A Feeling Of Normality [Bucky Barnes x Reader]

Part 15. The 1940s.

It's a rainy day when someone knocks on Bucky's door. He knows straight away that it's [Y/N] because she always knocks the same way. Like that guy in that one show that's on TV all the time... Cooper. Sheldon Cooper. He can't quite grasp the title of the show because he still isn't used to things like the television that plays movies and series all day long  but her own style of knocking always reminds him of that show. Four times, each time with a little more force, only the last knock weakens again.
He recently made himself comfortable on his bed, which he is slowly getting used to.

[Y/N] opens the door and sees Bucky sitting on his bed, the blanket over his feet, a book in his hands. "What's up?" he asks her while taking a closer look at the woman. Her hair is tied in a pigtail, her long legs are accentuated by her sports trousers, and her upper body is only covered by a sports bra. There are light beads of sweat on her body. He can see that she was exercising and even though he has seen her in an outfit like that more than once, he still enjoys the view in front of him.

"I know you don't train. But I need a training partner for close combat."

"What about Romanoff and Wilson?" Bucky asks her but [Y/N]'s look reveals her doubts. She has hidden them very well before dropping the news about her past but ever since, there is that fear in her eyes. She's not comfortable with the thought of close combat training and breaks off the training after a couple of minutes, no matter who she's training with. Even Steve has tried to train with her but he was just as less successful, even though he's the most careful. Bucky, on the other hand, is familiar with Hydra's corruption and is the strongest fighter. That, and the damage he has done when fighting, is why he usually doesn't train but [Y/N] needs help to overcome her fears and there's no one better than him. Most especially because she feels the most comfortable with him and knows that he can take whatever is happening. He is best at weighing the dangers coming from [Y/N] so that she has to worry about him less. "I'll join you in a minute. I'm just getting changed."

Thankfully, [Y/N] nods at him but her eyes are full of concern and frustration. She's struggling with close combat training for too long and wouldn't ask Bucky if it wouldn't be necessary.

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Bucky looks at the woman that never fails to impress him as he always discovers new aspects of her that he finds stunning. Of course, she's broken, just like him. Probably like everyone else, even. There's no way to be a human experiment without being damaged. He can see the fear in her eyes when she's asked to do an exercise but it isn't because she's scared to might hurt him but because every close combat exercise refreshes her memories. Every time she's about to attack him, there's a flicker in her eyes that show him that she's remembering a moment of her past, which leads to her making mistakes and landing on the ground roughly. The memories are too much for her to just put aside and yet she's trying over and over again. That is, until Bucky can't take her pain and failing anymore and breaks off the training. He hands [Y/N] a bottle of water and ponders how he can help her.

The two of them sit in silence, catching their breaths when Bucky gets an idea. "I think I know why you have a hard time training."

"I know it, too" [Y/N] replies sarcastically, but Bucky hears how discouraged she feels.

He shakes his head. "These exercises... they cause flashbacks because you know them. You need something new."

"That's all Sam and Natasha have shown me so far. I never really had to use close combat, to be honest."

"Yet you had to, sometimes. Or they've at least teached you" Bucky answers and a grin forms on his lips. The thought of what he's going to teach [Y/N] is not just entertaining but somehow hot. And he can't wait for Steve to see her pull of that trick. "I'll teach you something new then" he says and walks up to his gym bag and pulls out a fake knife and throws it so it lands next to [Y/N]. He's going to teach her his knife flip.