To Find Love: Romanogers One-Shots

Ghost of a Moment

Summary: Life on the run is never easy for anyone, but to some people, it does come more naturally. Steve is one of them, Natasha is surprised to discover. That doesn't mean Ross can't still find them when they make one near-fatal mistake.

It wasn't often Natasha felt so tired after being on the move all day. Something about fighting off a group of mercenaries on her way back from the markets only to fight off some of Ross's own agents a couple of hours later had really worn her out. Of course, there had been a long car ride and she'd be lying if she said that in itself didn't make her sleepy. Nevertheless, they needed to move and they couldn't just sit and take a quick nap with Ross on their tail. Steve, being ever so kind, had told her he would drive so she could sleep, but she'd been unable to unwind enough to actually sleep and given up after crossing the Polish border.

"Wanda and Sam are worried," Natasha murmured, checking her phone messages to see texts and missed calls from both. She'd been glad they were off on their own when Ross's agents had first attacked. It could have been a lot worse if Ross found out they were all together.

"I thought you'd talked to them," Steve replied, glancing at her briefly. She had, she explained. She'd left them each a short text followed by a longer voicemail message explaining what had happened and that they absolutely should not return to the old safe house. Promising to call them as soon as she and Steve found a new place and got settled in, she told both of them not to worry and to either meet up and stay together or stay wherever they were at the moment.

"They just worry," Natasha said. Steve smiled to himself and muttered something about how they tended to do that. Natasha scoffed. "You worry about them every day after they go off on their own," she reminded him.

"That's different," Steve argued. Natasha rolled her eyes. "They're just kids; they don't know how to hide from everyone in plain sight."

"Oh and you do?" she retorted. Steve just grinned at her. His baseball hat and sunglasses trick worked better than Natasha would ever admit, that much was true, but Steve was rather skilled when it came to being on the run. If she were honest, she hadn't expected it from him, but she supposed she shouldn't have been all that surprised.

They drove through the flat country all night. Not many other cars were out on the open highways and in the multiple small towns they passed, no one was awake. Natasha would have suggested they stop for the night, but Ross would have been prepared for that. Besides, Steve didn't look like he'd be sleeping anytime soon.

"Do you have a place in mind or are we just driving?" Natasha asked hours later. Steve handed her a notebook and she flipped it open. It seemed to be filled with addresses and coordinates, but Natasha couldn't be sure which one they'd be going to despite nearing the border of Ukraine.

"That one," Steve said, pointing to some scribbled coordinates. "It's an old SHIELD safehouse Fury mentioned years ago. No one has used it in years, so it wasn't on the books when the file dump happened after the HYDRA invasion."

"How can you be sure?" Natasha asked, handing him the notebook back. Steve shrugged. He couldn't be sure, but he could trust old technology and when Fury had told him about it, it had already been nearly ten years since the last visit.

Natasha just hummed and sat back in her seat. Hopefully they'd get there soon or she was going to have to make Steve stop on the side of the road so she could use the bathroom.

* * * * *

Upon arrival at the safe house, Natasha darted straight to the bathroom. Steve busied himself with locking the door all four different ways before carrying what little things they had into the living room. He checked the pantry and was unsurprised to discover it was mostly empty. Except for two cans of beans that Steve thought looked a little old, the cupboards were empty. He was suddenly very glad they'd risked stopping at a fast food place to grab something to eat. They could save the beans for tomorrow if they wanted and if they decided to stay longer, Steve would find a store later on in the day. For now, though, he grabbed his bag from the living room and went in search of a bedroom.