The Black Swan (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Chapter 18

New York, United States
2016

"No. Not getting involved with this. I'm calling him now"

Tony was walking from one side of the room to the other, trying to understand how the hell did he end up in the middle of this.

He hadn't spoken to Steve in weeks. Not since that day. And even though he was still angry — which Steve probably was too because trying to kill his best friend wasn't something that he expected to be forgiven any time soon – still he thought that the right thing to do was call him. They'd been thinking that this girl was dead for decades, and now that he knew she wasn't, it was only right to let them know.

Besides, he didn't want any more trouble.

He walked towards the computer and opened the files Natasha had brought with her. After Zemo was captured, SHIELD – or what was left of it – had requested to keep every file he'd managed to decrypt. It was classified information. But Tony hacked their system and stole them all before they could even open one. He never dared to watch any of them, trying to prevent himself from the things he could find that maybe he didn't want to see.

Now that Natasha had released every file the Red Room had been saving for the last ninety years, the secrets were all out. And he had a girl sleeping inside a room that was waiting for him to help her discover what the hell they'd done with her all these years.

And the answer was in those files.

He had to watch.

"Call him" he repeated, typing quickly in the computer.

"She has to wake up first" Natasha said, running her hands through her hair. It wasn't that she didn't want to call Steve or Barnes, because she did want to. But she thought it was better if they collected every piece of information first.

"It's not my place keeping this away from him. From them. He already hates me enough"

"He doesn't hate you"

"Yes, he does"

"You tried to kill his friend"

"He killed my parents. That was only fair. But I'll let it slide. Now call him"

"I can't"

"Why can't you?" He finally looked up at her, leaving the computer behind and focusing on her crystallized eyes that were refused to look back at him. She was hiding something from him. He might not know her, but he most certainly knew what guilt felt like. How it looked like. And it looked exactly like that. "What is wrong? What are you afraid of?"

"I don't..." she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "I don't want him to hate me"

"Why would he hate you? You just saved the life of his best friend. He will be forever grat..."

"I knew she was alive, don't you get it?"

Natasha looked up at him, taking a deep breath after saying out loud what she'd been afraid of telling anyone since she met the Avengers. Since she became one.

"I knew it... Or at least until a few years ago."

Tony started wondering how long could a human person remain without blinking. Because he sure hadn't blinked once since she said those last words. Natasha wasn't waiting for him to say anything though, he could tell. She wouldn't even look him in the eye. But she couldn't expect him to stay silent and pretend she said nothing after hearing something like that. He was just trying to process the information because he hadn't even thought about the possibility until then; but it was possible. Not just possible... it was true.