The next Saturday after the battle in New York, Natasha went to Steve's apartment for their talk. He cooked them a delicious meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and carrots with a bottle of wine that happened to be her favorite. As they ate, they divulged details of their lives to each other. Steve told Natasha how life had been, growing up in the thirties and the struggles he dealt with as a sickly child.
She, in turn, told him a bit of her own history - not too much, as she'd been hesitant to become completely vulnerable with him at this early stage - being part of the Red Room and working as a spy for the KGB. She naturally left out the grittier details of her upbringing, but she did mention how she was a secret admirer of Captain America as a young girl.
"Of course, I never told anyone. That would have been foolish, but I always thought you would've made a great agent for the KGB. Thank goodness that never happened."
"I second that," he said and they clinked their wine glasses together.
The night went by smoothly and they both had enjoyed themselves immensely. Natasha even helped Steve clean up - although she just did it so she could have a reasonable excuse to brush against him as they stood by the sink, washing and rinsing the dishes.
Once everything was put away, she gave him a kiss on the cheek, thanked him for the dinner and took her leave. Since that day, they'd made a mutual decision to not tell anyone at SHIELD about being soulmates and kept it quiet for the meantime. But they continued to spend time together as friends. Natasha helped him buy knick knacks for his apartment to make it more homey, helped introduce him to the modern world via "century adjustment", they toured museums, saw movies, visited the Smithsonian.
As the old saying goes, they were joined at the hip.
They also worked out at the gym in the Triskelion weekly and that was where Steve taught Natasha how to fight with his shield. She was a quick learner and impressed him during their training and he'd learned fighting moves from her that would come in handy if he needed them.
One of those days, Fury had gone to Steve's office, asking him if he'd like to run missions for SHIELD. He said yes, but mentioned that he preferred to work with a team. STRIKE would be fine for back up with big missions, but he wanted a partner. Someone he could trust with his life and the job.
Fury had given him a large stack of personnel files of agents who could be capable partners, but Steve had one person in mind to work alongside: Natasha. He was surprised when Fury agreed that she'd be the perfect partner for him and said that he made an excellent choice.
Of course, Steve knew Natasha was amazing at what she did. Ever since that moment in New York when she jumped off his shield, something stirred inside of him and he couldn't help feeling so impressed by her boldness.
This is a woman after my own heart, he thought as he stared up at her in wonder.
And that was a literal truth since they were soulmates.
Natasha had been happy the day he told her that he'd chosen her to be his partner, but when he added that she wouldn't hurt his feelings if she refused, she covered his mouth with her hand.
"Steve, you really think I'd say no to you? There's no one else I'd rather partner with and I'm honored that you picked me." Then she kissed his cheek and declared that they had to go out and celebrate their newfound partnership.
For the past three months, they continued that tradition. If they weren't too bogged down with work or his continual century adjustment, they'd get something to eat. Steve was incredible picky about where to go and most of the time, he'd cook dinner for them at his apartment - taking an advantage of the several cookbooks Natasha bought him.
He was somewhat a meat and potatoes guy, although he ate as healthy as possible whenever he could. Natasha mixed things up from time to time and told him that it wouldn't kill him to eat a bag of Lays or a Hershey bar every now and then. He'd hem and haw over it, but after trying some things out, he did realise that he liked Twizzlers and baked Doritos.
His interests and idiosyncrasies charmed her and to be honest, being around him so much and so long had made her fall a little bit in love with him. Steve was such a good man and he made her believe that maybe, just maybe she could be good too. He was a shining example of what was beautiful in the world and she wanted so desperately to be his.
But she was patient. The longing looks he'd given her time to time told her that he felt the same way, yet was hesitant. Both of them had agreed to get to know one another as people, excluding their personas as SHIELD agents and fellow Avengers. Steve and Natasha wanted to have a relationship that formed out of their own choosing, not merely because they were soulmates.
That being said, the pull between them was strong, very strong. It was a miracle they kept it a secret from everyone else at SHIELD, but luckily, everyone assumed they were just close friends and didn't give it any further thought.
In Natasha's case, most people seemed to ignore her and that suited her just fine since being in the public eye wasn't something she liked. Of course, there had been a steady amount of stares and double takes from people who thought she looked familiar, but hardly any of them approached her.
She wondered if she and Steve would be approached when they were out on their date. Everyone knew that Captain America had been unfrozen and was currently living in Washington D.C. He probably had fangirls squealing over him and tempting him daily.
Well, not tonight. He's all mine.
Natasha's emerald off the shoulder velvet dress displayed her feminine curves without being too flashy or revealing. It was demure and sensual, which she knew Steve would like. She wore a pair of dark green pumps to match her dress and a golden necklace strand was the only jewelry she'd put on. Her hair looked the way it did when they first met, save for the three bobby pins she placed in it to hold some of her curly red locks to the side.
She hadn't dressed to seduce him, but she still wanted to look nice. It was their first official date and she was actually going to ride on his motorcycle for the first time, too. Tonight would be a lot of firsts for her.
The door opened and Natasha felt her lips instinctively curved upwards when Steve appeared. He looked fantastic. His blond hair was combed back, sans wet hair product and he had a bit of stubble on his face. It was a attractive contrast to his usual clean shaven appearance. He wore a white button down shirt, a pair of dark blue slacks and black loafers. A black tie was undone and hanging around his neck.
"Hi. Wow, you look amazing." He looked her form over slowly and nodded his approval.
She glowed under his praise. "Thanks. You're very dapper, yourself. What's with the tie? Wardrobe issues?"
"Ha, sorta. I've tried to tie this thing four times and it still doesn't look right." He looked sheepish and motioned for her to come inside.
"I'm good with ties."
"Please. Else, I'll leave it at home."
Natasha came closer and began to fix his tie, adjusting the length on each side. "You'd look good either way, but a tie goes better with this outfit. It'd be incomplete otherwise."
He smiled softly. "My ma always liked to see me in ties."
"Smart woman."
"That she was." Steve gazed at her and impulsively placed a hand on her hip.
And just like that, her pulse sped up. It was a fight to keep her fingers steady so he wouldn't see them shaking, but he probably did anyway. How did one touch make her cheeks warm? For goodness' sake, this wasn't the first time an attractive man held her.
But in each of those situations, she'd been working for the KGB or SHIELD, playing a role, intentionally seducing a target to either take advantage of or kill them. This was different because she was being touched by her soulmate and she wasn't pretending to be someone else. She wasn't the Black Widow, nor a government agent, just Natasha.
Her eyes met Steve's and she returned his smile before giving his tie a gentle tug. "All done." She didn't step away, but leaned into the touch so he'd know that she liked it.
Those beautiful blue eyes dilated and he licked his lips before stepping back. He looked at the tie and nodded. "Thanks. It looks a lot better. Shall we go?" He donned a jacket and picked up a ring of keys, sliding them into his pocket.
"Yeah. I'm ready."
"I was so busy earlier that I forgot to get a helmet."
"If I wore a helmet, it'd make my hair frizzy, so don't worry about it. I've ridden motorcycles before without an accident and besides, I'm with Steve Rogers. Safest company in the world, right?"
"Flatterer."
"Not now and not about this. I do feel safe with you." Natasha rested her palm on his chest and gave him a sincere smile.
There were butterflies in his stomach as he gazed at the tender expression on her face. "I'm glad to hear that." He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it, watching her closely as she sucked in a breath.
Oh, yes. She was a goner.
