Natalia was now on her own in this mission. James wouldn't help her, hell, he didn't even remember her. All she could do now would be to continue by herself. She made up her mind to go to Russia and find her old base before returning to New York to complete her mission. She was thinking that someone in the Red Room would contact her when it was all over. Being completely without intel on a mission was not new to her, but the fact that she had years of memory wiped made her confused. She needed some more information. If the base was indeed destroyed, maybe they put her name on the file as a red flag to investigate. Maybe they had left behind some information for her.

Could this be her final mission? She remembered Ivan talking about a successor after he leaves, is she going to be this successor if she completes this mission? She became giddy at the thought and started to formulate plans in her mind. She gathered supplies from around the town and used them to make traps around her room so that she could sleep without anyone catching her. James didn't seem too friendly towards her at the moment and she wouldn't put it past him to attack when her defenses were down.

Her dreams were plagued with nightmares. It was freezing cold, and her hands felt like ice. It was so white that she couldn't see anything. The wind was howling through the trees and she heard distant voices behind her, she was running from them. All she felt throughout her sleep was the bitter cold. She woke up physically freezing and even a shower couldn't warm her heart. She felt more rested, but her mind was even darker.

She fell back onto her bed after she changed and tried to work up the energy to get up and leave. She needed to make it to Russia soon, before the blizzards set in and made it even harder to navigate. A little later, Natalia disassembled the traps around her room and then left for the plane she came in on. She saw no more of James; he had probably moved on to the next town since his cover was blown.

XXXXXX

Back at the Avengers Tower, hours after Natalia had left, Loki apparated out of there and away from the team. He purposely waited so that he could give Natalia time to get away before the team figured anything out and went after her. She would have a few hours lead on them.

"What the hell Tony! I thought you had this lab locked down? How did he leave?" Clint was furious, as were the rest of the group.

Tony was looking flabbergasted. "I don't know! Something must have happened to the defenses!"

"Or maybe it was her..." Darcy said darkly.

"How could it be her?" Tony walked over to the computer and saw that they were the only souls in the building. "There's no way she could have gotten in, or out of here..." he trailed off as he looked at the air vent. "Shit."

Clint rushed a chair over and sat it underneath the vent. He popped open the screen and cursed to himself when he saw blood. He grabbed on to the sides and hoisted himself up into the vent to have a look around. He followed the trail and noticed that part of the wall was down where Natalia had disabled the wall with some hacking technology. He should have known that Natasha had it stashed up here for when they spied and played pranks on Tony. His hand landed on something small and metal when he went to turn back. He picked it up to discover it was a bullet. He found two more and held them in his hand as he made his way back to the team. Tony moved as Clint dropped from the vent.

"Damn it," was all Tony said as Clint showed him the bullets.

"She was here, but why didn't she do anything?" Darcy was concerned but not afraid.

Steve chipped in with "maybe she didn't want to try and take us all on while she was injured."

"My brother most likely sensed this and left as soon as he could. He is probably with her now. Not to worry though my friends, I do not think he wishes to harm her." Thor didn't seem too worried, but he was secretly hoping that this was the case.

"Well what do we do now?" Jane asked.

"We go after them and bring her back. I think the crystal in the band on her wrist is actually doing her harm. It was a long shot, but we need a new plan." Tony was the one being level headed here. He was responsible for all of this and felt that he had to fix it.

Clint rolled his eyes. "We don't even know where she went."

*sighhh* "I told you guys, she is going to Kazakhstan to find James." Darcy was annoyed with them. "The only thing is, I think she isn't planning on staying long. I think she wants to go back to where the Red Room was for answers. Our next step should be Russia."

"There is no 'our' Darcy," Jane said. "You are injured and you aren't going anywhere."

"She needs me! I saw Natasha in there. I know we can reach her. I think she has at least a little trust in me, I should be the one to talk to her to get her back here."

"Jane is right, Darcy. You need to stay here with her. It's too dangerous out there and if Bucky is involved, it could get a lot worse." Darcy glared at Steve and didn't agree with what he said. She said no more and accepted defeat.

Tony took charge again. "We should leave in a few hours. Grab what you want, rest, and meet on the roof in three hours. We head to Russia. Ohhh, and dress warm." He canceled the lockdown and everyone left for their rooms to pack. Jane helped Darcy to hers, and then went to see Thor off.

XXXXXX

Loki knew where Natalia was going. As soon as he felt it was safe, he left the tower and appeared in Kazakhstan. It would be a while before Natalia got here, but he wanted to make sure she made it safely. A while later, Loki sensed her and appeared a little ways from her. She was sitting on a bench, looking for someone. He guessed she was waiting to see James. Watching a man fall onto her from the crowd, he saw a note slipped into her jacket pocket. He guessed James had spotted her first, and made contact. Following her to a hotel room, he waited, outside of the room. She was in the shower and he didn't want to startle her. As soon as she was out though, he apparated in the room and the floor creaked under his sudden weight. There was a pause in sound from the bathroom, and he guessed that she had heard him. He then sat on the edge of the bed, but then thought better of it since she often turned violent when guests surprised her. He turned invisible and then she walked out of the bathroom with a dagger drawn. He had made the right choice.

"Malenkaya," he whispered behind her. He expected the dagger to fly towards him but he became visible, and barely had time to catch her in his arms before she collapsed in a fit of tears. She really was broken. He would have to tell her, and soon, before the crystal damaged her mind to much.

He talked with her for a little while before she forced him to leave. This saddened him, he only wanted to help, but her mind was too angry right now for him to tell her the truth. He noticed the crystal in the metal band flicker bright blue for only a moment, and this convinced him to wait. It was still too powerful in her system and was guiding her emotions to an anger he hadn't seen since he saw her all those years ago. Maybe he had made a mistake of bringing up the topic of the stolen memory the other week. He only wanted to see if his spell had held over the years.

XXXXXX

Loki focused on Tony, and apparated back to the team. Instead of landing in the tower, he found himself on a jet instead.

Clint jumped up, angry at him for leaving without a word. He grabbed onto Loki's collar and pushed him into the wall, gun drawn. "Where the hell did you go?"

Thor pulled Clint off of his brother and glared at him. "I went to find Natalia. She is okay by the way."

This grabbed Clint's attention; he was sure the god had run off. "Where was she?"

"Exactly where Darcy said she would be. I am to meet her tomorrow for an explanation."

"Explanation of what?" Steve asked.

"Of why I took her memory, and what that memory was. I'm going to give it back to her."

It was Tony's turn to get angry. "Why the hell would you do that now?"

Her crystal sparked. I saw it, it has a hold on her mind. Since we can't just pull it off, I'm hoping that the memory will bring her back."

"Why do you think this stupid memory will bring her back?" Clint asked.

"I felt Darcy's mind. I saw what she saw when she stabbed Natalia with that broken bottle. In a split second, I saw Natasha in there. Like Darcy saw, I think that the pain of the memory will bring her back, for good."

"But how will it affect Natasha?" Tony asked.

Loki only looked away. The team though all agreed that this is what she would have wanted. To hurt her friends would be devastating to her, but they had to act before Natalia killed them. The team settled in for the rest of the ride in silence, the atmosphere dark. When they finally landed, they made camp for the night in the heated jet.

When Natalia made it to her destination, it was midday already. She flew throughout the night and landed in a large field a few miles from where the base should be. It had started to snow harder as she got some rest in her jet. Only when she felt refreshed did she leave for the long walk. What she didn't know was that she had been followed. The sound of the snow storm muffled the footsteps of her follower.

The Avengers stayed in the plane too late, and got caught up in the snow storm. They would have to stay in the plane until Loki told them where Natalia was. This land was unfamiliar to them and they didn't want to be walking into danger. As soon as Loki felt Natalia land, he told the team she was here and then he left to find her.

Not too long after Loki left, the door to the jet was forced open. Clint drew his gun and Thor took up a position beside him. Steve stepped in front of Tony since his iron man suit wasn't on and he had a shield. To their surprise, Bucky Barnes stepped through the door with his arms raised in surrender. He looked like a mess.

XXXXXXXX

Natalia had only been walking for a few minutes when she sensed someone behind her. The wind was making a weird sound. It reminded her of snow whipping past the flag pole in her old compound. It was the sound of frozen ice on metal and she instantly knew who it was. She ducked when the sound grew louder. A metal arm swung over her head and she grabbed it and twisted until her attacker was on the ground. The angry face of James stared up at her before he grabbed her arm with his other hand and threw her off.

Not giving her a chance to recover, The Winter Soldier lunged for The Black Widow. She easily rolled out of his way but he expected that, and angled to where she would stop. Like in the training sessions in Red Room, she knew he would have expected her to do that so she pulled a dagger out of her boot and held it ready for him. It grazed his cheek as he danced away from it, and red dripped onto the snow. The sudden color in the white world distracted her and James landed a punch at her face and kicked her in the gut. It winded her, but she shot the knife forward again, and missed. He anticipated her attack but as the knife missed him, she kicked him in the face.

The two went at it for a few more minutes, neither of them gaining any headway. They both knew neither of them would win. It was only when James saw Loki appear that he backed off. He had heard about the man with intense green eyes and raven black hair. He knew he was a god and James doubted he could beat him. Bruised and bloodied, the attack stopped and the two separated.

Natalia smiled at his retreat. "Stay away from Steve and his team, I remember you now, and you were ruthless in killing," he said as he backed into the frozen forest. He disappeared into the white and left Natalia alone with Loki. She faced the god and raised her cut eyebrow at him. "Now what," she asked.

"Come on, I know a place we can talk," he said. Loki led the way and Natalia followed. She would finally be getting some answers.

XXXXXX

"Move and I'll shoot," Clint called out to Bucky. He had arrived at the plane shortly after his encounter with Natalia. He left to Russia before her, and when he landed his own jet, his radar picked up that the Avengers jet was already here. He thought that she must be going after them here in Russia, so he flew over to try and help them.

"I am not here to harm you, but to help."

Steve stepped out from behind Clint and Thor but kept his distance. "Bucky..."

"I'm not here to make friends," Bucky said as he stopped Steve from continuing.

Clint asked. "Then why are you here." He kept his gun drawn.

"Natalia, my old comrade came to me and said that she was going to take you all out. Steve saved my life last year, and I'm here to repay him. After this, I owe you all nothing, and I will leave."

Steve pushed Clint's gun down and turned to the team. "I believe him. Let him stay for now."

"So what are you all planning," the Winter Soldier asked.

XXXXXX

After an hour of walking through the frozen snow, Loki led them to a cave.

"I know this place," Natalia said. "The compound isn't too far from here. We should move before the blizzard really hits."

"Not yet, I need to show you. You do not need to go back to that place."

"Let's just do this later, we will be trapped in here if we don't leave now." Natalia had grown impatient.

"I know," Loki responded. "You need to deal with this here."

This caught Natalia's attention. She glanced around the cave that they used to meet in, and started to feel that sadness again. It completely replaced her anger and took over. She looked at Loki, and he placed his hands on both sides of her head. A green flash exploded from his hands and it all rushed back to her.

"No..." she cried out at the memory, but she succumbed to it.