Another AU I suppose, a little different in genre to what I would usually write.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel.

#5: I'm your angel

"I can protect him better from down there." The angel asked, no- begged to Father.

The young man had been under her watch ever since he was born.

Now the angel had looked after countless humans for centuries, yet she never felt a connection to one quite like with this blond-haired boy, whose eyes were as bright and blue as the sky in heaven.

His life certainly hadn't been easy. His father died when he was still way too young and since then, his mother had to work twice as hard to support them both. He also had poor health, which made matters even worse.

Then his mother passed away and the boy was left alone in the world.

"He's a human. You're never supposed to fall for him." Came the reply.

So the angel sent him a friend, another boy around his age. They became the best of friends, a brother to the other.

Shortly after, he was given a new purpose- a chance to live his dream of serving his beloved country. He was no longer a scrawny kid who got bullied everywhere he went. He now fought the bullies.

But it wasn't enough to save his best friend, and he had to cope with losing his family all over again.

In the attempt to avenge his friend, the man found himself at death's door when his selfless heart led him to make a sacrifice that would save the lives of many, all except his own.

Buried deep in the ocean, he was now alone once again.

Father tried to warn, "It couldn't possibly end well for you."

The angel kept her watch over the man. Days quickly turned into years- ten, twenty, fifty years... he was still yet to be found.

"All this time, I've never asked for anything. But just this once... please, Father." The angel made her choice.

His name was Steve Rogers.

"As you wish." And Father made a mortal out of the angel.

Natalia Romanova. She liked the name.

Born to a loving Russian couple in a small town outside of Moscow, she really couldn't be happier with her life.

Sadly, the happiness was only short-lived. Her parents died in a house fire when Natalia was eight years old, leaving her an orphan.

Things went further downhill from there. She was moved from one foster home to another, until she landed in a place called Red Room- an underground KGB training facility disguised as an orphanage.

Years passed as Red Room transformed Natalia Romanova into a lethal weapon. She became a killing machine who lived and breathed for the sole purpose of completing one mission after another.

Soon Natalia earned the name Black Widow, a notorious title given for Red Room's finest and deadliest.

She was only twenty-three years old.

0-0-0

When words got around that Captain America was found alive after being frozen for almost seventy years in the Atlantic ocean by a US-based organization called SHIELD, the Red Room wasted no time gathering all the intel and resources to get their hands on the super soldier.

As it turned out, SHIELD had been keeping the news a secret for the past year.

Red Room was always interested in Captain America, given he was the first and only super soldier. They had been eager to run some experiments and tests on him with the aim of replicating the serum he was injected with.

So they sent their best agents, led by the Black Widow, on a mission to capture Captain America.

Natalia found him in Marseille, France. She had been following him for a few days and that night, she was finally going to take him down and bring him to the Red Room.

Her backup team was in position and she was waiting outside the bar he was about to come out from. She was set to play the role of a drunken girl who appeared to have trouble trying to get home by herself. Captain America wouldn't be able to resist helping her and for the Black Widow, it was almost too easy.

Except it wasn't.

Apparently SHIELD had been keeping tabs on Black Widow and they knew what she and the Red Room were trying to do. Her plan backfired and now, Captain America was ordered to kill her.

He made a different call. The blond man by the name Steve Rogers saved her life instead.

And Natalia couldn't help but wonder why his blue eyes looked remarkably familiar to her.

0-0-0

Red Room was gone, now replaced by SHIELD.

As he was the one who brought her in, Steve spent most of his time with Natalia, grooming her to be a proper SHIELD agent. They became partners on the field, working seamlessly on missions as if they had been fighting alongside each other for years.

Off the field, she was almost always by herself, opting to train alone in the gym or retreat to her SHIELD quarter. So Steve took it upon himself to be her friend.

They started to spend time together outside of work, learning about the other person and slowly letting their guards down when around each other.

It took about a year for Natalia to finally accept Steve as her friend. She grew more comfortable around him, even missed his company whenever he was away on some solo missions. She also began showing her playful side, a privilege only he was allowed to see.

Another six months passed before he mustered up the courage to ask her out on a real date, to which she had replied with "I wonder what took you so long, soldier" and proceeded to kiss him full on the lips.

No, Steve didn't need to worry about their first date being awkward at all.

0-0-0

They had been dating for a little over two months when Natalia had her twenty-fifth birthday.

Steve remembered her saying she never celebrated her birthdays ever since her parents died, so he made sure to come up with something special for her.

Candles and rose petals greeted her when she came home to her apartment that night. A table for two had been set in the middle of the room where her boyfriend was currently standing.

Then Steve approached her slowly, all the while admiring her surprised expression. "Happy birthday, Natalia." He held her in his arms and gave her a loving kiss.

Pulling away gently, he took her hand and led her to the table he had set up for their candlelit dinner. There was a chocolate cake, Natalia's favorite, on the table with the number '25' candles on top of it.

He wrapped her small form from behind and whispered in her ear, "Make a wish, love."

Natalia briefly closed her eyes and replied in a soft murmur, "It already came true." She smiled as she blew out the candles.

Turning in his arms, she locked their lips together in a sweet kiss. "I love you, Steve."

It was the first time she said those three words to him.

It was also the night they first made love.

0-0-0

Later on, as she was drifting off in his embrace, Steve told her about his dream. A dream he had when he was frozen and alone in the ice.

He dreamed of an angel.

He had seen her before, time and time again, mostly in his half-remembered dreams. The angel had porcelain skin, shimmering like a thousand diamonds, with crimson hair that was as striking as it was beautiful.

He never saw her face, but he knew she was perfect.

"You remind me of her."

Steve had noticed the resemblance right away when he first laid eyes on Natalia that August night in Marseille, almost two years ago. Her flawless skin, soft red curls, and the most beautiful pair of green eyes- she was just like the angel from his dreams.

Natalia was already asleep when Steve spoke again in a barely audible whisper, "Sleep, my angel. I got you now."

It was his turn to protect her.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Feedback are greatly appreciated.