Winter's Widow

Chapter 2: Memorial

"Where are we going?" Natasha asked for the hundredth time, uncomfortable with the blindfold, and disinclined to appreciate surprises. I laughed, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the car and towards the building.

"What would be the fun in telling you now since we're almost there!" I chuckled gleefully, tugging her along by the hand as she followed reluctantly behind me.

"I don't appreciate surprises, Winter." She grumbled, but she could hardly keep the curious smile off of her face. I glanced back at her, red hair looking as though on fire with the light of the sunset behind her. As I approached the building, Tommy smiled and opened the door to admit us. I put a finger to my lips cautiously, reminding him not to speak, and he nodded excitedly, staring at the redhead. I couldn't wait to show her the surprise I had arranged. It was almost too perfect. I steadied her when she almost tripped over a step up in the floor that I forgot to mention and she chuckled.

"Your surprise better be worth it, or I'm going to break your neck." I smirked. Her threats were not the least bit intimidating to me, although I knew from experience that other people found them extremely threatening. This was the Black Widow, after all. Although some people called her cold and aloof, I had broken through that façade rather quickly and without a lot of effort. All it took was showing her kindness, humor and a little bit of extra patience – especially when she'd get grumpy. As we approached the room, I led her into the center.

"Now sit," I instructed. Natasha frowned, her free hand reaching out, trying to find a chair.

"Sit where, genius?" She snarked. She wasn't the only one full of piss and vinegar.

"On your ass, on the floor Romanoff." I was more than willing and capable to give it right back to her. Honestly, I think that was one of the reasons that we got along so well. She was gorgeous, deadly and intimidating to most, but to me she was just Natasha. I saw through that exterior shell that she so often put on display, and while she seemed uncertain of how I managed to pull it off, thankfully she went along with the flow. Most of the time. I released her hand and placed it on her shoulder, adding a little weight as an encouragement to sit like I told her. With a fake, exasperated sigh, she finally crouched, felt the ground with her fingertips and sat on it, criss-cross-apple-sauce like a good little agent following directions. I couldn't just let that one lie. "If I knew you were that good at following directions..." I started. I lost my train of thought when she smacked me playfully in the stomach. Even blindfolded, that woman's aim, sense of direction, and spatial relations were flawless. I crouched down beside her, removing the blindfold and I watched her eyes scan the room.

"Winter, there's nothing here," she grumbled, moving as though she intended to get to her feet.

"Sit. Your. Ass. Back. Down. Romanoff." I ordered. She glanced at me in surprise. I ignored her, nodding to Tommy instead. We heard a few doors open down the hall, followed by the unmistakable sound of barking puppies – a whole hoard of them. Natasha's eyes went wide as the mountain of fur came barreling towards her without hesitation and within a few moments, she was absolutely covered in puppies. There were puppies everywhere. Big ones, small ones, furry ones, all of them. She fell down onto her back with a particularly aggressive pounce from one of the bigger mountain dogs, and all I could hear aside from the yips of excited puppies was her peals of laughter. I caught a glimpse of her when the fur parted momentarily, and I have never seen Natasha Romanoff smile so big or laugh so hard in my entire life. I smiled, standing slowly and moving to the corner of the room, watching her play for the very first time. It gave me chills. Tommy stood beside me in awe as well.

...

"Who the hell is this?" Bucky's voice broke through the silence. Yelena and I sat on the ground, staring at each other. I wiped the blood from my nose and mouth, watching as the former assassin glanced at the ground.