The last couple of days had taken Steve by storm. The meetings and planning had been one thing , after all he was a soldier not an office worker, but after Natasha had vanished he really thought he'd lost it. After all sh'ed left no note, no text or calls , she'd just gone. This could be considered normal for her but it still made him uneasy. Then a couple of days later she was back with his best friend. Suddenly his life felt like it belonged to him. He was happy, if not a bit confused.
He'd told Bucky before leaving him in his room last night that his training would start again, both physical and mental. He didn't know much about how Hydra had controlled Bucky for all those years .He did know that they had to try and undo it.
At 7am sharp he entered the Compounds gym , where he saw Natasha sparring with Bucky. He threw a punch at her which she pushed down to then use his metal arm as leverage to wrap her legs around his neck and throw them both to the floor. Both recovering instantly, she went to kick him, he caught her foot pushing it back. "i could have broken it".
"You could have... but then I'd have to put hair removal cream into your shampoo bottle so..." she shrugged.
"You wouldn't dare"
"How i answer this depends... do you still want total honesty..." she smirked.
"Hey" Steve said as he walked towards the mat that was placed in the middle of the room. Surrounding them was an array of gym equipment that Steve hadn't bothered to learn the names of.
Natasha nodded at him, panting, as Bucky just glared at Natasha. He hadn't expected her to be here but he appreciated it nonetheless. She wore a matching gym set, a black sports bra, jacket and leggings. It suited her. It made him happy to see her look so human after everything she'd been through.
"Isn't it to early in the morning for you Romanoff" he grinned.
"Yea... don't push it" she crossed her arms. "Are we here to train or..."
"Yes" Steve clapped his hands together and said "I saw the restraint you showed when you didn't break Romanoff's foot. We need to find a way to see how much restraint you have exactly."
"You sure about this Steve?"
"Yea...I trust you Buck" he patted him on the arm. "We're going in the ring".
"It's a matt" Natasha said.
The pair shot her a disapproving look causing a grin to spread across her face. She stepped off the mat and smiled at him. He knew that she was worried, her eyebrow creases when she's scared. He knew that he'd be okay.
"Ready?" he asked his friend. He nodded solemnly. It was as if everyone knew what was coming besides him. He supposed on some level he knew too that whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be pretty. After all, they'd be challenging everything Hydra had coded into him for nearly a hundred years. Something like that doesn't just go away. He knew the risks but he also knew he would help his friend, no matter the cost.
They both lifted their hands into a fighting stance. Steve charged at Bucky, throwing his right hook towards his face, Bucky ducked using his momentum to spin and punch Steve in the stomach. He fell back a couple of paces but remained standing on his feet. Bucky came at him, throwing punch after punch. Steve could see it in his eyes, this was still his friend. He was pulling his punches. He knew he had to land a decent hit to raise his adrenaline levels. To see what his friends limits were. And so when Bucky threw his metal fist towards Steve he moved to the right and then hit him across the face. His friend went down but didn't come back up. His eyes darkened. He heard Nat come to his side.
"Bucky? He asked tentatively.
"This was a horrible idea Rogers" she whispered in his ears.
"Now... you tell me this now..." he whispered back. But the Winter Soldier just stood and stared. "Bucky..." he tried again, stepping towards darkness in his eyes seemed to lighten and his friend faced them.
"Ouch" was all he said as he lifted a hand to his bleeding mouth wiping his thumb along his bloodied teeth.
"Sorry" Steve said sheepishly.
"Great.. your sorry and your you. I have plans in a hour so could we hurry this along..." Natasha said.
The three of them turned suddenly as they heard a bang coming from the back of the building.
"That's the garden" Natasha said.
"I'll meet you there. Two minutes sharp. Don't engage until i get there. Do you hear me Romanoff".
"Don't engage the maniac with a bomb outside our home... got it" she nodded.
"Barns your with Romanoff, make sure she follows orders"
"What?" she exclaimed.
"We can have this fight later... now go!".
And with that they split off, and he watched two of his closest friends run off into danger whilst he did his job. Assemble the Avengers.
...
Natasha and Bucky ran out through the entrance to the gym down the stairs and got outside through the basement doors. Natasha was aware that Bucky could outrun her , yet he stayed, planted at her side. Probably because of Steve's orders. Probably.
Natasha gasped as she saw the hole in the right corner of the facility. People stared, and for once she felt truly helpless. They needed Maximoff of the whole building would claps. She could see the foundation recoiling from the inital hit. It was a matter of time before the amount of injured turned into casualties.
"Screw Steve's orders, they could still be here. Another blow and countless more people are going to die Barns"
"What do you want me to do"
"Check the outskirts of the explosion for any trapped civillians. Help anyone who needs it and wait here for Steve."
"And let you go alone.. No! Steve will kill me"
"He'll kill me if you die Barns. Let me do my job". Without waiting for his response she broke into a run hoping to find something somewhere soon.
And that's when she did. She stopped in her tracks and saw the small army gathered at their door. Weapons, more advanced than the US military, tanks , guns and armor. And there she was, in her gym uniform stood, alone. Mentally she counted how many Avengers were currently here. Tony was with Pepper in their new Cabin, Clints retired, Thor and Banner have dissapeared and Rhodeys in DC. More importantly there was no one besides her.
"Sorry guys, open day in Monday. You'll have to come back later " she shouted.
"We want the Winter Soldier" one of the soldiers at the front replied.
"Hmm you'll have to be more specific. If you didn't know there are so may people with a secret identity here"
At once they all lifted their weapons, aiming them at the Russian Spy.
"For all we know this is the Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier would be the only Avenger that wouldn't know the protocol for a attack on this scale" another one shouted. Before Natasha knew what was happening they began marching towards her. She figured at least their guns were temporarily down suggesting to her they didn't want to harm the Winter Soldier, or somehow her.
Her heart beat increased. She knew her options. Fight and probably die or be taken, both not being great. Or turn Bucky over, another bad option. So she fought and hope their orders not to kill the Winter Soldier still stood when she started kicking ass. And so she did soldier after soldier she kicked, punched and pushed , dodging every attack that came her way.
Her eyes became blurry, her head spun. She fell.
...