Marvel Oneshots

Bucky x Natasha: Red Room

prompt: a Natasha and Bucky oneshot within the red room.

A/N: This is probably not what was wanted but this was meant to be one of the first times they trained together; so I wanted them to start of as friends. I might do another Red Room chapter later down the line. I also feel like this might be a little ooc (out of character) for the Winter Soldier, but I hope it's okay anyway. Also: Happy Australia Day for my fellow Aussies out there!

~

Her whole body was aching. That was the first thought in Natasha's head when she woke up in the morning. But as soon as the thought entered her head, she quickly shook it out. She didn't complain, that wasn't who she was. Especially about pain. Her missions would make her stronger, and the pain was nothing compared to what could happen if her enemies caught her.

Natasha got out of the single, grey bed and checked the time on her alarm that sat on her plain night stand. She had a few more minutes until she had to meet the asset for her training. So she got dressed as fast as possible and picked up a small protein bar for breakfast, eating it on her way down the empty corridors. They liked to isolate her, but she took it as a compliment of her abilities. It meant that they didn't want her near them while they were sleeping, that they wanted her on her best behaviour.

She stopped just outside of the room where she did most of her hand-to-hand combat training. A few weeks ago, they introduced a new sparring partner to her. They called him The Asset and he acted and moved in the most robotic way, but it still seemed graceful to Natasha; almost like watching a lion stalk its prey. He commanded all of her attention whenever they were in the same room, with his powerful presence and cold gaze, being a perfect soldier.

After wasting enough time thinking, she briskly entered the room to find The Asset already in the middle of the room, stretching and warming up for their sparring match. They had been instructed not to speak unless it was necessary for the activity they were doing, or if it was to teach one another anything new. Combined, Natasha and The Asset were probably the two most lethal weapons the people they worked for had access to. In this regard, it was hoped that they could both learn as much as possible from each other, to benefit their individual selves and organisations.

So Natasha did what they told her to do. Educate him. She decided to try and teach him how to hold a normal conversation, which was a skill she hadn't seen him demonstrate yet. That was what she would tell her superiors anyway.

"Hello soldier. We never introduced ourselves; my name is Natasha. What's yours?"

A look of pain flashed across his face for a brief second, before returning to the cold mask he was known for. "They call me Asset or soldier. Choose what you wish to refer to me as and we can begin.". He moved himself into the centre of the room and took up a defense position.

Natasha would have to work with him on this. After all, on a mission, he might have to actually converse with his targets, not reply with curt words and move on, effectively ending the conversation with his body language. But again, Natasha took the words he said literally, and chose what she wanted to call him.

"I'll call you Alexi, if you don't have another human name to go by that is. I like to form relationships with my targets, and I cannot do so without a name." She reasoned while also moving into a fighting stance, a few meters in front of him.

His face flashed again, but this time with a look of... joy? "Fine. Now, you must pin me for 10 seconds. Go" And with that they started their training for the day.

Lots and lots of grunts, punches and sly tactics later, Natasha had managed to win approximately 9 times, while Alexi had won the other 65 or so. This dismal success rate was really plaguing her mind, and her frustration at her inadequacy shone through via her combat style. Where in the beginning, her attacks were well timed and placed exactly where she wanted, 2 hours after beginning the sparring match, her attacks were now sloppy and placed whenever and wherever she could get a hit in.

Even Alexi had taken note of her attitude and had decided that they should take a break from physical training and move on to something different. He lead Natasha toward a long, metal table that sat at the edge of the room. On it, was a multitude of different guns and weapons, ranging from basic pistols to assault and sniper rifles and knives.

Alexi automatically went toward the rifles and started dismantling one, with his hands moving over the weapon as if they had been doing so his whole life. Natasha watched him and within a minute he had completely taken apart the gun.

"Put it back together." Alexi said, his gruff voice waking Natasha out of her stupor. She gave him a glance and nearly scoffed out loud. This was something she had done more than a thousand times, and every time, it made her feel at home, among the machines that she, literally, knew inside and out.

She marched up to the table and set herself in front of the rifle's parts. Making sure he was watching her work, Natasha started assembling the gun, with trained precision, while also counting the time it took her in her head. She had finished assembling it, and before Alexi could inspect her flawless work, she dismantled it quickly and looked up at his tall frame, a dare dancing within her eyes.

"Your turn. Try and do it faster than me." He could have easily shook off her dare and moved onto another weapon, which is what his handlers would want him to do. Don't get attached, and stay as impersonal as possible. But something about the challenge in her eyes enticed him, and he felt something within himself that he hadn't felt in a long time. He wouldn't dare call it.. happiness; that wasn't something he needed to feel in order to complete his mission.

But for the first time in a long time, he ignored the voices inside his head, telling him what to do, and silently took up his place in front of the table. He began assembling it with assiduity and soon stepped back to admire his work. He looked down at Natasha and was going to make a remark about how she couldn't beat him at his own game, when his gaze landed on her cheeky smile.

Natasha simply smiled at him and said, "I did it 10 seconds faster, sorry Alexi.". He recoiled faintly, as if her words had slapped him across the face, and went over his time in his head, begrudgingly noticing that she did indeed beat him. He was quite impressed that she had managed to win over something he had thought he was very adequate at, but she surprised him. He didn't let her have the last word though.

"7 actually Natasha." And for the rest of their allotted time together for that day, they raced each other to see who would win with reassembling each weapon. Without knowing it, The Asset had broken out of his shell with Natasha, and found himself enjoying her company each time they met. Dare he think that they might even be friends.