been a minute since I updated here...apologies. I saw Black Widow and got all sorts of inspired for stuff relating to that, and this sort of fell by the wayside. good news is that I'm back writing a little more often, so hopefully updates won't be quite so far apart now!

enjoy!

"Sorry I'm late," Natasha apologized as she breezed into the training room.

"Don't worry about it," Steve dismissed with a wave of his hand. He'd been enjoying his time working on the punching bag. Most of the training Natasha had him doing lately had been decidedly different from his regular workouts, so a return to the reliable punching bag had been a nice change.

"Got held up in a meeting," she explained while beginning to wrap her hands.

"Not a problem," he assured her. "Was reacquainting myself with this old thing," he replied with a smile as he nodded to the still swaying punching bag.

"Just like old times, huh? How many did you break today?"

He chuckled. "None today. Was just using it as a warm-up."

"I'm sure Hill appreciates you not adding to the training room budget," she joked as she gestured for them to head to the area with the padded mats where they usually trained.

"So," he said with an eager grin, "what are we working on today?"

She shook her head in amusement before she began to warm up. "Not tired of me yet?"

"Not at all," he answered honestly with a shake of his head. It was true. Their sessions had become something to which he very much looked forward. "Besides, I get the feeling we've only just scratched the surface of what you know."

"That is true," she admitted with a grin, "but I wouldn't get your hopes up - I'm not gonna train you in everything I know." He couldn't help the slight frown from creasing his brow. "Don't take it personally," she advised when she spotted his expression. "It's good practice not to reveal all your skills and tricks to your teammates."

"Why?"

"How do you think I managed to beat Barton when he was under Loki's control?" she countered.

He stared at the tape on his hands and adjusted a couple of edges that had peeled up slightly. "I kind of thought you were just a better fighter. He's an archer, after all."

She surprised him by barking out a laugh. "I'm flattered, Rogers. But don't kid yourself, Barton's a halfway decent brawler when he needs to be. Not to mention he's got size and weight on me."

"So, you used things he hadn't seen before?"

She nodded. "We trained together a lot in my early days at SHIELD, but even after all these years he doesn't know everything about my fighting style. I don't know everything about his either."

"Good practice," he repeated her earlier words and she nodded. "Well, obviously even just some of your tips and tricks is more than I know now, so anything you're willing to teach me I'm happy to learn."

She stared at him. "God, you really are that earnest, aren't you?" He grinned sheepishly. "Alright, let's go. Just for that, I'm gonna kick your ass."

They ended up training for a few hours before she called it quits. "Enough for today, yeah?"

He shrugged. He could easily keep going, but he knew super soldier energy wasn't something she had the luxury of. "Sure."

They both headed over to the bench where they'd left their bags and took a seat. She began to unwind the wrapping from her hands, and he followed suit, doing the same.

"Fury's thinking of sending you out on a mission soon," she told him.

He perked up at that news. While he'd been grateful for the time to improve his fighting and begin to get acquainted with modern tactical equipment (and the modern world as a whole), he was a bit antsy to have been out of the field for so long. "Yeah?"

She nodded and hummed in reply. "Mm. It's conditional on my approval though," she said and then looked up to grin at him, letting him know he didn't need to worry about that aspect. "But there is one thing we need to sort out before that can happen."

"What's that?"

She finished unwrapping her other hand and looked at him meaningfully. "Your suit."

"What about it?" he asked with a slight frown. Agent Coulson had said he'd had a hand in designing it, which meant it probably was up to date in terms of materials. Surely they hadn't made that many advances since then?

"Well, it's a bit, uh, loud for our purposes," she explained as she dug through her bag to find her phone before she began scrolling through some messages.

"Served me fine in New York," he defended.

She glanced up before looking back down and tapping out a message on her phone. He marvelled at her ability to keep talking to him and typing out a message at the same time. "Yeah, but stealth wasn't really the focus there. Wearing a bright blue suit isn't gonna be much help keeping you hidden until the team's in position to move in on targets. The sorts of missions we'll be going on don't call for the Captain America presence so much as the Captain America skill set."

That's a fair point, he thought. "Does this mean you want to design my uniform?" he quipped, a smile tugging at his lips.

She looked up and laughed. "Not my department, Cap. But I can introduce you to the folks who handle that kind of stuff for SHIELD if you want "

"Well...maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to talk to them at least," he conceded.

"Or we could casually mention it around Stark and let him design a new prototype for you," she said, a smirk spreading across her face.

He grimaces slightly at the prospect of a metal suit. "Suit of armor isn't really my thing."

"He does more than just that. He's already been bugging me to let him design me an outfit."

"Really?" That surprised him a bit. He knew the man had warmed to the idea of having teammates, but it had sort of seemed like their days as the so-called Avengers were mostly done. At least until the next major emergency, that is. So, it was maybe a touch odd that he'd be so eager to outfit Natasha with an outfit that would surely be expensive and technologically based in some way. Then again, there was a lot about Tony Stark that Steve didn't understand.

"Yeah, I said no though."

"Why?"

"Because I don't feel like being ogled." She paused for a beat. "Again."

Steve frowned deeply. He knew of Stark's reputation, but never figured he'd do anything of the sort to one of his teammates or someone he knew professionally. "What do you mean again?"

She chuckled and he was a bit taken aback at her casual attitude about it. "I went undercover at SI not long after he declared himself Iron Man to the world. SHIELD found out his previous iteration of his arc reactor was killing him."

Steve blinked as he digested that information. "Undercover as what?"

"His PA."

"PA? What is that?"

"Personal assistant."

"Oh, like a secretary?"

"Yeah, but they don't really call them that anymore."

His cheeks flushed red briefly. "Sorry."

"You are adorable, you know that? It's absolutely tooth-rotting how polite you are."

He shrugged. "So, he ogled you when you were working for him?" he asked to confirm, getting them back on topic.

"Only when I first met him. He couldn't help himself from looking at my modelling photos."

Steve frowned in confusion. "You were a model? When? Before you joined SHIELD?"

"I was undercover, Steve. That involves crafting a believable and, in this case, enticing backstory as well."

"Right," he said, feeling a bit dumb for having assumed. "So, he ogled pictures of you, um-"

"In lingerie? Yes."

He swallowed in discomfort. "And you were okay with that?"

She shrugged. "I'm used to it. And it was necessary for the mission."

"Due respect, but that's not what I asked."

She eyed him appraisingly for a moment. "You really are a boy scout, aren't you?"

"Are good manners just a boy scout thing now?"

"More often than you'd think, unfortunately," she answered. "Yes, I was okay with it. It's a part of what I do, and a far cry from what I used to have to do before I joined SHIELD."

Steve's brow furrowed minutely. He didn't know much about her, other than that she was a talented spy and assassin. He assumed that meant some less than savoury tactics...but the way she phrased it made him wonder if whoever had been her employer previously had forced those things on her? The unopened file on her sitting in the secure box in his apartment flickered into his mind. He hadn't read it and didn't intend to. He'd learned what he'd needed to know about her first-hand in New York while fighting aliens.

"Besides, he's totally and completely in love with Pepper. He wouldn't have made a move."

"Pepper..." Steve echoed as he searched for why he recognized the name. "Pepper Potts? She works with him, right?"

Natasha nodded. "Yeah, she's his former PA. She runs SI now."

"Wow, that's quite the promotion."

"Believe me, it was earned. I don't know how she's put up with Tony all these years and not put out a hit on him. She's well qualified, too - not in the traditional sense mind you, but still more qualified than many CEOs out there nowadays."

Steve just nodded, unsure of how to respond to that.

"She's nice. You should go to one of Tony's parties that I know he keeps inviting you to. I'll introduce you to her."

He shifted uncomfortably. Parties were not really his thing. Especially with the rich and famous folks that were likely to attend one hosted by Tony Stark. He'd hoped his days of having to schmooze politicians and social "elites" were long gone.

"They're not so bad. I go whenever I'm around. If nothing else, the booze is good."

"Due respect, but I suspect my face is going to attract a lot more attention than yours."

She stared at him, a touch of a challenge in her expression. "Are you saying I'm not pretty?"

"I- Well, no, that's not what I meant," he rushed to correct himself. He really hadn't meant to shove his foot in his mouth. "You're, uh, very beautiful of course. And I'm sure that would catch the attention of many men-" he paused for a beat then added hastily, "or ladies!"

Her expression relaxed as she laughed. "Relax, I'm just teasing. You're right you would probably be the focal point. Though after the whole aliens in New York thing even I can't attend these parties without someone finding me."

"Being recognized now?"

"A lot more than I used to, yeah."

"That a problem for your job?"

She shrugged. "I'm doing less undercover work now and more shadow infiltration, so it doesn't matter as much."

"Does that bother you?"

"Not really. It just uses my skill set in a different way. Plus, this way I get to experiment with some new takedowns. Not the worst thing in the world to not have to go undercover anymore."

Steve nodded in understanding. He supposed constantly going undercover would probably wear on a person. It wasn't something he was at all familiar with, but he supposed Peggy probably would have understood.

They were quiet for a moment as they each finished gathering their things to head to the respective locker rooms.

"You don't think a new suit would be too much trouble, do you?" Steve asked finally, breaking the silence.

She stood up and looked down at him. "Oh, believe me they'll fall all over themselves to make it. Let's go tomorrow after training in the morning. Raul should be there."

"Raul?"

"He's the best. He did some custom work on some arrowheads for Clint a while back and helped me upgrade my widow's bites. Gave me a nice suit upgrade then too. Come to think of it, I might be due for a new suit myself. We'll see if they've got any fancy new materials to use."

"You're sure?"

She waved off his concern. "You're on SHIELD's payroll now. Being provided with the proper equipment is a part of your contract."

so...we all love slightly innocent and earnest Steve, right?

do let me know your thoughts. always cool to see what everyone thinks.

more to come!