The Scarlet Apprentice 2: The Multiverse Between Us

Punching bag

It took Bucky surprisingly long to find the room y/n had hidden herself in. The instructions Strange gave weren't clear to Bucky, but y/n managed to follow them without struggle. Although y/n hadn't completely immersed herself in the training by the time Bucky finally found her, she was still solely focused on hitting the bag in front of her.

"God, y/n, I finally found you," Bucky sighed in relief and walked into the room after the door had closed behind him, "this place is like a maze, it's ridiculous."

While Bucky rambled his way over to the middle of the room where y/n was, y/n kept her attention on the way it felt for her fists to collide with something. If Bucky's voice wasn't so loud and distinct, she wouldn't have even noticed that he'd entered the room.

"That Strange guy should really put up a sign or something." He suggested as he stood behind y/n. When Bucky realised that y/n wasn't responding to him at all, he tilted his head in confusion and muttered, "Y/n?"

Assuming she was entranced in focus, he outstretched his hand and placed it on her shoulder to alert her of his presence,  "I was gonna get Wanda to come in, but I-,"

Before Bucky could finish his sentence, he was cut off by y/n grabbing his hand and flipping him over her shoulder. When his back harshly hit the ground, she instantly dug her knee on his chest while holding onto one of his wrists to keep him down.

"Stop thinking Wanda is the only person that can help me," she scowled down at him.

The moment he caught his bearings, he used his free hand to grab the back of y/n's neck to pull her down. When she was down and off of him, he rolled over and pushed her down to the floor, directly changing to the position she was once in for him.

"That's not what I was doing," he tried to assure her while looking down into her fiery eyes.

Instead of answering, y/n groaned as she kicked her feet into Bucky's stomach to knock him back. Then, when he was aiding his stomach, she pounced onto him and straddled his hips while holding his wrists down at either side of his head.

With her face inches away from his, she began to argue, even though she knew his intentions were pure, "I can feel what you feel, I know it's what you were doing."

"I didn't-," he struggled under her grasp before he froze, "you can feel what I feel? Like... even right now?"

"Yes," she casually nodded down at him despite the information she had against him that Sam would use to mock him.

"Okay," he grunted and locked his hands on y/n's hips to push her off of him.

When she was no longer near him, he instantly rushed up to his feet to sort himself out. By the time he had stood up, y/n had already stood up and was studying him with her eyes.

Bucky looked at her, slightly embarrassed, "this stays between you and me, got it?"

Y/n couldn't help but chuckle slightly, "got it." When she saw the relief on Bucky's face, she decided to tease him a bit more, "you don't have to be shy about it, you know?"

"Alright, alright, we don't have to-," he shook his head to stop talking about it. "What's going on with you, y/n?"

Her face dropped and she cleared her throat, awkwardly looking up a Bucky, "can we go back to taking the piss out of you."

"At some point, I know you will," he told her to try and bring the chuckle out of her again, "but for now... I just need to know you're okay."

Even though she'd lost her cocky spirit due to the conversation change, she weakly smiled up at bucky who watched her constantly, "I'm okay, Buck."

"You sure?" He asked her.

When he gave her that look - that helpless puppy dog look - she sighed, "Wanda and I, we're just..."

Noticing the way she was slowly breaking, he tried to console her, "that's understandable. You've been apart for so long, it'll take a moment to get back into sync."

"No, that's not what I mean," she shook her head but appreciated the way he tried to help, "Wanda and I aren't together anymore." Her breath was finally released when she admitted it.

His face dropped and his lips parted in shock and slight disbelief, "what? But you... I thought you two were like... madly in love with each other."

"So did I," she shrugged hopelessly, "... so did I."

"What happened? Who... ended it?" Bucky asked in confusion. He tried not to ask too many questions out of respect, but he couldn't quite grasp the situation.

Y/n weakly shook her head, "none of us really... ended it, but there's no point chasing after her anymore. I'm not gonna embarrass myself by begging for her love when she loves a fucking machine."

Bucky's face dropped as he bit back the urge to loudly ramble in rage, "are you serious? She chose the fucking microwave over you? The fucking robot over the gorgeous human being standing in front of me right now? The fucking technology over the incredible-"

"Thank you, Bucky," she nodded with a smile, "I got it."

"Seriously, y/n... I'm so sorry that she'd even consider that," he shook his head, "you don't deserve this. Please, please, do not think that any part of you deserves this, not even for a second. Don't even worry about it. Do you want me to find vision and kill him for you? I'm no witch but I got a metal arm, that can do some serious damage."

Y/n chuckled while looking at Bucky, "thank you. I'll get back to you on that."

"If there's anything i can do for you, just tell me. Honestly, anything," he gave her a look, "because I will pull the plug on that machine for you. Just say the word, I've already planned it out."

She smiled before thinking of something, "can I stay in with you and Sam tonight?"

"Of course. I'll give you Sam's bed."

"How nice of you to offer on his behalf," she chuckled to herself before looking at the ground, not sure of what to do with herself.

While sighing, Bucky looked over at the punching bag and waved a hand, "you wanna punch that thing all day or have a fight with something that will actually be a challenge."

"That depends," she shrugged, "you wanna get you ass kicked again?"