A/N: This is my first ever Romanogers fiction, I hope you enjoy. Peace.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the idea behind the story.

Steve despised it when Natasha calls herself a monster. She says she is because,she doesn't know any different, all she knows is how to kill, torture and survive. Part of her knows it's wrong to enjoy all the violence and death, so she hides it underneath the calm persona she always wears.

So Natasha tells him love is for children and she couldn't love or be loved because of what she is. It's her only defence mechanism but Steve's already seen what lies beneath due to a slip up…

Fury sent them to one of the Alaskan Hydra bases on a normal recon mission; to get as much information and dirt on Hydra as possible. It had started without a hitch, Steve and Natasha had managed to break into the base without any detection, but where stuck with a situation as they came to a split in the corridor.

"How do you want to go about this Nat?" Steve questioned as he placed his shield on his back. They were surrounded by unconscious and dead Hydra agents, without a single drop of blood splattering on the sterile white walls.

"Splitting up is the best idea, search every room. You have a USB right?" She waited for his nod before carrying on, "You take the East side, and I take the West. Loop back around and rendezvous here in 90 minutes. Take down anyone who is a threat and leave no traces that we were here. Sound good?" They weren't new to the whole Recon missions but Steve did let Nat take the lead occasionally.

"Yup sounds good. Meet you back here in 90." Steve said as he jogged down the corridor, moving like a ghost with no sound resonating from his foot fall.

Natasha was jogging down her corridor too, when she came to a sudden stop. She had heard voices of some Agents talking together and needed to get a good surprise attack on them. She was outnumbered, of course, three goons and two technicians against her – but she wouldn't have made it this far if she couldn't take out four of them, leaving just one of the technicians to question.

She jumped onto one of the goon's back using her Widow Bites to knock him unconscious. His body hitting the floor 'thunk', alerted the others that someone was attacking, but with her agility and skills Natasha had the other two on the floor within minutes.

Advancing on the technicians, the blonde male started to taunt Nat, "Ah, so you're the infamous Black Widow – come to pick a fight with the all might Hydra." Hadn't he heard, not to pick on the worlds most feared Spy and Assassin?

"Hydra is pathetic." Natasha stated in her cold detached voice, making note that he was probably the one she would get her answers from.

Both Techs advanced on her, and she knocked the brown haired one across the room, vaguely aware that she went smashing through a window.

"Oh, you have me quaking in my boots." He stated, aiming a kick into her chest. She grabbed his leg and twisted it, hearing a satisfying crack as his leg broke in multiple places and also dislocated from the rest of his body.

"Now listen! You will answer any and every question put to you." The normal Natasha was gone, replaced with the sadistic Natalia – the young girl who was raised by Red Room to be this Spy. The blonde didn't respond, which angered Natalia more.

"Tell me, what is Hydra doing? What are you working on?" Her voice, a snarl which made the man shudder.

"I will never betray Hydra."

Removing a knife from her boot, she slowly and gently dragged its blade over his throat. A blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the room, catching the attention of Steve who was on his way to find Nat after she missed the rendezvous.

Steve stopped in the doorway, watching the scene as it unfolded, too afraid for Natasha to interfere.

"I will give you one more chance to answer before I cut something off. So tell me, what are you working on?!"

"Hydra is looking for a way to perfect brainwashing, so we could capture the three most wanted people in the world: Black Widow, The Winter Soldier…" He stopped himself short not wanting to reveal the one asset Hydra was dying to get their hands on.

"And…" Natalia stated, grabbing the man's hand and chopping 3 of the 4 fingers off, revelling in the sounds of his screams.

"And Captain America." He yelled in pain.

"How far off is it to working?"

"A few months." With that information, Natalia got bored of torture. So she rammed the blade into his chest making him gurgle; twisting it as she pulled it back out, she stood to continue with her task.

Dead eyes met blue oceans, as Natasha turned to find Steve looking at her. He didn't look afraid or happy; he just held his hand out for her – even though her hands were dripping with blood.

"It's time to go." He whispered, knowing that she was currently unstable. Together, they ran stealthily to the Quinjet, thankfully not running into anymore Hydra agents.

Once safely in the air, heading home, Natasha finally broke down. Tears flowed as rivers down her cheeks, staining her normal pale skin pink. She was tucked under some blankets on the bunks, while Steve set the jet to autopilot. After it was set up, he moved to Nat's side.

"It's okay Tasha. You'll be okay." He murmured into her red locks, while Nat's hand clutched the front of his suit which she wept into his neck. This was a rare sight for even Steve; there was only three other accounts she had cried in front of someone since she had been taken by Red Room.

"How can you tell me that? I'm nothing more than the monster they created." She choked out the words Steve hated more than Hydra.

Moving to look her in the eyes, blue meeting jade, he needed to make her release that she wasn't. "Tasha, you will never be a monster. You can't do anything to what they did to you in Red Room, but each day I see you fight to make a better name for yourself. Natasha Romanoff is not Natalia Romanova. Yes she still exists but that doesn't mean anything; past actions don't always define who we are now. You are not the young girl you used to be." He took a deep breath, "Natasha Romanoff, I love all of you, including your imperfections."

"I love you too Steve." Gently, Steve pulled Nat's face towards his, lips caressing each other in pure love.