LOOK.
LOOK AT THAT SMIRK.
LOOK AT THE LIFT OF HER EYEBROWS AS SHE GLANCES BACK AT HIM. THE GRIN BEFORE SHE FOCUSES ON WHERE SHE’S RUNNING TO, TO FIND WHERE TO SET HER TRAP.
Nat is running for her life - only not really - and enjoying every second of it. There is no fear there.
She knows this game.
She knows whom she is playing with.
And now that she knows he doesn’t remember that she already knows all his moves, she can play him. Like Happy, like Stark, like Luchkov. Just like all men.
Do you think she’s pretty, Bucky? Come into her web, said the spider to the fly.
No. Stop dehumanizing Nat like this. Stop putting her on this pedestal. Stop belittling Bucky’s trauma. STOP.
Yeah, she’s proud of herself for shooting him and saving Steve, but she’s also terrified out of her mind. She’s not toying with him. She’s desperate and afraid.
She doesn’t know him.
She doesn’t know his moves.
She doesn’t play him.
Her trap was pitiful.
Her attack was useless.
Her beauty means nothing to his traumatized mind.
He is not capable of that kind of thought at the moment.
He throws her off him in less than five seconds.
He shoots her, fatally without medical intervention.
He kills her if Steve didn’t come to her rescue.
Still kills her if Maria didn’t come to their rescue.
She lost this fight.
She’s human.
She’s allowed to have flaws and weaknesses.
Get over it.
This kind of nonsense isn’t empowering to her, it’s dehumanizing her by not letting her be three-dimensional. She can’t win every fight, she can’t manipulate everyone.
It’s also disgusting to even suggest that at this moment Bucky has any thoughts about her beauty or her womanhood. None of that matters to him. She’s a level six target, that’s all he cares about. His mind is too damaged and conditioned to think of anything else until Steve wakes him up.
She’s good, she manages to stay half a step ahead for a bit and even slightly injure him. But he’s still better because all he is is the kill and there’s nothing there for her to work with.