Elementary School Stucky - Punch

Steve Rogers had just begun to recover from the lamp oil incident, which happened about a month ago. In a sense, it was worse than being punched; how much longer would third degree burns take to heal than a few bruises? Luckily, he never got burnt, thanks to Bucky. Still, no ten year old should have to go through that.

Steve looked at Bucky now, who was talking animatedly about something, but Steve hadn't been paying attention. This boy was some kind of angel, he thought. A very dangerous angel, and not for the first time, Steve was thankful that Bucky was on his side and not against him.

"Are you even listening, Steve?" Bucky asked, his face in an expression of mild annoyance.

"Uh," Steve hadn't been listening at all. "N-no?"

Bucky's brows furrowed but there was a grin on his lips. "It's okay. Hey, listen I figured I could teach you how to defend yourself." He waited for Steve's response, which was a bit slow in coming.

"Did you just...? Defend myself?" The thought of being without Bucky Barnes terrified him and he didn't ever want to deal with that.

"Don't look so scared." Bucky was still grinning and nudged Steve playfully with his fist. "It'll be fun and anyway, it's just for emergencies. I'll always be close by."

Well that was a relief, but the underlying fear was still there. Steve took a breath and nodded, consenting to this self-defence training.

They began the next day. Bucky started by showing him how to throw a good punch. Steve never managed to hit him, and he didn't want to. Next, Bucky showed him where to block a blow that would hurt the least. Steve supposed this bit would be much easier with an actual shield. Bucky taught him how to kick, how to dodge, and how best to run from a bad situation.

They trained for weeks and Steve was starting to get better. He wasn't getting really good. Just better. Slowly, gradually better.

"Hey, you're actually improving." Bucky said with a grin as he dodged a weak punch thrown by Steve. "What's going on here?"

Steve said nothing, he was too busy concentrating on Bucky's movements. He had blocked or dodged most of Bucky's hits, and he knew that if he could predict his opponent's next move, he could land a hit of his own.

He knew why they were doing this. It was so that anyone who tried to beat him again would have a harder time of it. Unbidden, the image of that boy who poured lamp oil on him flashed before his eyes and he felt his fist connect.

Steve blinked and froze in utter horror. Bucky looked just as surprised. Steve had landed a hit, all right. On Bucky's face. More specifically, on his lip. Steve had split Bucky's lip. Bucky brought one hand up to touch the wound, looking at Steve in amazement and shock. Steve was fearing for his life. He brought both arms up and pressed them against his chest, trying to curl up into himself and avoid Bucky's anger.

A few moments passed like this, Steve being properly terrified and Bucky simply staring at him in pure, unadulterated amazement.

Finally, after what felt to Steve like an eternity, Bucky grinned, splitting his lip a little farther and causing blood to stream down his chin. "That was a really good punch!" He stepped forward and clapped a hand on Steve's shoulder.

Now Steve was confused. No one punched Bucky Barnes and got away with it. Did this mean he had some kind of immunity? His expression slowly changed and he began to relax. But, "You're not mad?"

Bucky laughed at this, and Steve wondered if his friend didn't feel pain. "Nah. This just means you're actually getting better." He teased, but his face became serious once more. "But your enemies aren't going to wait for you to recover your wits  after you land a hit."

And so the training continued. Bucky was more careful now, and whenever anyone asked what happened to his lip, he laughed the subject off and gave Steve a knowing look.