11 : HIS LOST LOVE*

Steve was just finished with his training and was now waiting for Natasha. They were going to have dinner together with the group as usual, but she didn't show up on time, so he waited.

He was however impatient and ended up ringing her after five minutes.

"Hey! Where are you, Natasha?"

"Oh sorry, Steve! I forget to tell you that I'm not hanging out with you guys today."

"Earlier notice would have really been appreciated."

"Like I said, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He said "Oh and do you really have friends rather than us?"

"Is that a surprise?"

"Yeah, you're not that kind, you know."

"Haha." She sarcastically laughed. "Look, I gotta go"

"Wait! You're going on a date riiiiiiiiiiiight? Tashaaaaaaaaaaa."

Natasha hung up before he even finished. Steve sighed and threw his phone on the passenger seat. His little red had a date, he thought to himself as he drove off to the diner.

"Where's Tasha?" Clint asked as Steve sat down at the table.

"She said she has a meeting with her friend, so probably a date."

"Yeah, I saw her talking to the guy the night we celebrated your football victory." Clint told him as he watched Steve's reaction closely. He saw he emotions flicker across Steve's face but he quickly covered it.

"It's great that she's put herself out in the market." Steve said but Clint could tell that he didn't mean what he said. Steve changed the subject immediately like he didn't want to talk about Natasha and her date anymore. Clint knew Steve must feel weird because he always had Natasha with him.

Must be a really strange feeling of him indeed, Clint thought.

Natasha hung up from Steve and walked back to the table that her guy was sitting at.

"Who was that?" The guy sat across her asked.

"Just a friend."

"His name is Steve...tell me that isn't Steve—Steve Rogers?"

"The one and only Captain Quarterback." Natasha replied and couldn't help but smile a little when she thought about her silly friend.

"Huhh—that's weird."

"What do you mean?"

"He practically sleeps with every beautiful girl in the campus. How could he even let the most gorgeous woman like you walk around untouched like this?"

"He already tried but I shot him down the moment he asked. So we've become friends since then."

"You're the most fascinating woman I ever met, Natasha." As strange as it sounded…it was the same thing Steve said to her too but for a different reason of course. Steve would surely tease her about this and he would never back down until he found out who she was dating. Well, it really was a date as much as she wanted to deny it. But the guy in front of her was really charming and handsome, practically a bad boy type that she liked.

"What shall we have for tonight?" He gently asked

Natasha was meeting with her guy again today and Steve had decided to say something about it when he picked her up at her room.

"How was your date, little red riding hood?" He asked. "I guess he must be really delightful for you to ditch me for whoever that was."

"Aww, you're jealous, aren't you?" She teased back and his face changed suddenly,

"Nooooo, not in a million year, princess."

"You've called me two nicknames already." She noted .

"Well I've come up with lots of cute nicknames just for you."

"Don't call me any of them unless you have my permission." Natasha warned with a deadly glare.

"I think I can get away with it, red." He smirked and then Natasha pinched him really hard on his arm. "Ouchhhh!" She laughed as he rubbed his arm.

"Don't wait up for me today." She told him. "I have a meeting."

"It's a date, Romanoff. Just admit it." Steve corrected. "And you're giving yourself to him too easily you know."

"Care to explain?"

"I mean…you're of on a second date right after the first date. It's not how it work, Natasha. That guy will think that he has the upper hand."

"I can take care of myself but thanks for your concern, Rogers."

"I'm being serious, Natasha." He said. "You don't wanna lose the leverage you've got."

"Not everything's just a game, Steve. Sometimes, it's just two people with genuine feelings toward one another."

"Whatever." He cut her off. "But remember my warning."

Natasha had lied to Steve about the date because she had something else to do and he would never let her be alone if he knew that she would spend her free time alone. (He loved to drag her along with him to the group's dinner like he didn't want to be alone with her friends, even if they had been getting along very well lately).

She actually went to the coffee shop Steve always did his little stake out at. She had already gotten the name of the very important girl in Steve's life.

Peggy Carter.

Natasha really intended to meet with the woman who changed her friend's life completely.

"Excuse me." She said to one of the waiters, "Do you know which one is Peggy Carter?"

"She's the barista. The girl with long curly brown hair and red lips." He answered and pointed to the said Peggy Carter. Natasha looked at the girl and she realized she had already met her on the day Steve had tricked her into buying a coffee for Tony.

Natasha stood in line, and with a perfect timing, Peggy was the one who take her order and Natasha noticed her heavy British accent, unlike Sharon Carter who spoke with an American accent.

"Short hazelnut macchiato." She ordered.

"I thought you order dark mocha Frappuccino the last time?" Peggy said.

"It's for my friend." Natasha told her. "Wait, you remember that?"

"Actually yes. I saw you come out from my old friend's car." The barista explained. "What you ordered last time's his favorite."

"You know him?"

"Yes, I know him. He's Steve Rogers. Are you his girlfriend or something? Because you must be really close to him if he allowed you to sit in his car."

"No, we're just friends." Natasha said. "I wanted to ask you about something, mainly about Steve?"

"Of course." Peggy replied before turning to her colleagues "Eddie, I'm gonna take my twenty minute break." Eddie nodded. Peggy made Natasha her coffee before the two of them sat down in the secluded area.

"We've not properly introduced ourselves." Peggy said and reached her hand out. "I'm Peggy Carter." Natasha shook hands with the barista,

"I'm Natasha—Natasha Romanoff."

"Nice to meet you, Natasha." Peggy gave her a gentle smile. "So what you want to know about him?"

"I really want to know why he is who he is today. I mean, was he a douche and a womanizer from the beginning? I really need to know who he really is."

"No, actually not. He used to be a gentle giant. If you have a chance to see that side of him."Peggy didn't know why she told the total stranger in front of her but something in Natasha's gesture, her eyes and her expression told her that she cared for Steve. From what the barista heard from the rumors around the campus, Steve had turned into someone with a really bad reputation and everyone just quickly assumed that he's a bad person. But somehow, this girl cared enough to ask for the truth before she judged someone.

"Why did you break up with him? You are obviously very important to him."

"It's a very long story but in short, he changed into someone who he once hated. He's not my Steve anymore. I don't know why he became his bullying self but I am pretty sure that I am the one to blame."

And Peggy began to tell Natasha everything.

Steven Rogers, James 'Bucky' Barnes, and Margaret 'Peggy' Carter were friends since they were a little kids. They could all say they were best friends. Their family's knew one another quite well as they all served in the military since World War II.

Peggy's family were British and they moved to New York to work with the US government as a part of the cooperation between the Allied countries. The three of them were raised together, played together and studied together.

Bucky always acted like the big brother and always protected the scrawny Steve and Peggy from every bully. Steve always joined in the fight, much of Peggy's protest. She knew them both too well that they would never ever back down from the fight.

And it was Bucky who knew that Steve had a crush on Peggy since the beginning. Bucky loved to see his two best friends fall in love with one another. They were each others sweetheart since very young. They both knew they loved one another more than just friends. Peggy wanted to take it slow but Steve was serious about it and wanted to make it right.

They were dating since 6th grade, at the age of 12. It was more like a promise that they would love each other for the rest of their lives. It was a very long time ago that they believed in every magical fairy tales love story. A happily ever after ending.

Peggy Carter fell in love with Steve Rogers even before his transformation. She fell in love for who he really was, not his appearance.

After Bucky was gone, Steve's health problems got worse as a result from his grief over his lost friend. It got worse that everyone, even Peggy believed that he might have to die.

His father and mother pulled a lot of strings and asked a favor from Howard Stark. Bruce's dad and Dr. Erskine helped Steve and he got better. Peggy was with him every day. During his recovery, Peggy could see some change in Steve but there was something that always bothered him.

Once he had fully recovered, Steve began to work out really hard and packed up some muscle. He was already tall but skinny and now he was turning into a muscle man. He asked his mom to let him study some martial arts in which he became an expert in no time. Then he began to change, he came back to the school and signed up for the football team. No one recognized him until one of his longtime nemesis, Anthony Masters, remembered him.

"He was that scrawny kid Rogers." Anthony said.

"Not anymore, Masters." Steve replied.

Masters was the first to challenge Steve in his new form and then waves after waves of his enemies got in line but Steve fought back and won. He became the quarterback and the most popular guy in the school in no time. He had his own army of bullies to terrorize the school.

Steve had everything under his control. Anyone who dared to challenge him would meet with a brutal beat down at the school yard. He did this for everyone to see, as an example to everyone. Peggy saw him change with her own eyes. She tried to look past it but she couldn't. It was not the Steve Rogers she fell in love with and it was the last straw so, she decided to do something.

He was beating the crap out of an exchange student, Heinz Kruger who had accidentally crossed him.

"Steve! Stop!" Peggy shouted.

"Stay out of this Peggy!" He said back and kept pouring his punches on the poor kid.

"You don't have to do it! They all already fear you!" But Steve didn't listen and he kept doing it until he was satisfied and left the poor guy lying unconscious on the floor. Peggy immediately walked away when he turned to her. Steve chased after her.

"Peggy, wait!" He said and grabbed her arms.

"Why are you acting like this?" She asked.

"I did it to protect both of us from everyone who wanted to harm us."

"You don't have to do this, Steve. This isn't you."

"I have to, Peggy. I cannot let them harm you."

"Steve, you've already turned into someone you once despised."

"I need to be. I have to protect the only important girl in my life, at all cost. Bucky isn't here to help me protect you anymore."

"So, I broke up with him to save him from whatever made he become this. I was one of reasons why he changed. The only way to change him back was to disappear from his life."

"You broke up with him?" Natasha prompted, barely managing to register all the information she just learned.

"Yes, I broke up with him a week after, I moved away to San Francisco, I stayed there with my cousin, Sharon. But fate had decided that I couldn't get away from him. Here I am, in the same university as him."

"It's must be tough for both of you."

"Yes, it was. I know he must have pulled every string he had to make sure I was assigned to a different dorm."

"Really?"

"Yes. He never talked to me again. I already tried but he won't give me a chance. I totally understand why though." Natasha could notice the sadness in her voice and eyes. "I already heard that he became a womanizer, even my cousin cannot get away from his charm."

"Wait! I thought Sharon was just flirting around with him. Did he really sleep with her?"

"Yes, since the first week of this semester. Sharon is just a freshman and she's really struggling to gain her popularity. I tried to warn her but Sharon being Sharon, she won't listen."

"It's really hard for a girl to resist Steve Rogers." Natasha agreed. "He tried to hit on me but I blew him off and now we're friends." Natasha hadn't just noticed Peggy but the barista had also noticed the redhead in front of her too.

"You care about him, don't you?" Peggy asked as Natasha stood up from her seat and it took the redhead by surprise. "I was thinking that you were just curious about him but now I can see that you are deeply care for him."

"I do. He's my friend. I want to know what's going on with his life so I can protect him."

"Yeah, he might not know this. He doesn't need physical protection but he does really need mental and emotional protection from someone. He's been though a lot and it damaged him. I hope you take good care of him, better than I did."

"I will, Peggy."

AN:

- Thanks to my beta readers, Gabby Bensaro NCIS-SVU-Fan & keepcalmandwrite.

- Please kindly leave a review :)