First Fight
Iris’ POV
Iris would be lying if she said she didn’t feel intimidated as she watched Bucky beating up the punching bag. It seemed as though he had a lot of pent up emotion in each swing which caused the bag to sway back and forth. With one sudden grunt he extended his metal arm full force into the bag causing it to fly forward and hit the wall on the opposite side of the room. Iris jumped slightly at the action.
Bucky was panting as he looked down at his two fists. The flesh one was wrapped up but the bindings were coming undone. He opened and closed the metal plates of the fingers on his other hand, watching them unfurl and close again.
Fury coughed quite loudly to get Bucky’s attention as they stood by the closed elevator doors. Bucky swung his head towards the two of them as they walked closer.
“That’s the third bag this week.” Fury motioned at the fallen punching bag which was spilling sand onto the floor. Iris gulped. Third? Jesus Christ…
“I’ll clean it up.” Bucky grumbled, still breathing heavily.
“Good, but not now. We need you.” Both Iris and Bucky had equally confused looks on their face.
“What do you mean?” Bucky asked, pulling a towel down from on the shelves on the wall and wiping off his brow.
“I want you and Iris to do a simulation.” Iris had no idea what he was talking about but Bucky visibly froze.
“No.” Bucky turned back towards them. “She’ll just get hurt.”
Oh damn, they want me to fight him. Even though Iris had just seen Bucky and his work on the punching bag she felt her heart skip at the fought of being in such close proximity to the super soldier.
“You don’t think my “street fighting” is good enough for you?” Iris scoffed. Fury grinned while Bucky kept the same emotionless expression.
“That’s not it…” Bucky began.
“What is it then.”
“Well, you just aren’t that strong if I’m being honest.” Iris rolled her eyes.
“I might not look it but I have some tricks hidden up my sleeves.”
“You heard the girl, let’s get started.” Fury was chuckling. Iris smiled as well, trying to hide both her excitement and her nervousness. Fury then walked over to the glass wall on the far side of the room. Iris was confused. Behind it was nothing but a brightly lit, empty room. All surfaces were flat and a pristine white.
“You want us to battle it out in there?” Iris asked. Fury chuckled again, pressing a few buttons next to the door. A TV came out of the roof and stopped in front of Fury’s face. It lit up showing the white room in front of him.
Why the hell does he need that, there’s nothing else in the room.
“Just go inside.” Fury motioned to the door. Iris stepped through it and Bucky quickly followed. Iris felt her heart beat a little faster as she could feel his presence directly behind her. Iris wasn’t short by any means but still felt miniscule with the super soldier behind her.
Iris took a few steps into the empty room. The lights were brighter inside which caused her to squint. She turned around, expecting a glass window to see Fury through but instead she was created with an empty white wall.
“What the…” Iris began. Bucky stepped in front of her and reached out his flesh hand. Iris looked up into his icy blue eyes. Her heart was nearly beating out of her chest at this point.
“Good luck, you’re going to need it.” Iris took Bucky’s hand and shook, hoping he couldn’t feel her pulse.
“I might say the same to you, asshole.” Iris smiled as her hand fell back to her side. Bucky smirked as well before walking to the opposite side of the room. Damn that was hot.
“Get your shit together, lovebirds.” Iris jumped at Fury’s voice over the intercom, blushing slightly. “Everyone ready?”
“Let’s get this party started!” Iris yelled into the room. She looked over to Bucky who was now quite far away. This room is fucking massive. Iris felt as though it was bigger on the inside.
“I’ll countdown from three.” Fury began his countdown but Iris interrupted him.
“So do we start after you say one or will you be like three two one go or what.”
“Just start when I damn say!” Iris smirked but her smile was quickly replaced with awe. The floor underneath her had begun to move in waves as grass grew beneath her feet.
“Three…” Trees began growing up from the ground. Iris was now standing directly underneath an especially large one.
“Two…” The sky was barely visible through the canopy of the forest but she could now see a pale blue sky above her. A slight breeze began to flow between the branches of trees causing their leaves to rustle.
“One…” The entire room now looked like a deciduous forest. Small grassy bumps sat underneath trees that looked hundreds of years old. Wild flowers dotted in between other weeds and small mushrooms. Iris turned around and saw a similar view stretching out behind her. Even the crisp air smelled like moss.
“Go!” Fury’s voice pierced the room until it went back to its original silence with only a few chirping birds and what sounded like a stream to break it. She almost forgot why she was here.
“Leave it to Stark.” Iris whispered to herself before moving into fight or flight mode. She decided the best course of action would be through the trees. She could see more from the upper canopy and could most likely move faster.
Iris was nervous as she ran to the closest trunk and hoisted herself up into the tree. The plant had literally not been there a second ago and she was afraid it would disappear at any second. But it didn’t.
Iris climbed further up into the branches, careful not to step on any that were too thin. A soft breeze rustled the leaves and caused Iris to shiver. She soon reached the top of the tree and looked down. She nearly had a heart attack.
The forest looked like it stretched on for miles until eventually it reached the edge of an enormous mountain range. Behind the mountains the sun was setting as a flock of birds flew in front of her view.
“What the actual fuck is going on here.” Iris whispered to herself. She was soon distracted, looking over the stretch of terrain. “Iris, get your shit together.” She talked to herself again, making sure she didn’t loose the point of what she was doing.
Iris shrunk back into the center of the tree, hiding in the leaves trying to make as little sound as possible. Her arms were shaking slightly as she still wasn’t completely over her withdrawal. Iris shook it off and kept moving, jumping from tree to tree.
Other than a few birds she had seen there didn’t seem to be anyone else in the forest or room or whatever this was. Eventually Iris decided she needed a break, finding an especially thick branch in a tree that was completely covered in leaves. She leaned against the trunk, breathing heavily to catch her breath.
She was about to let her feet dangle over the edge of the branch to get out of her currently uncomfortable crouch when she heard a twig crack. It put her on high alert as Iris instantly got up, careful not to rustle any leaves. From the ground no one should be able to see her unless they looked directly up into the foliage.
Iris got into a crawling positon and moved a little further down the branch. Here she would be able to make a quicker attack.
Iris’ breath hitched as she watched Bucky sneak out from behind the tree a places in front of the one she was sitting in. She clamped her mouth grinning mouth shut knowing she currently had the upper hand. Iris knew he didn’t know she was there as he darted behind another tree slightly closer to where she was at.
She held her position, crouched on the edge of the branch, waiting for Bucky to be in the perfect spot. Bucky took a few more steps forward towards the tree Iris was in until he was directly below it.
Iris pounced, jumping on Bucky’s back after falling through layers of branches and leaves which sliced through her skin. He turned around but it was too late. Iris tackled him to the floor, holding his chest down with her knee like she had learnt.
Iris dug into Bucky’s sternum, using her other leg to gain leverage. Iris raised her fist although she was pretty sure she couldn’t bring herself to punch him.
“Now who’s getting hurt?” Iris mocked but she spoke too soon. Bucky raised his metal arm and pulled her leg off his chest. Iris still had the balance of her other leg but she still planted both hands into the dirt. Bucky pushed Iris to the side, spinning himself around until he was on top of her. Before Bucky could react Iris kneed him in a place where the sun don’t shine.
Bucky groaned as Iris pushed him off of her which proved difficult as he weighed a lot. She got back up just as Bucky sprung to his feet. Iris knew that she could overpower him through strength but with some smarts it could be possible. Thank God she had plenty of that.
They looked into each others eyes, both panting before attacking again. Iris jumped forward first, ducking as she predicted Bucky to swing a punch. What she didn’t predict was him throwing another punch underhand into her stomach. Iris stumbled as the breath was knocked out of her.
She recovered quickly and decided to go back into the trees. She was lighter than Bucky meaning he couldn’t climb in the branches. From there she could jump him again. Iris continued running until she leaped forward, grabbing the closest branch. She groaned as she felt her shoulder being pulled out slightly but lifted herself into the tree.
Iris turned to look down as she climbed further and saw Bucky running and grabbing the branch as well. He pulled himself up but the tree groaned under his weight. He reached for the next branch but the second he began to pull himself up it snapped, causing Bucky to fall to the ground. Iris laughed out loud, balancing on the edge of another branch.
Knowing it was the best time to strike Iris leaped down and attacked Bucky who was now getting up from his fall. However, he was prepared this time.
Bucky swung his metal arm into her chest, pushing her to the side. She felt something crack as she fell to the ground but it was nothing she couldn’t deal with. The adrenaline might have also been taking part as she got up and tackled the still recovering Bucky to the ground.
She used his weight against him when he tried to roll on top of her by leaning with him, causing him to roll over twice and Iris still being on top. Iris straddled her legs on his chest, stepping on his hands to keep them down. She down at Bucky who was smirking slightly.
“Hey asshole, it looks like I won.” Iris ran her finger down his cheek, mocking his positon.
“I’ve been going easy on you.” Bucky replied, still grinning.
“Well, don’t.”
“You asked for it.” It was almost as though something had switched in his mind and Iris regretted it.
He grabbed one of her feet with his metal hand, nearly crushing it. Iris gasped in pain. This distraction Bucky used to fling her to the ground, hovering above her body. She jumped back onto her feet, fists tightened.
Bucky gestured for her to come forward. Iris did but Bucky easily moved out the way as she swung her first punch. Bucky moved behind her and as she turned to him kicked her full force in the chest against the nearest tree. Iris stumbled and fell backwards into the trunk but before she could get up Bucky kicked her down again.
Iris felt his cold metal fingers wrap around her neck. Although he didn’t use any pressure the gesture was enough to terrify Iris. Her heart was beating faster and faster and this time it wasn’t because of desire. Horrible memories began resurfacing of Martinez and all the men in back alleys. Bucky was saying something and smiling but Iris couldn’t hear.
She began struggling at his arm, clawing at the metal surface. Bucky instantly released and even though he hadn’t been choking her Iris began gasping for air as though he had.
“Iris!” Bucky yelled. It was the first thing she had heard him say since he had cornered her. “Iris, are you okay?” Bucky fell to her side as she panted against the tree. The scenery around them began to fade until even the tree disappeared.
Before she could fall back onto the cold white floor Bucky caught her, cradling her in his arms.
“I’m so sorry, Iris.” Bucky was looking down at her.
“Don’t be, asshole.” Iris mumbled and forced out a smile. The memories were fading but still plagued her mind.