Steve smiled as he walked up to the familiar sight of the sprawling farm with the Barton's family home at the center of it. He heard yelling and laughter echoing around as he walked up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"It's good to see you, Steve," Laura said when she answered the door. "Come in. Clint is out back with Bruce and Natasha with the kids. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Can I help you with anything?" he asked and she shook her head no.

"Just make sure my husband doesn't blow anything else up," she said and he nodded before heading out back.

He saw Natasha holding Nate while Clint was teaching Lila how to shoot the longbow and Cooper and Bruce were growling at each other.

"Hey old man, you made it," Natasha said with a smile when Steve got closer. She passed Nate over to him. "I'm heading back to New York with you, by the way."

"I figured. Tony let us borrow the jet," he said, smiling at Nate's giggles as he tickled him. He noticed Natasha snapped a few pictures of him on her phone. "Sending those to Sharon?"

"Maybe it'll be inspiration for you two to bone. We're pushing close to my date in the bang pool."

"I can't believe that sentence came out of your mouth," he shook his head. "How are things up here?"

"Clint is itching to renovate something else, Laura is trying to get him to stop. Dumb and dumber were trying to make an obstacle training course, and blew up a small pit back there. Shook the whole house."

"Now what Laura said makes sense," Steve nodded.

"You ready to be back in New York full time," she asked and he shrugged. "What's the issue?"

"It's not that I don't want to be back full time. I miss seeing everyone, I miss seeing Sharon for longer than a day or two. It's just the logistics of it all. I don't think I could go back to living full-time upstate. I think I'd be too tempted to jump back into it all, and I'm supposed to be retired."

"Hill and Fury bought a bunch of property around the city for various reasons they didn't explain, but one of the reasons was for all of us to have a place to go. Ask them to rent out one of those spots."

"Right, but then does that make sense for me to move into the city while Sharon is upstate for work a lot of the time? Does it make sense to get my own place?"

"Yes, and yes," Natasha said firmly. "Don't get disappointed if and when Sharon tells you she's not ready to move in with you yet. It'll boil down to the fact that she's a spy at heart and needs her space. James and I live separately. Yes, he's by me a lot of the time, but we still have separate homes to go to when needed. Also, I've been talking with Tony and he's looking into buying office space in Manhattan for us to meet in. He did the drive recently and was over it."

"You're right," Steve said. "I'll talk with Maria when we get there."

"Is something else bothering you? That seems like such a trivial thing."

"Sharon and I haven't seen each other for longer than a weekend since Christmas. I think I'm just nervous again to see her for more than a few days at a time. I'm worried we only work when we see each other short time. Or that I'll do something to mess this up, again."

"You both are two peas in a pod," Natasha said with a smile as she shook her head. "It'll be fine. It's normal. Just don't call her Peggy when you're having sex and I think you'll be okay."

"Inappropriate."

"You look good with a toddler," Laura said as she approached the group. She cheered when Lila hit her target before turning back to Natasha and Steve. "You sure you can't stick around for longer? Or maybe take Clint and Banner with you?"

"Oh, please don't pass your husband on to me," Natasha shook her head and Laura laughed. "Last time that happened, he got so bored I found him on my roof using a slingshot on pigeons."

"Yeah, he's still trying to settle those violent tendencies he gained during those five years," Laura sighed. "I think that's why he keeps blowing shit up."

"Lila's got a great aim, she's a mini Hawkeye," Steve commented.

"She takes after her dad for sure. Nate here is gonna be on the little league team this spring," Laura said proudly. "Cooper is finally able to join his baseball team's traveling team since Clint is officially retired. He's really excited for that."

"What you guys have is amazing," Steve said. "It's just nice to see this level of normalcy is possible."

"Take cover," Banner yelled while running toward them before there was a giant explosion in the field.

"This is normal?"

"Sadly, yes" Natasha sighed.

Steve and Natasha arrived at the compound late one night during the week. They didn't expect anyone to still be up, but they found Sharon, Hill, and Fury on a call with Rhodes.

"He's an issue," Rhodes said just as they walked in. "Hey guys."

"We've had our eyes on him since Sam was given the shield. Highly decorated, he's got three medals of honor. Digging into the missions for what those medals were given for shows he's got a violent streak," Sharon said. "He's been running around calling himself U.S. Agent."

"He's got a shield now too. It's garbage," Rhodes said as they rest pulled up the latest surveillance footage. "He's a wannabe Cap."

"We don't need him doing any damage to that legacy," Sharon said seriously, looking up at Steve for the first time since he walked in. "I'll move him up on my board, assign some agents to a team to take care of this. I don't want to give it to Sam and Bucky just yet, I don't think we're at that level."

"Agreed," Fury said, the first word he said all night.

"If Johnson, Morse, and Hunter are free, I'd like to give this assignment to them," Sharon said to Maria, who nodded.

"They're good to go. I'll brief them in the morning and they'll report to me. Anything else?"

"That's it from my end, I'll keep an ear out for any news on the military end. If we can keep my involvement out of this, it'd make it a lot easier," Rhodes said and Sharon nodded.

"We never spoke with you," she said with a smile before ending the call. "I think we can start on this in the morning."

"Agreed," Fury said, getting up and leaving the conference room.

"We sure that's Fury and not a Skrull?" Natasha asked and Hill nodded. "Anything I can do?"

"No, you're both retired, we got it from here," Sharon said as she got up to hug them.

"She loves to remind us of that," Steve said as he kissed her hello. "Maria, are you around tomorrow? I need an apartment in the city."

"Yup, got just the place for you," she said. "I'll see all of you in the morning."

"Apartment?"

"Doesn't make sense to stay here since I'm retired," he said, making a face when he said the last word.

"It's nice to have somewhere to go outside of all of this," she said and he nodded. "I was thinking about heading back into the city tonight, but I can stick around until you talk with Hill."

"You don't have to change your plans."

"It's no big deal. I missed you," she said, hugging him again. "How are the Bartons?"

"Good, Banner and Clint are blowing things up."

"So it's all normal up there," Sharon said with a laugh. They walked hand in hand down the hallway to his room.

"How have things been going here?"

"Busy," she said with a sigh as she laid down on his bed. "Fury took point on the issue with Mysterio and him exposing Peter as Spider-Man. Peter Quill just yells at me every time I call for an update on the Sovereign issue. I'm pretty sure Thor smacked him with Mjolnir last time it happened."

"Good, he has no right to speak to you like that," Steve said, his jaw clenching in anger.

"He's an idiot, but Rocket seems fond of him and Thor and Nat trust Rocket so," Sharon shrugged. "And now we have Walker on the list."

"Can I help in any way?"

"No, you listening to me complain is help enough," she said, scooting over on the bed to make room for him. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything," he said, wrapping his arm around her as she laid her head on his chest.

"Sometimes I think about what life would have been like if we had just dropped everything and moved to Madripoor."

"I think about that too," he confessed.

"I know you did the right thing, that we have done the right things since, but I wonder what it would have been like if after Edinburgh we just fled. Maybe I wouldn't have been dusted, maybe we could have had those five years together. It's selfish, I know."

"It's hard to think about the what ifs," he said after a few minutes of silence. "It's not selfish though."

"I'm a firm believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason, and I think I would have been dusted anyway. Then you would have been alone in this foreign country, not knowing what happened and beating yourself up over things you think you could have done to change the outcome," she said and shrugged. "It worked out the way it should have. I just wonder some days, you know?"

"I get it. Most important is we're still here with each other after all of that" he said and she nodded. "I love you, that's something you don't have to wonder about."

"I know. I love you too."

Maria handed Steve a set of keys and a file the next morning, telling him she set this one aside for him when he finally decided to settle. The photos didn't do it justice. The apartment had an amazing view of lower Manhattan. It was fully furnished, so he didn't need to do anything other than move most of his stuff out of the compound. He convinced Sam and Bucky to help him out with the promise of beer and pizza.

"Are you and Sharon doing anything for next week?" Bucky asked and Steve gave him a confused look. "Dude, next week is Valentine's Day."

"Oh," he said. "Uh, I clearly forgot."

"Always the ladies man," Bucky said with a laugh. "Even Sam made plans with Aunt May."

"We really don't need to keep calling her Aunt May like she's everyone's aunt," Sam said. "But yes, we're going to dinner and a concert."

"Nat and I are going axe throwing," Bucky said. "And you and Sharon?"

"Are going to do something low key because I forgot," Steve said with a groan. "I'll figure it out. I'll make it up to her soon. Maybe for her birthday or something."

Steve tried to find somewhere to make reservations, but everywhere was booked. He decided he'd order take out from their favorite restaurant. He spent the whole day making his apartment ready for her to stay over, including buying her favorite soap and hair products. He was sure the sales associate found his bumbling amusing when he was trying to remember what Sharon used. Steve wanted her to feel comfortable here. Things had gotten busy for Sharon and she ended up staying upstate longer than she planned. She hasn't seen his new place in person yet, and he was excited for her to come over.

"I knew I should have held out longer before I took the job, this place is amazing," Sharon said as she walked into Steve's new place. "The view is gorgeous."

"You don't think it's too much?"

"You're allowed to have nice things," Sharon reassured him, wrapping her arms around his torso and resting her head on his chest. "Do you really not like it or do you think you don't deserve it?"

"I grew up with so little, having something like this is overwhelming," he shrugged. "It is really nice though."

"You've done so much good for so many people, you deserve nice things too," she told him.

"Thank you," he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "So, I may have messed up and didn't make dinner reservations soon enough. I hope you don't mind take out instead."

"Take out is perfect," she smiled up at him. She looked around the room and noticed the dining room table had a huge bouquet of roses in the middle of it, and rose petals scattered around on the floor. "You didn't need to do all this."

"I wanted tonight to be special," he said.

"So romantic of you," she said as she smiled and reach up to kiss him. "Thank you. Any time I get to spend with you is special."

"Dinner should be here soon, and then I thought we could watch a movie. I still have a very long list to get through."

"Sounds great," she said, walking over to the couch. "What are you in the mood for?"

"You," he said with a grin as he leaned over to kiss her.

"Later," she smirked. "We never watched The Princess Bride right?"

"Is that one of those cartoon Disney movies?"

"That answers my question. The Princess Bride it is," she nodded.

"This was the best Valentine's day I think I've ever had," Sharon said as she snuggled closer to Steve.

"I'm really glad to hear that because I was a little out of my depth with this. I never did this before," he said.

"It was perfect," she said, kissing his cheek. "I know I've been nervous that we don't work as a normal couple, but I think we proved me wrong."

"I've been worried too, Natasha said we're two peas in a pod," he said with a laugh. "I think knowing we'll be in the same place long term makes it real, but this is real for me, it always has been."

"For me too," she said. "It's just new. I think we were still kind of operating how we did when we were on the run. Planning the next short visit, going about our days as normal. Now it's like we're both free and in the same city. It's an adjustment. I never really did the relationship thing before, it just never worked. I really want this to work."

"Me too. You're who I want to spend my life with," he said and Sharon felt her heart warm. "I'm glad I didn't completely mess up tonight."

"You went above and beyond," she said. "We haven't spent a lot of time together lately, and it just being the two of us tonight was really special."

"Agreed," he said, turning his head to kiss her fully on the lips.

Steve lifted Sharon with one arm so he could shift their positions on the couch. He laid her down gently and hovered over her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders to pull him back down for a kiss. They stayed like that for a few minutes, making out on the couch like a couple of teenagers, until he felt Sharon starting to shift against him more.

"Steve," she said breathlessly. "I'm ready to speed things up a little in our relationship if you are."

"Are you sure?"

"I want this, I want you," she said, shifting her hips up against his to emphasize her point.

"You know if we do this, Natasha wins the bet," Steve said as he continued to kiss down Sharon's neck.

"I'll text her in the morning and make her give me half," Sharon said breathlessly. "Steve, please."

"As you wish," Steve said as he scooped her up in his arms and all but ran into the bedroom.

happy wednesday! let me know what you guys thought of this chapter :)

i have this story pretty much done, we're looking at about 12 or 13 chapters (if i can get inspired for a good final chapter).