A/N: Hello again! I am extremely happy that my work hasn't gone unnoticed and I'd like to give my warm regards to those who liked (Eroc901 The Clean Up Man, The Crowned Prince, croooll, Dragon Reverb and dhnysports88) and followed (Jedibeta19 and also Prince) my previous chapter – Guys you are amazing. It is so cool to have readers.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. All rights to Marvel Cinematic Universe, etc.


CHAPTER 2: Revenants

My secret side I keep hid under lock and key
I keep it caged but I can't control it
Cause if I let him out he'll tear me up, break me down
Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end?

- Skillet, "Monster"


She walks down the dimly lit corridor, passing by multiple closed doors. They are all white, without handles, each one of them marked with a single red star.

She walks down the corridor and sees another door at the end of it. This one, however, is black and cracked open. Her pace quickens and she begins to run. The door seems as if it was shrinking and she concentrates her will as much as possible and finally reaches the far end of the hallway.

She hesitantly grabs the handle, not being sure why she has such terrible feeling about this, and opens the door in one swift move. She is standing in a small room, lit only by one flickering light bulb hanging from the dirty ceiling. And then she looks down on the ground and spots a dead body lying face down. She recognizes characteristic navy-blue, white and red uniform and blonde hair. The corpse is surrounded by a pool of crimson blood, which seems to be flowing towards her. Horrified by this sight she quickly retreats to the door... But it is gone. Just a solid, bare, concrete wall.

Suddenly she feels a weight in her right hand so she looks down and realizes what she is holding – an assassin's knife, its serrated blade stained with carmine droplets. She shakes uncontrollably and starts to scream...


"NATASHA!" She abruptly woke up grabbing a pair of Glocks 17M from under the pillow and pointing them at frightened Steve who was standing by her bed.

"Hey, Natasha, it's just me!" Steve exclaimed with worry in his eyes and arms lifted in the air.

"Steve...?" She asked quizzically. "I'm sorry..." Natasha put the guns away to Steve's relief and cupped her head in her hands.

"Is everything okay? I heard you screaming, JARVIS almost called the ambulance." Steve asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, just had a bad dream. Don't worry about it." Natasha replied not wanting to talk about the nightmare. She wasn't ready for that. Frankly she doubted she would ever be – her demons were not to be seen and she intended to keep it that way.

Steve was still unconvinced but didn't question her further, knowing how stubborn Black Widow can be. Instead he walked up to the window and slid the curtains open. It was a beautiful sunny morning and redhead spy immediately felt better, feeling warm sun on her face.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost seven. I made breakfast for you if you like." he said.

"That sounds nice. I'll be in the kitchen in ten minutes." she replied, getting up from the bed. Steve blushed heavily as she was wearing a loose white shirt, with black sporty underwear beneath it. Natasha grinned while he exited the room clumsily, closing the door behind him.


"My God, these taste heavenly." Natasha muttered with mouth full of homemade raspberry pancakes with vanilla and cinnamon. They were on the communal floor, Natasha sitting at the kitchen table, while Steve stood at the stove. She had to admit that he looked extremely attractive in white, tight T-shirt with SSR logo on it, especially while cooking.

"There must be something about men who can cook after all." She thought to herself.

The soldier just smiled at Natasha and returned to preparing a new portion of his specialty, when he saw Thor striding into the kitchen.

"Lady Natasha, Captain. I welcome thee on this beautiful day." Blonde god said stifling a yawn. Natasha and Steve nodded at him as Thor took his seat at the kitchen table.

"I took into consideration that our Midgardian portions are insufficient for Asgardians so I prepared an extra-large one for you, Thor." Steve said handling Thor a giant heap of pancakes. Norse god eyed up all the happiness that was currently on his plate.

"Steven you truly deserve a title of the lord." Thor said and immediately began to wolf down the meal to Steve's amusement.

"Please don't say it when Tony is in the same room. It'll be a disaster." Steve said, checking if there wasn't any billionaire geniuses skulking around. Thor only managed to let out a husky growl as his mouth was full to such extent, that even Natasha was impressed that he was still able to produce any sounds.

"Where did you learn to cook like that?" Natasha asked, as she has just finished eating. "Those were delicious."

"At my old apartment in Brooklyn. I was so weak and sickly that I couldn't play much outside with other kids so instead I would watch my mother cooking. When you cook you don't get an asthma attack." Steve smiled with a mix of sadness and modesty on his face. "In time I picked up a thing or two."

"Captain you must visit Asgard and teach Odin's finest chefs to prepare these divine..." Thor finally swallowed and was able to construct full sentences.

"Pancakes?" Natasha finished and Thor nodded.

"Thank you, Lady Natasha. These pancakes would be a formidable asset to my father's feasts." Thor boomed with a wide smile.

"I will consider that." Steve chuckled and smiled as he saw Bruce Banner walking into the kitchen. Doctor was already fully dressed with glasses on and had a book in his hand with a long title combining words physics, quantum and thermonuclear far more often than it should be.

"Good morning, everyone. I was working at the lab but JARVIS mentioned some divine pancakes being prepared so I came to investigate." He said with a smile.

And so other Avengers started to come in. There was always a strict order in which they would wake up. First one was of course Steve – thanks to his military training he would always wake up around 6.00 am. Then Natasha and Bruce, Thor, Clint and finally Tony and Pepper. They would gather at the communal floor and collectively eat breakfast, then scatter around the tower to attend their duties.

"We're gonna need a lot more pancakes." Steve said and saw Thor giving him the widest smile possible.


After the breakfast Steve went on his routine, morning run around the city. As a child he wasn't able to run for more than a few minutes before getting an asthma attack or gripe, but now he loved spending time with fresh air in his lungs, especially in Central Park when it was early and not overcrowded.

Venturing further into the verdant alleys, he ran feeling free of everyday bustle. After an hour of heavy exertion around the park he finally stopped by a large oak and took a break. Then he heard a familiar voice.

"On your left."

Cap turned and smiled as he saw his good friend Sam Wilson, also wearing a sporting outfit and panting heavily.

"Hi Sam." Steve said shaking Falcon's hand. "Doing a little bit of exercise I see."

Sam just shook his head. "You're a beast Captain. I tried to catch up to you, but you must have made at least forty laps."

Steve grinned. "Forty two."

"Cheater." Sam mumbled and Steve chuckled.

"Anyway I see you're back from your mission in Italy. How was that?" Cap asked politely.

"Well apart from the nasty little Hydra base near Rome and a scar on my butt, nothing special. Details about Italian women I intend to keep to myself." Sam said with a grin on his face.

They both laughed and then Falcon got a call on his cell phone, which he handed to Steve after a few minutes.

"Cap, it's Fury." Steve nodded and took the phone.

"Yes, sir?" he said.

"Captain Rogers, I've got a new assignment for you." Fury stated.

"But sir, I was told I could take the rest of the month off..." Steve frowned.

"I know Captain, however you are one of my best agents and this particular mission requires the attention of Captain America. We will discuss details later."

"Okay, sir. What should I do?"

"Suit up and be ready to leave NYC in two hours. Don't take your shield, it will be provided separately so you won't draw more attention than is necessary. I'll send agent Carter to pick you up. And Captain?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Take Agent Romanoff with you. You'll need an assistance."

Steve rolled his eyes. Great. Sharon and Natasha loathed each other and having them both in a confined space sounded like a suicide. Steve was the only one who could stop them from killing each other on sight.

"On my way, sir." Steve said and Fury ended the call.

"You still don't carry a phone around, do you?" Sam asked curiously, as Steve gave his phone back.

"Nope. I guess old habits die hard." Steve shrugged his shoulders. "Back in 1945 I didn't have a phone."

Sam just smiled. He kept forgetting that Cap was 95 years old and while the neo-nazis didn't scared him at all – modern technology certainly did.

"Another mission, huh? Isn't that like the third one in this month?"

"It is. Honestly I was hoping for a little break recently. Been working almost non-stop." Cap sighed. "And yes super-soldiers can get tired."

"Well I hope it's gonna be interesting." Sam said.

"It sure will. Natasha comes with me." Steve replied and blushed a little. He has been on a few missions with her before, but now, after she comforted him he felt vulnerable and exposed.

"Oh, I see. Well, don't screw it." Sam said smirking at his friend. "And I'm not talking about the mission now. "

He winked at Steve, who blushed even further.

"She's just a friend." Cap mumbled.

"Oh yeah, keep telling that to yourself. Anyway are you finished with running for today? I want to know if I have any chance to beat you."

"Yes. I need to get prepared for my mission." Steve nodded and exhaled deeply. "As for you I would exercise more if you like to make more than 10 laps."

"Show-off." muttered Sam with a grin on his face and shook his friends hand. "Good luck, Cap."

"Thanks, Sam."


Steve returned to the Avengers Tower and packed his clothes and personal items. Then he went to Natasha's room and found her lying on the sofa and reading a book he recommended her earlier.

"Hi Steve." She greeted him without raising her eyes from the text.

"Fury wants us at the helicarrier in an hour. We've got a new mission." Steve said. "Pack your things, we'll be leaving soon."

She sighed and closed the book. "So much for the free time."

"I know, Fury promised we will get a month off but he called me while I was on my morning run and told me to come with you. I guess it's rather important one if he's sending us both there. I'm sorry." Steve gave her an apologetic smile.

She nodded and began to pack her clothes and weapons. Steve returned to his room and walked into the shower. He used to take cold showers back in the army in order to toughen up but now he could not stand it. The reason for that was probably that he spend 70 years in ice and had enough of the cold, forever.

After he finished washing his body, he brushed his teeth and combed his hair making a perfect 40s style parting. Whistling, he wrapped a towel around his waist, opened the door to the bathroom… and almost jumped out of his skin. The towel fell of course onto the ground to Steve's embarrassment.

Behind the door stood Natasha, grinning, with one hand holding a bag and another one on her hip.

"Oh uh, it's you Natasha…" Steve said, blushing heavily and quickly grabbing his trousers. "I see uh, you're ready to go."

"I am Rogers. I'm gonna wait at the helipad. See you in a minute."

Steve nodded and Natasha strutted out of his room.

"What was that? Why does she tease me?" Steve thought to himself as he was dressing up. His outfit comprised of black skinny jeans, plain white t-shirt, leather jacket and sporty shoes. He felt stupid in those modern clothes but he preferred them over Tony's comments that he dresses like a grandpa.

"Captain Rogers, agent Carter will be at the Tower in five minutes." JARVIS spoke up.

"Thanks for the tip, JARVIS." Steve replied and grabbed his bags. Now he had to ensure that Natasha and Sharon won't claw each other eyes out on their way to the helicarrier.


Just as Steve joined Natasha on the 77th floor of the Avengers Tower, agent Carter arrived at the helipad in S.H.I.E.L.D. quinjet.

"Hi Steve." She said smiling at him.

"Hi Sharon. How are you?" Steve asked politely putting his and Natasha's luggage in a locker.

"Great. Not every day you have a chance to escort Captain America in your own quinjet." She said with a suggestive smirk. Then her expression changed to hateful one, as she saw the redhead spy entering the vehicle.

"Shut it, Carter. It's not a date." Natasha snarled at her, making sure to brush against Steve's chest as she was passing by. He coloured a little.

"Oh, It's you." Sharon said grudgingly.

Steve exhaled deeply. Here we go again.

"Natasha, Sharon please don't kill each other or otherwise I will have to explain myself to Fury." Steve said in a perplexed tone.

"I'll try, Cap." Sharon replied and began to fire the engines of the quinjet. Soon the machine rised into the sky and flew out of the NYC.

Natasha still glared at her. "This bitch. She likes him only for his looks, that's pathetic. There is so much more to him than just…"

"Natasha, you okay?" Steve asked with his baby blue eyes concerned.

She just nodded and looked outside the small window of the quinjet. She has just realized that she felt jealous of Steve Rogers and it enraged her.

"I'm so screwed right now" She thought to herself, trying not to look at him.


"Agent Romanoff. Captain." Fury nodded, as redhead spy and super soldier entered his office. "Once again I must apologize for interrupting your vacation, but I trust you are the only agents who will handle this mission properly."

"What do we have to do, sir?" Steve asked simply and to the point.

Fury tossed a folder on the table in front of him and Natasha quickly grabbed it and began to read.

"We have intel on a high-ranking Spanish official who happens to be a Hydra agent." Replied Fury. "He is particularly troublesome as he is responsible for smuggling weapons and other Hydra members to Argentina."

Steve let out a quiet sigh. There was a time when he thought that Hydra was destroyed once and for all when he sank Schmidt's plane into the waters of the Arctic. And then, after being recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D., he learned that not only Hydra existed, but also it managed to infiltrate most of the countries and still posed a significant threat to international peace.

"Aarón Ignacio Alcala? Didn't he participate in last winter election?" Natasha asked.

"He did. Fortunately he didn't get the president's seat or it would be a disaster." Fury replied. "I would like you to find him in Barcelona and make sure he will not pose any more problems."

Steve scowled, as he was disgusted by killing. He opened his mouth but Fury interrupted immediately:

"I know Cap, you are not fond of killing, but this man has innocent blood on his hands. He must be eliminated."

Steve nodded in agreement. What other choice did he have?

"Very well. You will go there by an ordinary plane. We don't want to draw excess attention. The same goes for your shield Cap, it will be provided for you separately, and for your weapons Romanoff. Here are your tickets."

Fury tossed Steve an envelope with two tickets. Second class.

"Additional information is in the folder. You are dismissed." Fury said and opened the door of his office, showing them that they should be going.

Steve and Natasha left the helicarrier and went directly to the airport. As they were driven there by an unknown S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, the redhead spy smirked at Steve.

"Looks like we're back in business."

"Can't say I like it." Steve replied looking outside his window.

"Don't say that or I will think that you don't like going on missions with me." Natasha joked.

"It's not that." Steve sighed. "I died once fighting Hydra and lost 70 years of my life. I don't want that to happen again."

"It's okay Steve, we can take care of ourselves."

"No doubt. Still I have a bad feeling about this…"


The plane took off at 2.00 PM. Steve and Natasha were sitting at the back of the plane posing as a newly married couple. Cap felt nervous about it and he had a fair reason to be – Natasha intimidated him with her wit, intellect, humour, confidence, beauty… He could go on all day about it, not to mention the fact that he was just terrible at pretending someone he wasn't. Honesty was in his blood and this all undercover spying thing was simply uncomfortable. However Fury didn't mind that at all and kept sending Steve on various missions anyway.

Steve looked at the spy, peacefully sleeping with her head on his shoulder. He sighed and took out a sketchbook and started to draw the magnificent landscape outside the window.


The flight was peaceful without any turbulence and they landed safely seven hours later at Aeroporto Nacional de Barcelona, located in a small municipality El Prat de Llobregat.

"Natasha wake up. We're here." Steve gently shook redhead spy, who was sleeping for past three hours.

She opened her eyes and yawned. Steve stood up and took out their bags from overhead compartment. They disembarked the aircraft and headed for the luggage claim.

"I was wondering how did you manage to hide your knives and all those pointy things I wouldn't like to see up close?" Steve asked with curiosity.

She chuckled quietly. "My knives are made out of undetectable hyper-resistant alloy and thanks to Stark and a little hacking device my check-out goes smoothly."

Steve scratched his head. "I guess my shield wouldn't be that easy to smuggle, huh?"

"That's why your precious frisbee is already waiting for you in the hotel." Natasha smiled. "Clint saw to that while going on a mission to Bulgaria."

"Hey, I like that frisbee." Steve said with feigned offence in his voice.

They waited for a few minutes until Steve finally spotted Natasha's luggage. She wanted to take it but he was faster.

"You don't have to be a gentleman around me Rogers, you know that." She said with a slightly irritated but also amused expression.

"But I will." Steve simply replied and smiled shyly.

She rolled her eyes and strutted towards the exit with a super-soldier by her side.


The airport was quite far from the centre of Barcelona so they took a taxi. One hour later they finally arrived at their hotel – San Domingo – which was tucked between an old tenement building and a small bookstore.

Natasha checked-in and took care of formalities as she spoke Spanish fluently. Now, the hotel staff would know them as Mr. and Ms. Robbins and officially they were here for sightseeing which was actually nothing special at all and that was just what a spy and super-soldier needed to remain unnoticed.

Steve took all of their luggage upstairs, to the apartment number 11. It was quite spacious with a separate bedroom, a living room connected with well-supplied kitchen, little bathroom with shower and a balcony. There were also a radio and TV as well as large blue sofa. The walls were painted peach orange and decorated with pictures of local monuments.

"It's much better than I thought." Natasha said, looking around. "I think Fury thought about newly married couple is it right Mr. Robbins?"

"It is. Maybe we can actually go sightseeing." Steve said looking out of the window at illuminated Sagrada Familia in the distance. They were on the third floor and the church could be seen from their little apartment with ease.

"You don't like undercover missions, do you?" Natasha asked tossing her bags in the bedroom.

"Not really. I don't fancy pretending someone else." He said. "Plus I have a bad feeling about this mission."

"Everything is gonna be fine Steve." She replied and then smirked. "Don't you worry, I'm looking after you."

He smiled back at her and began to unpack.

"Oh and by the way I'm going for that king-sized bed over there." She said pointing the bedroom.

Steve shrugged his shoulders. "That's alright. I'll take the sofa then."

"The bed is large enough for us both, Steve." Natasha said not looking at him.

"I think I must insist." Steve replied, blushing heavily.

"Always the gentleman, huh?" The redhead spy grinned. "Well suit yourself, Rogers. If you need me, you know where to look."

She was amused to see him blushing even more than it was possible. Gosh she just loved making him uncomfortable.

"In that case I'm gonna take a shower." She said and headed to bathroom.


Later that night Steve was awoken by a quiet sounds of sobbing. As a soldier he was able to fall asleep quickly but that was usually a light sleep and he could wake up in a seconds.

Natasha was crying.

His mind raced so quickly that he almost forgot where he is. She never cried, at least not in his presence. Steve perceived her as strong, independent, brave woman and knew that she wasn't easily taken over by emotions. Frankly he thought it was impossible, thanks to The Red Room.

He looked at his watch lying on the table and realized it was 3.37 AM. It was still dark outside and he was just standing there, not knowing what to do. She always rejected emotions, especially if it made her look vulnerable or weak; he didn't know whether he should check up on her or not.

Steve stood up and walked to the kitchen table, poured a glass of cold water and went to Natasha's room. He quietly knocked on the door.

"Are you okay?"

The sobbing stopped. Silence.

"Natasha, is everything alright?"

Silence again. He sighed and scratched his head. He should leave her alone, he knew that. The silence was a signal for him to go back to bed. But he wasn't going to comply.

"Natasha, I'm coming in." he said and quietly entered her room.

She was lying on bed, curled up, her fiery red hair tangled from sleep, shimmering in the moonlight coming from the window. He approached her and put the glass of water on the nightstand. He sat beside her just as she did once, and asked gently:

"You want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, not looking in his direction. God she hated herself for letting Steve see her crying.

"Nightmares, am I right?" he asked with concern in his voice. It was the second time this week he found out that Natasha had nightmares. The redhead spy didn't answer.

"Well that should be rather obvious. After what she went through in the ranks of the Red Room…" he thought to himself looking at her.

"There's water on the nightstand. If you need anything I'll be in the living room." Steve said and stood up. He was almost to the door when she called him back.

"Steve?"

"Yes?"

"Could you stay with me tonight?" She asked so quietly, that he was almost unable to made out what she meant.

"Of course." He said blushing a bit. Fortunately Natasha didn't see anything in the dark room.

He lay down beside her, keeping a tactful space between them. They lay there for almost an hour in silence when Natasha suddenly scooted over to him and snuggled next to him, taking Steve aback.

"It's okay Natasha." He whispered into her ear and stroke her hair. "I'm here."


A/N: That's it for today Guys (or yesterday)! I intend to post my chapters once a week, so keep your eyes peeled for more. If you enjoyed my chapter leave a review, It's always welcome. See you next time, goodbye! WS