The Blip Bae

Go Get 'Em, Champ

About a week had passed since their conversation over cookie dough. Nat had been watching their interactions extra closely. The gentle touches, the way Steve got all goo-goo eyed watching Zoe do pretty much anything, the sweet forehead kiss goodnight that still made Steve blush every night. It was so on.

Nat and Steve were sparring in the training room, having just started using it again recently, weird as it was to be the only ones there, but it also felt like home for them. They were on the mats, practicing hand to hand combat, when Nat got Steve into one of her infamous thigh holds. He was frantically tapping her leg to get her to release him, when she got an idea.

"Nat?" He gasped. "Come on! I'm tapping out! You win!" He was bright red and trying not to pass out. "Please!"

"On one condition, Rogers." Nat smirked down at him. "You ask Zoe out on a date. A real date."

"What?!" He was fighting for air. "No! That's crazy! Let go!"

"Not until you say you'll do it!" She squeezed a little tighter just to show how serious she was. "Come on, I know how much you hate it when you pass out..."

"Damn it!" Steve choked. "Okay, okay, I'll ask her out." His vision was getting hazy. "Let me go now, please!"

"YES!" Nat let go and jumped up, pumping her fists triumphantly while Steve wheezed on the mat. "Well, come on, Rogers, let's go!" She held a hand out for him to help him up. "Get that sweet ass in the shower and let's make some magic happen!"

"What the hell have I done?" Steve muttered as he hauled himself off the floor. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I know how you still feel about her, and I want the two favorite people I have left to try and find some happiness in this fucked up world." Nat was uncharacteristically sincere instead of her usual sarcasm. "Do you know how lucky you are? To have found each other, after everything that's happened? It's finally your time, Steve, don't waste it."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were more invested in this than I am." He smirked. "What should I do?"

"I have a few ideas how not to blow it on the first try." Nat grabbed his arm and led him to the locker rooms. "Come on, let's go get 'em, Champ..."

Nat had been planning her first outing outside of the compound for a while. Clint had fallen completely off the grid after losing his family, and Nat had wanted to go to his farm to look for any clues as to where he might have gone, but also to spend some time looking after her best friend's place, like she knew he would have done for her. She was going to be gone for a week.

Plenty of time for Steve to nut up and not only ask Zoe out, but also go on said date without the added pressure of Nat being there to taunt them every step of the way. She had coached him about his approach, what might be a good first date without being too intimidating or cheesy, and how to keep his own giddy enthusiasm in check so he didn't scare her off. It was practically fool proof, but Nat couldn't be too sure, as Steve was a complete idiot with women, no matter how comfortable he was around this particular one.

It was one thing to sleep in the same bed platonically, but how would things change if she actually went for it? She also worried that Zoe couldn't get out of her own head long enough to realize that Steve was fucking crazy about her, and that she was not only "worthy" or whatever bullshit she had herself convinced she wasn't, but was actually too good for him.

As the Quinjet took off, Zoe looked at Steve with a mischievous grin and said "What kind of trouble should we get into now?"

"Uh, well, about that..." Steve ran his hands through his hair nervously. "What would you say to dinner?"