In the timeline, this chapter roughly takes place during the episode "One of Us".
I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, only my OCs.

Chapter 31: Night Fight

Xandra slowly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings, waiting for the ultimate regret to kick in. It didn't. Maybe because the fingers caressing her hair felt far too good on her scalp or maybe because she was too relaxed on this rather big bed, curled up against a rather solid and very warm body. It was wrong, she knew it was wrong, but still it was fantastic.

"Everything alright?" he asked her, concern in his voice.

She nodded, even as the alertness began to creep back into her body. Of course he noticed the increase of tension in her muscles and shifted back to better look at her.

"You are almost getting ready to pounce," he remarked almost casually, "is it because you regret the last...uhm... couple of hours... or because you feel there is something weird going on with your body?"

Xandra shrugged, finally lifting up two fingers to confirm his second suspicion. He nodded in understanding.

"That's what I felt like after the serum. I felt like I had to constantly move, like I had ants under my skin. It probably has something to do with the increased sensory perception and metabolism, at least that's what they told me. And if my observation are right, you got a healthy dose of these two changes, too. But it gets better. Until then, however, there is a good cure against this feeling."

He gave her a roguish grin at her questioning look, pushing himself up to a sitting position and then out of bed to find his clothes.

"You need to punch something."

He called it back over his shoulder and she could hear the amusement in his voice, though she wouldn't know what could be funny about any of this. Not fully convinced, the woman got dressed as well, braiding her hair before stepping closer to him to smooth down some stray hairs that were standing up in all directions. He used this action as chance to catch her hand in his, planting a lingering kiss on top of it.

"We could go outside," he told her, "it is almost dark already. It is unlikely someone will surprise us, unless they beam themselves in. I have never heard about such a thing, though we should never say never. Of course we will be leaving traces on the ground, but nothing worth looking for if we stay mostly at one spot and under the trees so satellites won't be able to pick us up."

Xandra nodded. It was a risk, but a calculated one, and she needed to test out her strength and speed before it came to a real fight. Uncontrolled powers were dangerous for everyone, also for herself. Steve had been right, it was almost dark outside, but she found she could see rather well despite the poor light. Both listened intently as soon as they stepped over the threshhold, only moving further when they were sure the coast was clear.

"Alice, I won't be able to get any real input from you, since I can't read your signs well in a fight. Therefore, I apologize in advance if something goes wrong."
She nodded, following him to a space under the trees quite close to the cabin. There were very few branches here that would trip them and moss that could cushion a fall just in case, so almost ideal surroundings for training.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a punching back here and I won't let you use me for that," he told her, " I only got a little taste of what you can do earlier, and while I am sure you are still a horrible lightweight," he ducked a swat in his direction, "I am sure your punches would hurt considerably. So, I would suggest we repeat the hand-to-hand excercises Nat taught you to make yourself familiar with how your body works now. Also there is never too much technique."

Xandra nodded, stepping next to him to start with the warmup, mostly jumping around, rotating her shoulders and such. Afterwards, Steve made her do excersises targeting different muscle groups to test and further develop her muscle strength. Of course it wasn't the same without equipment but still worked well enough, especially for core training. She found that while there was certainly and improvement in muscle strangth, unfortunately it had not extended to flexibility. She had always taken great pride in being able to stretch her legs in somewhat unhealthy directions, now her tendons seemed to disagree. It would come with time and practice, but it would be more work than she had wanted to invest. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Steve basically do the same as her, apparently she wasn't the only one in need of exercise.

"Alright, are you ready?" Steve asked next to her.

Even though Xandra nodded, she wasn't quite sure whether he could actually see her. It had become absolutely dark in the meantime and he seemed more a shadowy bulk with dark outlines than a real person now.

"I am not sure how well you can see me, but I can see you well enough to determin your movements, but no facial expressions. So you have to communicate with me with your whole body, alright? I don't want to unecessarily hurt you. So, if it gets too intense, you lift up both hands, understood?" he wanted to know.

Xandra gave him a thumbs-up, hoping that he would understand.

"Alright, so let's start with some simple hand-to-hand combat. No weapons, so cheating. The final aim is to pin the other to the floor, though I doubt you have the weight to keep me down."

She rolled the eyes at his cockyness.

"Then let's go! Unless you get the feeling you might disassemble my body, don't hold back. You need a realistic overview of what you can do."

Xandra turned fully towards him, moving slightly back and into a crouching position. She could see he was doing the same, trying to be as quietly as possible, all muscles tense. Suddenly, he jumped foreward, aiming towards what he knew was her stronger side. Xandra knew it always troubled him slightly that she was left-handed, a weekness she had learned to exploit. Since she mostly fought against right-handed opponents, her own knowledge against left-handers was worse than one would have expected. Nevertheless, she remained defensively for the time being. It worked surprisingly well, her increased speed and perception were definitely aiding. They were both only shadows, but it was anough. Xandra had the feeling she was almost following his body heat. On the other side, her increased senses were also distracting, as if her brain was assaulted by so many things at once that it couldn't quite sort out what to focus on. As a result, Steve managed to land a punch on her upper thigh. The impact told her he was absolutely holding back, testing out her limits. While it was a bit insulting, it was probably also the smart thing, she didn't have time for bigger injuries.

Soon, the movements became a little more natural and she started to try to attack in turn - which showed her that she was indeed out of practice, even though she had tried to keep practicing some kind of boxing or martial arts from time to time. While fencing was also based on attack and defence, the movements were vastly different. She managed to land two punches on his weaker side, one on the shoulder and one on the ribs. He staggered back, partly in suprise but also from the impact - a lot stronger than what she had managed before.

Then, all at once, a bird was flying up from a bush, and Xandra's head wipped around quicker than she could even register that it had happen. Steve used the opportunity to kick her legs from under her body, making her fall into the moss with a low thud. The breath was knocked out of her lungs, but before he could pin her legs, she kicked her knee upwards with all her might, twisting out of his grasp as she scrambled to her feet. Even though she was herself still slightly staggering , the woman could see her opponent was breathing heavily as well.

While she was assessing the situation, she then felt her heartbeat as well as her mind calm down, focus solely on the fight. All of her ambivalent personal feelings towards Steve were suddenly gone, there was only the simply task to knock and pin him down. She jumped at him again with a precision but underlying ferocity that surprised herself somehow, any restriction or reservation gone. The captain must have felt the shift too, since he increased the power in his punches, making her silently hiss a couple of times as he bruised her shoulders and lips. It wasn't an equal fight by far, but they were closer in ability, strength and most of all stamina than they had ever been before.

In the end, not even the calmness or her increased senses could keep her from stagger as he shoved her backwards with all of his bodyweight, making her fall again. This time her was more careful, using her own impact to flip her to the front so her cheek was pressed into the ground, her arm streched back in an uncomfortable angle. She knew she was defeated, pulling her arm up a few degrees more would break her ellbow or dislocate her shoulder.

Normally, the fighting might have escalated into something passionate and romantic. Right now however her brain was only busy analyzing ever step on the way to her landing on the forest floor. She could feel him move back and sat up while he flopped down next to her.

"You were impressive," he told her seriously, "absolutely amazing. And you got my ribs quite well. Now, how are you feeling? I know I got your thig pretty bad."

When she only shrugged, he used two fingers to tilt her chin towards him, studying hre in the darkness. He was probably taking in her body language since reading her facial impression wasn't an option. Then the fingers were gone, but instead he was shaking her lightly at the shoulder.

"Your job is done," he told her lowly, "breathe out, let it go. You don't want me to slap you in the face, do you?"

Xandra wasn't quite sure what it was, but she felt feeling flood back, and with it an increase of pain in her body. She winced quietly.

"Alright, let's get inside and put some ice on us," Steve told her, pulling her up with him.

The made their way back to the cabin, keeping an eye out for odd sounds, but everything seemed quiet. They were the only people around in their little isolated world. Soon, Xandra would have to decide how to go on, but for now, this was enough.