So, missed out on updating on the weekend because we were flat out with some veteran work, but found some time today before the rest of my week becomes super busy.

Many thanks to Lex Holmes, RoonieTunes, DeathsRule, laurenlovehappiness, and puppy24610.

Also thanks to the reviews from the last chapter, basilbeast...I'm a little proud of that line, I'm not going to lie :D

Chapter 22

Testing

Lex looked at Bucky solemnly. They were inside a special developed 'bunker' style room. The only difference between a proper bunker and this one; was this one was designed to keep people, or to be a bit more specific, a certain person, inside.

It had been three weeks since the start of Bucky's recalibration treatments, and today was going to be the first test.

Shuri had hooked Bucky up with all sorts of sensors, all non invasive and low key, including a set of Kimoyo beads, similar to the ones she had made to monitor Lex. To be extra careful, Bucky had not been provided a new arm to replace his old one, with the hope if something happened, it would make it easier for Lex to subdue him. They were both seated cross legged on the bare floor of the bunker, which had no other contents inside; making sure Bucky couldn't use anything as a weapon.

Bucky looked nervously back at Lex, who felt it necessary to provide him with a crooked grin. She tried to keep her excitement in check, but something about the look on Bucky's face told her she hadn't quite managed to suppress it.

She couldn't help it, she'd always enjoyed a chance to test her skills and strength, it was in her nature, or perhaps it was better to say the nature the Red Room had provided her. She was certain this might be the best test she'd had since taking on Killmonger, except this time, she was one on one, so she didn't have to take on a whole army first.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Bucky said for the tenth or eleventh time, she had lost count after about the second time, his anxiousness seeping into his surly voice.

"Relax, it's going to be fun!"

He looked at her in annoyance, before looking over to a window to her left, where Shuri was seated, monitoring the test. The teen, and her brother, was protected behind triple layered, bullet proof glass. Shuri looked solemn, but determined, leaning forward and speaking into a microphone. "Don't worry, Sergeant Barnes, even if you still activate at the words, you should become complicit, not outright violent without orders."

Bucky glanced back at Lex. "I'm not going to lie, I'll be mildly disappointed if there isn't a little violence," she teased with a smirk gracing her lips. She had to admit, while she preferred seeing Bucky smile, the broody and angry looks he was capable of weren't displeasing to the eye, which was probably why she was enjoying teasing him way too much right now.

"Lex..." T'challa warned through the intercom system of the bunker. "Don't agitate him, this is hard enough."

"Aww, come on, Bucky knows I'm joking," she offered him an encouraging smile, but when he didn't reciprocate, she pouted slightly. "Fine, look, it's fine, Bucky."

"We have every precaution ready, should the worst occur, Sergeant Barnes, but I'm quite certain that nothing will happen," Shuri reassured. "Okay, let's begin, all cameras are rolling, Lex, are you ready?"

"Ready."

"Sergeant Barnes?"

He hesitated a moment, looking back at Lex who smiled, being sure to not let any malevolence or mischievous thoughts show in her expression. "Ready," he mumbled with a sigh.

"Okay, hopefully my Russian is understandable," Shuri murmured. They heard the shuffling of papers and Lex watched Bucky carefully.

"Longing." Lex noted Bucky still looked anxious, but his body language did not change, still tense and nervous.

"Rusted... Furnace." She noticed his brows seemed to knit together slightly, but all in all, his body language stayed the same.

"Daybreak...Seventeen." His eyebrow twitched and he clenched his fist, but still Lex saw no other visible change. She gave him an expectant look, and he shook his head, indicating he was still okay.

"Benign...Nine." There was no change in his expression, his face still holding a look of anxiousness and his body tense. Lex thought about how she could help Shuri improve on her Russian, there was still a strange twang in her accent.

"Homecoming." Another twitch of Bucky's eyebrow, and he began to grit his teeth. Lex narrowed her eyes at Bucky; his anxiousness seemed to be turning into something else.

"One." Bucky broke eye contact with her, looking down to the ground in between them, and Lex immediately tensed. She was under orders from Shuri not to intervene until after the words were spoken or only to defend herself if he lashed out before the words could be completed. The Wakandan scientist wanted to see for herself what and how the words activated him at this point, and for Bucky to tell her whether they had made any progress once he came to.

"Freight car." Lex saw his whole demeanour change as he closed his eyes. The tense expression on his face vanished, releasing his hand from a fist. She tilted her head to one side, glancing sideways at the window to look at Shuri and T'challa. They were both looking at Bucky with curious concern.

Shuri met Lex's gaze and gave her a slow nod. Lex stood up slowly from her position on the ground, moving towards Bucky quietly, careful not to say a word.

"Sergeant Barnes?" Shuri called out to him.

Lex was barely an arm's length away when Bucky's hand became a fist and his eyes shot open. He launched upwards at her with a closed fist, catching Lex on the chin with a hard punch, forcing her to stumble back.

"Lex!" Shuri and T'challa both exclaimed, before T'challa made a move to enter the bunker.

"Stay where you are!" Lex ordered, recovering quickly, and readying herself as Bucky charged at her again. "I've got this."

It felt like she was slammed by a fully loaded semi trailer as he tackled her, throwing her onto her back with the full force of his body. She grunted as the wind was expelled from her lungs, but was quick to use their momentum to throw him off of her, tossing him over her head.

Without his left arm, Bucky wasn't able to right himself easily, rolling several times before he was able to stop himself. He looked down at his arm in confusion and Lex took advantage, hurrying to her feet and launching herself at him.

She caught him across the chest as he stood straight again, using her speed and momentum to swing herself around his body, latching her legs around his arm to pin him and then wrapping her arms around his neck in an effort to subdue him. Lex counted her blessings that she was as tall as she was, because Bucky was a big boy made of nothing but muscle, it seemed. Had she been any shorter, she would never have been able to lock her legs around him. He was thick!

"Sleepy time, Bucky," she growled through her gritted teeth as he began to try and loosen her grip around his body to free his arm. She squeezed with her arms around his neck, trying to cut off his airways enough to deprive him of air and make him unconscious.

Bucky, or more precisely, the Winter Soldier, was not going to let it go easily. He stumbled towards the nearest wall, turning and slamming himself backwards, so that Lex's back connected roughly with the wall.

Lex grunted as she felt pain shoot through her back and neck. She'd been smart enough to bring her head forward before he could slam her against the wall, preventing him from slamming her head against it too, but even with only one arm and her working to subdue him, he was putting up a good fight.

"Lex! I'm coming in to help," T'challa said through the intercom, moving towards the entry door.

"Don't you dare, T'challa, you'll give him a chance to escape," Lex growled in annoyance as Bucky moved to slam her against the wall again. As Bucky leaned forward, Lex threw her own weight forward, causing Bucky to lose his balance and fall towards the ground.

Both slammed into the ground, Lex maintaining her hold on the activated super soldier, although pain shot through her arms and legs as they bore the brunt of Bucky's full weight against the concrete. Lex was able to roll him on top of her, so her back was against the concrete, the chill of the ground felt through the light shirt she was wearing. She tightened her grip on his neck, and could hear Bucky struggling to breath now. "Come on, Buddy, you know this isn't you."

Bucky still tried to strain against her legs, she could feel his right arm tensing and contracting every now and then, but she didn't let up.

"Lex, do you need me to come in with a sedative?" Shuri asked, panic evident in her voice even through the intercom.

"No, just a little longer, should be fine," Lex managed to grunt through the effort of holding Bucky. "You focus on the readings he's throwing out."

Bucky managed to throw his weight sideways, causing them to roll several times in an effort to get her off.

"Lex, are you sure-"

"It's fine!" She tensed her arms and grit her teeth, feeling his strength gradually beginning to decrease as he exerted himself. "Sorry, Buddy."

Finally, he stopped struggling and she felt his breathing slow under her arms, releasing him slowly and moving her face closer to his cheek to listen to his breaths. She couldn't help but notice how peaceful he looked in comparison to seconds ago when he seemed like he wanted to kill her. His hair draped across his face, but she could still see through it how vulnerable the man actually was. She'd never seen Bucky up close like this, nor had she ever seen him not look like he was carrying the greatest burden the world had ever seen on his shoulders.

She heard the door to the bunker open, quickly releasing Bucky from her hold and doing her best to slide him off of her carefully, although even for her, over one hundred and fifteen kilograms of pure muscle took some effort to move, and that was without the metal arm. She got to her knees, panting slightly from the effort of holding out against her fellow super soldier.

Shuri and T'challa hurried inside, along with some of Shuri's lab assistants, quickly moving to Bucky, one assistant securing his one arm to a belt restraint so that if he was still under the affects of the words he couldn't cause anymore harm, as well as securing his ankles together. It had been Lex's idea, for her to be the only one present to subdue him, but she had made sure they had put in place back up plans in case she failed.

"Well, anything good in the data?" she asked Shuri, watching as the lab assistants checked Bucky for injuries and a pulse.

"Lots, but are you okay?" Shuri demanded, moving to stand in front of her. Lex frowned and looked down at the Wakandan teen in confusion. Shuri's eyes went wide in surprise. "You know you're bleeding, right?"

It dawned on Lex that there was a familiar metallic taste in her mouth and her jaw was throbbing. She licked her bottom lip and felt a sharp pain and tasted more blood. "Nice," she remarked, giving an impressed smirk, looking back to the unconscious Bucky. "Knew he had it in him." She looked back at Shuri, who was looking back at her dumbfounded.

"That was quite reckless, Lex," T'challa spoke up, standing up from inspecting Bucky. "Next time, I think we should go straight to plan b."

"But where's the fun in that!" Lex teased with a malevolent grin at the Wakandan King. T'challa looked at her pointedly, causing her to roll her eyes. "Don't worry, there won't be another time," she said confidently. Lex glanced back at the still form of Bucky as two more lab assistants appeared with a gurney to transport Bucky back to the medical wing of the lab.

T'challa considered Lex for a moment before following her gaze. "We will help him. Although, I still think he could use your support too, Lex."

She shook her head ruefully. "No, T'challa. This is something he needs to do for himself." She looked back at the Wakandan King sadly. "Trust me." She gave him a small smile, before leaving the bunker.

Bucky opened his eyes slowly to find himself inside the medical wing again. He groaned, going to move his arm but finding its movement restricted. He looked down to find he was restrained. That could only mean one thing.

He groaned again, before looking around the room quickly. He found Lex sitting on a chair, her feet resting on another one in front of her and reading some paperwork with a serious look on her face. Her black hair was tied back into a braid, and she was running a finger along her bottom lip, which featured a rather nasty looking cut and bruising on her chin.

He immediately felt guilty, knowing full well it was probably his doing, and it hurt him to know he had done something to the only person in his life that seemed to fully understand him. He sighed sadly. "What did I do?"

She looked up expectantly, a small smile drifting across her lips as she lowered the papers in her hand. "Relax, it's nothing."

"It isn't," he retorted. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, that's why it's nothing." She stood up walking to the bedside. "Glad to see you're talking though; that means activation is over." She pulled a key out from her pocket and began to undo the restraints.

"I knew it was a bad idea," Bucky muttered ruefully.

"Not at all, Shuri was able to glean lots of data, and from the looks of it, you held out much longer than usual against the words," Lex said, freeing his arm and then his legs. She tossed the restraints to the side, without a second thought. She looked back at him and smiled warmly. "How do you feel?"

He watched as she walked to his bedside and pushed the call button before answering. "I've got a splitting headache and my neck hurts," he answered after a quick moment of consideration.

"Oh, that's my bad," she said with a smirk; and not a note of regret in her voice. "Shuri's going to want to come and speak to you about how you felt being triggered."

He sighed, sitting up carefully. "Yeah, I figured." He moved to stand up.

"Whoa, big fella!" Lex exclaimed hurriedly, moving to stop him, but she tripped over the restraints she'd thrown to the side. She began to fall forwards towards him, and he was quick to throw out his arm to catch her, but without his other arm, he was also quick to lose his balance and they both tumbled to the floor.

Bucky was able to support her enough so that she didn't hit the ground hard, but he couldn't stop himself from falling on top of her.

"Ooof!"

They both lay there for a moment, Bucky noting his neck really did hurt a lot; she must have done a good number on him in the bunker. He pushed himself up, which was a lot harder with only the one arm.

He looked down to see Lex below him, with her eyes closed and her face contorted like she was in pain. "You alright?"

"Shit, mate, why am I always the one on the bottom?" She opened her eyes and Bucky suddenly felt very aware about the position they were in as he looked down into her shining brown orbs that were her eyes. She raised an eyebrow expectantly at him, a small grin gracing her lips, which suddenly seemed fuller than he remembered.

"Uh..."

"Any time, Bucky," Lex said suggestively. He was quick to push himself off of her, causing her to laugh lightly and sit up herself, just as the door to the room opened.

"Uh, guys?" Shuri's voice called from the doorway. Bucky got to his feet quickly, feeling his cheeks heat as he grimaced when his head began to spin slightly from standing too quickly.

Lex took her time getting to her feet, a crooked smile on her face as she leant on the bed and looked at Shuri. "What's up?"

"What's going on here?" Shuri asked getting an inquisitive look on her face.

"I tripped," Lex said without even a second thought, picking up the restraints from the floor. "Bucky was dumb enough to try and catch me."

He looked at her incredulously. "A thank you would have sufficed," he huffed.

Shuri continued to look between the two for a moment, her eyes narrowed suspiciously, as Lex moved to leave the room. She turned back to look at Bucky, before winking and laughing as she walked out the door. Bucky shook his head. Lex was something else.

Eeepp...

XD

xo

Krayzee