Steve kept trying to catch her eye in the car on the drive to where the procedure would take place. As a result, he was trying to chat with Peggy since Natasha was blatantly ignoring him and proving that despite everything, he still couldn't talk to women.
Peggy was staring at him after his last disastrous paragraph. "You really don't have any idea how to talk to women, do you?"
Steve turned pink and looked up just in time to catch Nat looking at him. She quickly winked and shot him a sweet grin. He visibly relaxed seeing that she was okay and evidently had no regrets about last night. When the car stopped outside an antique store, he got curious. "What are we doing here?"
"Follow me please," Peggy ordered. The two of them diligently did as she asked and wandered inside.
The old woman greeted Peggy while Nat quickly grabbed Steve's hand and pulled him close. "I'm really proud of you," she whispered in his ear then dropped his hand and stood looking very professional as the old woman activated a hidden door on the back wall of the shop. The women put Steve between them to walk through the doors and down a long corridor to the lab.
When they crossed through into the lab, Natasha immediately waved to Dr. Erskine. He smiled at her then unobtrusively opened his shirt so she could see the vest. The relief on her face was evident to him and he wondered why.
Peggy and Steve were already half way down a flight of stairs to the main floor. Natasha hurried to keep up. All around her equipment and machines buzzed and hummed. There was an attractive man in his twenties who seemed to be adjusting dials and switches on one of the control panels. He looked very familiar. Suddenly it hit her, that was Howard Stark, Tony's father.
She moved close to Dr. Erskine as he told Steve to remove his hat, tie and shirt. "Where is the serum?"
"Right here," He opened a large case to show her thirteen vials of an electric blue liquid. "Twelve of these will be inserted in the machine and will be injected into Steven to start the process."
"What happens with the thirteenth one?"
"That is just a spare."
"May I have it please? For posterity?" Nat grinned at him.
"Of course you may, Agent Rushman. I am assuming that you want it for your friends at the SSR. Since we are all on the same side, I have no problem with it." Dr. Erskine said.
"I promise not to sell it to any Nazis," she told him and he grinned back at her.
She slipped the vial into her bra when no one was looking. This time, they were going to maintain control of this and not lose it to a rogue Hydra spy. She'd studied the file, read the witness statements of what had gone wrong in the Project Rebirth lab that day and intended to keep it from being destroyed.
Steve lay back on the table. He looked much smaller and more fragile in the over sized equipment. Nat went to him and squeezed his hand. "You're going to be just fine, soldier."
"Thank you, Nat..er..ma'am." Steve remembered they were supposed to be just friends. He didn't look fine, he looked nervous as hell but was very composed. He jumped when a nurse jabbed a needle in his arm and gave him an injection.
"That wasn't so bad." Steve breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was penicillin." Dr. Erskine said dryly and patted Steve's shoulder.
"Agents Rushman and Carter, perhaps you would prefer to be up in the gallery." Erskine suggested.
"Very well," Peggy said and started up.
"You go on, Peggy, I'm going to stay here." Natasha said, looking pointedly at Erskine. He got the hint and dropped the matter. Peggy gave her an odd look then shrugged and went upstairs into the viewing gallery. Natasha could see Colonel Phillips among the throng behind the glass. She stepped back and stayed behind Erskine as much as she could.
Dr. Erskine handed her a pair of goggles wordlessly. She put them on and patted Steve's arm when she hoped no one was looking.
"All right, Mr. Stark, let's begin." Erskine ordered.
Howard pressed some buttons and threw a lever while the nurse placed the vials in the machine. A number of wicked looking rectangular pads with dozens of needles in them descended onto Steve's body. There was a hiss as the fluid was injected into his major muscle groups. Howard pressed another button and the table Steve was on tilted up as huge panels closed over him making a large metal container that looked uncomfortably like a coffin.
A technician hooked what looked like a massive hose into the back of the box Steve was in. Howard looked to Dr. Erskine, who then gave the signal. "Proceed, Mr. Stark."
Howard turned a large valve on one of the panels and a brilliant light crackled through the lab. Natasha instinctively closed her eyes against the brightness. Even with the goggles on, it would knock out her vision the same as a sustained camera flash. She couldn't afford to make a mistake now.
There was a single, drawn out masculine scream from inside the box and Nat thought her heart might just stop. Peggy came barreling out of the gallery, "Shut it down! Shut it down!"
Steve's strong baritone could be heard over the shouting. "NO, WAIT! I CAN DO THIS!"
Nat and Erskine exchanged a glance. She nodded her assent and he turned back to Howard. "Continue, Mr. Stark." And Howard turned the valve to one hundred per cent.
There was a monumental flash of lightening throughout the room which shorted out most of the equipment and shocked several SSR scientists who were standing much to close to the machinery. The metal box containing Steve tipped upright and the steel panels separated to reveal a six foot four inch Super Soldier whose name happened to be Steven Grant Rogers. Natasha couldn't quite stifle her gasp as Dr. Erskine and Howard helped Steve out of the box just as Peggy ran up.
Peggy seemed to be entranced, she stared at Steve open mouthed and for a single instant, reached out and touched his chest before handing him an SSR t-shirt. She seemed to realize what she had done and was now clenching her fist in denial as the rest of the gallery ran into the room. Just as Steve got the shirt on, there was a tremendous explosion from the vacated gallery and shards of broken glass rained down on all of them on the lab floor. Steve instantly shielded Natasha with his body while Howard yanked Peggy to the floor under the edge of the panels to protect them both.
A split second later gun shots rang out. Nat pushed Steve off and with a flick of her wrist, tossed the tiny flash-bang grenade toward the original explosion where it made a hell of a noise and tons more smoke. Staying low, she dove for Dr. Erskine's legs to knock him down out of the line of fire. Someone was swearing loudly in German, then more gunshots and Peggy leaping up to follow the shooter up the stairs, her gun drawn and jacking a round into the chamber as she ran.
Natasha drew her own gun, turning back toward Steve who was leaning over Dr. Erskine on the floor. She scrambled to them just as Erskine was pointing a finger at Steve's chest, then he passed out. Steve's face turned very angry and he was up and out of the room, following Peggy before Nat could stop him. While everyone was focused on picking themselves up and making certain all limbs were intact and without bullet ventilation, she checked Erskine's pulse – he still had one, even with the obvious scorch marks from bullets on his white lab coat. She hoped the vest had held. She slipped the vial of serum and the golden token in his pocket, whispering "Heimdall!" as loudly as she could while scuttling backward out of the range of the coming rainbow light. Erskine's form shimmered and disappeared.
Under cover from the additional smoke, Natasha picked up a razor sharp shard of glass and deliberately nicked her scalp with it then lay on the floor and feigned unconsciousness. All of it had happened in seconds. Hopefully in the confusion no one would remember who did what.
"Miss! Miss! Agent...Rushman!" Howard Stark was shaking her.
Natasha opened her eyes and looked at him blearily. "What happened? There was an explosion...gunshots, I tried to fire..."
"Oh god, you're bleeding. Let me help you." Howard fished a very expensive monogrammed handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it to her scalp wound. Natasha let him help her to her feet where she swayed convincingly enough for him to practically carry her up the stairs to street level. Gunfire was still blazing outside so they opted to hide behind the heavy wooden counter. Sadly they found the body of the old woman who had let Peggy, Nat and Steve in before.
Peggy was brushing her skirt off in the middle of the street amidst a number of exploded and burning cars. Steve was no where in sight.
"Peggy, are you okay?" Natasha ventured.
"I'm fine," Peggy was more pissed off than anything and her accent had become more clipped. "Steve's after the assassin. He saved me from being run down though."
"Shit. I'm going after him then; he's unarmed." Natasha said, holstering her gun.
"No, wait. I've got a car coming around. We'll go after him together." Peggy smiled and squeezed Natasha's shoulder. "Oh my god, what happened to your face?" Peggy noticed she was bleeding.
"Just got cut with some of the shrapnel glass, I guess." Nat said.
"She got knocked out for a second, too." Howard added as he came up behind them.
"Natalie, you must go to hospital and get checked over." Peggy was horrified she'd gotten hurt.
Natasha shook her head, "I'm really okay. It hurts more on my scalp. You know head wounds bleed like crazy. I'll stop in at the medics when we get back to base. Probably will need a couple of stitches."
"Darling, I'm so sorry you were hurt," Peggy's concern was real and very sweet.
"Thank you. I'll be fine."
The car Peggy had ordered pulled up and they all piled in, following the trail of wrecked cars down to the docks to find Steve. When they arrived at the docks everyone was pointing so they went that way. Steve was standing over the body of a man who was frothing at the mouth.
"What happened?" Peggy ran to him first.
"I don't know," Steve said. "It looks like poison. He told me he was the first of many, and that if we kill one, two more will take it's place. Then he bit his tooth and started foaming at the mouth."
"Hydra." Peggy and Natasha chorused, looking at each other. "And most likely a cyanide pill hidden in that tooth from the looks of it," Peggy added.
Steve looked up from the body and saw Nat with half of her face covered with blood. His heart nearly stopped. "Nat...um, Agent Rushman...you're hurt!" He suddenly remembered who else was there as well, "Agent Carter, Mr. Stark? Are you both all right?"
"Yes, Steve, we are all quite fine." Peggy informed him.
He strode over to Natalie, and quickly realized their size differential had significantly changed. He tipped her chin up and studied her face with concern in his blue, blue eyes. Natasha couldn't form words for a moment. Here was her Steve, in all his six foot four inch glory once more. She felt a twinge of guilt. Hopefully when he got over being mad in their real time, they'd be a couple again. And she was betting he would be extremely miffed with her if he wasn't already. Unless he picked Peggy. Then she would quit the Avengers and disappear because she wouldn't be able to stand them being together. It would simply hurt too much.
"You okay?" Steve's rich baritone was in exactly the register it should be and she shivered.
"I'm always all right," Nat said and smirked at him. He frowned at her. It was an unexpected response and she frowned back.
Steve turned to Peggy and Howard but didn't leave Natasha's side. "You're sure you two are all right?"
Peggy nodded assent. Howard was too busy poking through the pockets of the assassin. Steve held out a hand to Peggy, "I'm really sorry, Agent Carter for knocking you down back there."
"It's fine, Steve. I know you were only trying to protect me." She patted his arm distractedly then turned her attention to Howard.
"May I speak with Agent Rushman alone?" Steve asked.
Peggy looked back and forth between Nat and Steve. Nat looked clearly confused as to why he would want to speak to her. Steve looked a bit annoyed. Peggy shrugged, kneeling down to help Howard with his search of the assassin's corpse. "Of course. She's a grown woman, she isn't my subordinate, she can make her own decisions."
"Come on," Steve got hold of her upper arm, gently but firmly and walked around the corner, into an alley where they couldn't be seen from the street.
"What is it, Steve?" Natasha sounded irritable. Her head actually did hurt where she'd stabbed herself and she wanted to get back to base, get sewn up and lie down.
"Natalie, I'm sorry I had to leave you back there. I felt it was important to catch that man for questioning." His wonderful, familiar face was taught and concerned. Nat knew every plane, every angle, every curve of that face by heart. Something wrenched inside her with a longing so deep and so pure that tears came to her eyes.
What. The. Hell. She never cried. Certainly not over what amounted to a little scratch and a boyfriend with hurt feelings back home.
Seeing her eyes well up, Steve was aghast. He pulled her to him, and held her. "It's okay, I'm here, Honey. I'm so sorry you were hurt."
He knelt down on one knee and sat her on the other. Nat was appalled with herself when she wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed. She had a brief flashback to their first meeting on the helicarrier when Steve had come looking for her after the Hulk nearly killed her. He'd been so kind and gentle with her then. Just like he was now.
"Steve, I'm so sorry. I'm usually not like this." She sniffed, fished a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose.
He took the tissue from her and blotted her eyes. His smile was a look of pure love. "Hey now...don't ever apologize for how you feel. Now you listen to me or I'll spank you." His rough silky voice wrapped around her and made her feel safe.
Natalie tried to laugh but it came out more of a choked sob. He had no idea who she was or what she was capable of and here he was threatening to spank her, the infamous Black Widow. It was absolute irony because she was fairly sure that Steve from her time frame who knew exactly what she was and what she was capable of would be promising her the same thing when she got back.
"You could have been killed today, honey. Dr. Erskine...I wish I could have saved him." Steve didn't sound too steady himself about that detail.
"That bomb, Natalie. You got hurt and I had to leave you. I'm sorry that you had to worry about me as well. Peggy nearly got run down by that man and it was just luck that I got there in time. Let's get back to base, get you doctored up and some food in both of us."
Natasha numbly nodded. He set her on her feet then tipped her chin up and kissed her tenderly. He tucked her under his arm to walk her to the waiting car. Peggy and Howard rounded the corner in time to see Steve opening the rear door for Nat and sliding into the back seat next to her.
Howard drove them all back to base where they saw to Natasha's head wound, got cleaned up and got some food. When they checked in to SSR's headquarters, Colonel Phillips was arguing strenuously with Senator Brandt. Steve walked in, keeping a safe distance between himself, Peggy and Nat. Phillips rounded on him telling him that he was going to Alamogordo before stomping off.
Senator Brandt made Steve a better offer: An immediate promotion to Captain and a way to encourage everyone to join in supporting the war effort. Steve looked at Nat and Peggy who were both grinning like fiends. "Thank you, Senator. Any way I can serve my country, is a great honor."
Since Steve was now the new poster boy for Uncle Sam, he was to be immediately sent on a USO tour around the Washington D.C. area while Peggy and Nat were to be sent overseas to do some spying for SSR. There was little time to be together or even say good-bye. Steve was barraged for endless blood draws, and every other biological sample you could think of. The night before she shipped out, Natasha made another clandestine run through the woods around the base. She waited until she saw all Steve's bunk mates heading for the local watering hole.
Slipping up next to Steve's window, she caught his eye and beckoned him to follow her. As he emerged from the barracks he saw her lithe form scampering into the woods on the other side of the road. He pulled his coat collar up and jogged after her. After he entered the woods, he saw her further down a path, leading away from the base and headed toward her. She put a finger to her lips, caught his hand and pulled him along until they were so deep in the trees they couldn't see the lights from the base anymore.
Steve caught her up in his arms and lifted her so she was eye level with him. They hugged each other tightly in the moonlight. "Natalie, god, I've missed you." Steve's sweet baritone was music to her heart.
"I know, I've missed seeing you too." Nat snuggled against him as tightly as she could. It was just nice to be in his arms.
He slid her down his body until her feet were back on the ground. The newness of his form made him curious as to how it would be to really kiss her with the height difference between them. Nat lifted her mouth to his willingly, reaching up on her tip toes to narrow the distance between them. To Steve she felt tiny, delicate and soft in his arms. When he ran his hands down her back and over her arms he could feel hard muscle beneath the silken skin. It was something he hadn't noticed before when they had been more on par with their height.
He caught her mouth in a deep, sensual kiss. As she responded, his body now ignited every protective instinct, every deeply male urge within him. Natasha felt him harden against her stomach and felt herself getting noticeably damp. Breathless, she broke the kiss and looked quickly around. "Over there," she pointed.
Steve scooped her up in his arms and moved to where she indicated. Her weight was negligible to him now. She was slender and lithe but there was strength and power in her too. He carried her to the little glade within a circle of trees. He lay her down and followed her to the soft, dry forest floor, inserting a knee between her thighs and pulling her tightly against him.
She struggled, trying to get a hand between them to remove clothing but he stopped her with a kiss. "I don't know how long it will be before I see you again. I want to enjoy the moments we have if that's okay."
Nat looked up into those mesmerizing blue eyes of his. He was looking at her with so much love and adoration that it nearly choked her up again. She really didn't deserve him. He was a gentleman, a kind, sweet, nice man. His eyes were full of the wonder he'd had their last night in his apartment...and of her last day with him in her own time.
"Okay," she said, and kissed him again. Steve rolled, pulling her on top of him so that she was off the ground. He sat up, dragging her legs around his waist and pressed her close, breathing in the scent of her hair, her perfume, her unique scent.
Natasha smoothed her hands over his muscled back and now broad shoulders. It was as if her hands were thirsty for the sculpt of his body. She ran her tongue over his full lower lip, then inside his mouth, taking her time, enjoying every breath he took. He was rock hard under her butt and it made her wriggle trying to press against him.
"Can you hold me if you stand up?"
"You hardly weigh anything. I'm sure that won't be a problem," he smiled at her.
She scooted off him and took off her pants and underwear while he got to his feet. Reaching out, she opened his trousers pushing them and his briefs just past his hips.
"Put me up against that tree." Steve lifted her and did as she asked, bracing her against a large oak. Nat wrapped her legs over his arms and around his waist then reached down to guide him inside.
"Oh Natalie..." Steve groaned as he seated himself deep in her warm, wet, canal.
"Hold me steady. Just like that." Nat's back was against the rough bark but he was strong enough not to allow her to slip while he drove into her slow and hard.
"I love you, Sweetheart..." His breathing was faster, his hands cupping her bottom.
Natasha clenched tightly over him, wanting to hold him inside her as long as she could. The extra friction she provided brought new enthusiasm to his thrusts. "I love you," she whispered into the shell of his ear.
"Oh god, honey..." His voice deepened to a new timbre.
"Yes, Steve...just like that...more...I need you..." Nat moved with him and he gasped at the additional stimulation. "I need...oh yes..."
Steve took her mouth in a bruising kiss. He quickly found the new rhythm she set, managing to gain a fraction more inside her. She was sucking on his tongue, rocking her hips into every thrust. Suddenly she cried out against his mouth, her body caressing his, pulling him deeper inside as her climax broke. Steve's body shuddered, taking him to heights he never imagined as he poured into her.
As they floated down together, they clung to each other. He stroked her hair, murmuring endearments. She just held him tighter, not wanting any of this to end. Gently, he disengaged from her and tucked everything away. He reached down and retrieved her panties and slacks then held them for her to step into. As she buttoned and zipped everything up, he picked a stray blade of grass from her hair with a chuckle. "We need to find a bed next time."
"That would be optimum." Nat smiled up at him, reaching up and pulling him down for a kiss. Steve held her for a long time, enjoying the kisses, the gentle touching, committing every moment with her to memory.
"Steve, do you feel any different?" She asked him suddenly.
"Taller...but I think I'm still me in here." He smoothed her hair back from her face.
Natalie looked him over for any stray forest scruff, noticing his captain's bars and the SSR insignia that now adorned his lapels and epaulets. "Hey, you outrank me now." She grinned up at him.
Steve laughed, "I guess I do. That means I have to give you an order."
Nat raised an eyebrow at that, "What kind of order do you think I'll follow?"
He raised his own eyebrow and tilted her chin up, "The one where I tell you to take care of yourself until I get there. I will not be understanding if you get hurt. If you get hurt, I'll put you over my knee."
She had to laugh at that. His skinny version couldn't have managed it. In this body however, she might be in trouble. His genuine concern was endearing and so much from this era. "I'll do my best to remain in one piece."
"You'd better." Steve patted her butt for effect and winked at her.
Nat glared at him, "Jesus, help a guy grow a foot and he gets cocky."
Steve laughed at that. "Natalie Rushman, will you be my best girl?"
That stopped her. "Steve? Are you sure you want that?"
"I definitely want that. I want you, Natalie. I love you." Steve took off his dog tags and put them over her neck.
She sighed and looked up into that shy smile that quirked his mouth at the corner. "All right, Steve Rogers. I'll be your best girl. I hope you don't live to regret that."