Unexpected

XVII

Later that morning, Nina, Steve and Natasha had all a place to stay the night, even if Steve was sure they would have to run away sooner than that.

Nina hopped out of the shower, letting Steve get in. She sat down at the bed where Nat was drying her hair with a towel. Nina sat down beside her and started doing the same thing. After a few seconds, Nat seemed to finally notice her hair.

"Wait, what?"

Nina's curls were falling to her waist. Usually, she would straighten her hair, but obviously, Sam, a male living alone, did not have the necessary tools to do so.

"Why do you straighten it?" Nat asked. Nina chuckled.

"I don't know, I like it straight."

"Well I like it like this," Natasha told her. "So you're not allowed to straighten it anymore." The two laughed a bit. It was a good laugh. They both needed it. Soon, though, their laugh subsided and they started to speak of more serious matters. It was obvious that Natasha was very nervous about talking about her past, and unfortunately, Zola had mentioned it. It was almost sure that Steve was going to ask her about it once he was out of the shower.

"You don't have to tell Steve, you know?" Nina said, almost reading Nat's mind.

"He's not gonna trust me if I don't, though, will he?"

"He already trusts you."

"Can I ask you about the whole A.D. stuff?" Nat smiled, obviously wanting to deflect her own problems. Nina knew she couldn't ignore it forever, but she let it pass, for now.

"I am not two thousand years old, if that's what you're asking," Nina told her with a smirk.

"How old are you?" She asked. Nina saw her chance and she took it.

"Seventeen." Luckily, Natasha picked up on her joke.

"How long have you been seventeen?" She asked with a fake shocked expression. "No but seriously, why don't you tell me your age?"

"Because you'd start making old people jokes about me, the way you do with Steve," Nina answered. That was not the truth, obviously. Nina didn't know why she was so scared to talk about it, about her past. She used to love talking about her life, as she did with Steve and Peggy back in the fourties. She had some struggle, but also told everything - or almost everything - to Bucky when they met again in Hydra. Yet, for some reason, it was getting harder and harder for her to talk about it. Maybe it was some kind of phobia she didn't know about.

Luckily for her, when Natasha was about to pressure her even more about it, Steve got out of his shower. His short blonde hair was wet and falling on his face. He was wearing no shirt, showinf his naked torso above his jeans. Both Natasha and Nina had to take a second before realising he had said something.

"You two okay?" He asked them. Nat hummed in response.

"Very," assured Nina.

"What's going on?" Steve asked Nat, ignoring Nina's remark.

"When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but...I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business," Steve joked. There was a hint of a smile on both of the girls faces.

"I owe you," Nat said, remembering how Steve saved her life.

"It's okay," Steve reassured her.

"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, and you be honest with me, would you trust me to do it?"

Steve hesitated. He took a second to think about it.

"Now I would, and I'm always honest."

"You seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing," Natasha joked.

"Well, I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."

Right after he said that, Sam Wilson appeared through the door frame.

"I made breakfast," he announced. "If you guys ... eat that sort of thing," he added sarcasticly.