Chapter 49

"So we have to assume that we have to fight an army of Winter Soldiers?" Rhodey asked into the group and Sam just shrugged.

"Maybe not if we get there before they get out of cryo. Or maybe it's just a legend and we worry about nothing."

Steve looked at Natasha. "Do you happen to know anything about them?"

She shook her head. "No, the KGB wasn't even completely convinced about the existence of one Winter Soldier."

She really couldn't remember to ever hear about more than one Winter Soldier. She really hoped that it was just a myth and they didn't have to face them.

FRIDAY informed them later that she spotted tire marks in the north of Siberia on satellite pictures. They all agreed that it was unusual that people were up that far in Siberia because it was no environment to survive and they decided to check it out.

"What about Ross?" Tony asked them while they were deciding if they all should go or just a few of them. If they truly had to face an army of supersoldiers they all had to go.

"We can't trust him." Steve said while they made their way to the quinjet. "Everyone could be HYDRA."

Natasha nodded. "Steve's right. We can't trust anyone with this." She only knew that the people in this SUV weren't HYDRA. She couldn't vouch for Ross and his CIA.

They boarded the quinjet and Steve covered her with his body while she changed into one of her catsuits. Thankfully Tony brought one for her and also an uniform for Steve with him. Ross had given them back their gear before they left the CIA building and so Steve had his shield on his back. She loved it when he wore his Captain America uniform and he teased her from time to time that she had an uniform kink. Maybe he was right because he looked really good in it.

"Shouldn't we have waited for the wonder twins?" Tony asked and checked something on his Iron Man suit.

"We don't have the time to wait for Wanda and Pietro." Natasha said and put more widow bites into the pockets of her belt. "Every minute counts!"

With the speed of the quinjet they reached their destination two hours later. The tire marks were covered by snow and Natasha didn't see any new ones. Were they already too late? Or did this place have nothing to do with HYDRA?

They stayed in the quinjet to wait for her orders. "Okay, Tony, Steve and I go in from the front. Rhodey and Sam, you fly around this hill to look for another entrance and secure it."

They checked their comms and she left with Steve and Tony the quinjet and walked through the snow to the entrance. Whatever this place was, it was build into a hill and that alone made this place suspicious. It was the perfect spot to hide something from the world. Tony destroyed the lock with a laser beam and they walked inside. There was only a small room with an elevator before them. Whatever this place held, it had to be downstairs.

"You got anything on infrared?" She whispered to Tony while they entered the elevator. There was only one button.

"I have to check when we get to the basement. The walls are too thick."

The elevator reached their destination. "Ready?" Steve asked them and she and Tony nodded. Steve pulled the bars up and there was a big and empty room before them and at the end of the room was another door.

"Any heat signals?" Steve asked Tony who walked in front of them.

"I can't get a reading. These walls are too thick, sorry."

She had to grimace. Great, so they had no idea how many people were on the other side of that door. She signaled Tony to blast the door open. She got her guns out of her thigh holders and Steve grabbed his shield from his back. The three of them nodded at each other and Tony destroyed the door with his repulsor.

They were at the right place. Five cyro chambers were in the room and they were all empty. They were too late. The Winter Soldiers were gone and could be anywhere by now. This was not good. Malick could bring down entire organizations if those soldiers were anything like Bucky.

"So we're fucked?" Tony asked and Natasha wanted to agree when they all heard something behind them. A wall suddenly crashed down and blocked their way out. Fuck! They were definitely not alone.

"You think the Winter Soldiers are still here?" Steve moved into a fighting postion.

She took the safety catchs of her Glocks off. "Whoever is down here with us probably doesn't want to chitchat."

"She's right." Her head snapped back so fast she almost got whiplash. That was Bucky's voice.

He didn't look so good. There was fresh blood on his face and he was slightly limping towards them.

Tony aimed his repulsor at Bucky but Steve placed his hand on his suit. "I think it's him."

Bucky nodded. "I'm in control, not him. They made me fight the Winter Soldiers and one got me and smacked my head against the wall. And then I was myself again. Bakshi and his people left after they sedated the other Winter Soldiers and took them with them. I don't think they have any use for me anymore. These five people were the most elite death squad of HYDRA even before the serum and now? Now they know how to control them."

Natasha felt a cold shiver run down her spine. "So they only wanted the location from you?"

Bucky nodded and came closer when Tony dropped his aim at him. "Yeah. I had to train the soldiers back then. HYDRA wanted to know if they could beat me and they did. Something was wrong with the serum and they went berserk and were put on cryo. But whatever it was, they fixed it. They now follow HYDRA's orders without question."

HYDRA probably left Bucky behind because he was unreliable to them. There was now always the risk that Bucky could break through the programing. But why didn't they just kill him? He was a lose end for HYDRA. It didn't make sense to Natasha that Bucky wasn't dead.

Steve must have had similar thoughts. "Buck, don't take this the wrong way but why are you still alive?"

His features darkened. "They said that they wanted me to watch Captain America die. I didn't let that wall down to trap us in. Someone else is here with us."

Natasha was confused. If Bucky was himself and the other Winter Soldiers were gone who was left to fight Steve? There weren't exactly a lot of people who had an actual chance in beating Captain America, let alone in killing him. What the fuck was going on.

"Do you know who's down here with us?" Tony asked and it looked like he was checking for heat signatures again.

Bucky shook his head. "No, but HYDRA seemed pretty confident that that person has a shot at succeeding."

She looked over at Steve who was standing tall and strong beside her. He was cautious but didn't seem too worried about what could happen next. "Let's find this person. I'm in no mood for hide and seek."

"There's no need for that, Captain." A male voice echoed through the room. "I waited my whole life for this moment! I finally get to fight and kill Captain America!"

She looked around but didn't see anyone.

Whoever this man was, he seemed confident that he could kill Steve. What if he could really do that? Her blood froze in her veins. She was scared. HYDRA could have made another supersoldier that they never heard about before. She remembered the supersoldier that the KGB created - the Red Guardian. Russia wanted their own Captain America after WWII and they eventually succeeded after decades but the Guardian died in an explosion years ago. It was a black day for the Kreml. The KGB lost their greatest asset that day.

A hidden door opened and a tall man in a red uniform stepped into the room. His face was covered in burn scars but she'd seen it on countless pictures during her time in the KGB. It was not possible, he had died. The whole Kreml had mourned his death.

"Hello Natalia." The Red Guardian said to her in Russian and smiled at her. Why was he using her first name? She never ran into him during her time in the Red Room. "I'm sorry I'm going to kill your lover. But it's for the best, believe me. You and I were always meant to be together. I know you don't remember me right now but you will, my dear. I promise you this."

Bucky and Steve stared at her since they both spoke Russian. Steve wasn't fluent in the language but the look in his eyes told her that he understood enough.

"I have no idea what he is talking about, Steve." She whispered to him. She never met the man before. She had heard stories about him but they never met. What the fuck was he talking about. All she knew was that she was going to kill him before he could lay one finger on Steve.

The Red Guardian ran towards them and she fired at him but he managed to dodge her bulllets. What the fuck! How did he do that? Steve threw his shield at him with enough force to decapitate someone but the Guardian just caught it with his hand like it was a frisbee.

Natasha realized in that moment that the Red Guardian could kill Steve. That was his purpose if she remembered correctly. If the States ever created another supersoldier again, the Red Guardian was supposed to wipe him out. The Guardian "died" before Steve was found but now he had a chance to serve his purpose and she knew that he wouldn't stop until Captain America was dead. The Guardian threw the shield back at Steve who used the magnets on his wrist to catch it.

He rammed his fist into Steve's chest and he flew against the metal wall behind them. She wanted to shoot at him again but the Russian snatched her guns and smashed them to the floor breaking them into pieces. He grabbed her and threw her like she weighted nothing several feet through the room. "Stay out of my way, Natalia!" He barked and charged towards Steve.

"Tony, do something!" She screamed and saw how Tony aimed his repulsor at the Guardian but nothing happened.

"FRIDAY? FRIDAY? What's going on?" Tony tried to pull his faceplate up but it appeared to be stuck. "Guys, the whole suit is down. I can't do anything!"

Bucky attacked the Guardian but he overpowered him and put him in a choke hold until Bucky stopped moving. Steve got up from the ground and smacked the Guardian with his shield in the face. Steve lost the upper hand when the Russian punched him in so hard in the face that Steve started bleeding. She never saw someone hit Steve hard enough to cause him to bleed from one single punch.

She ran towards them and jumped on the Red Guardian's back and slung her garrote around his neck to choke him hopefully to death. But he grabbed behind him and lifted her off his back and threw her into Steve and they both went to the ground.

"Goddamnit, Natalia!" He yelled. "Stay out of it! I don't want to kill you! Just him!"

She covered Steve with her body despite his protest. "You have to go through me first!"

The Guardian sighed and looked at her with sadness in his eyes. Why? What was their connection? "Natalia, don't make me do this!"

Steve tried to shove her away but the fight with the Red Guardian had weakened him. "Nat, no! Just run!"

She shook her head. She wasn't going to move one inch. Either she got out of here with Steve or they both would die here today.