A/N: Please keep the reviews coming in it's great getting feedback! Thanks for reading!
You'd both started out cautious. Bucky had made very slow strikes at you which you could have defended in your sleep. Still, you appreciated that this was difficult for him knowing what you did about his fear of hurting you. You dodged his attacks and jabbed back at him, a high kick, a stomach jab, at one point you almost got him in a choke hold but he moved far more swiftly than you could have imagined of someone his size.
After a long time of trading harmless you blows you decided to take it up a notch. He'd seen that you could defend yourself and you'd seen that he was getting more relaxed at the idea of sparring with you. You were ready to try and take it to the next level. With one swift movement you had grabbed his metal arm by both hands and used it to catapult yourself into the air above his head. As you fell back to the ground you twisted your legs around his torso and used your combined weight to crash to the ground.
The move took him completely by surprise. Before he new what was happening he was flat on his back and you were on top of him straddling his chest with the smuggest smirk you could muster plastered on your face. "See, I told you I could handle myself."
His eyes were wide with surprise but soon he was smiling at you, then laughing. He has a nice laugh was all you could think at that moment. His laugh was silenced when he shot upright and turned so fast that you could only fly back under his force. You slammed into the ground with a WHOOSH as the air left your body.
Suddenly Bucky was on top of you, his weight gently pressing down on you while he held himself up with an arm either side of your head. "You're right, you can. Ready to spar for real?"
It was his turn to smirk at you. You couldn't help but smile back. THIS was the Bucky that Steve was always talking about, the best friend he grew up with that made him laugh and looked after him pre-serum. You found yourself hoping that this was how he'd be around you from now on. No more brooding Bucky storming around and not talking to you or even giving you a second glance.
He was still on top of you you realised after a second. "Erm yeah. You have too.." You gestured to him with your free hand.
"Oh, right." He moved off of you and stood up. He leant down and reached out his flesh hand to you. You took it without hesitation and he helped you up. "Let's do this."
You took position again at either side of the combat area. Your dropped into an attack stance and Bucky mimicked you. Then it was all go. Before you knew it you were both in a frenzy of movement. Attack, block, attack block, attack, block and over and over. You could tell that Bucky was still holding back some but you didn't mind. He was after all a super soldier like Steve who also held back when you sparred together. If Bucky or Steve used their full force on you they would almost certainly break bones where their strikes hit home. As it were you could feel that there would be bruises when you woke up tomorrow but you were giving as good as you got. Bucky looked very focused on defending your attacks and the ones that did hit home were good strong blows that afforded you the time to fall back into a defending position in time for his blows.
You weren't sure how long you had been training when J.A.R.V.I.S interrupted your sparring but you were both breathing heavy and covered in a thin layer of sweat.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Mr. Barnes and Miss. (L/N). Mr Stark and Mr. Fury have requested both of your presence for lunch along with the other Avengers."
"Thanks Jarvis." You replied to the thin air. "I'm gunna get changed, see you at lunch Bucky?"
"See you at lunch." He smiled. "Good session today. Same again tomorrow?" There was something in his eyes, hope? He clearly wanted to continue training with you until Steve was back. The thought made you happy.
"Same again tomorrow." He reached up on tip toes and kissed Bucky on the cheek. When you stepped back you could see the surprise on his face. Without another word you turned around and strode towards the lift. Once inside you pressed the button for your floor. Only when the doors had almost closed did you turn to look back at Bucky. He was stood exactly where you'd left him and he had the same expression of shock on his face.
The doors closed and you let out a huge breath you didn't realise you'd been holding. Why did I do that?! You hadn't planned to kiss his cheek, you'd just done it on impulse. Okay calm down. It was just a kiss on the cheek. It's not like you jumped him for gods sake. You'd kissed Steve tons of times, and Nat, and even Clint that one time he'd broken his wrist and insisted that you had to "kiss his ouchie to make it better." Why was this any different?
And yet as the lift opened on your floor and you went to put your key in the door, you couldn't help but feel butterflies in your stomach at the thought of lunch with all the avengers ...and Bucky.