A/N: I apologize for the unexpected delay, but I think I won't be able to post once a week and that's why I would like to inform all of my followers (love u all) that my chapters will be published once every 2 weeks. Anyway, brace yourselves! Steve and Natasha are in danger...
WARNING: This chapter contains brutal scenes.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. All rights to Marvel Cinematic Universe, etc.
CHAPTER 5: A kiss before dying
… now wait, wait, wait for me
Please hang around
I see you when I fall asleep…
- Of Monsters and Man, "Little talks"
"God dammit! This motherfucker damaged JARVIS core so badly I fear I might not be able to bring him back." Tony cursed under his breath while he and Bruce were doing their best to repair the impaired mainframe of the Stark's private AI-assistant system.
"I checked the CPU and it is mostly unharmed." mumbled Bruce running diagnostic of JARVIS core and Tony exhaled deeply. "However the hyperconducing coils and inertial shock dampers are damaged. Gonna replace those."
"What the fuck did he do? How did he even manage to deactivate my AI?" Tony said clenching his teeth. "I wrote the antivirus myself. It couldn't have failed."
Bruce shrug his shoulders. He knew that this time Tony wasn't flexing as he truly had a knack for doing computer software – all of S.H.I.E.L.D. was using Stark-issued tech (with the only difference now that the company was supervised by Pepper Potts).
"He didn't damage the arc reactor, I've already checked that." Bruce said scratching his beard. "If we will reboot JARVIS we will probably regain access to the surveillance data."
"I hope so. " Billionaire frowned.
"I guess Fury was right and this guy is really that good at hacking. You may have indirectly met your equal."
"Fucking winter soldiers." Tony rolled his eyes and looked around for extra capacitor voltage transformers.
"Steve, for fuck sake, could you stop for a moment? You unnerve me even more." Clint grumbled with irritated voice.
Clint, Steve and Thor were on the communal floor of the Avengers Tower. God of thunder and Hawkeye sat on the couch, while Steve was pacing nervously around the room.
"I'm sorry Clint. I'm so worried about her." Steve sat on the couch. "That bastard got her and he can do anything to her."
"She's tough, she'll make it. Despite this we have to find her – and we have to do it fast." archer said. "Winter soldiers were a competitive program to Black Widows. Let's say they don't like each other much."
"Calm yourself down, Steven. Impulsivity will not help us in seeking out lady Natasha." Thor said in a deep voice. "When we find this assassin I will give you a chance for revenge... After I bash his head with Mjolnir."
"Thanks, Thor." Steve muttered not looking at the god of thunder. "Any news from Fury?"
"Nope. Still looking." Clint checked his phone. "It's been only eight hours."
Steve leaned back and closed his eyes. He wanted so badly to believe it was just a terrible dream and Natasha was still with them... with him.
He was so angry; he knew he shouldn't have left her to that spying-hacking work alone. Coulson couldn't have supervised her all the time. If only Fury assigned him to work with her...!
And when he returned to the Avengers Tower that evening, Natasha was gone and there was no sign of her whatsoever. It was Tony who came first to this conclusion as he found JARVIS disabled and Tower's security systems corrupted, which had never happened before – even during the Battle of NYC.
And while Steve didn't know where she was taken, he was definitely sure that it was the winter soldier who was responsible for kidnapping her.
His fists clenched unwittingly, his knuckles white. "It's my fault." He muttered.
"What are you talking about?" Clint asked surprised, focusing his eyes on Cap. "You weren't at the Tower at the time, you couldn't have done anything. Even JARVIS didn't stand a chance."
"Well then, I should have been. Now I'm pretty sure that he spied on me since the incident in Spain. He made sure I was away, so he could take her..." Steve replied, his face deep in thought. "Oh, my God. His using her to get to me."
Clint looked at Steve with sad smile. "Well, you are pretty close with her, so..."
"We're just friends." Steve replied knowing that it was a lie and immediately regretting he said so. He hated himself for that.
Archer knew better than to argue and then he spotted a small, black envelope on the kitchen table. Steve was so busy, worrying about Natasha that he didn't realize there was something on the table.
"Hey, what's that?"
Clint picked up the envelope, looked at little letters on its front. "Steve it's addressed to you."
"Let me see that." Steve frowned.
He took the envelope from Clint and looked at the little, red-ink letters.
Капитан Америка
Steve opened the envelope carefully and started to read the message. His eyes scanned the text quickly, his fingers tightening the hold of the piece of paper with each line he read.
"What's wrong Steven?" Thor put his hand on soldiers shoulder.
"I was right." Steve said and Clint looked at his devastated expression with fear. "The winter soldier took her in order to get to me. I should have known."
"What do you mean? Let me read it." Archer and Asgardian asked collectively.
After a brief moment of silence, Thor spoke up. "Steven this is clearly a trap. You cannot go there alone, we need our captain and leader."
Steve knew that Thor's words meant much, as the god of thunder considered him a brother, which was unusual for other-worldly gods.
Nonetheless he had to do it alone.
"No. I will go there alone. I must do that... for her." Steve said with a vague expression on his face, while Thor and Clint exchanged worried glances.
"Okay, so you'll meet him and when he shows up I'll put an arrow in his head." Clint said. "Or he'll get pummeled by Thor's hammer. How's that?"
"No, Clint. I must do it alone."
"Steven..."
"I have no right to stop you, so I ask you as a friend." soldier said putting the letter on the table. "I need to think things through. Excuse me..."
Steve was on the balcony on his floor, with sketchbook and set of pencils.
He was drawing landscape of the city, as was his habit, trying to calm down all the thoughts swirling and racing through his mind with a speed of light.
How did this happen? After the defrosting process and being recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. his life became so much complicated. He was a soldier. He did the things in a simple way, always considered the simplest solutions to be the best. But ever since he woke up, the life turned out to be quite the opposite. And he wasn't thinking about the missions. These were simple as always, he fought the same enemy during the war all those years ago and was prepared.
Adjustment. The worst part was adjusting to the surrounding world, so different from the one he knew once. Modern people seemed so self-centred, egoistic, not paying attention to the world around them and others. Shame.
Steve sighed and crumpled the drawing.
Face-to-face interactions became so limited in the modern world; he remember the good old times with Commandos, Bucky and his friends from army when they would meet every evening and spent time together. It has changed so much probably due to this all technological advancement (or crap, as Steve would call it), which was a true nightmare for old-fashioned soldier as Clint accurately pointed out.
"Wow, now I do sound like an old man. Thank God Tony's not around." he thought to himself.
But Avengers, Steve's new family, proved him wrong about this. They were, all of them, helpful, supportive and brave (even the narcissistic and annoying Tony). Cap fought side by side with them, trained with them, lived in the same Tower, ate meals, joked, discussed, cried and mourned. Five years has passed and he was slowly getting used to this crazy 21st century.
And then he realized that Natasha came onto the stage along with the others and that was like thunderstorm.
Natasha Romanoff. Brave, cunning, determined, decisive and self-controlled. She was a deadly warrior and a lethal assassin, her skills outmatching probably the skills of all the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents combined when it came to spying and infiltrating. Clint was probably the only one equal to her in this area or at least close enough.
She was also a woman who knew how to gain access to Steve's emotions and way of thinking. Sometimes he thought, she could read him without a faintest difficulty, like an open book, which he found extremely embarrassing.
Steve didn't call her beautiful aloud, as she didn't like the cheesy talk. However the truth was, that Steve realized over the years, that she was the only one who helped him move on after Peggy's death.
Of course that didn't mean falling in love with her instantly, no. It was pretty... Complicated.
Soldier looked at her for all those years and considered himself lucky to have met someone like Natasha to cover his back. And he wasn't thinking about the battles, that he could handle alone – just as he put Schmidt's plane into the freezing northern waters of the Arctic.
She was a woman who made Steve Rogers blood boil. She made him uncomfortable so many times that he couldn't even remember. She played pranks on him with Clint – once she stole his shield and clothes, so he had to roam around the Avengers Tower with towel around his waist (the second time she did this, the towel was gone and Steve's face matched the colour of well-aged wine).
Other pranks provided Tony Stark with pictures so embarrassing that Steve pretty much had social-media-related PTSD.
He shook his had. Natasha was a beautiful, strong, proud, never unyielding woman who stole something from Steve, something he deemed to be buried deeply and irretrievably inside him.
Soldier knew that Natasha Romanoff has already taken his heart the moment he opened that small black envelope. Капитан Америка.
Ironic. They had so much time together and yet he didn't manage to tell her about his feelings. This was so cliché, as Tony would call it. And now he was probably going to pay for that.
Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled deeply. He mumbled the words that he had so much difficulties with, but she wasn't there to listen. No one was. He was all alone again.
Over the faraway horizon, black clouds started to gather and ominous sound of distant thunder rumbled across the sky.
Silent knock on the door brought Steve back from his crazy train of thought. He put away his sketchbook and pencil. The drawing depicted Natasha sitting on a couch, dressed in black jeans and red tank top, her fiery hair surrounding those beautiful emerald eyes. She had her iconic half-smile Steve just adored.
"May I come in?" Tony asked from behind the door.
"Sure." Steve said letting billionaire inside.
Tony sat in the armchair and started without beating around the bush.
"I heard from Clint and Thor that you're planning to do a little solo escapade."
"I am Tony. I must get her out." Steve replied checking his suit for any damage. His shield was in the cupboard – he knew he would have no use of it and it would probably be taken away from him if he showed up for the meeting with the kidnapper.
"Let me help you." Tony said quietly. "You know this motherfucker will probably kill you."
Steve smiled sorrowfully. "I've already lived much longer than I was meant to. End of the line, I guess."
Billionaire looked at him with fear in his eyes. "Since when he became so bitter? God dammit it's much worse than I thought."
"Don't be a fool, Steve. I'm coming with you." Tony said, standing up and intending to suit up immediately. "JARVIS send my..."
"NO." Steve said firmly. "No you are not."
He turned towards Tony and said in a tired voice. "It's my fault she's there. If I can trade my life for hers... Then I'll do so without hesitation. And I don't want anyone else, especially you to get hurt as well."
Tony put his hand on soldier's shoulder. "You love her Stripes, don't you?"
Steve didn't answer and once again – hated himself for doing so.
"Take this." Stark said handing Steve a small shiny object with irregular edge. "This micro-GPS will inform us on your exact location. We will come for you as soon as you enter Hydra's base. Maybe we can turn this suicide plan into something useful."
"Thank you, Tony." Steve shook billionaire's hand and put the device into his pocket. "I didn't know you're so well-mannered Tony. Living with Pepper has its advantages, huh?"
"Don't get used to it." said Tony with a sarcastic grin.
"Капитан Америка. As always on time."
Steve turned abruptly towards the dim-lit corner of the alley where he was supposed to meet Natasha's kidnapper, ready to retaliate but the attack did not come, no gunshot or flash of blade.
A tall figure in black outfit and face-mask with dark-red visors emerged from the darkness, just a few meters away from him. The figure had holsters with guns on both thighs and waist as well as countless combat knives strapped here and there. The face was completely unrecognizable due to the mask and dark shoulder-length hair.
Captain suddenly realized that the silver glove the assassin was wearing in the footage provided by Coulson was actually assassin's hand – in fact his whole upper limb was made out of small, shiny, metal plates which quietly rustled every time the winter soldier moved it.
He also had a distinctive red star painted on his cybernetic shoulder, while his normal arm was holding a Berreta 92 pistol with silencer attached.
"I see you received my letter. Did I get the address correctly?" The assassin asked, ostentatiously reloading the gun. "You know, I knew Natalia's address, as for yours I wasn't that sure..."
"Shut up. You tried to kill me back in Spain, so now you figured you will take her in order to get to me, huh?" Steve snarled, feeling his muscles becoming tense.
"Well I must admit that for a typical American you can think from time to time. Congratulations." The winter soldier fiddled with trigger of the gun, not looking at Steve.
"Where is Natasha?" Steve asked.
"Captain don't make me shoot you right now." Assassin sighed, switching off the safety and pointing the gun at Steve's head. "You know the drill. If you don't come with me, I'll make sure she'll have a night to remember. Of course if she survives it."
Then the he laughed quietly which sounded more like a growl.
Steve took a step closer, his fists clenched and looked into the red visors of his opponent's mask.
"Where is she?" Steve asked again and one blink later, he got shot in his left thigh. The bullet felt like a venomous sting piercing through his muscles, each of his nerve endings screaming in agony.
Even with his heightened pain-resistance Steve couldn't help but to groan in pain.
"I told you, Captain." assassin snarled, putting the gun back into the holster. "Your life for hers... Or not. Haven't decided yet."
Steve fell to his knees holding the bleeding wound and breathing loudly.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?! WHE-"
He didn't finish as he was silenced with a sequence of heavy blows dealt by assassin's metal left arm. Captain became still, blood pouring freely onto the dirty ground and a single empty bullet shell.
"Fucking Americans." The assassin spat onto the ground with contempt.
17 hours after Steve's disappearance
"God dammit! I've lost his signal." Tony growled with anger, furiously typing on keyboard of his computer. "JARVIS what is the last known location of Stripes?"
"Thirty miles west from Anchorage, Canada, sir." AI replied instantly.
"Try to determine possible destination of his kidnapper." Tony said and pressed his comlink.
"Right away, sir."
Tony pressed his comlink. "Hey Gang. Meeting in my lab in five minutes."
Soon all the remaining Avengers appeared in Tony's favourite workplace - laboratory number 9, where he would assemble new Iron Man combat suits and train in martial arts.
"Any news on Cap's whereabouts?" Clint asked, taking a seat between Thor and Bruce.
"My GPS shows he was near Anchorage, three hours ago." Tony replied. "JARVIS is trying to determine his specific location now."
Everyone exchanged worried glances as they suddenly realized that their team has just been deprived of their leader and best spy amongst S.H.I.E.L.D. ranks.
"How the fuck did this happen?" Tony asked pinching the base of his nose.
"Clint, I thought you and Thor were to check on him."
"We did, but he was already gone." Clint mumbled angrily. "It's a shame he wants so desperately get himself killed."
"She means a great deal to him, as for all of us." Bruce said quietly.
They were silent for a few seconds when JARVIS spoke up. "Mr Stark, I tracked Captain Rogers route and it points that the signal was irreversibly lost in the eastern part of Aleutian Islands."
"Why the fuck the signal was so weak and now is completely gone? I was the one who made the tracker." billionaire snarled.
"Electrocuffs. I've already came across those on my mission in Bulgaria." Clint replied. "They constantly release high voltage electric impulses that paralyze the muscles of the victim. Simple but effective."
Everyone had a disgusted look on their faces.
"Cap was probably heavily stunned and the discharge could have damaged the circuits in your GPS Tony." Bruce finished. "We are extremely fortunate we know more or less where Steve is."
"So, we are now going to free Steven?" Thor asked raising his arm and summoning Mjolnir.
"This means disobeying direct order from S.H.I.E.L.D." Bruce said and everyone nodded in unison. "But there is no other way."
"Okay gang, suit up. We meet in 10 minutes on the 77th floor. We gonna fly there in my jet." Tony ordered and left the room in order to get his newest Iron Man suit on.
All the other Avengers left with the same intention in their minds.
She walks down a dark, long corridor, full of locked doors, each and every one marked with a single red star. Just as before she reaches the end of the hallway and the door opens by itself. She walks into the humid air of New York City suburbs, another town inside a bigger city.
It's warm Saturday night and the alley is not frequented by any passers-by. Not even stray dog or homeless people bother he. Nothing but a narrow lane, a few dumpsters and poor lightning.
She looks around and at the far end of the alley she spots two figures talking angrily. Then she sees that one of them falls to his knees and yells something she cannot make out.
Her pace quickens and she runs for it.
Just as she is about to grab his hand, she catches a glimpse of blue eyes filled with fear and disappointment. Then everything is engulfed in darkness and the only thing she sees is this sinister impassive mask piercing through her soul.
"He intends to give his life for yours, you know that Natalia?"
"I do."
"That is fascinating, don't you agree? After all those years, without your true family, you could still manipulate him so he thinks he actually needs to save YOU. You did not forget the old ways."
"Shut the fuck up. Friends care for each other. I didn't manipulate him."
"It's all the same to me... After all you are fooling yourself. Just like you did all those years."
"I will kill you fucker. For what you have done to him."
"I am afraid you will not have a chance to validate your intentions, because let's face it... you are just a murderer, Natalia."
She feels as if she was falling and wakes with scream coming out of her mouth and words, so painfully echoing in her mind.
"You are not worth saving."
She was sitting in a metal chair, stripped of her clothing except for the underwear, her hands and feet bound by heavy chains. She was barely able to move them, but that was enough to restore blood circulation in lower parts of her limbs.
Natasha felt numbness in her whole body, her stiff muscles not responding to her will at first and then suddenly a shiver of pain raced through her body. She cursed under her breath.
Redhead spy looked around and realized she was in large room with rough concrete walls, small 20 watt lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and nothing else, but a reinforced steel door to her right.
She used her teeth to acquire on of her secret pockets in her bra, trying to find a lockpick.
"Well, well our little red almost broke free." cold low voice said as Natasha managed to free one of her hands from the chains.
She glared at him with disgust. "Fuck you, Hydra scum."
He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Oh no, Natalia, with such attitude we're not gonna go far. Let me teach you something."
He approached her, brutally grabbed her free hand and recuffed again to the metal chair, now adding a heavy padlock.
Next he slapped her face with his metal hand, leaving deep cuts on her left cheek, adding yet another scar to her collection.
"Try to change the way you look at me Romanoff, because we are going to spend a long night together." The winter soldier whispered. "It's gonna be a special night you see, because we have an equally special guest today."
Look of terror and disbelief crept over her face as she saw Steve being dragged into the room and chained to the wall in front of her which had special metal rings just for one single purpose.
She immediately summoned her emotionless mask onto her face, but she knew well what awaited her partner.
Interrogation.
"What is he doing here? Where are the others?!" she thought to her desperately.
A few Hydra agents carried in a small brazier along with set of strange looking tools, including set of various knives, tongs, razors and fire poker.
Then the winter soldier approached Steve's still body and injected him with a transparent liquid of unknown origin. Soon Cap fluttered his eyes open. An incoherent groan escaped his mouth.
"Well I believe we don't need to introduce each other so maybe let's get straight to business shall we?" The winter soldier said, setting the little furnace ablaze and putting the fire poker into it.
"What...? Where... NATASHA?!" Steve managed to focuse his blurred sight on the redhead spy and felt his heart dropping.
He was immediately silenced with a slap to the face just as was Natasha a few minutes earlier.
"Shut up Rogers. You are not the one to answer my questions today. You are the one to suffer for the mistakes of this bitch."
The assassin turned towards Natasha and he took off his mask, revealing fairly handsome face with short beard and brown eyes. Something about those eyes made redhead spy uncomfortable, which was extremely difficult to achieve.
"Now, maybe you Rogers, as a dumb American lapdog are not aware why you are my guest today." The winter soldier continued.
Steve flinched hearing his voice. And then he saw his oppressor's face...
A series of pictures, like in an old cinema, he used to go, flew before Steve's eyes, as his heart stopped for a few beats.
"Bucky...?" he asked quizzically trying to focus his sight again, this time on assassin's face. He wasn't sure however – the thing he was injected with was probably a strong hallucinogen and made him drowsy.
The Winter Soldier laughed for a few long moments, while Natasha watched the whole scene with horror in her eyes.
"Oh, this is going to be much better than I expected." assassin said. "You know, he was going to sacrifice his life for yours, Natalia? For your worthless, blood-stained life of remorseless murderer?"
Redhead spy was silent, thinking intensely on how to get out of this situation with Steve still alive.
"Pathetic. We both know you are not the one to die for - and now I am going to demonstrate it." aggressor said. "Rogers, are you ready to die for her?"
Steve concentrated as much as he could, which was not an easy task while being intoxicated, and muttered quietly. "Just let… let her go. You have me, let her go."
The next instant he got punched in his stomach. "Louder Rogers, I don't think she heard you."
Steve exhaled loudly, but before he got to say anything he received another heavy blow. Blood spilt down onto the concrete floor, his nose broken badly.
"Too slow." assassin said turning towards Natasha, who was glaring at him with hateful eyes. "So little red. How about you tell me every detail on S.H.I.E.L.D. you know? Don't worry we will start slowly, I will ask one question at a time, so maybe your... friend will survive this."
Natasha pressed her lips in a tight line and was silent.
"First question. How did you find and eliminate Alcala?"
Natasha was silent and so was Steve.
Assassin waited for a few seconds for answer but when he did not receive any he pinched the bridge of his nose with his metal fingers.
"Very well. Let's see how long he's gonna take it."
Natasha maintained emotionless face, screaming inside, because she knew what Steve will have to endure.
Look of determination appeared on Steve's face and he looked into the winter soldier's merciless eyes. Seconds later the assassin threw a punch and broke Steve's jaw with a disgusting sound. Blood and saliva spilt through Cap's crushed lips onto the ground, a disfigured groan escaping his mouth.
Natasha closed her eyes. She didn't knew how long Steve was going to take it and she just couldn't reveal every information about S.H.I.E.L.D. It was more important than both of them – even if it meant death at the hands of the enemy.
"Nothing? Alright Natalia, next question."
She was stabbing him with her eyes, but he just casually wiped the red from his metal fingers and asked another question.
"What are the clearance codes of Nicholas Fury? This one is pretty simple to answer, Natalia."
Natasha hating herself for that, remained silent and still, trying to kill the winter soldier with her eyes. This time a whole minute passed before assassin spoke up.
"Impressive." The winter soldier sighed. "It's a shame that he is going to pay for that."
Natasha observed him with horror in her eyes, which she failed to hide, as he took the fire poker out of the brazier. Assassin smiled at her.
"You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry... Oh hell you're gonna do that, Natalia." grinning like a madman he pressed the burning hot rod to Steve's body.
Having received so many blows to his whole body Steve reached the state in which his thoughts became incoherent as each second of his life felt like an eternity of pain, each inch of his being, tortured to the brink of insanity.
Everything was blurry and he no longer could recognize who was hitting him nor who was crying for him.
The only thing he felt was inhuman pain racing through every fibre of his body. He was still chained to the wall but his wounded leg didn't manage to support the weight of his body so he just let go, putting the strain on his wrists.
The voices he heard reached him as if they were muffled by a thick wall but they might have been as well in foreign language as he couldn't decipher their meaning.
He clenched to his last remains of consciousness when he realized how foolish he was.
It was obvious that the winter soldier wasn't going to give her back and yet Steve believed it could be done...
And now - he was paying for that.
Natasha observed Steve with terror on her face, which she didn't even hide. Once handsome face of the super soldier was now covered in multiple bruises and deep cuts, his facial bones badly broken and blood smeared all over his face.
He had a stabbing wound in his left thigh and his right forearm broken, but the worst were the black burns on his chest and abdomen. How he managed to stay conscious was a mystery to Natasha.
"Well now. Will you answer my question now, Natalia?" The winter soldier smirked and took out a gun, pointing it at Steve's forehead. "I really lost my patience. Think twice before answering."
Then Natasha heard something she wasn't expecting in her wildest dreams.
Regular, steady, metallic footsteps could be heard from behind the door. Winter Soldier realized that as well and turned towards the entrance, putting his Beretta 92 SD into the holster on his right thigh and grabbing a modified AK74 with laser sight and combat knife attached.
The footsteps silenced.
Then a powerful roar could be heard and the wall behind the assassin exploded sending him across the room. He hit hard against the concrete wall, the gun falling out of his hand.
Natasha looked in bewilderment as Hulk bursted into the room and freed tortured Steve from chains.
At the same time Tony in his Iron Man suit grabbed Natasha and flew out of the ruined interrogation chamber. She looked down on the base of Hydra located on a small island in the middle of nowhere, quickly shrinking as Tony flew towards his private StarkJet hovering over the raging Pacific Ocean.
Tony landed in the hold of the jet and put Natasha down.
"You okay? Gotta help Clint." Tony said.
"I'm okay, but Steve is in terrible state." Natasha replied. "Send them to hell for what they did to him."
Tony nodded as his visor went down with a metallic sound. "Will do, Natasha."
A few minutes later Hulk emerged from the dark, rainy night and landed in the same place as Stark, holding unconscious Steve in his gigantic, green hands.
"STEVE!" Natasha ran to the super soldier why Hulk transformed back into Bruce Banner, who quickly put on spare clothes.
"JARVIS my medical supplies." Bruce asked, putting on his glasses.
"Right away, sir." AI responded, unlocking a locker, full of containers with surgical tools, bandages, IVs, numerous medications and more. Bruce also gained access to the medical machinery which started to read Steve's vitals.
"Bruce, please save him." Natasha pleaded, helping doctor put Steve's heavy body on the metal desk.
"I'll see what I can do. Sit over there." Bruce said.
"I want..." spy started but Bruce interrupted.
"No. Steve requires immediate medical attention and you won't be much of a help to me." Bruce stated in indisputable tone. "If you're alright let mi help him first."
Natasha nodded and sat in the passengers area, closing her eyes.
In the meantime Tony, Thor and Clint returned from the Hydra base, their faces and clothing bearing signs of recent, ferocious battle with Winter Soldier's thugs.
Natasha was extremely weak and did not eat nor drink anything in three days. Her voice was hoarse and husky and she accepted water, handed her by Clint, with gratefulness.
Tony approached her with small black item with red button on top. "I thought you'd like to do it yourself."
JARVIS took the jet away from base and then she pushed the button, looking through the small window of the passengers bay.
A powerful explosion scarred the harsh landscape of the Aleutian Islands as the Hydra base disappeared in raging flames.
After almost two hours of meticulous work, Bruce finished patching Steve up and Natasha went over to check on Cap who had his whole face and left thigh covered in bandages, while his chest was covered in hydrogel band-aids.
Steve's right forearm was badly broken and thus immobilized. Three different IVs were connected with Steve's circulatory system, providing him with nutrients and pain-killers constantly as his metabolism burned those abnormally quickly.
Natasha looked at the cardiac monitor and saw that his pulse was irregular and faint. She fixed her sight on his damaged body with guilt in her eyes.
"Oh my god, what have they done to him..." she thought to herself.
"I've done what I could. Can I see if you're injured?" Bruce turned towards her.
"I'm fine Bruce, OK? I'll just... stay with him for now."
"Of course. If something happens I'm nearby." Bruce replied and went to the jet's hold, where he tended to other members of their team.
Natasha took Steve's hand gently into hers. "I'm sorry Steve, It's all my fault..."
They arrived at the Avengers Tower seven hours later, JARVIS expertly landed the StarkJet on helipad on the 77th floor, despite heavy rainstorm which was currently sweeping through NYC.
They stepped out the vehicle, Thor carrying Steve to the medical bay with Bruce and Tony following him, while Clint tried to comfort Natasha who was staggering as a consequence of extreme physical and mental strain.
After Steve disappeared with his escort in the elevator, archer quickly prepared Natasha a meal and put it into the oven. Then he sat beside Natasha on the couch of the communal floor.
She was curled up, her knuckles white and eyes widened, fixed on something Barton couldn't see.
After a few moments of unbearable silence and Natasha's shivers Clint lifted her and put her on his lap.
"Come over here." he said and embraced her in a hug. She clasped to him and started to cry loudly and uncontrollably.
Clint stroke her tangled, dirty, red hair and though he wasn't particularly religious he prayed for finding Natasha and Steve just in time to prevent the worst. He needed to thank Stark for his initiative and means of locating the lost duo.
Moreover he was finally sure that Natasha truly loved blue-eyed super-soldier who was currently fighting for his life down in the medical bay.
"It's okay Nat, It's okay..." Clint said tightening the hug and she cried even louder.
"I've al-almost lost him, Cli-Clint. I don't kn-know what... What I would do with-without him…" she sobbed into Clint's arm.
"Fortunately we found you, you're safe now." mumbled Clint. "I'll never let any Hydra scum touch you again. Plus those who kidnapped you are sleeping with the fishes now."
"I know, Clint. But it was my fa-fault he had to go through all that." she muttered. "He suffered so much and I am so fucking stu-stupid..."
"No, Nat, no, you are not. Have you forgotten our talk after his previous accident?" Clint stated in a serious tone. "Don't you EVER say that again."
"He was ready to get himself killed for me... The winter soldier said I wasn't worth dying for." Redhead spy said not looking at her best friend.
"Oh, and suddenly you believe the fucker who kills people without hesitation? What's wrong Nat?"
Natasha looked into archer's eyes. "I've done the same once. And it returned today during that interrogation... "
"But you have changed and erased your past. You and saved countless people since then and now you're trying to deny the feelings you have for Steve for a reason that I don't understand."
"I cannot... I cannot risk like that again. He's my weakness and I must disappear." she whispered, trying not to cry even more "For now, at least."
"Don't do that, we can handle it together..." Barton started, but she continued.
"No, Clint. He almost died twice because of me in a span of a month… he may die today."
"Natasha..."
"I don't want to lose him. I won't let that happen."
Clint exhaled deeply. He knew better than to argue with stubborn spy, especially after she witnessed her partner being beaten almost to death. "Please, think it through. Don't leave him."
Natasha just shook her head with a mixture of determination and sadness on her face.
"At least eat something, you look malnourished." Archer said standing up and going to kitchen. He handed her a plate and cup od strong hot tea.
"Clint give me a bre-"
"End of discussion, Romanoff." Clint stated in a serious tone and pointed towards the plate. "I'm not leaving until you finish this."
A month later
It was a beautiful, sunny but crisp day with birds singing in the leafy trees, under which two people slowly strolled down the verdant alleys of Central Park.
One of them at least, as the other one with blond hair and blue eyes used wheelchair, which was pulled by a his good friend Sam Wilson.
"How do you feel today, Steve?" Sam asked fixing the blanket on his friend's knees. "You didn't say anything today."
The soldier just sighed and returned to observing nature around him, pondering the events of the last few months.
Receiving no answer Sam continued to push Steve's wheelchair further into the Park, Cap's favourite place of relaxation in NYC. They st(rolled) for a long time until they reached the edge of the lake, where Steve asked to stop and admired the peaceful view of the water amongst the greenery.
Super-soldier's mind was occupied with two people; one of them was the winter soldier, which looked exactly like Bucky… Steve didn't know what to think about it. His best friend from childhood and army had gone missing so long ago, during that unfortunate train hijacking and was never heard from since…
Cap shook his head. It couldn't have been Bucky. It was just an illusion due to the injection with hallucinogen. At least he hoped it was.
The second person to mess with his thoughts was Natasha Romanoff. He actually admitted her feelings back there in the Hydra base. He knew she heard him well, despite his quiet voice.
And yet she didn't mention that at all during her long visit at his side in the medical bay of Avengers Tower which was slowly becoming Steve's second bedroom as Tony put it.
She was sad every time she checked up on him and even though he asked her countless times what's wrong she kept saying "It's okay, Rogers."
Sometimes her stubbornness made him unspeakably annoyed but he would never say that aloud.
"She's hiding something from me…what did I do wrong?" Just as this thought came to his mind he spotted a long-legged redhead spy he loved so much who was strolling at the far side of the lake, unaware of his presence.
"Better now, than ever." He mumbled and called to Sam. "Could you please give me a lift to the other side of the lake?"
"Of course, Cap." Sam replied and drove his best friend's wheelchair towards Natasha.
They met at the exit of the Park and Natasha was just about to leave when Steve called after her. She turned immediately and super-soldier saw her expression, full of guilt and sadness.
"I'm gonna leave you for a few moments." Sam whispered to Steve's ear, who nodded gratefully.
Natasha approached his wheelchair.
"Hey Natasha" he said.
"Hey Steve." She replied not looking at him.
"I know, I tried dozens of times to get this out of you, but you always put me off. What's wrong Natasha, what did I do wrong that you don't speak with me?"
She was silent and fixed her eyes on the lake.
"Natasha I beg you, I won't leave until you tell me." Steve said desperately.
The redhead spy sighed. "Nothing. I just… I must leave."
Steve looked like he received a blow to the head with a bag of bricks. "What? Why?"
"You wouldn't understand." She replied quietly.
"Is it because of something I said? Or did? Please don't leave Natasha, the team needs you…I need you." He said not believing what is happening.
She sighed again. "Told you. I'm leaving and I don't know if I will come back."
"Natasha, I beg you…"
"You almost got yourself killed back there for me… I can't let that happen again."
"I told you, that…"
"No, Steve. Don't finish this, don't make it more difficult for me." She said in a sorrowful but firmly. "Goodbye, Steve."
She leaned and gave him a kiss on his right cheek. Then she walked away.
"Natasha! NATASHA!"
Steve tried to stand up from his wheelchair, but was unable to support the weight of his still weakened body and fell to the ground. He saw Sam running to him.
"Natasha…"
Redhead spy did not turn back and soon disappeared in the city traffic.
A/N: Well that's it! My longest and most action-packed chapter up to date. If you feel like reviewing my work after those 5 chapters go ahead and leave a feedback. Also I would like to remind that I will be posting the chapters once every 2 weeks. That's all for now. Peace! WS
PS. Can't thank you enough for those 19 follows. That's so freaking fantastic.
