Cold as Ice - WinterWidow One-Shots

what remains in the dark

Summary: A Black Widow rewrite in a universe where Bucky and Natasha escaped the Red Room together.

His head is clear. For the first time in decades, there are no triggers hiding between memories and no fear that someone may be able to turn him back into the machine that he was. The Wakandan princess had assured them of it; she'd had Natalia test the words and everything. It was confirmed: He's finally free of them.

Unfortunately, the reason he'd finally got the help he needed was that the words had come back to haunt him in a very public, very disastrous way.

The Accords are a disaster. He knows that. He also knows that between her mornings with him and afternoons plotting on how to break into the Raft with Steve, Natalia has been working furiously on rewriting them. She isn't publicly involved because, officially, she's in hiding, but T'Challa appreciates her input. James knows she's brilliant at wordplay, so it's really no surprise that she's turned it into her own little side mission while he finishes recovering and they wait to break out the others.

Once the Raft has been emptied of her teammates, it's time for them to take the next step.

T'Challa is welcoming and kind, but they don't want to overstay their welcome. There's one last feast and one last night of laughter, and then they all leave.

Steve ends up somewhere in Ireland with Wanda nearby, Sam and Clint take plea deals to go home, and he and Natalia say they're heading to France, but go to Norway instead. They can't help it; being on the run makes both of them more paranoid than they already are and seeing as General Ross is primarily after them, they mutually decide that it will be safer for the others if they simply don't know where they go.

Natalia connects with Mason and James hotwires a car. On the way, they contact General Ross, tell him to fuck off in not so many words, and go dark. No phone, no laptop, nothing. Just them and the Norwegian countryside.

At least, it will be once Mason actually gives them the keys to their trailer and leaves. Natalia, however, prolongs his departure when she catches sight of a box sitting in the kitchen.

"What's this?" She glances inside, brow furrowed, and gives nothing away.

"I pulled it from the Budapest safe house," Mason answers.

James and Natalia share a look.

"Yeah, neither of you is using it," Mason reminds them, "so I found another interested party."

"We don't want it." Natalia shoves the box toward Mason, but he doesn't take it.

He shrugs. "Then throw it out."

He tosses James the keys, salutes them both mockingly, and finally leaves the property. While James doesn't mind Mason as a person, the man does not represent a particularly great part of his life: when safehouses were a necessity and he and Natalia were breathing targets for everyone. He tries not to let it show, though.

While Natalia steps away from the box, James peers inside. It's just a few tattered shirts and a briefcase he doesn't recognize, but he's not that worried. The things they left behind in Budapest hold no value to them and for all he knows, the briefcase is just one of those things that happened to escape his mind.

They spend the rest of the afternoon settling in. Natalia makes them pancakes for dinner because James promises to make it worth her while (and she's the only one capable of making the stove work), and when night falls, he makes popcorn because the supersoldier serum ensures they're both hungry only a couple of hours after dinner.

"What are we watching?" he asks in Russian, joining her on the little sofa bed that they had made good use of just a few minutes ago.

Natalia doesn't give him an answer, but she does give him a shit-eating grin and that's answer enough.