The Soldier and his Widow

3

~~|2016|~~

Natasha sat on the next bench over from the prince of Wakanda. "I'm very sorry," she said

T'Challa glanced at her. He held an ornate silver ring, toying with it. "In my culture death is not the end. It's more of a . . . stepping-off point. You reach out with both hands and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green veldt where . . . you can run forever."

"That sounds very peaceful."

"My father thought so," T'challa said. He slipped the silver ring on his finger. "I am not my father."

"T'Challa. Task force will decide who brings in Barnes."

The Wakandan prince clenched his fist. "Don't bother, Miss Romanoff. I'll kill him myself."

Natasha watched him leave, wondering how long it would take her to locate Barnes with the zero resources that she had.

Natasha's ringing phone pulled her from the ridiculous plans she tried to make. "Yeah?"

"You alright?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, thanks. I got lucky." Frowning, Natasha looked around, then stood up. "I know how much Barnes means to you. I really do. Stay home. You'll only make this worse. For all of us. Please."

"Are you saying you'll arrest me?"

"No," Natasha replied, "someone will. If you interfere. That's how it works now."

"If he's this far gone, Nat, I should be the one to bring him in."

"Why?"

"Because I'm the one least likely to die trying."

"Shit."

~~||~~

Natasha hadn't expected to see Steve Rogers get arrested so soon. Sam seemed more than annoyed at having his suit taken away from him.

Natasha was preoccupied with where Barnes had gone. Someone mentioned that he was being evaluated. She watched from a screen.

For the first time, Natasha got a proper look at the Winter Soldier. When she had seen him at the Smithsonian, it had been dark and he had been hiding under a cap. The man on the screen wasn't hiding. He looked familiar, and not from the Bucky Barnes exhibit in the museum.

She frowned at the feed, pulling her necklace out from under her clothes and fiddling with it. There was no way she could've known Barnes. She was born in 1980. Hydra captured him in 1945. There was no way.

The man sent to evaluate Barnes kept calling him James, until he eventually interrupted him. "My name is Bucky."

"Tell me, Bucky. You've seen a great deal, haven't you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Natasha tugged at the necklace lightly.

"You fear that . . . if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop. Don't worry. We only have to talk about one."

Natasha caught a glimpse of Bucky's face as he turned away from his evaluator. She nearly pulled the chain off her neck. "Soldier."

And then the power went out.

~~||~~

Natasha jumped on his back and tried to violently bring James out of the Winter Soldier. He flipped her over, onto the table, his hands around her throat.

"You could at least recognise me, Soldier."

She thought she saw a flicker of recognition, but it was gone just as quickly as it had come.