Go Down in Flames

I. The Worst of Crimes

Natasha splashes the ice-cold water on her face. She wipes off the water on her face with some paper towels from the bathroom. She watches as Ross and his S.W.A.T team infiltrate a large building presumably where Natasha is hiding out. As Ross dramatically struts into the building, Natasha picks up her phone and dials his number. He picks up, "Hello?" "Don't do this," Natasha says. "Do what?" "Come after me, I mean you're just embarrassing yourself. It makes you look desperate," She matter-of-factly states. As he rambles on about how everything would be easier if she just turned herself in, Natasha starts slipping on her sweater. "Rogers is on the run," He says. Natasha smirks to herself as she hears some heavy footsteps from outside the bathroom. "Where are you gonna go?" "I've lived a lot of lives, Ross. You really shouldn't have gone through all this trouble," Natasha picks up her phone and hangs up on him.

She hears a soft knock on the door, "You ready?" A voice says. She opens the door to see the tired face of her best friend. "Let's go," she hands him her phone, "You mind snapping that in half for me? You're the one with all the super strength anyways and I don't really feel like littering." Steve gives her a look and takes the phone from her hand. He snaps the phone in half and tosses it into the nearest trash can. "So, where to next?" "I was thinking somewhere cold..." She links her arm with Steve and rests her head on his shoulder. "We can go anywhere we want now, but we're gonna have to come up with some new identities and I know just the person to help us with that," Natasha says.

She leads Steve over to one of the crew member's rooms. She pushes the door open and gladly finds that the room is empty. Natasha grabs the old-fashioned telephone from the desk and dials a number. The phone rings for a few seconds before a man on the other side picks up the phone. "Hello?" Steve hears the faint voice of a man on the other side. "Hey Mason, it's me," Natasha says. "Who's me?" Mason asks. "It's Natasha, listen I need some fake ID cards. Do you think you can make two?" "That shouldn't be hard. When do you want them?" He asks. "In a few days. We'll be in Norway," she says. Steve can't pick up what Mason says next, but Natasha responds, "Yeah, there should be fine." At that moment, the distinguishable sound of the ships blaring horn is sounded, signaling that they have arrived at their destination. "Thanks, Mason. Yeah, buh-bye," she hangs up her phone and grabs her go-bag.

Steve and Natasha rush out of the room and off the ship before they can get caught.

Time Skip
They arrive at a quaint trailer and Natasha pulls out a gun from behind her. "Wait here," she says. She sneakily opens the door and walks through the trailer. Natasha can hear faint snoring coming from in the bedroom. She rolls her eyes and gently kicks the door open. She hits the boots of the man sleeping in her bed, waking him up. "You're in my bed," she says, and then she calls out to Steve, "You can come in!" Steve walks into the trailer and sees Natasha talking to a man who seems to have just woken up. "I'm not even under the covers," he retorts. "Did you get everything I asked for?" Mason stands up shows her the things on the countertop, "Got you some passports and driver's licenses." Natasha grabs the papers and sifts through them, "Fanny and Hank Longbottom?" Steve snorts as Natasha gives him the papers. "There's a generator outside; petrol-powered. You can haul the rubbish to town, just a twenty-minute drive. There's a basic hardware kit just under the stairs. Some amenities in the cupboard," Mason says as he gestures to where each item is placed. "You guys gonna be okay?" "Of course," Natasha quickly responds. "So, what's the deal with you guys?" Mason asks pointing to the pair while finding a comfortable place on the couch. "Just friends," she says. Mason raises an eyebrow at Natasha, meticulously watching Steve glance and nervously fiddle with his fingers, there's obviously something going on between the two of them, but he decides not to snoop. "I guess I better get going," Mason says and stands up from the couch. "Thank you so much," Natasha says and embraces him into a tight hug. "Take care of yourselves, okay?" Natasha walks to the doorway to watch him leave. She spots a box of mail by the doorway and stops him before he leaves, "What's all this?" "Oh just some mail from the Budapest safe house," he says. "Budapesht?" "Yeah, Budapest." "No, it's Budapesht," she corrects him. "Pest. It's BudaPEST." "No... I'm pretty sure it's Budapesht." "Ah whatever. See you," Mason turns on his heel and walks away.