Chapter 3 – Tiptoeing Against the Line
The following week was routine once more. Natasha didn't revisit the café; which Elaine couldn't tell if she felt relief or not. Damien did lecture her that now she had to be more careful because it was most likely that the Black Widow was looking into her background, which he wasn't worried she'd find anything, but one can never be too careful.
Steve stopped by the café less too, as they now hung out outside the café more regularly. Elaine had finally given in and hired two more people to the café and promoted Sarah to the manager position, so she didn't have to spend too much time there herself. She essentially only came in when she knew Steve was going to be in...or maybe on the off chance Natasha would come in again.
Allison's mother was finally discharged from the hospital, but with all the missed time from work, Elaine still found herself looking after the young girl while her mother picked up extra shifts—not that she minded.
It was currently the weekend and she had planned to take Allison to the park for a picnic and some games. She had asked Steve to tag along if he wasn't busy, but it turns out that he did have work that day. He seemed really crushed that he wasn't going to be able to go, but Elaine had assured him it would be fine and they could get together another time.
It was strange. It seemed like they were dating at this point, but Elaine still did not put a label on it. The last time they had gone out together with Allison, the number of strangers who commented they looked like a beautiful family made her panic a bit, especially with the wistful look on Steve's face. It seemed like he was thinking about other things as people made those comments, though, not necessarily wistful to have a family with her.
And Elaine knew—about this lost love, about Peggy Carter.
The poor man seemed unable to move on while wanting to, but then feeling guilty about it. Since she was supposed to pretend not to know anything, it wasn't like Elaine could talk to him about it. So, they were stuck in this weird limbo.
"Lainey, can we please get peaches?"
Elaine immediately brought her attention back to Allison, who she had in her shopping cart with multiple things strewn in for their picnic date.
She grinned at the kid. "Alright, put the puppy face away, you're killing me here. We can definitely get some peaches."
As they stood in front of the peaches, Elaine meticulously picked out peaches as Allison animatedly recalled a story.
"Really? How interesting," Elaine hummed to Allison.
"Quite a cute one you've got there."
The gruff voice brought Elaine's attention away from the peach and up to see a man in his late 30s standing next to her cart with a basket.
"Thanks," Elaine said politely but curt.
"My name's Glenn. I just wanted to say hi." He gave her a flirty grin and held out his hand.
"Elaine," She shook his hand politely as he stared at her gloved hands.
"Cold?" He asked.
"Something like that," Elaine said with a wry grin.
"Anyways," Elaine said with an eyebrow raised at the stranger. "We've got to head off now, nice to meet you."
Just as Elaine was turning away with the cart, the man grabbed her by the arm to stop her.
"Wait!"
Elaine clenched her jaw, turning back to him, eyes darkening and just as she was about to speak a command, someone grabbed his arm and gripped it tightly enough to make the man let go. Elaine blinked, her eyes clearing as she looked over to see Natasha standing there, her jaw set in a tight line and eyes entirely calm.
"I think you should leave now." Her voice was low and she gripped the man's arms tightly enough for him to wince before she let go with a fling.
The man looked like he wanted to say something, but there must've been warning bells in his head when he looked at Natasha, so he grumbled and turned to leave.
Natasha turned her attention back over to Elaine, eyeing the kid from the side. Steve definitely did not mention that she had a kid.
"Natalie! What a surprise. Thanks for that, really," Elaine said sincerely, a happy grin on her face.
"No worries," Natasha shook her head with a wave of her hand.
"You're not working today?" Elaine asked curiously. It was only about 1 in the afternoon.
Natasha grinned. "Got off early today," she said simply.
"Lainey...peach..." Allison whined slightly, her lips jutting out in a pout. Elaine turned over with a slight chuckle and roll of her eyes.
"Alright, alright, I've got the treasure in tow, we can go."
Elaine turned back to Natasha, biting her lip slightly. It was a long shot, but why not. Sometimes it was better to keep people like Natasha close to ward of suspicion.
"Listen, I don't know if you're busy today. We're about to head to Central Park for a picnic. Steve couldn't make it, but would you...would you like to join us?"
It was a lot to ask someone who you've spoken to once, even though it was a lengthy time. Natasha considered it for a moment with a tilt her head.
"I'd love to," she said after a moment. If the opportunity to get to know the mysterious girl presented herself, why not?
Elaine smiled, "Great! We'll meet you there. Bring anything you'd like, but I do have a lot of food and drinks."
With that, they went separate ways before shortly meeting up at the park again. They made small talk as Elaine put out a picnic blanket and set everything down. Natasha helped carry some things and as they sat down, Allison was alrighty pulling the kite that Elaine packed.
"Oh, hold on, I'm just going to get her set up," Elaine said, walking off with the bouncing child.
Natasha watched from a distance, leaning on her hand as she sat with her legs pressed together and on their side.
She thought about calling Steve about what the deal was with the kid but decided against it since she didn't want to end up answering the hundreds of questions the guy would have about seeing Elaine. Allison didn't quite look like she was Elaine's as Elaine had chestnut hair that went lighter as it went down and the kid had blonde hair and green eyes.
Maybe a niece?
Before she knew it, Elaine was back and taking a seat with a small huff.
"Tired?" Natasha asked with a grin.
Elaine gave her a wry grin back. "Think I'd be used to that bundle of energy now, but she definitely keeps me on my toes."
"Is she yours?" Natasha asked with a tilt of her head.
Elaine shook her head. Dang, she wished Steve filled her in more.
"Oh, no. She's my neighbor's kid. She's a single mom and just got out of the hospital. They don't have any other family in the city, so I offered to watch her. Now, her mom is picking up some extra shifts to make up for what she's missed, so I watch her when needed."
Natasha gave a small gentle smile. "You have a lot of free time?"
Elaine shrugged. "Well, I did end up hiring more people and promoted my one employee to be a manager. So, yeah, I guess I do have more free time now."
Natasha hummed. "I guess with your side book rentals does make a good profit after a certain point."
Elaine laughed. "Sure does! I'm like a blockbuster."
"You do know they went out of business, right?" Natasha said with a raise of her eyebrow and a smirk.
"I'll become Netflix then," Elaine replied right back without missing a beat. It caused Natasha to chuckle. With that, Elaine pulled out a thermos and some paper cups.
"Coffee?" Elaine asked and Natasha nodded. She handed the redhead a cup and the aroma already made Natasha feel warm.
"Mmm," Natasha purred at the taste. "Seriously, there's got to be a secret ingredient in this coffee. I refuse to believe you can just make it this good."
Elaine jokingly looked affronted. "Well, suck on it. I do just make it that good."
Elaine pulled out the peaches that she bought, wiping them clean with a wet paper towel and began to cut it with a knife. Natasha watched, again with the black gloves but also that it was clear that Elaine was experienced with holding a knife as she cut it with ease and quickly. She put the pit and shaved off peach skin into a plastic bag and put the sliced peaches in a container.
"Allison!" Elaine called out. The little girl looked over and beamed with pure happiness as she trotted over for the fruit.
"Thanks, Lainey!" Allison made a move to grab a slice, but Elaine grabbed the girl's hand gently.
"Hold it there, my little criminal. The last thing we need is sticky fingers. Here, use a fork."
Allison grinned as she grabbed the utensil with the fruit already on it and took a slice. She eyed Natasha and the redhead smiled at her.
"Are you friends with Steve?" Allison asked, remembering that Elaine told Natasha that Steve couldn't make it.
Natasha looked taken aback slightly before smiling at the kid. "Yeah, we're friends."
Allison simply nodded but didn't ask any more questions, which Natasha found a little strange.
"Okay," she said simply. Maybe the kid was assessing her?
"Do you like peaches?" Allison asked and Natasha blinked. She should be more used to this, with Clint having kids and all.
"Yeah," Natasha replied with ease. "They're delicious."
Allison grinned and Natasha felt like she passed some sort of test.
"Great!" Allison exclaimed, passing over her container with some peaches left. "You can have some of my peaches. I'm going to go play now. If you play with me later, I'll tell you some funny stories about Lainey."
Elaine looked in disbelief as she looked at the child. "Don't you dare, Allie."
Allison stood up, grabbing the frisbee, spotting some children in the field. She laughed, looking at Natasha once more and winked as she ran off.
Natasha had to put her hand over her mouth as she tried to control her laughter. Elaine glared playfully at the redhead.
"I can't believe I was just used as leverage for your participation," Elaine muttered.
"Why? You got some really embarrassing stories?" Natasha smirked.
Elaine merely pursed her lips together and pretended to zip her lips and Natasha found herself relaxing a little more. She really should use this opportunity to find out more about Elaine, but she found that it was just natural to be the moment with the girl.
But as Elaine handed her a cut sandwich that had a fried cutlet in it with a mystery sauce, Natasha found it was the time to ask about the gloves.
"Are you a germaphobe? Or perpetually cold?" Natasha found that the weather itself was warm, no need for gloves. She knew some people with arthritis would wear gloves, but the type that Elaine wore didn't seem like it was for warmth.
"Kind of a germaphobe," Elaine answered, without missing a beat. She took a bite of the sandwich, leaning a little back.
"Nothing extreme, but working at the café and touching money has gotten me sick a couple times. I don't like touching things directly if I can help it."
Natasha nodded, enjoying the sandwich. She didn't question it too much when there were people like Tony Stark out there with weird quirks himself.
"So, I guess since you know I own the café, what do you do?"
"I'm a personal assistant for Stark Industries," Natasha answered, eyeing Elaine's reaction. Elaine didn't seem to react much.
"Oh, cool. Must keep you busy if you work for Tony."
"You know Tony Stark?" Natasha asked with an eyebrow raised and Elaine gave her a look.
"Who doesn't know Tony Stark? Even I, a hermit, would know."
Natasha smiled, but she felt it. There was something off about Elaine. Knowing Tony Stark meant knowing about him being an Avenger. So, she had to know about other members who were publicly known. Steve has been doing so many interviews.
But Steve wouldn't appreciate her asking outright.
Even if she wanted to, Allison had come back from playing frisbee. Elaine gave the girl a hand wipe and handed her a sandwich and juice that was in a bottle to avoid spilling.
"Alright, kid. We got enough time for one more game and we're gonna head out. Your mom said she's going to be home for dinner. Choose wisely."
Allison pursed her lips, gripping her bottle before she seemed to come to a decision.
"Jenga! I'm going to win this time."
Elaine smirked, "alright."
Allison immediately moved over to Natasha. "Can we team up? Lainey never loses in this game!"
Natasha blinked, looking over to Elaine who nodded. The redhead looked back to the kid and smiled. "Alright, we'll secure victory this time."
"In your dreams! Allie will spill my dirty secrets, so there will be no mercy."
With the game set up, they began. Elaine was pretty good, but Natasha was just as good. The redhead noticed that the brunette had incredibly steady hands. As she took pieces out, her hand was impossible still.
Eventually, they had gotten to where the stack was pretty unsteady and a lot of the levels had only the middle pieces, including the bottom. It was coming down to even trying to take any side pieces would result in the stack collapsing. As it was Natasha's turn, she eyed the stack, calculating her best bet. It would have to be the bottom piece. She steadied her hand as she latched onto the piece and with precision and quickness, she yanked out the piece, the stack moving down perfectly without even swaying.
Allison cheered and Natasha smirked at Elaine. The girl didn't even look phased. Elaine eyed the stack and just like Natasha, it would be foolish to try to grab a side piece. This was it.
Natasha watched in disbelief as she saw Elaine eyeing a middle piece that was literally in the middle level of the stack.
No, she wouldn't.
Was she?
There was no way she could grab that without having the stack fall over.
Elaine lifted her gloved hand and put her fingers in a flicking motion and with just the right amount of force and speed, she flicked the piece right out and it flew right into Natasha. The stack lowered another level and barely swayed as it settled.
Elaine looked at Natasha smugly.
"ты серьезно," Natasha muttered are you serious in Russian and she swore, the slight twitch in Elaine's lip made Natasha believe that the girl knew what she said, but as quick as she saw it, it was gone.
"Ugh," Allison groaned, taking out a piece, making the entire stack collapse. "I'll never beat you, Lainey."
Elaine laughed as she collected the pieces to put away. "Practice, sweetpea. You can challenge me in the next lifetime."
Elaine cackled as Allison playfully threw a piece at her in retaliation.
"Don't worry, we'll get her next time," Natasha said to comfort the young girl who leaned against her and sighed.
"There's a next time?" Elaine asked playfully and Natasha tilted her head.
"Should there be?" The redhead asked back cryptically.
Elaine licked her bottom lip slightly, the action drawing Natasha's attention to it.
"Yeah," Elaine said finally. "We're friends, right?"
Natasha nodded. "Yeah, friends."
It was a few days again before she saw Natasha at the café. She seemed to stop by more often now to pick up coffee but didn't have the time like Steve did to sit around and chat with her.
It was fine by her, it seemed like Natasha did find her odd, but not to the point where she was investigating her.
It was becoming a problem, though. She liked Natasha and Steve, liked spending time with them. But the more she did, the more she was putting herself at risk, putting Damien at risk.
She figured she would have to leave soon. Maybe tell them she had a family member in another country that was ill and she needed to take care of them. Then, she would die in a fury car crash and disappear and start over with a new identity.
It was another month that passed that neither Steve or Natasha showed up, and it worried her.
Steve used to stop by 3-4 times a week and Natasha at least 3 times when she was free. She was aware that sometimes they would have missions, but they were always back pretty within days, the latest a week.
That night, she called Damien.
"What's up? Great timing, I have some more news about The Winter Soldier and the descendants." She got an immediate reply.
"Great, brief me on that later. I need you to look up something else. Something's wrong. I haven't seen Steve or Natasha in over a month. Can you find anything?"
Elaine could hear something like "good riddance" being mumbled, but she chose to ignore it.
"Oh shit," Damien finally said.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Steve has been listed as a fugitive. It looks like SHIELD is compromised by HYDRA. The Black Widow is most likely helping him. Nick Fury is dead." It was quiet on the other line for a bit, she could hear him clicking on his keyboard.
She was shocked and worry overcame her. Steve was a fugitive?
"Ah shit, this was what I wanted to tell you. The Winter Soldier is in America, caught him on a couple street cameras. He killed Nick Fury."
"Is the man actually dead?" Based on her past experience, there was no way the man would die that easily.
"I'll have to look more into that and get back to you. I don't know, Elaine. There's a lot of shady shit going on within SHEILD. It doesn't look good right now for them."
"Where are they? Can you find them?"
"Hold on, let me find any live feed from street cameras."
The minutes passed by agonizingly as she heard typing on the keyboard and the mouse clicking.
"Okay, I've got visuals. I'll send the details to your phone. What are you going to do?"
Elaine was already changing and packing anything she might need.
"Well, I know The Winter Soldier doesn't play around. I can't just let them deal with whatever's happening. I need you to send more intel to my cell, okay?"
Damien was silent. "You know this means you're exposing yourself, don't you?"
Elaine sighed. "Yes, but...I don't know...I care about them enough."
Damien let out a huge frustrated sigh. "Fuck sake's, fine. I'll send you some details. You better hope our asses don't get imprisoned."
"Well, if Fury is really dead, we might not have to worry about that too much. Worst case scenario, we can work for Stark."
"Oh, so we just really exposing our asses to everyone now."
"Well, I highly doubt we'll be able to keep our existence a secret to just two Avengers."
"I hate you."
Elaine let out a chuckle as Damien hung up. She sent a text to Allison's mother that she would be out of town indefinitely handling some personal business, but she's left some money and a babysitter's number in Allison's drawer when she was over the other day in case of emergencies.
Grabbing her car keys, she left.
Somehow, she knew she was going to change everything by doing this, but maybe that wouldn't be the end of the world.
A/N: Well, things are moving along faster than I thought, but it is what is LOL shit just goes next chapter. I'm literally so stoked. Please drop a review if possible, love chatting with ya'll!
