Part of Me

Chapter 9

The rooftop was the only choice for her to clear her mind, other places in the tower were just too noisy and distracting. She love the silence and calmness up there, the sounds of night wind blowing, distant sounds of cars honking, and the view of the stars seem to comfort her, while she was deep in thought.

"Guess I'll need to find another spot," a voice from behind her said, she knew that voice, how can she not. She looked over her shoulder and greeted him.

"Hey."

"Mind if I sit here?" he motioned to the empty spot beside her, she just shook her head.

"I'm sorry about just now, I guess I was just-"

"Natasha, it's fine really. I know how much Clint means to you and how much you wanna go out there again, so it's okay to be angry and grumpy and all." She scoffed at him.

"What are you doing up here? You've been stalking me?" she chuckled.

"I came up here to draw the skyline and the stars, they look better from up here, it's been a while since I last draw," he chuckled before answering.

"You know, I used to remember stars and constellations back then, it helped me a lot to know my bearings and guide me to my way back home, preventing me to get lost," she did, she actually did, the Red Room taught her so, "but right now I can't seem to find my way back home, don't even know if 'home' is ever gonna exist for me."He could hear the hurt in her voice.

"Aren't we your home?" he asked in a slightly softer tone, "this, is the closest thing I've ever had to a family, a home, at least that's what I consider you guys."

"Actually, yeah. Clint was the only family I had when I came here, maybe now I have you guys." She said softly, Steve was glad that somehow she was willing to open up to him, unlike or the rumors spreading through the academy about the ruthless ice queen Black Widow. He was finally relieved that the closest person he was to in that century is willing to show her soft side.

"When I came up here, I didn't expect things to get cheesy real quick and get some words of wisdom from you, Rogers," she said and he chuckled in response.

"I was just looking after my teammates back, is that so wrong?" a grin crept up his and her faces,"you wanna get down right now? It's a bit late. I'm going to stay up here for a while."

She shook her head, "no, I'll probably enjoy the company I have right now, she gave him a smile as she buried her head within her knees and sat silently as Steve started scribbling on his sketchbook. Little did she know, that he wasn't drawing the skyline and the stars, yes, they are beautiful and he would love to draw them, but as the dim lights shone their way, he noticed some thing even more beautiful to draw. Natasha.

---

The next morning, Steve did his normal running routines with Sam and returned home to Jarvis informing him that Fury requires his presence. Being called by Fury can both mean bad or good news so he couldn't guess which. He went into the main building and into Fury's office, where both Natasha and Fury were already in the room.

"Fury. Natasha," Steve nodded to each of them before taking his seat in front of Fury and beside Natasha.

"Rogers, I see from the evaluation results and previous trainings that you are a compatible match to be Agent Romanoff's partner. I see that you both can work very well together. Regarding this, I assign you to be Romanoff's partner for SHIELD missions and Romanoff would be your second-in-command in the team. I require you two to practice outside training in order to maintain the dynamic you have,"Fury explained, Natasha opened her mouth to speak but Fury cut her off, "yes, that means you will go on a mission with Rogers soon. Rogers, consider these mission your evaluation from now on."

Natasha kept her cool right after that, although Steve knew that she might be inwardly screaming and singing songs of joy that Fury finally dragged her into business. "Told you Fury has a plan, at least I'm better than Barton, "he said with a smug smile,she turned around to see Steve and scoffed saying, "dont be too confident. You should be grateful you got me as your partner, that way I can save your ass from getting killed, just like I always do to Barton." Steve raised an eyebrow at her teasing. "Let's see about that," he said grinning. They rode the elevator down to the ground and walked side by side through the series of doors and hallways only to meet Sharon on the way back.

"Hi guys, you guys should stop walking side by side like that and being all so close, rumors about you guys being together is spreading like wildfire," Sharon said as Steve and Natasha stepped slightly further away, Sharon joined them and stood between Steve and Natasha as if to prove her point. Natasha didn't question what she said although she hadn't heard the said rumor herself, perhaps because she hadn't had the chance and time to roam around and find out latest rumors around SHIELD herself, well she did trust Sharon enough, quite enough, to believe in her. At least that's what she thought.