Hello, everybody!

So, first, thank you for your patience while I get caught up on my writing. Second, thank you all for the support on the story! I know I say this just about every time, but it really means so much to me, so thank you :)

And just a note, starting with this chapter, it will be all flashbacks to the 40s events. I don't know yet how many chapters this is going to be yet, but probably quite a few.

I don't own Captain America.

Enjoy!

-:-

Hydra Base just over German/Poland border; Early January, 1944

Steve split the howling Commandos up into groups, sending in a team through every possible exit of the low brick building that was housing weapons about to be shipped off to larger Hydra facilities. Their mission was to find the man in charge here—some guy named Abel—and question him to find out where the weapons shipments were headed. He couldn't help but think how similar the debriefing was to when, weeks ago now, they had raided the Black Widow facility. The only thing different was the Black Widow herself. As he laid out the plan for everyone, Natasha listened intently, nodding every so often.

"Good strategy," she told him later, after the other Commandos had moved into position and he was left with her and Bucky.

Steve was about to respond when Bucky moved over to his side, giving Natasha a look, mouth turned down. Steve sighed internally, wishing Bucky would make a better effort to conceal his dislike for Natasha. Not that she seemed to mind, or care. He saw her meet Bucky's distasteful look and then turned away to check her pistols, her features not faltering an inch.

"You know, you could at least act like you don't hate her," Steve muttered once Natasha was out of earshot. "What happened to you trying to be polite?"

"Tried it. Didn't suit me," Bucky retorted.

"You're unbelievable." Steve rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I'm not the one who brought an assassin onto the team."

Steve clenched his jaw. Yes, Natasha was an assassin. The best assassin. It didn't mean she was incapable of change, though. Steve understood why people were wary of her, but the way he saw it, she'd had plenty of chances to kill him or escape and she had done neither. The other Howling Commandos were giving her a chance, Steve just wished Bucky would too.

"Look," Steve said, turning back to his best friend. "This is her first mission with us. Let's see how it goes. Just maybe wait till after to decide how you want to judge her from here on out, okay?"

Bucky was silent for a moment, catching on easily to the irritation in Steve's tone. Finally, Bucky exhaled, then nodded. "Fine. If you agree to be careful with her. I get that you're choosing to trust her, but don't extend that trust too far, Steve. People like her don't just flip sides this easily—even temporarily—so don't get your hopes up too much."

Steve nodded slowly. "Fine. We ready to go then?"

"Yeah," Bucky agreed.

"Natasha—" Steve started to say, but when he turned around, she was gone. "Dammit."

"Is it too early to say I told you so?" Bucky asked, raising his eyebrows.

Steve didn't bother to answer him before taking off down the short road to the building, Bucky on his heels. When they entered, Steve barely had time to register the sound of distant gunfire, somewhere else in the facility, when a dozen Hydra agents came at them. Steve threw his shield and it struck one square in the chest, ricocheted, and took another out. He grabbed his shield and went for two more who moved towards him. He heard the chatter of Bucky's sub-machine gun and the echoing call of bodies dropping heavily to the floor. A few moments later, they were surrounded by a dozen dead or unconscious bodies.

Wordlessly, Steve started making his way further into the building. Noises resonated from further off in the facility. They encountered a few more Hydra goons on their way, who were easily shot down. Steve was beginning to think that Natasha had simply gotten impatient and joined up with the other Commandos when he heard a strangled cry a hundred feet in front of them. Steve and Bucky ran down the length of the hall that ended in a single door. Steve was about to reach out and twist the knob when the door burst open and Natasha stepped out.

She looked unscathed. At ease, actually. Natasha shoved a piece of paper at his chest, which he grabbed without taking her eyes off her face. "A list of all the Hydra facilities they were going to ship weapons to," she announced. "You're welcome."

Steve stared at her, stunned, about to ask her how she'd managed that so easily, when he caught sight of the blood on her hands.

"Is that…is that your blood?"

"Nope. I'm fine. Can't say the same for the other guy, though," she said nonchalantly, like the fact that having another man's blood on her hands was no big deal. And Steve realized that it wasn't, not to her. Realization struck him hard, and she must've seen it on his face, because, though she kept her face passive, her body tightened, like she was preparing to run.

"Natasha," he said lowly. "What did you do?"

She met his gaze steadily, tilting her chin up, one eyebrow quirking up the tiniest bit. "I got what we needed." She shoved past him. "I'll go find the others," she called over her shoulder. Then she rounded the corner and disappeared.

"Steve, in here," Bucky called out.

Steve watched the spot where Natasha had disappeared a moment longer. He tucked the piece of paper she'd handed him into his belt, then turned and headed into the room Natasha had come from. He lifted his shield over his shoulder and secured it to his back as he stepped through the doorframe. Bucky was standing next to their man, Abel. The Hydra agent was strapped to a chair, his ankles and wrists bound with black cord. A gash in his hairline had streaked his face with blood, and Steve would have thought he was dead, but his eyes were open and wide. As Steve stepped closer to Abel and a grim looking Bucky, Steve noticed that the man's fingers were bent at odd, unnatural angles. She'd broken his fingers.

Something twisted inside of Steve. He clenched his jaw. He took deliberate steps over to the Hydra man, helping Bucky untie the man. He refused to look at his best friend because he knew what he would see behind Bucky's eyes, knew what Bucky was thinking, because it was the same thing he was thinking. Hydra or not, this guy didn't deserve this, not for answers that could have been obtained a lot easier. Red Skull, maybe. But not someone this low on the food chain, doing nothing more than taking orders. Steve couldn't say he didn't want Hydra gone, because he did. They had taken Bucky, had experimented on him, tested on him. And though Bucky was now safe, Steve knew Red Skull would not stop, not until he and everyone else who stood in his way was reduced to a pile of ash at his feet.

So, yes, Steve wanted to stop Hydra. But not like this. He knew when he took Natasha on that she was capable of such things. He wasn't an idiot; he'd known with complete and utter certainty that this is exactly what she was trained for, what she was built for. What she was made into. A torturer. A killer. A black widow. His only hope had been that, when she'd agreed to stick around long enough to let him give her a second chance, she would try a little harder to leave behind the past he'd taken her from.

It seemed, though, that old habits were hard to break.

Steve sighed as they finished untying Abel and handcuffing him. Tortured already or not, Colonel Phillips would have questions for him. With no more words than necessary, Steve told Bucky to take Abel back to the trucks. Steve went in the opposite direction in search of the Howling Commandos. When he found them they were surrounded by a couple dozen downed Hydra soldiers.

"Hey, Cap!" Dum Dum Dugan greeted jovially. Natasha stood beside Dugan, her gaze locked on Steve's as Dugan clapped her on the shoulder. "You know, I had my doubts about her, but you should've seen her, Cap! A couple of these Hydra filth had Jones pinned down in the corner and this one here swoops in like a goddamn avenging angel!"

Natasha's eye lit up in amusement as Dugan called her an avenging angel. She continued to keep her eyes on Steve, and he met her gaze equally as he listened to Dugan.

"Anyway," Dugan continued, his face lit up with a huge grin as he adjusted his bowler hat on his head. "Like I said, you should've seen her. She took down three of 'em before the fourth could even lift his gun."

Jones, who had come up while Dum Dum had been speaking, nodded in agreement. "It's true, Cap. Don't know if I would've have been able to take all of them if it hadn't been for Romanoff here. It's like I blinked and they were all dead."

"Glad to hear it," Steve said, trying to keep his tone cordial. "We got what we needed, so let's head out."

Steve fell back as the other Commandos headed towards the entrance. Just as Natasha was about to follow, Steve grabbed her arm and held tight, walking them out together. She didn't say anything. Didn't even tense up at his tight grip. He realized that she was completely and utterly calm. The fact that she just tortured a man and then went and killed a dozen more meant nothing to her. It was just another job, another mission. She'd completed it, wiped the blood off her hands, and then went about as if nothing had happened.

And the dead Hydra soldiers wouldn't have been a big deal—they'd all taken a few out that day—but the fact that she tortured one of them…well, Phillips had said to report every detail of the mission, and Steve couldn't exactly leave this out. Not only would Natasha probably get sent back to Russia,, Steve would get the shorter end of the stick when it came to the Colonel's wrath.

-:-

The whole ride back, Steve kept a tight grip on Natasha. The others had seen Abel in the truck when they'd loaded up, and even though there was no doubt that it had been Natasha, the Commandos still had some level of uncertainty in their eyes. And Steve could understand. From what Dugan and Jones had said, it sounded like she'd saved Jones, at least, and perhaps a few of the others while she was at it. And Steve couldn't deny that he was grateful for that. Though he'd only been working with the Commandos a short time, he'd grown fond of them, and he wouldn't want to see any of them get hurt. Or worse. What Natasha had done would have meant a lot more to him if she hadn't tortured a guy first.

When they got back on base, Steve went straight to Phillips to give his report—leaving Bucky outside to guard Natasha, which neither of them looked happy about—and hand Phillips the list of Hydra bases that were supposed to have gotten weapons shipments. After he was done, the Colonel was silent for a long time. Steve waited for his temper to explode, to get the chewing out of a lifetime about how Steve was supposed to keep an eye on her, and how she had been a risk from the beginning, and so on and so forth.

Instead, Phillips heaved a deep sigh, rubbing the list of Hydra bases in between his fingers. For a few minutes more, though, the Colonel looked like he wanted to say something, but he stayed silent.

"Sir?" Steve prompted.

"Look…" Colonel Phillips started slowly. "I don't agree with her methods. We do not condone torture—ever. But there are a lot of things that weren't condoned before this damn war started, and, well…sometimes the rules need to temporarily change to get results, Rogers. There's no doubt she needs to be punished for this behavior. I think two days in solitary should suffice. But I won't send her back to Russia. Not yet, at least. This will be her warning."

Steve blinked, letting Phillips' words sink in. The Colonel, who had been so adamant about not letting her join, who had been damn near rushing to send her back to her country, was now giving her the benefit of the doubt. "So…you're…you're not going to send her back? You're just going to lock her up for a few days? That's it?"

Steve wasn't sure if he was angry or not. Honestly everything about Natasha confused him. He couldn't get a read on her at all, but she seemed to be able to look at him and stare right into his soul and his mind and see everything that he was feeling and thinking and it drove him crazy. He didn't agree with Natasha torturing Abel, but he also didn't want to ship her off either. He actually agreed with Colonel Phillips completely, he just wasn't sure he wanted to voice that.

"Look, Rogers, you told me what Jones and Dugan said," Colonel Phillips spoke. "Her torture methods were unorthodox, yes. But she'd good. I'm not going to deny that fact. I think she'll be a good addition to your team. Especially if it means that she can help you take down this Hydra threat. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can end this war for good."

Steve pondered that a moment before nodding. "Yes, sir."

"Good. You can escort her to solitary. Then I want a written report of the events that occurred today from each of you. On my desk by tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir," Steve said again, before taking his leave.

-:-

1 day later…

Steve had barely taken a step into the room before Natasha spoke.

"You know, I thought solitary meant that I'm supposed to be alone," she pointed out lazily.

She was laying on her cot, hands folded across her stomach and eyes glued to the ceiling. Steve moved in a chair from outside without saying anything. Natasha sat up slowly, pushing her bright red hair back from her face. It was such a mundane thing to do, that Steve was almost startled. She was always calm and collected, poised and deliberate in everything she did. He was starting to realize that she never did anything by accident, even something that could get her in trouble, like this.

Steve watched her, not sure what to say. Part of him wanted to apologize for the way he'd acted towards her, though it was completely justified. Part of him wanted to yell at her like Colonel Phillips didn't. But instead he sat silently.

"Rethinking your decision to save me, Captain?" she asked. Steve was surprised how serious she looked as she asked him. There was no teasing head tilt, to smirk. She honestly wanted to know his answer.

"No," he replied, meeting her eyes, his voice just as honest as her question.

The mask she always seemed to wear flickered for a moment, the calm and cool exterior fracturing into a look of shock and disbelief—and maybe a little sadness, too—before she collected herself once again. Her green eyes searched his face, as if trying to find a different answer in his features than the one he'd given her.

"Maybe you should," Natasha said flatly. "Rethink your decision to save me, that is. I'm not worth saving, anyway."

Steve shook his head, leaning forward in his chair. "I don't believe that."

He saw her jaw clench, her eyes flashing defiantly. She sat up straighter, her body tightening and fists clenching like she was gearing up for a fight. But when she spoke, her voice was hollow.

"What you saw yesterday, that was nothing," she said, a little venom easing its way into her voice despite the emptiness in her eyes. "You have no idea what I'm capable of, Captain. And if you knew, if you could see me at my worst…you'd be begging to have me sent back to Russia. Hell, you'd probably try to kill me yourself. The Black Widow program did not turn me into a killer," she paused, then leaned forward as well, so they were only a foot apart.

"They turned me into a monster," she whispered.

"If you're such a monster, why agree to repay your debt in the first place? Why agree to any of this?" Steve asked.

"I didn't do this to repay my debt," she replied. "I didn't do it for you, or the U.S. or to stop Hydra. I did it to escape. I shouldn't be alive, much less around good people like yourself." She admitted.

"Well, I didn't give you this second chance for my own selfish reasons," Steve agreed. "I don't care about you repaying some life debt. I offered you the deal because I thought you deserved a second chance. I did this for you. Not for any other reason. You accepting the deal isn't selfish if I offered you the chance to be selfish."

"Why, though?" she demanded angrily. "You don't know a damn thing about me! Why the hell would you care if I lived or died?"

"Because," Steve said as he stood. "Like I said before, I still think you're worth saving."

-:-

So there is chapter 8! Hope you all enjoyed!

I would love it if you took a moment to review, let me know what you think, what you think is going to happen, anything!

Also, side note, for those of you who have been watching Agent Carter (everybody should watch though, because it is seriously amazing!) there are details from Agent Carter I would like to incorporate into this story. There are some things (like Leviathan and the bigger plots like that) that I won't include, just because that would call for quite a bit of rewriting on the earlier chapters. But, there are some things I might include. I would like to incorporate more of the Commandos, now that we've met a few more, as well as some of the Red Room stuff they introduced. But I'll see how much actually gets included into the story.

Thank you all, once again, for the support! You guys are amazing!

Thanks for reading!

-DaughterOfPoseidon333