"I have to hand it to you Miss Romanoff, I'd never expect you to turn yourself in to the authorities with such ease." The RAFT guard remarked as he led her and the others towards their cells.

"Hey, watch the arm! It hasn't healed yet." Scott said from a few feet ahead to the one of the guards, who had thoughtlessly grabbed his shoulder a little too harshly.

"I don't know what to tell you." Nat shrugged, as they continued down the narrow halls. "I always have my reasons. Doesn't mean I'm obligated to share them."

"Don't get cocky Romanoff." He warned. "I won't forget what you said to the government two years ago."

"Oh please, you're just being sensitive. Not everyone bows down to one big man in a suit like you do."

She frowned to herself at the sight of Wanda, who unlike the others, had several guards enveloped around her, with both of her arms strapped restrictively to her chest.

"You know Miss Romanoff." He began. "There's always another way we could do this. You could, per say, tell us just where exactly Barnes and Y/l/n have scurried off to. If not them, then Rogers."

She spared him another snarky reply, zipping her mouth shut. She had one mission, and a rather simple one that if not carried through properly, would land her in a situation worse than the one she was in now.

Nat watched as the team compliantly walked towards their fate in complete and utter defeat, having no Steve nor Tony to help them. The Avengers had been severed and splintered to a complete mess.

The RAFT was far unlike anything she had ever seen. The walls appeared claustrophobically close to one another, seemingly closing into those who travelled down the narrow passageways. There were minimal windows, which frankly would serve no difference, considering all that lay outside of the RAFT walls was the vast sea.

Eventually, they reached a circular room rimmed with exactly five cells. Wanda was the first to be thrown in, with her cell visibly smaller and more guarded. Nat stared at her dishearteningly, treated as if she were a ticking time bomb. A threat.

Soon, everybody else was guided bitterly into their own cells, each with transparent windows and iron bars that all faced the center of the room. Nat could only imagine what the other cells in the RAFT were like, considering the team was likely placed in the most decent cells they had to offer.

Nat slumped down on the small, mat like bed and stared up at the ceiling blankly, toning out the officer listing all of the rules and conditions to all of them.

"I said, do you understand Agent Romanoff?"

Nat lifted her head until he was in her view, then laying back down. "Crystal clear sir."

"You better watch your tone here, Romanoff." He jabbed a finger in her direction. "You're the one who's finally locked up behind that wall where we can finally keep an eye on you."

"And you're doing a wonderful job." Nat replied, smirking when his nostrils flared in rage. He turned on his heel and left the team to sit, completely marooned and bound to their small spaces.

"Damn you, Stark." Nat heard Scott mutter to himself.

"Don't blame him Lang." Nat let out a long sigh. "This all should've never happened in the first place."

Sam sat on his bed, refusing to face their way as he shook his head. "Those damn Accords should never have happened."

"I can't believe Stark let this happen, just have us thrown into the one of the most highly guarded and isolated prisons in the world. Nothing personal or anything." Clint muttered, circling around his cell before slumping down onto his bed. "Are these things beds or damn yoga mats?"

"Natasha why are you even here? You had a clear getaway." Sam questioned. Everyone turned their heads towards her, equally interested in what her response would be. Sam was right, after all.

Nat couldn't risk anything. For all she knew, Ross could be intently listening over the speakers.

"I'm tired of running, I might as well pay the price." Was all she said.

Everyone's attention shifted to the main door, which slowly slid open to reveal the one man nobody here could bear to look at. The one they each blamed, as not only a month ago he'd been their friend. Their teammate.

His left arm was secured in a sling, and a black eye stained around the gentle features of his eye. He quietly stepped down into the room, when someone loudly clapped from one of the cells.

"The Futurist, gentlemen!" Clint bellowed. "The Futurist is here! He sees all!." His voice weakened slightly. "He knows what's best for you, whether you like it or not."

"Give me a break, Barton." Tony said as he stepped up to Clint's cell. "I had no idea they'd put you here. Come on."

"Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony." Clint spat on the dirty floor, finally meeting Tony's sympathetic gaze.

"Yeah, but not some super-max floating ocean pokey. This place is for maniacs, this is a place for..."

"Criminals?" Clint finished his sentence, and stood up. "Criminals Tony. I think that's the word you're looking for, right? That didn't used to mean me. Or Sam, or Wanda. But here we are."

Tony folded his arms. "Because you broke the law."

"Yeah."

"I didn't make you. You read it, you broke it."

Clint turned and walked around his cell, covering his ears. "La, la, la."

"You're all grown up, you got a wife and kids. I don't understand, why didn't you think about them before you chose the wrong side?" Tony questioned, walking past his cell before Clint could argue with him any further.

"You gotta watch your back with this guy!" Clint slammed on the glass. "There's a chance he's gonna break it."

"Hank Pym always said you never can trust a Stark." Scott muttered as Tony walked by.

"Who are you?"

"Surprised to see you here." Tony cocked at eyebrow when Nat didn't answer. The blue prison jumpsuit was more foreign than anything he'd ever seen on Nat. She let herself get arrested. Another first.

"I'd say the same for you." She replied eventually, standing up and walking towards the glass. "You're not here to give me a lecture, are you?"

"You switched sides last minute."

"I was never really on a side Tony. I'm an Avenger, not... whatever the hell this is now. What do you think Banner and Thor will say when they come back?"

"If they come back." Tony stressed, making his way to the person he knew would have the information he intentionally came for.

"How's Rhodes?" Sam said, his back still turned.

"They're flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow... so fingers crossed." Tony sighed. Sam only shook his head in response.

"What do you need? They feed you yet?"

Sam finally turned around, revealing to Tony the shadowed bruise that replayed the events from earlier. "You're the good cop, now?"

Tony shook his head, his feet itching to finally leave this ghastly place. "I'm just the guy who needs to know where Steve went."

"Well, you better go get a bad cop, because you're gonna have to go Mark Fuhrman on my ass to get information out of me."

Tony proceeded to tap a few buttons on his watch. "Well, I just knocked the A out of their AV." We got about 30 seconds before they realize it's not their equipment."

Sam looked up, realizing what Tony meant. Ross wouldn't hear a thing.

"Just look." Tony clicked another button, revealing a photo of a bloodied up man in a bathtub. "Because that is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes and Y/l/n."

Nat slowly stood up, pressing against the glass to listen.

"Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong."

"That's a first." Sam retorted.

"Cap is definitely off the reservation, but he's about to need all the help he can get." Tony told Sam. "We don't know each other very well, you don't have to..."

"Hey, it's all right." Sam cut in, looking down to ponder his move. He let out a sigh. "Look, I'll tell you, but you have to go alone, and as a friend."

"Easy."

Tony quickly exited the room once Sam gave him the coordinates of Steve and Bucky's whereabouts.

Nat hunched over on the bed, her knees shaking anxiously. What did Tony mean? What was going on with Steve? With Bucky?

"Nat, you good?"

She lifted her head to see Clint staring with concern backing his gaze. Wanda turned her head ever so slightly, with the bulky iron collar strapped around her neck allowing little movement.

"I'm doing fine. Don't worry." Nat told them in a low voice. She couldn't let herself get worked up, she had clear instructions.

It was only a matter of time, when someone busted them out of this prison and opened a breach of opportunity for the team to escape.

Even after the catastrophic events of today, Nat couldn't help but pray that maybe there was some ounce of hope for the Avengers. After all, they were in some way, her only family.

She fell back into the pillow, her attention drawing to one of the lights in the cell that would occasionally flicker, emitting a low buzzing noise.

After what felt like hours of Scott playing drum beats on his knees and Sam restlessly pacing around his cell, Nat heard a loud thud echo from outside. She slowly stood up from her bed and peered past the bars of the cell towards the door leading to the hall. Clint and Sam mirrored her actions, all of them watching as the door was jammed out from its frame and skidded across the floor.

"C-Cap?" Scott jolted up from the floor, a hopeful taint in his voice.

"Steve, thank God." Nat let out a breath of relief, stepping back when Steve drove his shoe into the pin pad. It was then that she noticed his very absent vibranium shield.

Him and Nat both continued to break everyone else out of the dreary cells. Nat helped Wanda stand up, and let Steve use the small device to unlock the neck collar. Snapping it may set off an alarm elsewhere to alert Ross.

"Nat, where's Y/n?" Steve questioned as soon as everyone was out.

Sam cast a puzzled glance to Steve. "She didn't escape with you?"

Nat's lips perked into a grin. "She's right here."

Y/n's POV

I toss aside the red wig and the facial device Nat had given to me earlier.

"Y/n, you need to pretend to be me. Just for the next few hours or so. If you're taken in by Ross as yourself, he'll have you thrown into some crazy psych ward and locked into a tiny cell."

"What about you? Where are you gonna run off to?"

"I'll figure it out. I always do. Now, you need to get back out there into the fight. Put this stuff on and just try to not to speak unless you have to."

"Hey, I think I'm a pretty decent actress."

"Y/n?" Steve immediately pulled me into a tender hug. "Nat's always got a plan, huh?"

"You're fooled me pretty damn well." Clint chuckled, patting me on the back. "Glad to know the two of you are safe. What about Barnes?"

I turn to Steve, wringing my hands. Was what Tony had been referring to as bad as he'd anticipated?

"It's... a long story." Steve frowned ever so slightly. "We've got a jet ready outside. Let's get a move on."

It hadn't been more than a full day since I'd seen him, nevertheless, the hours spent isolated in silence only dragged the time left in the dark of Bucky and Steve's condition. Of course, going to Siberia wouldn't be a smooth mission; all three of us were aware of the risks, but we had to take our chances. What havoc would arise with a dozen more controlled Winter Soldiers?

"Are you alright?" I asked Wanda gently, helping her into the jet.

"I'll manage." Was all she said, offering a tight smile.

Steve took one last glance behind him to the depths of the RAFT, turning back to me and nodding. "Okay, let's get outta here."

As soon as I stepped into the jet, I scanned the area for Bucky, my eyes flicking to each and every corner, but to no avail.

"He's in the back room, Y/n." Steve suddenly said from behind me, his expression unreadable. He seemed to notice the concern painting my expression. "He's alright, don't worry."

I nodded and quickly hurried to the small room in the back, nearly running straight into the steel door as I skidded to a halt in front of it. I shakily raised my fist, before knocking lightly. The door swung open immediately after I dropped my hand to my side.

And there he was.

Before I could register his beaten state, his arm wrapped around me gingerly, engulfing me into his warm grasp. 

"You're safe." He whispered, holding me tight against his warmth, as though I would disappear into thin air.

I nuzzled my face into his chest, gripping onto his shoulders. "Tony mentioned something about you guys behind in danger and I-"

My gaze shifted to the black cloth tied snuggly around his left shoulder, with an unfamiliar empty space below it.

"Buck, your-"

"It's not like it's my real one." He wiped the small tear spilling down my cheek with his thumb, his frown deepening. "I lost that one a while ago. The metal one was more of a... weapon."

I shook my head and let my hand trace the stains of blood on his face. "Who the hell did this to you, Buck?"

Bucky kept his eyes fixated on the floor. There was a hint of guilt lingering in his gaze. I'd seen him pull a similar expression countless times before, like the time he accidentally biked into one of Mrs. Rogers' flower pots and shattered it everywhere, leaving a mound of soil and shards of clay laying scattered across the front path. Not to mention the very trampled flowers.

But this was far different.

"Do you remember..." he began, "that one mission where we had to collect the new supply of super soldier serum."

I raised a brow in question and he clenched his jaw, his voice lowering an octave. "December 16th, 1991."

He watched as the realization unraveled in my eyes, clutching onto my arm. "H-Howard."

"Steve never told Tony, and thanks to the same bastard who put us in this situation, he had to find out the hard way." Bucky shuddered when I clasped his hand in mine. "He had every right to be angry."

I felt more hot tears brim my eyes. "We both killed his parents, yet only you had to pay the price. It's not fair."

"No, Y/n you only had to hijack their car. I'm the one who finished them off. I'm the one that took his parents away from him for good." He said, his voice shaking at the last few words.

"As if I didn't kill people during our years as assassins, Bucky." I huffed. "You and I were sent on that mission together, and because of the two of us working as a team, it was carried out the way HYDRA wanted it to. Stark's blood is on both of our hands."

We fell into a mutual silence, allowing me a moment to take a glance around the room. It was a small examination room with a padded medical bench in the corner and a few cabinets and drawers. It could be considered a normal doctors office, if it weren't for the various different high-tech screens and computers placed around, most likely making it easier for whoever was treating him.

Bucky's eyes had sunken from exhaustion, his breath still ragged and uneven. I brought my hands to his shoulders and locked my eyes with his, letting out a deep sigh. He seemed to understand and began matching the pace of his breath with mine, eventually relaxing.

I rested my forehead on his chest. "We're gonna be okay. We have each other, we have Steve. I'm not leaving your side ever again."

"I know where we can start." Bucky suggested. I leaned back to meet his gaze. "We should get all of this HYDRA mess out of our heads. Before we hurt anyone else. Each other."

My eyes drifted to my hands, balling them up into fists. "No more. Never fucking again."

Author's Note

Hello lovelies!! Yes, this chapter took forever to come out. I haven't set a publishing schedule because I can't keep up with any kind of consistency, as things like mental health and school get in the way. Anyways, I WILL NOT be quitting any time soon! I absolutely adore this story, and plan to write it in the best quality possible. Love you all! <33