Whatever it Takes: Civil War

Chapter 12

After the fight Natasha went to a building with a public restroom to change. She quickly switched from her suit to a shirt, dark jeans, a leather jacket and heels. She bent down and took the tracker out of her suit and disarmed it for when she needed it. She took a breath, knowing she was one step closer to finding her sister. T'Challa could handle Zemo.

Even if she wanted to find Zemo, it was a risk, and Natasha knew that T'Challa could handle one man. Besides, this was his fight.

When she reached Tony, he made it clear he was upset with her for letting Barnes and Steve escape.

"Steve's not gonna stop," Natasha told him. "If you don't either, Bruce is going to be the best-case scenario."

"You let them go, Nat."

"We played this wrong," she said, trying to reason with him.

"We? Boy, it must be hard to shake the double agent thing, huh? It sticks in the DNA."

That statement hurt more this time because of how much she confided in him.

"Are you incapable of letting go of your ego for one second," she asked, her voice hard.

"T'Challa told Ross what you did, so.... They're coming for you," he warned her, his eyes telling her to leave for her own safety.

"I'm not the one that needs to watch their back," she told him, talking about his alliance with Ross.

She left him to ponder over that and walked outside. Half the team had already been arrested and now she was on the run. She felt her phone go off and pulled it out of her pocket to see a message from Bruce, saying that he was there to pick her up.

Natasha saw a car park in front of her and she got in, recognizing the driver.

"Since when do you drive," she asked Bruce who was wearing jeans and a plain black t-shirt, a black baseball hat and sunglasses. Not his best disguise, but not his worst either.

"Since I was 16," he answered with his usual dry humor as he got them farther away from the building.

She glanced to the back seat and saw their stuff packed, then looked at Bruce who was focused on the road, but his jaw was clenched and she knew he didn't have good news.

"Nat, I know I promised I'd stay with you until you told me otherwise, but I need to lay low for a while. I don't want to put you in danger from Ross, but if you want me stay with you then I will."

Natasha wanted to be selfish and tell him to go with her, but she also knew that he was doing this for both of them. If they went in in different directions, then Ross would stay away from her and focus on Bruce until he could get them off his trail.

As much as it hurt, she told him, "You don't need my permission to go."

"I know you don't need my protection, but I just don't want you to get hurt. If he comes after me, then he won't go near you unless he thinks you're close by."

"I just... I always thought that you'd come with me when we needed to run. I never thought Ross would be the one tearing us apart."

"I know. Seems to be a reoccurring thing with me," he said referring to his past love life.

She smirked at that before saying, "I don't want you to feel guilty about this. I know you wouldn't be doing this if you didn't feel there was another choice."

Bruce nodded and took a breath, as if relieved that she understood. She saw him stiffen and he looked like he was trying to hold himself together for both of their sakes.

As they continued to get closer to the boats, Natasha's mind wouldn't stop turning as she thought of the last thing Tony said to her about being a double agent. After everything she did for him and confided in him, it hurt knowing he still thought of her that way, even if he did warn her.

When she didn't say anything else for a few minutes, he spoke up, "You're quiet."

"I know. I'm sorry, I just have a lot going on. Tony said something about me being a double agent and it sticking in my DNA. Shook me up."

"I'm gonna kill him," Bruce mumbled.

"No, you won't," she smirked.

"You're right, I won't. But he still doesn't have the right to use your past against you, no one does. Are you okay?"

"I've been called worse. I'll be fine."

She pulled out the tracker from the suit she left behind, hoping Ross would fall for her stunt again.

"What's that," Bruce asked.

"Tracker from my suit. Left it in a bathroom stall for Ross and his boys to find. Took the tracker out and turned it off in case I need it," she explained, then put it back in her pocket.

"Smart," he said, impressed. When Bruce stopped the car to drop her off at the docs, he handed her a ticket. "Please stay safe."

Natasha nodded as she took the ticket, then grabbed her bag from the back seat. She saw the hoodie she had the last time she did this draped on his bag. She forgot it was originally Bruce's.

"Can I take your hoodie in the back?"

"Yeah."

She took the hoodie and quickly stuffed it into her bag then looked at him as he took off his sunglasses. When his eyes met hers, he looked as brokenhearted as she felt.

He pulled out a burner phone and handed it to her while saying, "This is one of two phones that can reach the only burner I'm not throwing away. I sent Tony the other one, but if you need me..."

"Thanks," she told him as she pocketed it. "How long do you think it'll be before we see each other?"

"I don't know. Could vary from weeks to months. I'll let you know when I get Ross' men off my tail. It won't take long to shake them, but Ross has sent multiple parties after me before. I wouldn't be asking to go different directions if Ross wasn't so high up. I know you can shake him off, but we know I'm his main target and I don't want to put you or your family in danger."

"I adore you," she said softly, needing him to know before they parted.

"I adore you too."

He leaned forward and kissed her. When they parted, she took a breath to compose herself, knowing that nothing could change that they would have to go their separate ways. She knew that he'd go with her if he wasn't being hunted himself because he interfered by trying to get the team to stop fighting.

"Hey," he said softly, interrupting her thoughts. "This is only for a while. As soon as I know I'm not being followed, the first thing I'll do is find you."

Natasha nodded, not trusting her voice to give away the pain she felt. The Red Room taught her how to leave people behind, even teaching her to become numb when she was torn from Yelena. But her training never prepared her for falling in love.

She squeezed his hand and forced herself to open the car door. She glanced at him one more time and he nodded, telling her that it was okay, that he would be okay.

Natasha went into Widow mode as she stepped out of the car, slung her bag over her shoulder, shut the door and walked off.

Her next destination: Norway.

Note: We've reached the end of "Civil War." Keep an eye out for part 3 in the series, "Whatever it Takes: Black Widow."