Steve Rogers thought he was one of the lucky ones but Natasha Romanoff, well, she thought that she was terribly misfortunate and she would love to kick fate's ass. In a world where soulmates are real, unequivocal marks etched on skin signifying an i...
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The words rang in Natasha's ears, even as she dreamt deeply.
"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it, it's better this way. We're both out of time."
S.H.I.E.L.D. had tried to kill her and Steve - Captain fucking America. The organization that recruited them to be a part of something she had believed to be great. The people who had saved him from the ice and helped him acclimate to the twenty-first century, those who had seemingly cared but had never really given a single fuck. They were unknowingly aiding in the murder of millions of people, helping HYDRA impose its reign on the world in the utmost sinister way. Not only that, but she felt entirely responsible for dragging him down with her, for leading him through the dangerous path to destruction right into the open arms of HYDRA. He had died to protect the world from the regime, and it was her fault that they were trying to kill him again.
Behind her closed eyelids as she slept, she saw the hundreds of people she had murdered in cold blood, the innocent lives she'd stolen as the devil's mistress - the Red Room's perfect, little assassin. She saw the hospital fire she ignited with a single match. The burning children. The doctors trying to save those they could reach. The terrifying, unforgettable screams. She felt their anguish, the flames licking at her heart as they engulfed her in flashbacks she tried so hard to forget.
Beside her in the driver's seat of the car, Steve was startled awake as Natasha thrashed next to him in the passenger seat, twisting and turning with the flashbacks that haunted her like the demons in her mind did. "Easy, easy!" Steve pleaded, his hands grasping her shoulders as she awoke suddenly. "You're okay. We're safe." He said soothingly, drawing back to cup her face with his large hands and brush her fiery, red hair from her face. He stared into her emerald eyes glistening with something akin to fear, and he watched her slowly regain her composure as she pushed the memories to the back of her mind. She slowly pulled away from him, exhaling shakily through her parted lips.
"Where are we?" She asked quietly, glancing around at their surroundings. There was nothing to see but towering trees and thick thickets that kept the car hidden. It was then she noticed he had draped his jacket across her, making her wonder why he had even saved her life when the bunker collapsed. She surely didn't deserve the kindness and forgiveness he was so willing to give.
He sighed, leaning back into the leather seat and rubbing his eyes that were still heavy with exhaustion. "Somewhere north of Jersey. I just needed to rest for a few minutes." He replied. Although, a couple of minutes had turned into an hour when his body had relinquished to the sleep he so desperately needed. Although he was a super-solider, he was still human.
She looked at him closely, perceiving the wounds on his body, the dark circles under his eyes, and the soot on his clothes. She knew she looked significantly worse than he did, and she wondered how he still managed to look so handsome after all they had been through. "Are we going back to D.C.?" She asked, her heart twisting even more painful as she conjectured that he protected her during the explosion, carried her god knows how long to find a car, and evaded S.H.I.E.L.D. - well, HYDRA - all at the same time. She owed him her life yet she didn't know how she would ever repay him. He deserved everything the world was too cruel to give him.
