Natasha sat on a stool at the island of the kitchen in the Avengers Tower, frowning in silent thought as she munched on a bowl of muesli with berries. It was early in the morning, and even though it was a Sunday, she was used to waking and sleeping at awkward hours due to her line of work. Today was a good day though—she had managed to escape Fury's screaming down her phone at dawn and could reflect on the events of the week.

~A few days ago~

A whiny sound disturbed Natasha from the paperwork she was filling out. Her latest mission had been easy, but with all the mission summaries she had to complete, it seemed as if being on the field was a piece of cake compared to the mounds of forms she had to fill out afterwards.

"Attention, all agents. This is Fury speaking. I have an important announcement concerning all of you." All around her people started to look up at the coms on the ceiling, listening attentively to the director they worshipped. Natasha rolled her eyes. Somehow Fury always managed to make a big deal out of something she never cared about.

"Romanoff, do not roll your eyes at me." Natasha held back a smile as he said this. "Agents, I have decided that from now on, all agents must complete their missions in pairs. Those with higher ranks will choose their partners first, and so on. Agent Romanoff, I need you in my office."

As soon as he stopped speaking, all eyes turned to the red-haired ex-assassin as she stood up from her seat and walked out of her office, eyes looking forward as she strode confidently towards the elevators as if no one was staring at her.

When the elevator doors opened, Natasha walked into Fury's office. Her emerald-grey eyes scanned the room. In one corner of the room sat agents Coulson and Hill, who looked up from the files they were studying to nod curtly at her. Natasha noticed that Coulson was glancing at the centre of the office every so often, at Fury's desk, in front of which stood a tall, well-built, blond man in a navy blue mission suit.

The man turned around and looked at Natasha with warm, sky blue orbs. Steve. No wonder Coulson couldn't stop peeking at his lifelong idol. She noticed that Steve only half smiled at her, unlike his full-on dorky-but-still-adorable grin, and recognized that he was in mission mode.

"What do you want, Fury?" Natasha asked with an annoyed tone.

"Romanoff, I want you and Captain Rogers to pair up, since you work well with each other and are familiar with each other's skill sets. Also, you live in the same building, which will save me some money for transport," Fury said.

Natasha cocked an eyebrow, glancing at Steve. He looked back down at her for approval. However, instead of agreeing, the spy surprised everyone with her answer.

"No. Fury, I refuse to be paired up with him." Steve looked taken aback, his eyebrows rising upwards as she said that. Fury was mildly amused by the scene in front of him.

"Romanoff, I'm not asking for your opinion. I'm giving an order. I want you to work with Cap over here." Natasha didn't reply, just shook her head slightly and frowned.

Fury sighed. "May I ask why?"

"Just give him another partner. I work better alone." The truth was, Natasha didn't want to work with Steve because she was starting to develop feelings towards the tall blond man beside her. Not exactly the love type, but she felt herself caring very deeply about Steve, and the bond of partnership would only strengthen their friendship and bring them closer. Natasha couldn't risk having a weakness, no matter what, or who, it was. Not even Captain America himself. She knew very well how weakness could affect a person in times of life or death.

Steve looked down at his hands, where they were fingering the director's glass desk. His eyebrows furrowed in thought. Was there something wrong with him? Did Natasha not like him anymore? What did he do to make her feel that way?

Fury sighed. "Fine. Rogers, you must have a partner by the end of this week, or I will assign you one. Romanoff, you may work alone until further notice." He nodded at his two agents, signaling that they were dismissed. Natasha immediately turned and stalked out of the doors.

Before she could get into the elevator, a hand wrapped around her wrist. When she tried to get out of the person's grasp, a pair of strong arms snaked around her torso, successfully holding her back and weakening her attempts to escape. The person pulled Natasha into a dark corner and pushed her gently into a wall, putting his arms on either side of her head to prevent her from running away. She felt an odd sense of déjà vu.

"Nat," Steve's voice growled deeply. "Am I that bad of a partner?" Natasha's heart rate sped up as he moved closer to her. "No," she replied.

Steve looked exasperated and confused. "Then why? Why won't you work with me?" She could feel his hot breath on her face as he questioned her. Hearing no answer, Steve ran his right hand through his hair and sighed heavily. "God, Natasha. You can be so confusing sometimes. I thought we were friends, or at least get along well but you still adamantly refuse to- to even give it a try, and it's like you- you HATE me."

Natasha's eyes widened when he said this. The soldier stopped pacing in front of her and faced her, his blue-eyed gaze penetrating her soul. "What have I ever done to you, Natasha? Why won't you… give me a chance? To be a part of your life? I'm not asking too much, am I? I just want you to trust me, like I trust you. But you refuse to. You never tell me why. You just close up, and no matter how many times I try or whatever I do, you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong."

By this point, Natasha's green-gray eyes were threatening to fill with tears. She bit her lip, and looked at the man in front of her. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to tell him. But she couldn't, because he was a weakness, one she needed to get over. She couldn't show anyone the soft spot she had for the kind-hearted super soldier.

"Nat, please tell me. Please. Just tell me what's wrong with me, and I'll change. I swear, I'll do whatever I can, just tell me how." His voice was nothing more than a whisper now as he looked pleadingly at the red-haired beauty.

There's nothing wrong with you, she wanted to say. It's my fault I let these feelings get the better of me, and I'm sorry I worried you.

"I'm sorry," Natasha said softly, not able to bring herself to speak the truth. Instead, she gently pushed past Steve, leaving him with a broken-hearted look on his face.


AN: So, here's the first chapter... I'm planning for this to be a multi-chapter story, maybe three chapters, depends how much I can write about the plot that I've got. Anyway, I've named this Partner Problems, but I have a feeling that the name isn't quite right... Please review if you have any suggestions! Thanks for reading!

Alexa :)