A/N: Hi guys!

Thanks for all the favorites/follows. I really appreciate it!

Just a recap: these stories are little snippets of the life of Steve and Natalia post my version of the end of Infinity War. Each chapter might not follow immediately after the one prior, but I will try to go in chronological order.

Note: I don't own a thing.

This one-shot was inspired a bit by Andrea Bocelli's Rendition Can't Help Falling in Love with You.

Features Laura and Clint. Hopefully no one is OOC.

Enjoy!

Only Fools Rush In

November. One year after coming to the Ranch House

"So," Clint Barton began as he swung his ax hard into the log before him. "When are you and Nat gonna stop dancing around the obvious?"

Steve didn't meet the other man's gaze as he swung his own axe, breaking his own log into multiple pieces. "What do you mean?" He asked, placing the next log on the chopping stump.

"The fact that you look at her like a lovesick puppy and she's been sneaking glances at you since before the two of you came out here."

The former soldier paused mid swing at the second part of his friend's statement and turned a surprised look at the archer. "Wh-what?"

Clint chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Really, Cap? Are you that bad at reading your partner?"

Steve lowered his ax, looking genuinely confused. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Bull." The archer said, swinging hard at the next log, cutting it cleanly. He rubbed his arm over his forehead for a moment, looking over at the confused young/old man. "Seriously, Cap, it's been a year since you brought Nat out here. You live on a ranch with her out in the middle of nowhere and expect me to believe that friendship is the only thing that spurred on this little adventure?"

No. The former captain thought to himself.

He knows that he glances at Natalia with more-than-just-friends adoration. He'd be lying if he wasn't attracted to his friend. But…

"So, why all the waiting? Why not just tell her what's going on in your head?"

Sighing, Steve put down the ax and ran a hand through his longer-than-regulations hair. "I don't know." The words rolled of his tongue in a whisper. "I guess I-I don't want to…mess this up? I mean…after everything that's happened, not just with me, but with Natalia too…I just don't…" He trailed off, his blue eyes misting slightly in the cold.

A calloused hand rested on Steve's shoulder, and Clint's blue eyes meeting his own.

"This isn't 1945, Steve." The man said in a tone similar to the one he used with his children. "You don't go on missions anymore. Nat isn't Peggy and considering she's stayed this long out here, I don't think she's going anywhere."

The former soldier swallowed thickly. "But…" He continued, softly, as if afraid of his own voice reaching his ears. "What if all of this isn't what she wants?" What if I'm not what she wants?

Clint gave the other man a soft smile. Ever the Captain, putting his team before himself at every turn, even when it came to his own happiness. Nat is one lucky woman. "You won't know until you ask her." He squeezed the man's shoulder a bit. "And Laura and I will open our doors should things go south and the two of you need space from one another. I'm sure Cooper would love some time with his Uncle Steve."

Steve smiled back, but his blue eyes still looked…frightened. And Clint couldn't really tell if it was because he would be facing the former Black Widow with an unguarded heart (if he chose to) or if he was afraid of his own feelings for the woman. Either one was a reasonable reason for the fear.

The Captain had confided in Clint long ago that he had really struggled with women both before and after the ice. When he and Natasha had been partnered after New York, Steve had come to Clint to ask for advice on the Black Widow.

The irony of how this had all come full circle…

"And, if it helps any, as her honorary brother, I give you full permission to take her on as many dates as she'll let you."

The deer in the headlights look from Steve was more than worth the not-really-a-joke.

Laura stared at the window she had been cleaning, and then through it as the two men beyond the glass moved. There was already a rather large pile of wood between the super soldier and the archer, enough to last for both households for the rest of the winter, but neither looked like they were stopping.

At least until her husband said something that made Steve pause.

"They talking about anything interesting out there?" A voice cut through her observations.

Looking up, Laura smiled at Natalia who was cleaning the ceiling fan blades. "I'm not sure, but Clint must have said something to get Steve to stop what he's doing mid action."

Nat's eyebrow rose, but she didn't look out the window. "Maybe Barton brought up another remodel he'd like to do, and knowing Steve, he's probably dumbfounded and probably trying to dissuade him for your sake."

"Oh lord…" Laura muttered. "Not again. He's taken apart the whole house twice already!"

Nat chuckled. "He obviously needs a new hobby."

"Indeed he does. Maybe Steve should help him with that. Manly bonding and all that." The housewife replied, looking back out the window, lifting a curious eyebrow of her own at what she saw. Instead of Steve looking like he was trying to dissuade Clint from doing something, he looked almost…nervous. "Well, I think we might be wrong about what they are talking about."

"Oh?" Nat grunted, catching one of the blades from moving out of her reach. "Why is that?"

"Because Steve's playing defense rather than offense."

"Is he moving his left hand or right hand through his hair?"

Laura blinked up at the former spy. "Left."

"Something personal then. Topic he's not willing to talk about or thinks he can't escape from."

Now Laura was incredibly curious. What could have the dear Captain so riled up? "What sort of things would cause him to react like that?"

Natalia jumped down from her step stool and walked over to the housewife, leaning against the window pane. "Off the top of my head, something about either his or anyone else's love life. He's always been particularly bashful about that." She gave an almost knowing smile, as if she was laughing at an inside joke.

"Didn't you say you had tried to set him up with different women when the two of you were partners in S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

The former spy nodded slowly, her smile faltering slightly. "I don't think he ever called any of the girls I pointed him in the direction of. He always said he was too busy." She shrugged slightly. "And granted, I didn't know about Peggy—his best girl from the 40's—until her funeral. If I had known that, I probably would have backed off…but he never said a word about her."

Laura blinked. "Really? Those were his exact words?"

Natalia nodded. "Yeah. And granted, he was busy. Fury kept him busy, though I have a feeling that was because Steve asked to be kept busy. The amount of hours he logged in the years he was with S.H.I.E.L.D. was enormous."

"So, he was busy with someone. He was busy with you."

The former spy's green eyes met the housewife's, questioning before turning to surprise and then rejection of the ideas flashing through the housewife's eyes. "No. No. We are not going there!"

"But it's so obvious, Nat!" The brunette pleaded.

The copper haired woman glared, her green eyes flashing dangerously. "What could be so obvious, Laura? That he's hung up on his dead lover from decades ago and wasn't going to settle for anyone else? I even set him up with her niece, and he never called her. Just because we were on missions together at that time does not mean that it's obvious that he wanted…" She brushed that thought away before she could vocalize it. "Why are we even arguing about this? Steve's an adult, he can make his own choices. We should leave him alone and not meddle." I've already meddled enough.

The walls were coming up. Laura was losing her, fast. This had never been intended to become an argument. "You don't have to run anymore, Nat."

Natalia froze, the walls freezing as well, as she looked at Laura. I…I'm running? Her hands twisted the rag painfully, a nervous tick that had not gone away.

But Laura was right, she realized as she thought the whole conversation through once more. She was, but maybe not for the reason Laura thought.

Taking a deep breath, she looked back at the other woman. "Back when Steve and I were on the run, right before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, he said it was hard for him to trust me when he didn't know who I was. I asked him who he wanted me to be, that I would be anything he wanted me to be…and all he wanted was a friend." Her eyes grew misty. "The whole time I was setting him up with girls who might be romantically interested in him, and all he wanted was a friend. He was all alone in the world, Laura."

"He's not anymore," Laura said, reaching out to brush the tears from her friend's eyes. "He has you and he cares very deeply about you. I mean, he dropped his shield to bring you out here so the two of you could heal and start over. I don't think that was by accident." She lifted the other woman's chin, slightly, so they could look each other in the eye. "Maybe it's time to take a leap of faith and just ask."

Natalia smiled slightly. "I thought wise men say that only fools rush in?"

Laura outright laughed. "Nat, with how many years the two of you have been dancing with each other, that's not rushing."

A/N: And that's a wrap! I have to say, this is not my favorite piece so far...but I have a cute one coming up next! Full of fluff and all that.

Reviews would be very nice.

Thank you again!

~Rachel