Just a Nightmare

Chapter 1: ANNIE
Annie Farrell was seen dressed in a red nightdress, her hands were clutching the pillow and her Bucky plush figurine tightly to her chest.

"Patrick, Patrick, PATRICK!" She screamed in her sleep.

She dropped the plush onto the floor.

Her screams woke up her soulmate, Patrick, who still kept his long hair, but was messy from his sleeping position.

Annie still suffered horrible nightmares about Peter killing her husband in cold blood and that she couldn't do anything to stop it.

He walked over to her.

"Annie, wake up, it's just a dream....." He said softly.

The couple lived in a apartment, it had a kitchen, one bedroom, a bathroom, a balcony and a living room.

Annie woke up from her sleep, she started crying into Patrick's arms.

"Patrick!" She sobbed into his arms.

He noticed the plush on the floor, he handed it to her.

"Here, I have Bucky!" He said.

She clutched the doll tightly.

It was 4:00 in the morning.

Annie only got four-six hours of sleep every night, seven days a week because of her nightmares, Patrick was a different story, he also had this aswell, but it wasn't the nightmares.

After being comforted, Patrick went back to sleep.

He felt pain flood his entire abdomen, causing his arms to move towards the source of the pain, he knew his intestines were probably damaged from the fatal bullet, but there was no blood seeping through his wounds, no blood seeping through the bedsheets or any other injury that could attest to the crippling pain in his belly.

"D***...." He whimpered.

He felt his stomach growl, causing him to clutch it tighter in a bid not to wake Annie.

Patrick often went hungry because they didn't have enough money for groceries and both were unemployed.

The pain died down, but a few minutes later, it acted up again, causng Patrick to wake from sleep.

"F***!" He hissed in pain.

Annie woke from sleep.

She saw Patrick clutch his stomach in pain.

"Patrick! What's wrong?, Are you sick?" She asked.

Patrick often ate food out of the trash until today, where he was vomiting, he was dry heaving and vomiting the whole day, which meant he had gone hungry yesterday night, today, it was three nights since he'd last eaten and he fainted a few times from hunger.

"Hurts...." He said softly.

"Where?" She asked.

"Stomach." He whimpered.

Patrick whimpered in pain and Annie replaced his hands with hers and pressed on and rubbed his abdomen, The deceased Loki cosplayer's stomach made it's needs known, the loud growling sound startled her a little.

'So, he's just hungry.....' She thought

"Hungry......" He said to her.

"I know you're hungry, Patrick....." She said.

It hit Patrick like a brick reminding the teen he fell asleep on an empty stomach last night, he even fainted from starvation while watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens, missing almost the entire film, Annie only noticed when he failed to wake up.

The sludge that she and he called "purple sludgy s***" wasn't enough and his body wanted more, as if there should be something more in there.

It wasn't a very good apartment, there was hardly any heating and they lived in a world of neglect.

Almost 98% of the food they got from the money, Annie had eaten it, much to her protest that Patrick needed food, but to no avail, at night, she could hear his stomach rumble and him whimpering from hunger pains.

Patrick lost five pounds in weight and he often resorted to trying to find food in restaurant dumpsters, which made him ill most of the time.

His stomach cramped and growled with hunger every time he tried to sleep and he spent minutes and even hours in sleep trying to stiffle the growling sounds and crush the aches, sometimes, he couldn't sleep at all because of the painful emptiness that was demanding he needed to eat.

Annie even saw him to look in the fridge and cupboards, but to no avail.

Patrick spent the whole night awake soon after alongside Annie, Patrick due to hunger and Annie due to nightmares.

'D***, I can't sleep...' He thought.

He felt his stomach groan in hunger, reminding him of his situation.

'I'm so hungry.......F***ing Redmond....' He thought.

It was loud enough for her to hear, she looked at him.

She would sometimes forget the source of the whimpers and it would startle her until she would realise that it was just her soulmate starving beside her.

Patrick got up to apply antibacterial cream to his wounds, he was shirtless, which avoided the worry of having to remove a shirt, his stomach growled loudly when he finished, causing him to clutch his middle.

"So d*** hungry......" He said.

When Annie woke up, Patrick spent most of his time playing the XBOX ONE.

Annie watched him, she saw his fingers on the controller, and having to put it down to put a hand on his stomach to calm his hunger pains.

As time passed, they got more painful, reminding the 18-year old if he didn't eat soon, they will be dire consequences.

He decided it wasn't probably a good idea to play the XBOX ONE with a aching empty stomach, so he decided to stop playing.

Patrick then put it down and went to the balcony, he could not afford to go another day without something in his stomach.

It wasn't bothersome at first, but the growling sounds and aches were really starting to stress him, the hunger pains in his empty belly were growing even more intense as time went on.

He felt his stomach cramp, causing him to grimance and move his hand to the source of the pain, his organs felt like they were going to fail.

Annie looked on at the starving male, clutching his midsection in hunger.

He then heard knocking.

"Annie, can you go get that?" He asked her.

She opened the door, it was the two BLM activists that saved Ri Dae-Jung and Marie.

"Can we come in?" The female asked.

"Sure." She said, leading them inside.

Patrick noticed than sat down.

"I came to say sorry, it was stupid of Peter to murder you, he never really had a good reputation, he was kicked out of the Virginia wing after assaulting a white woman infront of her son." She explained.

"Um, can I ask you something?" Patrick asked.

She nodded.

"Do you have any food on you?, I'm really hungry, I've barely eaten in days, my stomach hurts like h*** and it's preventing me from sleeping." He asked.

She looked at the teen, he was positively starving, his arms and legs were thin, he was paler and his body looked thinner than she last saw him, it was the worst state she saw Patrick in.

But she didn't bring any.

"Nope, sorry." She said.

"F***." He said.

Patrick never really swore, but, he was just so d*** hungry that he just had to let it out.

Patrick sat down, but then he felt a cramp from his stomach from hunger, causing him to flinch.

When it died down, he spoke.

"Looks like I'll be going hungry a fourth night." He said with dismay.

The two were speechless, this 18-year old was going hungry a fourth night, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"I'll bring food in the next few hours, I swear!" The male activist said.

"Promise?" He asked

He nodded.

Chapter 2: Sean
Sean, who was the Iron Man cosplayer of Annie and Patrick's group, his wife Alice and daughter Polly entered the flat.

Annie was still in her pajamas and had a large blanket wrapped around her.

"Patrick, what's it like being dead?" He asked Patrick.

"Even though me and Annie are together forever, she can't get those horrible images out of her head, the worst part is, I should have been 19 on the eighteenth." He said.

She held her Winter Soldier plush figurine close to her, she never let go of it.

"What date is it now?" Sean asked him.

"14th October." Patrick replied.

Patrick was shirtless, he looked at the gunshot wounds on his left side and back.

"They look painful, Patrick." Sean said.

Sean also noticed Patrick lost five pounds in weight, when he was alive, Patrick had a fairly average build, but by the time he saw him now, Patrick looked leaner and his arms looked thin.

"Patrick, Have you been eating the past few days?" He asked.

Patrick was about to respond when a loud rumble pierced the air.

The growling noise startled Sean, he saw Patrick wince and clutch his stomach.

"No." He said.

"How long was it since you've last?" Sean asked.

"Three days, It's going to be a fourth day tomorrow." He replied.

His skin was a lot paler than it was.

"Food is expensive and I don't have a job, I even resorted to looking through dumpsters." Patrick said.

Sean looked in shocked, he wanted to help Patrick at the thought of him being so hungry he resorted to eating out of dumpsters to get food.

"But that got me sick, couldn't even eat, that resulted in me going hungry a third night." He said.

Polly then pointed at Patrick's wounds.

"Yeah, I have to apply antibacterial cream every now and then because there's risk of infections." Patrick said.

"Um, do you have any toys for Polly to play with?" Alice asked Annie.

"N-n-no, our house isn't very kid friendly and we don't own a lot of toys, we just took some of our belongings like cosplays, movies, game consoles, the closet thing we have to a toy is my Winter Soldier plush figurine, but, it's mine and I need it to feel safe." Annie said.

Alice couldn't help but feel sorry for Annie, she saw her would have been husband die right in front of her.

Polly looked at the woman, she went up to her.

"You need angry raccoon dolly more than me." Polly said.

Polly met Annie when Annie was living, Polly always called Annie's Winter Soldier plush figurine "Angry Raccoon Dolly" because of the dark war paint-eyeliner around the doll's eyes, her mother's sister after Annie died offered the doll to her, but Polly refused.

Polly had good morals from both her parents and knew the doll meant very much to Annie.

"She sleeps only 4-6 hours a night, she wakes up screaming." Patrick said.

"What about you?" He asked.

"I sometimes have only 4-6 hours a night aswell, not from Annie's nightmares, but the hunger pains." Patrick said

Patrick would be dreaming about his family when his thoughts drifted to the pains in his stomach that were demanding to be filled.

"Sean?" He asked.

"Yeah?" Sean replied.

"Do you have food?, I'm starving, I have hardly eaten for three days, and I don't want to go a fourth day." Patrick asked

"Sorry, but I'll come with some in a few hours." He replied.

Patrick's stomach cramped badly in protest, both Sean and Patrick looked at eachother, Patrick put a hand on his midsection in a feeble attempt to crush the ache.

After Sean and his family went home, when it was 9:40, Mary and Johanna Redmond entered the flat.

"Um, hey, you're Annie aren't you?" Johanna asked her.

Annie nodded,

"Um, I'm Peter's sister, and I've came to say that I'm sorry." She said.

Patrick went out of the kitchen, Mary was shocked at how the young man looked.

Johanna got put two Subway sandwiches.

"Um, you two don't look like you're eating well the past few days." She said.

The faint smell caused Patrick to come closer, it made his stomach pang in hunger as he approached.

'He is really hungry.' Johanna thought, hearing the teenager's stomach gave a low but audible rumble in hunger, he put a hand on it to settle it down.

"You have food....." He said.

He looked ravenous by this point foward, hunger had taken over his emotions and mind, the faint smell was making it worse.

"For me?" He asked in a gentle voice.

She nodded.

Peering into the bag and he was hit with the stronger smell of cooked bread hit his nose, saliva gathered in his mouth, he put a hand on his empty stomach, giving away just how hungry he is.

He took it then handed one of them to Annie

Patrick wolfed it down, he had hardly eaten over the past few days and he was very unwilling to order junk food with the laptop to save money.

Mary looked at him in pity as he tore through it like a wild animal, he clearly hadn't eaten well in days.

Johanna looked how fast he ate, she then turned her attention to his wife, the girl with the doll ate slower, as if she was used to going days without eating.

He devoured the first half in four to six quick bites, he bit into it, barely chewing before taking another bite, he closed his eyes and a moan of pleasure escaped his lips, melted cheese dribbled down his mouth, this was the best thing he'd eaten in three days, eagerly licking the melted cheese from his hands, Mary looked sad at the teenager being so hungry that he will eat or lick stray pieces of ham, cheese, cucumber and the bread used.

Johanna even looked at Patrick look for strayed pieces of bread, ham, cheese or lettuce that fell while he was eating.

"Slow down, you'll choke, Patrick, I know you're hungry, but slow down." Annie said.

Annie was given lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes.

Annie ate more slowly than her soulmate for life, she put her doll to the side so she couldn't get crumbs over it.

There was also water inside both bags, which Annie was pretty thankful for, she sipped it gently, while Patrick gulped his down.

Annie looked at Patrick, who was eating the last of his first half.

Annie was still on her first half and Patrick moved to the second half, which like the first, he wolfed down.

"He is really hungry...." Annie whispered to Mary.

He ate like a starved animal, compared to Annie, who took much slower bites.

Like the first one, he looked for loose pieces of ham, bread, cheese and cucumber.

When he was done, Patrick gave a small burp, he laid back.

"I'm full....." He said.

He hiccuped.

Patrick was finally sated after three days with him being unable to sleep because of the horrible pains in his stomach.

It was late at night, around 9:46 pm.

Annie then moved on to her second half.

Johanna looked at her brother's teenage victim, the poor guy must of been starving, there were flakes from the bread all over his mouth and chest.

Both halves were filling, and he was grateful for it.

Patrick could focus more clearly, there was a much fuller feeling inside his stomach and he felt relieved, it was very filling, Patrick rubbed his stomach and laid back.

They were both thankful for the food, Patrick felt like he couldn't go another day without something in his stomach.

"Looks like that I won't be going hungry when I sleep." He said.

Annie fnished her second half then turned to her husband.

"At least I won't have to hear your stomach and you whimpering from hunger pains." Annie said.

After they left, two people came.

"Mum? Dad?" He asked.

Annie came outside of the bathroom.

Janice saw her son, Patrick's hair was still long, but was a mess.

She took a look inside, Annie's doll was on the bed, Patrick picked it up.

"Patrick, do you have my doll?" She called out from the room.

"Sometimes, Annie feels me touching it, she feels my every movement on the doll." He said.

Patrick turned on the XBOX ONE and put on Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

"Um, what have you and Annie have been eating the past few days?" She asked.

"People sometimes visit me, sometimes they have food, Peter's sister and mom gave me and Annie Subway sandwiches, before that, nothing in three days." He replied.

"Can I see your gunshot wounds?" She asked.

Patrick nodded and turned to the side.

"I have to rub antiseptic cream to stop infections." He said.

"Patrick used to be so ticklish there, now it's almost painful to touch." Annie said.

Where the gunshot wounds were used to be the most ticklish part of Patrick's body, his friends would describe him laughing hysterically within seconds if tickled on the sides.

Annie took the doll off Patrick and laid with him.

"Peter's relatives visited, they gave us Subway bags." Annie said.

Evan looked how thin his son looked, before his death, Patrick was described as having a slender build, almost like a Ken doll, but he now looked more like a female bodied-alien because of malnourishment.

Janice looked at Annie, who had her doll in her arms.

"I remember my son getting that for you." She said.

"Yeah, tried very hard to keep him clean." She replied back.

Chapter 3: Sophie and Reicheru
Sophie and Reicheru visited the couple.

Patrick was only dressed in boxers while Annie was still in her pajamas.

"No offense Patrick, but your apartment's a total s***hole." Reicheru said.

"Yes, I know, that's what Al told me." Patrick said.

Patrick's long hair was a mess and Annie was watching TV.

"What are you two watching?" Reicheru asked.

"We are watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Patrick said.

"Um Pat, why not let us give you a job?" Sophie offered.

Patrick thought about it, he did need one, the apartment was filthy, the food was expensive and hardly sustained him and he really needed new clothes, and a better apartment.

Reicheru sat down next to Annie.

"Here's a number of a psychotherapist I want you to see, she'll help you." Reicheru said.

Sophie then looked at Patrick's gunshot wounds.

"Um, I can get the doctors of the TT10 to deal with the gunshot wounds." She said.

"I don't have enough money for the operation." Patrick said.

"We'll let you get it for free." She said.

Patrick looked at her.

"How?" Patrick asked.

"Come tomorrow." Sophie said.

Chapter 4: TT10 Base
Patrick walked with Annie to the TT10 base.

"Oh, Patrick, come on, let's get your operation done." Sophie said.

Annie and Patrick were given new clothing as gifts.

Reicheru noticed Patrick looked thinner than usual.

"Patrick, what have you been eating the past few days?" She asked him.

"Sometimes the food we often got with the little money we have, most times, nothing." He replied.

The food that he brought wasn't really of nutritional quality, it tasted like metal and he hated it.

He had barely eaten all day and his hunger pains worsened.

It would be annoying as he was trying to think about the incident that ended his human life when his thoughts kept drifting to the gnawing ache in his stomach.

"That'll be nice....." He said

Nicole them noticed the ghost.

"Should we get your operation done?" She asked.

"Yeah, I really need it, my gunshot wounds" He said

He was interrupted by a loud growling sound coming from his stomach, he put a hand on his groaning midsection, he winced a little, it reminded Patrick how hungry he was.

"Food first." He said.

"Sure." She said.

Reicheru made Patrick something to eat 10 minutes later.

She decided to make him something light, she saw him wolf the dish down, it was filling than what he had the past few days, other than the Subway food.

"More?" He asked

She looked at the 18-year old, he must be positively starving.

"Sure." She said.

She then gave the teenager another serving, which he wolfed down.

She then saw him take his third serving.

After three servings, his body decided that it was full and he laid on the table.

"I'm stuffed, thanks...." He said.

Toshio put the breathing mask on him.

After he was done, he underwent the operation.

Patrick was out cold, mostly because of his food coma and the anaesthetics.

Toshio started by removing the bullets, which were lodged above Patrick's pelvis.

Chapter 5: Mairead
Mairead O'Creesh visited the couple after two weeks Patrick joined the Irish corps, It was Patrick's 19th birthday and she gave Patrick a PS Vita with Digimon: Cyber Sleuth on it.

She recently noticed that Patrick was a fan of Digimon when she found some posters in his room.

The schoolgirl was dressed in her school uniform and was holding a bag of gifts for the family.

"Mister McCormick?" She said, coming into the apartment.

Mairead held two bags, one filled with food and the other filled with Tsum Tsum plush dolls.

Patrick opened the door, Mairead looked at him.

Patrick looked alot healthier, his color was returning, he had paid attention to exercise and nutrition, he was lean, but his skin was much healthier looking than the pasty white and his arms and legs had some muscle, his hair was much cleaner.

"I got you some food and some Tsum Tsum plushies in case Polly comes over." Mairead said.

"Thank you." The Irish-American teen said to her.

He took the bags from her hand, Annie came to the door.

Annie had new pajamas, she still had her doll in her arms, but she was clean.

"I also got movies." She said.

"Thank you." Annie said.

Members came with new wallpaper, installed a better stove, had groceries and many others.

Patrick was paid 50 Supernannyan dollars a week.

Annie was stay-at-home, Satoko had to come over to teach her how to cook.

Patrick worked in the Irish Corps and was sorted into the nationalist/republican group after they found out where he was born.

They let him keep his hair.

Annie enrolled a day later, both of her parents were of Irish descent, her maternal grandparents came from Waterford and her paternal grandparents came from Cork.

She was later sorted aswell and was also paid 50 Supernannyan dollars a week.

She was allowed to have her Winter Soldier plush figurine with her, the team gave her a special bag so she wouldn't have to carry it everywhere without it interfering with weapons.

Moses saw her, and he poured a glass of apple cider.

"Here." He said.

Annie looked up at him.

"I said if I saw you again, I would probably buy you a drink." Moses said.

She sipped it.

"It's good...." She said.

"You're welcome." He replied.

Moses looked at the doll.

"The GBS members called the murder case Winter Soldier Doll Case." Moses said.

Chapter 6: Cuong
Annie saw a Vietnamese man who was at least 20, she had to admit, he was attractive.

Cuong recongised her from the Winter Soldier plush figurine that he saw her holding.

"You're that girl.....that had that doll...." He said, pointing at the plush.

He spoke with a strong Hanoi accent.

Cuong remembered her as "Winter Soldier Plush Girl" and Patrick as "Deceased Loki Cosplayer"

At the afternoon, her corps members got together to watch a movie, Patrick sat next to her.

"Hey, hey, b****!" An Irish Corps F member yelled to Annie.

The girl's name was Rose McCalmant, she was on the F corps for the murder of a postal worker.

Rose snatched the doll from her.

"I want to see it." She said.

"Give it back!" She said.

"Come on, I just wanna take a peek, why is this doll special to you anyway! You didn't even try to save Patrick, you let him die!" She said.

Annie was known as "The Lonely Doll Girl" by other corps members, she and Patrick were in Irish corps B.

Hearing Rose say that made Annie scream, then Rose felt the doll get hotter and hotter until she felt something burn her hands and she dropped the doll onto the floor, which Annie picked up.

"MY HANDS! AHHHHHHHH!" She yelled.

Joseph MacNamara went into the room.

Rose was sent to the hospital wing while the Winter Soldier plush figurine was tested.

" (It's tested positive for a curse)" Toshio said,

He held the plush using protective gear.

"Toshio, please don't put it away like my helmet." Patrick pleaded.

" (I'm not, Annie's been through serious s***)" Toshio said.

It turned out that Annie's Winter Soldier plush figurine held a curse that was triggered by Annie's strong emotions.

Annie held it tight in her arms.

Later on at home, their living situation was alot better, Annie could sleep properly after the psychotherapist Reicheru recommended to her, Patrick falling asleep on a full stomach and sleeping normally after a week.

Annie's nightmares and Patrick waking up in the middle of the night from hunger pains decreased.

Chapter 7: Ri Dae-Jung
Ri Dae-Jung was in his uniform, but his hair was undone.

Annie noticed the boy.

"It's that Winter Soldier cosplayer kid." She said to Michael.

Ri Dae-Jung styled his hair to resemble his cosplay look, so the two could recongise him.

He still has the marks on his neck where Peter strangled him.

He sat near Annie.

Chapter 8: Yard Sale
The team had a donation yard sale, where the money went to charity.

Annie sat there with her doll, she was brushing it's hair with it, the doll hardly aged when she got it, probably from being properly looked after.

She saw an obese man wearing a wifebeater and jeans come across the Black Widow cosplayer.

"Hey little lady, how much for the doll?" He asked.

"I'm sorry sir, he's not for sale." She said.

"Sweetie, everything's for sale." He said.

"Stay back!" She said.

"Come on girl, give me the doll and no one gets hurt." He said.

Ri Dae-Jung was coming home from a cosplay event when he heard a girl's terrified cry.

He went to the source of the sound, it was Annie getting cornered by a brute of a man.

He went in front of Annie.

" (How about you find another girl to pick on?)" He asked.

Chapter 9: Unconsious
Annie collasped during a training session.

The last thing she heard was a familiar Vietnamese-accented voice: "Annie!"

She woke up, she noticed an IV and the fact she was now in a hospital gown.

She noticed a 5'7 tall man, He was in what appeared to be a Russian winter coat, He has a round face, pasty skin but had color around his lips, Annie thought he resembled a porcelain doll that could break if he fell over.

"Are you okay?" He said, he spoke with a soft Russian accent.

He unbuttoned his coat, he was slender with doll-likes arms and legs.

He sat on the bed.

"My name is Arkadi, you passed out during a training session, rest for a while." He said.

He noticed her doll, which she had on her.

"You must be thankful it was inside, I held it for you until you got on the hospital bed." She said.

"Thank you, but were you burned?" She asked.

"Nyet, Nyet, I'm deceased, just like you, you can tell by the Soviet uniform." He said.

"How did you die?" She asked.

"Injuries mixed with starvation, I had my arm broken, German soldiers found me trying to leave during Leningrad, beat me up, left me to die, survived on dead cats until they were no more." Arkadi explained.

Annie was shocked, Arkadi ate dead cats to survive in Leningrad, and when there was no more, he withered away and died, she was shocked at the thought of him being so hungry he survived on dead cats.

"When they peformed the autopsy, my stomach shrivelled to the size of a pebble my arms was broken." He said.

"What happened to you after you died?" She asked.

"I woke up in this weird forest nothing like the frozen Leningrad, There was this Chinese woman, French woman, Scottish man and a few others, since I've barely eaten in weeks, I was really d*** hungry." He explained.

"What year were you born in?" She asked.

"1923, many Soviet men my age didn't survive that war Stalin did, I just turned 21 2 weeks before I died." He said.

Toshio came in.

" (You had a grand mal seizure, do you remember collapsing?)" Toshio asked.

"No, everything went dark." She said.

" (That's normal)" Toshio said.