Detective Barnes followed the slim, swift figure around the corner, only to be pushed against the wall by a hand around his throat. "Sergeant Barnes," Natasha greeted.

"I'm not a sergeant anymore, you know that," he informed her. 

"What do you want, Bucky?" Natasha huffed and released his throat.

Bucky raised both hands in surrender. "I want your dad, not you."

Natasha rolled her eyes and took a step back. "I haven't seen him. He doesn't trust me anymore, and even if I did have info on him, I wouldn't give it to you. I'm not interested in getting involved with what my dad is building within your ranks." 

"What does that mean?" 

She pressed him against the wall again, faces inches apart. "Do me a favor. Check Sitwell or Grillo's files. Let me know what you find."

"What if I find nothing?"

The redhead scoffed. "Then I'll turn myself in."

Bucky wasn't going to let Natasha in his head. Except bringing in Natasha Romanov could do a lot for him. He groaned and let himself into Grillo's dark office, logging in and pulling up documents: log reports, crime scene photos. Then he clicked on a folder that wasn't labeled and it popped up a box asking for a password.

Private files weren't allowed on department computers, but then, Grillo knew that. He knew what he had to do, but he didn't want to do it. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed with his head in his hand. It rang against his ear, louder than he thought possible.

"Barnes, lovely to hear from you."

He regretted calling the moment he heard her voice. "Don't sound so smug. I haven't found anything yet."

"Running into some problems?"

"Grillo has locked files on his computer that shouldn't be there," he whispered harshly into the phone.

"Very mysterious," she taunted. "How can I help?"

"You got me into this," he seethed. "If you don't want me to send a swarm of cops to your place, give me the password."

He could practically see Natasha's mind whirring. "You're sure you want to see it?"

"Just give it to me, Romanov." She did. He typed it in and it opened a list of documents labeled only with dates. He double-clicked one open and let his eyes scan it quickly. "Holy shit."

"Yeah," Natasha murmured, sounding genuinely sorry.

It was a report about the recent death of the former ADA's family. Pieces of the report were filled in that the team hadn't figured out yet, that they had no idea were true. Grillo had it all laid out like fact and ready for submission. "Did you know?" he gritted out.

Natasha sighed. "I didn't know any details."

Bucky scrolled and clicked and read. "Half the force is in these documents. Is everyone in your dad's pocket?"

"Nearly," she scoffed. "Be careful. I'm pretty sure they have fail safes-"

The computer went black when he clicked on the first document in the list and it started releasing an annoyingly loud ringing sound. He looked out the window by the door and saw that a good portion of the office had stood and was looking in his direction. "Natasha, what the hell did I do?"

"Tripped an alarm, dumbass. Get out of there." It sounded like Natasha was moving on the other end of the line, and Bucky realized he needed to move, too. Outside the office was a small mob of people- most of them mentioned in the reports- with their hands on their guns.

"I'm not going anywhere," Bucky informed her. "They've got me trapped."

"Find another way," Natasha urged, sounding frustrated.

Bucky looked around. There was a window, but he was on the third floor. "Have you ever jumped from the third floor?"

"Yeah."

"How did it go?"

"Broken leg, three cracked ribs, six months in physical therapy. Why?"

Bucky was startled by a sharp knock on the door. "Who's in there?" He dropped to the floor and crawled to the wall. "You should come out now. Whatever you found, it isn't what you think."

Yeah, right. Like he hadn't heard that one before. "I'm going to jump," he informed Natasha.

"No, you're not. Just stay there. I'm coming."

"I don't have time-" A shot popped off outside the office door, along with shouting he couldn't focus on, and Bucky pulled his gun as he rolled behind the desk. "They're shooting at me!" More shots went off then, obviously firing at something other than him. "Natasha?" He looked down to see that the call had already ended and he tossed the phone on the floor.

As gunfire rang out behind him, he crawled to the window, pushing it open and looking over the edge. It was a long way down, but better than being shot. He swung a leg out of the window. The door burst open behind him and he covered his head with his arms, ready for gunshots, but it was silent. He cautiously lifted an arm and peeked out to find Natasha standing in the flickering light of the destroyed office. "Not so fast, Barnes. Get back in here."

He came back in and looked at the mess behind her. "You killed all those people."

Natasha wiped blood off her blade and said, "We let the ones who weren't working for my dad go first."

Bucky gulped, about to cry. "You saved my life. Men I'd worked with for years were going to kill me."

"I told you, Buck. They weren't good men."

The detective rushed towards her and wrapped her in a grateful hug. He dropped his gun in favor of cupping her face in his hands and pressing their mouths together. "You saved my life," he urged. "Thank you. Thank you."

She let him kiss her for another moment before pulling back and swiping a thumb across his cheek. "You know I could never resist saving your ass," Natasha smirked and pulled him in for another kiss.