2012-07-31 You Have A Name

Natasha Romanoff, newly minted Avenger and continuing SHIELD agent is eating in the Helicarrier cafeteria. This is not a common occurrence. It could have something to do with the IV pole she's got next to her, pumping something into the wrist of an arm bearing a bandage. She is in sweats and a tanktop with the SHIELD logos, her hair back in a tail, as she dunks her chicken fingers in honey mustard with a disgruntled expression on her face.
James Barnes is escorted to the cafeteria by one of his now-usual guards. He is given plastic utensils to use as he goes to get his food. No real plates or cups either -- it's probably recyclable at least. Left to his own devices for choosing a table, he brings his tray over to Black Widow's table and sets it down there. In Russian, he asks simply, |"What happened to you?"| he looks at the food that he put on his plate. A burger and fries. He almost seems surprised at that.
Natasha looks up, a chicken finger held aloft. She replies in Russian as well. |"One of Hydra's higher ups grazed me with a poison dart. I will be fine in another day or two."| She smirks. |"Madame Hydra will not be fine in another day or two."| It's her version of "You should see the other guy." She takes a bite of the chicken.
Barnes looks over the other briefly as if trying to assess her himself before he looks back to his burger. |"Hydra..."| His brow creases at that name before he shakes his head. |"It...was this here? In New York? Or am I not allowed to know this?"|
Natasha tilts her head to one side. She may tell him the truth. She may lie. With her one never knows. |"Not here,"| she replies. |"How are you feeling today? I feel strange calling you Winter Soldier. Perhaps just Soldier for now, hm?"|
He almost seems amused by her answer. Picking up the burger, he takes a bite before setting it back down on the paper plate again, |"In a place like this, I'm surprised that the food isn't better."| The cup is lifted and he pauses, as if noting the metal hand for the first time. Finally taking a drink from it, he looks back to the burger and not at the woman opposite him, |"Call me what you wish. I still can't remember any name. Maybe I never had one."|
|"You have a name. It will come back to you in time. Once they sent me on a mission for so long, I still can't separate what was real, from what was implanted in my memory,"| Natasha notes. Was she a ballerina? Was she married to someone? Was she a fashion designer? Who knows? And does she know his name? If she does, she's keeping it under wraps for now. Maybe the doctors have insisted he find himself without prompting.
|"And now? How do you know what is real and what is not? How did these doctors help you here?"| He looks at the hamburger again as if it really should be something different. He finally looks back up at Natasha, |"How can you be sure you are who you are now?"|
Natasha smiles very faintly, popping a fry in her mouth and swallowing it down. |"They broke the brainwashing and those mental chains for me. The past is still fuzzy, but everything since I left the Red Room has perfect clarity. It took time though. Unlike you, I did not have an extended nap while the eras passed."|
Winter Soldier remains quiet as he works on the burger, taking in Natasha's words and mulling them over. After about half the burger is gone, he asks, |"How long did that take? I know time has passed and I don't expect things to change tomorrow."| He doesn't seem terribly impatient, after all. In fact, he seems completely ambivalent. |"I still don't really remember coming here."|
Natasha shrugs. |"A few months, but I went through a much harsher deprogramming by my own request. I think these days there are laws against such measures,"| she notes. |"But they also didn't have their hands on you for quite as long. So their roots don't run as deep in your programming."| She finishes her meal and shoves the tray aside, to pull a bottled water to her.
He doesn't try to refute her statement. To tell the truth, he really doesn't know how long he was with them, thanks to those 'extended sleeps'. |"So, I'll be here at least a few months, perhaps."| Just so he has a reference. Finally, Winter Soldier looks back up at Natasha, |"Perhaps if you are fighting Hydra again, I could be of some help."| It's the only hint that he gives that he might actually be getting restless. The burger gets another frown and he switches back to English, "This burger needed ketchup."
|"Perhaps. We'll have to test your capabilities first. Maybe when I'm recovered,"| Natasha offers. A nurse from the medbay comes in looking furious. |"Damn, Nurse Ratchet found me again."|
"Romanoff! You are on bed rest! Back to your room now!" the woman barks.
The Widow grunts and she gets up, pulling the wheeled IV pole behind you. |"Until then, comrade."|
He lifts a hand, his flesh and bone one, as Natasha is taken back to her hospital bed. |"Until then. Heal quickly,"| is added before he considers the food on his plate. He continues to eat, not really enjoying it, but knowing that he needs sustenance. Maybe, if he's permitted later, he will stop by the hospital bed as well although it might not be one of the approved areas.
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