Chapter 13
It had been three months of constant training. Every. Single. Day. Even if Wanda and Natasha were away on other missions, you'd be in the gym working to improve your powers and fighting techniques. Usually, you were alone. You didn't get much sleep because of nightmares, so that you would be training at 2 and 3 AM. No one bothered you; it was a quiet and judge-free space.
That was until one day. You had woken up more disoriented than usual and needed your daily dose of training to help you calm down fully. You were so concentrated on making your way to the gym that you didn't realize the lights were already on when you arrived. It wasn't until Bucky Barnes silently walked up right behind you as you took your water bottle and mp3 player (because Tony still prohibited your use of non-obsolete technology) out of your bag.
"Good Morning," A low and raspy breath hit your ear. You flinched, turning around and almost punching his face. Fortunately, he caught your wrist before you could beat him."Woah there, that's no way to treat your teammate," he said, letting go of your wrist and backing away from you.
You huffed, taking in his appearance. He had his typical sweats on with a form-fitting top. He had been here a while because his shirt was drenched with sweat. You kept trailing your eyes up to his body until you looked at his face. You caught his gaze. He looked exhausted too. Part of you wondered if he had also been experiencing an influx of night-terrors.
He licked his bottom lip, opening his mouth, most likely trying to mock you for ogling his tired frame. Before he could speak, you interrupted him. "Look, I'm not here to play around. I'm just here to train so we can push the mission up by a few months,"
All you said was the truth. Tony had been beating around the bush, still attempting to deny you from the mission with Bucky. You were trying to prove to everyone, even yourself, that you were prepared. You needed this. You had to see which pieces of your past were inside that Hydra base. It was driving you insane. Ever since you'd had that flashback all those days ago, you'd yet to regain any more memories. You went to bed every night, waking up from the same damned flashback.
Bucky held his hands up in surrender, returning to where you assumed he'd been before you entered. Now, time to begin.
Your usual workouts were about 3 hours long. They consisted of one and a half hours of working out (lifting, boxing, etc.). In contrast, the other half focused on your powers and controlling them. You wouldn't lie, you'd gotten way better at controlling them, but a part of you knew deep down inside that you weren't prepared yet to go with Bucky. You tried to push that thought away, but not before you caught sight of Bucky. His forehead was resting on the red punching bag, and you could tell that something was up.
Sure, you didn't like Bucky, but you weren't heartless. You mustered up the courage to call his name out, but when he didn't respond, you decided to approach him. You had already made the mistake of reaching out to him during one of his flashbacks from PTSD, so you knew you had to find another way to get his attention.
"Bucky, are you okay?" you said gently, still keeping a distance between you two.He looked up at you and shook his head. You quickly blurted out, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Still staring at you, he nodded before saying. "Don't go on that mission..."
Confused and now slightly frustrated, you replied. "What?"
"You are going to find out things from your past that will not help you; Memories that your brain forced you to forget because they were so traumatic. I will go with you, Y/N, but I feel like you're putting yourself in more danger."
"Maybe my brain didn't force these memories to disappear? Maybe Hydra is the reason my memories are gone. I mean, is that such a difficult thing to grasp?" You snarled. How dare Bucky say that. You felt that he understood you better than anyone in this building. Before anything could get worse, Friday called over the gym.
"Ms. Y/N and Mr. Barnes. Mr. Stark has requested your presence. He is currently in his garage."
With you scowling and Bucky starting to get all of his belongings together, you are heading to Tony's. As you open the door to the familiar office, you see Tony sitting in his chair tinkering with a piece of Stark technology. He looked up at you and Bucky and asked you both to come and sit in the chairs on the other side of his desk.
"So, your mission has been approved. The briefing will start soon, but I wanted to talk to you beforehand. I know how you two don't always get along, and I know I'm not the best example, but you both need to learn to trust each other. And soon."
You nodded at Tony and then looked over at Bucky to find he was already looking at you with an unreadable expression on his face. Of course, Tony would be the one to reprimand you.
"Okay, love birds," you turn towards Tony and shoot him daggers. "You might want to head to the meeting room soon; don't you both get too wrapped up in each other," he laughed as you and Bucky were dead silent.