DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE.
~0~0~0~0~0~
Natasha Romanoff wasn't usually one to accept help, even when she'd been shot. Especially, when she had been shot. Usually, it would irritate her when someone tried such a thing, but when Steve climbed out the car and held his arm out for her, she'd practically melted there and then.
You've really got to get a grip of yourself, she thought, as she wrapped her own arm around his waist and leaned against him as they headed for the safety house. He seemed to be holding her a little closer than necessary, but she wasn't about to argue, nor did she for one second even consider stepping away. And, perhaps, she inhaled his scent in one deep breath. The hand that stroked down her spine slightly told her that he had noticed, and that he didn't mind.
Hill led the way without a word. The dark tunnel was echoey and cold, with the occasional light guiding the way. None of them asked any questions. Natasha was feeling too dizzy from the blood that was still staining her vest, Steve seemed lost in his own memories, and Sam was staring around with an open mouth.
They entered a dark underground tunnel, where an unfamiliar man rushed towards them.
"GSW." Hill informed him, her voice repeating down the tunnel. "She's lost at least a pint."
"Maybe two," Sam chimed in.
The man nodded. "Let me take her."
"She'll want to see him first." Hill shot his offer down, walking with such purpose that Natasha wondered what the rush was.
The rush, she reminded her, is that your going to stain the floor if you don't get this wound compressed. Confused, though, by Hill's statement, Natasha exchanged a glance with Steve. He seemed just as clueless, but held her close as they continued down the tunnel.
They headed down some stairs, to a large room with plastic blinds. Hill brushed them to the side, and the sight in front of them was enough to make Natasha's legs buckle. Steve held her up.
Nick Fury was in front of them, lying in a bed, attached to machines. Nick Fury was very much alive.
How was that possible? She'd watched with her own eyes as those surgeons had scrambled to save his life, but how he had slipped away from them in the end, giving in to death as his wounds became too much. She'd felt her heart break in her chest, and she knew that wound had not yet healed over, and probably never would. The pain had been unbearable, but nothing compared to the betrayal she felt now.
There was only one explanation for all of this, one that struck her like an icicle through the chest, causing her veins to freeze. They'd been lying to them all this time.
"About damn time," Fury said casually, as if there was nothing strange about this entire situation. The easy confidence, the cool calm and familiarity of his voice made Natasha both relieved to see him, but also tempted to smother him with his pillow for what he had put her through.
Steve's hand, resting on her hip, gently stroked her side, as if knowing exactly how she was feeling. The action soothed her greatly, but she still glowered across at the Director.
"You're not dead." She stated, the dullness in her voice showing just how conflicted she was feeling. The gunshot to her shoulder was nothing compared to the hurt she felt from Fury's betrayal, but she wasn't about to declare that in front of everyone.
Fury grinned at her, which she responded to with a deathly glare. "I'll explain." He promised. "Cap, there's a seat there. Let Williams take a look at that gunshot."
Steve seemed reluctant to let her go, but as the doctor took a step forward, he dipped his head. Gently as possible, he helped Natasha ease down on the chair so the man who had followed them in could finally tend to her wound. She felt relieved when Steve stayed beside her, only taking a single step back to give the doctor some room. The old Natasha would have barked at him, snapped that she didn't need some alpha male fussing over her. But, this Natasha, one that enjoyed the fact he was so concerned for her, just gave him a small smile.
Her world had been turned upside down, just as his had. They needed each other, so she was thankful for his hovering.
"I'm not dead." Fury confirmed the obvious. "But, I was pretty close. Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache."
"Don't forget your collapsed lung." Williams, the doctor, added helpfully.
Fury snorted in amusement. "Let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good."
"They cut you open." Natasha glared across at him. "Your heart stopped."
"Tetrodotoxin B," Fury told her, meeting her gaze without flinching. But, there was a gentleness to him as he spoke to her, as if he was trying to show her that he was sorry for what he had done. "Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."
Steve's arms were folded over his chest, his jaw locked. "Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?"
It was Hill who answered, "Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful."
"Can't kill you if you're already dead." Fury filled in the blank that they had already worked out. This had been planned all along, without them knowing, letting them believe that he really had died, that it was over. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."
Natasha tried not to show how much the words stung. She'd sacrificed a lot because of Fury. Even though he had taken her in under his wing and helped her right the wrongs she had committed in her life, she had given everything to become that person. She'd given away pieces of herself, locked them away and thrown away the key, making it now near impossible for her to ever overcome them again.
"What do you know about the Winter Soldier?" Steve demanded.
Fury met his gaze cooly. "I know he is your old friend. I know that horrible things have happened to him. They've fried his brain and reprogrammed it exactly how HYDRA wanted him to be. Although he wears the face of your friend, Captain, he is not that person anymore."
The skin of Steve's knuckles turned white from the pressure of gripping round his elbows, but he didn't bring up Bucky again.
Natasha glanced over her shoulder at him, ignoring how her wound whined at her to not make such a sudden movement. She could see that lost look in his eyes once again, and she wished she could take some of his pain away. She remembered exactly how it had felt facing Clint. Was Steve really ready for this?
"We need to rest." Steve said, speaking as the natural-born leader that he was.
Fury dipped his head. "We have rooms here. Help yourselves. In a couple of hours, we'll discuss how we plan to fix this mess."
~0~0~0~0~0~
There was a light tapping on Steve's door, and he rose from the small cot to answer it. To his surprise, Natasha's emerald eyes greeted him, blinking up at him.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly, not just referring to her now healing wound, but the entire day's events. Seeing Fury alive had shaken her, and Steve needed to know that she was starting to process it, otherwise she would drive herself crazy.
"I can't wash my hair." She deflected his question, but the way she bit into her lower lip was enough to give away that she was slightly nervous. "I...um...you're the only one that I want to help me, that I trust."
"Not Hill?" Despite how his body ached, his entire being tingled at what Natasha was suggesting, and he forced himself to ignore it. She was vulnerable, the walls she had built around herself were down, for him. He needed to respect that and protect her.
She blinked up at him, and he gave her a soft smile of understanding. "Come on," He said, stepping out into the corridor and shutting the door behind him. They headed down to where her designated room was. They were all the same; small, dark with little furniture, with a small ensuite with a shower and a toilet. Shampoos and soaps were found in a little cupboard by the shower, and Steve picked out a few things so Natasha didn't have to move around too much. Her wound was cleaned, but it needed time to heal over completely.
His legs almost lost the ability to keep him upright as he turned around to find her without her jeans on and her vest half-way over her head. For a moment, he forgot everything, completely captivated by the sight of her long, powerful legs and flat stomach, the black panties she was wearing and the shape of her thighs.
Stop it, she's your friend and she needs help, he was ashamed of how his body yearned for her, how he longed to touch the exposed skin and show her just how much she meant to him. To finally be able to answer the questions that had burned inside him for so long now.
She'd probably whack you round the head with a shampoo bottle.
Throwing her vest down, Natasha turned and saw him looking, and his cheeks burned. "It's alright, I'll keep the important bits covered." She said, a small twitch to the corner of her mouth.
He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Nat."
Her smile grew slightly. "It's fine." She stepped into the shower. "You may want to lose the jeans, Rogers. I don't think they'll be very comfortable once they get wet." Before, he would have had that confidence down as just that; confidence. Now, he understood that it was a way for her to protect how she was really feeling, to disguise one emotion as the other.
Somewhat awkwardly, he shrugged off his jeans, ignoring how her eyes followed his every movement. But, her eyes did not linger, did not make him feel uncomfortable for even a second. "Nat, about earlier, are you-"
"I don't want to talk about it." She cut in, closing her eyes and taking a deep, slightly shaky breath. "I don't even want to think about it. I just...I need to wash my hair, it's driving me crazy that every time I tried, it hurt. I need to get the dirt out of it, because the longer it stays like this, the longer it reminds me that I let that bastard shoot me and then get away." Steve resisted the urge to flinch as she called Bucky such a thing, and he reminded himself firmly that Fury had been right - it wasn't his friend who had fought them today.
Besides, a part of him felt angry towards that masked, steel-armed man, for shooting Natasha. Regardless of whether it was Bucky or not, the fact harm had come to her sparked a fury inside Steve that he didn't even know he processed.
Natasha's eyes opened and sparked, but not with happiness or teasing, but with tears that she was holding back with all her strength. "I want to be clean. I want just a few moments to forget, otherwise my head is going to explode, and nothing will make this sickening feeling inside me go away-"
She stopped talking as Steve climbed into the shower, standing in front of her so closely that the space between them crackled. Her breath caught in her throat, and his heart quickened.
"I understand." He whispered. "Stand under the water, Nat."
She exhaled, taking a step back and letting the warm water fall over her, soaking her hair and running down her skin. Despite the situation around them, Steve allowed himself to admire how the droplets cascaded down her skin, trailing down the curve of her neck and sliding between her breasts. God, she was the most distracting, tempting thing he'd ever seen.
The space between them was minimal, but neither of them stepped away. Steve's hand rested on her waist, unable to resist touching her, to remind him that this wasn't a dream. Her skin was just as soft as he had imagined.
Without fully understanding the emotion that powered through him, Steve dropped his head, his nose trailing over the bare skin of her shoulder. Taking in a deep breath, he inhaled her scent as the hot water warmed his face.
As his nose trailed up the column of her neck, he heard Natasha's breath hitch, but she tilted her head to the side. Inviting him, exposing more of her neck to him. Her eyes had fluttered shut, and Steve growled lowly as he allowed himself to nuzzle into her soft skin.
He let his lips brush over where his nose had just been, tasting the sweetness of her skin. God, she was addictive.
Could she hear just how fast his heart was beating right now? It pounded in his chest as if it weighed the same amount as a small boulder. Every single one of his senses was honed in on the woman in front of him.
It took every last punch of control he had to lean away, his lips reluctantly leaving her neck. Natasha's eyes opened, sensing the new distance between them that felt strange, crackling with tension. The skin where his lips had just traced over tingled with that same sensation that every small touch he'd given her lately had done.
Steve looked up at him, and the oxygen left his lungs. The sight of her, with her hair sticking to her face and droplets running down her collarbones was one that he would never forget. Needing to distract himself quickly, he gave himself the task of grabbing the shampoo bottle and squeezing a generous amount of it into his palm.
Once her hair was wet enough, she slowly turned around, a low moan escaping her the second Steve's hands started massaging the shampoo into her scalp. She leaned into his touch, bringing their bodies even closer together, but Steve didn't move away from her.
Steve took his time, gently moving his fingers as the shampoo lathered up. He found himself enjoying how her sleek hair would run through his fingers as easily as melted butter. His hand would occasionally brush over her shoulders, and he tried to tell himself he imagined her breathing hitch at the contact. The shampoo smelt of lemons, and he decided that smell suited her perfectly. Sharp and tangy, unforgettable.
As they stood together in the shower, they stopped protecting themselves around each other. There was no Captain America, or Black Widow, or SHIELD, or HYDRA. There was no Winter Soldier, or Rumlow, or Sitwell, or Fury. Just Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff.
Natasha stepped away from him to rinse her hair off, the bubbles running down her body and taking his eyes with them. He followed how they slid down, curving round the plains of her stomach, dropping between her legs. Slowly, his eyes went back up, seeing how heavily she was breathing, noticing how her bottom lip was currently being bitten by her teeth. The look in her eyes was deep and powerful.
"Nat-"
"You don't have to be afraid to touch me, Steve." She whispered.
He froze. "I...I just did." He pointed out lamely, referring to her now clean, glossy hair. In that moment, he reflected back on the question she had asked him just the other day. Perhaps, he did have a favourite colour, but right now, he couldn't quite decide if that was the bright, flame-colour of her hair, or the emerald of her eyes.
"That's not why I meant, and we both know it."
His heart practically leapt out of his chest. "You're upset," He said, shaking his head slightly. "You're hurting." Hurting, not hurt. He wasn't referring to her physical wound, which he had made sure to avoid touching this entire time. "You're...confused."
She looked at him sharply. "I'm tired. I'm hungry." She said. "Someone tried to kill us both today, Steve. Relentlessly. Rumlow was probably going to kill us as well. I'm not going to stand here and pretend that I understand my feelings right now, because I really don't. In all honesty, they terrify me. But, they are real. I'm tired of trying to hide how I feel about you. I won't let you believe that I don't want this. That I don't want you."
The surety in her voice and the way her eyes flickered from his to his lips and back, made Steve lean forward and rest his forehead against hers. His hands came to rest on her hips, unsure at first, of how exactly to behave around her. But, she stood before him now, vulnerable. He refused his own walls to build back up around him.
"Nat," He whispered to her, her name tasting sweet on his tongue as the hot water steamed the room around them. His nose trailed across her jawline slowly, as droplets ran down his cheeks and onto her bare shoulder. "I've wanted you for so long. Only you."
Her breathing caught in her throat, but she relaxed into him, letting his sweet words surround her, touch her heart in a way that she had never allowed before, from anyone. Never even wanted before, until now.
Steve's tone was slightly nervous as he asked, "Can I kiss you, Nat?"
The genuine smile that spread across her face was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. It was her answer. Yes.
He moved a hand to cup the back of her head, his fingers easing through her wet, lemony scented hair. For a moment, he wondered if she could hear just how heavily his heart was pounding right now. He captured her lips with his, gently, and briefly worried that this may potentially just end up being awkward. What if he disappointed her? The kiss in the mall had been one thing, and he could blame that on the surprise of the situation. Now, he just hoped that she wouldn't step away from him and say it was all a big mistake.
But, as her lips moved under his, all that doubt and worry was immediately forgotten about.
It wasn't awkward. It felt right.
The tether holding Natasha together snapped, and she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, pulling his body deliciously against hers. They backed up so she was pressed against the bathroom tiles, the water from the shower raining down on them, but neither of them noticed. Between his strong body and the cold wall, Natasha was pleasantly surprised to realise that she didn't feel trapped, or pressured. This was Steve. He'd stop if she asked him to, if she wanted him to.
But, the thing was, she didn't want him to.
Another part of her relished in the fact that he wasn't backing down, that he was clearly enjoying this just as much as her. It brought a dizziness to her that she blamed him for completely. No one had kissed her like this, as if they were worshipping her, in a way that left her burning for them but also made her feel incredibly safe.
This was different from their kiss in the shopping mall. That had been the brushing of lips, a mere act to keep themselves hidden. Secret feelings aside, it had been short and sweet. This kiss was passionate and breath-taking, wiping everything from their minds apart from each other. Natasha's teeth nibbled at his bottom lip encouragingly, giving him all the confidence that he needed to continue. That was all there was in the world right now, just the two of them.
Steve's tongue brushed against her bottom lip, and Natasha instantly parted her mouth for him, pleasantly surprised by his boldness. She arched her back, pressing her chest even closer to him, wanting to feel more, and wherever their skin touched, the area tingled. The hand that was resting on her hip made her feel as if she was on fire, and the sensation was wonderful. The other hand, still behind her head, was threaded through her hair in the most pleasant of ways.
Steve pulled away, kissing her once more sweetly, before looking at her. His eyes flickered her face, looking for any sign that she regretted what they had just done.
But, Natasha simply smiled at him. "You've been holding out on me, Rogers."
His answer to her tease was to kiss her again, this time longer, bolder. His tongue explored her warm mouth, battling against hers for dominance. After a little while, he gave in to her. Her own hands explored the muscles of his chest, the flatness of his stomach, dancing around the skin just above his boxers. But, they didn't go any further. They trailed back up, slowly, as if mapping every curve of his body, before settling around the sides of his neck.
His hands fell to her waist, feeling the soft skin of her stomach. His fingers coasted over the scar, dangerously close to the top of her own panties, teasing her just as she had done with him. Nat moaned into his mouth, the sound of it driving him crazy.
It was only when a loud knock sounded from the other room that they forced themselves to stop.
"Romanoff!" Hill barked from outside. "Meeting in 20."
Natasha groaned in annoyance, and Steve rested his forehead against her shoulder before peppering the skin there with sweet kisses that gradually headed for her neck.
"Romanoff!"
"I heard you the first time!" Natasha shouted over the sound of the running water. Clearly, Hill was satisfied by that answer, as she didn't say anything else. Natasha rolled her eyes, but when Steve's lips found the soft spot just below her ear, her back arched and she easily forgot her moment of annoyance over Hill's interruption.
Natashas fingers lifted Steve's head up to look at her. "Tease."
He grinned, the grin that was her undoing and left her feeling dizzy. The grin that showed off that cute dimple of his, just underneath the right corner of his mouth, that only appeared when he was really smiling. "I should go."
She huffed, but gave in. "We will talk about this, Steve." She reassured him, knowing that he'd overthink or worry that he had somehow taken advantage. They both needed confirmation on exactly what they wanted to happen; so they were on the same page. "After all this is over, I promise."
He nodded softly, reaching behind her to turn the water off. "Fury might have a heart attack when he sees the water bill."
She laughed. God, when had been the last time she'd laughed and actually meant it? "He deserves it, after the stunt he's pulled on us. Anyways, you can't just walk out of here. This is my room, there might be someone in the corridor."
"How many people did you see in this place?" Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.
She rolled her eyes, swatting him over the shoulder. "I'm being serious. This is new, and between us, and that's how it should stay if we have any chance of it working."
His heart warmed as he realised she was on the same page as him. He wanted a future with her. Now that he'd gotten a glimpse of what that could be like, he wasn't going to let it go. "Alright, alright, you leave and tap on the wall if the coast is clear."
She winked at him. "Yes, Captain."
They got changed quickly, with Natasha towel-drying her hair as best she could. Before she slipped out, a strong arm encircled her waist and she found herself facing Steve's perfectly sculptured chest once again. A surprised noise was cut off from her as Steve leaned down kissed her.
When they pulled away, she beamed up at him, and he shrugged with a grin. "I don't know when the next chance I'll have to do that will be." He defended himself.
"Never feel like you have to justify kissing me, Rogers." She said, reaching up on her tiptoes to return the gesture, securing one last kiss that he was more than willing to give her. "See you in a minute."
He watched as she darted out the room, shooting another wink over her shoulder. As hard as he could, Steve tried to hide his smile as he heard the tapping on the wall and headed for the meeting with Fury.
~0~0~0~0~0~
The atmosphere in the room was tense, to say the least.
Fury sat at the table as casually as if nothing had ever happened. Hill, as always, sat at his side, hands together on the table as they discussed Pierce. Natasha said at the far corner of the table, her eyes fixed on Fury, her arms folded across her chest as she leaned back in her chair, feet on the table. Steve stood nearby, waiting to hear how they would handle Bucky. He was conflicted when it came to his old friend, but he wouldn't allow harm to come to him. Not when his actions had not been his own choice.
Sam was with them, and Steve felt guilty for bringing the guy into all this mess. Sam was good, and he wanted to help people, but this was going to be very dangerous.
"This man declined a Nobel Peace Prize." Fury commented, looking down at a photo of Pierce, an unreadable expression on his face as he regarded the man he thought he knew. "He said peace wasn't an achievement. It was a responsibility. See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues."
Natasha was clearly biting her tongue, refraining from making a comment regarding Fury's 'death'. "We have to stop the launch."
"I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." Fury said, as he opened the briefcase that rested on the table beside him. Inside were three large, identical discs.
"What's that?" Sam asked, leaning forward to get a better look.
"Once the helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized." Hill explained.
"We need to breach those carriers, and replace their targeting blades with our own." Fury continued, as Hill turned her laptop around, showing them all the screen.
Hill looked over to her Director. "One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die."
Again, Steve reflected back to the conversation he had shared with Fury all those days ago, whilst surrounded by the massive helicarriers. He'd pointed out the risks, the destruction that they could cause under the wrong hands. His words had been ignored, as the safety of the world was put at top priority, without realising that the things they hoped could protect it might end up being the things that destroyed it.
What a mess.
Fury straightened. "We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is HYDRA. We have to get past them, insert these server blades. And maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left-"
"We're not salvaging anything." Steve interrupted, all eyes in the room darting to him instantly. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down SHIELD."
"SHIELD had nothing to do with this." Fury retorted hotly, defensively.
"You gave me this mission. This is how it ends." Steve ordered. "SHIELD's been compromised. You said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."
Fury raised his chin. "Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."
"How many paid the price before you did?" Steve couldn't care less that he was speaking to the Director himself, who was technically his boss in a certain way. But, he had never signed his name to Nick Fury, and he certainly wasn't about to roll over for him now.
For a moment, it looked as if Fury was going to defend himself and SHIELD more, but then, he dropped his head. "Look, I didn't know about Barnes."
The name made Steve's body turn cold. "Even if you had, would you have told me? Or, would you have compartmentalized that, too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes."
Surprisingly enough, Hill said, "He's right." Steve had never heard her go against the Director before, but even she could see where they had gone wrong and was willing to admit it.
Fury shared a glance with her, and then turned to Natasha. The red-head leaned back further in her chair, as if challenging him to argue against Steve again.
"Don't look at me," Sam chimed in, as the Director's careful eye landed on him. "I do what he does, just slower."
Fury turned back to Steve. "Well," He said, breaking the silence. "Looks like you are giving the orders now, Captain."
Steve's jaw locked. "We infiltrate SHIELD and shut down those helicarriers before they reach three thousand feet." He told them all. "Natasha, we need a way into the Council to gain access to SHIELD's databases, in order to leak classified information. We need to expose HYDRA to the public, make them aware of the threat."
"Pierce will have armed agents with him." Hill pointed out. "Natasha would be shot the instant they saw her face."
"So, we don't make it my face." Natasha said, sitting up and crossing her arms on the table. "Councilwoman Hawley will be expected to be there, will she not? Her face will do."
Fury grinned. "A perfect uncover mission for you, Romanoff."
"In order to leak such information, you need two Alpha Level Members. Otherwise, the executive order, otherwise the system will not let you breach it." Hill reminded them.
Natasha looked over to her mentor, and for the first time, smiled back at him. "Looks like you get to make your dramatic entrance after all, Nick."
"Hill," Steve continued. "We need to get inside SHIELD, to broadcast exactly what is happening. There are still loyal SHIELD agents inside that people that can help us - or, get out in time, safely. After that, Sam and I will replace the controller chips in all three helicarriers with these ones."
Silence hit the room as they all processed their different roles and assessed just how dangerous this mission could go. There were many opportunities for things to go terribly wrong.
"Rumlow is all mine," Natasha declared suddenly, a cold determination in her voice.
Sam dipped his head to Steve. "I'll take any HYDRA slug that I can get my hands on. They owe me a new car."
Steve nodded to him in thanks. He knew it wasn't enough, considering how much Sam was risking, but it was all he could give him. "No one touches the Winter Soldier." He almost spat out the words. It was Bucky, under all those mind-games and horrid brain-washing. It was his friend.
Without another word, Steve stormed out.
~0~0~0~0~0~
I did say it was going to get a little bit steamier now!
Side note; has anyone on here read From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout? I finished the first book within 24 hours over Christmas, and I may have developed an unhealthy obsession for Prince Casteel.