A/N: Hey! *waves* Thanks for clicking this series. Sending you, sweet readers, lots of love.
Esp. for sunnie91. I hope this is good enough to feed your romanogers fantasy, dearie. Merry Christmas!
*start* (Avengers headquarters, Upstate New York)
Natasha could not quite point out as to why it pains her to see him this way. Maybe she had grown too attached to him these past few months spending time together training the new ones; not to mention those countless of times they have been assigned as partners on missions. She must admit, the both of them have developed a different and rare kind of friendship, one that is loyal enough to be called true and pure.
Nat has been restless since she got home from an exhausting mission about an illegal drug distributions in the Philippines three days ago and she came home to this.
She has been wanting to talk and confront him about the matter but never gets the chance. She is also well aware that even though Steve might seem to be the guy who has the intellect to rightly handle happenings, good or bad, he is still in need of someone... maybe a friend; that no matter how peculiar heroes may look from normal people, they too have to fulfill their social needs like anyone else.
They just got home from the funeral and Nat thinks that this should probably be the right time. Natasha felt the urgency to approach him in the couch from where he is sitting with his hands holding something that resembles a compass. Maybe she could comfort him or something. It's not easy to lose someone, most especially if that someone occupies almost the whole portion of your heart, yet that 'almost the whole' is still debatable with 'all'. Natasha knows that. She has been in that position a long time ago that thinking about it now seemed only but a dream or a past incarnation away. That's what she wants to think although it has not been over a decade ago.
She thinks Steve may not want anybody to get into his way right now but she did anyway, being her typical intruder self. She walks the steps towards his direction and stops right in front of him. She looks down, now she has a better view of what is inside the compass that he keeps on staring at with total sadness. Like it is a crossword puzzle on Hydra's whereabouts but can't seem to figure out the answer. Taking it all in.
Natasha peers through it. It holds a black and white image of a girl, a beautiful girl in curly brown locks in her mid-twenties. Judging by the picture's old age, she can make out who it is... was rather. That girl must be Peggy. Of course, who else would she possibly be? It will appear strange for the remarkable Captain America to keep a photograph of some random girl he spent a night with; does he even do that considering how big of a goody dork he is? Natasha's train of thought is driving deeper and deeper within her mind every passing second.
"Hey, I'm sorry." She finally managed to say and Steve looks up giving his stern expression that changes into a sad smile when he noticed the sincerity in her eyes.
"Shouldn't you be saying that the moment I woke up from that icy hell that imprisoned me for almost seventy years?" He says with a hint of sarcasm in his tone looking straight into her eyes that reads i-know-this-is-coming-i'm-okay. Good that he can still joke despite this and man, those eyes are attractive, Nat thought. She was totally dumbfounded. She does not expect she would miss those pair of sparkling galaxies this much.
"That was the real day I lost her." He added briefly, almost breathlessly, melancholy overwhelming his tone.
"I heard she truly was a brave and respected woman back in the ole days." Natasha gives him a reassuring smile and that made the corner of his mouth quirk upwards too, wider this time.
"She is indeed, she was. I promised her a dance... We were supposed to meet at some club a week after if that mission had been a complete success." Steve opened up, there's no point of hiding it anymore. Besides, he trusts Natasha. He somehow feels comfortable with her than anybody else in this whole new world he woke up in. He always believes that behind that cold, vague, and dangerous kind of girl, lies a sympathetic and comforting Natasha.
"It was a success. You saved humanity from Hydra's tyranny, don't forget that. You're a hero, Steve. She must be so proud of you." She does her best to try to put him out of his misery and adds briefly: "By the way, I didn't know you dance," changing the subject.
"Well, uh, not really. She's supposed to teach me there on that club on how to move the right way. You know, so I won't step on her feet." He chuckles and stammers for words. "That could've been the best night of my life. The night I planned on confessing what I truly feel towards her with an overwhelming anxiety of whether she feels the same way or not." His vision is far away but he is looking at nothing in particular. But his eyes which minutes ago was looking deeply at Natasha's is now focused on the cream-painted wall behind her. His mind is projecting image there. He is reminiscing that very moment where he and Peggy shared their first kiss before going to battle. People never thought that the captain's great inspiration on winning the wrathful war and the very reason Americans celebrate Independence Day every fourth of July was that little hopeful kiss.
"If that's the case, I am always free to teach you, Rogers. Haven't you heard I'm a skilled ballerina? All you have to do is ask." Nat teased in her seductive tone, flashing Steve her signature smirk and Steve fixed his tantalizing blue eyes back on her sparkling emerald green ones.
Steve considered this for a moment and he let himself be deceived by those eyes. He thinks they're beautiful that he could stare at them for eternities without getting bored just like Peggy's. Nat had been a distraction for him for quite a long time now.
But what is he even thinking? He's supposed to be mourning over Peggy's death and not be hoaxed by those undeniably stunning eyes. The thing about him suddenly being all open to her is still bothering him and why he lets her see him in this state remains a big question. He brushed the thought away considering the fact that Natasha is just being kind and comforting which is an unusual thing the spy does, he's glad that she sees him as a true friend. At least that's what he thought it is. After all, they have been through a lot as partners on missions.
Do it Steve. Dance with her.
A soft and warm voice he heard from the back of his mind says. Peggy? Steve thinks he's hallucinating, it cannot be Peggy, she's gone now and that's that; unless it's her ghost but that would be foolish.
Or maybe that was really his own voice telling himself to go for it for it is the only way to have a break, feel okay again and totally move on. Natasha truly is a lot of things. She's like the riverbed... changes from time to time. From the first time you step on it, it is never the same as the second time around. As they say, you can never step on the same river twice for it is constantly being washed away by the ever running water. And that is Natasha, unpredictable and inconsistent.
"What about now?" Nat requests as Steve stares at her, wide eyed. It seemed to last for an eternity until Natasha broke the growing awkwardness between them.
"Cat's got you tongue, Rogers? Let me guess, you're shy, aren't you?" Natasha said, still had her smirk on accompanied by an arched eyebrow this time. Making Steve surprisingly ill-at-ease.
Steve is fumbling for some right words to say. But just the moment when he has finally got something, Natasha reaches out for his hands and motions for him to stand up.
"Uh- Why the hell not? I have always fancied watching people dance. I think it's time for me to learn." Steve finally utters with complete anxiety.
"Language, Rogers!" Nat chuckles. "So you mean you fancy watching those pretty girls in tight little star-spangled dresses dance as your back-up back in the ole days, huh?"
Rolling his eyes, Steve heaves a sigh. "You know i had my eyes for someone." He banters jokingly.
"Right. I almost forgot." Natasha says dryly as she turns away and walks towards the record-player. The living room appears wide enough but Nat insisted for Steve to move the furniture so they could dance in a much wider space.
Not long after, an ear-pleasing melody bursts through the air. For Steve, it's a familiar tune. It's one of those songs that he and Bucky loves to listen to in the 40's due to its poignant beat that somehow detaches them from real life for at least a short while. Every time they listen to those kinds of records, they would feel like they're just two typical young citizens of America in love and without a war to think about.
"Duke Ellington's Take The A Train. You must be quite familiar of this kind of songs. This one's pretty famous on your time so i thought maybe-"
"Quite a bit. Yeah." Steve utters. "Brings back memories." Although reminiscing his past is not a pleasant thing to do right now. It only adds up to the long list of things he's in need answers to and one of them is Bucky's whereabouts.
Natasha reached out for his right shoulder and circled her left hand around his back. She locked her right hand with his left holding it shoulder level in the air and Steve put his free hand around her waist. Steve can feel the silky fabric that hugged Nat's curves perfectly as they start dancing. He swears he trembled as he did. Steve never felt his heart skip a beat this way for a really long time. He can't be intimidated by widow... but he does.
"You're pretty good at this, Rogers." Nat teases but she means it. "You're a natural."
"You can't be serious, Romanoff." Steve says and gave off his coy smirk. Natasha stiffens at that and almost step on Steve's foot. If this was a different girl and not Black Widow, she would have already lost it at that smirk. Other girls would give everything up to dance with Captain America.
"I am." Nat replies using her seductive tone once again regaining her composure. She flashes him her own killer smirk as a counterattack. Now, it's Steve's turn to lose control. Sadly, he did step on her foot. If this was not Steve but a different boy, he would have died with that smirk. Natasha had quite mastered the art of seduction.
"Ow! Watch it, Rogers."
"I am watching it. I'm afraid I've been watching too intensely, that's why." Steve banters.
They were looking deeply at each other's pair of eyes as they focused on dancing. The next song was a slow one. The notes to Three Times a Lady by Lionel Richie comes flying in the air.
Nat put her arms gently around the captain's neck and he did the same with the spy's waist. These little acts brought familiar longed for electrifying chills up their spine. Both their cheeks flush a color of crimson as the awkwardness grew immeasurable. Their faces are only inches close they could hear and feel each other breathing. Steve's looking into her eyes then down her lips, then up to her eyes again, and then back to her lips again. It's a scene going on over and over. Either of them wants to lean in and just end the chilling misery but no one seems to have the gut to try.
Steve can feel his heart banging hard and fast against his chest. But this one is not caused by either anger or frustration he's getting during battles. It's not even fear. It's a mixture of plain happiness and excitement and a tingle of anxiety. He feels that things around them are in slow motion. Like time is dawdling down itself to give them this moment and make it last forever.
Natasha catches Steve's eyes flicker. Scanning his face, she can make out a trickle of sweat on his temple. And his ears flushed red. He surely is agitated. But something seems wrong. She contemplates for a moment and noticed that the music had stopped already. How long has it been? She doesn't know. Suddenly, awkwardness overwhelms her but she doesn't want for the moment to stop either. She doesn't want to remove her arms around his neck. Doesn't want him to do the same with his firm grip on her waist. She feels a rush of warmth creeping up her cheeks. Had she been denying her feelings for Steve all this time? Or had she been just blinded?
"Agent Romanoff, Director Fury calls for you." A masculine AI voice suddenly says from a distant built-in speaker somewhere in the room which made the both of them jump.
That made them break apart too instantly. With expressions showing a deep vexation.
But they both know it's better left that way.
The pure sadness in his eyes is still visible although she can see that his mood lit up. Natasha, despite that dangerously seductive girl people thinks she is, who was then renowned to be heartless and cruel, finally revealed her secluded adorable and gentle alter ego who sympathizes and commiserates other people. The famed Black Widow is capable of loving after all. Although most times it is been overshadowed by her tyranny in the past whom the girl she no longer is. Is she now willing to swallow her pride and take back her excruciating perception of love for saying that it is for children? For once, Natasha let her thoughts time travel way back seventy years ago before Steve's incident in the ice. She thinks Peggy and Steve must have had a beautiful magic love there.
What a sad beautiful tragic love affair.
A/N: So this is like my first published Romanogers fan fic. I know it's kinda bad. I'm so sorry if the fluffs don't seem good to you as it is to me. But i tried my best on this and i'm actually planning on making this a short series. I hope ya'll would let me know what you think through the comments section. Thank you for reading! *sends a big hug all the way from here*
Btw, the 'Sad Beautiful Tragic' line in the end was taken from Taylor Swift's song of the same title. I just think that the song is perfect for Steggy but since they're kinda fading out (sorry) i was making a plot on Steve finally moving on and that Natasha played a crucial role in the process . If you're a Steggy, check out the song it's really perfect, i guess. But for Romanogers, T-swizzle's 'This Love' would fit well.