Summary: Natasha's Dream. Or. The dream that if she knew you knew about, Natasha would have no choice but to kill you.
A/N: Hope this is a bit more bittersweet than cheesey sweet this time round.


Down in the depths of a pirate ship was a dim cell. The walls and the iron bars were painted a blood red in an attempt to scare the inmates and remind them of their imminent death. The Red Room, as it had become known as, was the least thing to be feared while being a prisoner aboard The Bolshevik Revenge. The worst was waiting on the deck. Public torture was one of the favourite things of Captain Petrovitch and his crew fed off the bloodshed like mongrels going mad with rabies. It was a sickening sight indeed and not even being the closest thing he had to a daughter would stop him from enacting what he thought was justice.

The dirty paint was chipping and in need of another coating. There was a slight leaking in a few spots along the ship walls and the constant rocking had become rather heavy in the past half hour. But none of this caught the attention of the lone woman sitting in the middle of the cell; whose wavy hair was almost the same colour of the walls. In her hand was a silver locket, shaped as a heart. She sat clutching it, staring straight ahead of her as she thought about what had brought her here.

Natalia Romanova was Ivan Petrovitch's protégé. During a raid, he had stumbled across the young girl, crying over the dead bodies of her parents. In an odd moment of pity, Petrovitch took the girl on board with him and raised her on the seas to be as ruthless as he. Perhaps he wanted to leave a legacy that spanned beyond his own mortal years- have a child that continue his great crimes so that his reign along the seas would be longer than he could even imagine. A first mate, as loyal as they seem, Ivan decided, still looked out for themselves. A child looked towards you for protection and love. Because of this, they would protect you too, once they learned how. And Ivan certainly taught Natalia how.

Like he had hoped, Natalia raged against his enemies with a fury that surpassed his own and an agility that no crew member could match. Her beauty grew with each day and was unrivalled. Yet, it was only used to their advantage. Natalia seduced men out of their riches and information without guilt.

For all those years, she'd been happy. Or, at least she thought she was. Her childhood before had been long forgotten and the life she led on the seas was the only one she knew. Natalia did not see a life other than her subservient one to Ivan. She did not see a future that did not have her sailing the seas and making Ivan and his name proud. Then she met the Winter Sailor.

The Winter Sailor was a mercenary that was known for his cold and merciless decisions. No man was left alive when the Winter Sailor was involved. Both pirate and man under the King's protection were not safe from him if they got in his way. But despite the grand stories of the Sailor being able to freeze water with his breath, he had been able to melt the ice around Natalia's heart.

Opening the locket also wound the mechanism to play a short tune. It was a simple song, a sad lullaby for a broken hearted lover. The one thing she cherished most because it was the only thing she had left from him. Everything else was stripped away. Even his love. The pain in her chest made her angry and bitterness swelled up like bile in the back of her throat. How ironic was it that she was waiting to be punished for betrayal when the man she had tried to give up everything for had betrayed her as well? Natalia wanted to give up everything she knew for James for a life she never dreamed she could have.

And it was because she loved him. Because he was James. Only to her, was he James. To everyone else he was just a legend but Natalia saw him for who he truly was. And she loved him for who he truly was. She still did. That was the worst part of this whole mess. They were to meet in the dead of night and run away together. He never came and she was left to face Ivan's rage.

With each note, the abandonment was stabbed further into her soul. She wished she could just forget her feelings and once again follow Ivan blindly but her heart stayed firmly in place. For the first time since she could ever remember, James made her feel human when she didn't even know that she was just a trained body. There was no way she would go back to that life willingly, as easy as it may seem.

Unable to listen to the tune any longer, Natalia closed the locked and squeezed it in her palm. The sound of the sister locket playing somewhere in the brig made her stomach churn. Looking up she saw a silhouette by the stored supplied in front of the prison that made her heart skip a beat despite her anger

"James, you came," Natalia breathed relief, watching James snap his locket shut and walk slowly to the cell.

"You say that as if you knew I'd come," James accused lightly, stuffing the locket into a pocket inside his coat. Her heart beat faster when she saw that the inner pocket covered his own heart.

"You don't know what it's like to be trapped in this cell. Like the hundreds of men I've locked up. To be a prisoner to the only men I love. You can imagine what Petrovitch has in store for me come daylight," said Natalia, standing up and gripping the bars tightly so that rust and barnacles started to cut into her skin.

"You're talking to me about love?" James spat. "Two years I spent risking my neck to meet with you on stolen nights. Two years I risked being found an invader and stowaway on Petrovitch's ship just to feel your breath against my cheek for a second or to kiss the back of your hand. Taking demeaning fish jobs at ports in the hopes that you would make a stop there. I was a fool and you took joy in seeing my fall."

"No-"

"Then on the night you promised you'd finally leave this life for me, you didn't come. Tell me why didn't you come? You owe me that at least."

"What? Of course I came. I waited all night until Ivan found me and beat me. James, I love you, do you think I would be as cruel as that? I never told you anything that I didn't mean with every bit of me," She was confused at his accusations and cursed herself for having to fight off tears. It was him that didn't show up. How could he blame her?

"Lying bitch," shot James, frantic to find an example to throw at her. "It's a shame you hold such strong feelings for me because I certainly don't love you."

"Yet you risk your life to sneak onto this ship so you can see me? You were a good lair, I'll give you that James," Natalia reasoned, trying to ignore the stab his declaration was twisting through her heart. "But you could never lie to me."

"Then don't lie to me. Why did you humuilate me? Did it give you pleasure to think you had some power over me? The feared Winter Sailor, said to be able to freeze the ocean with one breath- brought to his knees by a pretty face. Or was there another man that caught your attention?" James asked bitterly, walking along side the bars and away from Natalia. She followed him.

"I waited for you just as you asked. At Port Royal in The Seaman's Son pub. Don't blame me if you couldn't follow your own instructions."

"Port Royal? I didn't say anything like that. It was The Salty Parrot. The bar we met in when Petrovitch was trying to hire my services," James explained with suspicion.

"But your note, you wrote it in our code and signed it. I-" Natalia broke off, suddenly realising what had happened. Ivan had known about them before he caught her leaving his ship. He had broken their code and set her up. Slowly, outrage and resentment flooded from her toes to the very ends of her hair.

"It seems we've been tricked," James rolled the words around on his tongue and didn't like the taste. While he thought about the implications, he absentmindedly placed a hand on the bars. Natalia put her hand over his.

"If they thought I would stand and take my punishment, then they will be sorely mistaken. The last thing they will all learn when I am set from his cage is just how merciless the lover of the Winter Sailor can be," vowed Natalia, making James smile at the spirited woman he knew.

"I wouldn't expect any less of you," James laughed, pulling his hand away from the prison. "I'll leave you to plan your escape. I'll be at the Salty Parrot. Assuming I can make it off this ship alive." He started to make his way from The Red Room and out towards the deck of the ship. This time though, his steps seemed lighter, less burdened. As he was about to reach the stairs, Natalia called after him.

"James! Please?" She asked expectantly, longing in her word was enough to convey her question. It made James stop but he didn't turn around. His shoulders tensed in the response to how emotionally strenuous holding in his answer was.

"You know you will always have my heart Natalia."

The statement made her feel light headed and her doubts were dripping away. She couldn't help the almost childish smile that lit her face as she leaned against the bars in relief. A large weight was off her shoulders and she could begin to plan her escape now. Ivan Petrovitch would rue the day he decided to come between his little Natalia and The Winter Sailor.