Lying on the grass still damp from the dew and staring back quizzically at the familiar pair of gorgeous emerald eyes above him, Steve finds himself at a loss for words or explanations.
A warm tongue appears out of nowhere and sluggishly runs across his face. He looks sideways at the dog leaning over the side of his face.
Her features relax and she smiles.
"Looks like you got your kiss after all," she jokes then motions to the dog to move away. "Come on, Riley."
He doesn't know what to think right now but he can see Natasha genuinely doesn't recognize him. Or is it really Natasha? His emotions might have made him jump the gun. But before he allows disappointment to take hold of him and brushes hope away, he needs to investigate and find out who that woman is.
"I'm sorry," he shakes his head vehemently and gets on his feet. "I thought —"
"No harm done," she brushes it off with a wave of the hand. "Are you here to have a room?"
He pats his hands over the back of his arms and looks up at her with a slightly surprised expression. Then he remembers…the guesthouse.
"Yes," he trails off. "I haven't made any reservation, though."
It makes her smile. "We don't do this, here. It's not like we need to, anyway. It's pretty quiet around here, you'll get to see."
A bird endorses it by singing loudly across the quiet meadow.
"Follow me?" she asks.
For her? Anywhere across the entire universe. He opens the door of the car and reaches for his bag. They head towards the porch where the paint on the fence is crackled all over; the wooden floor moans loudly as he steps on it. There is a wicker bench with a small round side table next to it. A few plant pots are lying at the end of the fence and along the floor against it.
She opens the door in a creaking sound and he is not surprised when he catches sight of the paper pinned on it which reads a handyman is wanted.
The atmosphere is inside is slightly different: old but in a quaint and cozy way. She goes straight up the stairs, down a long hall.
"This is Mrs. Miller's room," she points casually a door as she walks past it. "Lovely lady, although a little too outspoken for my sanity. Don't worry about making noise, she's a heavy sleeper."
She finally stops to the last door and opens it. A bright room with light blue wallpaper, a King Size bed with a predominant navy-blue handmade quilt lying across the end of it — "quite fitting", he thinks ironically.
"Breakfast is at 8. Dinner is at 7," she recites with natural easiness as he steps inside and looks around. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything," she adds.
He spins his head around with a mildly disconcerted expression. Part of him is afraid of losing her again; the other half is anxious to keep her in his sight, always.
"What's your name?" she asks.
He gazes her intently. The scene feels bittersweet.
"Steve," he answers. Steve will be enough for now.
"I hope you'll enjoy your stay with us, Steve."
"Thank you…," he pauses.
Natasha smiles at him. "Katherine," she says.
He nods to himself and watches her close the door of his room before disappearing.
He's missing her again ten minutes later but represses the urge to go downstairs as he fears she will definitely label him a creep if he does.
He paces around the room instead of trying to make sense of the whole situation.
His patience comes to an end two hours later and he goes down to the living room. He finds an elderly woman sitting on the sofa in the patio, drinking herbal tea.
The woman, with elegant and soft features, witnesses of her beauty in her youth, and grey hair styled in a pixie haircut, takes her eyes off her book and probes him with a smile in the corner of her mouth.
"Hello, handsome," she says assertively.
He pauses behind the armchair across from her.
"Pretty sure he has a name, Eliza," her approaching voice echoes from another room. Natasha —Katherine— walks in, carrying a tray with a teapot. She pours him a cup as he sits down in the armchair.
The elderly woman shrugs nonchalantly. "I doubt it'll be as spot-on."
"My name is Steve," he says quickly as Katherine pours more tea into the woman's mug.
Eliza raises an eyebrow and shoots a winning look at her. "Didn't I tell you so?"
He laughs nervously. Two pairs of eyes look in his direction.
The woman stretches her hand out to him.
"You'll have to excuse me, we don't get many people around here, and those who have preceded you weren't such a riveting sight. My name's Eliza Miller, as you might have guessed by now, I'm a blunt, grumpy retired woman, too old for societal manners imposed by our rigorous Republican government, itself born from the English Empire."
Eliza eyes him intently. He blinks then reaches over to shake her hand.
Katherine rolls her eyes and quickly fills in the awkward silence. "She's kidding."
"I presume the tea is in sign of protest?" he comments with a smile.
"Well," Eliza says as she holds her mug. "The English did leave some good things behind."
She then turns to look up at Katherine still standing beside her. "I like him. Can we keep him?"
"You've lived here for long?" he asks Eliza over dinner.
The three of them are gathered around the large rectangle table. He is sitting across from Katherine, while Eliza is at the head next to them.
"I grew up here," Eliza answers. "When I married Robert, I made him move here with me. He left the city for me, and I'm sure he was grateful to me for it although he was too stubborn to admit it."
He and Katherine smile. "I'm not one of those delusional, blind to the truth, sentimental people, though. This poor house is slowly falling apart and there's too much that needs to be done. I'm thankful to have Katherine to help."
Katherine smiles sheepishly. "Anyone would like more pasta?" she asks.
"Katherine doesn't like to be praised."
"That's because I would rather have a pay raise," she teases.
"And I told you sweetie that I can only pay you with compliments. So please do accept them gracefully."
Steve and Katherine chuckle.
"After the second Snap, I was all alone here, and Katherine's arrival was like a blessing for the business. And in my life."
He takes mental notes of this valuable piece of information. He wants to ask more but he somewhat feels Katherine is keeping an eye on him.
After dinner, he gets up and thanks the ladies for their company. While Katherine goes to tidy up the kitchen, he purloins her butter knife and hides it behind his back before rushing upstairs.
Back in his room, he uses his phone to scan the object for fingerprints and sends it to Friday. Now it is only a matter of hours before he gets the results. He sits on the edge of the bed and breathes out heavily.
He dreads the outcome of the situation.
He does not find sleep that night.
The next morning, he is down for breakfast slightly before 8. He sits at the kitchen and watches Katherine as she is turning off the coffee machine. She is wearing black jeans with a white top and an open checked shirt on top of it.
She flips around at the sound of the stool, grabs the jug of coffee, puts a mug in front of him before pouring the hot liquid in it.
"Good morning, Mr. Intense." She says with a smile.
"Steve," he answers.
Katherine props her shoulder on the counter and leans on her chin. He almost burns his tongue sipping the coffee.
"I know, but I like Mr. Intense better." She eyes him intently. "So what did you come here for? I take it it's not to discover the area."
He arches an eyebrow. "Why not?"
She shrugs. "I don't know…a hunch. Also your car and your shiny shoes. You don't look like the type of person who's come for a budget break."
"I came here to find someone," he says.
She looks intrigued and her eyes seem to light up. "Friend? Family?"
"Both. It's complicated," he pauses. "Perhaps you can help?"
Katherine smiles earnestly and stands back up straight. "I won't be of much help. I'm not the best-suited person."
"Because you're new in the area?"
"Maybe. I don't know," she laughs nervously. "It's a long and weird story."
"I've got time," he says with an earnest gaze.
"I…," she begins, scratching the inside of her lower arm. "I woke up in the middle of the woods without any memory. Since it was after the Second Snap, it was assumed that I was one of the dusted. A few bills were put around but nobody came forward. I needed a job and I was told about this place. And voilà."
She smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes. She is so anxious to avoid eye contact she doesn't notice his eyes are gleaming.
"I'm so sorry," he murmurs softly. "It mustn't have been easy."
He knows he has been right to believe it is her all along. His eyes can recognize her anywhere, even when hers don't recognize him back.
"It happens. The sheriff said my relatives probably moved elsewhere during the five-year gap but I doubt it. I think I've always been alone."
He furrows his brows.
"Why?"
She diligently wipes the sink with the sponge. "Because they would have come back for me right after the Second Snap. They would have tried everything in their power to find me."
He wants to reach for her hand and hold it. He wants to pull her in and kiss her ardently for every second he has missed her. He wants her to feel loved and wanted.
"That's why I was a Jane Doe," she finishes, turning back to him with a perfectly crafted smile. "Except Jane was boring, so I went for Katherine instead. Katherine Doe."
"How do you feel about not knowing who you were? You didn't try to go and look for answers yourself?"
She turns her attention back on the pancake pan.
"I don't consider myself unlucky. There are sadder stories — we are all dealing with it in our own ways. I like it here. Maybe I was not much of a traveler in my former life. Maybe I am just where I belong."
She smiles and serves the hot pancakes with syrup and Eliza calls her name upstairs. He watches her leave the kitchen and hers her footsteps on the creaking staircase.
His phone beeps inside his pocket. He takes it out and freezes as he looks at the screen. His eyes fill up with tears and he buries his chin into his palm, as the dripping faucet fills in the silence in the kitchen.
FINGERPRINT SCAN: 100% MATCH
"It has been cleansed and made anew before departing," Red Skulls said and he misunderstood the meaning of the words. Her soul has not departed to another dimension, it had already left Vormir when he got there.
Katherine uses the old red Chevy to go and run some errands. Riley barking outside a couple of hours later informs him that she has returned.
When she steps in with her grocery bag, she seems to shine brighter. He has no doubt that the woman standing here is his teammate, his loyal friend, and the girl he loves.
He clears his throat nervously. "Can we talk?"
She looks at him with a candid smile — he can see how Katherine's smiles are different from Natasha. He can see how her eyes no longer carry the sorrow that haunted Nat's. Her soul is lighter indeed. Relieved. Released from a heavy burden.
"Sure. Do you mind accompanying as I take Riley for a walk?"
He nods. They walk in silence for many minutes until they reach a large lake whose surface glitters under the sunlight. Finding the right words turn out to be more difficult than he thought, regardless of the two hours he had to get prepared.
She is patiently waiting, watching Riley run ahead then back with the same enthusiasm and energy.
"I said before that I came here to find someone," he begins. "And I have found that person. It's you."
He pauses and turns to face her. She eyes him with a puzzled look.
"I know who you are. And I know how you got here."
She probes him for a while and her eyes fill up with tears.
"Your name is Natasha Romanoff and you're an Avenger," he breathes out. "And you are my friend."
Her red hair shines under the warm sunlight.
"Maybe there is confusion. I doubt I'm an Avenger."
He looks at her with an unwavering expression. "You are. And you saved us all. We won because of you. You were never one of the dusted and I'm sorry it took me so long to find you. We were sure we had lost you forever."
She puts her hand over her stomach. "Ok. That is a lot to take in." She looks at her surroundings as if she's feeling it fade away in front of her.
"Why did I wake up here, then?" she asks.
He shakes his head. "I don't know."
She insists to know how everything happened. Steve goes through the painful events of Vormir and her noble sacrifice. She listens with great attention and heightened emotions which, he notices, wane shortly after. It seems to him she is bottling up everything and storing it as far away from her as possible.
She says she wants to go back to the house. The whole walk back, she doesn't a word and he watches her with muffled concern out of the corner of his eye. When they make it back inside, she rushes to her room upstairs and stays in there for hours.
When he goes to the dining room for dinner, the meal is ready but she is absent. Eliza says she went to bed early — she seems unaware of the whole situation.
After dinner, he walks past her room and stands there for a minute, hesitant to knock. He respects her decision and goes to his bed with a sullen heart.
The next morning, he finds her playing with Riley outside. She seems to be her lively and carefree self again. He comes out to speak to her.
"How are you doing?" he asks.
"I'm ok, I guess."
He nods.
"The arrangements can be made in a matter of hours to go back to the compound."
She stops playing with the dog. "I don't want to go to the compound."
"Of course, I understand. I can book you a hotel if you're not comfortable to—"
"I don't want to go back there," she corrects in a decisive voice.
"But it's your home. I think it will do you good to see everyone and Clint. It will help you remember."
"Well that's the ting," she says. "I don't think I'll remember, and I'm saying this beyond the whole outer space Soul Stone magic involved. I don't want to remember."
He walks down the stairs of the porch. "What? Why?"
She sighs and looks at him. "Look at me. Look at my life. I am nothing like the super spy the world knows. I'm a completely different person. Romanoff…she scares me."
"You're a hero. You died to save half the Universe. We never would have won without you."
"And I some googling and read the files. She has done terrible things," she pauses, "I have done terrible things."
"And you have done everything to make up for it," he defends her. He has witnessed Natasha buy her redemption on too many occasions to let it be overlooked by anyone — even herself. "You worked hard to become a better person."
"Exactly," she retorts. "From what you've told me all I ever wanted was to wipe off the red on my ledger and I paid the price for it to happen. And now it seems the Universe has given me a second chance, a clean slate. So tell me, Rogers, why would I want to go back to battling my old demons? I paid my due and was offered a new start. This is why I woke up here —not in New York— so far away from the avenging world. I'm sure you can see it, too, how it cannot be a coincidence."
It's true — he's been wondering the same thing since he got here.
"We don't know how the Soul stone works," he attempts with a noticeable lack of certainty.
"I deserve peace, now. Call it my retirement," she finishes.
Honking echoes from the path and a tall, dark man with lean figure steps out of the car and beams at her.
"Kate," the man calls her with a wave.
She heads off towards him.
"Natasha," Steve whispers.
She shoots him a hard look. "It's Katherine, now."
She turns around with a flipped expression. She walks up to the man with a serene smile. As she comes up to him, he leans in and plants a kiss on her lips with she receives in a routine way.
Both depart, leaving Steve as his world shatters around him.