A/N: So I didn't go by the comics in relation to Bucky/Natasha's relationship, just FYI. I understand that how I wrote this isn't how it went down, but I'm using it as a plot device so bear with me.

Chapter 26: Normal

. . .

It was around ten the next morning when Tony was awaken by his A.I.

"Excuse me, Mr. Stark, but you told me to inform you when Miss Romanoff has arrived. She's currently downstairs with Mr. Barton."

Tony rubbed his eyes of sleep and glanced over at Bruce, who had also woken up. "Thanks, J. Can you inform Mr. Barton to make some coffee while I get dressed?"

"It's already made, sir," Jarvis replied automatically. "It's ready when you are."

Tony sat up now and tried to gain focus of his surroundings. It must be raining outside; there was barely any light inside the room except for the ones Jarvis had turned on to wake him up. He stood up and then started getting dressed, silently admiring Bruce's slightly muscular legs as they lay on top of the comforter.

"Not to be a Rude Rufus or anything but you run so hot during the night. I felt like I was sleeping next to hot lava," Tony remarked, pulling on clean jeans.

Bruce chuckled sleepily and smirked up at him. "That's the Hulk. It's just a price I pay to be a superhero. I promise you'll be more thankful for it in a few months when it gets colder."

Tony smiled now and nodded. "Oh I'm sure. Come on, lazy bones. Get up. We have to go talk to the Widow."

Bruce groaned and stretched before he got out of bed and also got changed, occasionally sneaking kisses to Tony. When the two men were dressed and Bruce had made sure that Stark had taken his anti-anxiety meds, they both headed downstairs to the kitchen.

"So where's Bruce and Shellhead?"

Tony feigned a hurt expression once he came into view of Natasha's back. "Why am I the only one who gets a nickname?"

Nat turned around now. "Because you're the only one here who acts all high and mighty until he realizes he needs help. So where is he?"

Tony and Bruce glanced at each other before looking at Hawkeye who looking curiously at them. Stark walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup.

"He's probably in Steve's room, since Cap won't ever let him out of his sight."

Natasha bit her lip and then tied her hair up in a tight bun. "What are we waiting for? Let's get Barnes better, shall we?"

"You guys go without me. I need my coffee first. I'll meet you up there," Bruce replied as he walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself some.

Clint motioned for Natasha to follow him and Tony placed a gentle hand on Bruce's back before kissing his cheek and then following the two other Avengers.

"So what do you boys do when he has an episode?" Nat asked as she entered the elevator with Tony and Clint. "Do you tie him down and chain him in your lab, Stark?"

The men exchanged looks with each other behind the assassin's back and Tony cleared his throat. "It takes a few of us to control him and in extreme situations we usually end up knocking Terminator out. It's the only way sometimes. Other times he might remember things and he comes back and realizes what he's done."

Nat turned her body to look at him with calculating eyes. "Anything else I should know?"

Clint smirked. "Stark made him ultra-dangerous with hidden blades."

Tony looked at the archer in disbelief, shaking his head. He wanted nothing more than to knock him out right here and now. Of course Clint wouldn't pass up the opportunity to get Tony in trouble. He looked over at Natasha who was looking at him sternly.

"It's only on the metal arm and he hasn't even used them yet," Tony sighed. "You can take him."

The elevator stopped now as it reached the floor Steve and Bucky's room was and the Avengers stepped out and Tony led them down the hall. Jarvis must have alerted Steve Rogers to their arrival because he was the first one to open the door and greet them.

"Steve, always a pleasure to see you," Nat smiled softly.

He glanced a bit nervously over to the other two men before giving her a polite hug. "The pleasure's always mine, Natasha. I assume you're here because of Bucky, to… to help him?"

Tony was taken back by the Captain's tone when he said this with an inflection near the end of his sentence, and it was clear that Natasha was also taken back by it. She nodded and gave him a gentle look.

"Yeah, of course. I'm just going to talk to him some and see if I can help him… maybe cope with the episodes so don't expect any miracles or anything."

Steve nodded in understanding and gave her a small smile. "Thank you. I know you're probably busy with other things –"

Natasha shook her head slowly and placed her index finger on his lips before retracting it a moment later. "Stop that right now, Steve Rogers. Let me see your best friend."

"Which one of us do you want in there with you?"

Natasha looked at Steve in surprise, her eyebrows raised. "Excuse me?"

He crossed his arms across his chest. "Did you honestly believe I was going to let you go in there by yourself? If Bucky has an accident…" he trailed off.

Natasha smirked playfully. "Then I'll do what I have to do. You are aware I've trained my whole life for these situations, right?"

Steve rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I'll go in with her," Clint volunteered casually.

Steve nodded once and then stepped aside to let the two of them go inside the room and then looked over at Tony. "You're okay with this whole ordeal then, Stark?"

The inventor glanced up at him. "Okay with it? It was my idea."

*.*.*.*

Natasha walked inside the room after Clint closed the door and then sat down on a chair in the corner. She walked over to Bucky slowly as he sat on the bed, looking down at his hands.

The Winter Soldier looked like a small child who was being put in time out after having roughhoused too roughly with another child and hurt them. He looked upset at himself, possibly even angry. She looked at him sympathetically, unable to do anything else except sympathize with the fellow assassin. Even if they weren't trained by exactly the same people, they were trained in the same area and trained to kill others, without hesitation or question. They had more in common with each other than he even knew.

"How are you feeling, James?" she asked tentatively, watching for his reactions.

He stiffened slightly and let out a heavy sigh. He looked up at her with curious eyes and then sudden recognition glazed over them. He tensed up again now and straightened his back before he ran his hands through his hair.

"You know who I am?"

He shook his head. "I know who you used to be."

She pulled up a chair and sat down across from him now, feeling curious herself. "And who do you think I used to be?"

"An assassin."

"I'm still an assassin," she corrected him softly.

He shook his head again.

"You were on the wrong side. You were playing for the bad guys when I saw you last. You were cold… and scared. I didn't think it was possible to be both until I saw you."

She glanced behind her at Clint who kept a stoic face, ready to pounce on Bucky if necessary. The Russian looked back at him now and then finally recognized him. "You… you helped train us…"

He nodded now. "So what do you want, Romanov? Why are you here?"

She hadn't heard her original name be said aloud since the days in The Red Room and it was her turn to tense up now. "I'm here… because I want to help you and I think I can do that. Obviously the others thing I can too or else they wouldn't have called me."

"What makes you think you can help me? I already hurt Stark more times than I can count and… I don't even know who I am anymore. I don't know if… if I'm James Barnes or… if I'm The Asset, a Winter S-Soldier," Bucky's voice trembled slightly.

She wet her lips and watched him. This wasn't the man she remembered training her. That man had been The Asset. He had also been turned into a trained killer except he had been nearly merciless back then. Looking at him now, he looked like an ex-veteran with PTSD. He seemed more human now than he did in the past.

Natasha leaned forward now. "You are James Buchanan Barnes and you're Steve Rogers' best friend. You don't have to be The Asset unless you want to let Hydra control you. It's completely up to you, whether you believe it or not. When you let yourself become angry, that's when they have the most control over you."

He gripped at his hand with his fingers. "I don't have control over any of it. I can't control it when the Winter Soldier comes out…"

"You're wrong, James. You can control it. I know you can. You're strong and I believe you can do it. I know the other guys believe you can too, or else they never would've let you stay here."

Bucky suddenly stood up, which caused Natasha to also stand, which caused Clint to stand up as well; it was a chain reaction. He swallowed hard, looking at her with frustration in his eyes.

"But… I can't control it. You don't understand. I can't do it. I tried taking medication and it helped for a while until it didn't, and then The Asset took over. I don't know what to do. I've tried to stay calm but once it hits me, then it's too late to turn back and a hellfire is unleashed before I can even think to stop it. Then I wake up later and realize just how close I came to killing someone. Do you have any idea how that feels?"

She was patient while he talked and then it came her turn to answer. "When I finally managed to escape from The Red Room, and I was able to be on my own for the first time in years, I was terrified. Every little noise I heard at night had me on edge. I managed to find someone who actually loved me, and then I ended up killing him,"

Bucky's expression went from frustration to confusion, and he waited for her to continue her story.

She never took her eyes off of him but she could feel them fill up with tears. "He was the first person in my life who taught me how to feel and speak my mind freely. It was late, and I didn't know it at the time, but he was a creak in the hallway one night, and I reacted so quickly. I suppose I thought it was people at the Red Room coming back for me, to give me another mission, and I snapped his neck before I turned on the light to see who it was."

Bucky suddenly looked humbled now and he appeared to shrink a little bit in stature. "I'm sorry," he attempted to whisper sympathetically, but he knew it came out lamely instead.

She simply nodded, being careful not to let any of her tears actually fall. "I know how it feels to be trained to kill and try to go on to live a normal life only to realize that you can't outrun your past. I understand how you feel, Barnes. Don't let yourself believe that you're alone in all this because you're not. If you could just give me a chance to prove that to you, I'd like to try to help you."

He thought for a long time, the silence almost becoming deafening until he finally spoke. "Fine, but… you have to answer a question first." When she nodded in agreement, he continued. "What did you do after you killed him, your boyfriend?"

She bit her lip and took a silent breath.

"I buried him and then I ran away. That's when Nick Fury found me, and introduced me to the Avengers Initiative. My boyfriend's name was Dimitri, and I still think about him from time to time, but… I don't let it incapacitate me. Did I answer your question?"

Bucky nodded now in satisfaction. "So what happens now? I mean, is Stark going to be okay? I didn't kill him, did I?"

She could see the fear in his eyes and she gave him a small smirk. "I think it's impossible to kill someone so stubborn like him. He's fine. I have an idea and you're allowed to shoot it down but I'd like you to hear it first. I was going to run it past it you and the Science Madmen downstairs. Would you be up for that?"

Bucky smirked now too before he nodded.

"Good," Clint finally spoke for the first time. "Let's get out there so we can hear your wonderful plan, Nat."

She knew that he was trying to sound excited for Bucky's sake but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Natasha let the men outside into the hall where Tony, Steve, and now Bruce were all intensely waiting for her to come out of. They seemed surprised to see Bucky with her and Clint.

"Meeting in Stark's lab now. Barnes is coming with us."

Tony looked at Steve who looked at Clint, who then looked at Bruce.

"Yes, ma'am," Steve replied obediently.

Natasha rarely ever left room for negotiation when she wanted to do something. The other Avengers also rarely ever dared to challenge her. She had earned their respect from the moment they had all seen her break a man's neck with her legs. She was not one to mess with, and they all knew it.

Once they all headed downstairs and made themselves comfortable in their chairs, Natasha let them in on the plan.

"So I was thinking that Bucky's metal arm is all he knows, being a weapon for Hydra. Even if it's not his original arm," she glanced over at Tony knowingly before looking back at the other men. "It doesn't matter. With his hidden blades, he's still a loaded gun. If we get rid of his arm –"

Tony interrupted her. "—Then he's only going to have one arm. What good will that be if we're attacked again? Our advantage is that arm."

She turned to him again now. "That arm is a living reminder for him of what he used to be. He isn't Hydra's tool anymore. He's his own person, Stark."

"He's his own person that ripped out the only life support I have," he corrected her, anger laced in his voice now. "If we're going to take away his arm, we might as well take away Steve's super soldier-ness, Clint's eyesight, my suit, Bruce's ability to turn into a rage monster, Thor's hammer, and your… super strong thighs."

She stiffened her back and glanced at Bucky who was looking torn between staying quiet and speaking his mind, and then looked back at Tony.

"If you would have just let me finish my sentence, I was going to say that if we take away his arm, his episodes might go away, or at the very least, decrease. Hydra connected his brain and his arm together by brainwashing him and attaching the new arm at the same time. Even if they aren't physically connected, they're still mentally attached," she reasoned. "What if we take away his arm completely? If his arm is gone, his brain won't be connected to the memories anymore."

Clint looked over at her with a smile, as if she was a genius. "That sounds like it could work."

Bruce pushed up his falling glasses and gave a small gesture of approval, or at least a gesture of his willingness to try it out. Steve and Tony both looked skeptical, however.

"Speak your minds, boys. What are you thinking?"

Steve started to speak before Tony could. "Only if he's willing to do it."

Everyone now looked over at Stark who held out his arms. "Are we missing the big one here? He'll be completely defenseless. He'll have one good arm and half the balance. Remember when we took off the first arm and I was making him that one? We had to help him walk, and get dressed, and eat…"

"He's our friend, Stark," Steve replied curtly now. "And a veteran. Wouldn't you be willing to do those things for a friend if it meant that he could function again like a normal person?"

Tony thought for a moment and glanced over at Bruce, who was giving him a gentle, pleading look. He'd be willing to do those things for Bruce, without question. That could be because he loved him though, but he thought silently for a bit longer. He considered Bucky a friend. Bucky almost died saving innocents trapped in a burning building. There was still a bit of good in him, and if it was possible to make that good spread throughout the rest of him and grow, then maybe it would be worth it.

"What if the bad guys come?" Tony asked softly.

Bruce was the first person to answer now. "Then we all make them leave and protect Barnes in the process."

Natasha, seeming satisfied with his answer, looked over to Bucky now. "What do you think? Do you want to give this a shot, even though you won't have your arm anymore?"

He looked down at the arm Tony had made him and pressed the button on his hand guard that made the blades come out. He looked at them thoughtfully before looking back up at her.

"I don't want to be an assassin anymore. I just want to be normal like before."

She smiled more now in relief. "Those are the answers I like to hear. Let's do this, Stark."