Chapter 2

A/N- vostok is (hopefully) the Russian word for 'east'. I use that work for the eastern country in my AU, and I will just use West for the western country. Please do not get West confused with Germany's nickname ;-;

It was a scream that jerked Natalia out of sleep. But, she noted, this screaming was different than usual. It was different than the pleading sobs and the terrified shrieks. She might have even called it yelling- angry yelling. Natalia grunted in annoyance and rolled over on the threadbare mat the soldiers called a bed. It was just another miserable prisoner to deal with, so she decided not to waste her time on him. Or, she hoped she wouldn't have to, but she learned long ago that hoping was waste of time. And unsurprisingly, she was right not to hope, as the door to the other cell in her section slammed open with near enough force to crack the cold, stone walls. The man she presumed to be the yeller from before was half thrown into the small cell, and the cell doors slammed close, but as soon as he hit the floor, he shot back up and rammed his right side against the bars. The guard who brought him scowled and tried to hit the man through the bars, but he ducked just in time. Natalia almost wished he had got hit.

"YOU CAN'T KEEP THE HERO LOCKED UP FOREVER YOU VOSTOK SCUM!" he shouted from his place on the hard floor. Natalia grit her teeth. He was foolishly brave to insult her country in a place like this, but the country hardly felt like hers anymore. That thought angered her more than the insult did.

The man had too much energy to just sit there, so he pulled himself up to his feet and started pacing. Judging by his mutters, he was planning a way to escape. Natalia noted at least twenty ways his plan could go wrong, but she didn't say anything. She had no intentions of giving her presence away before she needed to. She was hidden pretty well and she wasn't surprised he hadn't noticed her yet, crouched in the corner as she was and probably filthy enough to blend in with the stone pressed against her back.

The man had blond hair and blue eyes hidden behind broken glasses lenses. He was well built, and she wondered how a single soldier had managed to keep him under control all the way down the corridor, but her question was answered when she saw the blood-soaked bandages applied sloppily to his left shoulder. He was just young enough to still be the annoyingly resilient soldier he was, and Natalia found herself unsurprised. It was always the young and rash ones that found their way into this dreary prison. His spirit would diminish soon enough, but she still hoped she didn't get stuck with him in this split cell for too long. Natalia scowled, she was hoping again.

The scowl must have been enough to get his attention, because at the slight motion, his head whipped towards her, scanning her side of the cell block. Quick as lightning, she wiped all signs of emotion from her face. His eyes widened when he finally saw her.

Alfred took in the sight of her in pure awe. She looked like an angel, or at least she would have if her petite features weren't marred with filth or emaciated with hunger and if her long, platinum blond hair wasn't tangled and matted around her face.

"Uh… Hi, how ya doing… um… My name is Alfred… What's yours?" he stuttered in obvious surprise at her presence. Natalia simply turned her back on him. She didn't have the patience to deal with talkative neighbors.

"Oh! You're not very talkative. No problem! I`ll talk so you don't have to," Alfred chirped and flopped down onto his 'bed.' "I'm here because I got caught while sniping. Pretty dumb, huh? Not very heroic of me at all," he continued with a sad laugh, "Well, it's not like I'll be here for long!" he paused then chuckled nervously, "You won't tell anyone about my plan will you?" Natalia continued her staring contest with the wall and didn't respond. "Cool, I'm taking that as a no!"

Natalia scowled, but didn't let Alfred see it. She wasn't about to let the annoying Western know his words affected her.

"Anyway, I was taken down by a Vostok gang. Can you believe it! They weren't even all that sneaky, and I got half of them before they got me! Vostoks aren't that great at anything really, so I won't be here for much longer!" Alfred smiled cheerfully, but Natalia's scowl deepened. How dare he insult her country.

"And you wanna know what's even worse!" Natalia bit her tongue to keep from responding, "Their leader was a filthy traitor! I got him first though, 'cause he really deserved it-,"

"SHUT UP!" Natalia winced at her own outburst and clamped her mouth down so hard she bit her tongue again.

"Whoa… sorry. I didn't mean to-," Alfred stopped mid sentence and paused. "Why do you have a Vostok accent?" He asked. Natalia could feel his glared on her back. Alfred exclaimed,"Don't tell me you're a traitor! I don't care what country, if you fight against your own people you're-," Natalia turned to face him, not caring that he could see the murder in her eyes.

"I would never betray my country or betray my brother," she spat. Alfred's angry expression grew confused, but as he opened his mouth to speak a guard slammed his gun into the cell bars with a crash.

"No fighting. You don't want to lose your only outside time. Now, get up and obey or you'll pay," the guard ordered. Natalia turned her glower away from Alfred and tried to stand quickly and gracefully, but she stumbled on her weak legs and caught herself on the wall. She scowled at the ground before straightening up and walking slowly out the door the guard opened for her. Alfred watched her back as she rounded the corner out of sight with the other prisoners. He was snapped out of his daze by the guard slamming his gun on the cell bars again. Alfred picked himself up, wincing when his shoulder throbbed, and walked through his own cell door and down the corridor with the few other lagging prisoners.

Among them was an old man. Well, thought Alfred, as long as I'm here, I can still be the hero! He pushed past some other prisoners who grumbled at him as he passed until he got to where the old man was attempting to hobble along and stopped him. "Would you like some help, sir?" he asked with a smile. The old man blinked at him for a minute before nodding and lifting his hand up to Alfred's shoulder for support. Alfred was perfectly fine with the delay, especially since it gave him an excuse to go slow so he could look for escape routes. Alfred heard the guard growl with impatience behind him and smiled, he would get out of here, no problem.

Thanks to everyone who's showed support so far! I really appreciate it!