Out of Time (Stasha)

[Natasha Romanoff]

Natasha’s mouth flickered at the way his nickname for her fell from his lips.

“Don’t worry about it.” She meant that, because she knew he would. Tasha pulled a card and some cash from a hidden pocket down the front of her uniform to illustrate her point. “The card is useless here, obviously, but the cash will go a lot further than it would have in 2012.”

Straightening, she pulled the center zipper of her suit up, well aware that even with those few more inches of coverage, the tight silhouette of her suit didn’t exactly scream modesty.

“As soon as I can get out of this, the better. I’ll be back in two hours, tops.”

She thought about moving to kiss him goodbye, hesitated at the domesticity of the action, then did it anyway. After all, she was used to getting what she wanted, and Steve hardly put up a fight. Without another word, she slipped out of the flat, intent on all that needed to be accomplished.

* * *

An hour and a half later, she stepped back into the flat, some of the tension gone from her frame. She was wearing a light grey shirtdress, with a wide collar and buttons, and low white t-strap sandals. She had another frock almost its match in yellow as well. For Steve, she’d guessed and picked him up two pairs of trousers, two button-ups, a belt – and on a whim, she’d added a fedora. The incognito cliché made her mouth quirk into a half smile, and she tossed the bag at him.

“I hope the sizes are close enough – I don’t do much shopping, if you haven’t gathered.”

‘That’s what you get for dating an assassin’ was on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t bring it up. She doubted he needed any help highlighting her shortcomings.

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

Steve nodded before saying, "Don't use any 10s though. They weren't orange in this year." They'd been a regular green. If there was one thing that confused Steve more than anything else in their time, it was why some money was no longer printed on green paper.

Tasha nearly turned to leave, then came back to him and kissed him. Steve nearly blushed. That was rather affectionate for her. Not that she couldn't be affectionate, but in that kind of way, Steve didn't expect it from Natasha. Expected or not, he liked it.

When the door closed behind her, Cap turned around and stared at his old apartment. The place was still a dusty mess. If Natasha was out getting them new clothing, he figured he should at least clean the place a little bit, that might brighten the room up.

He didn't want to sit around doing nothing either. His mind worked better when he was active anyway.

~~~

"Better," Steve announced to no one as he pushed his broom back into the closet and closed it behind him. The place had certain ly been worse before, particularly whenever Bucky had come by, the man had been a whirlwind of a mess before the war. In fact one of the few time Steve had seen him neatened up was when he'd been in his uniform before going on duty. When Natasha returned, the apartment was much cleaner. The mass of dust was gone and the window was open, letting a little bit more light in then there had been before. He turned to face her, only to catch the bag in the last second before it would have hit him. Nearly fumbling Steve looked up as Natasha spoke.

"I'm sure they're fine." He looked into the bag and found a shirt. Either it was all they'd had or Natasha was starting to get Steve's choice of styles pretty well now. He gave her a small smile before setting the bag down and saying, "Thanks. With a hat, I should be able to blend in pretty well."

Hunting down Immortus was the next step. Hopefully they could track him down, or it was going to be a long way home. "So," Steve started, "If I don't eat soon, I'm going to pass out. Can I show you what our pizza place was like back when they first opened?" Steve always insisted on going to the same place for pizza. It had been around since he was a boy.

[Natasha Romanoff]

* * *

Natasha held back a small laugh at how he looked in the hat; it reminded her of the black and white movies that came on basic cable late at night. She’d seen far too many of those movies when she couldn’t sleep.

But this wasn’t a mobster movie, it was very, very real, and the thought sobered her instantly. She might never get back. Truthfully, she would be the first to tell you how many things she hated about their technologically advanced existence at Avengers tower – but it was half of what she’d been trained it. Without technology, she still had her weapon of a body, but how far would that get her here?

“Pizza, hm?”

She looked over at him quizzically; after all, she’d had years and years of keeping what she was really thinking from showing on her face.

“Lead the way,” she said distractedly, her hands under her skirt to strap her Glock to her thigh. This wasn’t an excursion, it was a mission. It may look like a typical 40’s date on the outside – in fact, Tasha hoped that’s what it looked like, as it would give them the most cover – but every fiber of her being ached to be back in her own time.

The fallout from the stress when they got back would be astronomical, but no one save Clint knew anything about that. She would do what she always did: let sleepless nights and quiet solitude wash away the memories until she could sleep again, and then she would carry on until something else knocked her down. She was the Black Widow, after all.

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

Steve wasn't as prepared as Natasha. He didn't carry a firearm. If they saw anything like Immortus, they would deal with the situation as they could. If getting home meant sacrificing his sheild, so be it. He would do that without a thought. Surely, someone in SHIELD would bring it back to him.

"Yeah, you know the place. Back in the other half, Manhattan. On Bleecker," they'd been there so many times before. Of course, this time it wouldn't look exactly the same. Less pictures, less pantings, and much, much, much less carvings of people's initials on the seats and walls.

She asked him to lead the way and Steve nodded. He smiled lightly as Natasha was getting herself ready to go out. She didn't go anywhere without a weapon. Sometimes that left him a little unnerved, but then he remembered who she was. She was Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. She needed to have a weapon, to protect herself, and on top of that, the second Amendment, the right to bare arms, what was more American than that? Another chuckle escaped from him after that before they exited the apartment.

"Tasha," Steve reached for her hand and took it before they got out of the building, "We're going to get back. To 2013." He knew she was putting a tough face on, whether it was for him or for herself, he couldn't tell, but she was trying to put all this stress of hers away into the back of her mind instead of dealing with it, "I'm going to make sure of it. So, don't worry about it." Well, that was a hell of a promise, Steve wasn't nearly as good at making people feel better than he'd hoped he would be.

So instead, he just squeezed her hand and said, "We'll do it together." A small smile crossed his lips, "I'll shut up now."

[Natasha Romanoff]

* * *

Natasha glanced sidelong at Steve, giving him a Look. Telling her not to worry about it was like telling a dog not to bark.

She should have believed him. She wanted to, for so many reasons. And if she couldn’t bring herself to trust captain America, who could she believe? But the fact was that Steve couldn’t predict the future, and his reassurance was nothing more than a promise to try his hardest.

And Natasha knew from bitter experience that sometimes that wasn’t good enough.

So she said nothing, instead squeezing his hand back and tugging him out the door. It had been almost 18 hours since she’d eaten, and it was becoming a pressing issue.

The walk was long, though maybe it just seemed that way because it was so unfamiliar. She kept her head down, hand in Steve’s, trying to look for all the world like a normal couple out and about. With his face and her modern demeanour, the last thing they needed was to call attention to themselves.

They eventually reached their destination, and it looked like it always did: misleadingly benign. Though the outside was quite different, she knew the food wouldn’t differ all that much, and she found herself looking forward to that face. Briefly, she contemplated the timeline, her nose wrinkling as she considered.

“So, does this count as a first date, or…”

* * *

[Steve Rogers]

Knowing that his promise was rather shallow given the circumstances, Steve decided not to press things. They needed food right now, time travel could wait for an hour or so. Just by Natasha's glance at him, he could tell that she didn't put much weight into his words. He knew better than to get hurt or offended, they were in quite the serious situation at the moment, Steve didn't really believe his own promise all that much either. They'd have to just work together and hope for the best.

She pulled him along, Steve shut the door behind them. He was starving as well, so there had been no arguements when it came to Natasha's urgency to get out of here. He was a bit worried about being spotted by someone who'd recognize his face, he hoped to the powers that be that they wouldn't have to deal with it.

Captain America could not show up again, seventy years early, who knew what that would do to time.

The walk for Steve wasn't all that bad. He knew this town like the back of his hand. Head tucked under his hat, no one seemed to recognize Cap walking around. That was good, even thought it was nice for Steve to see some old neighbors walking around during their daily routines.

Tasha asked if this would technically be their first date, getting a low chuckle out of Captain Rogers. Who knew that time travel humor could actually be funny, usually it just seemed to be mean spirited and directed at him, be it from the press or Tony Stark. Usually Tony.

"I guess it does," Steve answered, a false uncertainty in his voice, "That's kind of nice. Getting to do our first date all over again." This was where Steve had gotten pizza from when he'd spent part of the night at Natasha's apartment after she'd been electrocuted.

Sure they hadn't been dating then, but Steve liked to count it anyway.