Bahrain was more beautiful than anyone expected it to be. Well, mostly everyone. Natasha had been to the country once before, but even she seemed to appreciate the aesthetic of it. The capital, Manama, was an impressive city with some pretty amazing architecture. It always amazed Steve to see the various steel giants that were erected all over the world. The Bahrain World Trade Center was one of those giants. Its two, triangular-shaped towers were linked by three skybridges, each of which were equipped with a wind turbine that helped provide sustainable energy to the building. It was sleek and beautiful, standing tall among the other buildings and city streets. They only saw it from the sky, as the Quinjet was just passing over downtown Manama, but it was still an amazing sight.

The Adliya neighborhood was slightly less glamorous. South of Manama, Adliya was without all of the glittering skyscrapers and glass-buildings. It consisted of smaller structures, slightly crammed together in a way that was oddly reminiscent of New York City, but with far more sand and dust. It was a very brown landscape, lacking in color and shade. Natasha and Sam piloted the Quinjet, circling it around Adliya and the surrounding areas in recon formation.

"What do you think, Nat?" Steve asked from behind her chair.

"See that big structure jutting out into the water on the southern coastline, there?" She pointed out. "That's the BASRAC container repair division. They've been known to have some shady operations in the past. Plenty of things moving in and out that shouldn't. And all those units floating in the water south of it?" She glanced up at Steve.

"Might just be the perfect place to hide someone." He surmised.

"I can get us landing clearance to that helipad to the northeast," Nat said. "After that, we'll have to hoof it down to the docks."

"A little exercise never killed anyone," Steve said. "Let's do it."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Natasha remarked with a grin.

The reference was lost on her target, but she saw Sam shaking his head in the seat next to her. At least someone appreciated a little pop culture. She let him take control of the jet while she worked on getting that clearance she was talking about. It didn't take much to hack into the flight organization system and mark themselves as some very wealthy, very influential people who would be landing their private jet on the waterside. Still, they had to be careful. There was an American Naval Base a few miles north that had some potential for trouble. Natasha had to think that Garrett was taking the same precautions to remain undetected. It was her hope that taking similar precautions would more easily lead them to where Garrett was holing up with Coulson.

"Sam, when we get this thing grounded, I want you to fly out and scout ahead. Take a look around BASRAC." Steve said. "See if you can any possible sign of Coulson, number of potential threats, exit routes; the works."

"Copy that," Sam replied with a nod.

"Wanda, you'll head to the docks with Nat and I on foot. Once we're in, we'll need you to keep an eye on the entrance, just in case Garrett decides to call in any reinforcements."

Wanda nodded her understanding. She was still working on getting a better handle on her powers, which meant they still had the potential to get out of control. The last thing any of them needed was for her to lose control on the middle of a floating slab full of storage units. The closer she was to land, the better it would be for all of them. Natasha felt bad for sidelining her like this. She felt even worse for the fact that none of them were equipped to help Wanda better understand or hone her abilities. She told herself that they would get her help, eventually. It was just another item to add to an already long list of tasks, though. The last thing she wanted was for Wanda to get pushed to the wayside. She was far too important, and far too powerful, a member of the team for that.

The jet was soon landed. Natasha tore up an old shirt to make a couple of quick headscarves for herself and Wanda to wear. It wasn't wholly necessary to fit in with the dress code of the locals, but it would help to keep unwanted attention away from them, especially Natasha. Her red hair wouldn't go unnoticed in a place like this. When they exited the aircraft, Natasha did most of the talking with the employee at the landing pad. He seemed skeptical at first, but her smooth voice and fluency in his language seemed to do a good enough job at keeping suspicion at bay. She guessed that this wasn't the first questionable group to land here. She imagined that the man had his palms greased before.

Sam had a heavy backpack slung over his shoulder that was packed with his flight gear. When they made it to the street, he took a right and branched off from the other three, going his separate way. No one seemed too worried about him being alone. Sam had proven himself to be a smart and proficient ally. He wouldn't do anything to get himself noticed, at least not before he had to. With that assurance in mind, Steve, Natasha and Wanda headed southeast, for the docks. The side of town they were passing through wasn't particularly posh. There were more than a few shady figures lurking about. Natasha guessed that number would only increase with the dropping of the sun. It would be dark soon, and the cover of night would bolster the confidence of a lot of less-than-reputable characters.

"I can't speak their language," Wanda commented at one point, "but I can practically feel the disdain rolling off some of their shoulders."

Natasha cast her a sympathetic look. "They aren't exactly fond of foreigners, here." She said as she turned her gaze forward once more. "Especially women."

"I would like to give them something to be not fond of…" Wanda muttered.

Natasha chuckled quietly and shook her head. She appreciated Wanda's fire, as unstable as it could be at times. "I'm sure we'll get there eventually."

Steve hoped it wouldn't come to that, but he wasn't naive. He didn't expect Garrett to give Coulson up without a fight, and he didn't expect the man to be alone. It was highly unlikely that they would be able to do this thing quietly. They'd made a lot of noise at the Raft, but Steve hoped that whatever false leads Fury had fed the agents would keep them off their tail long enough to get Coulson to safety.

"So, what's the plan here?" Natasha's question broke into his thoughts. "Shoot first and ask questions later?"

He looked over at her. She seemed oddly… hopeful; with a little smirk on her lips and a perked eyebrow. He fixed her with a look and gave a little shake of the head. "Hardly," he said. "If we could not shoot, period, that would be great."

"Tell that to the other guys." Natasha said.

"I know," Steve replied. "Coulson's safety is our top priority. We can't do anything that puts him in danger. And," he added, "I think we can fully expect that his captors will use that to their advantage."

"Well," Natasha shrugged, "I can be flexible."

I know, Steve thought. That's what worries me.

He said nothing, but he swore he saw Wanda glance over at him for a moment. He was still unclear as to what the exact scope of her abilities were. He didn't know if she could read minds, and if she could, if she did read them from time to time. It seemed a bit dishonorable, and not something that Wanda would do willingly, but there was a chance she didn't have complete control over everything. He made a mental note, as ironic as that was, to try and keep things quiet in there. Just in case.

The sun dipped lower as they walked until, eventually, it disappeared from the sky completely. It wasn't long after that Sam's voice sounded over the ear pieces they each wore.

"I'm seeing a lot of bodies down there," he said. "Either there are a lot of armed overtime workers, or Garrett's got friends."

Steve sighed. Guns and metal boxes on water, just what he was hoping for this evening. "Alright, what about entries and exits?"

"One main entry on the north side off the docks," Sam said. "But there's a lot of open space between containers. Kinda like a maze. I can thin out a few on the south side without too much noise."

"Sounds good," Steve said. "After that, be ready for a quick exit. If Coulson's hurt, we'll need you to get him to safety quickly."

"Got it," Sam said. "I'm goin' in."

Natasha just barely caught the sight of his plummeting figure in the distance. The thrusters from his jetpack looked something like a falling star in the night, but the light quickly disappeared behind the bulky structures of the storage units.

"I'll go ahead," Natasha told the others. "See what our front door situation is like."

"Careful." Steve said as she started jogging off.

Natasha turned around, running backwards for a few steps so she could grin back at Steve and Wanda. "Always," she said. Then, she turned around and jogged off.

Steve caught Wanda looking at him. "What?" He asked, caution and confusion in his voice.

Wanda shook her head and said nothing.

Nat truly did move like a Black Widow in the night. She was quick and quiet as she approached their target, skirting around just beneath the nose of her enemies without them ever having a clue until it was too late. In this particular instance, there were two men at the front of the dock, just off land. Natasha walked by the dock once, circled around, and walked past it again, this time much closer. When one of the guards approached her to tell her to move along, she skillfully wrapped one arm around his throat while hopping up and over his shoulder. She placed herself behind him, turning both herself and the guard toward his buddy on the dock. The other man barely had time to raise his gun before Natasha pointed her free hand at him and fired one of her Widow's Bites darts right into his chest. The electrical current had him hitting the deck, quite literally. He twitched for a few seconds before going unconscious. With him down, Natasha shoved her boot into the back of the knee of the guard she was holding. He was brought to a kneel, and she delivered a quick blow to the side of his head to knock him out.

"All clear," she told the others.

Steve and Wanda appeared a few minutes later. Steve observed Natasha's work. When he noticed there was no blood, and both guards were still breathing, he allowed himself a small sigh of relief. This didn't go unnoticed by Natasha. Steve still thought she was this cold, calculated, ruthless thing. In a way, she was. To certain people, at least. She had to present herself as a threat to her enemies. Fear was important. It didn't make her a monster, though. She'd come a long way from her days in the Red Room. Natasha wasn't without mercy, and it stung to think that Steve might still question her character.

"Were you expecting something else?" She asked him with no shortage of bite in her tone.

He didn't have time to answer, though. She didn't really give it to him. Instead, Natasha walked up to the front door and knocked, of all things. There must have been some code among the guards out front that if one of them knocked, someone on the inside opened the door and started talking angrily, because that's exactly what happened. A man yanked the door open and was mid-angry-shout when he noticed that it wasn't one of his companions, but rather a woman.

"What the-" this one spoke English. That was interesting.

"Wanna buy some cookies?" Natasha asked before promptly jabbing the guy in the throat and knocking him back into the building.

She was quick to follow him inside, as were Steve and Wanda. Natasha ducked beneath a wild swing from the man she'd just attacked, and Steve was right behind her to catch it. He caught the man's fist in his hand, squeezing tightly and holding the guy's arm out to his side. Natasha delivered a swift kick to the guy's gut, and when he was doubled over, Steve finished the job with a punch that knocked him out. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"Don't move!" A man shouted from down the hall.

He raised a gun, but before he could fire it, a red energy encircled the weapon and lifted it right out of his hands. He watched in fear and confusion as the weapon disassembled itself right before his very eyes. Then, that same red energy grabbed him and slammed him into the wall, knocking him out cold. The source of that energy was, of course, Wanda. She stood behind Steve and Nat, her eyes glowing and her hands encompassed in the same color. She demonstrated an impressive level of control, but it was still too risky to take her much further inside. They were in too enclosed a space, and if something went wrong, it could be catastrophic. That seemed just fine with her, though. Wanda wasn't exactly a fan of small spaces.

They left her with instructions to watch the front, and if any help arrived, to handle it. If it became more than she could handle, she could call for help, and the others would circle back to assist her. While they advanced inside, Steve and Nat had Sam giving them some heads ups from the sky. He offered a bird's eye view, pun highly intended, of what they had left to deal with. Natasha thought it was almost like having cheat codes in a video game, telling you the exact turns and moves to make to ensure success. So far, it'd been working out great.

"Alright, looks like you've got two more coming up on your left." He said.

Natasha rounded the corner, jumped up onto one wall, pushed herself off of it, and landed on the shoulders of one of the guards. She wrapped her legs around his neck and twisted her body forward, using her momentum to flip him off of his own feet and onto the ground. She flipped off of him with the grace of a ballerina and then collapsed down with the force of a warrior to deliver a hard fist to his face before he could even hope to get up. Meanwhile, Steve took a slightly more direct approach. He rushed the second guard, slammed him against the wall, disarmed him with a chop to the arm and then knocked him out with a headbutt.

"And you say my methods are questionable…" Natasha muttered as she stood up.

"I didn't say that." Steve said, looking at her a bit breathlessly.

"You didn't have to."

She tried to brush past him, but before she could get anywhere, Steve reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. Natasha spun toward him, a defiant look on her face. The makeshift hood she wore fell away from her face, revealing her fiery red waves. The confines of the hallway had them close. Close enough for Steve to see that, that fire wasn't just in her hair. It was in her green eyes, too. Steve didn't shy away from it, though. He wasn't afraid of the heat. If anything, he welcomed it.

"You wanna go ahead and explain what that means?" He asked quietly.

"I see the way you look at me," Natasha said.

Do you? Steve found himself wondering.

"You think I'm going to rip these guys' spines out of their backs or something." She continued.

Steve actually chuckled at that. He knew it was going to earn another seething look from Nat, but he couldn't help himself. He shook his head and relaxed his grip on her arm but didn't let her go.

"Nat, I do not think that." He told her. "I just know that sometimes old habits-"

"I wouldn't call something ingrained in your head as a kid a habit." She shot back.

Steve sighed. "I'm just saying, I know how hard it can be to change."

"What about Bucky?" Natasha asked. "You trusted him."

"Nat, I do trust you."

"Do you?"

A moment of tense silence fell between them. They stood at an impasse, two stubborn forces refusing to budge. Natasha's eyes swiveled back and forth between his a few times. She thought she might have seen a bit of pain there, like she'd wounded Steve with that question, but it was hard to tell. Steve's brow furrowed a bit, and he pressed his lips in a firm line. The action caused those green eyes of hers to fall, just for a second. Natasha felt her cheeks burn with anger and… something else.

"Uh… guys?" Sam's voice broke into their earpieces. "We can still hear everything… remember?"

No, Steve had, in fact, not remembered that. Now, he felt like a world-class idiot. Some color rushed to his own cheeks, and he quickly released his hold on Natasha. Saying nothing, he started moving again, leading the way this time. Natasha's footsteps were barely audible behind him, and there were more than a few times he wanted to look back to see if she was still there. He didn't, though, because despite Natasha's beliefs, Steve did trust her. And that trust included trusting her to watch his back, despite the little argument that had just formed between them. Still, he couldn't keep his mind from turning it all over. Natasha was right. He was treating her differently than he had treated Bucky, even though they were both victims of very similar circumstances. That wasn't fair, and realizing that made him feel like an even bigger idiot than he had before.

Steve paused and turned around. "Nat…"

Before he could say anything, Natasha shoved him against a wall. She pushed herself backwards as she did so, creating an aisle of space between them through which a bullet flew. She fired another Widow's Bite, hitting the shooter down the hall in the arm and forcing him to drop his weapon. Steve wasted no time in pushing himself away from the wall and rushing the guard. The man was quick to pull a knife from his boot with his opposite hand and swipe it at Steve. The serrated blade just barely missed his abdomen as he hopped back to avoid the attack. When the man swiped again, Steve caught the attack with his forearm, redirecting it at the cost of allowing the blade to cut through his sleeve and bite into his flesh. He growled in pain and frustration and delivered a left hook that was perhaps a little too fueled. It knocked the guy's head to one side and threw his whole body into the wall beside him. Needless to say, when he fell, he didn't get back up.

Natasha jogged up behind Steve. She looked down to the fallen guard, and then to Steve's arm. She could see blood glistening against the dark color of his sleeve. "You okay?" She asked, all of that previous ire having dissipated into worry.

"Yeah," he nodded, looking down at his arm. He flexed his fingers a few times before lifting his gaze to Natasha's. "Thanks."

"Guys, you've got five incoming. Looks like everyone heard the shot and are heading your way. Except for two signatures holed up in a unit to your north." Sam informed them.

"That must be where Garrett has Coulson," Steve said.

"Mmhm." Natasha looked down the hall. "So much for keeping things quiet."

"Let's just make this quick," Steve said. "If Garrett feels backed into a corner, he might get jumpy."

Natasha nodded and pulled the batons from her back.. She attached them together and charged them up. Quick wouldn't be a problem for her. She and Steve emerged from the repair bay and found themselves outside among the rows of storage containers. Steve turned to the right and went low while Natasha struck out with her weapon, clotheslining the closest guard. Steve skirted past him as he fell and shouldered into the gut of a second guard, tackling him to the ground. He punched him and grabbed his gun, which he threw at the second closest guard. The man held up his arm to fend off the flying weapon, but it left him open to Natasha, who struck him on the side of the leg with her staff. She flipped it around and swung it the other way, whacking him across the side of the face just as his knee buckled from the first hit. She spun to the side just as another man opened fire, narrowly avoiding his bullets.

"More men are approaching from the front," Wanda's voice crackled in their earpieces.

"Keep them out of here, Wanda!" Steve shouted over the sounds of fighting. "Sam, fly in and give her air coverage."

"On it." Sam said. Steve looked up just as he zoomed by.

Natasha started running and used her staff to vault herself up and over the two remaining guards that were rushing toward Steve and herself. This split their focus between the two of them, and the second they realized that, there was a very clear look of panic of panic in their eyes. Natasha couldn't help the little smirk that formed on her face the moment the man she was facing realized he had bitten off way more than he could chew. Nat had to give him credit, though. He holstered his gun and pulled out a pretty big knife that she was sure he was just so proud of. It seemed he was going to hold his own… or at least try to. She unscrewed her batons to separate them once more. She figured she might as well make this a little fun.

While the Black Widow deflected blows and toyed with her prey, Steve was trading punches with a man who was just about as big as he was. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a face as mean as a grizzly bear and a punch that was just as strong. Steve took a couple of jarring shots to the ribs, but on the second hit, he trapped the guy's arm between his side and his own arm. Then, he caught the guard's fist in his hand, took a half step back, and placed a powerful kick square in the guy's chest. Steve released his hold on both arms and watched as the guy went flying backwards. His back smacked into the unforgiving steel of a storage unit, which rang out with an echoing thud upon impact. Huffing a few, heavy breaths, Steve stalked over to the fallen guard, who was coughing after having the wind knocked out of him.

"Any chance of you just sitting here and calling it a night?" He asked.

The man said something in Arabic and spat blood and saliva at Steve's boot.

Steve sighed. "Didn't think so," he said. Then, he knocked the guy out with a right hook.

The guard was soon joined by his companion. Natasha rolled under a mad swipe from his knife, pinned his ankle between her feet, and twisted hard. He went down with a pained growl, and when he was on the ground, Natasha rolled forward, placing herself on top of the guard. She pinned his knife hand beneath her knee and delivered a quick, one-two combo with her batons, knocking his face left, and then right. He was out like a broken lightbulb after that. Satisfied, she hopped to her feet. She put her batons away and stood with her hands on her hips for a few moments, observing the chaos… or admiring it, more like.

Unfortunately, their victory was short-lived.

The loud sound of sliding metal could be heard nearby. Natasha and Steve both ran for it, weaving between storage containers and rounding a corner to find the source of the noise. They came to a skidding halt by a unit at the edge of the dock and looked up. On top of the unit was a bulky, monstrosity of a man. He was a grotesque patchwork of metal and flesh, making him appear more machine than man. His chest, arms and legs were all thick, gray metal. The flesh of his face, neck and hands were all marred and mangled, as if he'd been caught in an intense fire at some point. A grenade belt hung around his waist. In one hand, he held a gun, in the other…

"Coulson…" Natasha breathed.

The Agent was tied to a chair, which Garrett was lifting effortlessly with one arm, holding the weight of both the chair and Coulson like it was nothing. "Captain America and the Black Widow!" He called down to them. His voice was warped and rough, as if each spoken word was agony to his throat.

"I have to say, this is the first time I've been hunted by other criminals!"

Natasha pulled her gun and trained it on Garrett. There would be no toying around this time. "Let him go!" She shouted up to him.

"You're surrounded," Steve said, a bit more calmly. "There's no place for you to go. Just let Coulson down and lower your weapon."

"No place to go?" Garrett mused. He looked over his shoulder, at the vast expanse of water that stretched out like black tar in the night. "I can think of plenty of places."

Then, without warning, Garrett reared his metal arm back and chucked Coulson, chair and all, into the air. Instinct took over. Natasha and Steve ran for Coulson, hoping beyond hope that they might be able to intercept him before he crashed into the water. Garrett hopped down from the storage bin, landing with a loud boom on the dock below. Natasha was just barely aware of the direction he went, more of her focus on getting to Coulson. She watched in horror as cleared the edge of the dock and went for the water. Steve was preparing to jump over the edge when Sam came zooming in out of nowhere, grabbing Coulson just in the knick of time.

"I got him!" Sam yelled as he put more power into his thrusters to account for the extra weight.

That was all Nat needed to hear. She turned and, without a second's notice, took off running.

"Romanoff!" Steve yelled.

Nat didn't listen. Garrett had gotten a head start, but he was big, bulky, slow; much slower than she was. She holstered her gun and retrieved her batons, instead. Screwing them together, Natasha used the staff to vault herself into the air once more. She landed on top of a storage unit and started running and jumping from unit to unit, using the higher elevation to keep an eye on Garrett. He was heading west, toward the far edge of the dock, where a small boat was waiting in the water for him. His big, metal legs were loud as he ran with noisy, clunking footsteps toward his destination. He looked over his shoulder and saw Natasha above him. A smirk pulled at her lips. She was gaining on him.

Steve was on the ground, pursuing both of them, when he saw it. Garrett unclipped a grenade from his belt, turned, and threw it up into the air behind him. He watched, wide-eyed, as the grenade got closer. Natasha tried to stop herself, to prevent herself from getting any closer to it, but as she jumped into the air off the side of a storage unit, the bomb went off.

"NAT!"

Heat and force smacked into her like a train, knocking her off-course and sending her flying toward what would undoubtedly be a nasty collision with another unit. Steve launched himself into the air with every ounce of enhanced strength he possessed. He closed the distance between himself and Natasha, grabbing her and wrapping her up in his strong arms. He turned his body and allowed his back to smack into the hard metal of the storage unit, taking the full brunt of the impact. Pain exploded in his back, reverberating up and down his spine and pulling a loud growl from him.

When the pain subsided enough for him to see straight, Steve looked down at Natasha. Fear gripped his chest when he saw her. The side of her face was smeared in ash and blood. He pressed a hand against her head, pushing back red hair to find the source of the bleeding.

"Natasha." He said, shaking her gently. "Nat, wake up."

He waited for those green eyes to open, but they didn't. Steve lowered his head and turned his ear toward her mouth and nose while he pressed two fingers against her neck beneath her chin. He could feel warm, shallow breaths against his cheek, and a pulse beneath his fingers. Steve closed his eyes and allowed a sigh of relief to wash out of him. Thank God. He thought. Natasha was alive, but she was in bad shape. They needed to get out of here.

"Cap!" Sam yelled. Steve looked up to see him landing nearby with Coulson. The agent had been removed from his chair, and had one arm looped around Sam's shoulders. He could walk, but he had quite a limp. They came to a stop a few feet away.

"Shit," Sam breathed. "Is… is she…?"

"She's unconscious," Steve said. He was surprised at how tightly his throat squeezed. He cleared it and tried again. "We have to get out of here. Where's Wanda?"

"Here." The woman said. She floated in on a current of red energy and came to kneel beside Steve and Natasha. Her worry was palpable.

"I have a contact in the city," Coulson said weakly. "A doctor." That was good. It looked like he would be needing one as well.

"Let's go." Steve said. He scooped Natasha up into his arms and stood up. Sam and Wanda helped Coulson, and, together, they started their escape. There was fire and wreckage, chaos all around them. As Steve took one last look over his shoulder, he couldn't help but to hear Natasha's words echoed in his mind.

So much for keeping things quiet.