Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers, Spidey, The green hornet or Romeo and Juliet. Yes, I went there.

Longest chapter yet (romance is definitely my thing, sorry!) I'd love to hear what you have to say!


Chapter 24: Tangled

The old alarm clock blinked with a 7:30 PM. She knew he was probably already downstairs waiting, and she was still in her underwear, staring at her 3 clothing choices over the neatly done bed.

Brown dress with white polka dots, cute trousers with a wide boat neck cardigan or the blue backless dress she'd never had the guts to wear after the gashes she got in Lviv.

It was winter for Christ's sake. And it was a stupid indie theater thing. And it's not a gorram date.

She was zipping up her boots while putting on the mascara and combing her hair when she heard someone opening the door with keys. She instinctively went for the concealed gun under the sink (she was, after all still a spy, and guns could be found as easily as chocolate in this place… If you knew where to look).

Before she'd take aim at the door a rough familiar voice spoke, "Hunny, I'm home". She put the safe back on, placed the gun on her waist in the back of her trousers and put the sweater on. "One, what the hell are you doing here? And two, how the hell did you get my keys Clint?"

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you look when you're upset? Going somewhere?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Keys, please?" He handed them over.

"Well, someone had to have your spare keys"

"Probably, but not by making a copy of them without my permission while I'm unconscious at the hospital! Now get out!"

"Wow, I just got here! And I brought a six pack of your favorite" She grabbed the beers and put them in the fridge while he came closer to her from behind and took the gun, taking an extra second to brush through her back. She really tried not to feel a shiver down her spine when he did that.

"That sweater becomes you. My bet is first date, nerd from the 9th?"

"Nope, and it's not a date" She was closing the fridge but took a second and got a beer. "None for me? You're a meany"

"I thought you were leaving" she looked at the clock over the kitchen counter "As in RIGHT NOW Clint"

"Oh, your date is coming to pick you up! Classy!"She took a sip and then grabbed the gun from his hand and switched it for the beer bottle "What do you want?"

"Well, now that you ask… My leave has just been revoked and I need you to look after Tas-Natasha for me" she snorted. "Sure Clint, want me to call the World Security Council and get world peace sorted out for you too?" She started walking towards her room to get her warm coat.

"Well, you two seem to be in cohorts keeping the pregnancy from me, so, maybe you're buddies now" She stood on cold "Pregnancy?"

"Please, not you too Nell." She turned around "I'll do my best to keep her out of trouble." She paused "So, all of you are leaving?" Her sudden change of tone gave her away "No… Oh! You're going out with Tightpants, aren't you? I think I'll stay around until-"

The doorbell rang and she whispered a curse in Chinese. "Behave Barton. I'm warning you"

"Whatcha gonna do? Punish me? Oh, please do" It'd be too easy making him bleed right now. But no, he'd enjoy that. "She's into that. I never was, remember?" He cleared his throat at the same time he brought her closer to him.

"I remember you naked next to the fireplace in Aspen, and how you-" There was a low knock on the door now.

"I'll look after your girlfriend while you're gone, Clint." He let go of her and she went to the door "Coming! Hi St" When she saw Steve, she suddenly forgot her ex husband was standing right next to her behind the door. Actually, she forgot the entire English language for a whole minute.

Steve's hair was shorter, his stubble framing his jaw and he was smiling shyly to her. He was wearing dark brown tailored pants with stripes and the light brown cardigan only highlighted his blue eyes. Wow.

"Oh look, you kids have matching overcoats! You cleaned up nicely Rogers" Yeah, that little detail.

"Barton was just leaving, please come in Steve." He felt incredibly stupid for being holding a roses bouquet when he was clearly interrupting something. The men didn't move and she sighed angered. Of course Barton had to come in and screw everything up, that's what he did, every fraking time.

"Clint, please go, I'll look after Romanoff." Clint crossed his arms in front of his chest; this was too much fun to let it go so quickly.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Steve's frown was confusing "Unless you want me to chaperon your date"

"I didn't mean that"

"Oh, I know. It's not a date. She mentioned it. Want a beer?" Steve's eyes flickered with disappointment.

"Clint. Go. NOW." Her clenched jaw and feisty eyes could only mean you're in deep shit. He knew that look, it was the one fiery look she had. And trust me, she delivered.

"Ok, I'm going, fine, taking the beer with me though." Rogers followed him with his eyes "Weren't you staying for a week?"

"We had a hit on Mandarin in Indonesia. Stark's running point and Fury wants Danvers and I to babysit, or support or whatever. You kids have fun." He started going down the stairs "Oh and Rogers, she hates roses. Next time get her carnations or daisies."

Her clenched jaw watching her ex walking away was all he could see. He felt silly and stupid and old fashioned and as if he was wearing someone else's clothes. This was a terrible idea...

She took a deep breath and shook her head "Don't mind him. They're lovely flowers. Do come on in" She brushed his arm and he followed her in. She closed the door behind him, grabbed the flowers and put them in a vase with water. She looked at them and half smiled, the clenched jaw gone from her expression "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." A small feeling of hope started feeling his chest, as he continued her line,

"o Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes"

She beamed at him and started taking small steps from the sink towards the end of the kitchen island where he was standing, making a playful British voice "Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself"

He shortened the little distance between them and rushed the next lines holding her hand to his chest,
"I take thee at thy word.
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo"

She sighed looking intently at his eyes "A man that knows his Shakespeare, nice"

"I helped with the staging when I was in college. It stuck on my head" Her hand was still over his cardigan and his were holding hers there. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to stop this from happening… But she had very clear orders, her feelings didn't matter.

So she pat him slowly on the chest (or stroke was more like it) and told him she'd get her purse "Make yourself at home, I'll be right back" His mouth quirked in a half smile.

The small flat seemed so warm and… normal. The kitchen island separating the cooking place from the tiny wooden walled living room was spacious to cook (which she seemed to like to do by the smell of cookies); the half wall of books, the relatively small flat TV screen with several DVDs... It felt like a home. He couldn't help but wonder why she slept on that ragged sofa at work so many times a week when she had this place to come back to.

He came nearer the yellowish-apricot couch that seemed to be from his time, and saw a book on the coffee table, next to a Green Hornet DVD box. He grabbed the little blue-cover book and a small black and white picture fell from it. He picked it up and saw a woman with fair wavy hair smiling closely to a dark haired man who was hugging her from behind. The man's face was sideways kissing her ear, concealing most of his face. The woman looked just like her, though she had thinner lips and her chin was different.

"That's my mom. Was my mom" He felt as if he was intruding again "I'm sorry, I" she shook her head and grabbed the picture and the book, putting it carefully inside of it again and into its spot in the bookshelf. She felt his warmth close behind her but not close enough to brush her. She had a shiver running through her spine again and there was nothing she wanted more than to give in to it. He spoke softly near her ear "I think we should get going if we want to make it on time"

She turned around and looked intently at his eyes, nodded and started walking towards the door "Yeah, you're right, and we gotta get the tickets too. Oh, and... I'm sorry about the whole Barton drama before, he's a dick sometimes" He ignored the Barton reference "I already got the tickets on my way here" She smiled and reached up to press a kiss to his cheek but he moved ever so slightly when he saw her near that her lips ended in the corner of his mouth "You're the best Rogers" He hesitated for a second and that's all it took for her to pretend nothing had happened and start opening the door.

"Oh well, let's see what you say when you realize we're going in the bike" He took a deep breath half smiling and thought that though the night had just started, so far it was looking promising.

~oOo~

The bike ride went well, with her arms clenched tightly around his waist and the feeling of her body pressed against his back. The theater was neatly staged and everyone from the usher to the actors seemed to have been taken from the 1940s. The hair, the wardrobe, the music in the background: everything seemed to take him back to 1945.

The actors delivered a good performance and the kid's –no, Peter's friend seemed to be very passionate about her craft. His date-no, his friend was looking around trying to spot the kid but he was at the diner working. Once they were outside of the venue, they found themselves in the middle of a full-blown campus festival, band included.

Walking through the doors into the open space of the festival (right by the peer) felt a bit like waking up 70 years in the future again. The difference was that this time he knew where he was, and the best of all is that when Penny saw his sudden hesitation, she held his hand and didn't let go of it for most of the evening.

There was food, draught beer and the band was rather good, though he didn't really know any songs. They were sitting at a tall half wall and laughing about stories when he remembered why this place seemed so familiar. "Is that building over there the dock from my time?" She was finishing her 4th red cup of beer while he was around his 10th now. "Yup, it has a basketball court now. Why?" He jumped off the little wall and grabbed her by her waist to help her down, "Come, I want to show you something. I hope it's still there" They were still holding hands by the time he tried forcing the door opened. "Okay Mr. Big Soldier, I need to show you a thing or two about the subtleties of being a spy. Case and point" She grabbed one of her hair clips and checked if there were any cameras. None. Sweet. She opened the lock in less than a minute (she made him keep track) and they shared slow giggles all the way up to where he stopped. "Here we are. They've kept it! Swell!"

She looked at the mural. The colors, the people's expressions, they were of such subtlety and kindness... it was moving. And he had done that. She tried taking it all and shivered slightly. Soon enough she felt his arms hugging her from behind and his warmth on her back. She wasn't supposed to relax in his arms; she wasn't supposed to let this happen. She had orders. They had orders.

"So you did this?"

"My grandfather did, yes" he whispered, his lips just grazing her ear. She stroked his arm slowly and then realized their fingers were interlocked. "This is beautiful Steve"

"You are beautiful" Turning around and kissing him passionately was not an available option. Instead she chuckled and turned around trying to put some distance between them "You're drunk, let's go"

She was standing in front of him, trying to make him move towards the door but he stood still. His thumb brushed her lower lip slowly and she couldn't help looking at him sheepishly while biting her lower lip. It'd break both of their hearts, but it had to be done. He tilted his head and was about to kiss her when,

"Don't" she looked down trying to conceal her distress and in his confusion he let go of her. "Let's go back, c'mon" He knew she wanted this as much as him, so why was she pushing him away? Yes, Fury had warned them against this, but it was more of a challenge than anything else. "You'll have to give me more than that"

She took a deep breath, she really didn't wanna do this. "I'm damaged goods Rogers. I'm full of secrets and lies. It's hard to know what's real and what's a cover anymore. You don't wanna do this with me, trust me." She started walking away towards the band, "I know SHIELD's setting me up. All of the sudden they gave me everything I wanted, including an excuse to be close to you." She stood on dry. "I will figure out what's going on, I'm not as naive as everyone thinks." He came closer to her from behind, brushing her arms slowly "I also know there's a lot more about you than what Fury and you pretend there is. I can only hope that one day you trust me enough to tell me."

She turned around trying to hide the sadness from her eyes "You're better off Rogers, really. I'm sorry" She walked away towards the pier while he stood there thinking of everything she's said. He was upset, angry, but most of all, he was hurt. He followed her quietly and his head started feeling clogged again. Maybe she was right; maybe he was getting drunk now.

He thought of going home – well, going to SHIELD but the band was still playing and he still felt like he had to take her home. Idiotic, old fashioned and pointless. He bought another beer and stared at her from the distance. When he was half way through the cup, Peter came nearer him "You guys argued?"

Steve looked at him, seeing concern in Peter's eyes "What makes you think that?"

"Well, you're sulking over a glass of cheap beer and she's over there staring at the water. Go and take her for a spin, she'd love that." Steve sighed, he was upset and this kid seemed to know it all. "How would you know?"

Peter rolled his eyes annoyed "She's a chick, they all love that. And today she wouldn't stop talking about being here with you, so"

"Today?" Peter realized he had said too much "Yeah, I was, we were um training. She's teaching some moves, you know, self-defense kind of thing. No big deal" Steve realized he was right in thinking there was a lot more about this kid than what met the eye. I guess it was another one of her secrets.

"Just go to her, you both want to. Also, don't be a jerk with her, or I'll kick your ass." Steve snorted and looked down on him. "Don't give me that look, I could kick your ass tough guy" Steve half smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind" he sighed and started walking slowly towards her, leaning over the pier wall next to Penny. They shared a quiet moment and then she snorted, "Gosh, that's the cheesiest song in the world" They shared a glance and he grabbed her hand and gestured towards where couples were dancing. She gave him a questioning eyebrow but started walking all the same. Her coat was unbuttoned so he placed his free hand over her waist, feeling her skin through the blouse. He thought of apologizing for his lack of talent in the dancing department but decided against it when she came nearer him with a tender smile. After a little while he leaned a bit and kissed her hair, keeping a tight grasp around her waist as she moved her own hands inside his overcoat, brushing his back slowly.

She could feel his heart pounding as fast as hers. One night, just one night.

But they couldn't. Not now. Not just yet. Maybe never.

The song was over and they had to break their embrace. She looked tired and conflicted, and he didn't want to go through that talk again "I think I should take you home, it's getting late" She smiled and then saw him grabbing his keys. "Oh no, you're not driving."

"What?"

"You're drunk! We're taking a cab!" There was her matter-of-fact tone again. He clenched his jaw. "I'm not drunk, my system goes 4 times faster than average, I Can't Get Drunk"

"As your friend" he clenched his jaw even worse at that word "and your handler, and your doctor I call the shots right now. You're not driving. Period"

"I'm not-" His surroundings started moving way too fast all of the sudden and she caught him "Ok, maybe you have a point" His arm was around her arms and she was holding him the best she could "I think it's best if you stay in my couch tonight" A million thoughts rushed through his head and he gestured a no with his head. "If you walk into SHIELD like this, there goes your short lived life in espionage" He looked at her, then nodded and off they went.

When they were heading up the stairs towards her apartment, he spoke "So I'm drunk?" She started opening the door, "Apparently so Mr" He stood on cold looking gloom and rested his back on the wall "Steve what is it?" In a swift move he closed the door and looked at her intently with playful eyes while bringing her closer to him "I can blame this on the beer in the morning then"

Suddenly she was the one against the wall and Steve's lips were rushing a kiss over hers. He was about to pull away and apologize when he heard her dropping her purse to the floor and felt her arms around his neck. Their kiss deepened with wanting and need, both of them panting while he held her pinned against the wall. When he finally pulled away, he gave her a cute kiss on the tip of her nose, while grinning. She smiled with one corner of her mouth, "You don't give up. Do you?"

"Nope" His lips came nearer hers again and when he was about to kiss her for a second time, he walked away and cleared his throat, leaving her wanting for more. He couldn't help sniggering. "Right, you want nothing to do with me. Good night agent Morse" he took off his overcoat and hung it next to the door while she kept staring at him with playful eyes and her arms crossed over her chest.

He sat on the couch and spoke again, "Aren't you going to sleep agent Morse?" She came near him, sitting on the couch's arm. He looked at her holding his grin when she placed her fingers over his lips, her playful eyes gone. "I never said what I wanted Steve"

She brushed his lips with her thumb and kissed him intensely, biting his lower lip and then kissing the corner of his mouth while her hand wondered around his neck and on his shirt buttons. Another brush of her lips, this time on his jaw, then on his neck, reaching his ear lobe. Then she whispered, her lips grazing his ear "Sleep tight Rogers, don't let the bed bugs bite" and walked away towards her room grinning mischievously.

He took a deep breath and smiled while lying on the sofa. Yes, the night had definitely turned out good.