Saphires and Serpents
- Part 3
With the third bartender out until her wrist heals, Y/N finds herself working every night. She sees no problem, what else could she spend her time doing? She had no one, no ties to this town, and very little to do outside of hitting the gym and the shooting range, both of which she attends at odd hours in order to limit interactions, or notice, from others.
In no time sheâs easily keeping up with Nat. They make quite the team. The regulars become friends, outside of Bucky, who Y/N avoids like the plague since his ambush at her car. Nat was obviously curious the first time Y/N plead for her to take him but now she expects it. Y/N doesnât want to help Bucky. Bucky will spend his evening watching her anyways with a fierce intensity. Nat plays buffer, Steve acts like nothing is weird. It all repeats the next night.
Bucky appears, practically out of thin air, next to a young woman Y/N is already helping. âOne espresso martini coming right up,â she turns toward him, âa bartender will be with you shortly.â His nostrils flare, obviously growing tired of playing games.
âY/N,â He starts.
âSomeone will be by to grab your order soon. Thank you for your patience,â She throws over one shoulder, already trying to get as far from him as possible.
Nat doesnât even give her a chance to speak, âOn it.â
Y/N grabs the three pitchers and starts filling them for group of frat boys in the corner. They were going through the beer like it was water. âIâve got another round.â She disperses them across the table. âCan I get you anything else for now?â
The young man on the end gave her a look over, âWhatâs it take to get a piece of that ass?â A round of hollers and laughs followed.
âFunny. If thatâs all, I will be going. Give me a holler when the pitchers run out.â She turns and before she can make her quick escape, an arm is around her waist and pulling her into his lap. Heâs copping a feel and trapping her between his body and the table as he leans in, lips landing on hers.
Y/N shoves hard but his bodyâs being yanked out from under her. She barely catches herself before hitting the ground. She looks up and finds Bucky, holding him by the collar. Her mind flashes to the bruised knuckes she noticed the first time she met him and scrambles to her feet. He wouldnt take this from her. She shoves Bucky back. His shock is palpable and he drops the man when he turns toward her. She throws a right hook at the fucker who had her in his lap. The crunch of his nose is satisfying.
He stumbles back and into another table of patrons. Glass breaks and the entire bars looking at them. Y/N is breathing raggedly, Bucky is still staring slack jawed, and Bartonâs already picking the boy up off the floor.
âOut,â Heâs ordering at the rest of the frat boys, âNow.â
âFuck,â She mutters quietly looking at her shirt, now drenched with beer. Is that blood on her knuckes?
âFucking bitch!â The frat boy throws over his shoulder as Clint drags him toward the exit.
Bucky makes a step toward him but stops when Y/N puts a hand on his shoulder. His very, very muscular shoulder.
He looks her over, âAre you okay, doll?â She just nods. He glances down, lingering at the shirt clinging to her skin, before grabbing her hand. He uses his own tshirt to wipe the blood from her knuckles, âItâs not yours. Nice form, you a bar brawler?â
âIn a past life,â she mutters quietly. He chuckles.
âLetâs get you changed,â he wraps a protective arm around her and leads her to the backroom.
After rifling through a few drawers behind Samâs desk, he hands her a fresh tshirt and turns around.
She raises an eyebrow, âYouâre not going to leave?â
âIâm not looking, and you seem rattled,â He says to the door.
She strips, but keeps her eyes on his back.
âThank you,â she speaks up after pulling the new shirt over her head. There was no helping the sopping bra so she left it off, hiding the lacy little thing behind her back.
He turns around, âI didnât do anything, youâre the one that put him on the floor.â
They sit in silence for a long minute before she acknowledges this is the first time sheâs let herself be this close to Bucky in weeks. And they were alone. An odd tension filled the space.
Bucky steps closer, brushing a few wet strands off her forehead, âAre you sure that youâre okay? Sam would understand if you wanted to take off.â
She shakes her head, âI donât need to leave. Think Sam would mind drinking on the job? I want to burn any trace of that off me.â
He smirks before reaching into a drawer and pulling out a bottle of something clear and holding it out to her. No label. Homemade? Moonshine maybe?
She takes two long swigs, straight from the bottle, savoring the burn. Definitely moonshine. The potent liquer has to have killed any germs left by that creep. She passes it back to Bucky, now grinning, âYou want a chaser for that?â
She shakes her head, âNot this time.â She follows him out the door and finds Sam, leaning against the wall with one eye brow raised. Bucky just shakes his head and Y/N takes the answering laugh as permission to get back to her position. The rest of the evening was uneventful. Buckyâs eyes didnt leave her once.
She finds herself driving to the gym rather than home after her shift, the adrenaline still running its course.
After warming up on the treadmill, she moved on to the punch bag running a couple sets.
Jab. Cross. Hook. Kick.
Jab. Cross. Kick. Kick. Hook.
The sweat building up on her forehead makes the smell of beer in her hair more prominent. It takes her back. Sheâs in her old apartment, cowering next to where the glass bottle of beer just shattered a few inches from her head. The half full bottle had sprayed onto her when it met the tiled wall. He came closer.
Jab. Cross. Jab. Cross.
His face was in hers, the cheap beer heâd only just started on his breath.
Kick. Cross. Jab. Hook.
Heâs spitting on her while he screams. Sheâs as good as paralyzed while she hunches over, muttering apologies.
Hook. Jab. Cross. Kick. Kick.
He shoves her and the glass shards she lands on top of puncture skin. She doesnât move, only continues muttering anything she can think of. Anything that might de-escalate the situation.
She exhausts every combination she can think of before just wailing into the bag without any rhyme or reason.
She throws all her weight into another hook but slips and lands on the floor. Her breaths come quick and fast. She canât discern whatâs from pushing herself and whatâs from panic.
Y/Nâs panic echos off the walls of the large room and she finds herself grateful to be alone. It takes longer than she would like to admit to pick herself up and breath even once again.
Jab. Cross. Jab. Hook. Kick. Kick. Kick.
âYou donât think that bags been through enough?â
She jumps, turning to find Bucky leaning against the doorway, white tshirt stretched around his arms. The smear of blood from her knuckles is smeared across the bottom. Heâs wearing sweats instead of his usual jeans or even occasional slacks.
âI think,â she heaves another breath, âitâs a punching bag, and therefore, it is here for me to punch.â
Half his mouth quirks up, âLetâs work through this in the ring.â
Her gloved hands drop to her side as she looks from him to the boxing ring. âYou donât think thatâs unfair? Iâve been at this for hours. Not to mention, you seem to have an advantage in size.â
He chuckles, âI just ran three miles on the treadmill, and it looks like that spark in you is far from dying. I was just offering a challenge. Poor, defensless bag doesnât stand a chance against you.â Itâs only now she notices the way his tshirt clings to his body with sweat.
He thinks this is funny. Her jaw ticks. She picks up a pair of gloves and tosses them at his head. He catches them midair.
Y/N removes her own sweat drenched tshirt, leaving herself in only a sports bra, shorts, and a pair of tennis shoes.
Bucky quirks an eyebrow before removing his own shirt, as if challenged. Have mercy.
âGo easy on me, would ya?â He quips as he climbs in.
And so she does. Working through basic combinations at a comfortable pace.
He blocks and parries easily. After about one minute of the same story, sheâs pissed off. She moves faster, hits harder, and throws more complex combinations landing more and more blows. Eventually, he picks up and they fall into a complex dance. She brings her leg up and lands a blow square on his chest, knocking him back. Y/N uses the stumble to land a hook and then an uppercut. She finally kicks a leg out and sweeps his feet out from under him. Sheâs on top of him, forearm to his throat, before he knows whatâs happening. Theyâre both breathing heavy and her thighs stick to his sweaty torso.
âNice job, doll,â he grins, really grins up at her.
They hold their position, only the sound of panting and the heavy heart beats thrumming in their ears.
When she doesnât move, Bucky thrusts his hips, throws his weight, and pins her below him. He is especially beautiful with sweat glistening on his forehead. She makes no move to stop him as he leans in. In fact, she finds herself greedily meeting his lips in the middle and putting the last of her spark into the kiss.
Kiss? Was that the right word? It felt too delicate for the force and need they were both putting into the motion. The selfish need and desire. It was much too greedy on both ends. Hands were clawing at sweat slicked skin. Mouths were sucking and biting at whatever they could get. Whole bodies were pressing and pulling.
Itâs not until she finds herself reaching for more that she realizes what sheâs doing. She pulls back, currently on top of him and scurries away, âI, I, I have to go.â She grabs her abandoned tshirt and gym bag and is out the door before he can collect his thoughts. Thereâs only a bike next to the door of the otherwise empty parking lot. She shakes her head and makes a bolt for her car.














