Traceur

•01•

Levi's POV
Steve grins over at me, stretching his back and bending down to touch his toes.

"Think you can beat me this time?" He goads, and I smirk.

"Haven't I proven that I can these past few times?"

"Touché," he sighs, getting into position. I crouch with him, and start the timer on my watch.

Three.

Two.

One...

GO!

I take off, sprinting down the pathway that loops around the small manmade pond and fountain. I focus on controlling my breathing.

In and out. One...two. One...two. Make sure your feet have a rhythm. Remember? Running is a song.

I push myself ahead of Steve, already going faster than a normal person could ever run. After the Battle of New York City, they pushed me to admit that I am...an enhanced. I just said that I was born this way.

They don't need to know the truth.

I focus on pushing all of my frustration into my footfalls, using my anger to propel myself forwards.

HYDRA. Red Room. Strucker. Madame B. Agent Rumlow. Alexander Pierce. Experiments. Mistreatment. Winter.

My existence.

I approach another person, and I mentally hesitate.

Well, I guess I should pass them. I mean, people driving by have already seen my unnatural speed. So why not this guy?

I speed past him, and he grunts, pushing himself to go faster.

"On your right!" I inform him as I go by, and he makes sure not to run into me.

I'm several yards ahead when I hear Steve say, "On your left."  I grin at the noise of exasperation that leaves the man.

I zip around the circuit and quickly approach the man again.

"On your right!"

"Uh-huh, on my right," the man pants, and I keep running, snickering to myself.

I head around again, with Steve still behind me.  I can hear him say, "On your left," which is replied to with, "Yup, on my left, got it."

I pull up behind him, and he groans, while I grin.
"Don't say it. Don't you say it!"

"On your right!" I laugh, and sprint away. He yells in frustration, and I laugh merrily.

Ah, frustrating people. Still my favorite hobby after all this time.

The man slows to a stop and, panting for breath, heads towards the tree line for a rest.

"Need a medic?" Steve asks, joining him. I'm already climbing one of the trees, settling myself on a branch that's at Steve's shoulder height.

"Need a new pair of lungs," the man quips. "Dude, you guys just ran like, thirteen miles in thirty minutes."

I shrug from my branch. "Guess we got a late start."

"Oh really?" He asks. "You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap."

At his suggestion, just to be irritating, I hop down from the tree and take a lap, then hop back up onto my branch. Steve smirks, while Sam laughs disbelievingly.

"Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."

Steve looks up at me, and I grin.

"Actually..."