Chapter 46

Happy drove them two days later to Malick's mansion in Westchester. Tony seemed a bit nervous because he wasn't sure he could fool Malick but she told him that she was convinced that he could pull it off. That seemed to calm him down somehow. Malick's daughter would be there as well and she was sure that Stephanie Malick was a member of HYDRA as well. She considered to tell Malick about her relationship with Steve. He probably already knew about it since HYDRA had access to Fury's tapes from Steve's old apartment and she could manipulate Malick with it. He wouldn't suspect they knew he was HYDRA if she told him about her boyfriend. He would probably enjoy that she trusted him so much that she told him about that.

Malick's mansion looked really nice, she had to admit. They got out of the car and were already greeted by a butler.

"Good evening, Miss Romanoff. Mister Stark." He escorted them into the house and offered them drinks while they waited for the Malicks.

She had Tony's bug in her purse and would during the evening excuse herself to use the bathroom and plant it next to his office. Tony upgrated it and it didn't even had to be directly connected to a computer anymore.

Malick walked into the room with his daughter by his side. She was a pretty blonde woman who was probably her father's pride since she was an only child.

"Miss Romanoff." Malick kissed her cheek. "How lovely to see you again. Too bad you didn't find anything."

"Yes, it is." She nodded and played along. If you only knew, you ass.

He introduced his daughter to her and Tony and they walked into the dinning room. They talked about the Avengers Initiative and Malick again promised to do everything to support their cause and she had to hand it to Tony, he really played his part very well.

"But of course they want to know if Captain Rogers will be leading the Avengers again one day." Malick said. "Some members want to inform the public that he's after the Winter Soldier." He looked at her. "Have you heard from Captain Rogers?"

"No." She let herself look sad for a minute before she gave him a sad smile. Truth was she talked to Steve this morning and tried to get him to have some fun over the phone but he was too embarrassed and stumbled over his words. It was adorable really and she rather had actual sex with him than on the phone.

"I wouldn't mention Cap to Natasha." Tony said as arranged. He covered his mouth. "Sorry, Natasha!"

Stephanie Malick looked confused. Natasha couldn't tell if it was real or not. "Why not?"

She sighed. "Well, I guess we are all friends here." She took a deep breath for show. "Stev- Captain Rogers and I used to be involved. He not only left the Avengers behind, he left me behind."

"Oh, I had no idea. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Stephanie said. It seemed genuine but Natasha still didn't buy it. They couldn't believe anything the Malicks said.

Malick senior gave her a sympathetic look. "It's admirable that you throw yourself into your work after something like that. I hope Captain Rogers knows what he lost." He paused. "Do you want Captain Rogers to lead the Avengers again, Natasha?"

She pretended to think about it. "Professional speaking yes. Personally speaking... not really." She faked a sad smile.

Malick probably didn't want Steve to come back at all. Captain America was HYDRA's no. 1 enemy. She hoped she made Malick happy with her answer. "That's understandable. You are doing an excellent job as the current team leader. Taking down that HYDRA cell in Canada? Good, very good."

She surpressed a smirk. The old man was probably pissed that that cell was gone. And he would soon realize that Steve and Bucky were about to cause more trouble for him.

She excused herself to powder her nose and hid the bug close to his office in the baseboard. Tony was telling a story about his MIT time when she came back. They enjoyed a few drinks and around midnight Happy picked them up and drove them back to the city.

"You think they bought it?" Tony asked her when they drove through the Bronx.

She nodded. "Yup. You played your part well."

She felt better now that they would, thanks to Tony's bug, find out what Malick's been up to. They would soon have access to every electronic device the Malicks owned.

Malick seemed to be careful now because in the next fews days they didn't find anything HYDRA related on his servers. But he was in contact with some politicians and business people that could be HYDRA as well. FRIDAY was currently trying to find the money sources of HYDRA in Malick's servers to cut them off. You always went after the money first.

Steve and Bucky had taken down two HYDRA cells and some people spotted Captain America in Italy and the media began to theorize that he was going after HYDRA on his own. It would help if the puplic was behind his back and to an extention behind Bucky's. Natasha talked to Bucky recently and asked him if he was okay with releasing the real identity of the Winter Soldier. The agencies didn't say yet that it was Bucky and she suspected that they didn't want the public to know about it in fear they would support Bucky and call for his immunity. Bucky was okay with releasing it but they needed to wait for the right moment. She didn't know what Malick had up his sleeve and if he could thawrt those plans. She decided that they would reveal the true identity of the Winter Soldier when they could prove 100 % that Malick was HYDRA.

And she missed Steve. She missed him so much and not knowing how long they would be apart was killing her. She was okay during the day because they were going after HYDRA and she had to attend meetings as the current leader of the Avengers but at night when she was alone at their floor? She felt miserable. She missed watching TV with Bucky and Steve. She missed making love with Steve after they went to bed and mostly she missed falling asleep in his arms.

The First Lady invited her to join her on her trip to a Women in Power conference in London. Natasha had talked to the President two days ago and informed him about Bucky's situation. She didn't tell Ellis everything but she told him that all of the Avengers were postive that Bucky was innocent and that Steve left to prove his best friend's innocence. She voiced her suspicion that HYDRA was behind it and the President didn't seem surprised. He said that he heard whispers that HYDRA was still trying to win power. She believed that he wasn't HYDRA. Members of his family were killed in WWII by Nazis and she was sure that if the President of the United States was HYDRA, they would have already come out of the shadows. She was relieved that they had Ellis in their corner and he said that if they could prove that Bucky wasn't behind it then he would consider a pardon for him. They only now needed to get Malick and his goons and then everything could go back to normal.

The conference was good. Natasha was surprised at herself that she could fit into such an environment without playing a role. She talked to many powerful women who promised to support the Avengers. Some even mentioned Captain America and how brave he was to go after HYDRA on his own. She had no doubt that those women would support Bucky if they knew that he was the Winter Soldier and a victim of HYDRA.

She thanked the First Lady for inviting her and went back to her hotel room. She wanted to call Steve and tell him about the good news. She wondered where he currently was in Europe. She wished she could go to him but the risk that Steve and Bucky would then be made was too high. She walked into her suite and sensed the presence of someone else. She smelled a woman's perfume. Whoever this woman was she wanted Natasha to know that she was here. Then she recognized the perfume, she had smelled it before. In Lagos.

"Sharon" She flipped on the light switch and Sharon was sitting in an armchair.

She gave her a small smile. "Hi, Natasha. Sorry for breaking in. We need to talk."

"Okay, I'm listening."

"I know that Steve and Barnes are running around Europe taking down HYDRA. I tried to keep them out of the CIA's eyes but they got suspicious."

That was not good. They couldn't get arrested. "And what are you doing here?"

She sighed. "Steve and his friend were spotted near Vienna. As soon as the CIA has their exact location they are going to send SWAT teams. They won't kill Steve but-"

"They won't hesitate to take out Bucky. Fuck! How long do you think it takes your people to track them?"

"Not long. Three hours tops. If you have any way to contact Steve you should do it now."

She nodded and got her burner phone out. She didn't care right now that Sharon saw it. She dialed Steve's number but he didn't pick up. It wasn't the first time that he didn't answer so she wasn't too worried but she was running out of time.

"What are you gonna do now, Natasha?"

She only had one option and she hoped it wouldn't complicate things. "I'm going after them to warn them. Thank you Sharon and wish me luck that I find them before you do."

Sharon helped her pack her stuff and drove her to the quinjet. She tried calling Steve again but he still didn't answer it. Sharon promised her to contact her if the CIA got closer to their location. She informed Tony about what happened and he asked if she needed back-up but it was probably for the best if as less Avengers as possible were involved in this.

Sharon texted her that the CIA circled Steve and Bucky's location to a suburb of Vienna. She borrowed a car as Steve would say and drove through the streets hoping to see them for some reason. At one junction she saw two military trucks, fuck they were close. She kept calling Steve and he finally picked up.

"Hey, doll. What's up?" He sounded like he had no idea what was going on.

"Where are you?" She asked him, panic clear in her voice.

"I thought you didn't want to know our exact location?" He was confused.

"The CIA is on your tails. I'm in Vienna looking for you!"

He told her the adress and she was in three minutes in front of an apartment tower that had seen better days. She didn't went for the elevator and ran up the stairs to the fifth floor where Bucky and Steve had rented an apartment. She was about to knock when the door of apartment 12 F opened and two strong arms pulled her into the place. She didn't have to look up to know it was Steve. She just enjoyed being in his arms again for a moment before she got back to business.

"You guys have to leave right now!" She yelled at Steve and Bucky who looked like he just took a nap.

"How are you even here, Nat?"

"We can chat later! Grab your stuff and then let's get out of here." She urged them and grabbed a handful of stuff and threw it into a duffelbag and the men followed her example. Her phone beeped and she checked the message from Sharon. Fuck, they were here.

"Get down! Sniper!" She screamed when she saw a red dot flashing through the room looking for Bucky. He ducked before the bullet could hit him. She crawled over the floor and looked for the sniper. She saw something gleam in the sunlight, it had to be the lens of the rifle. The sniper wasn't that far away, just on the building next to this one and she knew that she could hit him. She got her Glock out of her thigh holster and aimed at his riffle. The man was just following his orders, there was no need to kill him. She heard a loud curse and knew that she destroyed his weapon.

"Sniper's down!"

Bucky and Steve looked like they were using their enhanced hearing. She was thankful that they had it because she didn't hear a thing but both men signaled her that company was coming. Steve grabbed his shield and Bucky pulled the glove of his bionic hand. She got her other gun out of her thigh holster and released the safety catch. She had to be careful, she didn't want to kill the SWAT team. They were just doing their jobs.

"Machen Sie die Tür auf!" Someone yelled from the other side of the door. Someone threw a smoke grenade through the window but Steve quickly covered it with his shield to soften the explosion. They were using a battering ram and it wouldn't take them long to break the door down. They had to fight their way through them to get to a car. Steve nodded at her and she gave him a small smile and did the same when Bucky gave her a nod. They were Captain America, the Winter Solider and the Black Widow. They could take down a CIA SWAT team!

The door burst opened while agents came crashing through the window. She never fought along side Bucky but the three of them made an excellent team. They took down the first wave of agents with no problem and were on their way to the staircase when they met the next SWAT team. She took down one agent while another came out of nowhere and kicked her off the banister. She thought she was falling to her death when a metal hand suddenly had a firm grip on her and pulled her up. Bucky just saved her life. "Thanks, buddy!"

He gave her a quick smile. "Don't mention it."

An agent was aiming her gun at them but Steve knocked her out with his shield. "Looks like it's clear for now. Let's go."

They ran down the stairs and out of the building and where greeted by dozens of agents who had their laser dots aimed at Bucky's chest. Since she was next to him she moved in front of him.

"Move out of the way, Romanoff!" That was Everett Ross' voice. Of course he was here. Did he know that Sharon warned her?

She shook her head and stood her ground even when Bucky's hand grabbed her arm to move her out of the way. No, he was her friend and she wouldn't let them shoot him. Even if they did fire at her she knew that Steve would throw his shield between the bullets and her. But Steve moved to stand in front of her and his best friend.

"He's innocent, Ross!" Steve said making sure he was covering them with his body. They wouldn't shoot at Captain America, would they?

"Then he surely has no problem to come with us and talk to us about DC." Ross replied.

Bucky spoke up behind her. "Steve, it's okay. Let them take me. I don't want them to hurt you or Natasha."

They had no way to get out of here, surrounded by agents and guns. They had to play along for now. "Steve..." She whispered and she could see at his shoulders that he was giving up.

"No one shoots at Bucky!" Steve warned.

"You have my word, Captain!" Ross said and the agents lowered their weapons. Two agents carefully walked over to them and handcuffed Bucky. They escorted him to a maxium security van and she felt sick to her stomach. He didn't deserve any of this! He was a victim for fuck's sake!

She wondered if her and Steve would get handcuffed as well but they were escorted to a SUV without handcuffs. She prayed to anyone listening that HYDRA wouldn't get to Bucky. She had to assume that there were members within the CIA. What were they supposed to do now? She had no idea.

She looked over to Steve who was sitting next to her and he was pale and slightly shaking. He knew how bad things were now. She grabbed his hand and didn't care if the driver saw it. Steve needed her right now.

"What now?" He whispered under his breath.

"I don't know. We'll figure it out."

She asked where the driver was taking them.

"Berlin, ma'am. "

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