Fists pounded hard against the giant old boxing bag. Marks and slight tears were getting bigger by the second. The fists came in harder and harder nonstop. One-by-one, at the same time; didn't matter; the fists kept going. It was no surprise that they weren't bruised or bleeding as the middle of the hand was covered by damp from sweat white tape, but the constant aching was; so bad that ice was needed. From the South Pole. The owner, however, didn't care.
If one was in the room with the fists' owner, one would see how much frustration was made through the hitting. How angry and annoyed the person face was as bullets of sweat peered down the skin with only rough and quick wipes over the eyes, the veins popping out of the muscles from the biceps, and the gritting teeth that can show quick appearances before the pink lips hid them again.
If one wanted to know what was wrong, there's a fearful idea of getting hit or snapped at—which, from this person, is quite rare to see unless it was serious business on a extreme problem.
If one knew what was wrong by witnessing or hearing it from another, it was understandable.
Stephanie Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, was mad. At herself. It was shown when a loud shout of anger came from the back of her thin throat before sending another punch at the bag. There, the bag was off the hook it was held, and flew to the wall, the sand inside poured out from the big hole the punch made.
The beautiful super soldier huffed and panted at the sight of the bag, anger and determination on her face as she stood where she was in silence. And then the expression was gone. Switching it to disappointment. She sighed sadly as she rolled her shoulders, getting used to the aching feeling, while her high ponytail was soon tugged at the end by her hand, playing with it a little.
"Beating up my emotions wouldn't solve anything," she murmured to herself as she grabbed her sports bag and headed out of the abandoned gym. What was wrong? Why was she like this? She shouldn't be caught up with something like that. It's not like she's able to control it! She was no God or goddess, nothing like Loki for sure, but... It still hurt.
It still bothered her as she went back at the events of this evening.
It was exactly two hours ago, and Stephanie was out for a evening walk to clear her head. About Bucky. It's been two years since she found Bucky, and was able to have him not only get his memory back - at least most of it, like 9/10 - but also have him off S.H.I.E.L.D.'s wanted list. It was tough on Nick and Tony, surprisingly, but they were able to let him go, much for her delight.
Today was a bachelor party for Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye. The big bird finally got his chance with the killer spider a few months ago, and she said yes—well, actually told him that 'he better have that damn ring', but she still imagined a small smile on the redhead's face.
Natasha's bachelorette party happened last week, so there was no problem for her. In fact, she was completely free for the day and just wanted to relax her mind about a certain metal-armed ex-assassin.
Bucky. Bucky Barnes. James Buchanan Barnes; the man she lost... Then got back, but broken, confused, and a killer. On the fight at the bridge, when she unmasked him by flipping him over that caused him to hit the ground and lose the mask from his face, her heart dropped. It was the same face that she lost, except his expression was dark along with his cold blank eyes. Her heart broke when she heard those cursed words.
"Who the hell's Bucky...?"
She was soon grateful to be alive, however. She knew her best friend was still in there; when he wasn't able to kill her when she spoke a statement he said to her in the past, when he dived in and saved her from death of drowning unconsciously, and when he came up to her doorstep... saying those words she never thought of hearing: "Stephanie... I remembered."
Havoc was caused on behalf of sides on protecting the guy and being a wanted assassin. It was hell, but it was worked out in the end. Soon after, Bucky got to the rest of the Avengers' good sides - Sam, Natasha, Clint, and Wanda not included due to being on the blonde's side - and it was months before Bucky got more comfortable and more open with them. It made Stephanie so happy and grateful that he was getting back to his old self, especially when he was becoming good friends with Tony now due to the liking of science.
Even though Bucky remembered, there was one thing he never actually knew in the past and now: Stephanie Rogers had, and still does, a crush on the Brooklyn man.
Stephanie fell for him after months of being his friend back at the times they were kids. Now, her love for him returned and got strong during the years. She wanted nothing more than to have him back from death, and now that she did... She was scared.
Sam, Natasha, Wanda, and Tony were the only ones that knew Stephanie fell in love with Bucky - Tony realized that during the battle and gotten soft because of it. Made him think and feel about losing his Pepper - and she always went up to them for advice.
"Go for it. You'll never know if you never try," Sam said.
"Suck up and say to his face. Any problems come after; I got you," Natasha said, smirking. It scared the soldier a little.
"Don't give up on love. Give a chance to tell him how you really feel about him. I wish you luck!" Wanda said, encouraging.
"Just tell him. The stress on keeping it in will go away if you tell him straight. I would say something else, but I knew you would think it was stupid. Be grateful I called Pepper, Rogers," Tony said, making her giggle at that. She thanked both him and Pepper, along with everyone else, for the advices, but she was still scared and froze before she had the chance to speak. Until tonight.
She headed up to the location where the party was held, wearing casual clothing so that no one would noticed her as Captain America. When she found the place, she sighed and shook her head. "Of course," she mumbled. "It had to be a strip club." The place, however, was pretty nice. With the maroon mirrors in front, it viewed a luscious and sexy sight. Luckily, no one noticed her—most likely, because all of the attention was giving to five women, touching each other and manipulating the strip poles under multicolored lights. It was no surprise that every customer here was a man.
Her sapphire irises roamed around the room until her eye caught something. A black man waving his arms up to the beat of the played songs, a blonde man having himself hugged behind by a performer, a tan man with a beard taking a shot while chuckling at the sight, and a man with dark curtained hair pointing his finger and throwing his head back in laughter at the sight of the blonde man's tomato face. Good thing she found the four in an area she could see. Too bad Bruce couldn't come, but Wanda and Vision were very kind on taking care of the ill man.
She smiled at the sight of the five; all happy, laughing, and having the time of their lives. Her eyes then went over to Bucky, who had a smile so wide that it's been so long since she saw it; back at the army, during that party, and she came to the party with a beautiful outfit and look on her face, making every sergeant breathless, but only Bucky smiled widely, being both impressed and amused.
"This might not be a good time," she said to herself. She started to head home as she got away from the window... And then time caused her to pause and look back.
There, a gorgeous woman with dazzling blonde flowing hair and an outfit Stephanie believed was sinful to wear, even on a honeymoon. Her heels were as high as Natasha's IQ in spy work, her skin completely flawless and tan, her chest and butt was pushed quite nicely; not too big or small, just enough, and was dancing up in a way to have her compete with Beyonce while performing Partition.
A instant hate came upon the soldier; the same hate she had on HYDRA for taking away her Bucky. She wanted HYDRA dead, but now she wanted that tramp dead. It wasn't because of the outfit, and it wasn't because of her looks. It was because she was giving all her attention to no one, but her crush...