affliction

eighty

holy shit how are we on chapter 80 already

Bucky's POV

The past few days have been hard.

Beth made a full recovery within 2 days, though there was a scar left on her stomach because she couldn't leave shit alone. She's a literal, god damn super soldier. All she had to do was not pick the scab for 2 days and she wouldn't have had one. I thought about fucking cuffing her hands behind her back after catching her picking at it so many times.

A literal fucking child.

Anyway.

She had to cancel her classes this week. One, because she was in a hospital bed and Tony wouldn't allow it, and two, because Shuri began working on her HYDRA brain on Wednesday and needed the time. It also doesn't help that they go on thanksgiving break next week, so she's pissed that she won't see them for 2 weeks straight. So, I've had to listen to her gripe about all of that shit every day.

Not to mention that it's annoying as fuck having her be busy all day long. The fuck am I supposed to do? Twiddle my fucking thumbs?

Oh. Speaking of the word 'fuck,' guess what we haven't gotten to do yet?

Yep. You guessed it. My balls are ready to fucking explode.

Lastly, they had to test my brain with the code words.

Wasn't pretty.

Altogether, this week has been kind of shit so far. So, that's why I got to thinking about stress relieving and ended up in the gym. I honestly haven't been in a while, granted I've been with Shuri every day, but even before that I've been slacking. Beth has too, but I think she still manages to go more than me.

I'm in the middle of destroying a punching bag when the door opens and Steve's voice carries through the space. "You alright, Buck?"

I land a lethal punch to the bag and it flies off of the chain, sending it flying towards the wall. I huff and turn to him, my hands on my hips. "Yeah, just bored mostly. Tough week."

He nods. "Anything in particular?"

I shake my head, walking over to the back wall to grab another punching bag. "No, just minor details."

He speaks again while I'm hanging the bag. "T'Challa told me they tested your code words. That have anything to do with your mood?"

I grunt, beginning to hit the bag again. "I'm fine, Steve."

He walks over and holds the back of the bag, keeping it still for me so it's not swinging around. "You don't seem that fine. You've been down here a while."

I huff. "The code words were said, nothing happened. I have nothing to say."

His eyes close as he sighs. "Buck, you're allowed to feel a certain way about it. You're no longer tied to them anymore. You can go to the supermarket now without being scared they'll take over the loud speaker and control your mind." He takes a hand off the bag and points to my arm. "You don't even have the same metal arm they gave you anymore. You are your own person now." My punches start lessening as he keeps on with his speech. "You have no chance of getting controlled anymore, you have an entire building full of friends who care about you, and you have a badass, assassin girlfriend who would fight an entire army alone just to get to you. You're allowed to feel things, Buck."