The Heart Thaws In Its Own Time (Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff)

Chapter 8 - Playing Make Believe You're Married To Me

Steve went about his work more lackadaisically than usual that day. He'd been working on the farm property for weeks now and no one knew about it... no one but a real estate agent, Wanda, Fury and him. He'd been excited to find this old farm from the 1940's and renovate it, it wasn't too big a house but was also comfortable enough. He'd found something to make him happy and keep him busy. He was enjoying researching remodeling and working with his hands. At the end of the day, he felt like he had put in a good day's work and he was proud of himself.

That's why it was puzzling to him that he had still been having the nightmares lately. He'd expected maybe they would stop or at least not be so plentiful.

He caught himself thinking about Natasha and smiling that day. Since she had finally gotten back in touch with him, he felt lighter.

A smile started at the corners of his mouth as he remembered what had happened just a couple of months earlier. It was the only happy memory from Natasha's near-death experience; being Natasha's pretend husband for a few days.

It had been a rough time for both Natasha and Steve. Nothing had been the same since.

He'd gone in the helicopter with her as the medics had pretty much insisted on it. But he didn't want to leave her either. His injuries were pretty bad and he was covered in a good amount of blood by now, some of it his, some of it Natasha's. They'd finally gotten her to breathe again during the heli-flight and he tried to contain his relief as his eyes welled up a bit, he told himself she wasn't out of the woods. It was obvious she had many other injuries and it was now possible she would have brain damage as well.

Maria Hill spoke into his comm to tell him they would have to be dropped off at the scene of a car accident. If SHIELD dropped them at a hospital, it would be a dead giveaway as to who they were. A car accident had been set up not far from a hospital and some SHIELD medics would already be there waiting to help and transport them, posing as paramedics. Real first responders would also be notified to make everything look real.

As they were nearing the drop off point, he was told he'd have to change out of his swat suit and they'd have to change Natasha as well.

Someone had tossed him a t-shirt and some pants. He was given a fake wallet with a fake id to put in his pocket. He looked at Natasha once more, laying there helpless and then he turned around to allow her decency while they changed her into street clothes. He wondered if a hospital stay would allow enough time for them to be found and hauled off to prison.

The staged car accident was pretty horrific. On the ground, the SHIELD team quickly loaded Natasha into the back of an ambulance and laid Steve out on the ground as if they'd been tending to him. The helicopter immediately took off and a very short time later, another ambulance arrived along with a fire truck and a few state troopers. Steve watched as Natasha's ambulance left and he suddenly felt so alone - even though he had a crowd of people around him. He didn't know how long the ride to the hospital was but it felt like an eternity laying there listening to the siren and being poked and asked about a million questions.

The rest of that afternoon was much of a blur. He'd had so many people taking a look at his injuries and asking him questions. Although if he focused on it, he realized he was in pain, but he was feeling frantic not knowing what was going on with Natasha, who was in surgery. After numerous x-rays, he'd had stitches in his forehead, stitches in his side, a butterfly patch put outside his left eye, his feet and shins were bandaged from glass shards and his left arm was in a sling. He looked like he'd been to hell and back. After he had been taken care of, he was put in a hospital room. No more than a few minutes had passed by when a nurse came into the room.

"Hi, Steve, I'm Mary - I'll be your nurse for the rest of the evening," she spoke sweetly but efficiently. She was aware of the "car accident" and she was purposely being gentle with him.