"Love implies anger. The man who is angered by nothing cares about nothing."

"To be angry implies you care."

The many employees of S.H.I.E.L.D. observed as Steve Rogers marched vigorously through headquarters, displaying an expression that could have made the sunniest of days stormy. It was an expression that was frequently worn by the soldier during battle and when confronted by disgustingly arrogant adversaries, however now it managed to part anyone who occupied his path. His usually blue eyes now seemed a violent shade of grey; his jaw was locked, indicating he was gritting his teeth; and his brow was set low above his eyes bringing darkness to his usually boyish and charming features. Seeking the medical unit that Natasha occupied he aggressively pushed open the door, revealing a medic finishing the bandaging of Natasha's arm,

"Could you please leave me and Miss Romanoff, if you are finished." The stern manner of Steve's delivery caused Natasha to sigh and a smirk to creep its way across her face; however it caused the medic to scuttle clumsily around the confined area keeping his head low before leaving swiftly. Steve observed Natasha sat upon the bed; her arm was bandaged heavily and was held in place with a sling, whilst her face was adorned with aggressive grazes, and a cut that had been sewn up was engraved across her cheek bone, yet her eyes shimmered and positively glowed, whilst her lips employed a charming yet soft smile. This however added fire to the storm, prompting Steve to fight against the fury that welled within his chest, before sternly addressing Natasha through gritted teeth,

"What were you thinking? And before you answer I know you had your own mission, but could you not inform me so I could provide you with back up or help if it was needed... which I'm sorry to say it clearly was."

Natasha's lips had now taken on a grimace before her piercing green eyes gazed up at Steve,

"I'm fine. I don't need your help Captain, believe it or not in this century not every woman is a damsel in distress. I can handle myself." The sneer in Natasha's voice was not lost on Steve and the way she accentuated the word 'Captain' induced a sharp pain in his chest and his teeth to grit together harder,

"Is that what you thought when a bullet went through your arm, that you could handle yourself! For god sake Natasha we're supposed to be a team, I thought we'd made progress in that department but clearly not! And I know you're a big girl but that doesn't mean you don't need back up occasionally!" Steve's voice had now increased gradually in volume and was approaching the dangerous territory of yelling. In response to this increase in volume Natasha jumped off the bed and made her way towards Steve intent burning in her eyes as she stood a mere few inches from him,

"I think I did a pretty good job before you were defrosted from your Capsicle, believe it or not I was able to keep myself alive before you showed up. You know how I work so why get all worked up about it now? Huh." An expectant look now occupied Natasha's features and the hand of her good arm was placed firmly on her hip,

"Really? Really we're bringing up the fact I was frozen! You know what yes I do know how you work, alone, but I trust you with my life everyday and I thought you would have the common courtesy to feel the same. But clearly you haven't grown up at all, what happens next time Nat? What happens when the bullet doesn't hit your arm, but hits you square in the head or the heart? What then Nat? Because then you truly will be alone, as you bleed to death." They were now a mere few centimetres apart and their eyes were both inflamed by the rage that had had now consumed them, their chests heaved and expanded as their breathes viciously beat upon each other's faces,

"Why Captain I didn't know you cared, I'm flattered really I am..." At that Steve let out a violent sigh before abruptly turning to exit the room,

"Forget it Natasha, I hope you don't get what's coming to you!" He yelled and as she heard the whisper of his footsteps pounding down the corridor, she allowed herself to fall into a chair and felt her whole body relax, allowing a sigh to escape from her lips. It wasn't until she felt something trickle over the corner of her lip did she realise that a tear had escaped. With the back of her hand she brushed away the tear before a ferocious growl wracked her body and with a sweep of one arm she sent all the objects occupying a nearby table, with a violent clatter, to the floor. Between gritted teeth, she forced tears that now threatened an assault on her eyes back, and in the now deadly silence of the room she whispered,

"Damn you Steve."

After her debriefing Natasha made her way to the gym knowing that it was the most likely place for the riled up soldier to occupy. Approaching the door she saw through the glass panel the unmistakable figure of Steve, punching a punch bag. An alarmingly large collection of bags he had already punched and broken lay in a pile close by.

Steve had been in the gym for a good hour now, and the intense pace he had adopted had not wavered, the anger he felt burned him from the inside and every time he thought it had faded, a thought about Natasha would interrupt his moment of assumed peace before enraging him again. He had never thought of Natasha being weak, it was certainly a word no one would automatically associate with the fiery red head, however he had been hurt at her assumption that that was what he thought of her and also her inability to trust him as much as he trusted her. He wanted to help her, he wanted to support her. He wanted to keep her safe. That thought ignited another painful burn across his chest, inducing another load of hard punches, so consumed by his silent anger he failed to note the soft footsteps that had now entered the gym.

Natasha hoped that he had heard her enter, and therefore save her from the embarrassment of calling his name, however it seemed she was in no such luck today,

"Steve!" There was no response from the soldier, however she did see his shoulders tighten slightly and the pace of his punches increased in pace,

"STEVE!" Yet again he ignored her calls, sighing and rolling her eyes Natasha knew she had to get his attention another way. Observing the situation she placed herself, a good distance, at the side of the punching bag before launching into a run and addressing a forceful kick to its side causing it to swing erratically and disrupt Steve's workout. She winced at the sharp pain that now shot up her arm before feeling triumphant at the sound of an aggressive huff that escaped Steve's lips,

"Seriously Nat! What the hell do you want?" He turned and towards her and started to unwrap the tape from around his wrists. Taking a deep sigh Natasha steadied herself before dragging her eyes from the floor to address the task in hand,

"Look Steve, believe it or not I came here to apologise, something you know I rarely do so you either take it or leave it." She could see that a smirk had threatened to ascend Steve's lips however he fought against it, bringing his soft sapphire eyes to meet hers he raised his eyebrows questionably,

"Was that the apology?" Allowing the softness of his eyes to envelop her in the comfort his endearing expressions always brought, she allowed a slight laugh to escape from her lips,

"No, look I know I'm not the easiest to work with but... I appreciate your... support and I probably should have told you about the mission I was set." She uttered the words in a stern but uncomfortable manner as she strived to find the correct words to say, however Steve's eyes were scanning every expression on her face, soaking up every word she uttered and he was now sporting a soft smile that made his dimples more prominent,

"I don't think I actually heard the word 'sorry' in that." He replied, with a deep sigh Natasha collected her thoughts together and bestowed her gaze upon one of the few men in her life she trusted and cared about. In that moment both of them now sported soft but serious expressions that conveyed the pure honest emotions the two felt about one another,

"I'm sorry." She hushed, their eyes were now fixed together and without realising it they were now dangerously close to one another. Her eyes were now slightly downcast, and with his index finger he softly tilted her chin prompting her to meet his serene gaze,

"I apologise too for shouting at you, I... care for you Natasha, you're a valuable member of the team and... I... the team could not function without you..." Brushing his thumb lightly over her cheek he sighed,

"Be careful Nat."

Quotes from: Edward Abbey & Miguel Syjuco

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