Notes: for the trope bingo spot "reunion." Title from The French Lesson by Michael C Ford. Not mine, no profit garnered. Thanks to A!

When Natasha met Sam Wilson for the first time, she was wearing a black wig, foundation that almost but didn't quite match her face, shoes from Payless and she slouched away from people's eyes. She was Blair, very new girlfriend to Karl, a vet who had some very bad friends. Blair went to the VA Center to find Karl and lingered around reception. Sam came out and Natasha stopped herself from smiling back.

"Can I help you?"

Blair bleated, "No, no, no. I'm just waiting for Karl."

"I think he'll be out pretty soon," Sam said, all charm and compassion. He was too good to be true and too good looking to be genuine.

Blair asked if he knew Karl, "If you can tell me?" and if he was making friends, she worried about him so much, he had trouble making friends.

"I don't think anyone makes friends easily," Sam said.

"Yeah," Blair said.

Karl came out, in his charming white supremacist way, he barely acknowledged Sam. Blair looked back apologetically.

Two weeks later, Karl was under arrest by SHIELD along with more than a few of his friends. Natasha broke into the VA center to make sure Karl hasn't left any surprises.

She got careless and turned a corner to find herself with a gun pointed at her thanks to Sam. "Blair, you look much better with that hair and that suit."

She smiled. "We both know my name isn't Blair. I work for SHIELD, I'm just here to make sure one of your visitors didn't leave anything unpleasant behind."

"If you're talking about Karl, I already searched. There was nothing." He lowered the gun.

"Really? I found two guns and a grenade," Natasha said.

"You must be really good at your job," Sam said.

"I am." She looked him up and down. "Is there any chance you're interested in some Thai in an hour or two?"

"At 2 or 3 am? You know a Thai place open then? Or do you have your own private spy jet and you're flying me to Thailand?" He grinned, and Natasha struggled not to stop and lick him. It wasn't a huge struggle, but it was there.

"I do know a place that's open right here in DC," she said.

"Should I just drive there and wait for you? Or do you need a ride?"

"I have a hand grenade to drop off and I thought I'd wear something more appropriate for dinner, even at 3 am," she said.

"Sure, sure," he said. "You know what? Why not? Give me the address, I'll see you there."

"You don't have a problem making friends, do you?"

"Apparently not with you," he said.

He was there when she walked in. He said nice things about her skinny jeans and her gray tee. "You blend right in, no one will notice you," he said with a half smile. She silently admired his jeans, shirt and the way they fit him.

They talked about nothing and it was a surface dance of banter. But it was enough. After dinner, Sam showed her his apartment. He had a firm mattress. Neither of them commented about each other's scars.

On their third date, Sam said, "Is your name really Natasha?"

"Close enough," she said. She stretched and watched his eyes on her breasts. "Have you ever thought about working for SHIELD?"

"Not interested at all," Sam said. "I'm not a spy, I can't do your fake person thing."

"It's a skill," she said. She felt defensive, ridiculously.

"I know," he said, softly. He leaned over and kissed her, effectively melting her ire. "The only time you've been fake with me is when you were being Blair, I know."

"I wasn't upset about that," she said.

He finally got around to asking her if she knew Captain America or Iron Man. She admitted to both. "You can meet Cap, just going running early in the morning."

It was another two weeks before she went to pick up Steve and Sam smirked at her.

When they were breaking into Fort Meade, she said to Steve, "Sam and I have been sleeping together for the last month or so."

"I had no idea," he said.

"I'm discreet," she said. She paused. "I thought you should know."

Then she was unemployed and her shoulder ached. Sam was sitting in the hospital room next to Steve. She leaned against the door and said, "Do you have a few minutes? I have a couple of errands to run and I wanted to say goodbye."

"I need more than a few minutes," Sam said, standing up. He glanced back at Steve and then followed her to an empty room.

She let him be on top, showing off his arm definition while he kept up a steady and oddly gently rhythm as he pushed into her. He made sure she came. She sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on her boots, as she said, "I'm sorry we're done."

"I get why you think we have to be, but you know, you ever change your mind, let me know. I don't think Steve would disapprove." He buttoned his shirt up. It was a very well tailored shirt.

"I don't care if he does. I'm just not planning to be in one place for a while," she said.

After she gave Steve the files on the Winter Soldier, she went to the Yukon. Where Clint was.

"You're just hanging out here," she said.

"It's where Fury assigned me," he said. He had his feet up on the plastic table in the rec room with ugly mustard carpet.

"Fury's gone, SHIELD's gone, you can go wherever you want," she said.

"Oh, I know SHIELD's gone," he said. There were three dead HYDRA agents in the kitchen next to the rec room. "We worked for HYDRA." He sounded sad.

"I know," she said. She felt a little desperate. "I know."

"I heard Phil's alive," Clint said.

She felt a lot desperate. "Of course he is."

So she and Clint spent a comforting month wiping out Hydra agents in a straight line from the Yukon to Des Moines. Then she brought him upstairs to the safe house she had away from everyone in Pella, Iowa. "You're the salt of the earth," Clint said, following her upstairs.

"You're the salt of the earth, I'm more like pepper."

"Pepper Potts?" Clint smiled at her, putting his feet up on her wood table. "What are you doing next, Nat?"

"I have no idea," she said. "I really have no idea."

I know," Clint said. She could have, she thought, reached out for him. They'd been lovers for a year and a half until a month before Loki. It had been a surprisingly amicable break up. She hadn't been in love since, the only close call was Sam. But she'd resisted Sam, she could resist Clint.

"We should have stayed in the Yukon," Natasha said. "There's a place to retire."

"You're ready to retire?"

"Maybe," she said.

"It's not a bad idea," he said. "I think I know where Phil is, let's ask him."

It made her unspeakably angry sitting across from Phil at the diner in Kansas. Clint wasn't angry but she wasn't a good person like he was.

"I can tell you're not pleased with me, Natasha," Phil said. "You know this was Fury's idea."

"Of course it was," Clint said. He sprawled in the seat, his thigh against hers.

"I hope you're not HYDRA," she said.

"You're angry," Phil said.

"You keep saying that," Natasha said. She got up and waited outside.

It was a half hour, but eventually Phil came out and sat down next to her on the bench she'd claimed as hers. He said, "I am sorry."

"I know," she said, grinding out each syllable. "Do you know how many agents I knew who are HYDRA? You know how many I trusted?"

"Probably the same amount as me," Phil said.

"You're not HYDRA, you're just alive," Natasha said. "Are there more surprises waiting around the corner?"

"Probably," Phil said.

Clint went west and Natasha went east. Tony, of all people, was perfectly happy to have her stay in one of his places. She had her choice of condo, townhouse, pied a terre in whichever borough she wanted.

"It's funny, isn't it, how few people seem to be using the information I released?"

"That would be because more than one government and large private company made sure to get it off the net very quickly," Tony said.

"Including Stark Industries?"

"Yes," Pepper said. "Sorry, you can't ever take back anything from the internet, not really, but there was so much about Howard Stark - Maria Hill was pretty helpful. She feels bad, I think."

Natasha nodded. "She doesn't need to feel bad, the point was made."

"It was interesting reading," Bruce said. Tony and Bruce spent so much time together, she kept wanting to see if they ended up in bed together. She resisted. She should let people have their privacy to work out their lives however they worked.

They looked for HYDRA and artifacts. She saw Sam at a few parties, waved and didn't seek him out. He didn't look for her either. She had her eyes on Bruce.

Then Bruce was gone, and she was somehow still an Avenger. Next to Sam. They were friends.

He waited two months then he sought her out after a meeting. "You interested in some Thai?"

She smiled. "Is that a come on?"

"Probably not," Sam said. "Though Steve told me yesterday he thought maybe enough time had passed, maybe I could try to heat things up with you again."

She laughed. "How awkward was that?"

"Incredibly awkward, on his part," Sam said. "I was cool."

"Of course," she said. "Are you two still looking for Barnes?" She wondered if there was a point she should admit the previous times she'd seen him, before he shot her. She didn't think it would help with the hunt for him, so she didn't feel guilty about it.

"Steve hasn't given up, but you know what? We got close to him more than once, so close I swear I saw his metal hand shining in the sun. He knows we were looking for him. He knows it's Steve. If he wants to be found, he'll be found," Sam said.

"Do you think Steve will wait?"

"No," Sam said. "But we were talking about me and you."

"I thought we were talking about Thai food," she said.

A week later, they went out for Thai, ditching everyone else. She swore Steve winked at her when they left. It was painful. "Just for that, we should have sex in his room," Natasha said.

"His room is depressing," Sam said. "Have you seen the music selection?"

"You're the one who got him started," Natasha said.

"I didn't think it would lead to quite so much disco," Sam said, shaking his head. "He just does it because he cares."

"I know," she said. "It's a little odd for me. It's been odd for years."

"You're not used to being cared about," he said.

"I am now," she said. First Clint and Phil, and Nick, now it was a longer list. Not very long, she thought.

They did have sex, but she got them a hotel room so they had some privacy. She enjoyed it, again, she enjoyed it more. He laughed with her.

He said, "Are we keeping this down low again?"

"We weren't really keeping it down low the first time," Natasha said. "We just didn't have any friends in common."

"You didn't introduce me to your friends," he said.

"I introduced you to Steve, sort of," she said. "There aren't many other people to meet on my side."

"That's a comment about my family," Sam said. "I know what you're trying to say."

"Your mother calls a lot," she said.

"I'd take you home in a minute," he said. He seemed to be concentrating on her eyes.

"Would you really?"

"I said it." He sat down on the bed and even took her hand. "I know you might think I'm a playboy, but actually -"

"You're not a playboy," she said. She grasped his hand, let go and got off the bed. "Fine, you can take me home if you want."

"Probably not this weekend," he said. "It has only been this one date and the ones a few years ago."

"Yeah, we should do this at least a few more times," she said.

"It makes Steve so happy," he said. He pulled her back on the bed.

"That's reason enough," she said. Then she said, "I do like you."

"I know," he said. "Thanks for admitting that. I like you, too."

She let him pull her into his lap. Everything about him was comfortable and handsome. She stopped trying to stop herself from smiling.