It gets a bit smutty at the end of the chapter!

Chapter 52

Shostaskov showed up on traffic cams near an abandoned coal factory. It was obvious that he wanted them to track him down. He'd spend ten years under the radar and now he got sloppy? Of course not, he was luring them into a trap.

Natasha didn't let go of her sniping rifle during the twenty minutes flight to Trenton. Steve tried to take it out of her hands but she shook her head. Holding the rifle calmed her down for some reason. She prayed that she had the thing in her hands that would end this nightmare. She needed to put a bullet into Alexi's head. She still couldn't believe that she should have been his wife. Did he really think they were meant to be together or did he just thought that they were supposed to be together? Did he think the Red Room created the perfect wife for him? She almost laughed at that thought. Natalia Romanova hadn't been fit to be anyone's wife, she wasn't capable of love back then. The only thing she had loved during her time in the Red Room was Liho and they made her kill her only friend. That act made her cruel and cold. It took years, Clint Barton and his family and then Steve Rogers to warm her heart up. And if she would become someone's wife one day, she wanted to be Steve's. Steve looked at her like he had read her mind and walked over to her to cup her face and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She loved him so much, there was nothing she wouldn't do for him. And spilling more blood to keep him safe wasn't that big of a deal for someone like her. At least the Red Room gave her the skill set she neeeded to protect the one she loved.

"So what's the plan?" Sam asked interrupting her little moment with Steve. He kissed her forehead quickly again and then turned to the rest of the group.

"We surround him and give him the chance to surrender. If that doesn't work, we'll use lethal force." Steve decided. "We have to be careful. Shostakov could be on steroids again and using something to shut Tony and Rhodey's suits down. You two stay off the ground and cover us from above."

The quinjet landed on the roof of the main building of the coal factory. Natasha shouldered her sniping rifle when Steve continued to give them orders. "I'll go first. He's mainly here for me. I try to lure him to an open field." He looked at her. "If he doesn't surrender, you take the shot."

She nodded.

Steve jumped down the roof and Tony, Sam and Rhodey flew around the area to smoke out the Red Guardian. He was here, she could feel it. She followed Steve with her eyes until he was out of her sight and crawled through a hatch to get into the factory. She needed to find the perfect place to wait. She walked around the top floor and found a window that gave her the perfect view of the main square of the area. She postioned her rifle on the sill and looked through the lense waiting for her target.

"Anyone got eyes on the Guardian?" Steve asked through the comms but no one had seen him yet.

Natashs checked the area and suddenly saw something through her lense in another building. "There's movement on the third floor opposite the main building."

"Copy that." Steve answered and she saw him a minute later entering the building. Tony, Rhodey and Sam were still flying around the area looking for Shostaskov. She could see the face of the person on the third floor and it was not Shostaskov. She didn't know the man but she had seen the blank expression on his face before. Bucky had the same when he turned into the Winter Soldier and she was sure she had sported the same one when she had been working for the Red Room. That man had to be one of the five Winter Soldiers.

"Steve, it's not Shostaskov. It's one of the Winter Soldiers. HYDRA is here."

"Okay, you know the President's orders. Take him out."

Ellis told them that he did not want the Winter Soldiers out there and that he wanted them to be eliminated because the threat was too big. She waited until the Winter Soldier wasn't covered by a column and pulled the trigger. She hit him between the eyes and he fell to the ground.

"He's down."

"Good." Steve replied. "We have to assume that the others are here as well. Keep your eyes open and be careful."

Natasha briefly wondered if Tony would have a problem with killing the Winter Soldiers. He was technically a civilian compared to her and the others.

There was suddenly static in her ear and the line went dead. No one answered her.

She looked out of the window and saw Falcon in the sky a few hundred meters away from her. So their tech wasn't completely down. She didn't want to wait here like a sitting duck and was about to take her rifle to look for Steve when someone grabbed her hair and forced her to stand up. She knew without turning who was behind her. She was mad at herself for not realizing that he had been sneaking up to her.

Shostastov pinned her hands behind her back and dragged her away from the rifle. Steve never used his full strength on her so she had no comparison but the Guardian's hold on her was strong and she was unable to move. She tried to kick him with her legs but he seemed unbothered.

"Why did you come, Natalia?" He murmured into her ear and she got sick when she felt his breath on her neck. "Don't watch your lover die. I hope you used the time I gave you to say goodbye to him. Don't worry, Natalia. I will take good care of you and you'll forget the American in no time."

She gave him an ugly laugh. As if she could ever forget Steve and the love she had for him. It was now part of her DNA. She tried to get out of Shostaskov's arms but he just held her tighter. If he used anymore strength he would crush her. She stopped moving, Steve would be royally pissed if she died. She needed the Guardian to release his hold of her so she could get a Glock from her thigh holster and put a bullet in his brain. She had to play him.

"Why did you let Steve go, Alexi?" She used his first name to build intimacy between them.

"So you can say goodbye, Natalia." He felt him sniff her hair and she wanted to vomit. It was cute when Steve did it but Shostaskov doing it was just disgusting. "I know you think you love him but you don't, Natalia. You were made for me, my love. Not for a filthy American!"

"You wanted to marry me." She made her voice sound soft. "Do you still want to marry me?"

"You remember, my Natalia?" Shostaskov whispered into her hair. "I know you would remember me."

She really didn't remember anything and had the suspicion that not that much had happened between them. "Yes, I do." She lied and his hold of her became weaker. She decided to strengthen her lie. "Would you still marry me? Despite being a traitor? I want to be a wife but Steve said we couldn't get married." She said even though they had never spoken about marriage before. But she did know that Steve said that he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life, so she guessed that marriage was still on the table. "He said that Captain America couldn't marry someone like me. A Russian whore." She really hoped that the Guardian would buy the lie that Steve would call a woman a whore,especially the woman he loved. Because Steve would never say such ugly things about her or any other woman. But Shostastov seemed to buy it because he turned her around in his arms and put her feet back on the ground.

"Oh Natalia. Do you now see why I have to kill him?" He whispered and cupped her cheek with his hand. She forced herself to lean into his touch and could feel the burn scars on her skin. Wow, that explosion really got him. "He's not what he claims to be. Captain America is a lie and needs to die. Blood has to be spilled."

She smiled up at him. "You're right. Blood has to be spilled."

She charged her widow bracelets and pushed her wrist over his heart. He stumbled back at the shock and she used the moment to get her gun out of her holster. Shostaskov stared at her and came towards her. She aimed the gun at his forehead and fired two times. His head snatched back and he fell backwards to the ground. She moved closer to him and fired another shot at his heart to be sure. Steve was safe now.

She tried her comm again but there was still static. HYDRA must have overriden their communcation systems.

She ran back to her rifle and saw that Steve was downstairs on the main square fighting off HYDRA goons. They appeared to be normal agents and not Winter Soliders. Steve was fighting off two agents while another one aimed his gun at him a few feet away from him. She didn't think twice and shot the agent. Steve looked up and gave her a nod. She nodded back and saw something beaming out of the corner of her eye. It had to be the lense of another sniper. She looked for him and took him out with one single shot when she found him.

"Does anyone copy?" Tony suddenly asked over the comm. "Are we back online?"

"Yes, I can hear you." She answered and the others copied as well. "Shostaskov is dead." She announced and Steve immediately looked up to her.

"Are you hurt?" He asked with slight panic in his voice.

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Well, at least one problem is gone." Sam said. "Um, guys? We're getting company!"

"More HYDRA thugs?" Rhodey asked.

"Uno momento." Sam answered and then there was a pause. "Nope, it's SHIELD."

Natasha grabbed her rifle, shouldered it and left her postion to join Steve outside. They seemed to have taken all HYDRA agents out or the rest had disappeared. She stepped out of the entrance of the factory and Steve ran towards her and pulled her into his arms. His hold on her was so different compared to Shoskastov. She buried her face into his chest and the star on his uniform pressed into her skin but she didn't care.

Steve's hand cupped her cheek and she looked up at him. "Thank you for protecting me." He bowed his head down to kiss her. She moved her arms to his neck and the rifle fell off her shoulder. She didn't pay attention to it and kept kissing him.

"You two better stop making out right now." Tony said over the comms and she and Steve both groaned. "Coulson is here and I don't think his innocent eyes want to see his idol feeling up his protége."

Steve blushed and she told Tony kindly to go fuck himself. She pecked his lips, picked her rifle up and walked with Steve towards the SHIELD SUV that stopped in the middle of the main square. Coulson and Hill got out of the car and Natasha wondered how long it would take until Maria would quit Stark to return completely to SHIELD.

"Captain Rogers, Natasha." Coulson greeted them and shook their hands. Natasha was tempted to hold Steve's hand to see Coulson's reaction. "Stark already told us that the Red Guardian is dead?" She nodded.

"Good work, Natasha." Coulson said in a fatherly tone.

"Thanks, Phil."

Steve added that she also eliminated a Winter Soldier and both Phil and Maria looked impressed. She was proud of herself, she took two dangerous enemies out today. But most importantly she killed the man who wanted to murder the love of her life. She did good today. Maybe she could get Steve to take a bubble bath with her later to celebrate.

They checked the third floor with Coulson and Hill but the body of the Winter Soldier was gone. "It was still here half an hour ago." Steve said. "HYDRA must have taking it."

"They probably don't want us to do an autopsy on him." Maria added.

More SHIELD SUVs had arrived when they walked outside again and Coulson and his people took over. He promised to give the Avengers access to the results of Shoskastov autopsy since his body was still there where Natasha left him.

She and Steve debriefed Ellis on the short flight back to Manhattan and he said that Malick wanted to talk with him about his fear that SHIELD could be still HYDRA. Natasha had to admire Malick's boldness to pretend that he wanted to wipe out HYDRA. He was either just plain arrogant or he had an ace up his sleeve. She feared it was the latter. But at least Malick now only had four Winter Soldiers left and not five.

As soon as they landed she dragged Steve by his hand to the armory to drop the rifle off and then walked straight with him to their floor.

"Someone's impatient." Steve laughed.

She smirked over her shoulder and led him through the living room but stopped when she spotted Sharon and Bucky sitting on the floor by the coffee table playing Monopoly. How interesting!

Bucky looked up. "How did it go?"

Natasha continued to walk with Steve to their bedroom. "Shostaskov is dead and so is one of the Winter Soldiers."

"Try to keep it down, Romanoff! We have a guest!" Bucky yelled after them when she was about to close the bedroom door.

"We have soundproof walls here, Barnes." She said and shut the door.

She turned to Steve and he was already pressing her into the door and kissing her like his life depended on it. His hands moved to her thighs to remove her holsters and he placed them on the dresser next to them. He trailed wet kisses on her neck and started to unzip her catsuit while she got the shield of his back and dropped it to the floor. He got her zipper to her bellybutton and went to his knees to help her out of her boots.

"Bathroom" She rasped out when he lifted her foot to press a kiss to her sole.

He looked up with desire mixed with confusion in his eyes. "What?"

"Let's take a bath together." She said and ran her finger through his hair.

He smiled, got up and threw her over his shoulders. She was still laughing when he reached the bathroom and sat her down gently on the edge of the whirlpool. They really needed to get one for their place in Brooklyn. She let Steve get her out of her catsuit and she let the water run into the tub while he got out of his uniform. She checked the basket next to the whirlpool for bathbombs and threw two into the water and watched how they dissolved. Steve now in all his naked glory turned her to face him and leaned down to kiss her. She moaned into the kiss and pouted when he pulled away. He chuckled and turned off the water. He climbed into the bathtub and beckoned her to join him.

She got into the whirlpool and sat down on his lap leaning against his chest. Steve cupped her chin and tilted her head up to kiss her. She sucked his tongue into her mouth and began to rub herself against his erection. He took some of the foam and smeared it over her breasts. He looked quite enchanted by the sight of it and she wanted to tease him but only a moan left her lips when he suddenly pinched her nipple. She arched an eyebrow but he only gave her an innocent smile.

"You are so good to me, Nat." Steve whispered against her temple and moved a hand between her legs. "So perfect. It feels so good to know that my girl has my back out there. That you protect me." He circled her clit with his finger and she sighed happily. "I love you so much. You're the one, Natasha. I want you to know that."

Oh Lord, Steve was making her feel mushy. "I know that." She moaned out when he pressed a finger into her. "I feel the same way about you."

Steve kissed her while moving his finger in and out of her. "I need you inside me." She breathed out. She wanted to be filled by him, she wanted to be one with him.

"Anything for you." He whispered and lifted her gently off his lap. Water was running over the bathtub but she stopped caring about anything when she felt his tip at her entrance. She was in heaven the moment he helped her sink her down on his length.

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