10 : THE VERY STRANGE BEHAVIOR OF STEVE ROGERS*

Natasha found out about the lucky charm comment the next day when she got up and was about to get a shower in the communal shower room. She stopped and looked at the TV when she saw his face,

"Captain, that was a close game and a very risky play. What made you so sure that the play would work?"

"I have my lucky charm with me today. Come on, I'm Steve Rogers. Lose isn't in my dictionary."

"What is your lucky charm?"

Pepper couldn't help but tease Natasha, "I think he mean you, Tasha. You're his lucky charm."

"No way." She replied. "I'm not his lucky charm." Pepper quirked her eyebrows. Natasha quickly grabbed her towel and headed to the bathroom. "NO! I'm not his lucky charm!" The beautiful redhead said loudly at Pepper.

"Whose lucky charm?" Tony asked as he and Bruce entered the room.

"NO ONE!" Natasha yelled and hurried away. Tony spread out a wide grin while Bruce stood still confused about everything.

"So she heard the interview?" Tony asked Pepper.

"Yeah, she heard."

"They're so going to bang each other." The rich boy said. "So, what do we have for breakfast today, my dear?"

Natasha came back to her room and she saw Tony, Bruce and Pepper still in the room. She gave them no chance to make any remark about her, Steve and the Lucky Charm comment. The beautiful girl bolted to her room and locked the door.

Steve had to pick Natasha up at her room in the morning. Their classes were in the same direction and he offered her a ride with him.

"Heyy! Natashaaaa!" Steve shouted and banged his fist at her door. "Hurry up! Class starts in ten minutes!"

"Wait! Just one more sec!"

"You said that five times already! Come on!"

The door swung open and Natasha emerged. She fumbled with her bag and books and had to shove her breakfast into Steve's hands.

"Sorry Steve, I over-slept."

"I already told you that there's no food allowed in my car!" He said, eyes narrowed.

"Well there's a first time for everything." He handed her food back to her,

"Walk and eat it." He ordered. "If you don't finish I'll throw it in the trash."

"Come on Rogers! It's not the end of the world!" Steve didn't bother arguing with her anymore. He quickly walked to the parking lot with Natasha running behind him, trying to keep up with his long footsteps. In the end, Steve allowed Natasha to eat in his car because they wouldn't make it in time to their classes.

"I have a football practice today." He told her, "You don't mind waiting for me, right?"

"Don't worry I have to go to the library anyway." She replied. "We'll meet up at 5 pm, alright?"

"Alright."

Steve had just finished with football practice when he saw that Natasha was waiting for him. They had begun this routine when Steve had first saw her sprint to her classes in the morning because she had had to wait inside the small shelter of the bus stop for the rain to stop.

He pulled out his umbrella and helped her to his car. Yeah, it was pretty gentlemanly and it was so unlike him.

"How was your practice?" She asked as she noticed a little frustration on his face.

"Sometime I just hate Fury for yelling at me when it's not my fault."

"You are the captain, remember?"

"I know." He said as he opened the door for her. "Today we need to take a little detour before we go home."

Even though his face didn't display any emotion rather than the frustration he had left from football practice, Natasha suddenly feared the thought of a little 'detour' that Steve mentioned. Did he want to try anything with her? The thought made Natasha reach into her bag and hold on tight to the pepper spray.

Steve didn't take their usual route but instead took a very long route and then just stopped by the small coffee shop five blocks away.

"You wanna grab a coffee now?" She asked, eyebrows quirked.

"No." He replied and looked out the window into the coffee shop.

He didn't say anything after that. Instead Steve pulled his notebook and a pencil out before writing something in it.

"Are we doing a surveillance on someone?" She teased but he didn't answer. He just kept looking at someone in the coffee shop, whilst he kept writing things down really fast. She tried to look in the same direction as him but the coffee shop was crowded so she couldn't tell who he was looking at. Natasha turned to look at Steve and she saw him unconsciously rubbed a heart necklace.

It was the first time Natasha saw it.

They sat in silence for a good five minutes before he drove away like nothing had happened. Natasha thought to herself that it was a very strange for him to do something like that.

The next day was the same. Steve picked her up at Braddock building. He didn't have a football practice that day so he kind of lounged around the area, waiting for her class to finish. Every girl who walked passed him wished it was them who he was waiting for. When Steve saw Natasha walking out of the building, he stood up and waved his hand.

"Over here, Natasha!" He called out.

She ran to him and saw that he still holding the exact same notebook from yesterday. Did he carry it with him every time?She curiously thought to herself.

"We need to stop by the coffee shop before we go back to our dorm." Steve said. "Stark said he needs more coffee if he wants to get his research done by today."

"And when did we became his personal assistants?"

"No, we're just being nice to him."

"Being nice, huh?" She teased and grinned slyly at him "That's not really the word I'd use to describe your personality."

Steve didn't even bother to reply he just led her to his car, still opening the door for her. A very gentlemanly manner compared with his natural behavior. He drove them to the same coffee shop as the day before and parked just across the street.

"You go in there and buy the coffee for me." Steve told her and handed money to her. "Dark mocha frappuccino."

"Why don't we go in there together?"

"Will you just buy the cup of coffee, Romanoff. There is no need for two people to go in there to get one cup of coffee." Natasha sighed and took the money. She was about to get out of the car when she turned and saw him take the notebook out again with a pencil and start scribbling furiously.

There must be something about this coffee shop that Steve Rogers feel the need to graciously visit this place every evening.

She did order the coffee for Stark. The girl with brown hair and beautiful brown eyes, took her order and Natasha couldn't help but notice her bright red lips. She went back to the car and slotted it in the cup holder. They went to Tony's room immediately to deliver the coffee. Once they arrived their the rich boy looked at her in confusion.

"I didn't order that." Tony said with a strange look. "Who said I needed a coffee from that stupid coffee shop when I have a top of the line coffee maker in my room?"

Natasha frowned and turned to Steve who just acted like nothing had happened. Steve just sat down on the couch with a bottle of beer and turned on the television. Tony took the coffee anyway and started to complain once he tasted it.

"This is the worst coffee I ever had." But Natasha didn't pay attention to Tony. She kept her green eyes focused on Steve Rogers who just sat there looking like nothing had happened.

What is going on with him? He never displayed any strange behavior before. There must be something or someone really important to him in that coffee shop.

The third time was enough for Natasha to ask him but she didn't get any answer from the quarterback. He just absentmindedly started writing something in the notebook before he drove away.

"Barton said we have to have separate dinners tonight. Stark and Banner are going out with their families. The others look like they have dates too."

"They're leaving us alone." Natasha groaned. "And why did the universe have to leave me with someone like you?"

"Because you're very lucky. Don't worry I'll take you to my favorite restaurant that serve the best apple pie in NYC."

"Oh please, throughout this entire meal, I'm going to have to endure listening to you brag about all your conquests."

"What? My conquest are worth hearing about and to be frank, my conquests will be a never ending story."

"Quantity doesn't measure the quality, Rogers."

"Your system is different from mine." Natasha laughed. She loved to bickering and bantering with him. Natasha knew they had become closer whenever they spent time together and she didn't like to admit that Steve Rogers had become her friend, the one she never thought she would like considering his a-hole attitude.

But then again he was always nice to her, even if it was in a very subtle way.

Steve took Natasha to his favorite restaurant a couple of blocks away from their dorm. He ordered the most delicious dish on the list for both of them and also ordered his favorite apple pie.

The food was quickly served and the two of them really enjoyed their meals. Natasha finally had her chance to taste the apple pie that Steve had boasted about.

"You brought the whole pie?!" She asked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, why? I can eat the whole pie." He said. "It's too delicious that you couldn't resist the second piece." They sat quietly and enjoyed the delicious dessert until Steve started off the conversation once again.

"What's your birthday?"

"I won't tell you. Unless, you tell me yours first."

"Don't laugh, okay?" Steve said. "Fourth of July" She did laugh and Steve pouted. "It's not funny."

"You are very patriotic!"

"What's you birthday, Romanoff?"

"November, 22."

"Are you really Russian?" He asked. "I mean, you don't have much of an accent."

"I adapted. I just switch accents whenever I want to."

"Really?" She nodded. "Wow! You could be a great actress if you wanted to." She only gave him a mysterious smile in return.

"How many languages can you speak?"

"Russian, French, German, Chinese, most of the Eastern European languages and Latin." She answered. "Are you trying to interrogate me or something?"

"I just wanted to get to know you better."

He flashed her his charming smile and continued asking her some personal stuff but didn't dare to go too deep. She noticed that he noted something in his notebook again.

"Do you miss Russia or your friends back there?"

"No, I hated that place. I moved a lot and I didn't stay in one place long enough to have friends." She told him "You guys are the closest thing to friends I've had."

"Me? Your friend? Well, I'm surprised you count me as one."

"I'm pretty surprised with myself too."

"You know you can ask me about anything and I will answer you truthfully except the things that I really uncomfortable with" He told her, whilst still writing on the notebook.

"Huh? There are things that you're uncomfortable with?"

"Don't be so surprised. There are some that I'm still not comfortable to share with anyone."

She continued to tease him about the fact that he had his little secret he wanted to preserve but Natasha Romanoff knew she could get one of it out of him and she intended to uncover his little secrets one by one.

This was the first secret he ever told her, his admiration toward her, which strangely was not related to him wanting to bang her.

"You are the most fascinating woman I ever met, Romanoff." he said. "What fascinates me the most is that you can speak a dead language."

"I still have many thing that could fascinate you, Rogers." She told him. "I can hold my own when it comes to drinking. I prefer vodka though."

"I cannot imagine you would like anything other than Vodka." Steve smiled before turning to the waitress. "Hey Wendy, Can I have a bottle of your finest Vodka?"

"Of course, Steve." Wendy nodded and quickly hurried away before brought back a bottle of Grey Goose with her. Natasha gave him a look but Steve didn't care and poured them a shot.

"You know a waitress?" She finally asked. "How often do you come to this restaurant?"

"Once a week but I know her because I've already banged her twice."

"Why am I not surprised?"

He loved that she was able to hold her own drink. The bottle of vodka was emptied in no time because of their interesting conversation. In the end though they both showed no signs of being drunk.

Steve walked her to her room and bid her goodnight. Natasha opened the door and immediately saw Tony Stark and Pepper Potts on the couch, watching TV together.

"Hey! Tasha" Tony greeted. Natasha flashed him a smile,

"How did the dinner with your family go Stark?"

"It sucked." He answered truthfully. "Dad got a call from Washington and left, leaving me and my mom on our own."

"Sorry to hear that. I know you were really looking forward to it." Natasha said and lightly patted his shoulders.

"Don't be. I'm used to this from when I was a kid." Natasha gently squeezed his shoulders before heading to her room but Pepper stopped her with a question.

"How about your date with Steve?"

"It's wasn't a date." Natasha replied. "We just had dinner together because everyone seemed to have dates themselves."

"Really?"

"Yeah. How about your date with Aldrich Killian?" Natasha shot back.

Tony's reaction at this news was a mix of shock and anger. Natasha was pretty sure that he didn't like it. Whether he didn't like Aldrich Killian himself or the fact that Pepper went on a date with him was another matter.

"You and Killian?" Tony asked again, frowning.

"Yes, I have a dinner with Killian but it was for his work."

"What work?" Tony questioned her in a very demanding gesture. Natasha silently watched them talking. It amused her to see Stark get a little jealous, she also noticed their relationship was like an old married couple. She wished she could have that kind of bond with someone.

"It's not your business, Tony." Pepper folded her arms. "Why do you care?"

"I care! Of course I care. You went on a date with one of my many arch enemies."

"Everyone's an enemy to you, Tony!" Pepper remarked.

"Not everyone." He corrected but when he saw the look in her eyes, he said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't..."

"Yeah, you shouldn't. It's my private life, Tony." He did begin to look really guilty and looked down at the couch.

"I'm sorry, Pep. I guess I just worry about you."

Pepper couldn't be angry with him for long because of his sad adorable puppy dog eyes. She wrapped her arms around him.

"I know but you should also know that I can take care of myself." Tony nodded and held his best friend close. Natasha watched in amazement at how easily they forgive each other.

"And for the one who caused us this argument. You're not going anywhere." Tony said and turned to the girl who was watching them quietly.

"I was hoping you guys would stop fighting like a married couple because I've got a question to ask."

"What is it?"

"I noticed that Steve has some weird behavior. He carried his notebook everywhere and always notes down something. He always stops by the coffee shop a couple of blocks away but never ever goes in there"

"Ahh, the mysterious tales of Steve Rogers." Tony said. "He likes to sketch thats why he carries the notebook everywhere. As for the coffee shop thing, well there's a girl by the name of Peggy Carter. She's the only girlfriend he ever had." Natasha was shocked with this new information. She never would have thought that Steve had dated someone.

"She must hurt have him really bad that he didn't want to be in a relationship ever again."

"It's a long story but I guess he didn't want to know and to be fair, he should be the one who told you about this anyway."

"Yeah, you're right." Natasha agreed. "I think I'm just gonna get a shower and go to bed." Tony and Pepper just nodded and went back to watching the television.

AN:

- Thanks to my beta readers, Gabby Bensaro NCIS-SVU-Fan & keepcalmandwrite.

- Please kindly leave a review :)