CHAPTER 03

He'd just fallen asleep, she knew it, the sounds of his snores practically raised the roof. She slid out of bed and slid on her shoes, then slid on a jacket. She knew that if she were going to escape, she had to do it now, before she got too caught up in the guy, got too attached and the lines got too blurry. Because she knew, there was no mistaking it, she was his hostage.

And to some degree, she felt that if he had to, he'd hurt her to get out of his situation alive. She knew that wasn't the guy he used to be, but she'd been around him long enough now to know that was the guy that Hydra - or whatever the people who'd brainwashed him called themselves- turned him into. The old James Barnes was gone. In his place was this Winter Soldier, almost robotlike. Every now and then the past few days, she'd seen glimpses of James Barnes, but not often enough to warrant her sticking around.

She slowly opened the door that seperated her 'room' from the part of the cabin he used, and she tiptoed out. His snores stopped and she paused, squeezing herself against a wall. The snoring started again and she sighed as she looked at him, lying on the couch, sleeping, shirtless. Biting her full lower lip she reminded herself 'Damn it, Nattie, go! This guy might be hot as hell, he might have once been this amazing guy, he might have once been a good guy.. But he's not anymore, he even told you this. Get the hell out of Dodge, now. Get back to your sister.'

Secure in the knowledge, - or at least she thought she was-, that he was sleeping soundly, she started to walk behind the couch. She opened the door to the cabin and stepped out, onto the porch. She was just about to walk down the staircase and take off at a mad run for the woods, the treeline surrounding the cabin, when his strong arms gripped her waist, hauled her up and onto his shoulders as he said "And I thought I could trust ya enough not to have to lock the door. What the hell was I thinkin, doll?" quietly as he opened the door with his foot, walked back inside, locking the door behind him. He paced a few moments in front of her where he'd dropped her on the couch, his good hand, the human one, raking slowly through thick and sleep matted dark hair.

"Why in the hell would ya go and do that, huh? I told you.. If you get away from me, there's no promising that you're actually gonna survive." Bucky said as he stopped and studied her intently. She bit her lower lip, her s tomach churned nervously and she thought to herself 'Great. And now you've pissed off a goverment created killing machine. Who just might kill you or do God only knows what to you. So far, he's been decent. But now, with you trying to escape a second time, the bad guy might come out.' as she looked up at him, waiting on him to do something to hurt her, prove her theory about his not being James Barnes anymore right.

She shrank back and he leaned in and said quietly, "I'm scaring you? I'm scaring you? Doll, I'm the least of your worries right now. Because trust me, if Hydra gets their hands on you and they know who's sister you are? They'll do things you don't even want to imagine. And I'm scaring you. Ha." as he trailed his finger, the good one, the human one, slowly across her full lower lip, giving her a serious and solemn smirk.

"If you'd just let me have some kind of contact with my sister, someone.." she muttered, scowling at him in anger and defiance when that was met with a laugh as he shook his head and pointed out "Why? So you can call her friends to come get you? Don't think so. Not until I figure some things out. For one thing, I can't be sure they're not all Hydra operatives too. Shield was part of Hydra, remember? Or did you just tune that part of the news out, Blondie?"

She glared at him and crossed her arms, scowling as she thought about what he said. He seemed so confused right now, angry, torn between sides in some invisible war. And naturally, she'd gone and gotten herself caught smack in the middle of things. She mentally kicked herself and wondered why in the hell she even agreed to meet her older sister that night, why she hadn't just blown Tash off.

She stood, was about to try and make one more desperate dash for it, but with lightning quick reflexes, he grabbed her, both of them landing neatly on top of each other on the couch. He grabbed her wrists and said quietly, "You're gonna have to get it through that head of yours, Blondie.. Until I know who I can trust? You're not goin anywhere. Because I am not about to have your death on my hands too. I've got enough bad stuff on my hands, on my conscience. Not adding your death to it."

She groaned and then tried squirming from beneath him as her knees picked the oddest time in the history of the world to turn to jello and her heart skipped a beat or two. 'What the fuck is wrong with me, seriously? I cannot be attracted to him, I cannot possibly feel something for this guy. Maybe what he used to be, becasue that guy.. He was my ideal man. Him or his friend Captain America.. But I cannot be attracted to this monster, I cannot start to feel bad for him. He didn't have to grab me that night. He doesn't have to do this. And I'm probably not in any real danger, he's just batshit crazy or something and is doing this for kicks.. So why the hell then, body, would you betray me?' as she looked up at him, confused, trying to figure this whole strange thing out.

And naturally, she couldn't.

The news ran another story on Natalie, how she was missing, how she'd been missing now for almost a week or two, how she'd been last seen being carried out of a bar on campus by an unknown male with a mechanized arm during the middle of a shootout. Steve watched the footage, biting his lip and looking at Natalie's picture intently. He was trying to get inside his former friend's head, but so far, he was having no such luck.

"Have you figured out any reason why he might have grabbed her that night?" Natasha's voice cut into his train of thought. He looked up and shrugged solemnly, shook his head and said quietly, "Nope. I mean if this were Bucky.. But he's not the same guy. I'm really starting to see that." as his eyes fixed on the girl's photo again, on the news. Natasha followed her teammate's gaze and then said quietly, "When we were younger, our parents split us up. She had to go with our mom, I got lucky, I was older, I got to choose. I chose to go with our dad. I hadn't seen her since she was a lot younger." as she sat down, reclined her legs and said "And I wouldn't have tried to see her that night, if I hadn't gotten a weird voicemail from some man, claiming that my sister was going to pay for my actions." in defense, just in case Steve was doubting her reliability as an agent because she'd done this sloppy thing, taken this needless risk.

"I know. I get it." he explained patiently, then asked "How old was she?"

"She's 23. She was in college, I think the last time I talked to her, she'd chosen to go into medicine, she was minoring in dance. She loved to dance. I always called her little old woman.. She was kind of weird, like a little old lady trapped in a modern girls body." Natasha admitted as she sipped a beer and then said quietly, "She.. She wasn't ever good at relationships. I mean, she always picks the worst possible guy to fall for." with a sigh, laughing a little. Steve looked at Natasha and asked "Meaning?"

"She was sweet, kinda naieve. She'd pretty much believe or help anybody she thought was getting screwed over, she hated bullies. Feisty too. I just hope we get her back before Hydra actually grabs her." Natasha said quietly as she watched the re-airing of the news report, stared at her cell phone, willing it to ring. It didn't, of course.

"We will, Natasha." Steve said quietly as he thought about the little Natasha had opened up to him about herself, about her sister, curious about the girl. What about her had made Bucky grab her? And why did he get the feeling that this was going to get a lot more bizarre before it came to any sort of an end. He was dreading it, that final confrontation with his former friend.

Deep down, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to put an end to Bucky if he actually had to. And that thought made him angry.

"So, are you gonna sulk and pout all night?" Bucky asked as he filled the doorway to her room. She scowled at him and ignored him, staying silent, staying out of his reach. He sighed and said quietly, "When I figure something out.. I'm gonna let you call her. Just her."

She rolled her eyes, still angry and annoyed with herself for reacting to him the way she had earlier, when she'd tried to make one last frantic mad dash for it and get away, and he'd pinned her back down on the couch. The thought that she couldn't control this urge where bad guys were concerned really made her disgusted with herself. And it was the reason she never actually dated, or never got very involved in a relationship.

Sooner or later, the bad side always came out. She always wound up hurt and the whole process, really, was getting a bit redundant. She raked the brush through her hair, bit down on her lip, keeping quiet. He walked over, standing behind her as she brushed her hair, looking at the two of them together in the mirror. "You kinda remind me of an old girlfriend. Never noticed it before." he remarked carelessly, as he thought to himself, 'Yeah Barnes.. Not just any old girlfriend either, the one that got away. You went off to war, all this happened and she moved on. And you really did love her.'

"Doubtful." Natalie finally spoke, looking at him as he stood behind her, the way he was looking at her. She raised a brow and then asked "What?"

"What's so hard to believe about that?" he asked as she shrugged quietly, kept on brushing her hair, doing her very best not to get closer to him, or at least any closer than she already had by now. Because apparently, the closer she let him in, the more 'attached' she'd be to him. And she was going to get out of this situation, one way or another.

He stood there, watching her, confused, trying to figure out what she was thinking, and he realized that he actually couldn't. "So you're gonna keep ignoring me, huh?" he asked as she nodded, gave him a thumbs up and then said quietly, "You could just let me go."

"Not an option. This isn't some little game, Blondie."

"My name is Natalya Vernon Romanov. Not Blondie, not doll, not any of these other nicknames you keep calling me." Natalie said as he looked at her and asked "Why's it say Natalie Vernon on your license?"

"What the hell were you doing going through my stuff?" she asked as she scowled at him, an angry glare in her eyes. He shrugged and said quietly, "Wanted to see if you had any Hydra or Shield credentials." as he sat down on the edge of the small bed in the room, looked at his hands. She sighed and said quietly, "My parents divorced. My mom.. She was messed up, a little crazy or something.. She knew my father had 'bad friends' or so she claimed, so she dropped my given last name, changed my name to Natalie. Didn't matter, wasn't like Dad cared enough to come after me, or even call on my birthday. Or Tasha, for that matter." Natalie said as he looked at her, brow raised.

"What?" she asked as he said quietly, "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, I got over it a long time ago." Natalie stated quietly, looking at him as she asked "The girl.. What was her name?" and watched as for a few moments, an almost human like smile filled his face and he said quietly, "Veronica."

She nodded and said quietly, "Sorry.. I mean about losing her. My grandparents got seperated during the war.. Almost never found one another again. Luckily, they did." as she held his gaze intently, bit her lower lip, twisting a strand of hair around her fingertips. He nodded and said quietly, "It happened a lot. Some guys left a girl behind and came back, she was married, moved on with her life. The war tore a lot of people apart."

She studied him a moment, battling the urge to walk over, sit next to him and pull him into an embrace. She scowled at herself and then for the millionth time she reminded herself 'He is the bad guy. He took you captive. And if he has to, he'll put you in danger just to make sure he comes out okay. The guy he used to be is gone. Sure you might see shades of that guy now and then, but that doesn't mean he's not s till a Hydra created killing machine. Do not fall for this guy, he is the enemy. And sooner or later, your sister and her team will show up to save you. Hopefully.'

In the back of her mind, she was beginning to have her nagging doubts about that.