The flu was gone, Natasha was well again and today was her first day back at SHIELD. She was utterly confused by the last days. Steve had stayed until last night at her place, sleeping in the same bed as her and taking care of her. She had loved it, she hadn't wanted him to go back to his apartment. She wanted him to stay with her, she'd felt so good and safe with him around her that she'd almost suggested for him to move in. She'd never felt this kind of being safe before, it was strange, but she wanted more of it. She wanted Steve in every way. Not just sexually, no she wanted to do all these stupid couple things with him.

Steve was sitting on his bike and had two iced coffees in his hand when she parked her car next to his Harley in the underground garage. How had he managed to transport them with his bike? One of the coffees was black and the other one looked a lot like a latte. She hoped that one was for her, she loved iced latte with lots of caramel- she had a sweet tooth. Steve gave her a warm smile and she couldn't help but grin back. God, she wanted to drag him into her car, drive back to her place, let him fuck her any way he wanted and then snuggle up to him and watch a movie.

"Hi!"

Natasha pushed her dirty thoughts away. This was not the time and place to think about private things.

"Hi."

"How are you?"

"I'm good." She smiled. "You nursed me back to health. Thank you again."

"Anything for you, Nat. I'd do anything for you." He whispered and a shiver ran down her spine. Do not kiss the daylights out of Steve at SHIELD! He handed her the iced latte. "Just the way you like it. Four pumps of caramel. I don't know how you can drink that stuff."

"Thank you. Years of hard training." She grinned at him and he shook his head in amusement.

They took the elevator and Steve left to change into his uniform. Natasha preferred to wear business attire when she was at the Triskelion and went to her office to get caught up at everything she'd missed in the last days.

Around noon Agent Sitwell called STRIKE into a conference room for a meeting. Steve was already there and saving her a seat next to him. He really looked good in his stealth suit. He slid a cup of coffee over to her.

"No caramel this time, sorry."

She smiled into her cup and waited for the meeting to start. Rumlow, Rollins and the rest of STRIKE came in a few minutes later with Sitwell.

"Good to have you back, Romanoff." Sitwell nodded at her and plugged a USB- stick into the laptop. "Alright guys, two weeks ago we sent Agents Gardner and Diaz to Madrid to investigate this young man- David Rockwell." A photo appeared on the screen behind Sitwell. Rockwell couldn't be older than 23 and looked like a typical nerd. "We have reason to believe that Rockwell managed to synthesize a serum close to Project Rebirth."

Everyone looked at Steve who had his eyes on Sitwell.

"That's not possible. The formula died with Erskine!"

Sitwell shrugged and continued. "It's not a replica. It appears to be a new version and we have reason to believe that he will sell it to the highest bidder. We had last contact with Gardner and Diaz last week. Rockwell went to Harvard and the MIT, he's one of the brightest minds in the world. If someone could make a new formula, it's him."

"So he's the love child of Banner and Stark?" Natasha asked and Rumlow snorted.

"That's one way to phrase it." Sitwell closed his laptop. "I've sent all of you the intel we have so far. We need you to find our agents and the formula and bring them home. Let's hope that no one had their hands on this serum yet." He looked at her. "I hate clichés but this Rockwell doesn't seem to be very experienced. It's best if you try to flirt with him and get him to talk, Agent Romanoff. He frequently visits the library in Madrid. Just run into him or something and buy him a cup of coffee. You know best how to play him."

She nodded and Sitwell left the room. This seemed like an easy mission and she could play Rockwell without him getting hurt. Most men were easily to manipulate and revealed secrets because of their egos.

Steve turned to them. "Okay, quinjet leaves in an hour. Get ready. We may have to engage with enhanced individuals. I need your full attention."

The STRIKE team nodded and got up from their seats. For some reason Rumlow stopped behind her and leaned down to whisper into her ear that wasn't next to Steve.

"A guy like that doesn't know what hit him when you work your magic. He probably comes right in his pants when he sees you. You're so fucking hot."

She really had no idea why Rumlow thought that was something he needed to tell her. She was thinking about scratching his car with her keys or pushing him out of the quinjet on their way to Madrid when Steve suddenly jumped up and pressed Rumlow into the wall behind them. He had his arm on Rumlow's throat and it looked like he was using a lot of his strength. Rumlow might be a Marine but Steve was a super soldier. Rollins and the rest of the gang looked shocked. Rumlow's expression was something between fear and surprise like he didn't think someone would defend her.

"That is no way to talk about your colleague! She's your superior officer, show her some fucking respect! If I ever hear you talk like that to her or any other woman again, we're gonna have a problem, understood?" Steve snarled and put more pressure on Rumlow's throat.

"Understood, sir." He managed to squeak out and after giving him one more stern look Steve released him from his hold. He stepped back and let Rumlow join the rest of STRIKE who hastily left the room.

She was torn between swooning and fuming. No one had ever stood up for her like that before, no one had ever defended her honor and she was touched by that. But she was also fucking pissed. She didn't need a knight in shining armor, she could deal with this on her own. Did he think she was some damsel in distress who needed some man to step up for her? Her angry side won because she was stubborn and proud.

Steve turned to look at her with a sheepish smile when she glared at him. "I can deal with Rumlow on my own, you know!"

"I know that, Nat. I just don't like it when someone talks like that about you! Or any other woman. It's disgusting and disrespectful. No one can talk about you like that."

"I'll see you at the quinjet." She only replied and turned on her heels.

He called after her but she ignored him. Didn't he realize that people would now REALLY talk about them? Captain America defended her honor, they must be sleeping with each other. Didn't he see how much that would hurt his reputation?

The five hour flight to Madrid was awkward to say the least. The STRIKE was bend over their tablets to read the file and Natasha piloted the plane and made it clear to Steve that she didn't want his company in the cockpit. He looked like a kicked puppy and she felt really bad that she put that look on his face but it was for the best.

Rumlow might be intimidated by Steve for now but he would be back to his dickish self in no time and if they now spent time together in the cockpit, Rumlow would use that to spread rumors. Wasn't he trying to get into the pants of that gossip Salky? She would eat this story up and spread it around SHIELD like a wildfire. It wouldn't bother her if there were rumors about her and another agent; she never cared when people thought she and Clint were an item but she didn't want anyone to think she was with Steve. She knew that people didn't say nice things behind her back about her and she didn't want Steve to get dragged into it. He couldn't run around the Triskelion pinning anyone against a wall who said nasty things about her. Her life was so much easier when she didn't have to think about protecting Steve from nasty gossip. But then again, she could understand the way Steve had reacted when Rumlow had said this sexist bullshit. If someone talked about Steve like that, she would probably murder them with a smile on her face. She may have had overreacted, she owed Steve an apology.

The safe house Agents Gardner and Diaz were staying at was empty. No trace that they had been here in the last days. It was already night when they arrived and Natasha was supposed to check out the library the next day to accidentally run into Rockwell. SHIELD provided her with clothes that would make her look like the girl next door. They were about to settle in and get a few hours of sleep when an alarm went off.

"Looks like Gardner and Diaz monitored a factory before they vanished." Steve said after he took a look at the laptop that was beeping."Someone must have tripped off a silent alarm. Suit up, we're checking it out."

They took the quinjet to the factory that was located outside Madrid. Natasha checked her Glocks while Steve gave them orders.

"I'll swipe the area. Rumlow, you and your team enter the building from the front and search for our agents. Na- Romanoff, you go in from the backside and search for Rockwell."

Steve left first and they waited for his signal to follow him. STRIKE made a lot of noise so Natasha could sneak into the back entrance. To her surprise the factory was almost empty. She expected a professional laboratory where they produced the serum but there were only metal tables and assembly belts, she couldn't even tell what kind of factory it was. She could hear how STRIKE was engaged in combat and by the sounds of it, their opponents were enhanced. One punch threw Rollins into her sight, a normal human wasn't strong enough for that.

She heard a noise from downstairs and followed it. The stairs led her to a hallway that was poorly lit. Agents Gardner and Diaz were leaning against a wall and she checked their pulse, but couldn't find any. Fuck! She took a closer look at their bodies and they had to be dead for at least a day. They were too late.

One door in the hallway was a bit open and she could see movements behind it. She pulled her guns out of her thigh holsters and cocked them. The person behind the door seemed to mumble to themselves. She kicked the door open and raised her guns.

"Hands where I can see them."

The person turned around and it was Rockwell who looked even younger in person. Now that she was in the room she could see and smell that multiple boxes were on fire. One box exploded and she was certain that the serum was in those boxes.

"Why are you burning your work?!"

Rockwell raised his hands over his head. He looked like he had cried recently. He looked like a mess in general, he didn't appear like some evil mastermind, more like someone who was in way over their head.

"Because it was a failure. It's not helping people, it's killing them!"

"What do you mean?"

"It's giving them super strength but only for a short period of time and then it's burning them up and killing them. I never wanted that!" He screamed. "I only wanted to help soldiers! My dad was a soldier and he died in combat. I wanted to spare others from that pain."

She believed him, he was way too distraught about the situation to be lying. And he wasn't trying to negotiate a deal with her.

"What about those men upstairs?"

He gave her a dry laugh. "For being so smart I'm a big idiot. I thought they would help me make it and then I could sell it to the DoD but they just wanted the serum for their own agendas. Doesn't matter, they are already as good as dead." He looked at her. "I'm sorry about the agents. I didn't gave them the serum, the others forced them to."

"Okay, I believe you. Now come with me and help SHIELD find this guy so we can stop him and get justice for our people."

He shook his head. "No, I can't go anywhere. People will want to have the formula and I can't withstand torture. I would sing like a canary."

"SHIELD can protect you."

"No, already enough people died because of me!"

She took a step closer to him. "We can help you, kid. Just come with me." She didn't want to hurt him but she would if he didn't come with her willingly.

Then everything happened so fast, the rest of the boxes exploded and Rockwell threw himself on it. The blast threw her out of the room and against the wall. She knocked her head against it but managed to remain conscious. She got up and ran back to the room but she knew without checking that Rockwell was dead.

"Natasha? Natasha, do you copy?" She heard Steve's frantic voice in her comm. "We heard an explosion. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Rockwell is dead. And so are Gardner and Diaz." She looked at Rockwell and felt sorry for him. He had just wanted to help people and then met the wrong kind and now he was dead. Life was so fucking unfair.

The SHIELD office in London sent a cargo plan to bring Agents Gardner and Diaz home. Natasha didn't know why but she insisted that they take Rockwell's body on board as well. The European division of SHIELD would look into the organization that Rockwell had worked with to try find their leader. STRIKE flew the quinjet to DC and she and Steve accompanied the coffins back home.

Steve seemed to be surprised when she sat down next to him. "I'm sorry I snapped at you back in DC."

He gave her a small smile. "No, I'm sorry that I upset you. I know you can handle yourself. I shouldn't have stepped in. I just got so mad when Rumlow said those things to you. You didn't deserve that. You are so much more than your looks."

"So, you agree that I'm fucking hot?" She teased him and he blushed.

" I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He told her and blushed even harder.

She swallowed, she didn't think the conversation would go into such a direction. A lot of men had told her that she was beautiful over the course of her life and there were just empty words, but she knew that Steve meant it genuinely. He didn't say it because he wanted to fuck her or because he wanted to use her. He just wanted her to know that he thought that she was beautiful.

"Thank you."

Steve smiled sheepishly and she didn't know what got into her but she grabbed his hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

"Do you wanna get breakfast when we're back in DC? Should be morning when we're there."

He looked at their hands and then at her. "I'd love that."

He beamed at her and her heart was racing. They held hands the entire flight back to DC, sharing little smiles from time to time. Natasha had never held hands before with a man. The only person she'd ever hold hands with had been Yelena and she'd lost her. Natasha couldn't lose Steve, it would kill her. Her grip on his hand tightened and Steve gave her a worried look.

"Are you okay?"

"I...I don't want to lose you." She whispered barely audible, but she knew that Steve could hear her. What was it about him that made her reveal almost everything to him?

He squeezed her hand. "You won't. I'll always come back to you. And I don't want to lose you, too."

Back at SHIELD, they filled out the forms that needed to be filled out after every mission and left the Triskelion separately. She'd texted Steve the address of her favorite cafe and was kinda excited to have breakfast with Steve. Was this a date?

Stan seemed confused that she wasn't walking into his cafe yet after waving at him through the windows, but Steve wasn't here yet. She signaled Stan that she'd be with him in a moment and then she already heard the engine of Steve's bike. She knew that Stan was watching the scene in front of his cafe with big interest when Natasha gave Steve a hug as a greeting and tried not to purr when he kissed her temple.

"I've never been here before." Steve said when they walked into the cute little cafe.

"You'll love it. I think Stan's about your age. Your real age."

"You're only as old as you feel, young lady." Stan chided playfully. "I don't feel a day over 71. Who is this fella?"

"This is my...This is Steve." What was Steve? Already her boyfriend? No, probably not. They hadn't even sex yet, let alone shared a real kiss. "And this is Stan, the best chef in all of DC."

"Nice to meet you, sir." Steve said politely and shook Stan's hand.

Stan gave him an once over and then smiled. "Likewise. Any friend of Natasha's is welcomed here."

The first rush of guests had already come and gone and there weren't a lot of customers here. They sat down at a table in the back and Natasha told Steve about Stan and this place. The other man came over to take their orders and Steve wanted her to choose his breakfast. She chose two portions of Eggs Benedict for him and shakshuka for herself. Steve had never heard of the dish and she promised him that he could try it.

The food was delicious as always and Steve shared with her that he'd always dreamed about taking his Ma on vacations around the world so she could try other cuisines. According to him, she had loved other cultures and food and had always dreamed about seeing the world.

"You can do it in her place to honor her. I'm sure she would want you to see the world."

"I was in Madrid yesterday."

"That was work, Steve. It doesn't count. You haven't seen anything of the city."

"Yeah, but it's not like I can just take a vacation. Captain America can't do that." He said, but she could see that Steve Rogers would like to take a vacation somewhere.

"You just took a few days off to take care of me." She reminded him.

"That's different."

God, he was so selfless, it drove her mad. He'd only taken the time off because of her, he would have never done it just for himself. And then she had an idea.

"Steve, if I can get us a week off and I promise we'll return to work if they need us, would you come to Tuscany with me?"

"Tuscany?" Steve perked up. "I've never been there. My ma always wanted to go there to try the food. I can't..." He trailed off, torn between what he wanted and his duty.

"Steve, I want to spend a week with you in Tuscany. I know the perfect place for us. Private, view of the Mediterranean sea and a village near with authentic restaurants. Just you and me." She husked out and his pupils dilated. She was playing dirty, but she was doing it for him. He deserved a fucking vacation. She slipped her foot out of her shoe and ran it up his lower leg. "Doesn't that sound amazing, Steve? Just the two of us? All alone in an Italian villa?"

Steve grabbed her ankle when she reached his knee. He ran his thumb over her exposed skin. His eyes dark with want.

"When can we leave, doll?"

She knew in that moment that everything was about to change between them and she wasn't scared. No, she was fucking excited for it.