Memories & Reality

I do not own any of this or any part of Marvel or the MCU

Chapter 2 – Time to Run

Present Day -

Springing up from a restless night of sleep, Steve found himself tangled in sheets and shivering in a dampened t-shirt he had sweat through. The definition of being awake may have applied to his physical state, but he certainly didn't feel it.

His dreams already began to fade as he wiped his brow and shook the bedding from his legs. He was at that precipice where you could remember the feeling you had from sleep, but the details were gone. Like a word on the tip of his tongue that would never form. Being unable to recall those details could be a point of frustration, but it didn't matter.

Not really.

Because the pitted feeling in his stomach combined with his chilled body, expressed all he needed to know – his dream wasn't quite a nightmare, but was nowhere near enjoyable either. And it was unpleasant enough to figuratively and physically tie his body in knots, so he didn't want to re-visit any specifics involved.

Today of all days, mental sharpness was a necessity. His team had an important mission they were departing for at 8:30 am, and a long and grinding day was imminent. What he did not need was to be thinking about the damn past again.

He groaned and tried to figure out what he should make his body do. No sign of light hit the bedroom windows yet, but his gut told him dawn wasn't far off. It was a point in the night (or early morning) when it would be useless to try and go back to sleep. All that would accomplish is another hour or so of whatever his body unsuccessfully attempted to do last night. He looked over at his alarm clock.

4:30 am. Another groan, 'Shit. I hate when I'm right,' Steve thought to himself.

It felt like bars of lead weighed on his body while he stretched his arms, cracked his neck, and let out a gaping yawn. His fingers fumbled around on the nightstand until he found his phone, and he saw that he had unopened text messages with his team, sent after he had already laid down last night.

Sam – 10:15 pm "Run in the morning before AM Mission mtg. Who's with me…5 am at HQ?"

Bucky – 10:45 pm "Aren't we going to be running enough ON the mission?"

Wanda – 10:46 pm "Quit being a baby, James…Sam, he'll be there. I'm waiting for Sarah to get here to watch Peter, so you boys will have to survive without me. I'll catch you at HQ for AM mtg."

Bucky – 10:47 pm "I'm literally right by you in bed, and you just called me a baby…boy, I'm feeling the love, Babe."

Sam – 10:52 pm "This is awkward. I'm guessing Steve is already asleep, and I'm jealous. I should never have started this…See you in the morning. Don't forget Steve."

Sam – 10:54 pm "And Wanda, give your husband those pants you wear in your marriage…he's going to need them tomorrow."

Wanda – 10:55 pm "Good Night, Sam "

Sam – 10:56 pm "Nighty night, Jammessss…LMAO"

Bucky – 10:58 pm "Shut up, Sam. My wife calls me by my first name. She always has…the joke is getting real old."

Wanda – 10:59 pm – "Ugh. Children."

Wow. Steve shook his head.

As stupid as those messages were, Steve smirked. His stomach started to actually relax and any remaining thoughts of lying back down were officially erased.

He stood up and lightly smacked his face, feeling the scratch from his beard against his palms. Throwing on his running clothes, he went to the bathroom to freshen up and brush his teeth. After splashing some cold water on his face, his reflection stared back at him in the mirror as the droplets fell off the dark hair on his chin.

An image that he thought was gone from his dream flashed. A shadow of a person, and the sound of her voice came through, "Steve." His eyes bore into his reflection, but he fought the invasion and cranked the cold water faucet as far as it would go. Splashing his face again and again and again, the immersion finally drowned everything else out.

A grumble escaped him, "Fuck it, it's go time."

He grabbed his go bag for the office, and he put on his shoes in his entryway. He was hunched over on the bench and heard his nephew's voice.

"Where you going, Uncle Steve?" Peter said softly.

Steve lifted his head and smiled. He went over to his little buddy and mussed up his mound of brown hair on his head and said, "I got to go to work little man, but I'll see you soon." Wanda came out of the bedroom just then, still half asleep, asking where Peter was. Bucky followed, dressed and ready for the run but looked as tired as his wife.

Steve laughed, "He's right here. I guess he knows when his favorite uncle is leaving and wanted to see me." Bucky picked him up in a huge bear hug and kissed him, "You're his only uncle, Steve…but I guess if you want to count it, go ahead." Wanda smiled and took their son into her arms as Peter latched on. She shushed him and said, "Come on Peter, you need more sleep before Grandma gets here. Or maybe I do."

"Uncle Steve?" Peter said through weary eyes. The site was the definition of adorable. "Yeah little man?" Steve answered. Through a stifled yawn, Peter shut his eyes as he was falling back asleep on Wanda's shoulder. Before he was completely out again, he whispered, "Who's Nat?"

It may have been a whisper, but the sound of the name that was dropped came across like a loud boom.

Wanda and Bucky exchanged looks. Steve froze and felt the color drain from his face as the buzz from the silence in the air was ringing in everyone's ears.

Wanda spoke and looked sadly at him, "Sorry Steve, he heard you calling out her name last night while you slept. I told him not to ask, but he was so tired, it must have just slipped." Steve swallowed. He just shook his head once, acknowledging what he had obviously said in the midst of his restless sleep.

Bucky broke the uncomfortable moment, kissed Wanda on the cheek and said, "Come on Steve, we can't let Sam beat us to HQ – we'll never hear the end of it today."

Steve looked at Wanda and feigned a smile while he mouthed to her, 'Don't worry about it,' before they were out the door.

"Sam, this is a hell of a way to start the morning," Steve said as he and Bucky approached their teammate and friend. Stretching out, Sam said, "Good morning, Sunshine. Look at who finally decided to show up."

When Bucky and Steve pulled into the parking lot, they saw that Sam barely beat them there. So the fact that Sam was gloating (unsurprisingly) as if he'd been waiting for 30 minutes, was annoying to say the least. Bucky rolled his eyes, "We saw you sprinting to the entrance as we pulled in, Sam. Give it up. It doesn't exactly look like you got the best beauty sleep last night."

Sam said, "Hey, as long as I was here first, that's all that matters. Speaking of beauty sleep…you two look like hell. Pete keep the adults up or something?" Steve finished up his stretching and just mumbled, "Or something…"

Sam knew there was more to it, but also knew his friends well enough to not push this forward. If it had to do with the mission or work, they'd fill him in, "Well, next time we look like this, we actually deserve to have a reason behind it. How about we put a little wager on this run?"

Bucky grinned, "Name it."

Sam quickly answered, "Loser buys an evenings' worth of drinks for the team after we're done with today. And none of this 'one and done bullshit.' Full night out with all of us. Wanda. Banner. Fury. All of us."

Bucky answered, "Aw, are you getting FOMO now that Wanda, Peter, and I are crashing at Steve's place?"

Sam said, "God no. If anything, I feel sorry for Steve. I love my space. But come on, we all deserve a night out…So none of this being a cheap ass, Barnes. You and Wanda are going to have to fork out some cash to get a sitter for once if your Mom can't watch him."

This could go on a lot longer and has, countless times when the two men bantering had dead time to kill, or more appropriately when they were trying to push off something they actually didn't want to do, like go for a run at 5:15 in the morning. Sam may have initiated the idea because he knew they needed it today, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

Steve groaned and started jogging in place for a moment. "See boys, while the two of you are too busy having your little spat, I've just been counting which drinks I'm going to be ordering all night on one of you, because I think the three of us know I'm not losing this one."

Steve grinned and took off on the training route while yelling, "Let's move!" Sam answered after chasing after him, "Shit, someone's in the mood to kick some ass today." Bucky shot up and trailed after. Sam had caught up with Steve momentarily, and they both smiled at each other as they heard Bucky say behind them, "Fuck, I'm going to have to pay for a babysitter and everyone's drinks."

Steve got back to HQ first easily, leaving his two friends battling for 'not losing.'

He wasn't racing them though. He was running from his dream, the thoughts that lingered from the night before, and from that incessant green light on the weather tower. His footsteps pounded on the pavement during the end of the run, matching the thumping in his chest. Both beating away the past and saying with every thud, 'not today.'

After completing the five-mile route, he leaned over to put his hands on his waist and to catch his breath. His teammates caught up with him a few seconds later and were worse off. Bucky, literally clutching his chest as he barely beat his partner, bent over and exhaled, "Oh thank God, Wanda would have killed me if I would have dropped 300 dollars on our next bar tab."

"Shit," Sam said out-of-breath. Steve tossed him a water bottle and winked at him, "Here Sam, this drink is on me since you're definitely buying me top-shelf whiskey soon." When Steve allowed himself to relax in moments like these, distracted by his friends or his work, it was such a relief…to everyone.

That didn't stop Sam from groaning as he sucked down half of the bottle. Steve could still be such a little shit when he wanted to. It caused Sam to smile and then look over at Bucky who was loving every second of it. In all honesty, Sam and Bucky knew they were running to not lose versus running to win. Steve may have only beat them by a few seconds, but he had another gear he could have shifted into if he ever felt challenged. Both men also noticed that Steve was in a different world on the run, not speaking to them at all.

Sam spoke, "Damn Steve, you just out paced us, and I know you were only at like 80 percent. You could have hulked out on us at any point. Where the hell is all of the adrenaline coming from?" Steve took another deep breath as he grabbed his water bottle and answered, "I can't help it if I make this look easy. Remember Sam, you asked for this." He broke away from them to go shower and thought he squashed any concern from his friends.

Sam asked Bucky quietly what was really going on with Steve this morning. I mean he knew. At least he had a strong hunch, but he wanted to hear it. Bucky just answered, "Not now Sam. Best to just let sleeping dogs lie…At least until we get through today."

The men met in the conference room inside of Headquarters at 6:30 am. Each one of them went over their vests, weapons, communication gear, and supplies silently. Like a team in a locker room before a big game, tension and the excitement for their mission started filling the air.

All of the joking banter from earlier had dissipated from Steve's presence now. After twenty minutes, he commanded, "Final go through is at 7:00 am with Fury, Banner, and Wanda. We'll have one final check, and then we are flying high by 8:30 am, got it?"

Bucky and Sam continued going over their guns and ammo and just nodded. Bucky knew not to press, and just said, "Ten four." Sam wasn't with them the night before and concern for his team leader crept to the forefront of his mind. He knew he shouldn't ask but did it anyway, "Steve, is everything alright?"

To say that Steve's joking mood had apparently washed away with his shower was an understatement. Rogers put down his pistol and looked up at his friend with a clenched jaw and a stare that Sam had anticipated.

Sam put his hands up as a sign of surrender, but still pushed forward, "Hey man, our asses are all out there together on this mission. You know we trust you like you do us, with anything. With everything. So, we'll follow wherever you and the job take us, but I'm not going to ignore the obvious…that you seem a little more intense and on edge than usual this morning. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Sam waited a couple of seconds and continued, "Steve come on, I know you'd be grilling us too if you thought something was up with me or Bucky."

Steve let out a breath, "I'm fine. Really. I just…I didn't sleep great, and I want to get going on this mission. You know I would never jeopardize the job or the safety of the team, so if you trust me, trust when I say that my head is focused on today."

It was good enough for now. He did trust Steve. 100 percent when it came to the job and the safety of the team. Sam said, "Okay, I get it. Message received."

Wanda arrived shortly afterwards, letting her husband know that Sarah was all settled in with Peter. She double and triple checked the men's communication devices before the meeting began. She would remain back in the lab with Banner, running surveillance and being the voices in the ground teams' ear.

Banner showed up next, followed by Assistant Director Nick Fury.

There was no surprise when Fury skipped over any small talk and went straight into his overview, "Listen up. I don't have to remind you of the chance we have today. I don't have to, but I will. We have a plan to bring in the seventh most wanted criminal by the FBI with this mission. That's a damn big fish to catch, and this team could use the win. Banner, I know you're usually in charge of Psych and Medical, but you're assisting Maximoff in the lab today. Wanda, surveillance and comms better be running flawlessly. Rogers, you, Barnes and Wilson better be sharp on the ground. Let's bring this fucking guy in."

His message was short and blunt. It didn't need to be anything else. He had the same amount of confidence in his team as they had in each other.

The surveillance team and Fury moved to the lab. As always, no goodbyes were given. Wanda and Bucky always shared their concern and love privately before they arrived on days like today. Fear of 'what ifs' and 'unknowns' were compartmentalized away and kept out of meetings like these so everyone could focus. It's how they all worked so seamlessly together. It's how they succeeded and returned home.

The ground team swiftly moved to the plane and loaded their gear. They were strapped into their seats and up in the air minutes later, continuing to mentally focus on the mission they were now officially on.

12 Years Ago -

Steve woke up right before his alarm went off. An internal alarm clock had been formed from his military training, but he always set an actual one, just in case. He saw it was 5:30 am - two hours before leaving for The Academy. He stood up and walked to the bathroom, and Nadia's face flashed through his mind. Soft skin, smell of sweat, touching of lips, and pressure between bodies – all of it came rushing back to him.

"It wasn't a dream, right?" he said out loud.

Steve was determined not to let anything distract him from today though. He hadn't been through years of war and fighting just to let some random woman that he had a hot make-out session with, sidetrack him. It was really hot though.

"Fuck Rogers, snap out of it. You're never going to see her again." He took a hot shower, trying to calm his muscles and get it all out of his head, but he knew last night felt like more than just some random make-out. In the span of two hours, she wormed her way under his skin and into his brain, and he couldn't shake it. His muscles may have relaxed, but the images of her and the sound of her voice wouldn't stop.

Trying something more drastic, he switched the water all the way to the coldest setting to cool him off and fully wake up. It worked for the moment. He packed his bags after getting dressed and headed down to the lobby for some coffee – regular and no extras, just like the night before.

Steve read the paper as the individuals he met last night in the bar slowly started arriving from their rooms. James Rhodes and Tony Stark gave him a nod as he overheard them talking about the political unrest and the U.S.'s weapons involvement in the world. Bruce Banner was already down in the lobby when Steve had arrived. He was reading a paper of his own when Thor (he thought he remembered that right) sat down next to him asking if he could borrow the sports section. Maria Hill came down with a group of individuals, chatting about the excitement of the physical fitness test today. Loki and Wanda were arguing about a new computer program and how they could work electronic systems like magic. Steve smiled at hearing the conversation and pegged them both to excel in the academic and computer courses at Quantico. He looked around at all of the other individuals and noticed everyone was doing the same thing he was. They were sizing each other up.

"Hey Rogers, sleep well?"

Steve heard his name from a familiar voice and stood to greet Sam Wilson again, "Well enough…Sam right?"

Bucky was the last to join, freshly shaven and ready to go. Steve smiled at him, rubbing his hands over his own chin and giving him a thumbs up, showing he approved of the clean look. "Gotta put my best foot forward today, right?" Bucky said.

15 minutes later, everyone at the hotel was leaving in their vehicles. 30 minutes later the caravan of cars arrived at Quantico. They all filed into the center building along with all the other trainees arriving and were admitted and received their intake packets. Check-in and orientation took most of the morning.

The class received their rooming assignments right as they went into the auditorium. Excitement filled the air as the room quieted down for the start of the introductory meeting. Steve heard the back door to the auditorium open once more. He turned around, but he couldn't see anyone that had just entered. He looked back to the stage as the lights began to dim when the training agents started to speak.

A tall, bald-headed man who was dressed all in black stepped forward, "When the FBI was formed…There was an idea, to bring together a group of remarkable people to fight battles for this country that couldn't be fought before. My name is Agent Fury, and I will be leading your training program over the next five months here at Quantico. You're going to be tested and pushed to your limits. And you'll be trained for the most dangerous situations both in the field and in the office."

He had everyone in the room captivated by his tone, "But first, before we start having fun here, we need to get this physical fitness requirement out of the way. Everyone can go to their rooms, unpack, and meet us down on the field for the afternoon session in 45 minutes. Don't be late."

Steve looked at his training packet and saw he would be rooming with Bucky and Sam. He took this as a sign. It was already a great day. Everyone that met last night started chatting about who had been paired up. Banner, Loki, and Thor were also tripled up in a room. Wanda and Maria Hill were in a double, as were Stark and Rhodes. As they were walking to the dorms to unpack, someone said something about the individual rooms. Steve looked at Sam questioningly and he responded, "There's always two or three rooms that house trainees individually for any given reason like a special assignment or special needs and requests."

Everyone unpacked, and the group of 100 trainees made their way down to the field in their work out gear. Agent Fury and his team were waiting. Not holding back any sarcasm, he said, "Congratulations everyone, you all managed to show up on time…barely. Okay, we're going to start off with the 1.5 mile run. We'll do this in heats of ten people at a time. Group up according to the color on your bib number. Blue group, you're up."

Steve looked around. Stark had a blue bib like him, but everyone else was in a different heat. Steve thought to himself that it was probably better this way. He didn't want to spark too much competition among the few friendly faces he had already acquainted himself with. He looked around as more members of the blue heat were joining him at the starting line.

Fury was taking his position on the bleachers with his timer as Steve caught a glimpse of something familiar out of the corner of his eye. A woman with a red-haired pony tail, fair skin, and green eyes stood two people down from him. She turned and looked at him, and after realizing he wasn't seeing things, he just looked at her, confused. She smiled and said quietly so no one else could hear, "Nice seeing you again, Steve. Try not to mow me over this time."

She winked at him, and then Fury's gun went off.

Steve felt a tightness in his chest and wondered what the hell was happening. No, he wasn't still asleep and dreaming. No, he wasn't imagining the image of Nadia in his running heat. That could only mean one thing then. She had lied to him…And she was leading their heat right off the start, turning her head and looking back to see where he was. Steve stared at her with surprise, a twinge of lust, and a lot of confusion.

Questions started racing through his mind as he raced on the track. Why had she lied? Why didn't she find him this morning before this? She obviously meant to try and catch him off guard to gain an advantage in the heat, which only increased his irritation. He had very little tolerance for lies. But before those thoughts continued, one lap had already passed and he heard Bucky and Sam yelling at him to "Unhook the plow." He used those feelings swirling through his body to do just that.

Steve had a tall stature and strong physical presence, that was clear. His muscles were easily defined in his shoulders, arms, and chest through his t-shirt while he moved around the track. What became crystal clear was just how strong and fit of an individual he truly was. He passed everyone else in his heat as he was inching closer and closer to the rabbit in this race, Nadia. She turned her head back again and saw he was catching up to her. She grinned and said heavily through her breathing, "About time you got up here. Think you can keep up?"

Steve's jaw clenched, and he let out a huff. He knew she was trying to get under his skin and said, "I don't know what is going on, but I am here for one reason only, to become an FBI agent." He slid ahead of her. After two laps had passed, he heard Sam yelling, "Dang, Gramps has wheels!" Laps three and four continued with Steve in the lead. He felt confident again after feeling punched in the gut at the start of this damn race. During the fifth lap, Steve heard her uneven voice right behind him, "I think I've let you lead long enough." Steve pushed harder and faster, but he couldn't stop her small and graceful body pass by him.

She led the way for a brief distance, but Steve smiled when he saw a weakness. He didn't know what the hell was really going on and why she had lied, but he did know that her muscles were tightening up and her glances back at him looked a little more frantic. He could tell she was impatient and had used her final kick too soon. With the sixth and final lap, Steve slid right beside her. Both of them were panting as heavily as they were the night before. Only now, they were fighting to beat each other, not to explore one another with their mouths and hands.

The competitive fire had been stoked. Steve wanted to win almost as much as he wanted to see her lose. Almost breathless, Steve said, "You should have hung around a little while longer," indicating both earlier in their race and last night, "You might have been able to see a great finish." He knew he was rubbing it in as he passed by her. He knew he was going to be victorious in their back-and-forth, both in the race and their words. He could almost feel the frustration seep from her and she came to that realization too.

They came around the final turn and sprinted to the end. Steve pulled ahead having more gas in the tank and crossed the finish line first, seconds ahead of her.

Both of them went inside the track to the grassy field. They grabbed a glass of water and knelt to sit down. Steve was sure to keep a safe distance from her. Gasping and catching their breath, their eyes met and didn't move from their stare down that was forming a cocktail of emotions inside of them. Faces were red and sweat was dripping off of them. The attraction and chemistry still lingered underneath like the steady bass of a guitar, but it was overshadowed by the lies and confusion.

Fury yelled over the intercom, "Rogers, congratulations. You sputtered at the start and then killed yourself on the first test to win."

The trainees had only heard brief moments of communication from Fury, but they were enough to let everyone know he was not someone who was easily impressed. And he would not hold back on calling bullshit out when he saw it, on anyone.

Fury turned to the rest of the trainees and continued, "I know you are all alphas and top dogs where you come from. But believe me when I tell you, I. Don't. Care. The objective of this exercise is to see if you meet the requirements to be a trainee, not to kill yourselves. And not to win the heat. So maybe you should focus on actually getting through today. You'll have all the opportunities you want to impress each other after today. So, let's try to hold off on the pissing matches until at least tomorrow, okay?"

Fury rubbed his eyes while he and the other lead agents laughed with each other, showing that this probably wasn't the first time something like this had happened and definitely wouldn't be the last. He finished, "Steve Rogers, the leader of the blue heat with a time of 9:57. Natasha Romanoff, with a time of 10:04." Fury continued running through everyone's times and yelled for the orange heat to line up.

Natasha Romanoff.

Steve's stare hardened. The thrill from winning drained, and when he heard that name, he was left again with the all of the feelings from a few seconds ago, but now he was angry…and embarrassed. Damn. He didn't even know her real name. Natasha looked right back at him. She knew he had caught on and could almost hear his thoughts. The lies continued.

Steve finally knew her last name, but that wasn't what he was focused on, "Natasha…Your name is Natasha."

They both moved to stand up, their breathing still settling. She didn't know what to do, but she did know that she hated how he was looking at her. Natasha was up first and tried to reach her hand out to help Steve, but he moved away from her and shook his head in disbelief.

God. He was full of questions, and he wanted to demand answers from her. But he didn't want to make a scene. It was the first day, and they were down on the field in front of everyone while the second heat was getting ready to start their race.

He looked at her again. He wasn't going to yell, but he wasn't going to let her get away with any of this either. Steve stepped forward and moved his hand toward her face. Natasha was caught off guard and a blush deepened her already reddened cheeks. He wasn't reaching to touch her though. He picked a blade of grass from her pony tail, dropped it in her hands and said, "Here's a souvenir to remember me by, since we will definitely not be repeating anything from last night…Natasha."

They didn't touch, and they definitely weren't flirting like they were last night. But her skin still tingled from how close he was. She looked at him as he went over to a group of people in the bleachers. Natasha was positive he would start trash talking her, and they would all look over her way with accusing glares. She would deserve it, but no one looked or hardly noticed her. He didn't say anything about her to them. He high fived a couple of people and then went to take a seat to watch the rest of the heats. She was stunned. One thing was positive for sure, Steve Rogers kept on surprising her.

She went to sit in the stands near some people to blend in, but she wasn't really sitting with anyone. Her movements did not go unnoticed by Steve. The questions began to compile in his head again, 'How did I not pick up that she was a trainee last night? How did I not see her this morning in the auditorium?' He didn't see her when everyone arrived to get their intake packets and hadn't seen her in the meeting. He laughed in disbelief to himself when he realized she was probably the person sneaking in last minute. 'Who was this woman?'

He looked back at her one last time, and she was watching him. It unnerved him. She didn't appear cocky like she had at the beginning of the race. That interested him. She looked like she had questions too and that ticked him off. He was honest with her, and she had questions?

Next was pull-ups. The test wasn't timed, but had minimum requirements. Men should be able to do 20, women 10. Steve completed 25 pull-ups before the agent told him he was good. Natasha finished 15 before the agent supervising her said it was enough. Steve noticed her glare at the agent when they had told her to stop. He laughed to himself. He knew she was strong for her size, but her stare alone looked like it could take down the man trying to tell her what to do right now. She looked over at Steve, clearly annoyed that he 'beat' her number before moving to the next station.

The third fitness test was push-ups. Untimed again, men needed to complete over 70 and women over 45. Steve did 75 and tapped out, not wanting to show off. They were not a problem for him. Natasha completed an impressive 50 before the agent told her to stop again. She didn't. She got to 63 before the man standing over her stopped counting and said she was done whether she liked it or not.

'Damn, I thought I was stubborn,' Steve thought. She was in amazing shape and could pass the standards with flying colors. But he could tell she was fucking pissed the first three challenges went in his favor. Steve would be lying if he didn't admit it satisfied him a great deal to be winning this unspoken contest. It was petty, but so were her actions towards him as far as he was concerned.

The fourth test was sit-ups, timed to 60 seconds. Steve completed 60, and he instantly checked to see how many Natasha did when he was finished – 62.

Wait. Did he hear that right?

His body was on fire from the test as he stood up. She looked over at him and his sweat filled t-shirt that accentuated everything. Wiping her own moisture away from her forehead, she walked by him and mumbled, "Crazy what happens when we're on equal ground." Apparently, this was a straight-out competition now, nothing unspoken about it anymore.

She came close in their run to winning, she beat him in sit-ups, and her numbers were impressive in push-ups and pull-ups. He groaned as he remembered the feel of her toned body pressing against him last night, but this only created more questions, 'What is this woman's background that has her being able to compete head-to-head with every man here?' It frustrated the hell out of him.

The final test was the 300-meter sprint. They were divided into their heats and the blue group was up first again. Each person staggered themselves out on the track accordingly by their earlier times, so Natasha and Steve were in lanes four and five. Steve was stretching and peeked back at her. She looked up to him at the same time as she was stretching her calves. She let out a large breath and attempted to smile at him again. Her eyes softened in her expression like she was trying to be friendly or say sorry without actually saying it.

A competition between them? That he could handle right now. Their little match had masked all of the feelings that he didn't understand right now. But a peace offering without any explanation or answers, or an actual apology? No.

He knew he'd pass the time for the sprint, but he wanted to beat her. Fury's gun went off, and they exploded from their blocked stance. Steve felt like he was running through a wind tunnel, and he couldn't feel anything else until she crept up on him. Steve had incredible upper body strength, but her strength in her core was impeccable and she actually had a better overall running form. As they passed the final curve and were coming into the homestretch, he was giving it everything he had. She was inching closer to him, and he knew they both were running on empty.

He beat her, barely. This was unlike the run from earlier though. That race was never really in doubt once he had caught up to her. But right now? He expunged all of his energy and barely came out ahead. The heat of runners all stumbled over to the grass, some collapsing, some kneeling. Natasha and Steve put their hands on their knees and bent over, both panting loudly.

"I'm sorry, Rogers," Natasha peeked her head up as she exhaled. She stood up to pinch her abdominal muscles to prevent cramps and then raised her hands above her head to help her breathing. She saw him doing the same thing, but he started pacing. She continued, "I really am sorry. I just…couldn't screw this up today. Last night was…" But she stopped as her face became flushed, remembering their encounter.

Steve jerked his body around and crowded her personal space. He was so close now that she could feel the puffs of air leaving his mouth. He leaned a little closer. He spoke in a serious tone but quiet enough so only the two of them could hear, "Last night was a mistake. I can't screw this up either, and I need to stay focused here."

Steve took a second, and Natasha thought he might have been done. He wasn't. He backed away from her and said, "Natasha, right? Let's get one thing straight here. If there is one thing I learned about 'whoever' you are today, it's that you may be strong, and you may be stubborn as hell. But what you are not being with me, is honest…and you haven't been honest since the moment we crashed into each other. So, your apology without the truth, or any explanation, is as dishonest as everything you told me last night."

He turned around, walked to the water station to down a drink and jogged over to the stands, leaving her behind and speechless, just as he was when they first met.