RIVER • buckynat au •

I

"give him a chance, Nat." Steve shrugged, his frame leaning against the door frame as he looked down on Natasha, frowning on the bed.

"what for, Rogers? I don't date. If you care for your friend then you'll know better than to encourage this" she furrowed her brows, if she knew Steve as well as she thought she did, then she was sure that he will not budge on the idea that he was implementing

"c'mon, give it a shot. What have you got to lose? Besides, consider this an amusement for yourself" he smirked, standing straight, preparing to leave the room, already knowing that he won the brief argument

"amusement?" Natasha scoffed, sending Steve a playful smirk of her own. "I've got you to fill that role for me"

"I'll tell him to pick you up by seven- sharp! Don't pull a 'Bryan' on him, okay?" he warned sternly, keeping the playful smirk on his face.

"don't pull a Bryan? What's that supposed to mean?" Natasha laughed, amused by Steve's made up phrase

"Yeah, a Bryan. The last time I set you up on a date you told the guy that Bryan was rushed to the hospital then left him waiting. You don't even know any Bryan"

"so? I manipulated him into thinking that I did-"

"you played him. You didn't manipulate him into thinking anything. Just give this one a shot, Nat. If it doesn't work out, I'll stop setting you up on dates. You have my word"

"fine" Natasha sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no way around this, especially with Steve. He just knew how to pull her strings the right way. "being the wingman was my job, since when have the tables turned?" her smirk was back on her face as she got up to put her leather boots on.

"since Banner happened. Let's go, we've got work to do" he nodded his head towards the exit, waiting for Nat to finish with her boots before they both walked down side by side towards the main lobby.

"Agent, Romanoff. Captain, the mission files have been set and are ready for your briefing." Fury greeted as the two came to view, handing them a white folder. "whenever you're ready"

Natasha was quick to open the folder, assuming it was just another one of Fury's basic tasks- capture the bad guy, hold him hostage until S.H.I.E.LD has arrived, get home and get some rest.

Surprisingly, a picture of a very familiar old warehouse was the first thing that caught Natasha's eyes. She glanced up to meet Steve's blue ones, hoping that he found the picture familiar as well, only to see that it was definitely foreign to him.

Natasha frowned, but replaced it with a blank face instantaneously. "seems simple. Find the big fat bad guy, make sure he doesn't get away. We'll handle this well, right Cap?" she shrugged, masking her worries as she thought deeply into the image. Why was it so familiar? Could it be something from her dark past? She couldn't wrap her head around it too soon, but it sure did mess her mind up a little.

"I've got my eye on you. Good luck" Fury nodded, then walked away, leaving Natasha and Steve to themselves.

"is everything okay, Nat?" Steve was quick to ask, immediately noticing Natasha's sudden change of behavior.

"yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" she gave him a convincing smile, but unfortunately, not convincing enough.

"I can see right through you, Nat. If you're not too fond of this mission, I can always just ask agent Barton to do it instead." Steve offered, genuinely concerned.

Natasha simply just smirked, not letting her guard down. Steve being able to see pass through her was just as bad as anyone else. It meant that she was starting to go soft. And that was unsafe and was a big disappointment to her. "So you can read minds now? You've been hanging out with Wanda way too much" she teased before walking away with poise, leaving Steve behind with a frown etched onto his face as he watched her small frame disappear into the crowd.