[AU] a piercing comfort it affords

[from_the_outside]

For such a busy morning, the afternoon and evening prove remarkably quiet. Sharon's tired to her core, but she finds it just as difficult to rest as Bucky does, when she tries to cajole him into a nap. He only shakes his head at her, acquiescing to rest on the couch without actually sleeping.

She doesn't ask why. She's listening for the sound of Iron Man's repulsers just like he is.

But nothing comes, even after she's called Ross to update him and learn that the JTTF translators and analysts had come to the same conclusion she and Bucky had: that Zemo planned to impersonate him and set a bomb to spark a manhunt for the Winter Soldier.

Ross sounds grim as he tells her they'll need to find some more permanent solution to the power outage problem, then hangs up after he's extracted a promise from her to check in as soon as she learns anything.

Dinner is a quiet affair. Jet lag has her by the throat, but she can't sleep until she hears back from Steve and knows for certain that Tony won't be crashing down on them again.

If he does, she needs to be ready.

Comments

[from_the_outside]

"Mm-hm."

There's a soft sound as she nods against the pillow. "Yeah."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Then on."

That way he can watch her breathing and make sure it doesn't stop.

[from_the_outside]

"Okay."

She's always been able to sleep almost anywhere; a bedside lamp won't make much of a difference when she's already this tired. She rubs her thumb lightly over the thin material of his t-shirt and nudges forward to press her mouth to his temple before settling back again.

"Try to sleep? Please?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I will." Eventually.

He curves one arm over her and kisses her forehead.

[from_the_outside]

She makes a small sound as his lips press against her forehead but only slides her arm over his side and closes her eyes.

"Night," she mumbles.

And despite everything, it's not long at all before she slips back off to sleep.

[nerves_of_ice]

It takes him far longer, but finally he allows himself to fall into a light doze that's not unlike a series of catnaps. Every time he stirs, he focuses on her, reminding himself of place and time, and then slips into light rest once more.

It's better rest than he's been getting for the last week, he figures. That has to count for something.

[from_the_outside]

She wakes up early, feeling almost more tired than when she fell asleep; a side effect of traipsing back and forth across the Atlantic, she thinks, muzzy. Her eyelids feel stuck together, but she slits them open enough to see if he's still there.

Whether she'll stay awake is another question entirely, but that's step two.

[nerves_of_ice]

His eyes are closed, lashes long against his cheek, but as she stirs he opens them immediately and turns his head to look at her.

"Good morning."

[from_the_outside]

She makes a deeply skeptical sound and closes her eyes again, then shifts to tangle her ankle with his as she buries her face into the pillow and the crook of his shoulder, clinging like a grumpy octopus.

Mornings are not good, in her opinion.

[nerves_of_ice]

He chuckles at that, and lifts his hand to stroke her hair.

"I see. Want me to bring you a cup of coffee?"

[from_the_outside]

She mutters something that winds up smudged into his skin and the cool material of the pillow case, then turns her head.

"Do I need to get up yet?" is tired, but at least clear enough to understand.

Is Tony pitching a fit outside? she means, or: Is anyone going to be shooting at us in the next five minutes?

[nerves_of_ice]

"No," he tells her, and the smile's in his voice now, too. "You can sleep as long as you want, baby."

[from_the_outside]

She hums a tired noise into his shoulder and sleepily prods at him with one loose, lazy hand.

"Did you sleep?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Some." He catches her hand in his so that she has to stop poking him.

[from_the_outside]

That hand is hers, now. She curls her fingers around it and brings it to her mouth so she can press a sleepy kiss to his knuckles.

"Go back to sleep," she suggests, optimistically.

Some is not enough.

[nerves_of_ice]

He cups her cheek with the hand she's captured, stroking his thumb over her cheekbone.

"I don't think so," he murmurs, "but I can stay here with you and read or something while you rest."

[from_the_outside]

"Mm."

It's an agreement, sort of. "Go make coffee if you want some. I'll have it in a bit."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky leans in to kiss her, then gets to his feet.

"I won't be long," he promises, and snags his pack on the way out.

[from_the_outside]

She mumbles something incomprehensible and slides into the warm spot he's left behind once he's out from under the covers; she puts her arms around the pillow and pushes her face into it, then falls back to sleep breathing in the scent of his hair.

[nerves_of_ice]

He throws on clean clothes, stashes his pack in the guest room he'd used on the first visit, and makes his way downstairs to the kitchen. Bucky sets the coffee brewing and takes the opportunity to do a security check of the house and immediate grounds while waiting.

Nothing suspicious shows up. He hadn't thought there would be, not really, but hadn't been able to keep himself from checking... not that he'd tried very hard.

He's back inside by the time the coffee's ready. Bucky downs a quick cup, then pours a refill and looks upstairs, thoughtfully.

After a moment, he fixes another the way Sharon likes it, just in case the aroma wakes her, and carries both upstairs.

[from_the_outside]

It's not much time, maybe about as long as if she'd hit 'snooze' on her alarm, but her internal clock – utterly bewildered from the way she's been skipping through time zones – doesn't let her drift too deeply back into sleep.

She shifts as Bucky comes back into the room, eyes slitting open as she smells the coffee.

Which presents a conundrum: go back to sleep and let the coffee get cold, thus wasting the cup he made for her? Or get up and drink it fresh?

Dilemma.

[nerves_of_ice]

He can practically read her thoughts on her face, and manages to stifle the urge to laugh.

"If you don't want it now, don't worry. I'll drink it, it won't go to waste, and there's more downstairs when you're ready," he promises.

[from_the_outside]

"We'll see," she says, sleepy, and shifts back in the bed to leave room for him, if he wants to sit back down.

[nerves_of_ice]

He sets both mugs on the bedside table and settles carefully beside her, then leans over to kiss her hair before picking his coffee back up.

[from_the_outside]

Once he's settled, she stretches out alongside his legs and wraps an arm over his thighs, setting her head in his lap like a cat asking for a caress.

"Smells good," she says, voice still muzzy with sleep. "Everything look okay down there?"