A.N.: [Russian]

A Change in Pace

Russia, 1958.

The Black Widow was one of the Motherland's most effective weapons. But, she wasn't perfect – yet. Though she'd managed to achieve the objective, her last mission had gotten hairy, through no fault of her own, and she'd only barely managed to fight her way out.

She hadn't exactly gotten away unscathed, either, to put it mildly.

So, after she'd recovered, she'd been called back for additional training. She was too valuable to lose because she couldn't adequately defend herself.

It was evening, and she was headed to a sparring room, where she was to begin training with the Winter Soldier. She'd met him earlier that day in a training exercise. She'd been impressed with his performance, and his approach had reminded her of her own attitude. He'd seemed to appreciate her tactics, as well.

Bring me better men…Or women like this one.

And, she'd decided, she liked his smile. That wasn't what she thought of now, however. Now, she remembered what she'd observed of his methods, his patterns of attack. Most of the men she'd seen fight him had focused on his metal arm as the major threat. As he'd said, they were idiots. What made him so dangerous in a fight was that he didn't rely on that arm. He didn't need to.

As she entered the room, she found the Winter Soldier already waiting with one of their handlers – the short, bearded man who'd complained about their methods earlier that day. The Black Widow kept her face impassive, but inwardly sighed. She'd actually been looking forward to this, but the oversight would be annoying.

[Widow,] the handler greeted. [The Winter Soldier will be giving you additional training in unarmed combat.] She didn't miss the slight emphasis he placed on the word, "unarmed," no doubt in response to her maneuver earlier that day. Pedant.

[You'll start with a sparring match to see how much work you've got ahead of you,] he continued, apparently oblivious to the grating effect he had on the nerves of perhaps the deadliest woman in the world. [Your initial objective is to last a minute. We'll see what happens and go from there. Begin.]

A minute? the Black Widow thought. The Soldier had taken down most of his opponents that day in less than half that.

She was insulted. One blown mission, and suddenly they thought she was a child who didn't know how to fight. Honestly, 'last a minute.'

It took the Winter Soldier five to best her.

[Good,] the short man said in obvious surprise, documenting it and hashing out a schedule with the operatives – the Black Widow was relieved to know he would only drop by intermittently to see her progress – before leaving them.

[That was-] the Winter Soldier began, but she interrupted him.

"Speak English. I need the practice."

Not that badly, he thought, admiring her accent, but obliged her.

"You did very well." He actually sounded impressed, and a little surprised.

"What did you think I was doing before I stepped in earlier?" she asked, perhaps a bit more sharply than was warranted. "Standing on the sidelines looking pretty?"

Of course, she was watching me, he realized. She'd put her observation to good use; he could already feel a few bruises forming to prove it.

"I guess I figured you were off stealing that grenade from the armory," he offered with a wry half-smile.

"You think they keep harmless smoke-grenades in the armory?" she returned shortly. "No, I smuggled that on-base myself weeks ago. Now, are we going to train or what? Tell me, what did I do wrong?"

He blinked at her impatience, and the neutrality of her expression. She'd caught his attention earlier that day by being so full of life…

"You're upset," he realized. She raised an eyebrow, looking almost amused.

"Excuse me, Comrade?" Whatever he'd thought he'd seen was gone, but somehow, he just knew he was right.

"You're upset about something. Is it because you lost the fight?"

She studied him for a moment before shrugging, "I don't like to fail."

He blinked again in surprise, "You didn't."

"Not by their standards, maybe," she responded. "But, I lost. Feels like failure to me."

"Well, then," he said, settling into a defensive position, "We'll just have to keep at it until you can win."

Her eyes locked onto his, as though searching for something, as though he hadn't said what she'd expected and she wanted to know why. A note of suspicion coloring her voice, she asked, "Why would you want that?"

"Besides the fact that I was ordered to help you?" he joked mildly.

She gave him a flat look.

Because I like you, he thought, but while he wasn't very familiar with spies, he could tell she wouldn't respond well to such an answer. She seemed to like him well enough, but somehow he felt that she wasn't a very trusting person.

So, he told her, "Because it's been too long since I've had a challenge." It was, after all, the truth, and apparently, a sentiment she understood because she nodded once before squaring herself to face him.

A.N.: The "training exercise" I refer to in this chapter (and the year in which it is set) actually comes from the comics - Captain America #624, if I remember correctly.