Following the events of the MCU, Natalia Romanova aka Black Widow, and James Barnes aka The Winter Soldier, spend endless years trying to find each other, recovering memories from their past.
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burning pile - mother mother ————
"It was him." I hear Steve say. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."
"How's that even possible? It was, like, 70 years ago." Sam replies.
"Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever's he did helped Bucky survive the fall."
The sound of his name again sent more memories through my head. I see Sam next to me giving me a worrying look.
"Romanoff, you good?"
"Uh- yeah, I'm good." I lie. "You were saying, Steve?"
He looks up at me from across the van we were all thrown into, handcuffs around our wrists. My head is rested back on my seat. I remember that he can see my gunshot wound, so I quickly sit up and cover it with my hair, trying not to look suspicious.
Sam also notices. "We need to get a doctor here. If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck."
"Sam, please- I'm fine, honestly."
"No, you aren't." One of the S.H.I.E.L.D guards speaks up. Within five seconds, they grab ahold of their taser, electrocuting the guard next to them, before kicking him in the face, knocking him unconscious. They took off their helmet, revealing a very familiar face: Maria Hill.
"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain." She remarks. Her attention turns to Sam. "Who's this guy?"
———
Steve and Sam both hold out their hands to assist my step out of the van. With the help of Agent Hill, we were able to escape from Rumlow and his crew.
"This way." Maria opens a tall black gate which led us down a dark hallway. I hear the sound of footsteps echoing off the walls. "She's lost a lot of blood, at least a pint."
"Maybe two." Sam cuts in.
"Let me take her."
"She'll want to see him first." My gaze turns to Maria, and I'm wondering who the hell she's on about.
She then leads the three of us to a room, where a man lay on a bed. A familiar man, at that.
"About damn time."
———
"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache." He retorted.
"Don't forget your collapsed lung."
"Let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good."
"You look like shit, Nick."
"I could say the same about you, Romanoff. Leaving a gunshot wound exposed for that long without telling someone? I thought I taught you better than to do that."
I ignore his remark. Normally, I would have treated the would immediately, but I got myself a tiny bit distracted today. Okay, maybe not a tiny bit.
"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful." Maria clarifies.
"Besides, I didn't know who to trust."
That one line made the room go silent. He didn't know who to trust? I've been by his side for more than four years and he doesn't trust me to keep this a secret?
———
"Once the helicarriers reach three thousand feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponised." Maria turns around the laptop in front of her.
"We need to breach those carriers, and replace their targeting blades with our own."
"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remains operational," Maria sighs. "A whole lot of people are gonna die."
"So what, we split up and take down each carrier at the same time?" I ask.
"More or less, yes, that's exactly what we're asking of you, Agent Romanoff." Nick retorts.
"No." Steve finally speaks up from the spot where he's stood. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. had nothing to do with this."
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been compromised. You said so yourself. Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."
"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed."
"How many paid the price before you did?"
Nick leans back in his chair and sighs. "Look, I didn't know about Barnes."
"Even if you did, would you have told me?"
"Even better, would you have told me?" I cross my arms over my chest, not too hard though, as I don't want to injure myself anymore than is already have.
"Why would you need to know about Barnes, Romanoff?"
I couldn't just tell them about James, especially when Steve is stood next to me. He can't expect me to tell him that I used to have a thing going on with his best friend.
"No reason. Just out of curiosity."
———
As I stand alone on top the bridge that sat on top of the cave I was just in, I couldn't help but let the memories flow back into my head. There weren't as many this time, but they still lingered in my mind.
"He's gonna be there, you know." Sam says as he makes his way over to me.
"Who is?"
"Barnes. Bucky. Whatever you wanna call him. Look, whoever he used to be and the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop." Sam places his hand on my right shoulder.
"What are you on about, Wilson?"
"I saw how you reacted during that fight earlier. You know, the one where Bucky was revealed to us?"
"Oh." There it is again. My god, it's like every time someone mentions his name, I get some kind of protectiveness over him.
"And just then in the cave with Nick? You definitely didn't sound curious, Romanoff."
"What do you care?"
"I just don't want my friend- my colleagues dying on me. Okay?" We both let out a slight chuckle.
