Natasha's contact had pulled through with a place for them to stay, now all that was left was to travel there. Mason had managed to get them a small place in the middle of nowhere in Norway, which seemed relatively safe. The two trusted that he wouldn't put them up in an area that was actually a hot spot for people wandering through, Mason seemed like a nice enough guy from when Eleanor had spoken to him on the phone in previous months if Nat happened to have him on speakerphone.

Eleanor moved around the apartment helping Nat in packing away some of their items and clothes, as well as some weapons from the storage cupboard. Although she had recovered well and could move around as good as new, Natasha was still wary and found herself hovering near Eleanor at all times. Just in case. The younger woman, of course, noticed how when she moved to a different part of the room Natasha would move parallel on the other side of the room, but she thought it was sweet so didn't mention it.

Whilst packing she reached for a photo that was hanging up on the wall, meaning that she had to stretch to reach. Eleanor was more than capable of doing it now after three weeks of recovery time, yet Natasha still panicked at seeing this. She rushed across the room just as Eleanor's fingertips touched the wooden frame of the photo and immediately wrapped a hand around her waist for support and took ahold of the photo instead, "Let me get that instead", Nat spoke softly and planted a kiss on the side of her head for good measure.

"I could have got that you know", Eleanor scoffed as she lowered her hand, but the look of adoration that flashed through her eyes let Natasha know that she wasn't actually annoyed. Nat merely shrugged and moved back across the room to where she was making sure all of her guns were in order. Now more than ever it was important to make sure that they would be able to efficiently protect themselves. It was either that or going into the raft, which Natasha would not allow. So, she was checking her weapons more meticulously than she had done in her entire life.

She had gotten so into the zone of making sure that everything was up to her standards that she hadn't even noticed Eleanor making her way across the room explaining that she had finished packing everything that they needed away. They weren't taking everything on the run, they were leaving all of the items that were left in there anyway, to keep them safe. Such as the box of notes under the bed and some photo albums.

So, when Eleanor noticed that Nat wasn't paying attention to anything that she had just said, she tapped her on the shoulder causing her head to snap round to face her. "You okay?", the younger woman said concerned, her eyebrows furrowed. Natasha gave a reassuring smile and a nod, "Yes, just making sure everything's okay".

"You've been staring at that gun for about five minutes love, if you keep staring at it you'll burn holes into the side", Eleanor chuckled, trying to get Natasha to realise that everything was fine. This elicited a laugh from her wife as she muttered a few words of agreement and finally began to pack them away safely in the back of her backpack, Eleanor smiling gently throughout as she watched Natasha handle their belongings with such care.

"It's time to say goodbye to home again", Nat sighed and turned to her wife, a sad smile resting on her lips, though she soon frowned when she saw Eleanor gently shaking her head. "It's not a goodbye, it's a see you later".

Nat simply laughed and shouldered her backpack, grabbing hold of her suitcase in one hand and Eleanor's hand in the other, "Come on you big sap", she gestured towards Eleanor's bags resting near the door, "It's time for another adventure".

---

"Well this could be better", Eleanor mumbled as she looked ahead at all of the red brake lights on the cars, and Nat turned to her with wide eyes, an 'oh really?' look, before clenching and unclenching her knuckles as she gripped onto the steering wheel. Stress was taking over, they needed to reach their ride fast so that they could get out of the country finally. They had been pushing it by staying in their apartment for so long, but Natasha insisted that they take the risk to let Eleanor's back heal fully.

The pair needed to get to the airport so that the plane that they had rented under fake aliases could take off at the correct time. They were under a tight time crunch to reach their destination on time as it would be peak time to arrive at the airstrip undetected. But traffic had other plans. "We'll make it on time, we left early for this very reason, yeah?", Eleanor placed a hand on Nat's thigh to try and prevent the stress from fully kicking in.

The slightly older woman nodded slowly as she closed her eyes briefly and let out a deep exhale, "Yeah, yeah. Just want to get us to safety is all", she opened her eyes and turned to her wife who gave an understanding smile before gesturing at the traffic ahead that was slowly starting to move again. "Yes!", Natasha practically cheered as she dragged out the 's' and inched the car forward.

After a slow five minutes where Eleanor was continuously grimacing at the speedometer showing 10mph on a highway, they passed the cause of the traffic which happened to be a crash, and so they were smooth sailing with Natasha slamming on the accelerator to make up for lost time, the younger woman beside her clinging onto her seatbelt as Nat began to weave in and out of cars.

Her lips were pursed as Natasha made a manoeuvre that narrowly avoided another car in front of them as she veered the car to the junction exit. Eleanor had fought alien armies and entire HYDRA bases, yet this was the point in her life at which she was sure that she was going to die.

Trees and fields began to whip past them at high speeds as Nat guided the car away from the main roads and down some quiet ones towards the little tucked-away airport. It was during those moments of looking out the window at the scenery that it truly kicked in for Eleanor that they were leaving the country. Of course, she had known this fact for weeks now, but with staying in their apartment she had been living in denial about the whole thing, but here she was in the car with Nat on their way to flee the country that she had called home since she was nineteen. She didn't want to leave. She wouldn't be able to see Maria, Clint, Wanda, or the rest of the team, and there was no chance of hopping on a plane back to England to see her aunt like she tried to do at least once a year.

This was it.

It was all out of their control, and she and Natasha would have to live a life in hiding for the foreseeable future. No weekend trips away, no anniversary trips, no dates out, and no chance of being able to plan their future.

Though with one glance over at Nat who was concentrating on the road ahead in order to get the both of them away safely, Eleanor knew that it would all be okay. Natasha was all that she needed. "You're staring", Nat smirked and briefly looked over before turning to face the road again.

"Am not", Eleanor fought back with her arms crossed, "It was a quick peek Romanoff don't let your ego inflate more". Nat's jaw playfully dropped as she shook her head and made quick work to make a 90-degree sharp turn with the steering wheel, "I would argue with you on that but we're here", she smiled, glad to be making progress.

Natasha moved the car to park in one of the corrugated metal shelters, and the two quickly moved across the dusty gravel floor to get their luggage from the boot of the car, and jogged as fast as they could with their suitcases out into the field that was on the edge of the runway. It was no secret to them that this airstrip along with the planes that you could rent was a bit sleazy. The checks on whether or not it was even legal for Natasha or Eleanor to be flying a plane were most certainly not up to standard, and it was stated that they didn't even need to sign any waivers or meet anyone at the airstrip.

It was clearly a business where people would use the old planes with zero tracking devices in them to get away from someone undetected. If either women were still SHIELD Agents or Avengers that were not disgraced in the eyes of the law then they would probably look into it and get it shut down, but it was perfect for their current needs so they were turning a blind eye.

"We're looking for plane number five", Natasha breathed out as the two finished their jog over to the lineup of planes on the side of the runway. Eleanor made a noise of understanding, the short jog tiring her out slightly due to being out for the count over the last month or so, not that she would admit that to Natasha.

When they reached the parking spots for the vacant planes they slowed down to a walk so that they didn't miss their plane accidentally and have to try and find it again, and with both pairs of eyes on the job, it didn't take long for them to find plane five. Eleanor regretted thinking that earlier on she was sure that she was going to die, because now she was looking at a metal deathtrap and she wanted this to be the for sure moment instead.

Nat gave it a hearty pat on the side and moved to the small mailbox next to it to input the code to get the keys that had been left for them, and Eleanor was slightly scared of what planes Natasha has had the misfortune of flying before if she thought that this tin can was a viable mode of transport. Once Nat had got the keys and threw them up into the air and caught them for good measure, she looked at Eleanor who was standing over to the side looking at the plane with disdain.

"You don't like it?", Nat faked confusion as she looked between the plane and her wife who scoffed as she moved forward. "Can this thing even make it to Portugal?", Eleanor asked genuinely as she looked at the peeling paint due to the buildup of rust on the wings. Nat also grimaced when she followed Eleanor's line of sight, but shook it off and planted a smile on her face. "Of course", though she didn't quite believe her own words. But it wasn't like they had much of a choice.

Natasha moved to open the door and gestured for Eleanor to get in first, "After you, my love", she smiled and placed a gentle hand on her back to help her get into the plane. "Oh why thank you", Eleanor mumbled, disgruntled, causing Nat to let out a small laugh as she passed the suitcases up and then clambered into the tiny cockpit.

Both women gave the control panel a once over before working together to flip the correct switches and push the correct buttons. When everything seemed to light up the way it should they sent each other victorious smiles, but those soon dropped when Nat started the engine and it made a groaning noise before changing to a constant spluttering. "This is fine", Nat spoke with authority and nodded, slowly easing the plane forward and onto the runway, the entire plane shaking with the gradual speed up.

Eleanor stared horrified ahead at the strip of concrete ahead passing them by quicker and quicker with each passing second and screwed her eyes tightly shut as they took off into the air, the entire thing shaking as though there was turbulence. "I'm gonna be sick", Eleanor grunted and leaned forward in her seat, hanging her head with the lack of energy.

"You'll be fine", Nat shrugged, earning an incredulous look from her wife before she gagged as the plane rattled unexpectedly. "Oh, you weren't joking?", Natasha left one hand on the steering mechanism as she reached back into their suitcases to look for something to help, though this action only caused the plane to lurch to the side, which Nat wasn't phased by.

"Just keep both hands in front of you please!", Eleanor frantically half-shouted, and Nat listened, immediately turning her body back to the front, making a wincing sound as she corrected the position of the plane. "I'll be fine", Eleanor mumbled and leaned her head on Natasha's shoulder.

A/n - Very sorry about the late update with this chapter, I've recently gone back to University so my time is not as free as it was during the summer! But I do love writing this book, it's a good escape, so I do plan to do regular updates still, just more like once a week realistically instead of two-three times a week