Dancing Under The Stars

18

Steve woke up with a groan as his alarm in his phone went off. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, till he realized that it was only him in the room.

He shot up on the bed and grabbed his phone. No messages. This is weird. She's probably okay, right? He tried to convince himself, Natasha always leave a message if she stays overnight somewhere else in a mission. It's a thing they promised each other they'd do. No matter how mad they are with each other.

Maybe she's still mad, you know she can defend herself well Rogers. He tried to convince himself, besides, Natasha probably needs time to calm down, she always does.

Maybe he should apologize? He always did, but Natasha words struck it too close to his heart. He did care, and couldn't she see? He did. Yet here she was, acknowledging the friendship line between them.

And he thought they had a chance, pathetic.

Groaning from the bright light as he opened the curtains, he pulled on his t-shirt on the sofa and opened his duffel bag. His fingers stopped at the texture of their mission file. He pulled it out and opened it.

Two words struck in his mind: Red Room.

He knew why Fury only told him but not Natasha and why he convinced only them to go. The Red Room used to have an alliance with HYDRA and Fury knew Steve wanted answers from them. Especially Bucky. Some part of him knew he was dead, but he couldn't help but wonder the rumour of Bucky joining HYDRA, he had to at least confirm that it's not true. He had to.

He reminded himself to thank Fury later.

Sometimes, he could be a selfish asshole, but at some times, he knew best.

Then, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Natasha?"

"Yeah, I'm in a bit of a situation right now- URGH - there's these stupid street blokes attacking me. I'm in an alley next to our hotel, please come asap, they're strong."

And by that Natasha hanged up. Steve however, wasted no time and changed into a pair of more comfortable pants and then sprinted out the hotel.

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When Steve arrived at the alley, he saw Natasha being pinned down by one of the blokes and she was fighting tiredly. Which was so not like her. She was an ex assassin, she could've slit their throats in seconds if she wants.

"A little help here?" Natasha grunted and punched the guy who tried to grab her neck. Steve immediately came to his senses and joined the fight.

He ran and pulled the guy off Natasha and gave him a kick in his stomach. Then he felt a hard blow behind his back, and pain shot up his spine. He groaned , and swung another punch to his left. Natasha was right, they are strong. Unusually strong.

"Fucking arseholes." Gasped Natasha as they ran narrowly away from them, "What did they eat for breakfast?"

They turned to another street and walked into the mall. Steve turned around and made sure there were no street looking blokes before slowing his pace down.

"Are you okay?" He scanned his eyes around her alarmingly and sighed in relief when she shook her head. "God, Romanoff, if you scare me like this again..."

"I'm fine, don't make such a big deal out of it Steve. I'm fine." Muttered Natasha. Steve felt an unknown anger rise in his chest, "You could've got kidnapped or been beaten to death! Couldn't you just wait till the morning to get out in the streets?"

Natasha bowed her head and said nothing, her red hair curtaining her face. Steve felt his heart melt, she looked like a kicked puppy, and he was tempted to comfort her. And he almost did.

"Let's just head back to the hotel and discuss the mission plan before heading out tomorrow."

Natasha stopped her steps and looked up, her green eyes filled with guilt, "Steve...I can't go on the mission tomorrow, I promised an old friend I'd catch up."

Steve fell silent, then she added, "I'm sorry." He heaved a sigh, then continued to walk forward, he guess she was with her friend last night. He didn't know whether to feel happy that Natasha get to catch up with her friend, or be angry since they already delayed the mission two days later.

"He will pick me up 8 in the morning tomorrow, he's going to take me around the city." Natasha continued, seeing Steve had no sign to stop walking in his fast pace, "Please, it's just a day."

"Him?"

"Yes, his name is Grant, you should meet him, he gave me a place last night."

Steve felt his heart drop, fighting was enough, now, Natasha has a boyfriend, he wanted to lie down and forget about everything. He felt his chest tighten and twist even harder than last time.

However, being the selfless golden boy, he decided to put his head in the mission, rather than focusing on his and Natasha's relationship. If they ever had one anyways.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Natasha pleading him with her shining green eyes, he gave in and sighed, "Fine, one day, one day, that's it. After that, we focus on the mission, hell, we don't even know who we're targeting."

Then he felt a pair of arms engulfing him in a hug, he wanted to melt in it, knowing full well who it was. But he can't, he couldn't. He will always and forever be in the friend zone.

"Let's go back and clean up, you need to see the mission file Fury gave me.

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18 chapters whoa, can't believe I've written such a long story.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this, and stay tuned for the next one!!!

P.s. I just realized Grant is Steve's middle name...silly me 乁⁠ʕ⁠ ⁠̀⁠ ⁠۝ ⁠́⁠ ⁠ʔ⁠ㄏ