Author´s Notes: Hi! Here goes another chapter, hope you guys like it. Thank you for the reviews and support, I really appreciate it!

CHAPTER 13

Germany - outskirts of Hamburg, twilight

Maria is tracking the quinjet in her phone´s GPS. The sun is almost set as she walks in the middle of a field. She looks ahead to where the GPS is pointing and sees a bunch of trees. As she walks into the tree line, she hears someone coming from behind, so she quickly turns around, drawing her gun.

Clint puts his hands up and says: "Wow, Hill put that thing down, it´s me."

Maria let out a breath and puts her hand gun down, back into its place on her right thigh as she replies looking at Clint: "Barton, you could at least give me a heads up before scaring the hell out of me."

Clint gives a half-smile to Maria: "Sorry, I was just securing the area. Nice reflexes, though! Come on, Thor is waiting on the jet." He turns around making his way into the trees and Maria follows him.

The quinjet is landed at a small glade with the back door open. They walk up the ramp and enter the jet. Thor is sitting there, wearing his armor and red cape, playing with his hammer. He stands up and turns to the Maria as he sees her: "Greetings Lady Maria, are you ready for battle?"

Maria looks at the tall God in front of her and replies: "Yes, with the two of you by my side it´ll be a piece of cake!"

Thor looks quizzically at her: "Huh? A piece of cake?"

Clint smiles at Thor, tapping him on the shoulder: "She means it´s going to be an easy task!"

Thor gives a broad smile to Maria as realization hits him. Maria smiles back at him.

Clint turns on the video screen on the jet where a photo of a big warehouse appears. He starts to explain their mission: "Okay, so this is our target, a HYDRA warehouse a couple of miles from here, it is a weapon´s dropping site. The biggest problem is going to be the laser cannon guarding the entrance, it´s a deadly weapon. I don´t wanna risking it doing damage to the quinjet because we might need the jet in case the plan goes wrong. So, we are arriving on foot and I guess since Thor can move like lightning, he could strike that thing down without much trouble, right?" Clint looks expectantly at Thor.

Thor gives him a playful smile and says: "Piece of cake, my friend!"

Maria and Clint smile at Thor and then Clint says: "Good, just don´t let it hit you or it will turn you into dust."

Thor expression turns serious again as he nods at Clint.

Clint looks to Maria and continues: "So, once Thor takes care of that, Maria, you and I are going in. I´ll cover you as you enter the warehouse and plant the bomb. And Thor, you just keep the HYDRA soldier on the outside busy until we get out."

Maria nods at Clint: "Okay, that sounds like a good plan, let´s do it!

Japan – an industrial area in Yokohama, late night

Tony and Bruce are inside a black Audi, parked in an isolated road. They are looking out at the night sky, waiting for James Rhodes to arrive.

Tony breaks the silence and says looking at his watch: "If my math is right, and it always is, he should be arriving right…now!"

Three seconds later, Rhodes lands in front of the car, wearing his War Machine suit.

Bruce grins to Tony as the billionaire chuckles at himself.

Tony gets out of the car and says: "It´s about time you showed up! How was the ride?" He extends his hand to his trusted friend.

Rhodes shakes Tony´s hand with his iron grip and says: "You know I love flying in this suit man, is sweet!"

"How about a race when we are finished here?" Tony says with a smirk on his face: "Last one to arrive at the Avengers Tower pays for dinner!"

Rhodes replies: "Okay, I´m in! So, what are we doing here?"

Tony gestures for him to enter the car. When the War Machine sits on the back, the suspension of the car lowers with the heavy weight. Tony sits on the driver sit again. Bruce turns around and greets Rhodes: "Hello Colonel Rhodes, nice to have you on the team!"

Rhodes lightly tap Bruce´s shoulder and says: "Hey, Dr. Banner, thanks. Am I going to meet the Hulk today?"

Bruce gives a shy smile to Rhodes as he replies: "Yeah, probably, but he is not very friendly, so be careful around him."

Rhodes nods at Bruce: "Sure, man! Don´t worry about it!"

Tony brings up his tablet to show images of their mission: "Okay people, this is supposed to be a pharmaceutical industry, but is actually a HYDRA dropping site and is also where they develop biological weapons." He looks at Rhodes and continues: "Our armor will protect us from any biohazard material, but you Doc" he looks at Bruce "should be careful, we don´t know if the green guy can be affected by any of these weapons if they decide to use it against us."

Bruce nods at Tony: "I´ll try my best to avoid that."

"So, are we going to blow up the building?" Rhodes asks.

Bruce looks at him and responds: "We can´t do that, since we don´t know exactly what they are messing with. If we blow up the building, we might unleash biological or chemical threat to the population around us."

Tony nods and continues in a sarcastic tone: "Yeah, and that would be just too easy!" he smiles a little and then continues: "Anyway, the industry is a few blocks from here. We will attack at the same time, Hulk on the front, War Machine on the back and me from above. We we´ll force them to split their forces in three, neutralize the defenses and when the building is clear, we´ll gather all the biological material. Bruce will select the biohazard material from the others so that he can take the necessary measures for discarding everything properly, and then we can go to the fun part and blow up the whole thing!"

"Okay, and what are we expecting to be up against?" Rhodes asks

Tony replies: "Aside the biological weapons, nothing too fancy, just soldiers with machine guns, grenades, bazookas..."

Rhodes interrupts Tony: "Bazookas? Okay, I´ll watch out for that...I´m ready!" He rubs his iron hands together.

Tony smirks and says excited: "Okay! Let´s roll!" He looks at Bruce who shrugs his shoulders and says with apathy: "Sure, let´s get this over with."

Russia – Moscow´s downtown, evening

Natasha and Steve had just picked up Sam Wilson from the airport. Once they were all inside the standard car they rented, Steve and Natasha filled in Sam with the details of their mission.

Steve is driving. He stops in front of a tall building. Natasha gets out from the passenger´s sit and Sam from the back. They are all in casual clothes, trying to keep the low profile. Natasha got a hood to cover her red hair, and Steve and Sam are wearing caps. They go into an alley and climb the fire escape stairs to reach the top of the building. At the roof, they walk near the edge where they stop. Natasha is standing between the two men as she starts to look with a binocular at the opposite building, which happens to be KGB´s headquarters.

Natasha hands the binocular to Steve as she says: "As I expected, the building is heavily guarded, and I know their security system is really good. I don´t think we will be able to infiltrate the building without being noticed."

Steve is searching the building with the binocular as he replies: "There must be a way in, we need more information to figure out when and where the Winter Soldier is planning to assassinate General Basov."

Sam speaks looking at Natasha: "Why don´t you just leave a hint to KGB, so that they know the Winter Soldier is still working with HYDRA?"

Steve takes the binocular down and answers his friend: "Because we are trying to capture him alive."

Natasha completes Steve´s thought turning to Sam: "If KGB finds out about his treason, they will not hesitate to kill him. Steve thinks that if we get to him first, we could try to bring him back to his senses, stop the assassination and spare Bucky´s life."

Sam looks concerned at Steve as he says: "I see. Steve, I have helped you before and I´ll help you now. But, the last time we fought with the Winter Soldier, he didn't seem to remember you, so I just don´t want you to put your hopes up too much, okay?"

Steve glances at Natasha; she said the same thing to him earlier, on their way to Russia. She gives him a sympathetic look and then Steve turns to Sam and replies: "Yes, I´m trying to prepare myself for that. Thanks Sam. I really appreciate your help."

Sam nods at Steve: "No problem, man."

There is a long pause, each of them lost in their thought, staring at the city night lights, trying to get their minds ready for what they are about to face.

Natasha breaks the silence: "So, I´m going inside KGB, undercover, and try to get us some lead." Natasha says that looking at the KGB building.

Steve immediately shoots her a worried look: "No, that´s too dangerous Natasha!"

Natasha stares at Steve with a determinate expression on her face: "Steve, it´s the only way. Trust me. Unless one of you is an expert spy that can speak Russian…"

Steve and Sam exchange glances and both stay silent.

When neither man say anything, Natasha speaks again: "I thought so. And it´s nothing I haven´t done before, I can handle it. So tomorrow I´ll go shopping for my cover to start the mission."

Steve let out an exasperation breath, he doesn´t like the idea, but they are out of options.

Sam looks at the redhead spy and says: "Okay, so we´ll just stay ready in case you need back up." He looks at Steve.

Steve says without much confidence: "Yes, I suppose that will be the plan of action then."

Sam nods and starts walking toward the stairs to climb down.

Steve stares intensely at Natasha, who takes a step closer to him, meeting his gaze. She knows that he is worried about her so she puts a hand on his arm and says: "I´ll be careful, I promise." She gets on the tip of her toes to kiss the tall soldier on the cheek.

Sam is just starting to climb down the stairs when he sees the scene of the spy kissing the soldier. He knew there was a connection between those two. He smiles and starts to go down the stairs.

Steve closes his eyes as he feels Natasha´s gentle kiss and takes a deep breath. When she pulls away, he opens his eyes and finds her smiling to him: "Come on. Let´s go back to the hotel and get some rest." She says walking past him toward the stairs.

Steve turns around and follows her, watching her small figure in front of him. His jaw muscles are tense as he grit his teeth, he knew this mission wasn´t going to be easy, but he can´t help feeling nervous about it, especially when Natasha is so close to her enemies.

The three make their way down stairs and walk away from the building. They are making their way back to the car. When they turn the corner, an old man crashes with Natasha, knocking both of them down. Natasha´s hood fall from her head, exposing her shoulders length red locks.

Steve helps the man up, picking up the grocery bag he was holding and handing it to him.

Sam was about to lend a hand to Natasha, but she quickly stands up by herself before he can help her. She apologizes to the old man in Russian. The old man adjusts his glasses up his nose, smiles at Natasha and goes on his way.

Steve places a hand on Natasha´s arm asking: "Are you okay?"

Natasha puts her hood back on and says looking at Steve: "Yeah, fine." She looks back suspiciously at the old man, but he just keeps walking away.

Steve is still staring at her with a concerned look on his face. She turns to him, just shakes her head and resumes walking to the car. Steve and Sam follow her.

When he is at a safe distance, the old man picks up a phone from his pocket and speaks in Russian with someone on the line: "It´s her, the Black Widow is back. I´ll keep you posted." He enters a dark blue car and drives away.

Back in the hotel, Natasha is in her room alone, on the same floor, two doors after the one Steve and Sam are sharing

Natasha takes a shower and changes clothes. She is drying her hair with a towel when she hears a knock at her door. She puts the towel down and asks: "Who is it?"

"It´s me, Steve." Natasha opens the door and Steve greets her: "Hey Tasha, Sam and I are going out to eat something, do you want to come with us?"

She leans on the doorway and answers: "No, thanks. I don´t think it is wise for me to be walking around Moscow, someone might recognize me."

Steve pauses for a moment and just admires her all the way down and then up again. Natasha is wearing a loose purple t-shirt that is hanging off her right shoulder exposing her sport black bra, black leggings and bare footed. Her face is clean of makeup and her red hair is wet, yet she looks so sexy, he just wants to hold her and kiss her full lips, but he can´t, because Sam is coming their way.

Natasha nudges Steve on the arm to get him out of his trance. Steve blinks a few times and blushes. He clears his throat and continues smiling: "Okay, I´ll bring you something then."

Natasha smiles too: "Okay, thanks Cap. Try not to call too much attention and be careful boys!"

Sam walks past her door and she smiles at him. He nods at her and says: "Yes, ma´am!"

Steve takes one last glance at her and then follows Sam, who is making his way to the elevator.

Natasha closes the door and goes to the window on the opposite side of her room. She can see the front yard of the hotel, where the main entrance and the large parking lot are. In a few minutes she sees Steve and Sam walking out of the hotel and getting into the car. She keeps looking around and as soon as Steve drives away, she sees the old man who bumped on her appearing from behind a dark blue car. He is talking to someone on the phone.

She thinks: "I knew it! That old man was following us!" She is a little apprehensive that maybe someone is going after Steve and Sam, but after a few minutes, a black van parks in front of the hotel and four men get out. They walk toward the hotel´s entrance. "Shit, they are coming for me! Okay, slightly change of plans!" She thinks as she realize what is happening.

Natasha quickly grabs her belt with her throwing knifes and puts it around the inside of the waistline of her legging. She grabs another couple of small knifes and puts one inside her sport bra, another strapped around her left biceps under the sleeve of her shirt, and the last one on her right ankle. She moves fast to pick up her black combat boots from her bag and put them on. She grabs a piece of paper and a pen from the nightstand and writes something on it, she folds it and draws a star on it. Just as she puts the note on the nightstand, someone kicks the door of her room open. Natasha turns around and recognizes the four agents that got her in Ukraine. They come in holding up guns and the one in front says in Russian, with an evil smirk: "Did you miss me?" He is the one that injected her with the drug that brought back her memories.

Natasha just tilts her head to the side, narrows her eyes and says in her nature tongue: "No, not really. I never got you name agent…?"

His right hand is holding his hand gun, pointing it at her chest as he speaks: "Dmitri Zarkov."

Natasha keeps her collected poise as she slowly walks towards him and replies: "Okay, Zarkov. You´re on the top of my - to kill - list."

He laughs and says: "I gotta admit that it´s harder than I thought to break you, Black Widow. Maybe I should just kill you this time."

Natasha stops only a few inches from his hand gun: "Not if I kill you first" and with a swift move she grabs his right hand and twist his arm, turning him around, using him as a human shield, wrapping her other arm tightly around his neck. The other agents are frozen in their places with the sudden move. Natasha makes Zarkov shoot one of the KGB agents in front of them in the chest, he falls bleeding. Before the remaining two can react she takes the gun from Zarkov´s hand and kicks him on the butt so hard that he falls on the other two standing agents, who hold him. Zarkov turns around grabbing a machine gun from his companion, but when he faces Natasha, she shoots him in the head, killing him before he can do anything. He falls dead on the ground. The other agent starts to shoot at Natasha with his machine gun. She slides on the top of the bed and gets down behind it. The agent beside him throws a gas grenade and picks up his gun from the dead Zarkov´s hands before they quickly leave the room, closing the door. Natasha starts coughing as the variant of the tear gas starts to fill her lungs, she could easily make an escape through the window but this was her ticket to get inside KGB, and she was going to use it. So she just sits leaning against the bed and wait for the gas to take its effects on her. She closes her burning eyes, cough a couple of times, starts to feel dizzy and slowly passes out.