Temperance (Steve Rogers AU) 18+

20

"How long you two been hooking up for?" Natasha Romanoff manifests by my side later that evening at the party Tony has thrown. Well, more of a 'welcome to the team' as a well as a 'glad you didn't die' party.

I almost choke on my drink and she gives me a firm whack on the back to help. "Sorry?" I rasp out.

"Nothing gets past me - part of my job. Besides Steve made it incredibly obvious to me when he spoke about you earlier. Never seen him look the way he does when he speaks about you". She says, leaning back against the bar and surveying the turnout.

Quite a lot of people are here, a majority that I don't know other than the Avengers themselves. Vision is keeping to the corner as he doesn't drink or even eat, Wanda is talking to him. Thor is trying to make cocktails, banner is looking uncomfortable at just having to socialise (I don't blame him), and Clint, Sam, Tony, and Steve are all gathered around the pool table.

"What about Peggy Carter?" I say before I can stop myself.

Nat smiles knowingly. "If you know Steve? Then you'd know that it was just a crush. If he'd have been serious the. It wouldn't have taken two years for him to kiss her". She snorts. "No - That story? It was just to romanticise the war instead of focusing on the negatives. The losses. People needed something to be happy about".

I stare into my cup. "So...they weren't wartime lovers?"

"She married a guy who worked alongside her at the SSR a couple of years later. I think that says enough". At replies. "But you? Well...I see it". She looks me up and down.

"You wouldn't have said that if you saw me before I got pumped full of serum". I smirk and take another sip of my drink.

"I've seen your file, the before and afters. Nothing shocks me". She shrugs, "but you still haven't answered my question".

I don't look at her, wondering whether I want to tell her. In the end I do. "A little bit before the serum was given to me. Steve told me everything and then things kind of changed. I still don't quite know what we are if I'm honest".

She glances to me. "Well I do" And then sees my face. "Waking up after seventy years? Old guy in a modern world with old fashioned values? You'll forgive Steve for being guarded and having a more hardened heart than he did. It's like he left the good boy in the ice, and if I'm honest? He needed to - otherwise he wouldn't have survived here in the new world".  She explains, "He doesn't express his feelings often but I guess that's the soldier in him. When he does you can tell what it's about or who it's for. Like I said, the way he looks when he talks about you? He's never let his guard down that much".

I signal for the barman to bring me another drink and say nothing. Going into this, I didn't think that I'd be working this closely with him. That I was simply here to just help with the workload.

But it's more than that. "It's complicated". Is all I can muster and Nat knows this is a response that screams 'bullshit'. "Anyway I think I might head to bed soon", now making my excuses to finally escape. "Been a long day".

She just nods and lets me go, her eyes burning into my back as I know she's spying where I could be headed to next. She thinks I'll go to Steve, but instead I just choose to say my goodnights to the rest of the team and then make my way back to the sanctuary of my room, deciding then and there to start looking into Bucky and anything that could class as a sighting.

I log into the files that SHIELD have on him, any potential sightings that have been logged or are being looked into. Any video footage. There are a few clips on there A - one being my battle against him. I make a face as I watch it back. It's like a bad movie that I never want to see again.

Where the hell do I even start with this? Closing the laptop in frustration I sigh.

I can't fuck this up. Steve is depending on me to find his friend before SHIELD do. Speaking of which, FRIDAY announces he's at the door and I get her to let him in. 

"Clint kick your ass at pool?" I guess.

He smirks. "Pretty much - saw you talking to Romanoff, that looked intense".

"Not as such. We were just talking about stuff". I'm gonna be so vague on these details right now. "Nothing important. Girl talk".

He smirks. "And here was me always led to believe that girl talk was important?"

Urgh. This is gonna eat away at me almost as much as he will be if I don't get this off my chest. "Well, I guess I was talking to her about how I don't know what we really are".

He frowns. "In what way?"

"You know what way. Are you my captain? Are you always going to be Steve in private? What are we doing here? Because if it is a casual fuck here and there? Then I guess I'm ok with that too". I blurt out. "I just...I wanna know where we both stand".

He now walks toward to me, stopping pretty much so our bodies are touching and looks down at me. "We are both standing here in front of one another. Not just as friends or colleagues - but as me and you. Mine and yours. Together". Looking at me knowingly.

This is his way of telling me that we're each others without the rush of saying the L word when right now isn't the time.

But I know where we stand and so does he.

I know what we are - and just what we could be if this all works out as well as it's been going so far.

Unstoppable.

Untouchable.

Unbreakable...