a_musingly | [CLOSED TO disassembling

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[CLOSED TO disassembling - Not really a vacation

Las Vegas had changed quite a bit in the last 70 years. The last time he was here this was only a back water town, a pit stop on the USO tour on their way west. Now it was an entire city that catered to tourists. Steve wandered around among the flashy buildings and (mostly) gaudily dressed tourists in the strip, looking for signs that matched the descriptions in the report he was given for HYDRA.

Nothing. Nothing that stood out to him of course.

Usually something like this was best assigned to Natasha or Clint, but Clint was on medical leave, and he'd been outvoted when it came to another mission that Bucky and Natasha had left on a day before he'd left. Thor and Bruce wasn't even considered and Tony had meetings Ms. Potts had said he was not allowed to get out of unless it was a global emergency. Tony had clapped on on the back and told him to go wild, which Steve had rolled his eyes at. He shook his head at a poster advertising spa and massages and decided to find somewhere quieter for lunch away from the main strip.

Of course, it was on his way out that he spotted a familiar face, a HYDRA agent they'd been on the lookout for the last few months. Of course Steve will put off his lunch to follow. And of course, something will go wrong and the last Steve remembered was feeling a pinch at the back of his neck and then blacking out

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Steve often thought Natasha had a very odd idea of friendship but she was always there when he really needed her help and that was what counted. He could stand a bit of teasing (it was actually lot of teasing) if it amused her. They aren't the kind to pour their hearts out to each other but then again she seemed to know most things regarding what was going on around him usually before he did. (One clear example was how she suddenly stopped trying to arrange dates for him soon after Bucky started coming around to the Tower more often.)

When Bucky sprinted off as soon as the word 'three' left his lips, Steve wasn't far off behind his oldest friend. It was soon clear that between the two of them, Bucky could reach top speed faster than he did but Steve with his longer legs was catching up fast. Even before the reached the first turn, Steve was already close at Bucky's heels. Best friend (and lover) or not, Steve had no intention of losing.

There was a freedom that came with such a simple activity, the shove and drive of their weights forward under nothing more than the strength of their limbs. It was especially nice after so many hours trapped in a car, forcing them to generalized inactivity. He pumped his arms and shoved hard with his legs to eat up the ground and gain full momentum forward, even as he heard the tell-tale sounds of Steve's pursuit.

They were shoulder-to-shoulder as the first turn approached, and he turned his head to size up how fast his friend was going. He kept his sprinting pace even as he headed into the corner as they moved around it together, and then he shifted his weight to throw his shoulder into Steve to drive his friend right from the path as he finished the turn to continue.

He's always like running, especially after he received the Serum. It meant he could feel his lungs fill all the way with air and breathe it back out, without any burning feeling in his lungs or feeling as a cough would cough his lungs up entirely. There was freedom and satisfaction in the way their legs ate up the distance. No matter how good and convenient modern (or not so modern) transportation is, Steve thought he would always trust his own two feet more. And running won't contribute any noxious gases being released into the atmosphere.

Steve had caught up to Bucky as they approached the first turn of the road, a mere half step or so behind his friend. He had thought to try to speed up into the turn in order to pull ahead but Bucky, that cheat, shoved him to the side as they stepped into the first corner, Steve making a noise of surprise at the attack. Steve was back chasing after Bucky immediately of course but he lost precious time when he stumbled to re-balance himself. "If that's how you want to play it, you cheater!" He called out as he pounded after his friend, but not before scooping up a handy piece or two in his hand.

After being pent up the car all day, this freedom and the motion of his limbs was a good thing. It was the kind of motion that would allow him to rest tonight, assuming that he and Steve didn't just end up wrestling on the ground until they were exhausted and sleep wherever appeared to be comfortable at the time. This was what they both needed.

The Soldier turned his head when Steve was driven off of the opportunity to pass him, the corner of his lip rising in a smirk as he sped on, making the corner easily and down on the newest straight. "There is no cheating between super-soldiers," he called back. "And this is competition. I expect to fight for my win." He picked up his pace, moving his legs faster because Steve's longer gait was still a dangerous thing for him to deal with constantly.

Steve too was feeling the need to stretch his legs after a long drive. Driving himself was better than being driven (better yet if it was a motorbike where he could feel the wind on his face). Hopefully this will settle both of them down for the night. If not, Steve could think of other things they could do. It was barely sunset after all, and this little race they were in wouldn't last for more than an hour.

"Cheating is still cheating, no matter who we are!" He called back, picking up the pace immediately to give chase. Bucky had the lead now and it'll only widen if he doesn't do something. But only on the right moment. Steve's best friend was far too clever to fall for just anything. He thought he had the opportunity as the next turn came up and as Bucky started into the turn, Steve snapped his wrist, throwing the rocks hard, aiming them approximately into Bucky's path.

He never particularly saw it as cheating, but he threw back a smirk to his friend in response all the same. He was in this race to win, and he would do so any way that was necessary. He also knew that he was going to inspire similar behaviour in Steve, and it delighted him to know that the competition would be fierce all the way around. He never faltered as he tried to put more distance between them.

Steve, of course, had other ideas as he came to the next turn. A flash of movement from behind him, and he jumped to the side, losing his stride but keeping to his feet as he realized that stones had been thrown. He growled in pleasure and moved to simply tackle Steve over into the soft grass at the side of the road.

Steve returned a mock scowl at Bucky at the smirk. He was competitive (to his detriment, some of his other friends have previously declared) and has always been. He had grown up fighting for everything and it was far too ingrained in him to stop now. Even with some of his memories missing, Bucky still knew how to rile him up in the best way.

To his satisfaction, the gamble with throwing the stones worked, just enough that Bucky lost his stride so that Steve was able to catch up to him. What he didn't expect however was for Bucky to tackle him off course. He yelped in surprised as 260 pounds of super soldier dove on top of him unexpectedly pushing him off the road to the grass beside it. "Bucky! I knew I should have said something about no body contact!" Steve grunted as he tried to wrestle his friend off of him.

It was a little late to throw in a no-contact rule, and he had specifically asked what the rules were so that he could work within them. Now they were wrestling around in the dirt and grass rather than sprinting, but he considered this just as entertaining than outrunning Steve. He rolled around with Steve, growling his pleasure at the new contest even if he was setting himself up to get to his feet so that he could take off again.

"But you didn't, and here we are. Better make that rule next time," he said. The road trip was young, and he had no doubt that they would be doing this all over again tomorrow.

The fact that they would deviate from the little race Steve planned to rolling around in the dirt and grass had never occurred to him. It didn't mean he didn't enjoy it, especially since Bucky was so visibly enjoying himself. He shifted his body this and and that, trying to get the upper hand. It wasn't easy, especially when Bucky more or less matched him strength and agility wise and Bucky was the more experienced between the two of them when it came to fighting close quarters like this.

"No worries, I'll be adding that in, as well as a few others." Steve grunted. The idea that they could and most likely would do this again tomorrow filled him with pleasure. Maybe they'll be even able to finish running the entire way through instead of stopping in the middle to wrestle.

This was the life, fighting someone who was his match and finally - finally - having a moment to enjoy himself. The fact that they were rolling around in the grass trying to get the upper hand on each other. It was exactly what he wanted, and he made a groaning noise at the sheer notion of Steve adding ground rules.

"Oh I want to know," he said, snapping his teeth at Steve's chin. He twisted around on the grass to try to throw the blond a little further away from him so that he could regain his feet and sprint back to the road and on the way to going around town.

"Gotta have time to think up rules you won't find a way around." Steve's voice rumbled low in his throat as they grappled in the dirt and grass. The sudden snap of teeth at his face had him flinching back in surprise for a quick second, but was enough for Bucky to slip out of his grapple and throw him off to the side despite Steve trying to grab a hold of anything, a arm, an ankle to keep the other man down.

This rolling around in the dirt was different from the spars they did in the practice rooms in the tower or against other Avengers. He enjoyed those spars and now he was finding he was enjoying this too. It was almost childish, what they were doing right now but it was freeing too.

"There will always be ways around the rules that you make up," he teased, since he would have just as much time to think his way around them. There was that and the car ride itself, plenty of time to mull over any rules set down to do with running. "It will be a competition until the very end!"

He was up and moving, only to have an ankle seized unexpectedly. He was tripped and fell hard onto his chest, but already he was rolling to face Steve again so that he could try to tackle the blond back into the dirt, thoroughly enjoying the care-free nature of their wrestling.

"Thinking up ways to cheating you mean." Steve accused again, though there was no heat in his voice except fondness. "I'll have to find some way to distract you." Though that would be hard; there weren't that many things that could be termed distracting when they were driving along the highways. Especially if he was the one driving.

Steve was not above copying Bucky's tactic. As soon as Bucky was down, he was up, dodging around Bucky's already moving body to head back onto the main road to continue their race. He was aware if they'd continued to roll around in the dirt, Bucky will win that contest eventually. But in running? The outcome was not as clear.

"Will you now? I'm going to be interested to see how you manage that," he replied with a smirk. He was able to multitask at the same level as Steve was, and he was far more eager at beating his lover in such silly contests. This freedom was so often why he started them in the first place.

He hit the ground where Steve had dodged him, not surprised but already shoving himself up and take off in pursuit of the blond. He kept his footing well back to the road and picked up his pace to push himself as fast as he could run, aware that Steve's longer stride made the blond a serious contender when it came to any physical contest. He began to eat up some of the ground, but that was at pushing himself to his limits.

There was always sex, but that distracted him as well as Bucky. It'll be hard to think up rules when his brains (not to mention the rest of him) feels like melted goo. "So little faith in my abilities." He said dryly. Unlike Bucky, win or lose these little games, Steve was content enough to see Bucky engaged and happy instead of the uncertain quiet and distance just months before.

He was well aware that if he even slowed down just a little bit Bucky will catch up again. So he pushed himself to top speed as fast as possible, determined not to be distracted from this race again short of enemy attack. He took the next turn of the road without looking back and depended on his hearing to check how far Bucky was behind him. Just one more turn, he told himself, and then the finish line. If he kept going like this, he should have no problems winning.

He put everything that he had into his legs, but it seemed to him that Steve's longer stride made up the difference even as he closed a bit of the difference. He knew that he would lose some of his stride if he tried to bend the rules by picking up a rock to toss at Steve's back. He instead sprinted as hard as he could, his feet hitting with relative quiet from years of spending his life ghosting around.

He was slowly closing the distance between them, but they made the last turn and there was still significant difference left that separated their sprint. He huffed noisily just to let Steve know he was there, but in the end, he couldn't make up the difference between their stride lengths and Steve ended up winning. Next time, he promised himself.

Steve wasn't concerned with stealth at all, at least not this time. And Bucky will beat him in a contest of stealth any time. His feet pound the pavement with force as he pushes himself to top speed, a wild grin on his face as he makes the last corner and across their agreed-upon finish line, only letting himself slow down afterwards. "I win~" He laughed out loud cheerfully, his face lighting with exuberance.

"Satisfied?" He asked, a bit cheekily. No doubt Bucky would insist on a rematch tomorrow, he could tell from the look on his friend's face. But today, the win was his.

He pounded after Steve, but the other super-soldier's stride was longer and the race was over before he could pound his legs hard enough to eat up enough ground. Steve won, and he narrowed his eyes and puffed out his cheeks a little. He would insist on a rematch; tomorrow he would challenge again and leave out some of the ground game.

"For tonight," he growled but relented to allow Steve the glory of the first win. He moved over to stand next to his friend, stretching his arms. "We'll do this again tomorrow night, and the victory will be mine."

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[CLOSED TO disassembling - Not really a vacation

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A new account, relegated for big!Steve use.

I love the account name