The reviews said that you didn't like how Natasha was acting victimized so here's how Steve took the events on last chapter. Pls continue to be honest in the reviews, it gives me a good perspective on how these events look to people that aren't me. :)
His mind is racing. First she treats him like crap then she doesn't pick up to tell him that the man he's been searching for is at her apartment playing boardgames with his daughter. There's nobody nearby for him to talk to. They're either in New York or off the grid that's directions are off the grid.
He runs into the street, the few cold raindrops dropping from the sky and onto his face. Those same raindrops mix in with the tears escaping his eyes. He knows that it's a risk, wearing your heart on your shoulder that it, but he wasn't ready for this. The kiss, the kid, the texts, the hugs. He can't make sense of any of it. How could someone have so many sides and show them all at the same time?
Panicking, he calls the one person that he knows is in the relative area. "Hey Sharon, where are you?"
"Portland. Why? Is it Fury?"
"No, I was with Sam and Na-Romanoff, Bucky turned up. I need to just talk to someone as pathetic as that sounds."
"Steve, it's not pathetic. Everyone needs to talk to someone sometimes. I'll text you the address. Are you good right now?"
"Yes-no. Well yes but not really." Steve tries to answer. "I'm not sure"
"See you in a few hours."
He goes up to the house. Not what he would've expected for a SHIELD agent trying to stay under the radar. It's Portland so he couldn't stay here long.
He goes up and knocks on the door. A blonde opens the door, "we miss that coffee?" She jokes. "Come on in?"
Steve steps around her while she puts on her cardigan to cover up her pajamas. "Thanks Sharon, I hope that I'm not intruding."
"No. After SHIELD, I'm taking a break then going into CIA training. Perfect aim, something they can't miss." She smiles. "Want something? I got coffee, tea, water" she notices something, "but by the look on your face, I think that we can have a drink this early."
"I can't get drunk, but thanks for the offer." Steve takes off his jacket and puts it on her couch. "I just really need to talk to someone I trust. And yes I know how that looks since you kinda did shadow me for a year."
"Sorry about that by the way." Sharon comes over, sitting next to him on the couch while she hands him a bottle of beer. "What's up?"
Steve gets ready, he hopes that no Russian assassins will kill him for telling someone. "Well you know that in the files leaked from SHIELD that Natasha was part of an experiment that was to have supersoldier offspring" she nods her head, everyone knew. Not even Stark was able to buyout everyone that talked about it on the cover of their magazines. "Well there was one successful attempt. She lives with Natasha in Seattle. I found out while we were on the run from SHIELD. She's a great kid, her mom though..."
"What did she do? I know that look on anyone's face."
"She took Nadia away to Seattle without telling me where they went so I only got to see Nadia once a month. And when I did find them, I saw her making out with another guy only hours after she told me that we couldn't be together for Nadia's sake. Well she kissed me a few times. Then we kinda slept together, but felt like more than that. I found her the next morning telling someone that it meant nothing. She told someone that sleeping with the father of her child meant nothing! It's not ok, at all, so I left. Apparently when Sam and I went and froze our asses off searching for him, she hid Bucky in her apartment for two weeks, Nadia never even told me that her 'uncle' was there. Yes, she's been through a lot of pain that I can't even imagine, but that's no excuse to toy around with my life. Nadia isn't a play toy that I want her to dangle in the middle of us. I would be ok if she never said anything about it, if she had never kissed me or slept with me, but she did."
Sharon's mouth is open wide. "That's a lot, and all of it is pretty screwed up."
"Yeah. I let her hurt me-"
"Because you love her, you need to take care of yourself. I know that we're not really friends, but I want to help. Nobody deserves to be treated like that and you know that. You need to do what makes you happy."
"I want her but she obviously doesn't want me. She just wants me around so that I can take Nadia to dance while she makes out with her coworker. I mean it doesn't really matter if I love her, she should be happy. And yes, I know that I need to take care of myself, but I can't do that when all I want to do is make their lives perfect. And she won't let me."
"Steve, you can't always make everything right for everyone. I've known Romanoff longer than you, she trusts you more than Barton. That much I can see. From what you're telling me, she's in love with you as well. But just think about it, she's in denial, she was taught that love is a weakness. She hates the idea of weakness. She kissed the coworker and then you slept together later that night right?" Steve nods his head, wiping away some of the tears that had mysteriously fallen from his eyes. "She was probably scared that you would leave them or take Nadia. Think about how she was raised, she was taught that sex is just a means to an end. A way to get what she wanted. She has to learn. And while she does that, you need to take care of yourself. You're still human, you still have limits and from what I hear, you've been stretched pretty far. Take a break, enjoy the fact that you got your best friend back. Until you feel up to going back though, we can just sit here and drink beer."
This makes Steve crack a smile for the first time in weeks, "I can get on board with that." Steve smiles up at her. He looks over at her mantle, holding a photo of her and Peggy. "When was that?"
Sharon smiles, "Disneyworld. Uncle Daniel became friends with Walt Disney when he was setting up SSR California. All of his and Peggy's relatives get everything free for life."
"Yeah I remember going on a double date with Bucky to go see Snow White when it first came out." Steve smiles bittersweetly.
"Aunt Peggy always said nice things about him. Said he was kind of a flirt though."
A chuckle escapes Steve's lips. "Yeah he was. I can't count the amount of times he brought me out on double dates."
"Any of them make the cut." He shakes his head. Her eyes fall shortly to his lips. She looks into his eyes. She moves closer and presses his lips to his. It's quite awkward and it only lasts for a few seconds.
"That felt wrong." He says when he pulls back.
"It kind of felt like kissing your would-be great uncle." she agrees. "You kiss like a guy in love with someone else."
Steve's eyebrows raise at what she insinuated. "What happened?"
"Teenage heartbreak. It was basically Twilight except I had the badass family and there were no vampires." She sees the slightly confused look on his face. "Do you not know what Twilight is? That might be for the best. Anyway, Aunt Peggy kicked his ass after a baseball game he had. It would've been entertaining if I wasn't so embarrassed."
"Yeah, Peg never had any shame when it came to putting a man in their place."
"Truer words were never spoken."
Tired from the emotional turmoil of the day, Steve goes to bed. Thoughts of Natasha race through his mind like they have been for a while. Though he's about to go to bed, he doesn't think that he should put it on Nat to figure out how to tell Nadia about this. He dials Sam's number since then hopefully she wouldn't pick up.
"Sam?"
"Hi Daddy!" An excited little voice answers.
"How was your day?" He knows that he asked the wrong question as soon as it comes out. Well not really, she could be having a lot of fun with Uncle Bucky and Uncle Sam.
"Really fun. Uncle Sam said that you were visiting a friend. Then Jamie said that Mom went to find you. He talked with her. What does 'making out' mean? Oh and they're not making my mac and cheese the right way."
Steve's head fills with responses, but making out. He and Sharon only kissed for a few seconds. How could she have snuck into the house? She's a superspy duh.
"Umm, I'll be back soon ok? I'll make it to your performance, it's in five days right?" That should give him enough time to decide what to say.
"Yep, oh no" Steve flinches as he hears some shouting in the background, "there's no mac and cheese anymore. We're gonna get Chinese, bye!"
"Bye" Steve hangs up. Well that last thought of being able to get some sleep is washed down the drain.
Fortunately, he was able to get about an hour of sleep last night. He had made the decision on his 'well rested' brain that he is going to go back. Sharon was right, he can't let what's going on with him and Nat come between him and Bucky.
"Hey Sharon, I know it's a lot to ask, but can you come with me to Seattle? I just need to have someone on my side if me and Romanoff get into a fight."
She smiles kindly, "sure, I can be ready in two hours"
"Great. Thank you. Really." Steve gives her a small hug before heading back to his room.
The drive back up to Seattle is calm before the storm. Steve knows from Nadia's call yesterday that Nat isn't around and he wants to avoid conflict at all costs. Steve helps Sharon over the drains filled with Northwestern rain.
Steve takes a deep breath and knocks on the door. Hoping that there wouldn't be any surprises today.
"DADDY" Steve hears a voice shriek as the door opens. Nadia throws herself at her dad who picks her up effortlessly.
"Nadie, what did I say abo-" Bucky walks out of the bathroom, noticing Steve and Sharon in the hall. "Steve. Hey"
"Can we come in?" Steve asks only half sarcastically. Nadia pulls him and Sharon into the apartment. Steve awkwardly approaches his best friend as Bucky pulls him into a hug. Steve smiles as he steps back to pick up Nadia again. "This is Sharon Carter."
"Carter, as in?" Bucky trails off.
"Yeah, Peggy is my great aunt." Sharon sticks her hand out for a handshake. She has to suppress a shiver when he shakes her hand with his metal arm.
Bucky gives her a hard stare. "Hey Nadia, why don't you go grab that new action figure Birdbrain got you." Nadia happily nods and goes to her room. "Are you really mad?"
"No Buck, I can't be mad at you. Now what did Nadia say about there not being any more mac and cheese." Steve says, peering into the charred kitchen.
"I don't know what you're talking about"
Next chapter Nat and Steve will see each other again + some action.