I Can Take You Home (A Romanogers Fanfic) COMPLETED

Steve

Natasha didn't return until late at night.

  Steve heard the opening and closing of his door, and she didn't even try to be quiet. So he stumbled down the stairs to check what was going out to find her passed out on the floor of the living room.

  Steve tried to heave her up, but her eyes opened and they caught his. She rolled away from him and struggled to her feet. Blood followed her when she moved. She grabbed his shoulders. "The Widows. I killed both of them, but there's thousands out there. Please, run."

  Then, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body weight came crashing into Steve's chest. Steve, chilled to the bone with fear and anxiety and worry, hooked his arm under her knees and wrapped the other around her back. Then he laid her down onto the couch and gently brushed away sweaty strands of red hair from her newly-bruised forehead. She looked gorgeous up close, despite being battered and covered in dirt.

  "I'm not running away without you." Steve touched her injured cheek softly. Then, he took off his shirt and covered her with it. "There's no need to worry, Romanoff. I can protect myself."

  Natasha's mumble made him jump. He didn't realize she was awake. Well, maybe half-awake. But still awake enough to hear him talk. "If only I had known you're this mushy squishy type...I would've punched you that day in the room. I could punch you right now."

  Steve chuckled. "You could hardly do anything in this state, Romanoff."

  "I can and I will, Rogers." Natasha heaved herself to a sitting position and smacked Steve on the shoulder. "There."

  "What happened?" Steve asked as he pointed to a huge gash at her stomach. He reached out to stem the blood, but Natasha snapped at his fingers. He pulled back. "No need to be so feisty, I'm only trying to help."

  "Who says I need your help?" Natasha growled. "I went out in hopes of finding some Widows and chase them off, but there were five of them. I killed two, but the rest injured me enough then they ran off."

  "Widows?" Steve asked.

  Natasha looked paler and paler by the minute. "Black Widows. There's a Black Widow program back in Russia where I grew up, also known as the Red Room. That's all I could tell you."

  Steve was quiet for a moment, then he reached out and gently wrapped his fingers around Natasha's palm. She didn't pull away. "They hurt you so badly. I could see it in your eyes when you woke up from that nightmare."

  Natasha looked away. "That's none of your business. Why do you care anyway?"

  "You're my friend Natasha, whether you like it or not." Steve squeezed her hand softly. "It's in my nature to care about my friends. About you."

  Natasha's fathomless green eyes stared back at him, unreadable as ever. But Steve thought he saw the edges of her eyes go softer. "You're an idiot to care so much," she said after a while. Her fingers slipped from his. "You're only going to get hurt."

  "I know," Steve said quietly. "I know."

  Natasha's green eyes slanted downward to look at him, a slight, sad smile curving one corner of her lip up, and she closed her eyes.

-

"Are you aware that you have a sister, Yelena?" Madame B asked, pacing around the Black Widow. With Natasha still on the run, Yelena was the only other assassin in the program worthy of being given the title 'Black Widow'.

  "No, Madame," Yelena answered. Her green eyes were blank, the same shade as her sister's. But Natasha had always had a soft side to her, no matter how many times she had been brainwashed. Yelena, on the other hand, had always been cold and hard ever since she was brought here by Ivan. Madame B remembered how round her eyes were, soft and full of fear. She remembered the way Natasha had formed a cocoon around Yelena, comforting the younger Romanova. But Yelena Romanova never shed a tear. In order to get rid of any evidence that they were related, Madame B had given Yelena the last name Belova. But since then, Natasha had still always insisted they were sisters, and Yelena just stayed confused and quiet, for her little mind had been corrupted by the brainwashing machine that the Red Room had practiced on many little children as soon as they came here. Natasha was soon brainwashed after that, but still, the bond between them were still there, no matter how small it was. Madame B had always found it infuriating. "You never told me I had a sister."

  "No, you don't," Madame B said quickly. She could feel the way Yelena watch her with those doubtful eyes, and growled. "She died a long time ago."

  Yelena didn't answer.

  Madame B went over to the tracking system and punched in some keys. She could see the dots of all her Black Widows. Except two were gone, and three were circling around the same area the two had disappeared days ago.

  Madame B enlarged the area the three Widows were in, and smiled.

  "Belova?"

  "Yes, Madame?"

  "Come here. I want you to do something for me. I might have known where that traitor Romanova is."