Steve parachuted down, unbuckled the rigging and started looking for Natasha. He hadn't gone far when an arm snaked out from behind a tree and yanked him back. He spun, shield up, ready to smash the enemy in the face and discovered Natasha crouched down and pointing. He looked and saw a convoy of trucks approaching on a nearby road. He'd nearly walked out onto it.

She raised a finger to her lips for him to be still. There was a full moon out and he could see her quite clearly. What the hell was she wearing? Nat had decided that her 21st Century spyware was best for a night time black ops and had taken off her uniform. The skin tight black leather suit fit her curvy form like a glove. She had duel pistols strapped to her thighs and what appeared to be a utility belt around her slender waist. She looked small, very dangerous and sexy as hell.

Steve felt desire slam into him like a freight train. Mentally he shook himself. This was not the time nor the place for any thoughts but his mission of rescuing the men. Natasha was completely oblivious to his reaction. She was studying the trucks, mentally counting their possible troop capacity, noting that the rear truck was riding higher than the fore trucks. She signaled Steve again for quiet then beckoned him to follow as she began her run toward the back of the last truck.

It didn't occur to her to see if he followed. She leaped lightly onto the back bumper then vaulted inside. When Steve joined her less than ten seconds later, the two German soldiers were dead and Nat was stuffing her garrote back into her belt.

He stared at her, "Did they teach you that in Agent training?"

"Something like that," Nat had a smug smile on her face.

"You are a handful, young lady." Steve pulled her to him and kissed her. As he ran his hands over her, he discovered she was very heavily armed despite the tightness of the suit.

Natasha pulled back and smiled up at him, "You mean I'm still asking for trouble?"

"You had better not ever attempt a stunt like that again." Steve admonished her.

"Or, what?" Nat goaded him. It was better if he were mad at her instead of mooning over her right now. He needed to focus.

"Keep pushing and you'll find out." Okay, bossy Steve was actually pretty hot. The censure in his voice tweaked at some issues in her psyche.

"Oh baby, I like trouble." Nat breathed in her most sultry voice as she hopped up, grabbed the cross beam on the back of the truck and swung out.

Steve's heart was in his throat as he quickly followed her. He moved fast for a man his size and he caught up with her just as she leaped into the middle of six heavily armed German guards. Within seconds, she had spun, kicked, flipped, garroted and stabbed all of them. He stared at the damage she had inflicted open mouthed. She kept walking without looking back. She stopped when she got to a high wall.

"Which way?" She whispered.

He pointed up in answer. She nodded and took a small gun out of a back holster hidden under her hair, aimed it at the wall and fired. There was a quiet puff and the rope attached at the top with an adamantine hook. A little future tech that he didn't need to know about. Nat shimmied up the rope then reached down to give him a hand up.

He took a run at the wall, hit it about half way and grabbed her hand. She yanked and he pushed with a foot. Instantly he was next to her on the top.

"Go." She said impatiently.

Steve moved off, taking a direct route across the top of the wall then leaping over to some shipping containers and across another barrier. Natasha landed a half a breath behind him.

"Orders, Cap?"

He turned to look at her in disbelief. "NOW you want to take my orders?" He glared at her.

"You're the strategist and tactician, I'm the spy and the killer. Tell me what you want."

"Follow me; stay close."

She watched him with his shield in one hand and his side arm in the other. It looked odd since it was the old style shield and not the circular vibranium one she was used to him carrying.

Nat wanted so badly to tell him that she trusted his leadership and judgment in combat. That she had willingly followed him dozens of times and he had never steered her or the other Avengers wrong. He couldn't know her true purpose. The fact that she was going to have to leave him and go back to her own time, knowing that he was going into the ice for seventy years after literally saving millions of people wrenched at her heart.

She angrily wiped the tears out of her eyes and kept close to him as he'd asked. The few guards they encountered were quickly neutralized by his shield or her skills. Steve darted into a building and she followed. It was immediately apparent that it was a detention block. He made short work out of two of the guards inside the door, plucking their keys from their belts and tossing a set to Nat.

"Get these cells open. I'll have them follow you out of here. I'll meet you in the clearing where we landed. I'm going to sweep the compound and see if there are any more."

He went down one side and she went down the other. Soon all the prisoners were released. One of them came forward, "Who are you?"

"I'm Captain America," Steve said. "Follow her out of here, kill anything in your path; get tanks, trucks, whatever we can hijack."

They all stared at Natasha. "Come on boys, it's a long way home." She beckoned them and they dutifully followed her.

Steve asked some of the men if there were any others on site. They told him about a building which no one ever returned from and he headed that way. Inside he found a map with strategic targets marked. He committed as much as he could to memory then heard what sounded like a voice coming from nearby.

He rounded a corner and saw to his horror, a man strapped to a metal table. As he came up to release him, he saw it was Bucky. "Bucky! Oh my god!"

Steve used his shield to free his friend and helped him down. "Bucky, it's me, Steve."

"Steve?"

"Come on, I've got to get you out of here."

"I thought you were shorter."

"I joined the army."

Natasha waited with the former prisoners and all the equipment they'd managed to steal at the rendezvous point. She was pacing, waiting for any sign that Steve had gotten out okay. It was obvious that she knew he had but it didn't make the moment any less nerve racking. Soon she could dimly make out two figures on the road. One was tall and straight, the other slouched and dragging his feet. Her heart leaped with joy but she kept quiet and melted back into the shadows.

As soon as Steve joined them with Bucky, he put his friend in one of the trucks. "Lets go. The sooner we are out of here the better. We can camp for the night a couple of miles ahead."

They all obeyed him without question, even Natasha. She walked beside and a little behind him, not sure if he was even speaking to her at the moment.

"Hey," she said, "Are you okay?"

"I found Bucky." Steve said.

"That's wonderful, is he okay?" She knew he wasn't but that was information she couldn't share.

"He will be with some food and rest," Steve answered without looking at her.

She decided not to press, they'd be stopping for the night soon enough. As they walked, she was pondering a lot of things. She knew when and how Bucky died. Would it be better to whisk him off now? Would Steve be able to handle the situation on the train without backup from his best friend? What if Steve fell? No, that was too terrible to think about. Vaguely she wondered if Heimdall's token would work mid-air. What if Bucky fell and she leaped out after him? Would Heimdall be able to snatch them literally out of the jaws of death? If she and Bucky died would Steve be able to handle it in either time frame?

Steve stopped dead in the road and turned to call a halt. Natasha, her mind on other things, ran smack into him. Steve steadied her with a gloved hand, his expression unreadable. "Everyone off the road; tanks and trucks over there where the ground looks solid. Everyone else, get comfortable and rest. If you've got rations to share, spread them around. We leave at first light."

They whole company moved at his command. Steve turned his attention back to Natasha. "Agent Rushman, come with me, I need a thorough debriefing on what happened in the Hydra base." He said it loudly enough for the men to hear.

He kept his hand on her shoulder and marched her deeper into the woods. Setting up camp with trucks and tanks makes a lot of noise so their progress through the forest was muffled. There was a large fallen log up ahead. Steve steered her to it, sat down and regarded her with a steely gaze. She'd seen that look before when he and Tony were arguing on the helicarrier back in her own time.

"Natalie, I want an explanation from you for tonight. Jumping out of the plane against my orders; those clothes you are wearing, your fighting abilities and equipment. It's obvious there is a lot you are not telling me."

What the hell had happened to her sweet, adoring Steve? Extra testosterone since his conversion? "Are you reprimanding me? Why? Because I could handle myself despite your preconceived idea of what a woman is capable of?" She crossed her arms and glared at him.

Steve's frown deepened. He ached to hold her. He wanted to impress on her that it was his job to keep her safe and that she needed to follow his orders to the letter on the battlefield. Also, she was lying to him. That much was very clear with her evasive deflection. They both continued to glare at each other.

Nat finally spoke. "The phrase you're looking for is, 'Thank you for your help and having my back, Natalie.'"

When he didn't respond right away, she said, "Fine. You want to spend time out here chastising me instead of kissing me? Have it your way."

She turned and started back the way they'd come, her back ramrod straight. Steve caught her before she'd gone three steps. He spun her around and pulled her into a tight embrace. He was shocked when he drew back to look at her and found tears in her eyes. She was trembling in his arms. What he didn't recognize was that she was angry and the tears were from frustration.

"Sweetheart...what?" His concern and confusion were real. Natalie realized she had made a tactical error. She'd given too much of herself away. There was no way in hell she could explain it truthfully without disastrous consequences. Time for another deflection.

"Steve, there is no way I can tell you everything I know. I am in the espionage division of the SSR. I would appreciate it if you would just trust me for a change and recognize my help when I can give it."

Her voice was cold and level despite the tears in her eyes.

Realization dawned for him then. She was right. He was a soldier, she was a spy. She really couldn't tell him everything despite his higher rank. She was also right that he had handled this badly. Well, he was new at this being a Captain and being a boyfriend thing.

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart, you're right. I shouldn't have questioned your motives."

"Don't call me that when you just chewed my ass." Natasha said, standing absolutely still in the circle of his arms.

"Natalie, I was terrified you would be killed when you jumped. I let that cloud my judgment. Can you forgive me?"

"Fine." She said after a long pause, giving him a halfhearted pat on the back. If he'd really known her he would have recognized that a one word answer from her was a warning. Her Steve would have known.

"Really?" Steve's gloved hand cupped her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. He had a gentle smile and his eyes weren't angry anymore.

She knocked his hand away, "I said, fine."

He kissed her then because he didn't know what else to do. His mouth was soft on hers, gently urging her lips apart. Natasha resisted for a moment, then let him in. The change was immediate when he felt her thaw. Pulling her tightly against him, Steve kissed her thoroughly until they were clinging to each other a little breathy from desire.

"I love you, Sweetheart. Please be as patient with me as you want me to be with you." Steve kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair, pleased that she was leaning against him with her arms around his waist. He never wanted her to be without the shelter of his arms.

Natasha sighed. He was right, she needed to remember that just a short time ago he could hardly speak to her without stammering, also he wasn't actually the Steve she knew. Now, they were both facing a possible court martial when they got back to the base and Phillips got a hold of them. "I love you too."