Previously
"Okay. Lets go." Steve ordered and we all went up the stairs, towards the top floor, trying to seek out Pepper and anyone else in the building.
As we made our way upstairs, I had a nauseating feeling. This was a very bad idea. Someone broke into the Avengers Tower and we have no clue how. This has never happened before.
"Okay." Steve said when we got to the door. "Spread out. Getting Pepper is the priority. When she's safe, and only when she is safe, get the intruder. Let's go." He opened the door and we spread out, searching for Pepper. I made my way down the side of the hall, a torch in my hand, along with one of my guns.
"I've found her." Stark said, relief in his voice.
"Tony?" I heard Pepper's voice over the comms.
"I'm here. I'm here." he said. I could hear them kissing each other and I stopped walking. I smiled at their happiness and thought I wish I had that, but I can't. I shook my head, trying to shake away my thoughts too, and tightened the grip on my gun again. However, before I could take another step forward I felt a sharp pain in my neck. Shit.
"Make a move and you die." a low familiar male voice said from behind me. I came to the realisation that he was holding me a knife at my throat. My right hand went straight to the one that was grasping the knife, trying to hold it back, and my left hand was restrained my his left hand, as if in a metal vice.
"Bucky." I said, not even needing to ask who it was, and I heard him chuckle from behind me.
"Ah so you do remember my voice?"
"How could I forget?" I said, spitefully.
He chuckled again and said "Well, I am very memorable. Lets cut to the chase. You will come back to me…" he said, tightening the hold of me using his knife and his hand to restrain my hand going to the other weapons he knew I had. "or...you can say goodbye to your life Miss Romanova."
"Bucky?" I heard Steve ask, but Bucky didn't reply. I forgot that there were comms right now.
I scowled at him using my real name and tried to get my hand out of his metal grasp, but he was too strong. I quickly moved my other hand to reach for one of my knives, but he intercepted me by grabbing my hand with his metal arm, the one that was holding my left. By doing that, he pulled the arm he was already holding, dislocating it. I screamed out and we both knew that the others would be able to hear me.
His lips came up close to my ear and he whispered into the comms "Now you Avengers listen to me. I am taking the Black Widow out of here without any of you stopping me. If you even try and stop me…" He pressed the knife further into my neck and I whimpered slightly not being able to speak. "I think you know what will happen to her if you do." My throat felt like it was burning and I could feel the blood trickling down my neck.
"Don't touch her!" a voice came through the earpiece.
"Who's that? Is that the oh so famous Hawkeye?" Bucky chuckled.
"You bet your ass it is." Clint said and I could tell he was saying it through gritted teeth.
"Well...I'll tell you what Hawkeye...this…" he said, pushing the blade even further, making me groan slightly. I could feel the blood pour down my collarbone and chest. "This...is what I will do to all of you...until your head...is sliced….clean...off." he finished, pushing the blade even further against me. If he keeps going, my head will be sliced cleaned off. "I will do this to everyone...apart from you Hawk. I've got something...special….lined up for you. I will sit you infront of Natalia Romanova here."
"Don't call her that." he said, spitefully.
He paused for a moment and then began again. "I will sit you infront of Natalia Romanova here...and then you will watch...while I slice her up...limb...by...limb…" he said, chuckling when he finished. Bucky may not have heard it, but I could hear Clint breahting heavily through the ear piece.
"You getting a little sweaty there, Hawkeye?"
"I am gonna kill you…" he said. "I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!" I heard his voice echo through the building.
"Oh I don't think so. See I don't think you can even find me in this dark lit-" Suddenly, the 'Winter Soldier' let go of my wrists and caught Steve's shield, which was thrown at him. I heard a clang as Bucky dropped it on the floor and I elbowed his stomach, unfortunately causing him to slice my throat as he withdrew his arm. I fell to the floor, cluching my throat to stop the flow of blood, but it still poured through my fingers. I noticed that the lights were flickering back on and Steve was running towards me. I was in so much pain. God, i'm gonna leave Clint behind and I've only just got him back.
"I've found Widow." Steve said, over the comms, still sprinting towards me.
"Anyone got sight on Barnes?" Tony asked.
"No, he's gone." Steve said, hurrying over to my side.
"Mr. Barnes is not currently located in this building." JARVIS said, over the comms.
"Start a trace on him." Tony ordered.
"Oh my God. Tony, we need to get her down to medical right now!" Steve ordered.
Clint came running round the corner and over to me. "SHIT! I am going to kill him." He stroked my hair as Tony came rushing over, which calmed me slightly, even though I was dying.
"Thor, get her to the medical room now!" Tony ordered, half picking my up, but Thor came over and fully picked me up bridal style. My neck was bleeding out and I could hardly breathe, my lungs filling up with blood too. We took the lift down and Stark said something about super speed for the elevator. Even though I was being held by Thor, Clint seemed to stroke my head the whole time. We got down to the medical floor, I think, and Thor probably placed me down on one of the beds. I could feel my eyes shutting and I suddenly felt very tired.
"Come on Tasha." Clint whispered, as someone pressed something against my neck. I guessed that Bucky had cut into my windpipe, because the blood was continuing to seep into my lungs.
"Natasha?" Clint asked. It was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.
Sometime later
Ow. What the hell is that? Is that a boa constricta around my neck, because that's what it feels like! I slowly took a breath, if you could even call it a breath, and started choking uncontrollably. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Clint searching frantically for something. What is he looking for? I could see he relaxed, obviously finding the thing that he was looking for, and came a bit closer to me. Our faces were very close as he propped up my bed, so I could sit up.
"Here." he said, passing me a cup of water and sitting on the bed next to me.
I drank the water quickly, suddenly feeling a sudden quench for thirst, but it burned my throat as I did. However, my stomach felt better as I did drink it, so I carried on, regardless of the pain in my throat. I stopped coughing and placed the cup back down on the side.
"What happened?" I said...or tried to say. As I said it, I heard no words. Nothing. "Wha…" I said again, but not even a whisper came out of my throat. "I don't…" I said. Nothing. No sound. What the fuck is going on? "What's happened to me?" I mouthed.
"Don't freak out okay?" he asked and I nodded. "Your throat needs a few days to heal, because of the damage that twat did to you." Clint said, angrily. He's always so controlled, so why is he so different right now?
"How many hours have I been under?"
"Just…" He bit his lip, knowing that I wouldn't like the answer. "A couple of days."
"Days?" I mouthed, shocked. "I've been under for 'just' a couple of days?"
"Well, the bleeding from your neck was pretty bad. The damage to your neck was extreme and we had to make sure it was properly healed. He cut through your skin and trachea." He shook his head and whispered "I was so worried about you."
I caught his hand and squeezed it. "Don't be" I mouthed, smiling. He turned his head and was about to say something else, but someone entered the room. Tony came in, staring at his iPad, followed by Bruce and Maria.
"Is Pepper okay?" I mouthed and Clint nodded.
"Pepper's fine. Isn't she Tony?" he said, catching the billionaire's attention.
"Yeah, Pepper's great. She's already back in my bed and we-"
"No more information thanks!" Bruce said, holding up one of his hands.
"Agreed." Hill said and came over to sit on the other side of the bed. "You okay?" she asked quietly.
I nodded and mouthed "For now". She smiled and said "We can't trace James Buchannon Barnes." Just the name gave me chills. "But we all know that you know something about him." She raised an eyebrow. "Please don't say that I have to interrogate you to get the information that we need."
"Don't worry about it." I looked over at Clint who was now stroking my hand, which was very distracting. "Are you sure you want to be here for this?"
He nodded. "Yeah why?"
"It's...personal." I mouthed and he knew what I meant. He still nodded though.
"Are you stable enough to walk, because we should really be discussing this all together." Maria said and I mouthed "Yes". Stupid voice box.
"I'm glad you're feeling better." Maria said to Clint.
"Thanks. I'm just glad everyone is okay." Clint said and she agreed. They hugged and I didn't feel jealous exactly. Their relationship is just a friendship, but I've never been that close with Clint, because I'm not as open as Maria and even Maria is not open with a lot of people. She is very cold and controlling, but of course it is what her job description required when she was the deputy head of S.H.I.E.L.D. She has been getting on with Steve quite well recently...maybe I should talk with her about their date.
Once I got up to the living room, I saw food on the table and walked quickly towards it. It must've been morning because there was toast and other fruit on the table. And waffles with golden syrup. "You want waffles?" Clint asked. He knows all my favourite foods. I nodded, not wanting to mouth anything if I didn't have to. Once Clint made me the waffles, we all sat down around the table, Thor on his tenth box of poptarts. I really don't know how he does that.
"Okay…" I started. "About 22 years ago, I was recruited for an agency called the Red Room." I place a small piece of waffle in my mouth, knowing that I wouldn't be able to swallow a bigger piece. Even though it was only tiny, it still hurt. I decided to give up and pushed the place of waffles away from me. Damn it, I want waffles.
"What did you say?" Pepper asked to which Clint replied "She said that 30 years ago, she was recruited for an agency called the Red Room."
"Ah okay."
"They trained me to be the assassin that I was."
"What?" Stark asked.
"She said that the Red Room trained her to be the assassin that she was." He sighed and I was about to continue when Clint said "Look, I will act as a translator, because I can lip-read the best. Hawkeye remember! Okay?" We all nodded and I continued.
"James Buchannan Barnes was one of the trainers there."
"She was trained by Bucky there."
"But how is that possible?" Steve asked. "Bucky was frozen in ice and then brought back to life by HYDRA only a couple of years ago."
"The Red Room developed a serum that could stop ageing. There was only one trial run of it and it only worked with Barnes' blood, like the super soldier serum only worked with yours Steve."
"The Red Room developed this serum that could stop the ageing process. One injection that only worked with Bucky's blood, like it only worked with Steve's." Steve nodded, but I could see the look in his eyes. He was disappointed that he didn't find Bucky sooner.
"So he trained me and we got very close."
"Bucky trained her and they got close to each other." Clint said, almost straining out his words, which I found suspicious, but obviously I couldn't say anything to him because no one else would understand me and questions would be raised..
"We ended up getting married in secret without the Red Room knowing." I could see his eyes building with anger as I went on. "Sleeping with someone else is against the rules, so marriage is basically a death certificate handed to you instead of a certificate of marriage."
He cleared his throat and spat out "They got married in secret. Sleeping with someone is against the rules without their knowledge, so marrying someone...basically results in death."
"The Red Room found out and he was taken away from me. They said they would have killed me if it wasn't for my useful skills."
"They found out and Bucky was taken from her. They would've killed her if it weren't for her skill set." I've never told him about this and I'm kind of regretting telling him now.
"However, a couple of days later he got out. Went on a killing rampage in the facility. Killed trainers, prisoners, other Red Room candidates...one of those being my sister."
"He got out...went on a kiling spree which killed the trainers, prisoners and other candidates. One of those candidates...was her sister." he said, trying to remain calm. He knew that I had a sister in the facility and he knew that she was killed in there, but he didn't know by who. I bet he hates Bucky even more now that he knows that. The other people in the room were silent, even Stark for a change.
"He had changed and I knew I couldn't be with him any longer. I saw the fire in his eyes and couldn't stand another second with him. Not that he killed her."
"He had changed and she couldn't be with him any longer, not that he killed her sister." Clint explained.
"So I shot him in the chest when I got the chance. And let the trainers take him away. It also proved my loyalty to them. It was a win win situation. They told me he was dead. That's how I got my name."
"She shot him and the trainers took him away, proving her loyalty to them. They said that he was dead. That's how she got her name."
"I thought he was dead until about six years ago when I saw him when I was covering someone on a mission. Plane crash. Then, again, when we" I said, looking at Steve. "were fugitives from S.H.I.E.L.D."
"She thought that he was dead until about six years ago when she saw him when she was covering someone in a plane crash. When Steve and Natasha were fugitives from S.H.I.E.L.D, she knew that it wasn't a lie. That confirmed it that he was definitely alive."
"He came after Steve, because he saw us together in the car when I picked him up from running with Sam. He must've thought that I was with him. I thought I saw him, but I stupidly dismissed it."
"Bucky came after Steve when you were fugitives, because he saw you two together in a car when she was picking him up from running with Sam, when you two had a mission. She thought that she saw him, but dismissed it." He didn't use the word stupidly. "Bucky must have thought that she was with Steve."
"Me and Romanoff?" Steve asked, chuckling slightly.
"What are you trying to say?" Clint asked angrily.
"Uh nothing...nothing." he said, nervously and then I continued.
"After that, I think he wants me back. The way he looked at me and smiled when we were battling...it wasn't anger. It was pain."
"After that, she thinks that he wants her back. He smiled at her as if he were in pain and not anger."
"Maybe he was in pain." Stark said, shrugging.
"You know what she means idiot." Clint snapped.
"How do I know what she means? I can't even hear her."
"Fuck you Stark." I mouthed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that." I just stuck my middle finger up at him and I think he then understood what I meant.
Yes, so Bucky is evil (Sorry Sebastian Stan fans)! I really like Bucky actually, but I thought it would go quite well with the story, so I just rolled with it :P Hope you liked the backline that I put in there are her sister and how Steve was being tracked by Bucky, when they were fugitives, because Bucky thought Steve was with him. Also, the serum that I said was administered to Bucky was actually administered to Black Widow, in the 1930s (I think), to keep her young and beautiful. Just thought that I would add it in.
Please review :)