Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story just the idea for the story. Marvel owns the characters and there awesomeness.
This is my first FanFic re-uploaded because it would only load in computer langue before so I hope every thing looks good let me know if it dose not. Please leave a review. This is set after Avengers and right before The Winter Soldier. Thanks.
Always my Shield.
For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory- Psalm 32:7
Every word of God proves true He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.- Proverbs 30:5
How can he be a shield for a person like me? Natasha thought to her self as Steve once again shields her from a grenade it was almost subconscious between the two. When it happened they never say or yell 'I'll cover you!' or 'gab on and shoot the glass!', it was indeed a connection that sparked from the moment they met on the hell-carrier. Something they never and still don't understand how it comes so naturally between them.
They protect people thats there job and as such they protect each-other whether it be from an alien invasion or some punk of the street.
So when one mission goes terribly wrong for Natasha why is this time any different?
She walked in from the ever growing storm out side. Her posture ridged, still on edge, she held her arm close to her side protecting severely bruised ribs but not wanting to give anything away. Steve knew instantly something was wrong. Her eye's met his for a fracture of a second and he could all most have sworn he had seen the glassy look of tears. What had happened!
He was by her side in an instant.
He stayed beside her till she was cleared to leave. They walked to the only place she new was safe, Rogers apartment.
The second the door was shut and locked Steve asked, "What happened?" his voice gentle and full of concern.
"I don't want to talk about it right now Steve." Her voice was defeated yet still had an edge to it. Steve took a step closer to her and whispered ever so gently, "Nat."
"Please not now." Her eye's pleaded with his to not push her beond her limits. When tears brimmed the edges of her eye's she averted her gaze to the floor. Letting out a deep breath Steve put a hand on her shoulder and lowered his posture so he could meet her gaze.
"Hey, its okay." He said giving her a small smile to tell her it was all right.
She nodded in thanks and went to clean up. Glade she had him by her side, he never pushed far enough to startle her back inside her strong walls. She cleaned herself up and slipped on her black tank top and a par of his sweats and headed back out to the main room. Steve was pacing the room, checking windows and doors. He was alert and on edge, when he saw Natasha he physically relaxed letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Looking at her he noticed her arm wrapped around her side, holding her ribcage. Catching his unspoken question she smiled a small smile and said,
"There not broken just a little bruise is all. I wrapped them up." She said that last part quickly when he still hadn't look convinced. Noticing the pain killer he left out for her on the counter with a glass of water she took it gladly.
Grabbing a blanket she wrapped her self inside it, trying to shield herself from all the bad that went down on that mission. She sat across from Rogers on the couch, lowering herself carefully not wanting to hurt her already painful side.
She wouldn't quite meet his eye's.
Steve wanted to be there for her but knew he had to wait for her to open up to him or she might retreat back into herself. Something bad had happened and he wanted to know what or who could make his partner, 'The Black Widow' so shaken up.
Closing her eye's she fell asleep on the couch with in minutes of sitting down exhausted from the long mission. A clash of thunder roared out side in the angry storm. After checking the windows and doors one last time Steve gently picked Natasha up and moved her to his room. He pulled the covers up over her battered frame admiring her strength, because, despite all the bad in the world she was always ready and waiting to bite back at it. Even when a mission goes wrong.
He wished that he had been there with her. He was assigned a clean up mission and only just got back.
Walking over to the window he looked out over the city it was empty on the streets below nobody wanted to be out in that mess of a storm. Clash's of lightning lit up the room followed by a roar of thunder and with it, the power to the small apartment complex.
Steve checked on Natasha, she was curled into a tight ball in the middle of his bed she didn't look peaceful more like she was in pain. He wanted to wake her but decided she would rather he let her face her demons. Blowing out a tight breath he went to light candles around the small apartment.
Hearing a scream coming from his room he was there in an instant fully alert and deadly fierce to anyone who would dare cross Captan America's partner.
It was indeed Natasha, she was thrashing around tears came from the corner of her eye's. Her breathing was rapid and uneven.
Steve leaned over the bed, "Nat!" he whispered. She was still to asleep to hear him.
"NO, Please don't!" Her words came out with so much pain in them his stomach clinched. "Natasha." He said a little more volume to his words. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Her eye's flew open twisting away from his grip she was out and standing defensively across the room before he could even blink. Her eye's were wild and on high alert. The room was dark except for a few small candles.
"Natasha its me." He held his hands up and took a step toward her. She took a step back and opened her mouth to say something but closed it just as quickly.
"Its all right. Your safe." His words were firm and true. She blinked and looked at him, bringing herself back to reality.
"Steve." She chocked out. Her sides were heaving and she held onto her injured ribs, sweat glistened off her.
"Easy Nat." He was gentle when he spoke and closed the space between them, a loud rare of thunder shook the apartment and Natasha jumped. Steve placed a protective arm around her shoulder and drew her into him not caring that she might eat him later for it. To his surprise though she fell into his kind gesture and clung to his shirt. She let him lead her to the bed and sat down next to him but didn't let go.
"It was supposed to be an easy mission." Her voice broke a little at the thought of what had happened.
"Thirty hostages and twenty bad guy's. They were stationed out side of the Mediterranean on a small island." She took a shuddering breath.
"I lead a team of six men in but, they knew we were coming. They killed four of my guy's in the first few minutes. We won in the end but not without a price. When I found were they kept the hostages I was shocked! They had a little girl no older then five or six tied to a chair. A man with a cigar held a gun to her head. Her family, a brother and her parents were on there knees in front of her. They killed them when I wouldn't comply to what they wanted." She was trying hard not to start crying and tried to control her breathing enough to finish.
"The little girl was crying, screaming for her parents I begged them not to kill. To let them live and take me instead. But, they wanted SHIELD intel. I didn't know what to do, I wish you or Clint had been there. Maybe they would still be alive. We got the little girl out and she looked me in the eye's when we had them all out of there and she said, 'You let them kill my family.'." Steve looked down at her she wouldn't even look at him.
"Nat it wasn't your fault." He gently placed is fingers under her chin and lifted her head so that she would have to look him in the eye's. Tears slide down her cheeks and he gently wiped them away.
"It wasn't your fault." He said even more tenderly.
"I have to much red on my ledger." She whispered.
"We all do. It's what we do now thats important I don't care about what you did in your past I care about you and what you choose to do now." She was shaky but nodded in response. More tears slip'ed out and she sank deeper into him trying to get away from herself. He held her close and protectively to him.
He was angry that someone could put this much pain on his strong partner and that he couldn't have been there to take some of it away. He rubbed her arm and whispered gently to her. His cheek rested on the top of her head. The storm out side had calmed to a mere down pure.
Steve's cell rang out across the room he was going to ignore it but it was Clint Barton.
"Easy." He whispered to Natasha as he got up to fetch his cell. Tapping the screen to answer there was a very concerned Clint on the other end.
"Rogers? Is Nat with you?" Steve looked to Natasha she heard the question and nodded her head.
"Yes, she's here." Steve sat back down next to Natasha.
"Is she all right I read the report and-"
"Clint." Steve cut in. He handed the cell to Natasha.
"Clint its me." She said trying to sound sure of herself but coming up short.
"You all right? I was afraid something happened." He sounded on edge and like he would rather be with Natasha then talking over the phone.
"Ya, I'm fine. Did you read the report?" The last part she said in almost a whisper.
"Ya, But, Nat it wasn't your fault you did what you had to do." A small smile crept up her lips. "Your not the only one to tell me that." She looked up at Steve.
"Just don't blame yourself." There was a commotion on the other end. "Nat I have to go will you give the phone to Rogers for a second?" She handed the cell to Steve. "I'm here."
"Steve listen. You take care of her all right." It was an order. "You and I are the only people she's ever let in. Keep her safe. Or I will shoot you though the eye with an arrow." He said the last part a little lightly but he men't it. Steve got up and went to the next room to get out of ear shot but still he whispered.
"I'll be her shield." He was dead serious. "You take care Clint."
"You to. Thanks Rogers." Clint said and men't it before the line went dead.
He walked back into the room, Natasha didn't want to cry anymore she hatted being seen as weak but for some reason unbeknownst to her Steve always made her feel stronger because of it. She got up and walked over to him and right into his arms. It caught him off guard but he recovered quickly enough. He held her closely to him always protective and always gently. She leaned against him letting him take her weight. They stood there for a long while. She pulled away first and looked him in his blue eye's.
"Thank you...For being my Shield." She said her words full of truth. He smiled his smile he seemed to reserve only for her and said, "I will always be your shield."
The End.
What do you Think? A bit cheesy here at the end? Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review I like to know what you all think (bad or good).