Love Grown Cold

A Startling Discovery

Bored
That was what was running through Natasha's head. She had been following Steve and "The Howling Commandos", as they had dubbed themselves, for almost two weeks and she hadn't seen any sign of them needing help. Yes, Steve's plans could be deemed reckless, but all in all, they went off without a hitch. They were a small team and the biggest casualty they had had so far, was a dislocated shoulder. And that hadn't even happened on a mission, but rather when Dum Dum had gotten a little too friendly with a girl.

"Ugh," Natasha muttered as she watched them go, once again, into a HYDRA base full blast. But suddenly, Natasha noticed something different. Usually, HYDRA personnel that were being attacked fought like three or four men. This time though, they only appeared to be keeping them occupied, aiming to annoy rather than maim.

It's a trap, Natasha thought, rising to her feet and pulling a black cap over her braided hair. She wore a dark suit that wouldn't differentiate herself from any other soldier. She would normally fix a mask over her face, keeping her identity hidden. But this time, she didn't know if she'd need to call out a warning, and so decided against the mask.

"Well, here goes nothing." She muttered making her way down the hill as she heard frantic shouts and more shooting. Reinforcements, Natasha rolled her eyes. "Great," she muttered. As she broke into the clearing, she saw the Howling Commandos scattering taking cover wherever they could. Except for one of them. "James," Natasha whispered, staring at the boy-turned-man she'd known all her life. He looked essentially the same, down to the determined face he set as he casually picked off HYDRA agents. But even the best couldn't pick off all of them, and Natasha noticed one man, setting up to take a shot at James that he hadn't even noticed.

"NO!!!" Natasha screamed, scaring even herself as she ignored the gunfire, launched herself at James, who had just turned to stare at her, and knocked him down as a bullet tore right through where his head had been only moments before.

He stared at her in shock as she pulled out a pistol and proceeded to knock off HYDRA agents he hadn't even seen. "Get to cover!" She yelled at him as a few brave agents decided to attack her, though rather foolishly, as Natasha was easily three times as strong as them and had greater agility and training as well.

"Uh," Bucky was barely able to think as he watched her efficiently take care of agent after agent. There was something familiar about her, although at the moment he didn't have time to dwell on it as several agents took advantage of his momentary lack of concentration to point guns at him.

"Aw shoot," Bucky muttered, dropping to his stomach and letting the guns fire around him.

"Keep your head in the game!" Natasha called back to her friend, knowing he was racking his brain to figure out where he'd seen her before. Of course, with the number of girls Bucky had flirted with, it could take a while.

Bucky acknowledged her statement, but it still irked him. He recognized the voice, but his brain refused to cooperate and tell him who it was. "Fine," he muttered to himself, promising that she wouldn't slip through his fingers until he managed to figure it out. He had a feeling that she could be quite slippery if she wanted to.

The fight raged on, Bucky and Natasha eventually standing back to back, working as one, even though Bucky couldn't place her. "I wonder where Steve is." Bucky wondered aloud, glancing around for his friend. "He's usually here by now."

"He probably got caught up in something on the inside. Don't worry, he'll be fine." Natasha reassured him. Part of her wanted to run after this fight and not be seen by her friends again, but she really wanted to be a part of this fight too, being with her friends on the right side. Being able to be with Bucky on the right side if she was being honest, even though he didn't have the faintest idea that she was in love with him.

"You know," Bucky called over the din, breaking into Natasha's thoughts. "I really feel like I know you from somewhere."

"You do," Natasha said simply, inwardly cursing herself for revealing that. Now there really wasn't a way for her to leave, not now. She could still do it, of course, but she wouldn't want to put that burden on Bucky, and by extension, Steve. Get over it, Natasha, she thought. Quit trying to find excuses to be near James. Even as she was trying to break free of her thoughts, she became aware of a new sound; the sound of a motorcycle.

"Bout time," Bucky muttered under his breath. As he spoke, a motorcycle broke through the woods, carrying a man wearing a red, white, and blue suit carrying a shield of accompanying colors on his back. Natasha snickered. She'd seen Steve's suit from a ways off of course, but it did look rather funny on a man in the middle of a war.

Steve obviously knew what he was doing, since within a few minutes of his arrival, and the arrival of the rest of the Howling Commandos, the field was strewn with men and men running away. Those that were running were pursued by two men that Natasha assumed must be Gabe and Frenchie.

"I see you found yourself some help, Buck," Steve said after embracing Bucky and checking him over for obvious injuries.

Bucky grinned and motioned towards Natasha. "I think it would be accurate to say that she found me."

"Well I'm that case," Steve said, turning towards Natasha. "I'm very grateful." He looked her over. "You look very familiar. Do I know you?"

"She knows me, so I'm assuming she knows you." Bucky told Steve, trying to get a reading on Natasha, but failing since she had taken the precaution after the main fighting ended, to fix her mask over the bottom half of her face, leaving only her eyes and forehead exposed.

Steve nodded thoughtfully before turning to Gabe and Frenchie who had just returned. "But here's not the time or place. "Let's get on our way back to base before we take a crack at figuring out our mysterious friend."

The other commandos nodded and headed off, lead by Bucky, while Steve dropped back by Natasha.

"Well I can honestly say I didn't expect to see you here." Steve began looking her in the eyes.

Does he know? Natasha wondered. Impossible. He didn't even hear my voice! How could he?

"Come on, Nat. We both know it's you."

Nat slipped the mask off her face, glancing and making sure the Commandos were far enough off first. "How did you know?"

"Well for one thing," Steve began, walking slowly so that they wouldn't catch up with his friends. "After the ambush, out of all the guys who needed help, out of everyone here, you made a bee line for Bucky. That alone was enough to make me suspicious." He caught her skeptical look. "Yes, Nat, I saw the whole thing. I was just a little busy up there to help. Second, I've seen you and Buck work together before, and while he might not remember, I've watched you two fight like that many times before. Third, you never left his side, even after he didn't need help. So all in all, it was pretty obvious."

Natasha sighed, blushing. "Oops. Usually I'm better at this than that."

Steve shrugged. "You were happy to see him. It's not a crime you know."

"I know," Natasha admitted. "But it is pointless. He didn't even recognize me."

"He will. And then he'll be glad you're here."

"Hopefully..." Natasha said, unconvinced.

"Now that you're here..." Steve glanced at her, smiling when she rolled her eyes.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to join the team?"

"Ugh, Rogers. I literally just saved your best friend and that makes you think I wanna join your stupid team?"

"Yes," Steve replied, smirking.

"Then you are dead right. I do wanna join your team, if just to make sure you don't die in the process."

Steve grinned. "Then it's settled. We'll tell the guys at camp and get you settled in."

Natasha eyed him. "How do you think they're going to react?"

"Very maturely." Steve assured her. "They are gonna love having you on the team."