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It started as a deal.
“Natasha!” Steve said one night, exasperated, scrubbing his face with his hands while she smirked at him, trying her hardest not to laugh. “You do know Miriam from Human Resources is probably Hydra, right? That woman knew more about everyone at SHIELD than even you!”
Natasha tried to look like she didn’t understand what Steve’s issue was. Instead, she shrugged at him. “Well, you’ll just have to talk about something other than work, I guess.”
He glared at her. From the other end of the couch, Sam, hidden behind a magazine they all knew he wasn’t reading, snorted.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Steve said.
“Am I?”
She could practically feel Steve clenching his teeth and contemplating how much he regretted saving her back at Camp Lehigh.
She waited for his comeback, watching him carefully, already trying to decide who she should offer up next in her favorite game to pass the time.
Instead, something changed in Steve’s expression. The frustration on his face suddenly lessened, his whole body seeming to relax.
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay?” she repeated.
He nodded. “Yes. Okay. You win. I’ll do it. I’ll go out with one of your so-called suggestions.”
She stared at him, his words not registering in her brain.
“What?”
“I said you win. I’ll let you set me up.”
“Steve …”
“It’s what you want, right?”
Was it what she wanted? What was happening here?
“Yes,” she said.
“Okay,” he said simply. “Then I’ll do it.”
She frowned at him. “What’s the catch?”
Beside her, she could feel Sam sit up a little straighter, the magazine he hadn’t been reading long forgotten.
Steve’s expression didn’t change for a long moment. It was the strangest feeling. Natasha was used to being the one who was playing the games and making the rules. It was uncomfortable feeling like Steve was playing her for the first time, even if she suspected that wasn’t actually the case.
She almost shifted in her seat, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her squirm. Instead, she met his gaze directly.
“I do have a stipulation,” he finally said.
“Really?” she drawled, and his eyes narrowed just the slightest. She almost grinned. Even when he clearly was enjoying the advantage, she still could get to him.
“I get to set you up in return,” he said simply.
Sam snorted. Natasha just stared at Steve.
She hadn’t expected that. She should have suspected that, but she hadn’t.
“You want … to set me up?” she repeated back to him.
“It’s only fair.”
“And we’re going to, what? Double date?”
“If you want.”
She waited for Steve to grin, or to laugh, or to indicate in any other way that he was not being serious, but he just looked pointedly at her, and she knew she had lost. He had called her bluff. She could keep setting him up, could even get him to go on the perfect date, but now in return she had to go on one too.
Well, she had been on lots of dates with people she didn’t care about. Actually, all of her dates were with people she didn’t care about. What was the worst that could happen?
“Fine,” she said, acting like this was a completely normal and expected thing for her. “Let’s do it.”
--
“You know you’re being ridiculous, right?” Sam peered at her from over the top of his coffee cup. Next to him, Sharon grabbed another handful of popcorn.
Natasha glared at them.
“You’re supposed to be helping,” she said.
“I am helping,” Sam said. “I’m telling you you’re being ridiculous, and you know it.”
Natasha didn’t answer, just narrowed her eyes at him even more before looking back down at the meticulous notes laid out in front of her. It had been one thing to tease Steve endlessly and try to set him up with every person who had ever worked at SHIELD — male or female — but it was another to actually set him up on a date.
Her fingers skimmed the names she had written on various pieces of paper.
“None of these are good enough for him,” she said, more to herself than to her two helpers. How in the world was she supposed to find someone who was actually good enough for Steve Rogers? And someone who he would like?
“And they’re never going to be,” Sam said matter-of-factly. “Which is why you’re being ridiculous. You could set Steve up with every person in D.C., and you’re not going to find someone he’s happy with.”
Natasha looked up to meet his eyes. He looked completely serious. And he was right. She knew it. But Steve deserved to be happy, and she had teased him about it for so long …
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I have to find him someone. Someone perfect. He deserves that.”
“Natasha …” Sam started, but he trailed off when Sharon touched his arm just so.
Natasha’s lips curved up slightly. “You two wouldn’t happen to be interested in a threesome, would you?”
It was Sam’s turn to glare at her, but Sharon looked thoughtful.
“You know,” she said, looking at Natasha. “I might actually know someone who would be perfect for Steve.”
“You do?” Natasha said doubtfully.
“You do?” Sam echoed.
Sharon nodded. “Yeah. She’s great. Absolutely gorgeous. Funny. Incredibly smart. Fearless. Resilient.”
Natasha felt something twist inside her gut. That did sound perfect, but …
“What’s wrong with her?” she asked.
Sharon laughed. “Nothing’s wrong with her,” she said. “She can be incredibly stubborn, though. And she definitely takes a while to let people in. She’s been through a lot and doesn’t trust easily … but when she does trust you, it’s the best feeling.”
“Hmmmm.”
That did seem like someone who would be perfect for Steve. Maybe too perfect. Could there be someone too perfect? What if there was something more wrong with her than Sharon was letting on? What if …
Natasha stopped herself. It was a date. Not marriage. Right? Just a date.
“Okay,” she said to Sharon. “You think she’ll agree to it? What’s her name?”
“I know she thinks the world of Steve Rogers,” Sharon said. “But why don’t you let me handle it? I don’t want to scare her off.”
Natasha was back to frowning. Trusting Sharon to get this right? Not meeting this mystery woman at all before their double date? Not being able to vet her?
She glanced back down at her notes. Well, it wasn’t like she had a better idea.
“Okay,” she said, a little reluctantly. “If you’re sure.”
Sharon grinned. “Don’t worry,” she said. “You just be at the restaurant with Steve. I’ll do the rest! It will be great. I promise!”
--
Natasha fixed her hair three times before leaving for the restaurant and changed her outfit twice. She was nervous, and she hated herself for being nervous.
Not for her own date, whoever it was that Steve had set her up with. She wasn’t sure if he really was going to try and find her a so-called perfect match or find her someone awful to get back at her for teasing him mercilessly the last two years of their lives. But that didn’t matter. She knew how to fake it for dates. She could do that in her sleep.
But the thought of Steve’s date was making her insides clench. Sharon had made her sound so amazing, but was she really? Would Steve hate her? Would he like her? Would he fall in love with her and marry her in an elaborate wedding that the networks would trip over themselves trying to air live?
She didn’t know, and she didn’t like not knowing.
And if it did work out, could she really even gloat about it forever and make them promise to name their first born after her when this dream woman was Sharon’s idea?
By the time Natasha made her way into the restaurant where they were supposed to have their double date, she was beginning to regret ever teasing Steve about his love life. Surely, there was something else she could have been teasing him about all this time instead?
A young man led her over to the table where Steve and his date and her date were waiting. She wanted to throw up, or maybe run away. Maybe she could tell Steve she was sick? Would he even believe her?
The young man stopped and pointed at a table, and she blinked in surprise. Steve was there, but he was alone.
“Thank you,” Natasha said to the young man, and then went to slide into the chair next to Steve.
“Hello, Soldier.”
She had never seen him so dressed up. Sure, she had seen him dressed up in his Captain America uniform, but this time he was dressed up as Steve Rogers. Hair freshly washed, clad in a dark suit that made his eyes seem even more piercing than normal. He smelled like a mix of pine and cool air, if that were even possible.
He stared at her for a second like he didn’t recognize her, his face going slack, before he blinked and a grin slid across his face.
“Natasha,” he said kindly. “You look beautiful.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself.” She looked around the restaurant. Their table was away from the others, in a corner in the back of the place. It was nice. Quiet, dark enough to not be intrusive but not too dark. “So where is this mystery man — or woman — you found for me?”
“Man,” Steve said, and frowned slightly. “And I’m not sure. But I don’t see your mystery woman — or man — for me either.”
“I’m just keeping the mystery going longer.” Natasha smiled.
Steve laughed. “Of course you are.”
He picked up the glass of water that was in front of him, the same one that matched the other three glasses on the table.
He tilted it toward her. “To a wonderful night with our perfect matches.”
She picked up her own glass and clinked his. “To a wonderful night,” she echoed, her eyes scanning the room for the arrival of Steve’s perfect match.
--
An hour in and there was still no sign of either of their dates. They had finally gone ahead and ordered some food.
“Did we really both just get stood up?” Natasha said. “I thought you’d found me the perfect guy? The perfect guy would not stand me up.”
“I thought you’d found me the perfect woman?”
“I did!” But then she shrugged. Why should she take the blame for this?
“Actually, I didn’t,” she admitted.
“You didn’t?”
“Well, I tried,” she clarified. “Believe me, Rogers, I did. But it was Sharon who said she had the perfect woman for you.” She looked around the restaurant again, just in case Steve’s perfect date was hiding in a corner waiting to pounce. She had finally — almost —stopped wondering if the next person coming around the corner was going to be Steve’s happily ever after.
She took another bite of her food. “Guess she isn’t so perfect after all.”
It took her a moment to realize Steve was staring at her with an odd expression on his face, like she had just told him the sky was purple.
“What?”
“Sam was the one who picked the perfect person for you.”
Now it was her turn to return the odd expression. “What?”
“There wasn’t anyone good enough for you.” Steve shrugged. “But Sam said he knew a guy.”
“Sam knew a guy?”
“I assume Sam knows lot of guys. But Sam said you’d like him. Said he was kind, a big heart, trustworthy, honest. Fights hard, plays hard.”
Natasha stared at him, but she wasn’t seeing him. She remembered Sharon’s words.
Absolutely gorgeous. Funny. Incredibly smart. Fearless. Resilient. Incredibly stubborn. She’s been through a lot and doesn’t trust easily.
No, she couldn’t have meant … Sam and Sharon, they couldn’t have …
“Sam described you,” Natasha said to Steve.
“That’s ridicu …” But the words died halfway out of his mouth. They looked at each other.
“They set us up,” Steve said.
“They set us up,” Natasha repeated. She wasn’t sure if she was more astounded or impressed. “We should kill them.”
“We should,” Steve agreed. “But maybe let’s finish dinner first. This food is really good.”
--
Neither Sam nor Sharon were anywhere to be found when Steve and Natasha got back to the apartment. Natasha wasn’t surprised. And she wasn’t sad about it either.
Steve’s hand in hers was warm, comforting. His jacket around her shoulders felt nice.
She looked around the empty apartment.
“Maybe we can kill them in the morning,”
“Good plan. Want to watch a movie?”
“Do we have to watch that one about the guy who went into a block of ice and came out alive seventy years later? It’s so unbelievable.”
Steve nudged her with his elbow. “I thought you said Sharon said my date was funny?”
“Ha ha,” Natasha said. She went to slip her hand from Steve’s, to head toward the couch, but he pulled her back.
She stared up at him, at this man who somehow had just sat through a whole dinner with her and still wanted to hold her hand.
“I’m glad my date was you,” Steve said softly.
“I really wanted to find you the perfect woman.”
“You did.”
His lips were warm against hers, gentle. Everything she would have expected if she’d thought about it. And nothing like the first time they had kissed, running away from Hydra.
This time it was real.
--
Sam and Sharon found them tangled together on the couch where they had fallen asleep watching a movie.
The two of them grinned down at Steve and Natasha like a pair of Cheshire Cats.
“After we have coffee, we’re going to kill you,” Natasha said. “Both of you. I hope you know that.”
“We’re aware,” Sharon said.
“Steve might want to wipe the lipstick off his face first, though,” Sam said.
A pillow hit Sam in the side of the head before he could say more. Laughing, he and Sharon disappeared into the kitchen.
Natasha rolled over so she was looking into Steve’s eyes. She felt warm, safe … and happy. She felt happy.
It was a strange feeling. It was a worrisome feeling. In her experience, happiness had been fleeting.
“Stop,” Steve said softly. His hand brushed her cheek.
“Stop what?”
“Stop thinking. Stop analyzing.”
“I always analyze things.”
“I know.” He didn’t look away nor move his hand that was on her cheek.
He did know. He knew her. He knew a lot about her. And he was still here.
“Steve?” she said quietly.
“Yeah?”
There was so much she wanted to say. So much she wasn’t ready to say. Or even to think. Not yet anyway.
“Kiss me,” she said instead, and she watched a grin light up his face.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, and he pushed her back down on the couch as his lips met hers. Over and over again.