I'm baaack! What's up guys! Thanks for being patient with me. A little break was just what I needed to get the old juices going. Now I'm back and ready for the second half. Thank you all for sticking it out with me and waiting for a new chapter to drop. Just a quick head's up, while this was on half time, I started another story(Please check out my profile page to read it and its prequel) so now I'm going to try to post a new chapter every two weeks, so I can give both stories equal amounts of attention. Most posts will usually come on Thurs. or Sun. since those are the days where I don't have school or work. But since you guys have been so patient, I decided to post this one a little early for you.

Anyway, enjoy! ;)

"Cap! Cap, get out here!" Tony shouted.

"Hey Running Man!" Sam called as he and the billionaire paced through the living room "Where you at?"

"I'm right here," Steve entered the living room, his cheeks flushed and his face beaded with sweat. "I just got back from a run," he said between breaths "Hey, Sam."

"Dude we've been looking all over for you," Sam stated "You are making it very hard to be your wingmen, Steve."

"Seriously, how are we supposed to help you get the girl if you keep running off Capsicle?"

Steve frowned as he was hit by a wave of embarrassment and dread "James told you didn't he?"

"That you have a crush on Natasha? Honestly, it was more like confirm." Tony admitted.

Steve groaned.

"Hey, don't sweat it Cap," said Sam "James gave us the run-down. By tonight, Natasha will be swept off her feet and swooning into your arms."

"You're not going to lock us in a room together are you?"

"Nah, nothing like that. The plan is simple," Sam assured as he walked Steve toward his room "just a little wine and dine."

"With my own special touch," Tony added mischievously "After that, who knows? Maybe James will have an older brother or sister when he gets home."

Steve rolled his eyes "Hey, where is James anyway?"

James slowly poked his head into his mother's room, the sound of the running water coming from the bathroom telling him that she was preoccupied. Natasha must've been the middle of taking a bubble bath. Good. That gave James just the cover he needed. Very carefully, the ten year-old snuck his way into the Black Widow's bedroom, praying that for once he wouldn't get caught.

Natasha sat silently on the edge of her bathtub, patiently waiting to enjoy one of her guilty pleasures. She had just finished a rough workout in the gym and Natasha could think of no better way to unwind. As she started to pour in her rose scented bath salts, Natasha felt faint tingle in the back of her neck. Someone was in here.

At slightest trace of movement coming from the bathroom, James quickly ducked behind the bed and held his breath. Please don't see me, please don't see me, he thought.

Natasha knew that James was in her room. After watching him prank Hill, Agent May, Happy and Tony Stark on several occasions, Natasha knew that it was only a matter of time before James came after her. She could catch him in the act right then and there.

James stayed crouched out down behind the bed for what felt like hours. When he finally heard the bathroom door click shut, James let out a small breath of relief. James didn't know Natasha didn't see him. And honestly, he didn't care. He had to move fast.

"Are you guys sure about this?"

"Come man, trust us. We got you."

"I trust you Sam," Steve reassured "It's him I'm worried about."

"Seriously? Capsicle, if there is anyone in this Tower that knows anything about getting girls it's me," Tony stated proudly.

"Yeah, until sunrise. Then you kick them to the curb. I try that with Nat I'll probably get shot at. Plus that's what I'm looking for."

Tony smiled smugly "Is the good captain already falling for a certain red head?" he asked.

"I am not going to justify that question with a response. How do I look?" Steve came out of from the bathroom dressed in a navy blue suit, with a crisp white shirt and brown oxford shoes.

"Clean up nice running man," Sam complemented.

"I still think we should go with a tie," Tony criticized.

"No ties," Steve refused strongly "One of the benefits of living in the twenty-first century is that I can wear a suit without one."

Uh guys, little help?" The boys looked up to see James dangling from the air vents above, a black drawstring bag preventing him from descending to the floor. Sam quickly responded, helping the ten year-old to the ground. "Thanks."

"No problem Jr. What's in this anyway?"

"Open that bag and dad might just shield slap you," he warned, causing Sam to quickly put down the bag. James took one at Steve and frowned. "What'd you put him a suit for?"

"You told us to dress him up." said Tony.

"Not that much! Mom's gonna make us from a mile away."

"I told you it was too much!" said Steve.

"Here," James rushed over to his father's dresser and tossed him a shirt from the middle drawer "Mom loves this one. She says it makes your arms look bigger than Thor's."

When Natasha got out of the bathtub, she knew to be on her guard. Her son had just been sneaking around in her room and he loved to play tricks. But when she checked her room, there wasn't a thing out of place. Then she checked her closet. It was practically empty. The only clothes left were a little more on the side of formal. And were all the same color. What are you up to James?

When she went to the living room, she knew something was going on. For one thing the place was quiet. The Tower was never quiet. Especially since James showed up. When Nathasha asked where everybody was, JARVIS told her that Sam and Hill had already gone home, Tony and Pepper were on a date, Clint and Bobbi had yet to make an appearance since making up and Bruce was with FitzSimmons in the lab. That left her only with James and Steve. When Natasha finally found the super soldier, she was a little surprised.

He was in the kitchen cooking dinner, dressed in a pair of worn jeans, tan work boots and a royal blue polo shirt that could barely contain his sculpted physique. God, those arms. They looked bigger than Thor's. No wonder he could throw that giant shield around like it was a Frisbee. Blinking, Natasha forced the childish thoughts out of her head and remembered to stop ogling and use her words. "You look nice."

"Nat!" Steve jumped, fumbling to keep the food from spilling.

Natasha smiled inwardly. Steve may have the body of Adonis, but he was still just Steve. "What are you all dressed up for?"

"I could say the same thing about you," Steve countered, trying his best not to blush. Why, oh, why did she have to wear black? Steve always knew that Natasha was beautiful. Scratch that, beautiful didn't even come close to describe Natasha. But when she wore black… it almost was enough to make Steve turn into a melted Capsicle. If it weren't for the fact that they were always in mortal danger, he probably wouldn't be able to stand when she wore her mission suit. Black was most definitely Natasha's color. And right now she was covered in it: A form fitting blouse which accented all her curves, with jeans and a pair of boots.

Natasha sighed. "This was all I had left in my closet. Guess I need to do better at picking what to put in the laundry. So what's your excuse?"

Steve shrugged nervously "Just grabbed something out of the drawer." If he found out that James was behind Natasha's outfit, that boy was in for it.

Natasha nodded slowly, noticing how tense and uneasy Steve seemed to be. "What's for dinner?"

"Chicken Parmesan, it should be ready in a few minutes. Figured it'd be nice to have something other take out for once. There's more than enough if you're hungry," Steve offered "James already ate so I guess it's just us."

Well wasn't that convenient? "Sure. I'll get us some drinks."

Steve went back to cooking and attempted to regain his breath. Natasha had the nasty habit of making him feel like he was about to have an asthma attack. "If you don't mind, I was wondering if we could eat out on the balcony."

Dinner overlooking a starlit New York City? Was he even trying to be discrete? "Fine with me," Natasha said pleasantly.

So far so good. Steve quickly placed the food onto two plates and led Natasha out to the balcony as she carried two beers in hand. Ever the gentleman, Steve opened the door for her and pulled out a chair as she sat down. The two began to eat in silence when a unfamiliar sound began to echo across the balcony. It was music. Frank Sinatra.

Natasha glanced suspiciously across the table "Steve, what's going on?"

"Uh…," Steve couldn't hide the redness in his cheeks this time "what do you mean?"

Clearly, the soldier was willing to go down with the ship. Which meant Natasha would simply have to sink it. "Where is he?"

"Who?"

"James, I'm going to count to three. And if you're not out here," Natasha paused to let her son ponder on the punishment he'd be in for if he didn't listen "One…two…,"

Before she could even finish saying two, James had already popped up from behind the living room couch and bolted onto the balcony. He had learned the hard way to never let his mother get to three. "Hi."

Natasha walked slowly over to her son, who know looked five instead of five as his mother glared at him. "Did you set all this up?"

James' only response was a nod.

"You had help didn't you?"

Another nod.

"That's what I thought. Stark! Get out here."

Sulking, Tony walked out and entered the balcony "How'd you know I was in on it?"

"Because this whole set-up reeks of you. Now was anyone else part of this little scheme of yours?" Natasha asked.

"Uncle Sam."

"Wow. Really," Sam came out shaking his head in disbelief. "I cannot believe you just threw me under the bus like that, Jr."

"I expected this from Stark, Sam. Not from you."

"Hey, I was just trying to help out my boy."

"Well, why don't help him by staying out of my private life?" Natasha suggested. "Now if you two don't mind, I would like to have a talk with the Captain. Alone," she added. After James and his partners in crime had left, Natasha turned her attention to a nervous Steve.

"Am I in trouble too?" he asked.

"That depends; did James twist your arm to get you to do this?"

Steve shook his head. "He didn't have to." Steve could not believe he was doing this "I've had feelings for you for a while Nat. I'm not sure how long. They just sort of snuck up on me," he said "I didn't even realize there were there until DC," Steve felt his cheeks getting warmer "After that kiss in DC, it was like a switch went off. I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to be friends," he clarified "At the moment, I thought that was all I wanted. That what I was feeling in the car ride to Jersey was just the shock of another incredible woman blindsiding me with a kiss."

Steve swallowed a lump in his throat "But after it was all over, and you said goodbye at the cemetery, I realized that the reason I never went out with any of the girls you tried to set me up was because the one girl I was interested in was the one setting me up on the dates. I've never been too good with women. I only got one on my own and I ended oversleeping by about seventy years. You are a truly remarkable woman Natasha," Steve acknowledged "and for I long time, I was willing to keep my feelings to myself. Then comes this kid," he said "with bright red hair and a pair of baby blue eyes. Who can speak perfect Russian and name the entire roster of the 1941 Yankees like it's nothing," Steve chuckled. "To know that I even have a chance with someone like you, for a scrawny little kid from 1940s Brooklyn, that's almost too good to be true," Steve shrugged "I'm just sorry that our son coming from the future to get me to try."

Natasha shifted her weight between her feet, her face still trying to stay neutral "Can I be honest with you?" she asked.

"I don't see why not."

"I sort of…knew."

Steve felt like crawling into a deep hole "How long?"

"Since…the first time you called me Nat."

Seriously? Had he been falling for that long? Forget the hole, Steve wanted to go back into the freezer.

"Hey, I'm flattered," Natasha told him, seeing the clear embarrassment on Steve's face "What girl wouldn't want to be Captain America's crush? You're a great guy Steve. And any girl would lucky to have you."

"So why do I feel like there's a but coming?"

"Think about it Steve. You're America's 1940s golden boy and I'm a former Russian spy," Natasha reminded "We're from two totally different worlds. We'd probably be at each other's throats after within a week."

"So what, we just go along being friends and act like nothing's going to happen? Nat, we've got a ten year-old son staying in a guest room whose first birthday isn't for three years."

Steve was right; if they stayed friends forever then Natasha would never have James. She couldn't let that happened. But she couldn't be with Steve either.

"Where do we go from here?" Steve asked.

Natasha sighed. "I don't know."

"Hey."

James looked up from his notebook and saw his parents standing in the doorway to his room. "Hey."

"What are you working on?" Natasha asked.

"Drawing."

"Mind if we take a look?" Blushing, James handed the notebook to his father who chuckled when he saw that it was a drawing of Simmons. Like father, like son.

Natasha took one look at the picture and scowled. "James, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"We know that you were just trying to help with dinner," Steve acknowledged "but for now, your mother and I are just friends."

"Whatever happens happens, and we are going to let it happen on its own," she said. "So no more playing Cupid okay?"

James shifted around on his bed "Okay."

"Now there's just one more thing we have to deal with."

"What?"

"The clothes you took from my closet," Natasha reminded.

"Oh yeah." Smiling sleepily, James reached under his bed and pulled out the bag that kept him from sneaking into Steve's room.

"That's what was in there? How'd you even get in Nat's room?"

"I waited 'till she was taking a bubble bath."

Steve's eyes nearly fell out of his head.

Natasha smirked unable to resist such an easy opportunity to tease the Captain "What's the matter Rogers? Are you… uncomfortable?"

Steve couldn't even look in Natasha's direction "That's not exactly the word I would use," and he quickly left, excusing himself to get some now much needed air.

Natasha shook her head in amusement. "He might need your help after all," James smiled as she gently ran her fingers through his hair "it's getting late. Get some sleep okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight." As soon his mother was out of eyesight, James turned on his smartwatch. It was a good thing Natasha hadn't learned all of James's tells yet. She would've known to check of crossed fingers. Opening the photo gallery, James fumbled through the photos until he found the latest version of the Rogers family Christmas photo. A nine year-old James smiling in his mother's lap while Steve held a younger child beside them: A girl, with blonde hair and green eyes. So far, nothing had changed. Good. That meant James still had time. His parents had bought the fake set-up, now for real plan.