The sun was shining over the little cafe in downtown Wembley. A crowd of early risers was bustling in and out of the building with their teas and pastries while less busy patrons sat inside or at one of the little wrought iron tables on the patio. Some smooth-tempo instrumental music was playing over the cafe's speakers, accompanied by the sound of chirping birds as they flew around in a lazy search for scraps. Steve sat with a coffee in his hand and watched as Natasha peeled little flakes off her scone and tossed them to the ground. The small but opportunistic birds were quick to hop to the offered food and gobble it up.
A couple days of laying low had given Natasha a small case of cabin fever. She'd done her best to keep it under wraps, but Steve noticed it pretty easily. When she wasn't training or checking her computer, she was taking little walks around the block by the safehouse. Steve accompanied her on most of them. One of those walks, he suggested getting a little further out. Heading into the city might be good for them, and Steve felt like he hadn't had a decent cup of coffee in entirely too long. Natasha had seemed skeptical at first, but after that she was quick to oblige. Now, their day was just beginning, and Steve could already see some of the ease that had settled over her. She seemed like she was feeling less restless already. That was good.
Even still, Steve wasn't naive enough to think that Natasha wasn't paying close attention to every single thing around them. Even with the sunglasses obscuring her eyes from view, Steve knew she was constantly observing. Natasha was the queen of paying attention to things without looking like she was actually paying attention to them. It was an important skill set to have when it came to blending in. She'd taught Wanda a lot of those tricks of the trade. So, even though she appeared to be sipping tea and feeding birds, Steve knew that she was watching everything about the world around them.
That was okay. He was enough of a putz to be happy just sitting there watching her.
Of course, Natasha caught onto that, too. She abandoned her quest to feed birds and sat up straight in her seat, glancing at Steve from over the rims of her sunglasses. The soft, content look on his face stirred up a flurry of warm feelings in her stomach, but there was no way she would let onto that. Regardless of how much she'd been enjoying their closeness over the last few days, Natasha wasn't just going to stop giving Steve a hard time. It was practically the foundation of their relationship.
"What?" She asked when she caught him looking at her.
Unlike Natasha, Steve wasn't wearing sunglasses. He'd removed his aviator shades a while ago and left them to hang from the collar of his shirt. Thus, his brilliant baby blues were out in full force. He grinned as he searched Natasha's face for a moment, ultimately just shaking his head.
"Nothing," he told her. "This is nice, is all."
"Hm," she made a contemplative sound as she reached forward and broke a piece off of the croissant that sat on Steve's place. She popped it in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully and savoring the flaky, buttery taste.
To return the favor of the borrowed bite, Nat broke off a piece of her scone and extended it towards Steve.
He shook his head.
"Just try it." She said, reaching a little further. "You'll like it."
Steve sighed, leaned forward, and took the bite. There was some sort of berry compote in the middle and a light, creamy frosting drizzled on top. He wasn't one for sweets, but even he had to admit it was great.
Natasha returned her hand to the table and watched him chew, her lips pushed to one side in a half-smirk. "Told you." She said, smugness in her tone. She popped her thumb in her mouth to remove the little bit of frosting left there. When it was gone, she lowered her hand down again.
"This isn't so bad, right?" Steve asked after a moment. "Sunshine. Breakfast." He raised his mug. "Coffee."
Nat got the sinking suspicion he wanted some sort of acknowledgement for being right about the fact that she needed to get out of the house. Even though he was right, she wasn't going to give Steve the satisfaction of hearing it. She just leaned back in her seat and removed the sunglasses from her face.
"No," she said. "I suppose it's not too terrible."
Steve grinned. He looked to the side and saw a couple pushing a small infant in a stroller. "I dunno… I think I could get used to it. Not being on the run? Not being shot at?" His eyes returned to Natasha. "It kind of has a nice ring to it."
The former-spy's face had become a bit more serious. She'd watched Steve's gaze drag over to the small family that had walked by. She saw the light and the appreciation in his eyes. It made her heart hurt a little. This whole… thing between them was still rather new, but Nat couldn't help but wonder how it might pan out. Even if they did manage to somehow step away from a life of running and fighting… what then? Her green eyes darted back towards the family. It wasn't like she could ever give him something like that.
"Is that what you'd want?" Natasha found herself asking before she really had time to think about it. When she looked at Steve, her expression was just as surprised as his. "I mean… a 'normal' life. Do you think you could ever really give up fighting the good fight?" She forced a smirk onto her face.
"What would the world do without Captain America?" She asked.
Steve seemed to think about that for a moment, his brow furrowing a little. What did he want? He'd never really had much time to think about it. For so long, life had been duty above all else. Missions and fights and saving the world had been all he'd known. All he'd been needed for. But… what if someone needed him for something else? What if he wanted something else? He folded his arms across his chest and released a little sigh.
"There are a lot of heroes out there that can do more than I ever could," he said. "I think the world would be in pretty good hands."
"Just because someone has powers doesn't mean they have your moral code," Natasha pointed out. "Your drive." She leaned forward, elbows on the table and chin in her hand. A little smile pulled at her lips.
"They just don't make 'em like you anymore," she said.
"That's a good thing," Steve pointed out. "They shouldn't me 'making them' at all. Garrett is a prime example of that." That, unfortunately, had his mind circling back around to the very thing he was wondering if he could live without. The mission.
"Have you heard anything?" Steve asked.
Natasha shook her head. She lifted her chin from her hand, sitting up straight once more. "No," she said. "I don't know whether to be relieved or worried about that. They made some arrests at the docks, but as far as I can tell… Garrett's gone and 'Dust' is… still in the wind."
She couldn't help the cheeky little smile at that one.
Steve rolled his eyes.
"What?" Natasha gawked. "Dust in the wind? It's a song-"
"I know what it is." Steve said.
"Whatever." Natasha lifted her cup to her lips. "That was funny."
The rest of the day was spent similarly and blissfully uneventful. They saw the huge Wembley Stadium and a wax museum that thoroughly creeped Steve out. They took a bus to London and took a ride on the London Eye, the tallest observation wheel in Europe. Steve didn't understand why they didn't just call it a ferris wheel, seeing as that's pretty much what it was. Regardless of the name, it was pretty spectacular. He stood with Natasha in an enclosed bubble that took them up over four-hundred feet in the air. The view was nothing short of amazing. The Coney Island ferris wheel certainly had nothing on this one.
That thought had a memory rushing into Steve's brain. Not a memory, but rather a dream. Red lights. The ferris wheel. Peggy. She was sitting at the top, patiently waiting for him. Yet, no matter what, Steve knew he would always be alone down there on the ground, and Peggy would remain up there in the sky. Because Peggy was gone. Steve turned his gaze to the side and saw Natasha standing beside him now. She looked out at the horizon, her face peaceful and appreciative. A soft smile tugged at her lips. It'd never really left since the moment they got up here.
Steve stepped a little closer and reached out, lacing his fingers with Natasha's. The contact pulled her attention away from the window. She looked at him, instead, angling her body towards his. Her eyes glanced down to their conjoined hands before traveling back up to his face. The setting sun behind him was clearly visible through the clear glass of their enclosure. The sky was burning with warm colors that silhouetted his figure and somehow made his blue eyes seem to burn even brighter, especially against the contrast of his beard. He was a painfully handsome man, and Nat found herself stepping a little closer to him. She wasn't one for public displays of affection- except to make people uncomfortable, of course- but this closeness between herself and Steve was still so new that she found it somewhat contagious.
Still, she noted the somewhat serious, thoughtful expression on his face.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
The question was so far off Steve's current frame of thinking that it surprised him a little. His brows lifted, and he had that look on his face like he'd been caught off-guard. "What?" He asked, brows dipping back down into a slight furrow. After a moment, he realized why Nat might have asked the question. He shook his head.
"Nothing," he said, lifting her hand up a bit. His eyes found hers. He knew that this was all still pretty fresh. He might have felt this way about Natasha for way longer than he realized, but he'd only just come clean about it. Being honest with her had worked in his favor so far, though. Maybe it would work again.
"I was just thinking that I-"
Thunk.
The sound of something hitting, and suctioning to, the window caught their attention.
Natasha and Steve both turned their heads to see something that looked like a black circle with four, short, octopus-like legs attached to it. It was attached to the glass of the passenger capsule they rode in. Natasha peered a little closer and saw a small, blinking red light on the underside. Her eyes widened.
Steve grabbed her right as the explosion happened. He dove across the enclosure, putting himself and Natasha as far away from the shattering glass as possible. They hit the floor, Steve's body covering Natasha. The cart rocked aggressively on the metal arm holding it to the wheel. Then, there was a loud groan and a gut-wrenching snap as the enclosure broke off one of the bars holding it in place.
Both Steve and Natasha went sliding down, gravity pulling them towards the opening that had been blown in the passenger capsule. Their bodies separated during the fall, Steve's falling a bit quicker than Nat's. He was the first to clear the broken glass. Natasha, on her way down, was able to grab the base of the metal seating that ran around the perimeter of the capsule. She extended her other hand and reached for Steve. Her fingers laced around his wrist, the sudden weight of his body pulling her shoulder painfully. She held onto him with every ounce of strength in her body. The sight of him dangling below her, the wind whipping his hair and glass sprinkling down all around him was enough of a motivation to keep her holding on while he reached out with his opposite hand to grab something sturdy. He pulled himself up enough that Natasha was able to let him go. They were both secure, for now, but they were still dangling hundreds of feet up in the air in a capsule whose structural integrity had been more than a little compromised.
It wasn't a great situation.
The sound of screams could be heard from nearby capsules. Natasha looked frantically around to see if anyone else was in trouble. It didn't look like they were. The force of the explosion had some of the other enclosures rocking a bit more than usual, but it seemed that the bomb, itself, had been targeted to their capsule only. That was good, but it also meant that this was far from over. What's more, the wheel had stopped moving. Anyone who needed to get to safety, including Steve and Natasha, were just going to have to wait.
Natasha swung her other arm up and gripped the metal seat base with both hands. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and the sound of rushing wind in her ears was making it hard to hear. The aggressive gusts whipped her hair in front of her face and obscured her view every few seconds. She struggled to remain calm, though. She couldn't risk slipping up, quite literally, and falling. She really didn't want to end up as a greasy smear on the sidewalk.
"There's a ladder on the A-frame!" Steve shouted over the sounds of chaos all around them. "If we can get to it, we can climb down!"
Natasha followed his gaze. They would have to navigate the metal arm and into the framework of the wheel to get to the ladder. Not impossible, but certainly not pleasant. One strong gust of wind, or another explosive blast to the wheel could send them over. Worse yet, it could put more people at risk. They needed to get out of here, though. Preferably sooner rather than later.
"Go!" She shouted to him. "I'll follow!"
If Steve had his way, he would've carried Nat on his back, but he knew that wasn't feasible. He needed his balance and his strength. He also needed to identify where the hell that explosive had come from. He hadn't been able to pin-point a trajectory just yet. There was no use hanging around thinking about it, though. They had to start moving. So, after one last glance up at Natasha, Steve used his enhanced strength to pull himself up the outer edge of the cap-sized enclosure. He tried not to put too much weight on the capsule itself, for fear of it coming unhinged completely. He got close enough to the metal arm holding the capsule, pushed himself off of the pod, and gripped onto the arm with both hands. He grunted as he pulled himself up. When he was (mostly) sure he wouldn't fall, he turned to look for Natasha.
She was swinging herself out of the capsule with the grace of an acrobat. Her strong, lithe frame moved easily between bars and wires until she found herself up on the arm with Steve. They were both crouching, neither one of them wanting to risk standing and losing their balance. As Steve planned out the best trajectory to get them to the ladder, Natasha scoped out the area. A multitude of police vehicles were already rolling up to the scene below, and a helicopter was coming in from the distance. She couldn't yet tell if it was a news chopper police-issued. Either way, she didn't want to stick around to find out.
"They're letting people off at ground level!" She told Steve. "We need to get to that ladder before this thing starts moving again!"
They started moving across the metal arm, inward towards the center of the structure. The sound of the helicopter grew louder. It's chopping blades kicked up a stronger gust of wind as it got closer to the Eye. Natasha paused and looked out. The helicopter was black. Definitely not media-owned. And given the lack of identifying letters, she guessed it wasn't police, either.
"Move!" She yelled.
But it was too late. The door to the helicopter slid open to reveal a huge gatling gun. Behind it was none other than Garrett himself. He opened fire, and bullets started tearing through the air. They pinged noisily against the metal beams of the wheel and whizzed by like tiny missiles in the air. Steve and Natasha picked up the pace, forced to stand up and try to run towards the ladder. When they got close enough, they leaped for the center frame and found relative safety. Thankfully, neither one of them had been shot.
Steve took a moment and watched the helicopter start to circle around the Eye. Bullets would spray through the air periodically, hitting the capsules containing other passengers. The glass seemed to be holding, but people were screaming and cowering in fear. Steve looked over to Natasha.
"Get to the ground and help get people off this thing." He told her.
"And just what the hell are you going to be doing?" She shot back.
"I need to get that bird out of the air." He told her.
"You can't bring it down here!" She protested. "If it crashes in the street, there's no telling how many people will get hurt." Or worse. What's more, Steve didn't exactly have a good track record with landing aircrafts. She gave him a pained, worried look.
Steve gripped Natasha's shoulder. "I've got this," he told her. He was surprisingly calm. "Just trust me."
She looked at him for a moment, brows furrowed and lips pursed. Then, she sighed. "God damnit, Rogers." She cursed. "I knew I shouldn't have let you take me out."
He grinned at her. "Heck of a first date, though."
"Who said anything about a date?" Natasha grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him in for a brief but powerful kiss. When she released him, she gave him a serious look. "Be careful."
He nodded his sage understanding of the order. Then, as Natasha made her way down, Steve made his way up. He traversed the metal framework of the wheel, which became increasingly difficult as it started moving again. Operators were in a hurry to get people to the ground and to safety, which was understandable given the happy trigger finger that Garrett was exhibiting. The helicopter circled around a few times as Garrett no doubt tried to take stock of what was going on. He probably didn't expect to see Natasha and Steve separating. Hopefully they could use that to their advantage.
Fighting wind, gravity, and the knowledge that this was just plain old stupid, Steve worked his way up the ferris wheel. He grabbed onto a thick metal beam and swung himself up to a crouch on top of it. The helicopter rose into view, hovering in the air several yards away from the Eye. Garrett was behind the gun, gearing up to fire more shots. Steve wasn't going to give him the opportunity. Rising, Steve gained his balance. Then, he started running. He gained speed as he ran out towards the end of the arm. He planted his feet on top of an unoccupied capsule and then launched himself forward.
Natasha is going to kill me for this, he thought.
If he didn't die first, of course.
Steve reached out, and his hands found one of the landing skids protruding from the bottom of the helicopter. The aircraft swayed hard to the right under the added weight of Steve's sudden presence. He could hear shouting inside and the loud beeping of the helicopter's warning sensors. It turned in a few, sporadic circles before righting itself and zooming away from the ferris wheel.
By the time Natasha reached the ground, everyone was looking up at the spectacle happening in the air. She tilted her head back and watched, breathless, as Steve jumped off the ferris wheel and onto the helicopter. She ran out from beneath the wheel and into the crowded, chaotic street to get a better view. For a moment, it looked like the helicopter might go down. Then, it started making its way away from the wheel with Steve dangling below it. Ignoring her previous mission to help get people off the Eye, Natasha started running in an attempt to follow the helicopter.
"Freeze!" Someone shouted.
She turned around to see two policemen with their guns trained on her. Apparently being shot at by a helicopter made her a suspect.
"Don't move!"
Natasha held her hands up in the air as the two officers approached her. One kept his weapon pointed at her while the other holstered his and circled behind her with his handcuffs out. He pulled Natasha's arms down behind her back and clipped the first handcuff around her left wrist. She looked over her shoulder to see the helicopter briefly disappear from view as it passed behind a building.
"Sorry, fellas." She said. "But I'm a little busy right now."
She leaned her head backwards, reverse headbutting the officer behind her. Then, she whipped her arms forward and looped the other handcuff around the wrist of the officer with the gun. The cuff clicked into place around his wrist, and she pulled it downward as he released three shots from his weapon. The bullets fired into the ground, not hurting anyone, but doing nothing to calm the panic around them. Natasha used her free hand to wrench the gun from his grip, and then she spun under his arm and placed herself behind him. His handcuffed wrist was bent behind his back, causing him to grunt in pain.
His buddy had recovered by now, though he was sporting a broken nose. He had pulled his gun, but with the officer in front of her, this one had no good shot.
"I don't want to hurt you," Natasha said. Well, no worse than she already had. "I'm not the bad guy here. Just put the gun down and let me go after the person who is."
The officer wavered, obviously wary and unsure of what to do in this situation. Natasha sighed. She lifted the gun she had stolen and placed it against the temple of the officer she was handcuffed to. The safety was on, but the other guy didn't need to know that.
"Put your gun down." She reiterated, more firmly this time.
This time, the officer listened.
"Kick it away." She told him.
He did that, too.
"Thank you," she said. "And… sorry."
She pressed the release and allowed the clip to fall out of the gun she was holding. Then, she threw the weapon right at the other officer, hitting him square between the eyes with it. He fell backwards and hit the ground, knocked out cold. Nat kicked the back of the knee of the officer she was handcuffed to, forcing him to kneel. When he was down, she delivered a quick strike to the side of his head that knocked him out. She pulled the keys from his belt, undid her restraints, and cuffed the two officers together. Then, she grabbed the gun that she'd made the other officer kick away. She checked the clip, loaded a bullet into the chamber, and tucked the weapon in the waistband of her pants. After that, she started running.
By now, she had no idea where the helicopter had gone. All she could do was follow the crowds and try to hear what they were saying. She ran through the busy city streets. She grabbed the cap off of a guy she passed and hastily hid her blonde hair underneath of it as she put it on her head. Then, she snatched a sweater off a clothing rack outside of a store. There were some shouts of protest behind her, but there was far too much going on for anyone to be able to chase her. She shouldered through the crowds, turning corners and passing storefronts, until she saw a group of people standing in front of a store. Some of them had hands over their mouths while others just stood, slack-jawed and staring at… something.
Natasha came to a halt by the crowd, slipping her way through people to get a closer look at what they were seeing. Her breath, already coming in ragged gasps, left her when she saw what they were looking at. A group of TV's inside the window were showing the live news. The scene of a helicopter crash caused Natasha's heart to drop into her stomach. The aircraft had come down on the bank of the River Thames, a few miles east of where they were. The sight of smoking metal half-submerged in the river was…
No.
She turned and pushed her way out of the crowd, trying to take deep, cleansing breaths to calm the angry beating of her heart. Steve was okay. He had to be. There was… there was no other option. Ignoring the stinging sensation in her eyes, Natasha started running again. She headed east.
