A/N: This part contains a flashback scene before continuing in the present. For the sake of the story, I am pretending that Natasha was born in 1981 so she'd be 18 in this scene. (this is important bc of her prior relationship with Bucky). Also, Natasha will be referred to as Natalia and Bucky as James during this section. ALSO, words in bold = spoken in Russian.

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Natasha

~inside Natasha's subconscious~

Russia. Cold. Snow.

I blinked my eyes slowly, trying to adjust to my blinding white surroundings. My eyes darted around me. Trees. More Snow. Sergeant Barnes.

I did a double take, looking at the passed out Winter Soldier next to me.

"James, what happened?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure." He scanned our surroundings. "Alexei is close. We need to run." He helped me to my feet.

"I'm sorry, James. I didn't know this would happen," I said.

"Natalia, it is not your fault. But I think we're lucky we got out of there alive." He took my hand and we started to run.

We hadn't gotten far when I sensed someone nearby. I stopped suddenly and James nearly tumbled forward.

"Natalia, we have to go."

I shook my head. Two seconds later I whipped my batons around and came into contact with an arm. I grunted as the person twisted a baton out of my hand, but I caught it again, stabbing at my assailant.

"Silly child." The figure countered, knocking my feet out from under me.

I panted heavily, resisting the urge to close my eyes. I knew how this usually ended.

"Kristina," James spat at the figure.

The woman called Kristina smiled deviously. She spoke in Russian: "She needs to be taught a lesson, and you've gone soft, Sergeant."

"I'm only doing what I've been trained to do. Natalia is part of my training," he replied.

Kristina's eyes flashed an almost hypnotic blend of colors before she reached out toward James. He closed his eyes. When he reopened them, his expression had changed.

"James, what happened?" I asked. One look into his eyes, and I knew the Winter Soldier was back.

"What did you do?!" I yelled at Kristina, pulling out my gun and aiming it at her.

Kristina laughed. "I control the soldier. I can control the spy, too."

"You will never control me." I shot my gun. Kristina countered, and I flipped to avoid her bullet.

She cursed, clearly not expecting my agility. I twisted around, getting the upper hand. She was quick; within seconds, I was flat on my back.

"Surrender, Natalia," Kristina hissed.

"Never." I swung at her, but out of nowhere, my arm was yanked out of its socket. Literally. I screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

Through blurred vision, I saw James standing over me with a gun.

"Kill her," Kristina ordered.

"James, please," I croaked. "I know you're in there."

He looked at me, his expression stone cold. But when he blinked, there was a softness that returned to his eyes. Right before he passed out and the world went dark.

~Present Day~

Natasha

I gasped loudly as I was pulled back into reality. My eyes shot open and I looked around the room frantically.

"Natasha! Nat, it's ok. You're ok. Breathe," a female voice echoed.

I struggled to regain my focus. Everything was a blur, but I could just make out two figures.

"Bucky, she needs familiarity," Shuri said.

"Natasha, look at me." A pair of familiar steel blue eyes met mine. His face came into focus.

"Bucky," I whispered.

He nodded. "It's me."

I closed my eyes. "Steve. I...get Steve." I opened them again, pain throbbing in my head.

Bucky turned from me. "Shuri, go get Steve. Please."

"On it. Start the tea for Natasha. She's going to need as much as possible. Ingredients are in the kitchenette," Shuri said.

I felt Bucky take my hand. The other went to my forehead.

Footsteps echoed in the room a few minutes later, followed by voices.

"Oh my God, Nat!" Steve cried out. He ran to my side and switched places with Bucky. "Buck, what happened? Is she alright?"

My heart swelled just seeing his face. I tried to speak, but my throat was too dry. I just nodded.

"She's ok, Steve. Shuri was scanning her memories for any connections to Kristina. And we found one.

"I believe she repressed this memory, as I've learned this reaction is most common with hidden memories," Shuri contributed.

Bucky brought over a cup of tea. I took a sip of it and felt instant relief in my throat.

"Hey, soldier," I managed to say, offering a small smile to Steve.

Steve returned it with one of his own. "Hey, you. Don't scare me like that." He wrapped me into his arms and I buried my face into his chest.

"This was something I had to do on my own, Steve," I said.

"This reaction is normal for such a repressed memory. Sergeant Barnes was the same way," Shuri told us.

Bucky laughed. "If I remember correctly, I nearly destroyed the lab. You had to hit me across the face several times."

Shuri smiled. "Yes, I remember that. Luckily, I knew how to do your memories in small doses." She turned to me. "Small sips on the tea. It helps the body to regain its strength and return to normal."

I nodded, taking another sip. The tea was warm with an almost cinnamon aroma. "So what did you get from my brain?"

Shuri pulled up some footage on her computer. "It's all content we can use. I need a few days to analyze it myself, but we will look at it later. You need your rest now."
I looked between the three of them. "Could Steve and I have a moment?"

Shuri and Bucky nodded and left us to talk.

"Nat, what's wrong?" Steve asked. He moved to face me.

I sighed and reached out to touch his cheek. "I didn't want to worry you. But this business with Katya and what we just learned about Kristina..."

"Wait a minute," Steve said. "What happened with Katya? I thought Tony said she was clean?"

I told him what Emery had told me about Katya and the hooded figure."

"You think there may be a connection between that and what you saw from that memory?" he asked.

I nodded. "It's too much of a coincidence. But this mind control thing—if that's even what it is..." I sat up quickly. "You're gonna hate this part. There's only one person we know who knows more about mind control than anyone."

Steve cringed. "Please don't say Loki."

I nodded. "We should talk to Thor at the party on Saturday."

"We should," Steve agreed. "But we also need to run all of this by the rest of the team."

"Then let's do that." I reached out my hand, and Steve helped me to my feet.