Steve peers over at his childhood friend and frowns. Worry creases his forehead as he sits back in his chair pushed against the wall and watches as Bucky paces the floor outside of the room where Sparrow is currently getting her blood drawn. Tony called an actual doctor with a medical degree to come in and put her under. Tony didn't stay because he had other business to attend to, but he did call Nat to come in and be by Sparrow's side for when she woke up. Bucky jumped in and offered to be there for her, but the doctor suggested that Natasha would suit the position better.

Now, walking back and forth outside her door, Bucky's mind rolls over all the concerns running through his head. He knows that Sparrow's terrified of needles—she looked like she was going to faint just by looking at one. Being a HYDRA test subject himself, Bucky knows that one of the horrors of being their puppet is the experimenting. There was a plethora of surgical equipment on the table beside Bucky's chair that he was strapped to for hours, sometimes days, at a time, but never did he see a needle. Maybe HYDRA came up with a new way of experimenting, or a new way of torture.

"You're pacing," Steve points out, breaking Bucky out of his thoughts.

Bucky halts in his steps. He stares at his feet for a moment, then exhales deeply and tensely drops into the chair next to Steve.

"Sorry," he mutters, dropping his face in his hands in frustration and anxiety.

Steve crosses his legs. "What's got you so worked up? It's a simple procedure; you know what it's like, you've got your blood taken a hundred times when you got here."

"I don't know." He looks up and sets his elbows on his knees, his chin in his hands. "Sparrow was obviously appalled by the needle when Stark pulled it out. I don't know why—or how— she's letting them do this to her."

Steve runs his stubble covering his chin and jaw. "She's strong, she can handle it."

"I know that," Bucky replies. "I just . . . She . . ." He sighs and runs a hand down his face with frustration. "I'm still worried."

When Steve gives Bucky a suggestive look, Bucky groans.

"Don't look at me like that, Steve," Bucky says.

Steve raises his hands innocently and sits back in his chair.

"It's really weird," Bucky explains, looking down at his metal hand. He flexes it and clenches it. Steve studies his friend as he tries to clarify, his brow pulled forward. "It's like—I don't know. I feel . . . it's kind of like there's this connection. A connection between me and Sparrow."

Steve nods. "Well, you two are the only agents who were puppets of HYDRA here. It makes sense that you'd be drawn to her."

Bucky sighs and stares at the ground. He wants to try to explain to Steve that it's more than that and that it's different, but he keeps his mouth shut because he doesn't think he can put it into words.

He focuses on trying to explain it to himself so maybe he could understand. It's like a feeling, but it's deeper. He frowns in concentration. Maybe he's just plain crazy—his brain isn't exactly what it used to be.

⌖

Light snow drifting in the sharp air.

A long stretch of woods.

A train track that disappears on the horizon.

Shallow, visible breaths.

Red snow.

Sparrow lands another punch on the bag. The chain holding it up snaps, the bag and chain coming crashing to the ground at her feet.

Frustration bubbles up in her and she kicks the bag. Her robotic foot sends it skidding against the gym floors until it's stopped by the wall. Sparrow glares at the punching bag against the wall, which only causes her vision to zoom in and focus on it like it's under a microscope. She gives up and lets out an angry cry, leaning against the adjacent wall.

Sparrow blinks a few times and looks down at her metallic knuckles. Not even a scuff or scratch.

Tony said that she's more metal than flesh, and that the metal is the strongest of all—vibranium. It's also what Bucky's arm is made of and what Steve's shield is made from. She's also heard that there's an entire suit made of it that belongs to the king of Wakanda. Knowing Tony's wealth and occupation, she's surprised he hasn't yet jumped on that boat and made himself a vibranium Iron Man suit. However glorious and cool it sounds to have this super metal apart of her body, it just makes her feel cold all the time. Like she can't be real, or she isn't even having real thoughts and they're coming from a computer in her brain.

Sparrow straightens when the gym doors open behind her. She immediately start towards the punching bag lying on the ground, embarrassed that she got caught with broken equipment. The Avengers let her sleep in their facility, eat their food, and work out for free. The least she could do is not break their stuff.

"Sorry about this," Sparrow says to whoever just walked in, picking up the bag and leaning it against the wall upright.

"Don't worry about it."

The voice draws her to turn around. Her eyes meet the icy blue pair that belong to Bucky as he glances at the broken punching bag, then at Sparrow. She shifts.

"I'm guessing you need to blow off some steam?" Bucky asks, a small hesitant smile tugging at his lips.

Sparrow looks up at Bucky standing at the doorway, but as she does, her eyes zoom in. Her view is no longer of the man and the gym, but just of the man's eyes. Sparrow looks away and blinks ferociously until her vision returns to normal.

Bucky squints, confused and slightly concerned. "You okay . . . ?"

"Something in my eye," Sparrow tells him.

"Alright." Bucky nods hesitantly, then steps further into the gym. He walks straight over to the weights, but he does not pick any up. Sparrow's too busy trying to fix the punching bag to notice Bucky's inter conflict. He keeps glancing over at her and quickly averting his gaze, before peering back over at her.

Finally, he asks, "Since we're both here, and the punching bag isn't functional, do you want to spar?"

Sparrow lets her struggle with the bag end and just lets it lie on the ground again as she looks over at Bucky watching her. She self-consciously scratches her arm simply out of habit, even though her arm is metal and doesn't itch.

"I don't really know how to fight," Sparrow replies.

Bucky shrugs. "I could teach you." Knowing Tony and the team at SHIELD, it's just a matter of time before they put her on the front lines to fight bad guys. Better to learn now than later.

Sparrow hesitates. "I don't know. You don't have to offer to help me."

"It'd be no problem, and besides, I need a sparring partner."

Sparrow bites her lip and shakes her head. He doesn't understand. She doesn't know how powerful her body is. She could seriously injure anyone. "What if I hurt you?"

"I can take a punch," Bucky replies without thought. He motions her over to him as he steps over to a mat on the floor. "Come on."

She anxiously stares at Bucky waiting patiently for her on the mat for a few moments before she gives in and walks over. As she nears she pulls her dark hair up into a tight ponytail with a hair tie that was on her slick wrist.

"I want to apologize in advance if I cause you any harm," Sparrow tells Bucky sincerely.

Bucky almost laughs. He knows that she's probably stronger than him with her four metal limbs compared to his one, but he isn't scared. He's fought many people before. And besides, this is just training.

"Don't worry about it." Bucky brushes it off. He crosses his arms and asks, "Do you know how to start?"

Sparrow, embarrassed, shakes her head. Bucky gives her a strained smile.

"Then I guess we'll just have to start from the top."

⌖

"How long have they been going at it?" Clint asks, not taking his eyes off the two fighting in the gym.

Natasha's eyes flicker to her watch. "Over an hour, at least."

A small crowd of Avengers have gathered at the gym double doors after Vision said that Sparrow and Bucky were fighting. When he said "fighting," everyone thought that he meant that an actual fight broke out between the two. Once the few Avengers found out that they were indeed fighting, just not for real, they decided to watch. Curiosity soon turned into being impressed with the skills shown from both Bucky and Sparrow. Natasha has a hard(ish) time sparring Bucky, but it looks like he finally met his match.

Every blow and kick is blocked in fluid motions from both fighters. The four Avengers watching from the hallway can see the sweat glistening on their foreheads as they continue to spar each other. Every now and then Bucky will pause and say something, adjust Sparrow's movements, and then they'd get right back to it.

Peter leans in to the little rectangle glass in the door. His eyes widen.

"Woah, that was a cool move, did you see that?"

"See what?"

All four heads turn around. Tony steps over to them and peers into the small window.

"They're, like, masters," Clint says bluntly as Tony watches the two in the room.

He nods, agreeing, but stops when he spots something.

"Hey, did they break my punching bag?"

Natasha rolls her eyes. "Why are you upset? You're a billionaire, just buy a new one." She shoulders past him and walks down the hall.

Clint starts to follow Natasha. "While you're at it, we also need a new coffee maker," he calls over his shoulder.

Inside the room, oblivious to the watchful audience, Sparrow and Bucky's hearts beat hard against their chests.

Sparrow does a spin-kick move and knocks Bucky onto his back. The wind is knocked out of him.

"Oops," Sparrow chuckles breathlessly. She leans over him with an extended hand.

Bucky takes her hand and allows her to help pull him back up to his feet. He brushes himself off, glancing over at the doors. Peter, who was looking in, ducks out of view before Bucky could see him.

"Better?" He asks, setting his hands on his hips to open up his chest for more air.

Sparrow wipes her sticky forehead with the back of her hand. "Yeah. Thank you."

Bucky just smiles in return.

"Hey," he says, a thought striking him, "how did you tests go?"

Sparrow shudders slightly remembering the needle. She hides it by crossing her arms. "It was fine."

"Can I ask what the results were?" Bucky asks.

Sparrow shrugs. "A few of SHIELD's scientists are still deciphering the results."

Bucky's brow raises. "It's been, like, four days. Doesn't it concern you that it's taking so long?"

Of course, Sparrow thinks. She's terrified of whatever the scientists might find out about her. She already knows that she's a threat, but she doesn't know why. She doesn't understand the weird flashes she gets or the nightmares or the weird zooming thing her eyes can do. Maybe the test results can help her understand. Even if they do, or if they don't, she's terrified. But ready.

"Honestly, I'm just trying to not think about it."

Which isn't working at the moment. A few minutes ago, though, she couldn't think of anything but her opponent, his moves, and her moves. The break was nice while it lasted.

Bucky just studies Sparrow for a moment, then drops his gaze. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry after all that sparring." Despite being rejected the other times he has offered, Bucky asks, "Do you want to have lunch with me?"

Sparrow is hesitant, whereas Bucky is hopeful. He asked her on a couple other occasions if she wanted to have a meal with him or if she wanted to see a movie with him in the screening room.

Sparrow has noticed how seldom Bucky smiles, but for some reason he smiles more around her. And, she has to admit, she likes Bucky's smile. That's what makes her smile softly and say, "Okay."