Winter's Widow

Chapter 1: Company

A/N: Sections in italics are flashback memories. Non-italicized sections are present-day.

I remember the day that Fury first brought me to the Avengers Tower. I was beyond nervous. Sure, I had been trained as a field agent for Shield for years, but that was a completely different than suddenly having powers and becoming an Avenger – or at least a part of the team that supported them. Everyone was training already by the time we arrived. I glanced around the room at the team of superheroes that were all working out. I couldn't possibly compete with this group. Fury rested a hand on my shoulder, gently urging me forward. For the most part, however, those already inside the room ignored my presence. All except her. The redhead made her way over to the doorway from the punching bag she had been beating to a pulp. If a bag could bleed to death, it would have been on its way out of this world. She was dripping in sweat, but smiled at me regardless. "Hi," she said. Her raspy voice caught me by surprise, but her smile was genuine and disarming.

"Hi," I murmured shyly.

"It's nice to see you again.  I'm Natasha Romanoff," she said. She was legendary and needed no introduction. I couldn't help but smile.

"I know who you are," I said, smiling wide. She raised an eyebrow at me, her forest green eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Well then you're already one up on me," she teased. I blushed.

"Sorry, I'm Kasey – Kasey Winter." Fury cleared his throat behind me and Natasha glanced over my shoulder at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Winter is going to be joining the team for a little while. She will be functioning largely as support, but will be available in the field as needed if determined necessary. She's now got some...skills...that may prove useful." Natasha watched him intently as he spoke, then immediately processed the information with a nod.

"Welcome to the team, Winter" she said, offering her hand to shake. I couldn't help it. I extended my own hand, jolting her with a low dose of electricity when our palms connected. Natasha's eyes opened wide in surprise and humor.

"I see what you mean, Fury." I heard Fury chuckle slightly behind me and I glanced over my shoulder to see one of his rare smiles.

"You're in good hands with Romanoff," he spoke to me, nodding before turning to exit the room.

"Come on, Sparky, let me introduce you to the rest of the team." She began walking away, leaving me little choice but to follow.

"Are we still sticking with Sparky, eh?" I asked, finding humor in the instantaneous nickname.

"Looks like," Natasha flung the word over her shoulder as she approached none other than Steve Rogers. I gulped nearly audibly. The man was another legend. "Rogers," she spoke again, and he put the weight bar down as we got closer.

"Hello," his voice was deep but gentle and kind. I was being taken by surprise repeatedly today.

"Captain Rogers, I'm Agent Winter" I introduced myself, not offering my hand this time. Natasha raised her eyebrows.

"Come on now, Sparky – am I the only one that gets the surprise?" She teased. I smirked, offering my hand to Captain Rogers. He shook it and experienced the same sensation. He raised his eyebrows as well, glancing over at Natasha.

"You did that on purpose," he smiled, earning a grin from her in response.

"Didn't want you to feel left out, old man," she teased back. I relaxed slightly watching the exchange between them. Maybe fitting in here wouldn't be as hard as I feared after all.

...

An explosion nearby woke me from a restless sleep. I sat bolt upright in our makeshift living quarters – little more than a quickly built warehouse area in the middle of a field. What do you expect when your main compound gets blown up by a Titan who wanted to keep half of the planet gone? I shook Sam awake – the man could sleep through anything. Bucky was already sitting up on his cot. I noticed his pillows and blankets spread out on the floor, where he had clearly been sleeping. I sighed. I was going to have to talk about that with him. Again.

"What's going on?" Sam asked grumpily, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Explosion," Bucky explained, standing and heading towards the window in the door. "About fifty feet away. I don't see anyone." I glanced around the barracks. We were severely understaffed. "I'm going to take a look," he announced before opening the door and stepping out into the night. I stood, pulling on some leggings, not bothering to try to untangle my messy ponytail. As I headed towards the door, Sam's voice stopped me.

"Let him handle it," he groaned, laying back down on his cot. "It's not like he ever really sleeps anyway." I frowned and threw a pillow at the man. He was more of a bear when woken up unexpectantly than I was, and that was saying something. Suddenly the loud sound of something hitting the side of our building made both of us jump. "What the fuck?" Sam was awake now, climbing to his feet and reaching for his shield.

"Thought he could handle it," I teased. Sam glared at me, but continued walking towards the door anyway. He left, and I was left alone, in silence for a few moments before another loud crash combined with a groan had me rushing out the door. I barely had time to register movement to my right before something crashed into me, knocking me onto my back. Instantly, the figure was upright again, pointing a fist at me as I lay prone on the ground.

"Stay down," the voice, thick with an Eastern European accent came out of the darkness. I squinted my eyes trying to make sense of what I was seeing which, to be fair, wasn't a lot. I struggled to my elbows before sitting up fully. I heard an electrical buzz and something struck me in the chest. I looked down, noticing the familiar shape of a Widow's Bite. I frowned at the device. That wasn't possible. The figure above me gasped slightly. I smirked.

"Those don't work on me," I smiled up at them. Another one fired, finding the dead center of my chest again. I looked down at the two nodes, then raised my eyebrows looking up at the figure again. "You can keep firing them, but they're not going to work." I climbed to my feet slowly, recognizing for the first time how short the figure in front of me was. I frowned. It wasn't possible. The figure backed away from me slightly as I rose to my full height of 5'7". I had a good three inches on them, at least. My eyes had to be playing tricks on me. "Natasha?" I asked softly, squinting into the darkness. Suddenly the external floodlights clicked on and I got a good look at the intruder. My shoulders fell. It wasn't Natasha.

"You knew her." It wasn't a question. Honestly, it sounded more like an accusation. I looked at the blonde woman in front of me, her hair tied back in a familiar looking braid.

"I did."

"She's dead because of you," she shrieked as she charged at me again. I rolled with the impact, allowing her to take me back to the ground. She straddled my hips before a punch landed on the side of my jaw. Then another. Then another. I spit the blood out of my mouth, staring up at the woman on top of me.

"I'm not going to fight you, Yelena." The woman frowned, only momentarily pausing the movement of her fists, but she quickly resumed her punches. I darted my eyes to the right as I heard running footsteps. I raised my hand, holding Bucky off from tackling her.

"Fight back," she insisted, landing another blow directly to my nose. I felt the bone snap and a spurt of blood stained her black top.

"No." I raised my hands, showing her that I held no weapons and that I had no intention of hurting her. That earned me a fierce punch to the right temple, making my ears ring.

"Fucking fight back!" She screamed, pummeling me with both fists.

"Winter!" Sam's voice was fully of worry, but I raised my hand again, holding both of them off.

"I loved her," I murmured, spitting another mouthful of blood onto the grass beside my head. Her cocked fist paused. I watched the internal struggle in her eyes as she tried to will herself to hit me again, but the punch never came. She finally crawled off of me, sitting on the grass near me, panting.

"So did I."