Impostor
"Hmm... no... NO! NO! Argh!" Bucky thrashed awake, screaming. It was something he hardly ever did anymore.
"Bucky! Hey, it's okay. I think you were dreaming. You're here with me now, it's 2021. We're in our bed, we're at home. Are you with me?" Steve came awake fast, and used his calmest tones to reassure Bucky that everything was all right.
"Steve, Steve, wow." Bucky's heart was pounding with adrenaline and fear response.
"House, bring up the lights to 30%," Steve said. They just called their AI "House" and in return it sometimes spoke to them in Hugh Laurie's voice. This time though, it merely turned up the lights a little in the bedroom adding, "Thought you'd like to know, this area is secure. No intrusions on the premises."
"Thanks, House," Bucky answered. Already his body was calming down. Having Steve near, the reality of him -- smelling his familiar scent, his warmth, the comforting touches, the gentle way he wrapped himself around Bucky. It helped so much.
"Wanna tell me about it?" Steve asked.
"Yeah," Bucky said. "Wow, it was like the old days. Awful. When I wasn't sure if anything was real."
"Mm hm," Steve said. He just held on, gently, letting Bucky know he was there, next to him, touching him softly with those big hands that had always been the same.
"I dreamed that you weren't real. That HYDRA kept trying to control me with Fake Steves. Shit. It was awful," Bucky said, a shiver of revulsion and remembered horror shaking him.
"I'm real now," Steve said. The beautiful, deep, smooth timbre of his voice, the depth of his eyes, intensely warm with how much he cared and all their shared history - it was all real, inimitable, and unmistakably Steve.
"I know," Bucky said. "I know you are. That's what was so awful about my dream, though. They kept at it, you know? They made me lose faith because they just gave me Steve after Steve, all liars, all fake, all wrong."
"Did they ever really try that?" Steve asked.
"I mean, yeah, in a way. Not so much when I was in Russia, but once they transferred me to America, I think I did respond somehow to Pierce. He used to look a little bit like you, when he was young. And my brain was swiss cheese by that point."
"But in the nightmare?"
"Yeah, they tried to use my confusion, like a Steve would come in, and try to give me orders, and I'd go along, till the fake Steve slipped up. In the dream it was so awful... it was supposed to be you, but it just wasn't. I was so angry, and so mixed up and afraid. God, Steve. I'm so glad you're here."
"I'm here, Bucky, I am. This is real."
"I know. I finally got away, and we found each other."
"I love you so much, Bucky. Do you want to try and sleep some more, or just go ahead and get up?"
Steve only needed a few hours on any given night, unless he was healing up from something major.
"I'm okay with getting up. You wanna run down to the shore and watch the sun rise?"
"Sounds fantastic, sweetheart," Steve replied, and kissed him softly.
Bucky inhaled Steve's breath, and tasted his lips, and it was Steve. It really was. He slipped free again from the clutches of nightmare, got out of bed with his husband, and started the day, together.
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PS, this is inspired by Exclamation's story, "just another Steve" on Ao3.