Soldier Boy

10

*Nat*

"He walked right in, and started in on me!" This was the first time I've seen her hands move this much, waving around, clapping together.

"Okay, okay." I sit a little forward, a little intrigued of how fired up she was. "Tell me what happened."

"I am telling you what happened." Her shoulders slump, standing in one spot finally.

"No. From the beginning. When I left." I nod.

"Uh.." her hand runs through her hair, falling softly around her face. "Okay. So, he came in, and I asked you to leave. It was the mind thing, and he asked to talk. So, you left, and we threw a couple of knives, talked about this that, ya know." I nod, leaning back in my seat. At the speed she's talking, it's gonna be a while. "Then his whole expression changed. Body language, his face. The whole shabang. So I asked him what was wrong,"

"And that's when everything went south." I finish her sentence for her.

"Yes." She sighs. "Nat," She comes over sitting next to me. "You know I don't like talking about.. ya know," I nod. "And I don't know him. And as much as I feel a slight connection with him, I can't trust a stranger."

"But he's not really a stranger anymore. You guys are both going through a crazy time." Her eyes look away from mine. "But continue."

"He tried talking to me about it, but it hurts. I'm still mad. I'm still so fucking mad at everything, and I'm trying to get over it." Her face hardens.

"Have you tried talking to Tony about it?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

"Hell no." She shakes her head. "When I got back, I wanted to leave as many people out of it as I could. Especially Tony." If she only knew how bad Tony wanted her home. He searched what felt like the whole universe to find her.

"But he would want to know. His your big brother." A soft smile curls my lips just thinking about the two Stark's. They had their moments, both had hot tempers, the inability to let the other be right. But they were each others best friends. They had each others backs, through and through.

"If I did, he would ask questions. And eventually he would have pieced together how I got there in the first place." She was right. Tony would ask questions, and when he got the answers, she would lose complete freedom.

"One day." I smile to her. "Now back to Barnes."

"Right." She let's out a shaky breath, mind going back to this morning. "When he said he saw what happened, I felt invaded. And he was asking about it, and telling me he understood what I was feeling."

"Which is true." Her eyes flick to mine, making me continue. "You should have seen him when he first got to the tower. We all could hear his cries at night, hearing him beg stop. We tried talking to him, Steve most of all, but he shut himself away. He'd always been quiet, but I think it's because we had no way of feeling his pain." Her eyes turned sad, now feeling guilty for him. "Barnes, knows more than anyone what it feels like. To be taken, turned into a monster."

"James.." She whispers. "I feel so bad that he's burdened with this. All of this." Her eyes form a small line of water, not much to spill, but enough to notice. "I don't want to keep hurting people. Especially people who don't deserve it." Her hands are folded in her lap, and she bites the inside of her cheek.

"Ness," I slide my hand into hers, squeezing slightly. "If he's offering help, I would take it."

-

*Steve*

"She got all defensive." Bucky was going crazy on a punching bag, making it knock side to side. "And her temper," He swings his fist, making the bag nearly fly off. "Needs to get in check."