This is it -the last chapter. I always intended this story to be on the shorter side.

Chapter 13

Natasha woke up with an arm slung over her. She recognized the arm and the man's scent immediately. Steve was next to her. Oh God, she had slept with him! They had sex last night. What had she been thinking? She was trying to stay away from him! She was such a fucking idiot! What was she supposed to do now? They had to dig into the whole HYDRA thing and find out where they kept Barnes. Did he sleep with her because of what happened yesterday? She shouldn't have been weak, she shouldn't have given into him. But his kisses felt so good, his beard on her skin felt soft and rough at the same time and it was so perfect when he had been finally inside her again. Flashes of the night before were running through her mind and she was getting aroused. No, nope. Natasha, pull yourself together. You can't lust after your ex-boyfriend.

She had to get out of this bed and take a shower and then...she had no idea what she was supposed to do. It was an one night stand. It didn't mean the same to Steve than it did to her. He probably just wanted to distract himself from Barnes and HYDRA. She tried to get up but the arm around her tightened its hold and Steve pulled her with her back against his chest.

"You're thinking too much. It's too early for that." He said and nuzzled his face into her hair. "I like the red."

"Steve, what are we doing?"

"It's called cuddling." He pressed a kiss to her head. "Let's get more sleep. We have a lot ahead of us."

Why was he like this? Why did he want to cuddle? She was so confused and waited for the moment he would shove her out of the bed. "You hate me."

His other hand brushed her hair out of her face. "I don't. I wanted to but I couldn't. Maybe I did a little after I found out. Did you mean what you wrote in that letter?"

"Yes. Every single word." She turned in his arms to face him. She had to look him in the eyes. "I am sorry, Steve. For lying to you. For pretending to be someone that I'm not. For using you. And I am sorry for what Yelena and Rumlow did to you. I am so so sorry for everything." She started crying but she had to keep talking. "I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did it. Not that's not true. I wanted you. I wanted to be with you. You made me feel things I never felt before. But it was wrong to start something with you. It was unprofessional and so unfair to you. But I never felt like this before, Steve. I know I told you so many lies but I never lied about my feelings. I'm sorry."

He wiped her tears with his thumb away. "I had a lot of time to think about everything in the last months. I thought about everything you told me while you were living next door, read your file over and over again and your letter. And I realized that you told me things about you that were true and that maybe not everything was a lie. And then Belova and Rumlow happened and I was sure that you wouldn't come. Rumlow said that you would come because you loved me and I was convinced that it wasn't the case but then you did came and saved me. But you were gone when I woke up and I thought that you only came out of guilt-"

"Steve-"

"Please let me finish. And then Fury's wife was suddenly at my doorstep telling me to get my act together. That she had never seen you this happy before and that you'd never lied to Fury before me. Coulson showed me the reports. Nothing personal about me was in there. Nothing about Bucky or my PTSD. And then you sent me Bucky's picture. You could have told Fury about it, I'm sure SHIELD would be interested in him but you only told me. And then you decided to help me. Even though he shot you, even though his past is probably similar to yours and those memories can't be pleasant. And I've been realizing that the Natasha I've been seeing in the last two weeks is pretty similar to Natalie. Clint told me that you wanted to tell me the truth and that you thought about quitting SHIELD even though Fury had done so much for you." She had been silently crying while he talked and he was brushing her tears away. He kissed her softly. "I know now that we weren't a lie."

"I am sorry, Steve. There's no excuse for what I did." She closed her eyes and he pulled her closer to him. "How can you look me in the eyes after what I've done. And you read my file. You know what kind of person I am. Belova went after you because of me. She won't be the last."

"Yes, I read your file. What happened to you is horrible. But I think that Natalie wasn't a complete lie. I think Natalie was the person you want to be. The person you could be. The woman you are deep down."

"I...I don't know what to say. I...Do you still want to be with me?"

Steve smiled softly. "I want to get to know Natasha. I want to see all of you."

"You've changed me forever, Steve." She whispered. She wanted to tell him that he loved him but she didn't think that he wanted to hear it right now. "I will never let you down again. I promise. And I am so sorry for hurting you. It was the worst thing I've ever done. The biggest regret in my life."

"I forgive you. I'm now ready for it."

"Really?" She asked quietly. "I don't deserve it."

"Let me be the judge of that." He rolled onto his back and took her with him tugging her against his chest. "Let's get a bit more sleep. We'll figure everything out. You and me. And HYDRA and Bucky. We'll figure it out."

They followed every potential lead in the next weeks and traveled through Europe. They still hadn't figured out where Barnes was hidden or if he had been on a mission since they started looking for him. They didn't know what to do about the HYDRA threat. She wanted to tell Fury about it but Steve didn't trust him and he was right when he said that SHIELD could be infiltrated. So it was just the two of them going after the Winter Soldier and up against HYDRA. They stopped booking two hotel rooms and slept in the same bed and Natasha had established a no sex rule much to Steve's disappointment. They needed to talk more and work on their relationship and sex would get in the way of that. Because once they started, they would be at it for hours thanks to Steve's lack of refectory period and them both being horny like teenagers but they needed to talk and so she decided that they wouldn't sleep with each other. Steve adorably tried to convince her that "hand stuff" wasn't sex but she stood her ground and Steve being Steve of course understood where she was coming from and agreed to it. They talked every night about the fruitless search and HYDRA and she also told him about her life. About the Red Room, about the horrible things she had done for them and how Clint had been sent to kill her and made another call. How Clint and Fury had helped her and how the Furys let her stay at their house after she was allowed to leave SHIELD. She didn't leave anything out and in the darkness of different hotel rooms across Europe Steve got to know everything about her. She never wanted to keep another secret from him ever again.

She got wind about a rumor that the Winter Soldier would be send after a liberal and popular politician wanting to change Sokovia who had big chances to win the election. They waited for days tailing the politician until the Winter Soldier showed up. The fight was brutal. They got the politician to safety and then mostly Steve and Barnes beat the shit out of each other. She tried to intervene to protect Steve and ended up with a broken wrist and two broken ribs. Steve was seriously injured with multiple stabbing and gun wounds but he managed to overpower Barnes and knocked him out. She actually hadn't thought about what they would do once they got Barnes but as it turned out Steve got it covered and Stark was the answer. He sent one of his quinjets and let Barnes stay at his Tower where he couldn't escape and would be monitored 24/7. He even found specialists who were positive that after the right therapy the Winter Soldier programming would disappear. Stark seemed surprised that she was by Steve's side and still a bit pissed about the whole Natalie Rushman thing but he did offer her to stay at the Tower and wanted to include her in the fight against HYDRA.

Natasha didn't stay at the Tower but at her safe house in Harlem. Steve stayed at the Tower and spent hours watching his best friend and then later talking to him. It was still a long way with lots of set backs but Barnes sometimes remembered Steve and she saw how happy he was when it happened. She, Stark and Steve did agree in the end to tell Fury about it who apparently already had his own suspicions about SHIELD being compromised. They still didn't really had anything on HYDYA or knew who was a member but they took down their greatest asset and that was a start. She was sure that they would bring down HYDRA eventually.

Steve had spent the day with Barnes who remembered more and more of his time before HYDRA and even started to give them important intel about the Nazi organisation. Steve picked her up with his bike and drove with her to his place in Brooklyn. She hadn't been here since she looked through his place to save him from Yelena. He took her hand and walked with her into his apartment. He told her to sit down in the living room and she did. He was in his bedroom for a moment and then came back with her file.

"I've been meaning to give this back to you for weeks now, Nat." He put the file on the coffee table. "I know what it meant that you gave me the real one."

"I don't need it back. You can keep it." She told him everything and he helped her move on from her past. He helped her become a new person. A better person. She was still working on it but she wanted to be the person worthy of Steve Rogers.

"Okay." He nodded and walked to his fireplace. "Are you okay with this?"

"Yes. Do it." She followed him.

He threw the file into the fireplace and lit it on fire. "You're not that person anymore. You're my Natasha." He smiled and cupped her face. "Don't ever forget that."

"I won't. I promise." She smiled back and closed her eyes briefly when he kissed her forehead. She was so grateful that he forgave and that they were back together.

"I love you, Natasha. I love every version of you because in the end they're all the same beautiful woman." He pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

"I love you, too. Only you." She gave him another kiss and Steve's hands wandered over her back to her ass.

"So... is the no sex rule still in tact or..." He grinned sheepishly and squeezed her bottom.

She laughed and kissed him with teeth and tongue causing him to groan. "Take me to bed, soldier."

He swept her off her feet and carried her to his bedroom." Yes, ma'am."

Two weeks later Steve introduced her to Barnes with a proud grin on his face as his girl and it made her knees weak. She immediately liked Barnes when he said that he had no idea how Steve managed to score such a beautiful woman.

The End

Thank you all so much for reading! And for all your reviews, faves and follows! An especially big thanks to those who regularly commented, you guys rock! And thank you to all those silent readers, I hope you enjoyed this story!