Cold as Ice - WinterWidow One-Shots

dead ones walking

"Ready?" he asked, his fingers itching for hers.

Her lips twitched downward and before he could stop her, she reached forward and brushed her thumb between his brows. "I should be asking you. This is your fight, not mine."

"It's both of ours." He gently pulled her hand down, passing her the bag of weaponry and gesturing for her to lead the way onto the quinjet. "It will soon be over, though."

* * * * *

They left the jet outside of the city, sending it back to headquarters with the plan to call for extraction when needed. Now on their own with only each other and a bag of weaponry, James could feel his gut twisting with worry.

Hydra was his fight, yes, but Natalia was his concern. While Hydra had abused and manipulated him, they were all too aware of what had transpired between him and Natalia before they both defected. To have them discover her with him now would mean higher risks. The agents and handlers may have changed since his time there, but their methods would not have and he would not be surprised should they choose to target Natalia in an attempt to distract or control him.

Brushing the thoughts aside, he glanced up at Natalia who was standing lookout. Her face was perfectly unreadable.

"Hey." She turned to him. "No mistakes," he said, handing Natalia her guns.

They couldn't afford it; one slip up and they'd be done for, on their own for hours until SHIELD could send a team to retrieve them.

"No mistakes," Natalia echoed. She sealed the promise with a kiss, brushing her lips under his jaw before grabbing his collar and pulling his lips to hers. When she pulled away, breathless and frowning, she murmured, "We'll be okay, Yasha."

He nodded once and after they were both fully supplied, they moved in on the base.

* * * * *

Natalia couldn't help but keep a closer eye on James than usual. While they were both fully capable of doing their jobs, Hydra was a particularly sensitive case for him. Should Hydra get their tentacles on either of them, she knew exactly what their first mode of attack would be. So long as they got out, there would be no risk of them using James's own mind against him. She could still worry in the meantime.

Sweeping the perimeter was easy. Despite Fury's concerns, this base did not appear to be half as well equipped as either the Red Room or the base where James and Natalia had been stored and frozen for so many years. Their security was nothing to scorn, but it was also nothing to fret over. They made it across the base before the first agent had even been relieved of his position.

It wasn't until they were indoors that things became trickier.

Their comms shut off immediately which was fine because they were walking side by side, but it also meant that they had triggered a radio watchdog. The unauthorized radio waves would surely send someone out looking for intruders and seeing as they had been speaking when the comms went silent, Natalia could only hope no agent spoke Russian.

"Drop it," James hissed, crushing his comm underfoot. Natalia was one step ahead of him, a fact that showed her just how preoccupied James's mind already was.

"Breathe, James." She reached for his arm and he nodded sharply. "Get in, get out. We're halfway there."

His lips twisted into a tight smile but a moment later, they were moving forward and James's eyes had cleared a bit. She followed him half a step behind, keeping an eye on their backs and on James's shoulders. As his shoulders pulled up and back, her own gun raised and she was prepared well before he said, "Watch out."