The Completed Mission

A oneshot

Disclaiment: I only own what I own


The find him too late, his mission already completed and him sobbing at the results. They start choking up as well, drawing their guns as they see what's happened.

No one is sure how to proceed. He'd have been shot already if he hadn't been bawling, cradling his latest kill in his arms.

The red haired woman is the first to speak, "Why?"

He doesn't know how to respond and only cries louder, but something in him tells him that he isn't a child anymore- that he can't get away with tantrums. He doesn't know how to handle this, and he doesn't have anything to say. There's just so much sorrow, so much regret, horror, confusion, anger. He can't function. He is broken. He is not the soldier anymore.

"I don't know." The words tumble out, "I don't know, I don't know. I knew him. I knew him. I don't know." His voice cracking with emotion. He suddenly turned to the redhead, eyes locked, "He wasn't just the mission."

He is distracted by the woman biting her lip for a fraction of a second as a single tear is shed.

She looks at him, straight on.

"You didn't mean to kill him. Something was triggered and you reacted."

There was no question in her voice, just the truth that he didn't see how she could know.

"I knew him."

"Then you have a choice," several of the others gave the redhead a surprised look. "You can take the easy way or the way that Steve would have wanted you to take. I warn you, that path will be the hardest. But it's also the only way that Steve will not have just died in vain."

"The hard one," he says without hesitation. He has to make things right.

She lowered her gun, earning a shocked "Romanov!" from an agent. She knelt down and took his hand made of flesh.

"Then you're going to have to live. Come on, let's get you away from here."

"But-" he manages, not wanting to leave the man he had in his arms.

"Steve will be well taken care of. He would would want you to be ok."

"Romanov! What are you doing?!" A man hisses, "This... Thing just killed Captain America!"

"No." She informed the barrel of his gun, "Steve just sacrificed himself so that his best friend would have a chance."

With that, she led him away from the violence and blood.


A/N: More CPSFC of 2014 goodness!

Oh dear, this is emotional. Not only does Bucky end up killing Steve (which is tragic enough) but Natasha forces herself to make the choice Steve would like instead of giving into her grief. I can't remember what sparked me writing this, only that it was late at night when everything is inspirational. Sorry for the sheer angst content. I tried to write this in a style that is more show than tell, with a lot more inference and what not then my usual. Short but poignant? I don't know.

What do you think? And- completely unrelated topic- I really appreciate reviews. Did everything make sense and what not? Thanks for taking the time to read this!