Love Grown Cold

My Fault Part Two

Flashback: a few days prior

".... that's a plan?" Natasha asked Steve incredulously.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Yes, Natasha it is a plan and it is the one we're following."

Gabe grinned. "So basically the plan is..."

"We drive quietly for a gazillion hours..." Monty continued.

"Essentially start waving at HYDRA to get their attention..." Dum Dum picked up.

"Let ourselves be human targets..." Jim added.

"Just so you can have a go at that giant walking tomato?" Frenchie finished smugly.

Steve sighed. "Well when you put it like that..."

Natasha put a hand on his shoulder. Bucky had fallen off the cliff only a few weeks prior, and out of all of them, Steve was taking it the hardest. Even though no one blamed him, Natasha least of all, he still felt responsible. So the others had tried to bring him out of his daze by teasing him and involving him as much as possible.

"It's a good plan, Steve." Natasha reassured him. Steve gave her a grateful smile. Her approval meant as much to him as Bucky's used to.

"Yeah, Cap." Dum Dum agreed. "We're just pulling your leg." There was a round of agreement and Steve turned his smile to everyone.

"Thanks guys. That means a lot."

"So, what are we waiting for?" Natasha teased all of them. "Let's get our stuff and go shoot some Nazis." There was a roar of approval, surprisingly loud considering there were only five of them.
*
"Hey, soldier." Natasha said quietly, sitting next to Steve on the truck.

"Hey," he replied quietly. She looked at him sympathetically.

"You here?"

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Because you know what I think," Natasha forged on. "I think," she took his hand gently. "That you're still up on that mountain."

He looked up in surprise, but settled down quickly. "That obvious, huh?"

"Steve," Natasha kept her voice low to prevent the others from hearing her. "James was your best friend. We don't expect you to be recovered in only a few weeks. In fact, we would think less of you for it."

Steve gave her a half smile. "Thanks Nat. I know I need to keep my head in the game, but I appreciate your support.

Natasha returned his smile. "I'll always support you Steve. No matter what."

He smiled and looked about to say something, when Gabe came over.

"Monty says it's time to head out on foot. Or in your case, motorcycle."

Steve nodded. "Ok then." He turned to Natasha. "You'll be ok, yeah?"

Natasha gave him a quick hug. "Of course."
*
End of flashback

"That was the last time I spoke to him." Natasha said quietly. Peggy nodded. She had listened to Natasha's tale without interruption.

"Natasha..."

"I know." Natasha said, cutting her off. "I need to begin healing, have support from my friends, but... I'm not ready."

Peggy squeezed her shoulder. "We don't expect you to be ready. But we need a leader." Natasha looked up sharply. "War's not done yet, Nat. And quite frankly, you're the best candidate for the job."

Natasha raised a skeptical eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well for one, you are a super soldier, and while that doesn't necessarily mean that you're a better leader, it does mean that you are able to think things through faster, not to mention you're also stronger than anyone else. Two, you have tactical experience. You know best how Steve planned things and went about raids and such. And finally, the team needs someone with sense whom they trust. And right now, that someone is you."

"What makes you think the guys would go for me being the leader of the team?"

"Because we already voted about it before Peggy approached you." Dum Dum replied, walking into her cabin, trailed by the remaining Howling Commandos.

"We know that you can be a great leader, Natasha." Gabe said encouragingly.

"We need you, Nat." Monty said fervently.

"Yeah, after all, who else could keep us in check?" Jim teased.

"Please do it, Natasha." Frenchie said, begging her with his eyes.

For the first time in weeks, Natasha smiled. A true, genuine smile. "All right. I'll do it."

"Hooray!!" All the boys cried.

"There is one more thing." Peggy said, smirking a little. "Since we don't exactly want HYDRA to know that Steve is ... gone, we need you to do one more thing."

"Dress up in a downsized version of Steve's uniform, use a similar shield, probably out of a titanium alloy instead of the vibranium of Steve's, and pretend to be Captain America?" Natasha asked them drily.

The others gaped at her and Natasha rolled her eyes. "What? I'm not stupid. Just because I've been holed up here for a while doesn't mean that I don't have ways of getting information." At that, everyone turned and looked at Gabe.

"Hey! What makes you think that I told her?" They all gave him harder looks and he burst out laughing. "All right, all right! I slipped Nat some notes whenever someone brought her food."

"Which was delicious by the way." Natasha cut in with a smirk.

"I thought that they said you weren't eating." Jim said suspiciously.

Natasha shrugged, still smirking. "There are ways of rigging that."

"I don't even want to know." Dum Dum said jokingly. Natasha grinned and winked at him.

"So anyway, that's how Natasha knows all this stuff. Not cause she's all mysterious or anything." There was a round of good natured laughter.

Natasha smiled. Maybe, just maybe, we can make this work.