Chapter 1
"Avengers"
"Third Time's the Charm"
Disclaimer: Not mine.
After watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the chemistry between these two bothers me so much (in a good way) that I just have to write them out of my brain!
This is my 2nd story in the world of fan fiction, and English is not my first language. Every mistakes that I made are my own.
Their relationship changed.
At first, he acknowledged her as a fellow soldier, even though the correct term to describe her would be 'extraordinaire spy femme fatale'. He kept his distance at a respectable length, a professional length. Not to mention, the situation did not exactly allow them the time for a friendly chit chat.
Even if he thought that she was the most beautiful creature he ever laid eyes on, he would not act on it. Let's not kid around thinking that he had the guts to do so. History had proven that the only time he had the courage to ask a girl out was when he was about to crash himself on ice. He had accepted the fact that when it came to women, he was a hapless chap. Furthermore, she was NOT an ordinary woman, and he said that with only the best intention in mind.
Before getting on board the helicarrier, SHIELD had given him the files on all the team which was now known as the Avengers. He read of her past, her statistics, her abilities, and so on. But still, it was hard to match the written report with the lady who welcomed her on the helicarrier.
She walked lithely. He almost didn't hear her steps even with his enhanced hearing. It was Phil Coulson who alerted him of her presence with a simple introduction, "Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers." So awed was he seeing her face to face for the very first time, he had no other words to say but "Ma'am." No sane man would've called Natasha Romanoff "Ma'am," but in his defense, he was frozen for 70 years, surely people would give him some slack for his lack of suaveness, not that he had any to begin with.
She told Coulson that he was needed in the bridge and so he excused himself and went right away, leaving him alone with her. There was a certainty in the way she speaks. She was a woman whose words were irrefutable. Instinctively he knew that to cross this woman would be bad for his health, for any man's health. He briefly thanked the Lord they were in the same team.
"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" There was a touch of a smile on her face while she was speaking. He couldn't help a smile appearing on his own face, especially remembering his interaction with Phil Coulson on the jet earlier.
It was refreshing to know that there was another side to the infamously-lethal Black Widow, a playful side he knew she would only show to those she deemed worthy. She had made her own assessment of him, and whatever it was that she saw that made her put him in the "worthy" pile, he was grateful for it.
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New York was the first time he saw her in action. He heard that she had successfully tricked the trickster, outran the Hulk, and fisted some sense back to Hawkeye all in the span of a day. So he knew what she was capable of. But he still found it very hard to stop himself from shielding her from any attack.
Not because he didn't trust her to defend herself. He did very much trust her. After all, he was the one who asked her to come to New York to fight alongside him. And he trusted her judgement. If she said she could do it, he believed she could. He was just temporarily blindsided with how small she was. The top of her head only reached his shoulder for goodness sake; can't blame him for being a bit overprotective towards her.
However, after seeing the ease in which she moved and maneuvered herself amongst the aliens, tackling them down one by one, sometimes two or three in one sweep, he hoped for his sake, she would never be privy to his previous thought.
Ever since his transformation, women had been flocking to him like moths to a flame. The problem was, he knew they were all blinded by his looks. Should they have met the "him" from before, they would not have given him the time of day. None would look pass his fragile physique to really see the man inside; none but Dr. Erskine and Peggy. They saw something in him, something he didn't even know he had. The deciding factor that allowed him to be the man he is today.
As for Peggy, the attraction between them did not start at the same time. His eyes were the first to follow her, captivated by her poise, courage, and strength. She, in turn, was intrigued by him, but her eyes didn't really follow him back up until his transformation. He couldn't fault her for that, they were in war, and she was more focused on her duty to her country than starting a relationship. But after his transformation, he had the ability to do what his body could never do before; the ability to better serve his country. He believed, for Peggy, that was where the attraction started.
Swamped as they were with mission after mission, a war to win, they didn't really have the time to voice their feelings. Even until the very end, Peggy was a promise of love. A promise that he could not fulfilled.
Looking at the woman beside him now, sitting silently while the rest of the team were chomping on their shawarmas, cuts and bruises on her face, with a serene expression only she could pull off after the ordeal they faced, he couldn't help but think that he had been given a new chance at love. A new promise he wished he could fulfill.
Ellie: Love it? Hate it? So so? Please review and let me know. Would love to hear your opinions.
There's gonna be another chapter of this. Chapter 2 "Captain America: The Winter Soldier".
Thanks for reading!