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( twelve. captain america )

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Just as she had promised, she followed Steve's orders without any protest.

Once she had got inside, she stuck to their plan and waited for him. Luckily, Steve got through without a scratch.

They heard a loud whirring sound coming towards the factory they were trying to get into. The spy spotted a few trucks behind, and the last one— only having a black curtain as a cover— she figured would be easy to get in.

She nudged him. "What?"

"The truck. It leads right to the factory." She said.

He followed her gaze and took the shield from his back. Without uttering a word, he motioned for her to follow. "Okay, I don't know how many are in there but once we do get in just stay close—"

"I know what to do, Cap. I'm not stupid." she interjected, "I got a gun, that should be enough. Come on let's get moving."

He took the lead, and with a good running start, immediately jumped inside the truck. He was about to offer a hand to Natasha when he noticed that she was already inside. Although, somehow and in a mucked up way, her foot clumsily slipped.

Steve on instinct, caught her hand and pulled her in, which made the both of them roll inside. They came face to face with two HYDRA men.

"Fellas," Steve greeted.

The two men hesitated for a moment before suddenly springing into action. They tried to knock the both of them down, only for it to be the other way around. Steve went on for the one on the left, knocking him a few good times around the truck before throwing him outside.

He whipped around to see Natasha standing over a lifeless body and eyed the untouched pistol on her belt. "You killed him?"

"Of course, not. Just knocked him out cold. I didn't even touch my gun. Told you I could take care of myself." she finished with a smirk.

Steve looked impressed and mortified at the same time.

They went to sit down across from each other, waiting to be brought inside.

When they felt the truck stopped to a halt, as well as voices of Hydra men heard outside, Steve got up and crouched down. Holding his shield in front of him, Natasha followed his lead and got behind him.

The curtain soon opened and Steve slammed his shield straight into the man's face. The two jumped out of the truck and ran as fast as they could. When they saw a huge amount of HYDRA men on guard, she pulled him back to the side. "We can't go that way we're outnumbered." She looked around and spotted a few tanks and soldiers as well but in a fewer number.

"Where?"

"Follow me."

And follow her, he did.

"It's easier to go inside with that side of the building, but we need to stay low, there may be a few guards out here but we could be easily seen with these lights."

After she got them inside, they stopped to catch their breath.

Her gaze was looking out on one of the windows. "Okay, so now what?" As soon as she turned back around, she was startled when his face was almost touching hers. Her voice quickly died down in her throat.

Good thing he seemed oblivious to it.

"We need to get to the roof." He instructed. "Just stay—"

"—stay close, I know."

His eyes flashed with concern and a small smile brushed on his lips. "Sorry. I know you're a big girl and all, but hey, you never know right?"

"Whatever you say, Steve."

Slithering between the trucks and across the field, they managed to get unnoticed. He climbed on a tank and helped Natasha up. He continued to do so and upon a few buildings and was about to help her again when she dismissed the idea and climbed effortlessly.

Steve mentally reminded himself that this woman was full of surprises.

Without an exchange of word between the two, they continued running across the rooftops until eventually, finally, getting inside the main level of the factory.

They slid in a small door. It brought them to a corridor and another larger door with a HYDRA guard in front.

Steve knocked on the steel. As soon as the guard opened it and peeked inside, Natasha rammed the door on his head while aiming a good kick at his face. He fell limp to the ground.

"Good lord." He muttered, staring at the unconscious soldier with wide eyes.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Come on."

"It's just pretty cool, I guess. You know for a dame—I mean, an agent like you to be able to do that."

She raised an eyebrow at him while he blushed in return. She smirked. "Glad you find my fighting skills attractive, Captain."

He only turned redder than he was. If that was possible.

They headed out the door and came across an open area, with a large wheel that resembled a gear. Inside were strangle blue-glowing cartridges.

"What is that?" She looked at it with astonishment. "It looks close like the serum they used on you."

Steve took a good look of it, before shoving into his pocket. "We need to find the others quick."

Natasha said nothing else and followed him. Since the place was huge, and neither had any experience of being here before, they somehow got lost at least more than once while trying to find the hostages.

"Do you know where we're going?"

"Do you?"

"Maybe we could ask help from that striking looking fella over there—"

Steve shot her a glare, looking unamused.

She zipped her mouth.

Although it seemed like forever, they finally came to a barren room. There were two HYDRA soldiers, enough guard rails, and strange-looking holes on the floor with metal bars covering them.

She squinted closely and saw that there was somebody down there. It must probably be the soldiers they were trying to find. They were being held in a bird-like contained cage. Sharing a look with Steve, on his cue, he took down the left side guard with a single shot while she took down the other with a shot straight to the head.

The guard that she had shot had landed on top of the bars and attracted the attention of the soldiers below. Steve went to grab the keys while she guarded the doors.

"Who are you supposed to be?" A dark-skinned man asked. He was wearing an army uniform with a garrison cap.

He sounded hesitant to respond, "I'm... Captain America."

"I beg your pardon?"

"We're here to get you guys out."

They were confused. "We?"

She coughed to get their attention. "Sorry, boys."

"And who are you supposed to be?"

"She's a friend. This is Agent Klein." Steve chimed in.

She gave a small nod and grabbed the other guard's keys as well. They started to unlock the doors one by one. When everyone was out, they crowded around the two. A man in a bowler hat with a thick mustache noticed another man who appeared to be a Japanese.

"What are we taking everybody?"

The Japanese man pulled out his dog tags and replied, "I'm from Fresno, Ace."

Natasha didn't have a clue on what they were talking about. She looked at Steve for answers but he seemed to be too distracted to even care what's going on. "Is there anybody else? I'm looking for a Sergeant James Barnes."

Right, Bucky.

She sighed.

"There's an isolation ward in the factory but no one's ever come back from it." One of the soldiers informed him.

"All right." He considered, turning back to give them instruction. "The tree line is northwest, eighty yards past the gate. Get out fast and give 'em hell. We'll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else we find."

As they started to leave, one of the men stopped them. "Wait, you two know what you're doing right?" His gaze was specifically focused on Natasha, probably underestimating the fact on how could a woman possibly be involved in all this.

Steve himself was still questioning that too, but as long as she could fight, he wasn't going to hold that against her. "Yeah, I've knocked out Adolf Hitler over two-hundred times."

"And her?"

"I've run around Brooklyn barefooted, wearing a goddamn skirt, with a gun in hand and still managed to beat the shit out of two HYDRA men." She returned.

The men didn't know if they were to be horrified or turned on by her statement.

Turned on was what won, of course.

They looked to Steve for confirmation. He shrugged. "What she said."

Natasha was still a little hesitant about the idea of rescuing Bucky, though.

She knows it's not the right thing to think, considering how much this man means to Steve, and probably the only reason why they were even here in the first place, but she was having second thoughts on her own.

Who could blame her? After everything this guy had done?

Jesus.

Yet a voice in her mind was still urging her to keep going because if she didn't follow the original timeline, a lot of things were bound to change in the future. Which she could never afford to risk in altering further.

Be it for the better or for the worse.

And besides, she also owed it to Becca. Bringing her brother back alive was the least thing she could do after everything she's done for her.

Steve found a large hallway and motioned for her to follow. It was less industrial and more government-like type, different to the other sections of the facility they've been.

Out of one of these rooms, a short man with a fedora and round-glasses slipping on his nose stepped out. He was holding a briefcase and was wearing a trench coat. He spotted both her and him.

Steve noticed him gulped nervously but did not move.

She, on the other hand, had a very very bad feeling about this guy. So she did what any person would do in this situation

She ran after him.

The short man, out of fear, quickly sped off.

Her legs were burning as she ran fast as she could. She was this close to strangling the guy when somebody grabbed her waist and pulled her back. She struggled but the super soldier was no match for her.

The man was already gone by the time he released his hold on her. She whirled around to glare at him. "What is your problem? I was trying to catch that man!"

"You're trying to catch that man and we're just wasting time!"

"You know you're the one causing your own problems. This place's going to blow up soon and you're just basically throwing—hey!"

She stopped herself midway when he headed towards a room, not paying attention to a word she just said.

There was light coming inside and it shone brightly on their dirt-streaked faces. A barely audible groan was heard across the room. The room was small. Smaller than the other rooms they've been in. There were file cabinets against one wall and a bunch of other stuff scattered on the table.

They heard another groan of pain. She snapped her head towards the sound and saw a man strapped down on a table.

"Sergeant." he muttered, groggily, "Three-two-five-seven..."

Steve ran over to take a closer look and his face filled with relief when he saw the man's face. She felt a weight drop from her shoulders when she figured who it was.

"Bucky?" Steve towered over him, worry all over his face. "Oh my God..."

He began freeing him from his binds, ripping it all in one swift motion.

"Is... is that..."

"It's me. It's Steve."

Though having seconds, a part of her felt pity for him. There could only be one reason why he was isolated from the rest, and judging from the multiple bruises on his face and the position they found him in, she assumed they had tried to get some information out of him.

"Steve..." he repeated, a smile slowly appearing on his face as the thought of his best friend rescuing him came to his mind.

"Come on."

She let her guard down and waited as he helped his friend up to his feet.

"I thought you were dead."

"I thought you were smaller."

Natasha barely managed to stifle her snicker. And it was a wrong move because Bucky followed the sound and his eyes landed on her. His eyebrows were furrowed like he was trying to remember something that was on the tip of his tongue. "Anne?"

Her grin fell, not expecting him to remember her. But she forced a weak smile. "James."

"Wha—why are you... What are you doing here?"

She nodded over in Steve's direction, "He could use the help."

Bucky was clearly surprised. And she was starting to get extremely uncomfortable when she noticed his eyes started to scan all over... her. "You sure look dif—"

He was cut off when Steve cleared his throat. He looked fidgety and just as awkward as she does. "Don't want to step in on your reunion but we have to go. Now."

Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded through the halls of the factory.

Natasha looked at the doorway and glanced back to see Steve looking at the map in front of them. There were little black triangles marking the spots of what she could assume were HYDRA bases.

He let Bucky lean on him for support and headed for the door, ushering her to follow closely. "Come on."

"What happened to you?" Bucky started to ask as they were swiftly walking outside. "Both of you?"

She was certain she hadn't changed much at all so she didn't know how to answer that. Bucky had seen her before she became active in the military, and she was sure that only a noticeable difference happened to her, well, body.

"We joined the army," Steve answered for the both of them.

"Did it hurt?"

"A little." he answered at the same time she said, "Not really."

He raised an eyebrow at the two's opposing answers. "Is it permanent?"

"So far."

As soon as Steve replied, he turned to Natasha for answers. "What? I didn't go through that machine thingy like he did."

They came up towards the bridge of the main room when they heard loud explosions again. The floor shook beneath them. It only made the three of them walk faster to the bridge. Flames erupted beneath and the metal railings rattled furiously.

Steve leaned over the railing but the large blast prevented him from seeing anything else because of the heat.

Natasha was far ahead of the boys. She was looking at the staircase that lead to a second level in the area. She whistled at the boys to follow her up. This time it was narrower and they took a sharp turn at the end.

Then a voice shouted out, "Captain America, how exciting!"

She didn't recognize the voice, only detected a German accent in it, and decided to see for herself.

"I am a great fan of your films."

Even though nobody confirmed it, the look on Steve's face says it all. From Steve's stories, the word around the SSR—this man fit the perfect description.

It was Johann Schmidt.

Steve stared back at him with an intimidating look, walking across the bridge towards him.

"So, Dr. Erskine managed it after all," She slightly flinched at the mention of the doctor's name. "Not exactly an improvement, but still, impressive."

Steve then swung his fist towards the Schmidt's face. He stumbled back a few steps. It looked like all the patience that he had was long used up now. "You've got no idea."

As Schmidt held his left cheek, it looked like some sort of skin moved, and the thought made her shudder lightly. "Haven't I?"

He brought his fist towards the blonde's face. Steve brought up his shield up just as his fist collided with the hard metal and made a dent.

Steve stared at the dent in shock. She quickly grabbed her spare gun and toss it in his direction. "Steve!"

He caught it swiftly in his grasp only for Schmidt to successfully land a punch on him in the jaw this time. He was knocked back and the gun slid from his hands, towards the fiery ground below.

What a waste.

Steve grabbed hold of the bars and kicked Schmidt with great force to send him flying off the other side. She heard a sound. And diverted her attention from to the man earlier from the hallway pulling a lever.

She was right on this guy being bad news.

The bridge started to separate.

"No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!"

Schmidt then reached up to a part of his neck hidden by his jacket. What confused them more, as he started to yank on his skin.

Natasha tried so hard not to gag in disgust.

He continued to do so until a sickening color of bloody-red was shown on his face. He threw the remains of his face down the burning depths of the factory.

Alright, this, is the Red skull.

"He doesn't have one of those, does he?" She heard Bucky asked beside her.

"Not that I know of."

"You are deluded, Captain. Both you and your worthless agent!"

As soon as she heard those words, she felt her blood boil. She raised her gun and was about to pull the trigger only for Bucky to knock it out of her grasp.

"Do that again and the next thing you knew is my fist on your face." she growled.

He gave her a look as well but did not say anything.

"You pretend to be a simple soldier but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind." He and the short man were now walking towards the exit. "Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!"

Steve yelled back, "Then how come you're running?"

The Red skull ignored his question and instead pressed a button that made the elevator doors slid closed.

More explosions erupted beneath them. Steve used his shield to cover them as best as he could, darting his eyes towards the ceiling and saw another set of doors with a red blinking light. It was several floors above them.

A steel bar that could serve as a bridge for them, was hanging from the ceiling and directly towards the doors.

Natasha gulped when she caught onto what he was thinking. "Come on," he ordered.

They started to run up the flight of stairs.

Natasha's muscles were aching already. And the thought of crossing that thin piece of steel wasn't doing any better to help the situation.

She was not one to be afraid of heights of course. She was Natasha Romanoff. The Black Widow. She had gone through the worst of the worst problems a person could possibly encounter in their life. She fought a lot of bad guys that were stronger and much skilled than her.

But looking at this steel bar right now? And the burning depths of the factory below? Jeez. It made her want to throw up.

One wrong slip on that bar and she could be falling to her death. Literally.

Steve observed the steel bar massively shaking due to the explosions. He looked at the other two and they all shared the same expression. This is crazy.

Yet with their only option to get out of here, he quickly made a decision. "Alright let's go. One at a time." Steve then turned his gaze on her, "Anne."

She wanted to go first. Really wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

But she feared the possibility of something going wrong in all this. The steel bar looked like it didn't have the capacity to hold all three of them crossing one after another. And she wasn't risking this by taking the chance to get out alive first.

She needed to make sure both Bucky and Steve lived. "Let James go first."

Both Bucky and Steve looked at her in shock. "What?"

She stepped away for him to get going. "Go."

Bucky protested, "Anne—"

"Please!" She interjected, clenching her fists together. "There's no time!"

Maybe it was the way she pleaded with her words that told them there was no point in arguing through this. Steve looked reluctant to do it, even Bucky, but seeing the desperate look and determined look of hers to let them go first—he (again) grudgingly granted her request.

"Buck." he urged.

Bucky looked at her in worry. "Are you sure about this?"

She nodded. "Just go."

Steve started to help Bucky over the railing. Then he slowly and carefully started to walk across the bar. She felt like a ticking time bomb watching Bucky cross the beam. Things were going pretty well until, at some point, part of the beam couldn't handle the explosions anymore and started to get loose and slid down.

She felt her heart beating faster as she clutched the metal railings tightly.

Bucky stopped for a moment in panic. The more steps he took, the more the beam started to creak. So he decided to make a run for it. He jumped towards the other side with great force and grabbed onto the railing.

Relief flooded their chest when he successfully got over, but they watched in horror as the beam completely fell down and they were staring at nothing more than burning ashes.

No. No. This couldn't be. They were still both on this side.

Steve was still on this side.

"Oh, God." She muttered.

"There's got to be a rope or something!" Bucky yelled to them desperately.

Steve shouted back, "Just go! Get out of here!"

"No, not without you two!"

Natasha felt the flames getting higher and higher as they tried to find a solution for it. There was nothing else. Not even a damn rope. And for some reason, she found it a very untimely time to have a breakdown.

But she did.

The thought of her dying in a different time, the thought of not being able to keep her promise back to her friends. To Clint. To Steve.

Man, she really sucked on keeping promises.

"My favorite color's blue." She randomly blurted out, feeling her eyes water. And it was not just from the smoke and ash. Steve looked over at her in surprise. "For some reason, everyone thinks it's red but it's really blue because it reminds me..."

Of your suit. Of your eyes.

Of you.

"I thought of blue roses being possible with a cross-pollination or something—"

"Hey, hey," Steve interrupted, grabbing her shoulders to make her look straight into his eyes. His face was full of grime and sweat, but it was enough to make calm her down. Enough to make her feel safe. "We're not going to die, today. I'm not going to let it happen, alright? Understood, agent?"

She smiled, teary-eyed, "Yes, Captain."

"Hey!"

Bucky looked extremely pissed off now.

"Now's not the time for you two to be having a moment! Hurry up and get your asses over here!"

Natasha's eyes drifted everywhere, trying to find something... anything that could help them. Then her eyes landed on Steve's shield. Her mind lit up. "I have an idea."

Steve's gaze quickly snapped to hers. "What?"

"It may sound crazy—"

"I'll take crazy. What is it?"

"Use your shield to throw me towards the other side."

He looked confused. "Huh?"

She turned his back away from the railing and positioned his hands in front while he was holding his shield. "Let's just hope your shield is as strong as I thought it would be."

Steve seemed to catch on her drift now. He glanced back at Bucky, then to the fire below, then to his shield, before finally landing on her. "You can't jump over this! It's too far!"

"I know I can't. That's why you need to give me a lift."

"How about me, then?"

"You are going to jump."

He stared at her like she grew another head. "What?"

"I told you it's a crazy idea."

"I can't jump over this!"

"You can. You're a super soldier. A short jump should be no problem for you."

"It is when you're jumping over a pit of flames! I don't even know the extent of my abilities yet!"

Natasha rubbed her temples. "Are we going to do this or not? It's the only chance we have. Either that or we die right here."

Sweat trickled down her forehead as she waited for his response. She was really starting to get worried now. The black smoke and ash were already making it hard to breathe, much less, see.

It was a suicide attempt but it's their best shot.

"Alright."

She sighed in relief then started to back up. She took a deep breath, rubbing her palms on pants before preparing to run.

"You sure about this?" he asked.

"Yeah," A feeling of nostalgia waved past her. "It's gonna be fun."

Then she took off running, lifting herself off the ground to feel the surface of his shield beneath her feet. With all his strength, Steve hoisted her off towards the opposite direction. Natasha felt like she was flying for a moment, and it felt like the longest seconds of her life as her heart pounded furiously.

After what seemed like forever, she had finally come close to the ground and landed beside Bucky with a loud thud. She rolled over. Her back hurt a lot as well as her head.

Bucky quickly knelt down to her side. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" She groaned.

As he helped her up, they waited in anticipation as it was Steve's turn. She had calculated the distance of the gap while she was up on the air, and she knew that Steve would make it. He had not probably known it yet, but a distance like this was a piece of cake for him to jump over.

Steve started to bend the railing aside for better access. He backed up all the way to the end and let out a deep breath. Then he ran. He ran at full speed towards the edge and pushed himself off with great force.

Then an explosion went off at the exact same time. She and Bucky dodged away from the heat. It covered their sight of Steve, and she coughed heavily because of the dust and smoke.

One second pass.

Two. Three.

Still no sign of Steve.

Four. Five.

Did he not make it? Did the fire burn him?

BANG!

A strong pair of hands were grabbing onto the edge of the railing they stood a few feet from. Her heart cried in relief. "Steve..."

They started to help him over.

It seemed like his strength had deteriorated since he was struggling to pull himself up. The dust was hurting their eyes and he was coughing furiously.

With all the strength she and Bucky had left, they managed to pull him over the railing. But he must have let go at some point because Steve went tumbling down and pulled her with him.

She landed right on top of him.

They were both breathing heavily. Him, especially.

"Are you alright?" she asked. They were in a very compromising situation, and staring into those blue eyes of him while their faces were just mere inches away was not helping her pounding heart slow down to a stop. Her mind was telling her to pull back, to turn away, but she just couldn't find the strength to. "Steve?"

It took him a few seconds to answer, still gazing into her green eyes. "Yeah," he breathed. "I'm alright."

Their moment was short lived when she seemed to realize that they needed to get out right now. "Uh, sorry." She got up, dusting her pants, and grabbing her helmet on the floor.

She couldn't look at him. Not when she felt her cheeks heating up again.

Steve was having the same situation, turning beet red, and trying to distract himself by turning his attention to the exits. "Let's get out of here."

While on their way out, Bucky couldn't stop himself from teasing the flustered pair. A wide grin stretched among his dirt-smeared face. "You two..." He laughed, "Are going to be doing a lot of explaining once this is over."

She figured as much.

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