Road to War Part II: Yes, Anastasia

Come along now, little darling, come along now with me

One morning, three weeks and twelve safe houses without incident, Natasha boots up her computer to find the command window already open and stating her name. Frowning, she sits down at the kitchen table and responds.

'Natalia?'

'Yes?'

'I found your boyfriend.'

After a moment, the reference hits her and her blood runs cold. 'The Soldier?'

'Yeah. He's here.'

'Where?'

A latitude and longitude are provided, which she immediately copies over into mapping software. 'I just saw him. He slipped into the base behind me when I was bringing in Dezhnyov. I don't think he'll make it out.'

'Why not?'

The pause before Yelena responds is painful, and she begins tracking how long it will take her to go get Steve and then go to where James is. It will take at least fifteen hours. It would be faster to go herself, but she remembers the most recent intel James has exchanged with her. She knows it's a big place. It was possible, she'd conceded, that a single person might be able to slip in and back out again without being noticed. But a rescue mission is out of the question without backup.

'He's good. Always has been, we know that. But I don't think I'll get out of here easily and they don't want me as badly as they want him.'

'Why are you telling me this?'

'For old times' sake.' There is a pause before Yelena continues. 'Plus he could put me out of a job.'

Natasha smiles grimly. 'Yeah, I guess that's a good enough reason.'

'I'll see what I can do, but you'd better hurry if you want to get to him before they do.'

'Thank you.'

'Don't mention it.'

'I never do.'

'If you catch me still there, don't talk to me. It would hurt my reputation.'

'Right back at you, Yelena,' she responds with a grin. Then she calls Steve.

It takes longer than expected, but soon Natasha, Steve, and Sam are on their way to save Barnes. She hasn't heard from him in a few days, and the text messages she has sent since Yelena warned her of his dangerous location have not been answered. Steve is silent, worried, on the flight, though Sam is friendly enough. They chat and she tries not to think about what HYDRA will do to him when they find him. If they find him, she reminds herself. It's possible they won't.

"What's the plan, Steve?" she asks, sitting down next to him while Sam lands the quinjet a few miles from the base. It's well-hidden, but she knows it's there.

He shakes his head, clearly bringing himself back to the present. "How many grenades do we have?"

She smiles grimly. "We can't be too destructive. We don't know where they're keeping him."

"You're sure they've got him?"

"Pretty sure. Do you want me to try contacting Yelena again while you come up with a plan?" she asks gently. He nods, and she does as he requests. To her surprise, her friend answers right away.

'Got out. Saw him, heard alarms, they stopped. Detention cells on third level down.'

"You ready?" Sam wants to know, coming to stand over them in the back.

"Yelena says the alarms stopped, so she's pretty sure they have him. Probably a few stories underground," she reports.

Steve nods. "Alright. This thing has weapons, right?" he asks, slapping the metal infrastructure nearest him. She nods. "Then let's use them to get as close as we can. We're going in guns blazing."