A/N: Okay it's late where I am (not really but there's school tomorrow) and I'm supposed to be doing school stuff so I'mma skip the intro and just give you the chapter. Here you go

As much as Natasha hated to admit it, the two teens—Alana Hudgens and Josh Evansson—weren't so bad for beginners.

Well, yes, they weren't so graceful but rather a but stiff. And yes, their reflexes were late. But they were just as crappy as Natasha was when she first trained at the Red Room.

Natasha wasn't liking what she was thinking. This whole idea of two minors training still felt so wrong.

The spy picked up the only two weapons left on the floor of the gym: a disk and a sword. The weapons of choice for them. It was an odd choice, since there were all these different high-tech gadgets available at the weapon storage shed. Despite that, Natasha thought it suited them well.

Then she flash-backed to the day she first chose her weapon and everything started feeling wrong again.

Ugh, Natasha thought. Maybe some water would clear my mind. She headed to the kitchen to get a refreshment.

Upon arriving there, she assumed she was alone. She went to the freezer and got herself a bottle of ice-cold water.

"Looks like someone's tired."

Natasha jumped, not being used to getting jumpy, since she was the one who usually startled people. She turned around to see the recognizable American man.

"Steve," Natasha acknowledged. "I suggest you don't go creeping up on me, especially since I have killer reflexes."

Steve got another bottle of water from the freezer and gulped half of it. "I know you wouldn't even lay a fist on me."

"What makes you so sure?"

Steve shrugged. "Because we're teammates." He gulped down the other half of the water. "Also, I trust you, remember?"

Natasha laughed without humor. "It's funny you trust someone who trust no one."

Steve placed his heart on his chest quite dramatically. "Are you saying you don't trust me?"

Natasha put her finger on her chin, as if deeply in thought. "That's a question I can answer in another day." She smirked then finished the water in the bottle as well.

Steve frowned. "Something's wrong." He stated.

Natasha looked at him, her mouth pressed into a straight line. "What makes you say that?"

"I may not be Wanda," Steve said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "but I could tell something—or someone—is bothering you."

Natasha looked down as though her sneakers were the most interesting thing here. She brushed off his hand. "It's nothing, really."

Steve frowned, clearly in disbelief. Then he lit up like the sun (A/N: I still suck at similes). "How about we eat dinner at the roof top?" He suggested. "You know, have a picnic and stuff."

Natasha looked at him, raising an eyebrow inquiringly. "Are you asking me out?"

The soldier cheeks turned a light shade of pink. Natasha liked seeing the Star Spangled Man get all embarrassed and awkward.

"Uh, no." He answered. "I'm just giving you an option."

Natasha studied him for a moment, as she always does when she meets new people, then gave him a small smile. "I guess a little fresh air wouldn't hurt."

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

In a matter of minutes, Natasha and Steve were sitting alongside varieties of food on a blanket laid on the roof of the Avengers Facility. The wind breathed against the two Avengers' faces, tangling Natasha's red locks.

"See?" Steve said, getting a hold of a BLT sandwich. "This isn't so bad."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Who said I doubted you?"

Steve laughed and practically inhaled the sandwich, leaving her question unanswered.

She got a BLT sandwich herself and nibbled on it slowly. She watched the stars at the dark night sky glimmer like glitter on a piece of black paper. The city part of New York and its lights were hard to distinguish amongst the stars, since it was quite to far away for human eyes to see in the morning.

Steve, somehow, still wasn't satisfied. "I could tell you're still bothered by something." He said.

Natasha swore this guy had some sort of distressed detector wired into his body. Either that or her "emotionless" face wasn't working anymore. She hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Hey, I'm eating here with you." She gestured to the whole setting they were in. "Why wouldn't I be satisfied or whatever?"

"Because I know you don't express everything that's going on in your mind."

"So?" Natasha asked. "Why do you care?"

"Because I'd really like to see you happy for once."

The words echoed throughout the place, silencing all bits of sound.

The words struck Natasha like lightning. She didn't know why, though. Maybe it was because she's rarely heard someone care for her this much. She appreciated it and hated it all at once.

Steve scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry." He apologized. "Didn't mean to get so carried away."

Natasha nodded. "It's fine."

"If I tell you what's on my mind, will you tell me what's in yours?" Steve suggested

Curiosity got the better of Natasha. "Okay. But you first."

Just by seeing him look up at the stars dreamily, Natasha could already tell what was in his mind.

"Bucky Barnes." He whispered.

Although the name didn't sound like much, it brought some sort of impact on even Natasha.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Steve—"

"I know you think he's a criminal." Steve said. "But he's still just a human like both of us. He's just... Broken a bit more than everyone else..."

Natasha wanted to say she didn't think Bucky was one bit of a criminal, but her voice found itself stuck in her throat.

Steve took a deep breath. "His current location is still a mystery to me, but I know he's out there, somewhere. Hopefully okay."

The two sat in silence for a minute or so. Then Steve straightened his back and faced Natasha.

"Now it's your turn." He reminded. "What's on your mind."

The corners of Natasha's mouth faced downwards. She thought Steve would've been too caught up in his own problems, he'd forget about Natasha's silent dilemma.

"Fine." She grumbled, avoiding any form of eye contact. "I'm worried about these teens training."

Steve nodded. "I should've known. But why, though?"

"They're just so... Young. So fragile and inexperienced..." Natasha tried not to get too deep into the details. "Yeah, that's what's in my mind."

Steve shook his head. "Nat, when will you ever learn to be a bit more trustful with people?"

"No, it's not about my trust issues. It's something else..." Natasha looked up into the stars that didn't seem as bright as they were earlier. "Something I don't want to delve into further."

Steve sighed, then nodded. "Okay, I won't ask any further then."

One corner of the spy's mouth twitched upwards. "Thanks for understanding."

The soldier and the spy finished their dinner in silence, enjoying the stars and each other's presence.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Clang. Clang. Clang.

That was the sound of metal footsteps meeting with the stone cold ground.

At least, that's what it's supposed to sound like.

He hated that he wasn't like all the other robots. Sure, he got all the looks and functions right, but his so called "metal armor" was an entirely different story he didn't like to mention.

"Remind me, master," he said, arriving at his master's office, "why, out of all the metals in the world, did you choose to coat me with the softest metal on Earth?"

His master was hidden in the shadows of the room, sitting on a throne-like chair that faced him. "Now, now. Don't complain. Carnesium is my greatest discovery, after all."

"Carnesium." He said, his artificial mouth tasting bitter. "I hate that word."

"Anyway," his master continued. "I gave you the honor of giving you an armor of the softest metal on Earth because... Well, I had no other options in hand. All the other metals I had weren't enough to cover you up."

"Blah, blah, blah. All I hear are excuses."

"Can you not be so stubborn just for once?!"

"I can't not be something I was wired to be!"

Even with all the shadows surrounding them, he could tell his master was scowling beneath the curtain of darkness.

His master breathed. "Please give me your daily report." Master said as cooly as possible, trying to get rid of the anger. "And please tell me you did something remarkable this time."

The robot cleared his throat, then began to fill his master in with more details, although he might've added a few extra details to make the story sound more exciting.

But, as usual, it didn't excite his master. All his master did was sigh in reply. "You didn't even get their names." He sighed again. "Go to your station. Do something productive or whatever."

He felt as though his master had made the 'shoo, shoo' gesture with his hands. He grumbled and ran off to his station, which you could consider as his personal room.

Once inside, the robot angrily swiped off all the things laid on the lone table at the side of the room.

"I will show you, master." He promised. "I'll show you who's the boss here."

A/N: yes yes I know this chapter's short. Idk why though. I guess it's the fact that I changed the whole angsty scene from the original version of this and replaced it with something lighter (yiesh that original was too much).

Anyhoo, please review and favorite and all that other stuff. Okay bye.

Ruby out. PEACE.