To Find Love: Romanogers One-Shots

to our own do we run

Summary: Despite the nagging feeling in the back of her mind telling her they should all split up instead of staying together, Natasha works hard to keep their small group together during the time they have to hide from 117 countries. She finds lots of excuses for keeping Sam and Wanda around (they're never done this before; they're technically still in training; etc. etc.), but she can't think of any good excuse to keep Steve around and not let him go off on his own. On the other hand, it doesn't appear like he's ever planning on leaving her anyway, so she's willing to overlook the logical side of the situation.

What started off as a way to make sure all of Steve's team was safe from the government had really just turned into a way to keep her sanity. Over the past two years of being on the run, she'd made sure Scott and Clint got reasonable deals in order to stay with their families, she'd taught Sam and Wanda more about being on the run than she'd ever hoped to, and she'd developed this annoying need for Steve. In the beginning, she told herself she needed him around to help with the others (lie; she had Clint at the time and they could have been just fine). Once the fact that wasn't true became obvious, she decided she needed him around because there were some places she was too easily recognisable after the fallout with HYDRA and SHIELD (if anything, he was more recognisable). After Wanda had pointed out this unfortunate fact, she decided that she hadn't forced him to stay (true) and that he had stayed because he wanted to. Whatever the reason, she was now glad he had stuck around because, at the moment, he was the only other one in the safe house.

It hadn't always been just her and Steve obviously, but now it was a pretty regular occurrence. Wanda liked to go off for long weekends with Vision (when she'd first asked if she could go out a year ago, Natasha had followed her to make sure Vision wasn't playing double agent for Stark). Every now and then, Sam would go into the nearby towns for a few days and wander around on his own. Both would be back within four or five days though and often Steve and Natasha were only alone for a day or so. Even though Ross was still conducting a manhunt for them all, the other countries had greatly relaxed and some had even reconsidered their view on the Accords, making it easier for them to move around.

"I'm going to go grab some groceries," Natasha announced, starling Steve as she walked into the small living room. Holland was one of the few places Natasha could walk around without a real disguise and not have to worry about capture, something she regularly took advantage of.

"Call if anything happens," Steve told her. She nodded, stopping behind the couch where he was sat and reaching down to run her fingers through his hair. "I'm still not cutting it," he told her with a grin. She rolled her eyes but didn't argue. She'd come to like his new beard and hair despite whining about it in the past. "If you try to bring home a razor, I'll throw it in the toilet."

"I'm not going to cut your hair," she promised, tugging on the long, dark blond strands of hair. "I've come to accept the nice hobo man living in our house as he is."

"That's very kind of you," Steve teased. She grinned and he turned his head to kiss her palm. "Stay safe."

"I will," she replied. She walked out of the small safe house they were renting for the time and walked to the nearest train station. It wasn't a long walk and within thirteen minutes, she was on a train getting ready to arrive in downtown Amsterdam.

The markets had just opened when she arrived and the crowds had yet to form. She still had an hour until most people would get off work and arrive, so she took her time wandering around the stalls and getting their food. When she was finally walking back to the train station with an armload of food, she was both exhausted and very relaxed. The smell of the fresh bread she'd bought drifted up to her from the bag it was stuffed in and she was munching on one of the homegrown apples she'd bought. Of course, the train station smell made it difficult to enjoy the smell of fresh bread, but she continued to enjoy her apple until she stepped off the train at her stop and started towards the house.