They eat and drink until the plates are cleared, sides and deserts demolished, the second bottle of vodka is empty and they're well into the third.
She bids Mikey a tearful farewell and wanders out onto the roof top terrace, vodka bottle in hand.
Mikey gives him a knowing smile as he follows her out into the night air.
She slips off her shoes and slides them into pockets concealed in her skirt "Ready for option two?"
"Option two?"
"Travelling without being seen" She jumps a little to grab the edge of the roof above them, then swings out into space, up and suddenly out of sight. It's so sudden and unexpected it's like she just vanished.
Steve studies the roof, picking a sturdy spot and pulls himself up after her.
She's pacing barefoot over the rain slick roof tiles, as sure footed as a goat.
"Most places don't have cameras on the roof tops, so they're a good way to get around. Londoners rarely look up so if you move fast they may just catch a flicker of movement, blame it on a pigeon. Avoid bank rooftops, those will be alarmed. We can jump roof to roof and never be seen."
"There's a bank on the corner of Piccadilly, and that streets too wide even for us to jump"
"True, but we'll be saved by the spirit of Christmas"
"Christmas?"
"They put up Christmas decorations across the street, and the steel support cables are already in place. Fancy a tightrope walk?"
"You're joking, right?" She gives him a devilish grin and hands him the vodka "you're not joking"
"How are you moving so fast over these roofs?"
She lifts one stocking clad foot and he can make out a pattern of ridges and treads faintly on the sole.
"Adhesive foot pads, thin enough to wear in heels, cut proof and high traction"
"You planned this?"
"I thought it'd be fun if the night went well" She winks. "Roof top fun to get the adrenaline going."
He makes a playful grab at her but she dances away, impossibly nimble. He drops into a crouch and leaps after her, chasing her over the rooftops. Ahead a great chasm looms, five storeys deep , lit by the glow of car headlights and shop fronts. She doesn't hesitate, just runs at the edge at full speed and leaps into space. Steve stops dead, watching her seem to hang in mid-air then drop out if sight.
Heart in his throat he dives for the edge only to see her reappear, running on thin air and leaping onto the building opposite.
Focusing he can see the cable now, a thin line near invisible in the night. She was playing with him alright, teasing him and testing his abilities, not just his balance but his resolve.
He backs up a few steps then takes off at a sprint, trusting in speed and momentum to see him across. He leaps almost half way across the road, his boot finding the cable and he bends his knees as it flexes, second and third strides then he throws himself at the building in front of him, catching the parapet and vaulting up.
She's standing there, watching him with amusement so he uses his momentum to dive towards her, grabbing hold and knocking her down, pinning her too the rooftop. Her eyes go wide with surprise as he pauses a moment, holding her down, then kisses her hard, her lips burning with the taste of vodka.
"That was insane. Let's go back the easy way next time"
"Yes sir" She answers mischievously
"I know that look, already planning something. Am I going to have to keep you on a leash?"
"You know, maybe you should. I might like it" She strokes her throat "I daydream about that sometimes, you know? It's why I always like to stick close to you in fire-fights, it's where I know I'm safest."
He looks at her, bemused by her confession. She's right, if they're working together she's always taking up a spot two steps back and one left of his position, he's never told her to but it has happened automatically, it simply feels right and they work together well. All the times he's known where she was, when he needed to shield her with his Shield or his body, when to duck to give her a clear field of fire. They work together with some sort of instinctive rapport.
"you know, I think I might" He looks thoughtfully at her "So, how do you see this working? I tried googling it but that just opened a whole side of the internet I'm not ready for. I'm glad you showed me how to use Incognito mode! It seems rather twisted and bizarre"
Arm in arm they stroll thoughtfully across the last few rooftops.
She explains "first, don't trust everything on the internet, there's a lot of rubbish and craziness out there. Stick with what feels right for you"
"Having power over you feels good. Being in charge. The way you go are so eager to please me. I don't get why people need all the restraints and causing pain though."
"You ever been told something but not seen it? You know it intellectually but haven't experienced it. That's why, it's not just thinking you have power over someone, it's undeniable proof of it, of tying someone so they can't move, making them helpless and proving you have total power over them"
"That kind of makes sense, but it sounds like something I need to try out to understand"
"We can start easy, I've some handcuffs in my bag."
"We both know you've had your thumb sockets altered so you can narrow your hand and slip cuffs"
She pouts "but it still hurts a bit!"
"So do you enjoy being tied up?"
"It's complicated. Look, you have an instinctive goodness in you, a kindness and understanding. Empathy. I don't. I'm not sure if i was born without it or if it was cut out of my brain or just broken by trauma or drugs or the training, but I don't feel it and I don't care."
"But you are a good person. A caring person. I've seen it in you."
"I try to be, but it's not instinct. I have to think and choose each time, to will myself to do the right thing. I am not good by nature, I try to be by choice. I helps to have a reminder, a token, a compass to steer myself by. I had the Iron hand of the Red Room to guide me but they wanted me to only bring pain and death. But I had rules and goals and approval and I was content, in a way. But I saw through that, got free, made my own way. I had Hawkeye, he showed me freedom and for that I'm forever grateful, but he had to make his own path. I had Fury to guide me for a while, he looked after me and showed me how to protect things of value, how to make the world a better place. But he lied to me and that really hurt. Hurt more than i like to think about"
They're over the narrow light well with the Hotels front door. Nimble as a mountain goat she jumps down to a window ledge, across to a pipe, back to a bricked up window.
Steve just shrugs and steps off, dropping past her to land in a crouch on the cobblestones.
He turns and holds up his hands and she drops down into them.
"Hold me up to a higher standard. Show me I belong to you. Reward me when I'm good, punish me if I'm bad, have power over me and use it wisely. Make me want to be better. Make me want to be worthy of you."
She wraps her arms around his neck
"You know, you should be asking what you get out of this. But you're too nice a guy. But you don't have to be. Be mean. Take charge. Enjoy yourself, I won't break; you know I'm tougher than I look. You get my service, my devotion, my submission, open, honest, willing. Needing."
He locks eyes with her and the torrent of words dies on her lips
"Hush"
She blinks in surprise, but nods silently in acquiescence.
"Good girl."
That brings a smile to her face
"I think I get it. Now let's enjoy the rest of the night"