Symptom of Your Touch

Symptom of Your Touch.

-

It had only been a matter of time. Natasha knew she couldn’t use the excuse that she was tired, that she was sore, that she needed her own space for the sake of sanity.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” Wanda’s voice comes from behind her in the gym and Nat doesn’t miss a beat as she pulls herself above the chin-up bar.

“I’ve been resting.” She repeats the same line she’d given to Clint that morning. Trying to keep the conversation light wouldn’t be easy, but she would try. Any other one and she would likely not react in any way that she wanted to. She comes to a stop in front of Natasha, who, to her credit keeps her eyes trained on the wall just behind the younger woman.

“You got grazed.”

“I almost died.” She pushes the words out as she pulls herself above the bar again.

“You call this resting?”

“Just a light workout, can’t sit around on my ass doing nothing.”

There’s a quiet moment but Nat doesn’t bite on it.

“Was I out of line?”

Nat stills halfway down to the floor and lets herself fall to the ground, eyes finally meeting Wanda’s for the first time since she entered the room.

“No.” She says. “But you were right, you’re not one of those women I bring home on occasion. You’re not a one-night stand.” She holds those green eyes with her own. “And I’d never ask that of you.”

“What would you ask of me?” There’s hope behind those words that almost kills Nat.

“Nothing.” Her tone drops, and she schools her features.

“I see.” Her brows knit together, and Natasha knows pushing her away isn’t so easy. “Then why avoid me at all then? No training. No hangouts with the rest of the team, and I can count two occasions where you left the room as soon as I entered.”

Perceptive little shit.

“I do have a life beyond these walls.” She shrugs, unintentionally putting some distance between them. “Steve’s got your training under control until I feel better.” She was lying and they both knew it.

“You look fine to me.”

“Still sore.” Nat pulls the towel from her bag, needing a distraction from the pointed look Wanda was giving her, she wraps the towel around her neck.

“Mm.”

Wanda suddenly moves forward, arm outstretched in a way that told Nat she was going for a simple takedown. One that she spins out of, twisting The redhead's arm behind her back with one hand, the other crossing Wanda’s front, holding her in place.

“See, just fine.” She breaths out as she uses her legs to attempt at flipping the older woman over. It doesn’t work however and soon she’s on her back, staring up at Nat with anger in her eyes.

“Just give it up, Maximoff. This isn’t what you want.”

“You don’t know what I want.”

“I know enough,” Nat says before leaving her where she lays on the mat. Not bothering to grab her bag as she makes her way from the room. She could have told her that she wanted something that she'd never get from Natasha, that beyond what she knew of her there was chaos just below the surface. She wasn't ready for that. 

“Coward.” She hears from behind her, but doesn’t turn, doesn’t bite. Her heart pounded against her rib cage and her mind was running faster than she could keep up. This girl was going to drive her insane one way or another.

Later Nat is exiting the showers next to the gym, having ducked in to use them instead of her own after her talk – if that was what you could call it – with Wanda. Clint is walking by at the same moment shaking his head, he spots her and blows out a breath, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

“Don’t know what you said to the little witch, but she’s not happy.”

It was then that she considered just running away for a few days. Put more distance between her and the younger woman – and Clint’s meddling. She arches a brow at him but shows no other signs he can read.

“I’m not responsible for her, or her mood swings.” She deadpans. Clint laughs. She wants to hit him.

“Then maybe you should stop treating her differently.”

“I haven’t even been around her in days.” She counters.

“Exactly. Nat, you’re not stupid. You can’t avoid her, and then tell her there’s no reason for it.” He holds his hands up, shrugging at the same time, smirking.

The towel around Nat’s neck, protecting her shoulders from her wet hair, pulls off as she smacks him with it.

“I hate you sometimes.”

“No, you love me.”

She did. “For some stupid reason.”

“Seriously though.” He starts, shifting away from their playful side placing a hand on her shoulder. “Figure out whatever this is. Our line of work taking happiness where you can find it is pretty much all we can hope for.”

She chokes on a laugh. “Says the happily married man.”

“Mm.” It’s like he realizes he’s the richest man in the world with the smile he flashes her. “I got lucky, didn’t I?”

“You? Yes. Laura?” She shakes her head. “Not so much.”

“Low blow, Romanoff.” Clint says walking away.

“Wait.” She says waiting for him to turn and face her. “How did you know she was pissed; did she say something.”

He shakes his head, only causing his friend to look at him in confusion.

“Tony’s gonna have one helluva clean-up bill for the gym.”

“oh no.”

“Yup.” He nods continuing his way.

She didn’t need to see the damage that had been down to the gym, she’d seen it before. The first week of training for Wanda had been rough, on everyone – but the equipment took the brunt of the damage.

Entering her room Nat throws her towel on the bed then quickly changes into something more comfortable than her gym clothes – ones that she had to put back on after her shower due to leaving her bag behind at the gym when she’d left Wanda there on the floor.

“coward.” She repeats the younger woman’s taunt into the emptiness of her room.

After pulling on a Stark Industries hoodie – damn Tony for having them made from the comfiest material he could find – She moves to her desk. Friday had gotten back to her the morning after the mission, right after Tony had warned her off the younger woman. Like she was going to mess with her mind. All the information Friday had found she’d had printed out -sometimes holding things in her hand made it more tangible.

Clint had been right, by far as she could tell; All identifiable Hydra agents at the base that night were low level. From what their intel told them it was nothing more than a research facility – not even an experiment hidden in the basement type. Perhaps once they realized who was approaching their base they decided that bringing Wanda in was a good plan. Get their hands on her, turn her again.

A thought occurs to her then, Barns. They could brainwash her.

“Steve.” She says catching the man’s attention. “I need to talk to Bucky.”

A look of warning crosses his face from where he stands watching Sam and Vision train in the skies above the compound.

“why?”

She resists the urge to roll her eyes. “We know Hydra wanted Wanda – whether they wanted her dead or captured is unclear.” she did sound crazy now that she was facing someone else with all this.

“You think that they’ll do to her what they did him?” He looks worried, maybe easing her own thought that she was taking all this too seriously. Like she wasn’t too insane for worrying about the way that Hydra had swarmed towards Wanda.

“Not so far a reach, is it?” her face scrunches in question. “They could have just seen her as a threat the other night and converged to take her down though…” She doesn’t get to continue.

“Nat, you went running the second she was in danger.” She gives her that all-knowing Steve Rogers look. “I know you well enough to trust your gut. If you think there’s more to it, then there is.”

“Let's just hope it's wrong this time.”

“As far as I know Buck has already told all of what he remembers from his years with them. I’m not sure he’ll be of much help.”

“I need to hear it for myself.”

She looks away, knowing Steve can read her almost as well as clint.

“I’ll see what I can do about a meeting.”

“Thanks.” She smiles tightly before leaving him to watch the other men train.

“Nat?” He calls after her. “Do us all a favor and maybe pretend that you can be in a room with her?” She is about to protest, but he cuts her off. “You’re clearly invested, how about putting it to good use in training?”

“You men are far too meddlesome.” She calls over her shoulder.

“I don’t meddle.”

Sam Lands beside him, watching Natasha walk away. “She looks cranky.”

“Well, she’s too stubborn to let herself be happy.”

Sam arches a brow at him. “Ah, yes because you were so easily convinced that happiness could be had.”

Steve grins. “Maybe I just liked watching you try to win me over.”

“Took long enough.” Sam chides as Vision lands, joining the other two men.

“Am I right to assume Miss Romanoff still has not – what was it clint said?” he thinks for a moment. “Ah yes, hasn’t pulled her head out of her ass?”

Both men laugh out loud. “Very right,” Sam says.

“Just, you know, don’t say that to her face,” Steve adds.

“Oh, please do. The reaction would be one for the ages, and you could at least survive.”

“I don’t believe incurring Miss Romanoff’s anger would end well in any case.”

“Smart man.” Steve grins.

True to his word Steve had set up a meet with Bucky, which is how Natasha finds herself alone on a quinjet flying to Romania. He may not have known exactly where Barnes was located due to Bucky not trusting anyone. The fewer people that knew where he was the fewer people that were in danger of anyone attempting to find him. He did however give Steve a contact number in the months following Washington.

On arrival, she heads to a P.O Box, as instructed by Bucky to Steve. There she finds a card with a time and address scrawled across the back. The man was careful, she’d give him that.

“Agent Romanoff.” Bucky greets as she comes up beside him where he’s leaned against a railing, watching the water down below. Behind them stood a row of small shops.

“Barnes.”

“What brings you across the world?” She could tell he was on edge.

“Not to bring you in, that’s for sure.” She doesn’t look at him, instead focusing on the water as well. “Steve didn’t tell you why I wanted to talk?”

“Kept the call short. But he mentioned you wanted info on Hydra.”

“And you accepted that?” She asks, knowing that probably wasn’t the easiest thing for him to do.

“You helped Steve in Washington, should I not trust you for that?”

She shrugs when he looks to her for an answer. “I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t.”

“What do you need?”

Straight to the point, she thinks before answering him. “When Hydra brought you in, how much do you remember of that?”

“More than I’d like, to be honest. Why do you want to know about that?” The man had been over it more times than he cared to think about since his escape from Hydra.

“I assume you know of Wanda Maximoff?” She scans his face, waiting for the answer before he can actually answer.

Bucky nods after thinking for a moment. “The young woman Hydra experimented on. She ended up helping in Sokovia?”

“One and the same.” A smile pulls at her lips and fades away all in the same moment.

“Did they brain was her?” he asks, hating the thought of what had happened to him happening to someone else.

“No.” She answers simply letting the motion of the waves steal her attention again. “I think they may try though – seemed like they wanted to get their hands on her.”

“She’d make a helluva weapon for them.”

She snaps her eyes to his, she didn’t like how it came out, even though he was right. There was a coldness to the statement that bothered Natasha though; it wasn’t so long ago that this man was the Winter Soldier, a ghost story most other spies had even heard of. That worried her.

“I’m not going to let that happen.”

Bucky stares at her, recognizing the determination there, and nods his understanding. “Lucky girl, to have the Black Widow backing her.”

“The same Black Widow you almost took out back in Odessa.”

To his credit, even though he couldn’t remember that particular mission, he looked ashamed.

“No worries, Bucky, all in the past.” She wasn’t always the best at comfort. “Besides, we both came out the other end mostly intact.”

He laughs gently. “Mostly.”

“Damaged Goods.” She continues. “Pretty sure that should be the team motto at this point.”

“I can tell you what I remember – protocols for their agents, tactics, but I don’t know I’ll have what you’re looking for.” He pauses. “If they want to turn her into an asset, they won’t have to use the serum on her, not with the punch she already packs.”

She doesn’t want to think about what they wanted with her, what they would do if they got her. She sours on the thought, brow creasing.

The winds change around them, a storm whipping up seemingly out of nowhere. Nat looks up wondering if the universe can sense her mood. She watches the clouds darken as they seem to speed above the mountains in the distance.

“We should probably take this conversation inside, supposed to be a bad one.”

She nods, letting him lead the way into one of the buildings behind them – a small café.

She had prepared herself for the answers she’d get. Had spent most of the flight there going over every story she’d heard of the Winter Soldier, went through every file she had on Hydra’s practices. It hadn’t lessened the brutality that this man faced in his life. He’d been through hell.

What she hadn’t been ready for, however, was how much she found herself liking Bucky. Though had she thought about It for more than a second, she should be surprised. When you’re the childhood friend of Steve Rogers, a former howling commando, and turn your back on the only life you’ve known for the past 70 years – there’s got to be a good guy in there.

The storm had passed hours after it started, and the darkened skies were now due to nightfall. She’d been there longer than planned. Tucked away in a café with one of the most lethal men of this century, talking about the horrors of his past, that had eventually turned to the torment of her present. She’d told him of her interactions with Wanda, how she was apprehensive – he’d agreed with her. He was safe to tell, and perhaps easy to talk to. She wasn’t sure which of those two things had spurred her to open up.

“You shouldn’t fly back, not without some rest,” Bucky says still holding onto a coffee cup he’d emptied an hour earlier.

She smiles. “Got a trusty co-pilot, I can rest on the way home. Besides, Tony has this thing planned I need to attend.”

“If you’re sure.” He smiles a boyish smile. “If you weren’t so hung up on Wanda, I’d maybe try a little harder to get you to stay.”

“I’m flattered, Mr. Barnes.” She grins, sidestepping the comment about Wanda. “But you’ve got a friend in me.”

“Don’t have many of those.”

Her eyes soften. “Nothing stopping you.”

“Just the world.”

“We’ll bury Hydra.” She doesn’t use the word promise, but it hangs in the air between them.

“Thank you, Natasha.”

When the quinjet touches down in New York and the door lowers Nat isn’t too surprised to see Steve there waiting, leaning, arms crossed, against the doors entering the compound. She knew he’d be there, despite her telling him not to wait up. Even with the quinjet, she’d been in the air most of the night.

“Thought I told you not to wait up?”

He shakes his head smiling as she starts walking towards him. “Well, you know how I worry. Though I did get some sleep, just got up early enough to see you in.”

“Such a sweetheart.” She teases back.

“How did it go?” He pushes off the pillar, falling in step with her as she makes her way to the doors, heading to the elevator.

“Got some answers and a new friend.”

Steve smiles, but Nat can see the pain behind those baby blues – He missed him.

“He even hit on me.” She adds, attempting to lighten the mood she’d just dropped.

“You are a beautiful woman.”

“I know.” She replies smirking over at her friend.

They enter the elevator, instructing Friday to take them to the living quarters. It hits her just how tired she is, having not slept since before she’d left.

“I’ll bring you up to speed later, right now I need a shower and a nap.” She was hoping the exhaustion would win out against her mind. “Maybe don’t tell anyone I’m back yet if they didn’t notice the incoming jet. Some uninterrupted sleep would be nice.”

“She was asking about you. How come you didn’t tell anyone where you were leaving?”

“Figured no one needed to know. The fewer people that are aware of the fact we know where Bucky is hold up, the better, for everyone involved.”

“Smart.” He nods as the elevator dings their arrival and she steps out.

“Should we be worried if they do come or her?”  He knew the answer the second she turned to face him.

“They won’t get the chance.” She felt like she was repeating herself, but they kept asking her the same question. The answer wouldn’t change.

There was a moment she thought she was going to be able to escape into her room, to shut out the world for a while, but a voice from behind her halts her movement forward.

“Did you have a nice trip?”

“Romania is beautiful.” She says not wanting to turn around.

“Mm, it is.” Wanda agrees and Nat can feel her getting closer behind her.

“Business trip?”

Maybe she was being friendly. “Something like that.”

 One look into her mind and Wanda would know all she needed, but after the vibranium heist with Ultron, the younger witch hadn’t gotten into their heads. Well, there was that one time in training – but Nat hadn’t blamed her for that. Though, for a moment she’d been panicked at the intrusion.

“Always so mysterious.” She hears the smile in Wanda’s voice as she finally turns to face her.

“Part of the package.” She quips.

“I wouldn’t know.” There was that fire, Nat thinks dryly. She could be powerless against it, could be.

“I need to sleep, long flight.”

Coward. Nat thinks bitterly to herself.

“Sweet dreams,” Wanda says quietly before back stepping away from the spy.

-