The Shadow [a marvel fanfiction]

The Winter Soldier: Chapter Seven

The blue truck flew down the road. Marie propped her head up against the window and watched the scenery blur by. The motion almost lulled her to sleep. She was exhausted; her limbs were heavy and her ribs ached.

"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?"

Marie smiled at Nat's question. She turned her head to see a disgruntled Steve shift in his seat. He only took his eyes off the road for a moment to answer.

"Nazi Germany. And we're borrowing, so take your feet off the dash."

Natasha smirked and winked at Marie in the rear-view mirror, but obliged. Marie sat forward, ignoring her body's protest, and poked her head between the seats.

"Hold on. It's-It's a big deal when I, somehow, get m-my hands on Tony's card, but when Mr. Righteous hotwires a-a-a car, he's just borrowing?" She shook her head. "The hypocrisy. Plus, I can give Tony the credit card back, you don't even know who-who owns this truck."

Natasha laughed. "You stole one of Stark's credit cards?"

"It happened to-to fall in my pocket."

Steve snorted. "All right, sticky fingers."

Marie stuck her tongue out at him and rested her chin on the shoulder of Nat's seat. The woman shifted, turning to face Steve with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"So, I have a question for you, of which you do not have to answer," she paused, glancing at Marie, "I feel like if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?"

Marie bounced her foot in anticipation, her eyes moving between the sneaky Russian and the weary Captain. There was no way this couldn't end well. Natasha liked harmless trouble.

"What?"

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?"

Marie choked on air.

She coughed loudly and fell back against her seat. She grabbed her chest as laughter wheezed out between the coughs. She tried to calm down and breathe; that only further fed the laughter bubbling up inside her. Steve sighed and glanced at a paralyzed Marie.

"That bad, huh?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying."

Marie pulled herself together (somewhat). She sucked in several deep breaths and sat up. She patted Steve's shoulder, failing to keep the smile off her face. "P-Practice makes perfect."

Steve frowned and shrugged off her touch. "I don't need practice."

"Everybody needs practice," Natasha chimed. A smile still twitched at her lips.

"It was not my first kiss since 1945," Steve muttered. "I'm ninety-five, not dead."

Marie adjusted herself, reclining against the back seat to take the pressure off her ribs. She wrapped a protective arm over them. She was otherwise content to watch the exchange between match-making Natasha and a very single Steve.

"Nobody special, though?"

"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience."

Marie frowned. Steve had resigned himself to loneliness. He didn't need to do that.

Natasha shrugged. "Well, that's all right. You just make something up."

"What, like you?"

"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I."