A/N. Hey, guys. Sorry about leaving you with that cliff-hanger for so long. It was unintentional, I promise. Things are getting really complicated right now and I'm pressed for time so the next update might not be for another few weeks.

Final disclaimer of the story - I DON'T own the Avengers

Chapter Ten

The first thing she realized was that her chest was constricted. In the next second, panic consumed her and gasped; or rather, she tried to. Everything snapped back into her mind as if her memories had begun to float away without a conscious barrier holding them in place, only to be ripped back like an elastic band had broken.

Zola.

Hydra.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Winter Soldier.

Explosion.

Death.

Except she was alive. "…" She coughed. She had tried to say Steve's name. "S…" She tried again, only managing to mouth the word. She licked her lips and found they were covered in dust and dirt. The taste was dry and gritty and bitter, but that wasn't high on her list of priorities right now.

Her vision was swinging in and out of focus, but it was always dark. Sometimes she could make out silhouettes. Other times, all she saw was black. There was a great ringing in her ears. She couldn't hear anything. She tried to feel all her fingers and toes, but her legs were completely numb.

Heart pounding rapidly against her ribcage as if desperate to be free, she prayed to God that she wasn't paralyzed. Or that she hadn't lost them completely. She prayed that Steve and Natasha were okay. She couldn't see them. She couldn't sense them. Even her sense of smell was shot. It was smoky. That was all she could gather from her nose.

Something sharp dug into her chest and prevented her from inhaling all the way. She was getting air, but not the amount she craved. That might be a blessing and a curse, seeing as the air was black with smoke.

The sharp object lifted suddenly and she could breathe. She spluttered and coughed and flailed. She could move her arms. They felt around frantically. She tried to lift them, but they hit a wall.

"Help," she hiccoughed, her ribs shifting with every breath. That was normal, right? "Help."

The ringing began to fade, but the only other thing she could hear was her own heartbeat. It stuttered and galloped as fast as it could, sprinting toward… she didn't know what. Her stinging hands felt along the piece of debris lying on top of her – on top of her legs. Oh my God. Were they broken? Her fingers tingled as she braced her palms against the debris. She tried to push, but her elbows hit the ground. She couldn't fit her forearm in the space and didn't have enough upper body strength to push without the steadiness of the ground.

The weight disappeared and colour permeated the edges of her vision. Red and orange and deep purple and navy and then Steve's shadow hovered over her. Any light that existed in this space was behind him, so she couldn't see his face. "Steve," she coughed, choking on the dust in the air.

She thought she saw his jaw move, but she only heard the distant ringing. Then it faded and she could hear something in the distance. "… stand?"

Stand? Could she stand? She looked fearfully down in the direction of her legs. They were free, at least. That was something. She tried to move her feet. Something twitched in the darkness where she imagined her foot would be. A tingle zapped up her leg to her spine and she arched uncomfortably. She'd had pins and needles before. This was that, but tenfold.

She grit her teeth and pushed herself up onto her elbows, squinting up at the sky. The sky. Last she had checked, she'd been underground. S.H.I.E.L.D. had blown up the building so thoroughly that all floors had been decimated and fallen on top of them. She wondered how on Earth they'd survived.

The ringing was fading and she was starting to hear things besides her heart. She could hear fire crackling, which explained why there was light. She could hear small rocks rolling down debris as they dislodged. She could hear movement as someone whom she assumed to be Steve shifted around. She blinked and saw somewhat clearly that Steve's silhouette was leaning over her legs. He prodded her thigh, which shot another tingle up her spine. She groaned to let him know she felt it.

"I'm okay," she croaked. She hadn't realized that she was breathing so heavily. "I can- I can walk." She sat up fully, clenching her teeth as her every limb felt shot with electricity. She grunted and got used to sitting upright, her head spinning. "N-Natasha?"

"Alive," he responded, fatigue lacing that one word more than Tania had expected. Really, it should have been expected. "But not awake. I can carry her. There's no time to assess injuries. Are you sure you can you walk?"

She nodded. "I can." With enormous effort, she dragged her legs toward her and placed them in front. "With… a little help?"

He stood up and held out a hand. She missed the first time she tried to take it, but eventually fumbled enough to grab it firmly. He hauled her to her feet and she nearly toppled over unsteadily. Wake up! She told her legs. Wake up!

"Do you hear that?"

No.

Just then, three jets soared past, their spotlights combing through the debris. When had it gotten this dark? How long had they been down there? How long had they been out?

"Come on," Steve urged, sliding his arms under Natasha. Tania grabbed one of Natasha's arms and flung it around Steve's neck. Tania's other hand was busy gripping a tall, dented beyond repair, metal pole to keep herself upright. "We have to go."

"Lead the way," she rasped, her knees knocking together.

Now that they were both standing, the light of the fires could reach their faces. She saw doubt and worry etched into his features, but she also saw determination and Captain America in his eyes and the set of his jaw. He nodded curtly, turned, and led the way.

She followed as best she could, maneuvering through a landfill of what used to be more than just a munitions holding centre. Her legs didn't seem to want to cooperate, jiggling and giving out every few steps. She kept her balance only by using the debris around her as a sort of railing. There were demolished pieces of furniture, splintered wood, drywall, and upturned cement to hold on to. Her hands were bleeding from some of the stuff she grabbed to keep steady, but if it didn't slow her down, then she wasn't going to complain. They couldn't risk detection.

Steve was silent as a mouse, but graceful he was not. He stopped and started, stumbled and readjusted, twitched and ducked. "Hide!" He barked in a loud whisper.

Tania let go of the piece of ceiling she was clinging to and let her knees buckle. She hit the ground hip first and then caught herself with her hands. She threw her hair over her face and played dead, lying as still as she possibly could. Between the strands of hair, there was a bright light. It was almost like in those movies where aliens descended from their spaceships and abducted you with gravity defying beams of bright light. Tania almost wished that were true, but only if those aliens were Asgardians. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three would be very welcome right now. Anyone would.

Just not S.H-

Hydra.

As quickly as it came, the light disappeared. She looked up, glad that she'd thought to partially hide under a giant piece of floor. She thought it might have been a floor at one point. Or maybe that was just the other side of the ceiling she'd been holding.

Her muscles screamed in agony, but she ignored them. She pushed herself back up. The feeling in her legs had somewhat returned since being upright and getting the blood rushing again, but it wasn't coming fast enough. She stood up easier than the first time and grabbed Steve's shoulder in reassurance. They were both okay – for now.

Up ahead, she could see the forest. If they made it there, they were home free. Hydra was looking for dead bodies. They wouldn't find any. With any luck, they'd be presumed dead.

They were both clumsier than usual as they stumbled through the labyrinth of debris and destruction. Hydra had caused this. Hydra was responsible. Hydra. Whatever had been complicated before had been uncomplicated by the fact that they now had an enemy. Just as Tony had A.I.M. Steve had had Hydra – as of right now, he still did.

Steve jumped impressively out of the last of the debris, turned and waited.

Tania couldn't make that jump. But she had to. Blowing out an annoyed breath that sent her side bangs flying, Tania shook out her legs one at a time. Some distance behind her, she could hear shifting rocks.

She could feel both legs sufficiently enough, but they tingled enough to still be asleep. She grabbed a piece of debris on either side of her and imagined that she was a slingshot about to launch something across the gap. She leaned back. Then she flung herself forward, straightening her knees in an effort to jump. It sort of worked. Her legs flailed uselessly in the air until she landed on the grass. They buckled beneath her and she came crashing down. Panicking, she turned it into a roll, but couldn't finish it and her legs flopped limply onto the dirt. Groaning, she started to army crawl for the forest.

"No, you don't," Steve whispered. "Get up, Tania. Please. We have to run."

Sighing, Tania knew he was right. She forced her legs under her again and pushed up. Without giving herself time to think, she sprinted. She heard Steve's footsteps behind her and then they whooshed past her. "Wait!" She begged, pushing herself harder, faster. "Wait for me!" She thought she heard a twig snap from behind. "On second thought, don't wait for me! Just run!"

She found herself catching up to Steve. He must have slowed down. "Did you say that last part knowing you'd get me to slow down?" He asked her, trying to make light of the situation. He was only slightly out of breath.

She tried to laugh, but she was breathing too heavily for it to really come across as laughter. "No. But I'm simultaneously…. glad you did… and not."

"I would never leave you behind," he stated firmly. "Never. If I could-"

"You are not… carrying the both of us…" she panted, chasing their elusive escape in the darkness. "Where… are we going?"

"The truck might not have been in the vicinity of the explosion, but Hydra is too close. They'd find us no matter which way we tried to circle back. It's either wait for them to leave or keep running."

"We can't run all the way back to DC!"

"Yes, I-" He cut himself off. Right. He could run all the way to DC. That had probably been his plan since they woke up. But she couldn't run that far.

"Steve… I can't…" She had full feeling in her legs now, but if she slowed down even a little bit, she would drop dead. Adrenaline was keeping her going now, but it wouldn't last forever.

"I will carry the both of you if I have to."

"And where are we going to go?" She shouted at him, wasting her breath and panting heavier to make up for it. It was clear from the silence that Steve didn't have an answer. "We don't have any friends in the immediate vicinity. My phone was destroyed in the explosion. The only person we can trust now is a complete stranger and hope that… that… stop." Her legs began to slow clumsily as she tried to stop. She lost control of her limbs and caught her foot on a tree root. She face planted on the ground.

"Tania!"

She spat out dirt and shoved her hair out of her face with filthy hands. She wanted a shower – right after a medical examination. "Sam. Sam Wilson's place. We can go there." She paused, trying to catch her breath. "I don't suppose you know where he lives?" She asked hopefully. Hydra should be far enough behind them that they could take a little break. Although, with exhaustion pulling so determinedly at her every muscle, she wondered if she'd be able to get back up.

"No," Steve replied, kneeling down beside her and sounding very suddenly unconcerned. She swore that she could make out a little smirk on his face. "But there is this thing called the phonebook."

They continued running. Steve apparently had some weird sense of direction and was leading her by the position the stars. She didn't know how he could see them through all the trees, but his enhanced eyesight must be something else because she could only make out the occasional twinkle.

Tania honestly didn't know how she'd managed to get herself back up and start running again. They were both sprinting and hadn't stopped. She felt like her legs were on autopilot. She felt like she could run forever because her mind didn't control her limbs anymore; they were just moving for her. The moment they stopped would be the moment she fell apart.

They burst through the trees some time later (Tania couldn't be sure how much time later) and into a little town. The streets were deserted. Steve spotted a small car parked on the road and made a break for it. Knowing that the end of this race was coming, Tania found it a million times harder to keep going. Steve could carry her the rest of the way. She could just… stop.

But she didn't. She pushed herself. Just a little farther. She pushed herself a little too far. She couldn't control her legs and she couldn't stop. She flailed and crashed into the side of the car, grabbing hold of the roof to keep herself from sliding down. Her legs flailed uselessly. They felt almost as numb as before.

Steve set Natasha on the hood and then set to work stealing another car. Tania clung to it for dear life, panting hard enough to have been deprived of air for the past thirty minutes. Her mouth felt so dry that her tongue was like a foreign rock of clumped sand and her teeth felt gritty and dusty. Licking her lips only made them dirtier. She couldn't close her mouth for the life of her.

Steve wrenched the driver's door open. Success! Tania felt too much like a deflated balloon to actually say anything of the sort, even if she was thinking it. She would have to let go if she wanted to get in the car. She was blocking the back door. If she let go, she might just fall unconscious on the gravel right then and there.

Just a little farther.

A keening noise escaped her mouth as she pulled her feet back under her and stood on shaky legs. She stepped back, wobbling more than she wanted and more than was definitely needed. Hands still braced on the car, she shuffled over to the side so that she wasn't blocking the door anymore. She placed as much weight on her hands as possible. They seemed to be stronger than her legs right now.

Steve opened her door for her and she practically fell into the back. She lay across all of the seats and tucked her legs in so that Steve wouldn't cut them off when he closed the door. She waited until she heard the last one slam closed and then the engine start before she drifted off.

Or maybe that had all been part of her crazy, unbelievable dream.

"Tania. Tania, wake up. We're here. We're at Sam Wilson's place. We're safe. Tania. Tania, come on."

"We know you're alive, Banks."

"Thank you, Natasha. That was so helpful."

"Hey, don't bark at me because your girlfriend's not waking up."

"Wait. Tania?"

"Mmm… go away."

"She's awake."

"I can see that. Tania? Darling, you have to get up now. I wish I could let you sleep more, but we need to eat, we need to shower, and we need to return this car."

"Can't… move…"

"Are you sure?"

"Don't… wanna…"

"Tania."

"Wake… wake me up… tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow. Come on. Up you get."

"Eek!" Tania's eyes flew open as arms snaked underneath her and pulled her from her bed. She found herself in his arms and directly under the bright, bright sun. She snapped her eyes shut and buried her face in his chest, distantly registering that her "bed" had actually been someone's car. She sighed and slowly blinked until her eyes got used to the light.

Natasha leaned casually against the car, arms crossed and expression blank. She was dirty and bruised and tired, but other than that, she looked perfectly okay. Steve's worried face loomed over Tania. He was dirty too, but his expression wasn't blank. It was filled with worry and maybe something she interpreted as love. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah," she grumbled. But I don't want to. "Put me down." Her pride wouldn't let him carry her into Sam's house like a princess. She could handle this. As soon as her feet hit the ground, her knees failed and shot out from under her. Steve caught her under the arms and hauled her back up. Her legs felt like jello. She could barely feel them and when she tried to put weight on them, pain expanded like various bubbles embedded within her bones. "Might need a little help though," she admitted quietly.

"Of course." Steve threw one of her arms around his shoulders and wrapped one of his around her waist. Natasha kicked the car door closed. Together, Steve and Tania traipsed around the block and up the path to the backyard of a very normal-looking suburban house.

The superhero couple stumbled through the back door into the living room, where he set her down on a bench that also acted as a shelving unit for shoes. Tania realized with a double take that she wasn't wearing any. When had she lost her shoes? Probably while running. In the end, it hadn't been Steve's shoes that had fallen off.

Steve slipped off his huge hipster sneakers with ease and wiped at his face with the back of his sleeved arm in an attempt to look more presentable. Tania didn't even bother. She knew she must look a right mess.

Sam appeared in the doorway that looked like it led to the kitchen. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He looked like he'd hastily thrown it on five seconds ago.

"Hi," she breathed, waving a rather limp hand.

He quirked a small, concerned smile at her. "Hi again." He shoved his hands deep in his pockets, looking slightly unsure of what he was supposed to do. He didn't look lost or confused, just a little less confident than normal. "I've got three bathrooms; one for each of you. I can show you guys where they are. I, uh, don't really have any girls' clothes to lend you," he confessed, looking apologetically at Tania and Natasha. "I can throw your stuff in the washer, though."

"Thanks," said Tania genuinely. "Thanks a lot, Sam."

He shrugged. "No problem. And don't worry about apologizing. Cap's got you covered on that front."

She looked over at Steve, who shrugged in turn.

Steve helped her up again and they followed Sam as he gave them a sort of tour of the house. He took them to the master bedroom first, pointing to the bathroom across from them. This was claimed by Natasha, who locked herself in before anyone had even registered that she was no longer behind them.

Sam showed them to the bathroom down the hall from the kitchen, which Steve said he'd be fine with. He turned to Tania and said very seriously, "Do you need any help in the shower?"

Tania's face exploded in red mortification. Neither Sam nor Steve were laughing, but the thought of needing someone to wash her was just… it was embarrassing. "No. No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

She was sure that she was red as a tomato. "I'm good. Just, uh. Go."

"This bathroom doesn't have a shower," Sam blurted as if just having remembered that fact. "Right. Yeah, okay, so I only have two showers. Um, I'll show you to the other one." He led them to the guest bedroom two doors down and gestured to the very… empty space. There was a bed, but that was it. There was no other furniture in the room. "That's the bathroom, so uh, knock yourselves out. Just don't… damage anything." He smiled awkwardly at them and closed the door behind him, leaving them alone together in the silence.

"I think he was insinuating something," Steve said slowly. "Do you think he was insinuating something?"

She nodded. "Definitely insinuating something."

"You know, we could shower together... save more time."

She chuckled, shaking against him as he was still holding her up. "We could… but I feel like that would be rude to do that when we're guests in someone's house."

"Well... we don't have to… you know… we could just… shower."

"With a body like yours, I don't think I could handle that."

He smiled at her. "Well, then that's not your fault."

She smiled back. "Okay. You've convinced me."

They peeled off their fairly ruined clothes and dropped them in a pile in a corner of the room. They stepped into the shower together, not having anticipated how tiny it was. As it turned out, they were both way too tired to do anything except clean. While those few hours of sleep had reinvigorated her somewhat, it still wasn't enough.

She was able to stand in the shower by herself as long as she had one hand on Steve or the wall. It was less awkward than she'd anticipated. It was actually kind of comfortable, doing things like this with him. It made her look forward to all the domestic things they would do together once they were married.

Once finished, they towelled off and found clothes waiting for them on the bed. Their dirty outfits had been removed from the corner. Tania was unsure whether to be pleased that they didn't have to run around naked looking for clothes or slightly creeped out that Sam had come in while they were showering and could have seen something she'd rather he not have seen if they'd come out early.

Then again, maybe it was Natasha. She wasn't sure how she felt about that either. Ignoring her straying thoughts, Tania threw on a pair of boxers, sweat pants, and a Mets T-shirt. Oh yeah, Sam and Steve would get along just fine.

"You okay?" Steve asked, sitting down next to her on the edge of the bed.

"I feel like I just ran a marathon."

"That's because we ran several kilometers."

"Ugh. I never liked running."

"It's a good workout, though."

"You can say that again. My calves are still on fire."

"They'll look good later."

"What? They don't look good now?" She missed this too. The teasing. The comfort they had with each other. The honey-moon stage of their relationship.

"They'll look better. How's that sound?"

"Like a lot of work."

He laughed softly, leaning back on his hands to tilt his head up toward the ceiling. "You'll live."

"Yeah. I'm sure the feeling of being burned at the stake will go away eventually. What's the rush?"

"No other injuries?" He asked, changing the subject.

She shook her head. "I'm shocked, but no. I'm okay. Somehow."

"I managed to cover all of our heads with my shield, but it wasn't an exact fit. Our legs were exposed. My shield ended up digging into your chest." So that's what had constricted her lungs. "There was a particularly large piece of debris that had landed on me. I tried to hold it up, but I- it slid down off the shield and landed on your legs. I'm just glad they didn't break them."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Natasha woke up on the way here. She said that she has no severe injuries to speak of. She's just really tired. And worried about Clint."

Tania blanched. Oh no. Clint. He was on that deep undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. mission with Viola. Viola could be Hydra. Anyone could be Hydra. If Pierce decided that all of the Avengers were threats, then Clint… he could be in danger.

Seeing Tania's expression, Steve rushed to reassure her. He slipped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "Clint can take care of himself. He's the world's best marksman and a master assassin. He's also a phenomenal combatant and projectile weapons expert."

"Are those big and fancy words supposed to make me feel better?"

"Clint can take care of himself," Steve repeated.

"Natasha's worried," Tania pointed out. "I feel like if the Black Widow is worrying about something, it's something worth worrying about."

"Well, Captain America says not to worry. If you can't trust him, who can you trust?" There was that word again. Trust. If Tania had to list off all of the people she could trust, it would extend as far as the Avengers (that included Jane, Betty, Pepper, Rhodey, Peter, and of course Graham). That was a lot of people. Tania didn't know Jane very well, nor did she know a lot about Rhodey. She'd just trusted them because Thor and Tony had trusted them. That had been enough.

At the time.

Was it enough now?

"Steve," she whispered, afraid that Natasha might overhear. "Who do you trust?"

Steve took a while to answer, concentrating hard on the white walls of the bedroom. "You," he said at last. "And anyone who proves themselves to me."

"Would you trust Sharon?" The question came out of nowhere.

"Who's Sharon?"

"I mean Kate."

"Oh." He paused, thinking it over. "I'm not sure. She could be Hydra. And I will never forget what Hydra has done." His voice was stone cold. "And she hasn't done anything to get me to trust her as Sharon. Only as Kate." It was clear that Steve felt betrayed. Sharon had become a nice neighbour, almost-friend in the time they'd been in Washington. Then it was revealed that she was spying on them for S.H.I.E.L.D. which may very well be Hydra

"She told me that she didn't want to," Tania said to him. "I talked to her when we saw her outside of Pierce's office. I asked her if she approved of spying on us and the method and she said no. And Natasha trusts her. Well, she likes her, at any rate."

"Are you trying to convince me to trust her?"

"Honestly? I have no clue."

"You like her."

It was Tania's turn to look up at the very bland ceiling. "I think so. I don't know. There's something about her. I think she's trustworthy. But is it worth it if I'm wrong?"

"To gain a new ally?"

"Or a stab in the back."

A beat of silence followed this exchange of words. "I guess we'll find out."

A/N. I almost ended this chapter in a cliff-hanger as well... but then I decided against tortunring you guys xP This time...