I walked down the hospital hallway, the aroma of two steaming cups of coffee warming my hands. One was for me, the other for Sam. It was strange... just a few years ago, I had been one of the many Black Widows, trained to be a weapon. And now, I was a government official. The training paid off, sure... I could throw men twice my size to the ground without breaking a sweat. But it still made me feel out of place.

I wasn't Natasha Romanoff. I could never be her. But she... she was an idol.

A lot of us- I mean ex-Widows looked up to her, even Yelena, her little sister, my close friend. I turned a corner and nearly halted when I caught sight of Bucky Barnes passing by me, heading in the opposite direction. His presence lingered for a moment, his scent, his quiet yet confident stride. I had heard a lot about him before. For one instance, when I was finally free from the Red Room, Natasha had met me for coffee and told me everything, his past, his guilt, his redemption. She even mentioned being trained by him.

Maybe that's when the crush started.

It wasn't something I'd ever act on. But still, I couldn't help the small smile that played on my lips as he disappeared from sight.

Shaking the thought away, I stepped into the waiting area outside the operating room, my eyes landing on Sam, my smile never fading.

"Future congressman James Buchanan Barnes," I greeted, handing him his coffee.

He took it with a side-eye.

I nodded in the direction Bucky had gone. "He's taller in real life. Nice smile, too." I quickly added, "Good amount of teeth, great posture."

Sam gave me a disapproving look. "He's a hundred and ten years old."

I shrugged, taking a sip of my coffee as I turned my attention to the glass window overlooking the operating room where Joaquin was being worked on. "I can work with that."