A/N: So, I've been inactive for a long long time and I decided I'd start again, so I swear the next chapters are going to be better, I do.

~X~

"You know you'll have to move, right?"

Her words echoed, he didn't know. Well, as a matter of fact, he did, but he didn't listen,

"Well, anyway, I'm here for you, whatever you need." Natasha finished.

Steve nodded, he knew it was going to be different for him, that they weren't going to come after him, he was a hero, after all, he was Captain America. By thinking that, he absolutely underestimated HYDRA, he underestimated their influence.

In between the deafening beats of the song he was listening to while running he could catch a small glimpse of what was happening around him. Steve used those few hours early in the morning to run, to let out the steam, he could lock himself in his little world, he wanted to clear his mind, it always worked, but, for some reason, it wasn't working that time.

He counted the laps to distract himself.

97… 'YOU ARE MY MISSION!' - Steve picked up the pace
98… 'Who do you want me to be?' - He started to run even faster
99… 'We are both men out of time' – He couldn't speed up, not any more, although he wanted to
100… 'sometimes the best that we can do is to start over.' - Steve tripped on his own feet and allowed himself to tumble to the ground.

Some people nearby ran towards him to see if he was okay, he just politely shook them off and started making his way back to his place.

Peggy, Bucky, they were all dead, Zola had surfaced again and Natasha, well, he had no idea of her whereabouts. He was lost, he was alone. He walked down the street and saw some suspicious men walking down the street and glancing at him. They weren't homeless or from gangs, just by the way they walked, Steve could tell. There seemed to be even more of them as he approached his place.

He entered his apartment and locked the door before turning to face the living room. Everything was a mess, there were papers everywhere, all of the cushions of the couch were ripped apart, the centre table was upside down, very carefully, he made his way through the hallway to the main bedroom, his mattress was ripped open and all of his clothes were thrown on the floor.

"Shit." He muttered. What if they got his shield? He looked at the empty spot where the first drawer of his dresser once was. He put his hand in there and felt around, looking for the cool metal of his shield. Much to his relief, it was there. He got it. And, just as fast as the relief washed over him, it went away, he heard footsteps, there was someone in the house.

Steve pressed his back against the wall and waited, he could hear faint sounds, no, he couldn't wait, it was better if he just ran away, he couldn't protect himself from that many men, one in the house – if not more – and more than a dozen on the streets.

He looked out of the window, yeah, he could make that jump. He opened the window and ended up making a lot of unwanted noise. Then he took a few steps back and prepared to jump, that was when he felt the gun against his back.

Steve froze, his mind searched through the options, but he didn't know what he should do.

"Stop there, Captain." A male voice whispered.

Steve wouldn't surrender, not then, not ever and especially not to Hydra. He turned around abruptly and hit the man with enough strength to make him fall to the ground along with his gun. Steve reached for the gun and got it before the man.

The black haired man on the floor shouted, and Steve prepared himself to combat the men that entered his room in the blink of an eye, he was surrounded, there were too many for him to fight. He wasn't one to run from combat, but that was certain death, besides, his bedroom was a crumpled space, it wasn't good enough for fighting.

"See ya, guys." Steve ran towards the window and jumped.

He covered his face with his arms so his face wouldn't be cut, when he landed, while executing the perfect somersault and stopping, he felt the shreds of glass going even deeper into his arms, he gritted his teeth and stood, he had to keep running, he had to get away from his neighbourhood as fast as he could.

Steve chose to go through alleys and deserted streets, though it was easier to blend in with a crowd, his bloody appearance would make people worry. When he was sure he was by himself, in a street with abandoned factories and storages, he entered one and took out his cellphone, he dialled Natasha's number.

"Hello?" Her voice sounded from the other side of the line, Steve couldn't even express in words just how good it was to hear something familiar.

"Nat? It's Steve, I need help."

"Steve? What's going on? Where are you?"

"I'll text you the coordinates, but come quick and make sure you're not being followed."

"Okay." She hung up the phone and he texted her the coordinates.

In about fifteen minutes she arrived.

He was surprised by how much she'd changed, Natasha dyed her hair black, some strands of her hair were discoloured and of a white colour; she had a piercing on her nose and was wearing some really heavy make-up. She wore tight jeans, a black shirt that exposed part of her chest, but just a little cleavage and a black leather jacket with punk boots.

"Wow." He said.

"Long story." She told him and shrugged, then she saw his bleeding arms. "Fuck, Steve, what happened to you? Wait here, I'll go fetch something in the car."

"Not going anywhere." He chuckled.

When Natasha came back, she had red hair again and her piercing was gone, but she was still wearing the same clothes, this time, she carried a bag on her hand.

She sat by his side.

"Give me your arm." She ordered and he obeyed.

Steve watched closely as she opened the bag and got a first aid kit. Natasha's eyes moved from the bag to his arm and then to the bag again.

She got a pair of tweezers and sanitized her hands before starting to work on his arm.

"Tell me what happened, will you?" She asked more softly as she wiped the blood away with a clean gauze.

"I went out for a run this morning," He started and then stopped for a moment, he gritted his teeth, she had started to remove the glass from his left arm, "everything was fine, but when I was on my way back to my apartment, I started noticing strange people everywhere, suspicious looking men."

Natasha piled up the glass shreds.

"Then, when I got to my apartment, it was all messy, someone had been in there. Then, I went to check my shield and it was there, but when I turned around… Ouch!… Well, there were about 30 men there and I couldn't fight all of them, so I jumped out of the window and started to run. I didn't stop until I got here."

"Okay, this is going to hurt." She said and got a small flask of oxygenated water and poured the liquid down his arm, making sure it passed by all of his cuts. Then she wiped the foam with a clean gauze and applied an antibiotic to the cuts.

"And what about you? When did you turn into a punk?"

"I didn't." She laughed as she worked on his right arm, "It was a disguise. You see, my hair is easily recognisable plus, I've always wanted to be a punk, even if just for a day – Now I get to be one everyday before I move. The hair, was a wig and the piercing was a pressure one."

"You're moving?" He inquired, the pain was suddenly gone, he was going to be left alone there, he would have no one he could trust as much as he trusted Natasha.

"Yup, I can't stay in the U.S any longer, Steve, they're after my head, it's too dangerous here, so I'm moving to Paris in a few days." She sighed and finished the other arm. "What about you? You're not planning on staying here, are you? After what just happened today."

Was that worry in her voice, in her eyes? "I… I don't have anywhere to go, I don't have much money and I don't have any other apartments outside of the US."

"Let me guess," Natasha placed one of her hands on his cheek, he turned her face to her slightly confused, was she going to kiss him? "You thought that since you are a 'national hero' they weren't coming after you?"

Steve chuckled. "Yes, something like that."

She got another gauze, soaked it in water and laced it softly on his forehead, wiping clean the dry blood that came from a cut just above his eyebrow. "You see, Steve. You are a hero, people look up to you, they would follow your orders no matter what. If Hydra gets their hands on you, they would use you for influence, they would brainwash you and make you work for them."

Natasha finished with the cut on his forehead and started putting what she had used back in the bag.

"Nat?" Steve asked.

"What is it, Steve." She didn't look up.

"Can I go with you? To Paris?"

"What?" Natasha looked into his eyes to check if he was serious, "Are you serious?"

"Yup."

"Steve, I keep telling everyone they should have apartments everywhere, that they should save money, look at this whole situation, I've been preparing for this kind of thing my entire life. But no one ever listens." Natasha sighed exasperated.

"I know, I know you told me, Nat, but I don't have anywhere to stay, no one to turn to, not at this time. I need help and I'm asking you for help. Please, please, I don't have a place to stay, I don't have clothes and I don't have money."

"Okay, you can come with me, I'll buy you some clothes, we'll get you some fake documents and buy you a plane ticket. You can stay with me in Paris, but just until you have enough money to buy yourself an apartment."

Steve smiled relieved. He would have even hugged her if his arms didn't hurt so much.

"Come, now, we have to buy you some new clothes. Yours are… Sweaty and bloody. It's gross." Natasha stood and started to make her way to the door, he followed.

~X~

"You stay in the car, Steve," She said while putting on her wig and piercings back on, "If you want to hang out with me, then you'll have to be a punk, is that okay with you?"

"Whatever." He shrugged, Steve could care less about that.

"Oh, and you'll have to dye your hair and grow a beard. I'm leaving in two weeks, you'll have plenty of time to grow one." Natasha added before leaving the car.

She went into a store and bought him a black leather jacket, a pair of pants, black boots and a shirt. Then she went back to the car.

"There you are, Captain Rogers." She handed him the bags, "Now we're going to a motel."

"Wait, what?!" He asked confused.

"I can't drive you to your place and you're certainly not going to mine until you're clean and unrecognisable."

"Okay." He muttered and looked out of the window. His life was a complete mess. Not for the first time, he started to miss the 40s, his old life, Peggy, Bucky, New York, Brooklyn, his mum…

They got to the motel before making a quick stop at a convenience store. Natasha bought black hair dye, shampoo, and all they might need for a complete makeover of Steve.

~X~

The complete makeover took them around four hours, but when they were finished, Steve looked like a completely different person.

"Wow." Natasha breathed, "You look very good."

"Thanks." Steve ran a hand through his hair as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, he would have to grow used to the man who started back at him in the mirror.

"Let's go then, we still have a lot of work to do." Natasha said, "Don't worry about the garbage, just take your old clothes, we'll have to burn them, and don't forget about the shield.

Steve got it and they left the place after paying.

The drive to her apartment was silent and it started to rain, a light, cold rain.

They bought him the plane ticked and made him a fake id, a fake passport and fake green cards for both of them. They were ready for the trip, the only thing they still had to do was by Steve some more clothes so he could travel.

"You'll be sleeping here." Natasha pointed to her bed.

"What? But where will you sleep?" Steve asked.

"I don't usually sleep, besides, if I change my mind in the middle of the night, there is always the couch." Natasha shrugged.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Steve, I'm sure." Natasha flashed him a tired smile, "You can sleep however you want, I won't be going into the bedroom once you're asleep. There's food and vodka in the fridge, cereal in the cupboard as well as chips and popcorn, if you want anything, you can just go and get it, you don't need to ask for permission."

"Okay, got it." He muttered, "Thank you, Natasha, you're the best, I mean it."

"It's nothing Steve, really." She looked down to hide the small smile that formed on her lips.

He got a bag of chips and shared it with her. They didn't eat much.

"Good night," Steve said and then added, "I always knew I could trust you."