The rays of sunshine entered through the glass panels and Steve cracked his eyes open. As his pupils were adjusting to the light and his dizzy mind was recalibrating with reality, he felt a warm figure in his arms, sleeping peacefully against his chest. His eyes found bright red hair under his chin.

He smiled contently to himself as the beautiful memories from the night before came back to the surface. He slowly raised his head, gentle not to wake her up, and looked down at Natasha's sleeping face.

It was the first time in over seventy years that he was seeing her in the morning and it was indisputable she was the most mesmerizing sight anyone could have upon awakening.

They had hardly slept the night before, either talking or giving way to their bodies' yearnings to meet, and yet it had seemed that no matter how hard they had tried to resist, no matter how long they had fought it off, sleep had sneakily slipped in and captured them both.

He didn't know —and let alone cared— what time it was. Nothing mattered more than this moment.

Biting his bottom lip in hesitation, eagerness took the best of him as he didn't want to lose any more second craving for her. He would take the risk waking her up. His fingers gently grazed the bare skin of her shoulder, down to her arm. He then gently buried his head into her enticingly exposed neck and breathed in her scent. He pressed one hand against her stomach to feel the harmonious pace of her breathing.

Lying in Natasha's bed, with Natasha in his arms, Steve began to wonder if it was what happiness felt like. Happiness was such a hard concept to grasp or define. It varied from one person to another. It was often mistaken with a temporary joy for some, or considered like the absence of sorrow by others. For him, happiness was an embrace. The softest embrace with a hint of vanilla perfume (the smell of Natasha's hair this morning), the certainty that no other moment will ever equal the one he was living this morning. To Steve Rogers, happiness was waking up next to Natasha Romanoff.

"Hey," he heard her husky voice say and he felt her body shift a little.

He smiled into her neck. "Hi. I'm sorry I woke you up."

Natasha moaned. "I honestly don't care."

He chuckled and began to plant kisses into her throat.

"It's probably time to go upstairs, isn't it?" Natasha asked.

He sighed. "Yeah," he answered, kissing her skin harder in anticipation of the upcoming, reluctant separation.

Natasha rolled around to face him. She held his face between her two hands. She paused and gazed at him intently, smiling serenely as if she was enjoying the sight of him. He realized he was holding his breath in, enthralled and mesmerized by the intensity and the beauty of her gaze. Then her smile turned into a mischievous smirk.

"I'm sure they can handle themselves without us for the next few hours," she purred. He watched closely as she bit her bottom lip seductively. A short silence ensued, during which they both seemed to ponder whether they could let this fantasy become reality.

They decided it could. They both came at each other, capturing the other's lips eagerly.

Natasha wrapped her arm around his neck and pressed all of herself against him.

Her lips tasted a flavor he knew he would never cease to be hungry for.

He broke the kiss and breathed heavily.

He stared at her intently. "I want you," he grunted huskily into her neck. He slightly frowned at the sound of his own words. "Again."

Natasha cocked an eyebrow and he looked at her apologetically. They had barely slept last night and he didn't exactly know how tired she was from their nocturnal "activities" in addition of her time-travel.

"Pretty sure you missed out one or two extra 'again', here." Natasha teased, biting her lip again.

He shook his head and laughed then leaned in to trail heated kisses along her collarbone.

"Oh God," he heard Natasha murmur as she ran her fingers into his hair. It fuel the fire of his rousing desire for her. She suddenly jerked herself up, pushing him along. His back pressed against the headboard while she came on top and straddled him. She looked at him and stroked his face.

"I knew this super soldier serum would come in handy eventually," she said with the most impudent smirk. They both laughed.

He kissed her again then leaned his upper body forward to be as close to her as possible. She dropped her head backward as an invitation for his lips to come there and he gently started pulling the sheet wrapped around her down her back while her fingers grasped around the muscles of his strong back.

"Agent Romanoff, Mr Stark is asking where - oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be intrusive," JARVIS called out in the room.

Steve halted but kept his face buried into her neck, catching his breath.

"JARVIS, you can do many things but lying isn't one of them," Natasha answered a bit stiffly. "Stark asked you to come and interrupt."

Jarvis remained quiet a bit too long to claim bein innocent.

"My apologies, agent Romanoff. But Mr Stark really insists that you come upstairs and give further information regarding the time travel."

Steve sighed while Natasha briefly ran her tongue along her bottom lip, looking a bit annoyed.

"Tell him that I certainly won't travel back in time for him if he makes me come upstairs to snap his neck, this morning."

"I heard that!" Tony's voice suddenly rang into the room through the speakers. "Romanoff. I have no idea what you're doing down here because JARVIS won't give me access to the video cameras but I am sure of one thing, it can't be any better than helping out with what could become the greatest technological advancement in human history. Romanoff, I give you 5 minu-"

"JARVIS," Natasha called, totally ignoring Stark's threats. "Mute."

"No, no, no!" Tony's voice shouted out. "I dare y-"

And the most pleasant silence followed.

"I –I will stall," JARVIS said before disappearing too.

Natasha put a hand on Steve's chest and pushed him down until his back was totally lying on the bed. She then bent over him and pressed her hands on the mattress while his hands reached out for each side of her waist. The sheet around her slipped out and fell to the side.

He gazed at her with with dark pupils.

"It is way better," she purred before leaning in to kiss him.

Steve and Natasha arrived upstairs slightly before lunch time. Everyone in the lounge was pretty relaxed and chatting except for Tony who looked stiff, impatiently shaking his foot. His mouth slightly fell open when he saw them then he stood up and marched right in their direction. He looked at both of them with deeply furrowed eyebrows and the most critical look.

He pointed a condemning finger at them and lowered his voice.

"I know what you two were doing downstairs, you...horny mammals," Tony grumbled, earning muffled chuckles from them. "I can't say much for you," he said looking at Natasha then glanced over at Steve, "but from you, I expected much better."

Steve and Natasha looked at each other, eyes still sparkling with the memories from this morning, and snorted again.

"I'm sure you'll get over it," he told Stark as he patted his shoulder. Tony gawked with a mix of wonder and indignation as if he seemed to see Steve under a brand new light. Somehow, Stark seemed to be more scandalized about how their bed time was coming in the way of his research than astonished about why and how they had ended in bed in the first place.

"You're coming with me and alone before your raging libidos loom again," he talked to Natasha with some kind of authority he sensed she would allow him this once to have. He then headed off toward his lab and she began to follow.

Steve reached out for her hand. She turned, glanced down to take in the sight of their hands connected in the most simple gesture, then she looked up at him. Their eyes conveyed all the displeasure they felt at having to part so soon after having found each other. She smiled at him, then as she heard Tony calling her name like a scolding parent, she stepped off and her fingers slipped out of his soft grip.

He watched her walk away, already anticipating the moment she would be back. When she eventually turned around the corner and disappeared of his line of sight, he switched his attention back to the people in the room.

He saw Bucky and Maria, sitting close together in a quiet part of the lounge. Steve immediately recalled the night before and he walked up to them, anxious to check on his best friend.

Bucky seemed alright, engaged into a private conversation with Maria as he was leaning over the armrest and holding her hand, his thumb making small circles on her both looked up when they felt Steve's presence.

"Hi," he said, looking directly at James.

Maria smiled. "Hi."

"How's Natasha?" Bucky asked and Maria seemed to conceal a conniving grin by scratching her upper lip.

"She's alright," he answered, rubbing his neck.

Maria stood up. "I have some things to do," she announced. Bucky looked up at her and she gave his hand a little squeeze before letting it go. Then she smiled at Steve and stepped away.

He took her seat, prepped his elbows over his knees and entwined his fingers together.

"How are you doing?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

Bucky pouted. "I'm OK," he assured.

Steve nodded. It seemed he couldn't find the words to make the situation more admissible. Although apparently Maria had done a better job at it the night before.

"I saw you and Natasha arrived together," Bucky observed naturally. "Did you get to talk?"

Steve scoffed at the choice of word. "We did," he answered the most naturally possible.

Bucky looked genuinely curious, and for the first time ever, totally clueless. "When?"

He scratched the back of his ear. "Err, last night."

Bucky's face literally morphed before his eyes into wild interest. A large smirk plastered itself across his face. "Last night?" he repeated, adding a massive chunk of cheekiness and innuendos he considered suitable for the turn this talk was about to take.

He rested his chin over his fist and stared at him expectantly.

"I must say I'm impressed," he said finally, when he felt the pressure of his gaze was becoming unbearable for Steve. "When I advised you not to wait too long, I didn't think you'd go for it on the same night."

He winked cheekily.

"How was it?" he demanded.

"It was...," Steve smiled nervously. "...the best night of my life. Like every bit of my journey had always meant to lead to that very moment."

Bucky smiled. "You've never been the type to believe in fate," he echoed his own words from a couple of evenings before.

Steve smiled too at the irony of it.

Bucky leaned forward and patted his shoulder. "Welcome to adulthood., by the way."

"Oh, shut up," Steve groaned. Obviously, James would have to ruin the moment with his annoying humor. Bucky laughed wholeheartedly at his joke.

"I've waited 86 years to say it. And it grew funnier by each passing year. Well, it grew exponentially hysterical after the 70-year gap, to be honest."

"Think whatever you want. It's not like I would have run to you and made an announcement the morning after," Steve said.

"Stahp. Nothing that you can say will devalue my joke."

Steve rolled his eyes.

"I suppose you're not gonna share any details with me, are you?" Bucky uttered bitterly.

"Glad to see you've kept small room for some common sense."

Bucky dropped his head back on the armchair. He let out a long and dramatic groan of complain.

"I hope you're aware you can be the least fun friend a person can have. What kind of guy doesn't like to talk about sex?"

Steve hushed im with a flap of his back hand, glancing behind at the others.

"Can we try to stay discreet?" he pleaded quietly.

Bucky puffed. "You're kidding, right? Maria and I have been teased for weeks by the group. It's about damn time somebody else replaces us!"

Steve sighed. "And I thought I'd get your support."

"Oh you have it completely," Bucky assured very vehemently, "...on all the other levels. But not this one. I'd throw you two under a bus in the blink of an eye if it means the others finally let my girlfriend be."

Steve arched an eyebrow, pensive. "You know your commitment to your relationship is both admirable and questionable."

"I know. It's a talent," Bucky exclaimed with a smug look. "It's not real love until it turns you into a bit of a sociopath."

"Sounds very sane," Steve assessed sarcastically. "Can't wait."

"Where is she?" Bucky asked, looking around the room. "I want to congratulate her on the sex."

"Tony took her to the lab. And I forbid you, anyway."

"He did? So soon? Harsh."

Steve agreed quietly. "I guess that was his revenge for putting him on mute this morning after he interrupted us."

Bucky's eyes took the shape of two marbles. "As your best friend, I'm begging, you gotta at least share this story."

Steve snorted. Maybe, this anecdote could be the one exception — besides, it was too satisfying not to share. And he proceeded to tell him about it.

Back in his office, Steve has his mood on other things than work. Mostly musing over the past night and his reunion with Natalie. But, as he was sitting at his desk, he caught himself hoping for Natasha to pop in with a teasing comment like she always would. He began to fear that might never happen again. As happy as he were at this moment to have Natalie back, and despite knowing they were both the same woman, part of him missed the Natasha he had gotten to know for the past three years; and he dreaded he might have lost her too, forever.

That following evening, finally together and alone again, she spent the night snuggled against him, her head pressed against his chest, his arm around her with his fingers gently stroking her arm up and down, both quiet, as she seemed to be listening to the steady pace of his breathing. It seemed she found comfort in hearing his heart beat.

It was perfect, or it should have been perfect, if it had not been for that quiet whisper in his head worrying for Natasha's astray memories.

"I'm sure I'll eventually recollect everything from this timeline," he heard her say as if she read his thoughts.

"I'm not…," he began bashfully.

She smiled faintly. "Steve, I've known you for longer than you can remember. I know you could never find your peace of mind if you feel like somebody has been lost on the way, let alone let yourself be happy at the expense of somebody else."

"I am happy," he truly wanted to retort, for he truly was indeed, but he simply couldn't ignore that dark spot staining the full picture. He just couldn't; it was in his nature. And it seemed she already knew about it.

"Thor said that I should eventually remember everything because there was no record of side effects in the Asgardian legends. Tony and Bruce think that the merging might have subdued the initial conscience forcing it to retreat for a while to leave space for mine, but that it should come back to the surface at some point. And I'm starting to recollect very old memories…I think. They're just so identical to the ones I have that it's hard to tell them apart clearly."

He nodded silently to himself. That sounded like optimistic news, undoubtedly. Hopefully optimistic enough to quiet down the whisper in his head for some time.

"I'm sorry," he murmured hardly with furrowed brows. She lifted her head off his chest to look at him. He gazed at her intently. "I don't want you to feel like you're not enough. You are everything to me and beyond."

Her expression remained calm but unfathomable. She nodded. "I know," she said softly. "But you love her."

He looked her in the eye numbly. She was right, undeniably. He could fully see it now after years of having kept it hidden. He had grown to love Natasha. Just not the same way he had fallen for Natalie. More slowly, less ardently, but just as deeply. She had become his bearings in this new century and he couldn't imagine his life without her in it.

And certainly not without the Natalie he had met the evening of December 11th, 1942 either. The woman to whom he owed his life. "And I love you," he assured her.

She nodded again. "I know."

Although it didn't make sense for him to want to tell them apart albeit being the same woman, he still yearned in his heart to look into her eyes and find them both in there.

However, surely he could cope with the situation for now and fully enjoy the return of his great love for now. They had both earned it.

He swiftly flipped them both around so that he was lying on top of her. He gazed down at her adoringly and stroked her face very slowly so that his mind could engrave the memory of it.

"Remember what happened after we spent New Year's Eve together?" he asked.

She frowned and chuckled. "I remember almost breaking that thief's wrist. You turned up right in time, luckily for him."

"Oh, so you did harm him. I knew my eyes didn't lie."

Natasha hardly feigned guilt. "Oops," she commented cheekily.

"When I walked you to your apartment, we were talking about many things and you asked: 'Who is that woman who has your heart, Steve Rogers?' I looked at you and for a moment I was no longer sure what the answer was. That's when I began to fall in love with you."

She smiled tenderly. "And when did you begin to fall in love when you woke up here?"

He thought carefully. "Twice. The first time when I met you again on S.H.I.E.L.D's helicarrier; then when you became the only person who could soothe the grief of your loss..if that makes sense," he snorted lightly. Gazing down at her with intensity again, he added: "Now I understand why. Only you could be enough to fill the void of your own absence."

She smiled the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. One of adoration and content.

She said the words her quivering pupils had already taken care of conveying. "I love you."

He stared down at her closely, engrossed into the sight of his own love reflecting into her eyes, and vice versa. His whole chest seemed to warm up with inner bliss. He then slowly leaned down to close the gap between them and sealed their confessed love with a chaste kiss.