A few days into her stay at the hospital wing, Natalia was allowed to leave. She looked healthy again after some lovely days of sleep. She had even found out a few things about James's arm in the meantime. The doctor had been surprisingly talkative and she had found herself enjoying their talks. As a trainee, she hated the hospital, knowing it only meant failure and, eventually, punishment. But given that she was grown up and graduated, things didn't look so bad anymore.

The doctor had even asked her to fetch the Winter Soldier for him and the head scientist. He had guessed correctly that she had known about the malfunction of his arm. After all, they did go on a lot of missions together lately. She didn't have much information about it but she was glad to finally have an excuse to see James. It was the perfect excuse. Soon she entered the gym quietly. Natalia had guessed correctly that he was training the girls.

The teenage girls were far more frustrating to train. They were effective and ruthless but were prepared for most of a decade without his presence. It had been some time; he knew many of them and had trained them. There was a difference between the younger girls, who were strong but lacked finesse. When they were small, the Soldier had to teach them very slowly. As soon as they hit puberty and started to grow, their muscles could train harder and the focus turned to handling their new strengths.

Lately, he put those concessions aside and treated them as he would any of the older girls. That meant that in most of these situations, he ended up needing to go harsher on them simply because they needed to learn repercussions if they did not act fast enough or use the techniques he showed them.

"Not like that," He explained and when he corrected her stance and started the run-through, she still ended up trying to overpower him after not swiveling correctly. Finally, with another annoying, too-loud whine, his arm came up, flipped her over it, and threw her to the ground. He looked down at her and she dropped her head back on the mat, and scowled up at him.

"Again," He told her; she could not simply decide it was too hard. That was not acceptable or efficient.

Natalia watched as the girl -she believed her name was Yelena Belova- went down to the mat. She sighed silently, guessing he wouldn't take Natalia's own bits of advice. It would've been nice seeing him act nicely to the girls. But she shouldn't expect him to take her advice if she didn't take his.

"You know what also helps against big scary guys?" she began and looked at the girls as she continued with a mischievous glint in her eyes "Especially if it feels like no matter what you do, you'll end up on the mat? It's cheating. No one outside of this facility will fight fair. They don't care how young or beautiful you are. They simply try to take you down. So if they will cheat, isn't it only fair for you to not play by the rules as well?" She grinned conspiratorially at the girls.

She'd walked in enough that she now stood next to the Winter Soldier. "So, if you have to place your foot a bit higher than what he told you to do. Just do it. Sometimes it will make the man kneel," she said casually and nothing in her body language said what she had in mind.

Suddenly, her foot came upwards and she kicked hard in his knee pit to use it effectively as a stepping stone, so she was able to wrap her legs around his head to bring a twist around him and bring him down with force. She moved with the grace of a ballerina and showed off in front of the girls.

With a loud thud, they both landed on the mat with her on top of him. Natalia smirked down at him and whispered, "Hello Winter! Long time no see."

The girls looked shocked and everyone suddenly stood still, holding their breath as they waited for the Winter Soldier's reaction.

He glanced up, surprised at her voice. She shouldn't be here but it was rare to imagine he could stop her anyways, look at what she didn't do with Kudrin. Despite himself, her hair distracted him. Seeing her blonde had been odd, but her hair was starting to return to its color. The roots were darkening and it was apparent to him that she was proving some point. The girl on the mat sat up, and the other girls stood in line to watch and await their turn or to leave if they had already looked at her with a mixture of wariness.

She was showing off. James barely restrained a snort. He did not stop her only because she was telling the truth. He was ruthless because they needed to be cruel, the world was brutal and they must be ready with no hesitation. She seemed dedicated to the girls, and he found it charming, even if it was her weakness.

The girl scooched back from him as Natalia strutted forward. It was quite the effort to keep his eyes on her face, but he had to, so he did. Words weren't going to help them; only exercise after exercise...

He jerked as Natalia's foot dug into the back of his knee hard enough that it made the leg muscle buckle involuntarily. It was a natural response; as skilled as she was, she knew where to hit a person to achieve the reaction she needed for her next move. He tried to twist to grab her, but it only enabled her to swing up onto his shoulders.

His body jerked backwards as she threw her own body weight down and he landed with a loud thud in the silent room. She twisted as they fell and when he looked up to orient himself, she was sitting atop him. James had to fight his reaction as his body felt more energized with her on him. He schooled his features, but his breathing quickened and his eyes danced, knowing she was so close to him.

"Natalia. Long indeed," He responded in turn as she grinned at him. She was beautiful when she had won something... he pushed away the overwhelming thoughts and the instinct to flip her and take her right there on the mat. A surprised but gleeful sound came from one of the girls and his focus returned slightly. It was hard with her sitting on him as she was.

"Apparently the Black Widow will help us today," He told the girls from his position on the floor. "It is important to not waste time gloating," He informed them and jokingly reprimanded her as he grabbed her around the waist to throw her to the side. His metal arm shoved between her shoulder blades so she'd tumble forward, and he was able to jump to his feet.

"Natalia was once as young and inexperienced as all of you," He informed them so they could compare and see how far she had come. Perhaps it would encourage their training to show what could lie ahead of them if they put in proper training. He would see.

Besides, in a spar against Natalia, they- and she- could see that he was definitely not even remotely as hard on them as all involved thought. While he wouldn't use his full strength against Natalia, he meant it when he'd told her he'd never really harm her; James could undoubtedly use some show of force to not lose quickly against her.

He set his feet and prepared for her to come at him this time. He observed Natalia and was sure half of him simply enjoyed the idea of being close to her again, even in a spar.

She gave him a wink as he responded and sat up to look at the girls. She turned to them and remained planted on top of James. "Normally, you would go and kill the opponent now. But that would be a hell to clean up and a lot to explain today. So we will refrain from it," she joked as she felt his hand between her shoulder blades. The shoving was a surprise for Natalia, but she still could roll and somewhat gracefully come to a stand. It was apparent that it was not planned like this as she tumbled some steps forwards to the girls.

Her gaze softened as he spoke to Belova. A secret smile appeared on her lips, guessing that he had understood why it might be beneficial to show some kindness towards these girls. They had looked so surprised that taking down the Winter Soldier wouldn't end them in the hospital wing or solitary confinement. It had taken Natalia weeks, even months, to figure out that the Winter Soldier was trying to actually teach her and was not her enemy. Sometimes the RRA felt so lonely as one never knew who to trust.

Natalia smiled encouragingly at the blonde who had been thrown to the mat. She jerked her chin towards the Winter Soldier and bowed forward to whisper something into the girl's ear. Natalia simply wanted to help her and build up Belova's self-esteem to encourage the new view on the Winter Soldier. She continued to whisper while looking at James but the girl looked skeptical.

She planned on sparing him as he seemed to want, but the girl would do the final blow by taking James down. That was her plan, but Natalia could never be sure whether she actually would win against the Winter Soldier or not.

"You really want a second round?" she asked innocently; Natalia faked a punch to his jaw as she suddenly moved quickly and brought a leg up to his side.

She winked, and thankfully a wink could simply be Natalia's efforts to disarm her opponent and nothing more. Natalia certainly could be said to be known for it, as she should be, in the Red Room. He snorted, then, at the ease with which she acted as if she could kill him. He thought she was just trying to boost these girls' morale. He didn't know it would work before, and he still didn't really. Their initial wariness after seeing he hadn't fought her instantly seemed to have worn away. Now they were exceptionally interested in the training, and Natalia.

Perhaps Natalia's point may prove to be helpful.

That would be good; it meant they had the drive to succeed. Which the girls needed if they wanted to become valuable assets. He stood, his hands falling to his sides in wait as Natalia continued on in her game. The youngest one's eyes traveled on him and then away to not be obvious when Natalia spoke to her. Natalia, however, was being evident of her intent involving him... but he knew better; nothing was obvious with Natalia.

"That was hardly a first," He informed her, his face was stoic, but his eyes gave his amusement away.

With his feet planted, he knew while sparring with Natalia, it was always advantageous to keep distance; it was a spar and that could not be done. His hands were his weapon in this case and Natalia knew she wanted to get close to do her work. She'd engaged and threw to his jaw with no time to speak. He jerked back and she used the motion to hit his side to throw him to the ground.

James had wanted to enjoy this, but that other part of him took hold much quicker when he was fighting. James' control was not so good. Especially with his mission standing around him, his mind clicked further into focus.

He caught himself in the tumble and reached for her leg to yank her downward. She was quick, her leg folded back to her body quicker than he had estimated, and he missed the grab. So, he changed tactics and twisted to fold an arm around her shoulders and pin her against his body so she wouldn't be able to get out. The angle he'd moved by it was his natural arm and, therefore, not impervious.

Still, it made him suddenly take in her sweet scent. It pulled James back a little and he minimally loosened the too-strong grip he'd had on her shoulders so she wouldn't be bruised. He attempted to reach with his metal arm to see if he could grab her hands too so she couldn't squirm her way out of his grasp as she was so good at.

Natalia knew her advantages towards the Winter Soldier. Compared to him, she was weak and light, so this wouldn't get her to win the fight. But Natalia was quicker than him and knew how he fought. That might give her the needed advantage. Even though she was trying to keep his attention. She wanted to act as if she wanted to win. Yelena, who had spared with him earlier, would send him down to the mat. So she just tried to help; this was much more fun than lying around in a hospital bed.

Instead of getting out of the embrace around her shoulders and some distance, she stepped back as soon as he pulled back. She looked at the girl giving her a silent signal before things happened quickly. Natalia yanked her elbow back and brought it against his stomach hard. Then, despite his apparent attempt to go easy on her, she used her full strength to make him bow forward. So she was able to lift Yelena upwards for her move.

She intertwined her fingers in an attempt to give the girl a leg-up. Yelena looked unsure but reluctantly stepped forward, placing her foot in Natalia's hands. "Remember, play unfair, Yelena," Natalia whispered for encouragement as the girl used the force from Natalia's lift.

Natalia tried to step out of the Soldier's grip while the girl performed the move; James had wanted to teach them a moment ago. Natalia watched, trying to see the flaw in the girl's movements as she twisted, trying to bring the Winter Soldier down.

She pushed back with the momentum of his step, sending off his balance. Not enough; she'd be able to push him over, though. That didn't make much sense tactically. He'd been waiting for her to flip over his head or tug them down and forward. So his footing wasn't ready for her to push them back.

He grunted near silently as she rammed her elbow back into his stomach. James lost his breath and was forced forward to keep his grip on her. Still, there would have been more effective ways to break his grasp; she must have known it wouldn't hurt his grip. Was Natalia trying to look weak to the girls? Give them confidence because even she couldn't win against him? That would be unacceptable for training purposes.

He suddenly saw the ruse, too late, as one of the girls came flying up over Natalia's head. With a hard kick to the side, James let go of her and threw Natalia away with a significant amount of force.

But she'd unworked his footing earlier with her backwards movements and the young girl did as he'd told her earlier. He smirked; she went high, perfect. She twisted around and with the momentum of her landing on him, was able to push him back onto the ground. He attempted to at least land in a squat, but he'd been set off balance earlier by Natalia and he landed on the mat hard, with no ability to correct.

James was pleasantly surprised.

"Very good," He praised as he sat up and looked at the smirking girl. Finally, that was correct. "As the Black Widow said earlier, this is where you would finish your perspective target off or disable."

That depended on the mission. It depended upon the circumstances, but he was not here to teach them that. Simply the ability to do whatever they may need.

Natalia felt the kick on her side and tumbled forward, falling to her side, as she groaned silently in pain. She was grinning secretly, seeing how it had worked and suddenly, there was excited but quiet chatter from the girls who had watched the whole scene. They seemed surprised to know that they were actually able to send the Soldier to the mat. She was pleased to see they all seemed way more curious and interested in his lesson than the girls had seemed before she entered the class.

"That was great!" Natalia agreed with a smirk and resisted the urge to give the girl a thumbs up. Instead, she rubbed her rib cage as it still ached a bit from James's kick and rose to her feet before offering the Winter Soldier her hand to help him.

"As much fun as this was: I'm afraid I need to dismiss all of you early. The Winter Soldier has somewhere to go now," Natalia spoke to the trainees while looking at James with a soft smile. The girls collected their things while whispering secretly about what had happened.

Once most of the girls had left the gym, Natalia grinned at James and said, "The Doc and Pchelinstov want to see you. I think they finally found a way to make your arm less screechy." She smiled at him and even dared to move closer as the girls were all gone.

He refused her hand, standing on his own, and combatted her joyful expression with a disapproving, frigid one. "Consider it a prize from your comrade for putting me on the mat," He told them all as an incentive for next time. Although training ought to be incentive enough. They ought to strive for the success of their missions to grow already. Perhaps this group was just too young to understand that yet.

Did he? Or was that her way of cornering him alone? She smiled at him and James pressed harder on himself to keep his face blank. This was just the sort of thing to attract unwanted attention for the girls to speak and Kudrin or someone else to overhear it. They were still filing out as he stepped towards the door and said. "In the future, do not interrupt sessions without orders, Romanova."

It was only after he'd checked the hall and shut the door after the girls that he let the cold demeanor fade. He walked back towards the mat and Natalia but ensured he didn't get too close to her. The other night proved how that turned out.

"Finally," He said and watched as she got closer despite his efforts. "It quit on me this morning and I was very close to being pantless," James joked. Of course, being able to, but he was glad to hear they were going to fix it. They'd cleaned it out, taken panels off and gotten the goop slowing it down, but it had some sort of damage from the voltage that had also needed to be taken care of. It was a severe annoyance when it decided to not work on fine motor skills. Not to mention the louder-than-usual racket it was making.

His eyes took her in and a smile tugged on his face despite his efforts to remain otherwise. James missed her.

"But it's fun, Soldier," she told him with a grin on her lips. She knew he was trying to keep the facade of them just being partners. But no one would say something if she acted like they were friends. After all, both of them had known each other for years now. Moreover, not getting caught or even interrogated for putting the dead body up the flag post had made her careless, perhaps even a little reckless.

She laughed over his statement and joked back "Oh, I would've loved seeing that, James. Suddenly the very scary Winter Soldier standing pantless in front of me."

She grinned, amused and looked at his metal arm. "At least the doc seemed positive that they get you back to your usual self." Natalia told him and placed her hand on the metal. It still amazed her that for her, it didn't feel cold. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Like it was radiating the heat she saw underneath the stoic expression of the Winter Soldier.

Natalia enjoyed seeing him again and being near him. But refrained from pulling him into a hug despite the big urge she felt. Instead, she looked at him with a gentle smile, unsure of what to say for the first time in a long time.

"It's good to see you... but you probably should really get going. The doc will wonder what took me so long to retrieve you," she said and dropped her hand reluctantly.

He soaked in her laugh and warmed as he heard his name again. It didn't grow tiring. He held back a quip about if she'd love it simply because they were still a place where they should not be having this sort of conversation. Certainly, she shouldn't use his name... but James just couldn't bring himself to stop her.

He tried very hard to pull himself from those thoughts. It was hardest with her hand on his metal arm, even if he couldn't feel it. Not the way he did on his flesh but he felt the weight of her hand, could feel the sense of it dully. So he turned his arm, which followed its creaking, and slid it back so his hand could brush across hers slowly.

James slid his fingers through hers as his palm passed them and curled them together for a brief moment before he slid them away from hers. This was not the time or place, but even such a simple touch sent a thrill through him. He looked at her and smiled in response as she said it was good to see him. It was... especially in better terms than the last.

"Why do you know of my arm?" He asked a bit more seriously, his voice slightly reprimanding. Natalia shouldn't, of course. It wouldn't look good for her to be poking her nose into the Winter Soldier too much. She did work with him occasionally, but too much would draw attention. He stepped away from her with that thought and slowly started for the door. He liked this small space in time but could not push it when things were still on edge.

Natalia tried to hold his hand a little longer but knew it wasn't smart, and he pulled his hand away. She looked at his left hand and tried not to sigh at the loss of contact. All she wanted to do was spend a little more time with him but that wasn't really likely to happen. Leaving the Red Room for a mission might be more challenging for Natalia after publicly setting her foot down on Kudrin. So the older woman wouldn't suggest her for assignments anymore and she was left hoping for the government to retrieve her.

"I spent the past few days in the Hospital Wing with a bad stomach ache and became best buddies with the doc. Thinking about it, the guy tells one a lot if you're willing to listen to his chatter-" she sighed "-Besides, I'm not stupid, Winter. Don't you think I can link an appointment with the doc and Pchelinstov to them wanting to treat your arm?"

She raised her eyebrow, slightly offended by him thinking she wouldn't be able to do so. "After all I was there when your arm malfunctioned."

How they believed Natalia would lay in a medical area for days with an upset stomach was a testament to how much they underestimated her. Although he knew her better, Natalia had shown many times she could and would push herself through much worse.

James rolled his eyes once. It was all logical, but he still wanted to be extra careful. Perhaps he was too cautious, though, unlike Natalia... there wasn't much he needed to think out to keep to his... his story, he supposed. There had never been much, and as long as he showed disinterest in most things unrelated to his mission, it was easy for him.

"You were. I simply want to be careful," He told Natalia softly, but James did feel more assured that way. Thinking about why they needed to be careful just led his thoughts to wander over those very good things. So he smiled once and turned again towards her when he reached the door. "You make it rather hard to do so, you know," James said low, with an insinuating grin at her.

Natalia looked at him and her grin grew as he mentioned that it was hard for him to do so. "Well, it should be hard for you-" she told him with an amused smile before adding- just for the fun of it "-It's what I do. Making it hard for men to resist me. The only difference is that making it hard for you is simply for my own amusement and not for a mission."

Natalia walked over to him as he reached the door. "It's more of a personal agenda, James," she whispered into his ear, making her lips brush against his cheek before turning to the door and walking through it.

She looked over her shoulder a last time at the Winter Soldier while she grinned. She hoped that left him as frustrated as she had been when he withdrew his hand or went away to the door. Of course, Natalia knew it was only rational to keep a distance, especially in the Red Room but she was more reckless than he, so this only came natural to her. Besides, a few days away from the Red Room, James simply got her to act like this. It had been so easy to get away from everything. Of course, Kudrin must have searched her room for clues if she had been part of the murder but Natalia had removed all indications. She simply hoped the woman hadn't done her job correctly, so the James Barnes file was still in its hideout.

He gave her a wry look as she declared it was what she did. He found he didn't like being compared to her work. She continued to clarify and her amusement shook any lingering thoughts of the sort. She neared him then, and he didn't know if it was her calling them personal, his name, or how she leaned into him that made his spine shudder pleasantly.

His eyelids dropped some and he swallowed quickly as he felt her lips grazing his cheek. She made that far too appealing. But, Lord have mercy, James had to breathe in deep there. It took all he had not to reach out, grab her around the waist, yanking her back and tease her endlessly the way she was him.

She looked back at him and James watched her leaving hungrily. Damn... every inch of him urged him to follow her. Yank her back and really kiss her. James tried shaking himself out of it and took another necessary moment to compose himself before he tossed the door open and followed her out.

She was right about one thing; it was indeed what she did.

Author's Note: This is the first story of a full series around Bucky and Natasha's unseen past in the MCU. Stay tuned!

Leave a kudos or put it in the comments what you think will happen next or what you loved! It'll be great to hear from you! If you enjoyed the story, feel free to treat me to a coffee on KoFi! ko slash fi dot com slash fatedmuses