Time.

Moscow, Russia. November 17th

***Flashback sequence***

She awoke in the night, a cold breeze causing her to shiver and pull the blankets closer around her. Peeling her eyes open, she looked up at the source of the cold and frowned at the open window. It was November after all, The winter climate causing the sky to darken early and snow to already silently dusting the streets with a layer of white as the country slept. She groaned in annoyance at the inconvenience of getting up to close it, cursing him for leaving it open as he left. She paused her thoughts, freezing before she had the chance to leave the comfort of her bed. He would know the cold would waken her, it would potentially draw attention to the little apartment she resided in when not at the Red Room Facility. The panic was setting in, racing through her veins as the adrenaline woke her up with a jolt, but she didn't move, not yet. Her brain working at lightening speed to comprehend how horrified she was that she could still feel his arms, one metal, one flesh, wrapped protectively around her waist, and the steady rise and fall of his chest against her back as he slept. He hadn't left. Someone was here, and if they didn't know about her hidden relationship with the winter soldier before, they definitely did now. Her hand shot out quickly, grabbing for the gun she kept under the bedside table, only for her hand to grasp at thin air. Her eyes widened in horror at the realisation it was gone, and a firm grip on her ankle ripped her from the bed and from his embrace before she had time to react. She landed hard on the floor, instinctively ready to attack but a sharp searing pain in her thigh as she swung her leg around at her attacker stopped her. Everything after that was hazy, watching through blurred vision as the syringe with an unknown liquid was pulled out of her thigh, the feel of hands gripping her limp body, painfully pulling it upright before she blacked out completely.

"Ah, good morning маленький паук, little spider," a gruff voice woke her, her head spinning as she eased back into the present. Her body hurt, she tried to move to ease the discomfort but found her ankles and wrists bound to the steel chair. She winced against the restraints, her eyes darting around the dim room, with slate grey stone walls, that merged with the lowceiling as the groggy feeling from the sedative wore off. They were below the KGB HQ. They were where prisoners and traitors alike where brought to be tortured and killed. Where she had brought so many to face their fate at the hands of her superiors. How karma had come a complete full circle to kick her ass. Lubyanka wasn't a holiday resort by any means. Her head was jerked back violently as a large hand gripped her hair and she hissed though her teeth sharply as the sudden pain, glaring up at Ivan, her so called guardian and saviour. That bastard. She wished he'd let her burn in the fire that wiped out her family, it would have been more humane.

"Don't fucking touch her!" Barnes threatened, the chains binding him to his own chair rattling as he fought against them.

Ivan wickedly grinned down at her "Quite passionate about you, isn't he? You're Мой милый, is it?" He sneered, forcing her head to look over to Barnes. She met his eye, trying to convey everything she had never said to him, and everything she hadn't said enough. His face falling in hurt and heartbreak as he thought the exact same. It wasn't enough time, theyd managed to evade them all for years, but time was up. She swallowed hard, fighting the urge to vomit as she felt Ivan press his cheek against hers as he eyed Barnes with disgust, feeling it wrinkled rough skin against hers and the stench of cigar smoke engulf her.

"Look at him Natalia, it's a shame we are going to have to wipe him, make him full functional again."

"How did you know?" She asked, balling her hands into tight fists and keeping her voice steady. "Why do you care what I've done? It doesn't affect anything. You didn't even know it-"

The slap he delivered to her cheek echoed around the room as her head whipped to the opposite side, a string of threats coming from the enraged Barnes.