Nat's POV~

"Agents, we've been attacked." Nick tells us.

"What?" Clint says.

"But, thanks to Natasha's information, we were able to prepare and it's all clear now." He sighs.

"What are they wanting?" Steve leans back.

"They need Natasha. They need her for their plans, we're sure they've given up though." He assures us.

"They're not taking Nat." Wanda holds my hand.

"They won't, I'll see you guys soon." Nick exits the tower.

"Right, little red, no going out alone." Tony points at me.

"I'll be okay." I pout and kick the couch opposite me.

"No, Nat." Steve warns.

"Don't worry guys, she's stuck with me." James chuckles and I roll my eyes.

"Is that good or bad?" Sam laughs.

"Good." James cups my cheek.

"Bad." I cross my arms.

"It's getting late, it's 1 in the morning, guys." Clint rubs his eyes.

"Not even that late." I growl.

"Late, it's late." Steve chuckles softly.

"I'll see you guys in the morning." Tony yawns and goes to his room.

Everyone else leaves and goes to their room to sleep, leaving me and James in the living room alone.

"I'm not tired." I frown.

"Nat, your eyes are closing." He chuckles and picks me up.

"Put me down." My eyes slowly shut.

"Let's go to sleep, your eyes are closing, Doll."
He laughs.

We go to my bed and he covers us with a blanket, he kisses me goodnight and I shut my eyes.

* * *

I wake up and look at the clock on my wall. It's 3:45 am. James is still asleep next to me. Good.
I want to be alone, I can protect myself. A few minutes later, I slowly get up and curse the bed for creaking so much. He didn't wake up, thankfully. I leave my room and go to the kitchen. I look at the TV in the living room, should I watch TV? No, too risky. I decide to get myself a glass of some juice and sit on the couch, watching the clock tick.

Some time later, I hear glass shattering and see the window being broken into tiny, little pieces. I throw my glass at the figure climbing in and take out a gun.

"Who are you?" I growl.

"We meet again, dear Talia." It's that perv from the bar and the shopping market. Oh god.

"You're joking me." I growl.

"Do you know me?" He's wearing the same mask.

"No." I spit out.

He slowly takes off his mask and gives me a smirk.

"How about...now?" He chuckles.

"Alexi?" I gasp.

"Talia." He gives an evil grin.

"No-" I'm shocked.

"You missed me?" He chuckles.

"No." I growl.

"About the incidents earlier before, you deserved it for cheating on me." He chuckles again.

"I'm not your wife, Alexi." I snap.

"Oh but you are. That's all you're good to be. Mine." He smirks.

"I don't belong to anyone, especially not you." I yell.

"You're my wife so you technically belong to me." He growls.

"Yeah? Well technically I'm not your wife. I was a slave to hydra, I was only forced to marrying you." I take a step away from him.

"You weren't a slave, we prepared you for the real world. You belong to us." He takes a step towards me.

"I don't." I growl.

"And you're cheating on me, you ungrateful whore." He comes closer.

"I'm not cheating, I'm not your fucking wife." I snap.

He cracks me across the face which knocks me to the floor.

"Oh but you are." He chuckles and wipes the blood off my cheek.

"Nope." I clench my fists and stand up.

I punch him in the face and kick him in the stomach which makes him grunt in pain.

"You little bitch." He winces in pain.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I damage your ego?" I chuckle.

He gives me a glare then punches me in the face and kicks me to the ground. While I'm on the floor he stomps on my side then grabs my hair, pulling me up to face him.

"You are mine, understood?" He chuckles and grips on my hair tighter.

"N-fuck no." I kick him in the leg.

He gives me a chuckle and pulls out a knife. He then slices my arms and puts the knife slightly into my thigh. Not deeply though.

"Understand?" He asks.

"Nah." I snap.

He pushes the knife harder into my thigh.

"Who do you belong to, Talia?" He asks me.

"No one." I growl.

He pounds the knife into my thigh, I see blood pouring out of my thigh and glance up at him.

"Who do you belong to?" He pulls my hair harder.

"N-no one." I take a deep breath and get ready for whatever he's about to do to me.

He throws me across the room and slowly walks over to me. He gives me a smile and kicks me in the stomach.

"Sorry, what was that?" He grins.

I jump up and kick him in the face as hard as I can which makes him trip over. He grabs me by the foot and makes me flip onto the ground.

"Nice try." He grabs onto my hair again and pulls me up.

"Why-"

"Who do you belong to?" He looks me in the eye.

"To no one, especially not to you, fuck off." I snap.

"Wrong." He punches me in the arm.

"I think you'll find I'm correct." I hold my arm, that's gonna be a bruise.

"Think again." He growls.

He gets the knife and whips it across my shoulder. I whimper in pain and hold my shoulder. He cracks me across the face and I fall to the floor. I attempt jumping on his shoulders but he holds me down.

"Just leave me alone." I whisper.

"Not until you admit it, admit your fate." Alexi grins.

"F-fuck off." I attempt pushing him away.

"That's the wrong answer, Talia and you know it." He punches me in the stomach and stomps on my side again.

"Fuck." I cry out in pain.

I then see Alexi being punched in the face and is getting the living shit beat out of him. I feel someone hold me up while someone's beating Alexi. I then see Alexi escape out the window.

"Natalia!" I hear James yell.

"I'm okay." I sit up properly. Clint was holding me.

"Why didn't you wake me up?!" He asks.

"Well I didn't know he was going to jump through the window." I whimper.

"Who?" He asks. He hasn't noticed my injuries yet, he's looking out the window.

"Alexi." I whisper.

He turns around. He scans my body and so does Clint.

"'Nat... he really messed you up." Clint puts his hands on his head.

"No fucking way will I let anyone touch you again." James growls and wraps his arms around me.

"Careful." I wince.

Tony, Steve, Sam and Wanda enter and look at us all in shock. I explain everything to them all, also how he tried to make me say I belonged to him. Wanda starts tearing up, she probably saw it in my head.

"I'm gonna murder that guy, why didn't I do it before when you was forced to marry him." James growls.

"Our main priority right now is keeping Nat safe, we can't kill him yet, unfortunately." Clint tells him.

"Nat, you're in a lot of pain." Tony shakes his head.

"It's okay. Really." I say to them all.

"We won't let him go near you." Steve rubs my back in comfort.

"So he's the guy in the bar? He's done for when we see him." Sam snaps.

"Guys calm down. I've dealt with him before." I calm them down.

"I'm healing some of your injuries, others I can't really heal since I don't know how." Wanda uses her red magic to close some of my cuts and heal some bruises.

"Nat, let me clean you up." James tells me before slowly picking me up.

"I'm okay." I tell him.

"Nat." He says in a stern tone.

"Yes?" I smile.

"Woah, it's 4 in the morning." Clint says.

"Nothing new." Sam chuckles.

James takes me to his room and lays me on his bed. He takes off some of the clothing I'm wearing and takes out a medic kit. I smile at him.

"Hello?" He says.

"Hey." I giggle.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" He chuckles lightly.

"You're cute when you're protective." I look up to the ceiling.

"I care about you a lot." He smiles at me and I smile back.

He takes some of Tony's healing cream and rubs it on my thigh.

"Ow, James." I whimper.

"Shit sorry, Doll." He rubs it gently.

He then gets some more cream and rubs it on my arms. It doesn't hurt that much. He then remove my bra since it's covered in blood and ripped apart. He cleans my shoulder and puts some cream on it. He then throws me a hoodie.

"Don't put it on yet, you have more." He says.

He looks at my side and softly touches it.

"No way did he do this." He growls.

He gets some cream on his fingers and rubs my side. I have purple bruises all across.

"Owww, James!" I cry.

"Stop wriggling, Natalia." He concentrates on my injuries.

A few moments later he's done and helps me put on his hoodie.

"I'm keeping this." I smile.

"It's all yours, Doll." He pulls me and rests my head on his chest.

"I pulled a whole load of muscles." I groan.

"I saw him before I attacked him, you messed him up pretty badly." He chuckles.

"No." I giggle.

"If he ever goes near you..." James growls.

"Don't worry about me." I smile.

"You said that before." He chuckles.

"True." I roll my eyes and smile.

"I don't want all these things happening to you." He says.

"I could say the same." I cup his cheek.

"You make me feel human." He says quietly.

"You are human." I whisper.

"No, Nat. What about all those people I've killed?" He closes his eyes.

"You didn't have a choice. But I did." I tell him.

"No you didn't, Nat." He opens his eyes.

"You're the human one here, James. You have feelings." I whisper.

"You have feelings, Nat. You just hide them away like you were taught." He kisses me on the forehead.

"What if they're gone?" I ask.

"You feel all the time, I see it in your eyes, Doll." He reassures me.

I kiss him on the lips, his lips are surprisingly warm seeing as it freezing here.

"Are you cold?" He rubs my back.

"My heart is." I tease.

"Is your body cold?" He rolls his eyes and chuckles.

"Very, but it's nothing compared to the Red Room." I tell him.

"You're still cold." He says.

He gets a blanket and wraps it over us then kisses me. He holds me closer and wraps his legs around my legs.

"Warm enough for you?" He smirks.

"Yup, thank you." I giggle and kiss him on the cheek.

"If that ginger nut goes near you again-"

"He won't." I cut him off with a kiss.

"He won't, because you're stuck with me 24/7, understand?" He hugs me tighter.

"Mhmm." I roll my eyes and smile.