Steve's internal clock woke him a few minutes before 06:00 am. He drifted up out of a strange dream and felt something on top of him. His eyes blinked open, and he glanced down. All his senses came to life at the same time, and he was momentarily overwhelmed by everything he was feeling. Jane was fast asleep on his chest; he'd never buttoned his shirt before they went to sleep. He could feel her skin against his as he remembered that he'd partially unbuttoned her shirt. His heart hammered in his chest to the point where he was afraid it would wake her. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself, and he was finally starting to get somewhere when he felt her stir.
She opened her eyes, realising where she was and smiled. She took a deep breath and stretched a little, a joint cracking here and there. She pushed herself up on her arms, and her eyes met Steve's. Before he could say anything, she kissed him, throwing her leg over his hips. She lowered herself onto him, and he realised that her other buttons must have come undone as she slept because the only fabric he could feel between their bodies was the rough lace of her bra.
She smiled at the low rumble vibrating in his chest. His hands wandered up the smooth skin of her back, and his fingers absentmindedly explored the clasp holding the piece of lacey fabric between them. As her lips moved languidly against his, she pulled first her one arm out of her shirt and then her other, letting it fall to the floor. She sat up, biting her lip and Steve's eyes drank her in. His expression was a combination of longing and a kind of awe. He found himself at a complete loss for what to do or say until she took his hand and kissed his palm.
He sat up, wrapping his arms around her, feeling the lace brush his chest and flipped them around so that she was underneath him. He quickly pulled off his shirt, tossing it and lay down on her, partially supporting his weight on his elbows and relished in what he was feeling as he looked into her eyes. He let himself get lost there, and as she reached up to run her fingers through his beard, he said it.
"I love you."
The words seemed to have a physical effect on her as he watched the golden threads in her eyes glow slightly.
"I love you too." She whispered, and he kissed her with the all the intention of his words. He kissed her until he was right at the edge of his sanity and she'd wrapped herself around him. When he finally came up for air, he reluctantly took a step back from the edge.
"Good-mornin' Sunshine," he breathed.
It made her chuckle, before she said, "Good morning Captain." He was so close to the edge that her calling him that nearly sent him straight over. He shut his eyes and clenched his jaw with a blushing grin.
"How about some breakfast?" he asked, opening his eyes.
"I thought that's what we were having," she teased with a naughty grin.
"Okay," he grinned as he pushed himself up. She couldn't resist running her fingers over his body one last time, and he lingered to let her before he got up from the bed. She was right behind him, disappointed that their 'breakfast' was over. He picked up her shirt and held it for her as she put her arms through the sleeves, turning her gently to button her back up. She drank in every detail of his face as he worked and a million butterflies churned in her belly as the fact that he loved her sank in.
He smiled shyly under her unrelenting gaze and kissed her forehead gently before he went to retrieve his shirt, shrugging it on as he made for the kitchen.
Steve and Jane walked into T'Challa's office just after 08:30 am. He and Nakia were pouring over the large table strewn with papers and tablets.
"Good morning, Captain Rogers."
"Your Highness." Steve nodded his reply.
Nakia walked out from behind the table and handed Steve a thick, brown envelope.
"Everything you'll need is in there. You will fly to Cairo tonight where you will board a commercial airliner to Cape Town."
"I don't know how to thank you," said Steve as he opened the envelope and pulled out its contents.
Jane was standing next to him, eagerly waiting to see what was in the envelope.
Steve opened the first passport, his, he was to be Irving Rhodes and then the second - Jane was to be Alice Colbert. He put both passports at the back of the pile he was holding and up next, was a marriage certificate. It certified that Irving and Alice were married a week ago and by insinuation, this was their honeymoon trip. Steve blinked at the document and then shot a glance at Nakia, who was walking to Jane with a velvet pouch. She motioned for Jane to hold out her hand and turned the pouch over to spill two rings onto her palm.
One a platinum band adorned with a sapphire as blue as Jane's eyes and another, bigger, plain platinum band.
"Congratulations," quipped Nakia as she walked back around the table and took up her place next to T'Challa.
Jane looked at Steve who'd been caught off guard by the cover.
"Uh... thanks," was all he could manage.
"We'll have all the necessary props delivered to the apartment building by lunchtime," smiled Nakia.
Steve's mind was going haywire with what she meant by the word 'props'. He remembered how uncomfortable being 'engaged' to Nat had been the time they used an Apple outlet to hack a drive. His relationship with Jane was entirely different, but still, this had blindsided him. He had to admit though, that as covers went, this was pretty good.
"What about Dog?" asked Jane.
"It will be safer for him to stay here," answered T'Challa.
"It would, but something tells me that we're going to need him."
Steve, Nakia and T'Challa all frowned. "What would we possibly need him for?" asked Nakia.
"I don't know, I just know that we'll need him."
They argued with Jane for a couple of minutes, but she was not conceding.
"Fine," Said T'Challa, exasperated.
"He can come with Nakia and me. We're flying direct."
By late afternoon, Jane put her bags at the door of the apartment. Dog had been taken to the palace and all their props were in place.
Jane thumbed Alice's phone in her pocket remembering the events of a few hours earlier. A team had arrived and dressed her in a simple wedding gown and Steve in a Navy Blue suit. They'd taken them up to the roof and shot several pictures which had arrived on both their aliases' phones during the course of the afternoon. They also took some shots of them in casual dress with backdrops.
She pulled the phone out of her pocket and scrolled through the images. She was taken by the alternate reality they created. She could piece together the story between the moments captured on the photos. Alice and Irving had been married in a small private ceremony and spent the following week in Paris. They'd been in Cairo for the past two days as Alice had always wanted to see Egypt and they were to leave for Cape Town tonight.
She and Irving had always spoken about visiting the most southern tip of Africa where the warm Indian Ocean and the cold Atlantic met. Jane thought of how that metaphor fitted her and Steve and smiled.
She'd practically swooned when she saw him in the suit. He'd stared at her in the white dress with a look on his face that she'd never seen before and was aware of how he was extra careful around her, his touch lighter yet somehow more intense.
She locked the phone and turned her left hand, looking at the jewel attached to her ring finger. Steve had trembled when he'd put it on her for the photos, and he'd kept fingering his ring with a kind of hyper-awareness until they parted to pack.
On the other side of the hall, Steve stood in the shower. He was having a hard time pushing the image of Jane in that white dress to the back of his mind. The events of the afternoon had stirred feelings and questions in him that had his mind racing far away from what he needed to be focusing on, the mission.
He found himself thinking through marrying Jane. Would she say yes? Would she wear the same kind of dress? Then his brain went into overdrive with the reality of their lives. It wouldn't be possible for him to marry her, not officially. He was still a wanted and hunted man, and it would send off alarm bells. She didn't exist. She had no birth certificate and nothing like a social security number. Over and above all that, he didn't have a home; he lived his life from one mission to the next, fraught with danger and void of any stability.
He closed his eyes and hung his head, letting the water wash over him. He couldn't give her a home, or a real life. He couldn't guarantee her safety. Cap knew that it was out of the question. Steve felt a spark of hope in his heart as he thought of her. She was different. She didn't know or seem to want a white picket fence. As far as he could tell, she just wanted to be where he was and she was not completely vulnerable, she was at least as durable as he was and he was yet to see her strength fail her. She had abilities that even she didn't know about yet and that would likely still surface. She learned faster than anyone he'd ever encountered.
All she wanted right now was to get to the box and find the vial she'd told him about. She wanted purpose, something to give meaning to her life. Steve knew that she loved him, and a big part of him wished she could be happy with that meaning, but he would never deny her the chance to find out who she was. The thought sent a chill down his spine. Given everything they knew, her finding out who she was, wasn't going to be a psychological catharsis on its own. He had no idea what would happen, but his gut was telling him that it was going to be life altering and there was at least a fifty percent chance that it wouldn't be good. Regardless of what happened, he wanted her in his life.
He resolved to talk to her about it - on the plane would be good, he'd have a captive audience.
He took a deep breath and felt nerves clench his stomach at the thought of having a commitment conversation with her. Shrugging the thought, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.
Ten minutes later, he knocked on her door, and she opened almost immediately. The look on her face warmed him to his core, and he pulled her into his arms.
"You ready?" He asked, his voice low.
She nodded 'yes' against his chest.
He pulled away, holding her arms. "Whatever happens, remember that I will love you no matter what."
Her eyes searched his and brimmed with emotion. "So will I."
He smiled and kissed her forehead before he bent down and picked up her bags, walking out of the door he added his to the load, and she closed the door behind them. They rode the elevator in silence, shooting glances at each other as they both felt the tension. On the roof, a Wakandan fighter was waiting to carry them to Cairo.