After they got home, Nat fessed up that she hadn't been kidding about the train and Bucky. She also admitted to forgetting the S.H.I.E.L.D. detail and being overwhelmed about it. "Thank the gods that Peggy had her shit together. I think it just hit me how much I could have really fucked everything up."

Steve sat and listened to her until she was done. "I'm glad you finally decided to tell me the whole truth, Natasha."

"Are you mad?" Nat asked him.

"I'm not mad, just very disappointed that after everything we talked about, you would still withhold...no, you lied. You lied to me, Natasha." He got up and started pacing.

"Oh shit, Steve. I said I was sorry." Nat took his hand. "Please just be mad. I can't bear disappointing you."

Steve shook his head and wouldn't meet her eyes. He didn't pull his hand away though so she was encouraged. "Yell at me, stomp around; throw something. You'll feel better."

"I would feel better if I knew you trusted me enough to be honest." Steve said.

"God damn it, Steve, I do trust you and while I am not always honest, sometimes I'm not for a good reason."

"Natasha, I'm surprised at you. Are you seriously going to make excuses for lying to me?" He frowned at her.

"I told you I was a bad person. You said it didn't matter! I didn't tell you everything...well...because I thought it would worry you…and also because I thought it would make you bust my ass harder." She looked up at him through her eyelashes with her little half smile.

"Well...you were not wrong about that," Steve admitted. She looked so cute, so repentant, and so deliciously naughty. Even when she pissed him off, she was wonderful.

"Please don't shut me off and not talk to me, Steve. You asked me not to do that, remember?" Natasha reminded him.

He looked at her then. "You're right, I did ask you not to do that."

"I also assumed that you wouldn't lie to me." She could see in his eyes that he was frustrated with her.

"I can't take this. Just spank me, for fuck's sake." Nat's voice was louder and more insistent.

"I'd rather talk this through," Steve said. "I told you that I wouldn't give up on you or us and I meant that. I am not spanking you over this."

"Of course you won't." Natasha rolled her eyes and sighed. "It makes so much more sense going through yet another long-assed discussion."

"Seriously? Is that what you want, Natasha? A spanking?" Steve's voice took on the tone of, You Really Don't Want To Play This Game Baby, as he moved back toward her on the couch.

"I want you to not be disappointed in me! If you're mad, I can deal with it. I can't stand it when I know I'm once again not up to your standards and have frustrated you." Natasha moved slightly out of reach and sulked.

Steve looked at her for a long while. "I should have said, I was disappointed in your behavior, not in you. I apologize for not making that clear. I don't have a standard, Natasha. You are perfect just the way you are. The only thing I would change is that I want clear, honest and open communication between us. No more lying. Can we work on that together?"

"Fine." Nat said, without looking at him.

"Natasha..." There was a thread of warning in his voice.

"I said, fine." That was delivered in a flat tone.

"Will you please come here?" He chose his words carefully and opened his arms.

Slowly, she went to him. He enfolded her in his arms, breathing in her scent and enjoying the feeling of her smaller body against his larger frame. "I love you, Nat. I don't want to fight with you."

"I don't want to fight either."

"I can't lose you, sweetheart."

"You're not going to lose me. And I'll try to do better." He missed her eye roll.

"I will as well," Steve smiled and kissed her gently. She balked at first but opened to him and relaxed in his arms.

"I think I like your playful spankings better than all this." Nat groused against his chest. "Maybe we can role play naughty red haired spy and strict Captain America."

Steve chuckled, "Maybe later. I can honestly say that you have an adorable bottom and it is very hard not to touch it or pat it."

She moved his hand down to the anatomy in question. "Touch away."

He smoothed his hand over her bum, patted it and she wriggled happily. That made him laugh and he stretched out on the couch pulling her with him until they were side by side and he could reach everything better.

Natasha melted into him. She had missed his touch, his kiss, his scent. He hitched her leg up over his hip, slid his hand over her bottom and pulled her against him. She kissed him with increasing fervor, feeling his hard length straining through his jeans.

Steve's breathing sped up as she rocked against him. He pulled her tightly to him, stood up and headed toward his bedroom. "Bed?" He asked between kisses.

"Yeah, hurry." Natasha was already unbuttoning his shirt as he tumbled them onto the middle of his bed. His hands focused on getting her sweater over her head while she finished with his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. Both shirt and sweater hit the floor as he slid a knee between her thighs and pinned her beneath him.

His tongue was in her mouth and she sucked on it. He made the slow click of first her zipper then his into an erotic moment. She reached down to help him push her tight jeans over her hips. Steve pulled them down, then off. Nat shoved at his jeans impatiently until he sat up and stripped them off.

Nat was wearing an intriguing front closure bra and panties set in a deep purple that left nothing to the imagination. Steve kissed his way down from between her breasts, down her stomach, to the edge of her panties. She lay back as she realized his intent. Slowly, he peeled them off her, then pulled her legs over his shoulders.

At the first stroke of his tongue, Natasha nearly came undone. His mouth, tongue and fingers played her like a violin. She was pressing into his mouth and against his hand almost frantically. Her moans and happy sounds were all he needed to know. He'd missed the taste of her, missed the sounds from her when he made her climax, missed being buried to the hilt inside her.

"Close...god, Steve...so close..." She panted as he plied her with his mouth.

"Let go, sweetheart. I'm here to catch you. Let go for me." Steve's voice was heavy with passion as he watched her straining against his hand. He lowered his head again, his tongue matching his fingers in depth and movement. A little suction at the right moment and she came, crying his name. The taste of her orgasm fueled his own fire even more.

Natasha let him help her ride it out then pulled him up over her. Steve stroked her opening then eased into her, gathering her hips in his hands. "Natasha...I need you...I need..."

She pulled him down for a kiss and lifted her hips to receive his thrust. He rocked into her as deeply as he could go, savoring the feeling of their bodies joining, the friction they were creating together. She wrapped her legs and arms around him, whispering urgent encouragement between kisses.

Steve braced on his lower arms, kissing her as he took them up to the pentacle. He caught her sweet cries in his mouth as she climaxed over him; the sucking caress of her orgasm pulling at him. He followed her over the edge a moment later, pouring into her as he brought them together. They lay savoring every shudder, holding each other as tightly as they dared.

"I've missed you so much, Nat." Steve breathed into her neck.

"I love you, Steve. Please don't leave me."

He looked at her, "Why on earth would I leave you?"

"I'm really not trying to be a pain in the ass," Natasha said.

Steve settled beside her and pulled her close, "We are both new at this relationship thing. I think we should remember to be patient with each other."

"Okay." She sniffed.

"I tell you what...I think you've been my fiance' long enough. Why don't we get married?" Steve stroked her cheek and looked at her with such love that Nat started to cry.

"Oh my god, you know just what to say all the time! It's not natural!" Natasha blubbered into his chest.

Steve's eyes widened then he laughed from pure joy. She was the most wonderful woman he'd ever known. His heart nearly burst with love as he wiped her tears away and kissed her.

"Now, stop crying honey. I don't want you to ever doubt that I will always be there, Natasha." Steve told her, smiling. "Getting married will cement that commitment for you."

He patted her bottom and she laughed through her happy tears. "I swear you're not real; I dreamed you up."

"Sweetheart, I feel the same about you. You fell out of my dreams and into my life and I don't regret a moment." Steve relaxed into her arms as she cuddled against him. "I would like to ask you a favor though..."

"What favor?" Natasha looked up at him.

"You seem to be much more emotional since you came back to this time. You've been crying a lot, for you. I'd like to ask you to have Bruce really check you out to see if that can have had an effect on your emotions." Steve said, caressing her cheek.

"You're right, I have been a lot more sensitive to everything, now that you mention it." Natasha frowned as she thought about it.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Steve assured her, "I just think it would be a good idea to double check everything."

"Okay, I'll ask Bruce tomorrow," Natasha promised, settling back into his arms.

He held her for the duration as they napped. When they rose, they showered, dressed then went to meet Bucky and Peggy for dinner.

Steve had suggested a well known steak house for dinner with everyone's enthusiastic agreement. The four friends enjoyed a lovely meal together. During dessert, Steve informed them that he and Natasha were getting married as soon as possible. Peggy and Bucky were overjoyed. Natasha unexpectedly started crying again. They all stared at her.

"Sweetheart, what in the world?" Steve put his arm around her and dried her face with his napkin.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." Nat hiccuped between sobs. "Steve wants Bruce to check me over to see if its residual from the time travel."

Peggy's eyes were wide. "Bucky and I haven't had anything like that and we came forward with you."

"Yes, but she started here, went back, then forward again," Steve pointed out. "Whatever the reason we'll handle it together."

Natasha gave him a grateful smile. He kissed her forehead and hugged her at the table. Just as quickly, her tears faded and she felt back to her old self again. This was weird. She was definitely talking to Bruce.

"Bucky, we haven't set a date yet but would you stand up with me as my best man?" Steve asked his lifelong friend.

Bucky's grin went from ear to ear. "I'd be honored, Steve."

"Peggy, will you be my maid of honor?" Natasha asked her new friend.

Peggy's grin was as wide as Bucky's. "Darling, are you certain? You must have some friends you've known longer than me."

"Yes, but you and Bucky were literally there throughout the beginnings of our relationship. I feel like you've been my friend through a very confusing time in my life and I'd like to celebrate that." Natasha toasted Peggy with her iced tea.

"Then I would be honored to stand up with you," Peggy clinked her glass to Natasha's.

Afterwards they all went back to the Avenger's Mansion where Bucky and Peggy were staying. Natasha rummaged around and found a deck of Cards Against Humanity. She made up a new feature to the game where every time Steve blushed, they all got 5 points. It was great fun until her stomach roiled and she had to bolt for the nearest bathroom again.

When she emerged, a little pale and sweaty, Steve suggested they call it a night. Peggy promised to call the next day and stepped back into Bucky's arms as they waved. Steve helped Nat onto the back of his motorcycle and they went straight to her apartment where she had a stash of ginger ale for her stomach.

She ran to the bathroom to freshen up while Steve poured her a ginger ale over crushed ice and fixed a cola for himself. While she was gone, he looked over her apartment. It was newer and lighter in decor than his. There were touches of Russia here and there, including the larch wood bear Bruce had gotten her for her birthday. He liked her tastes and the openness of the floor plan.

Nat came out of the bathroom in a barely there sheer, short emerald green nightgown. Steve nearly dropped his drink. "Feeling better, honey?"

"Much better," Nat purred as she took the drink he handed her and sipped it.

Steve watched in wide eyed fascination as she slinked across the floor to the chaise lounge she had set up in one corner of her living room. "Just so you know," she said in her smoky voice, "I've never brought any man here, not even Clint. You are the first I've let into every aspect of my private life."

"I am very flattered, sweetheart," only Steve Rogers could pull off that line and sound completely sincere, because he was.

Natasha set her drink down on the coffee table next to the chaise. "Want to come show me how flattered you are?"

Steve smiled and came to her, "Is this where we play naughty Russian spy versus Captain America?"

Natasha grinned and backed away from him, "Maybe...but you'll have to catch me first." She pirouetted away and would have made it except Steve was faster.

He caught her and tossed her over his shoulder much to her delight. "Now young lady, you will tell me everything I want to know," he said in his most authoritative voice.

"No, I won't. You can't break me, soldier!" Nat squeaked as he carried her into the bedroom and flipped her onto the bed. She bounced and tried to scuttle away but he had her.

He pinned her down and started tickling her. "Tell me you love me."

"Ahahahaha! I love you!" Nat gasped.

"Tell me you want to marry me." Steve growled, digging his fingers gently into her ribs.

"Stop! Stop! I want to marry you!" Natasha was helpless in the face of the super soldier's determination to tickle her.

He stopped tickling and started kissing, "See? Isn't that much easier when you cooperate with the interrogator?"

She looked up into his impossibly blue eyes, "But I'm not really cooperating. I'm setting a trap."

His eyebrows rose and he got a wicked grin on his face, "I think you need to be taught a lesson."

"And what kind of lesson would that be?" Nat nuzzled his neck.

Steve gathered her in his arms, kissed her deeply then flipped her over, face down over his lap. "The kind naughty, provocative spies need after tormenting their super soldier fiance'."

Nat was laughing and squirming as he spanked her playfully. He sat her back up then toppled them both over onto the bed, pinning her again. "Did you learn your lesson?"

"Of course I did," She nodded solemnly, nipping his full lower lip while running her hand down his chest to his abdomen. He shuddered at her touch as she pulled his shirt out of his jeans.

Steve looked her dead in the eye as he unbuckled his belt and slowly unzipped his jeans. When he was free, he moved up her body, capturing her mouth as he eased into her. The silky nightgown was pushed up around her waist as she wrapped her legs around his hips. They moved together, each knowing exactly what the other needed. It was hard, fast and intense, leaving them both panting after a shattering climax.

"I can't remember what my life was like before you were in it," Steve caressed her cheek and kissed her tenderly.

Nat started sniffling, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her face into his chest. Steve held her tightly, as always, her shelter, her comfort for the emotional storms she weathered. "Nat, sweetheart, I didn't mean to make you cry."

"You didn't," she sobbed. "You just always say the sweetest things. I love you so much."

He chuckled, holding her close, a bastion of strength and love for her. Still, he was worried. These outbursts of emotion were so unlike Natasha, he hoped that if it were tied to her time traveling adventures that Bruce might have an idea of how to alleviate it for her. He didn't mind it himself. It was nice to feel like she needed him for something but it wasn't his Natasha. He knew it was bothering her as well.

"I love you too, sweetheart." Gently he disengaged from her, stripped off his clothes and tucked them both into bed. Nat curled up, her back against his broad, warm chest and let him hold her. She'd stopped crying and now just enjoyed the luxurious feeling of being held by her hero.

In the morning, Peggy called. Nat dressed quickly, gave Steve a quick kiss and was out the door to pick up her friend. The two of them went in search of the one person who could help them plan a quick, private wedding: Pepper Potts.