and Bucky and y/n had managed to fall asleep whilst talking to one another. Bucky was still sat up, the back of his head resting against the cold bathroom tile, with his arms wrapped reassuringly around y/n. Y/n's head was on Bucky's chest, seeming to be very comfortable in his arms. It was the first time that they both looked peaceful whilst asleep. No stress on their face, no nightmares.

Natasha was the first to find them. She didn't mean to, she just wanted to find the straighteners for her hair. But, she couldn't help but smile fondly at the sight. If she was able to she would've moved them to the couch, but she knew there was no way she'd be able to pick them both up. So, after taking a picture of the pair to show Steve, she carefully covered them in a blanket, and got a pillow for Bucky's head. She could straighten her hair another time, she didn't want to disturb what seemed to be a very rare peaceful sleep.