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"So you're telling me Natasha's husband from her arranged marriage with KGB is still alive?"

Steve huffed as he kept on pacing around his couch where Maria was sitting. "And not only he's been injected with some weaker version of my serum but he's looking for Natasha?" He growled as he's hand ran through his blonde locks.

Maria nodded "I'm not sure but Fury has been looking into it and I think he may have found something." Steve kept on pacing "And if it's correct, if he really is alive, what would he want from Nat?" He was standing in front of Maria, one hand covering his chin with the other on his hip. His brows were in a deep frown and even Maria could feel his throat going dry and she felt like she could hear his mind screaming his fear.

"Nothing will happen. As long as she's here and we can figure out what they want, there won't be any harm." She tried to assure him.

"You mean nothing further than aliens, mischievous gods, weird angry robots, teammates wrecking each other and of course, being almost raped while drugged?" Steve spat out the words as if they were poisoned with bitter venom. With a snap of his head, Steve looked up at Maria "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be losing my control." He mumbled apologetically and walked to the couch, taking a seat by her side as she nodded "I understand. But we do need to dig in the files."

"Yeah yeah. Let's get started. Nat said she'd be back for a late lunch, so we gotta be fast." He picked up a file but before he could open it, there was a firm knock on the door and immediately received a come in from Steve. Sam appeared in the door frame "Hey." Both Steve and Maria nodded in answer as he stepped in an took a few steps towards them, "Maria, I was wondering if we could talk?" He spoke softly but all three of them knew he needed to have a serious discussion about why Maria had been avoiding him and Steve was starting to get a new perspective over the agent and how she feared losing.

Losing loved ones.

She had been keeping her circle of friends small and to a minimum, fear of having to let go at some point was evident and the struggle she had to go on while trying to keep them safe wether they knew it or not, such as Natasha's case was tiresome and he could feel how she wanted to have a shoulder not to cry on but to snuggle into while the fears grew bigger and she felt like sinking to a little girl's size; but the fear of maybe losing that shoulder was preventing her to give herself into a relationship with Sam.

Maria pressed her lips to a thin line "I'm sorry, but I've gotta help Cap." And for once, her voice was really sincere, causing Sam to worry more and take a few more steps towards them "Maybe I can help?" He offered, wanting to be close to her as much as possible. Maria wanted to answer but Steve took the opportunity from her "No Sam, that's not the best idea right now."

Both Sam and Maria gave him a questioning look. "I think you should take Maria somewhere quite today. Just take the day off, would ya?" He was looking directly at Maria "I'll go through this stuff and we can talk about it tonight" Maria parted her lips to protest but Steve, once again, beat her to it "If there's anything urgent, I'll just call you right away, ok?"

Maria seemed doubtful so Sam jumped in "We'll come back if anything comes up! Or we can even hangout at a close distance. But clearing your mind wouldn't be the worst thing right now, would it?" And just like that, he'd let go of himself, again. Wanting to help her through whatever it was that had been eating her up for a while, he'd ignore the urging feeling of asking her why'd she been cold or distant. He wanted her to have a little time to just enjoy herself and she was glad to have him there. Even if it was scary, even if she was an agent of shield or a spy or whatsoever, she was happy to act and live normal for an entire evening. And Steve was there. He wasn't going to put that damned file down for a single second, Maria was sure of that. So she got up, waved the Captain goodbye and walked out the room with Sam following her.

"Bye, Cap!" Sam chimed as he slammed the door close and he was pulled in a kiss right then. Maria's hand curling around his neck and he kissed her back with all the passion he had in him. His tongue brushed over her lips and she let him devour every corner as her lips parted immediately. She sucked on his tongue, getting a moan from him and he pressed her to the door behind her, opposite the one they had just stepped out and Maria was actually thankful for Natasha not being in her room. She wanted more and he wanted to give her what she wanted but they felt short for air and had to pull back, Maria breathing heavily and Sam admiring her while panting "What do you say we skip the outing and go try my new bed?" She purred in his ear and Sam had to suck in air as her tongue brushed in his earlobe "Yeah, yeah. That sounds even better" He barely managed to utter the words before pulling her to the elevator and their lips were connected and moving in a delicious harmony as the two were lost behind the doors and there was nothing but silent in the hallway.

Behind the shot door, Steve was going through the file of what seemed to be new information about three possible locations of the red room. He let his eyes study the papers, scanning the words to his identical memory until his eyes fell on a certain name.

James Buchanan Barnes.

Steve Rogers' eyes widened at the mention of his best friend's name in a file related to the ex husband of his now-girlfriend; reading the words and sucking in the story of a solider having been brainwashed to train young girls in what so-called the red room academy.

A trainer.

"There were trainers and soldiers and us, girls. We had to do what they wanted."

Natasha's words danced through his mind, blood rushing to his face and hands curling to fists. He hadn't been expecting anything as such and he hated everything about it so much that he couldn't even decide which part was the worst. Natasha having gone through a living hell, Bucky having been brainwashed to do whatever they pleased or the two of them hiding this from him.

His arms were soon folded in the table with his head buried in his hands. It took him quite a while to take control of his mind and decide the best thing to do was to wait for Natasha to return. In the meantime, he had to finish the files. The more he read, the more reasons to be angry came to mind. Having Natasha's name in the file didn't help either. It said that Natasha and Bucky had talked about the issue together, helped each other to sort out pieces of information to try and locate the possible coordinates. The idea of them talking about their past, the possible topics to have been discussed was bothering him deeply enough to toss the files over the table and jump to his feet, causing the chair to fall on it's back as he walked to his bedroom.

Natasha walked in the living room to find the entire team sitting around the coffee table.

"Clint?!" She called out as her eyes fell on his ex partner "What are you doing here?"

Clint turned around to face her with a mouthful of what seemed to be a sandwich in his hands.

"I called them over for shawarma" Tony chimed with a grin. "Shawarma?" Natasha questioned.

"Fury called everyone in for a mission" Clint answered as he swallowed his bite. "Oh" Natasha breathed out "Where's Steve?" Her eyes drifted around the room. "Said he was otherwise occupied" Maria mumbled, eyes not meeting hers. "Huh. Then I'll take ours to our room" Natasha said as she took two wrapped shawarmas and drinks, then turned around to walk straight to the elevator. Her meeting had a rough start and the rest of it didn't help to relax much either. She'd gotten Fury to label every bit of information as classified to keep them out of reach but still had an uneasy feeling about them. She needed Steve. Nothing but Steve.

Upon reaching their floor, she walked straight to Steve's apartment, not even sparing a single glance to her own.

"Friday, open the door please" She stepped in the room to see Steve standing in front of the window, his back facing her and hands resting on his hips.

"Hey, brought lunch" she mused, walking over to the table but not having received a response, she stopped midway "Steve, you ok?"

He only sighed, one hand moving from his hips to face, pinching his nose.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked, starting to feel irritated. She resumed walking to the table "Steve, are you going to start talking?". She placed the food on it and her eyes fell on the spread papers. "No, no, no." She turned to look at him who was still ignoring her "How did you get these?? These are classified, non of the avengers are high level enough to get them" She blurted with confusion.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His words came out cold and bitter with his eyes looking out the window. Natasha took a step closer "Steve, I was just trying to spare you from the hurt" she stepped closer "I saw how hurt you were when you found out about him being captured by Hydra" she was a few steps far from him "Please, Steve. I didn't want to hide anythin-"

"Bullshit" he snapped at her "You've been hiding this for years, Natasha" she tried to reach a hand to curl her fingers around his wrist but he swatted her away.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't know how to tell you without hurting you"

"Oh" he let out a hysterical laugh "And may I ask how did you help me by not telling me??"

She felt her eyes sting and tried to take another step closer but he stepped away from her, walking to middle of the room and standing there. He turned around, his eyes seeming darker that ever "Tell me" he breathed out bitterly "How did you feel, me telling you I've found my one with Bucky sitting right there? Or talking about your relationship with me to my best friend? How did it feel when you got Fury to classify all of this? Did you take pride in fooling me like this??" The hurt was visible in his every word, screaming his heartbreak and pain.

Natasha swallowed a new forming lump "It wasn't anything like that, it all happened today. I promise you, I wanted to tell you at some point."

Steve didn't respond. He turned around and walked to the bedroom, leaving Natasha behind. She let out a sharp breath, feeling her eyes get wet "Steve, please let's talk about this" she was pleading and hated it. Hated the cause of their fight and desperately wanted to know how'd he'd gotten his hands on the files. She saw him walk out the bedroom and her mouth was left agape at his sight.

Steve was holding a duffle bag in one hand and his shield in the other.

"Where... where are you going?" She stuttered.

He didn't reply, only walked to the door.

"Steve!" She cried out in pain "We can talk about this, please!"

He stood in the door frame and exhaled loudly, then turned to face her "I've got a mission. Can't deal with this right now." With that, he walked out the door and left Natasha hunching over the sofa, her eyes glued to the table.

The papers, left spreader over it and two Shawarmas going cold.

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"Nat"

"Nat"

"Tasha, wake up"

Natasha's eyes fluttered open and she was met with a worried Clint. "Hey, what time is it?"

He straightened his back "Nine thirty"

"What??" She looked around, finding herself laying on the couch and nothing but darkness out the window. "I slept all afternoon?" She ran a hand over her face.

"Yeah." He answered and then looked around "Um, Tasha." Natasha looked up at him "Where did Steve go?".

She sighed and bit her lip, remembering their fight and Steve's words. "He said he had a mission."

"Yeah, about that!"

Her head snapped to face him "What about that??"

"Listen, Fury's here and his real angry."

"Why would he be angry?" She was confused

"He says he didn't send them on a mission and they're acting against orders."

"They?"

"Yeah. Steve and Maria." He seemed just as lost as Natasha "The two of them just took a quinjet and left"

Natasha jumped to her feet, feeling her head go light and lost balance, falling back on the couch.

"Woah!" Clint reached an arm to grab her waist, helping her to stand up "You doing fine?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just..." she sighed "Rough day"

"I'm pretty sure Tony poisoned all of us with his shawarma" He mumbled.

He helped her out the apartment to the elevator and down to the living room to find an angry Fury standing in front of the team.

"Romanoff!" He snapped "Where have you been?"

"Somewhere I already wish I'd stayed" she retorted, getting an eye roll from Fury who was clearly in no mood for her snarky comebacks.

"I called for all of you because there's an urgent mission in Russia"

"Russia?" Natasha asked, starting to realize what was going on.

"Yes." Fury answered, then turned to rest of the team "There are three possible locations for a new upcoming black widow program."

At his words, they all turned to Natasha who seemed to be feeling sick.

"I need you to go and check all three locations; but unfortunately, Captain Rogers and agent Hill have already left for Russia. I have eyes on them for now and their only studying the locations, gathering intel on them. But I need all of you there by tomorrow, before noon. So you'll be leaving early in the morning."

"Wait, that's it? That's all you're gonna tell us?" Tony asked.

"You will all receive a file on the mission."

"Tasha can't go!" Clint blurted. "If it's about the red room, she can't be engaged. Steve won't allow it"

"He's not the director. I want all hands on deck. It's my order" then he turned to Tony "have that spider boy of yours ready, too"

"Peter?" Tony was filled with shock "Oh no. I'm not bringing the kid into this"

"If you don't, I'll have agents take him to Russia. If you want to be able to keep an eye on him, you'll talk to him yourself" and he walked out the living room to the elevator.

"What the hell is going on? What's red room gotta do with this?" Sam asked after he was gone.

Natasha wanted to explain but before she could, she felt her stomach flip and ran to the toilet, heaving heavily. She heard the team talking, Clint telling Tony it was all him and his shawarma before the bathroom door opened and her hair was pulled out of her face. She took a deep breath and rested her head in her hands "I'm fine, Clint" he only hummed in respond. "What is it about the shawarma?" She asked.

"I've been feeling sick ever since lunch, Sam's been feeling weird, too" he spoke softly while helping her stand up. "And now, you"

It was Natasha's turn to hum softly in response. They walked out the bathroom to find the living room empty. "Huh." Clint eyes the room "Where'd everybody go?"

"Probably to go pack or get ready" Natasha mumbled, walking the elevator. "Hey, Clint" she turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"You don't have an apartment here, do you?"

"Nope. I said I was retired. Although Tony said there are bunch of empty ones I can crash in or take for myself."

She nodded "If you want you can stay at mine. I'll be sleeping at Steve's" she sighed, thinking this maybe one of her last nights. She wasn't sure what was going to happen between Steve and her after their mission.

"You're sure you're ok Tasha?" Clint's voice leaked of worry. She bit on her lip "It's just... I don't know what's going on in Steve's mind" Clint walked to her and they stepped in the elevator "I'm sure he's just trying to protect you, he wouldn't have left otherwise." She stayed silent, not knowing how longer she could keep it to herself. They stepped out the elevator, Natasha telling FRIDAY to unlock the door to her apartment for them and went in with him only to pack for the mission. She took her catsuit, weapons, already charged widow bites and a change of clothes.

Afterwards, Clint handed her a cup of tea and sat on the couch, watching Natasha place everything in a duffle bag one by one.

"Did something happen between you and Steve?" He asked, breaking the heavy silent between them. She kept her eyes on the coffee. "It's alright you know? To have fights, I mean. It happens in every relationship. The first one sucks, it's like you just realize how real it all is." Natasha smirked "Yeah, but in my case, the first will be the last" Clint shook his head "Everyone thinks that" she shrugged, not wanting to keep on the conversation and stood up to leave. "I'll be across the hall, if you need anything-" he smiled "I'll make sure to wake you up!" He cuts her with a grin and she mirrors his action "Goodnight"

Natasha walked out her apartment to Steve's and dropped her bag on the ground. She took a deep breath before walking to his bedroom. Something she had avoided to do when he left, resulting to her falling sleep right on the couch, without even changing her clothes.

Despite everything that seemed to have changed, his bedroom was just as usual. His bed neatly made and closet doors closed. Evidence for him having taken his time to pack. Her eyes fell on the nightstand and her vision turned blurry. She took weak steps toward it, sitting in the bed and reached a hand to touch the cold metal of his dog tags. She felt hot tears run down her cheeks and her head was buried in the pillow.

"Agent Romanoff" Natasha shifted in the bed and only hummed in response "Agent Romanoff, the team will be leaving in half an hour" she sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She had no idea when she'd fallen sleep but her eyes were once again glued to the dog tags. She stood up, the dog tags in her fist not knowing if she should wear them or not and walked to the bathroom to take a quick shower and to finally change her clothes. It didn't take her long before she was in the living room, next to her duffel bag.

She leaned down to pick it up, a poor light reflecting from her neck as she did so and was at the doorframe with a few fast steps.

The last thing to catch her eyes were the untouched Shawarmas on the tabled.

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