The Grey Raven // Bucky X Oc (Discontinued For Now)

⠂Chapter 32⠐

“Astrid. Stop holding back.” I snap out of my head and glance at Steve. “Hit me,” he says.

“I-... I don’t want to,” I murmur, my hands fidgeting.

Steve lets out a breath before he lunges for me. Already anticipating this I pivot and step away from him. He straightens, an annoyed look on his face as he turns to me. “Stop playing the defensive.”

“No,” I respond stubbornly, dodging another easily anticipated strike.

“I know you can fight. Natasha trained with you,” he says, looking me over.

I tense and roll when he lunges for me again. As I come up I kick out my leg and hook it around his, pulling it out from under him.

His knee hits the ground and I stand before knocking him over and restraining his arms behind his back. I place my knee between his shoulder blades, holding him down as best I can.

“You still didn’t hit me,” he mumbles, his cheek pressed into the training mat as he struggles to loosen my hold.

“And yet I still managed to beat you,” I respond, tugging at his arms while pressing my knee into his back which stops his struggling.

Hitting him would only do me so good. He’s still stronger than I am. I just have to take advantage of my speed and agility to overpower him. “Can you let me go yet?” he asks, wiggling his shoulders.

I release him and take a few steps back as he pushes himself back up. “I don’t have to hit you to be able to win against you,” I comment as he starts circling me. I quickly match him so we stay facing each other.

“Maybe not, but you still should try so you know your own strength,” he responds.

I’ve always waited for him to make the first attack and had merely matched it with a defensive move. This time though, I strike first.

I make it seem as if I’m going for a high kick, which he believes, placing all his defense up, when I actually sweep out his leg. He starts to go down but catches himself and throws a punch at me.

I narrowly dodge it before grabbing his wrist and twisting it around his back and forcing him down.

His other hand grabs my calf, just below my knee, and he pulls, sending me onto my back and releasing my grip. Jerk.

I roll away from him but he meets me halfway and grabs one of my wrists, pinning my hand above my head. He plants his knees against my hips, caging me in and makes to reach for my other hand.

While he’s distracted with that I wiggle around until I bring both of my legs through his. Before he knows what I’m going I place one foot on his lower chest and one on his stomach before pushing.

He goes flying up and behind me and I do a kick up into standing and turn to him. He lands haphazardly on his feet and stares at me, panting a bit.

“That’s more like it,” he murmurs, taking a step toward me.

He punches a few times and I block them each, taking a step back each time. He throws a hook and I duck under it, stepping to his outside and punching his side.

He flinches and folds toward where I hit and I realize I just unintentionally delivered a liver strike. Whoopsie! 

He turns to face me and steps closer before punching again. I swerve to the side and realize my mistake too late as he slips in behind me and swiftly puts me into a chokehold.

Instinctively my hands go up to his arm and I try to pull it away from my neck. He slowly starts squeezing and my eyes go wide.

Dammit! I make a small hop up, planting my feet to his thighs and shoving. He wasn’t expecting that and I manage to press myself enough away from his chest that I can slide a hand between his arm and chest.

I press hard against his arm while still pressing myself away from him and manage to break his grip. Swiftly I do a back kick into his stomach which sends him onto his back.

He lets out an oof as the air gets knocked out of him and I quickly pin his arms to his sides using my legs as I sit on his stomach.

He moves around, trying to get me off. I tense and squeeze a bit tighter, keeping his arms in place. I can feel his legs kicking about, trying to help him, but he’s completely immobilized.

After a minute he stills and gives me a sour look. “Fine. You win. Now get off,” he mumbles.

I place my hands down on his stomach, between my legs, and lean closer to him. “Could you repeat that for me? I missed it,” I murmur, suppressing a grin.

He stares at me for a moment, his eyes traveling down then back up. “You win,” he says simply.

I smirk before loosening my legs and starting to stand. I let out a small yelp as Steve sits up quickly and pulls me back down into his lap. “You got lucky,” he murmurs, his hands warm against the back of my knees.

“Sure I did sweetheart,” I respond smugly. I give him a quick kiss on the cheek before getting off him.

He stands and steps off the training mat. “Are you going to the New Years party?” he asks, glancing back at me.

I watch him for a moment. “Yeah, Nat invited me,” I respond, grabbing a towel and lightly patting my face since I’ve barely broken a sweat.

“I’ll see you there then,” he says, walking past me and out of the gym.

I should’ve punched him.