Sorry! it's been forever... I know.
We took a plane to Tokyo that night. Natasha secured fake ID's and passports as a Finnish couple.
"But neither of us can speak Finnish." I said, frowning as we left the airport.
"Don't worry. Nobody speaks Finnish."
"But it's Finland's national language..."
"Well nobody outside of Finland. It'll be fine."
"So where are we going?"
"I know a place."
She slid into a cab and rapidly gave the driver an address in Japanese.
We arrived at a clean looking white building in what I assumed was downtown. Most of the other walls were covered in graffiti and there was a general lack of cleanliness.
"Come on." She pulled me up and pulled out a hair pin outside a door with 744353 written on it. The door swung open after a few minutes and I stepped in.
"What is this? Where are we?" I asked, looking around at the blandly furnished apartment.
"Shield safe house. We got it near the beginning of the war. I figured it'd be empty."
I nodded and quickly walked sweeped the area. "Seems safe. We should do a bug sweep though."
"No need." Natasha held up the signal disrupter, already switched on. "And I placed most of them, I know where they are." She quickly went around the apartment herself and came back with her arms full of tiny recording devices. She dumped them all on the coffee table.
"When's the last time you had a good night's sleep?" I asked softly, looking at the dark circles under her eyes.
"I don't know." She said quietly, looking down at the ground. I put an arm around her shoulders and led her into the bedroom.
I suddenly woke up late at night. The room was still dark and I could hear Natasha's soft breathing beside me.
I was about to go back asleep when I heard a noise. A tiny bump in the night. I immediately sat up in bed and gently shook Natasha awake. I put my finger over her lips as she sat up.
"Listen." I said as quietly as possible. Her eyes went wide and she froze for a few seconds before we both heard it again. A light footstep, closer than before. I heard a floorboard squeak and silently stood. Natasha did the same and reached for the ornamental katanas on the wall.
She handed one to me.
"I don't know how to use this!" I whispered quietly.
"Nor do I. But it's never too late to learn." She whispered back. "Besides, you've seen Jackie Chan right? How hard can it be."
I heard another footstep, closer this time, and signalled for her to stay quiet. She nodded and held the blade up. Bright moonlight reflected onto it.
Then the door was thrown open and she immediately had the katana against his throat.
He raised his gun to fire and she sliced his throat open. He fell to the ground.
I picked up the submachine gun he had been holding and dropped the katana.
"More?" I mouthed at her.
She peeked her head outside the doorframe and quickly drew back at gunfire.
"How the hell did they find us?" I asked angrily, sending a couple of bullets out the door.
"They must have planted a tracking chip in me when they stabbed me." Natasha said, holding the blade me. She suddenly grabbed a small knife and cut open the angry red line on her stomach.
"Natasha!" I yelled in disbelief as she put a finger in. She pulled it out with a tiny blinking chip. She discarded it.
"Cover me." She said, breathing heavily as she started ripping off strips from the bedsheets and tying them tightly around her abdomen.
She immediately returned to my side. "You ready?"
"For what? Natasha-" I said as she stepped out. I swore and followed her, shooting over her shoulder as she ran towards the CIA agents.
But she was fine; she used the katana to deflect bullets with speed that made me ashamed of myself.
She sliced one agents stomach open and in the same move thrust the blade into anothers chest. I shot the last two and looked around.
"We need to get out of here." Natasha said, pulling the katana out of a body.
"And quickly. Get dressed."
She nodded and gracefully walked back to the bedroom, keeping the katana.
Later we were at the airport, trying to decide where to decide go.
"I want to go to Washington DC." Natasha said quietly, looking down at the ground.
"Washington? Why?"
"It's almost exactly fifteen years since he died." She said softly, still not meeting my eyes.
"Phil." I whispered, realizing. "It'll be risky..." I said uncertainly.
"What's life without risks?" She replied with a daring smirk.
I sighed. "Fine."
"Come on. You're going to need a decent disguise." She grabbed my hand and pulled me into a bathroom.
"Natasha... This is a woman's bathroom." I said as she locked the door.
"I know. Afraid to get in touch with your feminine side? Now lean back." She pushed me to a sink and turned on the tap. She pulled two hair dye kits out of her bag.
"So. Brown or black?" She asked, holding them up.
"Black." I didn't care much.
She did it quickly before leaving it to set in for fifteen minutes.
"You would really risk this much just to visit a grave?" I asked softly, curious.
"It's not just to visit a grave... I didn't even go to his funeral. I've never been to his grave... I always just made excuses, but..."
"Something's changed."
"You need to value life. There isn't enough time to put off things, say you'll do them later. In my line of work later isn't always guaranteed. Especially not now."
"Natasha... I'm sorry. For everything... Everything I've ever done, all the pain I've caused you."
"You haven't caused me any pain Steve."
"You left your daughter because of me. You can't say that didn't hurt."
She shook her head. "Our daughter. You left her too. We both did it, to keep her safe."
"But-"
"No buts. Steve, all the pain you've caused me is worth it. I love you. I would rather have five minutes with you than an eternity of thinking you were dead. I promise." She softly layed her full lips against mine.
But all too soon she was pulling away and grabbing the katana. She grabbed the ends of her long hair and sliced it off roughly. A lot of scarlet locks fell to the floor. She threw it in the bin and went over to the mirror. With a smaller knife she carefully made it even.
"Don't dye you hair."
"I'm not. Just cutting it." She wet her fingers and ran then through her hair.
"That should be ready now." Natasha said. She rinsed my hair off and dried it. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, black hair does not suit you."
I smiled slightly and stood. Natasha was already unlocking the door.
"So Washington." I said.
"It'll be fine. Don't worry."
Sorry for how long it's been... I've hit major writers block on this and my other story (Behind the Olde Sweete Shoppe. Check it out). I still have one more chapter of this ready, but after that, well hopefully I'll have finished another chapter. I don't know. Please review!