Sample scene flavor one for marvel_universe

[cold_shoulder]

Since they had given him the assignment to train operatives, the Winter Soldier had seen quite a few go through the Red Room - the training for which happened far from only in any particular room. Most of them were fast and precise and eager to do things right. Some of them were smart and could be taught to be quick-thinking.

But nobody had been using their mind to the objective at hand until she had appeared, gun in one hand and grenade in the other. Brave, determined, beautiful. Not allowing herself to be distracted from the tasks she had, and at the same time with a hint of a sense of humor which meshed inexplicably well with him, somewhere below the level of his usual thought processes.

He's been watching, yes.

Natalia Romanova.

He'd been watching others try to emulate her, too, and had been greatly amused at girls imitating her motions without fully realizing the ideas behind them. And then feel disappointed at failing.

But mostly, he'd been watching her. He wasn't allowed access to much information about her; that was classified and not a part of his assignment. So he'd been piecing things together. Little things betrayed by her motions, but her reactions to knowledge betrayed by others.

And he'd been watching the beauty of her. The dancer training was clear in everything from her flexibility to the graceful efficiency of her motions. It stirred something in him. Something warm and unknown and strange, separate from the definite physical desire. The latter he could define and control. The former... it confused him. And drew him closer to her, until the evening when, all exercises complete, he knocked on her window.

Comments

[natalia_romanova]

Natalia had been saved from the flames to be reborn for her country. AS a child she showed precocious intelligence, the spark of greatness that made her suited to Red Room's plans.

Her training began in dance, the physicality of it suited her. Limber and lean she moved with the grace of one born for ballet, it also made an excellent cover for the other skills being honed in her. Before she was thirteen she'd been trained hand to hand combat, by fifteen weapons and at the tender age of sixteen her conditioning truly began.

The most powerful country in the world was an ocean away, but it's threat remained the same, the war which broached the borders of her country threatened the safety of their program. Things had to be intensified. A rising hero of America fell and it was not long after that a new trainer rose within the program.

Whispers of him reached everywhere. He was dark, moody and mysterious. Too serious, too smart the other spoke out against him in what Natalia had learned to read as fear and jealousy, she couldn't wait to meet him.

They had passing acquaintance but ti be assigned to him there had to be good reason. She'd not proven herself apparently, but she felt him watching her. The weight of his notice was hard to miss, it kept her awake at night sometimes.

Awake at a night when a gentle tap sounded at her window. Puzzled she reached for the pistol she'd been conditioned to keep within arms reach. It rested in her hand against the small of her back as she peered into the darkness outside her room, the moonless night offering nothing for her to see.

[cold_shoulder]

"Natalia."

There had been motion. She had heard. Other than letting her know that he was here to talk to her, not by chance, there wasn't much else to do. He wasn't going to break through her window.

That would be rather noisy.

So he only called her name, barely loud enough to go through the glass of the window. Once.

[natalia_romanova]

She blinked twice before hurriedly opening the window, she was just thinking of him, and here he was. She backed the breeze toying with the simple white cotton night gown that covered near to her ankles and exposed only her shoulders, arms and neck.

She hadn't let go of the pistol, if this was a training exercise she would not be caught unaware. "You're not supposed to be here tovarishch." Her heavy accented English was gaining smoothness, she had a gasp of the language but the sounds were still foreign to her, thus she defaulted to her own tongue from time to time for concepts she didn't fully understand in the other tongue, yet. She promised herself one day she would be flawless.

[cold_shoulder]

"True. But training exercises don't give much of a chance to talk." He didn't actually grin, but the reflex was there, and then gone like the shadow of a bird over water. Too vague and quick to capture, like the memory of a memory. You do this and this, and girls like it. What girls? He couldn't remember where that came from, so he shook his head, focusing on the redhead in front of him.

"The exercises and training are very good, but sometimes, they aren't enough."

There. That should be sufficient excuse, shouldn't it?

And why do I need an excuse?

He couldn't even decide whether his thoughts were in Russian or English, anymore.

[natalia_romanova]

There was something that passed over his features, but it was gone before she could get more than an impression that it had been there at all. He wished to talk? Her confusion was clear but she nodded and moved back to sit on her bed, the pistol eased down finally to rest beside her thigh.

"Have I preformed poorly?"

She'd studied hard, tried to do her best. She thought she was more advanced than the others of the program. She'd been praised by her other trainers but knew this man was altogether different. Only the best trained with him alone rather than the groups sessions.

"What more is there?"

[cold_shoulder]

"No, no." He shook his head. "The opposite, actually. You've done better than anyone else they've sent me and probably better than many of those who issue the commands would do." This was frank, and it was said without hesitation or delay.

"As to what else is there... knowledge. Knowing the minds of the enemy and, even more, knowing the minds of your... friends." The word didn't sit right. Not here, and that was surprising, because his friends, his comrades, where here.

But he didn't know another way to explain it.

"Knowing you, I would know... what strengths to help develop. Which exercises can be discarded and how to proceed."

The worst part was that he was aware of the ambiguity in his own words, but he couldn't express either what he was saying or what he was grasping at, inside his mind, any more clearly.

Knowing. Recon. Knowing. Being... close to?

[natalia_romanova]

"I do not understand." She was excelling, this was good. She'd never heard of others being approached like this. But he said she was good, he saw promise in her. She moved down and tucked her feet up under the covers. She gestured to the bed for him to sit if he liked.

"Knowing the minds of friends? For missions? This will make me better?"

Her eyes were wide and green, fixed on him as the ever attentive student. It made sense, if she knew the mind of those she worked with they would be more efficient and more cohesive. If she could predict their movements she could plan her own further ahead. She could know how things would likely turn by knowing the patterns and behaviors of the others.

She thought over this, but it still did not explain why he was here, now. "So, you wish to evaluate me."

[natalia_romanova]

Training had proceeded not exactly as usual, for the past three months she had been training more and more with Winter Soldier. Her training had been intensive and challenging her on levels the others were not pressed to. She had been given instruction on the infrequent and unorthodox night discussions.

During some of these visits her mentor would suffer occasional headaches and leave suddenly. He would never explain these things and as a good student she did not press. Though it did make her work even harder the following day to please him. Natalia had been doing as he instructed she had been watching herself and her reactions.

One thing she had noticed was how she reacted around him. The Winter Soldier, pride of the program. He was skilled and strong and capable. But there was more, it was the way he looked at her, the way he corrected her form or movement, unlike how he treated the others but only she would know it by the touch of his hand or tone of his words. She only noticed because he had instructed her to do so.

The more she'd learned about herself the better she'd become. She was a rising star before, but now she was a jewel. Coveted for mind, body and talents. It had not sunk into her just how revered she was among the others of her program, her attention had been solely focused on the approval her superiors and Winter Soldier.

[cold_shoulder]

He'd been given two hours to get ready to leave. He was packed in twenty minutes; five minutes later, he was at the now-familiar window.

He had been right about her. She was different. In directions where most of the students - and even instructors - in Project X and the Red Room ran into walls, limits they could not surpass, she not only reached higher than everyone, but blossomed. And, oh, once she had stepped on the track of actual training, her mind just seemed all the hungrier for it.

His teeth flashed in a small smile, before he nudged the window ajar. She would be ready for minor actual action sooner than she expected. It would make her proud, even at the price it would take from her. The price they were all prepared to-- expected to pay, here.

But not yet. She was still not under evaluation for solitary action.

It was him who was being sent out. Temporary, he was sure. But he didn't know for how long. Details were going to be classified until the last possible moment; they usually were, in case somebody made a mistake and he was captured.

Which made his visit, somewhat sooner than the usual spacing, all the more important. (Why? She was a trainee--

-- because it was a dick move to leave a dame without--

)

"Ugh..." It was barely louder than a gasp, but he was bent over the windowsill, fingers pressed against both temples.

Just for a moment.

then he straightened, and focused on the window and the room beyond again.

[natalia_romanova]

Natalia was sitting in her bed, brush running through her crimson locks. The days training ran though her mind, infiltration, ways of moving among those who were not to know she was there. The Black Widow program was only for the best of the best, and she'd risen like cream to the top.

Winter Soldier had recommended her for the fast track program and they had both been rewarded by her excellent performance. Every challenge given, she rose to. Every standard she exceeded, she was soon gaining the attention of those who ran the program but did not normally interfere. Her name, yes name not code or call sign, was becoming known.

All her success was due to her mentor, and secret adviser. She'd never spoken of his visits, but she had never been asked either. Natalia enjoyed the fact that it was a secret all her own, something that set her apart from the others. It was soon becoming important for her to be her own ..what exactly? She didn't know, but there was something special about not being a cog in the machine and she relished it.

She hadn't expected noise at her window, though it was rarely locked anymore. Still it was a surprise even if she knew the motion by heat now. His apparent pain bothered her but he had refused to speak of it before.

"Comrade?" She was concerned, a hint of it in her voice which was otherwise impressively level. She did not move, he hadn't yet asked her to. But she had half turned and her feet dangled over the edge of the bed as if she might just have gone to his aid had she not held herself in check.

[cold_shoulder]

Not all her success, no. It was her abilities that he was honing, training, developing. He wasn't making her way for her, it was her own mind and body which passed the tests and trials.

Which was why he was sure she would do fine while he was absent.

"I'm good. All good now." A slight frown passed over his face with the echo of a name, but it wasn't nearly as strong as earlier. It was just the way he had used the words which seemed right, and it shouldn't be.

But there was too much to distract him - and focus him on what he was doing - in the vision of her, easy and relaxed, if only for a moment before he startled her.

She was beautiful. Her scattered richly over her shoulders, adding to the grace he never stopped noticing a softness which was rare. And the concern... there was something which it meant, but he couldn't put his finger on what. And he didn't have time to waste on it.

"Natalia." His face was definitely smoother, easier now. Not quite a smile, but brighter all the same. "You will have to go without the extra work for a few weeks. Without me here to supervise it, at least."

[natalia_romanova]

She had worked all the harder because she had a specific goal, even if she herself hadn't realize the root of it was far closer than being a good child of Mother Russia. She wanted to make him proud, to make him be able to say he'd been correct in singling her out for special attention. That wasn’t right though was it? She was not special, she was an asset of the state. But he told her she was singularly capable, proved she was better than others.

She tried hard to reconcile the idea of being special when they were all taught that they were just another piece of the greater machine. But she felt different, superior to the others. He had encouraged that in her, the independent thought, actions beyond the standard response. She was becoming an individual, with it came a greater freedom which had yet not been called out but had been noticed.

Winter Soldier’s influence had not been noticed, at least not that either was aware of. She had learned early on that these visits were reserved for her and she felt special for them, no surprise that her name on his lips had become almost Pavloian in her reaction, she smiled. That radiance that was his alone and only in moments like these. She quickly ushered him inside as he explained his visit, the smile faltered and fell. She was…disappointed? Sad? This was new for her, she was used to people coming and going in the program, but this was different.

He’d come to tell her he was leaving. Of course he was, such an asset could not be expected to train ones like herself, not when there was important work to be done. Of course he would be called away, she’d only been lucky to have avoided it this long. Lucky? She was puzzled and her face showed it as she tried to riddle through these reactions, these…feelings about what he’d said.

“But… you will come back.” Her words came in a rush, her hands brushed over his arm, the pretext of helping him fully inside but the truth of her was beyond the grasp of her own confused mind. She needed reassurance that he would come back, come back to her.

[cold_shoulder]

He straightened, standing almost at attention, and his words were a little rushed, too. "If I serve the cause well, there should be no reason not to. This has been the procedure before." And he had no reason to expect it to change.

But her dismay...

He reached to touch the back of her hand as she reached to him. Just for a moment. And his eyes locked on hers, though his voice was quieter, softer. "I have no intention of failing." Even if he had no idea what the particular assignment would be. He doubted it would be a surprise of any sort.

Distraction? Possibly appropriate. "I don't know if I've been to Africa before. That's where the preparation order indicates." Probably the northern half, but it wasn't very specific.

[cold_shoulder]

The mission in Cairo was... complicated. It was a multiple-target elimination, and it took him a length of time of personal observation to make sure he could predict the presence of all of them in the same place sufficiently safely to project the kind of attack which could be accepted as accident.

And the fact that the constant warm weather, despite the season, caused problems with his mechanical arm didn't speed things up in the least. On-the-spot adjustments had to be made to prevent the infection in his shoulder which was beginning, which delayed the execution even longer.

He reported the problem with that without bringing up the discomfort that it was causing him. He wouldn't let the fever slow him down, even during the times when he had to do without the actual arm.

And though it all, the name haunted him. James. Why? Who had named him that, and why had nobody ever addressed him so since he woke up in the facility run by Comrade General Karpov. What was his life before that? Despite all the questions they had asked him about the time before that, nobody had briefed him on anything before that point, and there was enough for him to do and learn so that he hadn't asked. But now, with one single question, his pupil had... The Red Room trainee had brought something up from the darkness that lurked there. Not an illumination at all, because that was not a name that fit with Division X or with who he was.

Nonetheless, the name was there, and it fit within him. And he didn't know what to do with that.

Not with I will miss you, either. He maybe should have berated her for that. But he hadn't, and he hadn't wanted to, either. Some awareness suggested that the warmth that came up with remembering those words meant something, should mean something, but he suppressed that. Training together was not a place to form anything meaningful. They were both assets, and they would be located wherever they would be more beneficial for the improvement of the cause of the Soviet Union. Wanting anything else was not permitted, and he wasn't going to permit it to himself.

Still, when he returned to the location of training and was debriefed, he never mentioned any of it. There had been chances to report before, and there was definitely a chance to do so now. But he didn't. Not any of it. Not the additional training he was giving to Natalia, not the name. He reported in full about the mission, in as much detail as was requested of him.

The fact that he had not slept since before the final mission run, some forty hours ago, had nothing to do with the decision to say nothing. It just didn't seem to matter.

The debriefing took hours.

By the time he was released to return to his quarters, it was nearly three in the morning. The instructions were to report for training duty as normal the next day, not surprising.

He did return to his room, dropping the scant baggage he had taken and the even fewer items he had picked up on the way. And then he made sure nobody was watching... and made his way to the familiar window again.

Considering the hour, he only called her name once; there was no response. The window was closed, but not locked, even in the January weather. It was closed tight enough to keep the weather out. But not him.

He only let himself in to make sure she was there and he wasn't going to make a mess of things... somehow. But the familiar, flame-colored locks were spread on the pillow, and her face was relaxed, easy in repose. Way easier than he had seen it before, though there were times during their talks when her attention was completely captured--

He shook his head, then only made a few motion, leaving a note on a scrap of paper on the inside of the sill. Вернулся. 'I have returned.' She would understand, or not.

And he left, closing the window tight behind himself. He had a few hours left in which he could sleep, he'd better make use of them.

[natalia_romanova]

She barely stirred at his pre-dawn visitation, but he moved so silently it should have been expected. As yet she hadn’t been trained in waking with the slightest disturbance, she had some semblance of innocence left to her. It showed when she slept like this. Her youth, her untainted spirit. This was not a killer, not yet. An untested and beautiful weapon, but not yet lethal. She would have wanted to be awake though, she would have wanted to see him, but it was for the best for both of them that she slept on while he watched her and left his notice of return.



She woke early, eyes snapping open even before the alarm sounded. She stretched and eased from the bed, wide awake in moments. Just as she’d been trained, she was alert and taking in her surroundings, something was out of place. Eyes caught sight of the paper on the sill and it took less than a heartbeat to know who would have left it.

Natalia dashed for the note and read it’s single word. It said so much, her mentor had returned as promised. The weeks of his absence were over, a smile that had no right to be, blossomed across her lips. She ran through her morning rituals faster than she ever had and arrived early to training. She did not see him however. James..no Winter Soldier, she must only think of him by his given name when they were alone, something in her warned of being too casual, had not looked on this morning.



Still she excelled, Natalia ran her exercises with a grace and exuberance that showed every inch of her nerve and natural physicality. She shone like a star because she had something worth preforming for. Her observers praised her, the General took notice personally and Natalia, already earmarked for larger things, was catching all the wrong attention. Oblivious to the notes being made of her she glowed, even daring to best the field trainer in her exercise by downing the man with a kick hard enough to double him, disarm him and leave hims sprawled and panting for breath. She stood a bit proud over the mock setting of a generic town and her fallen foes, yes, the Black Widow had earned her title today.


Still through it at she looked for him, showed off her skills and what she'd learned for him and when she was praised, like a good soldier she demurred it to the greatness of her teachers, her program and of course her country. By the end of the day Natalia's name was on the lips of many, but she only cared for one. She was sent out to meet important but nameless figures within Red Room, those whose influence reached high in the government but whose identities were to remain unconnected for political reasons. Here she was introduced to a tall, broad shouldered man. He seemed ill suited for a pilot, as she was told he was, due to his size. He was introduced as Alexi Shostakov, code Named Red Guardian, a pride of Red Room and unquestioned success. There was more to him than met the eye, Winter Soldier's training had become her own continuous thoughts, she watched him, studied him and how others acted around him.


She was expected to be impressed by the man, so she played her part. When all she wanted was to return to her room, the group bade her and Alexi stay on for dinner and drinks. She could not refuse and forced a smile and the appearance of interest at their tedious discussions. Inside she wanted to scream, tear her red hair from her head, but outwardly she projected the calm soft smile they expected to see. They could not know how she sized each of them up, running through her mind scenarios on how she could dispatch the room and how quickly with dinner utensils. These thoughts would condemn her to exile or more likely death were they known, but no one knew. No one but her. It was late, past midnight before she was excused, having to accept their hospitality as long as it was offered, but when it was appropriate she left them.


Keeping her gait to a smooth walk was torture. Once her eyes even veered to where she knew his room was. But to go there would be too bold, too risky. He was a valuable asset, she was just starting her career. He had just returned from a mission and who knew how long he would be under observation. She could ill afford to let her eagerness get either of them in trouble now. She could almost hear him in her head, treat it like a training exercise. She did, she pushed her feelings down until she had control over herself. She walked calmly to her quarters, showered and sat on her bed wrapped in a towel while she brushed her damp hair over one shoulder. Focus, manage your heart rate, keep your breathing even, do not betray the slightest excitement. She obeyed the voice, the echo of him that had kept her company while he was away, that part of him she'd kept hidden in her hear-- mind.


She had done well tonight, more so than those who praised her could ever know. She had surpassed all their expectations and hidden something so profound that she had been fundamentally changed by it. Natalia understood herself better now, she understood her reactions to the man she called James. She studied and worked it out over long hours. The evidence was so obvious as to be unmistakable and despite all common sense, warnings or mandates against it, she was in love.

[cold_shoulder]

It was a long day, the fatigue from the previous two trying to catch up.

The Winter Soldier kept on moving. Fatigue was irrelevant. He was the Winter Soldier, and as a good soldier would do what he had to. And he was given plenty to do.

He noticed that something was missing from his full schedule by midmorning anyway. Someone. And since he knew he had given no sign to anyone that there might be a connection between them - he had been very, very careful - there was something else going on.

By noon, he was hearing about the kind of glorious day she was having. Which was a relief - she hadn't been sent off to a mission yet. He finished his meal early and snuck off, yes, even here, to watch her from the shadows, and the glow from her ... the way she moved. It set her apart from anyone else he had seen all day. Their superiors would be blind to not see it, and they didn't seem to be blind.

And then mid-afternoon he was pulled out of training to be rapidly briefed on an extra assignment he was given for the rest of the day - there would be certain guests visiting, and he was supposed to shadow them, primarily for security (he wondered why the safety of special guests would be in danger here, on the premises, but didn't question it by word or look), but also to make sure that certain of them didn't encounter each other. If by some chance that was likely to happen, he was to run interference; otherwise, he was to remain invisible.

This all, he could do. He read through the information he was given, but it wasn't until he actually saw Comrade Red Guardian in motion that something clicked in his mind, and he knew that coming up against him would be to great peril to--

-- to the program.

But they were both working for the same cause, so scoping him as an enemy was unnecessary.

It was something he had to remind himself of multiple times though the evening. As he almost could make out the look in her eyes, but he was too distant for that. He could only guess from her face carved from porcelain, from her delicate smile. Almost brittle.

Almost, but far from it. Even though she was untried, he knew that much. Brittle and dainty were parts of her mask, but not of who she was.

And he had to put the image of her dancing out of the room as he shadowed the guests out of the premises. Then reported and was dismissed from duty. Then returned to his room.

And then stood completely still in the middle of it, trying to think of what to do next. The reasonable part of his mind, the trained part of his mind, said that he needed to rest. But it was tired. He'd pushed himself far enough for some of the control that the reasonable part of him exercised to be fraying at the edges.

A minute later, he was up on the roofs, making his way to the familiar window.

It was still lit up when he arrived, and he peered in very carefully, to make sure she was alone. Before he'd left, he wouldn't have questioned it, he knew the rhythm of the Room and how to tread it unnoticed. Now... things were going that he reasoned out but knew not the details of. So he was careful.

Or was until he saw her.

The sight took his breath away, and he turned fully as if falling into the light from the room would get him closer, his right palm splaying against the chill glass of the window. That was...

What seeing her in something as simple as a towel wrap shouldn't have shaken him this deeply. He'd seen her in barely more, with the nightgowns she wore. And yet the graceful curve of her shoulders, the line of her neck as she turned her head...

He breathed her name voicelessly, before knocking slightly on the frame of the window, if that was even necessary to alert her to his presence by now.

[natalia_romanova]

She'd had a glorious day. The facility was her's in a manner of speaking, she'd been the talk of those who would decide her future fate and there was some pride to be had in that. The flattering attention from the Red Guardian were also something to spark a bit of reaction.

She hadn't blushed exactly but she had wondered if his polite overtures were expected by conventions of society of if he had chosen to pay such special attention to her. Either way it had been the more pleasant aspect of the day, leaving however had been far more exciting.

She'd had time to contemplate all of this on her walk home and indeed her shower. She felt..more formidable, more her own today than she had ever. She was in control..no, Red Room was her controller, but why then did she feel as though she'd achieved that level of freedom? Natalia had reached the point where she was beginning to see what she could do above and beyond the plans of those around her. She had found her level of self containment.

She was pleased with herself. Pride, it was sinful and pride in herself more than pride in her program was against all rules. Still it was there, she could be better than any of them, she knew it now. She still had much to learn but there it was, in the back of her mind. Natalia knew she was different.

The idea had her smiling as she brushed the long red hair over her shoulder, she suddenly felt a sensation of not being alone. She sat straighter and looked to the window. The smile which had been sly the moment before blossomed fully and wide. She rushed to the window and pulled it inward, her arm taking his to help him inside.

"James!" His name left her lips without hesitation, it was a welcome, a greeting, an invitation all in the soft breathy word. Once he was inside her arm did not leave his, in fact an impulse she hadn't had since childhood struck her. She had not had family, nor wanted for any once Red room had taken her in as it's own. But now she felt the need to feel the closeness. Arms folded around him in a foreign movement, her damp locks rested against his chest as she hugged him.

[cold_shoulder]

His breath whooshed out of his lungs, out of his whole body, with the strength and ache which few adversaries could give him in a fight. Except this wasn't a fight, not by a long stretch. It was something he wanted to be doing, his body reacting before his mind caught up, arms wrapping around her and pressing her close, right arm steady, left arm making sure he wasn't hurting her. His face started leaning into the top of her wet hair, lips almost brushing the familiar strands even as the fingers of one hand lightly tangled into them.

And then his mind raced.

His head jerked up, even though he neither tensed nor pushed her away. He didn't want to push her away; he didn't want to let her go. Not to dinners with other 'graduates' of the division X and related programs, not to the cold outside, not to the future he knew they were both going to be step into anyway, a future where human lives were infinitely cheaper than causes, and theirs was the one true one.

"Natalia," he rasped...

... and then stopped himself. Because trying to turn away from that future, even worse, trying to turn her away, would likely lead to the termination of them both. Or... worse, though a sudden headache pressed his temples in as he tried to think about that.

No. He couldn't hold her in. And that knowledge clenched his chest and twisted, and twisted more.

"There is no-one as beautiful and amazing as you." It wasn't quite what he'd meant to say - he wanted to praise her for her accomplishments in his absence, for her progress, for the advancement she'd had today. But it came out true enough.

Her hair was as soft and silken, even still wet, as he ever could have imagined.

[natalia_romanova]

His arms felt strong and steady around her, one flesh and blood, one artistry of metal and gears. It felt right to be in his arms, it felt safe, not that she had much to fear here, but there was something deeper to it. Her eyes had closed when she felt him hold her, at the shift in him they opened. She didn't move but she felt the change in his breathing, his heart rate.

At their first contact his heart had raced, as had her own, but it changed shortly after. His breathing caught for just a moment, his movement frozen as though he debated the best course of action. Of course he did. She'd taken liberties in the contact, vast liberties that might be insulting to him or put him in a position to correct her behavior.

The moment passed and his hold warmed again, his fingers sank into the mass of scarlet stands and he held her tightly to him. He spoke finally and it was her name. She'd heard it on the lips of many all day but it never sounded as sweet or welcomed as it did from him. She smiled and squeezed a bit tighter in her hold hearing it.

It was distraction by that emotion that caused her to miss the following reaction form him. She was too caught up in this budding feeling to be fully aware of the nuances of his reaction. The change in grip, and position went without notice for the moment.

Her pleasure over hearing him call her name was nothing compared to the feeling of elation over his praise. Now she did move, and looked up to him with eyes that shined. She had no words, what could she say to that? She knew the expected answers when she was praised in training but this was far different. She looked up into his warm brown eyes, handsome strong face, and was silent for a long moment before she spoke.

"We should move away from the window." It was not the romantic answer, but it was practical. They stood in front of a window with her room light on. Natalia drew him deeper in the room, closed the window and shut of the light. The moon left plenty of light for them to see by and kept the activities more discretely hidden from outside.

"You must tell me about your time away." She took his hand and drew him over to sit by her on her bed. But once seated she didn't release his hand. Rather her fingers traced softly over the skin. Just being around him made her heart race and her body warm. Physical reactions of attraction, but that would hardly explain her constant thoughts of him, nor her desire to make him proud. "I worked hard to make you proud of me. Everyone has said I am doing very well." Understatement, but his opinion was the only one that truly mattered. Her fingers continued moving over the back of his captured hand.

[natalia_romanova]

Their reaction to the encounter could not have been more different. Natalia slept, though she thought she would never be able to, just after he’d ghosted away she changed to her nightgown and drifted off as soon as she’d slipped under the covers. She dreamed, and in the logic that could only apply in dreams, they were together. Not here, the air was hot and thick with moisture, the sun beat down with a warmth she’d never felt. Vaguely, idly her mind filled in the gap that it must be Africa. But why were they there?

He was speaking about a mission, but she was distracted by creatures she’d never dreamed to see in person. Sleek predatory cats, long necked giraffes, huge wandering elephants. It was fantastical and she wasted none of it on talk of missions. Her hand grabbed his and she ran toward the sounds of surf…Surf? Suddenly they were on a coast. The cool salty ocean splashed lightly over her toes as they sunk in the sand. They were alone, together and away from the demands of Red Room. Here in a land of sun and beauty unknown, free to be together.

She woke with a smile. Her face bright, eyes shining. Natalia remembered only bits and pieces of her dream, but everything of the night before. She was more determined than ever to exceed expectations, it reflected on him after all as much as herself. Changed, dressed and bounding with energy she arrived to train only to find new orders.

Natalia blinked and looked from the paper handed to her back to the General. “Field survival exercise?” The details were simple, released to the wild, minimal provisions, extraction at a planned time, contact only by emergency. She tried to contain the trembling of her hand when she read further, her instructor.. The Winter Soldier would be conducting the exercise. Her dream had been a portent? A chance they had never dreamed to have… but no.

Trainees would be cycled through to test their abilities to work with a cooperative group as well as be evaluated alone. Two weeks, the first scheduled to share with four other training operatives, the second her solo evaluation. She would be with him day and night in close proximity for a week, without being able to so much as casually smile at him as she’d like. The second week, already she was heady with the idea of it, but the first would be torture coupled with danger.

Tomorrow morning, in the dark predawn hours she would be dropped off, required to find her way to the camp, and the team week would begin. She had one day before her life would become a mine field of emotional and physical maneuvering. “I will be ready.” She nodded to the orders, she would be packed and ready to leave in under ten minutes. But there was still today, her other order gave her a start.

“I’m sorry Comrade General, please clarify my orders?” She stared wide eyed at the bearded man, he made no effort to hide his booming laugh as he patted her on the shoulder. “You were requested to escort Red Guardian today, someone has noticed you I think. Impressive for one so young, Romonova.” Impressive as the request might be, Natalia’s expression was not humility, it was shock. She didn’t want to spend the day being carted around with Alexi, she wanted to find James. Something in the pit of her stomach twisted, something felt very, very wrong about this.

[cold_shoulder]

By the morning, he was nearly drained. He'd managed to drift off and on for some lengths of time. It would have to be enough.

His head was too much of a fog to really let himself think of what had happened last night. Even more so, what was going to happen next. This was dangerous, extremely dangerous, and she possibly had no idea just what they could do to her...

Did he?

He shook his head, letting the shower wash away some of the thoughts. For now. They would return, but he would have assignments to perform today, and he had to focus on them. He had to keep up with everything, be perfect, be who he usually was. Be the Winter Soldier, and everything would have a chance to be safe.

Thankfully, the first session of the day was with fresh recruits; lessons which he had been over enough time that he could do them automatically. There weren't any surprises in this group. Half of them would drop out of the special program before three months were out, stuck as cannon fodder and decorated post-mortem when they could not give out any secret; most of the rest would still die heroically. Maybe two or three of them would be around in two years' time. If they were lucky.

After that, there were drafting assignments. Planning for different types of exercises. With different trainers, different levels of advancement of the students, from the rookies like the kids from this morning to those who were almost ready for missions of their own, work they needed to do...

Like she will be, soon. Too soon.

He carefully put that thought away from his mind and focused on the exercises, setups, traps, plans within plans, probabilities. Numbers and people, same weight, somehow.

"Comrade Winter Soldier."

He was up and at attention without turning around, at that voice. "Comrade General Karpov, Sir!"

"At ease, soldier." So he stood, at ease, but every bit of him presented for inspection. "You look tired."

"I returned from assignment in Algiers yesterday morning in the small hours, sir. Still adjusting."

"Adjusting, da?" The General took out a small knot of keys, his fingers stroking the metal. Even barely seeing them with his peripheral vision, he broke into cold sweat. Dark-cold-quiet-noise-words-concepts-good soldier-serve the Motherland-- "Do you need assistance with that adjustment?"

"Sir, no, sir." Calm. Stay calm. There is nothing to be afraid of. There is no pain that's worse than you need. This is an inspection, not an accusation. Not a threat.

"Good." He seemed to have done something well, because the Comrade General's voice relaxed, sleeked. "This survival program. I want you to rework it with these parameters." The General added a sheet of paper to the open folder. The Winter Soldier didn't look down on it. Whatever it was, he was going to do it, so why mind it sooner? "Understood?"

"Perfectly, sir."

"Good. Good boy. Get to work."

The general walked out, the clipped walk echoing down the hall. The Winter Soldier sat down in his chair - carefully not dropping into it, his arm (mostly) added a lot of weight to his muscled frame; he could find himself on the ground, and that wouldn't do - and turned the sheet around so he could read it.

And his mouth went dry.

He was going to be one of the two in charge of the survival exercise; that much he had surmised.

The group was going to contain five students for the first week and only one for the second week.

And, should she make it that long, both weeks would contain Comrade Trainee Natalia Romanova.

His eyes returned to the draft, and his mouth curled. Well, this wouldn't do to challenge her...

He focused back over the draft, this time letting his imagination and training take charge much more freely.

This was going to be complicated. But suddenly, he had something to look forward to. It shouldn't, but knowing he was going to have time, so near... it helped.

So near to her.

He made sure to not run his fingers over his lips at the thought of her, at each time he saw her name, until he was somewhere that he was certain was not observed in any way.

They would... have to talk before that.

All right, his eyes he could rub in public. Or as public as the office he was sitting in was. It was probably going to be a long while before he caught up with sleep.

[natalia_romanova]

How could she possibly contain herself? Had any of her superiors been aware they might well have commended her abilities to conceal such exuberance.

Her performance in training had earned her the notice of many; she would have to be more watchful, more mindful of every action. She could not afford to tarnish either of their reputations by even the hint of impropriety; so Natalia Romanova became the perfect trainee.

Her first covert action was keep up appearances of a normal life training in the program. Nothing was betrayed by glance or action that anything existed beyond her learning. It was then she realized how gifted she was for deceit; even to those in positions of power.

Half a day of training went smoothly and without interruption; until she was given her orders: Trainee Romanov was to escort The Red Guardian for the remainder of the day and see to him. The orders remained vague; no sense of the extent of her duties. To Natalia it seemed she was only there to be there.

There were benefits with such orders, of course.The Red Guardian; Alexi as he insisted she address him, was treated to the finest the program had to offer. Natalia had never tasted the sort of delicacies offered to Alexi. For the rest of the day Natalia enjoyed the privileges of rank; even as a guest among them.

Alexi was actually kind and far more gentle than his size might indicate; he had a soft rolling laugh that rumbled from deep in his throat. Whenever Natalia made a misstep in manner or form he corrected her with that soft chuckle and gentle words. "You will need to be as flawless in social circles as you are in battle, Natalia. There are such plans for you." Plans? For her? She was already as skilled, if not more so, than many of her trainers; one in particular aside.

The one she'd kept in the back of her mind; ever present in her thoughts but safely hidden away. He was her secret, her's alone and she cherished it. Her thoughts drifted to him for one tiny moment; a smile ghosted across her lips until she felt a large warm hand on her shoulder. Alexi had said something she missed, but had taken her smile as reaction; he seemed pleased.

Natalia kept her mind in strict check for the remainder of the day; when she was released to ready herself for her training the following morning she had to prettily demure the Red Guardian's offer to escort her to the dormitory. Some flattering lie of his company making her want to dawdle; the truth was she wanted to be away from them all.

She would have time with him; to be alone and away from the prying eyes of the program. Of course there was the matter of the week preceding it; a week in which they would be in close quarters and yet not alone. She would have to be extra mindful.

Even now her mind was whirling; she felt dizzy with excitement. Natalia, bell full of rich food, warm from a rush of excited blood thrilling through her, flopped across her bed. Red hair spilled in a fan and she finally allowed the smile and look she denied herself all day; lips that felt as though they'd just tasted another's, whispered that other's name.

"...James."

[cold_shoulder]

As soon as dinner was over and he was released, he returned to his room and crashed. Three hours, he estimated, before things were quiet enough for him to be able to move anyway. If he could sleep those three hours, it would be progress. He was getting to the point where he could function, but the finer details were becoming a blur, and he couldn't allow himself that.

With the hours since the last mental upheaval, with Karpov's visit, hours for training and self-discipline... and exhaustion to kick in, he was out like a light.

It wasn't three hours later to the minute when he woke up - that kind of precision was reserved for missions - but close enough. The quiet settling around his room was prompt enough, for his sufficiently trained mind. He splashed water on his face and neck, changed into a clean shirt - the intensive training tended to make that a necessity, sometimes several times a day - and stood just inside his window for long, still minutes as time slogged around him, treacly. But he had to make sure. That nobody was watching, that nobody was observing. That there were no new observation cameras that he couldn't evade.

And only when he was satisfied did he leave, quiet and focused. Attracting nobody's attention. Taking an indirect route and spending about as long watching the area around her dormitory before slipping down to her window.

A few more moments as the smile of her face amongst the fire spilled around it brought up a smile of his own. So beautiful. Like a spring flower, blossoming among thorns and winter dried statues of beauty that she couldn't not stand out beside.

Taps. Quiet, with the pad of a gloved finger. He wasn't calling her name out loud, not tonight, and the taps were halfway a notification that he was there and halfway a question. Was she still sure? Did she want him there?

[natalia_romanova]

At the sound she moved; fast enough to be at the window and see him before her imprint could even leave the bedding. The window pulled inward and her smile drew him inside more than hands ever could.

"I hoped you would come." There is was, said before she knew she'd even thought the words but they were as true as anything she could say.

She welcomed him in and closed the window behind him, careful to keep her movement from being too fast and calling attention should anyone happen to glance that way.

She looked to the light; obvious request for him to turn it out as they had done before. With the late hour it would not raise suspicions with her darkened window.

Natalia put away her boots and sat on the bed; her legs curled up under her, green eyes watching him expectantly, waiting for him to join her.

He must have received his orders, he must know what was to come. How did she then bring it up?

[cold_shoulder]

He nodded, slightly, and got the light. Then sat on the foot of the bed, facing her. Consciously relaxing himself into a cross-legged position that he could move easily from.

Then he let his eyes settle on her, meeting hers. And he smiled. "We have things we should talk through. And... I've been away."

Getting some steady sleep actually made a difference. It wasn't enough, but it helped. Also, he couldn't quite allow himself to recognize the sheer feeling of exhilaration in her presence. Now that... certain things had started happening. The Winter Soldier didn't grin goofily because a woman liked him, did he?

Well, he was pretty damn close.

He cleared his throat, forcing himself to focus. "Putting together what we know of the dangers ought to help coming up with the ways to avoid them. When we have that underway..." And then his right hand reached to run fingers over her knuckles. "More to talk of, too."