Through, Together (A Romanogers Fanfiction)

A Job to Do

When Steve opened his eyes the next morning, he wasn't alone. Natasha slept beside him, curled up on her side; her face turned toward him. Her arm was stretched across the empty space between them, fingertips just barely resting on his shoulder. Her touch was feather light, but the weight of her presence was immeasurable. Steve had come to expect to wake up and find nothing but empty space beside him. He knew Natasha slept poorly, at best, and often opted to just get up rather than face the nightmares. The first few nights, he'd tried to comfort her; to do everything he could to offer some kind of peace to her troubled heart and soul, but Natasha had wanted only space. Distance. It pained Steve in ways he'd never admit, but he knew that Nat wasn't the kind of woman to press.

To have her here, now, was more important than anything to Steve. Even if it didn't mean she'd gone without nightmares, it meant that she wanted to stay. She chose to remain here, with him. It was a small but positive step toward healing. At least, Steve hoped it was. They both had a lot of wounds to recover from. Bruises and scratches had healed, but the beating they'd taken was the kind that broke the human spirit. Something like that wasn't so quick to bounce back from. Natasha had been fighting, though. Maybe Steve hadn't been fighting as hard as he should have. Maybe he hadn't been by her side in quite the way he should have. But that was going to change. He wouldn't let his fear of losing her be the thing that ultimately pushed her away. Everything that had been broken, they could rebuild. Together.

Steve rolled onto his side, propping himself up on one arm. His other arm lifted, so he could trail the backs of his fingers down the smooth skin of Natasha's shoulder and arm. Her pale skin was warm to the touch, as if from basking in the sun. She stirred a bit when he touched her, eyelids fluttering and then eventually opening completely. The veil lifted from her green eyes, and they were soon staring keenly up at Steve. She was sharp and wise, even upon first waking. Steve smiled down at her, even more so when she rolled her eyes and gave a tired groan.

"It's impolite to stare," she grumbled, but even as she did so, Natasha scooted closer. A gentle push had Steve rolling onto his back once more, so she could rest her head on his shoulder, her face nuzzled into the warm crook of his neck. She laced an arm around his waist to lock herself in position next to him.

Steve slid one arm beneath her and continued the gentle trailing of his fingers along her shoulder and arm. "Only if you get caught," he said.

Natasha laughed softly. "You did get caught," she reminded him.

He grinned and turned his head so he could press a kiss into Natasha's hair. "You slept better?"

"Mm," Natasha nodded. "I was thinking about New York."

"Which time?"

Natasha huffed out a quiet laugh. "The first time," she said. She lifted her head and looked up at Steve. "When we all met."

Steve remembered that all too clearly. His first time truly back out in the world had showed him a world not at all like the one he remembered. Everything he'd known had changed, and the general oddness had been ramped up to an eleven. He remembered Natasha, the mysterious, enigmatic, Black Widow. She was confident and dangerous and impeccably brave. Steve had learned that when she volunteered to launch herself up onto a Chitauri aircraft and fight the alien invaders like it was nothing. She had no suit of armor or godlike powers, but Natasha fought just as fiercely as everyone else. It was something Steve always admired and respected about her.

"Never thought I'd consider those the simpler times." He commented.

Natasha slowly sat up, turning her upper body so she could look down at Steve. "Chitauri tech was still being salvaged more than a year after the attack," she said. "Most of it went down when S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed, but HQ wasn't the only storage site they had."