A/N: Hello again, friends!
So...I've returned to the angst department...for several chapters.
This chapter is not a stand alone. There will be three follow ups to this one.
Also, chapter inspired by Burning House by Cam. Sad and beautiful song. Go listen to it.
I own nothing. Except the horses, they are mine.
Burning House
October, Two years after the Infinity Stones War
The signs of a storm had been there all day.
The air was moist and thick. The winds were moving at decent speeds. The sky took on a slight grayish color as clouds formed overhead as the day continued.
Steve and Natalia didn't worry about it, though. They had lived through several thunderstorms out here, and were getting good at reading the three horses' behaviors before a storm.
But today seemed a bit different.
The usually calm Tatiana was twitching as her mistress brushed her down, her ears flicking back and forth rapidly.
"Что это, девушка?"(1) Natalia asked the chestnut Budyonny, her tone soothing, placing a comforting hand on the star on the horse's face.
Tatiana huffed slightly.
"I think," Steve, who was putting fresh straw in the Budyonny's stall, spoke up. "Clint said something about a storm rolling in tonight."
"Ah." Natalia replied, before turning back to her horse. "Это нормально, Татьяна.(2) We should let Tatiana and Boots outside tonight."
"Since she's skittish now," The former soldier replied. "That would be a good idea. And it would probably be best to keep Lieutenant in the barn."
One of the things they had noticed right away about the black warmblood was that he didn't like loud noises, and that this dislike was only compounded when he was in an open space for very long periods of time. Rides could be hard with the stallion, until he was fitted with blinders on his halter, as if he preferred to not see all that was around him when he was outside. Tatiana, however, seemed to be the opposite, preferring to be out in the open when it was loud. Boots seemed to have picked up on the mare's behavior and, not wanting to be left out, would usually stay with her.
Not that the young dunalino disliked the stallion or vice versa. Quite the opposite as they would eat together and the colt would follow the stallion's lead if Lieutenant, Tatiana and Boots were all out in the field. He was just very attached to the mare who had adopted him as her own colt.
Steve stepped out of Tatiana's stall, pulling off his gloves and wiping his face with a rag. He took a look at the mare's ears before speaking again. "We should probably turn her loose once you are done. She's not going to want to go back in there."
"My thoughts exactly." She put down the brush and patted the horse's neck. "Давай, милая. Есть некоторые сладкие, мягкая трава, ждет вас."(3)
Steve smiled as the red haired woman lead her horse out to the fenced in pasture, musing about how good she was with the equine.
Taking care of the three horses had taken some getting used to, in all honesty. They didn't talk back like their team on the Avengers had, so Natalia and Steve had to learn to speak the equine language. It hadn't been easy and they were by no means experts at it.
But in the six months since they had met the three magnificent beasts, they had learned so much about their temperaments, about what they liked, what they didn't like, etc. And this had, for Steve anyway, been a study in Natalia during this time.
And the change was remarkable.
When she had first met Tatiana, she had been very cautious, as if she didn't want to spook the poor creature. But once she had found that the mare responded to her native tongue, she had fallen in love with the chestnut Budyonny. While her first ridding experience had truly been an odd experience, she had grown to know the rhythm of her horse and now ridding was a breeze.
And Steve also noticed how therapeutic it was for Natalia to be with Tatiana. Her nightmares had not gone away completely, but they had diminished in intensity and frequency. Although he knew very few words in Russian, he was certain that she had confided her darkest and deepest secrets to the mare.
For that, he was grateful.
He had no qualms with being Natalia's friend and confidant, but she seemed to. There were nightmares that she wouldn't discuss with him. Fears that he could see in her eyes but she would never vocalize for his ears. Pain that she carried with her that she refused, rather stubbornly, to share with him.
And it had hurt him to see her carry it alone.
But now, with Tatiana as her Russian confidant, her faithful and trusty steed, she no longer carried it alone.
Maybe one day she would share those secrets, that pain, with him. But he wouldn't rush her.
A whinny pulled him from his thoughts and his eyes landed on the stall in question. He laughed, watching the young dunalino eye him and huff.
"Don't you worry, Boots." He replied to the horse's complaint. "You'll join Tat soon."
(Line Break)
Steve had always found sleep elusive during thunderstorms.
The concussive cacophony of thunder reminded him of the bombs and rockets of war, the patter of rain reminded him of thousands of troops firing their riffles, and the lightning that accompanied both reminded him of the flashes from both kinds of explosions.
So, naturally, he found himself curled around Natalia in her Queen sized bed, his nose deep in her auburn hair as he tried desperately to ignore the harsh storm outside.
"Did you have a good day today?" Natalia asked, her voice soft.
Steve nodded, not trusting his voice.
"Could you tell me what you did?"
A shake of the head.
Her small hands rested on his, her thumbs massaging circles into the backs of his muscular hands. "We are safe, Steve." She assured him.
Again, he nodded, his vocal cords as tight as his grip around her middle.
This bit of conversation was a gauging exercise. She had used this many times to determine just how bad Steve's discomfort was and would respond according. Usually, he responded very well to physical touch (like cuddling and her massaging his hands), familiar smells (like her hair and the little bit of perfume she wore), and softly spoken words of comfort.
However, this storm was very bad and this particular gauging exercise only confirmed that.
He was up to his eyes in flashbacks if he was only responding with nods and shakes. And gauging from the tightness with which he held her middle, it might have had something to do with Bucky.
Steve always reacted strongly when it came to his best friend. And Natalia understood why. He had witnessed his friend's "death" and after finding out that Bucky had been alive all that time had truly hurt the super soldier. He had blamed himself for a long time, and probably would continue to do so.
Deciding that she needed to move to a different tactic, she tapped on his hands twice, a signal that she wanted him to loosen his arms a bit.
He complied, and she turned in his arms to face him. Shifting a bit, so that their faces were very close, she placed both of her hands on the sides of Steve's face, her thumbs brushing gently across his cheekbones. "Eyes on me," She ordered gently.
His haunted blue eyes locked with hers and his grip on her tightened as another flash of lightning illuminated the room.
"You are safe, Steve." She said, her voice closer to his ear than the thunder that rolled outside. "I've got you. We are at the Ranch House. Clint and Laura live five minutes away. No bombs, no guns, no war. Just us and the horses. You are safe."
He processed her words and was desperate to believe her. Slowly, he relaxed, his forehead resting on hers, listening to the sound of her breathing, focusing on her thumbs on his face. And slowly, finally, slipped into sleep.
Smiling that she had broken through the flashbacks, Natalia waited until she was sure he wouldn't wake from the thunder before crawling out of his arms. As comfortable as she was, she knew he would appreciate it if she respected his wishes to not sleep in the same bed as her.
Pulling the blanket up to cover his shoulders and moving his soft hair from his face, she slipped over to the large window that was opposite the bed. Steve had constructed a comfortable window seat in the space below the window, and it was just long enough for her to sleep on. He had built it as a birthday present shortly after they arrived. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, and probably had spurred on his desire to truly work on the barn. Picking up the blanket she had resting there, she turned her back to the glass, giving the soldier one final look before closing her eyes.
Her dreams were interrupted by a loud crack, causing her to jump from the window seat, looking around franticly for the source of her waking.
Steve was still asleep on her bed, and nothing seemed to be out of place. She smiled slightly at her sleeping friend, relaxing back into the window seat…until she noticed a weird glow coming from behind her.
Blinking, confused, she turned to the window…
And she was no longer sleepy.
"Steve! Steve!" She jumped out of the bed, slipping on a pair of shoes quickly, before reaching over the bed to shake the man's shoulder. "Wake up!"
"Hmmm?" He moaned lightly, his eyes opening in slits.
"You need to get up. Come on." She said, her voice very urgent.
He rubbed his eyes. "Nat?"
"Captain! GET UP!"
Steve snapped to attention, eyes wide and alert. "What? What is it?"
"The barn. It's on fire!"
The urgency in Natalia's voice spurred Steve to jump out of the bed and run down the stairs. The fog that had hung over his mind as he rose from sleep was gone. Just one thought filled his brain.
The barn is on fire.
Running out the back door and jumping off the small porch, he ran towards the burning structure, his eyes absorbing the red/yellow glow of the flames that licked around the right side of the building and were making their way around the rest of it.
"Yes, I have a fire at…" He heard Natalia state into her phone which she had the sense of mind to grab and call 911.
So Steve turned his attention to the fire at present. Part of him wondered just how it had gone up in flames…the earth was still damp around his bare toes and the rain seemed to have moved on.
So where…
However that thought was forcefully pushed from his mind as he heard a frantic whinny coming from the barn.
"Oh Lord…" he heard Natalia gasp. "LIEUTENANT!"
Without a second thought, the two dashed to the door of the barn. Steve, with his super serum speed on his side, reached the door a full few seconds before Nat did. He seized the door and pulled as hard as he could…
Until he heard the structure groan.
Looking up, he saw that the fire had crawled across the front of the barn, and that the structure was probably weakening quickly as the flames ate through the wood.
"I-I can't open it anymore! The walls are weakening." Steve turned to Natalia, looking quite desperate.
She bit her lip before bouncing on her toes. "It's just big enough for me to get in. I'll get'em."
"Nat-" He began, ready to argue the point.
But she stopped him, pulling his face down to hers and pressing her lips to his, effectively shutting him up for a second. The kiss was gentle, but urgent. And over way too soon.
"No arguments, Steve." She retorted, pulling away from him and tore a strip of the t-shirt she wore off, making a covering for her nose and mouth. "I'll yell when you need to open the door."
And with that, she vanished into the barn.
Shaking this new fuzziness from his head – focus, Rogers – he manned the door, awaiting her signal.
Natalia was glad she had been sleeping in one of Steve's t-shirts and a pair of yoga pants. The shirt because she could tear it without exposing her entire top to the flames and it was long enough to tear a strip off for her nose/mouth and anything else if she needed to. The yoga pants because they didn't hang at her ankles, decreasing the chance of her pants catching on fire.
Her eyes searched frantically in the already well-lit barn. The flames had caught on the dry straw that was in the two stalls on the right side of the barn, and was crawling across the ground of the barn. Soon every wall of this building would be in flames…
Why must straw be so flammable?
She prayed that the poor horse hadn't hurt himself on his own stall…
Another frantic whinny drew her attention, and her eyes locked on Lieutenant's stall. He was backed away towards the back of the stall, his eyes wide and his nostrils flared.
She ran to the front of the stall, opening the door as calmly as she could, knowing that any sign of fear or urgency would spook the horse more than he already was. "Easy there, Lieutenant." Her voice was calm. "Easy. I'm here."
The 17 hands high stallion flicked his ears towards her, his deep eyes locking on hers. He didn't relax, but he stopped looking like he was going to rear.
"That's a good boy." She said, tearing the t-shirt once more. "Come on, Lieutenant. Our Captain needs us."
The horse's nostrils stopped flaring and Natalia approached with confidence. After a moment, she wrapped the torn shirt strip around the stallion's eyes and pressed on his neck to guide him out of the barn, speaking soothing words to him the whole time.
She guided Lieutenant safely towards the door of the barn, keeping herself between him and the majority of the flames, so the heat wouldn't spook him. It was getting hotter by the second, as the flames sapped up the oxygen, wood, and straw. But it didn't take them long to make it to the door.
"STEVE! NOW!" She screamed.
And everything moved so fast.
As the door tore open, she slapped Lieutenant's haunches, sending him galloping out of the burning barn.
Then there was a loud crack…
And she didn't have time to move.
One of the beams had been eaten through by the flames…and came tumbling towards her.
She felt the heat of the flames as her vision faded to black.
Leaving her in the burning barn.
Steve was tempted to chase after Lieutenant as he bolted out of the barn, but he was grounded to the spot, waiting for Natalia to emerge.
Begging God that she would come quickly behind the horse…
Instead, he heard a crack, and was in motion as the beam above the door started to cave. The beam fell into his hands and he screamed as he forced it up above his head, his blue eyes searching franticly for his red haired companion.
"NAT!" He screamed into the flames, and instantly regretted it as the smoke filled his nostrils and settled in his throat. He coughed violently, but continued to call out for her. "Nat!"
"Steve!" A voice called from behind him. A male voice.
Not Nat! His frantic mind screamed.
It's Clint! The rational part of his brain added. He must—
But there was no time for that. NAT!
"Clint!" Steve called out to the other man, his hands starting to sting as flames licked at his flesh. But he couldn't let go of the beam until they got Nat…He refused to. "Nat's still inside!"
"Shit…" He heard the archer say. "Do you see her?"
"No! And she's not answering!" His voice was so thick with panic that he wasn't sure what he would choke on first: the smoke or his fear.
Clint didn't waste any time, ducking under Steve's arm, a piece of cloth around his nose and mouth, and headed into the flames. "Hold that beam for as long as you can!"
Steve nodded, knowing that as much as he wanted to rush into the barn himself and find Natalia, he knew that Clint couldn't lift beams like he could.
The moments (was it seconds, minutes? He couldn't tell) passed at a snail's pace, and Steve's heart thudded painfully in his chest, panic thre—
Then he saw them.
Clint was running towards him, through the fire, with a bundle in his arms.
Nat…
With every bit of his strength, Steve held up that beam as the barn creaked again. It was going to collapse soon. But it wouldn't fall with them inside it.
He refused to let that happen.
Clint dove, with Natalia in his arms, under the soldier's arm once more, rolling away as Steve let the beam go.
The super soldier turn towards the former spy and watched for a moment, not really processing what was going on, as the other man rolled the woman on the ground.
Then it hit him.
She's on fire!
Thanking God and Dr. Erskine, Steve ran as fast as he possibly could to the porch, pulling one of the blankets that Natalia kept there and ran back. "We need to smother the flames." He said, more to himself than to Clint, as he laid the cloth down.
Clint rolled the red head into the blanket, turning the woman into a "roll" of sorts, starving the flames of oxygen. "We need to cool her off."
"Tub on the first floor." Steve said, his voice calm and cool. The Captain was in present, leaving the anxious Steve behind. "Fill it with cool, not cold, water. I'll make sure all the flames are gone."
The archer nodded and ran for the house, not arguing when his sister's well-being was on the line.
Adrenaline still thrumming in his veins, Steve focused on the wrapped Natalia. He patted the blanket, something that he had read helped in the "Stop, Drop, and Roll" method. Once he was sure that there was no flame like heat coming through the blanket, he scooped her into his arms and carried her into the house.
Clint was at the sink of the bathroom, washing his hands as Steve walked in. "Here. Let me take her." The archer said. "Just in case she has burns, I've washed my hands to minimize infection."
The soldier nodded. "What can I do?"
"Get your first aid kit. If she has other injuries, they'll need to be addressed."
He nodded once more and hurried to the kitchen, searching above the sink for kit. It didn't take long to locate it. He just wished that his hands would stop shaking, and wondering why Natalia hadn't said anything about him carrying her…
His thoughts were cut short as red flashing lights shown outside the window. Breathing a sigh of relief he hadn't known he'd been holding, he rushed to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
"The Fire Department is here. I'm gonna go talk to them."
"Good!" Clint called back. "Have a paramedic come in here."
"Will do." Steve said, leaving the first aid kit just inside the bathroom and dashing outside. Clint's voice had been even, so he didn't have reason to worry. It was probably just a precaution.
He opened the door to the house just as a fireman, a captain by the rank he wore on his helmet, walked up the steps of the porch.
"Evening, I'm Captain Richards." He began, shortly. "Anyone in the barn?"
Steve shook his head. "No. All horses and people are out. One of use got hurt on her way out, do you have a medic?"
"I've got two." Captain Richards said, bringing his radio to his lips. "No persons or animals in the barn. Charlie, Lee, get to the house, we've got injuries." After hearing several affirmatives, the fireman turned back to the soldier, taking out a note book. "How did the fire start?"
Steve explained the situation to the firefighter the best he could. Explaining that Natalia had woken him suddenly, shouting that the barn was on fire. That it seemed to originate on the right side of the building, which he remembered was the side where the wire that connected the lightning rod to the ground rods had been installed on. He stopped only to tell Charlie and Lee where Natalia was.
The fire captain had a few questions, but mainly he listened.
"That'll be all." He said once Steve was done telling his tale, then seemed to look him over more critically. "You really shou—"
"Captain," A voice cracked over the radio. "We have an unresponsive female with extensive burns. Has that ambulance arrived yet?"
As if they could hear the call themselves, the siren of an ambulance filled Steve's ears.
"They just did, Charlie." Richards replied, his voice cool and calm.
"Well, tell them to move their asses."
"Roger." The fire Captain replied, waiving towards the paramedics, signaling for them to hurry with that stretcher.
But all Steve could hear was the pounding of his own heart in his ears.
Unresponsive…extensive burns…unresponsive…extensive burns…
He felt someone pull him to the side, and he just let them.
Nat's hurt…
Nat's hurt…
NAT'S HURT!
"Captain!" A voice shouted at him, hands on his face and blue eyes swimming before his own.
Steve snapped to attention, his mind reeling into the present.
"We need to go." Clint said, his hands falling from Steve's face. "They are taking Nat to the hospital."
The soldier hadn't seen her being moved, which was probably a good thing considered he didn't want to be in the way. "Ho-How bad?"
"Bad enough," The archer said, honestly. "Laura and the kids are on their way over. They'll find Lieutenant, Boots and Tatiana. We need to go, Cap." He pulled on the taller man's arms.
"Why?" The Captain asked, feeling like the words weren't processing in his mind.
"Because you have burns, too." Clint answered, wrapping two cool, wet cloths around the super soldier's hands. "And Nat needs us."
A/N: Translations
(1) What's wrong, girl?
(2) It's okay, Tatiana.
(3) Come on, sweetheart. There are some sweet, soft grass, waiting for you.
Ok, and Tony wants to say something.
Tony: THIS GIRL IS ON FIRRRRREEEEEEE!
Clint: ...
Steve: ...
Wanda: ...
Vision: ...
Ultron: ...
Bruce: What's Ultron doing here?
Ultron: *in russian accent* I have come back to life.
Pepper: *slaps Tony*
Tony: What?! She is!
Nat: I will kill you with fifty sheets of paper when I wake up.
Steve: And I'll hold you down.
Tony: NOT COOL!
Bruce: Is no one else worried about Ultron being here!?
/End