Soul Stealer ~ (A Bucky Barnes Love Story)

Runaway with Me

My back hit the floor with a thwack, all the air punching out of my lungs in one painful gasp.  Bucky gazed down at me unsympathetically with slightly raised eyebrows. The prick.

"Don't ever let your guard down."

Panting I flipped him the bird, letting my hand flop back to the floor.  "Why do I have to do this?"  He made a point of scanning my prone body lying sprawled on the floor where he'd thrown me like that was explanation enough.  "You may not remember but we've done this before."

He nodded, pursing his lips.  "Yeah, I remember alright.  I remember you sucking."

He held out his hand which I begrudgingly accepted and he hauled me to my feet.

"The chances of me going up against another super solider are a billion to one," I grumbled.  Technically more like a billion to two, but still, it wasn't going to be an everyday occurrence.  "You're a giant.  This isn't exactly a fair fight."

"Technically you're only about 10% super soldier."

"Hilarious."

"You don't need to worry about a kid or an elf attacking you."  I crossed my arms, raising my chin defiantly.  "I'm the type of person you need to worry about."  Meaning someone bigger and stronger.

"Why do I have to learn to fight if I can just rip out their soul?  No muss, no fuss."

He dropped into a fighting stance.  "And if you can't?"

"Can't?  That would never..."

I never got a chance to finish the sentence.  He lunged forward, a metal fist sailing by my face so close I swear I felt the cold plates kiss my cheek as I barely avoided the hit.  He didn't give me a chance to recover, attacking with a series of jabs and kicks I struggled to parry, his relentless assault driving me back.  I could forget about going on the offensive.  It was all I could do stay on my feet and not die.

I'd seen some of the footage of him fighting my father taken from cell phone videos and uploaded to the Internet.  It was awful to see the two friends trying to destroy each other, but there was a violent beauty to their fighting.  It was a deadly dance waged by two evenly matched experts. 

Whenever we had time and space Bucky insisted on "training" me.  He was always preparing and in this scenario it was for a time when he wasn't there to protect me and my power failed me. The likelihood of both happening at the same time were slim but good luck convincing the Soldier.

Crossing my arms in an X I blocked his strike with a fake knife then immediately tried to ram my knee into his ribs but he quickly slid backwards and out of my reach. 

I knew he was holding back which was depressing.  Even restrained he was still faster, stronger, and far more skilled than I could ever hope to be. If my powers ever did let me down I was going to have to hope I was facing a kid or an elf. It was the only way I stood a chance.

He twisted on his heel, and I ducked under a leg kick, popping up with a bright smile.  That was the first time I'd ever semi-successfully dodged that particular maneuver. 

He was a blur of movement and then something hard connected with the back of my legs and I yelped, crashing to the floor, on my back, again.

"Ouch," I complained, sprawled on the floor of our newly rented apartment for the tenth time in as many minutes.

His heavy footsteps made the floor vibrate underneath me as he walked closer.

"When exactly where you going to unleash the no muss, no fuss?"  That was a ridiculous question. I wasn't touching his soul, ever.  I wouldn't risk it.  One slip and I could kill him.  The mere thought made a cold sweat break out on the back of my neck.  "And stop celebrating.  You can't let your guard down, not ever."