The Blip Bae

Captain Of The Ship

Steve was in trouble. He knew it after that first night. Hell, he knew it from the second he saw her and threw himself at her feet to beg for forgiveness. Years of simmering chemistry, near-misses and deep affection were coming to a boiling point the more time he spent with her. The compassion, the tenderness, the way she saved him again and again, even before the world fell apart. He was having a difficult time reconciling his feelings in light of the strange new world they lived in, but one thing he knew for certain was this was his chance. Too bad he was such a fucking coward...

Luckily for him, Nat saw right through his longing glances and lingering lovesick smiles whenever Zoe walked into a room. In the few months since her arrival at the compound, they both had been able to work on becoming, as Zoe joked, "slightly more functioning humans" again.

It was obvious why, though Zoe never accepted any of the credit. She did, however, celebrate every small win, whether it was Nat being able to check the coms without shaking, or Steve reading a book about PTSD that had been Sam's, she made each bit of progress something noteworthy. She was their cheerleader, their organizer, their agony aunt when they needed to break down, she was the reason they were able to smile again.

Nat was beyond grateful and hoped that maybe, by her nudging Steve to finally make his move after all these years, they could find a little happiness in each other.

One afternoon, Zoe was baking yet another batch of "gold star" cookies. She had started doing this as a way to commemorate a job well done when one of them did something they had been afraid or reluctant to do. She joked it was either baked goods or a gold star sticker on the calendar, and she much preferred chocolate.

Nat had just successfully gotten in touch with some of the Wakandans to set up a regular check-in. It was a difficult teleconference, but she did it and now they would have set meetings every two weeks. Zoe couldn't have been prouder, holding her while she sobbed afterwards, as she had not seen her Wakandan colleagues since being released from their country after The Snap.

As Nat calmed down, Steve had come in from a run, another win, as he had been reluctant to go outside, scared there would be angry civilians waiting to berate him for losing half the world. It was definitely a gold star day, and Zoe declared it as such. After she sent the others to clean up and set about to start baking, she thought about how much progress they were making. Days like this made her feel confident in her decision to stay and help them, and hoped that the progress would continue. It had been far from perfect, with plenty of backsliding and many major obstacles yet to overcome, but it was still better than watching two of the most capable people left on the planet completely implode.

She was also thankful for her secret meetings with Tony and Pepper, more so now that Tony was able to help orchestrate some of the projects Nat and Steve were working on behind the scenes. It was his backhanded way of helping, while also staying far away from the day-to-day. She was proud of him for this and lived to embarrass him when she pinched his cheeks and told him he was "such a nice boy" under all the bravado. Overall, things were headed in the right direction, and she was eternally grateful for the progress.

When Nat rejoined her in the kitchen, she had a devious smile on her gorgeous face. As she jumped up to sit on the counter to watch Zoe work, she decided it was the perfect time to start her campaign.

"So, now that there's only half as many eligible bachelors left in the world, you gonna try dating again?" Nat raised an eyebrow. "Want me to fire up the apps and be your wing woman?"

"I will if you will." Zoe chuckled, calling the Russian's bluff. Dating was the last thing on anyone's mind these days. "Where is this coming from? Saw something you liked at that meeting with the Wakandans?"