stamina (bucky barnes)

2

The next few days consisted of hard training. Both the twins and Bri thought they would've been flying to Sokovia by now, but Tony hadn't gained anymore intel on the situation. She'd grown closer with the twins, seeing as they didn't have individual rooms yet and literally slept in bunk beds. 

Wanda had become a great friend to Bri in the three days of knowing each other, and it was always fun sparring with her. They made a pretty good team; she used her powers to block things from hitting Bri and Bri used combat skills to fight anything else. 

Pietro, on the other hand, was quite a flirt and constantly tried to make her laugh, or distract her. He was kind of like the brother she never had and he threw insults at anyone that criticized her. 

They had trained with almost everyone on the team. Bri single-handedly took down Natasha, Thor, Clint, and Steve (four times because he wouldn't give up) in hand to hand combat, but she and the twins could take down everyone in the matter of seconds. 

"Didn't see that one coming, did you?" Pietro chuckled as he pinned Clint down once again.

"Dude you really need a new catchphrase. You've used that on him at least three times already." Bri smiled over at Pietro, blocking another punch from Steve. She was starting to get tired of Steve's 'I'm better than you' attitude and his combat routine was almost predictable. 

Suddenly, Steve snapped at her. "And you really need to focus and stop commenting on every little thing." Steve grunted as he threw his shield down and got in her face. "How on earth are you going to be able to fight in an actual war if you can't pay attention for one damn second?! You're going to be useless to the team unless you take this seriously." 

The room was silent and it seemed like everyone was watching the debacle. Bri saw Pietro walking towards her, getting ready to give Cap a piece of his mind, but Wanda stopped him. She must've saw the turmoil going on inside her brain. 

"If I'm such an inconvenience to you and everyone else, then why am I here?" Bri quickly covered the pained expression with a hard glare and clenched her fists.

Steve narrowed his eyes at her, "You know what? I don't know! I don't care to know! Whatever Fury and Stark saw in you is a mystery to me and everyone standing in this room."

Thor placed his hammed in-between them, trying to separate the two. "Cap, please calm down."

"No." He shook his head, bending to grab his shield and started walking out of the room. "If she's going to act like a self-centered bitch, then I don't want to hear any of you complaining when the blood of my team is on her hands."

The doors slammed, and the only audible thing left was Bri's heavy breathing.  She didn't know why she let Steve get to her, but she forced herself to hold back any sign of tears.

"Lady Sabrina, I do not have any knowledge of what has gotten into him." He placed a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off, nodding at the comforting gesture.

She had a mindset to make everyone believe she was tough and strong. Bri brushed off Steve's comment and pivoted back towards the equipment, ready to train again.

"Are you alright?" Wanda cautiously placed a hand on Bri's back as she walked. 

Bri looked up and smiled. "I'm fine, Wanda. I think he's just on his man period or something."

Laughing lightly, they both shook it off and changed the topic. "I'm going to get some food, do you want to come with?" Wanda asked, unlacing her sneakers and packing up her small gym bag.

"Nah, you go ahead. I want to finish up and take a shower." Bri smiled, pointing towards the treadmills.

Wanda nodded and left. Bri noticed the gym started to clear out, so she climbed on the treadmill and started running. She didn't know how long she'd been stomping away, but her legs burned and her breathing was significantly quicker.

"If you keep running at that speed, you'll throw your knee out." He leaned against the machine and watched her with a knowing look. He pushed the pause button, forcing her to stop and climb off. Her silence was uncomfortable and Pietro knew that she was hurting. "I know you want to blow off steam, I'll let you continue and then you can come talk to me if you want."

He started to walk away before she grabbed his wrist and yanked him back. "Don't leave."

---

Pietro spent the next hour listening to her. He didn't mind, he was intrigued that she would open up to someone. Ever since they met, Bri had been closed off. She built a wall around herself and threw sarcasm and whit around to distract everyone from her personal problems. He didn't know a thing about her, except some small physical detail Stark had spoke about.

Bri told him the story. The story of how she started fighting, how she became the person she is now, and how Fury and Stark quickly recruited her. He immediately realized why she challenged Steve when he yelled at her, and immediately felt angry that Wanda hadn't let him step in.

"So, yeah." Bri wiped a stray tear, hoping Pietro didn't notice, and began to get up. "I'm starving."

He frowned at her, seeing that she was closing off again. Pietro didn't say anything and followed her to the elevator. If she wanted to talk to him, she would. He told himself that she just needed time. 

Suddenly the intercom sounded, and all they heard was F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice. "Miss Sabrina Dawson, Captain Rogers is requesting your presence in his office immediately."

"Thanks, tell him I'll be there in a second." She sighed, pressing the button on the elevator.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Pietro grabbed her hand, squeezing it slightly.

She gave him a half-smile and shook her head. "I'm a big girl, I think I can handle him."

When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Pietro gave her a side hug and headed towards the kitchen. "Give him hell, kid."

She headed down the hallway, trying to talk herself out of running and hiding. Bri knocked on his office door, well Stark's office door, and waited for a reply.

"Come in." He stated blankly.