Chapter Ten

Tipping Point

Natasha followed Clint down the rear ramp of their Quinjet. Stepping out onto the Helicarrier's flight deck, she raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked around. The sky over the Atlantic was clear, and the ship had landed on the water to take advantage of the pleasant weather.

Agent Hill was nearby, observing as dozens of SHIELD agents ran laps around the deck. Setting the pace was Steve and Agent Fox, who ran side-by-side a good twenty yards in front of everyone else. Tall, blonde-haired, and beautiful, they appeared to be a perfectly matched pair.

The two of them raced past Agent Hill, who clicked a stopwatch to take their time. "Good job!" Hill yelled as they slowed to a stop. "That's a new record!"

Fox smiled and wrapped her arms tightly around Steve. She turned around in his arms, and that was when she noticed Natasha looking at them.

Don't you do it, Natasha thought.

A smile formed on Fox's face, before she grabbed Steve's head and pressed her lips against his.

Natasha made a fist as she boiled with rage. Not here, she thought as she remembered Hill's presence. Not yet...

"Come on," Clint said in a sympathetic tone, as he tried to tug her away. "Let's get something to eat."

"I'm not hungry," Natasha said, though she followed him inside anyway.

Steve strained in Fox's arms. As hot as she was, her eagerness just made things uncomfortable. Opening his eyes, he saw Natasha walking away toward the carrier's island.

He leaned away and pulled Fox's arms off. "Whoa, Mel, that's enough! People are watching."

"You're not shy, are you?"

No. Just guilty. He hoped that Natasha hadn't seen them making out just now.

"It's been a week, Steve. Everyone knows we're together."

Everyone except for me. Steve looked away, feeling like an idiot. A gorgeous woman was throwing herself at him, and all he could think about was how Natasha might feel about it. How stupid was he? Nat had rejected him twice already. Loneliness was her choice, not his. Yet he could still feel something between them. Something that didn't exist between him and Agent Fox.

"Sorry," Steve said. "I like you, Mel. Really, I do. I'd just like to get to know you better."

Fox sighed, before she smiled at him again. "Alright. How about tonight?"

Hurry up already, Natasha thought. She took a long sip of water as she waited for Fox and her friends to make their way across the gym to the door of the locker room. No way in hell was she stepping on the scale with any of them still around.

Agent Fox disappeared, and Natasha finally turned to the scale near the water cooler. She looked around to see if anyone else was watching her, before she sighed and walked over to the scale.

I'm not there yet, she thought as she stood in front of it. She knew that her weekend getaway to Avengers Tower hadn't been the wisest choice. Over there, she had spent more time with her friends than she had working out. She had tried to limit her calories there, but even she had only been able to resist Pepper's food for so long.

Natasha stepped on the scale and saw that she was even worse off than she had thought. One thirty one. What the hell. After all her work, she had thought that she'd broken back into the one twenties already.

With a groan, she began to head back to the locker room. Natasha walked with her head down, barely able to contain her disappointment. Ms. Waller was going to chew her out if she didn't get down to her prescribed weight.

Inside the locker room, Natasha could hear Fox and her friends chatting loudly in their section of lockers. She quietly slipped by on the way to her own, not wanting any of them to see her as she undressed.

"Get your checkbooks ready," Fox said. "Because after tonight, I'll have Captain America in my bed and the video to prove it."

Natasha stopped in her tracks. What the fuck? Her disappointment in herself vanished in an instant, replaced with near murderous rage. She turned right around and walked into Fox's section of the locker room. "Hey! I heard that!"

Fox smirked. "What's wrong, Natasha? Are you jealous? Steve didn't have any problems with this."

"Does he know you're taping this? That this was all just a bet?"

"I think Steve's just happy to be with someone. Someone who doesn't keep pushing him away. Who hasn't turned him off by letting herself go."

Natasha clenched her hands into fists. "Listen, Fox. Say what you want about me. But leave him out of this."

Fox laughed. "What are you gonna do about it if I don't?"

"I'm gonna kick your ass!"