Steve's eyes were immediately drawn to her as he walked into SHIELD headquarters. He had been called to a meeting with Nick Fury and wasn't surprised to see that Natasha was attending it as well. She was talking to a man, about Steve's own age, very good looking. Natasha seemed to enjoy herself as well as the man. She laughed and hit the guy in the arm once after he said something funny. Steve bit his teeth together and walked towards them. He didn't really want to but he didn't have a choice since they stood right outside the room where the meeting was. "Rogers!" Natasha said suddenly. He was surprised by the cheeriness in her voice and he had thought she would ignore him after yesterday. After that kiss.. He was surprised she even talked to him and got even more confused over why. Didn't it mean anything at all to her? Was she so uninterested that she didn't even bother thinking or talking about it? It felt like nothing had changed, but everything had.
"This is Clint Barton." Natasha said as Clint reached out his hand. Steve shook it with a nod before giving him a quick "Nice to meet you", before taking a seat in the room. Natasha looked after Steve with a frown as she put her fingers into a fist to not show how much they were shaking. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath before following Clint into the room.
"Thank you all for coming." Nick Fury said as everyone had taken their seats. "I believe most of you have heard of the avengers initiative." He continued and Natasha turned her gaze towards Steve who still didn't know about it. He looked confused as his eyes followed Fury who paced around the room. "Except for Rogers." Natasha said and Steve looked at her. She turned her gaze to Nick to avoid his looks. "Right." Nick nodded. "There was an idea called: the Avengers initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. See if they could work together to fight the battles that we never could." He continued. "And we want you in." Fury said as he spoke more to Steve than to anyone else in the room. "I don't.. Um.." Steve said, thinking a while. "Who else are these remarkable people?" Steve asked.
"Clint over there, I believe you've met him. Tony Stark and hopefully the hulk if you've ever heard of him." Nick said and Steve furrowed his eyebrows. "And Agent Romanoff of course." Nick said and Natasha's eyes met Steve's. "There's not anything to think about Cap. The choice is pretty obvious. We need you." Natasha said and Steve bit his teeth together. "Why didn't I get to know this sooner? I've been working with SHIELD ever since I got back." Steve said, turning to Fury. "We had to see if you would be okay with such a burden on your shoulders. It's a tough job, but I believe it's worth it." Nick said. "Agent Romanoff came to the conclusion that you'd be ready to hear this by know." Nick continued and Steve frowned again. Natasha decided whether or not he got to know about this? Is that what these past months had been about? Her investigating him to see if he could handle such a responsibility? He sighed heavily. "I'm in." He said before standing up and leaving the room.
Fury nodded a bit and turned to Natasha and Clint. "That was easy." He said and Natasha sighed. "I have to go." She said before dismissing herself from the meeting and walked out of the room with quick steps.

"Rogers!" Natasha shouted after Steve as he walked with quick steps through SHIELD headquarters. He stopped as soon as he heard her voice and looked back at her as she approached him. "You do understand the importance in this right?" She asked as she stood next to him. He nodded and looked away. "This is not just some silly mission you and I have done these past months, this is far more serious." She continued and Steve frowned. "I know and value the importance of saving the world." He said a bit annoyed.
"Of course. I just wanted you to.."
"Understand? I do that already. Is there something else?" He asked as his eyes met Natasha's again. She looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows and her expression became a little grumpy. She didn't enjoy the way he talked to her, not that she expected anything else after last night. "No there isn't." She said and he began walking again. "But I can tell you want to say something!" She shouted after him confused. He kept walking as she stood still, looking after him with a sigh. She shook her head before meeting up with Clint.

Steve felt the anger bubble in his chest. It came as a bomb and he needed to get it out. After walking out of SHIELD, he began running. He ran for blocks and blocks. There was no stop and he felt the sweat run down his forehead like tears. He ran faster and faster and felt the anger lift a little from his body. Like the anger was caught up by the wind as he ran through park after park. He soon ended up at a park bench, catching his breath a bit.
"It was nice to meet you, Sharon Carter." A voice said and he looked around him. A few meters away, Sharon shook hands with a business woman that seconds later walked away. "Sharon Carter?" Steve said and she turned around. She smiled as he saw him. "Captain Rogers. Are you in every park in town?" She said as she walked towards him.
Steve was not just surprised that he bumped into Sharon again. He was surprised of the name that kept flying around in his mind. Carter. Peggy Carter. He shook his head confused as he looked at Sharon. "Carter.. I'm sorry, are you related to Peggy Carter?" He asked and her expression became more serious. "Yeah." She said a little bit as a whisper. "She's my aunt actually." She smiled slightly and Steve breathed out heavily. "Oh." He said. "That's.. wow." "Yeah, em.. I have to go actually but it was nice bumping into you again Captain." She said while glancing at her watch. "It was nice to see you too. And it's Steve." He said with a small smile which she returned. After she walked away, he couldn't stop imagining it. Peggy actually moving on after him. She probably took care of Sharon lots of times. He just saw it with his eyes for the first time. He realised that he had been asleep for generations. He had missed so much.
A few days later, Steve sat in the couch. He was tired but sleeping wasn't an option since he couldn't even fall asleep even if he wanted to. A few knocks landed on his door and he opened it surprised. "Before you say anything. Can't I visit a friend?" Natasha said, handing him a big bag of candy. "I don't know what happened lately .. But I kind of need you in my life so you'll just have to deal with it." She said before stepping into his apartment, taking a seat in his couch. He sighed relived to see her. She was the only one who could get him in a better mood, and it was as if she knew when he needed her the most. He smiled and sat down beside her. "Tell me." She said as she dug into the bag of candy.
"You know Sharon?" He asked and she looked at him.
"Yeah, the nurse who turned out to be a shield agent?" She asked and he nodded. "Her last name is Carter." He said and Natasha bit her lip before handing him the bag of candy. "Eating helps." She said before putting on a movie. It was always so easy between them. They would probably call it a good friendship but so much had changed over just one kiss. And as they later that night fell asleep comfortable in each other's arms, most people would call it "skinny love".