Chapter 12

She called Laura because she was the one person Natasha couldn't lie to. But she had a feeling that Steve was about to join that exclusive circle. Of course Laura was understanding and encouraged her to explore her feelings for Steve with Steve. When she tried to explain to Laura that she wasn't good enough for Steve, she was having none of that.

But what could she offer Steve? What if he wanted to have a family? She couldn't give him that, the Red Room made sure of that. Not that she really wanted to be a mother but Steve certainly would make a great father. What if he would leave her for a woman who wanted and could give him children? Was she supposed to still work with him and act like nothing ever happened? She knew she was getting ahead of herself when they weren't even in a relationship yet but what was she supposed to do? She was never in love before and the feelings overwhelmed her. Was he in love with her too or was he just attracted to her? The chances of him actually loving her back were probably pretty slim. There was no way that someone like him could truly love someone like her. She was a monster, she didn't deserve to be loved. Stupid Steve and his stupid smile and his stupid blue eyes for making her fall in love with him.

Her last thought before falling asleep was Steve and her first thought when she woke up the next morning was also about Steve. Being in love sucked. She didn't like how he infiltrated her mind, she had the slight suspicion that it would make her job harder. She got up groaning and got ready for work. She chose black jeans, a white blouse and a blue blazer. Unlike Steve, she didn't like to run around SHIELD in her uniform. She only wore it on missions and she had a lot of clothes that needed to be worn. She slipped into pumps and grabbed her keys. The streets were empty and she was in no time at the Triskelion.

Steve was sitting on his bike and had two iced coffees in his hand. How did he manage to transport them with his bike? One coffee was black and the other one looked like a latte. She knew that one was for her, she loved iced latte with lots of caramel- she had a sweet tooth. Steve spotted her when she parked and smiled at her. The butterflies in her stomach were dancing when he walked towards her.

He handed her the iced latte. "Just the way you like it. Four pumps of caramel. I don't know how you can drink that stuff."

She took the drink. "Thanks. Years of hard training."

They drove up the elevator and Steve left to change into his uniform. She went to her office to type the rest of a report that was due. Around noon Agent Sitwell called STRIKE into a conference room for a meeting.

Steve was already there and saving her a seat next to him. He really looked good in his stealth suit. He slid a cup of coffee over to her. "No caramel, sorry."

She smiled into her cup and waited for the meeting to start. Rumlow, Rollins and the rest of STRIKE came in a few minutes later with Sitwell.

"Alright guys." Sitwell stood at the podium and plugged a USB- stick into the laptop. "Two weeks ago we sent Agents Gardner and Diaz to Madrid to investigate this young man- David Rockwell." A photo appeared on the screen behind Sitwell. Rockwell couldn't be older than 23 and looked like your typical nerd." We have reason to believe that Rockwell managed to synthesise a serum close to Project Rebirth."

Everyone looked at Steve who kept his eyes on Sitwell. "That's not possible. The formula died with Erskine!"

Sitwell shrugged. "It's not a replica. It appears to be a new version and we have reason to believe that he will sell it to the highest bidder. We had last contact with Gardner and Diaz last week. Rockwell went to Harvard and the MIT, he's one of the brightest minds in the world. If someone could make a new formula it's him."

"So he's the love child of Banner and Stark?" Natasha asked and Rumlow snorted.

"That's one way to phrase it." Sitwell closed his laptop. "I've sent all of you the intel we have so far. We need you to find our agents and the formula and bring them here. Let's hope that no one had their hands on this serum yet." He looked at her. "I hate clichés but this Rockwell doesn't seem to be every experienced. It's the best if you try to flirt with him and get him to talk, Agent Romanoff. He frequently visits the library in Madrid. Just run into him or something and buy him a cup of coffee. You know best how to play him."

She nodded and Sitwell left the room. Steve turned to them. "Okay, quinjet leaves in an hour. Get ready. We may have to engage with enhanced invidiuals. I need your full attention."

The STRIKE team nodded and got up from their seats. For some reason Rumlow stopped behind her and leaned down to whisper in her ear that wasn't next to Steve.

"A guy like that doesn't know what hit him when you work your magic. He probably comes right in his pants when he sees you. You're so fucking hot."

She really had no idea why Rumlow thought that was something he needed to tell her. She was thinking about scratching his car with her keys or pushing him out of the quinjet on their way to Madrid when Steve suddenly jumped up and pressed Rumlow into the wall behind them. He had his arm on Rumlow's throat and it looked like he was using a lot of his strength. Rumlow might be a former Marine but Steve was a super soldier. Rollins and the rest of the gang looked shocked. Rumlow's expression was something between fear and surprise like he didn't think someone would defend her.

"That is no way to talk about your colleague. She's your superior officer, show her some respect! If I ever hear you talk like that to her or any other woman again, we're gonna have a problem, understood?" Steve snarled and put more pressure on Rumlow's throat.

"Understood, Sir." He managed to squeak and after giving him one more stern look Steve released him from his hold. He stepped back and let Rumlow join the rest of STRIKE who hastly left the room.

She was torn between being swoon and angry. No one had ever stood up for her like that before and she was touched by that. But she was also pissed. She didn't need a knight in shining armor, she could deal with this on her own. Did he think she was some damsel in distress? Her angry side won because she was stubborn and proud.

Steve turned to look at her with sheepish smile when she glared at him. "I can deal with Rumlow on my own, you know!"

"I know that, Nat. I just don't like it when someone talks like that about you. Or any other woman. It's disgusting and disrespectful."

"I'll see you at the quinjet." She only replied and turned on her heels.

He called after her but she ignored him. Didn't he realize that people would now REALLY talk about them? Captain America defended her honor, they must be sleeping with each other. Didn't he see how much that would hurt his reputation? Captain America couldn't date the Black Widow.

The six hour flight to Madrid was awkward to say the least. The STRIKE team was bend over their tablets to read the file and Natasha piloted the plane and made it clear to Steve that she didn't want his company in the cockpit. He looked like a kicked puppy but it was for the best. Rumlow might be intimidated by Steve for now but he would be back to his dickish self in no time and if they now spent time together in the cockpit, Rumlow would use that to spread rumors. Wasn't he trying to get into the pants of that gossip Salky? She would eat this story up and spread it around SHIELD like a wildfire. It wouldn't bother her if there were rumors about her and another agent; she never cared when people thought she and Clint were an item but she didn't want anyone to think she was with Steve. She knew that people didn't say nice things behind her back and she didn't want Steve to get dragged into it. He couldn't run around the Triskelion pinning anyone against a wall who said nasty things about her. Why did she have to fall in love with him? Her life was so much easier when she didn't have to think about protecting Steve from nasty gossip. But then again, she could understand the way Steve reacted when Rumlow said this sexist bullshit if someone talked about Steve like that, she would probably shoot them. She may have had overreacted, she owed Steve an apology.

The safehouse Agents Gardner and Diaz stayed at was empty. No trace that they had been here in the last days. It was already night when they arrived and Natasha was supposed to check out the library the next day to accidentally run into Rockwell. SHIELD provided her with clothes that would make her look like the girl next door. They were about to settle in and get a few hours of sleep when an alarm went off.

"Looks like Gardner and Diaz monitored a factory before they vanished." Steve said after he took a look at the laptop that was beeping."Someone must have tripped a silent alarm off. Suit up, we're checking it out."

They took the quinjet to the factory that was located outside Madrid. Natasha checked her Glocks when Steve gave them orders.

"I'll swipe the area. Rumlow, you and your team enter the building from the front and search for our agents. Na- Romanoff you go in from the backside and search for Rockwell."

Steve left first and they waited for his signal to follow him. STRIKE made a lot of noise so Natasha could sneak into the back entrance. To her surprise the factory was almost empty. She expected a labtory where they produced the serum but there were only metal tables and assembly belts, she couldn't even tell what kind of factory it was. She could see how STRIKE was engaged in combat and by the looks of it, their opponents were enhanced. One punch threw Rollins a few feet away, a normal human wasn't strong enough for that. Steve was still outside taking out people.

She heard a noise from downstairs and followed it. The stairs led her to a hallway that was poorly lit. Agents Gardner and Diaz were leaning against a wall, she checked their pulse and couldn't find any. Fuck! She took a closer look at their bodies and they had to be dead for at least a day.

One door in the hallway was a bit open and she could see movements behind it. She pulled her guns out of her thigh holsters and cocked them. The person behind the door seemed to mumble to themselves.

She kicked the door open and raised her guns."Hands where I can see them."

The person turned around and it was Rockwell. Now that she was in the room she could see that multiple boxes were on fire. One box exploded and she was certain that the serum was in those boxes.

"Why are you burning your work?"

Rockwell raised his hands over his head. He looked like he had cried recently. "Because it was a failure. It's not helping people, it's killing them!"

"What do you mean?"

"It's giving them super strength but only for a short period of time and then it's burning them up. I never wanted that!" He screamed. "I only wanted to help soldiers! My dad was a soldier and he died in combat. I wanted to spar others from that pain."

She believed him. "What about those men upstairs?"

He gave her a dry laugh. "For being so smart I'm a big idiot. I thought they would help me make it and then I could sell it to the DoD but they just wanted the serum for their own agendas. Doesn't matter, they are already as good as dead." He looked at her. "I'm sorry about the agents. I didn't gave them the serum, their leader did."

"Okay, I believe you. Now come with me and help SHIELD find this guy so we can stop him and get justice for our people."

He shook his head. "No, I can't go anywhere. People will want to have the formula and I can't withstand torture. I would sing like a canary."

"SHIELD can protect you."

"No, already enough people died because of me!"

She took a step closer to him. "We can help you, kid. Just come with me." She didn't want to hurt him but she would if he didn't come with her willingly.

Then everything happened so fast, the rest of the boxes exploded and Rockwell threw himself on it. The blast threw her out of the room and against the wall. She knocked her head against it but managed to remain conscious. She got up and ran back to the room but she knew without checking that Rockwell was dead.

"Natasha? Natasha, do you copy?" She heard Steve's frantic voice in her comm. "We heard an explosion. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Rockwell is dead. And so are Gardner and Diaz." She looked at Rockwell and felt sorry for him. He just wanted to help people and then met the wrong kind and now he was dead.

The SHIELD office in London sent a cargo plan to bring Agents Gardner and Diaz home. Natasha didn't know why but she insisted that they take Rockwell's body on board as well. The European division of SHIELD would look into the organisation that Rockwell worked with to try find their leader. STRIKE flew the quinjet to DC and she and Steve accompanied the coffins back home.

Steve seemed to be surprised when she sat down next to him. "I'm sorry I snapped at you back in DC."

He gave her a small smile. "No, I'm sorry if I upset you. I know you can handle yourself. I shouldn't have stepped in. I just got so mad when Rumlow said those things to you. You didn't deserve that. You are so much more than your looks."

"So, you agree that I'm fucking hot ?" She teased him and he blushed.

"No, I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He told her and blushed even harder.

She swallowed, she didn't think the conversation would go into such a direction. A lot of men had told her that she was beautiful over the course of her life but she knew that Steve meant it genuinely. He didn't say it to seduce her. He just wanted her to know that he thought that she was beautiful. "Thank you."

Steve smiled sheepishly and she didn't know what got into her but she grabbed his hand and interwined her fingers with his. "Do you wanna get breakfast when we're back in DC? Should be morning when we're there."

He looked at their hands and than at her. "I'd love that." He beamed at her and her heart was racing.

They held hands the entire flight back to DC. And it might not meant much to others but for Natasha it was the most intimate thing she'd ever experienced. She was so in love with him that it was already embarrassing.

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