Part of Me

Chapter 15

They sat Natasha on a chair, sweat trickling down her scalp, eyes blank, head shaking. Clint rushed outside the room to get her a cup of water, while Tony was still doing something to the control panel.

"Natasha, Natasha," Steve said, holding her face with his hands, shaking it slightly. But her eyes are still empty and she was muttering things he couldn't catch, "Natasha!" He tried again. She finally got a grip on his voice, making her way back to reality when her eyes stopped wandering and they were fixed at him. Staring at him for seconds before she finally was able to get words to be spoken.

"Stevee..." she said as she looked at him.

"Hey, hey it's me, it's me, it's okay." He said as he still kept a hold on her face, then tucking strands of hair that had fallen out of place which was covering her face.

"Steve," she said once more as she lunged forward to hug him, sobbing once more. She cried thrice that day, even more than she ever did in years. Steve brought his hands to wrap around her, his right arm rubbed on her hair soothingly. Clint returned and brought her a glass of water, Steve took it instead and mouthed Clint that he'll take care of her, Clint was hesitant but Steve gave him an assuring look and after seeing the sight of Natasha is hugging Steve tightly, he left the room.

Steve pushed her slowly backwards so that she was facing him and gave her the glass of water,"here, drink," he said. She grabbed it and started drinking, then she started to ease a little more.

"Let's go back okay?" he said and helped her up, putting his arms around her, supporting her weight as she walked.

When she returned, everyone except Wanda was there in the common room arms folded, a look of concern and confusion across their faces. As soon as she got into the room, everybody stood up.

"You okay, Tasha?" Clint asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

She sat down, Steve beside her and hesitantly replied, "y-yeah I'm fine."

"What happened, Natasha?" Thor asked.

"It's- It's nothing."

"You know, for a spy like you, you're terrible at lying at the moment," Tony said earning a glare from Steve.

"You think this is funny, Stark?" He said strictly, clearly telling Tony that this isn't the time to joke.

"Tell us Natasha, and we'll help you," Sam said.

To be honest, Natasha didn't want to share this to anyone, to Clint, to Steve, to any of them. The pain in her heart was still there, bringing it up again is like putting salt to a fresh wound. She had no choice though, they were her teammates, they deserve to know, besides, she knew they would keep on asking her if she doesn't answer. She breathed a sigh and shut her eyes for a moment before she began speaking.

"The-They found the shooter from the warehouse and brought him in. He's the Winter Soldier, or you guys might know him at James Buchanan Barnes," everybody turned and looked at Steve, all have same confused looks as his, earlier when he saw him, he knew it was him, but why he is still alive is still a question that have yet need to be answered. Now that he know that she actually knew it was him, but didn't tell him disappoints her. He trusted her,"yes, that James Buchanan Barnes. They wanted me to interrogate him, so I did, and he remembered me."

"Wha-What do you mean remembered you? Remembered you since he nearly killed you?" Bruce asked.

"No, it isn't that," she took another deep breath before continuing, "we started way back, far before this, before Clint and I do. Back in my Red Room days, he trained me. That was all it took before I felt something for him. We were so close, inseparable, we had to hid our relationship from them. He was the only one I had, the only one I cared, the only one I loved," Steve cringed a little in his seat,"one day, they found out. They took him away from me, they tortured us, saying it was a punishment for us because 'love is for children' and we should not love. It was my fault. He wouldn't be tortured if it wasn't for me. Shortly after, I escaped, Clint found me and brought me in. I didn't know about his whereabouts or if he was alive anymore. Now he's here, he said he remembered me, after all these years i finally get to see him. It's just a lot to comprehend all at once, you know, to know that the only person you cared about, is alive and well this whole time, and you had no idea about it."Dot after dot starts to connect, everybody now knows what to happen, the rest of the team listened intently and nodded along.