The Nightmares Before Christmas

                                    

                                          
Alright so someone requested an angsty christmas one shot so here it is. Bare with me on this one bc I'm gonna try a different writing style. 
                          
Two rooms, separated by nothing but a wall. 
                          
Two people, both plauged by nightmares that frightened off any thoughts of a good night's sleep. 
                          
Each one fearing the same thing. Loss. It was the one thing they couldn't control. 
                          
What was ironic was that the person they feared losing the most was only a walls width away, having the same terrible thoughts of losing the other. 
                          
Muffled screams and whimpers filled each room as the nightmares filled with blood and darkness. 
                          
Blue eyes and green alike remained tightly shut. Waking up was more frightening then the nightmare, because they both worried that one day, they would wake up and find that the dream had been real. 
                          
His disfigured body haunted her and the dullness of her eyes terrified him. 
                          
It shouldn't have been such a hard night. It was Christmas Eve. They both had a wonderful night filled with drinking, stories, and time with their team. 
                          
Until the night had come it really had been a wonderful day. 
                          
Steve had gone to sleep dreaming of her smile. His own had been present on his face for the first hour of sleep as well. Until the nightmares set in and her smile faded and she began screaming for help as she fell backwards off of a tall cliff.
                          
Likewise, Natasha had gone to sleep wondering what it would be like to kiss his soft, pink lips that said her name with such care. Her happy thought had turned to terror when she heard three gun shots and felt his lips leave hers as he fell to the ground dead. Leaving her to sob in a puddle of his blood. 
                          
His dream didn't end there. After she was dead and her body had disappeared from his grasp, he saw her grave, completely bare of flowers or pictures. 
                          
Natalia Alianovna Romanova
                          
The name was carved sloppily into her tombstone. There was no short message saying how old she was or who she was to the people around her, no "in loving memory of", and no sign that anyone cared about the woman lying dead below his feet. 
                          
Just a name that she didn't even go by, carved into a cracked stone.
                          
And it made him want to break down in tears because she deserved so much more then that. 
                          
Natasha's dream had also not ended with Steve's death. When she had looked up from his bleeding, lifeless corpse, there was a figure in a dark hood, holding the gun that had undoubtedly been used to end his life. 
                          
Natasha stood up, her vision blurry with unshed tears. She grabbed her own gun and raised it pointing at the figure and demanding to know who they were. 
                          
The figure laughed and responded in a voice that gave Natasha chills all down her spine, "Don't be naive. You know excactly who I am." 
                          
Natasha shook her head, "Tell me who you are or I won't hesitate to shoot you."
                          
The figure raised their hand and pulled off the hood, revealing a mirrored image of Natasha, "I'm you Natalia, a stronger version of you." 
                          
The gun in Natasha's hand was now shaking as she shook her head furiously, "No. I would never kill him." 
                          
"Wouldn't you? What makes him any different from the hundreds of other innocents you've killed?" The other Natasha asked, walking closer to Natasha.