A/N: Found this in an old collection of unpublished Marvel stuff. Slightly AU to the Winter Soldier timeline.
They faced each other and they both froze, an air of recognition running through them. It felt like she'd been punched in the gut as all the air escaped from her lungs, he took one swing at her and she didn't move as his fist connected with her jaw, Steve was suddenly there and within a blink of an eye James was gone and Steve was helping her to her feet.
He looked at her and saw the look in her eyes. He dropped to his knees, "What is it?" He asked worried, clearly wondering what had her frozen. "I know him." She gasped out and Steve raised a brow. "You said you'd come in contact with him before." Steve explained and Natasha shook her head. "I never saw his face them." She explained and took a few calming breaths.
"It's James. I knew him from the red room. He worked with us." She calmly explained and it was Steve's turn to freeze. He knew that face, but had tried to ignore, it couldn't be the same person, but what are the chances. "James." He said and Natasha looked back at him.
He'd sucked in a breath and froze. "You know him?" She asked gently, it couldn't be good, if Steve knew him. "It's Bucky, he's still alive." Steve mumbled, clearly zoning out and Natasha pushed away her own shock recognition, to deal with Steve's, because he's been frozen for 70 years so him coming across someone he knows is a pretty big deal.
"Who's Bucky?" She asked and Steve took a deep breath, and explained as calmly as he could. Natasha wasn't usually lost for words, but Steve, had really done it. "That's James. Without a doubt." She mumbled to him and closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She expected Steve to ask who he was to her, but he didn't he just sat there, staring off into the distance.
"We should probably do something about it, if it's him." She mumbles and Steve nods his head, in agreement. "Come on." He says and is suddenly up on his feet and pulling Natasha up. "We'll regroup." He comments and without another word, they both head back to what they hope is still a working vehicle.
When they return back to Sam's place, neither say anything, but there's a clear concern coming off them both and Sam knows it. He doesn't ask, but leaves Vodka out for Natasha and a thing of sweet biscuits go next to Steve.
He then went on with his day as those two wrote up everything they knew and then Natasha got into every agency she could, some Steve had never heard of and got every piece of information she could.
"That's Bucky alright." Steve mumbles touching the image of the Winter Soldier from 1989. "Has he always had the arm?" He asked and Natasha nodded. "He told me, for as long as he could remember. So probably from when he was taken in the war." She comments and Steve takes a deep breath as his voice quivers.
"I could have gone after him. I could have saved him." Steve sobbed as it all crashed down upon him. Natasha put her arms around him and he held onto her. "We were going to run away. He was going to break me out of the red room and we would have left together." She told him and he pulled away from her, to stare in shock.
"I want him back as much as you do Steve, believe me. We caught getting too close, one night. He was sent back to his controller and I didn't see him for fifteen years and back then I had no idea it was him. I didn't know at the time, but they wiped his mind and I was gone from his memory. I want him back as well Steve, so we'll get him back." She told him, her own emotions shaking her voice. Steve pulls her into a tight hug and the two of them stood there hugging, taking shaky breaths.
James Barnes didn't know it yet, but he had just earned two very dangerous allies, who were going to fight till the last to bring their friend and lover back to them. They weren't going to let him disappear on them, not now they both knew the truth.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed.
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