"Well, what do you want me to be?" Natasha asked, hoping he would say something more, something better than the answer she got.

"How about a friend?" Steve asked, hoping she wouldn't see the regret on his face as soon as the words left his mouth.

Natasha scoffed and rolled her eyes, hurt evident in them. "There's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers." He only wanted to be her friend. He didn't want anything more. He didn't love her.

"Nat, come on. Nat." Steve urged her limp body. He pushed the hair out of her dusty face and picked her up.

He avoided the spotlights searching for them and ran towards the borrowed car. He placed her in the seat, his mind whirling. What if she didn't wake up? He couldn't loose her, the woman he loved.

He slipped into the drivers seat and, with one eye on the unconscious Natasha, began to drive as quickly as he could away from the base.

Half way through the drive a hand was on his arm. He pulled the car over and turned to look at Natasha.

"Where are we?" She asked groggily.

"I'm not exactly sure. I'm driving to Sam's house." Steve explained. "Are you ok?" He asked and leant over to check her for any injuries, hating himself for not doing it earlier.

She knew she was fine but she wanted him to check her over. "I'm ok Steve."

"Ok. Should we get some food? There must be a 24 hour diner open." Steve asked and began to start driving again.

She nodded her head eagerly but stopped when it began to throb.

"Nat? Are you ok?"

"Keep driving." She whispered and ran her hands through her hair in an effort to try and find the cut, if she had one.

Steve looked at her through the corner of his eyes and wished it was his fingers in her hair.

Natasha couldn't find a cut in her hair but she knew she would have a bitch of a concussion. "I have a concussion I think. Get me some food and then to Sam's and let me sleep and I should be fine." She whispered and rested her head back on the seat.

Steve nodded and kept driving until he found a motel. "Food." He whispered and shook her awake.

He helped her out of the car and let her lean on his shoulder.

Natasha's eye lit up when she saw the neon '24 hour diner' sign. "Let's go." She said and limped quicker towards the diner.

"Hey. Slow down." Steve told her and grabbed a hold of her waist to slow her.

She scowled at him and, reluctantly, shook off his grip. "I'm really hungry." She told him and grabbed his hand to pull him forward.

Once they had sat down and ordered, Natasha looked over to Steve and smiled. "How far is it to Sam's?"

"Another four hours." He told her and took a sip from his coffee.

Natasha yawned and rested her head on the table. She looked up through the waves of her messy hair that was falling all over her face and smiled, she wanted to be resting her head against is shoulder or chest, rather than the cold table. She blinked sleepily and closed her eyes.

"Chicken and chips. And a hamburger." The waitress said and placed the plates in front of the two. "Is she ok?" She asked Steve and pointed to the sleeping Natasha.

"She's fine. Long day of travelling." Steve explained quickly. "Actually, could we have these as a takeaway?" He asked quickly when another waiter picked up the phone, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Oh um yes of course. It'll be ready in a couple of minutes." She said and walked over to the counter.

Steve slipped out of his side of the booth and into Natasha's. He pulled her onto his lap and picked her up. Subconsciously, Natasha wrapped her arms around his neck and dug her head into his chest.

"Your dinner." The waitress handed him their food.

Steve paid and walked out of the diner. He placed Natasha in the car with their food on top before beginning to drive as quickly away as was the legal speed limit.

"Where are we?" She mumbled as she opened her eyes. "Where's the food?"

"Your spy skills are not the best when you've just woken up." Steve laughed. "It's on your lap. One of the workers was on the phone talking about us. We had to get out of there." He told her and grabbed his food from the bag.

"Thank you Steve." She whispered and began eating her chicken as they fell into comfortable silence.

Steve knocked on the door, hoping Sam would answer. The door swung open just as he was about to give up hope.

"Hey man." Sam said and eyed the the two agents standing in front of him.

"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." He explained and looked sideways at Natasha. He knew the drive the night before was draining and he knew that she wasn't back to full strength but hopefully she would be better soon.

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." She said matter-of-factly.

"Not everyone." Sam said and stepped aside to let them in.

Steve looked at Natasha through the mirror of the bathroom and saw her staring blankly at the wall. "You ok?" He said as he learnt against the wall.

"Yeah." She said and Steve couldn't quite believe her, and if she was being honest with herself she didn't believe herself either.

"What's going on?" Steve asked and reached over to hold her hand subconsciously.

Natasha looked up at him softly, did he mean to do that? He looked at her with such care that she wanted to pour out her soul to those eyes, so she did.

"When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but... I guess I can't tell the difference anymore." She admitted and tears welled in her eyes. She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't show weakness.

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business." Steve told her and she smiled faintly. He leaned forward and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

Natasha felt her heart flutter at the simple gesture and she wanted to tell him how she felt. "I lo-" she shook her head, he'd never feel the same, "I owe you." She corrected rapidly.

"It's okay."

"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?" Natasha asked and stared deeply into his eyes.

Steve smiled, a sweet smile that made Natasha want to hug him, and answered, "I would now. And I'm always honest."

Natasha began to laugh and leant back onto the pillows, a beautiful smile on her face. "Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out he died for nothing."

Steve studied her, letting his eyes travel up and down her body and revelled in the light blush that seared her cheeks. "Well, it wasn't all for nothing."

Natasha laughed lightly and moved forward to sit in front of him. "So, what's so good about this life. We're running from HYDRA and SHIELD and the Government." She told him.

"There's-"

"I made breakfast. If you guys... eat that sort of thing." Sam appeared in the door way.

Natasha glared at him before storming off the bed, she and Steve were having a moment for God's sake!

"Hill, where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers?" She shouted, her heart beating out of her chest. She couldn't see him and he wasn't answering through comms. She forced back tears.

She waited painstakingly long in the helicopter, her eyes trained on the only helicarrier that was still left standing. She saw the bottom of it break of and red, white and blue fall into the Potomac.

She ripped off her head set and, ignoring Fury and Sam's shouts, dived into the water after Steve. She hit the water and pained seared up her arms but she kept swimming. He wasn't dead, he wasn't dead. She kept repeating that until she had dragged his body onto the river bank.

Steve felt someone press a kiss to the back of his hand before he heard someone whispering, "Steve, hey please open your eyes. Come on, you're stronger than him."

He forced his eyes open and looked towards the source of the voice. "Hi." He whispered and laced their fingers together.

Natasha's eyes widened and she smile wildly at him. "Don't ever do that again." She whispered and punched his arm lightly.

"I wont I promise. Also, seeing as I almost just died, I feel like you should know; I don't want to be friends." He told her and immediately regretted it when her face fell.

"I want to be more than friends because I like- no I love you." He admitted.

"You can't. I'm too evil." She objected and hated the words that came out of her mouth. He loved her back, what she had been dreaming to hear for the past year he finally said.

"Nat." Steve said and pulled himself into a sitting position. He meant forward and grabbed both her hands. "I think you love me too. I don't care about your past or anything that happened to you. I care about you and our future together."

Natasha laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I do, I'm sorry I do. I love you too. I have for a while now." She admitted, her voice cracking. She leant forward and pressed her lips against his.

She smiled as they broke the kiss and Steve cupped her cheek. "I love you Steve." She whispered and pulled her chair closer so she could rest half on the chair and half on the bed.

"I love you too Nat." He pressed a kiss to her hair as sleep over took him.

So this is what I wanted to happen in The Winter Solider. I hope you all like it and thank you for the reviews favs and follows!