I'm spiraling, I'm so happy, there are so many Cap 3 spoilers here. Post-Cap 3, what happened to Natasha and how Steve is recovering. Written for geishaveji and for my follower appreciation even on Tumblr.

T'Challa hadn't lied. The Wakandan palace was well-fortified, and the country's pseudo-isolationist policies made it difficult for anyone to enter.

It was a good place for Steve to recoup, lay low for a few weeks, figure some shit out. A good place for Bucky to rest until they could figure out how to undo his programming.

He wasn't really one for nature walks, city boy and all, but as his wounds and his pride healed he found himself straying out further and further from the palace and the capital city. Wakanda was beautiful country, lush rainforests and steamy air, wildlife he'd only ever seen pictures of. This was territory he'd never gone into during his time with SHIELD, unfamiliar plants and animals everywhere. A few years ago he might have had to navigate this kind of environment for a mission - and he had, only the rainforests were in Asia and not central Africa - but he found that navigating for pleasure was much more enjoyable than he could have expected.

Sometimes T'Challa assigned a guide to him, and most of the time Steve politely declined the company. He liked having the freedom, the lack of restriction that a guide would bring. Steve made note of forbidden areas - and many of them were guarded anyway - and respected the boundaries as a guest, but otherwise he spent his time roaming the rainforest alone.

Almost a month after Bucky went under, Steve was sitting in his assigned room, running a towel over his damp hair and staring out the window without really seeing the terrain he'd come to know so well. His faint reflection showed the barest hints of bruises, the rest of his injuries mostly mended thanks to the serum's regenerative abilities.

He and Tony really had beaten the shit out of each other.

He wondered about that, how Tony had reacted to his message. The burner number never came up on his phone, not even as a text, but part of him wasn't surprised. He knew Tony was a stubborn fuckin' asshole, mostly because he was also a stubborn fuckin' asshole. Birds of a feather and all.

But Steve still hoped Tony could recognize the olive branch when he saw it.

They both thought what they'd done was right. Steve didn't know if he would have reacted differently if he'd been in Tony's shoes.

But that doesn't mean Steve didn't care.

No, his phone remained silent for the last few weeks. He didn't know if Tony had put out a persona non grata on him to the others, or if half the team had made it into hiding. He knew nothing about the outside, just that Bucky slept in cryo-freeze somewhere six floors below, and that T'Challa had been a far more generous host than Steve deserved.

So Steve stared unseeing out at the evening mists, the statue of Bast slowly vanishing into the growing darkness, towel and arm paused mid-motion.

And then his phone rang.

Truthfully, the last name he expected to see was Natasha's. "Nat?" he asked, wary of hearing possible chaos in the background. They hadn't spoken since she'd held T'Challa off and allowed him and Bucky to escape, so he didn't even know where she was, what situation she could be in right now.

"Hey," she said. All was quiet on her end, even her voice was soft, as if she was just in bed waiting to fall asleep.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, realizing he was actually relieved that she was okay. "I gotta tell you, Nat, I was expecting pandemonium."

Her chuckle was soft and warm, taking him back to their long nights spent going over training regimens in the compound, both of them delirious and tilt-silly around two in the morning from staring at charts and paperwork and numbers until they swam. "Nah," she said. "I just had some downtime, finally, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. You don't have to tell me where you are, just that you're alright."

The corner of his mouth lifted. "Yeah. I'm okay. Bucky - a lot happened after we left."

"He's okay?"

"He's under." She didn't say anything, but he got the impression that she knew what he meant. "His choice, Nat. He's safe here, so if - when - I decide to leave, I know he'll be in good hands."

"And you?"

"They're taking care of me too." He paused. "How are you doing? You're okay?"

She chuckled again. "Stark's pissed at me, but that's not exactly new." It's Steve's turn to chuckle at that. She wasn't wrong. "After they airlifted Rhodey out, I beat it, went underground for a while. Tony said they might come after me next and I really don't care to get acquainted with that underwater prison. Found a nice little hidey-hole, no one really asks any questions."

"And you're safe there?" Steve asked, knowing what kind of place she must be in for no one to ask questions.

He could hear the smile in her voice as she said, "Yes, mom. The neighbor kids tried to play rough once but I set them straight." There was a pause, and then Steve was grateful for his enhanced hearing because her next words came softly. "I miss you. The team, the weird music Wanda played when she was cooking breakfast, Vision popping in unexpectedly. We had a good system, Rogers. We had - we had us."

"I know, Nat," he murmured. "Look, I'm sorry. About all of this, about what happened."

But Natasha knew better - knew him. "No you're not," she said, not unkindly. "You're only sorry everyone didn't see things your way, that we couldn't all compromise. And I don't blame you. This whole - thing - was idiotic, beginning to end, but we all made our choices. And now we just have to deal with the fallout."

Steve stared at the floor for a long moment, then breathed a laugh. "I swear sometimes you know me better than I know me."

"That's my job," she said and he can just picture her flippant shrug.

"And for the record - I miss you too, Nat."

There's a long pause and he imagined that look she got on the rare occasions when someone surprised her. Kind of wide-eyed, lips parted, and then she always smiled when she realized someone else could one-up her. Just as her face shifted in his mind to that smile, she said, "You're a sap, Rogers."

And he knew he'd read her silence right.

"We probably shouldn't stay on the line much longer, if they're tracing your phone," Steve says.

"And yours is safe?"

He smiles wryly, glancing around the room and knowing exactly where and how many protective measures were just in this space alone. "I'd like to see them try to get to me."

Her breathy laugh in his ear made him miss her fiercely, the cool head in a fight that's been his shooting arm for four years now. He realized it a few days ago during one of his walks, how rare it was to be out in some unfamiliar terrain without Nat chirping a joke or teasing him in his ear, or somewhere close by. She'd been watching his back for so long that to look over his shoulder and see no one at all was strange.

"Well, soldier, don't make it a habit, but if you get desperate for company you know where to reach me," Natasha told him.

He smiled, feeling a bit wistful. If, after everything, Natasha was still on his side - still his... something - then he could be okay with feeling so cut off from everyone else. "Back at you, Nat," he said. "If you hear anything - anything at all, I mean it - don't hesitate to call me in."

"I'll let you know when I need someone to hide the bodies," she promised, the gentle tease back in her voice and making him miss her all the more.

He didn't know what time it was there, what the weather was wherever she was, what she did to fill her days. But if she needed somewhere else, somewhere safer to lay low, he knew just the place. "I'll tell T'Challa you said hello," he said quietly. "See you around, Nat."

She didn't reply and then he knew when she'd ended the call. Natasha was smart, she'd know what he meant by that.

And maybe he would see her around, eventually.

I could probably chart out a map that points out how Steve and Natasha have secretly been together since Avengers 1, given enough time and energy, but even if you don't ship them I just love these two in any situation at all. They balance each other out so well.