Necessary Good, Unnecessary Evil | No rest For Wounded Souls [Bucky Barnes]

Rookies

"Experience is a brutal teacher, but you learn. My God, do you learn."
-C.S. Lewis

****

Nova's POV

A month later

Heavy rain has been falling over the compound all morning.A group of SHIELD recruits are training on the running track under Bucky's stern supervision.
His eyes meet mine as I put on my headphones, starting my playlist.
I keep eye contact until he looks away, bellowing some orders.
The recruits stop immediately and reorganize into couples.
He keeps his back straight and shoulders pushed back. His legs apart in a steady stand.
He looks like he's born to be in charge, and I can totally see why Steve put him in this role. 
He's fucking scary, and he knows that.
I start walking to my parking lot, matching my steps with the music in my ears.
My thighs are sore after three hours of training. Natasha is to blame. I've been training for years, but then I kind of left out that part, using mostly my powers.
It is not that I can't fight. It's just that I like the easy way. 
A hand grips my shoulder, and I turn around quickly.

"Jesus, Steve," I yelp, letting go of his wrist.
"Sorry, I didn't want to scare you." He apologizes, massaging his hand
"I almost snapped your wrist. You shouldn't come behind someone like that." I scold him, feeling bad for hurting him.
A month ago, I'd have done worse, but still, this is the type of reaction I have to restrain.
I take off my headphones and shove them in my pocket.
"I called you. I didn't notice you were wearing headphones." He says, and his mouth curves in a smile.
"Did you want to tell me something?" I ask, wondering why he's here.
"Uh," he hesitates, scratching the back of his head, "yes, actually." 
I raise a brow looking at him, waiting for him to keep going.
"There's this place in Brooklyn, where they play live music." He begins nervously.
"They serve food too. Good food, apparently." Steve adds, and I frown at him.
"Oh, nice. Have you been there?" I guess, studying his body language.
Why is he so tense?
"No, but I thought that maybe we could give it a try, you know. See how it is?" He plasters a smile on his face, and my breath hitches.
"Oh well..." I hesitate, not knowing how to act.

The last month has been quite weird, especially when I was around Steve.
Tony introduced me to someone, Nick Fury, and he offered me a job at his agency. 
I accepted, even if I'm still not persuaded.
Surprisingly, I've started to tolerate the team and don't mind having them around sometimes.
I even went out with Natasha and Wanda once, mostly to prove Tony wrong about me not knowing how to interact with people.
Which isn't totally wrong, but I'd rather die before letting him be right.
But Steve and I have been awkward since the New York attack.
"I guess it's not a bad idea." I resonate with him, and his eyes light up.
My stomach twists and I feel a lump in my throat.
"Oh, great! I can pick you up at seven?" He beams, and my lips curl up.
"Seven sounds good," I say, and he nods.
We remain in silence for a few seconds, staring at each other.
I clear my throat, breaking the silence, "I should go. See you later?" 
Steve smiles, "Yeah, I'll see you later." He repeats and walks away, getting back to his work.

I get to my car, tossing the duffle in the backseat, and get inside.
The engine starts to rumble, and I drive out of the garage only to curb out of the blue.
My body jolts forward and back from the sudden stop.
Did I just agree on going on a date with Steve?
I clutch the wheel in both hands, feeling my heart race.
"What do I do?" I whisper, bringing my fist to my chin.
Should I go back and tell him no? No. I can't do that. Too late for that.
Do I make up an excuse? No, he knows I've nothing to do but spend the night in my room.
I twist my back to reach the duffle and grab my phone.
"Where are you?" I send a text to Natasha. I saw her dealing with guys. She will know what to do.
"At the compound. Training rookies. Y?" She texts back in a couple of minutes.
"Coming there. I need to talk to you." I drive back to the parking lot and rush to the gym.
I crane my neck, noticing Natasha standing in front of a group of boys.
I walk to her, hoping she won't ask too many questions.