Blurry spotlights blinded the spy temporarily.
A buzzing roar nagged at her ear, firmly Romanoff shook it off. She was moving, her eyes blinking uncontrollably.
Where was she?
As Natasha continued down the spotting lights she contemplated her surroundings, she could only see above; the contrast off bright lights and then a shadowed patch made red dots appear before her.
She couldn't look to the left or the right, Widow tried but a groan sounded from a distance, stopping her from moving her neck. She was still moving, and the sound of rushed footsteps beside her jammed her system with nerves. She was flying, in the sky and the harsh tints of white were the stars...

Another distant groan bounced against her tightening skull, she was the one groaning.

Suddenly in the space of 2 seconds it all flooded back to her, too quickly Tasha was drowning in the anguishing memories:

"You Coward!"
Screams splitting her skull, ducking behind cover as an explosion rocked the land beneath her feet, she flew backwards.
Red sparks trapped the Widow in a web.
"Be honest with me...do you really want this? Want this? Want this?" Sobbing sounds ran around her ear drum, the beat was so repetitive Romanoff couldn't stop the sound, it didn't leave. It just got quieter until it, like everything else, faded into an ibis of numbness.
"HEY! I thought we were together!"
"You're got a lot of nerve..."
Crumbling bricks banged against hollow bodies, gas clung to her suit like a bad odour.
"STEVE!"

"Huh!" Natasha gasped, suddenly her blurred vision sorted the puzzle into the correct order, the dashing lights stopped assaulting the disorientated spy. She sprang forward; she was being strolled on a gurney, not flying.
The hurried footsteps were featuring unlinked lines of conversation "We need to get her to the operating room."
"Did you see that other guy?"
"No..what happened?"
"Is that Tony Stark!"

Nat spun her eyes adjusting and the nurses and doctors surrounding her took note of her suddenly stirred state. "Miss please sit down!" Romanoff ignored the crude woman; she always struggled to follow orders.

Romanoff stumbled forwards, her feet feeling weightless and foreign, like her entire body was asleep. Her numb fingers were shaking as she reached for Stark, her hands heavy and stiff; how do you work these things again?

Tony started upon seeing Tasha's shuddering figure, immediately Stark panicked and fell backwards, crashing to the floor. He began crying hysterically; it hurt to watch.
She felt a plug in her memory, had she hit her head?
Something wasn't adding up...
"Stark...what's wrong...how did we get here?"

His face suddenly became blurry as her own tears subconsciously formed and began pouring; it was like her body knew what had happened and her mind was waiting to catch up. Instantly big hands gripped Romanoff's shoulders; Pietro, she thought as a sliver of silver flashed in her vision and Pepper rushed to Tony's side. But Romanoff and Stark never broke eye contact, despite the numerous patients and family and doctors who stepped between the distancing figures.

Natasha sobbed and collapsed, letting Maximoff support her completely as she heard Stark's overwhelming roar "I didn't mean it! I NEVER MEANT TO HURT HIM..."
This time her vision went blank and the sounds began to sink into the river of silence, the last things she heard were combined of clawing breath, muffled sobs, meaningless assurances and one word: "Steve."

One month earlier

"So...how'd the tests go? Will...will we be able to do this, Doc?" Nat licked her already wet lips, her throat felt like the safari desert and no amount of water could damp the sand storm building inside; she'd already helped herself to five glasses of water.
Next to her Steve's hand was limp in her own, she turned to look at him, confusion and anger fighting for assurance that he was with her.
He was staring at the floor as if it was about to open a portal to another dimension; then again Thor had a tendency to pick his timings uniquely.

The Doctor, wasn't immune to Rogers' lack of scrutiny either, coughed reaching for the heroes concentration; after all it was a delicate matter. "Well, with anyone else, the chances would be non-existent. But with Mr Rogers' enhanced...abilities, I'd definitely feel confident telling you there's a chance. It appears the serum hasn't revealed any faults yet?" His question was directed to Steve, who was still intently monitoring the floor.

Nat scowled "Except maybe in the length of his attention span..." Her harsh snarl seemed to pull something from the Super Soldier, who looked up, dazed and oblivious to the previous comments dispatched between the Obstetrician and his wife, who grimaced disapprovingly.
The Doctor coughed once more, clearing the formidable tension rising between the married couple, Steve still seeming stunned. Steve finally spoke, catching on to his fulfilled performance of ignorance which he'd also appeared to overlook.
"I'm sorry, beg your pardon Doc?"

An amused frown creased the aging Obstetrician's face, "I was just discussing the likelihood of your sperm succeeding with Mrs Rogers'..." Steve held out his hand, blushing at the entertained Doctor, pocking fun at the American Captain and his modest naivety. "Okay..ah, so we've definitely got a chance at conceiving a child then?"
His hand reached for Romanoff's - despite the recent marriage both Avengers still referred to Nat as Romanoff, out of habit more than anything else - snatched-away fingers, holding her once again with such steady confidence her anger subsided, slightly. "Oh more than a chance, and if Mrs Rogers' were to get pregnant I'm also fairly certain the baby would be healthy."
Nat's smile tweaked downwards "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We've got to get through a lot just to get to the pregnancy...we'll see where it goes from there." Natasha gulped down another glass of water as a bemused expression returned to Rogers' retreating presence in the room; Nat was loosing him to his reveries again.

From the scattered glances the Doctor shared with his watch Tasha guessed their appointment was over, but crude hints were discarded by Steve's daydreaming exterior. The Doctor almost took pity on the couple, muttering in a voice filled with enough self-respect and righteousness - that he believed his words were fact - to be disguised as Tony Stark; the billionaire who'd paid for the hospital's secrecy about the Rogers' visits here. Nat chided of herself, remembering Stark's determined attempts at redemption.
"I'll give you two a minute to adjust to your options..." The Obstetrician stood to leave, calling to Steve as a last thought "Please make sure, this is what you want." His eyes glazed over Nat's dominate demeanour in the room. "Both of you" When the door shut Nat growled, rude little bastard!

Her attention was immediately brought back to the more pressing silence in the room, Widow held back her bitter resentment after another look at Cap's lined features; the stress of the Avengers and the journey SHIELD had to endure was reflected in a lot of things: the amount of liquor absorbed by Stark, the quiet halls of the new SHIELD base during the week, the building agreements and minoring controversy between the worn security council and the face of the man Natasha Rogers' loved more than anything she'd ever possessed or admired.

As SHIELD's enforcement had matured so had the people behind it, the main people putting in the hours of work and years of concern.
Captain America had been one of the biggest parts of that jigsaw and just like history repeating itself there looked to be no immediate pay-off, Natasha was making this; her life with her husband and their future family, the pay-off.

"Steve...are you alright?" Her hand smoothed the abrupt hairs of his arms, reassuring him with every touch. Once again he shook out of it, his eyes searching for the absent Doctor. He finally looked at Tasha's anxious features, his thumb rested against her cheek "Fine, just...Fury sort of dropped a bomb on me earlier."
Nat's jaw set, a sigh escaping her sealed lips.
Widow wasn't convinced her worry for Steve's consent to this; to her was drowned but she was relieved he wasn't panicking and demanding a divorce.

"What's going on?" Steve's face broke slightly, his hand returning to his still side. "Rockwell past away this morning." Natasha gasped, she'd never encountered the security councillors except during her and Rogers' battle many years ago with the Winter Soldier, when Widow and Fury had saved all the council members whilst killing Alexander Pierce and stopping Project: Insight as well as helping uncover Hydra's corruption inside of the old SHIELD.

Steve continued, bowing his head in an act of respect "There isn't much time left and soon enough the entire Security council will need replacing, so in the mean time Fury and Coulson want that space filled straight away. It might not even be permanent, but until everything in Sokovia is settled they need somebody to step up."
Despite the year that had passed between the battle of Ultron and now, Sokovia had never been the same.
Demanding immediate custody of the Avengers, who had to 'pay for the damage they'd caused there' despite of course saving millions of lives which had massively out number the deceased.

But that never seemed to matter, and this time was different; this time the problem had been more personal. Closer to the Avengers' hearts because one of their own had actually created the Ultron programme; that variable always has, and always will, weigh and hold Tony Stark back no matter how hard he tries to redeem himself.

However with the constant negotiation between SHIELD and the security council Sokovia had moved forward, no longer requesting the Avengers' heads on pitch forks, but they'd never be the same. "So they approved you and offered you the position." Steve nodded solemnly, Romanoff's breath was short and shallow.

It was hard enough that the couple would have to begin separating themselves from the Avengers to start a family, let alone from SHIELD. No matter what they did they'd always be targets, and now that Coulson and Nick had offered him a position at the World's security council it was going to be near impossible for him to be part of the Avengers, let alone settle down with a new family.

She felt hollow as the words left her crumbling bundle of hope "What did you say?" Her eyes strained to stay empty and she captivated his most recent habit; staring at the floor whilst dreading the worst.

His eyes pulled her to look at him, as Steve's soft fingers hooked under her chin. Giving in to the destructive feeling building in her gut she prepared for a flinch she'd attempt to conceal. "I refused." Her eyes slammed open and her heart pounded in her chest as she stared in shear shock at her husband.
A tear jumped from her left orb, soon smudged away by the pad of his thumb. "Wh...why?"

Steve laughed "How could I organize Stark's latest grocery budge with a group of nagging elderly members, when I'm too busy raising our child with my beautiful wife?" Natasha chuckled as more tears fell and Steve kissed them away, pulling her closer to him.

Her voice broke over the pulse of overwhelming bliss of pure prosperity that moved alone the nerves of her body, at his more than consoling lyrics of love. "I thought..." she gasped for air, hugging him back tightly "I thought...you didn't want, this...our child, me." He silenced her foolish assumptions, his hands massaging her hunched back and running through her silky tassels.
He pulled her away to look up at him "You know for one of the smartest people this world has to offer, you can be impeccably ludicrous. There is nothing in this world that could make me give up you and our family and there will never be anything anybody has to offer me that you don't outshine. I'm not going anywhere, no matter how secured up our universe is!"

Natasha giggled, taking his golden locks in her hands "That is the most selfish thing you've ever said to me Steve Rogers..." She stared at his perceptive eyes "And I love you endlessly for it!"
Their kiss was anything but brief, the burst of passion excelled into a tempting make-out session, but a knock at the door pulled the couple back. Their smiles bigger than Thor's biceps and brighter than his gloriously sunny hair.

When the emotional couple returned to the Avengers facility, walking in on a last minute training session after having changed into their uniforms, Barton released his hold on Pietro's neck - Stark had recently been creating new weapons and technology to challenge the new Avengers varied skill set and it appeared some of it was working on the young Quicksilver - and ran to Natasha.
He wrapped the spy in a hug whilst flashing Cap a welcoming smile, "How'd it go?" Clint whispered, it was no secret the co-leaders of the Avengers were starting to settled down, but it hadn't daunted on all members of the team what that would mean and Romanoff wanted things to be kept quiet. At least until it was determined that she definitely could conceive a child, otherwise it would just be embarrassing and she'd never be able to move forward from it.

She smiled happily at him, showing more than she could say with just one feature. Out of the corner of her eye the spy spied Wilson - who also knew as much as Barton - wanting to come over, but causing a fuss would only allow the younger members to speculate.
Nat removed herself from her old partner's comforting arms and walked to Wanda, during the procedure of training the Maximoff twins, both Wanda and Pietro formed strong bonds with the previous assassins.

- As well as Wanda beginning an intriguing relationship with Vision, which was more of a mutual understanding and attraction as well as powerful bond than anything else. Vision seemed to trust Stark the most out of all the team, and Wanda obviously Pietro, but after that was each other. Their alliance was one of the most amazingly bewildered things Natasha had seen. -

The twins relationship was like that of Romanoff and Barton's in the sense that when they'd first been introduced to SHIELD they only had each other to lean on, Clint and Nat hadn't wasted a flicker of time to get them as comfortable and secure in their abilities as anybody else in the team.
They'd even warmed up to Tony which had surprised just about everybody, "How's it going Wanda?" The girl was concentrating on force fields at the moment, she could always create them; as many as she wished. But her difficulty was keeping them up for a matter of mere seconds let alone minutes, especially if she had a lot on the go at the same time.

Right now Jane, Pepper, Tony, Maria and Rhodey were stood in the wide space before the young girl, all resting in different positions on different levels. Lazars were being shot from a projection at the opposite end of the hall, if one of them got hit with a projection of gunfire FRIDAY would claim that they'd just been shot.
Wanda wouldn't necessarily have to use this for any of the Avengers given their armour and amount of movement in the field, it was more practice for civilians so the human 'dummies' - Nat eyed Stark with a sly smile - were just standing in.

Scarlet Witch took a deep breath, her eyes closed as the force-field's complexion grew brighter and then FRIDAY shut down the programme allowing Maximoff to rest for 5 minutes. She turned to face an appreciative Widow, smiling proudly at her growing stamina of powers. "You ready for a round in the ring?"
It was as important Wanda learned to defend herself with her abilities as it was without, you never knew what new weapons you'd encounter in the field and the more the co-leaders limited their teammates abilities the more chance of injury and loose of life the enemy posed.

Wanda's eerie shadow of confidence shredded into tiny fragments of insecurity, she nodded sullen and stubbornly; no matter how scared either of the twins were they weren't quitters.

The entire team gathered around the sparing ring, it was always entertaining to watch somebody's ass get kicked by Widow; but in Wanda's cause they were there more for support and pointers as well as trying to discourage Nat as much as possible.
Natasha stepped into the ring and immediately: Barton, Wilson, Stark and Rogers' began bowing. Natasha motioned that she was watching them before flashing her finger, which met with a howl of "Ohhh!"

Wanda then stepped on and the group began cheering, causing the intimidated girl, who was curling further and further into herself, to return a shaky bow.

Silence sounded as she took a defensive stance and Natasha made the first step, taking the offense. She threw a few punches which Wanda dodged easily enough, then when Maximoff blocked a punch badly; she left her right side vulnerable. Nat spun kicking out, Wanda reacting well though, grabbing the foot on impact and attempting to use Romanoff's strength against her.
Maximoff pushed her away and Tasha took the opportunity to show off her horizontal three-spin in the air before landing gracefully. Gasps of praise applauded the spies latest stunt.

Stark yelled "Have we been taking pointers from Rogers, Red?" A few enthralling acknowledgments warned Stark of the on coming attack "At least I don't get shown up by Potts' better aim and accuracy, even though you've had your suits for 3 years more than her. Are we getting a bit weary from all the action?" Nat winked and Stark high-fived Pietro whispering "You know it!" As Pepper blushed endlessly before shooting her fiancé daggers.

Wanda then surprised everyone by advancing towards Nat and succeeding in keeping the spy on her toes as well as knocking her about a bit, then FRIDAY's voice spoke out, momentarily putting the sparing match on hold.
"Mrs Rogers', Nick Fury is waiting in the dinning area, requesting your presence." Nat's eyes fell from the ceiling to Steve's attempt to walk towards the door at which FRIDAY responded "I'm sorry sir, Mr Fury has requested Natasha's presence alone."

Nat bit her lip before motioning for Barton to take over, she whispered an encouragement to Wanda "I want a rematch." her hand resting gently on the girls' shoulder, then on her way out Romanoff squeezed Steve's hand, Wilson and Stark materialising next to Cap as Widow evacuated the training room.

Due to Fury's brief disentanglement with SHIELD and donation of the title of Director of SHIELD to Coulson, Nat couldn't help but feel a little pit opening in her stomach every time he was mentioned.
For somebody who'd attempted to break away from the agency for a brief period of time, Nick was still heavily caught up in the web of SHIELD; some people would refer to it as a cage, Natasha being one of them.

Gingerly Romanoff entered the dinning room, seeing the exhausted shadow of constant use and active celebrations gripping the furniture, Nat sat in her regular seat - even when a member wasn't there their seat was never occupied by anybody other than them, it was actually a pleasant feeling; knowing you always had a place at the Avengers tower - feeling the sleepy fabric sighing as she rested against the amenity of family and as strange as it sounds...a sense of equality.

It's just a chair, Romanoff. Nat inwardly scolded herself; it was much more than a chair, it was insurance.

"Do you need a minute?" Fury's tedious tone brought the young woman from her trance, she hadn't even noticed him in the dinning room. Which was anything but a pleasure, after all he'd asked her here and she hadn't even looked for him.
Nat motioned to the chair to the right of her "Fury, what can I do for you?" But Nick choose the opposing one, Fury was one of the few people in this world Natasha felt she had to be...careful with.
They trusted each other; to an extent, but like all trusting relations everybody has their limits. He was one of the rare humans Natasha struggled to pinpoint where she stood with him, Steve had been one of those people.

But she known placed that uncertainty down to her growing attachment and affection for Cap, now she trusted him as equally as Barton.

Nick regarded the former SHIELD agent, after the battle of Ultron everybody had taken further and deeper steps into SHIELD, in order to reduce its overpowering intimidation and to not only help themselves trust the agency more but for civilians to do so as well:
Banner and Stark now ran and housed the intelligence facility, all things involving their expertise - science, lab work, weaponry, engineering, computers and the like (so pretty much the main responses of the agency) - as well as starting another training programme for future generations to follow in their footsteps.

Meanwhile Natasha helped lead - with Barton's help and Rogers' heading the department - all things physical: the defence, the international negotiation, the world's security, dealing with the public, rules and planning and training for future SHIELD agents and possible Avenger recruits. In other words Steve set the terms and Stark helped enforce them.

However the Avengers were a very different thing, they considered themselves founded by SHIELD but were now a full working industry to protect everybody, not just SHIELD or America, though most people found that hard to believe. The distinction had been hard to draw, but once the line was draw it just needed some tracing and bam!
Things had settled fairly rapidly.

Natasha was no longer seen as just a SHIELD agent, but as one of the many deputies to Director Coulson and an Avenger co-leader. Technically, Fury had no power over her, but she by no means had any authority over him either; if anything it was a mutual ground of hostile respect.

"I understand Rogers' told you of the offer Coulson and I proposed." Fury stared at Natasha with something she could only place as appreciation but with the crudeness of their most previous interactions she would be lying if she wasn't puzzled by it.

Romanoff held herself high; she can face him without feeling like a minor. She'd been doing so for so long now; that's what he'd liked about her. But now that she was on equal footing it was suddenly a challenge, strange she contemplated. "I heard about it."

"Am I wrong in presuming you're the one who encouraged him to decline." Nat tried to not let her emotions sink her below his level "No, actually. He made the decision before telling me, irritated he's not as predictable as you pictured?" She spat the last part.

"More surprised if anything else."
Nat was exhausted with playing games, one thing she enjoyed about Phil's new Direction of SHIELD. "Nick, what are you doing here? If you wanted a check up or to express you're annoyance at Steve's independence I'm sure Coulson would be a happy ear for you to talk off and I'm positive he'll do a much better job at defending my husband's choices than I will." It was bitter, but the truth.

Nick eyed her with a curious eye, "Exactly...he's your husband."
Natasha wasn't in the mood, her delicious moment of sugar had turned bittersweet at Fury's tangy presence. "So?" Romanoff was loosing interest and fast, Fury knew he didn't have long until she'd storm the building.

"You and I both know he's the best man for this job, and it seems when I can't convince him of something. There's only one person who can..." You.
Natasha's eyes narrowed and her jaw fixed as her hostility to the 'retired' Director played the cards on the table, no matter how much Nick gave away...he always had the power.
He always took what he'd once offered, it didn't matter that Coulson was the Director of SHIELD; Fury was clearly still pulling the strings.

She stood, slamming her fists against the mahogany table "You're twisted, you know that? After everything he's done for you, for SHIELD..."
Fury didn't flinch but shuffled backwards slightly "He didn't do any of that for me or SHIELD, he did that because it was the right thing to do."

"Exactly! He's Captain fucking America...he always does the right thing! Always puts others before himself, so clearly if he felt stepping in for the council was going to benefit anybody except you and your selfish little games, he would of!"

Fury retaliated with just as much fire, it was just concealed better. "You're wrong Natasha."

The spy interrupted immediately "Do you really think if he wanted to be part of your precise council, I'd be able to stop him? Did you ever think that maybe he just doesn't want to do it?"

To which Fury reasoned "We both know he's not stepping up for one reason and one reason only..."

Natasha was having none of it, whilst she was screaming she was vaguely aware of how amplified her voice was; she won't be surprised if they heard her down in the basement. "Yes, because he has done enough. Steve's one flaw has been the one thing which has made him worthy to be Captain America...he never thinks he has done enough. But he's finished being your little doll Nick, we all are! It's time for him to pass the torch alone, let him go."

"And what if there's no one to pass the torch to, what do you expect me to do then? What do you suppose he'll do?" Nat was silenced, Fury had trapped her, she knew just as well as she knew her right hand from her ear, of course Steve would keep going.

"That's different, you can't force him to do anything. We both know there are hundreds of other people who would happily step in for the council." Nick stood, leaning over Natasha "But are they worthy? Will they do as good a job as him?"

Tasha's head shook, nobody would ever do a job as well as him. "I'm not going to convince my husband to do something he clearly doesn't want to do."

Fury then took it a step too far, for the first time since Romanoff had met Fury she saw some resemblance that he was human; for the first time regret filled his eyes after he'd uttered the words "Are you sure it's he who doesn't want to do this, or you?"

Fury responded, trying to save his own skin "It's not an unreasonable request Romanoff, I'm just asking you to talk to him, you've done worse..."

Natasha was fighting between not wanting to waste another second of her time in his presence or tackling him to the ground to throttle any other wise words from his lips. She charged for the door, right before leaving she whispered "After everything we've been through, after everything you've kept from me...you're right. I'm being selfish, I don't want Steve to take the job, why would I? We're finally happy...I can finally have something that has always been off-limits for me. But what makes it okay, is that he's being selfish too, Rogers' wants this, he wants me and he wants to spend his time with me and our family." She walked out the door, about to shut it when Fury muttered "A while ago I'd be part of that family."

That was it. The chord was snapped, like elastic it pinged but this time didn't bounce back, the relationship was torn in two.
The final words she struggled to possess even a fracture of power for stopped at her lips, there was nothing else left for her to do; she slammed the door shut.

BANG!

The shock of which making her flinch as she did so.

Natasha was so imprisoned in her own piousness questions she walked straight into Stark who was huddled behind the wall, a face of pure shock masked his usually light-hearted character, How much had he heard?

Enough by the looks of things, Nat rushed past him, she needed to get out of here.

She clambered into the elevator and FRIDAY's wispy voice followed her like it usually would; she missed JARVIS. "Miss Rogers' is everything alright?" Nat didn't answer, scared of what the sound of her own cold, heartless voice would do to her.

The elevator doors opened up onto the lounge level, she heard the mild sound of laughter which soon subsided, prying eyes stalked the stoic girl. Natasha walked past them all to the kitchen where she grabbed Stark's opened bottle of whiskey and downed its contents.
She felt eyes burning into her flesh, "Is everything alright Lady Natasha?" Nat opened her eyes and grinned before embracing the heavenly God "Thor!" she squealed as he lifted her up in a happy hug.

For an instant she forgot herself and immersed herself in the happiness of being greeted by an innocent face. But when he put her down the weight fell on her in a tumble.
Barton and Steve were staring in worry, but Wanda and Maria looked at Natasha knowingly, of course...Hill knows. Hill always knows

Wilson asked, his arm wrapping around her back "Everything alright Tasha?" eyeing the bottle of whiskey which returned to her hand. She still felt Hills' eyes on her, Pepper sat a little straighter "What did Fury want? We heard...quite an argument."

Romanoff felt she couldn't say anything, it would lead to questions; to her and Steve. Maybe even resulting in the team looking at them with loath, how could they be so selfish and yet lead the Avengers?

Maria saw the indecision in her friend's eyes. "As some of you know, Rockwell passed away this morning."
"Rockwell?" Wilson paused and Hill explained "One of the councillors on the World Security Council, we desperately need a replacement. Not forever, just until we come up with anything else, whilst things die down in Sokovia. So Director Coulson" For a second Nat though Hill would say 'Fury' after Director. "and Fury approached Cap this morning and offered him the position."

Sam whistled in admiration, that was one big step. "But Steve refused."

Rhodey coughed his drink "What?"
Thor turned to Steve for assurance, whilst Jane shifted uncomfortably. Feeling she was intruding on something private, Maria surprisingly fought in Cap's defence "If he agreed, Rogers' would have to give up being an Avenger and his job at SHIELD."

Pietro turned "Why?"

Steve spoke up for himself, moving to stand next to Natasha who let him embrace her side "Because, if not my decisions would be insanely bias and I would have a bigger influence as well as the power to go rogue, by possibly leading the Avengers against the council if I disagreed with their decisions."

Barton blurted out "Of course you'd never do either of those things, though."
Steve shrugged in response "Even the possibility puts the council on edge and it's not exactly like any of us are begging for more work..." he muttered to the floor rather than to the faces of his friends. "I know it's selfish..."

Pepper began assuring him quickly "Steve, none of us would ever put you and the word selfish in the same sentence, you're entitled to as much freedom of choice as any of us. And I think we can all agree you deserve the biggest break from this stressful environment."

Their friends muttered in agreement, too often Steve dealt with problems the other Avengers didn't even know existed. He bottled them up to save their skin by putting his neck on the line countlessly.

Jane continued with the needed confidence boost "You need to remember that the world isn't just resting on your shoulders', but all of ours."
After a pause Pepper moved the conversation back slowly "Anyway, if the council truly feels that way why were you even approached for the job? Surely Fury and Phil have to abide by their rules."
Natasha muttered under her breath "Fury doesn't have to abide by anybody's rules!"

Maria ignored Romanoff and addressed Pepper "Because right now the coin is horizontal, it could flip on either side. America is so close to regaining Sokovia's trust, they just need one final push. It's too dangerous to leave hanging and Director Coulson fears Hydra's gonna strike whilst we're in the midst of fixing what few problems SHIELD has, in case that happens the council needs all members in order to make a fair, stable decision. And truthfully there is nobody better qualified to do so, the council may not be as taken with Captain Rogers' as Coulson but they'd rather except him than somebody else. At least they know he'll do the right thing, even if it goes against their protocol."

Thanks to Maria Hill, most questions were answered except Barton's "Nat...what did Fury want?" Nat felt her eyes lower as she gulped "He wanted me to convince Steve to accept the position."
Wanda looked up, her eyes filled with sympathy "What did you tell him?" She questioned quietly "Oh she told him where to go alright!" Stark appeared from the elevator, stealing their attention "I caught the last few seconds...sent chills down my spine...Hey!" He snatched the whiskey bottle away "Don't worry he's gone now."

As helpful as that was, Romanoff invested little assurance in it. Sam whispered into her and Cap's ears "If Fury really is that desperate surely he won't stop just because Romanoff told him to stick it where the sun don't shine...who you suppose he'll consider next?"
Steve's eyes surveyed the surrounding Avengers all of whom were deep in thought, looking at Natasha and Steve with vividly mixed opinions.
"I don't know..."