Happy 101th birthday Bucky!
Chapter 50
"Get out of my way, Natalia!" The Guardian snarled and moved closer to them.
Natasha pressed herself closer to Steve and stood her ground. Steve told her to save herself but she ignored him. She wouldn't, no she couldn't leave him here to die. She desperately tried to come up with a plan. Tony could barely move in his suit when it was off-line and Bucky was still unconscious. She and Steve were on their own. They had to fight the Guardian alone.
"Steve? Can you fight?" She whispered and never took her eyes of the enemy.
He groaned in pain but started to get up. "Yes. I won't let him hurt you."
She almost wanted to laugh or cry, she wasn't so sure. Steve could die today and he was worried about her. She got up as well and stood in front of Steve. The Guardian cracked his knuckles and wanted to throw a punch. Natasha charged her widow bracelets and used his thigh to get on his back again. She electrocuted him but it barely bothered him. What the fuck was happening? Was he on steroids or something? That was enough to hurt Steve or Bucky. The Guardian grabbed her and she was thrown against the metal wall. Natasha smacked her head against it and she felt blood running down her face.
She heard Steve scream in rage and he attacked the Guardian. Her sight was blurred and she could only see how red and blue were engaged in a fight. Natasha used the wall to get up and leaned against it. She blinked her eyes a few times and tried to ignore her pain. It wasn't important, the only thing that mattered was Steve's survival. The Guardian was attacking him and Steve barely managed to block his attacks. She couldn't understand how that guy was stronger than Steve. There were only two people she knew who where stronger than him. Thor and Banner. She pulled a knife out of her thigh holster and waited until the Guardian was with his back to her. She ran as fast as she could and jumped to ram her knife into his neck. She twisted it to cause as much damage as possible. The Russian snarled and stumbled with her on his back against the wall.
"Natalia, stop that!" He rasped in Russian and pulled the knife out. "I'm doing this for you too! I'm freeing you from him!"
She got so angry at this that she started to shake. The last thing she wanted was for Steve to die! She dugged her fingernails with all her strength into his neck wound and searched for his aorta. She almost got it when he punched her with his elbow in her face. Her head smacked against the wall again and she yelled in pain. She sank to the floor and she was sure that she left a bloodline on the wall on her way down.
Steve ran towards them and smacked the Guardian with his shield and he flew a few feet away from them. Steve kneeled in front of her and cupped her face. "Nat, is it bad?"
She tried to focus on him but failed. She was sure that she had a concussion, maybe something even worse. But Steve couldn't worry about her now. "It's okay." She lied and tried to get up. He helped her and leaned her against the wall. The blood on Steve's face was dried and she hoped that his wounds were already healing.
"Steve, we have to kill him." She whispered and saw out of the corner of her eyes that the Guardian was getting up on his feet again. Bucky was still out and Tony was pretty much clued to the spot he was standing. She prayed that he would get his suit somehow back online. It would make this fight so much easier.
"I don't know if we're strong enough for that." He whispered back and threw his shield again to know the Guardian off his feet again. The shield bounched back to the magnets on his wrist. "Just go, Natasha. Please!" He had tears in his eyes. "I don't want you to die."
She felt tears building up in her own eyes. "And I don't want you to die, Steve. I am not leaving here without you!" She loved him, she couldn't live with herself if she got out of here but he didn't. No, they had to kill the Red Guardian. It was either him or them and she would always choose them.
Her vision got blurry again and she had to blink again. When her vision focused again, Steve wasn't in front of her anymore. The Guardian had tackled him and was now punching Steve who was on the ground. She picked up his shield that he lost during the attack and hit the Guardian with all of her strength. She managed to distract him long enough so Steve could throw him off of him. But the Guardian charged at her with his fist and she used Steve's shield to protect herself. The Guardian snatched the shield out of her hands and hit her with it. She never had been hit with the shield again and went to the ground.
"I told you to stay out of this, Natalia!" He grunted with venom in his voice. "This is your last warning! You can't save your lover!"
Natasha tried to get up but she was too weak. She saw how Steve came running towards them to attack the Guardian but he grabbed Steve and put him into a choke hold. Oh god, he was going to break Steve's neck.
"Please, don't!" She screamed and Steve tried to get out of his hold but the Guardian was stronger. "Please don't kill him! You don't have to do this!"
Alexi. She remembered his name again. His name was Alexi Shostakov. She didn't know why she knew his name. Maybe she read it in a file. "Alexi" She whispered and he looked at her.
"You remember my name, Natalia?"
She still didn't understand why he seemed to care about her. "Alexi, please don't do this." She took a deep breath. "I love him. If you kill him, you have to kill me too. I can't live in a world where he doesn't exist. Please, just let us go."
Something flickered in his eyes besides his bloodlust and she thought that she was getting through to him. She didn't care if she sounded desperate or maybe even weak. There was nothing that she wouldn't do to save Steve. "Please Alexi. Don't take him away from me. He's all I have."
"Do you really love him, Natalia?" He asked her quietly in Russian.
She nodded and tears fell down her face. "Yes. I love him more than anything. He's my life. He's my everything."
Something snapped in Shostaskov, she could see it in his eyes. He let go of Steve who dropped to the floor. "This isn't over yet." Shostaskov said. "I will kill him one day."
She crawled over the floor to Steve and cupped his face between her hands. Steve's eyes tried to focus on her and she rested her forehead against him. When she looked around for the Red Guardian, he was gone.
She pressed her lips against his and kissed him deeply. She was so scared that she would lose him today. She knew that it wasn't over but he was safe for now.
"I love you, Steve." She whispered against his lips and kissed him again.
He wiped the blood away that was about to run into her eye. "I love you, too."
She honestly completely forgot that Tony and Bucky were with them in the room and climbed into Steve's lap to be as close to him as possible. She undid the clasp on the strap of his helmet and pulled it off his head to brush her fingers through his hair. They kissed again and she buried her face into his neck afterwards. Steve stroked her back and whispered how much he loved her into her hair. A loud groan made her look up from Steve's neck. Bucky was regaining consciousness.
"Okay, where is that fucker?" Bucky grunted and got up from the floor. He stopped when he saw her and Steve. They must have looked like hell, both covered in blood. "Oh god! What happened? Are you two okay?" He scanned the room and his sight stopped at Tony. "Why are you just standing there?"
"Oh, I'm just enjoying the view!" Tony replied dryly. "The suit's down and I can't fucking move!"
She kissed Steve one last time before she got up from his lap and they both stood up. "The Guardian is gone. But he'll come back."
"Yeah." Steve continued. "He really wants me dead. If it wasn't for Nat, I would have a broken neck by now."
She didn't understand why Shostaskov spared Steve in the end. Why did he do that for her? Did they meet in the Red Room or the KGB? She was confused but mostly happy that the love of her life was still alive. She didn't know how she was connected to the Red Guardian but she promised herself that she would find a way to kill him before he could kill Steve.
"Why didn't he kill you, Steve? Why did he leave without finishing the job?" Bucky asked.
Steve looked at Natasha. "He did it for her."
Bucky seemed confused and she shared the feeling. "You do know him?"
She furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't think so. At least I don't remember him at all. I know I don't remember everything from the Red Room and KGB but I think I would have remembered that maniac. I don't know what happened!"
"We'll figure it out, Nat." Steve said and took her hand. "He won't come near you ever again."
Of course Steve was worried about her when it was his life that was still in danger. She wanted to object when Tony suddenly began to move.
"Haha! We're back, baby!" Tony exclaimed and came towards them. "Systems are back online. I'll go look if I catch Jean Claude Van Damme. Maybe Rhodey and Sam got him."
Right, she completely forgot that they were monitoring the area. Maybe they saw the Guardian leave and overpowered him with their gear. Tony cut a hole into the metal wall that had crashed down earlier trapping them in and flew away. She, Steve and Bucky searced the basement for any evidence that they could use to bring down HYDRA but the whole place was swiped clean. Natasha took pictures of the cryo chambers before they left and took the elevator upstairs. Her head hurt like hell but the bleeding stopped. She knew she was being unprofessional but she held Steve's hand the whole way out of the basement back to the elevator. She didn't care, she almost lost her boyfriend today and she didn't think that Bucky would fault her for that. He seemed pretty shaken himself with the fact that someone was out there wanting to kill his best friend. Maybe Bucky would help her kill the Red Guardian.
Rhodey and Sam were already at the quinjet when they left the HYDRA base and Sam went to check Steve's wounds but he shook his head. "Her first!"
Sam sat her down on a cot in the back of the plane and checked her head while Steve sat beside her and held her hand between his bigger ones. All she wanted was a hot shower and to sleep in Steve's arms. Sam made her follow his flashlight with her eyes and then checked the wounds on her temple and the back of her head. He stitched them up and told her that she at least had a light concussion and that he wanted her to get a CAT scan. God, she didn't even know where they should go next. Back to Berlin? Bucky would probably get arrested again.
"Um, guys?" Rhodey asked while Sam checked Steve's head. "What exactly happened to you? We've been securing the area and then ten minutes later Tony came yelling something about a super supersoldier."
They had only been down there for ten minutes?! It felt like they fought the Red Guardian for hours! She groaned and swallowed the pain killers Rhodey had given her. "We got the hell beaten out of us by the Red Guardian. The Russian answer to Captain America." She explained. "The Kreml thought he died like ten years ago in an explosion as far as I know."
Tony came back in that moment. "I have no idea where he went and our two birds here didn't see him. There has to be some tunnel that he used to leave."
"I know this is probably not the right moment but what happens to me now?" Bucky asked. "Do I have to go back?"
She could only think of one thing to do now. It was a gamble but if anyone could help them it was him. "Tony?" She had to take another pill to numb her headache. "I took some pictures of the HYDRA base. Can you please upload it to our files?" Tony nodded. "Thanks. Send everything we have to President Ellis. I don't think he's HYDRA and he's literally the most powerful person on the planet. He can help Bucky and us. If it's okay with you Bucky, I want to release the real identity of the Winter Soldier." She looked at him. "We can use the public's sympathy as leverage."
Bucky looked from her to Steve and then back to her. "Okay, do it."
She told Tony to release Bucky's file. "And where are we going now?" Sam asked into the group.
She looked at Steve and he nodded at her. "Home." She answered. "We're flying back to the States. All of us."
They flew back in stealth mode to the States. President Ellis called them three hours later when they were over Scandinavia and said he was mortified that HYDRA had infiltrated the World Council and that there were five Winter Soldiers and the Red Guardian out there to wreak havoc. He promised to talk to Ross so he would leave Bucky alone for now. Ellis believed them that Bucky wasn't behind the attack on the White House and told them that as long as Bucky would stay at the Tower and cooperate he would see what he could do about Bucky's legal status.
"Wow, thank you so much, Mr. President!" Bucky was moved and they ended the call with Ellis.
She smiled at Bucky when he looked at her and walked back to the end of the quinjet to rest on the cot. Her whole body hurt and she wanted to take a hot shower. She couldn't stop thinking about Shostaskov. What was he to her? Or rather what was she to him? Why didn't he want to hurt her? Why did he stopped his mission for her?
"Hey." Steve was suddenly kneeling next to her head. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice him walking to her. "How's your head?"
"It's okay. Hurts but I don't think I have any brain damage." She said and rolled to her side to look at him.
Steve gently brushed her hair behind her ear. "Natasha?" He seemed hesitant for some reason. "The Red Guardian... Is he in love with you? It that the reason he let me live? Because he loves you?"
"I don't know, Steve." She sat up and made room for her boyfriend on the cot. "It could be a reason but I really don't know how our paths could have crossed." She took his hand and kissed it. "It doesn't matter why he stopped. He'll try it again and we have to be ready." She grabbed his face and kissed him with desperation and need. She never had been this scared in her life before. "He won't succeed, Steve. I don't care what I have to do to protect you. The next time I see him I will end him."
Steve sighed and rested his forehead against hers. "Don't put your life in danger for me. You think I could live in a world where you don't exist?" He kissed her softly. "I love you more than anything. You're my life. You're my everything." He murmured in Russian and repeated the words she said to Shostaskov to make him stop. His pronunciation wasn't really good but she didn't care. Russian never sounded more beautiful to her.
She laughed quietly and buried her face in his neck. "What's so funny, doll?" He asked stroking her back.
"If anyone would have told me after SHIELD got you out of the ice that I would fall madly in love with Captain America, I would have send them to a mental hospital."
He snorted and pulled her into his lap. "Try to get some sleep until we're in New York, sweetheart."
"Isn't this postion too uncomfortable for you?" She asked but was already drifting of.
He kissed the top of her head. "No, it's more than fine." He tightend his hold on her and minutes later she was gone.
Natasha woke up when they were already back at the Tower and Steve carried her to the infirmary to get a CAT scan. She was right and didn't have any brain damage. She remembered something when she and Steve walked back to the elevator. He wanted to carry her but she could walk on her own, thank you very much.
"Wait!" She grabbed his arm to stop him. "I have to go to Tony's lab!"
Steve didn't look happy. "You've done enough for today! All you have to do is take a shower and then go to bed."
She rolled her eyes at him. "I will, Mom." She knew he was just looking out for her. "I have the Red Guardian's blood on my hands!"
Steve didn't seem to follow her. "We can test it to see what makes him so fucking strong. Why he's stronger than you and Bucky!"
"Oh! Let's go!"
They got to Tony's lab and Natasha scratched the blood under her fingernails with a Q-tip away and put it in a test tube. FRIDAY told her in which machine she had to put it in and said that testing would take a few hours. Natasha thanked her and told her to send Agent Simmons a copy of the test results. She was the leading expert on the topic after Bruce.
Bucky was already asleep on their couch when they got to their floor, it looked like he had been waiting for them. Steve covered him with a blanket and followed her into the bathroom. She let him wash her body and hair and she watched how her blood disappeared into the drain. She changed into sweatpants and one of Steve's shirts and crawled under the blankets. Steve joined her shortly after and spooned her. She pressed herself against his chest and hugged his arm.
Steve whispered something in Gaelic into her hair but she had no idea what he was saying. She listened to his soothing voice and fell asleep.
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