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When Natasha Romanoff takes care of Steve Rogers after a mission goes horribly wrong, she realizes she just might be in love with him (and he just might be in love with her too).
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The sun shone bright that morning in Quebec, high in the sky and warming down below with its rays. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, a sea of never ending ocean with mountain peaks in the distance, miles of rolling valleys and spring flowers. Nestled in a narrow valley was a small, wooden cabin, a picture perfect view like a photo from one of those calendars in the grocery store. It was beautiful, a place so few got to see and a place Natasha Romanoff never really wanted to leave, despite the fact that it was actually a safe house. She inhaled the fresh air, a blanket tucked around her shoulders as she sipped her coffee from where she sat on the porch railing. Time stood still as she looked out in the distance, imaging a time when the world wasn't in shambles around her, when her mind didn't race a million miles a minute with what she had to do next to survive.
That morning, she wasn't an agent on a mission. That morning she could pretend to be anyone but an agent... she could pretend to be normal, that she had a life where she wasn't constantly putting herself at risk for a world who might not really give a damn about her.
That morning, she could be human.
Swinging her legs, she glanced down at the fuzzy socks that Wanda bought her for Christmas because according to her friend, everyone needed cute socks, and she wasn't really wrong. Strands of Natasha's red hair fell from the low bun she'd pinned it into when she had rolled out of bed, and she tucked a few of the strands behind her ear, wishing more than anything she could stay there forever, hidden in the mountains.
But alas, life never really worked that way.
"Nat, we need to get ready to go. I'm sorry."
She sighed, turning to look at her partner, Steve Rogers, as he came out from the cabin. He was just as beautiful as the view in front of her, his blonde hair tousled and the sunlight reflecting in his eyes as blue as the sky above her. She was so damn lucky to have him as a partner, partly because she could ogle at him whenever she wanted, and he was too oblivious to notice. The famous Captain America, a super solider, was too oblivious to notice a woman flirting with him yet could throw his shield like a sharp shooter. It was ironic, but she would never tell him that. He had been her partner for almost two years and had been her friend for over three, quickly reuniting after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and helping Fury tie loose ends. He'd gotten used to her quips and remarks anyway, occasionally firing back with ones of his own.
They had been staying in the cabin while tracking a terrorist organization operating in the outskirts of Quebec. They had shared hotel rooms and safe houses before, but this time felt different, more intimate, and she tried not to think too hard about the way her heart thrummed because they wereclose friends.
