Hi guys! I'm sorry I'm really really really late at updating my other fanfictions, but Inspiration comes and goes. I haven't forgotten about them, but I don't know when I'll be able to update. Especially since the courses at the university started again. But today I was inspired for this so here it is.
Steve didn't know much about his neighbor. He actually knew only three things: how she looked, the fact that she had a cat and that she came home at weird hours, mostly during the night. He didn't see her often; he had only vaguely seen her three times before he actually spoke to her.
The first time, he had just seen her fiery red mane disappear around the corner of the staircase and smelled a whiff of her perfume. He was also fairly certain she was holding a laundry basket. The second time, he almost bumped into her when he was late for work. He remembered that day clearly because he had almost been fired that time. The third time was the most interesting. He was also going to work, fairly early in the morning because of some project he had to do that was bigger than anything he had ever done. She had just come home from a night of work, Steve guessed. He had opened his mouth to wish her a good day, he was polite like that, but she had closed the door. He thought she didn't see him there, it all went so quickly. But he couldn't help but wonder if that was really blood he had seen on her hand as she closed the door. He was probably imagining things.
The day he spoke to her was like any other except that this time, she came home at a normal hour and not the crack of dawn. She was wearing a white shirt and black pants. Her hair was done in a tight bun and her makeup was applied on very strategic places. She looked rather professional as if she just got out of some board meeting. Steve was also coming from work and had his latest comic board under the arm, wrapped tight to protect it from the weather. He met her in front of the mail box. She had received several letters; among them was one rather thick and she frowned when she saw it. That's when she had heard him and a smile had appeared on her lips when she looked at him. But Steve could guess it was just a polite smile, nothing more and nothing less.
"Hey," he said.
She said "Hey," back.
It could have ended there, since she moved towards the stairs, but Steve followed. After all, he was also going home and they lived on the same floor. Besides, he wanted to use this chance to make small talk. He was rather curious and social in nature: he had always liked to know his neighbors. But that lady was a piece of work.
"Miss Romanoff, right?" he asked, climbing up the steps after her.
"Yes?" she asked, as if expecting him to ask her a question.
"Oh, no. I just wanted to make sure it was your last name."
She didn't say anything and kept climbing.
"I'm Steven Rogers," he continued, desperate to get her to talk. Her voice was really nice, with a hint of mystery in it and something quite sexy he couldn't exactly pinpoint.
"I know," she answered dryly, clearly not wanting to continue this beginning of a conversation.
Steve knew he had to say something when they reached their floor. Her apartment was first and she just had a couple of feet to cross before she reached her door. It was now or never.
"Hey, listen. Hum… the other day, I saw you with your laundry. You're using the machine in the basement right? If you want, you can use my machine… might be cheaper."
Of all the things he could say to her, he had to choose the laundry subject. He almost slapped himself. But at least, it got her to stop and she looked at him as if she didn't believe he just said that either. For a moment, she seemed at a loss for words and then a smile crept on her face. It was a small smile, the kind you make when you don't want to disappoint someone who just said a lame joke.
"It's nice of you, but I'm good." She walked to her door and pulled out her keys.
"I know it's none of my business, but the other night when I saw you come home… you probably didn't see me but I was wondering. Was that blood on your hand? Are you alright?"
She tensed and the smile disappeared from her face. For a moment, Steve thought she wouldn't answer and would just leave him there but she opened the door and said "It was nothing. I was at a friend's and helped her dye her hair… It got a little messy and those things are hard to wash." She walked inside her apartment. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
She closed the door before Steve could even ask her name.
He didn't see her for three entire days after that. Steve was a light sleeper and so the previous week, when work was particularly stressful, he often drew at night because he couldn't sleep. He heard her come home on several occasions, but nothing in the last three days. So when he finally heard her come back, he jumped from his seat and looked through his peep hole.
He saw her walking towards her door, her heels clacking on the floor. She was talking to someone on the phone and Steve could hear because she was speaking very loud and seemed to be angry.
"I'm telling you Isaiah, we need to check them out." She let out a sigh and dropped her keys. Her hand shielded her eyes for a few seconds as she listened. "Yes, I understand, but we cannot let them unattended. Do you remember what happened three years ago when ten of them had been almost completely forgotten? I know, I hear you. But I can't help it and I know there are so many of them. But that's the point of a web, isn't it?" She picked up her keys. "Yes, we'll separate them in two groups. You deal with those on the west coast. I know the plane will cost you a fortune and stop complaining, I'm paying your flight anyway."
She put the keys in the hole. "Remember, the one in Seattle is farther away from the airport. So you better do that one last. And there are three in Frisco. The residence? No, don't go there. Matt doesn't live there anymore and he left me the place, but I don't want you to go there. And yes, it has something to do with Ivan's death." She stopped and laughed. Steve had never heard her laugh before. "Oh yes right, you are so sure you know everything about me. Think again Isaiah, no one knows everything about me. It's better that way. Don't push it you lucky bastard."
She turned the keys and opened the door. Immediately her black cat came out of the apartment and meowed while it pressed against her legs. "I told you, I'll take care of the second half. I'll go to Europe." She looked at her watch. "It shouldn't be a problem. I can catch a plane in three hours. And don't start lecturing me about taking care of myself. I'm a grown woman, I do whatever the hell I want to do. Yes, I just came back from work, but I'm not tired. And this is more important than me, anyway. So I'll do Barcelona, Paris and Berlin. London and Dublin shouldn't be too hard either. For the eastern part, Moscow is going to be a problem so I'll pass and besides, I've got people there. Okay, Rome and Istanbul too, got it. What about Budapest? I'm not telling you shit about what happened in Budapest, that's between Clint and me."
She looked at the impatient cat at her feet. "I'm sorry Isaiah, I'm going to have to call you back, I have to deal with Liho. No, of course I'm not going to take her with me, are you mad?" And at that moment, she looked at Steve's door, making him blush for no apparent reason. "I got an idea. Bye."
She hung up, took her cat in her arms while talking soothingly to her and walked inside her apartment. Five minutes later, she was knocking on Steve's door. He tried to look surprised to see her so she wouldn't think he just spied on her.
"I'm so sorry to disturb you at this late hour…" she started. Her black cat was cradled in her arms and looked at Steve with the greenest eyes he had ever seen. It was almost as if the cat was watching his every move. It also purred as her owner was stroking its head.
"It's fine really, I can't sleep much lately." Steve smiled warmly at her.
"Anyway, I was wondering if you could help me out and keep an eye on my cat for a week or so. I've got this trip I have to do and I won't be there to feed her and stuff. She's not complicated at all; you just have to feed her once a day."
Steve immediately agreed and they settled the details. Liho would stay in her own apartment and Steve would have the keys just for this week. He also learned that Miss Romanoff's first name was Natasha.
"So, where are you going?" He asked, although he could guess from her previous conversation.
"Europe."
"For work?"
She smiled. "You could say that."
"Isn't it a bit late to catch a plane?"
"Is this an interrogation?" she answered while she grabbed her bag.
"No, I was just wondering…" She didn't let him finish, kissed Liho goodbye and closed her apartment. Then she placed the keys in his hand. "I'm just kidding. And I'll manage, I'll figure something out. Have a good week Steve."
She didn't come back a week later. Steve still fed Liho nonetheless but he was glad to see Natasha come back on the tenth day. Liho wasn't complicated, but Steve had a bad feeling about this cat, as if it was constantly watching him and waiting for him to make a wrong move.
The state in which Natasha came back worried him. From the distance, she looked fine, but when she knocked on his door to have her keys back since she didn't have a double of them, he saw that she was far from fine. Her hair was a mess, she had a nasty bruise on her temple, her lower lip was cut, her right arm hung helplessly at her side, she was clutching her stomach and she was limping.
"What the hell happened to you?" he asked immediately. He opened his door wider but she didn't come inside.
"It's nothing," she said through gritted teeth. He didn't budge. "Can you give me my keys back please?"
"Not until you tell me what happened and let me take you to the hospital."
"No hospital."
The way she said it gave Steve the impression she already had her fair share of hospital stays and that it was a place she wouldn't go even in hell. As if something traumatizing had happened to her there, as if she was afraid.
She sighed, clearly too hurt and tired to argue. "I was at work. They needed me asap, so I got there straight after coming back from Europe. The last days had been… well rough."
"What kind of work do you do?"
"The kind you really don't want to hear about, trust me."
"What, you're some kind of secret agent? If you tell me you'll have to kill me?"
"Exactly Rogers, now can I have my keys?"
"Not until I take you to the hospital." He was already grabbing his jacket but she glared at him. "At least let me take a look at your injuries. I've been in the army, I still know how to treat and dress a wound. I've got a first aid kit in the bathroom."
She nodded and he helped her on his couch.
"Your cat is fine by the way although I feel like she wants my skin."
Natasha laughed and winced immediately afterwards, making Steve wonder if she didn't have broken ribs. As it turned out, she had sustained some great damage during her last "mission". Her right shoulder was dislocated, her left ankle was fractured and her left knee was busted. It had swollen to the point where Steve had to cut her jeans to take a look at it. And she had been clutching her side because of the two bullets she had in the gut.
Her painkillers ended and she couldn't take the pain anymore so she allowed him to take her to the hospital. Especially since she somehow didn't want to argue with him after he got mad when he learned she held those two bullets in her gut for three hours already. But Steve didn't own a car, just a bike. He was afraid she'd pass out behind him but she assured him she would be fine. She also threatened to castrate him if he called an ambulance, something about her being too proud for that shit, she said.
She was right, she did hold on but as soon as Steve got off the bike, she collapsed in his arms. "Don't worry, I'll take care of your cat tomorrow and I'll even wash your clothes. I know a good way to wash away blood." She smiled and let him carry her inside the hospital. When the doctors took her in for surgery, she closed her eyes. But the smile stayed on her lips.