Cold as Ice - WinterWidow One-Shots

from one side comes another

She tried again, murmuring a desperate plea in Russian that he would answer only to be disappointed.

"You said cameras spotted him fleeing?" she asked, turning sharply to Sharon. The blonde nodded. "In which direction?"

"Toward―"

A shrill ring cut her off and both she and Natasha glanced down at the phone. When Sharon answered, Natasha strained to overhear, frowning when the voice on the other end declared they had James in custody already.

Upon hanging up, the two shared a glance.

"Come on." Sharon waved her over to her car and all but scrambling, Natasha hurried inside.

It was the longest car ride of Natasha's life even though it was hardly more than fifteen minutes. The car hadn't even stopped before Natasha was jumping out, flashing her badge as she pushed her way inside in search of James or Rogers or anyone who could give her more information.

The sight of a familiar blond caught her attention and she turned sharply, shouting after him.

"Steve!"

He turned, eyes hard until they landed on her.

"He's alright," he assured her before she had even reached him. "No one hurt him and I―"

"Where is he?" she demanded. She moved to push past him, but Steve stopped her. "I swear to god, Rogers," she growled, scowling up at him. "Tell me where they took him or I'll take you the fuck out."

"They took him to questioning," Steve said. His grip on her arm tightened. "They brought in a specialist, someone who was familiar with his programming and who could tell us if it was triggered―"

"No one is more familiar with his programming than me," she argued fiercely, pulling free of him. "Any specialist you have in there is a goddamn fake."

Steve shook his head, promising the man was not. He was in the middle of reassuring her yet again that James was perfectly unharmed, it was just standard procedure, when Sharon caught up to them, Sam at her side.

"What I don't understand is why frame him?" Sharon asked, arms crossed. "He's been publicly involved with the Avengers for years. Since Natasha buried his identity in the Project Insight dump, he's never been deemed a public threat."

"That's because no one knows how his programming works," Sam pointed out, drawing Natasha's attention back to Steve. "Aside from Romanoff, there's no one alive who knows those words. And heaven knows―" He added with an eye roll― "that she'd never use them."

"The specialist," she echoed, staring at Steve with wide eyes. "What was the name of the specialist?"

"God, I don't remember," Steve muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "Zemo, I think it was?" Frowning, he asked, "Why? You don't think he knows the trigger words, do you?"

She didn't bother with a reply. Pushing past Steve, she shoved her way down the hall toward the questioning room. She hadn't even made it out of the main hallway before an alarm went off and pure terror filled her chest.

"James," she gasped. She tore down the hall, passing people on their way out of the building, and praying she would find him and not the Soldier.

She was not so fortunate.

With a skid, she came face to face with the Winter Soldier, gaze as blank as it had been so many years ago. Behind him, a door slammed shut and Natasha had a single moment to anticipate his first hit.

It hurt. God, it hurt, but she didn't let up. Her chest burned where his metal hand had connected with it, but she moved quickly. Climbing up and over his shoulders, she swung around his neck and forced him to the ground with a hard thunk. He rolled, she groaned, and they wrestled for several long seconds before Steve's voice shouted above them.