Eminent Silence

by Tristan Carey

  'I'll meet you guys outside!'

  They quickly made their way back to the set of stairs they had come down, back up to the roof where their aircraft was waiting, Sam already inside and starting it up. Steve was the last to clamber aboard, breathless. His uniform was torn in places and he had scrapes and grazes in all kinds of places.

  'You look like shit,' Vielka said smugly, as Steve bent over to catch his breath as she hit the button to close the aircraft loading doors.

  He looked up at her and narrowed his eyes, before holding up her two swords and looking at her pointedly. She couldn't help but grin, the Captain knew how much she valued her beautiful swords, even if he didn't know why.

  Bucky strode past Steve and put a hand on his shoulder, smiling grimly before continuing to secure himself into one of the seats. Vielka raised an eyebrow at the action, surprised by the sincerity in it. Perhaps she was misjudging the former Hydra operative.

  She scratched the side of her head and pursed her lips, before moving to a seat of her own, away from Bucky. She found her cheeks heating when she thought of him grabbing her and pulling her to safety as the grenade exploded. It's not like she really needed saving, but still, he had grabbed her and pulled her away. She couldn't tell if she was more annoyed or embarrassed.

  Bucky collapsed onto his bed after showering to remove all the dust and debris from his body, with only a towel around his waist.

  He had thought to doze for a little while, when there was a light rap on the door. He quickly got up, moving to the door and opening it. He found Vielka there, her arms folded with her swords in one hand, looking away with an annoyed expression.

  'What's up?' he asked expectantly, noting that she still had debris and dust through her hair and on her clothing.

  She turned to look at him before her face paled and her jaw dropped slightly. 'Jesus Christ,' she said stepping back and looking away. 'I get that you've not been around people for a while, but come on, mate. Decency.' He smirked in amusement, he would be lying if he said he didn't mind seeing her squirm slightly.

  'What's up?' he repeated, ignoring her comments, and smirking at the red now creeping across her cheeks.

  'Doc wants a debrief with you,' she said, before quickly turning on her heel and hastily walking away. He noticed she didn't go to her room, instead replacing her swords into their slots at her back.

  He dressed quickly into a second uniform T'Challa had given him, and found his way to the medical clinic, where the Doc was waiting. He asked him some questions, ran a quick scan through the same machine he had used on him initially as well as taking some blood. He also spent some time analysing his titanium arm, asking questions about it, although a lot of them Bucky was hesitant to answer, more because he didn't know the answers than anything else.

  Once it was over, Bucky wasn't really feeling up to that nap, and instead decided to wander about. He walked by a few workshops containing aircraft and different weapons, but found nothing particularly interesting. He had been a grunt after all, his job was to shoot things and protect, so anything more technical than that, he never really showed an interest in it.

  He soon came across what appeared to be the gym. There was no one there, but that was no surprise really. Then he noticed a door in the wall that led into another room. He ambled over, seeing a window that ran along the wall. He glanced inside and saw that someone was inside the room.

  It was Vielka. He raised his eyebrows as he watched her stretch her shoulders and put ear pieces into her ears. He furrowed his brows when he saw her slowly draw both her swords from her back, before twirling them very quickly. She froze then, and turned her head. He thought for a moment that she was looking straight at him, but when she turned away again, he realised that she couldn't see him, it was a one way mirror.

  She began to slash her swords through the air, her movements fluid and fast. He watched as she leapt, twisting in the air, before landing again, her swords fanning out around her as she spun on the spot. She then ran forward, twirling her swords again, before sliding to one knee, with her swords out at her sides, before she spun again, to a stop, her face looking down.

  He was so engrossed in watching her, as she flipped backwards across the room, her swords flashing brightly from the lights of the room, that he didn't hear T'Challa approach him from behind.

  'A tougher warrior, you will never meet,' he said, making Bucky jump. The Wakandan King smiled apologetically, he was now dressed in one of the finely pressed suits that he often wore when visiting the facility.

  Bucky looked back in the window. 'She's enhanced, isn't she?' he asked, watching as she threw her sword and it struck a nearby target hanging from the ceiling and remembering what Wanda had said. A perfect bulls-eye. She stopped moving then, barely breathing heavily as she stood up and rolled her head from side to side, appearing to be analysing her aim.

  T'Challa frowned, before looking back to Bucky. 'This is not something we tend to talk about.' Bucky furrowed his brow, people really seemed to like dodging conversation about Vielka. 'But her history, may not be so unlike your own.'

  Bucky looked at T'Challa incredulously, but he said no more, instead moving to the door and pressing the intercom. 'Corporal Patterson, I am afraid duty calls for me, but I shall be sure to send you a new sparring partner.' T'Challa looked expectantly at Bucky, nodding to the door.

  Bucky hesitated for a moment, before walking to the door and opening it. He walked in, seeing Vielka waiting patiently. When she saw him though, her eyes hardened.

  'Enjoy your training,' T'Challa's voice came through the speakers and Bucky could have sworn he sounded very pleased with himself.

  'Vielka,' Bucky greeted, walking further into the room to stand in front of her, feeling slightly anxious as her golden brown eyes seemed to be analysing him. She wasn't short, although she clearly had some Asian in her. She stood perhaps ten centimetres shorter than himself, yet even then he was certain she could appear intimidating.

  She narrowed her eyes at him, making her appear far more Asian and even animalistic, the golden brown of her eyes seeming to glow in the bright artificial lights of the training room. 'Bucky...' She raised one of her swords to be pointing towards him, her face emotionless except for the cold stare from her eyes.

  He thought he might try and lighten the mood a little, see if he could get her to smile and relax. 'Where's your name from? Spanish? Your accent isn't.'

  She ignored him and instead looked towards the screen above them on the wall. 'T'Challa, I know you're still there. You know, this is a bad idea, he's not wearing any body armour.'

  Bucky raised his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting her to be worried by something like that with the cold reception she had provided him since she found out he was more a member of the team than a prisoner.

  The intercom crackled again. 'His uniform improvements included vibranium threading. He is as protected as you are in your suit.'

  She rolled her eyes, and Bucky quickly took the opportunity to take a step towards her. He batted her sword away with his titanium arm, trying to slip in between her guard, but she was quick to bring up her knee and elbow, blocking his quick jab. She shoved him back roughly, looking at him dully.

  'Well, it was worth a try,' he said, grinning. She looked at him with disdain, before he began running for her as she began to twirl her swords. There was the sound of metal on metal as he blocked her swords with his arm, ducking and weaving as she struck out at him, before he caught one of her swords in his titanium hand.

  Her eyes went wide as he grinned, trying to reef it from her hand, but to his surprise, she leapt forward with it, her shoulder connecting with his chest. He was thrown back several feet and was surprised at the strength behind the hit, she was a lot stronger than her appearance led one to believe.

  She straightened, twirling her swords a couple of times while she waited patiently for him to stand again. He stood up, and within a second she was charging
at him again, bringing one sword down from above him and the other across his front, he was barely able to block her strikes, she was so fast, and the ferocity of her strikes was surprising to him.

  He knew she was good, she would have to be, being apart of Steve's team, but after fighting with her in the forest, it seemed like she must have been taking it easy on him then.

  He was soon able to take advantage of a small opening he noticed she often had, catching the sword she had thought to bring down onto his shoulder, with his titanium hand, and as she spun to attack his right side, he slipped his body closer inside her strike, catching her arm underneath his, pinning it between his elbow and his side.

  He was now body to body with her, and she had no way of pulling out of his grasp. He roughly squeezed his arm to his side before using her own momentum to flip her over his body, sending her crashing to the floor. He maintained his grip on her arm, twisting his body slightly to put pressure on her wrist.

  He heard her hiss in pain and the clanging of metal falling to the floor before he rolled off to one side, careful to duck as she brought her remaining sword down, swiping wildly as he took a step back, collecting her fallen sword as he did so.

  She flipped to her feet, a look of annoyance on her pretty Asian features as he held up the sword with a grin. He had a quick look at it, the handle was plain black and it had no defined hilt, the blade itself was just over half a metre long.

  He didn't have much time to admire the craftsmanship of the blade though, as she flew towards him, bringing her remaining sword down on him. He used the sword he held to fend off her strikes, blocking each swing as she struck at him with great force. He was soon stepping back, as she started to get the better of him, until she spun low with an outstretched leg, taking his legs from beneath him. He was quick to roll backwards, away from her as she leapt forward in the hopes of overcoming him.

  Once his feet were back on the floor he decided to try and end the fight quickly. He launched himself forward, discarding her sword as he did so, as she charged towards him, keeping low. He caught her around the waist, tackling her roughly. They landed heavily onto the ground, but to his surprise, Vielka grabbed him with one hand about the neck of his uniform. She leaned backwards, her knees into his chest and as they hit the ground, she pushed up.

  His own momentum and heavier weight caused him to continue on, and she capitalised, landing on top of him easily as he fell to the mats.

  She poised over him, one of knees pinning his titanium arm, placing the sword she still held at his neck while her spare hand pinned his right arm.

  His eyes went wide when he realised, she more or less had him beat.

  She looked down at him with her golden coloured eyes narrowed, her black hair falling down around her shoulders and breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath back. He raised his arms slightly and opened his hands, showing his submission, giving her a small smile. He was impressed.

  She raised one eyebrow, flaring her nostrils, before hastily standing and walking away. She collected her sword from the floor, looking at both blades carefully. He saw her lip curl in annoyance and he couldn't help but smirk, remembering what she had said to him in the forest on their first meeting.

  'You've got some impressive speed and strength,' he said, rolling to his stomach, noticing his chest felt a bit tender from where she had charged him with her shoulder, to watch her as she slipped them into their sheaths at her back.

  'I would say the same to you,' she said, glancing over her shoulder. 'Except you weren't trying and were pulling your punches.' She glared at him, before striding from the room.

  He pursed his lips. It's not like he meant to, but then he saw before his eyes several women's faces, each of them as lifeless as the one before. He shook his head, rolling back onto his back and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand as Sam appeared over him.

  'Have fun?' he asked, a grin spread across his face.

  'Enjoy the show, did you?' Bucky asked as Sam offered him a hand up, which he accepted.

  'Oh we all did, piece of advice though. She's Asian and Australian, the whole holding back thing is offensive on so many levels,' he said with a chuckle.

  Bucky raised his eyebrows, so that's why he couldn't place the accent originally, she was Australian.

  'I didn't exactly mean to,' he said defensively, as Sam opened the door into the main gym area. As they exited, they found Vielka talking to Romanoff and Steve. She seemed rather annoyed at Steve, speaking quickly, but stopped when she saw him and continued on her way.

  Sam and Bucky stopped before Steve, who was rubbing his brow in frustration.

  'What was all that about?' Sam asked with a nod toward Vielka.

  Steve tried to wave it off, but Bucky could tell something was up.

  'She's got an issue with me...' he muttered. And he didn't blame her. After all that he had done in the past, it was less than he deserved.

  Steve shook his head, but looked away signifying the conversation was over.

  T'Challa was the one who had brought Vielka in, and he had told Steve to trust him. He hadn't missed her uncanny abilities, the speed, flexibility and even her strength far outdid that of other female operatives, like Natasha. While nowhere close to his own enhanced strength, she was quite clearly stronger than the average woman.

  And her eyes, something about them when she was in battle had caught his attention in the early days of her joining the team. It was like she wasn't there, although she clearly was.

  He could see that Bucky knew something wasn't normal about Vielka too, but out of respect for the Wakandan King's request, he refrained from speaking his own thoughts on the Australian woman.

  The one thing that struck him about her, was how attractive she was if she just smiled, and not just any smile, a proper smile. Quite often it seemed she was putting it on, or it was half hearted. He recalled the one time he had managed to catch a real smile from her, and it was when she was in the kitchen with Wanda, of all places.

  Steve roused himself from his own thoughts and turned back to Bucky, tapping him on the chest. 'That was one hell of a fight though.'

  To his surprise, Bucky winced slightly, causing he and Sam to both raise their eyebrows in surprise. 'You're kidding? She actually dinged you?' Sam exclaimed, causing Bucky to scowl at him as he rubbed his chest carefully.

  Steve smirked, doing his best not to laugh. He had sparred with the Australian a couple of times, but had yet to come out with any injury, but something about the way she fought with Bucky was different.

  He had never seen her fight so ferociously with anyone else like that. Every strike she made on Bucky, he mentally felt, he was worried that she might actual pierce through his body armour at one point. 'Come on, the doc better check you out.' He nodded toward the medical clinic while Sam howled with laughter, bent over in hysterics.

  Vielka scowled as she looked at her wrist where Bucky had twisted with nothing but his arm strength. And not his metal arm either. It was starting to change shade slightly, but she knew it wouldn't last long, they never did. Her waist also featured bruising, where the metal shoulder had connected with her when he had taken to tackling her. She cursed herself for allowing that to happen.

  She put some ice from the bucket on her desk into a small towel, wrapping it around her wrist carefully. The coolness on her wrist was refreshing and she moved to recline on her bed.

  As she laid back, staring at the ceiling she began to think. She knew that Bucky wasn't putting his full effort into sparring with her, but she also knew that she was letting her own emotions affect her performance as well.

  In reality, she doubted if she could beat him if he was putting in his all, but she also knew that while he was in control of himself, he would not put himself completely into the fight. She had seen it in the forest, at the mention of the guilt he might feel at his empty threat towards her. He had balked at her retort then, and she knew by the fact that
he had chosen to hide out in the most remote area he could find. Heck, he didn't even want to hurt the bear.

  She could relate to his situation, but that also made her very aware of just how dangerous he could be.

  She was beginning to doze, when there was a light knock on the door. She sat up with a start before walking to the door and opening it slightly, apprehensively. 'Corporal Patterson...' it was T'Challa.

  She opened it wider, before turning and returning to lie on the bed, saying nothing to the Wakandan Royal.

  'I sense you are not pleased with me,' he said, leaning against the doorway with his hands in his pockets.

  'You'd be wrong,' she replied, rolling her eyes. There was no way she could ever be upset with T'Challa. He was the one person here that she unreservedly trusted. She had to, he was essentially her boss. While she followed Steve Rogers command for the most part, it was out of respect for his rank. As a person, she felt he let his emotions get the better of him too often.