A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've been struggling with writing due to stress but I think I'm finally back on track now.

I knew where this was going when I started, but this story has a mind of its own. Those who write will understand. If you don't... imagine finding yourself staring at a computer screen at 11:40PM saying, "What the hell just happened?!"

After sitting on this for two days I've decided to go with it and how it changes my outline. Unbetaed. All mistakes are mine.

Disclaimer: Captain America belongs to Marvel.


Chapter 9: Caught In The Act

Abandoned Asylum, Austrian Alps - 1620 Hours

There were many places scattered through Europe where HYDRA performed some sort of experiments. It had taken them a while to break the coded coordinates on this one in the file Natasha had given him. Someone had attempted to redact the portion of text containing the location and he'd had to search textbooks and internet sites for pictures to piece together the name and missing digits.

They couldn't risk flying in. The journey had been complex, the drop point 48 miles away from their target. His companion flew low over the trees and Captain America borrowed a motorcycle after taking the first 3 miles on foot.

Winding sharply, the road earned the nickname bestowed by the captives who lived to tell of their escape. Cliffs of Insanity. Pumped full of drugs and delirious, attempting the route in a stolen vehicle was madness and few of those who managed to get passed the gates made it down. Most lost their lives trying to outrun the guards on the lone exit path.

Finally reaching the top, Steve's breath catches at the sight and he attempts to swallow the overwhelming sense of dread that fills him. This isn't the first place of its kind he and Sam have checked out. He knows it's a long shot. Chances Bucky would be here are low, but the odds of finding information are another story.

Dark clouds hang in the air like lost souls hovering above the abandoned compound. The surrounding buildings - those a steep drop down from the main facility - have been vacant for decades. The tiny town had fallen to ruin, making it the perfect alcove for HYDRA's experiments. There was no one around to hear the tortured screams of the dying and those wishing they were dead.

Now that he's here, Steve is wishing he wasn't. His heart quickens and for a minute he swears he can hear the screams of those who didn't survive to make it outside of the walls. He steals himself and speaks softly into his com. "Check the perimeter, Sam. I'm going in."

- - - Captain America - - -

Haunted. The asylum was rumored to be haunted. If you believed in that sort of thing, which she doesn't.

Right now Natasha Romanoff is wishing she'd come alone. Having Clint Barton trailing close behind like an eager puppy is off putting. He knows her history, but she doesn't feel she can employ the same techniques she once would've in a situation like this under Hawkeye's watchful gaze. Not anymore. Not after...

Proceeding with caution, she slips in through a side window and drops onto a landing. The place is definitely spooky and it makes her skin crawl. Then again, maybe it's not the building itself but a voice she hears in the quiet. One she swears she recognizes from her past. If she alerts Barton, he'll say she's compromised and that they should leave now without looking back.

She's come too far for that and it's only a matter of time before Steve figures out this is one of the better leads. She needs to know what they're up against with Barnes and if the man can be saved. The fact Steve was pulled from the Potomac by the Winter Soldier means little to her.

There are always exceptions. Before Steve got close enough for Barnes to do more damage if not to his body but his heart and mind, she needed to know it was safe. Steve's capacity for hope even in times of weakness and despair is something she envies. He's somehow maintained his innocent outlook and sees the best in those he cares about.

Including her and she's failed him. Protecting the man who's given her something to believe in - even if that means protecting him from himself - is a task she takes seriously.

She could make amends with this mission. This wasn't about wiping out red. The wound she'd inflicted on Rogers isn't physical. It's worse in a way she hadn't considered.

- - - Captain America - - -

Hearing voices, Captain America pauses in a doorframe to listen. His voice is low as he relays the news to Falcon over his com. "We've got hostiles. Sounds like they're at least a floor up."

Sam lets out a brief laugh as he answers. "We got friendlies, too. I saw Barton on my sweep."

The news doesn't surprise Steve. If Hawkeye was here, he wasn't alone. That meant Black Widow was lurking somewhere as well. He wasn't going to let her get away without giving him answers. "Did he see you?"

"Negative, Cap," his reply is crisp and clear. "You want me to engage."

The Captain's jaw tenses. It was a question of loyalties and whose side Barton was on, not only how much Natasha had told him but how much of what she'd said was true. He could trust Sam, as for the others? "Keep eyes and ears open, but do not engage. Not yet."

As if on cue, he spies Romanoff's trademark hair. Red locks curl slightly and shine in the low light. Even as he tries to focus on the mission, his body responds the way it had in her apartment. A low groan of frustration at his inability to separate the two things escapes before he can stop it.

"You okay, Cap? We can scrap this part and catch up with them on the way out."

His friend's comment only serves to irritate him further. "If I wanted commentary, I'd have brought Stark."

He approaches Black Widow cautiously, quickly advancing on her position and taking her by surprise. Her guns still holstered, Steve manages to catch her arms and pin them behind her. his voice is a low hiss. "I should've known I'd run into you at some point."

- - - Captain America - - -

She had known it was him before she heard his voice. It takes everything in the spy not to melt against the Captain's broad chest. "Steve..."

"Wait. Rogers is here?" Barton's voice comes over her com.

Natasha doesn't have time to answer. She and Steve have been spotted. He sees the red laser against her suit and spins her from the opening just before bullets chip away the wood and plaster at the edge of the door.

Wide green eyes meet blue ones as the super soldier shields her with his body. Whatever else they were or had become, she was always his partner before she was anything else. Even when he clearly wasn't sure he could trust her.

Safe. She can't swallow or breathe. The word hangs between them.

"Together?" she asks, already knowing the answer.

Steve nods and tries to ignore how watching her pull the guns holstered at her thighs turns him on. She's as beautiful as she is deadly, he thinks as she drops the first gunman. He hits a second with his shield, the disk finding his arm just in time to block a series of bullets aimed at her.

He spies the third man on the landing above and seeks a route of access. A grand staircase climbs to the level but there are several steps that have rotted away, putting them at a disadvantage. It would be a tricky jump, but he's made far worse.

With a soft pop, pop Black Widow takes the shooter down. Looking to Steve, she follows his sight line and makes her way toward the stairs. "More will be coming. Gimme a boost, Cap? Like New York?"

Joining her swiftly, he tips his shield and launches the spy into a somersault that carries her to the landing just in time and she holds off three more men on her own until he makes the leap.

The pair fall into an uncanny rhythm as though nothing has comec between them. Push, pull. Dodge, parry. Lending a hand, ducking to allow the other to attack.

"We want the third floor," she tells him when they make it through the attackers. "Western end of the building."

- - - Captain America - - -

It takes a while for him to call her on it, at least in part because he's not sure how. They are on a narrow spiral staircase, typical of the architecture of the timeframe. She is able to move quickly because the space wasn't built for someone his height. He finds it unnerving that she's ahead of him and he can't protect her. "There were pages missing from the file you gave me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she answers without looking back at him.

He grabs her wrist. "Yeah, I think you do. When this is over, you're telling me everything."

Natasha swears under her breath in Russian and he thinks he's hit a nerve until he sees her take on another guard. This one is female and Steve finds himself being pressed to the wall to give the assassin space as she twists and manages to force the other woman down the stairs.

When you know someone - when the way they move comes with no surprise - maneuvering with and around them becomes an intricate dance and it's almost like you become one person. He finds that to be even more true now than it was before. It doesn't matter that they've been apart. It doesn't matter that trusting her is messy and complicated. There'll be time for sorting all that out later. Right now, even though it pains Steve Rogers to admit it, he trusts Natasha Romanoff to have his back more than anyone. Even Sam Wilson.

- - - Captain America - - -

It wouldn't take a genius to know Steve is mad. He should and has every right to be. What surprises her isn't that they still work together, Natasha had known to expect that. The level of emotion she feels - the pain of his obvious disappointment - burns her like a brand.

At the top of the stairs, he pushes past her. It's not about sexism or what happened between them before she left. It's about being a leader. She's gotten past the point where it bothers her but right now, in this moment, she wishes it didn't give her a few extra seconds to ruminate on her sins.

The sight that greets her when she follows him into the room isn't what she expected, nor is the Captain's reaction to it. She watches his hands ball into fists when he sees the machine and knows she's got her work cut out for her when he lunges at the man standing in the corner.

Steve doesn't lose his cool often. Natasha can sense the rage bubbling beneath the surface. The creature Banner becomes is very different from the fury of a man who has faced loss and fights like he's got nothing left is breathtaking.

- - - Captain America - - -

"Captain Rogers," the scientist is short, his accent heavy. He reminds Steve a little of Arnim Zola. What's more striking is the complete lack of fear in the man's eyes as the soldier towers over him. Looking past the soldier, he also addresses the spy. "Agent Romanoff. I was hoping the two of you would come."

A light glows in the corner. It's a deep orange that seems to pulse behind and around an old medical chair. Steve is lost in thoughts of Bucky and all the suffering and experiments his friend was made to go through. The terrified screams in his head become those of his friend and he can almost see Bucky being strapped into the cracked leather seat.

Head gear. Wires and electrical equipment. It's different than the tube used to create him, yet it's familiar.

"You know you are curious, Captain," the man's taunt cuts into Steve. "I can show you the world I have shown the Winter Soldier. You too can be reprogrammed. You can have power beyond your wildest dreams."

Steve removes his helmet and lets the leather mask drop to the floor. His arm flexes and he puts the shield on his back. There is a tick to his jaw, but he otherwise stands frozen.

"Tempting, isn't it? Not to be ruled by emotion. To forget the anguish of loss. To get back at those who have betrayed you."

- - - Captain America - - -

Black Widow watches the awkward standoff between the two men. She doesn't shudder or flinch, but her heart squeezes painfully in her chest. Being trained in the Red Room, doing time with the KGB and SHIELD, she's no stranger to torture.

Steve wants answers. He wants to understand what his friend has been through so he can pull him out. She gets that, understands that it's who he is. What she doesn't understand is why he's standing there letting the scientist get into his head.

That's what brings her into action. She's capable of all the things he isn't. Perhaps the best way to cure them both of this odd... infatuation ...they have with each other is to show him she's a monster.

Gripping the man by his lab coat, she jerks him forward and pushes him toward the chair. The air around them seems to crackle with energy. He laughs maniacally as she straps him down.

"Do you think you frighten me, Agent Romanoff?" his eyes slice into her, brows raising and his lips twitching. "I am familiar with what you are capable of. The techniques used in your training are legendary."

The spy freezes. She doesn't know or understand the power the scientist holds over her and Rogers, but she is beginning to suspect it's something akin to mind control. Tipping her head, she narrows her eyes. "Barton, what's your status? I think Cap and I are compromised."

Steve hasn't moved. He's rooted in his position. Lifting her gun, she trains it on the man in the chair. "Wilson and I are on the way. Can you neutralize the threat?"

Something in her says they need him. A sound chokes in her throat and she shakes her head. "Negative. We need to bring him in," her voice breaks as she tells Hawkeye the important part. "Think Loki. I just don't know how."

This was going to be more complicated than she expected. Natasha's head swims with memories of the Red Room. Being forced to fight other girls. Seducing men twice her age. Innocence and hope lost because it was the only means of survival.

Emotion - tension - is running high when she feels the gun being drawn from her hand. Snapping out of it she looks to see the scientist's head slumping to the side, a dart sized arrow sticking out of his neck. Clint's voice breaks through and she looks at the archer as though he's speaking another language, but he isn't speaking to her. "I've called a team to pick him and the equipment up. We need to get the two of them out of this room."

- - - Captain America - - -

Steve couldn't say how much time had passed. When he becomes aware of his surroundings, he's in the remnants of what was once a chapel. Blinking, he looks at Barton and Wilson. "What happened?"

The two men look at each other and Steve scrubs a hand over his face. Uncertainty plagues him. The last thing he remembers is staring into an amber light and feeling an overwhelming mix of emotion hit him in waves.

"Natasha," he says, reaching for Barton. Concern colors his features and fear of loss tugs painfully at his gut. "Is she... ?"

Stepping from the shadows, the redhead smiles weakly. "Hey, fellas? Give us a minute, will ya?"

"I'm just gonna check on the status of the reinforcements," Barton says a little too quickly. Wilson's eyebrows hit his hairline and Steve has to wave the other soldier off.

Once the room is cleared, Natasha inches closer but still keeps her distance. "Just relax, Cap. Take a few deep breaths. You're okay. We're okay."

He doesn't like her tone. Feeling vulnerable and exposed, he pauses for a moment before laughing bitterly. "Gee, Nat, I don't know," he says angrily. "Are we okay?"

Confusion furrows her sculpted brows and she pushes a hand through her hair. "We got out unscathed and we may be one step closer to figuring out what happened to Barnes. I'd call that a win." She shrugs slightly. "So this wasn't what either of us planned, at least we're still breathing."

Steve cracks his neck, his jaw setting firmly. Had he drawn a full breath since she left him? "That's not what I meant and we both know it." His eyes narrow, his hands coming to rest on his hips as he glares down at her. "I trusted you and I let my guard down," he confesses. "And then I woke up. In your bed. Alone."


A/N: On one hand, some of you are hating me for this cliffy... on the other, I think you can guess the content of the next chapter.

In case you're curious, it's ready to upload. I wrote it before this one.