What if...? || 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴

⤷ 6 ...Bucky had a relapse?

"Come on, I know you can do better," the dark-haired man exclaims. You laugh and jump a bit forth and back, loosening up your muscles. Bucky holds up his forearms, preparing for your punch. And then you send your arm flying, hitting him with all the force you have. He doesn't move at all. You let out a frustrated sigh.

"Why do you have to be so strong? It's not fair, if I had super soldier serum, I would beat the crap out of you."

He clicks his tongue and raises an eyebrow. "Tsk. What would Steve think if he heard you using such language?"

You roll your eyes, preparing for another attack. This time, you aim for his knees – it's no fair play since you agreed to work on your higher punches, but that's irrelevant. You just want to land at least one hit today.

He's not prepared for when you bend your knees and punch his knee with your right foot. You hear him hiss through his teeth as he jumps backward and squints his eyes.

"So we're playing this game today, yes?" he asks with a playful undertone. "Be prepared for the unfairest moves you've ever seen!"

Laughing, you dodge his fist as he tries to hit your nose. He didn't move as fast or strong as he could, so it would've been a wonder if he'd actually struck your face. Then he suddenly jumps forward and grabs your waist. It's no problem for him to lift you and you find yourself hovering in the air, being spun around by a strong, handsome man who looks up at you and smiles brightly. You return the smile and catch your breath while he lets you down again.

A stifled laugh from the door attracts your attention and as you and Bucky look up, you see Sam standing there with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but Steve wants to talk to you, Bucky." Your face is burning as he turns away again. Lovebirds, as if. You turn your gaze back to Bucky and see that his cheeks have reddened, too.

"I should probably get going," he says, clearing his throat. "Don't want to keep Steve waiting..."

You nod understandingly, even though you wish you'd get to spend more time with him. "Tomorrow, same time?" you ask hopefully, and to your luck, Bucky nods with a smile.

"Sure." With that, he leaves the training room.

The next day, you reach the room early. Bucky isn't yet there, so you decide to do your warming-up exercises until he gets there. But even as you try to focus on what you're doing your thoughts are drawn back to Bucky all the time. You didn't really train the last time, but it was more fun than you'd had in a very long time.

You glance at the clock hanging on the wall and realize that he should've been here half an hour ago. Frowning, you get up from the mat you were doing the warmup on.

"Friday, do you know where Bucky is?" you ask the AI.

"He's on his way, but he looks upset," the female voice tells you. You tilt your head.

"Because of what?" you ask out of curiousness. For a moment, Friday doesn't say anything.

"Since the talk with Mr. Rogers, he seems to be quite stressed out," she then explains, and your brows furrow. What could Steve have said that upset him this much?

At that moment, Bucky enters the training room. Friday was right, he's behaving rather strangely. You still greet him with a bright smile, hoping that it would cheer him up a bit.

"Hey there," you call out. "I already thought you got lost in the compound. Glad you're finally here."

He tries a weak smile but you can see something disturbing in his eyes. Is it... fear? "Let's just start with the exercises, shall we?"