(Hey Readers! So this story I wrote to replace the other Tatiana x Bucky fic I wrote since I was out of ideas for the other one I started and this one I was inspired by my favorite scene from Falcon and Winter Soldier where we get to see a flashback from when Ayo helps Bucky finally overcome his Winter Soldier past. I hope you like it. Just FYI, I know Natasha has an actual sister now named Yelena, but I came up with my Tatiana character way before the first trailer dropped for Black Widow. I just kept starting and discarding the fics I wrote for her before is all haha. I'm sorry if Tati isn't the best character or if her relationship with Bucky isn't that believable. I did my best since this is going to be a one-shot. I don't want to start another long story so lol. I hope you like the story for what it was. Happy Reading!)
...
"King me." She grinned as she made the checker skip across the board to a square on the very edge.
A light sigh came from her opponent across the mattress and Tati looked up, her brown eyes meeting the light blue ones in front of her.
"How are you so good at this game?" Bucky lightly grumbled, not really whining as he grabbed a discarded red checker from his side to place on top of Tati's.
With a smirk, Tati lightly shrugged a shoulder. "I've been trained rigorously to strategize expertly since I was a child. Some things never fade." She joked, but stiffened when a frown crossed Bucky's features.
"You really think so?"
Realizing how he had taken her casual remark, Tati leaned forward and reached a hand to take his only one in her fingers.
"Hey, whatever happens out there tonight...whatever form this final test Shuri and the Dora Milaje come up with...you're going to be fine. You've been doing so well and...I can't imagine that the result will disappoint either of us." She tried to offer him a consoling smile, but Bucky did not return it.
"But what if it doesn't? I mean, can't you stay with me the whole time?" He asked, sounding like a frightened child who was begging for comfort from his parents after a bad sleep.
Tati felt her smile fall ever so slightly.
"You know I would if I was allowed." Her lower lip slipped between her teeth and she bit down on it as she remembered the exact words the Wakandan Princess had given her the day she and Bucky were informed that the former Winter Soldier was ready for a final test, and watched those beautiful eyes fill with moisture.
"And it will work. I will." She emphasized the words as if doing so would somehow make them come true.
When Bucky dropped his gaze from her, Tati moved her hand from his hand to his cheek, gently guiding him to look at her again.
"Would I give you false hope?" She asked seriously and Bucky managed a weak smile. "Never." He scooted a bit closer, accidentally bumping the checker board a bit.
Returning his smile, Tati leaned to meet him and let her eyes as she felt his dry yet gentle lips press against her own.
"Ah-Hem!" The two former assassins sprang apart, cheeks flushing a bit as they turned almost as one to notice the Dora Milaje officer standing in the doorway of the room.
Quickly forgetting the game, both Tati and Bucky scrambled to get to a standing position with Bucky knocking a couple of the game pieces onto the floor in the attempt.
If the woman noticed their nerves or any feelings of awkwardness, she did not show it. "If you are ready, I will bring Sergeant Barnes to the place where he is to be given his final test."
Swallowing gingerly, Tati nodded her head glancing at Bucky and feeling a little better when she noticed the steely determined look had replaced the apprehensive one he had been sporting earlier.
"I'm ready." Bucky responded steadily to the warrior and she nodded, turning and motioning for both of them to follow.
Without missing a beat, Bucky strode after her and Tati took the rear position moving quickly so she wouldn't be left behind.
The sun had already set by the time they set foot outside of the facility Bucky had been staying in while undergoing treatment procedures for all the damage and programming Hydra had inflicted on him.
Ayo, the officer did not speak as she led them across a vast field to the edge of a wood where the sound of a thousand cicadas and crickets were already flooding the air with their cacophonous sound.
"Here is as far as you go, Tatiana. From here, Mr. Barnes must continue alone with me until the test is complete." Ayo finally spoke again, turning to address the red haired woman as she stopped at the entrance to the wood.
Nodding, Tati paused, knowing there was no way around it. She thought Bucky might hesitate, but he only glanced back at her for a second before following the guard further into the darkness.
Now Tati drew in a deep breath, feeling more tension tighten her stomach as she listened to the sounds of Bucky and Ayo's footsteps fading further and further away from her location.
If all went well, Bucky would soon be returning back through those woods, a new man and then...well, and then they could make plans for the future.
Maybe I'll call Nat and try to meet up with them for awhile. Or maybe Bucky and I can just get out of here on our own. Start a peaceful life in an open countryside together. He would like that. He did say he liked how peaceful it could be here sometimes.
A smile teased at the corner of Tati's mouth as she invisioned that kind of future for herself and Bucky.
A small hut or cottage surrounded by lush rich landscape. Birdsong filling the air in the mornings and insect calls in the evenings.
Maybe there would be a few goats or sheep and a child...a beautiful, lively child with Bucky's bright eyes and maybe her hair color running around with laughter forever ringing from their throat.
That child, should he or she ever come into existence, would never know or be even able to imagine the kinds of horrors that his parents had witnessed and gone through.
Tati almost laughed at the thought. Before now she would never have even entertained the thought of herself settling down with a man to lead a peaceful life. To even think such a lifestyle was possible for a former deadly assassin who was trained in the Red Room was beyond absurd, but...things had definitely changed a bit since she met the Avengers and then ran into Bucky.
Bucky was...unique to say the least and though it hadn't been easy to talk to him or to get him to stop trying to run from her, eventually they'd formed a mostly easy companionship and comradery that slowly led to something more.
...
Yeah...that's totally him. Good job trying to conceal all your most identifiable assets though, Sir. If it were anyone, but me you would be virtually invisible.
A slow smile curved the side of Tati's face as she watched the young man in worn down clothes, an even more tattered ball cap pulled low over his head with the back of his collar pulled up just enough to conceal his long brown hair which he had tied up into a knotted bun.
Taking care not to be detected, she waited in the old car she was using as part of her cover, pretending to be checking her mirrors until he'd disappeared down the street around the corner.
Flicking on her earpiece and sticking a piece of gum in her mouth, Tati quickly yet casually slipped out of the car, checking her surroundings one more time to make sure she wasn't noticed before strolling into the building just behind a woman in a waist-length peacoat.
"Hi." She smiled at the receptionist in the office. "My boyfriend forgot his wallet and he asked me to go get it for him so he could reserve a table for us. Unfortunately, he forgot to give me the keys. Is there any way, I could borrow a spare real quick? I promise I'll bring them right back. Room 402?" Tati asked cheerfully, popping her gum as the receptionist kindly acquiesced to her request.
Once the key was in hand, she made sure to keep her gait casual and unassuming until she got off the elevator at the right floor and found the flat she her query exiting earlier.
Wow...feels more like a closet than an apartment. Then again I guess you aren't looking to stay too long in one spot, are you? She carefully entered the apartment, wrinkling her nose at the stale smell of mold coming from one of the walls.
Her eyes fell first on the plain coffee table situated in the middle of the narrow living room space before shifting to the couch where a slightly rumpled quilt and flat pillow lay almost haphazardly in a pile.
Deciding to leave the bedroom for last, Tati headed for the kitchen, noting that it too was mostly neat if bereft of much besides a couple mugs, a spoon and a breadcrumb covered plate.
Casting her gaze towards the fridge, she stopped when she saw a curious faded black journal barely visible on the top of it.
Leaning carefully up on her toes, she took the journal and after scanning the cover, started to lift it to the first page.
"I've found his latest hiding place. It's his place, all right. The subject fit the exact description Steve gave us. Still had the long hair too." She reported quietly to her sister Nat who was following another lead all the way across the continent.
Just as Tati put the journal back where she found it, a cold metal hand suddenly grabbed her around the back of her neck. She had no time to scream before she was thrown against a wall and her eyes met the face of the man she had thought had gone out for the day.
"Who are you?..What are you doing here?" He nearly snarled, his grip tightening on her neck the slightest bit as he kept her pressed against the kitchen wall.
Tati wheezed. "I'm...not here to hurt you...I know a friend of yours...he's worried about you...He looking for you..."
Still he did not loosen his grip. "I don't have friends...I don't have anyone. Get out!" He dropped her like a sack of potatoes on the floor.
Coughing as the air she had been previously deprived of suddenly rushed into her lungs, Tati clumsily tried to get back on her feet.
"Tatiana, you all right?" Nat's voice came through her earpiece, but for the moment, Tati ignored her.
"Bucky!"
He froze upon hearing that name. "What?"
"That's your name isn't it? That's what Steve called you." He hesitated, staring at her with an expression that showed hesitation, curiousity and distrust.
"Who's Steve?"
"Steve Rogers. Captain America. You two were friends, right? A long time ago?" Tati kept trying, holding her hands up in a way to tell him that she wasn't armed and she had no intention to hurt him.
The man furrowed his brow as if trying to think of something, but not being able to put a finger on it.
"I don't...I can't remember anything. Please go away." He mumbled, walking away from her towards the living room now.
Tati thought fast. This was the closest any of them got to finding him. If she lost him now, she may as well turn in her resignation and never face Steve, Nat or any of her other friends again.
"Okay!...Okay, you don't have to remember now. We can take this slow." Slowly reaching her left hand, she turned off her earpiece, pulled it off and smashed it in her fist.
She began to relax a bit when Bucky stopped walking, looking at her again with narrowed eyes.
"I said go."
"And I will. Just...promise me you won't run, okay? I promise I'm not here to hurt you and I'm not with anyone who did...I just want to help you." She said sincerely, her heart twisting when she saw that all too familiar tired and hurting look that she'd seen once too often in the mirror before Clint found her and Nat.
Bucky let out a tense sigh before shaking his head. "Just-." A loud knocking at the door cut him off.
"Hey! Apartment security! Open up!" A gruff voice on the other side shouted in between pounds and Bucky groaned.
"Great. You! Get out of here! I'll deal with this." He started to stroll across the room towards the main entrance.
Nodding, Tati turned towards the open window, throwing a leg over before tossing one last look at Bucky.
"Fine, but before I go, take this." Grabbing a small data chip, she tossed at Buck, slightly surprised when he managed to catch it in mid air.
"What is it?" He asked, still inching towards the door. Tati slipped the rest of the way out the window.
"Just stick it into your phone, the next time you need a new safe place and dial the number on the bottom of it. It will take you somewhere off grid. Somewhere you'll be safe."
Bucky stared at the chip then shrugged and hurriedly stuffed it into his pocket. Realizing, she needed to leave now, Tati started to slip off the window ledge when he called after her.
"Can I get your name?" He asked. Tati barely managed to catch herself. "It's Tati."
...
"Wait! So be straight with me now, did you find him or not?" Nat asked, starting to look a bit impatient with her sister.
Tati stifled a sigh. "Yes, but I...I messed up. He's gone now." She frowned, flinching over her right shoulder when she heard what sounded like a scurrying noise.
When nothing appeared, she returned her attention back to the screen. "Ahh..that's too bad. Have you told Steve yet?" Nat asked.
Tati shook her head. "Not ye..." There was a crash. "What was that?" Nat asked. Tati frowned. "I don't know, but I think we need to cut this short. I'll report back in a minute."
Without giving her sister time to respond, she shut down the laptop, yanking the cloaking drive from the jack before standing to her feet.
"So..what kind of name is Tati?" The sudden voice behind her made her her whirl, gun flying to her hand as she turned towards the source of the sound.
She sighed and put her gun back away with narrowed eyes when she recognized the silhouette of the figure standing in one of the back corners.
"It's a nickname for Tatiana first of all and second...don't sneak up on me ever. That's asking for a quick death doing that to a trained assassin." Tati shook her head at the man.
Chuckling bitterly, Bucky walked a little closer to her. "Good thing I was trained too then."
Nodding, Tatiana quickly brushed over his appearance before speaking again. "Touche. I'm sorry, did you have to leave your flat because of me?" She asked, feeling as if she already knew the answer even as she asked.
Bucky just shrugged. "Sorry." Tati apologized again before gesturing around the small wrecked warehouse she had been hiding in for the better part of a month now.
"Well, welcome to my temporary base. It's not much, but...I really wasn't planning on staying that long." She shrugged before slowly slipping the cloaking drive into her back pocket.
Bucky grunted. "I get it. So...you said a friend of mine sent you to find me?" He started to take a longer look around himself.
Tati nodded tentatively. "Yes. He was the one you fought on that jet back in Washington D.C."
Bucky nodded along with her. "I think I remember him. I think..." He furrowed his brows. He started when he felt a hand on his arm.
"Hey. It's okay. You don't have to remember it all now. We can take it one step at a time. Is there anything you can remember?" Tati asked gently.
Bucky paused then quickly shook his head. "I don't want to think about that." He pulled away.
"Fair enough. Okay then, I guess we can start with finding a new safe house." Turning back towards her laptop, she started to open it when her eye caught the communicator beacon on the side.
After thinking a minute, she broke off the beacon and turned the computer on.
"We can't stay here?" Bucky asked, coming over to join her and flinching a bit when his foot brushed against some downed piping.
Tati sighed. "Honestly, I should have moved like two weeks ago, but my job wasn't finished." She glanced at him with a half smile. "Don't worry, once we find a new hiding spot. We'll get to work on everything else."
Bucky averted his gaze. He started to pace the little room then he glanced back at Tati who was bent and focused over her laptop.
"In that case...I'm Bucky." He formally introduced himself. "Or at least...that's what that Steve guy kept calling me on that jet." He rolled his shoulders back, making a slight cracking sound as he did so.
Tati smiled to herself as she pulled up some viable options. "Nice to meet you then, Bucky." Still watching her, Bucky slowly let his hands drop down at his sides.
"It's nice to meet you too...Tati."
...
"So this is why you stopped reporting in." Tati whirled at the voice, pivoting on her toe while grabbing her concealed handgun at the same time.
"What are you doing here?" She asked lowly, not easing her stance or lowering the gun when she recognized her sister.
Pushing off the cold wall, Nat moved to a couple steps closer to her. "Can't someone check in on their little sister after she drops off the face of the earth for a few months?" She held out her hands in a light casual shrug, smiling disarmingly at the other young woman.
Tati clenched her jaw. "Steve sent you, didn't he?" She asked, not moving her hand away from her weapon yet.
"Yes...and no. He's worried because you went off grid suddenly and never reported in." Nat responded carefully, fixating her sister with a calm yet piercing stare.
Tati averted her gaze. "And he sent you to get it for him, right? Well you can tell him I have nothing to report...and when I do have something, he will be the first to know." She said firmly, hoping Nat would buy it and leave.
No such luck of course. Tati wasn't the only one who was completed training in the Red Room.
"Oh yeah? Then what's this?" Nat turned swiftly, plucking a slightly thick piece of folded paper from a table and flipping it so that the contents of the page was facing Tati.
With resulting skill of long brutal practice, Tati kept her expression steady and blank. "That is mine. It's none of your business!"
"Really?" One eyebrow raised and Nat tilted her head to read from the paper. "It's addressed to a couple named Jack and Ana." She waved the paper a bit as if to emphasize her point.
Tati's expression darkened. "Put it down, Nat. It doesn't concern you."
"Tati, I've known you longer than yesterday and I know a ruse when I see one. What do you think you're doing hiding him? You know what he means to Steve and if he finds out you've been keeping his best friend from him-!"
"You think I didn't want to tell him?" Tati quickly cut her off. "You think my first thought upon finding him wasn't to alert Steve and do everything I can to get him back to New York?...He's not some package to be sent off from one location to another! He's...He's a broken man, Nat. I...I can't make him go!...Not before he's ready! I..."
"Ana?" The voice made both sisters turn. Bucky's expression turned from confused to concern as he quickly noted Natasha's presence in his flat before his attention fell on the younger Romanoff.
"What's going on? Babe, who's this?" Dropping his bags, he rushed across the room towards Tati, eyeing Nat with almost the utmost suspicion.
"I'm-."
"Leaving. She was just leaving." Tati quickly interrupted. Understanding that she'd outgrown her welcome, Nat sighed and nodding, stepped back across the room, gently grabbing Tati's hand to place the letter she'd taken earlier into it.
"I'm sorry. I promise I won't tell Steve anything." She said sincerely, before letting go and turning to head out through the front door.
Before she could get too far, Tati grabbed her arm in a firm yet not painful grasp. "Thank you. Really..." The sincerity could not be disguised in her tone and Nat offered her a stiff and strained smile in return.
Nodding, Nat pulled away disappearing quickly out of the apartment before another word could be said.
"Tatiana?" Bucky broke the quiet hesitantly, his use of her real name jarring Tati a bit back her current position and the realization of what must happen now in the wake of her sister's unexpected reappearance.
She grabbed Bucky's hand as he started to cradle her face, inhaling sharply as if she'd been stung.
"Buck..." She looked up to meet his icy blue irises before continuing. "We have to move on. Fast."
...
"No, I promise. They're not too hard to make and they'll be great with the plums." Tati reassured with a smile which Bucky returned as they quickly climbed the staircase up to their floor.
"If you say so, Doll. Just..." He trailed off, his expression suddenly dropping and turning suspicious once they got a few feet away from their door.
"What-?" Tati started to ask him when he waved his flesh hand in her face, shushing her. "Someone's in the apartment...I knew I wasn't just imagining things. We have to go!" Bucky did an abrupt about face, starting to push Tati back towards the stairs.
Tati pulled away from him.
"Bucky wait! Remember what happened the last time you jumped to conclusions? What did you hear?"
"Tati, we don't have time. I heard someone walking around in our flat. We can't go in! We have to go now!" He tried to pull her this time.
Tati pushed back against his chest. "The bag!" She hissed, making him realize that their essential emergency pack was still inside their apartment.
Without it, they wouldn't last to the next safe house. If they could even find one without the pack, that is. Tati's laptop was in the bag.
Shutting his eyes in frustration, Bucky let out a low groan before nodding concedingly. "Fine! I'll go get the pack! You meet me in an alley a few miles away, got it?"
Tati nodded. "Okay." Before she could stop herself, she grabbed onto Bucky's right shoulder with her hand and pulled him in, kissing him quickly yet meaningfully on the lips before almost jerking away.
"Be safe!" She smiled before making her way back down the stairs.
...
"You're sure there's no other way?" Tati asked as she watched the Wakandan Princess go through all the information she was able to find on Hydra's Winter Soldier programming.
She sighed. "He believes it is the safest way for him until a treatment plan can be determined." Shuri glanced up at the former assassin with sympathy in her bright brown eyes.
Tati pressed her lips together. "He decided." Shuri nodded. "And...when will he be...frozen?"
Shuri glanced at the time. "Soon. You should say your goodbyes while you can." She said firmly yet kindly.
Nodding her head, Tati turned to leave the lab, walking further down the corridor until she reached the exam room where Bucky sat on a clean white cot, a black sleeve draped over the shoulder part of his now missing arm and Steve standing on his right.
Both men looked up when they heard the door hiss open and Bucky's face broke into a smile. "Hey Doll!" Tati smiled back at him. "Hey." She glanced at Steve and he nodded before taking a couple steps towards her.
"I uh...I realized I never thanked you for taking such good care of this guy all this time. Guess I was too busy being frustrated at the fact that you hid him from me. So...thanks." The Captain said sincerely.
Tati nodded back at him. "You're welcome." She let her gaze move back towards Bucky. "I can see why he meant so much to you. Buck's a sweetheart when you get down to it." She half joked and Bucky snorted, rolling his eyes playfully.
"Says the lady whose first introduction to me was my hand slamming her into a ktichen wall." He joked. Tati waved his remark away dismissively.
"In your own defense, I did sneak into your apartment uninvited." Chuckling, Bucky waved with his only hand for her to come closer and Tati obliged, hearing Steve softly clear his throat before the former Captain moved to exit from the room.
"I'll uh...give you two a minute then." He said, executing one last wave at Bucky before walking out.
Bucky nodded after him. "Thanks Pal." He turned back to face Tati once the doors were closed again and tried to tug her closer.
"Sit with me." He invited softly and Tati obliged, moving to sit next to him on the bed when he pulled her onto his lap instead.
Almost instinctively, Tati let her hand fall on his metal shoulder until her fingers landed on air where his prosthetic arm used to be.
She frowned as she remembered Bucky telling her how it had happened.
"Are they at least going to give you a new arm eventually?" She asked and Bucky shrugged. "I don't know. I kind of hope so. It feels kinda weird only having one arm." He pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth to moisten it for a second and Tati let out a weak laugh.
"Maybe I'll ask the Princess if she'll consider designing one. After..." She trailed off and Bucky nodded.
"I'd like that. Just make sure you tell her not to make it look like my old arm. As much as I miss having a arm, I don't particularly miss that arm so much." He explained himself.
Again Tati just nodded, concentrating on just taking Bucky in with her eyes as she grasped at his warm hand that was holding her around the waist.
Bucky's smile fell a bit when he noticed the look on her face. "Hey, what's going on? What are you thinking about?" He asked, rubbing her back a bit.
Tati sighed. "Nothing just...I'm going to miss talking to you. And being with you in general." She shrugged averting her gaze.
Tati felt Bucky's hand move from her waist to her face. "Hey. I'm going to miss you too. But if the King is to be believed, I won't be under for too long. I just can't risk hurting anyone else until all the crap Hydra put in me is gone. You understand, right?" He asked, staring into her eyes as if asking for confirmation.
Tati nodded her head. "I understand. Just know I'll be waiting here for you when you're ready to come back. I'm not going anywhere." She promised, raising a hand and stroking his scruffy face as she spoke.
"Good." Bucky let his eyes slide shut for a moment then he straightened his posture and leaned closer to her, pushing some of her hair back from his face before speaking again.
"Think I can have a kiss to take with me in there?" He nodded at the freezing chamber that was all set up behind them and after following his gaze to it, Tati nodded, leaning in to meet him halfway.
"Of course."
...
"Tati!...Tati!" The sound of that familiar voice calling her name from across the field drew Tati's attention out of her thoughts and she spun on her heel, just in time to see Bucky running back to her from the path he had taken it seemed just seconds before.
"Tati!" Bucky let out a sound that was half a gasp and half a laugh as he crashed into her, burying his face in her shoulder.
"Bucky!" Tati quickly gathered him into her arms, hugging him as she felt him squeeze her back with his one arm.
It took Tati a moment to realize that he was shaking. "Buck, are you okay? Did it not work?" She asked, fearing the worst for a second until Bucky suddenly pulled away, the biggest watery grin lighting his face as he gently stroked her cheek.
"I'm free, Tati! I'm free!...I'm finally free!" He choked a laugh. Tati felt a huge weight fall off of her. "Oh my God!"
She covered her gaping mouth with a hand. Nodding Bucky moved back for another hug. "I can't believe this! I can finally have a life!...We can have a life...together!" He enthused and Tati nodded back just as enthusiastically as she wiped at his tears with her thumbs.
"Yes we can!...And we can go anywhere! Oh my God Bucky! I can't believe you're finally free! I'm so happy!...So happy for you!" She lunged forward to capture his lips in the fiercest kiss she'd ever shared with him.
With equal amounts of passion, Bucky kissed her back, both of them oblivious to the silent figure of Dora Milaje Warrior watching them with a satisified and warm smile on her face.
It was finally over.