Berlin, Germany

Spring 2016

Natasha wasn't sure which emotion was stronger just now: anger or terror. And it was growing increasingly difficult to keep both in check. She couldn't imagine how much of a mess she'd be in if it weren't for all her training in keeping herself objective, in keeping her emotions securely in hand.

Then again...if it weren't for her training, she wouldn't be in this position in the first place.

She would've grown up, a normal girl living a normal life...

Moot point, though. She was who she was and she was in this situation now. And her terror and anger were successfully contained so that if they presented outwardly at all, they came across as concern and annoyance only.

No, wallowing in her fears for her sister and Steve and Sam and in her anger at all three of them getting themselves into this mess when they should've known better—and for threatening what they'd all had at the Compound, if she was being honest—wouldn't accomplish anything.

Now, it was going to be up to her and Tony to get them out of this.

God, how had this all gone so wrong?

What made it worse? She couldn't exactly say she didn't understand what had driven them to do what they did...to go after Barnes. She knew when she'd asked Steve to stay out of it, for him and Nadine both to stay out of it—her sister had ignored her plea and her messages to do just that, so Steve had been her last chance to get through—that it had been a fool's hope that they would. And he hadn't been wrong when he'd said between him and Nadine, they had the best chance of bringing Barnes in. Natasha knew that. But to get involved now?

And that wasn't even accounting for the personal reasons that would compel both her friend and her sister to go after Barnes. Not with the history there. Not with Steve's friendship and Nadine's debt and Nina's very existence in the mix.

Still, she had hoped they would both see reason...that they would see rushing in would only make things worse for all of them, including Barnes.

She'd hoped that they wouldn't risk breaking up the Avengers.

She wasn't keen on the Accords either. She saw exactly what her sister did. They had debated and discussed and even argued the Sokovia Accords at length after Secretary Ross had presented them with the reality that the Accords were coming, both with the rest of the Team and between the two of them. She knew there were deeply troubling components and risks built into the variety of sanctions and regulations. But that it was the UN? That had to balance out the risks. It was a quickly drawn-up document. Of course there were going to be problems to start out. She'd known that before she'd even read them. It was a hugely reactionary document. Of course there were going to be issues to fix.

But they were already law. That was what she and Tony seemed to get that the others didn't. There was only so much to be done. There were only so many options. And getting shut out by refusing to sign them? It made a statement, to be sure, one Natasha could respect Steve for deciding to make given the kind of man he was and how strongly she knew he felt. Compromising on things as important as the Accords? It wasn't something he could do. And she could respect that. In some ways, Natasha was jealous that his convictions were strong enough to take that stand.

But that stance wouldn't change anything. In this climate? Given the poor public perceptions Enhanced people and their allies were facing? Steve's stance easily had the potential to make things worse. No, changing things was what working from the inside would do. What compromise would allow them to do. This was what she'd been trained for. To infiltrate, to learn and to influence. The Red Room training hadn't just been about killing, after all. It had been a big component, yes, but there was more to being the kind of master operative she had been moulded into than just fighting and killing.

What they needed to do at this point was to make the Accords work for them. To use them as Steve feared they intended to use him...them. It was the only viable option they had. And the things that needed to be changed could only be changed from the inside.

As she'd said to Steve, they needed to keep one hand on the wheel.

It was what she and Tony both saw. Though he was intent on the Accords as a step to fix the mistakes they'd made as best they could and make sure they didn't make the same mistakes again—and to alleviate his guilt as well, she knew full well—Natasha was far more pragmatic. Arguably more selfish, too, which was saying something. In many ways, Tony's motives, his conscience aside, were more noble than hers. He was fully aware of the cost of the Team's—and his own—mistakes and he was looking to make the responsible choice and make things better—safer—going forward for everyone, not just the Avengers. She just wanted to protect her Team. She wanted to save her Team. Tony did too, of course, but he was also concerned with making amends and improving how they did what they did.

Natasha was more in Steve's camp on that score. Yes, they'd made mistakes, but on the balance, they had done far, far more good than bad. And yes it concerned her that the Avengers wouldn't be wholly independent. Even before S.H.I.E.L.D.'s implosion she'd been leery of authority and the dangers of corruption. True, it wasn't quite so doom and gloom a situation as Steve made it out to be. It wasn't like the committee set up to oversee the Avengers was intended to actually dictate what they did or when they fought; it was just meant to make sure they were circumspect in their calls to action, that they could defend their decisions and to call the Team on their mistakes and make sure appropriate reprimand was given if they overstepped. In theory, what was so wrong with that? The Accords would protect the Team when the inevitable casualties came whenever the Avengers were called onto the field.

Of course, that wasn't what Steve was concerned about. He was concerned about the power the Accords would have being abused. With good reason. Natasha was well aware that it was a possibility. She had been there in DC, after all. She had testified in front of the world about how the dangers Steve was even now fearing about the Accords had nearly become a reality because of HYDRA's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D..

But the Accords were ratified! That was what she felt Steve wasn't seeing. They were law. Whether he signed or not, what he feared could still happen, and how was he intending to stop any collapse if he didn't have the access to the infrastructure?

And now he was on the other side of the law in a definitive way that the Avengers had never quite been. Not to mention he'd taken Nadine and Sam with him.

Natasha bit back a sigh. Steve and Sam would probably come out of this alright, really. A slap on the wrist and their gear confiscated. Though, if she and Tony could get through to Steve? Perhaps...maybe they could both come home.

Because the Team needed to stick together.

Natasha knew Steve had understood why she'd told him about her search for her parents back in London. She knew he did. Just as he knew the significance; the only others she'd told were Nadine and the Bartons—her family.

But really, the whole Team was her family.

He had to know how important it was that they all stay together. Especially now, when the world was one more mistake from turning against them all.

She just hoped Bucharest hadn't been that mistake...

Sam had sighed when she'd said as much to him, urging him to try and convince Steve that signing was the Team's best hope. That it was the only way to change anything about the Accords.

"But how much will signing really change," he'd said softly looking down at her, apology written all over his face. "It won't protect Barnes, and it won't help Nadine. And right now? That's all he cares about; protecting them." Her chest had clenched. And hurt and anger had swelled enough that she'd nearly lost her hold over it. Something Sam had noticed, his hand lifting to lightly squeeze her upper arm. She'd leaned into the contact, appreciating the small attempt at comfort. He knew it was a hard situation for her much as she had been feeling he'd forgotten in the face of his unwavering loyalty to Steve.

"But it will help the Team," she'd said softly, the added aside that it would help her too unspoken; he'd heard it anyway. "And together we can help him—them. But we can't help him or Barnes or Nadine if he goes rogue...if you both go rogue..." Her voice had nearly broken and for a split-second it had looked as though he was about to pull her against him. But he hadn't, knowing full well that she was Agent Romanoff and not just Natasha in that moment. That such familiarity wouldn't help her the way she needed just then.

Later, she could imagine needing it, though.

But now was not later. She had no idea when later would be. She just had to keep her head indefinitely. To keep trying to find a way out of this.

There was still a chance they could all go home...except Nadine...

Why had she gone with to Bucharest? That one simple question infuriated Natasha nearly above all others. Surely Nadine had at least recognized that there was no stopping the hunt once Barnes was on the JCTTF's radar. They couldn't stop it any more than they could stop the Accords. He was the Winter Soldier. He had to be brought in, especially after what he'd done in Vienna.

Not that Natasha had anything against him. Sure he'd nearly killed her a couple times, but it wasn't like it had been personal. He just hadn't had a choice. She was one of the few who understood intimately what it was that had been done to him. But she also understood why the world held him responsible for the things he'd done, programming or not. The world didn't understand programming. They just saw culpability. Really, she was still blown away on some level that she hadn't been held accountable, much less penalized or even incarcerated for the things she'd done in the grips of her own programming years before, sanctioned operative or not. And her programming hadn't been nearly so intensive or mind-altering to the same degree as his, after all. Not by a long shot.

No, by all measure of the word, Barnes was effectively innocent in all this. He wasn't truly responsible for the things he'd done. Not the way she had been. Not the way Nadine was.

But that didn't mean he wasn't going to be held accountable.

There were some cruel, unfair realities that just couldn't be stopped.

And the thought hurt. Not only did she feel for him, she also felt like she owed him on some level. After all, when it came right down to it, he was the reason she still had her sister, and that she had her niece. But at the same time?

It was because of him that there was a good chance her sister was going to be locked up for the rest of her life.

That her niece might never see her mother again.

Oh, God...what was she going to tell Nina...

Natasha nearly choked as her terror and dread once more made a bid to break free. It was strong enough that she nearly allowed herself to wish she'd taken up Sam on his silent, unrealized offer of support and comfort. But after a moment, it was firmly tucked away once more, her emotions back under control...again.

There was nothing Natasha could do right now, so what was the point in allowing herself to fall apart. It's not like doing so would change anything. Her sister was locked away in a room somewhere, waiting to find out her fate. Unlike Steve and Sam, even if she were to agree to sign the Accords...it wouldn't change anything. Not for Nadine. She'd never be given that option. There had been good reason why she hadn't signed in the first place. Unlike Steve, Nadine didn't have the luxury of choice when it came to the Sokovia Accords. Natasha couldn't deny that Nadine's hands had been tied.

For exactly the reason they'd all feared. Nadine had chosen not to sign to try and avoid precisely what had happened to her because she'd gotten involved. Natasha's lips thinned before she could help it, an irritatingly inconvenient, warm burn trying to form behind her eyes.

She inhaled slowly, reinforcing her hold on her emotions one more time. She was calm. She was rational. She was patient. She needed to see how things were going to fall out before she acted.

Precisely what Steve and Nadine should've done.

There was no point reacting until she knew what she would be reacting too.

Out of the corner of her eye she took note of Prince—though, she supposed King was more correct, now—T'Challa still sitting on his own in one of the offices hemming in the main floor of the Command Centre. Even without having heard from Sam what the man had said in the trip to the JCTC, the Wakandan's fixation in Barnes was hard to miss even as it was troubling. But then, Barnes was responsible for his father's death. She'd never had a parent killed in front of her and neither was she Wakandan. On top of the powerful grief she could imagine came with such a situation, she was well aware that different cultures the world over had different ideas of what was required to avenge a loved one. The question now was what kind of justice was actually entailed. Given what she'd read from his words and his bearing back in Vienna and over in that office? She'd thought she'd had a pretty good idea...but now she couldn't be entirely sure. The man was harder to read than she'd realized.

And enlightening as it had been, talking to him again hadn't seen quite the return she'd hoped.

"So, I suppose when you said you'd do it yourself, you meant you'd do it yourself," she had said as she slipped into the room earlier, crossing to hitch a hip up on the arm of the black couch across from T'Challa. A mild, though faintly tense smile had curled his lips. It had nearly come across as patronizing, save that it lacked the dismissive cast.

"You're not used to the truth, are you," he'd asked thoughtfully, eying her back as she studied him. To some extent he was right. But that wasn't it. Not exactly.

Natasha had honestly been speechless when she'd found out that, along with Nadine, Sam, Steve and Barnes, T'Challa had also been picked up in Bucharest. And she hadn't wholly believed it until she saw him striding along the concourse of the JCTC right alongside Agent Ross, Steve and Sam. When he'd said he intended to go after Barnes, she hadn't doubted his conviction. Only a fool would've doubted he'd meant to ensure Barnes saw justice for his father's death.

She just really hadn't expected him to mean he literally intended to go after Barnes himself.

Even talking about his Vibranium suit hadn't been enough to draw him into conversation. All he'd been interested in was Barnes.

"How long do your psychological evaluations usually take?" was all he'd said in response to her carefully conversational comments about his suit.

And, of course, Natasha hadn't realized right away just how serious he was when he'd answered her quip of 'why, you bored?' with talk of catching planes...with Barnes coming along for the ride.

She hadn't realized that, in labelling him as naïve for thinking such a development would be possible, she'd been just as guilty of the charge.

Agent Ross' slow clap and faintly astonished announcement only moments later that T'Challa had been granted extradition for Barnes had made that abundantly clear. As did T'Challa's sly smile as he'd turned back to her when Agent Ross left the room once he'd passed along the news.

"Yes, Ms. Romanoff," T'Challa had said, a nearly indulgent cast to his tone, "I'm sure I have much to learn."

It was then that she'd realized just how good the Wakandan Prince—King was.

And just how grim things suddenly looked for Barnes.

It was also then that she'd realized that the risks inherent in the Accords as they stood now were coming into play far earlier than she'd hoped.

Oh, it was bad news...her gut twisted for Barnes as she watched his psychological assessment play out on the screens before her. Being locked up was one thing; that was the outcome she'd been hoping for with Barnes. Cooperation and treatment could see that mitigated and even reversed with time.

Death was a little more permanent.

But what could she do? There was nothing to do. Not without risking the Accords coming down hard on whoever tried anything. This had to play out. She'd known that. She'd known as soon as Barnes' face had been plastered all over the news. It troubled her. Really, if she was being honest, this whole situation was troubling her. For so many reasons, some of which, she could put her finger on...others...others were more elusive.

But one thing was certain; it was concerning that the Wakandan had been able to play ball with such...success. It had her gut twisting even further in unease. If Wakanda—a noted third-world country—of all nations had been able to get Barnes? The Winter Soldier himself? What happened when someone came forward to try and claim Nadine? She was much easier to just make disappear; she was far less well known.

It was why, even with her resolve to let things play out, she had given into the urge to ask after Nadine. And why she had already started considering and implementing plans...

And plans required knowledge. Hence why she had drawn Sharon aside even as Steve and Tony had argued within the Conference Room the blonde agent had been similarly eying.

"I don't suppose you know where they're keeping The Ghost?" Sharon had turned to Natasha at the question, pausing in her path, her expression closed and considering. Not far away, where he'd been waiting patiently by Natasha for Steve and Tony to wrap up, Sam's expression had grown sharp.

"Why?" Sharon had asked softly. Natasha met her assessing gaze with one of her own, measuring her former colleague.

"She's my sister," she'd finally said simply after a long, tense moment. Sharon's eyes had widened minutely, the only indication that Natasha had caught her off guard. Yet she hadn't relented, continuing to study Natasha intently. But she had finally sighed, and Nat knew she'd gotten through. At least a little bit.

"You know I can't, Natasha," she had said softly, "not even for a friend." And Natasha couldn't even say she had been surprised. Though, she was still disappointed.

"Worth a try," she had shrugged off. Sharon had spared a small, sympathetic smile. Until the smile had turned vaguely curious. Even a touch mischievous. She had nodded subtly then toward Steve.

"So, is there something there? Between him and Ryker?" Natasha had been shocked, to say the least, but she had kept it to herself. Mostly. Sam had snickered from his position nearby.

"Caught that, did you?" he murmured, glancing between Sharon and Natasha. His usual bright gaze had been faintly dimmed by the situation, but it was clear he had still been enjoying himself in that moment. Sharon's lip had quirked.

"Hard not to," she'd answered dryly. And Natasha hadn't been able to help a small, huffing chuckle of her own. "They have it bad, don't they." Natasha had nodded, her own lip quirking just as Sharon's had.

"And they refuse to act on it," Natasha had confirmed. Sharon had nodded, sympathy flashing across her face at the thread of exasperation Natasha had let show. Natasha had nearly laughed. Yeah, Sharon would understand. There had even been a time when she'd even asked Nat for some insight into the Captain to help in her own interest.

Not that anything had come of that, obviously.

And before she could help herself, the words had just started slipping out, her smaller frustration taking over in the face of a larger one. "You remember how... restrained Steve can be when it comes to pursuing a potential relationship, right? Well, Nadine's just as bad, if not worse, especially in this case. She's got herself so convinced that nothing should happen...well, the short story is that even my not inconsiderable...influence is getting anywhere. Her daughter's even in on it and she's still holding out." Sharon had rolled her eyes in commiseration while Sam had chuckled, earning himself a lightly chiding glance.

"So you met your matchmaking match, have you," the blonde agent had teased lightly. "Someone who hasn't fallen to your manipulations?" Natasha had scoffed.

"I play a long game, Carter," she'd countered confidently, though it had faded after a moment, "though the current situation complicates my plans a bit."

The conversation had been cut short, then, as Tony had chosen that moment to let himself out of the conference room. Each sparing Natasha a quick glance, Sharon had herded Sam on and in through the door Tony had passed through to join Steve in the conference room. Tony, meanwhile, had come to stand near Natasha even as, up on the screens, Barnes' evaluation had been getting started.

An evaluation that, while interesting, wasn't exactly the most informative either.

Only for the Command Centre to suddenly plunge into darkness, the screens winking out along with Natasha's distracted musings as the power was abruptly cut off. The flash of the red emergency lights was ominous.

Or maybe that was just her.

At once Natasha was on full alert, every sense, every instinct sharpening even as her body was suddenly humming in anticipation. Even as Agent Ross began snapping out orders and Tony started muttering to his U.I., Natasha's gut told her everything she needed to know.

Something was going down.

And it was going to be bad.

And obviously she wasn't the only one to think so. Looking up from the station she had leaned in to peer at as chaos threatened to grip the Command Centre, she only just caught a flash of movement by the stairwell that had her spinning to the conference room.

Steve and Sam were gone. Her gut clenched. They thought it was something to do with Barnes...of course it was. Internally she berated herself.

What else could it be?

Well, she wasn't about to sit back. If something was going down, she needed to act.

Especially when voices began to confirm over the radios throughout the room that Barnes was on a rampage.

Her blood ran cold even as Agent Ross began crisply snapping out yet more orders. That only meant one thing.

It wasn't Barnes on the loose.

It was the Winter Soldier.

Without hesitation, she was snatching at Tony's elbow and steering him toward the stairwell. It was a hint he took quickly enough, his mouth set in a grim line and his determination clear as he quickly fell into step next to her.

"Please tell me you brought a suit," she muttered, her unease threatening to get the better of her even as her training began to kick in, her mind clearing and the carefully honed operative within her waking up, adrenaline and purpose suddenly surging through her veins.

"Sure did," Tony quipped irritably back, "it's a lovely Tom Ford, three-piece, two-button. I'm an active-duty non-combatant." She grit her teeth against his snappish tone. Yeah, she got that he was unsettled. Now was not the time for that.

They needed to— Her thought was abruptly cut off as Sharon rushed past them, glancing to Natasha for as long as it took to pass along a single instruction: "She's on the third floor, sub-level B."

Natasha didn't even hesitate.

Even as Sharon turned to Tony with a brisk, 'follow me,' Natasha was already on the move.

She needed to find her sister.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

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