A/N: Hello Lovelies! I want to thank all of you who have read this story and a big thank you to those of you who have reviewed. I really appreciated you all. I hope to have the next chapter up soon. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors, I am very tired. I hope you enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Natasha's Possibilities
Chapter 2
Possibility 3- Steve
Natasha wasn't sure what to think of the mysterious woman whose photograph was hanging at SHIELD's first headquarters. Was she an old love interest of Steve? A mentor? A Friend? After some research Natasha discovered her name was Peggy Carter and she had fought with Steve in world war two. She was an old friend of Howard Stark, and one of the founders of SHIELD. She was also currently dying, in her nineties, her husband had already passed and she was leaving behind two children and six grandchildren.
For some unknown reason Steve's blatant refusal to talk about Peggy really bothered Natasha. She was obviously important to him and Natasha had thought that they were becoming friends. She knew that she should be finding better things to do with her free time, like deciding who she wanted to be now that her face was public. She packed up what little she thought was essential and left her old apartment, aware that it was no longer safe.
At first she had followed Steve, making sure he didn't get himself into trouble following the trail of the Winter Soldier. Steve was a terrible tracker though and each time he arrived somewhere he thought his old friend would be located Natasha already knew that James Barnes had moved on a week ago.
Three months of that, of watching Steve fail in the shadows had really bored Natasha so she moved on temporarily. She decided to look into the identity of the woman in the picture in hopes to sate her interest but it only made her more curious as to who the woman was to Steve.
The word jealousy had entered into her mind several times throughout her search into Steve's past, why else would the woman bother her so much? Natasha was confused, she didn't think she had any romantic feelings for Steve Rogers but she couldn't find logical explanation for her determination to find out this woman's relationship to Rogers.
Which is why she found herself sitting beside the dying woman's bed, in the middle of the afternoon, listening to her tell stories about the war and Captain America. The answer was clear, this woman obviously loved Steve Rogers and in another life her name probably would have been Peggy Rogers. She would have had two blonde children and six blonde grandchildren.
"Don't make the same mistake I did dear." She heard the old woman croak. The woman started coughing and Natasha poured her a glass of water, giving it to her to drink.
Peggy did and then gave the glass back to Natasha who set it on the bedside table.
"What mistake is that?" Natasha asked.
"If you love him, don't wait until it's too late. You go right now and tell him." Peggy told her while grabbing Natasha's hand and looking her in the eyes.
"Love is for children." Natasha replied in a cynical tone. However she found herself wondering, not for the first time since Rogers had come into her life, if those words were true or if she was trying to fool herself.
"No, Love is simple when we are children. It's complicated and beautiful when we are adults, and its steady and forever when we are old."
"I don't love him." Natasha replied after a moment.
"Dear, no one sits next to an old dying woman and listens to her boring stories for no reason." Peggy laughed. "And don't you say that you just wanted to know more about him, you've been sitting next to me for hours now. I think you love him."
"Your right, it has been hours. I should let you rest." Natasha moved to get up.
"I can rest when I'm dead. Promise me something, from the woman who loved Steve Rogers to the woman who does: just make sure he's happy, don't let him get so lost in himself or his sense of duty, and for heaven's sake give him a good kick when he gets too dramatic." Peggy told her intensely.
Natasha was tempted to deny that she loved Steve Rogers again but decided to let Peggy think whatever she wanted, it seemed to make her happy. She nodded and promised and then Peggy smiled and let go of her hand.
It was dark when she left and Natasha was alarmed at how long she had ended up talking to Peggy Carter. She wasn't sure where she was going until she went to Steve's apartment, reasoning that now that she was a public figure there were probably KGB assassins waiting at her own. She knew he was still tracking James Barnes so she let herself in. To her great surprise Steve was there, shield up and ready to fight the moment she walked through the door. He quickly dropped his stance when he saw who it was.
"Natasha? What are you doing here?" He said. He was dressed for bed, sweats and a t-shirt, no socks.
"I thought you were tracking Barnes." She told him.
"I was, I came back yesterday after another dead end. I thought it would be wise to regroup, also Fury contacted me and told me it was probably a good idea to move. Now that SHIELD's files are all online and this apartment in being funded by SHIELD. Stark offered me a room at the tower he renovated for the Avengers, thought I would move my stuff there before I start looking for Bucky again." He told her, motioning for her to come inside further and he closed the door behind her.
She walked into his living room and looked around, it was all very 1940's with a slight modern flair. She chuckled a little as she took in the record player and looked back at Steve.
"Would you like something to drink? I have expired milk." He laughed. "Or I could make us both some coffee."
"Coffee sounds good."
"Make yourself at home."
Natasha continued to look around Steve's living room, she saw he had a lot of books and movies; some of which were still in their packaging. She came across some art supplies and sketchbooks, hearing Steve in the kitchen she decided to snoop a little. She opened one of them and saw a lot of landscapes, and old world war looking machinery.
She opened another and found sketches of New York and of some of the avengers: Thor, Bruce, Tony. There were also a couple of Loki and his minions and the tesseract. Opening another book she found Howard Stark's likeness looking back at her, there were also a lot of pictures of someone who looked like a world war 2 general, and a man with glasses who she didn't know.
She came to the part of the book filled with images of Peggy Carter, some small and worn, some large, bold, and newer looking. Some were only partially done while others were of her in full, surprisingly there were some of her as she was now. In her bed, old and tired.
She quickly glanced through those sketches, a lump in her throat, and set that book down before picking up another. She found herself staring at sketches of Sam. There were even more of James, dressed in old 1940's clothing, an army uniform, and as the Winter Soldier. She turned the page and found herself. She was looking off in the distance, hair short and dressed in civilian clothing. She realized that it was when she first met Steve on the Helicarrier.
There were several more of her: fighting the alien army in New York, afterward at the schwarma joint, on their first mission together for SHIELD, more recent pictures of her standing over a dead Nick Fury, looking back at something in determination, and sitting on the bed in Sam's house. The last one before the end of the book was of her going toe to toe with the Winter Soldier.
"I was really impressed with you there." Steve's voice made her jump. She put the book down with a grimace and fixed Steve with her most apologetic face. He looked amused as he set two mugs of coffee on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Sorry, I was curious." She said with a hint of embarrassment, she didn't even here him leave the kitchen.
"It's okay, I figured you would snoop. Now come have a seat and tell me why you are here." He told her with a mock glare.
She sat down next to him and took a sip of coffee, it was black with two sugars-just the way she liked it.
"I was traveling…well to be more specific I shadowed you for a couple of months and then went in my own direction. I have spent the last three weeks doing some research and trying to figure out who I am outside of the KGB and SHIELD. I came here because I knew I couldn't go to my apartment, it wasn't safe and I thought you would be gone." She told him over the rim of the coffee mug, glancing up at him to see his reaction to her having followed him for so long.
"You were following me? Why?" He sounded confused and concerned but not angry Natasha noted.
"I'm not sure, I just wanted to know that you weren't walking into danger. Turns out you are a terrible tracker." She said with good humor, setting down the coffee mug.
"That's….kind of sweet in a creepy 'you used to be an assassin for the KGB' kind of way." Steve told her with a slight blush. "You said you were doing research, about what?"
"Peggy Carter."
"Why woul-"
"I wanted to know who she was, you dodged the question when we were in that old SHIELD base and it has bothered me ever since. I hope you aren't mad, I mean it's not exactly a secret she worked with you. I just never really had a reason to take an interest in her before. She is a nice lady."
"You talked to her?"
"I actually went to see her. She told me a lot of stories about you from WW2, it was an enlightening visit." Natasha looked Steve in the eyes, there was a hint of sadness there. Natasha thought that her earlier assessment was correct, in another world the old woman would have been Peggy Carter. Natasha wasn't sure why the thought made her ache, she wasn't in love with Steve Rogers.
"I'm not really sure what to think about that, I shouldn't be surprised. When you don't get the answers you want you go looking for them." He told her without malice.
She snorted, her mind going back to watching him look at the hospital vending machine in confusion before she came up behind him chewing bubble gum.
"I didn't mean to intrude, I honestly thought you would be gone." She told him with sincerity.
"You aren't intruding. Honestly I missed you, I saw you so much over the past two years it has been weird not seeing you for months. If I had known you were following me I would have just invited you to tag along, you are definitely a better tracker than I am." He replied.
"I missed you too Rogers." She laughed.
"What did you mean when you said the visit was enlightening?" He asked.
"I think I finally understand you a little more, your struggle. I also understand where Peggy Carter fits into all of that. She was in love with you, you know."
"Did she know who you were?"
"She knew I was there to hear about you. She seems quit intuitive, she thought..."
"She thought what?"
"She thinks I am in love with you, can you believe that? She made me promise to make sure you are happy and less dramatic." She chuckled.
There was an awkward pause, she picked the coffee mug back up and took a sip. She took a glance at Steve, he looked upset. She wondered if telling him about what Peggy had said was a bad idea.
"I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sure it's upsetting, losing 70 years with the woman you love." She said awkwardly. Trying to take that look off of his face, like someone just kicked his puppy. She was about to suggest that she leave when he set his coffee mug down and took hers from her hands and set it down as well.
When his fingers accidentally grazed hers she felt a spark of something, something she never felt unless Steve was touching her. She had felt it in the hospital, definitely felt it when she kissed him at the mall, and even when he had grabbed her around the waist to help her out of the car after she had been shot. In those moments she always reaffirmed to herself that she couldn't possibly be in love with Steve Rogers.
"It is upsetting knowing that I lost my chance with Peggy Carter 70 years ago, but I'm not who I was back then. I have changed, I'm different, and I'm another person now. What is it they always say? It's a fool who doesn't learn from his own mistakes but it's an absolute idiot who doesn't learn from someone else's?" He asked her, grabbing her right hand.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want to lose another chance to be happy because I was too busy or afraid to tell someone how I feel about them. I'm in love with you Natasha." He told her as he pulled her closer and bent his head to kiss her.
It was not as awkward as the kiss in the mall but it produced the same thrill. She felt him interlock their fingers as he backed away with a smile. She felt her own face split into a grin.
"It is still Natasha isn't it? Or did you pick a different name already?" He asked teasingly.
"Natasha, definitely still Natasha." She didn't care what he called her as long as it sounded like that. She pulled him to her for another kiss and realized that she was more than possibly in love with Steve Rogers.
Possibility 4- Thor
The story of how the god of thunder and the femme fatale found love starts with three simple ingredients: a meddling Steve Rogers, a batch of Tony Stark's home brewed beer, and a short circuit in JARVIS's elevator control system.
In response to not only the Christmas season but everyone's feeling of depression, Tony decided to throw "the best damn, rock your socks off, holly jolly, melt your snow man Christmas eve party any of you pathetic twerps have ever seen."
Tony was the only one of the Avengers who was not feeling blue, recently having tied the knot to Pepper Potts and found out they were having a child. Steve was missing family Christmases in Brooklyn, Clint was missing Laura and his kids-they decided to go to her family this year since he was stuck in New York, Natasha always had a hard time with Christmas as it was around this time her family was killed, Bruce was still adjusting to being around so many people after spending the last ten Christmases on the run, and Thor had broken up with Jane only three months ago.
It wasn't until Tony got one of the biggest Christmas trees they had ever seen that everyone started to get into the holiday spirit. They all took party tasks upon themselves for the big day: Tony was in charge of lights and drinks, Steve was in charge of decorations, Clint and Natasha were in charge of food, Bruce was in charge of music and movies, and Thor was in charge of bringing all the presents under the tree and lifting anything heavy.
When Natasha saw Thor standing by Steve watching him decorate she decided to let him help decorate cookies. He was surprisingly good at it, he was very gentle and detail oriented and pretty soon the cookies were done. They could have been decorated by an actual baker, that's how good they looked.
"Wow, these look great Thor." She told him with a smile.
"Thank you lady Natasha." He told her while licking the last of the frosting off of a spoon.
"Just Natasha big guy." She told him with a wink.
He smiled at her and finished licking off the spoon, he handed it to Clint when he was finished and walked back into the living room. Bruce was there too and they sat together on the couch while Bruce told Thor about the movies he had picked out.
The party started around 8 p.m. and they all sat down to watch it's a wonderful life, everyone had a plate of food and a cup of beer. They all chatted and laughed while they ate, Tony told Bruce that they would play some music after the movie. Tony made sure that everyone had enough beer several times throughout the movie, very proud of his recent creation. Around 10 p.m. Natasha noted that she started to feel a little light headed, the movie was almost over and the food was all gone-Steve and Thor had eaten most of it, she hadn't consumed that much beer. She looked around at her team mates, she was sitting in between Clint and Bruce, Tony was next to Bruce, Thor was on the chair next to the couch and Steve was sitting in front of Natasha's feet. They all seemed to be doing okay and she wondered if they had consumed less alcohol than she had.
At around 11:30 p.m. she definitely felt off as she raised her head from where it was in Bruce's lap. She looked at her team mates again and found that they were all asleep, even Steve who supposedly didn't have the ability to get drunk. She felt so tired so she laid her head back down and went to sleep.
In the middle of the night she jumped up startled, a little unsure of where she was. It was dark so she crawled on all fours and felt her way around, she found a wall with her hand and started there. The room appeared to be small-maybe four feet all four sides. She stood up slowly and walked a little, prompt falling on her ass when she tripped over something big.
Whatever it was grunted and she backed up until her back hit one of the walls. She heard shuffling and breathing, it sounded like whoever it was sat up.
"Whose there?" she asked in her most confident voice, even though her head was pounding and she was a little afraid.
"Natasha?" A gruff voice asked.
"Thor?" she replied relieved.
"Are you injured?" His voice suddenly intense.
"No, a little light disoriented but that's from Tony's beer. Are you injured?" She asked in return.
"No, merely confused and my head is pounding. Stark's ale is stronger than anything we have in Asgard." He told her. She was grateful that it was Thor, although she would have been comfortable with Steve or Clint also. He was strong like Steve, a warrior so he was calm under pressure like Clint, and he wasn't obnoxious like Tony, and he didn't have major anger issues like Bruce. She was definitely grateful she was in here with him and not Stark.
"Where do you think we are?" she asked him.
"I am uncertain, but do not worry I will get us out of here momentarily. Just as soon as I can stand properly." He told her with a small chuckle.
"HEY! YOU GUYS OKAY IN THERE?" They heard a voice fill the small room.
"STARK?" They shouted in return.
"OH GOOD YOURE CONCIOUS. YOU ARE STUCK IN THE ELEVATOR, I'LL EXPALIN IT ALL LATER BUT RIGHT NOW I'M WORKING WITH JARIVIS TO GET YOU OUT. SOMETHINGS WRONG WITH THE ELEVATOR'S CONTROL PANEL, A SHORT CIRCUIT OR SOMETHING, JUST SIT TIGHT." The voice said.
"Like we have a choice," Natasha said with a sigh. "Looks like Stark will get us out of here big guy, your services are not required so just sit and rest. Have you ever been hung over before?"
"No I can't say that I have, Asgardians have a high tolerance for such things." He told her.
"Well we don't know how long we will be here. Why don't you tell me of Asgard?" Natasha asked him desperate to pass the time and keep her mind off of how dark the elevator was.
He told her of his home, and the landscape of Asgard. He also told her of his parents and Brother Loki, his friends and their battles fought together. He also began to tell her of how he ended up being banished to this world but paused slightly when he talked about waking up and seeing Jane for the first time. He talked about the differences between Earth and Asgard and how he felt both worlds were his home.
Hours must have gone by, but his voice never wavered with tiredness. It wasn't until the elevator gave a small lurch and startled them both that he stopped talking. She gasped as she tipped sideways and there was a sensation of falling before they stopped abruptly. She shook slightly and before she could right herself she felt two big hands on her upper arms. They pulled her back into a seated position.
Thor took a seat beside her, so close she could feel his thigh against hers, warmth radiated from him. She took a deep breath and gripped her hands together tightly, she hated the dark.
"That was terrifying," Thor said clearly amused.
"You got that right." Natasha said in return, she was proud of the fact that she sounded calmer than she was.
"I have never been fond of the dark, it was my biggest fear as a child." Thor confessed, whispering like it was a secret.
"It was one of the ways they controlled us in the Red Room." Natasha confessed in return, memories of darkened rooms that she would spend days in coming to the front of her mind.
"At least we have each other for company," He said soothingly, scooting even closer to her so their sides were flush together.
The elevator lurched again, throwing them against each other, but this time it went up instead of down. It came to a stop and the lights suddenly came on, Natasha blinked hard and rubbed her eyes. She looked at Thor who was squinting.
The stainless steel doors of the elevator opened to reveal a very worried looking Bruce and Clint as well as a guilty looking Steve and Tony. Thor stood up and helped Natasha to her feet, both of them unsteady from spending hours sitting.
Clint hugged Natasha hard when she got out and led her to the kitchen table, Thor was led by Steve and they both sat down. Natasha noted that it was day break outside, they spent a long time in the elevator.
Tony got them water while Bruce got them both aspirin after they told him they both had headaches. Everyone took a seat while they waited for either Natasha or Thor to speak.
"Okay boys, who wants to tell me what happened?" Natasha finally asked.
"Well," Bruce started in a calm tone "The beer that Tony brewed was a tad strong, apparently he wanted to see if he could make something strong enough to get Steve drunk. He succeeded, we were all very drunk; from what I can remember last about last night."
"While we were all passed out from the strength of the beer it had a weird effect on Steve he didn't pass out for nearly as long as the rest of us did. He started doing odd things, we caught it all on camera- he made a huge breakfast, put Clint on the balcony, drew pictures on Tony with paint, covered me with every pillow he could find, and decided it would be a riot to put you and Thor in the elevator. He wanted the doors to stay shut so he did something to mess up the control panel. It took Tony and JARVIS a while to fix it."
"Yeah, they also almost killed us." Natasha said with some anger, she didn't blame Steve- not really- but totally blamed Tony.
"Sorry about that, can't make an omelet without cracking eggs." Tony said, not looking the least bit sorry until Natasha glared at him with some back up from Thor.
"I'm really sorry you guys." Steve said, his head in his hands.
"It's okay Steve, it wasn't your fault." Natasha tried to comfort him but was having a hard time doing so, too concentrated on not ripping Tony's head off.
"I agree Steven, you have a gentle spirit and would not have done anything to endanger our lives on purpose." Thor said loudly, making everyone at the table wince.
"Well now that that's settled, I'm going back to bed. I'm glad you are alive Tasha, you too Thor." Clint waved as he took off for his room.
Everyone else made their excuses to part as well and pretty soon it was just Thor and Natasha still at the table.
"Bonding experience?" Natasha asked playfully, aware that the elevator was really the first time she had been alone with the God of thunder.
"Indeed, I look forward to more experiences with you in the future." Thor replied with a smile, standing up.
"Yes we will have to do it again sometime, and thank you "she said standing up as well before standing on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek. " I hate the dark but it wasn't so bad with some company." She then turned and walked toward her room, only turning back slightly to see Thor still standing at the kitchen table; a hand pressed to the cheek she just kissed and a big stupid grin on his face.