Changes (A Prequel to "Through, Together")

Trouble in Munich

Steve stood outside the small airport, a baseball cap on his head and his hands tucked in the pockets of his jeans. It wasn't his New York hat. Natasha had made sure of that before they'd left the house. She'd made a special trip down to the store to get him something a little more "local". She'd done the same thing for Sam. Still, he couldn't help but feel like they all looked like tourists, painfully out of place. Natasha had been teaching Wanda how to blend in with her surroundings and how to keep her awareness up without being obvious. Wanda seemed to be taking well to those lessons, but Steve and Sam were as stiff as ever. Straight spines, shoulders back; military types, no matter how you looked at them. Sam liked to think he practiced a casual air, but Steve could see through that facade pretty easily. They were all on high alert.

They parted ways with Natasha. Steve watched her walk into the airport while he, Sam and Wanda stayed behind at the car they would be leaving in overnight parking. Natasha was a suitable blend of business and casual, in a pair of black pants, a green cargo jacket and a black tank top underneath. Unfortunately, she'd had to leave behind her gear. There was no real way to get it through airport security. The same went for Sam. Natasha assured them that her contact in Munich would have some replacements for them. Steve highly doubted the guy would have a pair of wings laying around, though. Sam would just have to operate on the ground like the rest of them for this one.

"So," Wanda said as she slid a bag over her shoulder, "are you going to tell her?"

The sudden question had Steve pulling his eyes away from the airport and looking at her questioningly. There was a sense of knowing on her face. Steve shot an accusatory glance at Sam.

"Don't look at me!" Sam said. "I didn't say anything."

An amused smile spread across Wanda's face. "He didn't have to," she said.

Sam chuckled at that. "Seems like everyone knows you've got a thing for Romanoff, except for Romanoff."

"It's not a thing," Steve said. He huffed out a sigh and shook his head. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like so much more than a "thing". They didn't need to be getting into this now, though. Maybe not ever.

"Well, whatever it is," Sam said, "it's painful to watch. You should at least ask her out to dinner or something."

"We don't exactly live lives that are conducive to dating, Sam." Steve reminded him.

"They can be," Wanda pointed out. "If you want them to be." She gave Steve another smile. "After this, when we return... just think about it."

She let it drop after that. Thankfully, Sam did, too. That didn't mean Steve stopped thinking about it, though. They needed to eat, right? And there were probably plenty of places near the hideout that they could go. How would Natasha react, though? That was the most worrisome part. Steve half-expected her to look at him like he was crazy, but then he thought about that morning... Sitting on the roof, watching the sunrise with her. They hadn't said a word, but something about it just seemed... right. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't care at least a little bit, right?

This is what you get for not going out on dates, Rogers. He thought to himself. He was woefully unprepared for pretty much anything that didn't have to do with a mission. Maybe he could work on changing that. But first... they had to handle Garrett. He was one more roadblock in the way of things going back to normal, or whatever semblance of normal they could return to. As long as he was out there, digging up old skeletons from Natasha's past and trying to move forward with his insane agenda, Garrett would remain the priority. Steve was sure that Nat understood that. If she didn't, she wouldn't have gotten on a plane, by herself, to fly to Munich and march right into the lion's den.