A/N: There is the slightest of mentions of smut in this chapter. Nothing explicit and it's not between Steve and Natasha. You've been warned.

In reply to some of the reviews I got:

Destined627: Thanks for the review :3 So, yeah, I skipped that and, well, I have a HC that Steve was never resistant to alcohol and that, after he took the serum, though he became more resistant, he still can't drink much. Besides, this Vodka is very strong, like really, really strong. So that you have an idea, it's not even sold in the U.S because it had more alcohol/ml than allowed. Natasha on the other hand is very resistant to any sort of drinks - well she's Russian after all, isn't she?

Ann (Guest): ohurghhrjkojiohigjikolkcjvenrjemckenhve Thanks for the wonderful review, really. I'm not taking this as quick as the other on I'm writing (Lipstick Lies). I plan on writing from 30-50 chapters filled with angst and them denying the feelings for each other. Besides, there's going to be a huge plot twist. I'm looking forward to writing the next chapters :3

R&R :3

~X~

Natasha sat at the table by Verhoeven's side and flirted shamelessly with him all night. Natasha knew she had him. He was in the palm of her hand and she could crush his hopes at any time. The part one of her plan, seduction, was done. Now, all Natasha had to do was extract as much information as she could. In the corner of her eye, she could see Steve gripping the pillowed armrest of the chair tightly as she chose her words carefully, slowly she watched as he fell in her web. Before he even realized, he'd be in too deep. It was just a matter of time.

That night, she told "Alex" she would discuss some business with Gerhad and that he shouldn't expect her to be back so early. Steve cracked his knuckles as he left the restaurant and she went in the car with the target. They started making out in the car and, by the time they reached his hotel, things were already pretty heated for both of them. Natasha and Verhoeven tried to act normally until they reached his room on the penthouse, but he couldn't seem to keep his hands off of her.

Gerhad lips were soft and his kiss was fully manic, just like hers. He had years of practice, just as she did. Natasha and him, they were both machines, both were good in bed because they were used to please in order to extract information. Natasha found herself doing something she didn't do in a long while, she imagined Steve's face instead of Verhoeven's, as if to make the experience less painful for her. It had been a clash of teeth and tongue and nails and pain. It was everything but soft. They rough sex. Since none of them had feelings for one another, the sex was rough, only to aiming too satisfy Verhoeven's own desire. When they were done, she had a glass of champagne with him, but left as soon as possible under the excuse that Steve was very jealous and that he would be angry if she got back too late.

When she arrived back in their room, Natasha found him sitting on the couch. He had his fingers threaded in his hair and his elbows on his knees. He stared sadly at the fire. The low sound of her stilettos against the wooden floor made him turn his head to face her. She wished he hadn't done that, she wished he hadn't said a word so she wouldn't have to see the heartbreaking look he had in his eyes.

"Hey." She greeted him. Her voice was almost a murmur and her gaze was turned to the ground. She couldn't bear to face him, not after what she had just done. Not when she loved him. And, even if he didn't like her back, even if she saw her as just a friend, that was too shameful to her. It was a first time experience for her, so she didn't know how to handle that.

"Hey." He replied standing and making his way to her. His voice was a bit louder than hers, but it was still full of sadness, the same one reflected in his eyes. When he was close enough, he placed two fingers under her chin and lifted her face so she was staring at him. "Tasha... How did it go?"

"You know, Steve. You know what happened." She replied, she was almost breaking down in tears, she didn't know why she was crying. She didn't know when she started crying, she just felt the hot tears stream down her cheeks leaving wet trails. She moved her gaze away from his and went to the bedroom. That night, Natasha wanted to be alone. As she undressed, she could feel a pair off eyes spying on her. She was sure it wasn't Steve. Verhoeven had already ordered his spies to keep an eye on them.

That night, Natasha cried herself to sleep with her face buried on the many pillows, her makeup stained the white soft silk that covered them. Her sleep was filled with nightmares of the RedRoom, of all the hearts she had broken, of memories she could sworn she had forgotten a long time ago. Apparently not. Natasha couldn't forget anything.

~X~

The first ray of sunlight that entered through the window woke her up, she looked at the clock on her bedside table, it was still 5 a.m. Natasha went to the bathroom and prepared herself for the long drive they were doing again. When she entered the room, Steve was ready. He had ordered room service, chocolate fondue. He looked like a child dipping the strawberries in the melted chocolate and eating them. The smile on his face told her he was really enjoying himself.

"Mornin', Steve." She greeted with a small smile and walked to where he was sitting and took the seat in front of him. "How's the fondue?"

"Mornin', Tasha. Feeling better?" He replied looking at her and then blushed deeply, "F-Fondue?"

"Yes, I am, thanks." She nodded and started to laugh, "Yes, fondue. It's what you're eating, didn't you know that?"

"Oh... So this is the fondue." He muttered.

"What did you think it was?" She asked.

Steve started making awkward gestures with his hands and Natasha started to laugh real hard. It was the first time – she thought – that he saw her genuinely smile. "Oh." She mouthed and he turned as red as her hair, if that was even possible. It was like nothing had happened the night before, everything was the same as it was before she went into Gerhad room's though she knew things would never be the same between them. Not for her, at least.

They were frozen in the moment, her smile on her face and his blush still on his cheeks. It was perfect and she knew it would be forever in her memory. It was a moment she wanted to remember for the rest of her life. When they were done with eating the strawberries, it was already six thirty, so they left the room to that damned forest once more.

~X~

While they made their way to the forest, Steve read a map in silence as he made some annotations in his notebook. Natasha kept her eyes locked on the slippery road and making sure they weren't being followed. For both, her happiness and despair, it had snowed during the night and stopped very early in the morning, so while the road was less slippery if she needed to accelerate the car, their tracks would be harder to cover, much harder. Natasha didn't know if she should be bothered by the silence between them, but, truly, she wasn't. Sometimes, just the silence was enough, there should be no words spoken.

Nine a.m. They arrived at the base. Natasha still hadn't figured how to open the rampage that led to the lab, so they had to wait on top of the trees until someone who worked at the base arrived. Luckily, they had to wait for little time, ten minutes, Natasha counted. Then the scientists appeared. She watched as they walked to the tree where she was hiding and leaned in. An eye scanner, she figured. When they were close enough, she motioned to Steve to follow her and jumped down the tree, landing on one of the scientists back. She silently cracked his neck and did the same to the other one before he even had time to realize what happened. From underneath her white winter coat, Natasha got sharp knife and removed one of the scientist's eye. She noticed Steve flinch as she did so. Then they hid the bodies in a safe location and went into the base.

The rampage opened and she handed Steve one of the lab coats and put on one herself too. Then they went inside. It all looked familiar, just like the Red Room, except that the walls weren't painted red. Steve and her seemed to be unnoticed by the people working there and, as he made various annotations on his notebook, Natasha made mental notes as she looked to the doors. There were plaques with letters and numbers written on them, RRH.5, RRH.6 and so it went. She was trying to figure out what the letters meant when a man came out of one of the doors.

"Доктор Дрягин? Вы, как ожидается в лаборатории RRH.4, майор Верховен хочет поговорить с вами. - Doctor Dryagin? You are expected in the lab RRH.4, Major Verhoeven wants to speak to you."

"Хорошо, спасибо. - Okay, thanks." Natasha replied nodding and making her way back from where she came from. She felt her heart racing. What would she do? Verhoeven wanted to speak to the man she had killed, he would surely recognize her – well, of course he would there wasn't even the slightest chance that he wouldn't.

Natasha and Steve turned at the same time when they heard screams on the corridor. It was Dryagin. He wasn't as old as the scientist who had talked to her back in the corridor, but, still he was quite older than she appeared to be. He shouted something about a serum, about how he was sorry for having messed up and that he wouldn't do that again. Those words, she didn't know why, but they sounded so familiar it sent a shiver down her spine.

Steve looked at her and she looked at him. In a silent agreement, they went their separate ways. In three hours they would meet each other outside. Natasha looked at the ground as she walked through the base trying not to be seen. She searched the lab coat's pockets and found a card, there was no photo, the only things written were: Lapotiknov, Dmitri, project RRS, room RRH.50.

For what Natasha noticed, there were ten rooms per floor, so she went to the floor -5. RRH.50... RRS... Those letters, they seemed so familiar, but she couldn't seem to remember where she had seen them before, for more that she tried, she couldn't. She made her way into the room RRH.50 and noticed she was the only one there. Apparently, Steve was her partner in that one. Using the communicator she had attached to her ear in an unnoticeable way, she called Steve and, in no time, he was there. Even though he had arrived quickly, Natasha had time to have a good look at the room. It was all so familiar, but why? Why couldn't she remember, she had to remember. She felt a strong headache and everything turned black. The last thing she saw was the floor approaching far too quickly.