Soon they were surrounded by guards and Natalia simply looked at the Winter Soldier. She knew what would follow and didn't intend to fight this time. It was okay. She would be able to deal with it, or at least she wouldn't need to deal with things long.

"On your knees, Romanova!" They shouted as they aimed their weapons at Natalia.

Despite her typical nature, she didn't fight or wait for a second warning. She tried to catch her breath and through the pain in her abdomen. It made her feel nauseous, but she needed to keep her cool.

Natalia dropped to her knees, intertwining her fingers behind her head as blood ran down her arm. She looked for the last time at James before closing her eyes. Her only hope was that James would be quick enough to find the files she had hidden not so long ago. For him to find the things she had laid out for him…. it was possible.

She waited patiently for the spray of bullets, which never came. Instead, she seemed almost peaceful as she knelt in the mud with her eyes closed. Natalia didn't even fear death now. It would be welcomed. Instead she heard someone stepping forward and then there was a sharp pain on her head as she was hit forcefully with the back of a rifle.

The pain quickly subsided as blackness took over and she fell face-first into the mud.


As soon as he realized they weren't here to join his chase against his targets, James came screaming back to his mind. Romanova? Why would they... because she fought against him? No - because she let them escape. There must be a way for her to spin this... he didn't know what; he couldn't think that freely. His mind was all orders and tactics. It always was, unless he was in those rare moments alone with her.

He felt a pang, realizing that was past them now. Maybe not permanently. No, that didn't matter right now, she was in danger. Even when they had been together... there wasn't much more than instinct.

His only instinct now was to break the bones of the guards grabbing a hold of Natalia to hold her down. Their guns were trained on her. He was waiting for the chance to, for her to create a distraction so he could twist his actions somehow later.

But she didn't.

Confusion showed through his facade as he stared down at her. 'Move' he willed her silently. 'Fight' She looked at him, but he saw no fire in her gaze. Just resignation.

She didn't do anything; her body slumped and there wasn't a trace of the defiance he knew so well. Instead, James watched as she simply closed her eyes to the world. 'No' he wanted to hiss, to order her to get back up and not to suddenly give up. After all she fought against; why now?

So many words were on his tongue, but he held it in. The urge to take out everyone around him was suddenly almost too strong to bear. He needed to protect Natalia now. He looked at each guard, they trained their weapons on her... but were not ready to fire. Their stances were wrong, fingers loose around the triggers. What did that mean?

Was this a trick, something to ensure they had control over her? She was too important... even to them, she'd made herself invaluable. So maybe they just wanted to debrief her? Natalia's version of a debriefing was nothing of genuine horror. He might endanger her life more if he moved to 'save' her. If they saw him acting out… acting how he did with her… he'd as good as pull the trigger himself.


Lyudmila had left the girls safe in their designated rooms and knew how to behave. They didn't need their Mistress to look after them, good thing, because she'd come to make sure her facility wasn't compromised. She'd seen most of what had happened thanks to her speed. Lyudmila shook her head as she stepped up alongside the Winter Soldier.

"It's a shame. Such a waste," she commented low, ensuring only the man would hear her. They were all too focused on Romanova to notice anything else.

"Watch this closely. This is happening because of you. You ruined Romanova, Soldier," She snarled and just gave the guards a nod. Of course, the guards of the red room had been instructed by her beforehand and knew to follow her orders alone. They wouldn't kill her, but this was the perfect opportunity.


His breathing stilled, as Kudrin leaned down in his ear. He barely stopped from turning to choke her, to strangle the words right out of her. His adrenaline was still running too high, the mission still incomplete, James was too worried about the woman giving up in front of him.

All he could do was watch and work hard not to intercept them. He'd gauged correctly. They didn't do more than knock her out. Then, two men moved forward to pick her up but he wanted to be the one. He could accompany her then, ensuring they didn't hurt her for her stupid action against him.

For what? Why protect intruders of all things?! It didn't even make any sense.

Surely this wasn't because of her anger with him? This… couldn't be her attempt to leave, could it? Had he stopped it unknowingly… had she hired them, or known them? Could it have something to do with where she'd been? Were they the men she'd spoken about, who gave her more than he could?

James knew she was angry… but he'd hoped that was all. Wouldn't sneaking away on a mission be easier for her? Of course, escaping this way wouldn't make strategic sense, unless she wanted to take the girls with her? That was too far… no, none of that made sense. Natalia would have simply left during her mission… something else was going on and he was simply in the dark on the details.

No amount of rationalizing was going to help her, though, as he watched her being taken away by two guards. None of it would help explain why she'd given in so easily…

James tried to return his focus to the guards taking her. He couldn't find an excuse why the Winter Soldier would follow them. She wasn't the Soldier's mission... in a way, Natalia was James' mission, but she was not the Soldier's. The cold asset wouldn't be bothered. From the Soldier's mindset, she was a threat that had been taken down and disengaged from it; he should move to go after the targets. Except that meant leaving her alone here.

James was a fool if he thought he could do anything for her. Be anything to her. She was right.

He wanted anything but to go after those intruders. Natalia was in their hands now, and if he did anything but what was expected of him... she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of it. James had to believe that was her plan now, why she seemed to have given up.

Of course, it was a ruse against the Red Room so they would not suspect. Perhaps the only thing, only form of help, he could give to her was to try and summon up the Soldiers' mind frame again. It was hard, for the first time the need to follow his orders was far gone.

So with the knowledge that his handler was so close and likely observing him, he moved to pick up his automatic and the knife she'd dropped earlier. Then he started towards the fence.

"Soldier," The handler called as if he'd been waiting for that. James stopped obediently and turned to face him, schooling his face blank. "New directive. Protect the perimeters, do not engage targets unless they return."

He didn't nod nor respond; like a good soldier, he simply turned and started to walk around the perimeter. Every step seemed like a fresh wave of torture, unable to think of some way to find where Natalia was or how he could help her in her story... the look she'd given him before she closed her eyes haunted him.

It made him stick more resolutely to the fact that she must be acting in that moment... it hadn't been him who broke her... he didn't honestly believe Natalia's spirit could be broken.


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