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Natasha opened the door to her place and let Steve in. “Welcome.”
“Thank you, but I don’t understand why I’m here.” Steve looked slightly confused as she closed the door.
“Let’s have a seat.” She waved him towards the couch. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Coffee or water would be great.” He smiled at her.
“Be right back.” Natasha went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of water before rejoining him. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” He gratefully took the glass and took a healthy sip before setting it down on the coffee table. “I’m ready to listen. I’m confused because the last main thing I remember was fighting Hydra during World War II.”
“Yes, Hydra is still around, unfortunately.” She sighed before taking a sip. She put hers next to his before turning to talk to him properly. “Listen, Steve, Nick Fury wanted you to get out of the isolation and into the real world.” She raised her hand to halt his questions. “You probably think you should be with another male comrade, but there wasn’t anyone he trusted completely.”
“Comrade?” He tilted his head slightly, “Are you from the Soviet Union?”
“Yes, but it’s no longer the Soviet Union.” She smirked at his shocked face. “Yes, but it didn’t happen until long after the war.”
“Oh wow. What do you do?”
“I’m a highly skilled spy and assassin thanks to the Red Room.” She sighed. “Hawk-eye recruited me and eventually gained Nick Fury’s trust.”
“Why can’t I stay with him or another one?” He sat back.
“The only possible person would have been Tony Stark.” She replied.
Steve sat up. “Is he related to Howard Stark?”
“Yes, his son.” She nodded. “But he’s not a stable enough person to look out for you and would have most likely put Pepper in charge.
“Pepper?”
“Pepper Potts is his assistant. He runs Stark Industries now.” Natasha answered.
“Ah. Do they still make weapons?”
“No, Tony stopped that about two years ago after his kidnapping.” She was amused by his expressions. “He’s fine, I think.” She took another sip along with Steve. “I’m going to help you reacclimate to this future that you weren’t expecting to be in.”
“Yes, even walking down Broadway was weird to me.” Steve shook his head. “Should I read books or something else?”
“You can read books or just learn as you go.” She pondered a moment. “What is your biggest concern?”
“Getting references to people’s comments?” He exhaled. ”But I also want all the sports scores, and I still need to learn to dance.”
“Why?” She was puzzled by that.
“Because I owe someone that.” He smiled as he drifted off in a memory.
“Steve.” Natasha snapped her fingers. “Who?”
“Agent Carter.”
“Oh, Steve.” She gasped. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but she just recently passed.”
“Oh.” He deflated. “She was my sweetheart before I disappeared.”
“I’m sorry.” She squeezed his hand. “Maybe one day you will see her again.”
“Hm. Maybe.” Steve shrugged. “What can we do now?”
“Well, we need to go shopping for clothes for you and get you a phone as well.” She rubbed her legs before rising.
“Alright, then what?” He rose to join her.
“Then we eat and get you set up here in my spare bedroom.” She smiled at him.
“Are you sure you want me here?” He gave her a serious look.
“Yes, Steve.” She patted his shoulder. “Just one note for you.” He nodded. “Never sneak up on me.”
“Right.” He zipped up his jacket. “Shall we?”
They spent the morning shopping for Steve using a credit card that Nick Fury gave them. When they got back home, they even grabbed some takeaway for lunch.
“Hey, Natasha?” Steve inquired as they walked in.
“Yes, Steve?” She placed the bags down on the coffee table.
“Can I borrow that card for a moment?” He gave her a sweet smile. “I saw something nearby, and I just want to grab it really quickly.”
“Sure.” She handed him the card before he went back downstairs. Natasha put his bags in the bedroom and went about getting their lunch ready to eat while he did his errand. She looked up when she heard the door slam and gasped. “What’s that?”
“Flowers for you.” Steve appeared nervous. “Don’t you like flowers?”
“Why the flowers?” She purposely avoided the question.
“It’s Valentine’s Day.” He perkily replied.
Natasha looked at the calendar in surprise and sighed. “I’m not really into romance.”
“Oh, no. I just thought you might like some as a thank you.” Steve rushed his reasoning.
“Oh, like a friend would sometimes.”
“Yes!” He vigorously nodded. “That’s allowed, right?”
“Oh, yes. They call it Galentine.” Natasha enjoyed the inquisitive look on his face. “Are they in a vase?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He lifted it higher for her to see.
“Great, thank you. Just put them on the table, please, so we can eat.” Natasha ordered him.
“Right.” He placed them down in the center of the table and stood there. “Which side?”
“Steve, you are at this end,” She pointed to his chair.
“Thank you.” He handed her back the card. “Let’s eat. I’m starved.”
“We have plenty to eat.” She took her own seat before starting in.
“This is new to me, Natasha.” Steve looked down at his plate of Chinese food. “Takeaway is what?” He tilted his head.
“Yes, I imagine there wasn’t much for takeaway unless you were at a fair or something.” She sighed. “Takeaways. I believe it took off shortly after World War II ended with you American soldiers.”
“Oh?” He sat up. “How?”
“Pizza or Italian cuisine.” She smirked at his surprised face. “Especially in this city. Pizza became the rage, and slowly other cuisines ran with it, like Chinese, and some fast-food places like McDonald's.”
“That’s interesting. Thank you.” He dipped his head before taking a bite. “MM. This is good.”
“Yes, I had you try something basic with fried rice and some Chow Mein.” She continued to eat. “I ordered something spicy because I enjoy it.”
“I’m not ready for that yet.” He shook his head. “Do you have ground rules?”
“For here?” She gave him a puzzled look as he nodded. “No. Just make sure to put the seat down.” She smirked. “In all seriousness, I want to help you get reacclimated with this new world that you aren’t familiar with.”
“Thank you.” He sat back. “Were we able to get everything?”
“No, we haven’t gone food shopping yet. I wanted to wait until tomorrow to do that.”
“Sounds good to me.” He picked up his plate and quirked his brow. “Are you done?”
“Yes.” She appeared surprised that he took her plate and cleaned up the kitchen. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome.” He surveyed the kitchen. “Do we have a dish strainer?”
“No, we have a thing called a dishwasher.” She got up and showed him how to load their dirty dishes in it.
“Well, that’s new.” Steve watched her close the machine. “Are there any other machines that I might not be aware of?”
“Hmm. What about a TV?” She walked into the living room and pointed to the thin box on a stand.
“That’s a TV?” His jaw dropped. “The last one I saw was at the World’s Fair years ago.”
“Those were definitely boxy.” She picked up a remote and turned it on. She tried not to giggle at his reaction while turning it down. “Sorry. I forgot that I watched an action movie.”
Steve stood there in awe of the clarity of the screen and the sound. “That’s amazing.” He turned to her. “Can you watch sports?” She flipped the channel. “Wow.” He watched two teams play on a court. “What else is there?”
“Movies, shows, news.” She was listing them off. “Oh, we do have a History Channel.” She kept changing the channel until she found it. “Here, Steve, watch this for a bit.” She smiled as he sat down. “I’ll be right back.”
Steve slowly nodded as he watched old footage of World War II. He started to watch how it ended. “Amazing.”
“Isn’t it?” She returned with a blanket. “This is a blanket that we can use while watching television.” He dipped his head as he took it. “Why don’t you relax and watch this while I finish setting up your room.
“Do you need my help?” He started to rise.
“No.” She shook her head. “Stay.”
“Alright, but yell if you need help lifting.” He settled back in his seat.
Natasha went into his room and made sure that the bed was made, and there was a set of towels for him to use. Then she took out all his clothes that they had gotten earlier and started to de-tag them and put them in the drawers or the closet. When she was satisfied, Natasha went out to the living room to find him bawling. “Steve?”
“Oh, my goodness.” Steve rocked in his seat. “I can’t believe we lost so many people.”
“Yes, we did.” She sat down and pulled him in to rub his back. “It’s alright, Steve.” Natasha looked down when she didn’t hear him anymore to realise that he had fallen asleep. She carefully shifted his body to lay him out on the couch and covered him up with the Afghan before going about her own chores. “I’ll show him later.”
A couple of hours later, Natasha looked up from her reading when she heard a sound coming from the kitchen. She got up to check on Steve and found him opening and closing doors and drawers. “What are you looking for?”
“Oh, sorry. I was just seeing where everything was, so I know in the future.” He looked at her sheepishly as he rubbed his neck.
“It’s fine.” She waved him off. “Are you hungry? We still have leftovers if you want to reheat them. I could show you the microwave before we do an actual tour of the apartment.”
“Microwave?” His eyes widened. “Is that safe?”
“Yes, it’s safe.” She chuckled as he nodded. Natasha took out the bag while he grabbed two plates and handed them to her. She dumped the rest of his food and walked over to the boxy contraption on the counter. “This is a microwave.” She popped the door open. “Just place the plate in here and close the door. Once you do that, hit the dinner button, and it will heat up your food.”
“That’s so fascinating.” Steve also grabbed two glasses. “Do you want water?”
“Yes, please.” She dipped her head as she grabbed a potholder and took out the first plate and put in hers before starting it up again. “Here you go.” She put it down in front of him.
His brows shot up in surprise because he wasn’t expecting it to be steaming hot like it was when they ate for lunch. “That is amazing, Natasha.”
“It is, isn’t it?” She sat down with hers. “I want to apologise for leaving you alone.”
Steve waved her off. “Please don’t. It was lethargic and probably needed. I will most likely get sad when I find out things about people, places and things, but that’s okay.” He smiled before taking a bite.
Natasha looked at him in amazement. “I need more of your positivity.” She shook her head as she resumed eating. “I’m going to give you a quick tour before we retire either for the night or to watch something else on the television.”
“Sounds good.” He was enjoying his meal. He looked up, puzzled. “Why does it seem like it was better the second time around?”
She chortled. “Because sometimes it just is.” She finished off her water. “Let’s load up the dishwasher and start it up.”
“Okay. Show me.” He went to the sink to rinse off his plate and hers as well. He stacked them into the machine. “How do we run this?”
“There’s a box under the sink for it. Grab it.” She instructed. He found it and closed the door. “See the open box with a flap to close on the door of it?”
“Yes?” Steve answered, unsure.
“Pour some in there and close the flap.” She pointed.
“Oh, that makes sense, so it doesn’t fall out until it’s needed.” Steve filled it and snapped it shut before returning the box to where it belonged. He closed up the dishwasher. “Okay, what buttons?”
Natasha pushed the ones that they wanted and pressed the start. Steve jumped slightly because he wasn’t expecting the noise at first. “Sorry.”
“That’s alright.” Steve looked around. “This is the kitchen, and where we normally eat?”
“That’s correct, but sometimes we do eat in front of the TV, and we have small TV table trays to use for that. I’ll show them to you another time.” Natasha took a left out of the kitchen. “The first door on your right is the bathroom.”
“Oh, good, I could use it.” He darted in there and shut the door, making her chuckle at his reaction. “Sorry.”
“No, that was my fault. I should have told you where it was when you got here.” She shook her head. “Let’s continue.” They walked further into the hallway. “The room on the left is mine, and this room.” She opened the last door on the right, “Is yours, Steve.”
Steve looked grateful to have a medium-sized room with a bed and bedroom furniture. “This is great. Thank you, Natasha.” He hugged her.
“Oof,” She patted his back. “I can’t breathe.”
“Oh, sorry.” He jumped back. “This is a nice room. Better than the one I had growing up.”
“I already put the clothes that we bought earlier in the closet.” She opened it to show it was half full. “and the chest of drawers. You can rearrange it however you want, but you oversee your own laundry. I will show you how on Saturday.”
“Sounds brilliant.” He plopped down on the bed. “Can we go to a bookstore or library tomorrow?”
“Sure, we can do that before we do grocery shopping.” She nodded. “Why don’t you get into sweats and a tee from earlier, and we’ll watch a comedy?”
“Sounds like a plan.” He smiled broadly as she shut the door behind her.
Natasha went into the bathroom to relieve herself and washed her hands before going into her bedroom to slip on a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. She opened the door at the same time he did. He was wearing a pair of baggy gym shorts with a Brooklyn Dodgers shirt. She remembered his shock to find out that his Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, California. “Nice shirt.”
“Thank you.” He beamed as he followed her into the kitchen. “Are we hungry?”
“No, I tend to make popcorn when I watch a movie.” She pulled out a microwave bag from the cabinet and stuck it in before pressing some buttons.
“That’s going to be popcorn?” He pointed to the microwave. He jumped slightly at the popping sound. “Well, I’ll be.” He stared and watched the bag get bigger inside.
“Yes.” She stopped it with a few seconds left and carefully took the bag out and placed it on the counter. “Can you grab the big bowl above the dishwasher?”
“Sure.” He opened the cabinet, grabbed the biggest one, and returned the others before closing it. “Here.” He placed it on the counter.
Natasha carefully opened the bag, dumped it into the bowl, and placed it on the serving tray that she pulled out. “Do you want a soda?”
“A cola would be nice.” He dipped his head as she grabbed two cans out of the fridge. “Do you want me to carry it into the living room?”
“Yes, please, while I pick a movie for us to watch.” She moved the Afghan from the couch and sat down before picking up the remote. She did a fast flipping through the channels and sat up in delight. “YES!”
“I’m assuming you found something for us?” He set the tray down and joined her on the seat. “So, what is this?”
“This is Clue, a classic comedy based on a British game called Cluedo, but here in the United States, they call it Clue.” She got settled into her seat after grabbing her can after she gave him his and the bowl of popcorn. She wedged it between them to share it. “You don’t mind sharing, do you?”
“No, not at all.” He picked one up, popped it into his mouth, and sat up straighter. “This tastes like the popcorn you get at the movie theatre.”
“I should hope so, that’s the kind I got.” She smirked at his amazement. “You can use the coaster next to you for your soda.” She did the same for hers before turning on the movie. “Enjoy. It’s a comedy murder-mystery. I hope this has the three endings to it. Tim Curry is the best in this.”
“Which one is he?” He glanced at her.
“The Butler.”
“Gotcha.” He jerked his head. “I’ll ask the questions later, and would like to play it if we have it?”
“We can and no, we don’t, but we can get it tomorrow, along with a couple of others.” She settled in and turned her attention to the movie.
“Great.” He flashed a smile as he gave his attention to Wadsworth, showing his guests to the dining room for dinner. They were laughing a lot during the movie and talked about it after it was over. It did have the three endings like Natasha hoped, and Steve thoroughly enjoyed. “That was awesome.”
“I’m glad. We’ll have to get a copy so you can see the beginning of that.” She smiled as they cleaned up their mess. She placed the bowl in the sink and just ran water in it. “I’ll take care of it in the morning.”
“Alright.” He yawned. “I’m tired.”
“Yes, we had a long day, and tomorrow will be just as long as we start to get your life back together.” She gasped. “We forgot to get you a phone.” She lightly smacked herself. “That’s tomorrow’s plan as well.”
“Alright, so phone, books and food tomorrow?” His brow arched.
“Yes, sounds good.” She smiled. “Have a good night.”
“Good night.” He went into the bathroom one last time as she closed her door.
I think I’m going to like having Steve here. He’s helpful. Natasha slipped into bed and texted Nick Fury their plans for the next day before turning in.