Natasha Stark: SHIELD

Chapter 7:

Tasha: Today was a Saturday, so Pepper and Tony sat on the balcony drinking creamy coffee, while I sat in the living room, waiting for the knock at the door. Today Steve and I were going around LA, where we would do some sight seeing, exploring, and just have a day together. I heard the knock on the door and I jumped up, nearly running to the door. “Captain Steven Rodgers/ American Idiot depending on who made the profile is at the door,” JARVIS said. I opened the door. Steve stood in shorts and a tee shirt, a pair of sunglasses hanging off his V Neck. He smiled at me.

“Steve,” a voice said behind me. Pepper held out her hand from behind me. I gritted my teeth. “Its great to finally meet you.”

“No its not,” Tony muttered a few feet from us. I shot him a look, but Steve ignored him.

“You must be the famous Pepper Stark,” Steve said, “My apologies for not being able to make it to the wedding. I was sort in the middle of a SHIELD mess. And getting to know the world around me.”

It was moments like these that reminded me Tony and Pepper had only been married since last September. A matter of only 8 months. Pepper waved off Steve's comment, “Don't worry, Tony's glad you didn't make it,” Pepper said with a laugh.

“Can't say I'm surprised,” Steve said.

“Well, I don't want to hold you guys up too much. Nice to meet you Steve,” Pepper said.

“Nice to meet you too,” Steve said. He took my hand and Pepper closed the door behind us. “She's married to Tony?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. I had warmed up some to Pepper since first arriving, but not quite enough yet. She didn't like me at first. At all.

“Incredible,” Steve said, “She's nice. Like polar opposite of Tony.”

“Careful,” I said, “He may be annoying as heck and totally pompous, but he is my dad. Besides, I hear I'm just like him.”

“Hardly,” Steve said. I climbed in the car. The drive wasn't long between LA and Malibu. I turned on the radio. I flipped through stations until I found my favorite. Steve's brow furrowed at the sound of the music.

“What?” I asked.

“What instrument is that?” he asked.

“Synthesizer,” I said, “So not really an instrument at all.”

“You know, back in my day-” I cut him off.

“Back in your day? You sound like my mom,” I said.

“I get the feeling I'd like your mom,” Steve said, smiling.

“You would. She was more...” I scrabbled for the right word, “Classic than Tony or Pepper. She would have had you over for dinner, gotten to know you. She would have treated you like you were a member of the family, then shamed you when we broke up, saying you were stupid, and a jerk I never should have been dating anyway.”

“Do you think about this a lot?” Steve asked, “Us breaking up?”

“I guess I sometimes question how long it will last. Mainly because I get the idea you'll get bored of dating a teenager. Or that you'll realize its kind of frowned upon in society and leave me,” I said, chewing my thumb nail.

“Hardly,” Steve said, “First, like I could get bored with you. You're nuts. And second, who cares about society. Right now, I just want to be happy, and you make me just that.”

I blushed. “I'm glad,” I said. I heard the beat of a song start beating through the speakers. I turned it up. “I love this song,” I said. California Love by Dr. Dre and 2 Pac. I sang along, “In the ciiiittttaaayy of LA. In the ciiiittttttaaayyy of good ole Watts. In the ciiiitttttaaayy city of Compton. We keep it rockin. We keep it rockin.”

“This guy has a voice condition,” Steve said.

“Its called vocodor,” I explained. He nodded.

We were in LA in no time. We started off walking around Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

“So did you always grow up in Malibu?” Steve asked.

“I grew up in Fresno, actually,” I said, “Its about 3 and a half hours from Malibu. What about you, where did you live?”

“Brooklyn,” Steve said.

“I can see how you never got to Cali,” I said.

“Yeah, kind of 3,000 miles,” Steve laughed. We took pictures next to some people we knew who had stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Steve and I were both getting one for our actions in DC. When we finished in Hollywood, Steve looked to me, “What do you say we get a snack.”

We decided to stop for some quick McDonalds. “I would like a Big Mac, a Double Cheeseburger, a Large Fry, and a Coke.” Then he turned to me, “Would you like anything.”

“You eat that much?” I asked, amazed.

“My metabolism runs twice the speed of the average,” he said, “Would you like something?”

“A double cheeseburger,” I said, “And a coke.”

“I forget how little normal people eat,” Steve said. He ordered.

“Are you still going to be hungry for lunch?” I asked as I munched on one of his fries.

“Oh yeah,” he said.

We took lots of pictures that day. Ones of us in all sorts of places around LA. Finally, night was falling, and he took my hand as we walked down the street on the way to our car. “I thought that kid was going to faint,” I said. Steve and I had gone to Madame Tussaus and found the Captain America wax figure. He had posed next to it, and I took the picture of him. A kid stared at us the whole time. His mouth wide open. So we took a picture with him. I even brought out my Iron Woman arm.

“When he saw me or you?” Steve asked, laughing.

“Oh totally me,” I laughed. We hopped in the car, and I settled in for the drive.

We talked about everything on the way home. It felt like we would never stop talking. He was going back to DC tomorrow. Once he pulled into my driveway, I got sad, knowing he couldn't stay forever.

“I had a great time today,” I said, smiling.

“Me too,” Steve said, “Maybe we should do this more often.”

“Definitely,” I said. He leaned forward and kissed me. I never wanted to let him go. I got out of the car a moment later.

“See yah soon,” I said, smiling and waving.

“See yah soon,” Steve said, saluting me, “Love you.”

It took us each a moment to realize what he just said. He blushed. And looked down.

“Sorry,” he said, “I didn't mean to say that.”

I walked around to his side of the car, kissing him on the cheek, “I love you too.”

I went inside, my head still spinning from the events that had just happened. That's when my phone rang. SHIELD. I answered instantly.

“Natasha,” I said.

“Tasha,” Fury's dark, low voice said, “You've been placed. You'll be on Coulson's team for a little while. Report to DC tomorrow at 8:00.”

“Yes sir,” I said.

“So?” Pepper asked.

“It was fun,” I said, trying to keep my cool, “I've got to be in DC tomorrow, just so you know. 8:00, I don't know how long I'll be gone. SHIELD.”

“Oh, okay,” Pepper said, “Wow, that was quick. Make sure you tell Tony.”

I nodded. I told Tony and went to bed.