To Find Love: Romanogers One-Shots

Pirates Life for Me

Summary: The first time best friends Steve Rogers and Duchess Natasha are separated is when Steve decides the servant's life is not for him and he'd rather make a name for himself. With limited options, he turns to piracy and quickly becomes one of the most notorious pirates to sail the Seven Seas. It's only a year later when he returns for a short time and returns to the sea with none other than the Duchess herself.

Natasha couldn't say she was surprised when Steve told her he was going to run away. The desire to leave the palace had weaved its way into his eyes years ago and she'd known it was only a matter of time before he followed it. He'd begged her to come with him, reminding her how much she hated the formalities of royal life but she hadn't had it in her then to turn her back on the duty her father had ingrained in her for years. She remembered yelling at him that he didn't know her and it had only gotten uglier from there. At the moment, she hadn't felt bad about slamming the door in his face and letting him go, expecting him to come back and say goodbye before actually leaving. When she'd discovered he'd left that night instead, she hadn't been able to forgive herself.

In a way, burying herself in her own royal duties and doing everything Ivan, her father, demanded acted as a good distraction. On the other hand, though, it made it so some days, when she did remember what had happened, felt worse. Days like today, listening to Ivan list off her failures of the past week, really made her regret not disappearing with Steve when she had the chance.

"—embarrassed me in front of the Grand Duke! What were you thinking?" Ivan growled, glaring fiercely at her. Natasha stood in front of him unfazed which seemed to only fuel his anger. "Were you even thinking at all?! No! No, you weren't thinking!"

Natasha remained silent, knowing it was better to just let him vent than to try and defend herself. He wouldn't take her seriously and she'd be in more trouble after it all than if she just let him scream at her for a while.

Luckily for Natasha, a knock came to the door in the middle of a particularly vulgar slur he threw her way and he was forced to regain his composure quickly in order to attend to whoever was at the door. It was a maid who stood on the other side, Wanda, a girl Natasha had grown fond of over the few years she'd been working at the palace.

"The King demands your presence, Duke," she said, bowing lowly in front of him.

Ivan inhaled sharply, giving Natasha a warning look before walking out of the room and leaving Natasha to her thoughts. Wanda left as well, leaving Natasha well and truly alone to either dwell on Ivan's most recent outburst or attempt to distract herself until he returned.

Be it unfortunate circumstances or foul luck, another knock came to the door. Natasha begrudgingly opened it, resisting the urge to slam it in front of the young Duke's face when she saw him. Nonetheless, she smiled sweetly and asked what she could do for him. Ivan should have been proud.

"May I come in?" was the first thing Alexei said.

Natasha held back a breath of annoyance and stepped aside so he could enter the room. She shut the door then turned to face him, stopping short when she noticed he looked visibly annoyed.

Deciding to just go with it, Natasha asked, "What's wrong?"

"I know you don't like me," he said bluntly. Well, he certainly didn't need to tell her that. She was well aware of that particular fact. Alexei didn't look too excited about unraveling one of her mind's not-so-great secrets and continued on to say, "But I don't care. In two days, we will be wed and you will be forced to listen to me."

"I listen to no man," Natasha seethed, struggling to keep her rising anger in check. The last thing she needed was to lash out at Alexei after what had happened earlier this afternoon with their fathers.