Love Grown Cold

Missions as Usual

Natasha sighed as she watched the sun go down. She'd been a part of the Howling Commandos for several months now, and they had accepted her wholeheartedly after working with her on a few missions.

Just on the first mission, she had saved Monty's life, earning her a bullet in the arm, but it had been a major step in gaining their trust. The next mission, she had 'accidentally' learned how to use Steve's shield, using it to protect her new found friends. All in all everything was working for her. Except for one thing. James. No matter what she did, he never seemed to look at her, not like she wanted him too. They had easily fallen into their old friendship, but it wasn't quite the same for her anymore. The longer she worked with him, next to him, the more she felt the urge to get everything off her chest, tell him how she really felt. But Natasha knew that if she did, it could end their friendship.

She sighed again. It was the same thing she'd been wrestling with for years, but now, it seemed more urgent. Either one of them could die any day now. It was a risk they'd both wanted to take, but now she was wondering if joining the team was the right idea.

"I should've just stayed working on my own." Natasha mused with a sigh.

"Now why would you wanna do that? It's an awful lot more fun with you on the team." Natasha whipped around to find Dum Dum standing there, eyeing her quizzically. As she glanced behind him, she saw Monty, Gabe, Jim, and Frenchie standing there as well. Without waiting for an invitation, they all sat down near her.

"What's got you down Nat?" Gabe asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You can tell us." Jim added with a smile.

"We're all family here." Monty interjected.

Natasha smiled. "How long did it take you guys to come up with those lines?"

"Couple of days..." Frenchie said, earning him several elbows in the ribs.

"But we mean it, Nat." Gabe said gently. "So tell us, little sister."

Natasha smiled wearily at them. "It's just something I've been dealing with for a while."

"You mean the fact that you're in love with Bucky?" Dum Dum asked quietly.

She looked at him in shock. "How did you..."

"Well, it's pretty obvious." Monty said.

"To us." Jim amended, shooting Monty a look.

"The way you look at him." Frenchie told her smiling. "Anyone can see that you have deep feelings for this man."

"And how you act all gentle like around him." Gabe added.

Natasha ducked her head, her cheeks turning red.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Nat." Dum Dum said with a smile.

"I know," she said sheepishly. "It's just so hopeless. He's popular and nice and ... perfect. He could have any girl he wanted. I just... there's nothing going for me for him to notice." That got a big round of dissent from the commandos.

"Look," Monty said finally after the arguments had died down. "Is that he still looks at you like a buddy from the old days. We just have to get him to realize that you've grown into a strong, caring, beautiful young lady."

"Yeah!" The others agreed, causing Natasha to blush furiously.

"And how do we do that?" She asked curiously.

"There's a dance in a couple of days." Frenchie mused.

"We'll get you all gussied up for that!" Gabe told her excitedly.

"And then he'll have to notice you!" Jim finished.

"You guys would really help me do that?" Natasha asked, touched by their show of friendship.

"Of course we would!" Gabe told her, grinning.

"As long as you promise us one thing." Dum Dum said seriously.

"And what's that?" Natasha asked curiously.

"You promise us that no matter how Barnes looks at you, you'll save us all a dance." Dum Dum replied, grinning.

Natasha didn't answer, just threw her arms around Dum Dum, giving him a big hug. Not to be out done, the other boys joined in, creating one big group hug.