Natasha's POV

My skin was on fire. At least that's what it felt like. Almost as if someone had injected acid into my veins and it was now pumping through my blood. My eyes snapped open as I remembered what had happened. Panic. Speeding. Crash. My senses were overwhelmed with data. It was hard to focus on what I needed to do, but grunting I managed to push myself into a sitting position. My stomach squirmed as I realized what the burning sensation was. My right leg was charred black. Raw bleeding flesh was exposed from burns and shrapnel was embedded in my skin. It was a gory mangled mess. Hesitantly I touched a piece of peeling flesh. It was sticky and hot, the blood from the wound burned my fingers. Carefully I assessed myself for other injuries. Something sharp and painful was embedded in my already injured shoulder, and a large cut on my forehead caused blood to flow eagerly down my face.

Carefully I moved just enough to observe the surrounding area. Steve, find Steve. I didn't see him anywhere in my line of sight. I knew I would have to turn around but moving terrified me. I knew what type of pain would accompany it, but I had to make sure he was okay. Setting my jaw I shifted my weight awkwardly to my left side. Immediately excruciating pain flared through me. My burned skin cracked and split, blood and puss searing the tender flesh. Eager to get it over with, I threw all of my weight to the side at once so that I was able to stabilize myself on all fours. I couldn't keep the loud scream that sounded from me. Tears spilled down my cheeks. My body shook in protest, lack of energy, pain, and pure exhaustion. Raising my head slightly I searched for Steve praying I didn't see a corpse. It took a moment before I spotted him. He was in a crumpled heap to my left.

From where I was I could see he wasn't in good condition. My heart pounded faster and I had the urge to run to him but knew I couldn't. Biting my lip I tried to crawl slowly but each movement ripped open old wounds. Collapsing onto my side I rolled onto my back gasping for air. The ceiling was high above and everything around me was a shiny metal. Huge chunks of bike shrapnel were littered everywhere, some smoking, others on fire. The ground was covered in soot and burned rubber. Come on. Get over there, think. My breath was heavy and ragged but I slowly began using my arms to drag myself backwards. It was awkward but efficient with little pain involved. We had to get out. There was a leak in the reactor core and I had no idea how long it would be before it exploded.

Steve was unconscious even when I got to him. The right side of his suit was torn open and in shreds,exposing his side that was similar to my leg, though it seemed I had gotten the worst of the burn. His pants had holes burned in them with large scratches decorating his legs. But the most heart breaking injury was the left side of his face. The left part of his neck was burned along with his ear, and the burn curved down the base of his jaw line.

"Oh, God." Was all I could muster to say. Placing a hand on his shoulder I tried to shake him awake. There was no response. I tried again only this time I did it harder, mentally kicking myself for the pain that it would cause him, but at the same time hoping the pain would wake him up. Again there was no response. Despite myself I couldn't help but panic. How did I wake up? He's not supposed to be the one who... I cut my train of thought off before it could escalate any more. Hastily I checked for a pulse and pressed my ear to his heart. It was still beating, he was okay, but it was strange to see him so fragile. I wanted his wounds to dissapeared, they were my fault, I was the reason he had gotten into this mess. I felt like crying at the mere sight of his charred flesh, his skin was damaged because of me. The only thing letting me know he was okay was that soft and comforting, thump thump, of his heart.

"You're wasting time agent." A voice cackled. I froze tensing up immediately. There was a wheezing cough and I couldn't help but wonder.

"Viper." I whispered. How and why was he still here? Another wheezing cough.

"He's fading slowly. You'll both be dead soon enough." The sound was close somehow. I strained my ears trying to figure out its source. I scanned the room yet again. There were spare crates, a few ventilation shafts, but nothing significant.

"Where are you?" I demanded. He laughed but it lacked enthusiasm, it was bitter.

"It doesn't matter." It sounded like it was coming from behind me. I could hear him on the other side of the metal wall. Somehow, he was loud enough to be heard. Then I realized for the first time that the metal panel behind us was slightly cracked. A crack an inch tall separated the door from the floor. Glancing about I looked for what was keeping it up, then I spotted it, a crunched up helmet, flattened like a pancake. Suddenly Viper's golden eye appeared from the crack, he was watching me very carefully.

"How did you manage that?" I asked him, his precious little helmet was destroyed.

"Let's just say you weren't the only one trying to take desperate measures so these doors wouldn't shut." His face dissapeared.

"They left you here." I laughed feeling that somehow the universe had decided to slap both of us in the face at the same time. Steve was unconscious and the only person to talk to was him.

"No. I brought this on myself." He replied angrily. Then it dawned on me.

"You were tracking us, when you realized the reactor was leaking you tried to run!" It was bitter sweet.

"I was bound to die from the beginning. Why do you think I did the brunt of the work." He snarled. "I was a pawn, oh I knew it too, but you, drove me nuts!"

"Me?" I asked appalled

"Your ability to act stupid is impressive. Of all the people I could not break it had to be you. The Red Legion's former hero. The only one to survive the Red Room. You weren't the only one. I was just as accomplished. I went into training, I came out alive and better than ever. I was going to be the next super agent. Then they discovered you were alive. Their precious Natasha was going to come home. It was funny to see them so excited. They didn't even think you'd changed. But they watched you from afar and slowly it dawned on them that you had broken away from their control. They were furious of course. So that's when I came in. They had plans, of using me to start with but why not use you? They had before. So I was now the little messenger boy out to retrieve a package. I was shoved aside like I didn't matter. Their dreams of quietly rising to power never would have been realized if it weren't for me." He was getting into his speech. Each word brought new crazed excitement.

"You were jealous." I smiled somehow finding enjoyment in this new discovery.

"How you could get in this program and make it out! To be successful. I was the best but all I ever heard was your name. I wasn't even close to what you were. But I thought if I worked hard enough if I killed you, maybe they would stop treating me like a boy." Venom dripped from his voice, it was pure hatred. "I was the one who came up with the plan, I was the one who broke them, all the Overseer did was pat me on the back. But I looked into things, she was never in charge. And I laughed in her face when she tried to control me after that. I took matters into my own hands. That's how I got here with you pathetic nitwit for company."

"You did this? How? The box, the village, all of it!" I was yelling now. "You killed dozens of innocent people just because you wanted to bring me in and show you were better?"

"Yes, that was the plan. But I couldn't get to you alone. Oh, I had a little inside help. Not only did I fool you as being a government agent but I was able to hire help. Of course you seemed to not like him much as you made your little hike to the village." His words sparked a memory.

To my left was Steve and his agent Lowe.

"Hey Maria find anything interesting yet?" Lowe called. She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat.

"Seeing as how we are barely three minutes in no." She replied back.

"Oh, that's cool. What do you think we'll find?" He asked loudly again. Still focusing on the ground I dismissed rabbit tracks and scat from animals. That was nothing of importance.

"Lowe, I have no idea." Maria yelled in exasperation. There was a pause before I sensed another question coming.

"You know after this we could go to the movies or something." He pressed. Maria clenched her jaw and I could tell she was trying to keep her cool.

"Sorry not interested."

"Really? We could see something you want. How about it?" He was very insistent that was for sure.

"No." Was the short reply he received.

"Oh come on would y-" after his continuous prodding and questions I was just ready for him to shut up.

"Mr.Lowe could you maybe shut that big mouth of yours? From what I can tell your skills in the field are better than your ability to flirt." Not having realized that my earpiece was on a chorus of laughter followed my words including Maria's. From his silence I knew I had shut him up good. "That's better now I won't throw up."

"Lowe." I spat.

"It's funny really. How comfortable you get around your own kind. How even after someone with experience like you can trust so easily. You couldn't even smell a rat that was merely feet away from you. Oh, it helps of course the Lowe was so incompetent but it seems you were more unwise.

" I don't understand how did you get those dates to add up? The numbers? The missing kids in the articles? How could you possibly know my old room number?" I asked trying to piece everything together. If I was going to die I wanted information. Something occurred to me as he pondered how to answer my question in silence. He was keeping me talking he was wasting my time. Not far from Steve rested his shield. Struggling over I gripped it in my hand like I had done numerous times before. Propping myself up against the opposite metal wall of Viper I prepared myself for what I was about to do. Grunting I braced myself against the metal and began to stand up. I placed my free arm in my mouth not wanting to give Viper the satisfaction of my screams. Once standing, I staggered. I was surprisingly light headed. This most likely isn't made of vibranium. Besides vibranium is expensive and rare. The chances are slim. With as much strength as I could muster I slammed the edge of the shield into the wall. Closing my eyes I prayed that when I opened them there would be a dent.

There was a small dent, causing a small bit of hope to wash through me. If I had a enough time I might be able to bust a way out. If only I had enough time... Rearing my arm back I bashed the wall again and again. Each slam was like a tick of a clock. A constant reminder that my time was running out.Slowly the dent grew until the edge of the shield broke through to the other side. Excited I pressed my face to the wall and peered outside the gap. The world outside was snowy and white, at least that's what it had looked like. The hangar doors that were only a few feet away had also shut. Furious I began pounding again and again.

"Bang all you want. We only have approximately ten minutes of survival left. It would have been shorter but our engineers made a back up coolant system to give more people time to flee the explosion. Pointless if you ask me why delay the inevitable?" Viper replied blandly. This only accelerated my efforts, but I was becoming exhausted. Eventually a hole emerged from the metal just big enough for me to fit through it if I wanted to. With a little extra effort I made it just wide enough for Steve. Slipping through the hole as bits of dirt and shrapnel embedded themselves in my leg I came out the other side. As quick as possible I began work on the other door. I counted the seconds in my head. I had about seven minutes left. Come on! Come on! Come on! This wall seemed to be thicker and it took much longer before I broke through it. When I did a gust of wind swept through. It was crisp and cold. The wind was something I hadn't felt in a long time. Eager I began my task anew. Three minutes.

More pounding resulted in a gap I deemed fit. Scrambling back I reached Steve and began to drag him towards the exit. You can do this. You can make it. Who am I kidding? Barely three minutes. Struggling against his weight and my overwhelming fatigue and injuries I pushed him through the hole and was about to follow when Viper broke the silence. His face suddenly appeared next the the gap, a single golden crazed eye. "You asked me about those numbers."

I stared blankly at him turning my back. I could care less at this point. I crawled through the hole and began to drag Steve again. Viper's voice picked up in volume. "I had nothing to do with that. Some of it yes, but that no. Either fate brought you here, or you made something out of nothing. You brought yourself here! Call it a coincidence but you will always be destined to carry the mark! The red will never fade from your ledger! After all, red is a widow's trademark!"

He started screaming angrily as I slipped through the final hole into the outside world. The cold came as a bigger shock but I was only concerned with getting away as fast as possible. Two minutes. I had two minutes to better my chances at not getting blown to bits. My leg was screaming and burning but the cold slowly helped numb it. With Steve somewhat tucked under one arm and his shield in the other I began the death march. The sun was nearly gone now and night was coming. All I saw in front of me was snow, cold and hungry. With every ounce of strength I had left I desperately pushed on. I made it one hundred meters when I heard it. The explosion. It was hardly audible but I new that it was slowly pushing itself out through every crack it could find, like a deadly exhale of breath. Daring to turn my back and go a little farther I did. As the noise got louder Viper's screams were cut short. My heart skipped a beat in anticipation, would I burn like Viper? Stepping in front of Steve I knelt positioning myself between him and the blast with nothing but his shield to protect me. It had been years since I had prayed seriously. In the moment before I might greet death I closed my eyes and in a rush of little words I said,"God, please, let him live."

Then the world around me was swallowed in heat and the air from my lungs was snuffed out. It would be the second time that night I fell into the clutches of unconsciousness. Unaware that my trials were yet to be over. That maybe being unconscious wasn't such a bad thing.