Old Faces, New Names
Natasha and Clint were back. They had gone straight to the meeting rooms, apparently, the new S.H.I.E.L.D. already had a lot to discuss. The two spies had collected some intel on Hydra. From what she was able to gather it mostly concerned the location of some bases and some rather unsavory projects they were working on. With Hydra out in the open, they were a lot more willing to make some big moves.
God, S.H.I.EL.D. vs Hydra. With Captain America at the helm no less. It was like an old textbook chapter came to life. He even had Bucky Barnes back. Ren and the other Avengers might as well be the Howling Commandos.
Actually, that nickname was probably better suited to the team down in the conference room. Steve, Sam, Maria, Nat, Clint, and Fury were leading the fight against Hydra. The other Avengers - Tony, Bruce, Ren, and Thor (if he ever showed up again) - were only now being looped in. She didn’t have any hard feelings about it. Technically she wasn’t even a full Avenger. Her official classification was freelance, it had been one of her conditions for joining the team.
With the organization she hated reforming beneath her very feet, Ren was glad she had included that caveat.
The brisque December breeze helped to keep her temper cool. As did the man standing across from her. Barnes was leaning against the outer wall, a good distance away from the edge. Ren, however, was leaning back against the thin rain with her elbows leaning out over the thousand-foot drop. Her shoulders were sore from their shooting session that morning. They had moved it up, to distract the both of them from the meeting.
“It went pretty well, I think,”
“She must’ve been pretty surprised to you,”
Barnes nodded and looked down, “She was,”
“Was she… lucid?” She asked.
“For a bit,” He told her, his voice was neutral but the sadness was clear on his face, “She seemed happy when she recognized us, happy that… I was alive. But after that, she seemed to, lose her grip. There was something she said…” He trailed off.
“What was it?” She asked after a moment.
He looked more upset than he had a second ago, “She thought I was there to kill her. The thing was, she wasn’t just scared of me… She said she was sorry,”
Ren crossed her arms and stepped closer, “Sorry for what?”
“I don’t know. Steve had to calm her down, and we didn’t stay long after that,”
She gave him a sympathetic look, but she had no idea what to say. Bucky continued talking, “It did make me think. I know that it’s not the same, but,” He paused again and swallowed, locking eyes with her, “I want to remember. Everything,”
“Barnes, that’s great,”
He gave her a small, rare, smile, “I don’t know if it is. But the things Dr. Banner told me about the other day sound promising, and his friend, Dr. Cho, is supposed to be coming to the tower soon,”
“Bruce mentioned that. She’s going to be borrowing some of Tony's resources, and they’re planning some kind of joint venture,”
“Nice to know Stark still has an agenda,”
“Oh go easy on him,” She scolded as they walked back into the common room, “After the invasion, he’s been doing everything he can to make people feel safer. Working with Dr. Cho is just another way to do that, and the resources he’s giving her are to help you too,”
Barnes dipped his head in acknowledgment, “Well if he’s anything like his dad, I’m sure they’ll come up with something amazing,”
She chuckled, it was strange to realize that Barned had known Howard Stark. That they'd been friends. As the conversation lulled she brought up another topic.
"Have you heard about that guy, The Mandarin?"
He furrowed his brow, "What like the fruit?"
"No, the terrorist," Barnes whistled, "Apparently Rhodey - Tony's friend - got a fancy new rebrand because of him,"
"How does a rebrand stop a terrorist?"
Ren shrugged, "No clue, supposedly it's to help people feel safer. Like a paint job and a new name makes everything better,"
"People these days," He shook his head, "They make no sense,"
…
They’d been about to make lunch when the elevator doors opened. Lucky for her, Fury was gone, but sadly, so was Maria. Sam and Steve were the first ones out. They were already on their way over, Sam was opening his mouth to say something, when Ren heard something shatter on the ground. Whirling around she found shards of Barnes’ mug scattered around his feet. His whole body was tense but his face was the worst. It was a mix between shock and relief, horror and hope. She followed his gaze to Nat. Her expression wasn’t any better. Barnes’ voice was hardly audible.
“Natalia,”
There was more horror than hope on Natasha’s face and something like guilt. At least, that was what she could make out over the neutral expression Nat was attempting to shove over the real one.
Steve was the first to speak. His pose was authoritative with his hands on his belt, but his voice sounded resigned, “You two know each other,”
It wasn’t a question.
“Knew, each other,” Natasha replied.
“And you didn’t think that would be useful to know?”
Ren and Sam exchanged a glance, neither of them wanted to be in the middle of this. Natasha and Steve were stuck in a staring match. He was wearing his ‘captain’ face, and she was wearing her ‘you’re not in charge on me’ face. The tension was palpable.
“You’re dead,”
His voice was weak, and Ren wished there was something she could do. But this obviously didn’t involve her. She took a gamble and set her hand on his shoulder anyway. He didn’t even look at her.
“They said you were dead,”
Steve only looked more concerned, “How exactly do you two know each other,”
Nat clenched her jaw, “We trained together. He trained me… in the Red Room,”
“The Red Room?” Sam interrupted, “I thought you were Hydra,”
Barnes looked like he was going to vomit, “I was. They were working together, and they had us, work together,”
“So you guys were partners?” Steve asked.
“Something like that,” Nat had successfully wiped any emotion off her face.
“Was that all it was?” Barnes asked.
What the hell does that mean? Ren thought. She didn’t have a chance to find out. Whatever had happened between them, Natasha wanted to keep private. She and Barnes left to take and the rest of the team was left in shock.
“Well,” Sam started.
“That was…”
“Unexpected?” He supplied.
"I was gonna say awkward," She finished.