Somewhere Over Europe
An Hour After Leaving Mission Location

During their flight back to the villa in Spain, Sam kept getting two curious pairs of eyes darting at him and Teagan every so often from the front of the jet. He didn't know what they expected to happen but it seemed that they were determined to catch a glimpse of anything that did.

Teagan was sitting on the floor across the way from him, reading a book that she had brought with her. And there had been a few times that her own eyes had cut up at him before that cute, rosy flush would cross her cheeks.

He wasn't sure what to make of the kiss they had shared.

There was no doubt it had a passion behind it, from both of them, and for the past few weeks, he had been trying to keep their relationship on a more friendship level. He knew a lot more now about what Teagan had gone through in her time with Hydra…more specifically, Keeling. Ever since that day in the bathroom, he had tried to make sure that he never frightened her again.

But when that man had rushed forward and tried to attack her, an instinct to protect her had taken over. Not that he hadn't been impressed by her own retaliation at the action. And it finally made him admit to himself that he wanted to be the one there for her…in every way, and definitely not just as a friend.

Leading her from the room, he wanted her away from any type of harm. Then his mind had changed gears. Still feeling the confidence of his actions from the fight, he let it override the worry that had plagued him every night when he walked Teagan to her bedroom.

The one holding him back from getting a simple goodnight kiss.

And the kiss they had finally shared had been anything but simple.

Teagan had been in no way frightened by his actions, pulling him even nearer. He had felt a warmness overtake him and he wondered how much had been his own body's heat compared to hers being so close. Even if she would even consider them getting closer, Sam knew that there was a lot that he would have to help her with. There was no way they could rush into any type of deep physical relationship. But after having getting to know her better these past few weeks, he didn't care how long it took.

From the front of the jet, Nat glanced over her shoulder at the two embarrassed teammates. After using her powers to help deactivate the bomb and save over a hundred-thousand lives, a teammate was exactly what Teagan was…if she wanted it. She would never be an upfront fighter, but today had proved she could be useful in other ways to them.

But neither she nor Steve would ever demand that she help. They would not control her like Hydra would...had. Today, Teagan had understood consequence if she hadn't helped out.

And what about that little scene that had happened afterwards?

"{So, do you think it's a good idea for the two of them to get that close?}" she asked Steve in French, trying to keep their conversation as private as she could.

Steve looked over at her from his nearby seat.

"{I can't really see any harm in it. Besides, we both saw this coming,}" he pointed out as he passed over the ten dollar bill he had lost to her for their first kiss happening in less than a year. "{Why? Do you have a concern that I need to know about?}"

"{I've never known him to even be in a relationship. And then there is what she went through during her 'holiday',}" she used vague terms so Sam and Teagan did not pick up on their names, even if they did guess they were the topic of discussion.

"{Maybe this might be good for both of them. He would never rush her into anything he thought she couldn't handle. And she's told him a lot more about what she went through than she has to us. Maybe having someone interested in her knowing her history might actually be helpful…to know that her past is just that…in the past,}" Steve told her, making Nat turn her head to look at him.

"{That's very insightful coming from someone who wouldn't even go out for coffee with a nurse,}" she grinned at him. Changing back to English so that at least Sam would understand the topic, "But at least you got one kiss from her."

Steve gave a heavy sign, now knowing that she knew about what happened with Sharron under the bridge.

"Who the hell told you? Sam or Bucky?" he asked looking toward the back of the jet at Sam.

With a roll of her eyes, "If that's how you interrogate people, we have a lot to work on," she informed him.

Teagan could not actually focus on the book in her hands for the entire flight. The page in front of her had been there for at least twenty minutes, and still not a single word on it had been understood. She could tell that Sam was not going to have any type of real conversation with her being so close to Steve and Nat. And even though the two of them had a brief conversation in French, she knew exactly what the topic had been. Especially when Nat mentioned Steve getting a kiss from someone.

Neither one of them seemed angry at either her or Sam, but would they wait to inform them of their displeasure once they were back on the ground? Would they point out to Sam that she could've forced him to kiss her? Would they tell her to stay away from him worried that she could manipulate him?

Not since that day in the bathroom had she ever used her power on him. In fact, she'd tried very hard to forget it even existed, not wanting to mess up again. Sam knew that she had not forced him, and she was sure that if the others asked that he would tell them so. Actually, thinking back to what Nat said when they were caught, it seemed like at least she had been expecting something to happen between them.

Looking over at Sam, his expression was very serious as he focused on the tablet in front of him. Steve wanted him to keep a record of their 'extra activities' while they were in hiding, and neither he nor Nat wanted to do the paperwork. So for the past hour, Sam had been focusing on writing down what had happened and linking his video of the fight to the file. But every so often she would catch him smiling down at her.

"5 minutes," Nat called out from the pilot's seat, letting them know they were about to land.

All of them started packing away whatever they had been using to pass the time as she felt the jet slow and then land. The villa, being at the edge of town, had a large, high wall encasing a concrete patio which was used to hide the jet. Teagan had a feeling that all of Nat's safe-houses would have a similar area, making her wonder how often someone in hiding ended up with a jet.

They all stood, and as Sam hit the button to open the ramp, Steve came to stand right next to her.

"Teagan," he said to get her attention, making her slightly panic at what might be next. "I wanted to let you know that you did good today with helping us. If it wasn't for you, a lot of people, including all of us, would be dead right now."

She actually felt her face flush with the praise she had not expected.

"He's right," Nat told her. "How did it feel to put your power to use for good?"

"Nice," Teagan told her as her as the two of them left the jet, leaving her and Sam alone for a moment.

"So how scared were you today?" Sam asked, watching Steve and Nat head inside the villa.

"I wasn't really there to do anything so it wasn't that bad. I was more scared for you three since you all were the ones in the line of fire," she pointed out to him.

"I will admit, we were damn lucky to have you with us this time," he told her as they walked out under the evening sky. The villa had a great view of the town that rose up a small mountain. "Feel like walking into town for supper and getting a drink in celebration?"

"Just the two of us?" she asked him.

"Maybe we could all go, and then hit the cantina," he told her, slightly disappointing her. She had thought he might… "Or if you want it to just be us…"

Teagan knew that she should want all of them to go, and she was hoping to have some time alone with Sam. But she'd just had the best day of her life in a very long time. Maybe a bit of celebration for all was called for.

"How about both? We all get some supper and then tha' two of us hit the cantina," she suggested making a grin appear on his face.

Taking her hand into his, he led her towards the house, "I'll let Steve and Nat know to get changed."

Spain - Near Safe House

Hours later, Sam was sipping his second beer while Teagan was on her third ale. Steve and Nat had joined them for a late evening meal before bowing out on the cantina without even being told that he and Teagan wanted to be alone. Neither one had brought up the kiss, but with the way Teagan's cheeks had flushed just after he had taken her hand to escort her to the cantina, she remembered it just as well as he did.

He was almost worried about asking how she felt about it. Maybe he shouldn't. He had taken a major step forward with the kiss. Should he wait to see if she made the next move? He knew that Teagan had been through a lot of sexual situations due to Keeling, and he was not going to push her into anything beyond what she was comfortable with. As long as he knew that she felt a bit of the same attraction that he felt, that would be enough for now.

"So, do ya think they're mad a' us?"

Teagan's words brought him back to the now. Her accent was slightly coming through her partially slurred words. They were sitting at the end of the bar on stools next to each other.

"I don't think so," he told her, getting a raised red eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure they might have known it was going to happen before we did."

"Why do ya say that?"

"Didn't you see the bill that Steve passed Nat? They made a bet that we would kiss."

Teagan picked up her ale and gave a large chug, finishing it off.

"So, are you trying to get drunk enough to forget what happened?" Sam had to ask her, hoping that wasn't it.

Teagan shook her head as she took a heavy breath.

"Tryin' ta' drown out Keeling's voice," she told him tapping the side of her head. "An' work up the liquid courage to do it again."

Not sure how to take her admissions, he let her know, "Teagan, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. If you don't feel anything like I do…"

"That's me problem," she interrupted. "I've been wantin' to for a very long time."

Sam couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face, bringing one out on hers.

Then she continued, "I just have a lot o' things ta' forget."

The tipsy admission made Sam wonder is now might be the best chance he had to get Teagan to finally tell him about the one subject that she always hesitated with…the black cell. Every time he'd tried asking her since that day in Wakanda when she first mentioned it, she always found a way to avoid the subject. He knew that there was something about it that caused her the most pain when it came to what she'd been through.

"Teagan," he started out taking a hold of her hand, "I want to talk with you about a topic and I'd like for you to not avoid it or get angry at me for bringing it up."

Her face slightly fell, but she didn't tell him to stop.

"Will you finally tell me about the black cell?"

After a moment, she slowly pulled her hand from his and began to scrub her hands over her face as she considered his request.

"I really hate that place," she bluntly told him.

"I know you do, but I've seen how dark and small areas affect you and I have the suspicion that it all links back to that cell. I want to help you get past it as much as you can, but until I know what happened there, I can't."

Something he said made her giggle a bit.

"What's so funny?" he asked seeing that she was so far not made at him.

"That's the thing, nothing normally happened in there," she stated sounding amused.

"What do you mean?" he really didn't understand that comment.

Teagan reached over and took a large swig of his bottled ale before answering.

"Keeling once told me it was just a place ta' put his tool…me. Liken it ta' putting something away on a shelf until ya' needed it again. The cell was painted in plain black. There was only one small bulb high up on the ceiling. It was only on when guards needed it to be which meant that when I was alone in the cell, it was off. Day or night had na' meanin' for me. Keeling saw to that. I spent so long alone chained up with nothin' ta' do. I couldn'a even tell the right passage of time."

"Why not?" he carefully prodded.

"The beeps were not right."

"Beeps?"

"There was a beep that happened for hours on end, maybe daytime, maybe nighttime, maybe both…I'm not sure. But they never stayed right, always changing from seconds to minutes. I know that Keeling did that on purpose."

Sam tried to put together these details and the picture it was creating was hideous. That's why Teagan had been so upset at learning the length of time she'd be held by Hydra. Keeling had tortured her in a way so that she could never tell the passage of time properly. Then he decided to ask about the other comment she'd just given.

"Teagan, you said that you were chained up, but you were already in a cell."

"Another way the bastard liked ta' make sure I couldn'a escape," she told him starting to pick at the label. She had not made eye contact with him since starting to talk. "It's the reason me arms were hurt."

"What did he do?"

"There's a metal thing that my arms fit into. It would bend them behind me so I looked like I was praying. There were small, closed tubed for me hands to fold into so tha' I couldn'a touch anythin'. Sometimes I was then hung standin' in the cell with the gag and blindfold on. Feedin's were through the same tube in me nose. If we weren't leaving for a long time, he'd take the stuff off me head. I'd just be there in the dark all alone. Hours, days, weeks…I don'na know how long passed sometimes. He liked it that way."

Sam felt himself sobering up and getting sicken at the same time while listening to her tale. She had already been locked inside of a cell in a Hydra base with no way to escape, but Keeling had taken it upon himself to go a horrendous step further by torturing her. Teagan's voice was low at she continued.

"Sometimes he would let me sleep on tha' concrete bed for a few hours, but I think that was only every few days. Guards would come in an' slacken the chain so that I could use tha' toilet. That was about once a day, maybe. I wore only a elastic top and bottom that barely covered me. If I couldn't wait until they came…"

Sam knew what she was getting at. She'd have to stand in her own filth.

"If that happened, they would hose me down as I hung there. That was tha' only way I'd get clean too. Hosing me off. They would also shave me head before doin' so if me hair was too long. I actually looked forward ta' getting out of there, meaning I had ta' obey Keeling. If I was bad or fought, it would get even worse for me."

"Worse?" the strained word was pulled from his lips before he had a chance to stop it.

Giving a heavy sigh, "I guess I was wrong earlier. There was something that happened in there. He'd make sure I was clean first, but if he thought I was bad…Keeling would join me in the cell for a while. There were other times when he did it because he wanted to."

Sam's entire body now felt a few degrees colder than when she had started talking.

"He'd make the chain pull me arms higher, bendin' me over slightly. That's what hurt me shoulders. They were'na made to go that direction. Sometimes he'd push so hard they'd snapped out o' place. He did'na care. He'd do whatever he wanted to me as I stood there cryin' in pain. When he was done, he'd leave me hangin' for a while before someone would take me ta' medical to pop my shoulder back in. They'd knock me out ta' remove the cuff ta' do that. When I'd wake up, I'd be back in tha' cell, hooked back up. I was nothing more than his tool waiting to be used…one way or another."

"They…he didn't even give your arm time to heal before securing it back in place?" Sam asked.

"It did'na interfere with my ability ta' work for him, so no. He did'na care."

Sam reached over and placed the bottle in her hand back on the bar. Grasping onto both of her hands, he could feel they were slightly chillier than they should be.

"What you went through was a torture that nobody should ever have inflicted on you. It sounds like Keeling was a sadist who used his position inside of Hydra to achieve his own twisted form of pleasure. But even with those horrible things he did, I know that you are strong enough to overcome those deeds and not let them control you. You've fought for months against his memory, and over that time, I've seen you slowly winning each little battle."

"That day in tha' bathroom, when ya' touched me hand…I thought o' him," she admitted.

"And I know that it scared you. But I hope you can now see that I would never touch you in any way to that would hurt you. I also know that you would never use your powers on me to hurt me in any way," he told her running his thumbs over the back of her hands, bringing a smile to her face.

"I liked the kiss," she suddenly told him, her face glowing a bashful red, "and I want to be normal again but I don'na think I can go further right now…"

Hearing her trail off, Sam used a finger to make her look up at him.

"That's fine. If all I can get for now is a kiss and being able to hold your hands, that's fine. We'll take this one small step at a time. When you feel ready to go any further, you let me know. This will be at your speed."

The timid smile she gave him before speaking made his heart skip a beat, but in a good way.

"So if I pointed out that I'm sittin' here waiting for you to give me another one..."

Without hesitating at her amusing statement, Sam leaned over towards Teagan, their lips connecting in a much gentler, calmer kiss than their first. He'd expected to hear the usual taunts from the others in the bar, but thanks to being at the far end where it was darker, they had a bit of privacy.

Teagan moved her legs on the stool, turning to face him a bit more as she opened her legs so that his rested inside of hers. His hand came up to caress her cheek when he urged his tongue forward, Teagan opening her mouth to accept it. Her hands gripped onto his knees, almost trying to pull him closer to her body.

By the time they both pulled away breathless, he saw that her lips were swollen slightly with a hint of red in them. But it was the smile that they were giving him that he liked the best.

"That was nice," she told him, making him chuckle.

"Nice? I was going for something a bit more than nice," he grinned back at her.

"That was my second kiss in a long time, but if I rate it too high, you'll have nothin' to achieve for," she teased him.

"Then I look forward to the day that the word 'amazing' passes your lips," he told her with a grin, helping her from the stool."Come on, Erin, let's get home before Steve and Nat start to worry,"

As they walked back to the villa, hand in hand, he noticed that even though she didn't actually seem to need the support, Teagan was leaning heavily against him.