For hugsforlucy. I tried my best to create a love triangle because I frigging hate them so I really hope I fulfilled your prompt.
Natasha thinks she has all the time in the world to start something with Steve until she finds out that he's started to go on dates with Sharon.
Natasha really tried to work on herself but it wasn't the easiest to work through years of traumas and brainwashing. But she wanted to get better, she needed to get better so she could deserve Steve Rogers. He deserved the world and she wanted to give it to him. He deserved a woman without baggage and she worked on losing her own. She wanted him, she wanted to be with him and she was pretty sure that he wanted her, too. But he seemed to sense that she wasn't ready (aside from her bloody past, she also had commitment issues) and he didn't pressure her. There was flirting, longing gazes and occasionally touches that lasted longer than necessary. She loved his company and realized over time that he knew her better than anyone. Even better than Clint. It scared her at first but she knew that she could trust Steve. He would never hurt her or use the intimate things he knew about her against her. She wanted to be deserving of his affection so she volunteered in a soup kitchen and went to therapy. She wanted to become the woman worthy of being Captain America's girl. Clint told her that she was insane and that if Steve didn't want her the way she was now than he didn't deserve her. He just didn't understand that it wasn't about Steve deserving her but her deserving him.
She had been going to therapy for six months now and thought that she was ready to start something with Steve. Ideally she wanted him to ask her on a date because no nice boy had ever asked her out but she figured that she had to ask him since she was the one who put their whole thing on hold. She planned to ask him after today's Avengers meeting at the tower. They all had their own floors there and while Bruce lived at the tower, the rest had apartments all over New York City. She lived in Manhattan while Steve had a place in Brooklyn that she had helped him find and decorate.
The meeting went well and she waited until the others were gone so she could ask Steve out. She had found an old cinema in Brooklyn that was perfect for their first date. She, Tony and Steve were the last ones in the conference room and she just waited for Stark to finally get lost.
"So how did your date go last night?" Tony asked Steve with a smirk on his face and her ears perked up. What? What date?! Steve was dating?! And not her?!
He looked at her briefly and then back at Tony. "It was good. Thanks for letting me borrow one of your cars."
"No problem. And to which base did you get? First, second or maybe even third?" He wiggled his eyebrows and Steve groaned.
"It was just the first date, Tony. I only took Sharon to see a movie." Sharon. He went out with Sharon, the woman Natasha had told him to call. Sharon who wasn't a murderer and seductress. Sharon who was tall and blonde. Sharon who was basically a Barbie. Now she had found her Ken. Sharon who was Peggy Carter's niece, Natasha personally found that connection weird but apparently that was Steve's thing. She had to get out of here before she started picturing their wedding. And kids. Sharon Carter was most definitely not sterile and could give Steve Rogers children. Sharon was the perfect girl.
She grabbed her coffee and bag and stormed out of the room. God, she was such a moron! Had she really spend the last two years thinking that there was something between her and Steve? Did she really assume that Steve had feelings for her and didn't ask her out because he knew she needed time? Unbelievable. She never thought she would be this stupid. He never asked her out or tried to kiss her because he wasn't interested in her. He was interested in Sharon. Sweet, kind and blonde Sharon. Maybe she had to think about a career change, she clearly lost the ability to read people. She walked home, got a bottle of vodka out and ignored the black cat who frequently showed up at her window begging to be let in. She had already let someone in and that turned out to be a huge failure on her part. She took a sip from the bottle and laughed. Had she really thought that Captain America was romantically interested in her?
She tried to avoid Steve as best as she could. She needed time to get over her feelings for him. She still worked on becoming a better person but not for him anymore, but for herself. She would do anything to wipe the red out of her ledger and she thought going to a therapist and volunteering at a soup kitchen would help her with that.
She was in the gym at the tower to steam of some anger. She had overheard how Darcy Lewis gushed to Dr. Foster that Steve had taken Sharon to Coney Island. Last year he had taken her to Coney Island after she confessed that she had never been there and he said that you weren't a real New Yorker until you tried every ride. And now he was taking his girlfriend on romantic dates to that place. Great. She punched the bag hard. Coney Island had been their place! She hit the punching bag harder.
She faintly heard how the door to the gym opened. "Hey, Nat." Of course of all people who worked out here, it had to be him. "Feels like I haven't seen you in ages. You wanna spar?"
She considered ignoring him but turned around eventually, maybe hitting the real reason for her anger and frustration would help. God, she hated how good he looked in his work out gear. Did that shirt have to show off his body so nicely?
"Sure, let's go a few rounds."
She walked over to the ring and Steve joined her a few seconds later. Without any warning she attacked him and tackled him to the ground. He was surprised but shook her off and they danced around the boxing ring, circling each other waiting for the other one to strike. He looked like he wanted to say something and before she had to hear how perfect Sharon was she lunched forward using his thigh as a boost and jumped on his shoulders. She wanted to choke him until he tapped out but he let himself fall to the ground and pinned her to the floor with her hands above her head. Shit, how did she not see that coming?
"Surprised?" Steve asked with a grin and caged her with his body. "I think this round goes definitely to me."
They were really close to each other right now. Their chest were touching and Steve was pretty much settled between her legs. She could feel the warmth radiating from his body and she caught herself wishing that they were naked doing a totally different kind of work out. She looked up at him and noticed that he was looking at her lips and breathing heavier than it was normal for Captain America after some training. He gazed into her eyes and she saw how his pupils were dilated and he looked back at her lips and leaned his head down. He closed his eyes and she was about to do the same thrilled for what would happen next when she remembered something. Or rather someone. Sharon! She pushed Steve off of her and left the ring. She walked out of the gym confused and angry at herself and ignored how Steve was calling after her. She had to get a better grip on her hormones!
Stark threw one of his many parties, this time a cocktail party to collect money for a hospital. She only came because it was for a good cause and Tony always had the good stuff from Russia. She was on her second martini when Steve walked in with Sharon on his arm. She gripped the stem of her glass harder than necessary and watched how perfect Barbie and Ken looked together. Steve wore a grey suit and Sharon a beautiful dark blue dress that showed off her shoulders. She wondered when they would appear on the cover of Vogue. They were the perfect couple.
After drowning her third martini and ending up on a first name basis with the bartender it was time to visit the bathroom. She went into one of the stalls of the ladies room and pulled her dress up when the door opened and she heard Maria's voice. She didn't let that stop her and was about to pull her panties down but stopped when she heard another voice. Sharon's.
"This is just not how I pictured it would be." Sharon said with a slightly sad voice. Was something wrong?
"What do you mean? You're dating the man everyone wants! Your boyfriend is Captain America! What more do you want?" Maria lowered her voice. "I imagine the sex must be spectacular!"
Oh God, she had to get out of her! She didn't need to hear Sharon gushing about Steve's bedroom performances! "Ha! We haven't had sex yet!" Sharon sounded bitter. "We didn't even make out yet! We had four dates and I got like two pecks on the lips so far. I try to get him to go further but he always stops me. I thought it was because he comes from a different time and wants to take things slow but I think it's because of her!"
"Her?" Maria asked surprised and Natasha was confused herself. Was there another woman?
"You know who! Romanoff!" Natasha's heart stopped beating for a second. "He talks about her all the time! And when we were at Coney Island and I managed to hold his hand, he immediately let go of it when a redheaded woman was in front of us! It wasn't her but I knew he thought for a second that it was Romanoff. And tonight he keeps staring at her, gripping his glass every time the bartender makes her smile."
"Then why are you still seeing him?"
"Like you said, Maria. Everyone wants him and I thought the two of us were like fated. Peggy as our connection and then I was assigned by Fury to protect him..." She sighed. "I really hoped we would be meant for each other."
"You should end things with him if he makes you unhappy, Sharon."
"Yeah, I know."
Maria and Sharon left and Natasha stared at the door of her bathroom stall. Was that really true? Were things not working between Barbie and Ken? Because of her? But why the fuck did Steve ask Sharon out when he supposedly was into her? Maybe Sharon got the whole thing wrong and Steve really wanted to take things slow. He didn't strike her as the guy who would sleep with a woman after a few dates. She waited another moment until she was sure that the coast was clear and walked out the ladies room and left the party. No matter what really was going on, she was in no mood to watch Barbie and Ken.
Fury sent her on a solo mission to take out an arms dealer in the Middle East. The mission took longer than she expected since she needed more to infiltrate his organization, but in the end the mission was a success, the arms dealer and his thugs dead and the weapons secured by SHIELD. She had been so focused on her job that she didn't even had time to think about the whole Steve and Sharon (she was sure there was a nickname in there somewhere) mess. She got home after a stop at her favorite Chinese restaurant, showered and plopped down on her couch devouring her food. She looked at her laptop on the coffee table. Maybe she should take a few days off and go somewhere, sitting on a beach drinking cocktails sounded lovely.
She was just leaning forward to grab her laptop when her door bell rang. She groaned and put her dinner down. Who was that now? She just got back, couldn't they leave her alone for at least one evening?
She looked through the peephole seeing Steve's face. What was he doing here? She thought about ignoring him but he probably heard her walking to the door with his enhanced hearing. She sighed and opened the door. "Hi?"
"Sharon broke up with me."
"Okay?" Why was he telling her that? He never even personally told her that they were together.
"Can you even break up when you were not really together in the first place..." Steve mumbled and looked at her with pink cheeks. What was going on? "I should have never asked her out in the first place. That hadn't been fair to her. My heart was never in it."
"Why are you telling me this and not her?"
"Because you're the reason my heart was not in it." Now he was sporting a complete body blush. What? "I shouldn't have asked Sharon out when I wanted to ask you out. I only did it because I know that you're not interested in me and I thought I had to move on...But turns out that I can't move on." He spoke so fast that she had problems to understand everything.
"Huh?" She brilliantly replied.
"It's you, Nat. I always wished you were in Sharon's place when we went out. I know I was a dick to her and I apologized already several times. But I think you should know the truth." He took a deep breath and looked somehow more collected now. "I'm in love with you, Natasha."
Her brain stopped working. "What?"
"I love you."
"And then you start dating Sharon?" She barked at him and he took a step back looking like a lost puppy. She had been miserable in the last weeks and now he dropped this bomb on her? "I spent months working towards becoming a better person so I could ask you out and then when I'm about to do it I hear that you're dating Sharon?!"
"What?" Steve stared at her with wide eyes. "You were...You wanted to go out with me?"
Now it was her turn to blush. "Um, yeah?"
Steve started to laugh. "Here I thought you didn't like me like that and then...God, I really have no clue when it comes to women."
"I guess we're both idiots." She joined him in his laughter.
"Yeah." He said softly. "Perfect match."
She smiled at that and stepped aside. "You wanna come in?"
"I'd love to."
And as it turned out Steve was the kind of guy who slept with a woman even before the first date. But only because she was the woman he loved. And her heart was beating loudly in her chest when he took her on their first date to the old cinema she had wanted to take him to when she had planned to ask him out. And he earned himself a kiss when he told her that he didn't take Sharon to this place because he knew that it was meant for the two of them.
