A/N: By request, an angsty post-mission heart to heart :) Enjoy! New story coming soon!

The sun was high in the sky when Natasha woke up, still feeling groggy. She was momentarily startled by the emptiness of her bed, but then she smelled breakfast cooking and smiled. Dragging herself from the comforting warmth of her blankets, she made her way into the kitchen and leaned against the wall to watch James work at the stove. It was a delight to see him, even doing something as mundane as frying eggs.

"Good morning," he said, glancing over at her with a smile.

"I love you," she told him without preamble.

A puzzled look crossed his face before he set down the spatula, turned down the heat on the burner, and walked over to her. "I love you, too," he answered quietly, taking her hands and meeting her gaze intently. "What's wrong?"

She licked her lips and turned her attention away from him for a moment, before giving into temptation and pressing against his chest. He obligingly wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back gently. "I loved you when you trained me, and I… made some mistakes after that, after they took you away. But they brought me to where I am, to who I am now, and I can't regret any of it."

"You don't have to," he assured her, leaning away to look at her while he caressed her face.

Breaking away from him, she decided he needed to know the whole of it. He'd told her everything about himself, his hopes and fears and dreams. How could she not return the favor? Pacing, she tried to figure out where to start. "After you… when you were gone, I met a pilot named Alexei Shostokov. We were married. We tried to have kids. I couldn't. So his people made him fake his death so he could continue serving the country away from someone – someone like me."

James reached for her then, and she let him take her hand, but didn't look at him. She had to get this out first.

"That led to me defecting to SHIELD, and you know the rest of that story. My mission last week took me to Germany, and I ran into Yelena. You remember her?"

"Yes."

She glanced at him for confirmation, but couldn't keep eye contact after seeing the look on his face. She didn't deserve him. "We fended off an abduction attempt. They said something about going after other Widows, so we tried to track everyone down. James – they're all dead," she whispered, voice shaking with emotion.

"Natalia," he murmured, pulling her to him again. She resisted briefly but stilled when he kissed her forehead and stroked her hair.

Inhaling his scent as she breathed slowly, she wrapped her arms around his middle and continued quietly with her cheek resting against his chest. "We found Anna and managed to avoid the attack on her. Our only lead was a client of hers named Ulyanov. She set up a meeting but it was – it was Alexei. He'd survived somehow." She felt the way James tensed and considered that maybe he didn't need to know this. But he didn't stop her, just kept holding her and rubbing her back.

"He got into his head that we all needed to be fixed, and was running experiments on us to make us – to make us fertile again. His plan was to capture me and make me his wife. So we could breed super spies, I guess." James hands stilled, and she pressed on to make sure he didn't think she wanted such a thing. "I found Irina in their facility, and Anna and Yelena busted us out. We're all fine, James. But I… I hate how close he got to what he wanted."

"Where is he now?"

The anger in James' voice was palpable, and Alexei was lucky to be somewhere far away from the Winter Soldier. "SHIELD has him in custody. It's over. The four of us Widows are going to stay in touch and I was… so glad to have you to come home to," she murmured.

He leaned down to kiss her, and she responded achingly. When they broke apart, he ran his hand gently over her cheek, looking at her earnestly. "I'm glad you came home to me," he whispered.

The new Captain America might not see himself as a good man, might be filled with doubts about what he was doing, and what he deserved. But she knew those worries were what made him the best man she'd known. What made her fall in love with him all over again whenever they were together. She reached over to turn off the stove, causing him to release her. His expression was quizzical until she grabbed his wrists and began pulling him back toward their bedroom.

"Breakfast can wait, James," she told him firmly.

A smile tugged at his lips. "I guess it can," he agreed. "I would have thought all that sleeping would have worked up your appetite, but I guess I'll see what I can do."

She laughed. "I expect nothing less than your best."

With a grin, he swept her into his arms and dropped both of them onto the bed. What was left of the morning sped by while he stepped up to the occasion, and she considered again how lucky she was.