[for Natasha]

[onlyapassenger]

He can't sleep. This isn't, in itself, that unusual. Hell, given the amount of time he and Jason actually spend in their house, it's a wonder they have one at all, their nights generally spent elsewhere (and in fairer company than each other). That Bucky's once again found himself sitting crouched in Natasha's window is little more than a bad habit

Comments

[widowskiss]

She's not been waiting. They keep their own hours and always have, but Natalia is awake the moment he lights in her window, rolling onto an elbow to watch him slip inside. The uniform is a surprise. To her knowledge - which may yet prove itself incomplete, James keeps his secrets well - he's not worn it since the fall of Rapture, but he wears it now, blue stretched over shoulders bent with a fatigue that troubles her.

"You don't look as if it helped," she replies, on her knees and reaching for him. What solace the open air could not provide, Natalia is determined she will.

[onlyapassenger]

The shield's the next to come off, though he takes more care of it than he did with his boots, setting it down on the ground so that it can sit propped up against the wall. It's followed by his belt, loaded down with the Winter Soldier's weapons, if only because he'd been stripped of those that he used as Captain America before his arrival. Left only in the bare bones of his uniform, he kneels onto the bed, peeling off one glove before he cups her face, fingers sliding up to thread through her hair.

"It didn't," he admits, as free as he ever is about his emotional state -- which is to say, not very. "Nothing to fight but shadows."

[widowskiss]

Natalia hums, taking a moment to enjoy the simple pleasure of his hand in her hair. Time with James is more easily found on the island than in any other space they've shared, but still, she's not certain these quiet moments will ever feel anything but stolen.

"You sound disappointed," she says, pressing her fingertips to the worried crease of his brow. "Not even another child of Gotham to chase away?"

[onlyapassenger]

"Not tonight," he says, eyes fluttering shut, though the reminder of his small network of stalkers keeps him from relaxing entirely, deepening the crease between his brows, instead of easing it. He's used to being followed, to being watched, and while there are days he simply lets it happen, doesn't try to run, they are becoming few and far between. The island is small enough already to induce a certain claustrophobia without the addition of his network of followers, and he's come so close in the past couple of weeks to snapping, to taking out his frustration on children. (And Stark, but at least he's done more to earn Bucky's ire than watch him from the trees.)

"I know they're just kids, but..."