Chapter 3

Once everyone was thawed, warmed up, half-way human again, Natasha pulled Yelena aside into her upstairs bedroom, Howard Stark was fast asleep in the one next to the last bedroom where the Barnes were staying but then there was a knock on the door. A polite knock, but a open now tone to it.

Mrs. Barnes, call me 'Winnie' came in and leaned against the door eyeing them with the sharp eyes that her children inherited. Arms crossed, she inquired,"How do you know my son?" Becca went and got her mom in a panic because of what she saw when her brother was turned into

It was more of a statement of fact than a question asked. As if Winnie already knew the answer. "If you know already why ask?" Natasha inquired back, not answering but asking in return.

"Because I want to know why the woman my son wanted to marry knows faultless Russian. Not that I think you're a commie." Natasha's stomach clenched at those words, she wondered how she was 'picked' for that assignment, the one were she meet James 'Bucky' Barnes before he became the Winter Soldier. He drew her naked but he must have drawn another picture, one safe for his family. He wanted to marry her.

At that, Yelena moved, but Winnie was faster, she pulled and flung a paring knife in a warning shot. It whizzed by Yelena's head to land in the headboard. "George and I met during a knife throwing competition during a fair." She already had another paring knife out in defense. "Since we are all stuck here for however long this storm lasts, what do you know what happened to my son?" Her blue eyes were as cold as the Winter Soldier's could ever be.

"I know he's been a P.O.W. that much I can determine on my own. What I want to know is what the hell make him into that." The mother bear spat out, the 'that' being a mindless, only order driven husk of a human who only was talked down by Yelena and Natasha in Russian before he could go out back into the storm with his prey in hand, aka a still sleeping Howard Stark.

"How do you know my sister?" Yelena's Russian accent came out stronger as ironically she moved to her sister's defense, who had been calmly standing by the bed, just assessing the situation.

In answer, Winnie pulled out a well worn drawing of two people. It was Bucky and Natasha, her in mid-laugh while he looked smug.

Yelena could see happiness in that picture. Natasha was impossibly young in that photo.

"He was my mission, my last mission before my graduation ceremony. I don't know but it became more than that."

Winnie stared at the stoic young woman who had captured her son's heart. Then she cracked a smile and it was beautiful, a pain tainted smile but a smile.

"It was a one way trip. Or at least that's what they made me believe. They wiped me of any knowledge of the transfer. He was my assignment. Get close, get out with child. I was successful. Up to a point, at least that's what I reported."

Winnie's eyes were so much like James at the moment, cold and piercing straight to her soul, or what was left of it. So she played it like it was no way back, vulnerability, which here was not a weakness but a strength. Nat was playing on Winnie's protective instinct of her children to help break whatever HYDRA had hold on his mind.

*flashback*

Red Room Early 2000's. Up on the observation deck overlooking a large lit room full of naked young woman between the ages of sixteen and nineteen.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? We been searching forever. We only have a old drawing to go off of." Madame B was tired of this needle in the haystack of a slight chance of getting the Winter Soldier's offspring. "I still don't know why we don't just impregnate one of the girls with his sperm and be done with this whole mess."

A old voice, a bit mockingly stated. "Because at that point the Winter Soldier didn't exist, and Arnim Zola had just experimented on Barnes. It's critical that we catch him at this point in time, after all, the Winter Soldier did age did he not?" Dottie Underwood was old, but she was there to confirm the right woman, the right redhead, green eyed girl that captured the Winter Soldier's attention.

After all she was there the night when they meet. This girl drew Barnes away and afterwards a few weeks later was clearly expecting. Dottie tried to get towards her but the girl's skills matched no over matched her own. The girl was never seen again.

Barely eighteen year old Natalia Romanova was naked along with the other dozen or so frightened girls who had been round for this, whatever it was. She thought it would be of a mission of some sort. Most of the other girls were not from the Red Room which was evident of their shock of being treated as cattle.

"Bend down, forward, backwards, move your hips in a rolling thrusting motion…" The commands were endless, the men working were emotionless as they instructed the girls, and from some signal killed them one by one. The last few standing were instructed to go to the next room and put on the clothes and makeup waiting there.

Once dressed in a deep green shirtwaist dress straight out of the 1940s, that made her eyes glow Natasha was called to walk from one side of a mock up bar room to the other instructed to draw as much attention as possible, but in a coy way.

Her red painted lips were dry but Natalia refrained from licking them. Her instructions also included to engage with the mocked up American soldier, a dummy with lines.

The room fell silent as Natalia walked slowly towards the open bar. She was one of only people there in a bright color as they were in the middle of a war. She nudged the dummy, "Care to get a drink soldier?"

Her voice was her own, not one that she usually employed for honeypot mission which was strange to her but the instructions called for it.

"That's her. I'm sure of it. That other girl couldn't match her voice. It does things to you as evidence when I tried to cut into the conversation. Prep her, drug her, dump her where she needs to be and pick her up in about a year, one month here, that way the baby is born and you can eliminate the mother or whatever you all do to this generation of Widows."

With that Natalia's fate was sealed. Somehow somewhere they found a two way trip rip in time that lead from here to there, and back again.

"What happened to my grandchild?" Winnie's voice interrupted her journey into the past, seeing the truth in the young woman's eyes.

"Not there, here in the United States, safe and adopted. Your great great grandson becomes a hero. One called Spider-Man. He likes science too. Like James."

With that, Winnie grinned, a warm light made her eyes shine. "James huh?" With that strange comment, Winnie relaxes.

"Now how do we undo whatever the fuck happened to my son? Becca's isn't going to leave him alone. She's exhausted now but come morning…"

Those two were once thick as thieves and she hoped once again, they can be.

The asset, or 'Jimmy' was confused but he did what was ordered and guarded the small entrance hall. His mind unwillingly went back to how the young woman, with child, how did he know that? Had dropped the cup, spilling hot water as the asset looked for his target, he had followed Stark here as it was the only other car going in this direction.

But before he could take another step the trigger words reset his mission, at least slightly. Now he was guarding a house with horrible sight lines with too much comfort. He was stripped down in his undergarments but had a warm cup of something in his hand and too many blankets to function properly so he folded up the excess and settled for one. The oldest, scratchiest one. His body shielded away from the others.

The asset now called Jimmy heard heavy sobbing coming from an upstairs bedroom, a lightening pain started in his head, because for some reason the sobs were familiar to him.