In other circumstances she would go to Clint's house and stay there for a while, to clear her mind and set her plan. However that wouldn't be possible as he was being chased as she was. "Or maybe captured" this thought haunted her and she swallowed dry trying not to think much about it.
Natasha ended up near Toronto and hid in a cabin she rented in the forest. She did it using a fake id she carried with her. The forest was thick and dense, there was no way Ross and his henchmen could find her.
Three weeks passed and Natasha tried to rebuild her life. She didn't plan on staying there for too long, maximum 2 months. After that period she would go elsewhere. Until then, she was just making up a long term plan, understanding what she would do.
The cabin was cozy and so was the life in the forest. Whenever she needed supplies she would go to the village near her and buy them in the little supermarket, using a fake credit card or some cash she had brought with her.
The people were kind and no one knew her or seemed interested in knowing, which was helpful to her disguise.
While in there, Natasha dyed her hair blond, in order not to be recognized.
On one night, during the third week Nat let herself think more deeply about the past events concerning the division of the Avengers. She wondered what had happened to her former team mates, if they were ok, if things had gotten solved out and how Steve was doing. This last thought made her shudder.
She was sitting on her couch, in the small living room and got up. Went to the kitchen cabinet and took a bottle of vodka she had bought the week before. Sat again on the couch, opened it and drank almost half of it.
"Steve" she said out loud and burst out crying. During her time hiding she tried not to think much about him, because she needed to focus and plan her next moves. Steve was one of her best friends, one of the persons she trusted the most.
They had become close friends while working in DC for SHIELD and STRIKE. Natasha was not easy with words and didn't enjoy talking much about her past, but with Steve it was different. He understood her and always knew what to say or do to make her feel better. Apart from that, they made a wonderful team. Together they fought many bad guys and took them down. But now things were different.
She hadn't seen Steve since she let him escape and even though she tried not to think much, she was worried and she missed him a lot. She missed his friend.
Natasha took another sip and decided to get her phone and call Steve. She was hoping he had the same number. She dialed and waited.
The phone rang twice and a familiar sweet voice picked up.
"Nat? Nat is that you? Are you ok? Where are you? Talk to me Nat."
"Hi Steve." – She said while trying to keep tears from falling down her eyes. "Well, Tony warned me that Ross would go after me so I had to run. And then, I just, I just left NY, I couldn't stay there. And I, I ended up in Canada, near Toronto, rented a small cabin, to stay for a couple weeks, to clear my mind. And now…" she let out a sigh "I didn't know how things were and I had to know. I just couldn't stay like this. Hiding and not knowing what had happened to my friends, to you."
Steve closed his eyes. He was relieved to know Natasha was ok. He too had worried about her. He sensed the concern in her friend's voice and regretted not calling earlier.
"Nat, I'm so happy you're ok. I need to see you, ASAP. After the battle, well it's a long story. I will explain it better when we're together. Ross captured Clinton, Wanda and Sam. I got them out of jail, no need to worry. But then… then.. uh.. Tony, he uh, he discovered Bucky was the one who killed his parents. And he also discovered I knew that. And we got into this awful fight. And it was terrible, we hurt one another. Basically, Tony and I are not talking to each other. Bucky is fine. After releasing the team from jail I went with Sam and Bucky to Wakanda. T'Challa let Bucky to stay there hidden. Sam and I left. He's hiding somewhere too. Clint got back home to Laura and his kids. He's fine too. And well, I'm here, hiding too."
"What do you mean, you and Tony?" she took the phone out of her ear, wiped a tear that was falling and took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry Steve. I know things will be good again. We just need some time. We all do. I'm sure you and Tony can make it work again. I'm so happy Bucky is fine too."
"Nat.. I'm sorry. I should've called earlier. It's just…"
Natasha interrupted him "Don't! You don't have to apologize for anything. We had a terrible time out there. We needed to recover, think about ourselves, it's ok. I need to see you. Please." After this last word, Natasha burst out crying. She could no longer help herself. She hated crying in front of other people, but she just missed Steve so much. And after all it was Steve. She could trust him.
"Nat, are you crying? Natasha, hey it's ok. I'm here, remember that. Hey, hey, calm down, I will meet you. Just need to know your exact location."
She was wiping her tears and still crying. "Ok, I, I hum, I will text you the address. When will you arrive?"
"I'll be there tomorrow."
