─ NIGHTMARES ─

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Alessia threw one punch after another, images flashing through her mind of people begging for mercy. She could hear their pleas and screams, their lifeless eyes staring into her own as she threw a hit causing the punching bag to go flying across the room. "What'd that bag ever do to you?" Alessia turned to see Tony leaning against the door frame. She rolled her eyes and walked towards the broken punching bag, picking it up before carrying it over to the corner pile of damaged bags.

Alessia walked over to the other pile, picking up a new punching bag while Tony watched her. "Are you really not gonna talk to anyone? Not even Barnes?" Alessia ignored his questions and hooked the bag up and continued punching it as more memories consumed her mind. She heard Tony huff and then the door closed behind him as her hits got stronger, then the yellowish blue tinge appeared in her vision as she threw a ball of energy at the bag, dropping to her knees as the image of Pietro rested in her view.

It had been four months since the attack of Ultron and things had been rocky, the world unsure of where they stood with The Avengers due to the fact that Ultron was created by Tony yet The Avengers were the ones to resolve the problem. Wanda, Vision, Bucky and Sam had officially joined The Avengers and began training with Steve and Natasha.

Alessia was also approved into becoming a full Avenger but since Banner's disappearance, the psych reviews that Fury enforced were preventing her from joining as our psychologist, Darla Mennia believed that she wasn't stable enough to undergo the training whereas Bucky had a stronger handle on his mind. She believed that Alessia's powers conflicted with her mentality which caused her to be a danger to the world.

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"You need to talk to me..." Darla said as she held a notebook in hand, seated across from me in a bland grey office which two grey couches across from each other, a small wooden coffee table between them. I sat there staring at the wall behind her, my arms crossed sitting stiffened on the rough couch. She sighed, "I understand that things have changed. Mr Maximoff's death has triggered something for you but you must.."

My darkened gaze landed on her causing her to swallow slowly, "Pietro's death wasn't the trigger, I was broken way before then. And I don't want to talk to a complete stranger about this, simply because you could be anyone." I stood up from the couch and headed towards the door, "Fury expects a report." I scoffed before turning to her, "Tell him to screw off." I walked out the door, slamming it behind me.

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Alessia stood up from the gym floor, cleaning up the mess she made before making her way to The Avengers floor. Marcus and the team officially lived in the Avengers building. Stepping out of the elevator, her eyes landed straight on Steve who was talking to Darla. Both of them seemed to be in a heated conversation with each other, Alessia was gonna walk away until she heard Steve say her name.

She raised her brows as Steves' hands landed on his hips in an irritated stance, finally having enough, Alessia made her way over to the two. "Is there something wrong?" They both turned to Alessia as they were startled by her sudden appearance. "Have you spoken with Director Fury, Miss Hart?" Darla spoke in an almost mocking tone, which only seemed to annoy Steve more.

Alessia went to speak but was cut off by Steve, "We have a mission but Miss Mennia here has informed Fury that because of the lack of progress in your sessions, you aren't suitable to come with us." Alessia wasn't shocked about this, she knew that the lack of progress and her distancing would cause this to happen. She shrugged her shoulders, "Perhaps you should just go without me."

Steve was taken aback by her response and a small smile rested on Darla's face. It seems like she was irritated by Alessia's relaxed demeanour. "We all know that I'm the crazy case that won't open up to a stranger because the last time I did that, I almost blew up an entire school." Alessia made her way into the kitchen with both of their eyes on her.

As she went to open the fridge she felt Steve pull her into a hug, "You know that I'm here to talk, we don't need some strangers okay." Alessia nodded as she wrapped her arms around Steve's waist, noticing that Darla was gone. "I'm sorry..." He pulled away and looked at Alessia as she lowered her gaze, "I don't know what I'm doing, my nightmares are getting worse."

He pulled her into another hug, "You need to tell us what is going on." Alessia let out a deep breath before nodding. Steve was right, she look up to him so much, he's a big brother to her and Bucky is her boyfriend who knows what it's like to be facing this. She needed to stop running from it, "Let's talk then, I really need to."

Steve led her towards the safe room, where they could talk without being recorded or heard. She sat down on the comfortable sofa while Steve went and got Bucky. She closed her eyes, taking in slow deep breaths as she tried to piece together what she wanted to say. She heard the door open followed by two sets of steps.

She opened her eyes seeing Bucky and Steve sitting across from her, due to her distancing, Bucky was also fairly distant from her. "Take your time Ales, just tell us what is comfortable," Alessia nodded at Steves' words before taking in another breath before starting. "I've been getting memories back from my time in Hydra, at first it was easy to handle but then a certain memory triggered it to get worse."

She closed her eyes as the memory flashed across her mind, "Hydra was preparing me for my first solo mission and they did their usual system set up." She opened her eyes, her gaze landing on Bucky as his features softened knowing what it's like. "I was told the usual, no witnesses, no scene. A quick get in and get out."

A tear fell from her face, "The target was barely a teenager..." More tears began to fall as his pleas echoed in her mind, "Hydra marked him as a threat to them and they wanted him stopped..." She looked at the two men looking at her intently, "He... begged me to make it quick, he said it was gonna be okay." She wiped the tears away.

"But he was only trying to make me finish the job so I wouldn't find..." She looked down, She couldn't look into their eyes anymore. "He was protecting someone?" Steve spoke softly, Alessia nodded in response as she let more tears fall. "He was protecting his little brother and I..." Alessia couldn't hold it in anymore, she fell to the floor letting the tears fall as she broke down.

Steve and Bucky both rushed to her, pulling her into a hug while reassuring her that everything would be okay. But she knew it wouldn't be okay, those two boys were just two names on a long list of victims that fell by her hands. It would never be okay, she would never heal from this and Hydra wasn't to blame. She should have fought harder, she should have ended things the day before they took control, then so many lives would have been saved.

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{B U C K Y}

When Steve came to my room telling me that Alessia was gonna talk to us, I was shocked at first knowing how stubborn that beautiful soul is. The moment I walked into the room, I could tell how broken she was feeling and how this was affecting her. But watching her break down about something she couldn't control only fueled the anger I felt towards Hyrda.

Holding her in my arms as she cried made my heart psychically break, she didn't have a choice on what had happened. We both were led unfortunate fates, even though my nightmares haunt me, I find comfort knowing that we have supportive people around us. I was happy that I had Steve to pick me up when I fell and that Alessia had him too.

Hyrda is a parasite in our world, it worms itself into reality and tries to take control but they never fully succeed. I looked down at Alessia as her sobs became softer followed by slow breathing, her tense body relaxed in my arms as she leaned against my chest.

I lifted my gaze to Steve, a small smile resting on his face as a tear fell. "I hate seeing her like this," I nodded at Steve in agreement. Alessia was a bubbly person by nature no matter the circumstance, it was one of the many things I love about her. I knew we both had a long journey ahead of us but I knew we would make it, we had each other.

I lifted Alessia up into my arms and carried her towards her room, passing Fury and Darla who was watching intently. I looked at Steve getting a curt nod in response before he approached the two. I continued to Alessia's room as she stirred slightly, I leaned down and kissed her forehead as she snuggled closer to my chest causing a notion of butterflies in my stomach.

It still felt so strange to me, the things this beautiful girl made me feel. Steve keeps saying that how I'm feeling about her was the same for the ladies in the 40s when I'd take them dancing. Though looking at the angel in my arms, there is no one else in this world I'd rather dance with.

My mother once told me, 'You'll know the one when you see her. She'll captivate you completely and when she does, there is no turning back. You'll yearn for her and she'll be all you think about. You'd cross rivers and mountains just for one last glance.' And she was right about that, Alessia is my person and for that, I was glad I survived the fall.

I pulled Alessia into my side, her head resting on my chest, my arms wrapped around her. I looked at her face, taking in every little detail of the art that is Alessia Elizabeth Hart. The way her face softens in her sleep, the way her soft lips are always slightly parted, the way her nose flares slightly when she takes in a new breath.

The complete and utter peace of knowing, even for a short amount of time, that all is well. I looked to the door as it slowly opened, Steve popping his head in before walking in and sitting on the bed. "I discussed with Fury about allowing Alessia to open up to me and you, he hesitantly agreed but he made a request..."

I looked at Steve as he seemed lost in thought for a moment, "He wants you and Alessia to go on a mini-vacation to face all of the memories..." I noticed the look in Steve's eyes and I knew there was more to this than he was letting on. "I think that would be a great idea, we'll keep it private. Thanks, Stevie." He nodded happily before wishing me goodnight.

I had it decided, Alessia and I will go to Romania and take the time we need to face all of our memories together. There was something more happening here and I knew that if Fury wanted us to leave without anyone knowing, without him knowing, something was extremely off and that could only ever mean Hydra wants their soldiers back.

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Author Note
Decided to keep in Bucky's first-person perspective rather than changing it to third-person.

-Rose <3
{2044}