Love's New Hope

Finding Natasha

One month and a half later

Bucky punched the wall of the HYDRA base. Hard. Steve sighed as his friend's metal arm ripped through the wall. After he had found out what had happened to Natasha, Bucky barely resembled a person. Steve got a little insight to what he must've been like when he was still the Soldier: driven with no care for his own well being. Steve didn't think his best friend had slept at all in the weeks following Natasha's kidnapping, choosing to search HYDRA bases ceaselessly to find his wife and unborn child.

"Buck," Steve said quietly. Bucky turned and ripped the mask off his face. After Natasha had been taken, Bucky not only acted like the Winter Soldier, but looked like him as well, with his hair longer and unkempt, metal arm sporting a red star again, and mask often firmly in place, even back at the Tower.

"Where is she, Steve?" He asked hoarsely. Steve saw frustration and anger in his friend's eyes, mirroring what Steve himself felt.

"I don't know, Buck. We've been hitting them constantly, never following any specific pattern, but she's nowhere. Is there any place that they could take her that you wouldn't think about?"

Bucky groaned and ran his metal arm through his unkempt hair. "I honestly don't know, Steve. I just... I can't think straight with her in danger."

Steve placed a gentle hand on his best friend's shoulder. "I know, Buck. You forget, she's my sister."

Bucky gave him a grin smile. "She might be your dead sister if we don't find her soon."

Steve gave him a startled look. "What makes you say that?"

"Think about it, Steve." Bucky said, looking more tired by the second. "Yes, they took Natasha, but they also took Jenkins. He's the one who was keeping an eye on Natasha while she was pregnant. And not just that, but if they were this well prepared, they could hit and take her at anytime. Why wait until she's pregnant and physically unable to do missions?"

"They want the baby." Steve said flatly. "Were you planning on sharing this revelation?"

Bucky rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Yes. I just... I'm not thinking too well."

Steve's heart went out to his best friend. He had lost his life for 70 years to HYDRA, and when he'd finally been able to start over with his best friend and his wife, HYDRA not only took his wife, but his child.

"We'll find her, Buck." Steve said reassuringly.

Bucky sighed. "I hope so." Bucky yawned.

"Come on." Steve said, gently supporting his friend. "The others can clean up here. We need to get you home so you can have a nap."
*
Natasha jolted away from her dreamless sleep. She was breathing heavily and took a few minutes to calm down. She took stock of her surroundings for the millionth time. A dark, musty smelling cell. A hard, uncomfortable bed. And most importantly, a video camera, watching her every move.

Natasha groaned and rubbed her eyes. The door opened suddenly and Jenkins was shoved in.

"Well, really!" Jenkins said, adjusting his suit coat. Somehow, he'd convinced the agents that he couldn't do his job without high end suits, such as Gucci. "You do realize I can walk right?" He protested uselessly at the closed door.

Natasha let out a dry chuckle. This was the highlight of her day. Jenkins was always so cantankerous and it amused her. This was the reason that eventually, the agent in charge had consented to Jenkins spending upwards of four hours with her a day.

"Well, Mrs. Barnes." Jenkins turned and gave her a small smile. "How are we feeling today?"

"Tired." Natasha said with a sigh. She was seven and a half months pregnant and never seemed to be able to get enough sleep.

"Well that's to be expected." Jenkins turned back towards the door. "Especially when she's being kept in a stressful environment by a bunch of James Bond wannabes!"

Natasha snickered. Jenkins always came up with interesting insults.

"Now, shall we begin our checkup?" Jenkins smiled a little. In truth, he liked Natasha. She was spunky and never gave up the hope that Bucky would rescue her.
*
Steve glanced over at Bucky, a little worried.

"You think he's ok?" Steve asked Bruce. After bringing Bucky home, Steve had laid his friend out on the couch, and Bucky had immediately fallen asleep. In fact, he'd been sleeping for almost 36 hours straight, and Steve was beginning to wonder if he was in a coma.

Bruce shrugged. "He's barely slept in 6 weeks. I'd be surprised if he wasn't this tired."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Getting back to the point... do you really think Nat's hidden in Russia?"

Steve shrugged. "That's where she trained with the Red Room. It's where Buck was wiped. It'd make sense. That part of the reason why he doesn't want to go there. Too many painful memories."

Thor shrugged too. "It's as good a place as any." He glanced over at Loki, who was sitting on the floor cross legged. Wanda was sitting in a similar position across from him, and their hands were placed palm to palm, resting on their knees.

"Loki, Wanda, what are you doing?" Sam asked. They'd done this same thing almost every time they were looking for a new base to search. This was the first time, though, that someone bothered to ask.

Loki held up one finger and then five, the universal sign for "one more minute". A few minutes later, they both clambered up from the floor and walked over. "Sorry 'bout that." Loki said.

"What were you doing?" This time Rhodey was the one to ask.

Wanda and Loki glanced at each other and grinned. "We were looking for Natasha."

"With your minds?" Tony asked incredulously, but Thor nodded excitedly.

"I remember you doing the same thing one time to find me." He turned back to the rest of the Avengers. "I was trapped on another planet and Loki contacted me telepathically. I couldn't tell him where I was, because I didn't know, but eventually he was able to trace the brain wave signature to find me."

They all stared at Loki, who shrugged. "It's not difficult, merely time consuming. It doesn't work if we don't have time, but since we do... I thought I could try it."

"And what about you, Wanda?" Vision asked.

Wanda smiled. "It was Loki's idea that if we could have two telepaths working on it, one talking to Natasha, the other tracing the wave signature, it'd go faster."

"And?" Steve asked hopefully.

"We found her." Loki said grinning. "She's in Romania." He pointed to a small city. "There."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Bucky asked, who'd woken up during the discussion. "Lets go bring back our girl."