Winter's Redemption [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Twenty Six

*Natasha's POV*

I dodged Sarah's punch, spinning and using my momentum to throw a roundhouse kick at her side. She put her hand down, attempting to block it, but was a second too slow. My foot collided with her hip bone and knocked her back slightly. She got down on one leg and swung her other leg around in an attempt to knock me off my feet, but I jumped over it. She stood up fast and punched, narrowly missing my jaw, and I answered with a chop to her side. She managed to block most of the force and only got a glancing blow.

She then did a heel snap kick, getting me in my stomach. I clenched my teeth and she tried to punch me, but I used the direction of the force against her, turning her body and getting her in a choke hold without actually choking her. I counted to three, and released her. If it was an actual fight, it would've taken an average-strength man only about three seconds of a tight choke hold to knock her unconscious.

She stepped back, breathing hard. I handed her a water bottle, and she thanked me.

"19.4 seconds." Steve said from the corner of the room, holding a timer.

"Seven seconds longer than last time." Bucky said, sounding optimistic, and Sarah shrugged.

"Better. I'm too slow with blocks, though. I need to learn to anticipate the opponent's next move." Sarah said, critiquing herself. She frowned and stepped back, moving her arms as if thinking about blocks. Bucky stepped forward, repositioning her arms so they were up higher.

"Keep your fists higher, and don't tuck your thumbs in that way. It'll help you punch faster." He told her, and she nodded, perfecting her form. She was determined to get this right. Bucky did a slow motion punch to her right side.

"If they target your stomach and you block them, next they are going to go after your face or legs, and it's easy to distinguish which they are going to target pretty fast. So if they move their fist, move your hands in an X in front of your face. Face your forearms towards your attacker, and turn your head to the side." He said, moving her arms to the right position. She nodded again, adjusting her form, and he pretended to throw another punch. She put her arms up in the X formation, forearms facing out. He nodded and smiled.

"Good. Now show me some blocks for kicks." He told her, and she began demonstrating what she knew.

--

*Bucky's POV*

Two hours later, she had finally relented, and took a break. We were all worn out. After she got the fighting down, her and Natasha fought for a while. Then me and Steve decided to play fight like we did when we were kids, but it ended up in a skills contest, in which Sarah and Natasha stopped to judge. The fight lasted a while due to our very similar body composition, and it ended in both of us being too tired to throw another swing.

Steve went into the living room to stop Tony from building a missile prototype on the coffee table, and Natasha left to take a shower. Sam was in the kitchen making something that he said would be ready in twenty minutes.

I went into the bathroom to wash my face, and Sarah leaned against the door frame, exhausted. I peeled my sweaty shirt off and she stared at my chest.

"....Sarah." I said, and she blinked and shook her head.

"What? Sorry!" She stuttered. I laughed.

Her cheeks reddened and I turned back to the mirror, pushing my hair out of my face with a frown. Sarah reached over and pushed the rest of the hair from my face.

"Do you like your hair?" She asked, and I shrugged.

"I don't really care what it looks like. It's just annoying when it's this long." I replied. She glanced at me in the mirror.