Natasha's POV

I was startled awake by the unpleasant buzzing of my phone. I didn't typically use it but I had it none the less. I squinted at the caller's name and sure enough it read Parker. Sighing I answered it.

"You better have good reason for calling." I stated. I heard a nervous laugh on the other end of the line.

"Sorry I know it's early but I think I may have screwed up big time." I could hear the wince in his voice and I couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"What are you talking about you're supposed to be at your Aunt's!" I groaned already knowing what he was about to say.

"Well you know me. I was just cruising through the city and something caught my attention. I'm sorry I know what Tony said and I should have listened." Peter winced again only this time it sounded worse.

"Nat?" I glanced over my shoulder to see Steve rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Listen. I'll chastise you later what's your location?" I asked.

"I'm ten blocks down on the north side of the tower. I'm hanging out on top of the building." His breathing was rough and ragged.

"Stay.Put. I'm on my way." I ended the call and slipped out of bed.

"What was that about?" Steve asked.

"Parker got him self in trouble again. I'll be back hopefully with him in tact." I rummaged around in the closet and slipped a set of clothed on quickly before pulling out a few medical supplies which I was sure would be needed.

"Do you need me to come?" Steve asked again.

"I'll handle it." I smiled before leaving our room behind. I crept  down the halls careful not to wake anyone and slipped out of the tower unnoticed. The night was rather quiet and I jogged in the direction Peter had said. Hardly anyone was out and about on the streets making travel quick. I rounded the last block and whistled loud enough that I was sure Parker would hear. Sure enough a moment later he crawled down the side of the building but his dismount was a little rough. He staggered a bit unsteadily and I grabbed his arm to keep him balanced. "Come on let's go to the Shack."

The Shack was a building I had stumbled across a while ago. It was our meet up spot considering Parker had to practically be baby sat by the rest of us. It was where we went to patch him up in emergencies like this. It was old and abandoned but the inside was rather nice. It still had running water and electricity wich was a plus as well. Peter hobbled along beside me with his arm wrapped awkwardly around my shoulders."What did you do this time?"

"It was a gang or something. A knife got me that's all." He stated.

"How many were there?" I asked.

"About thirteen." He tried to shrug but winced in pain.

"Next time get me or Steve before you go rushing in. You're still new to this and you don't think sometimes." We were right in front of the building now and I slipped a board aside and Peter slunk in. He flicked the dull lights on and I was able to see the extent of his wound. It was a large gash on his side about six inches long.

"Sorry if I wasn't too willing to do that." He mused with a smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked as he sat on the kitchen counter. I pulled out what I needed from my jacket pocket and rested the supplies on the counter.

"Well, newly weds tend to be rather active at night...if you know what I mean." He smirked and I felt the urge to punch him.

"Aren't you funny? Besides the wedding was ten months ago." I said while peeling back the edges of his tattered suit to expose the cut. It was worse than I had originally thought and my first order of business was wiping away the blood so I could see the wound better.

"I was just trying to avoid the emotional scarring." Peter smirked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"You should know not to make the person that's treating your wounds mad." I rolled my eyes and began to stitch him up. He grimaced angrily and yelped.

"That hurts!" He whined.

"What? Did you think it was going to tickle?" He bit his lip as the suture pierced his skin again and again. Ten months already? I could picture my first date with Steve like it was yesterday.

It was the night after the party and there was a knock on my door. I opened it to reveal Steve standing nervously there. He smiled upon seeing me and I couldn't help but smile too. "Dress comfortably. I'll be waiting in the parking garage for you."

"Something tells me you figured out where we're going for our date." I smirked and shut the door leaving a blushing Steve to his business. He blushes easily now and it pleased me to know I had that effect on him. As instructed I dressed comfortably in jeans, a simple shirt, and a jacket. I felt a small increase of speed in my chest and it was odd that I felt nervous even if it was small.

Sure enough Steve was waiting in in the parking garage next to his motorcycle. He slipped onto the seat and started it up and I slipped on behind him. With a rev of the engine we pulled out of the garage. It was late and the sun was setting in the distance. I couldn't help but wonder where we were going even though I had asked him to make it a surprise. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my chin on his shoulder. It felt nice to have the air whip at my hair and was so wrapped up in the moment I didn't realize I was smiling until my cheeks started to hurt.

"Where are we going?" I asked over the roar of the wind.

"Someplace you'll like." He called back. We rode for a long time and the sun slowly dipped below the city skyline. It must have been an hour before we reached our destination. It was towards the outskirts of the city where it dissolved into wilderness. We chugged up a hill until we reached the top, the grass dented with tire marks behind us. I laughed when I saw what was waiting there. A blanket was layed out in the grass with a small basket by it's side. Steve slipped off the motorcycle and I followed suit and we headed to where the blanket rested. Steve plopped down on it and I sat next to him.

"I figured everyone has picnics but no one has night time picnics." He smiled pulling the basket over. Inside wasn't food but a pen and pad of paper.

"Aren't you original." I picked up the paper and pen curiously. "What are these for?"

"Well I've always wanted to learn the constellations but I never had the chance. It also doesn't help that they just look like a random shape." Steve sighed glancing up at the stars. "Besides this is the best view."

"Hmm." It was true. The city glistened in the dark like a burning fire. It was beautiful to look at. Taking the pen and paper in my hands I glanced up at the sky before laying down on my back. "Okay, so that right there is the Ursa Major."

"It's supposed to be a bear right?" He asked his eyebrows scrunching up in adorable confusion.

"Yes. The stars are placed like this but you have to use your imagination to fill in the gaps." I stated while sketching the design quickly.

"So that's what it's supposed to look like?" He asked after I had finished the drawing.

"Yep, what were you thinking?" I asked. He smiled bashfully and drew something very quickly.

"This." He said holding up a wierd display of interconnecting lines.

"You know for someone who's good at art you aren't very good at this." I laughed. We spent the rest of the night joking and laughing. All in all he ended up learning all of the constellations and it was probably the most natural date I had ever been on.

"What are you going to tell your Aunt?" I asked cleaning up the mess I had made.

"I don't know." He stated scooting carefully off of the counter.

"Great cover story." I joked and he managed to roll his eyes. "You told her you had an internship with Stark, just call her and say you got called in early."

"That works for me. Now are there still extra clothes in the back room?" He asked jutting a thumb over his shoulder. I nodded and he dissapeared to change.

Steve and I had been dating for around a month before the public had any idea. That all changed one day when we were rushing into town via motorcycle. We had gotten a call about a local fire that had already swallowed up three houses. I had been nervous, fire was bad, I didn't like fire. It had killed my parents, and it had nearly killed me on more than one occasion, and it had killed my student's Father. I was definitely not keen on rushing into another swarm of heat and flames.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

"You keep the locals from doing anything stupid, and escort any civilians I bring out away from the fire. I'll go in alone this time, I'm assuming you don't want to join me." He noted.

"Sounds good to me." We hurtled down the streets weaving in and out of cars until the street came into view. It was glowing like a torch and there was nothing but chaos. Steve slammed on the breaks before we crushed the crowd of pedestrians beneath the wheels. I leapt off the back end of the motorcycle and took to climbing quickly over parked cars. While running across the cars I noticed that a fire truck had yet to arrive. On second thought, it would be hard to drive if all of the streets were crowded. Shaking my head, I focused on the task at hand breaking through the  police barrier with Steve seconds in front of me. Darting right, he slipped into the closest house and dissapeared in a glowing mass of sparks.

"Let me through!" Someone was screaming at a police officer pure panic gripping their voice. The noise caught my attention and I jogged over to the commotion curious to see what the problem was.

"Sir, what's wrong?" I asked. The man was covered in soot and something told me he had been in one of the buildings.

"My daughter's in there!" He cried, frantically pointing in the direction of the second building.

"Where was she the last time you saw her?" I asked.

"Her bedroom." He gasped. I turned running to the second building.

"Steve I'm going into the second building we've got a young girl stuck inside." I heard him grunt on the other end. "You okay?"

"Yeah heading out in a second, I've got a teenage boy and his younger brother," Steve noted.
Sighing I approached the the burning hole in front of me, and gritting my teeth I slipped inside. The air was sucked from my lungs quickly and I felt the urge to turn and flee. Images of my parent's bodies flooded my vision. I had never been afraid of fire before but ever since my experience in Russia things had changed. Then again, it didn't help that I'd practically relived my entire past, and there was lots of fire there.
With a quick glance at the stairs I judged their stability. They looked thin and charred, but I knew that if I hurried I could get down in time. Under further observation I got the feeling that this was the most unstable of the houses. It'd probably caught fire first.
With a set jaw I bounded up to the sixth step when my foot fell through the floor. Letting out a grunt I picked myslef up and continued the journey up. After reaching the second floor I kicked down the door.  Inside was a little girl gripping a stuffed rabbit and crying. Coughing I tried to breath through the thick smoke while picking her up. "On my way back, Steve."

Slipping back through the door I bounded down the stairs when a loud crack sent me sprawling. The steps shattered under my weight and in a second I gripped the lip of the upper floor. The girl,  tucked under one arm, let out a squeal of fright. Uttering a few words of comfort I pushed her up onto the platform. "Go to the window!"

Already, I could feel the heat of the burning floor scalding my hand with its splinters digging into my palm. "Steve, the girl is heading to the window."

"Copy that. How are you hanging?" He asked, though his breathing was slightly strained.

"Currently? Well, I'm hanging from the second floor." Glancing over my shoulder I studied the flames below.

"What?" He asked in a panic. With a grunt I grasped the floor with my other hand and struggled to pull myself up. The thing was, it's hard for your body to function normally when you there's no oxygen to breath.
Gasping, I slipped over the edge and lay sprawled on my back trying to recollect myself. Beneath me the platform gave a mighty groan and I rushed to scramble away from it. Sure enough, the floorboards shattered. The brittle exterior was unable to hold any weight.
Stumbling through the smoke I tried to find the girl's room and her window. "Nat I've got the girl where are you at?"

"Coming..." I coughed as my eyes burned along with my lungs and throat. Fire, it's always fire. Why can't it be, "let's go diving underwater to find some treasure?" I could definitely deal with that. Eventually, I stumbled into the girl's room and was amazed to see a large crater in the floor where her bed should have been. "Steve are you by the window?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'm gonna need you to catch me." I planted my feet on the floor and sprinted before launching myself over the crater jogging a step or two and diving through the open window. Free falling, I slammed hard into someone. Following the impact was a grunt that I recognized as Steve's before the asphalt decided to give me a hug. Giving a sigh of relief I was able breath easier and a smile somehow found it's way onto my face, but as my gaze steadied I realized I was awkwardly entangled with Steve. "Nice catch."

"A bit more of a warning would have been nice." He laughed getting to his feet and tugging me up as well. He swiftly brushed the hair away from my face as he often did. "Injury free?"

"Not really." I glanced down at my ankle to see it bleeding where the splintered wood had pierced my skin. It throbbed along with my heartbeat and with the cops busy worrying about the mess and two fire trucks having finally arrived we decided it was time to leave. I hobbled over to the motorcycle, Steve joined me, and we sped down the streets back to the tower.

But, back at the tower during dinner Tony had taken the liberty of turning on the news where a female reporter was discussing the fire earlier that day. She discussed how the fire had started and how there were zero casualties. Then it took a turn for the worst. At first she discussed how Steve and I had shown up on the scene but that quickly faded to the background of her focus. A picture appeared on the screen: It was Steve and collapsed in the road. Tony nearly choked on his bite of food upon seeing it. "No way."

I groaned pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. Steve stared intently at his plate. The reporter went on, "Here we see the two heroes of the day Captain America and Black Widow collapsed on the pavement. The locals are saying that Black Widow ran into the burning building trying to save a young girl. The girl that was saved  stated that the stairs collapsed beneath them and the heroine had placed her on the second floor which she was hanging from. The girl then ran to her bedroom window where she leapt into the arms of Captain America. A significant amount of time passed before the Widow returned in a similar fashion as the young girl. Due to the inability to reach the bottom floor she too leapt from the window. She landed heavily on Captain and the two were sprawled out in the road. While it seemed unintentional neither of them seemed to be in any rush to get up. In fact some sarcastic banter ensued."

"You.Did.Not." Scarrlet mused her eyes sparkling mischievously. A new picture appeared on the screen It was a still image of Steve brushing strands of hair out of my face. I could see the half smile splayed on my lips, and the concerned look in his eyes.

"It doesn't stop there though. Captain then helped his "comrade" to her feet and made sure her hair was tucked safely behind her ear. We all know you're a good guy Cap, but come on." The female reporter placed air quotations around the word comrade and her tone towards the end of the statement hinted at something else. Overall the situation amused me but Steve seemed thoroughly uncomfortable. "Is there something going on between these two? Something more than their work? Who knows but we'll be watching closely."

I rolled my eyes as Tony, Peter, and Scarrlet started swarming the dinner table with sarcastic buzz. I slipped my hand under the table and gripped Steve's in mine. He seemed to relax a bit at that.

"Alright, I'm good." Peter announced re-entering the room with simple pedestrian clothes. He wore a dark grey hoodie and a pair of khaki pants. "Did you take the motorcycle?"

"No, sorry." I sighed shooting down his hopeful tone. "I didn't think I would need to provide an emergency evacuation."

"It's fine we can take the back alleys." Peter noted tenderly holding his side and moving to the back door.

"Good thinking." I moved next to him where I helped support part of his weight. We squeezed through the back entrance and entered an alley. Condensation caused the street to glisten and I could tell by Peter's heavy breathing we weren't out of the clear yet. He needed to be distracted from his wound. I could ask him details about his fight, and who knows he could give some information on the problems we had been handling back at the tower. "Do you recall anything about the gang members?"

"Yeah...a little but not much." He stated trying to breath evenly.

"Okay. Did anything pop out to you?" I asked. Peter was unaware of the reason to my prodding. There had been an intense rise in gang activity lately and it wasn't the normal unorganized crime. The attacks were systematic but none of us were sure as to what the gang or gangs were up to.

"No, sorry. They all looked like normal criminals." Peter winced. "Except one guy who I think was the leader had a white scarf or something on his arm."

"Okay I'll check the database to see if there's anyone we know of who uses that as a trademark. We'll talk more later for now concentrate on walking." I focused on pulling him along at a crawling pace until we finally reached the tower. "Call your Aunt then get to bed and sleep. I don't care if your stupid senses tingle."

"Understood." I directed him towards his room where he hobbled inside and left me standing out in the hallway. With a sigh I decided I might as well try and get more sleep so I snuck back into my room where Steve was unconscious again. I didn't bother to change I just slipped my shoes off and collapsed into the mattress. I flipped on my side and observed Steve's peaceful face. He was adorable when he slept. With a smile I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep again.