"Come on, we're going to go get you checked out now," Clint said as he led Natasha from the briefing room.

Natasha nodded. He head did hurt. "You need to check on Laura and the kids. I've got this."

"I called before the meeting. They're a little shook up but no worse for the wear."

"Clint, you know I can't take you with me, right?"

"Nat, don't be ridiculous. You can't possibly think I'm a skrull."

"It's not that, although, right now I'm not giving anyone a free pass on that one. I don't know where they've taken Steve. If we have to go gallivanting across the galaxy-"

"Then you'll need me to have your back."

"Clint, this isn't like a trip to Budapest here. I could be gone a long time. I might not make it back. Think about Laura and the kids."

"And, you think Laura would be happy with me if I let you leave the planet without me? Come on, Nat. I know you. You aren't okay right now, and I'm not talking about the concussion. This is Steve we're talking about here. He's important to you. You're a little bit compromised."

"I'm not sure what you're trying to imply-"

"Not implying, I'm just stating the facts."

"I would go for any of you."

"I have no doubt about that, and if Steve were standing here and I was missing, He would say you were compromised, too. There are very few people you've really let in, Nat. I'm proud to be one of them, but, you have to at least admit, Steve is another."

"What if it was never Steve? What if the man we knew as Captain America has always been a skrull?"

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but I have a feeling our Steve was taken after he went public as Captain America."

"Do you think Tony could be right? Could he have been taken after D.C.?"

"I guess it's possible, but I don't really know. I hope not."

"I should have went with him and Sam. I could have, you know. I could have helped them look for Bucky, maybe prevented this from happening."

"Or, maybe guaranteed that it happened to you, too. No, Nat, don't think of should have, would have, could haves right now. He's lucky you're still you so you can rescue his-"

"And, you're so sure I'm me? Maybe you should practice not trusting people under the circumstances."

"Nat, seriously, we will find him and bring him home."

"No, Clint, I'll find him. I need to know you and the family are safe. You can't go."

Clint finally shrugged, "You're sure?"

"Positive," Natasha quickly answered, "but Clint, if you turn out to be a skrull and anything happens to Laura and the kids, I will kill you myself."

Clint laughed. "Fair enough. Let's get you checked out."

"You were really lucky, Romanoff," the doctor said as he finished his examination. "Mild concussion and the contusions should heal up pretty quickly. Ibuprofen for the pain and come back if you experience any vision issues or dizziness."

"Thanks for checking her out, Doc," Clint said with a smile.

Natasha was barely paying attention. She couldn't take her eyes off of the guarded door to the imposter's room. The one with the answers was so close. All she had to do was get around the guards and she could ask what she so desperately needed to know.

"I know that look, Nat. Forget it. Could you sneak in? Of course, but this is the helicarrier. They'd find out."

"Not if I disable the cameras and shimmy through the vents. I'd just need a distraction."

"Uh uh, no way. You are in no condition to shimmy anywhere. Besides, if Fury catches you, he'll pull you from the mission and lock you up. He'll think your one of them."

"Clint, I have to know when the exchange took place. It's important. I need to talk to him alone."

Clint sighed. "Wait until morning. We'll find a way to get you in there with him alone. Heck, we'll even make Fury think it's his idea to give you the time, okay?"

Natasha nodded, but she still couldn't take her eyes off the door. Steve was out there somewhere. She couldn't rest until her questions were answered. Clint walked Nat to the quarters Fury had assigned her and made sure she was settled in bed. Natasha silently recalled every detail of the last few times she had seen Steve, desperately searching for clues. As tired as she was, sleep did not come easily.

She must have finally dosed off, because when she looked at the clock it was just after 3 in the morning. Deciding she still had time to put her newly formed plan into action, Natasha quickly dressed and slipped out of her quarters. The corridor was oddly silent as she made her way to the service elevator. She entered, pushed the button, and just as the elevator doors were closing, a familiar metal arm slipped between the doors. After pushing them open, Bucky joined her inside.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to try anything tonight. Took you long enough," Bucky said as the elevator started to move.

"What are you talking about, James? I just woke up restless and needed to take a walk," Natasha lied.

"Sure, and I suppose this particular elevator leading to the most strategic entrance to the prisoner's room was just a coincidence."

"James," Natasha warned.

"It's okay. I'm not here to stop you. I'm here to help, well, help and make sure you're not a skrull trying to free your buddy before he gives up Steve's location," Bucky finished with a slight grin. "You know this would be easier with a partner."

"I prefer to work alone," Natasha replied with just a little more bite than she intended.

"Natalia, we've worked together before and I seem to recall us being a really good team," Bucky smirked.

"Wait, what?" Natasha's blood ran cold. He called her Natalia. Bucky remembered. She did not need this right now. "James, I don't think-"

"Sorry, the Natalia just slipped out. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm not scared. I'm just surprised. I thought your memory had been wiped."

"Many times over, but some things have come back with time. We can talk about it later. Right now, we need a plan. I've already set the cameras on a loop. I think it's in both of our best interests to find out when the switch took place as soon as possible," Bucky paused and looked into Natasha's eyes. "Steve told me about Sydney."

Natasha nodded slowly. She shouldn't have been surprised that Steve would confide in his best friend. Resigned to let him help, Natasha sighed. "I was thinking I would shimmy through the vent and enter through the ceiling."

Bucky frowned. "Pretty sure I'm not going to fit."

"No, but you can be my distraction."

"Awe, just like Leningrad," Bucky smiled. "I told you I remembered."

"Okay, let's get this over with. There should be an opening in the cleaning closet. It'll put me close enough, but you've got to buy me as much time as possible."

"On it," Bucky replied before heading towards the front door of the infirmary.

Natasha quietly slipped into the cleaning closet only to find Clint sitting on an upside-down bucket, half-asleep against the wall.

"I had a feeling our little talk went in one ear and out the other," Clint grinned. "Thought you'd have less chance of getting caught if I helped."

Natasha smiled. "Bucky's going to distract the nurses. Want to help me open the vent and give me a boost then you can keep watch on this end."

"Bucky?"

"Don't ask."

"Okay, but can we trust him?"

"Probably about as much as we can trust each other at this point. Let's do this."

Navigating the air duct was easy enough and soon Natasha was back on solid ground in Not-Steve's room. The skrull was looking at her as she came down from the ceiling. "I wondered when you'd show up," he whispered.

"I need to know where he is and when you took him."

"Of course you do," the skrull sighed. "I don't think you'll like the answer Nat."

"Don't call me that. You have no right to call me that. Just answer the questions."

"Natasha, don't you get it," the skrull replied as he morphed back into Steve Rogers, "I have all of his memories. I can look like him. Just break me out of here and I'll be him for you. We can go away and start over. We could be together."

"You're not him. Change back now, and don't you ever take his form again," Natasha hissed.

Reverting back to his reptilian self, the Skrull door again. "I have his memories. I have his feelings. They've become my own. I love-"

"No, don't finish that sentence. Where is Steve?"

"Why are you creeping through ducts? Fury doesn't know you're here, does he? I think I should wait for the formal interrogation. It puts me in a better bargaining position, don't you think? Now, if you aren't here to help me escape then I'd like to get some sleep. You going out the way you came in or should I make some noise?"

Immediately, Natasha was on top of the Skrull, her hands on his neck, "you'd be dead before the door opened."

"And, you'd have no way to find your Steve. You won't kill me, and your tactics won't work. I know you," he paused, "intimately."

Natasha jerked her hands from his throat and stood up. "Before or after Sydney?" In a softer voice, she practically pleaded with him, "I need to know."