Natasha POV

I looked out my window while the rain trickled down. It wasn't too bad I presume. It could be worse. I figured a light jacket would be fine, considering the sun was still out. I knew the rain wouldn't last, but I brought my umbrella just in case. I threw a jacket over my Captain America shirt and headed out the door, giving Liho a kiss goodbye. I told Steve I'd get there around 1, so I wanted to leave enough time to arrive at the precinct on time. He worked in the Bronx near my studio, so I planned on stopping by there today too. I hopped on the subway and made my way to Tremont Ave.

The big, brick building looked like it was standing on its last leg. I could tell it had been a staple in the community for many years. With a little pep in my step, I quickly climbed the stairs of the precinct. Oddly enough, I felt excited to see Steve. I knew I shouldn't simply because I had barely known the man, but I couldn't help the slight butterflies that were filling my stomach. I reached the receptionist desk and the officer escorted me towards Captain Rogers office. I glanced at the large clock. 12:30. Better to be early than late, I suppose. We turned the corner and saw Steve sitting in his office with the blinds slightly open. He wore a blue button down and his beard was shaved. I noticed his attraction before, but of course that wasn't the first thing on my mind. Now, it was more prominent and it did nothing for the growing knots in my belly. As I walked over to his office, thanking the policeman who showed me, I was stopped by a tall blonde woman. Her brown eyes seemed to look at me coldly while she spoke.

"Hi, how can I help?"

"Hello, I'm here for Steve." I said glancing over at him.

"He's busy right now. Maybe you can come back another time." She more so commanded rather than suggested.

"Well he called and told me to come down at 1." I replied slightly defensive.

Sharon, her name tag read, glanced at her watch before looking up at me, "Well you're early, so sit over there and wait for him to come out." She pointed towards a small chair in the corner.

I was beyond heated but the last thing I needed was to get into a problem at a police station. I quietly calmed myself and waited in the wooden cushioned seat by his door. I watched as the officers moved about the room, it wasn't as frantic as I would've thought. Everyone sat at their desk buried behind paperwork. A few officers came by with perps, but nothing super exciting, not that I would really want anything to happen while I was here. Time ticked on. I glanced over at Sharon, who was on the computer. She was such an ass. I rolled my eyes thinking about our encounter. How can someone who comes in contact with victims and perps all the time be such a jerk?

My thoughts were interrupted by Steve coming out of his office. He didn't seem to notice me as he spoke to Sharon, who suddenly seemed perky.

"Hey Sharon, can you print case 4948 and make two copies of this report?" He said handing her a paper.

She smiled widely at him and took it. "Anything for you Steve."

"It's Captain Rogers and thank you." He said smoothly correcting her for unprofessionalism.

"Right, Captain Rogers." Her smile faltered for a second before speaking again."

There's a woman here to see you." She said pointing to me who was now in his line of sight.

"Oh, Nat. Hey" He smiled widely at me, while Sharon rolled her eyes.

I smiled at the sight and figured she had a thing for our sweet ole Cap here. "Hey Steve." I gave him a quick hug, smirking at her.

"Why didn't you tell me you were already here?"

"Well your assistant told me you were busy and I didn't want to interrupt. I know you probably have a lot more serious cases you could handle." I said looking at him softly.

"Oh Nat. Your case is just as important as anyone else's. You don't have to wait. Next time you're here, just come on in, you're more than welcome. " He gave me a reassuring smile and guided me in his office with his hand on my back.

"Thank you." I said sitting down on the small couch he had. "Are there any details on the case?" I continued, hoping we could get down to business.

"Kind of." He walked over to his desk grabbing a file. "I have a few pictures I want you to look at. You think you're up for it?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yea, I am." I said confidently. I got comfortable on the couch as he sat down placing the file between us showing me men that could've been involved.

"If you recognize anyone, let me know." He said as he continued to flip through the file. I nodded as I looked at the faces intently. I was hoping for just one face, one possible guy, but there was nothing. I didn't recognize anyone. I felt a little deflated considering this trip was a waste. I knew the chance of him finding the guys were low, but I appreciated him looking. I guess he noticed my no longer happy expression because he closed the file and scooted closer to me.

"It's gonna be ok, alright? I'm not gonna stop looking Nat." He rubbed my back and I leaned on his shoulder. It felt nice, comforting.

"I know. I appreciate it, but I'm aware of how hard it'll be. It's just a little disheartening."

"Well don't lose hope. There's still more to do. I had a couple officers go look for video cameras from the surrounding buildings, so we will get something." I looked up at him and smiled. It was amazing the way this man could make me feel much better with very little effort. I stopped leaning on him and straightened myself out.

"Thank you Steve, I appreciate it." Trying to seem a little more formal.

"It's no problem. It's my job."

I smiled and stood up, feeling kinda sad that I would have to leave.

"Hey, are we still on for Saturday?" My eyes dancing at the thought of seeing him again.

"Yea, we are. I keep my promises, Ms. Romanoff. I'll be seeing you 9 a.m. sharp."

"I look forward to it Captain Rogers." Playfulness exuding from us both. We bid our goodbyes and I walked out the precinct a little better.

Saturday Morning:

Steve POV

I felt rejuvenated. Today was the day I was gonna see Nat. It was 8 and I had to pick her up in an hour. I didn't waste much time getting ready because I wanted to make sure I was on time. I knew that we would be doing a lot of painting and patching, so I threw on some old sweats and a shirt from my college track days. I made two omelets for breakfast, one for me and one for Nat. I don't know how she likes it but I figured something is better than nothing. In no time, I was out the door and in front of her house.

Ding, Dong

I waited patiently for her soft face to greet me. She came out with wet hair dressed in an oversized T-shirt and shorts.

"Hey Steve." She said brightly. I'm glad she was in a happier mood since I last saw her. "Glad you're dressed for the occasion." Her eyes trailing me up and down.

"Well I did my best." I said stepping inside as she moved.

"I won't be long, I'm just going to grab my bag and give Liho some fresh water."

"Alright....Oh Wait. I brought you something." I said handing her the container with the omelet.

"What is it?" She eyed it curiously, taking it from my hand.

"It's an omelet." I responded scratching the back of my head nervously. "I didn't know if you ate or not and I don't know if you like eggs, but it's fine if you don't I just wanted you to have something." I began to ramble.

"Steve, it's nice. Thank you. I appreciate it and for your information I love eggs. Great source of protein among other things." She said before winking and walking towards the kitchen. After eating the omelet and changing Liho's water. We were off.

"So what are we doing today?" I asked trying to figure out how much work I would actually have to do.

"Well, I want to paint another room and patch up the rest of the holes in the place. If we get through that before 2, we can do one more room and go."

"Sounds like a plan. How'd you come across it anyway?" I said as we walked outside and got in the car.

"Zillow. It's an app. I used it to find my apartment too." She flashed me the blue app that was now on her phone screen.

"I used a newspaper." She giggled at my small joke.

"Well I guess that's as good as any app these days."

"Yea I like to think, so. It may be old-fashioned but if the wheel isn't broke, why reinvent it?"

"For convenience and efficient." She retorted

"Touché Romanoff."

She laughed aloud before eyeing me mischievously. "I wanna know about you Cap."

"Well what do you wanna know?"

"What do you do? I mean I know you're a cop obviously, but what do you do outside of that?"

"Well I read a lot, listen to music minus the dancing, and draw a little." I said downplaying a few things.

"Are you any good?"

"Yea or so I've heard." I said shyly. Not too many took an interest in what I did, especially not many women. They really only wanted to hear cop stories. "

"Well I would love to hear all about your art. Will you gonna draw me like one of your French girls?" She teased.

"Only if you want me too." I smirked staring at her, while we waited at the stop light. She blushed, but didn't turn away. "I think you should keep your eyes on the road there Steve. You never know what could happen." I removed my gaze from hers, facing the now green light.

The car ride was smooth. I couldn't help, but let my mind wander to what we could possibly be. I wasn't planning on becoming an item with her now considering, but I definitely wanted to spend more time with her. We arrived at the studio and it was nice. I could see her dancing here and holding classes. Her hair tightly in a bun wearing a pink leotard teaching young kids how to twirl and balance on their toes. The thought brought a smile to my face. We made our way through the building and patched up the holes that prevented us from painting. Our laughter filled the air. I couldn't remember the last time I felt more free. We joked around and shared stories about the wildest things that happened. We talked and worked and before long, it was time for a lunch break. Nat ordered pizza, which I happily ate.

"This is by far the best Pizza in New York." I exclaimed while biting into my third slice.

"It is right? It's Vinny's" She said happily as she bit into another supreme slice of heaven.

"Where is it at?" I asked wiping the grease from my mouth.

"Why? Planning on taking a date there?" She teased raising her eyebrow.

"Please, a date is unachievable at this point. The last thing a woman wants is a man who is constantly getting in harms way." I said humbly.

"I find that hard to believe. Sharon seems more than willing." Nat said with a side-eye.

"No, she just wants to have sex with me and I'm not that kind of guy. Any woman I lay down with needs to be my girl and Sharon will definitely not be." I said making it crystal clear that I did not want any part of her.

"Oh well that's very noble, I wish there were more men like you." She said with a soft chuckle.

"I'm sure there are, just maybe not in the state of New York." I laughed at my joke.

"Yea definitely not." She said grabbing another slice.

"Nat, I know it's not that hard for you to find someone, sure the men may not be all that great but they can't be too bad."

"It's not because I don't want the men, it's because I don't think they'll want me..." She said softly.

"Why would you think that?" Suddenly getting serious.

"Because it's happened before....I trusted someone, loved them, and they threw me away like I was nothing..." She said fiddling with the half eaten pizza in her hand.

"Was it Alexei?" I ask softly. Her eyes quickly met mine with confusion.

"How do you know about him?"

"At your house, the night of the attack, you mentioned him, only briefly but I remembered. I figured he hurt you in some way."

"He did...badly."

"Who was he?" I asked as if I didn't already know.

"...He was my husband. Back in Russia. We got divorced before I moved here." Her words traveled through the room and I could hear it begin to crack.

"What happened?" I said moving closer to her.

"I wasn't woman enough for him." A tear escaped her eye and I brushed it away.

"You're all the woman a man needs"

"You don't know me well enough." She said looking up at me with pain written across her face.

"Well what more is there to the mysterious Natalia Romanova." I said now inches from her lips.

"Everything...." She spoke breathlessly.

The rest of the day we learned more about each other. We talked about what we did in our free time and exchanged more stories about our college days. I tried to remember everything she said. Her favorite color was Red. Her birthday was a few days before Thanksgiving. She had two best friends, one being a guy. She loves art and music, for obvious reasons. She knows how to tap dance as do I. She can't cook, but she swears she is gonna learn. Me on the other hand, couldn't help but throw a couple tips her wya since I am a master chef. Time flew by and the next thing, I knew, we were in the car, on our way to her house. Natasha was in deep thought but I didn't want to bother her too much.

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Natasha POV

Steve and I rode in silence while I thought about how much fun I had. He was so sweet and lighthearted. I felt comfortable with him. The way he would crack jokes and blush every time I said something slightly flirtatious. It was adorable. I loved the way when he laughed, his hand would lightly graze his left chest. The sight made my mouth water. I hadn't felt this way in so long, to have someone to not love but strongly like. I thought after Alexei....I..I never thought I'd find someone to possibly be interested in again. It felt so easy to talk to Steve about Alexei. I hadn't opened up to anyone EVER about him, but how could I? I was alone without anyone but now I had Steve, but what if he turned out just like Alexei. I mean Alexei was so caring and treated me like a queen in the beginning, but after what happened he....he turned. He turned against me. He hated me.

"Natalia and I have had important differences that we cannot resolve and I believe that our marriage has permanently broken down." Alexei snared as he looked me.

"Alexei...please..." I pleaded with tears in my eyes.

"NO! You know this isn't going to work. I don't want you anymore. You know that you can't give me what I want. You're nothing to me anymore. It's done." Alexei said across the table.

I stayed silent while our lawyers stared stunned. I couldn't speak, so I let my tears flow as the he signed the paper and slid over to me. I looked at him once more before grabbing the pen and signing my name. Natalia Romanova.

"Alexei Romanova and Natasha Romanova. The proceedings are now finished." The judge stated at the head of the table. "You two are officially divorced by law."

Alexei stood and left without so much as glance or goodbye. It was over....

"Nat?" I heard Steve call my name. "You ok?"

"Huh? Yea, I'm ok." I said I sniffed the tears away.

"Nat, talk to me. What're you thinking?" Steve said reaching over and grabbing my hand.

"I..I..I feel so alone..."

"You're not alone..You have me."

"Do I?..I mean...Who are you to me?"

"Who do you want me to be?" Steve said softly.

"How about a friend?"

"I think I can handle that.." He smiled at me, still holding onto my hand.

I didn't say anything I just let the words settle in. I held onto his hands tightly as we arrived in front of my building. I didn't want him to go but I knew that if he didn't I wouldn't be able to control my emotions. I untwined our hands and moved to get out, but Steve gently tugged my arm. Turning my head to look at him, he pulled me into a hug. It felt so good to be in someone's arms, to have someone to hold me and make me feel safe. It was too much. I let everything go, crying into his shoulder...."I'm sorry." I make out between my sobs.

"Shh, it's ok. I'm here. Im a friend. It's alright." He rubbed my back softly while I cried. He pulled away after a few minutes turning off his car. I looked at him confused. "Come on" He gestured as he got out the car. I wiped my face and got out, walking towards my home. I felt so vulnerable and open, something that I hadn't felt in a long time, at least not with anyone else.

My liho greeted us as usual, but I was too upset to pet her like normal. I just wanted to lay down and wallow. We didn't speak as we walked in, sitting on the couch after removing our coats. I sat on the end closest to the window and Steve moved next to me. His arms engulfing me again. His shirt still wet from my earlier tears. "You don't have to stay, you know." I speak with a muffled voice.

"I know but what kind of friend would I be if I didn't." His voice calmed as he rubbed my red hair.

"I..I try to hold it together, you know. I'm normally not this troubled." I said not wanting to scare him off with all the trouble I've been going through.

"Nat, you're no trouble at all. I want to be there for you. I want to help. What happened?" His eyes bore into mine yearning for me to tell.

"Alexei...As you know we were married...6 years of happy marriage." I laughed bitterly. "One day, I found out I was pregnant. It was the best news we had received. We found out we were having a boy. We were going to name him Adrian...I...I..um.. I was 4 months pregnant." I looked down at my hands as I continued to tell the story of my pain. "I was having pain in my stomach. I called Alexei and he rushed me to the hospital..that night I lost my baby..It was the worst feeling in the world. We had wanted a baby for so long and finally, we had it and then lost it..I cried that night for hours." I paused and Steve wiped my tears encouraging me to continue. "The doctor came in the next morning and explained that I...I had a ectopic pregnancy. She said that the likelihood of me having another baby would be slim to none, and if by chance I did conceive it wouldn't make it full term." By now my eyes were red, puffy, and hurting. My heart felt like it was tearing as I thought about my son.

"I'm so sorry Nat. I'm so sorry." Steve cradled me, rocking me back and forth.

"He left me because of that....he said that I couldn't bear him a child, so there was no point in our marriage...He didn't want a damaged woman...Nobody would. He..he left me..a week after we got the news. He didn't stay to make sure I was okay, if there were other options. Nothing..He just left. Two months after, we were sitting in a room with our lawyers and we split....He wouldn't even look at me. That's why I came here. That's why I stopped dancing. Thats why I changed my name." My wet face was now buried in his neck. Steve pulled me into his lap and continue to hold me as he spoke.

"Nat...I've only known you for a short time, but in that time, I have grown to learn so much about you. I love everything about you and the fact that you may not be able to have kids , doesn't make you any less fo a woman. You are strong and beautiful and incredibly talented. Alexei is missing out, not you. Any man would be lucky to have you. Including me. I will be there to support you no matter what. I am here. I'll be your shoulder to cry on whenever you want." His arms held me firmly and his voice never wavered. I knew he meant what he said. I trusted it. I snuggled deeper into him and my tears began to subside. I found myself getting lost in his warmth and feeling at peace for finally letting everything go. I just let go and let the darkness take over. Sleep welcomed me with open arms, just like Steve.

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