Work This Out

Chapter 9 ~ On the run

"You said nine minutes, come on," I say as I look down at Steve's watch.

"Shh, relax. Got it." Nat says as I look over Steve's shoulder to see the signal traced back to Wheaton, New Jersey. Steve stares at the screen intently. "You know it?" She asks Steve.

"I used to. Let's go." He grabs the flash drive from the computer.

We walk out of the store. I'm still on Steve's back and I see some agents in front of us.

"Standard tac-team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you two hit the south escalator to the metro." Steve says.

"Shut up and put your arm around me, laugh at something I said. (Y/n) turn your head the other way, act like you're sleeping." Natasha commands. I do as she says.

"What?" Steve questions.

"Do it!" Nat says to him.

I feel his arm move so he must be putting it around Natasha. He laughs. I open my eyes a bit to see if we're in the clear. Once we are I lift my head up. We make our way to the escalators, going down. I spot Rumlow on the opposite side, going up.

"Natasha," I whisper. She turns to look at me. I look at Rumlow and she follows my eyes.

She looks at Steve. "Kiss me."

"What?"

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable."

"Yes they do," Steve says and Nat quickly pulls his head down to kiss him as I hide my face in the crook of Steve's neck.

They pull away. "You still uncomfortable?" Nat asks him as we walk off the escalator. I snicker at his flustered face.

"It's not exactly the word I would use."

We make it to the parking lot. Steve finds a truck and breaks into it without setting the alarm off somehow. Steve takes the wheel and pulls his hood down, Natasha in the passenger seat, and me in the back. I sigh in relief as we get on the road to New Jersey.

"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asks with her feet on the dashboard.

"Yeah I'm kind of curious myself," I say. I scoot to the middle and lean my head forward to fill the empty space between the two.

"Nazi, Germany." Steve answers.

"Mm," Nat says as I nod.

"And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash." Steve says to Nat. She looks at him as she slowly takes them off the dash.

"You know damn well we're not getting this car back in one piece," I say to him.

Steve turns to give me a look then focuses back on the road. "Sit back in your seat and put your seatbelt on."

I scoot back and put my seatbelt on as he told me to.

"Alright, I have a question for you, oh, which you do not have to answer. I feel like if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know?" Nat rambles to Steve.

"What?" Steve asks, obviously annoyed.

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" She asks.

"That bad, huh?"

"I didn't say that."

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

"No, I didn't. I just wondered how much practice you've had."

"You don't need practice."

"Everybody needs practice." She turns back to look at me. "Right (Y/n)?"

"She's right Steve," I say.

"See?" Natasha says.

"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm ninety-five, I'm not dead." Steve says, making me laugh.

"You ever kissed somebody (Y/n)?" Natasha asks.

I look in the rearview mirror to see Steve looking at me dead in the eyes.

"No. Nobody special." I answer.

"Not even Roy?" She asks.

I feel my cheeks go red and I try to hide it. "Nope." I say popping the 'p'.

She turns to Steve. "Nobody special, though?"

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

"Well, that's alright, 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."

"That's a tough way to live," Steve says as he looks at her.

"Eyes on the road Rogers!" I yell as he drifts off into the other lane, onto oncoming traffic. He quickly swerves the car back into the right lane.

"It's a good way not to die, though," Nat says, responding to Steve's statement and unphased by the fact that we almost just died.

"We almost did just now," I mutter.

"You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is," Steve says to her.

"Yeah. Who do you want me to be?"

"How about a friend?"

Natasha laughs. "Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers."

As they finish their conversation I yawn, not realizing how tired I am until now. I get comfortable as I drift off to sleep in the back of the car.

Steve's POV

Natasha looks back to see a sleeping (Y/n) in the backseat.

"You two make a good team," Natasha says as she looks at me.

I smile. "Yeah, I know." Then my smile falters. I check the rearview mirror to make sure she's still asleep. "She still calls me Steve, she hasn't called me Dad yet."

I look over at Natasha who gives me a reassuring smile. "She'll come around Rogers. You just have to be patient."