Title: The Asset

Chapter One: The Second Super Soldier

{Disclaimer: I don't own Captain America, nor do I own Game of Thrones, so don't sue me}

XXX

His brain was foggy. He just remembered falling before a hard impact made it feel like his soul was forced out of his body. He was sure he had died. There wasn't any pain like he had fallen down a seemingly endless canyon, but something just wasn't right.

When he came to for the first time he thought he had been sent to hell for some reason. This creatures was standing over him looking down on him wearing a Nazi uniform. What made him think he was in hell was because the thing's face was an angry red and in his eyes all he saw was evil.

He couldn't stay conscience for long and soon fell asleep. When he came to there the demonic Nazi still was but now there was a squat bespectacled man standing next to him. They were arguing about something though all Bucky could hear was the ringing in his ears.

He tried to move but something was restricting him. Having very little strength he was only able to glance down and see he was strapped to what looked to be an operating table. He noticed that his left arm was heavily bandaged and stained the color of red. He knew without even seeing under the bandages that it was mangled beyond recognition.

Looking away to try and distract himself from losing one of his arms he noticed that he wasn't in a hospital nor where there any medical machines or tools lying around. The only thing that could be medical in nature was the machine hooked up to his body through wires. It beeped ever once in a while indicating his heart beat so that was a good sign.

The room contained a large number of machines with various dials, buttons, and monitors on them. Their purpose he had no clue though he was sure that the massive machine behind him had something to do with it given they circled him and it.

Not sure what was going on but happy he was quickly passing out again, Bucky closed his eyes and let the darkness take him.

The third time he woke up he was still strapped to the operating table. There were several difference however to his circumstances than there were last time. Now he had no clothes on except for his underwear. There was a large piece of equipment behind him that looked like a gas chamber. Also the table strapping him down was on some kind of device that looked like it would pull him into the machine with the flip of a switch.

He wanted to fight and escape. His mind was active but no matter what he did his body just would not respond. He had two theories. The first was the fall did a lot more damage than he suspected. The other was they had in pumped up with drugs to prevent any escape attempt. Both were eligible theories given his current situation.

Both the Nazi from Hell and his mad scientist accomplice came back in. The red faced one was caring a black suitcase and the scientist was caring a silver container. When the ring leader popped open his case a blinding blue light illuminated the room in a blinding light.

What the device was he had no clue. He had never seen such a thing before. He watched as the demonic Nazi placed the device onto a machine. Instantly power rushed through the machine bringing it to life.

"I am sure you are wondering why you have been brought here, yes?" For the first time someone had spoken to him.

He was only able to nod his head as words failed him.

"Ah, yes the damage done to your neurological pathways was quite extensive. I commend you for not dying the moment you landed upon that massive rock. Though without me and my Hydra agents you would have died a few hours afterwards anyways."

He took several powerful strides towards the side of Bucky's restraining bed. "So in a sense you owe me for saving your life." He got a heated glare from Bucky for that comment. "Oh, don't look at me like that. I am not going to ask much of you. Just for you to act as my secret assassin for the simplistic goal of removing any and all threats to me and my plans for that future. That includes your good friend Captain America."

Bucky's eyes practically shot up into his hair line. There was no way he would do such a thing. In fact there was no way he could do anything. From the looks of things he was almost completely paralyzed and on a life support machine.

"Don't worry you will not suffer from knowing that you killed your own friends and became the greatest weapon for stopping the nation you once almost gave your life for." The Nazi grinned. "We have made many excellent strides in brainwashing theory and technology. Your body will be on autopilot while your body works tirelessly to accomplish its missions."

The scientist came over and handed him the small silver container. The Nazi opened it up and inside was a single vile filled with some sort of blue substance.

"But don't think of me as such a bad man. I may be taking away your free will, but I am going to transform you into a Superior Man." He took out the vile filled with the blue substance. "You see my agent was able to procure this right after your friend Steven Rogers was transformed into a Super Soldier."

Bucky's eyes widened. If what this demented being was saying was true then inside that vile was the substance used to turn his sick, frail, puny friend Steven into the massive, healthy, smart, strong man he was today. He hated himself for wanting it for himself. He hated himself even more for temporarily forgetting the price it would come with.

The Nazi ignored the glare and light shake of the head from his victim. "I can see that even though you spine is practically severed your brain is still able to function normally. I can also see that you know what this is and what it will do to you once I inject it into you."

He walked over to the scientist and handed it back to him. "Although I would prefer to learn how the formula works so that I can recreate it and give it to my soldiers time is of the essence and for me to win this war I will need a secret weapon to through the Allied Forces into disarray. You will be that weapon."

"Sir, the machine is ready." It was the first time he heard the little man's voice and it sounded just as he appeared. Weak, angry, and a bit frightened.

Bucky could understand where the scientist was coming from. He was the second in command after the Red Skull… that was a good name for the evil Nazi. He no doubt thought it was his right to become an enhanced Super Soldier, yet here his boss was giving it away to the enemy just to have an assassin waiting in the wings.

"Sir, remember this may not work." The Red Skull turned on the scientist who cowered quickly. "I just didn't have the time to reverse engineer the Vita Ray technology used to activate the formula within the subject's blood. This may not work at all or it could turn much worse."

"I am aware of the risks Doctor." The German accent was thick in the Red Skull. Whoever, or whatever, this thing once was he had a sneaking suspicion he was once human who underwent an experiment of his own. Only his didn't seem to go so well, unlike Roger's. "That is why we are using the energy of the Tesseract to try and circumvent our lack of resources."

The Red Skull walked over to the machine that was housing the glowing blue cube and gazed upon it almost fondly. "It has shown us a great many things. But even it alone will not win us this war. We are going to need much more if we are to succeed."

He moved away from the Tesseract and walked over to the row of machines where men in masks and white body suits were operating them. He moved one of them out of his way and started to tap something on it rapidly.

The Doctor walked up to him and took a syringe out of his jack it and poked it through the rubber stopper at the top of the vile. He drew the syringe back until it contained all of the blue liquid inside of it.

Bucky became distracted for a moment when he felt something else pierce his skin. To his right he saw one of the men in the white bag suits injecting him with something else.

"It is penicillin" spoke the Doctor, answering his unasked question. "It will help keep you alive." He stuck the real serum into his arm and injected the full contents into his vein. "One more thing. We were only able to secure one vile of the formula so it is going to take about six times as long to transform you as it did your friend. Hopefully you can take it, though here your damaged nerves may just be a god send."

The Doctor pulled the needle from his arm and walked off to join the rest of the audience. The Red Skull pushed a button and the table he was sitting on started to shake before retracting him into the machine. It eventually ended with him hanging up right by the straps on the table as his feet did not touch the ground.

XXX

"Initiating transformation" spoke the Red Skull as he pushed another button. The lid to the massive machine closed and the tinting on the single glass window where the subject's face would be was so dark that you couldn't make out any features.

He knew that the brain washing procedure would be more difficult now that Bucky was going to be a Superior Man. He himself would have to take time from his own busy schedule in order to see it is done personally. He doubted any inferior man would be capable of breaking and then rewriting a Superior Man with the exception of another Superior Man.

He would have done the brain washing first but it was nearly impossible as the boy barely had the strength to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time. The neural pathways and receptors at the base of his brain and spinal column had been damaged far beyond the capabilities of the era's medical abilities.

On top of that the damaged arm was starting to rot and disease was going to set in soon. If they amputated it then even the abilities of a Superior Man might not be enough to grow it back. On top of that he had to put into consideration how much he would be able to get out of just one vile instead of the six used to create Captain America.

The Doctor assured him that the results would be the same, but the risk of death would be higher, and the time it would take for the serum's effects to spread would be much longer. Still he was not sure and this was too big a risk to go on with theories alone.

The arm was left in its mangled condition though set back into place as best they could without accidentally ripping the fragile ligaments and tissue apart. If the Serum works than it would heal back perfectly for sure and he would have full function with it in a matter of days, possibly a week.

He was brought out of his musings as bright blue energy crackled from the Tesseract and ran down the wires connecting it to the Radiation Distribution Chamber. It looked like, and moved like, electricity but it wasn't. It was an energy unique to the Tesseract and produced effects that were still baffling them.

The screams that came from the chamber were of no surprise. Becoming a Superior Man was not something that was done lightly. It was earned through sweat, blood, and pain. He himself felt as it his entire face was being burned with fire and acid for day before the pain subsided. Yet he did not regret what he did. The results spoke for themselves.

The Doctor had been monitoring the patents' vital signs before he turned and spoke to him. "Sir, his heart rate is through the roof. If this continues he will go into cardiac arrest and die of a heart attack." The machine was making high pitched screeching sounds that granted on his nerves.

He ignored the doctor however. "The experiment continues. We cannot replace the serum we have used and the patient is worthless to us without its results. He lives and has his mind wiped or he dies and we move on with our other operations."

Doctor Zola seemed shocked for a bit but then went back to work. No doubt he was glad that he was not chosen to be enhanced anymore. For although he wished for the power of a Superior Man he was the cowardly type who would only reach when he was sure he was protected enough to get what he wanted.

"Brain wave activity has just spiked again." One of the Doctor's assistance spoke right before a fresh batch of screams broke out from within the chamber. "If this continues his mind will snap and he will be incapable of even feeding himself regardless of the formula's benefits."

Anger and impatience began to consume him. He pushed one of the assistance out of the way and grabbed hold of the dial that regulated the Tesseract's energy output. He quickly began to increase the energy to speed up the results. This was a make or break moment.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Doctor Zola tried to stop him but his hand was brushed aside. "The energy exposure has to be very precise or things will go horribly wrong!"

"If we wait out the required time his mind will snap and he will be useless to use. Either the transformation happens before his will is depleted or he will become an experiment to discover the serum's secrets."

Zola was persistent however. "Sir, you do not understand! The energies might kill the patient, yes, but it might kill us all too!" That got the Red Skulls attention. "When released in a catastrophic state such as this the energies coalesce. It acts as a drill in the very fabric of space. If we don't stop it now then we wont be able to!"

Just as Doctor Zola finished his speech the sound of metal twisting echoed across the room. Looking over to where the chamber was they saw a dent slowly being pulled towards the inside of the chamber.

The Red Skull instantly tried to pull back the power but the knob would not turn. He tried to apply more force but all he ended up doing was tearing the knob off of the machine it was attached to. Before he or anyone could say or do anything the electrical looking energies around the Tesseract started to crackle with power and jump off of it at random.

Some unlucky assistant was hit and instantly vaporized. He knew when to retreat and instantly grabbed the Doctor who was still of use and ran for the blast doors behind them. He sealed them as soon as he was safely inside. The closed blast doors prevented anyone from reaching safety as well.

The twisting of metal, the screams of the patient and now the assistants as they were vaporized by the Tesseract echoed through the entire base until a large boom of such force that the blast doors were wretched open went off inside.

The Red Skull instantly ran inside to check on his most important treasure without stopping to see if anyone was ok. He was proud when he found the Tesseract still perfectly intact with absolutely no damage being done to it.

"It seems that this experiment was just a huge waste of time." The Red Skull turned around to see what the Doctor was talking about and saw a massive crater where the Radiation Distribution Chamber used to be.

The charred remains of the chambered laid about the room smoking and melted. At the center where his assassin should be standing was noting by a twisted black wreckage.

"He must have been reduced to ashes as these men were" announced the Doctor as he lightly placed his foot in some dust that had clothes around it. "Although being at the epicenter of the Tesseract's energy probably reduced everything. Not even dust remains it would seem."

The Red Skull didn't have time to regret what had happened. He had a war to win, a world to conquer, and visions to see completed. He quickly gestured for the Doctor to follow him as they abandoned the ruined base for the next one.

XXX

She just had to escape. It had gotten so bad that she could no longer stand it. The wolf blood made her like that but if she could choose to be like those prim and proper Southern ladies then she would still refuse. She wasn't a sheep to be led around by some man. She was a She-Wolf and she hunted and led as she chose.

She had bought some armor from a local in the Riverlands and snuck it onto the caravan her brothers were leading from the North. She knew that at least two of her brothers knew of the armor but they were supportive of her and said nothing about it.

She had always wanted to be a woman warrior. Though being born into a noble family prevented that. She had many freedoms from the drudgery of the plebeians but even a noble has expectation and responsibilities that they have to do.

For a woman it is knitting, dancing, manners, and other soft things that somehow became the definition of women. Men were expected to be great leaders, warriors, scholars, and rulers. While men did have more power their lives generally were more at risk than a woman's. Still it did not make up for the fact that there rarely was a choice in the matter of which you wished to be after your sex was thrown into the mix.

Sighing she realigned her shoulders and focused her attention on the grip of her sword. She was wearing armor that did not fit her, swinging a sword possibly two times to big for her size, and she had little to no real experience with a blade. Still she persisted as to reaffirm her belief that she was more than any southern lady ever could be.

She raised the blade up over her head and prepared to strike but before she swung she heard a groan nearby. Shocked at possibly being discovered caused her to lose her balance and fall. It was not a short nor graceful fall due to the armor she was wearing.

The armor shifted the center of her balance every time she tried to aligned herself upright. This made her look like a drunk trying to walk upright. Eventually she came crashing down onto a bush.

She landed on something oddly shaped and quite hard. That was not so unexpected given the terrain of the Riverlands but the groan that followed it was. Rolling over and adjusting the helmet she saw that she had landed on a person.

She tried to stand upright to protect herself against a would be attacker or check on him if he was ok. The problem was the armor was much to heavy for her and prevented her from any nimble movements. She cursed herself once more for not having the gall to admit she wanted the armor for herself and getting it fitted.

The person under her shifted and easily removed her and the armor she was wearing from his person. This shocked her as it appeared he was just stretching his arms to brush some annoyance from his presence.

She watched as a large, muscular man with jet black hair and a pale skin completion rose from the ground. She was thankful for the helmet concealing her face as it was probably scarlet. She had never seen a man naked before so this was the first time.

To say he was naked would not be entirely true. He had some scraps of what was once clothing hanging from his right wrist, left ankle, and from around his neck. The colors were a dark, almost black, blue and some red. What happened to them to put them in such a state was anyone's guess.

She was snapped out of her musings as two powerful hands grasped her by either side of her shoulders and lifted her to her feet without effort. She felt so small and frail in those powerful hands. It was like they could rips the steel plate mail from her body without issue.

"What is this? A Renaissance Fair of some sorts?" His voice was strong and made her feel like they echoed and shook her body. It took her a moment to reply.

"I do not know what a Renaissance Fair is, but if you speak of the Tourney at Harrenhal then this is the location. If you look over there you should be able to see the Tower of Dread hanging over Castle Harrenhal."

The strange man did look off into the distance. He made no effort to hide his shock and even took a step back like he had seen a ghost. He looked over at her and reached out. She grasped her sword ready to defend herself if she had to.

He tapped her armor a few times but that was it. "That's not some cheep knock off made in China. That's the real deal. Hand made even… Why do you wear such a thing?"

She was confused and a little insulted. He was making fun of her because she was a woman wearing armor. He must have been one of those assholes who looked down on women.

"I am training to be a great knight!" A huge lie. "I have received training my whole life so that I can make a name for myself and bring honor to my family and all women who wish to rise about the expectations society has placed upon them." Another lie. That one stung a bit because it was noble and she wasn't actually doing it which made her feel sort of bad.

"What I meant was why do you wear armor in the twentieth century. I know the Medieval Period has been highly romanticized but it seems silly to dedicate your life to something that has already passed."

Twentieth century? She had no clue what he was talking about. "The year is two eighty one AC, my good ser, and I would kindly ask you not to judge what is a waste in my life and what is not!"

"AC? Don't you mean AD?" Again he was talking nonsense to her.

"No! I mean AC. You know, After Conquest? The year that Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros and unified it into one nation? You know, the largest kingdom in the world? Westeros? Doesn't any of this mean anything to you?"

The strange man continued to gaze at her in confusion. Had it not been for the fact that he was naked and she was having a hard time not looking at his manhood when she was not angry with him she would have been able to think a bit clearer.

She found a reprieve from the large item swinging in the air connected to the stranger. She looked up, directly into his eyes, and was amazed by what she saw. His eyes were the brightest, most beautiful shade of blue. She even believed that they were not natural. As if some magical object had infused its powers into his eyes somehow.

They continued to argue back and forth about time, places, references, and just about anything else they could think of. Neither of them were able to understand where the other was coming from. Eventually night started to fall and they began to grow hungry.

While annoyed with him she was not heartless enough to just leave him out in the forest with no money, food, clothes, or practically anything that was not growing from his body somehow. She practically told him to stay like a dog while she ran off to steal some clothes from her brother Brandon.

XXX

Bucky was more confused than he had ever been in his entire life. After the pain of the experiment the Red Skull put him through there was only darkness. He was sure this time he had died due to that madman running some kind of electricity through his body for what seemed an eternity.

Instead some woman wearing armor starts to tell him the names of countries, timelines, and other things that he had never heard before. He feared that this was some kind of trick by the Red Skull but couldn't see a point as to why he would do this. Bucky was aware of how brainwashing worked and it didn't involve allowing someone to run free.

Still, even with the prospects of free food and clothes sitting around in a dark forest butt ass naked was still awkward. While he had no issue with his body, especially after becoming a Super Soldier like his friend had, to him he was wasn't sure if he was in enemy territory or not, so it put him kind of on edge.

The breaking of a twig in the distance caused the space/time traveler to pop into action. He grabbed a large stick that had been broken off from one of the local trees in a storm and held it over his head.

Unexpected features were the first to greet him as a feminine man walked into the clearing from the brush. He had hair a silvery gold color and eyes like lilac. His features were oddly strong despite his overall feminine features though that may have been the black plate mail he was wearing.

The stranger stopped in his tracks and his eyes went wide upon seeing the naked stranger in the clearing. They both eyed one another, not knowing what to say, until Bucky broke the ice.

"Hey, this ain't a free show, so avert your eyes you pervert!" Bucky really only said that to get a laugh out of the guy but he seemed frozen as if someone had never spoken to him like that before. Given the way things were going Bucky doubted he ever had.

"Oh, I am sorry for intruding upon… whatever it is you are doing kind Ser" spoke the man, whose voice was just like his features; soft yet strong. "I did not mean to disturb you. I was just taking a moonlit walk through the forest to clear my head. It is quite the beautiful full moon, is it not?"

Bucky would have made a comment on how he wasn't doing anything weird and that why he was naked was more an act of chance than anything else, but then he paused.

There was a nearly undetectable pause in this man's speech. It was right when he claimed to be walking through the forest to clear his head. Bucky looked up into the sky and noticed that while nearly full it was still not a complete full moon.

This guy had lied. He didn't know why he had but a niggling feeling at the back of his head told him that this guy was up to something. What that was honestly was none of Bucky's business and he hoped not to get involved with it. He just wanted to go home after all.

"Yea, well, I guess I understand. I don't exactly make it a habit of walking around in the nude." That got the silver haired guy to grin a bit. "That girl from earlier probably thought I was an exhibitionist or something."

There was the gleam in the silver haired man's purple eyes when he mentioned the girl from earlier. Perhaps this was why he was taking a walk to 'clear his mind' all alone through a forest.

"Girl? What girl?" His tone had changed a bit from how it was previously.

"I don't know, some girl who wants to be a man I guess" replied Bucky with a shrug of the shoulders. Not getting involved was probably for the best. "She was wearing plate mail and swinging a sword about as big as she was. Didn't catch her name, but she was nice all the same."

The silver haired man nodded. "Oh, I see." He paused as if to collect his thoughts. "I am guessing she left then?"

"Yea, she said she would send someone to bring me some of her older brother's clothes and some food though. If you want to leave her a message I am sure that whoever that person is they will take it for you." Again he lied, though only slightly this time.

With a smile he shook his head. "No, I have never met her though I have seen her from afar." He brushed the cloak he was wearing which was red with a black three headed dragon sigil at the center of it. "It is better to meet someone in person after all."

With that the silver haired man started to walk away. He paused right as he came to the tree line and looked back at Bucky. "Oh, I am sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"It's James Barnes, though everyone just calls me Bucky, and your's?" You didn't see someone with silver hair every day. Well Bucky didn't at least.

"Rhaegar Targaryen" replied Rhaegar with a friendly smile. "But everyone just calls me Prince Rhaegar." Though he didn't show it Bucky was surprised.

"Just so you know the Tourney is going to be unlike any other." Bucky watched the prince trying to figure out what he was getting at. "You should compete. A guy with muscles like yours could really make a name for himself. Maybe even become lord of a keep one day."

With that the silver haired prince left Bucky to his thoughts. While he wanted to keep a low key he still had to eat which was hard when you are broke. He would need a source of income and if this competition was as profitable as the prince said then it would no doubt give him time to look for a way home.

Twenty minutes later the tomboy girl showed back up with some leather breaches and some silk shirts. The dimensions of the close were not exactly precise but they were close enough and he was no longer nude, both good things in his book.

XXX

He tried to ignore all of the stares he was getting from around the camp fire as he ate his meal. He was so hungry that he was wolfing down his portions with enough gusto to draw in the attention of everyone around him.

He only stopped when a strong hand smack him in the back and made him cough. He turned around to see a handsome face grinning at him with a wolfish grin. He had shoulder length black hair, pale skin, and the same grey eyes that Lyanna had.

"So you're the one my sister went rummaging through my things for." His tone was kind but it held an undertone of merriment. This guy knew how to have fun. "I thought a storm had gone through my room when I came back from my talks."

"More like your wenches" came a voice from across the flames. All of the men shouted joyously and laughed heartedly.

The older brother didn't blush a bit and his wolf like grin spread even further if at all possible. He laughed a bit before turning back on the new guy, aka Bucky.

"So, you being naked out in the forest must be a pretty good story. I am sure we would all love to hear it." A round of 'here, here's' reverberated around the fire.

Thinking quickly on his feet Bucky came up with a story on the fly. "Well… I was a cage fighter of some renown as I had never lost a fight and some of the other guys weren't so happy about that." The men around the fire were now giving him their undivided attention. "They cornered me out in the woods and attacked me all at once."

"They attacked you in the dark in a group? Bloody craven cowards!" Shouts of agreement followed the oldest Stark child's comment.

Bucky nodded his head and continued his story. "I was able to fend them off, but several of them tried to grapple me and only ended up ripping my clothes. So when they ran off I was stark naked."

The men all laughed heartedly at his previous predicament. None laughed harder than Brandon Stark who was more than a few sips into his flagon of wine.

"I went searching for my belonging but they were all gone. I wandered for a while after that before falling asleep in the forest." The men continued to laugh. "Which is where your sister found me after she fell on top of my nude form."

All of the laughter intensified except for Brandon's who gave him a devilish look. He continued to tell the story though he omitted a few things. He didn't mention Rhaegar nor did he mention the fact that Lyanna was wearing plate mail. They didn't seem to be a topic one would share with common company.

After many drinks of wine and good stories Brandon drew the attention of the crowed back to Bucky. "So my newest of good friends" he said though slurred. "What are your intentions for the future? Going back to brawling are we?"

Shaking his head no only got complaints from the audience. "Oh why not!" Brandon grinned. "It sounds so exciting. So much better than the lack of action we receive up North."

"Not enough money in it" answered Bucky shortly. "It is a bit on the shady side as well. Never know if your going to get paid or killed after your fights."

Brandon finished off the rest of his wine and stood up though he wobbled a bit. "Tell you what my friend" he began as he whipped his mouth. "You beat me in a game of the fists and ill teach you to wield a sword." He turned towards the surrounding men. "As we all know, in this world a man with a sword can do anything!" There was a very loud roar of approval from the men.

Thinking about it he thought back to what the silver prince had said. If he knew how to use a sword then his newfound physical capabilities would surely give him an edge over the competition. He needed money that is for sure and he couldn't continue to mooch off the Stark's unusual kindness towards him, a stranger.

"Alright, you have a bet!" Again the men shouted before they stood up and started to make a circle so that they could brawl.

XXX

Lyanna had been forced to speak with her father about the stranger that she had brought with her from the forest. He went on and on about her reputation which would be damaged if word got around that she had been alone in a forest with a naked man.

Honestly she had half a mind to spread the rumor herself. Robert didn't seem to have any issue with sleeping around as much as possible before, and probably even after, they were married. If he could do it, siring bastards and such, they when not her? She understood the double standards far too well but that didn't mean she had to like them.

Eventually she had left her father to go back to the camp. All she had to do was follow the loudest noises and they would no doubt bring her to her family's camp. The Southerners called them barbaric but she just felt they knew how to have a good time.

She wasn't prepared to stumble across fight night though. All of her family, their retainers, and even random people had created a circle of bodies surrounding something going on in the center. Looking around she saw her other two brothers, Eddard and Benjen, standing by looking onwards toward the entertainment.

She signaled them and Eddard left his spot to help his sister though the pushing and shoving of drunk and over excited men. Once they were back in their spot she saw what was so entertaining.

Her eldest brother, Brandon, was standing in his leather breaches, fist raised and wrapped in some sort of bandages, as he gave a serious look to his opponent. She had honestly never seen her brother with a look such as that. Usually he was laughing, joking, or flirting, but now it was serious for some reason.

She wasn't surprised by his opponent. She had a feeling Bucky would be just like her and Brandon. Wild as can be and the type of person to mix things up. It seems he had no problem mingling in with her family and their friends.

He stood across from her brother with his fist raised as well. Just like Brandon he was wearing Brandon's leather breaches and had wrappings around his fists. His look was serious as well, but there was also a calculating gleam to his eyes. What that gleam meant though she didn't know.

They were circling one another but only Brandon had any bruises or welts on his body. It seems that Bucky's reputation as an undefeated brawler was not without its merits. She was excited to see them fight.

In the blink of an eye they both engaged one another again. Brandon lashed out with violent punches towards Bucky's face. Bucky swiveled his head so that Brandon's punches either missed or casually brushed against him.

Lyanna's brother made a crucial mistake when he got in to close to deliver a right hook to Bucky's temples. Bucky swiftly ducked under the right hook and took the opportunity to deliver a swift upper cut to Brandon's chin.

Lyanna thought that Bucky had missed at first. When her brother didn't move after a moment she became worried. He went to throw a punch but then fell to the ground. He tried to stand back up but his legs just wouldn't support him.

"What happened" asked Lyanna as she looked to her brothers. They were both as confused as she was. That was when she heard Bucky start to talk.

"I got you in the sweet spot." Bucky was standing over Brandon like a fighting god. "If the chin is hit just right it sends shockwaves through your body. It makes it impossible for the brain to tell the legs how to work right." Lyanna became afraid her brother would never walk again. "Don't worry, it will go away in a few minutes though." She let out a sigh of relief.

The men cheered for the supposed raining champion as he reached down and lifted her brother up like he was a feather and threw his arm over his shoulder for support. She watched as her brother and Bucky talked, joked, and were congratulated for such a good fight by all those around them.

"Father is not going to like this" spoke up the stick in the mud. "He is already upset enough with your involvement with him and now people are going to take more of an interest after this event."

"Oh lighten up Ned" came the pup of the litter. "It was a great fight and he is a strong warrior. Surely father cannot be upset once he hears of this stranger's skill."

Eddard didn't say anything, he just turned around and left. Benjen and Lyanna ignored him as they went over to talk with Brandon and Bucky.

"Alright, alright, I admit it, you're the king" spoke Brandon as if it was killing him to say. Bucky just grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

"And?"

"And a deals a deal. In the morning I will teach you how to swing a sword." Brandon reached a hand to his forehead. "Oh, Old Gods give me strength. I am going to have the mother of all hangovers tomorrow, aren't I?"

"Probably" was all Bucky said about that.

Lyanna ignored that part as her brother having a hangover was nothing new to her. "Wait, so your going to be learning to wield a sword? Does that mean you will be competing in the Tourney in a week?"

Bucky turned to her for the first time. He gave her a kind smile which made he feel happy and nodded his head. She was ecstatic! "Oh, I cannot wait to see you compete!"

"Yea, lets see if those brawling skills transfer over to any swordsmanship skills" spoke up Brandon. "Then we will be seeing who is king around here!"

They drank, they partied, and they had a great time. The best part was they did it for no other reason than they could.