Chapter 11

"I blew all my covers. I got to go figure out a new one."

"That might take a while."

"I'm counting on it."

Natalia sighed in pleasure as James kissed his way up her neck. They'd woken up tangled together in his bed, and now he was trying to stop her from leaving, holding her down with his metal arm.

"James," she groaned. "You know I can't stay."

He flashed her a devilish grin that sent shivers down her spine. "That wasn't what you were saying last night." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"And now that I think about it, you actually weren't talking all that -,"

"If you want to keep both your hands, I'd suggest you didn't finish that statement."

James shifted himself up and pinned her to the bed with his large, muscular frame.

"Is that a challenge?"

She smirked. "More of a fact."

The enhanced assassin felt a slight sting on his stomach and looked down to see a knife pressing gently against his abdomen. His eyes brightened with a fire that burned Natalia every time she saw them, and her emerald ones darkened in response.

"You know I taught you that move?" he said.

"Then maybe you should have seen it coming," she practically purred. In a flash, James snatched the knife and flung it over his shoulder; it embedded itself into the wall with a thud, and he pinned Natalia's arms above her head with his own. He could see her breathing rate quicken, and he lowered himself so he was less than an inch away from her face.

"I've still got a few more moves up my sleeve that maybe you'd like to see?"

"Just shut up and kiss me already."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Natasha's eyes fluttered open and she frantically tried to control her breathing. The memories were chipping away at her brain, each one more painful than the last. Her bones ached with exhaustion, and when she lifted her hand to her face, she found a bandage covering a gash on her forehead. Confused, she sat up quickly but instantly regretted it. Pain slashed through her body hot and fast, and she barely kept in a groan. It took her a second to get a bearing of her surroundings.

She seemed to be in some kind of safe house. The lights were flickering, and the walls were rusty yet thick. The room she was in had a slight cramped feeling to it, almost like being in a large elevator, but the bed was big and someone had draped a blanket over her legs. Natasha shivered and realized that her shirt had been removed, and instead cotton white bandages covered her torso and arms. Gingerly, she peeled back the bandage on her side and saw three claw marks stretching from the bottom of her left ribcage to her waist. They'd been stitched closed, but dark purple bruising still lined the cuts, as well as her ribs. She threw back the blanket and inspected the gash she'd received on her leg by the shackles. It had been bandaged too, the sterile cloth covering most of her thigh.

A creak suddenly sounded, and Natasha looked up to see Barnes slowly entering the room, a bag in one hand and a glass in the other. He cleared his throat and approached the bed.

"I brought some water." He set the glass on the nightstand next to the bed and then dropped the bag next to her leg. "And I went shopping. Your shirt was basically scraps, so I brought a whole bunch. Sorry if some are a little loose."

Despite the situation, Natasha couldn't stop a small smile from creeping up on her face.

"What?" he asked.

Natasha shook her head, trying to get the image of the Winter Soldier shopping for women's clothes out of her head. "Nothing. Thanks."

He looked away while she glanced inside the bag, missing the amused expression on her face.

"How're you feeling?"

She glanced up at him. "Uh…better. Much better." She paused. "Thank you for stitching me up." An awkward silence filled the room. Barnes fidgeted and scratched his head.

"I should let you get cleaned up. Shower still works, so come to the kitchen when you're done. It's right down the hall." He exited the room, his feet silent on the boarded floors, and Natasha sighed.

Ten minutes later, Natasha limped down the hallway and found Barnes making grilled cheese sandwiches. The crisp smell that had wafted around the room made her realize that she was actually starving; the last meal she'd had was right after Peggy's funeral, which had been almost four days ago.

"Where exactly are we?" she asked.

Barnes turned around and took in her appearance. A dark blue shirt covered her injured torso, and she'd put on a loose pair of black pants. She'd managed to fix her hair and wash most of the blood out, but her eyes had a gaunt look to them, and she was holding herself in a way that seemed like a single puff of air would make her fall apart. He didn't mention it and merely said:

"Safe house. I got us out of Africa after you passed out. I have some there as well, but I figured you'd want to get back as soon as you could."

"Are we near the facility?"

"Border of New Jersey. Kept it a safe distance, just in case…,"

"Just in case what?"

He cleared his throat. "Well, I managed to scroll through the news while you were asleep, and honestly, I wouldn't want to be an Avenger right now."

"Not really much of a surprise," Natasha said, sliding into a stool at the kitchen counter and dragging a glass of orange juice towards herself. "Barely a day goes by where people don't talk shit about us."

Barnes gave a slight chuckle, which surprised Natasha. He flipped the sandwiches onto a couple of plates and slid one towards her. "I don't doubt that."

She picked up her sandwich and took a small bite. Barnes scrutinized her face, and she realized he was waiting for a reaction.

"It tastes great. Who would've thought the Winter Soldier knew how to cook?"

He sat down in front of her and picked up his own sandwich. "The wound on your back," he said suddenly. "Where's that from?"

"Knife. Got in a little fight with a bunch of soldiers back at the marketplace." Wanda's screams echoed in her head and Natasha forced herself to focus.

"It's a bit deep, so you'll have to change the bandages soon."

She took a sip from her glass. "Can I ask you a question?"

Barnes put down his sandwich and let out a deep breath; like he'd been dreading this was going to happen. Nevertheless, he looked her in the eyes and nodded.

Natasha shifted on her chair and said, "Why now? It's been two years, so why are you finally showing up after all this time?"

"I didn't exactly choose to show up. T'Challa's men captured me a little while after I arrived in Africa."

"And yet you're here."

"What do you mean?"

She leaned back and sighed. "You could've left me for dead back at their base. But instead, you brought me back and saved my life. Weird logic for someone who wants to be left alone."

"I take it you're happy you're still alive?" he mused.

"Stop deflecting," she snapped.

He rubbed his face. "Look, I'm not going to lie. The last two years have been utter hell, and I honestly did not want to see any of your faces ever again."

"Then why help me escape?" Natasha exploded. "Why save my life?"

"Because I remember you!"

She faltered.

"When I first saw him, Steve, I had no recollection whatsoever. He was simply another target to cross off my list." He screwed up his eyes and swallowed. "And yet, when you looked back at me, I don't know if I imagined it, but I saw this smirk fly across your face. It was fleeting – I would've missed it if I'd blinked. But something snapped in my head."

"Russian," she said quietly.

"What was that?"

Natasha stared at him. "I thought I misheard, but you spoke Russian to one of your men while I was running away."

она моя. She's mine.

найти его. Find him.

Barnes nodded. "After I failed to eliminate you guys, they took me back to the makeshift lab. I was…confused to say the least. When he called me 'Bucky' I didn't know what the hell he was talking about. But the name kept echoing in my hand, and I had these tiny flashbacks." He crossed his arms. "They re-conditioned me for not responding to them, and those cracks resealed until after the fight we had on the helicarrier."

Intrigued, Natasha leaned forward slightly. Although Steve had told them that Bucky was the one who shot him on the carrier, he avoided the details of the fight and what happened afterward that led to them finding him on the banks of the river, bleeding and injured, but alive.

"After he fell, I dragged him out of the water, and while I was looking down at him, there was this tiny voice in my head that told me to wait. To stay." A shadow crossed his eyes. "But I didn't. I left everything behind."

"So how did I come into all of this?" Natasha asked uncertainly.

"Well, after I left, I would have these…dreams. Every night, I'd see these blurry visions, where nothing really made sense, and the only thing I would feel was pain." A tortured expression formed on his face. "This excruciating pain that would make me feel like I was dying over and over again. But in the midst of all of that, there was one thing that stood out with sharp detail. A face," Barnes said, his voice small. His eyes shot up and pierced her emerald ones. "Your face."

Natasha looked away so he couldn't see the pain in her eyes. It felt like there was a knife stabbing at her heart, and after every word he spoke, the blade would dig a little deeper than before.

"I remember you Natalia."

The world seemed to stop around Natasha. She stared at Barnes's lips, as if her brain was still trying to comprehend what he said.

"You called me James," he said softly.

Natasha tried to control her breathing. "Please, don-,"

"We were obsessed with each other."

Natasha shot out of her chair and turned away, but he followed her.

"Why?" he asked. Natasha swallowed and forced herself to look at him.

"Why what?"

"Why would you ever love a man like me?"

"I-,"

"I hurt you. I hurt you so much and you've kept all that pain bottled up."

"You don't know that."

"Who then?" he exclaimed. "Who else knows that we had a history together?"

Natasha clenched her fists together.

"I remember everything Natalia. And you were the one good thing in all of it."

The red head suddenly turned around and shoved him back, and he tripped, falling backwards on the couch. A second later, she was basically sitting on his lap with her hands clenched around the collar of his shirt, shaking him. "You don't! You don't know half the shit happened!"

He saw an agonized expression flash across her face and said quietly, "Then help me remember." Natasha tried to get off of him but he wrapped his hands around her wrists and stopped her from moving. "Tell me what they did."

She was silent for a full minute, during which the only thing binding them to reality were their locked gazes. A shudder ran through her body, and she whispered, "They broke us."

Natalia was heading back to her quarters one night when a guard suddenly jogged over to her. He seemed out of breath, as if he'd sprinted all the way from the other side of the building.

"Romanova, Petorovich wants you at the command room."

Natalia narrowed her eyes at the rookie agent. "What for?"

"I do not know. They merely told me to fetch you. And for you to arrive as fast as possible."

Although she knew it was weird for her to be called to Command that late, she nodded and started to make her way there. The guard followed, but he stayed a good distance away from The Black Widow. When she arrived, she opened the door and found three of her commanders there, including Petorovich. She bowed respectfully to each and asked after straightening, "Why was I summoned?"

The door on the other side of the room was suddenly wrenched open, and two guards marched in, dragging a bloody and bruised James in between them. Natalia felt her heart stop as they dropped the beat man to the floor, but she didn't let it show on her face. Petorovich sauntered over to him and lifted up his face. His eyes looked broken, and conveyed one simple message to Natalia. Run.

"Do you deny it?" Petorovich asked. He turned his head towards her, a twisted smile on her face. Her visage was one of a confused person, but the man laughed.

"Don't act stupid. Did you really think we wouldn't find out?"

"Find out what, Sir?"

He set his jaw and he made his way over to her, backing her up until she was right against the wall with only a few inches of space between them. Natalia could smell the disgusting fumes of cigars issuing from his foul mouth. "Oh my sweet Natalia. The Red Room is no place for love." Over his shoulder, Natalia saw several guards enter the room and restrain James to the ground. Shackles were pinned roughly to his wrists, most of them on his bionic arm.

Natalia tried to keep her expression controlled, but she was about to snap any second. "What are you going to do to him?"

"Oh we're not going to touch him….At least not yet. I'd be more worried about what I'm going to do to you." Two guards started to make their way over to her and she paled. Petorovich moved away to let them cuff her, but as soon as the first one came within arm's reach of the woman, she snapped her elbow into his throat. The guard fell with a strangled scream, clutching at his neck while the other moved instantly to restrain her. His fate was similar, yet more brutal, seeing as she placed her hands on the ground and viciously spun her legs to connect with his head. A sickening crack echoed around the room, and he fell to the ground just as Petorovich sent a bullet through her leg.

Natalia staggered, and it allowed for an opening for more guards to rush forward and slam her into the wall and pin her there.

"Stop it!"

Petorovich looked over at James as Natalia continued to resist the guards. The Soldier was struggling against his restraints, but to no avail. "Stop what?" His face twisted into a cruel smirk. "This?"

Natalia cried out as one of the guards smashed his boot onto the wound in her thigh and twisted. A hail of fists and feet pounded her to the floor, where they shackled her hands together, and someone dislocated her shoulder. James looked on helplessly as they beat her, and his eyes filled with rage when he saw the glint of a knife flash in one of the guards' hands. They slashed open cuts all over her body – and an alarmingly large amount of blood began to pool on the floor.

"Natalia!" He glanced pleadingly towards Petorovich. "Please, stop! I'll do anything! Just stop!"

Natalia screamed; an agonizing scream that sent daggers through his chest, and he tried to rise from his knees when the guard behind him rammed his rifle onto his shoulder, forcing him back down again.

"Don't worry падла, you'll get your turn," the guard spat in his ear.

James tried to shut his eyes and block out the horrific sight, but Petorovich backhanded him and hissed, "No! You'll watch every second of this." Natalia was still screaming, and her screams only increased in volume when the guards began to break her bones, starting with her wrists. Her ribs were practically splintered, and it hurt to even take the smallest breath. She almost blacked out when one of the guards stomped on her thigh; her femur cracked and sent piercing pains all the way from her head to her feet. James saw an agonizing expression fly across her face and nausea filled the pit of his stomach. Please let them stop, James thought. Just let them stop. But that was only the beginning of the torture that they would endure.

"They made you watch the whole thing."

Natasha, whose hands were still clenched around Barnes's shirt, observed the expression on his face. Even talking about the ordeal reminded her of the terrifying pain they had inflicted on her, and she could tell he was extremely disturbed as well.

"What happened afterwards?" he croaked.

Natasha took a deep breath. "They dragged us to this lab…and a large black chair was in the middle. They…they shoved you onto it and locked you in place, and brought out the doctors to do some tests. I was barely conscious," she whispered, "but they made me look. A contraption fit around you head, and when they activated it, you started screaming. You screamed for so long, I honestly thought they were killing you."

James shifted underneath her. "They were wiping me, weren't they?"

She nodded and said shakily, "They made you forget. And then they shoved you into a metal container that had icicles hanging off of it, just tossed you in there and activated it. I saw your eyes before the frost covered the window." Natasha slowly raised her hand and placed it on his cheek. He stilled at her touch, but then slowly relaxed.

"What was wrong with my eyes?" he asked.

"…They were unrecognizable."

James dragged his gaze to hers. "And what are they now Natalia?"

She stared into his darkened blue orbs. "That, James, is still a question to be answered."

Assassins reunited! Hehehe :) This chapter was kind of difficult to put together, and I'm sorry it took so long. But I wrote it back to back with Chapter 12, so expect that one a lot sooner! Anyways, as always, a special shoutout to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. You all are the best, and I hope this chapter satisfies you.

Okay as a sidenote, I wanted to say that although I have a rough plan of how this story is gonna go, I'm still open to any ideas any of you have. If you think of something that you think would fit really well in the story, like ships or new characters, let me know, and I'd be happy to add them on later in the story.

-avocadosatlaw