#dropdeadredheadromanova

He first knew her as Natalia, the newest mission. “You are to train her. Make her better. Unbreakable.” He had nodded to his handler at the time, eyes flicking to the young woman just standing there. She had hair a bright shade of crimson, and it looked so soft. He briefly entertained the idea of running his fingers through it before snapping his attention back to the matter at hand.

Training. And if he did brush his hand through the locks once or twice, no one could blame him.

The first time she pinned him, he had to ignore the sudden wave of arousal. She was getting good. Better than him, possibly. She was quicker, more agile; she did not have a metal arm weighing her down. She was off of his back in an instant, panting some from exhaustion. They were going on the eighth hour of their current training session. She was leaning over, hands braced on her knees and dripping sweat.

“Again.” He ordered, rolling his shoulders and readying to spar.

The little glare she gave him, barely there, lit a fire in him that he did his best to ignore.

She began to throw things, to lose on purpose. So, as their respective handlers watched, he hit her. He beat her and yelled at her, scolded her for being sub-par. “You are better than this.” He scolded in Russian, quick and punctuated with another smack as he saw their spectators nod in approval.

Later, when they were alone, he held her close, nose pressed to her hair as he ran a tentative hand over all of the bruises. “I’m sorry.” He muttered over and over again. “I’m sorry.”

She gave a little nod, turning her head to catch his lips. “It’s fine.” She mumbled after the brief kiss. “It’s your job. It’s fine.”

But it was not, although he loved her for saying it was. She was so strong.

They found each other again, much later. He saw that fiery red hair, and just found himself moving to her. Like gravity pulling them together. Two opposing forces, attracted together.

He had a mission, though. The mission was his priority. And she was in the way of his mission. So he attacked her, and she fought back. She gave it everything, fighting like the little bear he had once known. And then, chasing her down, he saw her waving people away, running from him. She never ran. Never cared for anyone else.

Her selflessness... He loved it. But, he had a mission to do, and love was for children, she had once said. So he shot her.

Banner was good to her. He watched from a distance, noticed the subtle things. Watched them come together, slowly, cautiously. He watched her start to trust Bruce, and vice versa. He watched her start to love the man behind the monster.

And then he watched her fall apart.

It took a few months before he had the courage to approach her in her broken state, to risk being found by Steve and the rest of the Avengers. He slipped into the empty room she stood in, speaking softly in Russian. “I thought you said love was for children.” He noticed the tensing of her shoulders, and a barely perceptible change in her body language before she was attacking him, going at him with everything and nothing all at once. She was emotional. He mind was not clear, but she still took him down.

“You loved him, and he hurt you.” Bucky managed with her knee at his throat.

“He never laid a hand on me.” She snarled.