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Steve groaned weakly as he opened an eye. He was in a hospital room, and the lights were irritatingly bright. "Light. Off. Now." He frowned, squeezing his eyes shut. He heard a soft chuckled beside him and turned, blinking.
Natasha was sitting in a hospital bed beside his wearing identical cloth pants and t-shirt to the ones he was wearing. "Good morning to you too." She closed her book, smirking.
Steve sat up slowly, grimacing at the ache in his chest. His breath broke into a coughing fit. Natasha frowned, shaking her head.
"Idiot." She mumbled.
"What? You gonna yell at me for jumping in after you?" Steve raised an eyebrow.
"Don't have the energy to." Natasha turned back to her book.
"…How do you feel?" Steve frowned, looking at one of Natasha's many bruises.
"Fine." Natasha answered as Clint walked into the room carrying three cups of coffee.
"Morning Sleeping Beauty. He close the hospital room door with his foot. He saw Steve and smiled. "Make that Sleeping Beauties. How're you feeling man?"
"Alright." Steve shrugged. Clint handed Natasha and Steve two coffee cups.
"This was supposed to be Bruce's coffee but considering he's busier than I've ever seen the guy it's all yours."
"Thanks." Steve nodded, taking a sip. "Where is Bruce anyways?"
"He's volunteered to help take care of the injured agents. SHIELD Hospital's kind of understaff now that a quarter of their doctors got blown up." Natasha frowned.
"Is there a body count yet?" Steve asked quietly.
"Nope." Clint sighed, sitting on the edge of Natasha's bed. "Some of the bodies we have found are burned so bad they can't even ID them…"
"There's a group going into the wreckage day after tomorrow to look for any remaining bodies. If I can pull a few strings I'll get us checked out of the hospital and in that group." Natasha said confidently.
"And… Alexi?" Steve glanced at Natasha. She frowned, crossing her arms uncomfortably.
"He's in our custody, as are a few of their soldiers. We don't know where the rest of them ran off to but he's not going anywhere for quite a while." Clint shook his head. Clint's phone buzzed loudly. He pulled it out and his eyes widened.
"It's Fury." Clint stared at the phone. Natasha's heart pounded in her chest.
"Is he…" Natasha looked at Clint anxiously.
"They just took him out of surgery. Bruce says he's gonna be fine." Clint smiled reassuringly. Natasha sighed, leaning back against the wall. "I'm gonna got seem him, you guys alright? I can try and bring something back."
"I think we're alright." Steve looked at Natasha who nodded.
"See you later then." Clint turned out of the room, closing the door softly.
Steve turned towards Natasha, watching her carefully.
"I'm fine, Steve." Natasha smiled.
"Yeah? Tell that to the broken nose and giant bruise on your forehead." Steve raised an eyebrow.
"Look, it'll be healed up in no time. Super soldier serum remember?" Natasha tapped her arm.
"Do you… wanna talk? About Alexi-"
"Honestly Steve I don't even want to think about you-know-who." Natasha glared. She sighed, shaking her head. "You know, you being as reckless as you are all the time I'm starting to understand why James could be such a worry wart."
"Yeah, I gave him a few good scares." Steve chuckled. "Guess that stuck in his subconscious."
"…Steve?" Natasha looked at the ground.
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry."
"No, don't be."
"Still am."
"…For what?"
"A lot." Natasha shrugged. She smiled a bit. "You saved my life again, Rogers. It's almost like you enjoy keeping me alive."
"Gotta say, it is preferable to funeral planning." Steve grinned. "The food's bad, the flowers are dying and I look terrible in black."
"I'm sure you do." Natasha rolled her eyes. "Well… We're confined to this hospital until the salvaging mission. How ever shall we entertain ourselves?"
"I'm sure we'll figure something out…"
"Mine's taller." Natasha grinned, looking at the tower of tongue depressors stacked on the end of her bed.
"Like hell it is." Steve carefully placed another stick onto of his tower. "You know, I'm amazed the nurses haven't caught on to you stealing these yet."
"I wouldn't be a very good spy if I couldn't pickpocket now would I?" Natasha added to her tower.
"Well yeah but you got like 40 of them in an hour." Steve shook his head. "Not that I'm complaining of course. This is admittedly more fun than 20 questions."
"Told you." Natasha smirked. "How many more popsicle sticks do you have left?"
"Like six. Why?"
"Can I have two of them?"
"Why would I help you? We're competing aren't we?"
"I'll trade you for a shit ton cotton balls." Natasha held up a handful of small white cotton balls, smirking mischievously.
"You know some of these supplies you're stealing could actually be useful to someone."
"Ah yes, they're going to save someone's life with cotton balls and popsicle sticks."
"How do you know? Are you a doctor?" Steve joked. "And regarding your previous question, no you cannot have two of my popsicles sticks."
"What? There can't be some sort of trade alliance between Natashatopia and whatever the hell your castle's called?"
"Natashatopia?" Steve laughed, shaking his bed.
"What's wrong with Natashatopia?"
"Nothing, nothing… It's just- Don't make me laugh, it'll knock over my tower!"
"Your place does need a name you know." Natasha said, snickering.
"What should it be called?" Steve raised an eyebrow. Natasha thought for a moment as she carefully created a point at the top of her tower. "Freedom Land."
"Freedom Land. Of course." Steve rolled his eyes before laughing again. His tower shook, almost falling over. "You know, I'm starting to think you want my tower to fall."
"What? Oh perish the thought Captain." Natasha put a hand over her heart, sighing dramatically. Steve laughed again, making the tower collapse.
"Damn you." Steve picked up a few popsicle sticks, lightly throwing then at a laughing Natasha Romanoff.
"Well this is disgusting" Natasha stared at the tray of 'food' in her lap. She lazily stirred the yellow paste on of the compartments before putting a spoonful in her mouth. Her eyes widened in disgust. "Nope!" She spit it out into a napkin, trying not to gag.
"What even is it?" Steve lightly shook the tray, grimacing when the paste didn't even move.
"I don't know but it's 60% sugar and stuck to the roof of my mouth." Natasha said with a frown. She tried to rinse her mouth out with a glass of water and gagged. "Fantastic. Water makes it worse. Should I even try the fruit slices?"
"Those are fruit slices? I thought it was some kind of meat." Steve poked a rather brown slice of melon with his fork.
"So… all SHIELD's budget went to the Helicarriers and they couldn't afford edible food?" Natasha raised her eyebrow.
"It's perfectly edible." Steve shrugged, scooping a spoonful of the yellow paste and raising it to his lips.
"What are you doing?" Natasha's eyebrows shot up. "Do you not understand what it means when someone gags?"
"I'm sure it's fine." Steve said, eating the food with ease. "Hmm. Not that bad."
"You're messing with me."
"No I'm not." Steve laughed, shaking his head. "It is sticky though."
"It's like cement."
"I know what it is…" Steve grinned. "It's oatmeal."
"Do we need to educate SHIELD on what oatmeal is?"
"Tastes like the oatmeal we had when I was a kid." Steve smiled. "You mix up some oats, sugar, lard-"
"Lard?" Natasha frowned.
"It was the 1930's in Brooklyn, gourmet meals weren't exactly an option."
"I always forget you were a Depression kid."
"You must've been… six when it stared? What was it like for you?"
"It must've effected us but I'd just joined the Red Room." Natasha shrugged. "If it had changed anything I sure as hell didn't notice. If I didn't eat one night I just assumed I'd done something wrong."
"Yeah there were a lot of hungry nights." Steve nodded. He smiled fondly. "Ma always tried to make the food we had taste good though. She mixed what little sugar we had into pretty much everything so it tasted sweet. Her parents were Irish and potatoes were cheap so we ate those the most. And sometimes on special occasions she'd… Sorry I'm probably boring you."
"Not at all." Natasha smiled. "She sounds great."
"She was. I've never seen a person work so hard. She worked 3 jobs at a time" Steve laughed. "What about your parents? Any good memories?"
"I don't know." Natasha sighed. "Vague memories of helping cook dinner and playing in the snow. I can remember a man's voice singing this Russian lullaby. Not sure if it's an actual memory or just something I made up to help myself sleep at night."
"What happened to them?" Steve asked sadly.
"There was a fire." Natasha tore a piece off of her roll. "Burned the whole village down. Some soldiers charged in, grabbing all the girls and leaving the rest to burn."
"…The Red Room?"
"Pretty sure they started the fire." Natasha nodded. She stared at the wall, deep in thought. "I remember a little bit of my parents. My Father's name was… Viktor I think. He had hair like mine. And the loudest laugh you've ever heard." She smiled.
"He sounds pretty great too." Steve chuckled. "Don't remember my Dad very well. Ma said he was a soldier."
"Runs in the family?"
"I guess." Steve nodded, grinning.
By the time evening came Natasha and Steve were completely stir crazy in their small hospital room. "Books and cotton balls can only do so much." Natasha complained. "Let's go for a walk."
"Nat, you're supposed to stay off your feet until the mission." Steve refilled Natasha's glass of water, handing it to her.
"Come one Steve, you've been pacing back and forth for 15 minutes. Practically gloating."
"I'd hardly call it gloating." Steve twirled a tongue depressor between his fingers. "You were in a fight last night and almost drowned. You need to let yourself heal."
"Yeah cause you always do that." Natasha glared. "Look, you may feel the need to follow orders but I sure as hell don't." Natasha swung her legs off the edge of the bed.
"Wait. Stay here." Steve said quickly. He walked out of the room. "I'll be right back."
Natasha frowned, watching the door close. "You're lucky you're cute." She called after him. Steve came back a few minutes later with a wheelchair.
"Taadaa."
"Wow. It's like Christmas." Natasha said dryly as Steve helped her into the chair. She winced as he ribs lit up in pain.
"You okay?"
"If you don't stop asking I'll shove a popsicle stick in your eye."
Steve pushed Natasha's wheelchair around the hospital for a few hours to clear their heads. A nurse stopped them eventually, telling them they needed to go back to their rooms for some well deserved rest.
"Oh my god." Natasha stared at the large kart of baked goods as it passed them in the hallway. "I need it."
"Need what?"
"A cinnamon raisin bagel." Natasha put her hands on the wheelchair's wheels, stopping it in place. "Go get one for me."
"What?" Steve raised an eyebrow, watching the nurse pushing the kart towards a door and stopping. The nurse carried a bowl of muffins into one of the rooms. "Nat, those are for other patients."
"Why didn't we get bagels and muffins?" Natasha raised an eyebrow. She peaked into the hospital room door as the nurse was leaving. Her frown grew when she recognized the patient. "Jefferson? Why the hell does Jefferson get a bowl? He's just in human resources."
"Would you like to say that a bit louder? Not sure if he could hear you-"
"We got oatmeal and he got that? We're Avengers. I want a bagel." She pouted, making him laugh softly. He laid his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm very sorry you didn't get a bagel." He chuckled. She placed her hand over Steve's turning around slightly.
"Please…" She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. Steve's eyebrows shot up.
"You want me to sneak over there, grab a bagel, run back over here and push you for your hasty getaway to another room in the hospital?"
"Yes." Natasha said flatly. Steve sighed, pushing the wheelchair further down the hallway and away from the kart of breads. Natasha frowned. "I hate you."
"I know."
"4 letter word… Conqueror?" Natasha muttered, staring down at her crossword.
"Oh, I did that one. I guessed 'Khan'." Steve said, clicking his pen repeatedly. They both sat crosslegged on her hospital bed, facing each other.
"Khan? As in Star Trek or Genghis?"
"One of em." Steve shrugged.
"No… That can't be right, the letters don't match up with 'popcorn'" Natasha frowned.
"Popcorn?"
"3 down. Popcorn. Khan doesn't have an 'o'." Natasha pointed. "And cut it out with the pen clicking already you're driving me insane."
"Sorry." Steve stopped. After a few minutes he started chewing on the end of the pen, earning a glare from Natasha. She sighed, looking down at the puzzle.
"You gotta be kidding me." Natasha laughed. "Hey does the 'Conqueror' status have to be successful?"
"Umm… I don't know why?"
"'O' in the middle… Starts with an 'L'…" Natasha made two small points above her head with her fingers. She crinkled her face into a scowl. "'…I am burdened with glorious purpose."
Steve laughed loudly. "Of course! Loki, the oh so successful conquerer of Midguard!"
"Don't mock me you mewling quim! I am a god!" Natasha laughed, trying to stay in character.
"I don't think the New York Times would include Loki in anything but a list of people New Yorkers want to give a swift kick to the groin. Flawless impression by the way." Steve said sarcastically.
"Oh yeah? …I'd like to see you do it better."
"Is everything a competition to you?" Steve grinned.
"Just about." Natasha tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Come on. Unless of course you're a chicken."
"'Chicken'? Please." Steve rolled his eyes. Natasha leaned forward, waiting patiently. "Okay…" Steve sat up, clearing his throat and turning his nose up into a arrogant frown. "You were meant to be ruled…"
Natasha stared in silence for a minute before busting out laughing at Steve's cringe worthy performance.
"What was that?"
"Okay, okay so I can't do better." Steve shrugged, chuckling.
"Weren't you an actor for a while?" Natasha bit down on her lip, trying to keep from laughing.
"Look no one ever said I was a good actor!" Steve's smile grew as Natasha's laugher echoed in the room.
"Trust me, that's very evident during our undercover missions."
"Excuse me? I seem to recall being pretty good at being your boyfriend back in Saint Petersburg."
"Do you now? Because I recall you have no idea what you were doing." Natasha smiled at Steve's semi-offended expression. "I'm kidding. You make a very good boyfriend."
"…Real life or undercover?" Steve raised an eyebrow. Natasha smiled, shaking her head.
"So far… you do a pretty good job at both." Natasha leaned forward, brushing her lips against Steve's. She leaned back slightly and they both stared at each other, realizing this was their first real kiss since the argument. Natasha desperately wanted to break the tension. "That of course depends on if you get me that bagel or not."
"Seriously?" Steve laughed. "Nice to know our relationship hangs in the balance of a cinnamon raisin bagel."
"Well we need to have our priorities straight."
"Hmm." Steve tilted his head to kiss her again, cupping the back of her head with his hand. Natasha's eyebrows raised and she smiled against his lips. A loud knock forced them apart. They turned to see a rather irritated Clint standing outside their room.
"Come on guys, this is a hospital." He glared.
"Sorry, Clint." They both answered, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, whatever. Just… don't have sex. I think the staff here hate the two of you enough for the popsicle stick incident." Clint grinned. He shook his head, singing quietly. "Ahh… young love."
"You're hilarious." Steve said dryly rolling his eyes as Clint walked away, closing the door.
"…Love." Natasha said softly.
"What?" Steve turned towards her quickly. She was staring down at the crossword puzzle.
"Love conquers all. That's a phrase or something isn't it?" Natasha looked up, waiting for his answer. Steve stared at her, not really paying attention to her question. "You okay?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah." Steve blinked quickly, a small smile growing on his face.
"You sure?" Natasha held Steve's chin with her fingers. "You look kinda… distracted."
"Yeah yeah I'm fine." Steve smiled, looking back at his puzzle, writing down Natasha's newly discovered answer. "Hey, it matches popcorn and everything."
"Yeah…" Natasha shook her head and frowned. The look he had in his eye… She recognized it from James.
'What've you gotten yourself into, Romanoff?' Natasha thought to herself, pressing her lips to the top of Steve's head. "Has anyone ever told you you're weird?" She asked, ruffling his hair with her fingertips. Steve laughed.
"It's come up in conversation once or twice."
Figured it was about time for more fluffy chapter
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