Red Winter [Bucky Barnes]

Chapter Ten: The Lesson

My heart dropped to my stomach when I watched six young girls walk into the sparring room. They couldn't be more than sixteen years old, they should be in school, obsessing over their newest crush, but instead they were here. I don't think any of them could imagine what their next few years would be like, some of them probably didn't know that they would be dead, their bodies buried in an unmarked grave outside of the city.

Vera comes strolling in after them, her mere presence making the room a solid five degrees colder. She nods her head stiffly as she stands beside me, and I try to ignore the haunting chill that ran up my spine. "Ladies," she shouts as she slams her cane into the ground, and it takes every fiber of my muscles to keep me from flinching.

"This is Katerina, though some of you may know her better as The Siren," Vera continues as she motions to me and I watch as some of the girls eyes brighten with recognition, causing me to feel sick to my stomach. I knew that some of the girls idolized me and wanted to be like me, and I despised myself for it. I certainly was not anyone to look up to, but I understood why they wanted to, if they could be like me, then they would survive.

"And her partner, Sergeant Barnes," she motions to Barnes, and I watch as all of the girls look expectantly to him, all of their eyes lingering on his metal arm, which was exposed by his t-shirt. They all knew who he was, they had to have heard stories about him by now. Perhaps some of them didn't even believe that he was real, I certainly didn't when I was their age. I probably would have passed out if I met him then, I don't think I could have ever imagined working alongside him as well.

"You have the invaluable opportunity to learn from two of our greatest assets. I expect that you will all us this to your advantage. I shall leave them to it,"she finishes before leaving the room, and everyone's eyes turn towards me. I had run through some teaching scenarios on the ride here, but standing in front of them now, I forgot everything. Time to pull something out of my ass, I guess.

I take a deep breath as I look up towards them, ignoring the churning in my stomach. "There will be many times during a mission where you may be put up against an opponent who is physically larger and stronger than you. Take for example, Barnes," I begin as I motion to him, hoping that my hands weren't shaking. I could do this, I could make it through this, I've survived much worse than this.

I pivot towards Barnes as I step closer to him, finding a small sense of comfort when our eyes meet. It was oddly comforting to have him with me, I felt safe and even a little calm in his presence. "One look at him and you might think that I am easily outmatched, right," I ask, and the girls nod, their eyes razor focused and attentive. "There have been plenty of times where I've beaten him. The goal isn't to be the strongest fighter in the room, it's to be the smartest," I continue, the girls hung on my every word.

I quickly stretch out my arms as Barnes gets into his fighting stance. "Say he's my target and I have to take him out in hand to hand combat," I say as I slide into my fighting stance. "Looking at him, what do you think his first move is going to me," I ask, turning to the girls for an answer. They all look amongst one another, obviously caught off guard by the question. "It's a much simpler answer than you think," I help them out, hoping one of them would answer.

A girl with dark brown hair, quite similar to mine, slowly raises her hand and I motion for her to answer. "He's going to use his left arm," she half answers and half asks, obviously questioning her answer choice.

"Exactly," I exclaim as I snap my fingers, "just looking at him, most of his muscle mass is in his upper body," I explain as I motion him. The girls take a moment to examine him and despite my best efforts, I couldn't help but look him up and down, unable to get the picture of him fresh out of the shower out of my mind. He smirks softly at me and I break out my trance, hoping that none of the girls saw anything.