The Russian and the American (Bucky 1940's)

Chapter 32

"Where is she going?" Asks Steve.

"I don't know. She said she needs to reset?" He says in a confused voice.

Clint then comes into the room and looks down to his little girl in his arms and kisses her on the head before setting her down. He lets out a sigh and the men just look at each other with pity.

"She'll probably be fine," Clint says. "If you and Steve wanna go split some wood or something that could be good. Ya know, since I'm letting you stay at my house and all."

So, as the two men split wood and Natasha waits for a shower as Bruce is finishing up, Elizabeth is stumbling her way towards the jet. Her feet lag as she grips tight onto the sides of her head. She grunts through the pain, trying to push all the images and voices away.

She then drops to the ground. She props herself up on her knees as she lets out a yelp. Then, a thought being her own pops into her head. Without another thought, she's quick to acting. She pulls out her knife and jabs it into the side of her head. She forces it in further, then twisting it. She then drops dead on the forest floor with blood spewing out of the side of her head. Her eyes wide open as her head is turned to the side. She lays on her stomach with her hands out in front of her and her legs straight.

Her body lays there, waiting to be found.

Come early evening, the team is starting to get worried. With Fury now being here with the team they all decided to set out and try to find the assassin.

As Steve and Natasha are searching together, they are making their way to the jet.

"How you holding up?" He asks Natasha.

"Fine," she answers. "How about you?"

"One thing they don't tell you about the serum, is that flashbacks and dreams become more realistic. More vivid. I know that Elizabeth has double the serum though, I haven't really been there for her. I should've checked in with her more, imagine what she's seen."

"It's not your fault, Steve. We've been so focused on other things, besides, she would never tell us. She's to stubborn. Also, this whole thing wasn't your fault. I'm sure she's ok."

Then, with the water colored sky and the slim bit of light left, they stumble across her limp body covered in leather and her hair and face in blood.

"Liz!" Steve yell, rushing to her side.

He picks her up, her eyes wide open and staring at the sky above. He quickly takes the knife out of her head and brings her body close to his as he sobs and cries.

Natasha bends down to her and Steve who is starting to cry. She places places her finger to her ear and tells the team that they found her. She then places her hand on Steve and lets out a sigh.

"She's ok. She'll be fine," Natasha tells Steve.

"How can you say that? She killed herself. How is any of that fine?" He asks.

"She'll regenerate. We can ask her about it in about thirty minutes when she gets up."

Steven then loosens his grip on her body and lets out a sigh. His shoulders drop and his face is pale. The rest of the team is quick to the scene and behind their teammates.

"What happened?" Asks Clint.

"She killed herself," Natasha says in a weak voice.

She knows that there's no way that Steve could say something in a time like this. He hasn't been with her in times like this. Natasha has though. Growing up, she would do this every so often. She would wake up fine, but her mind would always be hazy. That part scared Natasha growing up, even now it scares her. She only ever did it in desperate times.

"Wh-what do we do with the body?" Bruce asks nervously.

"She'll be fine in about thirty minutes or so," Natasha says, looking towards Clint.

The first time Natasha had seen the death of her mentor, she had called Clint. By the time he got there, she had regenerated and woken up.

So the team take her back to the house and by the time they reach the house, her head wound is healed and now it's only a matter of time before she awakes.

They took her up where Natasha and Bruce were sharing a room and lay her down. Steve and Natasha wait by her side until she wakes up.

After about fifteen minutes, she finally wakes up. She slowly sits up, clutching onto the side of her head. The headaches that followed were always bad, but it stopped the voices and urges every time.

Steve immediately hugs her, then pulls away with a sour expression as he grips onto her shoulders.

"What were you thinking?" He scolds. "Why did you kill yourself?"

"Can you quiet it down," Elizabeth says as she shrugs Steve off of her and takes her head into her hands.

"Liz, what were you thinking?" He asks again.

"I know what I'm doing," she says, her voice tired.

"That's not good enough! What about Bucky? We're you even thinking about him?" He snaps.

"Will you just shut the hell up for once in your life time?" She snaps back, her Russian coming through clear as day. "He has been on my mind since day one! He was all I was thinking about! His safety is my number one priority. Him and Natasha have always been first on my mind, never myself! Don't you fucking dare question my thinking. While you are technically you are seventy years old, you have only been breathing for twenty-nine years. Mean while I've been alive and breathing for almost a hundred years."

"I didn't-"

"Let me just stop you there. It's done and over with so drop it. Let's go kill this robot and then we will go from there."

"Ok," sighs Steve.

Natasha just looks at the two. She feels bad for the woman. She was her caretaker from the time she was fifteen until she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. for good. But even then they were close. But she's always known what Bucky meant to her and how Elizabeth has always been the most selfless person she's ever known.

Elizabeth was the only one who gave Clint and Natasha somewhat of a normal life. She stood her neck out for the two time and time again. Even lead to her almost killing Fury over it. Natasha also knew how much she struggled internally, but she would never show it.