{7}
One week later...
Feverish beads of exhaustion glistened over the muscular planes of his graven chest, and sloped over the ridges of firm skin of his indented abdomen. His crystal turquoises eyes burned with scorching fire, Steve stood pliant in the center of the sparring ring, his soft lips glazed with moisture, and body entering full combustion. He systematically side-stepped on the balls of his bare feet against mated flooring as he held his best friends intense glare, and trying to shake off the numbness that searing through his bones. It was only a short while ago, he blocked a cross punch to the chest, a roundhouse kick and a fast cobra strike, but he managed to use his opponents weakness against him.
Using quick reaction with his enhanced reflexes, Steve stood uprooted in a fighting stance, and waited patiently. He took a deep breath to calm down his racing heart as he would each time he faced hand to hand combat during his SHIED missions, and swiped his drenched forehead with the back of his hand. He locked his eyes on Bucky, who was panting heavily, his dark tendrils of long, mahogany hair obscured his flushed face, and made him with the appearance of a menacing beast that evoked a sense of dread when Steve peered into the glacial azure eyes mirroring his gaze with retaining cold fury. "Ready for another round, Buck? Unless you want us to take a break?" he asked, watching Bucky scowl at him with feral icy eyes.
"Shut up!" A roar erupted from Bucky's throat, fierce and unyielding. He bared his teeth like a charging beast at him with forward speed, Steve vaulted into the air, grabbed his metal alloy plated arm, hooked his knee against Bucky's leg, and twisted the calf with a constricting squeeze of relentless pressure that effective made the other man lose his footing inflict and tumble forward. He'd caught the momentum and vertically rotated himself while performing a frontal aerial kick that made him tuck his knees close to his chest as he executed a full areal frontal flip and rammed his heels into Bucky's heavy set jaw, making him stumble backwards, and land hard on his back. His bare chest slacked with boiling sweat, jaw bruised with a smeared with a gnash of blood under his plump bottom lip.
Steve moved swiftly, and extended out his large hand. "Best two out of three?" he could the frustration welled in the icy blue eyes of his friend. Bucky glared dangerously at him, mentally calculating his evasive attack, something that would easily send the super-soldier crashing to the ground and that was relatively less painful. Gnashing his teeth, Bucky moved his leg counter-clock wise, to deliver a sweep kick under his opponent's weight, but Steve reacted quickly and side-stepped away from the foot threatening to ram into his right leg. He could raw power morphing into his friend's pale blue eyes, the same intimating glare of the Winter Soldier. He had to prevent Bucky shifting back into the mindset of the lethal Soviet assassin, and pull the trigger on their sparring match before one of them would end up brutality hospitalized. "Bucky?" he empathized in a passive tone, inching closer. "Let's go buy ourselves a pizza?" he offered.
Bucky sprang forward, and went to grapple his waist, but Steve grabbed his arm and sent him down again with a single pull. Getting angrier, he flipped himself into the air, landing on the arches of his feet, and lunged for the attack. His face vacant from expression, and his eyes molten blue embers.
"I won't lose." he seethed, balling his metal hand into a fist and allowing his subconscious to drift back into his Winter Soldier programming where he was trained to have no fear and give no mercy to his targets. "I can't lose a fight, I will make you taste defeat and I don't care what I do to you." His voice became a pitch darker, and his gaze livid with coldness. Wasting no time, he angled his arm, crooking his elbow high above Steve's shoulder, and gritted his teeth. "I will not fail." he growled, feeling his thoughts warred inside his foggy mind as he struck at Steve, listening to the metal hit firm skin, pounding and rippling pieces of flesh clean off the other man's jaw. He saw blood, and smelt the sickening stench of fever as it invaded his nostrils. He pulled Steve down, making him collide against the mat, and straddled on top of him, with his metal hand shadowing over a pair of tender blue eyes glistening with pained tears.
Horrified, Bucky grasped out a straggled cry, and back away from Steve. His eyes grew wide as he stared down at the red tinged scrapes on his friend's sturdy, chiseled jaw. He blinked the crimson haze out of his eyes, and gasped, blanching a few steps back. "I -I ...I didn't want to do this." his voice cracked.
Steve nodded, with a tolerant gaze; he felt his insides ripping into shreds as he looked into his friends pained filled eyes. "I know you didn't want to, Buck...It's going to be okay." he soothed with a gentle voice. He managed to stand uprooted, and place his hand on Bucky's tensed shoulder, feeling the muscles coil under his finger. "It was my fault, pal."
"No, Steve." Bucky breathed out a deep, sorrowful pant of air. His face scrunched in anger. He stared intently into Steve's pleading blue eyes, and made his heart-rendering decision. Biting his lower lip, he placed his metal hand over Steve's broad chest, feeling the thumping of his heart beat. "It's best that I leave before I hurt you again. I want to hurt you, Steve. You're my friend, but I know I can't control the urges." He said coldly, tears streaking out of the corners of glistening eyes. "I need to go away. Far away..."
"Bucky," Steve released out a pained filled breath, his own blue eyes coated with tears. "I can't lose you again." he choked.
Bucky drew out sharp, seething breaths and hung his head low, dark curtains of hair draped over his sullen face. Anger was brewing as he felt a storm beginning to swirl against the murky fabrics of his disheveled soul, and his heart felt like it shattered into a million jaded pieces slicing his insides open when he watched tears drop and splash on the red matting under his feet. "You've already lost me, Steve." He said, with a cluster of hurtful words, and felt the torrent, invasive programming of the Winter Soldier seize his humanity again. He was slipping back into the void, the abyss of inhumane control, and he felt numb as red carnage surged in his veins. Turning around, Bucky strode into the darkness, with his calculated and methodical steps; he kept his eyes locked to the ground.
"Bucky?" Steve called out with desperation.
Bucky twisted slightly around. His blue eyes were dead and empty. He was gone. The Winter Soldier consumed his soul. Steve couldn't see the light in his friend's eyes -just blacken malice of an inorganic killing machine. He stared darkly at Steve and said with an emotionless voice, that almost sounded robotic "Bucky is dead."
"No," Steve cried in anguish, it felt like a bullet entered his chest and exploded in his heart. "That's not you talking, Buck. It's not you."
"Yes...It is..." Bucky growled, his teeth barred and seething, a metal finger pointed at Steve. "If you follow me...I will kill you." he warned with a lethal gleam in his eyes, and he slipped into the shadows. He left Steve to fall on his knees and unleash his pain through heavy flows of tears drenching over his sharp and battered features. He never felt so weak...So defeated.
