A/N. Enjoy!

Disclaimer - I don't own Captain America: The Winter Soldier or any of its dialogue, characters, settings, etc.

Chapter Seven

Steve set her down at the back doors of a recreational center. It was one she'd frequented for a bit before deciding that she burnt enough calories during her training with Natasha and her occasional mission. She hadn't been here in several weeks.

"What are we doing here?" She asked in a hushed and frantic whisper. The two of them huddled together, pressed against the brick wall of the building. They were both bruised and bleeding, but there was no pressing injury or need for immediate medical attention.

"We can't be seen like this," he explained, scanning the area. Not only were they beat up, but they were also wearing their superhero costumes. "Anyone catches sight of us, word will spread quickly-"

"And S.H.I.E.L.D. will find out."

"And then find us."

"Okay. I guess we can't go home because it's bugged."

"Right."

"So we steal someone's clothes from the change rooms and ditch ours here?"

Steve nodded.

It was too bad. She really liked her outfit. Steve had told her that it was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. But if S.H.I.E.L.D. was really compromised, then she didn't want to be associated with them and with the logos on her shoulders, it would be hard not to. Her Sonata costume shouldn't be associated with an organization anyway. Unless you counted the Avengers as an organization. She could design a whole new outfit-

She was getting ahead of herself.

"We'll meet back here in five," Steve said.

She agreed and they sneaked inside, leaving the shield under a bush. They needed to avoid security cameras and being seen by bystanders, which was hard. Mornings were always busy at the gym. Steve grabbed two towels from the laundry bin by the front desk (ew) and tossed one to Tania. They tried in vain to cover their costumes as they slipped past the receptionist and slid into the change rooms with relative ease.

Tania managed to make her way to the very back of the women's change room without notice and quickly stripped down. She opened as many lockers without locks as she could, making sure to be as silent as possible. Finally she found one that contained someone's bag. It was rather large; large enough to fit Steve's shield. Perfect.

She raided the bag and slipped on the person's clothes. This woman had a certain sense of style that Tania liked, which only made her feel worse about stealing her clothes. She rummaged through the bag and found the woman's wallet.

Candace Martinelli

Tania would find a way to pay this woman back for stealing her clothes. She pulled out everything from the woman's bag and stuffed it back in the locker. It would be weird if she walked around without a bag. That was something that people just didn't do; especially if her outfit had no pockets (which it didn't). She'd always found it annoying how so many articles of women's clothing had no pockets, forcing her to wear a purse.

She dumped her uniform in the trash and dropped the towel over top of it. She then pulled her hair down from its ponytail and ruffled it as she walked out of the room as casually as she could. She wore a bright orange and white polka-dot skirt and a deep blue halter top paired with sunglasses and a pair of white flats. The shoes weren't ideal for running, but they were ideal for blending in.

She spotted a cigarette pack on a bench and swiped it. She was going for a "smoke break". That would look casual, right? She strolled out of the back doors, fumbling with the box as if to take one out. Steve was already there, dressed in pants and a hoodie, which he wore over his head as if he could hide from the world. He looked like someone trying to hide. She didn't say as much. They needed to get that USB ASAP.

He looked down at the pack in her hands. "You stressed?" He teased.

She snorted and tossed him the box. "Duh. But smoking's not my thing. Tried it once. Hated it."

Steve threw the box into the trash and slipped his shield into Tania's new bag. He swung his arm around her shoulders and steered them around the building. They walked like a couple down the street and even though they were wearing other people's clothes, Tania hadn't felt more like his girlfriend in several days.

She missed this. She missed him. She didn't want to fight anymore. She wanted to confide in him and tell him her fears and her woes, but she wouldn't burden him if he wouldn't do the same.

They took a cab to the hospital. Luckily, Steve still had some cash on him from going to the bank the night before. Tania did all of the talking, as Steve's face wasn't covered. They didn't want to risk recognition.

When they arrived, they held hands. Tania didn't know if it was to blend in anymore. Was it natural? Was it really Steve and not the disguise that he was wearing? She wanted to stop and talk this out more than anything, but now was not the time.

When would it be the time?

They bypassed the front desk by saying that they were here to visit a friend. They rattled off a room number by the room they'd said good-bye to Fury in and made their way over. They stopped at the vending machine.

Steve stared. He made no move to get the USB. He stared some more.

She nudged him gently with her elbow. "Steve," she whispered, "What is it?"

"It's not there," he breathed.

"What?!"

Pop!

Tania turned. There stood Natasha, chewing gum rather obnoxiously. What was she doing here? Why did she look so smug? Why did Steve look so pissed? "Looking for something?" Natasha asked.

Oh. "You never left the hospital, did you?" Tania asked quietly.

Nat shook her head.

Steve nodded at the door behind her, his jaw set. "Get in." His tone made it clear that there was to be no argument.

Natasha shrugged coolly and turned to enter the empty waiting room. Steve and Tania followed. Tania shut the door and leaned against it, waiting and watching. It went unspoken that she would be the lookout in case someone wanted to come in. She made sure to keep her ears tuned to the low conversation between her fiancé and one of her best friends as she peered out the window.

"Where is it?" Steve demanded. Tania felt that he had every right to be angry, but it felt wrong to be so accusing toward Natasha. She was just as much family as was any of the other Avengers.

"Safe," was Natasha's curt response. Cryptic, much?

"Do better." Wow, Steve was really pissed. She had never seen him so rude to a woman before. Come to think of it, she had never seen him so rude to anyone before (excluding villains), let alone one of his closest friends.

"Where did you get it?" Natasha seemed equally ticked off.

"I can't tell you."

Realization dawned on her face. "Fury gave it to you. Why?"

"What's on it?"

"I don't know."

"Stop lying!"

"You're one to talk," Tania remarked bitterly. Shit. She hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Not now!" Steve barked at her.

She glared at him. Later.

"You know I only act like I know everything, right?" Natasha asked sarcastically, crossing her arms and cocking her hip.

There was a noise just outside the door and Tania grabbed the handle to make sure that no one came in. No one did and the footsteps died away.

Steve turned his attention back to Natasha. "I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"

What? What pirates? What was Steve talking about? Natasha seemed to know (at least partly). She seemed genuinely surprised by the news. "Well… it makes sense. The ship was dirty. Fury needed a way in. So do you."

Steve glared. "I'm not going to ask you again," he said harshly.

Natasha stared at him for a few seconds. It looked like she was searching for something. Tania wondered what it was and if she found it. "I know who killed Fury."

Tania's mouth fell open. Of all the things to say right now, that had been one that was completely unexpected. "Who?" She breathed, the word barely a whisper that blew past her lips.

Natasha shifted her stance. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty… years."

Twenty-four kills in fifty years. Fifty years? That would make the youngest assassin sixty-eight at their last known kill if they started at eighteen. What assassin lived that long?

"So he's a ghost story," Steve paraphrased, obviously doubtful of her statement.

Natasha could see that they didn't believe her. "Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odesa. We lost control; went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. The Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer so he shot him straight through me." She lifted up her shirt to show them a nasty scar on stomach. It was one of many that they'd seen on their trips to the beach and various swimwear appropriate locations. "Soviet slug. No rifling." Just like Fury. "Going after him is a dead end. I know. I've tried." She pulled the USB from her pocket and held it up. "Like you said, he's a ghost story." She held it out to Steve. She trusted them. So why hadn't they trusted her?

Tania felt guilty. Why hadn't they just told Natasha the truth from the beginning? Why couldn't they have been honest? Why was everybody lying to each other? If S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised, the Avengers should be sticking together, not fighting amongst one another.

Steve took the USB. "So let's find out what the ghost wants."

"Well," Natasha said with a smirk, looking Steve up and down. "First we're going to have to get you a better disguise than that."

They ended up going to the mall and using up the rest of Steve's cash to buy him and Natasha new outfits. Steve now had on glasses and a baseball cap that said "War Veteran", which Tania and Nat both found hilarious. They threw some hipster shoes on his feet and a sweater and voila. Steve undercover.

"First rule of going on the run is don't run, walk," Natasha told them without making eye contact as they strolled through the mall.

"If I run in these shoes, they're going to fall off," Steve grumbled. Needless to say, he wasn't a fan of the hipster look.

Tania bit her lip to keep from laughing. She couldn't help but remember that Clark Kent comment she'd made during their time travelling stint. She quickly forced herself to sober up. "So where-to now?"

"The Apple Store. Every mall has three functions: disguises, free computers, and crowds. We're going to see what's on the USB over at Apple so that when S.H.I.E.L.D. tracks us, we can lose them easily." Well, Natasha was the superspy here.

"That makes sense."

Tania and Steve avoided contact this time to prevent Natasha from feeling like the third wheel. Not to mention that it would look like she was the third wheel to others, which might attract the slightest bit of attention. They couldn't risk that.

Tania knew her way around the mall the best, so she led them to the Apple store on the second floor. She'd been here plenty of times, contemplating getting a whole new wardrobe. She had never really decided, but she'd wandered these halls enough times to know them by heart.

When they arrived, Natasha grabbed the first available computer. Tania and Steve hovered over each of her shoulders. "The drive has a level six homing program so as soon as we boot up, S.H.I.E.L.D. will know exactly where we are," Natasha warned.

Crap. How were they going to pull this off?

"How much time do we have?" Steve asked anxiously, looking around.

"About nine minutes… from…" She plugged in the drive. "Now." Her fingers danced across the keys, her repetitive clicking blending in with everyone else's. Steve continued to look around like a paranoid man while Tania peered curiously at the screen, her sunglasses resting on her head. Natasha typed faster than Tania could read. "Fury was right about that ship. Somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of A.I. It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Tania asked.

Natasha exhaled tightly through her nose, the clicking never ceasing. "Whoever wrote this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly."

"Could we bring it to Tony and ask him to work on it?"

"Hang on. I'm gonna try running a tracer. It's a program that S.H.I.E.L.D. developed to track hostile malware so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

Tania hummed. Maybe they should have just gone to Tony in the first place. The Tower was safe-

Oh. Tony was in Miami and the Tower was under construction. Right. The Avengers were currently disassembled.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" The three of them turned sharply to the newcomer: a long-haired male employee with a friendly face.

Natasha giggled. Giggled. "Oh, no. I was just helping these two lovebirds look for honeymoon destinations." She very nearly squealed in delight. It was very convincing. And kind of disturbing.

Steve blinked. "Uh, right." He snaked an arm around Tania's waist and she put on a smile, but it felt fake. "We're getting married." It felt like a lie, even though it wasn't. Was that wrong? Maybe it was just guilt for lying. I can't even sort out my own feelings, she grumbled to herself behind her smile.

The employee didn't pick up on that, thank goodness. "Congratulations!" He said brightly. "Where are you guys thinking about going?" Crap. Small talk.

Steve looked at the screen. "Uh, New-"

Tania, who had already seen the screen, stepped on Steve's foot and cut him off. "Somewhere tropical," she answered. "Maybe Hawaii."

"Ah. A classic."

"It's classic for a reason!" What was that? Ugh. She was so terrible at this.

"Exactly." He looked over at Steve and opened his mouth as if to say something, then didn't. Uh oh. Was that… recognition? Tania gripped Steve's bicep a little tighter. "I have… the exact same glasses." The employee smiled at them again.

Tania and Steve blew out a collective sigh of relief. Whoops. Too obvious! She blushed and laughed nervously. "What a coincidence!" She squeaked. Okay, she really needed to work on her lying skills.

"You two are practically twins," Natasha teased, still typing.

"I wish," said the employee with a laugh. He looked Steve up and down in admiration. "Specimen."

Tania "coughed" into her hand. She could see the back of Steve's neck redden as he nodded, totally unsure of what to say to that. Tania couldn't hold back her laughter and buried her face in his side, shaking quietly.

The employee backed away slowly. Maybe it was because he thought they were crazy or maybe it was because he sensed that they didn't need his help. Either way, Tania was grateful. "Well, if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron." He held up his name tag that hung around his neck.

"Thank you," Steve said, eager to be away from Aaron. When he was gone, Steve sighed and turned back to the screen, leaving his arm around Tania's waist as if he had forgotten that it was there.

Tania really didn't mind.

Seconds passed and Tania began to get as anxious as Steve. "You said nine minutes, come on," he urged.

"Relax," breathed Natasha. Click-click-click. "Got it." The program zoomed in on a map of the United States. It zoomed in further. Wheaton, New Jersey.

Steve's expression turned very serious and he leaned forward as if he really needed those glasses he was wearing. He squinted at the monitor, his expression somewhere on the spectrum between "confused" and "upset".

Tania couldn't say that Wheaton was familiar. Of all the places her parents had dragged her and Graham around, New Jersey hadn't been one of them. "What is it?" She asked warily. "Have you been there before?"

"Yeah. Before." Before? As in "before I went down in ice" before? She wanted to ask questions, but he yanked the USB out of the computer and let his arm fall away from her waist. "Let's go." He was walking away even as he finished speaking.

"You know you could have just lost a bunch of data by not ejecting it properly," Natasha called after him as she and Tania speed-walked out of the store to catch up.

"No time," Steve answered over his shoulder. "Nine minutes are up." The trio walked (not ran) through the mall, looking for the closest escalator to get downstairs. If it came to a chase, being able to exit onto the ground without jumping out of a window would be preferable. Tania led the way, trying to scan her surroundings without being obvious about it. Steve suddenly spoke up, loud enough for only the three of them to hear. "Standard tact team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us."

Tania's heart began to beat faster.

"If they make us, I'll engage. Nat, you hit them at the south escalator by the metro. Tania will take-"

"Shut up and put your arms around each other. Laugh at something you said." Natasha fell back and distanced herself from them, blowing a large enough bubble with her gum to hide her face.

Tania and Steve were quick to follow orders and ducked their heads together, laughing at nothing. The two agents straight ahead passed them and Natasha without a second glance. Some tact team.

Heart pounding, Tania made it to the escalator and stepped on. It was a pretty busy mall, so they had that going for them. Natasha, who was behind, leaned forward suddenly and disconcertingly. "Make out."

"What?"

"Do it."

Tania hesitated, but Steve took the initiative and pulled her in for a kiss. Embers flared in her stomach, burning brightly. She might have missed this the most. Just the slow, languid, soft kisses that could last for hours. Steve's lips slotted with hers so perfectly that she felt whole again when they were locked together.

Despite their fights, their lies, their secrets, Tania and Steve loved each other and were getting married. They cared deeply for each other and had started a life together – just the two of them. A fight wasn't going to ruin their relationship and the amount of effort they'd had to put into building it. She relaxed into the kiss and reached up to slip her hands behind the back of his neck.

Natasha had said to "make out", right? That was excuse enough to include some tongue in this kissing session, right? Wait, she didn't need an excuse.

Someone yanked on her arm and she stumbled off the bottom of the escalator and onto the floor, trailing after Natasha, who let go. Steve jogged to catch up, looking a bit dazed. Tania blushed and rubbed at her nose where his glasses had bumped her.

Okay. She was making up with Steve the moment they were both free.