They leap into the air together and the Winter Soldier grips Natalia’s hand tightly as the wind catches them and throws them to the ground. He has to let go as soon as he hits the dirt and instinct reminds him to tuck his head and then he’s rolling along the ground, bumping painfully. Every time his ankle hits the ground, he wants to scream in pain.

When they finally slow to a stop at the bottom of a trench, he lays back and groans. The train rattles along behind them, speeding away, and he can’t hear anything above the roar. He can see Natalia a few yards away, pulling herself up and rubbing her backside. Once the train passes completely, she stumbles over to him. He’s gripping his ankle and wincing and he looks up at her.

“Those people,” she says.

“They’re called Hydra,” the Winter Soldier replies through clenched teeth.

“They seem lovely,” she replies sarcastically, then bends to her knees to sit with him. His hands are wrapped around his ankle and she places hers on top of his and looks at him. “Let me see,” she instructs and he cautiously pulls his hands away from his ankle.

He drops back onto his back and stares at the sky while she pulls off his boot and rolls up his pant leg. He balls his hands into fists to try and ignore the pain.

“Does this hurt?” She asks and turns his foot and he winces.

“It all hurts,” he says and she lets out a short breath.

“It might be broken,” she says. “Come on, let’s find you a hospital.” He looks over at her, afraid.

“They’ll find me,” he breathes.

“I won’t let them take you,” she replies and she’s scooting herself up to his face. “I promise. We’ll just get you patched up and we’ll find another way to get to America.”

He lets her slip her arm underneath him and help haul him up. When he stands, she’s there for him to lean against.

“Do you even know where we are?” He asks and she frowns.

“Don’t worry about it,” she says.

“Those agents in there,” he continues. “What did you do to them?”

“They’ll wake up in a few hours,” she replies. “Pressure points.”

“Was that part of your KGB training?” He asks and she glares up at him.

“You sure are chatty all of a sudden,” she says sharply and he falls silent.

He lets her lead him, limping, along the train tracks. He knows that this way, they’ll find a station eventually, but he’s not sure how long it’ll take or who will be waiting there for them. They walk along in silence for a long time and Natalia speaks maybe a half hour into their walk.

“This seems like as good a time as any to work on your Bucky impression,” she says and the Soldier looks at her incredulously.

“Are you kidding?” He asks. “My ankle is broken.”

“What would Bucky do?” Natalia challenges and the Winter Soldier rolls his eyes.

“Let me guess,” he says. “He’d valiantly not complain, right? And then he’d probably figure out world peace and save some kittens from trees for fun. All while limping around like a poor, wounded martyr. Am I right?”

Natalia’s fingers around his waist tighten.

“Are you making fun of the dead?” She asks.

“No, I’m just making an observation,” the Soldier says. “When did you say this guy was gonna be sainted again?”

“The sass on you!” Natalia cries and he thinks for a second that she’s genuinely offended, but she laughs. “Alright, I’ll admit,” she says and she’s still smiling. “I might be a little bit biased about him. But he was a good man, he really was.”

The Winter Soldier isn’t sure how to respond at this point. He’s never made her laugh before. When his silence becomes evident, Natalia looks up at him and her smile falls a little.

“What?” She says and he shrugs, frowning. “Oh, come on,” Natalia says and she nudges him just gently enough to let him keep his balance while moving him over a little. “Lets see a smile. Just a little one.” The Soldier looks at the ground. “For me?”

Her smile reminds him of the dream he’d had of her and Bucky. He feels guilty about it. He isn’t supposed to think like that. It’s only a dream, it isn’t real, but he feels as though he’s intruded on a part of her life that he was only supposed to hear about. He thinks he isn’t allowed to be her friend.

He looks over and she’s still staring at him, waiting patiently for him to smile at her and so he musters something of a small smile, one corner of his mouth turning up in just the slightest. It doesn’t reach his eyes. It doesn’t even come close.

“That’s the saddest smile I’ve ever seen,” Natalia says.

“Don’t tell me to smile like Bucky,” he says, because he knows she will.

“Can you?” She asks him. Her smile is gone now, she’s looking at him seriously. “Can you try?” He looks at her.

“He had something happy to smile about,” he tells her. “What am I supposed to smile about?”

Natalia looks down and thinks. When she looks back up, she grins at him.

“I could tickle you,” she threatens playfully and his eyes widen.

“Don’t,” he warns but her smile only spreads further and he watches her eyes flicker from his face to his stomach and back again.

“Are you ticklish?” She asks and he almost smiles a little. The thought of tickling hadn’t crossed his mind in years. No one had ever wanted to make him laugh before.

“Are you?” He threatens back and then her free hand comes out of nowhere to attack his chest and he gasps and draws back, but before he knows it, he’s actually laughing. “No, no!” He fights her as best he can, trying to wriggle away, but she’s got her arms around him and is tickling his sides now and he thinks he might fall, but he can’t remember ever having laughed this hard.

He’s finally grinning, finally laughing, but Natalia looks at him and her smile slips right off her face. He begins to get worried.

“What?” He says.

“It’s your eyes,” she says and looks forward, moving her hands off of him and slipping her arm back around his waist to steady him, like she’s going to walk again. “No matter how much I make you smile, you’ll never have his eyes.”

The Winter Soldier is quiet for a minute and his face falls.

“What is it?” He asks her after a while. “The color? The shape?”

“The light,” she whispers and her voice cracks like saying it had broken her heart and it certainly pierces the Soldier right through and so he swallows and stares at the ground, at his one dragging foot, and tries to forget about smiling.