Love Grown Cold

We'll Just See

"Remind me why we're doing this again."

"Because, we need to make sure their programming is in place."

"But this makes no sense! They could walk out at anytime."

"Don't worry. In a few weeks, we will bring them back here, claiming that their covers are blown and we need to keep them safe."

"And will they really buy that? They're the best assassins in the world. They are not stupid."

"Doesn't matter if they believe us. We just need to follow through with this and then everything will be in place."

"But not even planting cameras? That's just stupid."

"That would be the first thing they would look for and we need to have them still trusting us."

"Fine, we will do it your way for now. But if, and when, this goes south..."

"It's all on me."
****
Natasha was in her room finishing packing. She was still trying to figure out what the best course of action for approaching the Soldier would be when she heard the phone ringing.

She walked out of her room, frowning. She glanced over and saw the Soldier in a similar situation. Their eyes met and they could see a similar thought in each other's eyes. We have a phone? And who would be calling?

The message machine picked up. "Agent Romanov? I know you're there and listening, but I have a feeling you're not going to pick up. We have a mission for you and the Soldier. Meet at the rendezvous point for more instructions." The message machine clicked off.

Natasha turned to the Soldier, and he shrugged. He obviously wasn't too worried about this being a trap. Of course, attempting to trap the world's foremost assassins at the same time would be extremely foolhardy.

It only took a few minutes to walk to the rendezvous point, where several HYDRA agents were waiting for them.

"Agent Romanov." One of the agents stepped forward. She recognized him as one of the agents from the Red Room.

"Grenesky." Natasha responded coldly. She had never like the way he looked at her. Much like he was doing now. "What's the hit?"

"Factory outside of Minsk." He replied, eyeing her and licking his lips. Almost subconsciously, Natasha noticed that the Soldier moved up beside her, in a manner that seemed almost protective. She bit back a smile and nodded.

"Any specific person?" Both she and the Soldier were assassins by trade. Though they both could work in sabotage, they were more suited to individual hits.

"No, just make sure the place goes over with a big bang." He chuckled at his cleverness and this time Natasha didn't resist from rolling her eyes.

"Weapons?" She asked, wondering if the Soldier ever took that mask off to talk.

Grenesky handed her a small satchel. She peeked inside and saw several grenades, a couple of pistols, her Widow's Bites, a garrote and two knives. Natasha nodded once.

"Transportation?"

"The plane waiting to take you is right out back."

Natasha inclined her head slightly towards him and both she and the Soldier made their way out the back door.

Once inside the plane, the pilot had a few more instructions for them.

"After I drop you off, you'll find a car hidden in the woods close by. That'll be your ticket out of there. Remember, just go in and get out. There's no special formulas or anything we need."

"What kind of factory is it?" Natasha asked, almost smiling as they took off. She loved flying. A quick glance over to the Soldier told her that he most decidedly did not.

"Small arms factory." The pilot shrugged. He had flown Natasha on several missions and was surprisingly comfortable with the assassin. "Though it beats me why they would want that thing. It's not a major factory or anything. Just a small little thing."

Natasha nodded. "Yes, but it's not ours to question why..."

"It's only ours to do or die." They finished together. She smiled. They had both found a common hatred of HYDRA during their time flying together. The only reason Mikel, the pilot, worked for HYDRA was because they had his family somewhere and until he found them, was working for HYDRA in hopes of getting information about them.

The rest of the trip passed quietly, and before she knew it, she and the Soldier were scouting out the base.

Natasha glanced at him. "I'm going to go set the explosives." She whispered. He glanced at her and nodded curtly. Natasha wondered again if he ever took off his mask as she carefully picked her way down the hillside. It only took her a few moments to pull the pins on the grenades, launching them over the fence onto the nearby building. She ran for cover as the buildings exploded, alarms ringing out through the camp.

Natasha ran back to where the Soldier was waiting. As she reached him, he suddenly started firing his sniper rifle. She instinctively ducked, sincerely hoping that he was aiming at her. She glanced behind her and saw a man fall to the ground. She smiled in relief, but continued to the Soldier's hiding spot, knowing there would be more coming.

"Come on!" Natasha called as she ran past him. He pulled himself up and headed after her. They ran for the car, but there was the sound of a gun firing, and Natasha heard a groan from the Soldier.

She turned around and saw him holding his stomach area, where a pool of red was beginning to form. Without thinking, she rushed to him, shooting down the man who had shot the Soldier in the first place.

"Come on." Natasha urged him, slinging one of his arms over her shoulder. "We're almost there." The Soldier glanced at her and allowed her to help him to where the car was hidden. She helped him in and ran to the driver's seat, gunning the engine and taking off before anyone came along and shot out their tires.

"Can you hang on until we get to the hotel?" She asked him, staring worriedly at the red stain on his uniform. He met her gaze and nodded slowly. Natasha noticed a subtle change in his eyes and realized that under the mask, he must be smiling.