Bloodline
~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~
Chapter 21: Ballet. Cold. Karpov. Forceps. Rose.
~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~
Thank you for all the support I got for the last chapter. It won't be long now and you all get the candy you deserve for waiting so patiently. *evil smile* Smut, fluff, the reason why the name Rose is so important and more kids.
chapter summary: Natasha and James finally manage to share the dream state and remember a very intimate moment which raises more questions than answers.
Enjoy and please review ^^
~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~
Clint entered the lab with a couple of coffees in his arm. Natasha had told him that they were trying something new to help Barnes, but he hadn't expected to find both of them in the tanks when he came back from visiting Laura and the kids.
The two scientists gave their thanks as they eagerly reached for the caffeine. They knew the archer was clever enough to come to a conclusion about the procedure as he looked around, scanning the screens. "So, how are they? Is it working?"
"Not yet. We had to heighten the doses a few minutes ago and expect some results soon." Bruce explained.
"If they were less pig-headed," Tony started but a sharp look from Bruce let him falter, "strong-minded, they would be able to let go more easily and get in sync." He motioned for the screen in the middle, showing their brainwaves over one another, still far from similar. The engineer swallowed a gulp of coffee before relaxing back in his chair.
"Can't you help them somehow?" By now he had finished reading which drugs and how much of them was currently flooding the two assassins. Was it really worth this much damage to the body? Yes, both of them were enhanced but the side effects could still turn out to be catastrophic.
Bruce heaved a sigh before sipping his coffee. "We have to minimize distraction, so no, not really."
"I think I got an idea. Is that mic working?" Clint asked.
Bruce nodded. "Just push the button next to it to speak."
The archer cleared his throat and sat down on one of the empty stools next to the scientists. "Hey, folks, this is Clint. I decided I might kick start you a little. Gonna ask you a couple of questions. Some of them might be hurtful. You're fine with that?"
Barnes quickly nodded. "Yeah, go ahead." There wasn't much dignity left for him anyway. He had exposed himself to the Avengers now and they had accepted him. Trust wasn't something he gave lightly, but in this moment it could only be of use.
Natasha didn't seem to have heard him. She left them waiting for a reply.
"Sorry, Nat's too far gone with all the drugs." Bruce explained after half a minute of silence while also broadcasting into the tanks for the Soldier to hear. "We might need a few sessions for her to sort of acclimatize with the set up."
"What about Barnes? With the connection he can remote start her memory. He has opened enough already and unlocking is easier for him. His subconscious is working in our favor."
The last words confused the archer. "How do you know?"
"He talks in his sleep..." Natasha muttered and suddenly started to giggle. "He can't remember it and I often thought about telling him, but well... never the right time."
"Nice to hear from you, Red. Having a nice trip?" Tony joked but also tried to distract Barnes from the meaning of that statement. The negative effect of it was clearly visible in his vitals, almost grave enough to abort the experiment.
"The vertigo is quite a punch in the guts." Natasha slurred.
"Okay, guys, back to the topic. You can argue about the pros and cons of drugs after we finish this session. I don't want you under any longer than necessary. Clint?"
The archer nodded and leaned in closer to the microphone. "Let's start with something nice. Think about something you cherished during that time you were both in the Red Room."
"As if there was anything..." Stark murmured, entirely unconvinced.
"Ballet." Natasha whispered and at the same time a section on her brain scan was lit brightly.
Barnes stayed quiet and swallowed. He wanted to say it, wanted to say her name, but he kept quiet. Yet when Clint urged him toward an answer he quickly said: "There wasn't anything."
"They are still too far away." Bruce put his coffee down before starting to write something on a post-it and sticking it onto another screen where he had a still image from the moment Barnes had answered. 'He is lying.' with an arrow next to it, pointing at a specific section of the brain scan that indicated he had used his creativity to come up with an answer instead of saying the truth.
Clint sighed in annoyance but decided not to push him. "Okay, then something you disliked."
"The Cold." Natasha and James said in unison.
Tony arched an eyebrow. "Hmm, better." He watched as Bruce adjusted something by typing in some commands.
Clint bit his lip before finally coming up with the next question. "What caused you the most unbearable pain, both physically and emotionally?"
"Karpov." Barnes said with a grimace. That man truly combined all of the mentioned points.
Nothing on Natasha's side reacted to that. She still seemed to find a fitting answer when suddenly it was all so clear. The Graduation Ceremony. The moment they had taken the last thing from her that had defined her as human, turning her into a monster. The fear she had felt while being strapped to that table, vulnerable, prone and at their mercy. Hands touching her without giving comfort as she was invaded by the hard and cold metal of the... "...forceps."
James inhaled sharply, a tremor running through his entire body as his brain seemed to respond. "Rose." Bucky whispered and suddenly his monitor spiked. A millisecond later Natasha's did as well. The lines after that were much closer to one another, converging more and more with each breath they took.
Natasha's face on the screen showed tears on her face, rolling down and mixing with the salt water. There it was again. That word had to mean something important for both if them. But what? She couldn't recall.
Banner turned off the microphone before speaking. "That was good. I think we should give them a few moments. The medication is now doing its job. That was great work, Barton."
"Yeah, I made them cry... Wonderful." Sarcasm was dripping from his voice but at the same time he also seemed pleased that there had been a result.
"Let's try to direct them to a happier memory once we got them going in sync. Shouldn't be long." He pointed at the heartbeats that were also starting to fall into the same rhythm.
A few minutes later the computer analysis was giving them green light for the next step. Bruce activated the mic again. "Your brain waves are now identical. We will conjure up a memory next. I want the two of you to think about something you enjoyed. Don't force anything into a certain direction, let yourselves drift. Think of it as a vast, dark sea. The stream will guide you toward each other. It will get brighter the closer you are. There might be objects around you. Take them with you. Later you can put all the pieces together like a puzzle and the shape of the memory will become tangible."
In Clint's ears that sounded very abstract but for a drugged mind it was somehow fitting.
Barnes felt something touching his foot beneath the water's surface. It seemed to follow him, coming closer, getting bigger. His first instinct was to fight it, fear surging up inside him, but then he realized what it was. His back hit the sheets of a bed.
Natasha noticed a light source approaching her. It didn't have a clear shape at first but then it illuminate the dark mist around her enough to see. An old fashioned lamp was drifting toward her and when she gingerly touched it with her fingers it seemed to follow her.
Over time both of them collected more and more. Barnes had slowly started to materialize a floor beneath him. He was the earth, grounding the dream, making it touchable. Natasha was drifting across the air, collecting light sources and noise. She illuminated the memory, filling it with life.
In the real world the concept of time was much more concrete – and annoying. After over half an hour the monitor flared with a warning light.
"What is happening?" Clint asked in confusion when he saw the monitors spiking randomly.
"I don't know." Bruce looked from one screen to the other, trying to make a sense of this. "But I think it is working. They share the memory."
Tony used the microphone to talk to them. "Barnes? Romanoff? Can you tell us where you are?"
"In a safe house somewhere in Moscow." The video feed on Natasha showed that she was looking around with her eyes closed.
"I remember," James' voice seemed strained. "You got hurt during the mission, it was one of our first together. I took care of your wounds and then..."
Natasha gasped softly while her heart rate went up.
"Is that normal?" Clint asked Bruce who shrugged.
"It could be a physical reaction to the pain she remembers." The doctor answered.
"What then?" Tony asked them over the microphone.
The video feed on Barnes showed him moving, snarling, before a breathless moan left his mouth.
"Oh," Tony exclaimed with his brows raised high. "Interesting."
"What? What is?" Clint wanted to know.
Natasha gave a keening sigh while she turned her head, exposing her throat. "James…" She moaned.
"Oh, okay… Got it. Well. We did know they already had a physical relationship long ago."
"The phrase 'Get a room.' comes to my mind. You think we can... give them a few minutes of privacy?"
"I could turn the video and audio feed off if that is what you mean. Sincerely, I don't want to interrupt them now. It is finally working. We can still follow the progress with the brain scans. They should show a decrease in activity when it is... safe to eavesdrop again. Dream time is faster although it is slowed in our case because of the drugs we added so we can more or less talk to them in real time."
A loud groan from Natasha made all of them look to the screens again. Whatever James was doing with his mouth and tongue was... quite explicit.
"Turn it off." Clint ordered and Bruce followed the command instantly.
~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~
Far away from the present, in a time long forgotten yet recently recovered were two lovers cherishing one another. He was gentle, mindful of the wounds on her body. Kissing the pain away until every nerve in her was forced to transmit pleasure instead of agony. He lifted her up higher and higher but didn't give her release yet. As soon as she was close he continued by caressing every inch of her skin, keeping her on the edge until she begged for him to finish it. And he did.
~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~
Clint came back with a party pizza just as the screens finally showed a change. "Is the rated M stuff over?"
"Seems that way... God, how long was that? Barnes must be one hell of a lover..." Tony merely shook his head at that, grinning widely. "Guess if he can go so long without it while being the Winter Soldier for decades, his cock makes up for not being used by hosting a real smut fest."
"If the answer to this question is a 'yes' I don't want you to reply to it." Clint inhaled deeply before asking. "Is the body reacting physically to what they dream about?"
"As in... climaxing?" Tony chuckled and continued typing. "I think I'll give Bruce the honors of cleaning the tanks."
"Oh, come on, man..." The situation was so absurd Clint could only laugh.
"I'm gonna neutralize the drugs now. In a few minutes we can let them out." Bruce announced, trying to change the subject. This would be weird enough for the two assassins without people joking about their sex life.
Natasha was the first to show some motion so they started by helping her. She was dizzy at first, unsure of why everything around her was so wet and dark. Instinct took over and panic gripped her. "Get me out. Out!" Natasha gasped as arms pulled her out of the water. Her breathing was rapid and her body still trying to cope with the drugs in her system.
"It's alright, Natasha. We got you. You're in the lab in Stark's Tower. Try to stay calm while we disconnect you." Bruce explained soothingly as they maneuvered her onto a chair and carefully extracted the probe from her spine.
As soon as the main source of her discomfort was gone she tore at the cables herself.
Bruce performed a few quick checks on her. The neutralizers worked perfectly. Within a minute her body had finished dissolving the most of the drugs.
Clint handed Natasha a towel for her hair and draped a bathrobe over her shoulders to keep his friend warm until she returned from her high.
"I'm gonna let out Barnes now." Bruce announced as he walked over to the other tank from which he heard a knocking sound.
Once the Black Widow realized what he was doing she was already on her feet. "I need some fresh air."
"Nat, in your current condition I would advise you..." Before Tony could finish objected she had already stormed out the door.
"I'll go after her." Clint offered and prepared to rush out as well when Tony stopped him.
"Take the rest of the pizza with you. If she can keep it down, it'll help her return to normal from the drug trip." Stark handed him one of the boxes that still had content before turning toward Barnes' tank as well.
Two minutes later the shivering form of Bucky was sitting on a chair while he tried to understand what had happened. Too absorbed in the new questions he didn't even notice Bruce checking his pupillary light reflex, pulse and blood pressure.
Tony meanwhile worked at analyzing the data they had gotten from the scans. "Bruce, you won't believe this. The session has reactivated all the parts of the brain that had been locked before."
"That means they can reach it as soon as something triggers the memory. Wow. That worked better than planned." Bruce shifted to get a glimpse as well before continuing writing down some notes about James' vitals..
"A few places are still closed off but I think over time they can be reconnected as well. Run a calculation on how the drugs can affect the progress of recovery. Maybe we won't even need them anymore." A wide grin was all over the mechanic's face.
Bucky could barely hear them boasting about the results. His mind was focused on the hours he had just remembered as clear as they had happened yesterday. At the same time he felt the need to change his boxers as quickly as possible. A blush spread on his cheeks as his body slacked into the chair. He wished Natasha was there so they could talk about what just happened but she was nowhere in sight.
"I know the situation has been a little bit awkward, but so far our experiment is a success." Bruce told him as he finished tidying up the equipment.
"Awkward?" Steve asked them curiously as he entered. "That would explain why Natasha rushed past me like that."
Bucky's heart sank as he heard his friend. "Did she look angry?"
The others sensed that they needed a moment in private. There wasn't much left anymore that needed immediate attention, so the scientists excused themselves to leave into an adjourning room and protocol their progress.
"Well, I wouldn't say that..." Steve didn't want to use the word 'desperate' so he stayed silent and watched the others leaving the room. "So, how did it go? What did you see?" He asked after they were alone in the lab.
"We remembered a night in Moscow where we... rested after an assignment. Natalia was hurt and after I patched her up we had a little bit of fun." He cracked a smile.
"And with fun you mean fondueing?" Steve was uncharacteristically open to the subject. Maybe Sharon had finally approached him... But that would be a question for later.
James gulped, a tremor going through his body as he felt himself respond to the memory. "Yes."
"I don't see why that is a bad thing. It was consensual and, as far as I can see, a pleasant memory."
"I am just afraid that maybe... Natasha and me..." He didn't know how to phrase it.
Steve raised an eyebrow. "You fear this might make your relationship more complicated?"
"Yes." Defeated, rueful.
Against all his virtuous upbringing he just had to ask. "How did the memory end?"
"Excuse me?" Bucky seemed dumbfounded by this question,
"Right before you woke up. What did you do?"
Barnes stared into the distance for a short moment before a wide grin spread over his face. "I ate her out." It didn't bother him saying it out loud. All of them had heard that the shared dream state had replayed a sexual encounter. But he wasn't sure how Natasha felt about it.
Steve was so surprised by Barnes' choice of words that sounded so like... Bucky.
~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~
Natasha had fled to the shooting range when Barton had been able to track her down.
"How did it go?" Clint asked her leaning against the wall while she prepared her gun. He remained mindful of her movements but there seemed to be no trace of the drugs left in her. She was controlled outwardly, yet on the inside... Well, she tried to gain that control again by doing something she was good at.
"Exactly as planned."
"So what's bothering you?" He put the pizza on the table.
"I need it." She simply said.
"What?"
"Sex. James is like a drug around me and he doesn't even notice!" It was the first time she openly expressed her current conflict. "I want him and I know any advances will make him run away. It's frustrating."
"Ever tried talking to him? Asking him?" He suggested as if that was so easy.
"He doesn't want me near him when he sleeps. He can't stand my touch for long and whenever he sees too much naked skin he flees before his cravings – fueled by the drug HYDRA gave him – get the better of him instead letting me help him. I think he is almost glad that I finally stopped breast-feeding so he doesn't have to watch me do it."
Clint began to chuckle yet said nothing.
She emptied her ammo on the target before snapping at him. "What?"
"You know the whole situation would be the perfect plot for a chick-flick. If the two of you would just open your mouth and TALK about it." He wildly gesticulated for emphasis.
Natasha shook her head while reloading the gun. "I won't tell him anything. What if he doesn't feel the same way? He was ordered by HYDRA to do what he did. I don't want to force the father role upon him if he thinks he has to."
He just wanted to hug her right now but with an armed weapon this was a bad idea. "Tash, you really don't get it, do you? He will do anything to make you and Alexei happy because he wants to, not because he feels obliged. He's so scared to hurt you that he suppresses his own feelings."
"That's a lie." Her voice was more deadly than the gun in her hand.
"You think so?" He leaned forward and cocked an eyebrow. "Why don't you just go ahead and give it a try?"
"I will not ruin what could be because I am impatient and horny as a teenager." She angrily countered and fired at the target once again until it lacked both head and cock. Once the thoughts had stopped spinning in her head and the echo of the shots had faded away the Black Widow finished forming a more mature response.
But Clint was already gone.
~.~ ~.~ ~.~ ~.~
Hope you enjoyed it ^^ Please review. If you have questions or wishes please tell me. Also, if you ask about something specific that I have already written, I will give you a preview as answer. A lot of those are already in the reviews on AO3 if you wants spoilers. ^^