Chapter 2
Sitting on her hotel bed, Sarah had her mobile phone in hand as she waited for the call to connect.
"Hey!" she waved in the camera as Natasha appeared in the screen.
"Hold on, Sarah." Sarah could see how the phone was put down and she stared at the ceiling of what appeared to be a training room and then she was picked up again. Natasha was wearing a hoodie now and had her earphones in.
The spy smiled in the camera.
"Hi. How are you?"
"Good, good. Just in Switzerland on a conference on human trafficking rings.
"Wow - that sounds depressing."
"Tell me about it - I can't wait to get out of these stuffy meeting rooms and back into the field."
"That's not what I meant." Natasha huffed and took a sip of her water bottle, she just finished her morning routine "I thought you are still benched?"
"The situation in Syria is heating up and we need people down there."
"They want you down there again?" Natasha couldn't believe it "What is your therapist saying?"
"Therapists, Natasha! There are more then one!" Sarah grouches.
Natasha chuckles at that. "What are the therapists saying?"
"Same as always. It might trigger something, it might not. But needs must and it's been over 3 years..." she trailed of slowly and the two women share a look that felt like a hug.
"Anyway." Sarah let out a big sigh "Anything new with you?"
"Nope." Natasha rolled her eyes at her friend, she knew what she wanted to know.
"Oh come on, Nat. Have you still not told him."
"No, and I won't."
"Why not? I think you would be great for each other."
"You get that from the huge amount you spend with him, namely zero?"
"I know you and for you to fall for someone, that person must be pretty damn special. So yes, I trust that your gut can pick the right guy."
"Because my gut was always so right with that."
"You never gave your gut a chance." Sarah pointed out lightly.
"You don't play fair." Natasha grumbled before getting up and making her way to the elevator. Her mobile still held up to continue their conversation. The elevator dinged and Natasha nodded to Bruce already inside.
"Have you seen much of him recently?" Sarah enquires while sipping on her drink.
"Can't talk right now." Natasha hushed with an apologetic smile to the doctor.
"Don't let me disturb you, Natasha." He said kindly.
"No it's fine. It's not important." Natasha shot a grin to her friend.
"Rude!" Could be heard from her headphones.
"I'll call you back." Natasha pushed the end call button.
"Sorry about that." She smiled at Bruce "How are you? I haven't seen you for a couple of days."
"Yeah." The doctor run a hand through his hair "Tony and I are running some experiments to find the sceptre and we thought we got close."
"But?"
"No chance to track it at the moment. I think this needs to be done the classic way."
"Are you calling my methods old fashioned, Bruce?" Natasha laughed. The two stepped out of the elevator and made their way to their respective apartments.
"I...I..."
"It's ok. Some of my methods might be old fashioned but there is a reason why they are called classics." Bruce laughed now as well
"It's been nice having you around, Natasha." He said out of the blue. Nat startled, she didn't expect that from him, especially not with the look in his eyes.
"I feel the same. Having a place to come home to, is a nice pace of change. Do you feel up to working on the lullaby today?" She asked, noticing his tired demeanour.
"This afternoon if that's ok? I like to get some rest before the other guy takes over."
"Sure. I'll see you later." Natasha turned around and made her way to her suite, but not before she turned around and threw a smile over her shoulder. Bruce blushed being caught staring and waved back at her.
In her room she turned the shower on and tried to ring Sarah again, but she didn't pick up. Calculating the time difference in her head, it must be bed time for her friend. She sighed and stepped into the shower, trying to get mentally ready for the afternoon.
Spending time with Bruce was the perfect antidote for Steve, Natasha decided.
Bruce was funny and smart, but understood that not everything was black and white. Making herself a cup of tea, she pondered her situation, surely she couldn't love Steve, if she didn't mind thinking about Bruce at the same time.
"Are you reading tea leaves now?" A voice appeared next to her ear, and before she could stop herself she pushed her knife right inbetween the fingers of a hand next to her.
Natasha turned her head "Dammit, Steve! Don't sneak up on me!"
Captain America looked between his hand and his friend, the knife still vibrating slightly from the force Natasha had used.
"Remind me to never wake you up either! Don't want to loose an eye on top of a finger."
"Dont be a baby." Natasha teased back "if i wanted you to loose a finger you would have."
"That's so comforting, Tasha."
Steve Rogers smiled at her, he didn't realise how much he missed her. He drew her into a quick hug, before hopping up on the counter next to the knife. Natasha took a steadying breath, she didn't except Steve to be home that soon, she thought she had a couple more days to clear her head and sort these pesky things called feelings. But here he sat in all his glory, feet dangling while taking her sip from her tea.
"Hey! That's my tea, Rogers." she scolded before liberating her cup, cradling it closely.
"And a delicious one. Is this a special kind?" Steve smacked his lips.
'What the heck was going on with him...did he hit his head ? Or is he flirting with me?' Natasha regraded Steve closely while holding her up her side of the conversation up, being a master spy had its advantages.
Over the next couple of days Natasha could not figure out Steve's behaviour, one moment he was so attentive, almost flirting and it was hard not reciprocate, but the next moment he was cold and distance. She tried to remove herself from the situation as much as she could, but Steve popped up everywhere, didn't he had leads to chase to find his friend.
"Miss Romanoff, Captain Rogers." The British accent of JARVIS sounded through the tower "Mr Stark would like to speak to you, when you have a moment. He is in his laboratory."
"Icecicle, Romanoff!" Tony greeted them both as they stepped through the door "Blueberries?" He thrust the bag in their direction.
"Our genius was outshining itself again." the billionaire grinned "Brucie and I managed to get reading on some of the Chitauri weapons."
"That's great, Tony." Steve took the StarkPad that the inventor thrust at him and started reading.
"Where did you locate it, Bruce?" Natasha leaned on the lab table, bestowing the scientist with a big smile. Anything to get the tingling out of her spine, that seemed to appear anytime Cap was close to her.
"And today's price behind door number 3, is a trip to ... London." Tony exclaimed "JARVIS has scheduled wheels up in 30. You both better pack quickly."
"Both?!" Steve exclaimed "You mean me and Natasha, both?" His shock was apparent.
"Any issues, Cap." Natasha said coldly, was it that horrendous to spend some time with her?
"No." Steve shook his head quickly "No issues at all."
"Wonderful. I have to pack. I see you downstairs in 20 minutes." She turned on her heel and strode out of the lab. "Everything alright, Capsicle?" Tony looked at him closely.
Steve shook his head "Yeah, Yeah...just haven't been in London in a while."
"I'd call 70 years a while too. You better hurry, soldier. The way Natasha looked, she might actually turn in to the black widow and eat her mate if you are late for that jet." Steve smiled weakly at Tony's joke and said his goodbyes before hurrying to his quarters.
"Rogers? Steve what are you looking at?"
Steve had been staring in one direction for a while now and seemed almost spell bound. Natasha followed his line of view, he looked at a woman a few tables away from them and she almost choked on her drink...the woman who had Captain America so fascinated was Sarah. What are the bloody chances.
"Do you want me to introduce you?" She asked, cocking her eyebrow.
"I'm sure she'd love to meet Captain America."
"Natasha, no! We are in the middle of a mission." Steve exclaimed.
"So if we wouldn't be...you would want me to?"
"What...no!" Steve stammered. "She just reminds me of someone...and by the way what would you do? Just go over there and ask her to meet me?"
Natasha swallowed, he's considering...of all her throwing women in his way, he picked Sarah?!
"Yes, that is exactly what I'd do."
"And that would work?" Steve was baffled. Oh boy...he was just way to innocent for this world, Natasha shook her head, he really had no idea how good looking he was. Don't think that, Romanoff, don't go there.
Natasha stood up, and Steve took a double take.
"Natasha, no! Don't do that."
But too late the Russian spy was already on her way over to the girl he had been looking at. Steve sighed, what was he thinking to look at this girl with Natasha here. Of course, she was trying to set him up with her, she kept throwing every available girl first from SHIeLD and now from the Avengers at him. This woman just reminded him of someone, he wasn't interested in her, nobody could hold his attention like Natasha.
He couldn't believe his eyes, Natasha tapped the woman on the shoulder, said something to her gestured towards him, bent down whispered something in her ear and straightened up and winked at him, his mouth fell open. What the fuck! Was it really that easy, by the time he recovered, the woman excused herself from her friends and followed Natasha over to their table.
"Steve, I would like you to meet Sarah. Sarah this is Steve."
He stood up and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you ma'am."
Sarah took his hand and shook it strongly" nice to meet you too, Steve."
"Ok, why don't you sit and down and you two lovebirds talk, while I follow the arms dealer into the back alley he just disappeared to." Natasha stood up and pressed a kiss on Sarah's cheek before leaving the table and the pub.
"NAT..." how could she say something like this in front of a woman none of them knows.
"Relax.", Sarah put her hand on his arm. "Nat knows what she is doing. The guy apparently recognised you, but not her. Next time you might want to hide those muscles." She smirked at him.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Sarah, I think we just got introduced? I heard, that the short term memory is shot once you hit 90."
Steve stared at her, not even recognising the dig at his age.
"I'm a friend of Natasha's." Sarah said quietly "when she noticed you looking at me she thought it was a good idea to throw this guy a curve ball. It's nice to finally meet you."
Sarah smiled at Steve and he still looked at her baffled.
"Who are you, SHIELD, FBI, CIA or MI6?"
"Red Cross."
"What?"
"Nat was right you are a bit slow on the uptake, I mean 70 years on the ice can do that to someone. I work for international Red Cross, that's how I met Natasha."
Steve still couldn't believe it, Natasha had a friend outside of SHIELD? Suddenly they heard a noise and something slammed against the window behind them.
"I think we should make sure Nat isn't killing the dude." Sarah smiled "she mentioned something along the lines of an interrogation."
With that she stood up and turned to one of the many side entrances of the pub. Steve quickly followed her, a civilian involving herself in one of Natasha's fights, couldn't end well.
"Let me, Ma'am." He held the door open for her and pushed her behind me just in the right moment as the black widow send the arms dealer flying in his direction.
"I think that's enough, Romanoff. We still need him to find those chitauri weapons." He held the idiot up by the end of his shirt.
"You are taking all the fun out of this, Rogers." Natasha smirked and landed a right hook in the arm dealers face. She shook out her hand and smiled at Steve before turning towards Sarah
"I'd love to catch up but I have to deal with this piece of shit, but I leave you Rogers here for entertainment, he was quite enamoured with you." Natasha winked at her before cuffing the criminal and pushed him forward to the waiting police.
"Hi!" "Hi!" Steve and Sarah said at the same time and laughed.
"So...Natasha said you were enamoured with me?" Sarah said with a cheeky smile and looped her arm through his.
"Hem...I..."
"Relax, Steve. I'm sure Natasha is meant to be teasing you.", especially as she actually loves you' Sarah finished the sentence in her head. Steve shook his head, and started walking back into the pub.
Turning around to her he opens the door "Yeah sometime you can't tell the difference."
"Well that's just Nat." Sarah shrugged. "Let me tell my friends that I'll be leaving and then we can pick up Nat at Scotland Yard."
Steve could not believe it, Natasha had a friend outside of the avengers. But here he was in a typical Londoner terraced house, looking at pictures on a mantlepiece and she was in those pictures. And she was smiling to boot! Sarah stood next to him and handed him a beer.
"Not easy to reconcile the Black Widow with this Natasha, isn't it."
Before taking a drag of her own beer.
"Yeah." Steve sighed "have you ever seen her as Black Widow?"
Sarah closed her eyes, she didn't like to think about it. Looking at Steve she considered lying, but she couldn't, not when he looked at her with his captain America trusty eyes.
"That's how we met." Before Steve could made her elaborate further, he was intrigued as hell by their friendship, Natasha joined them in the living room
"Now, I'm feeling better. Nothing worse than smelling like an arms dealer." She took Sarah's beer and took a sip.
"You're welcome, hun." Sarah grumbled before getting another one.
"What's the plan for tonight?" Natasha looked at Sarah.
"It's Sunday." Sarah answered matter of factly.
"Downton Abbey time!" Natasha exclaimed. Steve looked confused, had he ever heard Natasha cheer?
"What is Downton Abbey?" Steve looked confused, maybe a weirdly named pub, the two liked to go to.
"Oh, soldier. You are in for a treat." Natasha steered him to the sofa "It's like the good ol' times, you should feel right at home." Steve looked confused, he sat down stiffly on the sofa.
"It's a tv show, Steve." Sarah took pity on him "a period piece, playing in the early 20th Century."
Chuckling at Steve's face "don't worry. We'll take you to some of the best Thai food afterwards."
He smiled gratefully at Sarah - he could eat. "Shush! It's starting." Natasha fixed them both with a glare and Sarah winked at him, before turning her attention to the screen.
Steve kept watching them both, all the way through the show, on their way to the best Thai Place, during dinner and then when Sarah made the bed in the guest room for him. He couldn't figure the two of them out, they were so close to each other. Natasha seemed different too, as soo as they met Sarah, she wasn't cold to him anymore. It was almost like a year ago, when they were on the run together. He missed their closeness. He knew he was part of the issue, trying to find Bucky took a lot of his time and energy and if he was completely honest with himself, he wasn't too sure what he wanted from her. But one thing he knew for sure, he wants to pull Natasha into a hug like Sarah did, without fear of her pulling away. And he wants her to steal his beer and press a kiss to his cheek and not to Sarah's. He groaned and pummelled the pillow.
He wanted her to be that comfortable with him.
xx
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!