Her Prisoner

Chapter 13

By 5 in the morning, it is announced that the train will soon be arriving at destination. Steve was already dressed in one of the agents' outfits.

Natasha walks into the compartment.

"For you," she winks, holding a fedora hat. "I thought it would suit you perfectly and filched it in one of the other cars."

He pouts and stares at it. She puts it on his head and walks over to the other outfits.

"Are you sure this will do the trick?" he asks.

She takes off her coat and reaches for the zipper at the top of her catsuit. She pulls it down and casually begins to slip her arms off the sleeves. He clears his throat.

"You're a soldier, I'm a spy. Subtlety is my thing," she answers while removing the catsuit completely.

She puts on the smallest man's striped jumper and his black pants. She ties her hair up, brushing it all backward and puts on the beret. She pulls it down to hide as much of her face as possible.

The train begins to slow down while the first buildings loom in the distance.

She rolls her catsuit in a ball and stuffs it in her bag. She keeps her gun and puts it in the pocket of her newly acquired coat.

She finally grabs the scarf she brought in just a moment and wraps it loosely around her neck to cover her chin.

The plan is simple. They should get off with the rest of the passengers and walk separately through the crowd, then meet again outside the station.

Natasha had earlier filched a large suitcase for him to put his shield in.

A few minutes later, the train is entering the station. They leave their compartment to go and blend in with the passengers waiting to get off.

"The first rule of going on the run," she murmurs, "is don't run — walk."

The train comes to a full stop, and soon the doors open. Natasha gently slips her way through the crowd, leaving him slightly ahead. She glances in his direction and gives a discreet nod.

Soon, he is on the platform and walks along with the crowd. He casually looks at his surroundings from under his hat. He sees men standing along the platform out of the corner of his eye. His first instinct is to speed up but both Natasha's piece of advice and the slow crowd surrounding hold him off.

He is led up the platform to the mouth of the stairwell going down. He walks down the stairs and crosses the foot tunnel. The crowd begins to scatter as people go in different directions.

He has in mind Natasha's instructions and keeps straight. He eventually comes out into a large, busy hall with loud announcements being made in the speakers. People dash past him without a second look. He tries to make his way across to the rendezvous and to catch sight of Natasha's beret but the incessant and swift motion of people interferes with his vision.

An object suddenly sinks in between his ribs.

"Don't move," a masculine voice mutters with a thick accent.

He wants to flip his head around but the man presses the gun harder.

A swift silhouette brushes past them. Steve feels the agent's body stiffen suddenly. When he turns, he recognizes Natasha standing behind the agent, half of her face hidden under her scarf. She has just punctured his neck with a small needle and he stares at her with wide eyes.

He is about to stagger but she wraps her arms around his waist and delicately sits him down on the public bench nearby.

She motions to Steve to keep walking straight ahead to the meeting point as planned, then she vanishes again. He makes his way through the crowd and comes out of the station a couple of minutes later. The sky is clear, completely cloudless, but still dark.