Requested by skippingdeer15, Natasha is kidnapped and tortured until Clint and Steve save her. When she's in the hospital, Steve is the only person who she'll talk to about what happened and he confessed that he loves her.

Steve knew something was wrong the moment he woke up. He was still laying on the couch where he must have fallen asleep last night while waiting for Natasha.

She had gone out to do a short mission and was expected to be back that same night, but she was no where to be found and it was the next morning. 

Frowning, he reached for his phone and dialed Natasha's number. 

It went straight to her voicemail and Steve stood up, pacing around his apartment as he left a message, "Hey Nat. It's me. I'm starting to get a little worried about you. Can you call me back when you get this message?" 

He hung up and called Clint, who had gone on the mission with her.

"Hello?" Clint answered, causing Steve's concern to grow.

"Hey, are you guys on the way back yet? I can't get a hold of Nat," Steve asked.

There was a long pause on the other line, "Cap we got back last night around ten. Natasha left the quinjet before me to go up to your apartment. Are you saying she's not there?" 

Steve felt as though his heart stopped in his chest, "No. I waited up all night for her and she never came in. Are you sure she wasn't going back to her floor?"

"No, but she said she was going back to yours. She was pissed the whole mission about her date with you being interrupted so she wanted to, and I quote, 'Make it up to you'" 

Steve frowned, "Can you meet me at her floor? I've got a bad feeling about this."

"I'll be there in five." 

Steve hung up and grabbed his shield. If something happened to Natasha, he wasn't going to spare a second to figure it out.

He practically sprinted to her room and knocked on the door loudly, praying that she had just decided to go to her room and that she was still sleeping. 

"Natasha???" He called out, knocking again. 

There was no answer and Steve rammed his shield into the lock, breaking the door open. 

"Natasha!" He called again, searching the apartment desperately. 

Clint appeared in the doorway with his gear, "Not here?" 

Steve shook his head, "Where the hell could she be?" 

Clint looked around and quickly walked back into the hallway, obviously seeing something. 

"Cap, get a look at this," Clint said, pointing at something. 

Steve looked where he was and saw Natasha's phone on the ground of the hallway outside his room, along with a small amount of blood. 

He opened it and found his contact information on the screen, "Someone must have taken her. We have to find her Clint. She could be anywhere."

Clint nodded, "Let's get to the quinjet. She ran into an old enemy on our mission. That's our best shot right now."

Steve nodded and followed Clint as they ran to the jet. 

"Where are we heading Clint?"

"Russia. Even if my hunch is wrong, almost all of her enemies are there. First we need to look for Ivan. He was a trainer in the red room." 

Steve nodded, "Alright."

They flew there as quickly as possible and called Tony, asking if he could get a more accurate location for them. Twenty minutes later he was able to track a small gps from her suit and they made it there in record time. 

"What's the plan Cap?"

"Find Natasha and get her out," Steve said, keeping his eyes glued to his shield.

Clint didn't bother arguing. Steve was a man on a mission and he had no intentions of trying to appeal to his logic. 

"Go left once we're inside, I'll go right and if you find her, bring her back to the jet and let me know through the coms," Steve instructed. 

Clint nodded and they split up, going into the small and mostly abandoned base. 

Steve took out every single person he came across, fighting through them with ease as he searched for any sign of Natasha. 

He broke down every door and called out her name, desperate to find her. 

He was starting to lose hope as he neared the end of the final hallway. He had searched every room, every possible nook and cranny where Natasha could be and he had nearly given up until he heard a muffled call from within one of the walls. 

"Natasha??" He yelled, trying to find a spot in the wall that was different. 

Finally, he found a space that seemed to be some kind of secret door and he pried it open as quick as he could. 

Inside the secret area, there was a prison cell that contained Natasha, her body was covered in bruises and blood and her eyes met his as she struggled against her binds, shaking her head and trying to talk through a gag. 

He started to run towards her but was quickly hit over the head with something hard. He stumbled and turned around quickly to find a man standing behind him with a gun aimed at his head. 

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise. The famous Captain America. I'd ask why you're here but I already know," The man said with a thick Russian accent and a sickening grin. 

Steve tightened his grip on his shield, "You know, normally I'd offer to let you go if you let her go but in this case I think I'm going to beat the shit out of you either way."

The man laughed, "Feeling protective Captain? Well, it's a little too late for that. Even if you do kill me, we've already done what we wanted with her. The woman you take home won't be the same as she was before."

Steve took a step toward him, ready to punch the hell out of him but he moved his aim to Natasha and Steve froze. 

"Take another step and I kill her. Shields and strength can only get you so far Captain. Because the facts are, I can pull this trigger a lot quicker then you can throw that shield of yours."

Steve wanted to argue but he couldn't risk Natasha's life. 

"Turn around Captain, I want you to look at her," The man commanded. 

Steve hesitantly did as he said, turning around to face Natasha who was still struggling against the cuffs that held her in place. 

"See all those bruises and cuts?" The man started, "I'm going to explain how I gave her each one of them, and you're going to listen or I kill her in front of you." 

Gritting his teeth, Steve could only lock eyes with Natasha, trying to wordlessly promise that he'd get them both out of there. 

"If only I could show you the way she screamed when we tortured her with images of your death. The infamous Black Widow crumbling down into nothing all because of an American man. It's pathetic really."

Steve tightened his grip and glanced over at the man, noticing that his gun's aim had been turned back to Steve. 

Not wasting a second, he turned and grabbed the gun from his hands, twisting the man's wrist back and breaking it so that he let go of the gun. 

Steve turned it on him, "There's nothing I want to do more then kill you right now. You're a scumbag and a piece of shit who doesn't deserve a place in this Earth, but I'm not going to give you such an easy death. You're going to come back with us and you're going to have to answer to Shield. See how well you can handle interrogation. And when we're done with you. She'll get her chance to kill you. To make you pay for all of this."

Steve shot the man in the leg and used his com to call for Clint, "I found her. There was a guy here, I've disarmed and shot him but I want him taken back to Shield. Can you collect him?" 

"On my way," Clint replied. 

Steve made sure that the man wouldn't try and do anything else before rushing to the cell, breaking the door down and pulling Natasha into his arms. 

He ripped the gag out of her mouth and placed his hands on both side of her face, concern written all over his face, "Oh my god Nat. Are alright? I'm so sorry I couldn't find you sooner." 

Natasha wrapped her arms around his neck and he felt small tears fall onto his shoulder as she nodded, "It's okay Steve, I'll be okay. Please just take me home." 

Steve nodded and pulled off his jacket, putting it on her and zipping it up before lifting her into his arms and holding her close to his chest. 

Clint had already taken the man back to the jet so Steve wasted no time in getting her back as well. 

He didn't leave her side until they were back at Shield.

"How did you find me?" Natasha whispered halfway through the flight.

"We came to Russia on the assumption that the KGB took you and then Tony tracked you through with your suit."

Natasha nodded, her eyes staring blankly at the wall.

"Hey," Steve whispered, gently grabbing her hand, "You alright?" 

Natasha shook her head, "You know I've been through my fair share of punishment and torture, hell, in the red room we went through that twice a week. But this time, it was just so much worse because I knew that if I died, it would actually mean something to someone. Every time they hit me, cut me, or raped me all I could think about was you." 

Steve frowned, his heart aching at the pain she had been through, "How long did they have you?"

Natasha sighed, "No more then 48 hours. I think Ivan knew you'd find me soon though so he made sure there wasn't a moment that went by without doing something to me."

"Is that the man who was in the room with you?" Steve asked. 

Natasha nodded, "He trained me in the red room." 

Steve frowned again, "I wanted to kill him when I saw what he did to you Nat. I hate that you went through that."

"You stopped it. He'd probably have killed me if you didn't."

Steve nodded slightly, still feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt at not realizing sooner that something was wrong.

Natasha noticed and placed her hands on his cheek, "Listen to me Steve, I already told you that this was the worst pain I've already been in, and a few years ago, I'm not sure I'd have made it through that. They used these drugs to make me relive my worst nightmares, most of which showed you dying. Ivan quickly realized that I had broken the number one rule of the red room and fallen in love. He used that to his advantage. But all of that, all the pain, it was tolerable because I knew you would come for me. So stop blaming yourself. The only person to blame is tied up and unconscious is the back of the jet.

Steve couldn't help but get hung up on what she had said, "You love me?" 

Natasha nodded slowly, "I do." 

Closing his eyes with a sigh, Steve pressed a loving kiss to her forehead, "I love you too."

Natasha smiled softly at his confession and curled against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered shut and Steve held onto her tightly, knowing she probably hadn't gotten any sleep since she was taken. 

"Get some sleep Nat, I've got you," Steve whispered when he noticed her trying to stay awake. 

Natasha nodded and closed her eyes, falling asleep engulfed in the warmth that Steve provided. 

Steve sighed in relief and looked back to the far corner of the jet where Ivan was laying unconscious.

Maybe, if he and Natasha were lucky, he would bleed out and he'd no longer be an issue. 

Hey guys. Sorry if the ending is abrupt, I couldn't figure out how to end it without adding another 1000 words and it's almost 3 am so I did what I could lol. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did, please comment and vote!

Like always, I hope you're all healthy and safe!