Chapter Text
"Clint came clean," he said in a tone that made her raise an eyebrow. Natasha refused to believe he was insinuating that she should have to come clean too. These were completely different circumstances, they were incomparable. He had to be joking.
"We had a deal, Fury. You're not answering my question," she answered him finally. He nodded.
"As promised, the correct files were all erased. There was no written record of it when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell." Natasha nodded, glad to hear there was no way some insurgent force could use that information against her, there was no trace of her secrets to be found.
"And the operating team?" she asked as an afterthought.
"All perished when HYDRA took over."
"That's a shame," she said, not wanting to be cold about the death of a group of people who had agreed to keep her secret.
"Convenient for you," Fury said, though it seemed more of a question. She shook her head and stayed quiet. "Why? Looking to dive in already?"
"No," she answered him. "Just a shame. Maybe some time working with them wouldn't have been so bad."
"I would have had to advise against that, Natasha. You seem better off not digging, like you said." Natasha just shrugged before leaving the room, the doors sliding shut behind her. As if on cue, Steve turned the corner, walking in her direction.
"You talking to Fury?" he asked casually. She thought he would be doing the same until she saw him stop in his tracks and wait for her to catch up to him. He'd been looking for her.
"Don't I always? I'm his 'fly on the wall', remember?"
"Don't be mad, Wanda was just kidding," he said, trying to be supportive. She liked his attempt at consoling the situation. It had been days ago in training that Wanda had pointed out how loyal and obedient Natasha was with Fury.
"I know. I'm not mad." She cracked a smile. "She doesn't exactly have the most clear sense of humor but I like that about her. Reminds me of Ivan."
"Ivan?"
"An old friend," she explained away. It had been years since she felt the need to mention Ivan, she supposed the conversation with Fury brought him back in her thoughts. He sighed, seemingly relieved that she wasn't upset with Wanda. She had to admit she was amused that he was trying to reconcile for faults in the team that weren't there. That was Steve in a nutshell. He wanted everyone to get along and stay together. He was a soldier, not a spy. She wasn't sure any amount of her training would kick his habits. Thinking on that briefly, she realized they didn't have any private training sessions that day. What did he want? "Who are you hiding from this time, Rogers?" It was a shot in the dark but the look on his face made it clear she'd hit a bullseye.
"No one, why?" He kept his hands swinging on his sides, his shoulders very straight, far back, as if he were ready to salute. He was trying to look busy, urgent in his steps.
"You start looking too occupied and restless on purpose when you've had to turn someone down with your 'busy' excuse. Who asked you out? Glenn from Legal?" She wasn't really one for hiding her curiosity. Not with Cap, it was too fun watching him squirm.
"I just had to ask you something." When he started to sound frustrated that she didn't believe him, she knew she hit gold. She stopped walking, faced him directly and raised her eyebrows as she waited for him to continue. Stumbling on his words, he put on a look of determination that would have been easy to believe if he hadn't been trying so hard. "What color are you thinking for the new uniforms?" It was usually more difficult to get Natasha to crack a smile, but Steve managed to crack one here and there, like most of the Avengers did. He sighed and looked defeated when she grinned so widely at him. He'd failed to convince her, which only emphasized how necessary it was that she teach him how to be a better spy. "We need to do more training," he said, voicing his thoughts out loud.
"We do," she agreed. "I'm heading up to the Shed for a bite to eat."
"It is getting late," he admitted. "I'll go tell the others to head up soon and join you. They'll need their rest. We've got that long day ahead."
"Don't tell them," she reminded him, thinking that was all that needed to be said.
"Why?" he asked before she could turn away. Steve knew by now just to ask for an explanation even if she didn't think there needed to be one.
"They're training. We've already told them tomorrow would be a big day. This is where they get to make a choice. Either they get their rest or they learn the hard way." Steve frowned so she gave him some more detail. "Tony promised he'd be keeping an eye on things for these first few weeks." She tried not to mention it was another apology from him. He'd been doing a lot of indirect apologies lately, and she made sure to enjoy every single one. "This is the only chance we'll get at tough love before the real job begins."
Steve understood her meaning. He recalled the rules of the military. When the lights went out, you could stay awake if you wanted but it would only be to your detriment. If the food was nasty, you ate it anyway because you knew you needed to eat and regain energy. There was opportunity to rebel, sure, but this way you learned quickly that your choices would affect you. It was their best option. He gave her a resolute nod before walking away.
Natasha normally didn't allow her face to rest in a smile, it made people think she was too nice and honestly she never really found much a reason to be so amused, but she had this lingering optimistic feeling these days. It was like a calm after a disaster, a resting period. Things were working out just fine for her objectives. She and Steve got along well enough that the arguments were down to a minimum, but as friends there was even a warmth in the connection that came with working together. They decided they would be equals too, so she never tired of the instructions he gave her nor did he tire of the orders she gave, because they were never one-sided. Sure, it meant some disagreements but in all it meant that everything was a conversation rather than a cold, hard mission. She never thought she'd like an equal partnership but it was growing on her.
She knew things would change if the Avengers found out about all of her secrets. Steve had said it himself before, it is hard to trust someone you hardly even know. She had to hope Fury would keep his word about hiding the truth.