On The Run) Romanogers

Part 10

Steve P.O.V.

With the plane full of fuel and running smoothly, we decided to book it far. We had stayed in that area for too long after having been found, it was a miracle we got out. So, we prepared for a long flight. Natasha was asleep in her nest on the ground, so I had moved myself up into a chair and was recording everything that we had done for her. The amount of IV fluids she had had, her meds, her vitals (every hour), and other notes like that. She had taken the chart at some point and scribbled notes in it about how we were being annoying, mother hens. I hid it from her after that, I knew she would stress out if she was able to look at it too long and start over analyzing and overthinking.

I thought her biggest problem in the flight would be the near constant jostling, but I hadn't realized her leg would swell from the altitude and pressure. We tried to get the swelling to go down with meds and elevation, but it wasn't helping. She was in serious pain and trying desperately to cover it up, I told her she didn't need to, but she just threw her head back. I felt so helpless because there wasn't anything I could do. Bucky decided to just inject her some tranquilizing meds and she had been out since. I didn't like the idea of it, and I knew she was going to be livid, but it was a nice break from seeing her in near constant pain.

"We can just make Sweden with this range," Sam broke the silence, I looked up from my work and looked at the screens he was displaying. Natasha had rigged this plane to attach to her cell phone, at some point (clearly, well before any of our current issues started). We had taken it and had started to navigate our way and our mileage, making things a lot easier for Sam to understand. Bucky and I seemed to almost prefer the old system.

"Perfect," I nodded, we hadn't been there yet and would have as close to a fresh start as world class fugitives can have. We could probably stay there for a few weeks, at most two months. It would be a good chance to lay low until Nat recovered more.

"How is she doing back there?" Bucky asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Better," I was honest, "I'm not thrilled you injected her with a sedative with no warning, but at least she won't be in so much pain."

"I really did it without thinking, sorry," Bucky answered, we both seemed a bit surprised at that, and maybe a touch concerned, "I won't do it again."

"If you don't, I might," Sam added, "she was miserable, and she is going to be for a while. I pocketed a lot of the sedation drugs, so we can keep her out for a while."

I didn't like that at all, it made sense, but it felt so wrong to keep her unconscious. Especially after how long and desperately we had been waiting for her to wake up just a few hours ago. "How long are we in the sky for?" I changed the subject, not wanting to be rude. Sam, like all of us, was just trying to do what was best for Nat.

"Six hours, give or take," he informed, "we might hit some turbulence, but I'll try and warn you before so you can hold her down."

The drawback of having her in the nest was that she was susceptible to the jostling. I had held her down during our takeoff and intended to do so during landing, and I guess turbulence as well.

"When is she going to start waking up?" Sam inquired, also looking back at her now that we were cruising.

"The drug should wear off in an hour or so, but with how tired she is, I'm hoping she sleeps for a good chunk of the flight," Bucky shrugged.

Nat P.O.V.

I woke up in a new spot, which startled me into opening my eyes quickly rather than lazily letting them flutter open. It took me just a moment, but I realized we were in the plane and all that had transpired started to come back to me. My memory was hazy, and so I looked around to figure out why the hell I was so groggy. The last thing I could remember was Bucky and Steve kneeling over me and trying to get my leg's swelling to go down, Bucky gave me some meds, an- and then it all went dark. Steve might have snapped at him, but I was too tired to figure out what they were doing. Fucking hell, Barnes sedated me.

I couldn't help but snarl a bit as I turned to look at him, only to find him asleep in the co-pilot chair. I would yell at him later for that, I was not being that big of a problem as to need a sedative. To be completely honest, my leg ached so badly right now, it was almost all I could think about. I looked up and found Steve in one of the back chairs, strapped in and also asleep. The two super soldiers were very tired, I craned my neck to make sure our pilot was still awake.

"Sam?" I asked, not really having a good view of him. He said something but I couldn't really hear him. "I can't hear you," I started to move so I could face him, but I stopped short when his hand reached back and handed me a pair of headphones. I put them on and relaxed back into my cozy nest.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty, how are you feeling?" He whispered back, but it was loud through the coms. I was glad we could talk while the other two slept, they both needed it. So did Sam, and I would be sure he got some when we landed.

"I'm feeling great," I sarcastically shot back. "How long have we been in the air? How long have these two been asleep?"

"You've been asleep for four hours, and Steve fell asleep about an hour after you did." He informed, and I knew we hadn't even been an hour into the flight before Bucky fucking tranquilized me. We had an hour or two to go.

"When did your co-pilot check out?" I joked, but still felt bad Sam had to fly while we all slept.

"About two hours ago," he laughed back, "some co-pilot."

"I can take that position next time, not a tough act to follow by any means," I rolled my eyes.

"I think a dog would do a better job," Sam looked back. "Now, how are you really feeling?"

I didn't answer verbally, I just drew in a large breath and sighed. He could tell I didn't want to say it out loud. Something about that just made it so much more real.

"Well, why not you grab some more sleep until we land? It will be a trek from the landing spot to a safe house."

"I won't because someone should stay awake with you, it's only fair," I answered. Even though I couldn't see him all that well since my bed was mostly behind his chair, I still didn't think it fair for him to be alone.

"Nonsense, I'm enjoying some quiet alone time and listening to your songs," he insisted.

"It doesn't seem fair," I thought out loud, I am plenty awake and can keep you company."

"How about this, you keep the headphones on and we listen to music together, but you can feel free to doze off at any point," he offered.

"Alright, but if you want to talk at any point, you speak up," I pushed.

"Deal," he smiled and my playlist came through the speakers on the headphones. It was my slow playlist, I had no doubt Sam chose that one intentionally. He was clearly trying to get me to go back to sleep, and I knew it wasn't because he wanted to be alone, but rather he was worried about me and knew I needed to rest. I wish I could have stayed up and talked with him, but I was honestly getting so tired.

"Are you sure you're alright if I sleep?" I felt so guilty going back to bed if he was alone. But sleep would be nice and would at least give me some relief from the throbbing in my leg and burning in my shoulder.

"Natasha, I want you to rest," he confirmed my suspicions. They were all so worried about me, it was sweet, but annoying, but still sweet. I looked at Steve before I closed my eyes and couldn't help but grin. I didn't like to admit this, but I had feelings towards him too, I didn't like to admit it about anybody, but it wasn't so bad because they were about Steve. Anyways, sleep wasn't hard to find like it usually was, I was out before the end of the song.