Steve and Natasha woke up at nearly the same time and realized that they were laying in an empty room, it was beginning to get dark out. The rest of the avengers were nowhere to be found. Steve stood up and had a small smile after realizing how he and Natasha were positioned. He found a note from Tony on the kitchen counter.
Anastasia & Capsicle,
Brucie and I have gone out together, don't expect us back till morning. Legolas went out with a busty blonde he spotted when we went out for drinks and Thor is probably making Jane sore. Fend for yourselves for dinner, or do something fun. We're really glad to have you back hun.
Love you very much – Papa Avenger
Steve snorted at the note and noticed Natasha reading of his shoulder.
"Guess we'll have to make some dinner."
"or not"
"Miss. Natasha you are skin and bones you need to eat"
"I know Steve, I meant maybe we could go out. To be honest I have not had fun in quite a while, ive been busy bringing up memories of my lovely red room days"
"out it is, where would you like to go ma'am"
"Steve! No ma'am! How about we get ready to go out and explore New York. To be honest I have not seen much of the city"
He smiled at her and nodded as they walked to their own rooms. Steve was back in the living room waiting for Natasha in his usual attire. Soon after Natasha walked out and met Steve with a small smile. She wore a tight fuzzy emerald sweater and jeans, she obviously opted for flats to aliviate the pain on her leg.
"Miss. Natasha you look absolutely stunning"
Natasha gave him a shy smile and a blush spread across her cheeks and she followed him out of the room, into the elevator and out the door. Steve offered her his arm and she graciously took it. They walked around new York for a little while until settling on a small Italian restaurant. Their waitress came and had to do a double look. She immidiately recognized Steve and soon noticed that Natasha was a part of the avengers as well. Both heroes ordered their meals and began to talk.
"I don't mean to intrude miss Natasha but are you and Clint not together?"
"Barton? No absolutely not! I mean im not saying that I wouldn't be with him cause I have been, but we have decided that its best if we stay partners and friends. For a long time he was my only friend so that's why were always together"
"you said that you have been with him?"
"…yeah, for a while we were together, but something happened and it all fell apart"
"you were together? Like….fondue?"
"fondue? Oh…OH, um yeah I guess."
"right? So um it all fell apart? But you guys seem to work very well together."
"as I said before he is my partner and my friend, however there was an incident-" she paused and looked down, the same look of torment crossed her eyes as the look she had when she first arrived from her mission, Steve was concerned but Natasha continued. "I thought I was pregnant, we both did. Clint was extatic"
"what happened?"
"I wasn't pregnant, actually I never can be. The super soldier serum that I was given has taken away my ability to have children, its one of the effects I failed to mention this morning"
"im so sorry Nat"
Natasha looked up and gave him a brilliant smile that took him by surprise.
"you called me Nat, not ma'am or miss Romanoff or miss Natasha"
Steve smiled at her as their food arrived.
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile so much"
"to be quite honest I don't think I've ever smiled so much, there's something about you captain, I feel like its ok to let my guard down, I feel…safe"
Steve gave her a bright smile as they continued to eat their meal. When the check came Steve grabbed it before Natasha even had a chance.
"I thought I was the agile one captain"
Steve chuckled and paid the bill.
"you don't have to pay Steve"
"but I want to, its my duty to pay when im taking a beautiful girl out to dinner"
Natasha did her best to keep a straight face but failed miserably. She noticed that tables were being moved aside to make space for a dance floor.
"well the night is still young, care to dance captain?"
Steve's face was almost unreadable.
"I don't know how to dance"
"would you like me to teach you?"
"yeah… I would like that. You know this place looks familiar"
Natasha grabbed Steve's hand and pulled him onto the dance floor as she spoke.
"I believe there was a club here when you were last around"
Steve froze in place and looked down at Natasha, she barely reached past his shoulder.
"The Stork Club"
"that's the one, is something wrong Steve. We can leave if you would like"
"its just, I had a date here. I never made it, I was too busy being frozen. Peggy was going to…teach me to dance"
"im so sorry Steve, I understand if you want to leave"
Steve looked conflicted for a moment before answering.
"no, I think that Peggy would be happy that ive finally found a dance partner"
Natasha could sense that what he had just said had deeper meaning but was happy to dance along and try to get Steve to loosen up some. The next thing either of them knew, it was closing time. Natasha once again grabbed onto Steve's arm and began to follow him back home. Steve drapped his jacket across Natasha's shoulders and they continued to walk in comfortable silence. When they reached Stark tower Steve was pleased to see that Natasha did not let go of his arm. There was a buzzing noise heard coming from several floors up, when they reached their floor they realized Tony was intoxicated playing with the iron man suit. He had destroyed only one wall, Natasha's wall.
"TONY! Get up and off to bed, I swear I will have pepper here is mere seconds!"
That seemed to sober him up enough to get out of his suit and stumble to his room with the help of an amused captain America. When Steve came back he found Natasha sitting in the living room.
"aren't you going to inspect the damage?"
"I don't think going into my room is an option right now, theres a half asleep green giant in my room and id rather not startle him, I guess Stark got Bruce a tad drunk. Ill just sleep on the couch"
"nonsence Nat, youre still recovering, you can have my room, ill sleep out here"
"Steve, your back probably still hurts from sleeping the way you did to keep me comfortable"
"That's alright"
"No, why don't we share, I mean, we shared the couch right?"
Steve turned bright red.
"right, well if your okay with that"
Natasha followed Steve to his room, he walked into his bathroom and changed into sweat and a tshirt. He walked out to find Natasha sitting on his desk chair still in her clothing, he realized she wouldn't have a change of clothes so he grabbed the nicest shirt he could find and handed it to her.
"I don't think my sweats would fit you"
"thanks"
As he prepared himself for bed he found himself getting nervous, as much as he loved and missed Peggy there was something special about Natasha and he knew Peggy would want him to be happy. The black Widow walked out of Steve's bathroom with a thin white shirt that came down right above mid thigh and made Steve blush some more.
"Thanks for this Steve, and thanks for tonight, I had an amazing time"
"no problem ma'am, I mean miss. Romano-Nat. im sorry its just, I don't want what im about to say to scare you but would you care to be my dance partner?"
"we did dance tonight Steve?"
"No I mean, would you like to maybe be MY dance partner? The right partner"
"Oh" a look of shock flashed on Natashas face followed by a smile-"I would love that Steve, so does that mean tonight was a date"
"if you want it to be"
"well, a gentleman always pays on the first date"
Steve pulled Natasha towards him and enveloped her in a hug which she gladly accepted. She yawned and he realized how tired he truly was. Both avengers climbed onto Steve's bed and fell instantly asleep. Several hours later they were woken up by a loud boom coming from the kitchen, they barely had any time to realize that Natasha was on top of the captain and he had his arms around her. Both of them ran into the kitchen where they saw a fire beginning to erupt.
