A/N: Hi all, hope you enjoyed the last chapter with a glimpse at Steve's point of view. We are gonna stick with Steve for this chapter and try to understand what he is going through as we leave Winter Soldier behind and head to Age of Ultron. In this chapter we will also be meeting my OC Madeline. Her appearance may seem a bit random but you will see... lol. More about Madeline at the end of the chapter! Anyway enough chatting, here is another chapter hope you enjoy! -Cat

Chapter Six

Steve

Then (over a year since Washington) all of a sudden, there she was.

Natasha was wearing a gold gown, the material looked like liquid metal. The neckline was high, right at the base of her neck, but just as a photographer called her name, she turned, and my breath caught in my throat as I see the dress is completely backless. My reaction to her after all this time, is shocking. I find she has the exact same hold on me she always had.

I can't take my eyes off her. She is smiling at Clint, laughing at something he said. Of course, he is her date to the Gala. The Smithsonian has opened a new exhibit as an addition to the Captain America one. It encompasses the whole Avengers team and we are pretty much all here, aside from Thor and Banner.

Her hair is twisted up at the back of her head, a mass of deep red curls, tiny sparks of gold catching the lights every so often in this lighting. I am trying to let her go. She doesn't want me. It's obvious. But I just can't seem to shake her. It's an uncomfortable attraction. Like standing on the edge of a cliff and never quite being able to get my balance. All I want for her is to be happy. And I know, for a fact, that I am not that for her.

"Hot damn!" I glance at Sam, my date for the evening. "Black Widow cleans up!" He says smacking me on the back.

I can't help but chuckle, "She looks nice, if that's what you getting at."

Sam looks at me and raises an eyebrow scoffing, " 'Looks nice?'!" He mocks me, "Man, you must be blind if you think that looks nice. That my friend is life changing."

"Ha!" I bark out a slightly awkward laugh and an older couple walking by glare at me. I clear my throat and I realize Sam is looking at me expectantly, "What?" I ask shrugging, suddenly feeling very confined in my tuxedo.

"That is all you have to say? 'Ha'?"

I shrug again, "Romanoff never looks…. She is always…" I clear my throat feeling warmth creep up the back of my neck. "Yes, she looks good...amazing," I take a breath to try and think of something to say as my new friend holds me under scrutiny. I have no idea what he is after. And in that exact moment, Natasha looks up.

She looks up, across the room, past all the people and her green eyes look directly into mine. A small smile pulls at the corner of her lips as she sees me. As if she is actually genuinely happy to see me. I let my breath escape, "Heart stopping." I say simply, finishing the thought.

"Hehehe!" Sam chuckles, doing some sort of strange shuffle on the spot. I blink away from Natasha to glance at him, he looks up at me smiling, positively giddy. I have no idea what has gotten into him, "Well?" He says, again, expectantly. I really don't know what he expects of me.

"Well, what?" I ask. Surely he doesn't think there is something going on with me and Nat? He's obviously smarter than that.

Sam rolls his eye, letting his shoulder drop in an exaggerated sigh, "Why don't you go over there and just tell her-"

"Ahh, here they are, the conquering heroes!" I send up a silent thank-you as the one and only Tony Stark ambles over and interrupts Sam.

"Tony!" I say brightly, excited to get the conversation as far away from Natasha and Sam's apparent match-making efforts as possible.

"And this must be the amazing Falcon! Looking to join the team, kiddo?" Tony says smiling brightly at Sam.

Sam scoffed, shaking his head, "Nah, I'm just down with the Cap, nothing to crazy for this one." He puts a hand on his chest as he shakes his head.

"Well, no one said we couldn't try and seduce you over to our side," Tony says with a wicked smile on his lips. "We've got a Jet, a nice one, and a tower, amazing entertainment centre!" Sam simply chuckles and shakes his head, "Cap'n," Tony says pretending to salute me. I roll my eyes, "Was wondering if I could steal you away for a moment?"

Sam glares at me from where Tony can't see, but I purposefully do not look in his direction. "Sure thing," I put my hands in my pockets and purposefully walk away from Sam, head down.

"How's your night going?" Tony asks in a pointed way.

I shrug, "Oh, as good as can be expected, being honoured. It never gets more comfortable, you know?"

Tony glances at me, shakes his head, "No, I don't have that issue." I roll my eyes as he walks forward, "Someone here I want you to meet."

My heart skips a beat, oh no. Not Tony too. Suddenly, before I can stop him he is waving across the gala floor and a girl turns around and looks over at us. Oh god, please let the floor just swallow me right now.

She is beautiful, that is a fact. She is wearing a long green gown, that wraps around her petite figure. She has long glossy blonde hair down one shoulder, and big, warm, brown eyes. Her eyes go directly to Tony, barely glancing at me as we come to stand beside her.

"Ah there she is, been looking everywhere for you! Cap'n this is my niece Madeline Wayne, Maddy, this is the one and only Steve Rogers." Tony beams between the two of us, with the same expression he uses when he has just made his own point perfectly.

I glare at Tony, knowing exactly what he is up to. He had mentioned his niece was coming to the Gala, I thought she would be more like a female version of Tony, and that she definitely is not. But then I remember the poor girl is glancing between us, looking slightly surprised, and I realize it isn't her fault my teammates seem to be terrified I am going to die alone, so I smile at her. I reach out and take her hand to shake.

She instantly smiles back at me, "Pleasure to meet you Steve, my uncle had told me great things."

"Ha," I scoff, "I'm not so sure about that, but it's nice of you to say." I say chuckling.

"Oh, Cap, yee of little faith." Tony staggered like he had been hit. I take a deep breath but Madeline seems amused by his antics.

"Your uncle, on the other hand, has not stopped singing your praises." Which is the truth. Tony loves to brag about his prodigy niece, Dr. Wayne.

"Really? How 'bout that."

"Oh," Tony suddenly burst out. "Is that Natasha calling me? Crying out about her undying love for me? Gotta go guys, keep talking, joking, generally having a great time." He nudges me with his elbow as he walks away and it's all I can do not to throttle him, and I can't help but watch him walk away towards Nat.

But then I remember the poor girl in front of me and my head swivels around to look back down at Madeline, "I'm sorry Dr. Wayne, it would seem you are the latest victim of finding me a date, the newest mission for the Avengers evidently." I smile, hoping it comes off bashful, opposed to creepy.

Madeline blinks before blushing, like she hadn't understood what that introduction had meant, "Oh, oh god. Sorry. My Uncle is completely clueless." She shrugged, blushing almost as deeply as I can. Maybe I am not the only lost puppy people are trying to find homes for and I instantly feel empathy towards the girl.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It would seem my team mates are springing women on me, whenever I least expect it. Have to say, I am pretty flattered I have been raised to relative clearance." The joke is received well and she giggles. She really is pretty. Seems nice too, well, as far as super genius Stark's go.

"Honestly that is flattering, when I was seven I told my uncle I had a boyfriend in my grade two class. He flew to the poor guys birthday party and made a big show of blowing up the bouncy castle while holding eye contact with the kid." Madeline sighed, "Oh and please call me Madeline."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, more is coming soon. If you are interested in Madeline or would like to read her side of the night of the gala check out my other story, All Pieced Together, which you can of course find through my profile. It is my other Captain America fanfic, even though it is also a cross over. Hope you check it out and let me know what you think, and please let me know what you think of this chapter and the contrast to the inner dialogues of Steve and Natasha.